A Hug, A Kiss and an Invasion of Personal Space

As we were uploading pictures from the potty experience, we turned around and found the following scene. Thankfully, we had our camera right there. Buster is so tolerant of Addison's many kisses and hugs each day. And, as you can tell, she practically sat on top of his face in order to do so... his head was on the pillow before she sat down:) Very sweet. I hope our next child is as affectionate as she is. What are the odds of that? :)

I Can't Believe It!

Yep, that is my proud kiddo peeing in the potty. We're not really potty training, but I keep asking her hoping one day that it will happen.... and it did!! Now, I'm off to watch the snow falling outside!

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday Scott and I celebrated our 7th anniversary! It will be 12 years this March since our first date! Crazy how fast time flies. To say that we're soul mates in an understatement. I'm thankful to God each and every day that I am married to my best friend.

And, to end this somewhat sappy post, let me just say that we ended our night by playing the Wii. Good times.

More Bows!

Before we left Nana's house, she let me look through her amazing assortment of ribbon. It was like a second Christmas for me! So, as Scott and Brent played Scrabble one night, I started making a few new bows. Hours later, I ended up with 23 new bows. Thanks, Nana, for providing new bows for Addison and baby girl!

Trip back home!

We just got back home from visiting our families back home in North Carolina. We had a little snow a day after we got here, but evidently we missed the BIG snow in Tulsa on Christmas Eve! We spent the first part of our trip in Asheboro with my mom, grandmother, brothers and their families. We spent a lot of time playing with the cousins, and even visited Great Grandmother in the nursing home each day. Addison liked riding in Great Grandmother's wheelchair, playing with the controls that moved parts of her chair and bed, as well as playing hide and seek. We enjoyed watching Addie interact with her cousins Ethan, Eli, and Erin, who is four months older. We were hoping that Erin would teach her how to go to the bathroom on the potty, but after sitting on the potty a few times, the interest was gone:(

Four generations: My grandmother, Mom, Addie and me

Fascinated by Uncle Tim's mouth

Tim's wife, Aunt Kasey

Playing with Great Grandmother's remote for her bed

Addison and cousin Erin making joyful noise
Happy times: Addison seeing a new doll

The second part of the trip was with Scott's family in Cary. We started off by getting together with a couple from our old small group. The next day, we continued with a playdate with friends, moms, and Nanas from the church where we grew up. The kiddos were born within a couple months of each other, so it has been fun watching how their interactions change each time we visit. Addison was a little shy at first, but quickly got reacquainted with her friends Colton and Ivy before long. Shrieks, laughs, running, hiding... let's just say the kiddos were tired afterwards! Later, we visited my Uncle Gary and Shirley. Back at Nana and Poppa's house, Addison enjoyed watching the squirrels eating their food right outside the window each day. Of course, she didn't mind all of the extra attention from Nana, Poppa and Uncle Brent. Scott and I were able to visit our old church for their Christmas Eve service before going as a family to the church where Scott and I grew up.

Playdate with Ivy and Colton. You should have seen the moves we were doing behind the camera to get them to smile!!

Uncle Brent and me comparing bellies; Addison making out with Santa on the side

Brent, Nana, Poppa and us

Making her first cookie with Nana: Icing and LOTS of sprinkles

Week 27

Here I am-Week 27. Officially less than three months away! People keep asking me in public when I'm due. When I say March, they sometimes give me an, "Ohhhhhh." Hmm. Not sure what that ohhhhh means. (To which I usually reply with a sweet smile that you always look bigger faster the second time around.) I had my doctor's appointment yesterday and I'm still celebrating that I only gained 3 pounds this month versus the 7 pounds I gained each month for the past two months. Now, where's my ice cream with chocolate and peanut butter chips...

On another note, we decided to get Addison big girl furniture before the next baby comes (though I'm not looking forward to her being in a bed that she can get out of). After looking for beds and dressers and getting sticker shock from everywhere we went, we just happened to go to Mathis Brothers here this weekend (If you don't live around here, it's the biggest furniture store you've seriously ever seen!) and we found a white head board in the "AS IS" room for $99! Add a frame for $30 and there you go. Oh, how I love the "AS IS" room! Pictures of her new room won't be coming until February when we put it all together. Here's the $99 head board. Yes, it came with other parts, but Scott disassembled it to get it in the car.

As for baby, she will be staying (big gulp) in our room for a little while (those who know me know I DO NOT like this-we will see how long it lasts!) until all of our family leave and then she'll take over the guest room.

Santa

We fortunately live about 5 minutes away from Bass Pro, which is a huge plus at Christmas. They have Santa there most nights and weekends and the best part is that you can bring your own camera to get pictures of your kiddo with Santa! That means FREE! Scott first took her several weeks ago, but he ended up with a blank stare from Addison in the picture. Then, we went this past weekend but there was an hour wait. So, today was our third and final attempt before heading to North Carolina this week! She saw Santa and kept saying his name, but this is what happened when we got up there:)

Bouncy Barn

We went to the Bouncy Barn near our house for a playdate with some friends on Friday. I was secretly hoping it would have the same effect on Addison as before (she fell asleep at 7 at night that time). Unfortunately, she didn't want to bounce as much as I had hoped, though it still made her pretty tired. We tried to get Addison in the picture with her friend Brody, but as soon as he heard me say, "Say cheese!" he quickly darted into the house:) Smart boy!

