Oh the places you'll go...

The Pee Pee Princess

2012-02-12T01:11:00.000-05:00

Obviously January has been a busy month...or I had nothing praiseworthy to report. Whatever the case, we have hit a major milestone today that must be shouted from rooftop: We have pee peed in the potty all day!.
Potty training with Addison has been nothing short of a battle of wills. She has been winning. But I have to attribute today's success to my husband's brilliant idea...the Pee Pee Princess dress.
Over the last year, we have offered many things to encourage Addison to use the potty. M&Ms, stickers, chocolate, skittles, toys, the park...you name it. We've tried the stern way, we've begged, we've attempted to bribe. Nothing has worked...until today.
Addison has a favorite dress. She calls it her Princess. On a daily basis I hear, "Mommy, I want to wear my Princess." She wants to wear it from the time she wakes up....till the time she wakes up.: Nap time, bedtime, anytime, all the time. Dr. Seuss should have written a book about this dress.
Today, I fully appreciated the presence and participation of Co-parenting. Michael brilliantly thought to make the wearing of this dress her reward for pottying and VOILA! like magic the child has used the potty four times today with only one minor accident because we were stuck in a car too long. That is such an accomplishment from 24/7 pull-ups the day before.
Hopefully this will be her turning point and we will join the ranks of the pull-up-less generation!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-01T23:49:00.000-05:00

This year, Christmas was so much fun. Addison got her very own "house" which was a playhouse/tent, a baby alive doll, a tv/dvd for her room and a bunch of other toys and clothes. One of my favorite gifts this season were the handmade scarves my sister made for all of us. We had lots of yard decorations that Addison helped me maintain. She was always concerned about their wellbeing..whether or not they were up or not.

On death and dying

2011-12-29T23:53:00.000-05:00

I've learned that there are seasons in life. Seasons of contentment and of strife. Some of joy and others of stress. I feel my life approaching a sad season. I can't explain it really, except for the earie notion in my mind that nothing bad has happened in a while...so it must be right around the corner.
I've thought a lot lately about death and circumstances surrounding it. We've had two policement shot to death in the community within the last few months. There's was a quick passing. Unexpected. A suprise to everyone and unknown to them. They didn't get up that morning and think, will I die today? There's is a death that comes easily for the dying, but hardest on the family.
The flipside of that is my dear uncle. He has battled cancer for a long while now. It hurts my heart to see him and the evidence that it is winning. He is so young by any standard to have to face this demon, and yet he has no choice. He knows he is dying. He lives with it every day. He does sit and wonder, is this the day? And yet for his family, his passing will be bittersweet because we know that he will not be in pain anymore. That provides some comfort.
To the dying, they are either confident or scared of what lies ahead. They believe in a God and a heaven...or they believe in nothing. Although, even the most wretched people seem to believe in God when it comes down to the final hours of life.
What comforts the ones left behind? What takes that hollow burning out of your chest? How do you move on?
I have only lost one family member in my life, my Papa. I was younger then and the trauma wasn't so much the loss of him, but the effect it had on my grandmother. I can still hear her wailing cries in my mind. But I am older and more aware now. Now, I can foresee the toll it will have on me...and it's scary.
The only healing I can surmise, comes from the sheer march of time. Luckily it keeps going and the further we get from the incident, the better we feel.

I learned a short but sweet little lesson from my uncle a very long time ago. It's one of my favorite memories of him. We were having a family yard sale. All the aunts and uncles had brought things to sell, but to a child, it was a pure wonderland of toys and books. I loved books and saw a set that I really wanted. I knew we were there to sell our items so I asked my uncle, "How much are those books?" His answer, though obscure to a child, held true meaning that I understood: "Girl, don't you know that blood is thicker than water? You can HAVE those books."
I don't know why I've always remembered that so clearly except for the fact that it defined family to me for the first time.
Family isn't just some people you know....we're connected in the deepest, most intricate of ways. We share a bloodline. And that really matters.
It also may be the reason it hurts so very much to lose family. It is felt to the core...to the blood.

I think about my grandmother. I think about his wife. I think about his children.
I know I will be helpless to help them. There is no help to give. There is just time.

A day with Addison is Awesome

2011-12-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

I have some photos to share. Just random ones of my girl sleeping. There's a special peace you witness when you see a sleeping child. Sometimes, it's a funny thing to see too.

But I also love when she's awake. That's when the amusing statements come out and her personality grows. You can see her personality here.

And that would be nachos you're looking at. Have you ever seen a happier nacho eater?!!??

This is our 2011 Christmas tree. Addison was helpful and hung most of the low ornaments this year.

And this is my little reindeer. We could call her "Smitten". That's what I am at least.

Lastly we have some Christmas photos that I worked very hard to get this year. Three year-olds have Baaaaaaaaad tantrums. Let's leave it at that.

The language of 3

2011-11-26T22:17:00.000-05:00

Addison is coming up with such wonderfully creative little expressions. My continuing favorite: "I wuv you all de much Mommy."
And my newest favorite when asked who her best friend is: "Swoan (Sloan) is the best friend for me. She wuvs me all de much."

