Photo Shoot

We had a photo shoot with Kris last weekend and we had so much fun! Of course, it goes without saying that there are too many awesome ones to choose our favorite (we've narrowed it down to about 20 so far, so we're getting there!). But, in the meantime, here's my favorite "outtake."

Exciting news and a teeny bummer

First, the good news! I PASSED my super-scary class! WOOHOO! I think very few people realize how truly nervous I was about this (although a lucky few of you got daily emails and/or phone calls ;)), so I am so relieved! I also have to congratulate my friends who passed as well. HOORAY for us! And Marian (and Jason) - thanks for keeping me sane while I waited out those few weeks. You guys are awesome!

Now, the bummer (which is actually not really bad news): I had an "exam" today at the doctor's office and was hoping to be able to schedule an induction. My doctor had told me that if I was dilated any further from my last check (when I was one centimeter and 50% effaced), that we could schedule an induction any time after 39 weeks (next Monday, the 2nd). Unfortunately, there wasn't any change. Although I wasn't surprised, I was slightly disappointed. But of course I realize he just needs to "cook" a little bit longer and so I'm trying to keep that positive spin on it :) I'll go back in one week and hopefully things will have progressed a little bit better! At the worst, I know they won't make me go much past my due date, so we'll have another little munchkin in two weeks! YAY!

Our little storyteller

On Sunday morning, I woke up to see the lights on the monitor going (we had the volume turned down). I asked John Michael if he would turn up the volume so we could see if Addie was crying or if she was talking and singing. He turned it up and we heard her "reading" to her stuffed animals. It was adorable! The best part was that she was loudly whispering to them and reading "Daisylocks" from her Disney storybook. So we heard her saying, "Here's the really big chair; here's the medium-sized chair; and here's the weeeeee little chair." Next, we heard her very proudly say,

"And then I pee-peed!"

John Michael and I looked at each other and I said, "Did she just say she pee-peed?" And we started laughing and decided to go check things out. Sure enough, she had had her first bed wetting accident. But at least she wasn't traumatized by it and wanted to share the news with her friends! I guess!?!? :)

Greenhouse fun!

On Saturday morning when I had class, John Michael and Addie went up to the farm to help Nana and Papa in the greenhouse! Addie was a great help with the cleanup and with starting some new plants out :)

How embarrassing!

So I noticed on some of my friends' blogs who link mine that it has been over three weeks since I've posted! EEK! The worst part is that so much fun stuff has happened in three weeks and I'll probably forget all the cute stuff Addie has done & said. But I'll do my best...

The weekend of January 31st, Lynn threw me a little "sprinkle" brunch! It was so PERFECT! The food was amazing, the company even better, and we got tons of cute boy stuff for Landon. The best part was that Lynn knows me so well that she made it casual dress so we all got to wear jeans. Hehehe :)

Unfortunately, later that week I had a HUGE exam. I don't feel overly confident about it, but am hopeful that it went better than I think! If anyone wants to send good grade vibes my way, I'll take all that I can get! We should be finding out the results within the next week or so. If I happen to not pass this exam (and this professor isn't shy about failing people), it'll keep me from graduating this year, so of course, that would be a huge disappointment. SO - positive vibes and lots of prayer are welcome!

On a bright note, the day after this horrible exam, my boss and co-worker threw me a surprise baby shower at work! The stinkers! I was clueless, and I'm sure most people know that it is darn near impossible to surprise me. The best part was my friend/co-worker had sent me a meeting request and I made a huge fuss about going, wondering why we would possibly need an hour to talk about an outside attorney's bill! HA! It was an awesome surprise. I am so very, very blessed to have such an amazing boss and co-workers!!! ANYWAY...

We have also been having fun getting ready for Landon! Lynn, Kris, Holland & Quinn came over to help a few weekends ago and JM and Kris got the attic off of Landon's room finished off which gave us a huge amount of storage. Super exciting because his room was our guest room and we were trying to figure out where to put all the stuff that was in there! John Michael also worked hard to paint the guest room furniture white and we put adorable pink knobs on it for Addie to have in her room, which allowed us to move her dresser over to the baby boy's room (since it has a changing area). We still have a lot to do before I will post pictures of it. That's the plan for this weekend :)

So speaking of Landon, I had my first "check" at 36 weeks (about a week and a half ago) and I was one centimeter dilated and 50% effaced. The doctor said this was good progress, although I have tried not to read too much into it because I stayed this same "level" with Addie for about five weeks. BUT, when I went back this past week, the doctor said we could set up an induction for any time after 39 weeks (March 2!) since I had a good & easy delivery (with an induction) with Addie. I go back on Tuesday and if everything is still going well (and if I've progressed at all) that's when we'll choose the date! We are so excited!