Baby Name

We've been asked a bunch what baby girl Beam's name will be... you all KNOW I'm no secret keeper! :) We're 95% sure it will be Emma (not sure of the middle name yet, though). Addison was going to be Emma for a long time, and I almost changed it in the hospital as we were filling out the birth certificate paperwork! We recently asked Addison to say Emma's name to see if she could... first she said "Mamu" followed by "Mama." Still working on it!

24 Weeks

Jamie N, sorry this took so long... I managed to get Scott to take a pic right before I left to teach class this morning! These days I don't always get ready or get out of my PJs if I don't have to:)

Flower Hats!

I've seen flower hats on etsy.com and a few photographer's websites (usually on newborns), so I went to a huge craft fair in Tulsa today hoping to find them! I found the hats for $5 and the flower clips for an additional $3-8 (depending on the size), so I decided to examine the flower clips to see how easily I could make them. Yep, super easy and CHEAP! All I did was go to Walmart (where I was going to get groceries anyway), bought a few flowers, cut the ends off and hot glued them on alligator clips that I already had! I also had some ribbon already at home that I thought would look cute on the hat with the pink flower, so I just decided to add that at the last minute. I may add more later, but it's a good start! You do have to work with the flowers a little and hot glue them in a few places, but it was really easy!

This lasted about 1 minute...

Right before she said, "OFF OFF!" That was it-she was done being my model:)

The best part is that you can make a bunch of different clips of different flowers depending on the outfit! Oh, and there are two black ones because I had to get baby sister one, too!

Tutu!

After looking for tulle to be on sale at Hobby Lobby for quite some time, it finally happened this week! Then, a surprise package from Nana and Poppa arrived today with a cute pink NC State shirt and pom poms to make the outfit complete:) Addison loves the tutu I made and ran all over the house tonight with her baby and pom poms in tow... which is why it was VERY difficult to get her to stay still long enough to even get a picture. Love this girly girl! Oh, and it cost less than $7.00 to make the tutu! I may add some ribbon to it later, but we'll see!

Getting ready to jump.

Tina Horn, this picture should make you and Jason proud!! I know it's not all red and white, but she's definitely a wolfpacker!

Time with Daddy

When I came home at 8pm tonight, this is what I found:

Evidently Scott and Addison sat down on the couch around 7 to watch a little football and just like her Mom, it put her right to sleep! She was completely out within a few mintues. Um, why hasn't she ever done that for me? I don't think this child has ever gone to sleep that early!

The Times I Cherish

I was making dinner the other night with Addison and it just hit me how special this time is for the two of us right now. In between helping me with different tasks, she decided to take out all of my mushrooms and line them up neatly in a row on the counter... is this child a product of Scott and me or what!! Later, she helped me tear the lettuce into small pieces for a salad and I just realized how much I cherish making dinner with her each night. She loves to sit up on the counter and watch/help me while I explain what I'm doing. As we talk, I can't help but hope that this will last forever, but I know it may not. So, I cherish these moments while I still have them.

Halloween Costume

Since Addison was not in the mood for pictures on Halloween (she cried as Scott tried to take a picture of her), I thought I'd try to get one today. Here's what happened:

We started out with this (not quite what I meant when I asked her to sit on the ottoman) Then this:)

Finally, we got ONE!

Family Photos (Round Two!)

It was a GORGEOUS day in Tulsa, perfect for round two of our family photos. Thanks to Missy (a fellow Jazzercise instructor and great friend) and her family for taking pictures and trying to get Addison to smile! I'm glad we were able to get a few in between Addison's cries:) A very short nap plus an hour of taking pictures of both families equaled one unhappy child at times!

Soothing a sad baby!

First Attempt at a Family Photo!

Uncle Brent came to visit this weekend, so in exchange for cooking great meals for him, I asked him to try to to get a family photo:) Addison and Buster were not the most cooperative and it was probably a little too dark and windy out to really get a good picture. So, we'll try another day!

Isn't this sweet... she wanted to hold Brent's hand:)

Pumpkin Patch

I know it's been a couple of weeks since my last post, but I'm pregnant, still really tired, and haven't touched my camera until today:) It was extremely windy at the pumpkin patch, but it was sunny and warm-a nice change to the cool, rainy days we've had lately. Addison loved the pumpkins, the ponies, and most of all the inflatable cat and pumpkin. I told Scott we may just turn into people with the inflatable yard decorations just because she loves them so much. (To which he replied, "Absolutely NOT!") That is definitely a statement I NEVER thought would come out of my mouth! It was so much fun to see her explore everything this year. Last year she didn't enjoy the experience because she had to touch the ground and this year she ran proudly all over the place. What a difference a year makes!

Last year:

This year: