Addie is One Today!

Trust me when I say that I am about to post probably waaaaay tooooo many pictures. But I want family and friends that aren't here with us to experience her birthday too! Addie woke up about 45 minutes early today. I guess she knew that is was an important day..... her important day. We had breakfast and did some playing. She then had her morning nap and a bath when she woke up. She had an early lunch and went down for a nap because her pictures were scheduled for 1:30. She did great on the pictures even though she got mad after I put the tutu on her. So she was unhappy in the tutu and the birthday dress but we still got some good pictures. After pictures we stopped by the Great American Cookie Co and got her a cupcake for after dinner. When we got home we played and showed Daddy how awesome her pictures were. Addie had dinner, her birthday cupcake and song, and then a bath to get all that icing off. She nursed for the last time ever, brushed her teeth, and was off to bed. This was such a bittersweet day. One year old is such a milestone but the time is just going by too fast! I am sad that the baby days are slipping away and Addie is blossoming like a beautiful flower but I am so happy and blessed at the same time. I will try to not put too many pics but it is so hard to choose which ones to leave out. Forgive me if I put too many. :) Oh yeah, there will be more pics to come after her party on Sat!

Love that sweet face.


Looking at our bedtime story book.

Our book is perfect for first birthday pictures.

Standing up so big!

Squatting down for a cute picture.

I love this one!

Happy for a minute in the tutu.

Such a sweet picture.

Sad face. :(

Photo session is now over!

Cupcake after dinner. She wants to touch the burning candle.

She started out slowly.

But got going real fast after the first bite.

She even wanted to share with Daddy. What a sweetie!

I think she must have enjoyed the cupcake.

Very confused about her pink hands. lol.

Last Day As Zero!

Tomorrow Addie will be 1 year old. I cannot believe it. I have cried many times throughout this day. I cannot believe that this baby stage is over. Why is this such an emotional time? Is it because she is our last baby? I dunno. I have had such a beautiful year with this baby girl. She has been such a good baby. She has always slept great, never fussed or cried much, been so happy and social, and is just sooo beautiful. I am so grateful that God blessed us with this angel. I dunno what else I want to say as I sit here crying. All I know is I love my sweet baby girl so much and cannot believe how much she has grown in this first year. Thanks to everyone that has been a part of Addie's first year! I hope you will continue to watch her grow up whether it is in person or over the computer. :) I am so emotional and feel like I have so much more to say but nothing is coming out. So I will share the last pictures I got of Addie before bed as a "zero" bc tomorrow she will be 1! I know all these pics seem boring and the same to some but they are so very special to me! Well, I just uploaded my pics and they are rotated the wrong way for some reason. I dunno why bc they are not like this where they are saved on my computer. I can't believe this stupid thing messed up at a time like this when these pics were important to me. :(

My happy girl is going night-night before her birthday.

When she wakes up she will be a year old. She looks happy about it!

A full body shot of my big girl.

Looking to tell Mommy good night.

A few pics I meant to share.

I have been meaning to post a couple of pictures from recently but have just been lazy about getting them from the camera to here. lol. So, I finally got to it tonight.

Worst case of bed head after nap time ever!

Addie loves her Piglet.

Mad at the dress for getting in her way.

So happy to be walking.

Caught doing a no-no!

One of Addie's new favorites.

Stuffing in a strawberry.

Connor playing with Addie. She was laughing.

Connor giving me a thumbs up after some chocolate ice cream.

I Feel So Special!

