Silly me!

I forgot to post the most exciting news from the past couple of weeks - Addie is officially walking. She had been taking a few steps here and there for a little over a month, but she's now walking almost all the time (as opposed to crawling). She is absolutely ADORABLE when she walks, and it is amazing to watch her determination - if she falls, she gets up without a second thought and just keeps on going.

I took this little movie with our camera. She has her paci because it's almost bedtime :)

Welcome, Maddie!

Today, I had an exciting day! I got to spend time with two of my good friends from work, Ashley and Beth. Ashley and I went to Murfreesboro to visit with Beth, who just had her first baby, Madelyn Elizabeth, on May 21! Maddie is an absolute doll - she is beautiful and has the sweetest disposition! I am so happy for the whole family! Congrats Beth & Derrick!

What a little peanut! Maddie was 6 pounds, 1 ounce when she was born!

Ashley, Madelyn, and Beth




Just us girls!

A busy few weeks!

We have been so busy the past few weeks, but have had so much fun! I finished school for the semester on May 15! It was such a relief to be done for a little while. Then, on May 18, John Michael and I had our fifth anniversary! Where has the time gone?!? We went out to dinner to celebrate and had such a good time! We laughed, because when we were on our honeymoon, we decided our "plan" would to return to the British Virgin Islands in five years to begin trying to begin our family! HA HA HA...Obviously, we decided we were ready sooner than that, and now we have our sweet Addie. Anyways, I am so lucky to have John Michael. He is a wonderful husband and father and Addie and I both love him to pieces!

THEN, this weekend, we had Addie and Holland's joint birthday party. It was SO much fun! We had an awesome crowd there and I think everyone had a blast! Both kiddos were absolutely adorable and they both got lots of wonderful gifts. Thank you so much to everyone who was able to be there!

Lynn and I had fun planning and putting everything together (including the cakes, which turned out AWESOME - yes, I'm tooting our own horns - I'll post pics of them as soon as someone sends me some)! She never ceases to amaze me with how great she is at things like this! I think I learned a lot from her this week, and also from our friend Leslie. Thanks, and love you both! And an extra special thank you to the Drs. D'Amico, for letting us have the party at their home!
We love you guys!

Now...for the pictures!

"Hmm...this could be good - don't you think, Holland?"



"Yup! It's not too shabby!"




"But enough of being dainty - I'm going in!"




"Now that's more like it!"




"Seriously? This is child's play!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADDISON!

Well, Addie is officially ONE YEAR OLD! Where did the time go?! It seems just like yesterday that she was born. The year has flown and has been absolutely awesome. She has changed so much and is doing so many fun things. She never ceases to amaze us! She is almost walking (she takes steps but seems more content to crawl for the time being), has six teeth, has about five verbal words (although lately, everything is a "hyat!"), and can sign "more," "all done," and "outside." Each day is more fun than the one before it, and we have a hard time believing our friends who tell us that it just keeps getting better!

Addie had her one-year checkup on Friday, and Dr. Hood was very happy with her development! She is still a petite little princess - 25th percentile for both height and weight (28 1/2" long and 19 lbs., 8 oz.). We are supposed to move fully to whole milk now - that has been fun so far! She also eats pretty much everything we eat now, and lets us know whether or not she likes something by dropping it to the floor :)

Today we had such a fun time. We had a little party for Addie - my parents (Mimi and PawPaw), John Michael's parents (Gramma and Granpa), my grandmother (Gigi), and John Michael's grandparents (Gran and Pop) came over to celebrate Addison's birthday! Everything went so great and Addie put on quite a show! We pretty much just all sat around and watched her the whole time. What could be better?! :)

Here are some pictures from the past few days.

On Thursday, Addie's birthday!


We were playing the game "Clap your hands if it's your first birthday today!"
We got it on video, too - I'll post it if I can ever figure out how :)



From today's party, with Gigi. We learned our lesson and had her wearing only a diaper this time!


Gramma, Mimi, Gran, Granpa, Pop, PawPaw, and Gigi - all watching Addie Leigh!
(Pop used to be the chief photographer for The Tennessean, Nashville's newspaper, which is why his camera is all fancy schmancy ;))


The cake! I got it from Publix. It's supposed to be a "1" but looks kinda funny to me :) No big deal - it was YUMMY! The little cake to the right was the one Addie was smooshing. Publix gives you the baby's cake for free when you buy a big cake! Woohoo!



Addie's new crocodile toy. It has these cute blocks that stick in the top. She's obsessed...



Four generations!
We also got one of my mom, grandma, Addie and me - but not on our camera. I'll post that one as soon as I get a copy!

Finals time and a preview

So sorry I've been away from blogging for so long! It's finals time at school. I actually only have one exam this year, but it's in Bankruptcy Law and it's even more complicated (and boring) than I expected. But it'll be done in less than a week, and hopefully I'll be back in the swing of things!

Addie's birthday is tomorrow! I can't believe it. One year ago today was my due date. We had gone in on May 8th and set an induction appointment, so I knew (pretty much, at least) that she'd be born on the 10th. We were so excited! I didn't sleep at all that night, knowing that sometime the next day, Addie would be born! What a wonderful day it was. But I'll save that story for the birthday post and instead post some pictures from the past few weeks.

We had chocolate chip waffles - mmm! But I'm a little embarrassed about the mess on my face...




Yay! Open, close, open, close!

(John Michael and I got this outfit for Addie before she was born - we had gotten so many 0-6 months clothes at our baby showers that we decided to exchange a few duplicate outfits for some "big girl" clothes)


Pre-birthday celebration with Aunt Lynn, Uncle Kris, and Holland. I made cupcakes for us instead of a big cake - that will come Saturday!



And *this* is how you eat a cupcake!



Yummy! Cake is my new favorite food, Mom!

We had to take the kiddos for a bath immediately after cake - I guess we'll have a few more rounds of this between now and Holland's official birthday, June 2!


My new laptop from Aunt Lynn, Uncle Kris, and Holland! Holland and I will be blogging in no time!