Christmas Time

I'm back!!!

After many months and many apologies from me, I'm finally updating! Addison has grown and changed so much since my last post. She's talking up a storm, repeating everything said. Her favorite show is "Prep and Landing" and she asks for it multiple times a day, saying "ep an aning, ep an aning." She's so serious when she asks for it that Brian and I make her ask more then once. :) She also loves playing with stickies and when she does something "good" or "nice" she quotes "Now I get a sticky.... now I get a sticky." She's just growing up so fast and becoming more of a child and less of a baby. :( We're also having to do time-out with Bug, which is another hilarious adventure. I wish I could capture the look on her face when she has to go sit in time out until she's ready to say sorry or "shwarry" in Bug talk.

Watching Prep and Landing

Christmas was a good time this year with Addison. She still doesn't get that there's usually a toy wrapped inside and she seems more concerned with throwing the "tash" (trash) away after each little piece is ripped off. She got lots of goodies from everyone and we're still trying to find places for all of it! She likes Mommy's new pots and pans!

On another note, Brian and I still haven't decided on Addison's baby brother's name. We just can't seem to agree on one, but we're working on it. I am 26 weeks and having a pretty smooth pregnancy. Addison doesn't understand why she can't bounce on mommy's belly anymore, so poor daddy gets bounced on a lot.

An Early Birthday Present

Even though there are still a few days until Addie-bug's birthday, Nana and Pop went ahead and ordered her present. They had decided to get her a plastic outdoor house since she loves the one at Becky's and I had one when I was small and I LOVED it! So, on Sunday, Addison and Daddy put together her house while Mommy tried to keep her away from the drill. Here are some pics of Addison and Daddy working on the house together.

Working together to get the house done.

The finished product.

Calling my Nana and Pop to tell them thanks....

Can't you see I'm on the phone right now?

Needless to say, it's been hard to keep Addison inside when she knows her house is out there! She's loving it and it finally gives Mommy and Daddy a reason to sit outside! Thank goodness the weather has been so gorgeous!

On the Mend...

Well, Addison slept fitfully last night, but I really think it was due to two things.
1. She slept A LOT yesterday throughout the day.
2. I think she's gotten a tad bit spoiled by sleeping on daddy's chest for the past 5 days. (which daddy doesn't mind at all).
Oh, I forgot to mention we went to the doc yesterday and they prescriped what is called "Mary's Magic Mouthwash." This is not a treatment for the mouth/tongue sores, but it does help numb them temporarily. Grandma brought some mouth swambs from Riley, so we could administer the mouthwash easier.
So, 7 am rolls around and Addie-bug wakes up. She woke up semi-fussy, but not screaming like before. We did our usual morning routine of feeding Bella, letting her out, etc... Addison got her antibiotic for the ear infection, Motrin for the pain, and then we swabbed her mouth. She then preceeded to eat 2 yogurts AND 1/4 cup of rice cereal. She drank milk and juice inbetween too, without complaint, cries, or even a painful look! She even returned to her old ways of playing at the front window and just jabbering the entire time. Things are beginning to look up!
Now, we're just waiting on Nana to get here safely with all the storms going on in Southern Indiana....
Thank you to all who have had us in your thoughts and prayers. We realize this isn't a "serious" thing, but it upsetting and painful to see your little one so distraught and in pain. It means a lot to us to know so many people care! :)

A Rough Go....

Ok, so my last week before school starts up again is not going to be the peaceful, relaxing one I was hoping for. Thursday, after a great day of working in my classroom and getting a lot of stuff done, I picked up Addison at Becky's. She just wasn't herself and Becky commented on it too. She felt really warm to me, so when we got home, we took her temp. It was 103.8! I about died. We immediately started motrin and tylenol to break the fever and took a lukewarm bath. She was extremely fussy and inconsolable, so I called the doc around 10:00. We couldn't get her fever to break and the lowest we ever got it was 101. She ate a bottle right after I talked to the doctor. If I had known this would be her last meal until sometime on Saturday, I might have tried to make a 10 once bottle!

Against everything you read, Addison slept with us Thursday night. I woke up around 1:30 and could feel more heat radiating from her than a furnace. I took her temp again and it was 106! I have never moved so fast in my life. She was in the car and on the way to the ER in rapid time. The docs there did a chest x-ray and took a urine sample. Having to give a 10 month old a catheder broke my heart. The urine test came back with white blood cells in it, which means an infection of some kind, so they were sending that off to get a complete culture on it. They sent us home, telling it was something viral and to keep up the tylenol/motrin combo to try to help with the fever.

