Starnes Family

Family Food Fights

2011-07-27T17:26:00.001-04:00

...And I don't mean tossing meatballs at each other! Take a minute and try to honestly answer these questions:

*Is mealtime in your household stressful?
*Do you ever find yourself coaxing and bribing your child to just 'take one bite'?
*Did you take the time to prepare a meal for your family only to find your hopes of sitting down with smiling faces shattered by crying, refusal to eat and an overall unhappy experience?
*Do you find yourself having mixed emotions on where to draw the line with what goes on the plate, in the mouth or how much control you should have over your child's meal/intake?
*Does the frustration extend beyond your child? Are you and your spouse/significant other arguing over what the right or wrong approach is with your child?
*Does this tension cause dread and stress for the entire family?

If you answered No to these questions then congratulations, you have escaped an experience that many of us have not been able to avoid at one point or another! If you said "yes" to many of these questions then I promise you...you are not alone! Am I right? I think we all struggle with finding that middle ground with our responsibilities and expectations. Being on the same page with our spouse is a feat within itself. Being on the same page with extended family members and close friends is also a stressor for many. In fact I am sure many of you reading this have heard "He will eat when he is hungry", "Just tell them they can't have that cupcake if they don't try a green bean", or "Take them to time out" about as many times as you wish to hear. Everyone wants to label your child with behavioral problems or as having an issue that lies within the responsibility of the parent. But guess what? That just isn't the case, is it? I wish every one of my own family members could attend the conferences that I have attended, courses I completed in graduate school, read the books that I have read or seen firsthand what I have seen with working with many many families over the years. Those families wish the same for everyone they know.

What we want families and friends to know is something a little different than the disciplinary suggestions we have all been given. We want to turn the Family Food Fight into the Fight for our Family. Since attending courses and conferences and extensive reading is not an option for most then the least we can do for those who could benefit from a greater understanding of feeding development and making mealtimes less stressful is to let them know that you are seeking help and that you trust your resources and need others to trust this as well. If I were one to care little about what my family and close friends felt then I would not be writing an article entitled "Family Food Fights"...but I do, I like to be understood and more importantly I like to get the message to others so they can follow suit when given the opportunity. I have readers and families, including my household, in mind when I write this and I know many of you struggle with these very same issues.

The Facts. You may have read this on a gerber pamphlet or from your local pediatrician but it takes at least 10 exposures of a new food before acceptance of that food. Where do your expectations at mealtime lie? Do you put a new food on a plate and expect your child to take a bite because YOU love squash casserole and simply can't imagine that anyone on Earth would refuse a bite? Is your child thinking "You have GOT to be kidding me, that tablespoon of so called squash casserole looks like something my baby brother expelled an hour ago"...is it the sight of it, the smell of it, the texture? Know your child. Knowing your childs fears and aversions is very helpful in the eating process! If your child already knows that you Expect them to take a bite of that casserole no matter what then you may be setting yourself and your child up for disappointment. Children want to feel that they can accomplish something and they generally love the acknowledgement whether it be a smile of approval, verbal praise or some kind of reward they are working toward. I feel that knowing your child's level of anxiety can be very helpful toward building their food repertoire. You can of course push a little and change things up accordingly, but the point I am trying to make is that we sometimes have higher expectations for a child that may have heightened anxiety in those situations. We can't forget to praise the small steps and use our positive language to talk about the food and not ask impossible things of them. Today they may be o.k. with helping to put the squash in the food processor, but trying that little taste of the finished product may be months, or further, away. It does not mean that we should give up on the challenges, but learn to back away when needed and push when you see an opportunity. If you would like more information for yourself or for others please leave a comment or email me at kris.starnes@gmail.com as I have a few links that may be of interest to you or others.

To my little girl

2011-05-27T16:12:00.001-04:00

I found a special letter that I thought I had lost. I was not yet pregnant with Adalyn, but I found out that I was in November, soon after this letter was written. My little girl is growing up so quickly and she graduates from preschool this week. I wanted to type out the letter I had written to "Baby Starnes" so she can always go back and look at it whenever she wants. I love you Adalyn!

