For FHE tonight we got to carve our pumpkins that have patiently been waiting to turn into jack o' lanterns for a few weeks now. Mitch had the squat round pumpkin and I had the tall lanky one, I think our jack o' lantern faces turned out really well and they are both fitting as one is scary (Mitch's) and the other one is scared (Mandy's) they go perfectly together, like Mitch and I you could say, except not with those adjectives. Addie was not so into the pumpkin carving. Although she has loved going to two pumpkin patches this year, she did not like the slimy insides of our pumpkins, nor the stringy guts and seeds that came out of them. It sure was fun to start this tradition for Halloween, maybe next year she will be more willing to dig in. Now to enjoy some roasted pumpkin seeds. Mmm, mmmm.

Yesterday was Addie's first birthday.I can't believe how the time has flown by. Time seems to move a little differently when you have a kid. Growing up, time is marked by school semesters, summer breaks, sports seasons, end of term exams etc. Time at home with Adelaide has been marked by smiling at us for the first time, holding her head up by herself, sitting up, eating solid foods, crawling, walking, talking, signing, and all these things seems to begin to compound indefinitely as she gets older. She has started to learn new things each day now and big ticket items are becoming a thing of the past as she is working now at a year of age to refine her motor skills, pick up on vocabulary in words and sign language, begin to imitate people and things around her and the list goes on. The other day I commented to Mitch how much time I squandered during her early months just lounging around the house, watching movies I had rented from the library and dabbling in little projects. When she was little she slept most of the day away and now every moment is filled with some new adventure that she is getting into, whether it be pulling all the kitchen towels out of the drawer, climbing the stairs, playing with her toys, or playing outside in the mud, how time is spent now certainly has changed for the both of us.
She had two such adventures yesterday that weren't so welcome, especially it being her birthday. Yesterday morning as I was removing the sheets on the bed to be washed and putting the new ones on, I had piled the comforter at the foot of the bed to get it out of the way and Addie, being comparatively new at the whole walking bit, tripped on the curled up blankies and fell onto the edge of the metal bed frame, causing a red and black line to form right above her left eye, which has now turned a dark purple. The second "birthday bonk", happened as I was taking her to be tended at Meghan Schows home, so I could help at the dental school putting together dental screening packets for the head start program. We arrived a little early so I parked and decided to let Addie walk up the side walk from the car to the front door. She meanders a little bit as she walks, looking at new things and occasionally stopping to pick things up, so I thought it would eat up some time by letting walk. After going a little ways she stooped over to pick up a small stick she had spotted and after standing up and taking only a few steps, down she went, tripping on some unseen object and because her hands were full of sticks, she didn't catch herself on her hands, but let her forehead take the blunt force of the sidewalk. So now she has a matching bruise and abrasion on the right side of little head. Birthday bonks are no fun, I'm just glad she didn't land on the sticks she had just picked up.
At first Mitch and I weren't going to have a little party for her because she is only turning one and it's not like she knows what a birthday is or is going to remember it, but we decided to celebrate after all with some cake and a few presents.
She received presents from both sets of grandparents, her Uncle Matt and Aunt Christy and the boys, her Uncle BJ and Aunt Heather and Tristan, and Mitch and I. She now has some new warm winter clothes including boots, sweaters, pj's, socks, snowpants, and frog galoshes, and also a cute double sided bib, and a baby Einstein book that makes sounds and has pictures that are hidden under flaps on the pages. She got two new toys from Mitch and I, a stackable wooden toy and a shapes toy. She loved all her new presents and especially loved putting the wooden toys in to the new green galoshes, then taking them out again, then putting it back in again. Silly kid. Grandma Cheryl Christiansen joined us over Skype for the cake ceremony and happy birthday song. We put the whole cake in front of Addie and at first she wasn't quite sure that she wanted to touch it, but then she started to dig in her little fingers and fling the cake towards Mitch. Mitch was pretending to lick it up off of her high chair tray and she, being our little imitator, started to do the same thing, which was adorable of course. We tried to have her blow the candle out at exactly 6:48pm the time she was born, but we were a little slow in finding something to light the candle with, Mitch could only find his little propane torch, so that's what he used to light her little candle and she blew it out a little after the 6:48 mark.
I can't imagine what this next year will hold, I'm sure more amazing times with little Adelaide Anne are on the way, and the time will be pleasantly marked by her life's goals and achievements.

This morning I participated in my first ever 5k run. One of the ladies from the Milwaukee 1st Ward, Meghan Schow, put on the first annual Relief Society 5K run, walk and stroll for us sisters that needed a little motivation to get up and go. 14 ladies showed up on this cold morning to run, walk or stroll the 3.1 mile loop that started at Hart Park, went down Menomonee River Parkway, turned onto Historic Church Street, then left onto Rogers Ave,right onto 81st, then left onto Jackson Park Boulevard, a little loop around to 94th, then back onto Swan Boulevard and into Hart Park again. When I first started out it was a little chilly and I was glad I remembered to take a pair of gloves, but after the blood started pumping it turned out to be the perfect morning for the run, because you got hot running, but you weren't sweltering from the temperature outside. Mitch counseled me to keep a steady pace so in following with his wisdom I did just that and ended up running the course in 30 minutes and 32 seconds coming in second. Not that the race was a competition against each other. I was just happy to have run the whole course and to have done a 10 minute mile which I didn't expect. I was thinking I would do it in about 40 minutes, so I exceeded my expectations, which is always satisfying. I'm looking forward to the next one!

For a family outing we decided to take Addie to "Apple Holler" an apple orchard and pumpkin patch about a half an hour away from our home. We didn't have much time but we spent a little bit picking out two pumpkins and letting Addie explore the Pumpkin Patch. She patted the pumpkins and felt the scratchy stems and had a wonderful time. It was a little rainy, cold and muddy, but well worth it to get some pumpkins!