A few posts ago I posted about being contacted by the best therapy agency in town to do play therapy for Early Intervention. Well, my interview was Tuesday and she let me know on the spot that she wants to hire me. That same Tuesday, I received an email from another therapy agency in town wanting to hire me. She already knew me a little bit from when I worked with the Early Intervention before Addie was born. So I went to discuss details with her this morning. So I actually have my choice of the 2 agencies!!! This is awesome. I can't make my decision yet though bc the first agency is still working out the numbers for how much she can pay me. The numbers for the agency from today were nice and I can only hope the others are as good. The great thing is both agencies said I can work as much or little as I want. So I am planning to do part time on Mon, Wed, and Fri. I just have to decide which place I want to work for when I hear back about the money. Child care is going to work out nicely for the kids too! I can't remember if I posted about that in the previous post so here it is again. My friend Elizabeth is leaving Early Intervention to get her Masters and she has no internship on Monday or Wednesday so she will keep them in our house those 2 days. On Wednesday my friend and neighbor Candy will watch them. This is perfect bc Reagan and Connor are best friends. Also, Candy and Reagan are sooooo sweet to Addie. So anyways, things are looking up on the part time job front..... and it is doing what I love! I will be doing therapeutic play with babies birth-three with developmental delays. I will make a difference in this world. :)
Anyways, just wanted to post about this and will post again later.

Teddy goes to time out!

Connor treats his Teddy like his child. Since he was about 1 he has loved his Teddy from Old Navy. He is actually on his 3rd one. Well, Teddy # 3 was just too nice and new for Connor so he kicked him to the curb. Addie took him over and sleeps with him. She hugs, kisses, and snuggles him. Yesterday I washed one of the Teddys and Connor was happy to see him when he came out of the dryer all fresh and clean. He gave Teddy a big hug and then proceeded to put him in the time out chair. I thought it was pretty cute, but it got cuter! He then sat with Teddy in time out! I got a couple of pictures.









Teddy getting put in time-out.
















Connor joined Teddy in time-out by choice.








Addie is just walking all over the place now. She can even walk while sucking her thumb, carrying a big toy, and drinking from a cup. lol






Here she is standing, drinking, and smiling all at once. lol




















Walking and drinking with her eyes closed. Now that is talent! lol

They just melt my heart!

Most of the time Connor is fussing at Addie and telling her not to touch anything. He doesn't want her to touch his stuff or even her own stuff! When she yells and shrieks and babbles loud like babies do, he says "Stop yelling Addie." He doesn't understand why he gets in trouble for yelling but she doesn't. He can be such a bossy, little stingy turd to her sometimes but other times he is so sweet. When he doesn't see her he asks where she is and gets worried. He tells her night night and good morning. He hears me call her little sugar and he sometimes calls her that too. He hears me tell her to be patient while I make her food and he tells her to be patient. He plays with her and makes her giggle hysterically. This evening after I had got Addie ready for bed, she was next to me at the end of the couch. Connor laid his belly up on the table and said "Gimme a kiss Addie." She looked up and him and leaned in with that wide open drooly mouth. It was the sweetest thing. I grabbed the camera and snapped a few pics. They are just too sweet. Here they are.





Planting one on Addie's forehead.














Right in the kisser.















Connor really puckers up those lips. Addie looks at him so lovingly.














Addie looks at me like, "Haven't you ever seen us be sweet before". "Get over it".







Addie is really doing so many new things. She has been dancing for a while and when she does I say Dance-Dance. She now is trying to say it when she dances. It comes out "Dan-Dan". It is so cute. She also is saying no-no all the time. Tonight when I laid her down she said "ni-ni". She was saying night-night because I always say it to her at nap and bed time and stroke her hair a couple of times. She is always picking up the phone, putting it to her ear, and babbling away. She knows what that thing is for. Also, yesterday while I was at a doctor's appointment my good friend Elizabeth watched them. She said she saw Addie pick up her lotion fool around with it and then rub her arm. She said it looked like Addie was pretending to put on lotion! Addie is also starting to walk real well and doing it more and more. She is also starting to squat and bend at the knees. So, her balance is really improving. It is so amazing to see her do all these new things. Oh yeah, her black eye is healing up nicely and quickly. Thank goodness.
Connor is doing pretty good lately. The other night he was crying and I went to check on him and he projectile vomited everywhere. And then he was fine. It was really strange. He enjoys the little boy that I keep a few hours 2 days a week. Monday we did some finger painting. Connor really liked it. He loves Play Doh too. He still hates coloring. lol. His favorite movie right now is Toy Story 2.
I had a job interview yesterday and it went really well. She told me at the interview that she wants me to work for her. This is the play therapy job I talked about last week. She told me I can do part time, full time, or whatever I want. She has never hired a part time therapist so she was going to take a few days to figure out the pay she could offer me and call me back. So, I am just waiting to hear back from her before I can make a decision. I hope it is what I am expecting it to be. If it is, I am planning to do it 3 days a week and I have my child care all figured out. My good friend Cooney(real name Elizabeth) is leaving the local Early Intervention to get her Masters. She is free on Mondays and Fridays so she will keep them those 2 days at my house. My neighbor and good friend Candy(Reagan's mom) will watch them on Wednesdays. I will be off on Tuesdays and Thursdays to enjoy my kiddos all day long. Once I hear back from her about the $, I will let y'all know.
I will end the post with pictures of Connor fingerpainting.