10-26-2005
Baby Starnes,

You are not even here yet but I feel like you are coming to this world soon! Maybe its because of talking about it last October-November when David asked me if I was pregnant—he thought his dream meant that I would be pregnant or have a baby on Dad’s birthday in November—so I’ve been wondering if we’ll find that to be true next month. It may be now and it may be a year from now but your daddy and I are ready for you! You’re going to love it here with us—we have such a cool house (literally, its 54 degrees without heat right now :)) and live in a Really cool town. When you are big enough we will take you camping, but even when you are teeny tiny we will take you up in the mountains so you can start hiking early! You’ll like Max Patch in the Spring—there are flowers and butterflies and even if you are a little boy, those things are really beautiful to see! Your highchair will be beside the big bay window in the dining room and you will love to look out the window and watch the squirrels in the yard. We even have an “Asheville Pine!”..and your daddy cut the bottom limbs last week so you will be able to play underneath the limbs and be inside of the tree—it is very neat. I went under there when he was finished. It will make a cool fort or pretend house. Your room has the best sunlight—we are jealous! The walls in your room will be yellow so that you will always feel cozy and happy—and we’ll be right across the hall when you need us. There is a really pretty lake by the house and you will get to go on lots of trips around the lake trail. I’m hoping we can feed the ducks over there too. Our church is great—you will have some older friends to play with but you will probably be more advanced than them anyway!
You will get to be with your daddy and I at Wasabi, the Pizza Company and Barley’s and when you are old enough to eat big people food I’ll give you some Edamame and help you eat yummy sushi rolls! Lucky for you—the Pizza place has kid movies some afternoons. Your dad is really sweet and will be a great dad to have—he can even speak Donald Duck. Just a warning—he will want you to go hunting with him. I won’t like it but it is one of his favorite things to do so maybe you will be excited about it. You have some grandparents that live in Arkansas and some in Florida. So you will get to go to the beach and Disney World in Florida and to the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. I could tell you All about Arkansas where I came from, but you will be living in North Carolina so I will tell you about the fun things here. We get snow in the Winter! You will think that cold white stuff is pretty cool—we’ll make snow cream too! Right now the leaves have gone from green to orange, yellow, and Red—it happens every fall! I’m sure you will ask lots of questions about why things happen and I’m sure your dad will have really good Answers! I hope you like the YMCA nursery because I’ll have to get some exercise while you play. There is a stroller club 2x a week though so we can meet other babies and parents while we walk! Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about the Biltmore Estate land—trust me, you will think its magical. There are BIG deer for your daddy and pretty trees, hills and flowers for me. One day we sat on a hill full of daisies and made flower halos and took pictures. I’ll show you how to make one—if you are a little boy and don’t want to wear one then I will wear it! I can’t wait til you get here! I have as many questions about you as you will have about me—are you going to be a boy or girl? What will you like to play with and will you like to eat different foods or be picky? Right now you will be named Adalyn if you are a girl and maybe Garrett or Tyler if you are a boy. I like Austin and McCage too. I wish you could help choose! Your Nana has already made you a blanket—I think. I can’t wait to pick out your crib bedding and your clothes! I hope you like the outdoors. We can go to the Botanical Gardens and go shopping downtown. There are some interesting characters down there! You can help me plant flowers and maybe we’ll even try to plant a tree in the spot where we had to cut one down. When I was little I liked to draw with sidewalk chalk so you’ll have to give that a try someday. Since you’ll probably take your first baths in the kitchen sink I will make sure to keep flowers there—we have what is called a garden window. You can see a giant White Oak tree from your “Bath Sink”. I’ll get you some good music to listen to. We have wind chimes here too. AND a fireplace which we will try out for the first time tonight. Your daddy and I are going to carve a pumpkin this weekend so the Trick or Treaters will come see us. I’m sure you will like Halloween. Clouds are cool. So are rainbows—there was one behind Ingles yesterday. Maybe you will be here by next Christmas! If so you can see all of our decorations and be here when we put up the tree. Don’t be allergic to Real trees, ok? If you are, that’s o.k. We love you anyway!! Well its time for me to go. I hope you like it here! Can’t wait to meet you!

