Chatty Cathy!

...Or Addie, at least! This weekend, Addison surprised us by saying TWO words! She now says "dog" and "cat!" They are her first two words, not counting "dada" and "mama," which she has had for a couple of months now. And she definitely understands that they are associated with the animals! Now, whenever Hops comes in the room, she yells "DAW!" And whenever she sees a cat (like the three at John Michael's parents' house - one of which is ours, Cleo), she says "CAH!" It is SO cute, and very exciting!

More pictures on the way!

Two posts in one weekend!

We had lots of fun this weekend! We had two visitors - Aunt Katie and Aunt Jen! Addie had met Aunt Katie before and was very happy to see her again! We all had lots of fun shopping on Saturday! Katie is one of my best friends from college and it is always good to see her! We always have so much fun talking and laughing about a little bit of everything! Jennifer and I became good friends in college, too, and I had so much fun catching up with her! Thanks so much for coming to visit us :) We love you both!

Just us girls

Then tonight, Lynn, Kris, and Holland came over for dinner right as Addie was getting a bath. So we just had to do the obligatory bath shot to hang on to and embarrass the kiddos with later :) Enjoy!

But Mom, there is a boy in my bathtub!

Nine months...kind of late!

Well, now that Addie will be ten months old this week, I thought it would be a good time to give her nine-month update! Ha ha! Her checkup with Dr. Hood went great! Dr. Hood is very impressed by Addie's movement (and jumping :)) and with the progress her ears have made. She had a hearing test and all is well - that was good news, although we weren't expecting otherwise. We also found out that Addie is a petite little princess - she was 16 pounds, 13 ounces, and 26 1/2 inches long. That is in the 25th percentile for both! Dr. Hood said she is doing great though, and is just petite - she said it's not like John Michael and I are large or anything :) She did give us some pointers as far as feeding her, and said that pretty much anything we eat, she can now have (within reason). We are having a difficult time "brushing" her teeth though, because after her last round of medicine, she will NOT open her mouth for anything but food anymore! So I can't even brush with my finger. I'm sure she'll grow out of that, but tonight she bit me to keep my finger out - hehehe (no, it wasn't so funny at the time...).

Here are a few pictures from this month. Most of them are from feeding, because that's when she's at her cutest! We use that little plastic booster seat as her every day highchair - a friend of mine clued me in that the highchair I had was a pain to deal with on a daily basis (due to having to wash it because it gets so messy) so John Michael and I decided to give that to my parents and purchase this one for around $20. What a great buy!

I took this one to show off her hair - she had yogurt on her hands and decided to pull her hair out on the side and the top...think Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura :)

Mmm...spaghetti!!!


"I sure do love bath time! Check out my cool green earplugs!"


"Mom, do I have something on my lip?"


"I love my wagon...

...but do you think I could get out now, please?"

Ha ha...

I just realized that in two of the three pics I just posted, Addie looks upset. I promise, she's actually very much in love with us, and with her copy paper box. The pilgrim hat is another story, but I digress ;)

Keeping my promise!

Just pictures this time - although I will say that Addie has a THIRD tooth! Woohoo!



Just hanging out here in a copy paper box - hey guys!

Bath time is fun time! I especially love splashing and getting Mommy soaked!

Wearing my cute knit hat that Aunt Kristin made for me. But it's a little snug, so I look like a pilgrim. You can tell I'm totally excited about having the hat on...

Okay, that's all for now because uploading is sloooow right now. That, and most of these pics are already a month old. I need to get the camera cable to get the more recent ones off. Next time! :)

Another big weekend!

We started the weekend off with a bang again! Addie had her right tube reinserted on Friday morning - about two weeks after they were first put in, the tube in her right ear began twisting its way into her ear. Not dangerous, and not painful for her, but it did mean that it wasn't working. So after a couple more ear infections, the doctor decided the best course of action would be to just re-do it. And once again, the kiddo was a champ! She never ceases to amaze me. She and Daddy had a great day playing!

