Ho Ho

What I am laughing about today: Addy got a children's Bible from someone at church as a gift and we usually read a story from it before bed. Her new favorite character is Noah but he has a white beard and happens to wear a red hat in the picture so she has started calling him "Ho Ho!" I guess he does kind of look like Santa?!

Happy Valentine's Day!

SNOW!

It was so relaxing watching the snow fall outside last night!  I went out and gathered some "clean" snow and tried to make snow cream... it was more like a snow milkshake when I finished!  Addy had fun watching it snow outside and we took her out for a few minutes this morning before work. She didn't seem to care too much about it and wanted to walk down the street instead of playing in the cold white stuff in the yard!  It was cold so we didn't stay out very long. It was SO pretty though!   

Addy couldn't turn her head because she had so many layers on... she was a little marshmallow puff!

I know, there is a Christmas flag in the background (and a Valentine wreath on our front door!  One holiday at a time, right?!)

Walking down the sidewalk... my two favorite people!

16 Months!

Addy is 16 months old! 

She is talking all the time and doesn't like to sit still for too long which makes shopping trips and eating out a bit of a challenge!  Last week we went shoe shopping and she ran away from me in the shoe store and I realized we've got to teach her to "come here!"  I hear "no" all the time and she is beginning to test us a little more on minding.  Most of the time she is SO sensitive when you get onto her and just getting "the tone" and "the look" will get her attention but she can be very strong willed at times!

We have really enjoyed Kindermusik this month.  Addy has picked up a few new signs (thank you, ball, eyes) and we are trying to learn several more... bear, what, please, bubbles, yes, no, music, etc.  It is so fun to see the children interact with each other and with their music teacher.  They all seem to enjoy it!  Addy's favorite parts are the bouncing bear song (we sang it 4 times today because she kept signing 'more') and the bubbles at the end!

She fed herself with a spoon the first time last week.  She has been holding the spoon/fork for a while and getting the bite of food to her mouth but she had trouble getting a bite onto the spoon or fork so we had to help her with that part.  She ate pudding by herself and this morning she ate eggs by herself!  She still prefers to have some help though.  We are still needing to branch out to eat more types of food.  She has her same little things that she eats all the time and I feel like she'd get bored but when I try to introduce something new it is usually not a big hit!  We will keep trying though!  She is still not drinking enough milk or water but I offer it to her constantly so I guess she just isn't thirsty!

She is all about the baby dolls now!  She loves to feed them their "ba ba" and push the stroller around.  She will burp the baby and put the baby to sleep and rock the baby.  It is so sweet!  She still loves to look at books and has nearly memorized one of her little books called "What Does Baby Say" - it is a lift the flap book that asks what the happy baby says (goo goo), what the hungry baby says (ba ba), what the cuddly baby says (ma ma), etc. and our favorite one is the sleepy baby who says night-night but Addy has picked up "my night" so that's what she told me tonight when I laid her down to go to sleep!

She just learned to say "Addy" and she likes to identify herself in pictures, the mirror or wherever else she can see her reflection!

She is the most fun and I am so thankful for her!

Pure Yummy-ness

Chocolate Chip Cookie Stuffed Cupcakes

Cupcakes seem to be a popular topic around here this week...

My sister shared these wonderful cupcakes with us last night... she got the recipe from a food blog - Picky Palate.  I am embarrassed to say I took advantage of my child and ate half of her cupcake too.  If you are looking for a sweet treat, this is a good one to try!  Thanks Sis!

Baby Center geniuses

When I was pregnant I signed up for weekly email updates from babycenter.com and they would email once a week to say how big my baby was and what symptoms I could expect and how she was growing, etc.  Now that she is here, they still send once a week emails to tell you how she is growing and learning and some common things of babies her age... and Courtney and I always laugh about how right on time they are.  For instance, today we went to the cupcake place at Midtown and it was Addy's naptime so I knew I was pushing it but I REALLY wanted to try out these cupcakes so I thought it was worth it.  Well, she didn't want to have a cupcake picnic on the grass like I intended... instead she wanted to walk all the way to the other end of the mall and harass other families and no matter how I tried to bribe her with cupcakes, etc. she was NOT going back to our spot near our car.  So, I carried her all the way back across the grass past all the other people having quiet little cupcake picnics kicking and screaming, literally.  And then I got home and I had an email from babycenter.com about your 15 month old throwing tantrums in public!  Gotta love the irony of that!

With our cupcake... this was before the tantrum!

Here are a few pictures of what we have been doing lately... the quality may not be that great because these were all on my phone!



She saw something she wanted in the fridge!



At the playground enjoying this beautiful day!