Love,
Your Mom Kristina

Adalyn,
Well it turns out that God had given us a precious baby girl and we did name you Adalyn! You are almost 5 now and such a beautiful little girl! Everything in the letter came true and you had so many incredible experiences in Asheville.

A sweet baby girl was born


Here we are in the bay window I told you about

You sat here many times and watched the snow fall from this window

You stood on top of the world at Max Patch!

...and among the tulips at the Biltmore Estate

You played under the "Asheville Pine"

...and saw it decorated with Snow..

..Sunsets

and Rainbows!

Here is your sunny yellow room!

Here is a picture of the big White Oak from the garden window...


...And you did take many baths from that sink!

You made MANY messes...

And CLEANED many messes!

We watched a lot of sunsets from our front porch

You love to wear flowers in your hair, just like mommy

Those 'downtown characters' that I told you about--you fit in quite well with them at the drum circle!

You had your first camping trip and loved it!

You saw the beautiful colors change from green to red and yellow and orange season after season

You turned out to be quite the little hiker and love the outdoors!

You planted and watered flowers and helped me start a garden

You even helped daddy plant that tree!

I knew you would love sidewalk chalk :)

You had your very own sushi

We took many walks around Beaver Lake


You definitely discovered that 'cold white stuff'!

You have a style of your very own!


And it turns out that Halloween is right up your alley!


You had many fun Halloweens with friends!


I told you clouds are cool!


You love to read

You are an Artist


And a Dancer

...and an Athlete

You are so good to your friends...

And you were Such a good friend to Payton

Now you are a great big sister!

You get fireworks EVERY year on your birthday...sometimes Smiley Face ones!

Ice Cream is your Friend :)

You know how to "Live it Up"

And you like a Dramatic ending in all of your play

You are growing up now, and learning to be "Cool"

The first day of preschool didn't seem so long ago

But the last year sure has flown by!

Our little baby girl is growing up


You can now hold Maya just like I held you here!

And although you have grown up...

..."In a Whirl!"


You will Always, ALWAYS be Our little girl!

You have gone from being the baby to helping with the baby and we couldn't be more proud of you! You graduated from preschool this week and you start kindergarten in the fall--look how fast you have grown up! God has given us the most amazing blessing by bringing you into our lives. remember that we will always love you and can't wait to keep watching you learn and grow as the years go by!

Love, Mommy

Letters to Haiti

2010-02-08T06:14:00.003-05:00

I just got ther following email from a minister in Haiti who I had emailed on Jan 19th after the Earthquake. I was watching a friend's son who was telling me "Did you know that people in Haiti cannot find food or water?" we talked about making a little card and I would figure out where he could send it.

I didn't really expect to hear from anyone but was hoping. 3 weeks later I receive this attachment and message. I'm hoping to have the kids in children's church or Sunday school classes decorate some cards for the families along with Nick's card. Here is Nick making his card:

(pictures not attached)
Letter from Jean A. Lusma, minister:

Here the Address to use : Bergeaud rue 3.#1 HT-8110-Les Cayes, Haiti. lusma18@hotmail.com

Phone :509-3454-6122

Christian Mission South Haiti started this congregation about a year and half ago, with some of the elder kids who live in port-au-prince. The Church was half destroyed.

The Church started with 25 people, most of them are young man and woman. The church grew very fast, the youth were very active in everything. Now there are about 75 members in the Church. Help us rebuilt this Building.

(Junior Letang is the preacher in PAP Church) send a Donation for Junior. Junior will like to come back to his job he love s the Lord with all his heart.

(Magarette Amazan she was the one stand with Junior) Send a donation for her.

Junior and sister Magarette were buried alive for 3 days without even seeing sunlight. When both of them were getting ready to go to church, they were eating by a table, Rubens & 4 other kids were in the House. The earthquake started, all of a sudden junior said it was all dark, and he tries to ask Magarette who was next to him and where they were, Junior turned on his cell to see around him, both of them were trapped, but they were saved by the table, because miraculously they ended up under the table. And Magarette’s nephew was under the bed. They screamed all they could, and called out for help but nothing.., because in less than 30 sec. all the country was in total chaos.

