We absolutely adore her!

Duh! :) Of course we adore our daughter. But seriously, we are just so incredibly thankful to God for blessing us with Addison, our beautiful daughter.





This is the new face Addie aquired last week. She got stuck on this phase of "talking" with her mouth closed, as in the above picture. She would sit for several minutes and make noise, all while looking like that. Finally towards the end of the week, she remembered that she could make syllables such as da-da and ma-ma (okay, okay, so she does dadadada way more often). It is so fun to listen to her talk. She tells full stories quite well, whether you are listening or not. :)

Speaking of "dada"...I took her to his work on Friday to surprise him. All morning she kept saying "dadadadada" and when I tried to say, "I'm mama," she would touch my face, smile big, and say "dadadadadada." So I said, "fine, we'll go see dada!" We try to visit him at work every so often since his coworkers love to see Addie as well.

Addison plays peekaboo now. She loves to grab any kind of small blanket or t-shirt or anything nearby, and she'll pull it over her face and lift it up in the air. Then she gets so excited when we respond with "peekaboo." She usually uses both hands to do this, but the only picture she would let me take during peekaboo was a one-handed shot.

And here's our little money-bags. She found some money laying on the counter at my parents' house. Before anyone realized what she saw, she was waving the money in the air and getting all excited. I'm blaming it on our ultra-sound tech, who once labeled a picture of her and put "ATM" instead of "arm." :)

And finally, her seven-month picture. She loves to cross her feet and smile big. Our friends were just saying this weekend how funny it is that she poses for the camera. And she does. As soon as you get the camera out, she's smiling big.

Pleasant surprises and things that go bump in the night

I really enjoy little surprises here and there. A phone call, card in the mail, dinner out, presents...the little things that make a person smile! :) Yesterday afternoon, one of my best friends, Jenn, called to say she was in the area and was going to stop by if we were home and up for visitors. Of course we were home and of course we love visitors!

We had a great time. We offered to let Jenn stay for dinner with us. She hesitated until she heard the menu. :) It was a wonderful visit...great conversation, Addie flirting and showing off her best stuff for her "aunt"...Jenn even made cornbread to go with our chicken and spinach. It was fun.

So, thank you, Jenn, for sharing some time with us!!

On to the second half of the title. Last night, Brad and I were trying to get to sleep last night when we suddenly hear this loud noise, like something fell or was thrown at the wall or something. I'm not a big fan of noises at night. We both sat up, startled, wondering what was that?! Brad, thankfully, got up and went to check on Addie and the rest of the house while I looked around the bedroom wondering what possible could've made that noise. Everything looked like it was exactly as we had left it before turning the lights out. We pretty much had no choice but to try to go back to sleep. Well, shortly after turning the lights out again, Addie woke up. She ended up just needing her paci, which she found by the time I had reached her room. So, while I was up, I looked around again. Brad suggested checking our bathroom. Turns out my hairbrush had fallen inside the cabinet under the sink. At least that's what we're saying it was. :)

Wow--that was a big paragraph that probably could've gone left unsaid, but now that it's typed, I'm not erasing it. I think I just had to put it out there. :)

We're headed to my parents' house for lunch today. My aunt is bringing my grandma to town for a doctor's appointment, so we're all meeting up for lunch. That's another bonus to staying home this year...more opportunities to meet up with family and friends (when they are off work!). Addison is fortunate to have three great-grandparents alive and well! She'll get to see one today, and she saw the other two this weekend.

We celebrated Addie's great-grandfather's 75th birthday on Sunday!! Happy Birthday, Grandpa! We all went to church with him, then hung out for lunch and chit-chat and football through the afternoon. We did leave, though, in time to get home to watch the Colts game from the comfort of our own home! :) Yippee!

Keep smiling! :)

Ramblings

First, I want to say how wonderful my friends and family are. I have been so blessed by each person God has placed in my life. I am so thankful to have grown up with the most loving, caring, fun parents who showed my brother and I how to love life and people and most importantly God. And I am so thankful to have great friends who really know how to find the best in people, who love to laugh, and who love God. Thank you, Lord, for blessing me so richly!

Now, on to Addie-news. :)

Her first two teeth have been here for a little while now, but each day become more and more noticeable. They are the two middle teeth on the bottom. It's so cute to see her smile. I thought it would be weird to not see a toothless grin anymore, but it's really adorable. Just one more thing to admire. :)

She has officially decided that belly sleeping is for her. Addison has always slept on her back, and she sleeps quite well. But recently she discovered that it's really not that hard to flip over (and over and over and over), and so you lay her down on her back and she fusses for a minute. Then you hear a little flop and she's out. She rolls herself over and falls right asleep. Naturally, I am forever checking on her to make sure she's breathing, but I've finally stopped trying to flip her back over. (Brad, on the other hand, still likes her on her back and will flip her over before he goes to bed most of the time!) :) Now, my question is, do you ever stop checking on your kids to make sure they are breathing and such? I asked this of a friend last night, whose kids are around 13 and 3. She still checks on both of them! So, I guess this doesn't magically go away...I mean, hey, I still check on Brad, too, now that I think of it! :) Maybe I'm just paranoid, but at least I sleep better knowing that my family is okay. :)

As far as movement, Addie is getting closer and closer to full mobility. She loves to get herself from sitting to laying on her belly. Then, she pushes herself up and now has the buns in air, belly off the ground. Then she moves and looks at you with a very confused look because all of her toys are suddenly farther away. Yes, she is very good at scooting backwards!