Tonight I sat through a 5 minute long oration about the Big Bad Wolf and and how he needed to go to time out and get spankings because he was not being nice. I couldn't agree more.

Lastly, it's Christmas decorating time again. So very soon it seems. While trying to explain to Addison that we had to move all her toys in the Living Room so that we could fit the tree in, I stood where the tree would be going and held out my arms and rotated in a circle. "See baby, the tree will go riiiiiiigggghht here."
Her skeptical response was so matter of fact that I cracked up right then and there.
"I don't think so Mommy."

Along with the language, however, has come a torrent of tantrums and excessive disobedience. We had our worst day every last Wednesday when I tried to take Addison to get her pictures taken. She wouldn't smile, wouldn't sit, threw all the stuffed animals on the floor. She started crying and then her pretty red satin dress was covered in tear drop spots. I looked around the room, seeing all the other well-behaved children and felt the most inept I've ever felt as a parent. I took her outside to cool off, but she just pitched an even bigger fit on the sidewalk. Finally, before I beat my child in public, I loaded her up and drove straight home. I was sooo upset that she was so beautifully made up and I got no picture whatsoever. I lost it and was once again thankful that I have a husband to help me raise my child as he took over and sent her to bed while I had a breakdown on the front porch swing. I may never get a picture of her at 3 years old at this rate. We'll just have to wait and see.

Thoughts on becoming a Methodist

2011-11-13T22:05:00.000-05:00

Being born and raised Southern Baptist, I have never had to deal with the pomp and circumstance other religions display. In a Baptist church, the preacher would get fired up to the point of spitting on the front row. That is if anyone ever sat on the front row. They had to leave that one open in case the preacher was inspired to jump up in it while preaching. In a Baptist church we always sang hymns, but only the first and last verses. I guess the middle ones just weren't that important. You could only distinguish our clergy by the guy in the full suit on Sundays. Most every other man would barely wear a tie much less a jacket. "Just as I am" was always the call to the altar and would happen at the end of the service after the message. It was your last chance to repent before walking out the door. We were really good at incorporating a covered dish supper into almost any event and the highlight of Easter Sunday was the yummy breakfast held immediately after the sunrise service. The only ceremonious events took place every blue moon when The Lord's Supper was held or someone was Baptized. Everything else was pretty much, off the cuff.
I have entered a different world lately attending my new church, Trinity On-the-Hill Methodist. There are robes. You will always know who's in charge by their robe. There are certain songs that we sing after the offering and at the end of the service. The same little five line tune each time. We say the "Apostle's Creed". I haven't researched it yet, and for the most part, I totally love what it says but I am confused a little about the part that says, "I believe in the holy catholic church." However, the most noticeable thing to me is the fact that they sing every single word in a hymn....every verse...every chorus. For a former Baptist, this is a bit cumbersome since we're used to just skipping to the end and being done with it.
Here's the interesting thing I've found: I like the formalities. I like the reading of the scripture in unison. I like the fact that the pastor always ends each service with a phrase that starts something like, "May peace be with you..." as he makes a symbol of a cross on his body. I like that at any given Sunday, there is a baby being baptized and in the middle of the service, there is a specified time to pray and come to the altar. I love that Communion is with real bread and that we are each given the sacrament personally in front of the church instead of collectively with some crackers and juice in our pew.
I know there's a new movement about worshiping as you are and some churches that never sing a hymn. For new converts, that may be the hook that gets the fish. But for this seasoned Christian, I have found new comfort in old rituals. I have found a renewal of my spirit through 100 year-old hymns. I can hear God speaking through a collective reading by the congregation. And best of all, the pews never need cleaning from a preacher's dirty shoes.
In a Christian age that finds believers trying to make themselves more like to the world in order to attract the world - I have found peace in a bit of pomp and circumstance, in the midst of formalities and all wrapped up in robes.

An Indian Princess

2011-11-02T00:24:00.001-04:00

By the end of the night, my girl was a pro. She would run up to the house and look back for my approval. "Go ahead, ring the doorbell..but just one time," I'd say. So she'd stand on her tippy toes and ring the doorbell...seven or eight times. Very nice people would answer the door. She'd stand silent holding her pumpkin bucket. They would ooh and ahh over her costume and tell her how pretty she was while placing a piece or two in her pail. She turned to walk away, but turned back to say, "Thank you." That's my girl. Then she'd run back across the yard shouting, "I got candy! He gave me some candy!"
I tried to get her to say, 'Trick or Treat'.
I'd say, "When they answer the doorbell, you're supposed to say trick or treat. OK?" She'd answer ok but still just stood there when the doors opened. However, when she'd get back to the middle of the street, she'd yell to the top of her lungs....TRICK OR TREEEAAAAT.....for blocks. I guess it was a blanket greeting that she just got out of the way early. I did have to stop her from just entering some people's homes. Not sure why she thought she was supposed to go inside when they opened the door. She even blew a kiss or two in appreciation for their generous sugary donation. In short, she had an amazing night.
Here's a preview, but for more photos, go here.

night time prayer

2011-10-25T22:46:00.000-04:00

We ended our night with a prayer as usual. I had to laugh, however, at how Addison ended it. "And thank you for the big TV. The End."
Hahaha! Don't you mean, "Amen?"