I am with Brother Junior he is my son in faith

On the left ( Lusma) and on the right (Junior)

Jean Alix Lusma , made an emergency team right after the quake hit. We went to rescue them ASAP. Without any concern for gas, or money because the country was not operational, everything was shut down.

( Alix Lusma and Mireille Amazan)

As you can see on the picture the lady who’s talking to me, name Mireille her nickname is Michou lost her only child and her sister was rush to the hospital with a broken leg and both her child lost on the quake also. Send a gift to her to rebuilt her Life back she is a very faith full member her father is one of our elder. She has an other sister who lost the only 2 Kids she has too, pray and give encouragement with gifts. I would to help them built a House for their family let me know what are you can do?

Quick Answer... Right now we are totally focused on continue take care of the Victims of the quake. And, taking care of the refugees who have already made it to Les Cayes. Alix has fed over 150,000 people the past 2 weeks . Also, we are feeding the patients in the hospitals and medical staff. In Haiti the hospitals dont feed their patients...and a refugee who has no means to get meals. The medical staff at the local hospital is working 24 hours...we are feeding them during their break time. We are harboring over 100 refugees at our main compound at the moment and expect more. Taking care of the refugees who have lost everything and

are now returning to their hometowns has become our mission. The good news is after the Quake , I baptized 30^th people who accepted Christ . some of them were refugees from Port-_au-Prince . God is adding to his church daily

Evangelist Minister Jean A. Lusma

Snow Day!

2010-01-30T11:48:00.026-05:00

On Friday January 29th it began to snow--after these three little snow bunnies got dressed, I walked out on the deck to find all three assuming the "Snow Angel" position!

The next morning we woke up to 6 1/2 inches on the ground!

Here comes the Snow!

2010-01-30T07:26:00.003-05:00

Snow started falling January 29th and by morning of January 30th...whoa! A good 6 1/2 inches with more snow expected to fall today! Adalyn and friends Mae Reilly and Claire had a blast playing in the snow as soon as it started to fall!

2010-01-17T16:27:00.006-05:00

Some moments simply cannot be described in words. Here is one of Adalyn's meal time prayers:

2010-01-10T15:09:00.016-05:00

Well it has been SIX months since I posted anything on the Starnes family blog--shame shame! I have had so much fun with the 'pickytots' blog and keeping up with pictures on Kodak Gallery and simply did not make the time!

After Adalyn's big debut as Mary in her preschools Christmas program, we made a trip to Arkansas for a wonderful Kuykendall family Christmas complete with shopping, movies, gift opening, baking and lots of play--came back to Asheville to find 12 + inches of snow on the ground! Grammy and Grandpa came over from Florida to spend Christmas afternoon through part of the week with us. We went snow tubing, saw the National Gingerbread House entries at the Grove Park Inn and played with Christmas toys at the house.

Here are some pictures of our Christmas celebrations and fellowship!

Happy Birthday America and Adalyn!

2009-07-13T10:07:00.010-04:00

Adalyn is 3!

We enjoyed a weekend on Oak Island, NC with a day trip to Bald Head Island. Adalyn's first trip in a golfcart--the only vehicles allowed on the island.

Celebrated the 4th and her birthday with a great parade and festival at Southport and ending the night with waterfront Fireworks!

Disney!!!

2009-06-01T09:51:00.015-04:00

We surprised Adalyn with a day at Magic Kingdom, it was so much fun! She told us that her wish and her dreams came true as she watched the show in front of Cinderella's castle while everyone chanted "Dreams Come True!"--it was all so sweet!

Here are a few pictures of Adalyn's (and our) favorite moments! She is showing Cinderella the Cinderella accessory on her crocs!

Playing Mom

2009-05-18T23:15:00.001-04:00

Adalyn-isms

2009-04-27T17:48:00.002-04:00

First of all my daughter has an unbelievable memory and will bring up things from over a year ago! We can drive by a place and she will go into detail about the events that took place a certain time we were there. It is quite amusing!

