Hey folks! We've had a pretty busy season this year, but I managed to get some pictures ready for you! The kids went to the Fall Festival in Franklin with Nana and PopPop last weekend and had a blast. Todd and Claire are growing up so fast...I can't believe that fall is here already. Todd is saying many words now - his favorites are apple, banana, and no...note that two of those words are food related. Claire is learning a lot in preschool - including courtesy and manners. Apparently Zach and I weren't getting through to her...but she is becoming more independant and that makes it a lot easier on me. Zach and I have been getting more involved in our church - which makes life a lot busier, but also more meaningful. I hope you enjoy these photos. Love to you all, E.

First day of school

the definition of happy

Here is Wikipedia's definition for happy: "Happiness is emotion in which one experiences feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense joy. This definition is, however, a synonymous one." If that does not describe Todd then I don't know what does. Todd woke us up at 6:48 this morning happy as a clam that he had changed the buttons on our alarm clock and made Zach late for work. He could not have been more excited to see both of us running around trying to get Zach ready in 25 minutes - Zach taking a shower and me making his lunch. He decided he'd "help" by spilling Claire's milk from last night all over the floor right in front of the fridge where I needed to be. So a sticky mess still awaits me...
But other than our daily hilarious episodes, Todd stands to be the happiest child I have ever met. Nothing gets him down for very long. He helps me to remember that as an adult I should be taking advice from my child who is trying to teach me to enjoy the happy moments and to make those mediocre moments even happier.
Another great story proves that we're already in trouble. Todd got us into Cheekwood Botanical gardens for free just because he was hamming it up with the guard at the gate. He was giving the guard the hammy face and his hair was spiked up so high that the guard couldn't stop laughing. So he didn't charge us the $20 we should have paid because Todd "Made his day" as he said. So we're already in trouble if Todd can do that at age 15 months - I'm afraid of what is going to happen when he's 17 - he'll probably never have to buy his dinner again! Love to you all, Erika

Ansel (Todd) Adams

Well I know it's been a while since I've posted pictures of Todd, but I have a very good reason! Our camera is broken, BUT claire's digital camera still works. Todd got a hold of it the other day and took these pictures of himself. I thought I'd share them with you because they show his personality so well and the compositions are almost artistic - perhaps we have a little future artist on our hands! Love to you all, Erika

Well we made it...Happy Birthday Todd!

Well folks we've made it to Todd's first birthday! I think if your child is still alive at one year with no brain damage then you're probably doing something right. We had a great day on his birthday with the family. Todd woke up in a chipper mood and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him in bed. Then we went over to Wayne and Pam's to go out to lunch, open gifts and eat some destroyed cake!
Todd got a basketball hoop from his Nana and Pop pop and he got some clothes from grandma and grandpa. He wore an adorable little suit (his first one!) since he was going to have his picture taken. Most of the people at the restaurant where we had lunch we going nuts...can you blame them?
Im sure that Todd's favorite part of the day was when he got to destroy his first birthday cake (a tradition that we thankfully don't carry on in consecutive years). He picked the roses off the top and was sucking on those like a pacifier until the frosting came off, then he figured out he could dip the flowers back into the cake to get MORE frosting...you can see from the pictures that he thought he was something special to get to do that. The day ended with us teaching Todd how to make baskets with his new hoop so that in another 20 years or so we can watch him play on TV! hahaha.
We are so glad to be celebrating his 1 year birthday. Of course it came too fast and I can hardly believe all of the stuff that's happened over the last year! But one thing I'm glad about is that I am not pregnant THIS march! Love to you all, Erika

so much to tell!

Well the first photo should say it all folks - Todd is walking. Not very well, mind you, but he can get up and go for more than a few steps before falling down and crawling the rest of the way to get there faster. We had a wonderful Christmas up in Michigan - it was soooo great to see family again - especially some family we never get to see on regular visits.
So what's happened in the last couple months? Not a whole lot, but the kids are getting older and Todd is turning into such a little man. His facial expressions match his daddy's and sometimes even mine. I was looking through my baby book and I couldn't believe some of the similarities between my face and his - so I guess he does look like me too. He says momma and dadda and baba (we can safely assume he's talking about himself since he says that a lot). He and Claire can even play together sometimes without one of them screaming - when both of them are screaming it's okay because I know they're having fun). In one more month we'll be celebrating their birthdays - I can hardly believe it. Claire's going to be starting school in another year and a half, but I try not to think about it. I hope everyone is well and that you enjoy the pictures. One of them is of all of us with Zach's dad's friend Ken Mansfield who wrote "The Beatles, The Bible, and Bodega Bay" plus his new book "The White Album". We went to his book signing last week to say hello. Check out his book if you get the chance. He is a wonderful writer. Love you all! Erika