Today Topped Yesterday

This post is going to be straight to the point because it has been a loooooong, crazy day. I was awakened at 4 am to Addie crying. I went to check on her bc it is unusual for her to wake at night. She was BURNING up. I have never felt anyone so hot to the touch. I couldn't find the thermometer so I gave her some Advil and she went back to sleep. She woke up at 6:30 upset again. I found the thermometer and her temp was 102.8..... and that was after Advil!!! I can't imagine what it was at 4 am before the Advil! At 7:30 Connor went to Candy's house(our neighbor/close friend) so I could take Addie to the doctor. It was pouring down rain so I was glad to not have to take him. On the way to the doctor, the radio alerted about tornado warnings. I was nervous about being out and about not being with Connor during possible sever weather. We made it to the ped and I got drenched on almost every inch of my body but managed to keep Addie dry. :) We found out that Addie has strep throat!!! I have not known any one so young to have it and the ped says she keeps seeing it in kids younger and younger. So we got antibiotics. On the way home, I could hardly see to drive bc of the rain and the roads were starting to flood. Addie slept during all of our time in the car and most of the day. When she was awake she was upset and wanting me to hold her. This evening when she was awake she played a good bit and was in a pretty good mood considering. She went to bed and will hopefully feel better tomorrow for out trip to the beach.
Also, this morning Connor's furniture was delivered. I didn't know exactly what time they were coming so I was not able to shower for my first appointment for work this afternoon. I was so ill that they showed up at the end of the 2 hr window and I actually could have showered. Oh well. My first work appointment went well. I hated leaving Addie when she was so sick but it was for less than 2 hours and with a friend at our house. The family I met was great and the little boy is going to be fun to provide play therapy to. Back to Connor's furniture..... it looks so great! I will post pictures when I am able to get the old dresser moved out of his room. I was too busy today. I want to show a pic of the finished product. He really likes it and says it is "cool".
Tomorrow we are leaving for the beach. I am so sad that hubby can't go because he is gone for some training. I also can't believe Addie is sick for the beach trip. I hope she is feeling much better tomorrow.
One last thing...... Wes has been pretty sick for the last week. Really sore throat, feeling awful, and such. We assumed it was sinus and thought his throat was hurting bc of drainage. Now I am concerned that he has had strep and we just didn't realize. I have no way to talk to him and let him know that Addie has it and maybe he is where she got it from. I know that strep can be super dangerous when untreated so I am praying this is not what he has! I hope he will somehow be able to call soon so I can let him know. So a few prayers for Wes would be nice. :)
sgtsudswife, thanks for the comments. It is nice to know that someone reads what I type. :)

This Day is FINALLY About to End!

This has not been the greatest day. I stayed up waaaay too late last night even though I knew I had to take Wes in for his training at 4 am this morning. When we got home from dropping Wes off, Connor didn't want to go to bed(but finally did after we peed, brushed teeth, and changed into new pjs like it was bedtime). I thought maybe they would sleep later but nope! So, I was a tired, cranky mama today. We really didn't do much at all today. It rained most of the day. Tonight, when I put Connor down for bed I asked if he knew where Daddy was and said "Daddy is at work". I said yup, he's at work. He then said Daddy's far away. We explained that Daddy would be at work for XX days but I think he thinks Daddy is gone on deployment again. He said he misses Daddy. Poor little guy just doesn't understand.
Addie has a couple of new words. A few days ago when noticed she is saying "here" when she hands us something or tries to give us something. And yesterday she started saying snack.... actually she says "nack". It is so cute. She said it tonight when I put her in her chair for dinner. lol. She thinks all meals are snack.
Remember me talking about doing play therapy for Early Intervention part time again? I start tomorrow! I will only be working an hour tomorrow. It will be touch and go until I get all the referrals I need to get my schedule filled out. I am planning to see 15 kids a week for therapy and currently have 4. I hope the rest come quickly so I can get into the groove of things and not just working an hour or 2 at a time. Anyways, wish me luck tomorrow.
Also, Connor's new bedroom furniture is being delivered and set up tomorrow and he is so excited about his new bed. Here is a link to see the furniture we got him(his is full size): http://www.havertys.com/Product_11207?curIndex=47&resultCount=69 Tomorrow I will post pics of Doodles with his new stuff in his room!