Well today I was swinging Adalyn underneath the deck and she looks at the big wooden beams and asks me to tell her a story about Jesus. On Good Friday I told her the story of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection in the most kid-friendly language I could think of. I told her that He had to carry a big wooden beam up a big hill and that the beams used to make the cross were like the beams holding up our deck. She wanted to pretend like she was going into the tomb and would "roll the stone away" and disappear up into Heaven. That night we had made a dessert in which a big marshmallow (Jesus) was rolled up into a crescent roll and then baked in a tomb (the oven) and after 3 days (or 10-12 minutes) Jesus had disappeared! (marshmallow had melted into the crust) Today while telling her the story about Jesus again, she listened intently and even had her fill in some of the blanks like "Jesus' body was placed inside of a ____" She finished the story by adding "And then we ate him...'member?" Toddlers, gotta love em!

Adalyn also wanted me to make up a story about her being a princess so i tried my best. I told the story sort of like a mad-lib just for fun and it went something like this with Adalyn's words in purple..you could see I dominated this story but the ending was cute

"Once upon a time in a far away land there lived a beautiful princess named Adalyn. Adalyn's favorite color was Purple. Her castle was purple, her carriage was purple and even her dog was purple. One day while Adalyn went out to pick some purple flowers she came across a handsome prince named Daddy. Prince Daddy had a green castle and drove a green carriage. Princess Adalyn did not want to live in his green castle so she invited he and Queen Mommy to live in her purple castle. And they all lived happily ever after in a Big, Purple ..PUMPKIN. The end." Then we both laughed for a good 30 seconds :) I think we may have to record more of these "Mommy mad-lib stories" as they are quite entertaining!

Bunny, Where are you?

2009-04-21T20:07:00.003-04:00

Video clip from last month. There were baby bunnies burrowed beneath the mint and shrubs, this is a video of Adalyn calling for them and distraught from not finding them.

HopSkoch!

2009-04-21T16:39:00.003-04:00

This always cracks us up!!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!!

2009-04-21T14:17:00.003-04:00

Easter!

2009-04-15T08:12:00.006-04:00

What a gorgeous Easter day it was this year!

After church we headed to the Biltmore Estate for an Easter egg hunt with friends Anna, Jeff and Sara followed by a feast at the Deerpark Restaurant on the Biltmore grounds.

Here are a few pictures from the afternoon at the hunt and in the gardens, check out the beautiful tulips!

Spring is Here!

2009-03-22T17:50:00.011-04:00

We have been enjoying a few warm days that our first weekend of Spring has brought along! Adalyn and I met up for a hike and picnic with friends Shelly and Tina and their children.

The girls enjoyed walking hand in hand and Nicholas was a great leader!

We are anxious to have a successful vegetable garden this year (we'll see since we are so new at this!) For now I am trying to just keep some herbs and lettuce plants alive in the window---see what comes or doesn't come of the banana pepper and squash seeds!

What a January it has been

2009-01-30T15:47:00.001-05:00

Peace Out!!

2009-01-20T22:44:00.000-05:00

Playing "Fancy Nancy" with mommy and daddy

2009-01-20T22:38:00.001-05:00

Little Cinderella--January 17th videos

2009-01-18T15:16:00.000-05:00

November and December videos

2009-01-18T15:15:00.001-05:00

Kauai 2008

2009-01-18T14:46:00.001-05:00

January 17th videos

2009-01-18T08:05:00.000-05:00

God beams

2009-01-15T16:10:00.003-05:00

As I spend time posting pictures and videos of my family I cannot help but to think of my sweet friend Bonnie back in Arkansas who is now learning to cope with the sudden loss of her husband Thomas in a car accident. I encourage anyone who is having a hard time finding strength to make it through a day to read her recent posts---I promise you will see God working in her life and find your own strength through her. I keep asking myself how does one pick themselves up each day and find the energy to take care of an almost 2 year old daughter and push through the exhaustion she must be feeling as she goes through her first trimester with new baby And is mourning her loss. I am deeply touched by her positive attitude, her strength and her sharing. About 8 years ago I went for a hike up Pinnacle Mountain, Bible in tow, searching for a verse that would help me in my own situation of disappointment and sadness--which by the way now seems microscopic in comparison to Bonnie's river of emotions--I literally flipped through my Bible and let the wind turn the pages. I know that sounds a bit idealistic to many, but that is how I like to roll :) To my surprise I looked down and read this :
"As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things." Ecclesiastes 11:5