Here he is in his apron, ready to go!


















My little artist in the making.

Addie got a shiner! :(

Now that Addie is starting to walk around some, bumps and bruises are to be expected. But not black eyes!!! Today she fell and hit her cheek bone/eye on the metal bar on the end table. I immediately scooped her up and held her. Wes said"Oh my God" and I knew it wasn't good. Wes normally says "Oh, she's fine" because normally I worry about every little bump. I looked and it was already bruising and swelling. She ate dinner and went to bed shortly after. While she was eating, I snapped a pic. That is why she has a bit of food on her face. It doesn't really show how bad it looks. I am praying it looks better in the morning and not worse. Looks like we may be delaying the 1 year pictures.

They are gone! And Addie's video debut on the blog!

Mine and Doodles' best friends have left for 16 days! I dunno what we are going to do without them. Be bored, that's for sure! Candy and Reagan have gone to visit family in Alaska for 16 days. They are going to miss Addie's first birthday party too. Connor asked to play with Reagan when he woke up at 7 am. He is going to have a long, hard 16 days!
Wes is gone to take a friend to buy a car so we haven't been doing much this morning. I straightened up the house and just played with Addie a bit. Here is a video of her. She took a short walk, crawled, and did some jabbering. Excuse how awful I look but it is a lazy Sat morning. Also, Addie's shirt is a bit too big but she is still just so petite. She can walk much farther than she did in this video. I made it a short distance to set her up for success for her video debut on the blog. lol. If you listen at the end she says dada and no-no-no. She decided she was too cool to wave bye-bye to the camera. It does sound like she says bye but it may be wishful thinking on my part. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-6bqQW6VXo
Also, exciting news for me! Addie said mama today. Bout time!

Is it Friday yet?

I dunno why this question even matters considering I stay at home. lol. I still find myself looking forward to the weekend even though I don't work any days! This may not be the case for much longer though. A couple of weeks ago I sent out my cover letter and resume to the best therapy agency here in town for a developmental play therapist position. Well, early this week the owner called and said she has been wanting to call me but has been real busy. She wants to talk to me about a position! I am going to meet with her on Tuesday. I am hoping we can work out something for part time bc I have already got child care worked out with 2 of my best friends. If I work Mon, Wed, and Fri I can pay child care and still make quite a pretty penny! This would be the best of both world bc my children would be in the care of a best friend, it would be part time, and I would still have plenty of time to spend with the kids. It would also be nice for money to not be so tight.... of course! Anyways, please pray that this works out perfectly for us and she wants to hire me!
This has also been a big week for Addie. She has started walking from place to place instead of having to be bribed. Of course she still crawls and falls down but she gets better every day. She loves walking too! She has the biggest grins and giggles when she is walking. She also said her fist word this week. She said "no-no". It was so cute. She said it bc I had just said it to her. She says it quite a bit now. She is just doing more and more everyday. She is incredible to watch.
Connor had a fun week. I watch a little boy for 3 hours, 2 days a week. He and Connor have the best time. Not as much fun as he has with his buddy Reagan, but still a pretty good time. lol. Connor also had another appointment with the ENT this week. He passed his hearing test but was on the low side of average. The ENT and I discussed his issues with noises. He explained 2 structural things that could be affecting it and we also discussed the possibility of Auditory Sensory Integration Dysfunction. He agreed that it is a possibility. If there is no improvement in the next 2 months, he would like us to seek more evaluations to investigate the sensory issues. He is a good doctor and I am glad we are seeing him.
Connor and I are going to have a sad, boring next couple of weeks. Our best friends are leaving on Sat to go to Alaska for 16 days! I dunno what we are going to do with ourselves while they are gone.
I guess that is all for now, but I do want to share a few pics. :) I always love sharing pics!