God Was Watching Yesterday!

I know God sees us all the time but he was protecting Addie yesterday. After church and lunch, I had Addie on the floor and was changing her diaper for her nap. Connor was sitting in a leather glider/rocking type chair with a metal frame that is pretty top heavy. It was out of it's original place because Wes sometimes uses it when he plays his XBOX 360. As I was snapping Addie's diaper closed the chair came crashing down with Connor on top of it. The metal frame hit the side of Addie's head. I flipped out because I didn't know how bad she was hurt. The frame is metal, the chair is HEAVY, and all Connor's weight came crashing down with it. She immediately got a goose-egg over her ear and was screaming. Connor was terrified because it scared him too. We didn't know if we needed to have her checked out and were able to call the on call nurse for our ped's office. She told us what to look for and not to take her to the ER unless she started vomiting or acting funny. I was crying and upset and soooooooooo nauseous. I was literally sick from the thought of how much worse it could have been. If Addie had been a few inches over, she probably would not be with us any more because it would have crushed her skull. And that thought makes me sick. I am bawling all over again right now. I just cannot believe how close we were to having the worst thing imaginable happen to us. Thank God Addie was not a couple of inches over and God was holding her in his hands. It is so scary to imagine all the what-ifs. When I think about it I also feel like it was my fault for not stopping it, but I didn't even see it til it happened. I told Wes that we will keep the chair where it is supposed to go because it is next to the wall and can't topple backwards so easily or we will be putting it in the garage until the kids are older. I am not going to risk our kids getting hurt over a stupid chair! It already threw my Paw-Paw one time too so it is notorious for flipping over. I am so thankful that things were no worse than they were. Next time you pray, thank God for looking after Addie!

Dear Army,

I was already really sad that you are making my hubby go to a training when we have rented a beach house for the long Labor Day weekend. We spent our $ on a vacation that we cannot even go on as a family now. If that wasn't bad enough, now you are making me wake the kids at 4 am so we can deliver him to you. Sometimes you really stink. Maybe our next vacation will not be ruined by you. You better at least take good care of him while he is gone! Good night, since I have to wake up so early.
Crankypants of the night,
Ashley

Thank goodness for my little tattle-tell!

When I let my Mommy guard down, Doodles keeps me informed on Addie's wrong-doings. Earlier today, I changed Addie's dipe which was full of nasty poopy. For those of you that don't know, we use cloth. The phone rang as I was finishing up and the diaper was left on the floor. Totally gross.... I know..... but something came up and I left it for a second. I forgot about the diaper and Connor came running to me saying "Oh no, Addie got the diaper!" He said it in a way I can't describe, he was very distressed about it. lol. I ran in the living room to find Addie walking around with her poopy diaper. Thank God she hadn't opened it up! I grabbed it from her and washed her hands and checked for poop. I then properly rinsed the diaper and put it in our pail. Bad momma, shoulda done it to begin with! Oops! Later in the afternoon, Connor came running to me while I was unloading the dishwasher and said "Oh no, Addie taking off her diaper!" Again he sounded very distressed about it. I went in the living room to find Addie ripping off her diaper. Silly girl. She knew momma had slipped up again and wanted to keep me on my toes. We have recently changed almost all of our cloth dipes from velcro closure to snap closure because she can take off the velcro. I still have a couple to sell(and buy something new that snaps) and have been using them bc she sometimes doesn't mess with them. Well she decided to show me today! lol I will be listing our few remaining velcro diapers for sale tomorrow. Luckily, I had just changed her diaper minutes before this happened so she hadn't soiled it and made a mess when she pulled it off. So, little Miss Addie is keeping me on my toes and living up to the "Addie-tude" in the blog title. And Doodles is helping me out by being my little tattle-tell.

Only Mommy's Can Handle Sweet Snotty Kisses!