I love that. I had never read it before, it may have meant nothing to me before. But to me, when reading that passage, I heard "There is no way I can try to make sense of all things. Isn't it amazing that a baby can be formed inside a woman's body..and how unpredictable the wind patterns can be at any given moment? So don't try to look for 'reasons' or try to define what is 'meant to be' or in God's plan. He made everything...the details are too many...don't try to understand why things aren't working out because we Never will" and at that moment--that is what I needed to hear and it clicked for me. We need to live in each moment and I believe Bonnie and Thomas did just that as a couple, as a family and I pray for her continued strength.

Baby of Mine

2009-01-14T21:17:00.001-05:00

Adalyn's Year in Review 2008!

2009-01-14T09:27:00.002-05:00

Adalyn Faces

2009-01-06T07:44:00.004-05:00

SILLY face. GRINCH face. PRINCESS face.

Sleigh Bells Ring...Are you listening?

2008-12-17T15:37:00.003-05:00

Adalyn has loved seeing Santa out and about in parades and the mall...here are a few pictures of her getting into the Christmas Spirit! While Grammy and Grandpa were up from Florida we finished decorating the tree, opened gifts during our Christmas time with them, sat on Santa's lap and went on the "Journey to Bethlehem" interactive stroll through the town and saw baby Jesus! More pictures of the weekend soon to come!

2008-12-11T14:43:00.012-05:00

What an eventful November! I met my dear Monica in Nashville one weekend, we had a blast hanging out, shopping and just catching up! No pictures?! Ill have to hit her up for some! Chris and Adalyn stayed here and experienced "Disney characters Live" at the civic center...Front and Center!! The next weekend was my first trip to Chicago for a national speech pathology convention...my mom met me and we had a great time exploring the city. It was FREEZING but the boat tour was beautiful and dinner at the top of the John Hancock tower was amazing! Thanksgiving week/weekend was great fun as Nana, Grandad and Uncle David came over.

Dads birthday was the 28th so we celebrated with a cake in the shape of his head and face..how thoughtful of me!!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-11T14:33:00.005-05:00

I could go on and on about how this was supposed to be a "Family tree planting" event but I won't!! However, Chris did hand over the shovel to Adalyn for a picture. We had a great day at the Weaverville Parade, ate pizza at Blue Mountain Pizza and pretty much got to just stay on the porch for the Parade! We skipped out on the tree farm this year, but we did take a trip to the Farmer's Market and picked out a nice tree and planted one in the back yard to replace the cut one :) You can see from the last picture just how 'green' Adalyn is being these days!

Princess party!

2008-11-09T14:04:00.005-05:00

Fall Leaves and princess party

2008-11-09T13:54:00.005-05:00

We passed by some gorgeous yellow trees on the way to our friends Princess birthday party--here are some pictures from our Saturday!

Hay Ride and Fall Pictures!

2008-11-04T16:07:00.010-05:00

The leaves are still gorgeous! Saturday night we went on a hayride with church and Adalyn loved watching the stars and shout-singing Twinkle twinkle little star about 20 times in a row! She wouldn't let anyone join her in song.

Yesterday we went on a drive across the street up Reynolds mountain and ran into about 25 turkeys in someones yard! I managed to get a picture of 13 of them! We then went on a long walk along one of my favorite streets in Asheville, Kimberly Avenue.

School Party

2008-11-02T15:31:00.007-05:00

Halloween! We started the festivities with a little party at St. Eugene's morning out.

Ghosts and Goblets!

2008-11-02T14:53:00.007-05:00

We had a great group for trick or treating this year! Followed by fun at our house with drinks and plenty of cheese to go around!

