11 months

I cannot believe that Addie is 11 months old today! Where has the time gone?! Our lives are so different - even better than we imagined - since she has been here! We joke that we have never laughed so much, never cried so much (okay, that's just me :)), but most importantly, never LOVED so much!!! I am becoming a little bittersweet that Addie will soon be one year old. I always thought it was silly when moms would be sad when their little ones were growing up, but now I see why! Each new stage is so very exciting, but it is just going too fast! I love being "Mama"! I could never have imagined how precious anyone could be to me. I thank God every day for placing her in our lives. And it has also been amazing to watch John Michael in a new role! He is such a wonderful father. It makes me love him even more than I did before.

Wow, I'm getting a little cheesy, and a little ahead of myself - better save this sappiness for her "One year" post! :) Ha ha ha !

On a "save the date" type of note - we are planning Addie's first birthday party for May 26th. She and Holland are going to have a party together, so we figured it would be a good idea to have it as close to in the middle of their birthdays as possible. Invitations will follow! Drop me an email if you know I don't have your address :)

Addie's favorites at 11 months:

Food - milk (duh!), cheddar cheese, Cheerios - truthfully, Addie likes everything she has tried, with the exception of two foods: avocados and cheesecake! Ha ha ha.

Drink - milk (duh!), apple juice, water - especially out of a real cup (a "big girl" cup!)

Toy - her soft stuffed lion - a Baby Gund toy which plays the lullaby song, her jumperoo, and her exersaucer (although she now walks around the outside of it instead of going in it)

Games - peek-a-boo, dancing, rolling a ball

People - Mama, Dada, Mimi, PawPaw, Gramma, Grampa, Uncle Lynn and Aunt Kris, Holland, Miss Judy and Miss Sherry

A few of Addie's milestones/things she is doing:

Addie has six teeth (four on top, two on bottom)

Crawls, cruises holding onto things, uses toys as walking aids, climbs stairs

Says mama, dada, dog ("daw"), cat ("cah"), and ball/block/bye ("bah"); also shakes head no and responds to baby signs "more" and "eat" and "drink"; actually signs "more"

Eats/has tried most all foods - except cow's milk, which her pediatrician wants us to wait until she is one year old to try

Addie is now fully on formula - Similac milk-based - this was bittersweet for me, but is better for my health as it became a strain for me to keep up with her demand

Addie is down to one nap - from around noon to 2 pm, and anytime we are in the car for longer than around 15 minutes

Addie uses a paci at naptime and bedtime - and also when we're around something that we do NOT want her putting her mouth on :)




I think those are all of the tidbits I can think of right now! I will update the post if I think of anything else or the baby book reminds me of something...

Addison Leigh, approximately 30 minutes old



Addison Leigh, 11 months old

Cold Easter Weekend!

Wow - the weather got so cold last week! I wasn't ready for it at all. We actually got snow on Friday! It was very pretty - I guess it fell for about half an hour. Of course, none of it stuck (thank goodness!) but it was fun to have snow in April, nonetheless!

On Saturday, Mimi and PawPaw came over to bring Addie's Easter basket to her - she got lots of neat clothes, including a bathing suit! SO CUTE! We will be going to the beach with Mimi and PawPaw in June. We can't wait! It'll be Addie's first trip to the beach.

We had a great Easter Sunday! We went to the 7:30 service at church. They didn't have nursery at this service, but Addie and Holland were so good! They started getting a little antsy towards the end of the service, but nothing a few Cheerios and a bottle wouldn't take care of :) They looked very cute for their first Easter. What a wonderful day - it has always been my favorite holiday - for its significance, mainly, of course, but also because it is always such a happy and lively time of year!

After that, we went to Gramma and Grampa's house to see what the Easter Bunny left and to have an Easter egg hunt! We had to get all bundled up, but we still had a blast! (I will have to post pictures of this later because we forgot our camera! Gramma took plenty though). Addie did so great! She got very excited to pick up the eggs - especially the ones that made lots of noise (the Easter Bunny always leaves coins in some of the eggs at Mike and Cindy's house).

We then went to Gran and Pop's house for Easter lunch. It was so great to see everyone, although Addie was sneezing and coughing like crazy! She wasn't feeling her best, but still had a good time with all of her cousins. (We know now that Addie just had a little cold - she got it from me :( - that started making her wheeze. The doctor thinks that she has inherited John Michael's asthma, as this is the third time that a minor cold or allergies has caused her to wheeze. Luckily, she is responding VERY well and very quickly to breathing treatments - we are hopeful that if she does in fact have asthma, that hers will be very mild like her daddy's).