Trying out the grocery cart to see if she could fit!

Yummy!!

If you didn't know already, Gigi's cupcakes is open in Midtown next to Iguana Grill. I highly recommend it!! Addy shared a "Miss Princess" cupcake with me just now and it was DElicious! It was so good that I feel like it's my obligation to tell you to check it out for yourself...it's what any good friend would do!

C.H.O.M.

We visited the children's hands on museum (CHOM) on Saturday for the first time.  There were so many things for Addy to do - we stayed for almost 2 hours!  I was shocked because it was lunch time and she didn't seem to mind because she was such a busy little bee!  The farm downstairs was my favorite part.  They could pick vegetables from the garden and put them in the bins, "feed" the animals, pet the horse, drive the tractor, walk over the bridge, and slide down the slide from the silo.  It's funny to see how short their attention span is at this age because although we were there for a while, we probably didn't stay in one spot longer than 2 minutes, except for the slide and we did that for a while after Addy figured how to climb up by herself!

Here are a few pictures from our adventures at CHOM!  I think we will be going back!

She had to climb up by herself because it was too little for us to fit!  I was afraid she would get stuck but once she realized she could do it, she wanted to do it over and over...and over and over!

Sitting in a desk in the "one room school"

Courtney had to get in the wind tunnel with her!  Her shirt is blowing up in the picture!

Driving the old truck to the farmer's market

He's Still Working on Me...

Last week, I started on two new Bible studies and I am excited about them both!  Our church has Midweek on Wednesday nights and they offer a variety of classes you can pick from.  The class I am attending is called "for women only: what you need to know about the inner lives of men" and I have learned a lot already!  The big thing for this first week is about R-E-S-P-E-C-T and how men need respect and women need love, based on Ephesians 5:33... this is the way God made us!  Something I have learned is that showing respect to our husband is a choice we make in obedience to God.  This is something that I struggle with because I find myself being negative and critical so often when I need to be thankful, encouraging and well, respectful!  I already know I have a lot to work on and I am hopeful that I each week, I will learn about how God wants me to be as a wife and work on the areas I need to improve. 

Our other Bible study is on Friday mornings and we are reading a book called "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" and it is based on the story in the Bible where Jesus visits Mary & Martha and while Martha is making all the preparations, Mary is listening to Jesus teach.  Martha gets upset with her sister and tries to call her out in front of Jesus, but Jesus tells her that Mary has chosen the better thing and it will not be taken away from her.  I think I have a tendency to be a Martha sometimes and get too caught up in all the preparations and miss the point.  And I am finding out I'm not the only one that is like that!  The Friday morning Bible study is a small group of women and it is so refreshing to get together and discuss the Bible and hear insight from other ladies and build relationships.  If anyone lives in the Tuscaloosa area and would like to join in, we would love to have you!  Our church provides free childcare and we meet for about an hour each Friday at 9:00. 

I was just so uplifted last week by both of the Bible studies that I had to share!  And honestly, I am a little afraid that with all the work responsibilities and home responsibilities that I will have this spring that I will not be able to stick with it and keep up with the homework for my Wednesday class and read the chapter for the Friday class... so I thought if I put it out there, it would motivate me to stick with it even more!  Accountability anyone?

Where did January go?

You can tell tax season has arrived... I have not updated much at all this month!  I have been super busy the past two weeks on a project at work and have been trying to squeeze in extra hours from home so that has left no time for blogging! 

Addy loves her babies!  MawMaw and Addy named Bitty Baby "Julie" last week.  Sounds like "Jewy" when Addy says it though!

We have had a good January!  First off, Addy's 15 month doctor appointment was a few weeks ago.  She was in the 40th percentile for weight (22 lbs, 5 oz) and 75th for height (31.25") and since her weight had dropped a little the doctor said we wanted to make sure that wasn't going to be a trend!  I think it has to do with the fact that she was teething and had ear infections in December and didn't each much for a whole week because now she is eating like mad!  She has started holding her own cup (yay!) and I think (hope!) she is drinking more milk now that she can get it whenever she wants it. 

Practicing her monkey face in the car... thanks to Courtney :)

What is the obsession with the vacuum?  Here she is trying to give it a bottle.

Today, we started Kindermusik at UA.  It was raining this morning (yuck!) so it wasn't fun having to park and walk in the rain but the class was so much fun and all the other kids are about her age so I think it will be a good experience!  Mrs. Erin is our teacher and she is so sweet and good with the kids.  We sang some new songs and played with balls, scarves and bubbles.  Addy wasn't shy at all and had fun interacting with the other boys and girls.  They are all so cute!  Here she was before we left this morning... she got to try out her rain coat for the first time today!  Normally when it's raining we don't venture out unless we have to so she hasn't gotten to wear it very much but it is so cute I hope she will be able to wear it on into the spring!