Trunk or Treat

2008-10-30T15:30:00.006-04:00

Trunk or Treat was last night--the kids were so excited and Adalyn kept shouting out "Do I get candy now?" after each prayer and song during services. It was SO obvious to everyone that we had somewhat bribed her so she would for once not talk so loudly in church!

Max Patch Birthday Hike

2008-10-30T15:15:00.009-04:00

Here are some pictures from my 'birthday hike' on October 19th--it was a beautiful fall day! Grammy was in for the weekend and she got to experience some great North Carolina hiking!

Fall Snow!

2008-10-29T14:35:00.006-04:00

The earliest snow I have seen..maybe Ever! Adalyn sampled some of the freshly fallen, yet I'm sure a little polluted snow yesterday. Fun, fun!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-20T18:27:00.007-04:00

Picking out the perfect pumpkin...

Sleepy little Giraffe...

2008-10-16T14:09:00.003-04:00

Adalyn skipped out on her nap last Thursday and although we tried to keep her awake ( for the new Curious George exhibit opening at the Health Adventure!!) she just couldn't keep her eyes open!

Dress Up

2008-10-09T16:38:00.003-04:00

Parents Morning Out Open House

2008-10-09T16:29:00.005-04:00

Adalyn loves Merrimon Avenue Baptist Church morning out! Here are a few pictures of her in her classroom---check out the adorable bulletin board picture of her praying before her lunch!!

WNC Nature Center

2008-10-09T16:19:00.008-04:00

Adalyn and I spent last Thursday afternoon at the Nature Center. She endured a shot, a finger prick, FluMist spray and lots of waiting at her well check appointment so she needed a little R&R! When the cougar walked up to the glass to lie down Adalyn plopped down right beside him and said "Hi! You're my friend"

The next day we headed West to meet Nana in Nashville for an Adalyn/Nana fix. I guess I only took one picture! Adalyn and her Zoo hat in the car :)

In a World of her Own

2008-09-20T19:40:00.003-04:00

Adalyn has been saying so many clever or funny things lately--I thought I should start typing them out and writing them down somewhere so we can look back and laugh about them one day!

Earlier this week I was lying in bed with her, during her naptime. The phone started ringing and after the second ring she held out her hand and said "Just dont worry about it" I said.."what?" she said "The Phone. Dont worry about it." So i didn't, i just stayed right there beside her!

This same week I picked her up from Parents morning out. There was only one other boy there. The teacher told me he was crying for his mommy and Adalyn walked over and sat next to him, put her arm around him and said "I promise your mommy will get you" Awww, we were so proud!

The next video sums up the next funny moment! I put adalyn in this little tye-dyed outfit...chris said "What in the world does she have on?" She went outside and played with him a while---Chris came in and said "you have to see what she is doing" She was hugging the dogwood in the yard saying "My favorite tree in the whole world" Our little tree hugger, complete with the outfit!
http://www.viddler.com/explore/kstarnes/videos/9/

Labor Day weekend

2008-09-02T22:19:00.011-04:00

On Saturday Adalyn and I went to the Apple Festival and met up with The Wilcox gang...while daddy watched Florida football. It was hot but the girls had fun sharing a big bowl of dippin dots and munching on apples that Jeff and Sara bought! On Labor Day we checked out the new Destination center off of the parkway and went on a short hike before hitting our friend Ella's 3rd birthday party!

Pretend, pretend, pretend!

2008-09-02T16:30:00.002-04:00

Adalyn loves to pretend play. Here is a little video of her "playing mom" with me--"the baby"

http://www.viddler.com/explore/kstarnes/videos/4/

Adalyn the Camper!

2008-08-26T21:52:00.009-04:00

We took Adalyn camping for the first time mid August. She had a great time and slept all night in the tent! The next morning there was a "Smokey the Bear demonstration" with a craft, singing and "Smokey Says"--she had a blast!

Adalyn's Artistic Side

2008-08-26T11:12:00.004-04:00

Not so much into the paper as she is bodypainting! Even Alea joined in on the "Lets paint Adalyn" fun!