We also had a beautiful snow Friday morning! It was enough that all local schools were closed, but not enough that we ran into any difficulty getting up to the surgery center for the procedure.

Addie now has both bottom teeth and is crawling everywhere - and fast! It is so adorable. She seems to really be intrigued by power cords. We will be doing a serious baby proofing soon (yeah, I know we should've done it when she began rolling everywhere...).

The biggest news is that we spent our first night away from Addie. On Saturday night, we went with Lynn and Kris to Max It Out, a benefit for Vanderbilt Children's Hospital that was held at the Wildhorse Saloon. We knew we'd be out kind of late, and thought that waking Addie up and getting her out in the cold wasn't the best idea, so she stayed the night with Mimi and PawPaw. I'm pretty sure it was harder on me than her! I had the hardest time falling asleep that night and was jumping up to get her first thing Sunday morning! But we needed a little practice, because we are going to a wedding in June in Atlanta, just the two of us...but I can't promise I'll make it the whole weekend without her ;) One night was hard enough!!!

We are having such a blast with Addison. It just seems like each day is even more fun than the one before it. Everything she does makes us laugh. She is now nursing only at bedtime, and while it is bittersweet for me, I must admit that I love giving her a bottle and feeding her all her other foods. She starts cracking up whenever she sees a bottle or her high chair, and we are teaching her signs at meal time ("more," "eat," "milk"). We pretend like she's actually doing the signs whenever she makes any movements with her hand! Ha ha ha - gotta love a proud first-time parent! :)

Pictures coming soon - I just haven't taken the time to upload any recently! No more babbling for the next post. Only pictures, I promise :)

What a big weekend!

Addie's tooth finally broke through! Yippee! I had noticed her being a little fussy this week, and now it all makes sense!

We're almost running out of room on the calendar for milestones for this week :)

Look out, world...

She's officially mobile! Addie crawled from her play blanket over to Daddy's chair! Yay! I tried to turn the camcorder on to capture it, and...nothing. She wanted no part of doing it again - hehehe. I'll try to catch her in action soon!

Still no teeth, by the way...hopefully soon!

The worm...

Addison, in her quest to crawl, has found a new method of mobility: The Worm. You know, like the 80s (or 90s?) dance move. It is hilarious! John Michael and I were laughing so hard at her! Once I can figure out how, I'll post a video of it.

We had thought she'd skip over crawling, but now I think she's just been not quite ready! She is already pulling up on things, so hopefully that doesn't mean she'll be walking soon too...don't know how much mobility I'm ready to take :)

Happy New Year!

We rang in 2007 like rockstars! Woohoo! Starting out with this New Year's Eve wagon ride! :)

Okay, so seriously, Lynn, Kris, and Holland came over on Sunday night and we went down to Lynn and Matt Reed's house, where they were having a party. It was a great time, complete with Addie spitting up on Lynn and Matt's carpet (so embarrassed about that...)! Unfortunately, the kiddos weren't quite as pumped about staying up as we were, so we ended up heading back home around 9:30 and put the babies to bed. Then Lynn and I watched Sex and the City DVDs while John Michael and Kris played video games. Yeehaw! The most surprising thing?! We actually made it to midnight (and past that, too)! And while it may not sound like other people's idea of a par-tay, we had a blast! And don't worry - Lynn, Kris, and Holland stayed over so that everyone was safe and sound and not on the road with the crazies :)

New Year's Day was fun too! We watched the game and played with the babies. They are so cute together! They are interacting so well together and each one wants to have whatever toy the other one has. I suppose we'll work on the sharing sometime later :)

Addie in her new Vols dress

Addison and handsome Baby H!
(Yeah, the curly hair is a new thing - cute, huh?)

Poppin' wheelies!

And this one isn't from New Year's Eve or Day, but it is cute
and pretty much sums up our sweet baby girl :)

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 :-)