Fun in Fayetteville!

We had an exciting day in Fayetteville, AR today. We went to visit our dear friends, Eric and Michelle, who just had a baby girl. Of course, we HAD to bring little Hannah a gift-a very precious new (pink) bow! (Addison has the same one!) We had a great time holding Hannah and spending time with the LeClercs. Here are a few pics of their precious girl. I told Michelle I really think she has more hair than Addison did!!

Asleep in Scott's arms

Looks comfy, eh?

Proud Papa!

Her new bow from us:)

Addison yesterday-trying to give Buster a French kiss!

Fun Family Night Outside

We spent the night watering the flowers in our yard, watering our neighbor's vegetable garden and playing on their playground equipment (they are in Hawaii, OK?!), and finished off with our typical walk around the neighborhood. Addison likes to walk Buster and is getting better at doing so (from her stroller). Here are a few pictures from our night!

Getting ready for our walk.

Addison walking Buster.

Our yard. Except for a few annuals, I love that everything in our yard is a perennial.... then again, it seems like every year something doesn't come back like it should!

Love lilies!!

One of my roses.

Uncle Brent's Visit!

Uncle Brent came for Memorial Weekend! Addison had a great time with him and really enjoyed having Uncle Brent read books to her, as you can see below. We also had fun making Scott's favorite dessert, carrot cake, before Brent came and Addison got some of the homemade icing...

Right after Scott put icing on her nose:

While I was baking, she was having a great time with my spatula and Buster's bone.

Another new activity she loves: Putting Buster's leash on her stuffed pig and walking it around the house.

Uncle Brent with Addie and Buster.

Thank you, Brent, for playing Scrabble with Scott. I don't enjoy that game and they become little kids again when they play-it's so funny!

We also ate A LOT of great food this weekend. Her expression cracks me up!

My attempt at a photo shoot again-it was really hot and most of Addison's pics didn't really turn out. She really had no interest in smiling for 99% of the pictures, but I like the next one a lot!

A New Tool and Playing Outside

I never thought 11 years ago when Scott and I first started dating that I would one day be so excited about getting a new tool. Not just any tool.... an electric hedge trimmer. Ahhhhh. I've been asking Scott to get one for awhile (last year I used scissors to trim my shrubs, ok?) and we finally got one. For those of you who have never used one, it's like therapy. I didn't need any therapy yesterday, but it was A LOT of fun anyway!!

Here I am...I know I'm a total dork for wearing my tie-dye shirt, but it is from a trip during my freshman year of college and I LOVE it!
Here's Addison being a great "helper" outside.

Bringing me gloves.

Going inside to put them away.

Addie really likes our mulch and frequently takes it out of my flower pots and carries it around-yeah, a little weird. Anyway, I guess a piece of mulch fell under her foot and here's the sequence of what happened...

Where did that thing go??
Yeah, I found it!!
She then lifted her leg to show me where she found it. Too cute.

My other helper/watch dog. He looks real happy because someone is about to bug him... see below.

Daddy Is Home!

We were able to capture her excitement when Daddy came home for lunch and after work today. It's hard to see her facial expressions, but I'm sure you can hear she is SO EXCITED! It sort of sounds like she's upset in the first video, but she's not:)

Right after she hears the garage door open...

When she hears his voice after he gets home from work...it's a little dark in our hallway. But it's still cute:)

Melting Daddy's Heart... One Morning at a Time.

The past few mornings Addison has started understanding that Scott is leaving and not coming back for awhile. So, every morning she has started a new routine that you'll see in the video. When he says he has to go, she'll drop whatever she's doing and go straight to him, want to be held, love on him a little, etc. Then, he puts her down, walks away, and she goes after him again. So, this is a short 1 minute clip of what happens over and over and over each morning. She's been a big Momma's girl for a long time and Scott is enjoying every single moment of it:)

Now, when he gets home, she is overwhelmingly excited and usually screams. I'll try to capture that this afternoon. It cracks me up every time!

On another note, I think my one year-old is finally expanding her vocabulary. My mom pointed out that she thought she told Buster "Stop!" when she saw one of the other videos. And, I think she's right! I also hear her randomly say, "No no." (She gets that from me.) The problem is that now I think she's saying those things TO ME!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day! We are just hanging out at home until Addie wakes up and then we'll see what we do. As I'm waiting for a few pictures I took this morning of the baby dedication at church to upload, I thought I'd share a few new pictures of Addie enjoying one of her stuffed animals. It's so cute to watch her hug and kiss it!