Splish, Splash I was Takin' a Bath!!

2008-08-26T11:02:00.005-04:00

Here are some fun bath photos of miss silly pants!

Aloha Kauai!

2008-07-28T13:07:00.011-04:00

Although we really missed Adalyn, Chris and I had a great time exploring the mountains and sea in Kauai! The NaPali Coast was by far our favorite, truly God's country. We kayaked the Wailua river to a beautiful waterfall and swimming hole, saw spinner dolphins, octopus, sea turtles and monk seals while snorkeling and out on the boat. The Waimea Canyon (Grand Canyon of the Pacific) was gorgeous from the helicopter and we flew up to a few of the many waterfalls inside. We ate way way too much but it was all SO good....can't go wrong with with a dessert named Hula Pie! On our last day we got brave enough to jump off of Kipu Falls...I screamed all the way down as if I were jumping to my death. Much fun!

Concerts on the Quad

2008-07-15T22:59:00.011-04:00

We have been going to a few concerts on the quad at UNCA here in asheville...much fun! Here are a few pictures of Adalyn and her friend Anna as we parents chilled out sipping our wine and snacking on yummy BLT/avocado sandwiches and appetizers. Fun fun!!

Adalyn is 2!!

2008-07-09T13:50:00.005-04:00

Happy Birthday Adalyn!!!

Swimming!

2008-06-23T10:28:00.008-04:00

Adalyn took swim lessons again this year, still not fond of going under water but loves to kick!

Pisgah mountain singing

2008-06-22T22:25:00.006-04:00

Singing on the Mountain! The Biltmore church congregation met up with Central Haywood and Brevard church for a picnic and singing on Pisgah mountain. It sounded beautiful and was a lot of fun!

Montreat Park

2008-06-22T22:14:00.008-04:00

Adalyn and Jackson had a blast at Montreat Park a few weeks ago! This park is gorgeous, with a creek running right through the middle and beautiful trees all around. We had one little incident where Adalyn threw a big rock and hit Jackson in the head but all recovered well and a good day was had by all :)

Anna's party

2008-06-22T22:08:00.004-04:00

Today Adalyn went to her friend Anna's second birthday party. This was the second birthday party of the weekend---gearing up for her own 2nd birthday in a few weeks! Happy Birthday Anna!!

Memorial Day Weekend!

2008-06-02T21:49:00.005-04:00

We had a beautiful weekend full of Asheville adventures....starting with the Friday evening drum circle downtown. Adalyn was more into staring at people than playing her drum this time, but it was no doubt entertaining!

On Monday Adalyn helped water the plants and flowers and felt like quite the little helper. We went to Lake Louise park to feed the ducks and hit the playground.

Adalyn also attended her very first Asheville Tourist baseball game. We came back with 2 foul balls...without getting hit, so all in all it was a great weekend! Monday night we went over to some friends house for dinner and to let the girls play.

What can I get into?

2008-06-02T15:42:00.004-04:00

Today it was flour! And do you want to know why? I am pretty sure it is because I finally made the decision to have someone come to the house on Friday and clean for 4 hours...with emphasis on the floors, thats right!! Oh the joys of toddlerhood! Yeah, yeah, I know...note to self...never place flour on a 'reachable' shelf...even if it is hiding in a container somewhere. Lesson LEARNED!

On a more postive, hopefully positive note, the feeding groups I'm leading start tomorrow, say a prayer that all goes well! You can read what I wrote as well as my other articles on www.carolinapeds.com. And no, I do not get paid for advertising or bringing in patients...but what a great idea!

Starnes-Smith Beach Trip

2008-05-31T12:57:00.009-04:00

Watch out Florida, We're baaaaaack! We had a great 2nd annual beach trip with the Smith family--minus the two full days of rain and thunderstorms! The sun came out on Saturday for a wonderful day at the beach! It was crazy seeing Adalyn and Chesney play together, as we haven't seen her in a year! There was a whole lot of "NO, My DORA!" going on! Thank goodness little Stran was there to distract! I've included a few of our favorite pictures from the trip, enjoy!