3!

2011-10-24T00:07:00.000-04:00

Today we dressed up like princesses with tiaras and all. It was Addison's 3rd birthday. The look on her face as she looked at herself in the mirror was absolutly priceless. We had a leisurely time at home, like most princesses do, and ended our day with a celebration complete with a princess cake. I wish I could convey the excitement she had while shouting to our guests that, "It's my birfday. I'm free! I'm a princess!"

A tale of two houses

2011-10-16T00:54:00.001-04:00

What do you take for granted?
For the Thurman's this month, we discovered that we really took Michael's back for granted. After having a surgery 4 years ago, we thought he was pretty much cured...until about 3 weeks ago. Out of nowhere, his back goes out, by the next week he's having surgery and by the next week, he is back in the hospital with problems for a 4 day stay.
His back is why we reside in side-by-side houses for the time being. We have a small house next to ours that we converted into a little 2 bedroom guest house. It's cozy and quaint and best of all, it's one story. So to deal with an injured back, we have housed Michael in the single level dwelling for now. Addison and I spend the night over there sometimes, but we are slowly returning to what Addison calls, "the big house" or "Mommy's house." She's gonna be so confused when daddy moves back in.

Ok, more Addisonisms: Whenever you ask her something that she's agreeable with, you will hear a short and simple, "Shore." I'm still trying to discover where she learned this response instead of a simple, "yes", but it cracks me up every time she says it.
Then there's her renditions of at least 2 songs involving monkeys. In one song their in a tree teasing an alligator and in the next, their jumping on the bed and bumping heads. Whatever the monkeys are doing, Addison knows the words and the motions and is just as cute as she wants to be! Last week she came home with another chant about going on a bear hunt. She learns so much in mother's day out. Most impressive is that she will ask me what a color is in Spanish...and then promptly tell me the answer. I know for a fact she's got red and orange down pat. She's a sponge. A 36", 36 lb super absorbent sponge. By the way, I think it's cool that she weighs as much as she is tall...which is very tall by the way. My gigantic toddler rules!

The Last Days of Summer

2011-09-12T22:26:00.000-04:00

It's September and there's a hint of fall in the air. Overnight, the roasting temps of the summer came to a halt and the breeze was cooler, the air lighter and the nights a wee bit chilly. Here in Georgia, there is no Spring or Fall. We have 2 seasons, Winter and Summer. Just as soon as one is over, the other begins. It would be nice to have a longer warming up or cooling off period, but you get what you get here.
We were able to take the weekend off and go to the beach for one last summer hurrah. It was so relieving to see that Addison wasn't afraid of the water anymore. She jumped waves, sat in the surf, chased the sea gulls and ran from scary hermit crabs. She played with dogs who could swim and fetch and of course there's the sand. She dripped it on the hermit crabs and all over her legs. She covered mine as well. It's some fun and amazing stuff that drippy beach sand. She had an absolute ball.
Before I post pictures I do have to add an Addisonism that happened during our nightly bedtime routine. The room was dark except for her nightlights. She reached over and turned on her lamp. Then with a surprised look on her face she said..." The dark is not so dark Mommy. Turn the dark on!" So, I switched her lamp off and she rolled over and went to sleep. I don't think I could come up with this stuff if I tried.

Daisy's Friends

2011-09-12T22:12:00.000-04:00

I came home the other day to 3 dogs in my back yard. Thing is, I only have one dog. I immediatly called Michael to see why he had brought home two puppies. I was a little irate. He assured me that he did not. So, further investigation revealed that there was a hole in the fence and our backyard neighbor's puppies fit through just perfectly. I was amused today to come home and see that Daisy's visitor's had returned and the three of them were frolicking in the back yard. I keep waiting for the owners to come looking for them, but they never do. Just as quickly as the puppies appear, they disappear. Back through the broken fence board. Soon they will be too big to squeeze through. Soon, their playful visits would have to stop anyways because they are pit-bull puppies. Not exactly the dog of choice to be around my 2 year-old. It's amusing though, to have these magical puppies appear and disappear. The only loss, a little food and water, the gain....one happy Daisy.

She dressed herself

2011-09-07T23:01:00.000-04:00

If you look close, you can tell that she's wearing 1/2 of a Snow White costume.

But the best part....was the HAIR!