Friday morning we headed to the doc for a follow up. Dr. Gill checked her out, did a throat swab to check for strep just in case, and noticed a small white spot forming on Addie's tongue. The day didn't get any better from there. It was truely awful. I cannot express in words the emotions I have been through, or what it feels like to watch your child want to eat and not be able to; to want to take a drink and scream in pain afterwards. By the end of Friday night, Addison's tongue was covered in a white film and she was again, inconsolable. I called the doc on call and when I told him the symptoms-white coating on tongue, can't eat or drink without screaming-he asked if she was drooling, which she was doing uncontrolably. When I told him this, he said "Get her back to the ER immediately." Scary!

So, after many hours WAITING in the ER, she was finally diagnosed with hand, foot, and mouth disease. After talking with some people who have either had this, or have dealt with a child having it, it is one of the most painful things someone can go through. Now, having a small child have it who doesn't understand why she can't eat or drink without extreme pain is even worse.

To make matters a tad better, Nana and Pop came up to help with Bug and Grandma and Grandpa came over. I know it's hard for them to see their happy little girl in such pain, but they struggled through and made her smile a few times. :o)

Everything I've read online says you basically have to just wait for the virus to run it's course. Now, that is MUCH easier said than done! The mouth sores and the severe fussiness are the worse part. The only thing that seems to keep her from fussing is by being outside. Thank God we have had such beautiful weather. As I sit and type this, she is outside, on daddy's chest, under the tree. I'm not sure if it's the birds chirping, or the breeze blowing, but it's the one and only thing that calms her down. She will immediately stop fussing as soon as you step out the door. I'm sure our neighbors are wondering what we are doing. We've never been out front so much in the 2 years we've lived in this neighborhood.

We are now on day 5 of being sick and day 4 of having the sores. Hopefully we will turn the corner to Mending street soon. I'm not sure how much more of this we can all take...

One Foot In Front of the Other

Well, it has finally happened. Addison is truly walking at 10 1/2 months. It all started with a couple steps toward a stroller she wanted to play with and it just seemed that each day she would add a few more steps. As of tonight, if she would lose her balance and fall down, she made sure to push herself back up and take off walking again. Before, she would just stay down and crawl wherever she was headed, but that is no more! She is so funny to watch that I now see why they are called "toddlers." She hasn't really grasped changing direction too well, but I'm sure it won't take her long! I know every mother and father think their child picks things up quickly, but I really had no idea she would be walking so soon! She honestly seemed to really get the hang of it overnight! Watch out world, we have a walker! :)

Pure Talent

She's a natural. Her daddy's so proud!!

An Act of Love

Addison loves her puffs... she must love Bella that much more!

Follow the Leader...

Now that Addison is bigger, it's so much fun to watch her interact with other kids. By interact, I mean slap at little faces and touch eyes, noses, mouths, etc... Poor Connor was in for it as Addison doesn't really know her own strength. It also means that Daddy has to make Addison stop slapping him in the face! Here are a few pics of the kiddos playing together...

"Hey, I think they're taking our picture."

"I'll let you lead." I'm in here all the time."

"Hey, wanna check out this outlet?"

A Little Pool Play

steaming hot temperatures.........check
cute, inflatable baby pool.............check
adorable baby swimsuit...............check
matching cover-up.......................check
beautiful 9 month old to put into adorable bathing suit......check
lots of fun had in pool......unsure

As hot as it's been the past few days, I went and bought Bug a pool. Now, she LOVES bath time, so I assumed that she would LOVE the pool too, right? Wrong!! Maybe it was the huge inflatable hippo that is part of the pool, but this child wanted nothing to do with getting in the water. I thought the hippo was a brillant idea...providing some shade and sun block, but Addison wasn't as thrilled with it as mommy! She was much more content to pull at the grass along side the picnic blanket. She was happy to sit at the side of the pool and bat at the toys inside, floating in the water. She was very unhappy when you tried to actually put her in the pool and would quickly climb out. So, daddy tried to help out and get inside the pool. I have never laughed so hard! She eventually sat down and played for a short amount of time, but as soon as she was in by herself and realized it, she crawled right out. I can only hope we'll have better luck next time!