I love my kids so much. I love their tight hugs, pats of love, sweet kisses, and smiles meant just for me. BUT a couple of yucky colds can make these sweet acts of love from my children a nasty thing! LOL. Addie is very affectionate. She is always wanting to give hugs and kisses. It was already borderline yuck when I had to wipe that sea of warm drool off my mouth and nose. But now that she has a cold, it's a whole other ball game. It is GROSS because her nose has been pouring! I love that little girl so much that I just purse my lips, take the kiss, and run to the nearest wipe or tissue. Lol. The hugs also mean a little gift left on the shoulder of my shirt. Connor's hugs and kisses aren't as bad yucky as Addie's are right now because he knows how to wipe and blow his nose..... sometimes in tissue, sometimes on his shirt, or on his arm. So, you gotta give him a look-over before he grabs on for a hug too! Daddy better keep his distance until these colds are gone because he already has trouble handling Addie's drool kisses. Only a mommy can relate to and lovingly accept these things from our sweet babies.

Downtown Today & Self Feeding

This morning we went downtown to walk around for a while. I got some cute pics of Addie and wanted to share.... of course. After the downtown pictures are some pics of Addie self-feeding. She made quite a mess but did really well scooping a bite and getting it in her mouth.

Afternoon at the Park

Wes got home early yesterday(quite the norm these days and it's so nice), so we took the kiddos to the park not far from the house. We were planning on swinging the kids but a rather large family was taking up all the swings. So, we decided to go across the street to the lake. There was a new pier so we were able to walk out. It was nice. The ducks weren't around but Daddy spotted a few fish and couple of turtles for Doodles. Addie could care less. She just liked walking around and looking at the water. Here are a few pics from our little outing. Please forgive Addie's bad hair day. She has decided she likes her head to be against the bumper to sleep which ruffles her hair up and gives her a conehead look. lol

Dancing to Country

Little Country Girl *Cute Video*

Addie is so darn cute, especially when she dances. Connor got one of those music cards from my Uncle Mike a while back and Addie has taken a liking to it. I got a cute little video of her dancing to the music. I hope y'all enjoy it. The video is currently uploading so while that is going slow as molasses, I will share a few pics. :)

Video of Addie:
Video is in next post because I am a blogger idiot! Sorry!


Here is Addie showing off her new cloth diapers yesterday. One is pink with sock monkeys and the other is pink dot minky. She carried the super soft, pink minky one around for about 10 minutes.
























Here she is giving the diapers a taste test. Good thing they are brand new and never pooped in!!
























This is Addie wearing her new sock monkey diaper. It was hard to get a good picture because she has a cold and has been a bit cranky.
























I think this picture is so cute. Addie looks deep in thought.























The video is still uploading. Gosh this sure does take a while. I guess I can tell some stories from this past week. Addie went to the doctor Monday because of poop issues. We were told that a bad bug has been going around. We were given a med to help restore the healthy bacteria in her gut. She also told us about this awesome cream for her sore booty from all the pooping she has been doing. Addie got better but is now having problems again. So tomorrow I have to take in a stool sample. YUCK! She also has a cold now and is a bit cranky.
She also said her first 2 word phrase this week. She said "Tank You" clear as day. I am so glad hubby was right there bc otherwise he would have said I was lying.
Oh, yay the video is done now. So I am going to add it and go watch Weeds with hubby.

The Zoo!