  

Not too sure!

Reading her books!

So Long, Farewell...

Last Tuesday, Courtney's mom cooked dinner for us to come and eat with them.  We wanted to see Kyle one last time before he left on Wednesday to go back to school.  We won't see him again until this summer and we will miss him so much! 

Addy really likes her Aunt KK and Uncle Kyle and it makes Courtney and I so happy for our siblings to love on her!  Here she is giving Kyle a goodbye hug.

Happy New Year!

Mom & Dad came over and kept Addy so Courtney & I could have dinner with a few of our friends to celebrate on New Years Eve.  We had a wonderful time at DePalma's and it was nice to get dressed up and go out on a date!  New Years used to be one of my least favorite holidays because there was all of this expectation to do something REALLY fun and stay up all night and it seemed like my plans always fell short of my expectations but this year was nice - I guess my expectations weren't as high since I knew we had no intention of staying up until midnight! 

15 Months!!!

Has it already been another month?! Addy is keeping us busy these days! She got a pink car for Christmas that is supposed to be an outside toy but since it's too cold, we have been keeping it indoors until the weather warms up. She sits down in her car and points to the handle and says "Push! Push!" so we have driven miles around the house with her!

I hope she didn't learn this from my driving habits... reading a book while driving her car!

She goes to the doctor for her 15 month checkup next week so I will have to post her weight/height, etc. Addy has a little pretend laptop at Mia & Pop's house and we were joking that she uses it to update her blog about us... Mommy weighs ___ and she eats 3 meals a day. Daddy likes to make funny faces and read lots of books. I guess it isn't fair to post a girl's weight for all the world to see but maybe she won't hold it against me just yet!


Working on her blog!



Addy has not been the best sleeper this month.  We are trying to get into a good sleep routine again.  She wakes up in the night and is awake for at least an hour and she is having trouble falling asleep on her own at night!  Ugh!

Sweet smile!

She has branched out on the foods she will eat.  For the longest, the only veggies she ate were potatoes and green beans but now she will eat carrots, corn, and rice & broccoli.  She has started using a fork and doesn't care as much what she is eating because it takes all her concentration to use the fork and she's so proud when she gets her own bite that she doesn't care so much what it is! 

She has really taken off with talking this month.  It seems like she has new words every day!  I am amazed at the things she picks up on...  we have to remember that she is listening all the time!   She calls us Mama and Daddy/Dada and that is SO sweet to hear - definitely my favorite words that she says! 



Uh oh!  She pulled the egg carton off the counter while "helping" Daddy with breakfast!



She still loves books and has enjoyed the new books and toys she got for Christmas.  She likes pushing the stroller & shopping cart around the house and has fun taking care of her dolls and even reading to them on occasion! 



Taking care of baby is hard work!

 

Reading another book!

 She has a weird obsession with the vacuum cleaner!  When I tell her I'm going to vacuum, she gets excited and runs to the closet.  She even gave it a hug this afternoon! 


Showing love for the vacuum cleaner!

Something that I need help on... she refuses to hold her own sippy cup!  I know it is totally my fault because I never made her and so now she just thinks we will always do it for her and gets mad if you try to get her to hold it herself!  I have to offer her milk all day long or she just wouldn't drink it so I can't say if she won't hold it then she doesn't get any because I think she'd be okay with that.  I tried a cup with a straw instead of a cup you have to turn up but she doesn't know how to suck out of a straw (and how do you teach someone to do that?!)  I even tried giving her water out of a regular cup today but she sticks her tongue inside the cup.  I don't want to be holding her cup for her when she starts kindergarten!  Experienced moms, any advice??

Still loves her bath!  And the toy that Jennifer, Wes & Cooper got her for Christmas has been a big hit!

Video of Addy

We took this video of Addy repeating the family names the other night.  The quality isn't great because it's on a phone instead of a video camera.  We love how she says "Daddy Jim" (My mom calls my dad Jimmy all the time so we think she picked up "Jibby" from that!).  I love the smile after she says my name and the little pat she gives Courtney when she says his name.  I bet we have watched this video 50 times in the past couple of days! 

Happy New Year!

Did you make any New Years Resolutions??  I only have one.  I am not big on New Years Resolutions but I like to think of them as "goals" that I want to accomplish.  Is it bad that this year I only have one goal?  I guess I am putting all my eggs in one basket but I am just not motivated to make a big long list of things to work on!  I'd like to think I am being realistic!