Addie is doing great and is soooo excited about "Baby Landon." She loves to tell her teachers all about him and also tells us all about how he will wear diapers and use a paci and how mommy will feed him. She has been in QUITE the daddy phase in the mornings lately, so much that if I go to get her out of bed, she'll cry to go see John Michael. Oddly enough, she's back into mommy mode by the time we make it downstairs for our cereal. Goofy kid.

Okey doke - enough of my rambling. Time for pictures (and a short video!)...

I liked the goofy smile on her face in this picture :)


Ready for Valentine's Day!


The beautiful setup at the "sprinkle"
(Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of anyone actually AT the table...)


I'm punishing myself for not taking any pictures of my friends/family by putting this goofy picture of myself up. :)


Addie reading to Lily (in just her underwear - not sure what that was about...)




Making pizza! She wasn't too talkative, but what she said was cute :)

Waste of a post

Sorry guys - this one is all about me. I had to write this down before I forgot it because I cannot IMAGINE having a dream as weird as this without the assistance of preggo hormones...

In my dream last night, I was trying out for the Franklin Fire Department (as pregnant as I am right now) and I was "hiding" my pregnancy. The best part? The "tryouts" were that we had to go on the Predators' ice rink and do figure skating things, all-the-while holding hockey sticks. I was wearing shorts because some Irish guy had stolen the pants I had been issued and was supposed to be wearing. My performance was AWESOME and very Scott Hamilton-like. I got offered the job immediately, although I did get in trouble for not making sure my pants didn't get stolen, and was super excited about it, saying that I had ALWAYS wanted to be a fire fighter and had just gone to law school as a back-up plan.

HUH?!?!?!?

Honestly, I am kind of getting a kick out of all these weird dreams (especially once I realize they're only dreams and not real :)). Anyone else have completely RANDOM dreams while pregnant??? Or otherwise???

Curly-girl

We are still having...fun...trying to figure out Addie's curly hair. She has still never had a haircut, and when wet, her hair goes down below her shoulders. But when it's dry, it's a little hard to tame! When you throw in having to wear a hat because it's so cold, we've got a mess on our hands. Sooo...we've started trying out ponytails and pigtails! Oh my gosh - SO CUTE! I've been trying to get some good pictures, but it's a little hard with a toddler - especially one as busy as Addie. Here are a few pics where you can almost catch a glimpse of the cuteness :)

Addie and her friend Olivia at Olivia's third birthday party. They LOVE getting in the toy box together!


"POP!"



(Besides the scary doll eyes, this is a cute one of the back!)






The aftermath of the pigtails :)


Now that's just funny...and yes, she does sleep with all of those stuffed animals in her bed, and she notices if you take any out!

My babies

Just thought I'd take a second to update on my two kiddos (well, one kiddo and one kiddo-to-be, technically ;)).

Addie:
* is fully potty trained and has been for almost a month - she's even in big girl panties at night!
* is in her big girl (double) bed and is excited about "letting Baby Landon borrow the crib!"
* amazes us every day with her vocabulary
* has become a teenager in the mornings and does NOT want to wake up or get out of bed!
* can count to 20 (although it sometimes goes, "15, 17, 16, 18..." :))
* will only take a nap if she is driven around for at least half an hour
* is VERY proud of herself when she doesn't take a nap, although she definitely still needs them!
* has to have cereal every morning - her favorite is "Crismix" ;)
* has fewer tantrums, but when she has them, they are DOOZIES!
* is very maternal with her dolls and loves to change their diapers and rock them - but we've made a mental note to not let her "wrap" Landon, because her swaddling always includes covering the babies' heads - ha ha
* gives the BEST hugs and kisses at bed time
* is still a mommy's girl but has more daddy phases lately
* is pretty much the most precious little girl ever - we are SO IN LOVE!

Kristen pregnant with Landon:
* is 31 weeks along
* is craving OATMEAL!
* has gained about 25 pounds already - oops!
* is enjoying the acrobatics in her belly
* is having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions
* has sciatica even worse this go around

Landon is a WIGGLE WORM! He moves nearly all the time, and honestly, it never gets old. He is still much lower than Addie, so I am having very little trouble with heartburn (I do have a little indigestion though) or shortness of breath. On the other hand, he is constantly on my sciatic nerve, so if I do a whole lot of activity, I'm pretty much immobile for the rest of the day. That made the holidays interesting :) All in all, the pregnancy has gone very smoothly. I'm kind of feeling like he'll be early, but then again, I was convinced Addie would be early, and that wasn't the case! Regardless of when he arrives, we are so anxious to meet this precious boy and for Addie to be a big sister!