I sure do look cute in my swimsuit!

Even after Daddy got in with me, I still wasn't thrilled about the hippo...

This isn't too bad, I guess....

Enough is Enough...

So, Carter's was having a sale and Addison is outgrowing her sleepers....I had the great idea of heading to the Carter's store in Keystone to buy some. Since Nicole and James are expecting Jackson sometime in late July (if he waits that long), we asked them if they wanted to go spend some $$ too. They were in. Making a long story short, while we were dressing Bug, I had the idea to finally try a bow in her hair. (Ok, I was going to do a headband, but Daddy said no. Sorry, Nana, but it reminds him of Jean Bice from Quaker Factory!) She's getting quite a bit on top (not so much on the sides) and.... she actually had enough hair! It was just the absolute cutest thing so Brian and I decided to have our own photo shoot in her room. She was quite the little ham for the camera. Here are a few of my favorites...

Pictures to Enjoy

So, I caught Addison standing on her "Jeep" reaching for the steering wheel... It was too funny, so I decided to take a few pictures of it. A few turned into quite a lot, and I think Addison was getting a little tired of mommy and the flashes. It was distracting her from her main mission-honking the horn on the wheel!

Standing on my jeep rails...

Oh, you caught me...

Hey, I'll smile for one more...

Alright Mom, that's enough pictures...

Watch out, Hannah Montana!

So, Addison had her first sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's during Race Weekend. Needless to say, they took quite a few pictures during her stay with them, but these are by far, my favorite! :) We have quite the rock star on our hands...

Checking out the "guitar spoon"

Strummin' away

ROCKIN' OUT!

Wow, I look a lot like Grandpa in this picture!!

Let's Play Catch Up!

YIKES!!!! I haven't posted anything in practically two months! May is such a busy month for me, with school ending and trying to get everything in order there. It seemed like I didn't leave the building once before 4:00 and if I got out that early, it was a miracle! Now, the question is where do I start catching you up with everything??

Let's start with May...

On May 15th, Addie-bug had tubes put in her ears. The chronic ear infection that we could not get to go away finally won out and at 8 months, we had tubes put in. I still cannot believe what a short procedure it really is. Everyone told me she'd be done in no time and it really did happen as fast as they said. My response to the doc when he came out to get us was, "But I'm not done addressing envelopes yet!" :) I will say the after affects of anesthesia are not fun. Poor Bug was so out of it, she just kept crying and crying (screaming is more like it). I felt totally helpless and nothing really comforted her. But, after a nice long nap late morning, she was back to her chipper self! The ear tubes really have worked wonders. Granted, they are quite nasty when they drain, but I'd much rather be able to clean that out then have it sit in her middle ear like it was. Yay for tubes!!

So what else has Addison been up to? She is into EVERYTHING. No window screen is safe, no baby bag is off limits, no kitchen draw should be left unattended. This child is all over the place. She especially loves the kitchen, which we can't keep her out of! She crawls to the back sliding door and yells for "Belllll" which is her favorite word to say, even if Bella is standing behind her. She waves bye to herself and to all the traffic going by at Becky's. She says "Dada" when you tell her "momma" and then smiles. :) She hates when you take something away from her. She WILL NOT eat vegetables unless they are smothered (aka hidden) with pears or apples. She especially loves to bat the spoon away if she knows veggies are on it! Bella is her best friend. She follows her everywhere, even uses her as a step-stool to get up higher on the couch. She pulls herself up on anything that is minutely off the ground. She cruises along anything that is at waist level. She smiles when you tell her "no," with a look on her face like "surely, you don't mean it." She loves to give herself kisses in full length mirrors. Luckily, both grandma and nana have mirrors like those! Dare I go on? I feel like I would be typing all day! Here are some recent pictures of Bug!

Here Kitty Kitty

Addison loved Nana and Pop's new flooring in a room of their house. She loved the fact that her voice and sounds echoed off the floor, so she LOVED being in that room. But, what really caught her eye was Tabby the Tank outside the glass doors. It was fun to watch her reaction to the cat, since she's never really seen one.

"Mommy, do you see that furry thing out there?

"Hey, where'd it go??"

"Ok, there you are!"

7 months, already!