Chatterbox

2011-08-31T23:50:00.003-04:00

Look out 3, because we are talking the pants off of everyone at age 2. I love, love, love the words and phrases that a new little person puts together. Addison is very specific about her annunciation. She will get stuck on a work until it comes out of her mouth the correct way that it's supposed to sound. I think that it's just brilliant. That along with her interpretation of words together in a sentence make me smile and melt my heart. For instance, her phrase this week is this: "Mommy, I wuv you all de much."
Melting....melting away.
Now if we can get this bossiness under control, we'll be doing good. I mean, who told her that she could get whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it?.....oh yeah, that was probably me. Spoils of a spoiled only-child I guess.
Addison is now in mother's day out 5 days a week. She is a class favorite...a teacher favorite...a director favorite...apparently everyone knows my child. It's fun to hear the kids in her class chime in, "Addison's here!" when we arrive. She is a hugger and a kisser - so who can resist cute little toddler hugs? Yes, she's got them all wrapped. My biggest wish at this point in her school career is that I could get her to sing these cute little songs they learn at school, on video. She sings several songs about monkeys in the trees and something about an alligator...then there's the rendition of "Old McDonald" where all I really understand from her version is "and a moo here and a bock dere." She will randomly start singing when we are riding in the car and all is silent. I am so tickled to watch her learn and grow. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before.

Eventful days

2011-08-23T22:05:00.002-04:00

It's taken me until age 35 to have my first official wreck. Thankfully no one but the car was injured. Turns out to be about $5800.00 worth of damage according to the adjuster. I don't think that's too terrible. I was happy to find out that my Pilot has side air bags. I think that's just one of those features my brain just skimmed over during the purchase. But on Friday the 19th, I was glad I had them for my baby girl's sake. They deployed when we were hit in the passenger-side rear wheel. The only complaint was from my 2 year-old. "The bawoon, it hit me in the head. It hit me wight dere. Tiss it!" Personally, I think she's milking it..lol.
But in all seriousness, it was a nice feature to find out I needed but already had.
Then on Saturday, Michael planned a surprise outing for me. Now, this is a rare occasion so the mere fact that I was getting a surprise was phenomenal. After a few scares about skydiving, Michael revealed that we were going to canoe the Savannah River! Wow he did good. We are not the usual outdoorsy type by any stretch of the imagination. We don't camp...we'd rather get a hotel any day. We don't bike or hike. It's vehicles all the way. So for us to do something totally out of the ordinary was an extreme treat for me. I didn't realize the physical taxation it would involve by any means. Thanks to the Core of Engineers who control the river levels, there were low low rapids almost the entire way meaning...we got stuck several times. The trip ended up being 4 hours long. We fell out in the rapids twice...both my fault. I call the rear next time, maybe there's less responsibility there. On more than one occasion, we chased our Ziplocs downstream. We were bruised and cut and at one point thought there was a broken toe, but in the end we made it safe and sound. I had a great time. And I am sooo happy that my hubby thought enough of me to give me such a wonderful experience and to surprise me to boot.

tippy toes

2011-08-14T00:05:00.000-04:00

It's official. I have the tallest two year-old EVER. She can now reach the light switch to turn the lights off on me while I'm in the bathroom. That, she totally got from her dad.

Summer, summer, summer time

2011-08-13T15:53:00.000-04:00

It's silent...

2011-08-11T18:13:00.000-04:00

It's 6 o'clock. Everyone has gone home from work and the office is quiet. Even the phones have stopped ringing. All I can hear is the whirring of the A/C. It's nice. Baby is off at grandma's house. Hubby is at home. I'm still at the office just soaking in a few moments of silence.
What did we ever do before cell phones? I can't even remember. There's not a minute in my daily life nowadays that is not inundated with a ding, a chirp, a buzz or a ring. I've got 3 email accounts going to my phone, the actual phone itself and of course...Facebook. Luckily I'm not a tweeter or I'd have that to contend with as well.
I wonder if it's all necessary. Would it really kill my hubby if he couldn't get in touch with me for 2 hours? These days it would because we're so used to being at every beckon call of ...everyone.
As a realtor I brag that, "You can reach me anytime on my cell!" Why do I really want that?
I should change it to, "You can reach me from 9a.m. - 4p.m. on my cell!"
We give up living these days for a phone...for latent information....for common occurrences that everyone feels necessary to share...for a call from practically anyone.
And then I turn around at the end of the day and wonder where it went and if I remember an "event" at all.
Mostly, it's just information streaming through the air to my eyes and ears, blocking what is all around me.
But, I can't boycott the phone. I won't shut down my fun apps. I will choose to try and do 3 things at once - all the time.
There are times however, like today, when I picture my younger years: Family sitting on the porch. Kid's playing "colored eggs" in the yard till nightfall. No TV. No phones. No ipods or video games or computers. Just people....and I kinda miss that simple time all the while wondering if it doesn't miss me back.

I want to be Simon Templar

2011-08-02T20:46:00.000-04:00

Michael loves retro TV. He's currently watching every episode they air of a show called "The Saint"
It basically follows the journeys of a wealthy man as he travels around the world righting wrongs that he encounters. The shows are always based in places like France or Greece. Mr. Templar played by Roger Moore is always dashing with his hair perfectly in place. There is always the presence of a beautiful woman and every wrong is solved by Simon's unmatchable wit and counter scheming.
So, that's what I want to do when I become rich. Travel the world with nothing better to do than see the world and help an occasional misfortunate person.
I'll let you know how it goes.