Big ol' belly and counting down the weeks!

Happy New Year!

Is anyone else as baffled as I am that it is 2009? Seriously? Where does the time go? This year should be really exciting - Baby Landon will be born within the next two months (eek!), Addie will turn THREE (now I'm getting sad...), I'll have my 10-year reunion from high school, I'll graduate from law school (God willing), take (and hopefully pass :)) the bar exam, and who knows what else! Regardless, I'm hoping it's a good one. I don't really do resolutions, but I do have a few things I'd like to keep in mind for this year:

1. Work on my patience! I have been "nesting" like crazy, and unfortunately, when I want something done, I want it done RIGHT NOW. I know this is irrational and poor JM is probably at his wit's end.
2. Stop making excuses about having a messy house. Yes, I have a very busy life. But here's where I'm going to be honest and say that even if I had no child, no job, no law school - our house would still be messy. That's that. I think fortunately, most of our friends and family have at least gotten to where they can deal with our messiness, so now I just have to deal with it. Oddly enough, it's a perfectionist thing (if I start something, I want it to be perfect. If I can't finish it and make it perfect, I get too overwhelmed to start it). On that note...
3. I'm REALLY going to work on keeping the house neater and more organized. I'm overwhelmed as it is with Addie's toys and books and I kind of dread thinking about what it'll be like with two munchkins' things. We are so grateful to have been given visits by a cleaning service every two weeks (thanks Mimi & Pawpaw), so surely I can handle the clutter?!
4. Most importantly - take more pictures and video of Addie (and soon, Landon) and write down and blog all the cute things she says. I just can't get over how fast time goes, and I am sad to think of all the things I have already forgotten!

So that's it for me! There's others, but those are near the top and ones that are easy to explain :)

Happy New Year! We hope 2009 is great for everyone!

Chef Addie making waffles on New Year's Day!

One more funny

This afternoon I was getting dressed (hey, it's a day off!) and I was putting my socks on. I was looking at my toenails and holding my big toe (really not sure why...) and Addie came up and said, "Oh no, Mommy! Do you have a piggy-ache?"

Just couldn't resist

Addie came up to me a few minutes ago, cradling her new Leo doll. She said, "Mommy, Leo is sick!" I said, "Oh no, baby, that's terrible! What's wrong with Leo?" She said, "He has a tummy-ache. He better go poo poo in the potty VERY soon."

Merry Christmas!

We have had a wonderful Christmas day today! We enjoyed Christmas at home this morning, then went to Mimi & PawPaw's, then to Gran & Pop's, and then to Nana & Papa's! We were exhausted by the time we got home, but we wouldn't change it for the world. We are so fortunate to be able to visit (almost!) all of our family in one day!

Here's a few pictures from today, as well as a couple from earlier this week. We hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Christmas with their families!

Ready for Mimi & PawPaw's Christmas Party on Sunday

Addie & Holland opening their gifts from each other


Addie enjoying the rolls at our annual Logan's Christmas Eve lunch :)


Christmas morning!
(Thanks, Nana & Papa, for the great jammies & slippers!)


Addie checking out her new camera


Santa brought Addie a set for her baby dolls which as a highchair, swing, stroller & pack 'n play - she is in LOVE!


At Mimi & PawPaw's with her new Leo & June dolls
(and still in her jammies :))


Mimi reading Einsteins to Addie!


Kiddie table at Gran & Pop's


Deep in thought...


Checking out her new jewelry box and wearing a new hoodie
(Think she's wearing enough patterns?)


Getting a photography lesson from a professional (Uncle Nate!)






June helped drive us from Gran & Pop's to Nana & Papa's house
(Addie was NOT excited about this and reminded us that "June's too little to drive!")


To go with the giraffe from last year :)


Addie in yet another shirt and eating what was probably her 50th piece of candy for the day.

Merry Christmas! Thank you SO much to all our family for the wonderful gifts, and more importantly, for the time we got to spend with you. We are sad to have not gotten to see everyone, but hope to see you soon if we missed you today! We love you!!!!

No pics, but...

I had to post a couple of Addie's funny sayings from this week before I forgot...

Daddy: "Great job going potty, Addie! Do you want a marshmallow?"
Addie: "Actually, Daddy, I want a cookie."

(Who knew you could bargain with bribery? And the word "actually" cracks me up every time!)

Yesterday, John Michael was trying to get Addie ready for a nap, so he started moving her stuffed animals to the edges of her (big girl!) bed. She started jumping on the bed and said, "Look Daddy! Everyone's watching me!"

