Only a couple weeks late

We went to east TN a few weekends ago for the UT/UCLA game with Nana and Papa and had such a blast! We stayed in a cabin in Wears Valley, right on the border of the National Park. Ahhh...so relaxing. The babies were both so good, and...(drum roll, please)...no one got sick! Sure, I do have to admit that they were both stuffy & coughy (is that a word?), but no puking! This is a first for Addie in the mountains - WOOHOO! She was 3 for 3 before this trip. Score one for us, finally.

Anyway, we arrived late Thursday night and then went hiking Friday. We did a 2-mile hike to and from Laurel Falls. It was gorgeous, and an easy hike (for out-of-shapers like me ;)). JM and his dad each carried a munchkin on his back and both kids seemed to LOVE their rides! I lost count of how many passersby said something to the effect of, "Now THAT's the way to travel!" Awesome. And I also lost track of how many times I responded, "Yeah, I tried to get them to carry me!" I think I'm so funny sometimes.

;)

Again, I digress. Soooo, the hike was great, dinner Friday was awesome (King Crab legs...mmmm...), and Saturday, we went to campus. Although Addie had been to a tailgate before, she had never been to a game. The last one I had been to was when I was pregnant with her! I can't believe I made it so long. Craziness. The tailgate went well, overall. We actually got there a little bit late (we had been checking out the black bear at the cabin!), so we ended up dropping Landon & Addie off with Nana and Papa for a "few" minutes to go to the bookstore to get a hat for Landon. Of course, it was Vol Walk time, so it took us a little longer to get from the Communications Building to the UC than we expected (yes, we now know to go to Stokeley, but we weren't thinking...), so we got back with only a few minutes before the game. It was SO exciting to walk into the stadium with my babies! It may sound cheesy, and I know they probably won't remember it, but I was so super excited to share that with them. What a feeling.

The game ended up being at Landon's feeding time, so he took a bottle and passed out for the whole first half of the game (yes, I really did pump in the car surrounded by about two dozen tailgate parties before the game - awesome :)). Addie started out a little timid with all the noise in Neyland, but then really got into it and was clapping and cheering. It was way too cute. She did great until about two minutes left in the second quarter, so we took our cue and left then. I'm still surprised we got to see (nearly) an entire half of a game with two little ones! We definitely couldn't have done it without the assistance of 1) Nana & Papa; 2) popcorn; and 3) Dippin' Dots. Ha!

It was such an awesome, relaxing weekend and we are so very grateful to Nana and Papa for it. Can't wait to do it again!

On the road (after nap #1)



Addie & Papa shelling beans in the cabin. Addie is a natural!




(actually, this was on the trail right outside the front door of our cabin, before our "big" hike)




Look at that face! AAAH!


Ready to hike!


On the way to campus


Landon was apparently not feeling so photogenic. But 3 outta 4 ain't bad... ;)


I think the Elmo hat was her "security blanket" for the stadium...



YAY!


As a matter of fact, I did airbrush the random girl's cleavage out of this picture. So there!

A half a year already?!

Sometimes I think I'd be very interested in a device that could make time stand still. I can hardly believe how fast everything goes by! I am fully aware that it is cliche, but it really does seem just like yesterday that we were headed to the hospital to meet our sweet boy, and now he is six months old! I can't even begin to describe the amount of joy he brings to us. He is such a sweet, loving baby. Yes, Addie still thinks he is the greatest thing ever, but she is starting to get irritated when he grabs her things, or if he's kicking blindly while feeding and kicks her. He has been in a mommy phase for the past month or so, which I don't hate ;)

At six months, Landon is:
* 17 pounds, 10 ounces (50th percentile)!
* 26.5 inches long (50th percentile)
* sitting up all by himself
* grabbing anything and everything he gets near
* sleeping much better at night; wakes up once around 2:30 or so and usually puts himself back to sleep after babbling for a little while
* still squealing all the time
* rolling everywhere; still no signs of crawling anytime soon
* starting to eat baby food - so fun! We tried out sweet potatoes two days before he turned six months old - he did great. Peas came two days after, and he adored them. Tonight we tried carrots - he ate the whole jar!
* the proud recipient of the "Best Smiles" award at school. Ha!
* still thinking he's too cool to breastfeed. He'll nurse only first thing in the morning. I can't decide whether I think the breastpump is the best or worst invention in the world... :)
* babbling nonstop
* wanting to be held all the time lately
* my sweet little boy!!!

At sissy's soccer game

First time for everything!

Well, maybe not everything, but Addie did have a lot of firsts over the past week or so! She started out with her first soccer practice on Tuesday, the 25th. Both JM and I were out of town (my first work trip ever!), so Nana took her. She seemed to have a blast! Nana said she practiced with the team pretty well and also did her fair share of somersaults in the field. That's my girl!

Then, last Saturday, we took Addie for her first haircut! Yes, ever! Her pretty curls were getting to be impossible to comb through, so I thought they needed a little trim to clean the ends up. She was SO excited to go! I took her to my hairdresser, Lauren, at Unruli in Franklin. I am so glad we went there! It was so great to have someone I knew cut my baby girl's hair for the first time. I'm aware that that sounds silly because she's 3, but it was still a teeny bit bittersweet for me! :) As soon as we got there, Lauren asked if she could straighten her hair. After I panicked for a split second, she assured me it was just to cut and that she'd re-wet it so her curls would come back. Phew! Ha! It was so funny to see it straight and see how long it is! Since Lauren was using a flat iron, she didn't get close to her scalp, so there was still some curl there, but it was still amazing to see most of her hair completely straight. Addie was thoroughly amused by the stranger looking back at her in the mirror. Anyway, Lauren just cleaned up the ends on Addie's hair and it is crazy how much healthier it looks. Now that the initial trauma is over (don't worry, it really wasn't hard on me :)), we'll be sure to have regular trims!

Next up was her first soccer game today! We arrived a few minutes early to get Addie's uniform and she was NOT impressed with having to change out of the outfit she was wearing. I kind of thought our day was over at that point. Then she clinged to my leg for the first 10 minutes or so. All of the sudden, she was ready to play! She did a great job running with her teammates and even kicked the ball once! WOOHOO! I have to say, I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time. The kids were all so cute! One of the cutest Addie-isms of the day stemmed from Mimi telling Addie at the start of the game that if she went out and played and had fun that she could have a new princess dress. So when it was her turn to play, I tried to nudge her out there and she turned around to me and (at the top of her lungs) said, "I don't NEED a new princess dress! I already HAVE ONE!" All the other parents got a huge kick out of it. It was extra funny because I had not even mentioned the princess dress to her. :) Little stinker.

Here's some pictures of her week!

Heading in to Unruli!

Look how long!

Addie got to squirt Frasier in the face for being such a good girl!

Her second practice - look at what a peanut she is!

And...are we done yet?

Meltdown over the uniform

Notice her clinging to my leg!

Daddy's gonna give it a shot!

Hehe.

There she goes! YAY! She had a blast!