I suppose I should use the rest of her naptime to get a few more things done. Thank you to all of my friends and family! You are amazing! Know that you are in my prayers. And everyone: please take a minute to be thankful for all you have, for if you're reading this, you at least have a minute to do just that! :)

The Florida Post

Several of you have been waiting for this...our first family vacation with child! :)


For a week after Christmas, Brad, Addison, and I took a trip to Florida. Thanks to his dad and stepmom, we have free lodging for the week (Dad and Deb.....thank you!!!).

We had a fabulous time! Addie handled the plane rides great (a huge blessing), and loved the sunshine and warm weather. (This week she keeps looking at her feet like why in the world are these socks covering my feet?!)

Yes, we're the dorky parents who pulled out the hat, sunglasses, and spf 50, but hey, we didn't take any chances. And the girl actually liked her sunglasses...she kept them on for the first couple of days (then after that started taking them off because she thought they might taste better than they looked).

While in Florida, we enjoyed the beach, pool, outlet mall, great restaurants, taking the boat out, and relaxing time with family (I'm sure if Brad was writing this he would add golf to the list of things he enjoyed). The first picture above was taken when we arrived at the beach (about 5 minutes from where we stayed!!!). Everything was great!

As I was writing the word "restaurants" in the paragraph above, I had to laugh. Per usual, Addie decided it was time to poop...at the restaurant. We were laughing while she grunted and we ate, then Brett pushed her around in the stroller while Brad and I finished eating (yes, we all sort of forgot that she probably filled her diaper). Well, after dinner, Brett and Annie, and Brad and I were getting ready to get into their dad's vehicle (Billy and Debi rode with other family). As Brad lifted her into her carseat, he was blown away by the smell. Oops, that's right, she was grunting during dinner. So, we folded a back seat down and Brad opened up the treasure. Yes, another good one...all the way up the front and back. So, carefully the clothes came off (good thing we were in Florida and it was warm!). 4 adults, 18 wipes, and 1 new diaper later, we were ready to go. Oh, but wait, where's the change of clothes?! Oh yeah, Mommy forgot to pack them in the diaper bag! (hey, I was on vacation!) :) So, ghetto baby had to ride back to the house with just a diaper and a bib. :) Ah, the memories!

Brett really enjoyed time with his neice. He and Brad's dad practically fought to be the first to pick her up from her crib each morning. I think they walked past her until her eyes opened and they snatched her up from there. She wasn't spoiled all week or anything. :)

On the way home, we were about to go through security (which by the way, is kind of nice because if you have a stroller you go through a different, and often shorter, line!), when the guy looked at Brad and said, "I'm going to need you to step into there...without the baby." So, Brad had to hand Addie over to me and step into the super-extra-secure-detector-frisker-station, where he said it blew little shots of air on him. I was laughing for quite a while about that. After we got through security, this guy passes us, looks at Brad and says, "I guess you're the chosen one...I thought sure it would be me!" And this dude had the leather jacket, chains, shaved head, boots...the stereotypical guy who you would think they would "double-check." Ah, but no, they picked the innocent guy wearing an "Indiana" sweatshirt, carrying a baby. Oh well, better safe than sorry I suppose. :)

We were super-blessed to have a wonderful and safe vacation and to have a nice cozy house to come home to!

I must go...Addie has woke up from her nap and is not wanting to play by herself right now. :)

With Each New Day

It is amazing the difference even a day makes. Addie does something new and amazing and absolutely adorable every single day. Recently, she began rolling over in her sleep. Twice in the past few days, I've found her belly down when I get her in the morning. This morning, she was so cute. I walked in after I heard her talking for a while, and she was pushing herself up on her arms, looking around, smiling huge when she saw me. It was then that I realized she had about one more inch of pushing up, grabbing onto the side of the crib, and tumbling over the side onto the floor. I think we'll be lowering the mattress to the next level when Daddy gets home from work! (I have a picture, but it's not downloaded yet, so I'll share that later)

The other night we put Addie in her exersaucer while we ate supper. I looked down at her and said "Hi, baby girl." To which she replied, "hi!" I kid you not. Brad and I both just looked at each other and our eyes got big. He said, "I heard it, I heard it!" It was too cute!

In other communication news, while in Florida, Brad, Brett (Brad's brother), Annie (Brett's wife) and I were all in the living room with Addie when we heard what sounded like "hey babe" coming from little one's mouth. We all looked at each other waiting to see if everyone else heard what we did. It's so fun to listen to your child and hear something that actually sounds like a word! :)