A little drop of milk from the top of the carton got on the countertop, so Addie said, "Oh no, Daddy! You made a big ol' mess!"

John Michael was taking toast out of the oven and ever-safety-conscious Addie said, "Whoa - be careful, Daddy! Those are very hot!"

There's plenty more, most of which are potty-related, but in the interest of hoping my daughter will want to speak to me at SOME point during her teenage years, I'll leave those off the blog. Hehe.

I LOVE HAVING A TODDLER! Tantrums and all. I just can't explain how happy it makes me to have little conversations with her. She is so cute and so smart! I'm so happy she's my baby girl.

Our newest "nephew"

We are so excited to announce that our very dear friends, Lynn and Kris, are now the proud parents of two beautiful boys!

Kristofer "Quinn" D'Amico arrived at 8:20ish a.m. on December 16, 2008. Quinn weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces at birth and is just a CUTIE!! He has a head full of dark hair just like Holland did! We are so excited to watch him grow and thrilled that our newest babies will grow up together, too! When I held him on his birthday, Landon went crazy kicking. Lynn and I decided that Landon was saying, "I'll be out in a little while, buddy! Can't wait to play!" :)

Congratulations, guys! We love you!

Baby Quinn (about 5 hours old)

Pretty mama, pretty baby!

Baby Boy

We've decided on a name (although don't go getting out your embroidery needles just yet :))!

Baby Boy will likely be named...

Landon Matthews Corn

Matthews was John Michael's grandmother's maiden name, and Landon...well, we just like it :)

Addie "reading"

Seriously? Three posts in one day!


Yep, she's totally on the potty. How much is she going to hate us when she's a teenager?! Eh, it's worth it!

First snow and getting ready for Christmas!

We were SO excited to get our first snow on Thursday night! I (along with the weather men, apparently) had no idea it was coming. My boss called from downtown Nashville and told us to keep an eye on the roads because it was really coming down. My co-worker and I went outside to see it, and sure enough, it was gorgeous! I didn't think anything of it though and decided I'd head up to class. After all, the weather reports insisted there would be NO accumulation. I called my mom who was at our house with Addie and asked her to turn on the news to keep me posted as to whether school was closed - no report. I stopped for a gourmet Taco Bell dinner (hehe), and on my way back to the car through the parking lot, I noticed it was sticking to the streets, so I decided I did NOT feel comfortable driving to school. So I called my mom and told her I'd be home in about 45 minutes (figuring that a drive that normally takes me 20 minutes would take about that long due to rush hour and the weather). I'll skip all the terrible details and just say that it took me THREE HOURS to get home. The roads were just HORRIBLE and there were at least two accidents that I was aware of. Cars were slipping and sliding all over the place (including mine!) and although there was the normal amount of people just not knowing how to handle the weather, a lot of it I don't think could really be helped. It was a mess. BUT, I made it home safe and sound. The funniest part? The whole time I was in traffic, the weather reports were still saying there wouldn't be any accumulation. Hilarious. But, apparently there wasn't much in Nashville - they never did cancel classes so I had to take an absence. BOO. All said, I think Franklin got nearly 3 inches, and we had almost 2 in Spring Hill.

On a very bright side, Addie's school was delayed by 3 1/2 hours Friday morning, so we had a nice relaxing morning as a family. It was SO NICE! We went out for breakfast and took it easy until 10. Ahhhh...I'm already looking forward to the next snow day, but hope I'm already at home when it hits. Phew! We didn't go out and play this go-around - we need to stock up on some snow clothes first!

We've also been getting ready for Christmas here and I CANNOT believe it is in less than two weeks. True to form, we still have nearly all of our shopping left to do. I have my case in moot court next weekend, so I've been working on that. Okay, who am I kidding - I do this every year, and this year's no exception! We're hoping to start our shopping tomorrow - that'll be ten days til Christmas Eve. Look at us go!

Hehe - a tantrum (I don't remember what it was about). I just thought her hair was TOO CUTE!



John Michael and me at my parents' house before his company Christmas party. We had so much fun! Thanks Mimi & PawPaw for keeping Addie!!


Addie & Holland watching Little Einsteins in their monkey jammies!



Showing off the monkey jammies in front of the (bare) tree


I'm not saying I'll be disappointed if they don't get married, it's just...



Addie swiped Mimi's reading glasses and Daddy couldn't resist taking a picture



Our side yard & fence in the snow Friday morning


View from the patio (I think - JM took these :))


Sweet Hops in the snow



Addie adding an ornament to the tree
(how great is her outfit?! HA!)