My sweet girl

2011-07-25T21:42:00.001-04:00

We are getting to the point where Addison is inventing words. She's sooo funny. Her latest creation almost landed me on the floor. "Addison, what's that? (pointing to her bottom)." She answered, "That's my boonyhynie."
HA! I love it. So now when she's poking about I get to tell her, "Move your bootyhynie, we have to go."
And she knows exactly what I mean.
We received a letter in the mail last week from our fertility doctor. He has discounted IVF $4000. That is a great amount of savings bringing the price down to about $10,000 to try again. Unfortunately, we are still paying off Addison's conception and will be for many years to come. My husband is getting the baby itch. He is convinced he's supposed to have more than one kid in this life.
I am torn. Very torn. I don't even have to go back to the beginning of this blog to remember the torture I put my body through, the pain..to get to where we are today, to be parents.
Realistically, I don't think I could go through all that again. Not to mention, I have a child now to take care of while I would be in that state.
Oh the dilemma.
In May, I joined Jenny Craig. My hopes are that drastic weight loss will trigger my fertility and maybe, just maybe, we'd get pregnant naturally. I'm minus 23 pounds into my journey. Not too bad for 3 months time I think. It's been steady loss through birthdays and vacations.
Instead of setting one big goal, I've decided to do several small goals. I'm halfway to my first goal.
We'll see if it works, the skinnier I get.
In the meantime, I enjoy every moment that my little chatterbox babbles away. I cherish every night she still asks me to rock her. I play along as I help her diaper her baby dolls and answer the same questions over and over. I hope I can give her a real baby to play with soon. We'll see.

A Landlord's Woes

2011-07-12T21:12:00.002-04:00

Today we had two evictions and a section 8 inspection. None of which are the finer moments of being a landlord. I often wish that I actually could receive all of the money back that people steal from me. From the 2 evictions today, I lost nearly $4000 in rent not paid. Another $160 in manual labor and at least $2000 in painting, repairs and basic roach removal. Yes, it was a depressing day to be landlord. It's a constant search or a person who isn't lying about their reliability. It's a persistent gamble to find qualified individuals that will not only take care of, but appreciate all the hard work you've put into a home. This business is not for the faint of heart....or for anyone who has a fear of roaches. The biggest irony of the day was a sign we discovered in one of our 2 bedroom, 100-year old, beautiful Victorian apartments. You know, the ones with the hardwood floors and the claw foot tubs. It was severely trashed and infested with roaches. We had to get shovels to scrape up the carpet in the hall laden with so much dog urine that it was literally glued to the floor, all the while dodging dog poo balls and piles around on the hardwoods. Yet amongst the piles of trash and yuck was a pretty little sign that read, "Don't forget to pick up after your pet!" Yes, irony at it's very best. Clearly, these people could not read.
But probably the most important piece of advice I can give anyone doing an eviction also came i to play today. Rule #1: You never..ever...under any circumstance, open the fridge when the power has been turned off for a week. It's just a fact. Cold rot is much more tolerable than hot. These are the precious lessons of a landlord. For whatever it's worth.

We finally got to go on vacation!!

2011-07-01T15:35:00.000-04:00

Denver, Colorado
Home of hairy female armpits and people au naturale, beautiful snow-capped mountains, ice cold rivers, a Chipoltle on every corner, a wide array of free-form art and some of the most gorgeous God-made scenery I've ever seen. We drove up 14000+ feet to the top of Mt. Evans and met some mountain goats on the way back down. We visited Golden, Colorado where they claim to be "Where the west lives." They were big on bronze statues that documented tons of things from gold strikes to mountain bears. This town had a lot of neat stories to tell all over the plaques around town. It's hard to imagine how the west was won those many years ago...dealing with Indians and trying to stake out a claim in hopes that they would strike it rich and find gold.
We also visited Colorado Springs, CO, home to the Air Force Academy. They have a cathedral there that is made of airplane parts. It's pretty impressive. After watching the video and touring the campus..even I wanted to join the Air Force.
Boulder, CO was just plain cute. What a great little downtown with all the restaurants you could want and the most amazing historic district. A wonderland for a turn-of-the-century housing enthusiast.
Then there was Water World. My pick for destinations because it's on the travel channel's top 10 water parks. Although I don't think the park utilizes all of the 64 acres that it claims to have, I was really impressed with the rides. It was a combo of "Monster Plantation" meets "White Water"..lol. If you're from Georgia, you get my drift. They have animatronics on some of their rides. I liked it a lot, but quickly learned that I may be getting too old for water parks. This was the first one I've gone to in over 15 years and I was pretty sure that my heart actually stopped on that first flume. At least the onlookers got a kick out of it as they laughed at my screaming.

Like I said, we had a really great time. Don't know if I'll ever go back, but we can mark this one down in the history books as total SUCCESS.