Saturday we went to the NC Zoo with another couple and their daughter. It was a crazy whirlwind of a day. The day started out with us getting ready for the zoo trip. At a few minutes to 11, I was parked in front of the computer trying to get Addie 2 diapers that were going to be stocked at 11 am. They had 2 in her size that I wanted and when I clicked to buy them at about 1 second after 11, they were both gone. Sold out in 2 seconds! Dang it! We needed those diapers. I am getting rid of Addie's diapers that have velcro closure because she can take them off. And just in case you are confused, we use cloth diapers. And they aren't cloth diapers like I wore as a baby, so don't think that. They are cute, fun, and we love them. But explaining the diapers is a whole other post. Anyways, we had put off leaving for the zoo so I could get the diapers and then got nothing. So we made the 2 hour trip to the zoo. My friend Candy and I went in her SUV with the kids and the guys rode their motorcycles. I must say that seeing my hubby ride a motorcycle scares me to death. I was better off not seeing him ride it. Those things just scare me. The plan was for the kids to nap on the way to the zoo but they didn't fall asleep until we were about 30 min from the zoo. So they had a real short nap. Everyone was happy and ready to go when we got there though. The zoo has 2 parts: North America and Africa. Each part takes about 3 hours to see so we were only able to do one part. We did North America bc our friends saw Africa last time they were there. We will go again soon to see Africa. I think it will be more fun. When we first got there, there was about a 15 min period when I wondered what the hell I was thinking when I suggested the zoo. Connor had to pee which was fine and dandy....Until he said he had to poop 5 min after he had been to pee. I took him to poop and he did nothing. We got snacks since we had been in the car a while. I got Connor an icee and cotton candy. They do not give out lids and straws at the zoo so he had to have a spoon for his icee. He decided he didn't want it from a spoon and spit it down his shirt. What a little turd!! He took one bite of cotton candy and didn't like it. Next time I will know to give him the free juice and water we brought from home instead of getting him something special. Addie was fussing and whining bc we were just sitting there while doing all the potty trips and waiting in line for the food. I thought I had made a huge huge huge mistake. But when we got going, things went great! Addie never cried the whole time. She just watched everything and everyone and was a happy camper. She coulda cared less about the animals. lol Connor really enjoyed getting to see everything and the cool playground they had. It turned out to be a great trip and I am glad we went. I think our favorite thing of the day was the seals and sea lions. Here are some pics from our trip.







Spongebob eating Daddy. No wonder Doodles wouldn't get out to see Spongebob.





















The gators!

















Instead of sitting on the seat, Connor wanted to stand on it for his picture. And then he thought it was super fun to jump down.






















We really enjoyed watching the sea lions and seals swimming.














Wes and Connor watching them swim.
















Addie was just chilling.... and giving me a smile and wink. lol














Who woulda thought the polar bear would be snoozing and sunbathing?! I didn't think they liked the heat!












Connor really liked the play ground but didn't get to do much because of all the other kids running wild. I hate when parents don't keep up with their kids or tell them to act right and take turns.





















Having a lick of Daddy's ice cream to cool off.



















I love watching my big guy and little guy walking together. :)





















Connor was giving the flowers a sniff.














Mr. Black Bear was having a terrible hair day. lol














The bison are soooo ugly! They were like big bobble heads. There heads just wobbled the whole time we were watching. lol











Addie was all smiles, even at the end.




















Addie wanted to play peekaboo instead of take a picture.
















Mommy is looking a little rough after an afternoon pushing the double stroller up hill in the hot sun.



















This is how we found Addie when we went to get her out of the car. Notice all the snacks under her chin. lol

My Little Talker!

*Edited 8/10/08* to add Addie's new words. She said 2 new words just yesterday and she is saying baby now too. Her new words yesterday were "uh-oh" and "boo".

As many of you know, Connor had a speech delay and needed the help of Early Intervention to get on track. Going through that with Connor has made me stay on top of what Addie is saying. There is a dry erase board on the fridge with all her words written on it. It is such a relief that she is already saying plenty of words. So here are all her words:
1. no-no
2. dada
3. mama
4. dance
5. night-night
6. hey
7. dog
8. yay
9. thanks
10. teddy
11. baby
12. uh-oh
13. boo
I also believe she has started saying baby(added to list on 8/10/08) and bite but want to be sure before I add them to my list. I usually say bite before giving her another bite of food and yesterday she said something similar every time too. So I just wanna see if it is coincidence. Also, Addie is in love with her baby she got for her birthday and it sounds like she says baby.
I am sure no one cares about this silly list but me, but it makes me feel good considering the delay Connor had. Thanks for letting me share!

I Have Been Meaning To Tell Everyone!!!

