Merry Christmas from the Darnells

I thought I would post our Christmas card! Even though it is our header photo. I found the actual card itself on Etsy. I have found our cards on Etsy the last couple of years. I pay $15 for someone to create the card for me and then I have access to get it printed anywhere. I choose Sam's club because I found that they are the cheapest.

It's the Holiday Season..

We are having so much fun right now with the Holiday Season! Decorating our house, Christmas crafts, visiting Santa.

Waking up with bed head!

Trying out Buca Di Beppo for the first time waiting for Santa to show up!

Having a piece of chocolate every morning from the Advent Calendar!

Listening to the Chipmunks Christmas CD every day on the way to school/work.  Favorite song is "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!"  She also likes the line in Rudolph where he says..."Aww Shucks Fellas!"

Getting a lot of pictures in front of the Christmas Tree!

Working on some Pinterest ideas!

Wearing fun Christmas/Winter clothes!

Going Christmas shopping with Mommy which constitutes a girls lunch at Chili's!

Every girl needs a new hair cut right before the holidays!

Checking out the sale ads is a must right now! (even if you read them upside down)

Getting a picture with Santa!

And adding a cotton ball to Santa's beard to be one day closer to Christmas!

Goodbye November, Hello December!

We have been so extremely busy lately. November literally flew by in a flash!
I have been so bad about updating our blog because I just simply have not had time.  Jeremy and I both have been super busy at work and when we get home we just want to hang out with Adlee or lounge and relax.

We had a great Thanksgiving!  At least this year no one was sick on the actual holiday like last year.  Although Jeremy, my Mom and I all had the stomach flu a few days before, we were all better and back in business on Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday!

Adlee was so cute in her little turkey shirt!  She had fun visiting family and playing with Kenley, my cousin's little girl.

We started out by going to my Step Mom's family Thanksgiving.  It was hard this year as my Step Mom's Mother Mary passed away the week before Thanksgiving.  We all will miss Mary dearly as she was one of the sweetest people you will ever meet!  It is always hard losing a family member or loved one, but really hard around the holidays or the first holiday without that person.

Of course we got our Christmas trees all put up and Adlee loves the lights and ornaments.  She saw that the Santa ornament in the picture below had a present attached to it and wondered why she could not open it:)

I had to include Adlee's daycare/preschool picture.  It took a while but we finally got them in.  At her daycare, since it is Montessori, they take pictures of them while playing on the playground and that is their school photo.  I really like the posed school photos, but I guess this is something new and different.

I found Adlee the cutest sock monkey pj's at Gymboree on Black Friday for $10.  I think they are so cute!

We had an Elf show up at our house and Adlee named her Minnie.

Love my cutie in her black boots!

Since we are trying to be healthier, I made a turkey veggie tray as our contribution to Thanksgiving dinner.  I am sure the pumpkin cookies that I also made off set the veggies, but it was all good!

Cat in the Hat Birthday Party!

Adlee got invited to a cute 2nd birthday party Saturday! It was for a little boy named Ramsay, whom I grew up with his Mom. It was at an indoor playground at a church which was awesome! The kids loved playing! The theme was Cat in the Hat and it was adorable! Amanda did an awesome job on the party! What I really loved about this party is that the parents asked for no gifts and that you bring your favorite Dr. Suess book and they were donating them to a couple of places! Adlee had a blast and continued to talk about Ramsay yesterday!

Saturday night, Adlee decided that wearing pants was optional and that she would rather hang out in her shirt, her diaper and her Ugg slippers!

Almost Halloween!

With 2 days until Halloween, we have a little girl getting excited for Trick or Treating! She keeps asking about it! She is wearing Halloween type clothes all week! This weekend I put together some treats for Adlee's daycare on Wednesday. I am leaving work early to go help out at the Halloween party. I am hoping we have time to come back to my work for the annual trick or treating and then make it home in time to trick or treat in our neighborhood.

Minnie Mouse!

Adlee is Minnie Mouse this year for Halloween! This week we attended a little Trick or Treat with the businesses downtown. The photography place took kids pictures for free if they came in Trick or Treating. It was a great time. Adlee's dress came from etsy. Her headband/ears came from Disney when her Aunt, Uncle & Cousins traveld there, black shirt, tights, white socks and black shoes we have at home and Jeremy's Mom traced her hand and made the gloves for her which worked out PERFECT! I could not be happier with her costume this year!

Life Lessons by Adlee Darnell...Putting on your coat!

Sorry if it is sideways.  This is Adlee showing everyone how to put on your coat:)  In the mindset of a 2 year old!  Be sure to listen to the very beginning, you are hardly hear her but she says..."you have to stand by the tag, right here."

This and That!

Adlee has been having fun lately playing dress up! It is so cute seeing her prance around in those pink plastic high heels:) She also has started wearing nightgowns, which again, are so cute to see her wear. Her Daddy wanted to get her something nice, so he got her a new bicycle. She looks so grown up sitting on her bike! Now that Daddy has done such, we now need to inform Santa of some ideas for Christmas, since Santa was possibly going to be bringing the bike for Christmas.

On Friday, October 12th, my friend Erin, her Mom and I all went on our annual trip the Covered Bridge festival in Indiana.  We enjoy going and shopping and eating yummy food!  Of course Adlee made out from my purchases at Covered Bridge this year, most of what I bought was for her!

October 4th

I am posting this not because it gives me great pleasure to talk about but to journal and be reminded of the events that occurred. On October 4th, 2012 Jeremy and Adlee were involved in a serious car accident. Typically I take Adlee to daycare as it is on my way to work, however, I was home sick and Jeremy took her that morning. Thankfully he was able to call me, but I still freaked out! I was sick and emotional and just the thought of what could have happened just made me sick. They were stopped because a car in front of them was turning. A truck pulling a trailer with a water tank came up behind them and failed to slow down in enough time and rear ended them into the car in front of them, which then sent them back to the truck behind then, which then sent them in to oncoming traffic which they were hit head on by and HHR. They went by ambulance to Carle Hospital Emergency Room where they were treated and released. We are very thankful for many things, firt and foremost, the angels above for looking over then, the fact that Jeremy drives a large vehicle, Adlee's Britax car seat, that they were not hurt seriously, and just everything in general. Adlee had bruises on her legs from her car seat and has talked about the accident and is still a little scared at times to ride in the car. Jeremy had major soreness throughout his body, some scrapes, and what we thought was a fractured foot. He had to wear a boot for a week. He will probably also have to make a chiropractor visit as he is still having some back trouble. He could not get his door open from the impact so he had to take both legs and really use all of his might to push it open. He was in a hurry to get to Adlee and make sure she was ok. She was seated in the middle of his truck as well. We had so many people praying for them, phone calls, text messages, facebook messages. We had people bring over gift cards, balloons, dinners, treats for Adlee. Everyone's care and concern was so generous and we could not thank people enough. It has made us really think about life in general and just to enjoy every minute because you never know when something may happen. One thing we were able to do was actually say Thank you to the President of Britax car seats. Jeremy's sister works for a company in which Britax was one of her clients. She put us in contact with him and Jeremy and I emailed him back and forth. He asked for our family picture which he put on the wall at Britax as well as mentioned us in a company wide meeting. We know it is the law to have children in car seats but the car seat withheld a lot that day and for that we are very thankful.

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

We went to a great pumpkin patch in our area a week or so ago. I have a few pictures to share. Adlee had so much fun at the pumpkin patch! We found pumpkins, she played in little playhouses, she rode on a little tractor train, saw animals in the little petting zoo, had an apple cider slushy and a pumpkin cookie (sugar overload) and had a great time!  We love going to Rader Farms each year now!