Here are a few pictures! More to come...

Bathing beauty!

(She is trying to eat her new silver monogrammed bracelet that a friend of Gramma and Grampa gave her)


Addie in her bunny coat with PawPaw!
(Cindy gave me this at my very first baby shower last year!)


Addie and Daddy at church


Uncle Kris, Baby H, Daddy, and Addie!

Real moms...

I got tagged by my friend Emily in her blog! I'll give it a shot, although I can't promise I won't edit it later to make it wittier and/or more profound ;) Read on...

• Real moms realize that their once-most-important attribute - being punctual - no longer exists!
• Real moms learn to laugh when they're on the way out the door and get spit up on!
• Real moms constantly try to do the best for their families (stole that one from Em!)!
• Real moms used to love to shop for themselves, but now jump at the chance to spend the dollars leftover at the end of each month on their kiddos!
• Real moms learn that little boys aren't the only ones who can projectile pee!
• Real moms don't think twice about wiping noses with their bare hands!
• Real moms have a hard time with the bumps and bruises on their crawling/trying-to-walk babies!
• Real moms laugh so hard they cry on a regular basis.
• Real moms' priorities change. Gladly.
  
• Real moms are in awe every day of the new things their kiddos learn - and of the miracle of children, in general!!!
  
• And last, but certainly not least: Real moms love wholeheartedly and unconditionally!
  

So I just did a few, but it was fun! I have a million more, but I'll stop there.

I tag Amber, and anyone else who wants to play along!

A new tooth and pinkeye

Well, I figured it was time for an update since it has almost been 3 weeks! I'm embarrassed :( Things have been going great! Addie's personality is really developing more and more every day. She is moving EVERYWHERE and has even tried to take a few steps (usually from a table/chair to me). She doesn't make it that far :) But she's trying, and that's what matters!

Starting last week, Addie decided she didn't want to eat very much. We let it go on for a couple of days, thinking she was just more interested in playing. Well, after it had been 3 days, I called the pediatrician and they suggested that it was probably her getting a new tooth. Sure enough, she was working on her fifth - the one to the left of her top teeth. It seemed just miserable for her! It has really taken its toll - she hasn't been herself at all. Luckily, it broke through Sunday and she already seems to feel about 250% better :) And her new tooth is cute!!

Also this weekend, John Michael went out of town on a camping trip with some of his guy friends. We missed him a lot, but we had so much fun having girl time! We spent some time with Mimi and PawPaw, and stopped by to visit Gramma and Grampa for a little while too. We also had dinner with Aunt Lynn, Uncle Kris, and Holland! Addie and Holland are interacting SO MUCH. They have such a blast together. They had baby races on Friday night :) The funniest thing was when they would realize (a.k.a. think) that no grown-ups were around - they would just laugh hysterically at each other! They are so cute and are finally playing together more than just trying to eat each other and pull hair and scratch eyes :) Lynn took a little movie of them "racing" - I'll try to get her to post it on YouTube and I'll put the link up.

Also this weekend, something icky happened. Pinkeye. But not for Addie, for ME!!! Who knew?! I kind of thought it was something only kids can get - apparently not! So far, Addie and John Michael are pinkeye-free. I am being VERY careful around them and washing my hands an insane amount. Hopefully it'll stay away from them. I can't imagine Addie going through this - it has not been fun for me so far...

Okey doke - time for some pictures! Disregard the laundry on the table. It's clean and just waiting to be folded, if that makes it any better :) Welcome to my life... ;)

"Hmm...which cracker should I eat?"

"I looove my apple juice!"


Addie after her first temper tantrum (I took the sippy cup away - I gave it back only after we had a discussion and she agreed to never throw a temper tantrum again ;) - wishful thinking, right?!)!


"I am such a big girl! I don't even need the sippy part - it's just a little messier without it, is all :)"
(I think we all know that it's a LOT messier - ha ha!)


We got this little horsey riding toy from John Michael's aunt. Addie loves it, and she can really get around well on it!
(By the way - how cute is she in that outfit?! Gotta love Target!!!)


And she always finds her way back to the wagon :)