As of Friday, I am employed! I had 2 therapy agencies wanting to hire me to do play therapy for Early Intervention kids. On Friday I made the decision of which agency I wanted to work for and am now hired! Everything has just worked out so beautifully with me working part time again. The money was the highest I had expected so working 20 hours a week is going to bring us in a nice chunk of change, even after child care cost. It will be so nice for money to not be so tight for a change. The child care situation has worked out perfect too! My friend Elizabeth will keep them on Monday and Friday. She is leaving her job with Early Intervention to get her master's. My friend and neighbor, Candy, will keep them on Wednesday. I cannot imagine 2 better people to watch the kids for me. I will never have to worry about my sweeties. I do think I will be sad about leaving them 3 days a week though. :( But I will only be working 3 of the 7 days a week. I should be and am very grateful that I have the skills to make the amount of money I will be making, that I will have such great friends caring for my children, and will bring home so much money from just part time work! Anyways, enough about me....
Yesterday I got a double jogging stroller. I have this dream that it is the solution to getting rid of this fat body! I use to be in such great shape and had such an awesome body. In high school I did every dang sport and was just so fit and in shape. Well looking at me now, you would never know it. I can hardly walk the mile around our neighborhood, much less run it. But that is the goal. To start running while pushing the kiddos in the jogging stroller. Anyone that knows me, knows I am about the most competitive *itch alive. So the plan is for Wes to go running with me every evening. My competitive nature will make me run just to keep up with him, even if I want to fall over and die. So wish me luck! I will update about my progress and I am sure this will be good for a few laughs. Well, guess that was more about me.... moving on to a new subject.
Addie has her 1 year well baby visit this morning. We are seeing a new doctor because our last one would not see us if I made the decision to delay vaccines. Well I made the decision to delay and so now we are seeing a new ped. Because of the vaccines Addie had up until this point, she will only need one shot today following Dr. Sears delayed vax schedule. She is already kinda ahead on the delayed schedule bc we went by the CDC vax schedule up til this point. Next month she will have to go for more shots, but I don't mind all the extra trips to the doctor just to spread things out a bit. I would rather do it this way bc she will still be fully vax'ed, it will just take a bit longer to get there. And we will get to fully vax'ed without bombarding her body with so much at one time. Anyways, enough about the vaccines. Addie's last day of nursing was on her first birthday. She has done so well. She has not cried or fussed to nurse one single time. She has been drinking her milk and is happy as a clam. I was so worried about that transition and worried she would be upset with me but she has done beautifully.
I dunno what else to talk about right now so I am going to go play with Addie after I wipe Connor's butt. He is telling me he is done pooping. He is calling me to come "wash my bunt". He sounds hilarious when he says it. Have a great day everyone!

First Birthday Party!

Addie's birthday party was yesterday afternoon. I was a stressed "you-know-what" most of the day because I had so much to do and so little time. Luckily I managed to get everything done except fix my hair. I doubt Addie cared what a wavy mess my hair was though. lol We had a great time socializing with friends and celebrating our little girl! We hung out, ate some food, drank some "beverages", sang happy birthday, had cake and ice cream, and opened presents. Addie enjoyed the cake as the pictures will show. She got so many gifts too. She got a big playhouse, tons of clothes, tons of books(awesome bc she LOVES books), a baby doll(which she LOVES and carries every where), a stroller for her baby doll, the Little People doll house, SUV, and school bus, an Auburn cheerleading outfit, and savings bonds. Connor has taken a liking to lots of her new things too. His favorites are the doll stroller(which he used to push Woody around all day), her playhouse(even though he has his own in his play room), and her Little People doll house and vehicles(which are all pink). Wes cringes every time Connor plays with these things. I explained to him that this is normal. He wants to see these things because they are new. And he could care less that the SUV and school bus are pink bc he is only 3. lol Anyways, we had a fun afternoon and are thankful that we had so many people to celebrate Addie's very first birthday with.
Oh yeah, I made the cakes. It was my first time to EVER bake a cake. So cut me some slack. I was almost in tears decorating it because I could not get it to look near as cute as the picture. But I did the best I could. It wasn't the prettiest but it sure did taste good!

Here are the cakes. The little one was just for Addie.




























Waiting for some cake!





















We were singing happy birthday.



















Yummy icing!!!





















My sweet girl covered in sweet icing.





















My sweetie has the sweetest smile ever.



























Opening presents.





















Addie giving me a big kiss.



























My baby holding her baby.





















Addie pushing her stroller.



















Playing in her play house.



























Addie and Daddy



















Me and Addie



















Good thing the party is over because somebody got cranky and tired.