Addie loved being pulled around in her diaper drawer by Connor.














Pasta is so yummy! And messy! Doesn't learning to self-feed look fun. At least the spork is actually in her hand for once. lol.
















Biting into a big dill pickle.



















The face she made after she bit into the pickle. She really likes the pickle a lot though surprisingly.
















Look at my big girl brushing her teeth. I had already done the real brushing.















Reagan giving Addie her birthday present since they will be in Alaska for Addie's actual birthday.

Rice, Rice Baby

I just thought this was too funny! My title is Rice, Rice Baby instead of Ice, Ice Baby. LOL. A few days ago I decided to let Addie try to feed herself some rice. She often grabs the spoon from me and gets it to her mouth so I gave her a chance on her own. She ate one bite with the spoon and then went at it with her hands. She loved it and made such a mess. It made for great pictures though! Here is my rice, rice baby! :)







Our little girl has also started taking some steps! Last Sunday we bribed her with bites of sausage off of Wes' pizza. The first time she made it 3 steps and after a few tries she could go 8! She can go about 10 now and sometimes she just falls down after a couple. She isn't really interested in walking without a bribe though. We are just going to keep working with her and she will get it in no time! She walks great beside me with just one hand held. Our little baby girl is growing up!
Also, who new Addie likes pickles?! Yesterday she was fussing while I was making her dinner so Wes gave her a bite of pickle. She made a little face but loved it. She would have eaten the whole thing if he let her I bet. I am just so surprised that she liked a pickle. She also LOVES blueberries and cantelope. I hope she keeps liking everything. Doodles is so picky so I hope she won't be.
Well I better run get a shower while the kiddos are napping. Later.

Our Fourth Of July

I know it was a week ago but I am trying to catch up my blog since I was a slacker for 2 months. We had a fun 4th, maybe a little too much fun. We made plans with our friends/neighbors Candy, Kevin, and their daughter Reagan. We went to the event on post bc it was supposed to have carnival rides. We were very disappointed to see 1 ride our kids were old enough for. It was also a really hot day so we didn't stay long. While we were there Connor had to pee twice and poop once. Wes handled it like a sweet hubby so I didn't have to go in the Porta-Potty. I love that man! Here are a few pics from the post event.






Both the kiddos looking all patriotic in the red, white, and blue.


















A lot of people stopped us to tell us how cute Addie was. The lady with the Harris Teeter set up took her picture.

















Connor and Reagan riding the only kiddy ride they had. They enjoyed it though.














I just liked this picture of Doodles. He looks so sweet.



















Doodles and Daddy. Daddy was tickling him.
















Doodles and Reagan dancing to the music. I believe it was Dakota Rain playing on stage.








When we got back home we cooked out and built a fire to roast marshmallows. The kids loved making the smores. Dinner was yummy. The beverages of the night consisted of daquaris, beer, and Jager. We bought some fireworks at Walmart and they were terrible. Never waste your money on them! Connor flipped out about all the fireworks going on. He has always had some pretty serious issues with noise, some hardly noticeable sounds and others may be loud. We are beginning to think auditory sensory integration dysfunction. We are seeing an ENT about his ears and I am going to pursue having him evaluated by an OT about the sensory stuff. Anyways, he went to bed because he couldn't handle the fireworks. He was so upset I was surprised he went to sleep. The night ended for us adults about midnight. I am not used to staying up so late or use to drinking.




Building the fire in their back yard to roast the marshmallows.















The kiddos were proud of their marshmallows.















Candy and I after a few drinks. Please excuse how awful I look. It had been a hot day.










Wes with his sparkler. LOL

















This is why you don't buy fireworks at Walmart. They all look just like this!