Two...and a half

2011-06-19T23:13:00.000-04:00

What a marvelous age this is! My favorite words right now are "piwhoa" for pillow and "under", or thunder as us grown-ups like to call it. She likes to say, "under, wheew det me. I stared!" Translated: Thunder, will get me. I'm scared!. Which she says a lot with the flurry of thunderstorms lately. She is a regular little parrot, mocking our phrases and repeating our words. Luckily, we haven't slipped and said anything "bad". The worst was tonight at dinner when Addison rang out in the din of dishes and conversation.."pootyhead!". I laughed a lot...which is not so conducive to getting her to stop. But she's funny and I can't help it. The fits of throwing herself on the floor are getting better. I think it's because we understand her now and can carry on a conversation. She can tell us all about what she did that day and what she wants us to do. It's rather wonderful being able to communicate with your child.
At 2 1/2, she weighs in at 35lbs. She's still an amazonian child always being mistaken for older. I can't for the life of me get her to eat vegetables, so we thrive on fruits to be our healthy foods. Nor can I get her to go to the potty. I've tried it all. She's just not ready.

But, I'm OK with that, because diapers are still a sign to me that she's my baby. I'd like to keep her that way as long as I can.

The Road Not Taken

2011-06-15T11:09:00.000-04:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Deliberating on the choices you made. Finding out what did lie in store as opposed to imagining what could have been in store. It will drive you mad. It may make you sad. You may feel satisfaction or regret. It basically boils down to...you are where you are, period. It is at that point where you have to go with what you got. There are no redos in life. Would we ever get it "right" even if there were? Or would we stand on the road we chose and long for another path even still?

The Great McGillicuddy Wall

2011-05-19T17:23:00.000-04:00

We have spent a lot of time, money and...money on this retaining wall. So it only seems right to document it. Behold the Great McGillicuddy Wall!

Church Shopping

2011-05-04T10:47:00.000-04:00

Have you ever shopped for a church? For a very long time I was on the church end of that transaction. I was the Sunday School teacher, the youth leader, the choir member and the bible study teacher. For me there was always a feeling of being on trial whenever a new person entered the church doors. Make them feel welcome, go out of your way, invite them to join an activity, etc. Maybe that's the problem now when I'm on the opposite end as the shopper. I wonder if these people are as friendly and nice and inclusive as they portray.
We (Michael and I) came from and met at the BIG Baptist Church on the hill where you are only known to be there if you have a smaller Sunday School class that you attend. And even then, the classes are so large, you can hide there just as well as in the massive Sanctuary. The options there are endless. There's traditional worship, contemporary worship, rock-n-roll worship, early worship, late worship and childcare provided so you could possibly drop your child off at 8 a.m. and not come back till 12:30p.m. It's all very eventful and busy. But if you're like us, and you can't find your class, or your niche or your place where you belong. It all sort of feels like cattle being herded through hallways - in one forum, on to the next.
So we shop. For Churches. Seems almost sacrilegious.
We've been to a Presbyterian church - very formal and very Scottish. I thought it interesting that there were that many people available in Augusta, GA to support a Scottish-based sect. Besides the hats that they wore for Easter, the whole thing was particularly boring. I fought sleep the entire time....and the benches were horrible on the back.
We've been to Methodist churches - two so far. They were both small and cozy, not unlike the church I grew up in. Unfortunately, they lack the diversity. Poor Addison was the only child her age at both churches. I do not want to sentence my child to a church life of boredom and adults. What kind of picture of God would that create for her? And I had to chuckle to myself at all the silver hairs that laid claim to their church. You got the feeling, and rightly so, that they own that place. They probably are the sole reason it still functions - through their financial support.
We are not picky about which division of protestant we are...we just want a community to belong to...that all of our family can belong to.
So we journey on. Next on the list is another BIG Baptist Church. I almost feel like a beggar asking all my friends, where do you go to church? But that's what you want at church right? You want to be amongst friends. Wish us luck.

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-17T21:35:00.000-04:00

My future singer.

Click

2011-04-13T14:28:00.001-04:00

It's as if you've taken a picture. For a brief second - a flash of light, and you have captured the essence of a moment. Today I passed a woman sitting at a red light. Her face was tensed and worried. She stared into nothing, into something as she waited. It's a perk of driving. No one will see you for long and if they do, well, they can't catch you..except for a moment.
Sometimes that brief picture is funny. Did you really catch that woman picking her nose?
Sometimes it's anger. A look, a snarling lip, a hateful gesture.
Sometimes it's pain. I've shed many a tear while alone, driving in the car and I've caught a few others in the act as well. That one is hard to witness because the essence of that moment effects you, evokes sympathy and strokes the imagination as you wonder why that person is in pain.
There are plenty of happy scenes: my favorite is a singing motorist. It is a complete picture of someone living a moment unburdened, smile on their face, lyrics tripping over their tongue as they rock it out as if they were on a stage for thousands. Oh just a peak, a glimpse into the chasm of human emotion..especially when they think they're alone.