On Friday, Addison turned 7 months old. Hard to believe that it's already been 7 months. So much has changed in our lives and we are so blessed to have such a happy, healthy baby girl! She is changing and growing so much each day. As I said in an earlier post, she is crawling everywhere! No where is off limits for our little explorer. We headed to Madison for the Easter weekend and her favorite spot at Nana and Pop's was a pile of 3 big pillows. This is also where she decided to try to pull herself up to a standing position. Now, realize that a pile of overstuffed pillows is probably NOT the most stable thing to pull yourself up into a standing postion. Thanks to Nana who both supported the pillows AND kept a hand behind Miss Addison's back while she pulled herself up. But the look on her face (or should I say the size of her mouth being wide open when she realized what she had done) was worth the worry!

Addison also started mimicing most of what she hears so it's time mommy and daddy start watching their language! Last week, Addison's word of choice was Da-Da. Much to the heartbreak of Mommy, it was fun to watch Brian's chest swell with pride as she'd crawl around the house, saying da-da-da-da-da. I thought Brian was proud, but Addison also started making the /p/ sound over the weekend. With this new sound, she mimiced mommy saying "Pop." I've never seen my own dad move so fast as he did when Addison said "pop." :) Now, we're not naive and know she has no idea what these words mean, but it's still fun to say something and watch her try to repeat.

For Easter Sunday, we all piled into the 4Runner and headed out to Clifty for Easter lunch. There were a number of people there and I will boast and say it was fun showing Addie-bug off. She was a big hit with all! We had a great time seeing family and friends and eating delicious food! The disappointing part was the realization that our camera had a dead battery, just as Daddy was getting ready to take an awesome picture of Pop and Addison with the river in the background. Oh well, we'll have to make a return trip to Clifty when everything is really green! Enjoy the pictures of Addison exploring her teacup exersaucer at Nana's. We wish we had more pictures to show you how cute she looked on Sunday, but dead batteries don't take good pictures!

It got worse before it got better...

The good news is she's so much better today! Our little Addie-bug is back to normal, despite her horrendous sleeping patterns lately. The hives are gone. Not a single little red spot on her body to remind us of the last couple days. Though she wore her hives well and was still just as pretty, mommy and daddy are happy to have their precious, clear-skinned child back. Here are a few pictures historically note her allergic reaction to the dreaded penicillin. Side note-if you thought the last entry looked bad with hives, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

I just like her face in this picture! ;)

Like I said, today brought back our beautiful little girl, personality and all. Here are a few pics we took this morning.

I will get to that laptop...

Little of this...Little of that

So sorry for the space in posting. We've been busy trying to get Addie-bug well! For the past month, she has been on 3 different antibiotics (as of today, 4, but we'll get to that later) all for an ear infection we can't seem to shake. It started out in her right ear and eventually wound up in both for a great double ear infection. I officially hate all antibiotics for what they do to her bottom!!! If they get the ear cleared up somewhat, we have to deal with nasty diaper rashes that come along with the meds. It is the most frustrating thing and she's only 6 months old!

But, ear infections aren't all we're dealing with these days. Miss Bug is crawling!!! :) She's been doing it for a little over a week now and each day she gets stronger and stronger. I caught her the other day going full steam toward the fireplace! Needless to say, Brian and I are WAY behind on baby-proofing our house. Oops!

She's also got a new trick...she makes a fishy face and it's her favorite thing to do!

So, yesterday, I noticed Addison was breaking out in hives around her wrists and elbows. By evening, she had them on her thighs and belly, too. This morning, when we woke up, she was covered. Time to call the doc! We went in and discovered she was having a reaction to a drug. Low and behold, she is allergic to penicillin! Poor thing has angry, red splotches all over her. She is taking benadryl to get rid of those and we had to get our 4th antibiotic that isn't penicillin based to deal with the still there ear infection. It's tough being a six month old!

1st Official Playdate

It was very fortunate that at the time we had Addison, a few of our friends either had a little one of their own, or were expecting one soon. This weekend, we had a few of those friends over for a little get together because being parents is a busy life, we don't get to see each other that often! Leia and David brought Connor, who is 6 weeks older than Addie-Bug, Geoff and Karrah brought Gracyn, who is 6 weeks younger than Addison, and Nicole and James brought Jackson...still in the womb! :) Unfortunately, Addison pooped out a little bit after Miss Gracyn got to the house, but we did get some good pics of her and Connor bonding. Connor was really into grabbing Addison's head, but she could have cared less, she was so into his tennis shoes!