What a sweet hug!

My little helper

You know it's been raining a lot when my one year-old knows to grab the towel in the laundry room to wipe off Buster's paws when he comes inside. Here's a video: (I had to post two because my camera only takes 30 second videos... so annoying!)

Just TEETH!

Just teeth, but really what I want you to hear is, it's JUST TEETH! She was a bubbly, happy girl today and went down easily tonight. Then, an hour later, WAAAAAA. :) So, I haven't gone to bed yet and I'm hoping that's it for tonight. Man, she only has a few teeth coming in and it's been like over a month now. What's the deal!?!



And, what's a post without a picture or two. So, here's another blast from the past.

Learning to crawl and real happy about it.

Learning to stand with assistance. I wish her hair stayed that curly/wavy!!!

Standing again!

Still waiting...

Dear blogger world,

It's 1am and I'm waiting for my child to stop crying and go to sleep. I've gone in there a few times and now I'm done. I'm frustrated. I've slept 30 minutes so far tonight. She's eaten, she's had Tylenol, Baby Orajel, we've rocked, etc. I'm beginning to think I am earning something from the tooth fairy when she eventually loses these wonderful teeth. Sorry to vent, but you are my therapy right now. Yes, I shouldn't be complaining. I know that. And, I wouldn't be if she was 3 months old or if I knew she was actually sick. I'd have a nice mug of hot tea, but then I'd have to pee in an hour. I'd have a glass of wine, but then I'd once again have to pee and how would that look...it's WAY early for that. I'd read, but I can't concentrate through the crying. And, yes, God and I have been chatting for awhile now.

Silence. Aaaaaahhhh... finally. Thanks for listening to me vent.

Off to bed.

Julie

Where's Your...

Despite our child talking ALL the time, she is not really saying many words yet. Dadda and Terter for Buster. Occasionally, she'll say Mama, but that's it:( I'm just glad she understands a lot and is still following directions so that I know she can hear us! Anyway, here's our best attempt to show what she's learning. It's not easy to capture when we only have 30 second videos on the camera! Unfortunately, she quickly figured out we were taping this!

On another note, here's the recipe for the Cider Pork Chops. Jessica, you could use chicken... I'm sure it would taste the same:)

4-6 boneless pork chops

3 Granny Smith apples; thinly sliced (or whatever apples you have)

1 c. raisins (optional)

salt and pepper

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. apple cider (I was cheap and just used apple juice)

Put them all into a crock pot for 6-8 hours until the meat & apples are tender/falls apart. The original recipe calls for you to bake them, but I prefer the easier method of using the crock pot.

Also, you may want to pair it with a yummy and easy dessert: Mississippi Mud Bars

1 or 2 boxes of brownie mix, cook as directed. When the brownies are slightly warm, add marshmallow cream. Then, add chocolate frosting.

Yum! And, yes.... I got all of this stuff at Aldi! So proud of myself. Let me tell you, there's nothing better than watching Scott get so excited about dinner:) It's like he's a little kid again!

And on another note again, as I watch the video above over and over, I cannot help but get a little sad realizing how fast Addison is growing up. So, down memory lane I go as I look at her photos from last summer. She has surely changed! Enjoy some old pics of her below.

4 Months Old... First time eating peas.

My favorite picture of Addison.

5 Months. She's changed so much already:(

Rain, Rain Go Away

I think it has rained every day for a week now, so I think we are all ready for the sun to come back out! I went back to Aldi today and I'm liking it a little more now. I got most of my groceries for $75! That includes cooking for 20 people for Community Group tomorrow night, too. I did spend $110 this week (the rest at WalMart), but I'm giving myself a little wiggle room since I'm cooking for a group:) Here's the menu for the upcoming week:


Cider Pork Chops with Cinnamon Apples and Veggies
Taco Salad
Oriental Chicken/Veggie Lettuce Wraps
Black Eyed Pea Cakes with Dill Sour Cream and Avocado/Tomato Salsa



Here are a few pictures of us in the kitchen. It's hard to come up with new things to do after a week of being inside!

Finding entertainment for Addie while we are cooking...

Addison graduated to a new cup with a straw this weekend. She carried it all over the house.

We are working on learning parts of the body. What a cute belly.

Addie right before she tries to grab my camera.