Another day in the life

2011-04-08T23:57:00.000-04:00

Let me recap the end of March/beginning of April for you.
Passed Broker's test after 2 1/2 months of night and weekend classes.
Have frozen embryos transferred.
Dad has hernia surgery #1.
Dad has 2nd surgery to remove hematoma caused by surgery #1.
Mom falls and breaks foot in 3 places day before dad comes home.
Both parents, same hospital, different floors.
Mom has surgery for broken foot.
Dad goes home from hospital with a drain.
Mom goes home from hospital.
Tax spreadsheets are due at the tax man. (This is a huge ordeal for me every year...ask my tax man.)
Find out that pregnancy test is negative.
Dad is readmitted to hospital and has 3rd surgery in 3 weeks. He's given a drain and a vacuum pump and no sutures or staples, just a big elastic band to hold together the hole in his belly.
Big storm hits. Retaining wall at Hickman Road washes away.
Big storm hits again. Tree falls and destroys one side of a 3 bedroom duplex.
Firetruck today, ambulance too at one of my properties. When I investigate why, I get to see the paramedics feverishly trying to save a dying girl. A terrible sight, her lifeless and blue with people pushing on her chest harder than I ever imagined.
Michael falls through a ceiling.
I go to pick up dad's prescription from the pharmacy and they've lost 4 scripts. I wait for 2 hours, on a Friday night.

I will write a book one day on all of my "adventures". This month in my life will take up a chapter or two, but I have enough material already for volumes. But tomorrow - tomorrow I would like for nothing to happen. I want to sit in my room and stare at a wall and think about nothing and answer no calls and run to no emergencies. Tomorrow, I want something fun to happen and I want to laugh out loud...for an hour. Tomorrow, I'd like to get off this boat I've been riding and stand on dry, stable land for the the first time in nearly 5 weeks.

No more babies

2011-03-29T06:57:00.001-04:00

This is probably the saddest post I've ever written to date. My heart is broken.
The transfer did not work and my two tiny babies are gone. It didn't work........ It didn't work!
I'm sure that I was spoiled in the fact that it worked the first time with Addison. I'm sure that's not typical at all. I keep telling myself, reminding myself that it's such a miracle that she's even here. I know that and in no way does this take away from that beautiful event.
But this morning, I can't sleep.
I can't stop crying. I can't stop thinking that I had nine tiny babies just waiting to be born...and now I have none. Now I have no other chances to be a mommy to my own child. They were sleeping in the lab freezer one day. I'd pay rent for them every year. And the next day, every one of them was gone...just like that!
I worked so hard for those babies. I endured so much to get them and It's not something I can bear to do again.
It's gotta be different if you choose. If you decide, that's it - I'm done, no more kids.
It's totally another thing if it's chosen for you.
The worst part is, I'm a great mother. Michael is a great father. People comment on how much we enjoy our child and how they don't see that in other parents. I'm a GREAT mother! But, there's only one child who will ever know that now. I so wanted her to grow up with a sister or brother. I didn't want her to be all alone when Michael and I pass. I wanted her to have someone out there that she could connect with, share all the burdens with, have a special relationship with that only siblings share.
That baby stage is so fleeting. I've turned around good and she's 2 1/2 already. And I have all this stuff. All this baby stuff, beautiful, pristine boppy's and clothing and equipment - barely used because she was such a perfect baby - no spit ups. Perfectly preserved. I even have a handmade bassinet that will now have to wait for Addison's babies to ever be used again.
I have all this stuff! All these reminders of what I can't have again. And I know this time what I'm missing.
I wish I had pictures of all my embryos, but I just have the three - one from Addison's transfer and the two from this month. There's still the crib in Addison's room...right next to her toddler bed. I left it up just in case. Just in case this worked.
Now I can dismantle it. Sell it at a yard sale or stuff it back in the attic. That bag of maternity clothes in the bottom of my closet, they can go too. I'll never get to feel a baby kick again.
I am a great mother. I just wanted a family.
I know I was tempting fate with the whole process, but it was the only way. Maybe I asked too much.
One of my friends told me, you never know what God's plan is.
No, I don't. And some times it doesn't make a damn bit of sense. Thirteen and fourteen year old teens can get pregnant, but a 34 year old with a home and a business who has the means and the extreme desire....nope.
No, I don't get that at all.
So, this chapter in life closes. I wasn't ready for it to. I am so, so, so sad.
I wanted Addison to have a little sister or brother to bug her like I did. Someone who comes to help her take care of me when I'm ill later down the road, like my sister did me this past week. Someone to visit her at college or help her move into her first house.
I wanted her to experience the absolute best that there was in being a kid..to have someone to get excited with on Christmas morning...to learn that life isn't always about her...to teach her to share and be generous with her things and her time...to make her appreciate that special connection with a family member. To have the really close family that I've always dreamed about, but never had.
I realize this post is a series of ramblings.
I realize that my life has not really changed at all.
I realize that the only thing that has changed is the potential for life.
But it doesn't seem to help at 6 a.m. on a Tuesday morning with blurry eyes and a pile of tissue beside me on the bed.
I'm a great mommy. We're a great family. I will always mourn the loss of my unborn children. I knew they were there. I was even able to see 4 of them..and have their picture. Do embryos make it to heaven? Maybe when I get there one day, I'll be greeted by 10 beautiful people who call me mother. Maybe I'll get to see them then and I'll rejoice in the fact that I have such a large beautiful family. And I can love every one of them as we sit and talk and hug and kiss. That's how it plays out in my mind.
In the meantime, I will give my daughter the best life possible. There is risk of her being spoiled. There is the possibility that she will never want for anything. But she is my life. Being her mother gave me such purpose that it changed my very being...the essence of who I am.
I am a great mother...because she's a great daughter.

