Merry Christmas!

We started Christmas off right with our annual Logan's lunch with Mimi and PawPaw. We had to do it on Christmas Eve Eve this year instead of Christmas Eve, because we figured there was just too much going on the next day. It was so much fun, and Addie was very good. She sat in her highchair like a big girl while we ate. She must have known Santa was watching :) Then she went home with Mimi and PawPaw so we could get some stuff done around the house for Christmas Eve.

Saturday evening, we had the Corn family Christmas dinner at Mike and Cindy's (Gramma and Grampa's). Addie wore her Santa outfit again and had a great time with all of her great aunts and uncles, and loved seeing Uncle Nathaniel and Aunt Rissa (aka Uncle and Aunt Camera-Head).

Then on Sunday, Christmas Eve, I did some last-minute Christmas shopping (I know, I know - but I do it every year) and we had a nice big crowd at our house for dinner (well, heavy hors d'oeuvres). Mimi and PawPaw (my parents), GiGi (my grandma), Gramma and Grampa (JM's parents), Great Aunt Carol, and Uncle Nate and Aunt Rissa came over. We had lots of fun and hope it becomes a Christmas tradition!

Then came Christmas Day...

Addison's first Christmas was SO much fun! She was so into it - a lot more than we expected! She definitely enjoyed the wrapping paper and boxes, like everyone said she would, but she got a kick out of all her toys, too! Santa was VERY good to her :) Maybe a little too good - ha ha ha. She almost went into toy overload, not being able to choose which one she wanted to play with.
We had a long day, starting at our house and then moving on to Mimi and PawPaw's. We then went up to Gran and Pop's and ended up at Gramma and Grampa's. What a fun day! Addison did very well and caught naps in the car in between each stop. Thank goodness :)

Here are some "preliminary" pictures - I'll be sure to post more once I get them from Uncle Camera-Head...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Woohoo! My very own remote control!
Just what every 7 1/2-month-old needs - a numbers puzzle!
Addison and GiGi
Me in my Radio Flyer - in my fleece vest and with my UT blocks!

Sweet Santa and some chubby little legs!

Here is Addie in her cute little Santa outfit - her Gramma bought it for her and we put her in it this weekend for Mike and Cindy's (Gramma and Grampa's) annual Christmas card picture! She looked absolutely precious and it really got us in the Christmas spirit - although we have yet to get our decorations out...hopefully this weekend :)


This second picture of Addison is from this weekend as well. She is in her fire truck onesie - she got a set of boys' onesies because Gramma was concerned that she has too much pink in her wardrobe. I'm not sure if there's such a thing for a sweet princess like Addie (teehee), but she looks great in blue, nonetheless - I've just made John Michael promise that if she wears them out in public, that she'll be in pink pants so that she's not called 'he' :)

New tubes, new foods, and getting ready for Christmas!

The past few weeks have definitely been interesting! Addison got her tubes on 11/17. It went great! The doctor said her ears were a total mess, so we are very thankful we had it done when we did. Apparently she just has bad ears. The whole week before the surgery, Addie was so fussy. She wouldn't let me out of her sight, and not only that, but I HAD to be holding her. But within an hour after the procedure, she was back to normal! She's of course still having a little bit of separation anxiety, but she is playing, laughing, and talking more than she had been for a while! Here is a picture of her that I took at about 10 a.m. that day (her surgery was at 7:30).

Addie has also had a great time trying new foods! She now eats peas, sweet potatoes, applesauce, pears, lima beans, and green beans! She LOVES to eat "big girl" food! Right now the food just complements her milk, but within a couple of months we will be substituting meals. It is so fun to feed her, and I have to admit that I'm kind of excited to see the feedings/pumpings lessen a little ;)

Also, we are enjoying the holiday season! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we're looking forward to Christmas! We took Addie (along with Holland and Aunt Lynn and Uncle Kris) to see Santa Claus and had lots of fun. We're looking forward to decorating the house this weekend!

A weekend away and an upcoming event...

Well, we had a great weekend away for the LSU game - we didn't make it into Knoxville (except for a few minutes for Addie to meet Aunt Marci!), but went to Wears Valley, Tennessee, and stayed in a cabin with John Michael's old roommates. Alan and Cindy were there, along with sweet baby Jacob (he's 10 months old - this picture is of the two of them); Nick and Christie were there (they're getting married next June - finally guys! ;)) and then a friend of Nick's and a friend of Christie's. We had lots of fun. And Aunt Katie came to visit Addie on Saturday and we had TONS of fun with her, watching the game! The only downfall of the weekend was that Addie was dealing with an ear infection - her fourth.

Which brings me to the big news - Addie will be getting tubes on Friday (November 17th). We're anxious about it, but everything we hear about tubes makes us know that we have made the right decision. We are very eager for Addie to not have to deal with these infections anymore! So be sure to keep her in your thoughts and prayers :) I know she'll be a champ though!

The next big thing is that Addie is now six months old! I can't believe that it was HALF A YEAR ago that she was born! Time has truly flown (as everyone told us it would!). She is so very close to crawling, she laughs all the time, plays peek-a-boo, and continues to LOVE playing with her feet. She amazes us with something new every day. We enjoy every single second of our time with her!

Happy Halloween!

We had an awesome Halloween with Addie - we took her "trick-or-treating" to her Mimi and PawPaw's house, and then Gramma and Grampa came down to see her in her adorable costume. Yup, we really did do it - we dressed her as an ear of corn! Ha ha - she was a huge hit at school, and also at Aunt Lynn and Uncle Kris' Halloween party (this is a picture from that night that Uncle Kris took - and thanks to Aunt Leslie for letting JM and me be monsters with her and Uncle Skye!).


You can tell she's not overly crazy about being dressed up, but we've gotta admit it was worth a few minutes of no smiling to see how stinkin' cute she was :)

Crazy week...

Well, our sweet baby began last week fighting off her third ear infection. Yuck! She had been waking up at 4am every morning for a week or so, but I just assumed it was a growth spurt. I was wrong! When John Michael went to pick Addie up from school last Tuesday, Mrs. Allison said that they were about to call us because she had a fever of 101.5! Yikes! That's the highest it's ever been (that we've known about, at least) so we knew we needed to get her in to see Dr. Hood...sure enough, it was her left ear. She's started a different antibiotic and seemed to get better.

Until Friday. Allison called me, and Addie had another 101.5 fever. I left work early to pick her up, and when I got her home, I noticed she had a rash on her tummy. Long story short, we went back to the doctor, and it turned out she had a virus that brought a sore throat, rash, and upset stomach. Poor Addie was just miserable last Sunday. We kept her home on Monday, and while I was feeding her, she was fussing a little bit. Thinking she might be teething, I peeked in her mouth and noticed she had thrush. Yikes! Luckily, we didn't have to go into the doctor and they just called in a prescription.

Whew. Luckily, Addie seems to be doing so much better now. She's back to her happy self and we are so glad. Who knew how hard it'd be to watch your little baby not feel well?! :)

We're trying to steer clear of tubes for her ears, but we're on notice that the next one she has, we have to have "the talk" with Dr. Hood. Boo...

Keep your fingers crossed that she won't get another one! :)

Still not convinced...

Well, Addie's second attempt at cereal went just about as well as the first one :) She looked cute, but managed to get most of it on her face, lap, bib, and the floor. John Michael and I had a blast with it though and took plenty of pictures!

The past couple of weeks have been fun as Addie continues to practice rolling over. She scoots her legs like she's thinking about crawling, but [hopefully] she's still a ways off. We'll really see how challenging it is to multi-task once she's mobile! As it is now, we're already having a hard time studying (John Michael has his PE test at the end of October, and I'm trying to stay caught up with law school), cleaning (yeah, right!), and doing everything else we need to get done, because we'd much rather be playing with the baby!

We visited Pop (Addie's great-grandfather) for Gramma's birthday and got to play with Aunt Rosemarie and Uncle Bobby, too. We had a great time and it was so good to see them! We're looking forward to the holidays when we will have even more family time with everyone.

On another note, Addie and Holland are really starting to notice each other and it is too cute! Those two are going to have so much fun playing together - and we will probably have even more fun watching them! We'll be sure to post pictures of them together soon...

It's FOOTBALL TIME in Tennessee!!!

The most wonderful time of the year is here! Football season! John Michael and I are making sure Addison loves football as much as we do - she has worn her Vols outfits each week and has looked adorable! The Vols are having a pretty good season so far - we clobbered Cal, 35-18; beat Air Force, 31-30; and barely, heartbreakingly lost to the Gators, 21-20. But we'll get 'em next year...right, Sonya? ;-)

We've also cheered on the Titans, although they haven't had such a good run so far...but it's still early!

Addie is four months old now! She had her second round of shots last week and was a real trooper! The doctor was amazed at how big she is and at all that she can do! She made sure to show off all of her "tricks" :-) She now rolls over to her tummy ALL THE TIME. She's still not overly fond of being on her belly, so it's somewhat comical that she keeps rolling to it. She gets frustrated because she can't go anywhere - at least that's what it seems. She can "scoot" a little - more than likely by accident, but nonetheless, she moves! We are really in for it when she starts becoming mobile.. She's a fiesty one already! She has also begun to grab everything she can get her hands on. Very cute, but we're seeing how important baby proofing will be in the next week or two!

Addison also had her first cereal this week. It went better than we expected, as we don't think she is quite ready for it. Dr. Hood was right though - it was a big mess! We think we'll stick to just milk for a while longer :-)

She continues to be a hit at "school" and all the teachers go on and on about how cute and happy she is (duh!). She is such a happy baby and we are very blessed by this!

Corn pickin'!

So that isn't a play on our last name - we actually did pick some corn yesterday! Well, Mommy actually just shucked and creamed corn, but Daddy, Aunt Lynn, Aunt Leslie, Uncle Skye, and Gramma and Grandpa picked and did all of the other stuff, too! Addie and Holland had a blast hanging out under the beach tent that Aunt Lynn got at her baby shower! They kicked and cooed, although never at the same time. Oh, and they also snoozed a bit, too :)

Addie also had a great time with her Elmo doll that Gramma got her. Elmo has a paci just like Addie's, and he sings a cute song and Addie gets a kick out of it!

We all had a great time and really enjoyed getting outside for a little while - although it was HOT; well above 90 degrees and super humid. But being with friends and family made up for it. We just missed Uncle Kris as he was sick with a summer sinus infection. We hope he's feeling better soon!

Three months and Addie's first cold!

This month has been very eventful! I returned to work, which was the hardest thing I've ever done. It is getting easier every day, though, and Addie seems to ADORE her "school"! She is always playing and smiling whenever we go to pick her up - and all the teachers are in love with her. But really, how could they not be?

She is the joy of our lives. We look so forward to the evenings and weekends now so that we can spend precious time with her! She is so much fun! She found her feet a few weeks ago, so they are rarely out of her hands. She smiles at just about everything and is just so happy!

Unfortunately, Addie and I have been sick for the past couple of weeks. We got a cold and Addie's turned into an ear infection. She is such a doll though - the only way we knew she was sick was that she had a fever. She's never missed a beat and has only been slightly fussy, even when we knew she had to be feeling pretty rotten. But that bubblegum-flavored amoxicillin that I remember fondly from my childhood doesn't seem to be such a hit with Addison ;-)

Addie continues to be a hit with the family - she just got to meet her Uncle Nathaniel and her Great Aunt Carol. Both agree that she is adorable and both took tons of pictures, which I'll be sure to post as soon as I get them. She also attended her Great Uncle Timmy's surprise birthday party a few weeks ago and was just loved on all night! The picture is of her from that night - what a cutie pie...she's eating her overalls, but you get the gist :-)

Ten weeks, come and gone...

Addison is now ten weeks old and getting so big! We had to go for her two-month shots last week. I think it was far more traumatic for me than for her. The moment I heard her cry, I started bawling too. Sucker :) She did well (and weighed in at 11.22 pounds!), and although she fussed most of the afternoon, she was back to normal that evening!

Addie also had her first road trip last week - we went to Chattanooga with Aunt Lynn and Holland for the day and visited Brandy and Greyson and Cindy and Jacob. We had a blast and it was so good to get out! When we got back, we went to celebrate PawPaw's birthday and that was fun too!

Aunt Katie came to visit from Johnson City and Addie was crazy about her! They had lots of fun on the Baby Einstein play mat!

Addison has a new "trick"! She has learned to roll over from front to back and uses this to her advantage to escape the dreaded "tummy time" she has to endure every day!

On a "blah" note, I have to go back to work next week and am so sad to not be able to spend every day at home with my little girl. I know it'll be great to get back into a routine though (one that includes grown-ups - ha ha). And I know that will just make the time with Addie even more precious every evening and weekend!

My, how time flies!

Wow! The past six weeks have been an experience, to say the least! We're still having a good time adjusting to being parents. We've had lots of visitors, which we've really enjoyed. "Aunt" Kim came to visit for a few days last week, so Addie and I had a blast with her! It was really nice to have grown-up conversation for a couple of days, too. :-) We must admit that the adrenalin has worn off and we're sufficiently exhausted, but somehow we make it through with a smile :-) Speaking of which...

Addie has moved past the little sleep grins and is now giving full-blown smiles. What an amazing thing to see! She smiles when she hears or sees her mommy or daddy, which really makes everything worthwhile. She's also holding her head up for longer and longer periods of time and is getting less frustrated during "tummy time" :-) She's starting to lose her baby hair, which is really funny to see! She looks like a little bald man - we tell her she is just trying to look like her PawPaw.

Mommy and Daddy are going on a date this Friday night to celebrate our anniversary (May 18 - better late than never!). Addie is going to stay with her Mimi and PawPaw for a few hours - we are all so excited for this! It'll be fun to celebrate with a night out without the kiddo - even though we know we'll miss her ;-)

Here we go!

This is our first entry! Let's see how long we can keep this up - probably until I go back to work (July 31). Addie is about four and one-half weeks old and is starting to show her sweet personality! We're beginning to have more fun every day as the little grins we're starting to see are breaking up the monotony of diaper changes and feedings :)

Addie sleeps well (which we're very grateful for!) and she's starting to get into a little routine! We can't wait to see what each new day brings!