Oh what a night

2011-03-20T03:45:00.002-04:00

It's 3am-ish on Saturday night....make that Sunday morning. I'm listening to my mother snore over the constant sound of her oxygen mask. We've been in the hospital about 30 hours now. Thank God my sister is in town. She has the day shift.
What a night. Sandra was in town, dad had been in the hospital all week, underwent two surgeries and was supposed to be released Saturday morning. Friday night my mother stepped off the front steps of my guest house and twisted her foot...nearly off. It's incomprehensible to me exactly how she did what she did, but the result was hideous. Even worse was hearing that scream as I stepped out my side door. What is that? Please God don't let it be mom. Mom? MOM! Where are you? It's dark, can't see. Oh Mom! What happened?! Mom, it's gonna be ok, it's gonna be ok. Oh shit. No, don't look, you don't want to look.
There is something wholly unnatural about seeing your parent in that much pain. The first time it happens is paramount to getting hit in the chest with a line drive.
So here we sit, in University hospital, a dislocation, 3 breaks, one sprain and one foot surgery later. Me in the role of caretaker and her in the role of helpless. I've witnessed the most real and tender moment between my parents as my dad was discharged from the 6th floor and wheeled to the 10th. Found out later, he'd already gotten his nurse to bring him to his wife earlier, IV pole and all, that morning in the wee hours after a tired duo of daughters broke the news to him about what had occurred. In the back of my mind my life duties loom. Taxes due on Tuesday, broker exam, my two year-old, my possibly growing babies...
And in the front, the care of two recovering parents, one of which cannot walk. I am thankful for my husband and sister and grandmother... invaluable assets this weekend. And to the other Thurmans for keeping my baby in a state of ignorant, playful bliss this weekend. I think I'm going to have a small cry, because I haven't yet, and try out this couch- bed- chair thingy one more time. Goodnight all.

Is it Thursday?

2011-03-17T23:15:00.000-04:00

This week has been a blur. I've managed to fit a lot in this month and if all goes well, it will probably be the most productive month of my life. After 2 months of broker classes, 6.5 hours of straight studying and 3 hours taking the exam, I passed the class exam tonight with an 87. Tuesday is my tax appointment so tomorrow starts the dash for tax preparation. That, along with the embryo transfer, will make for a super duper mega productive month.....if it all works.
I'm worried that my babies didn't take. I hate not knowing. I hate not being able to tell if they've held on or if they're gone. I'm tempted to take a pregnancy test, but I feel like that's cheating for some reason. That and I secretly brace myself for the worst. Can you strike gold twice? In some respects I feel like I'm asking God too much for a second go at motherhood. But He did take my other embryos home and He did leave me with just 2 viable ones to implant. Two is all they wanted...all they needed to give me a really good chance. Now to live till the 25th.

A lullaby

2011-03-14T18:52:00.000-04:00

I've been pretty silent about our second fertility attempt thus far. It's been a lot easier than the first time, but not without some ups and downs. Most of the downs are directly in proportion to the amount of hormones that I'm ingesting and shooting daily. But all in all, easy. Today was our FET (frozen embryo transfer). We've been talking back and forth discussing the options we would have regarding our leftover embryos. In my mind, we thaw two - I've still got 7 left. That's a lot of potential babies.
Unfortunately that's not how it worked. Lying on the table, they informed me that they had to thaw all of the embryos to get the 2 that were viable. I'd never thought before that this would be the case...I mean, I had so many. So, the dilemma has disappeared as to what to do with the remainders. On the other hand, I had not realized that this could be our one last shot at being parents again. I cried on the way home and again in my bed, at the loss of my tiny babies...my seven little embryos. They deserve at least a tear or two for not having made it in this world. As it turns out, this gives an entirely new perspective on the possibility of twins. They don't look half bad when it's the end of the fertility road.
Here are the surviving and hopefully thriving babies.

Warm winter days

2011-03-08T12:46:00.000-05:00

I had to share this pic of my BIG girl. She looks so grown here. It's February in this pic...and 80 degrees. Don't you just love Georgia weather?

Circus

2011-03-08T12:44:00.000-05:00

The greatest show on earth came to town. I had wondered how Addison would like the performers and the lights and the loud music. Turns out she was a champion circus attender. She cheered, she screamed, she got excited. In short, she loved it!
There were definitely some favorite moments, all of which included the animals. Elephants were here all time favorite with the lions coming in a close second. She said goodbye to the lions for 5 minutes after they'd left the arena.
To say Addison is fun at this age is a huge understatement. She's amazingly entertaining and I am in awe as more and more of her words are coming together to form actual sentences. My favorite word of the month is "ponytail"...pronounce by Addison, "po-ya-tay-ya!" She's managed to add a syllable. Too cute!

Here's some photos from the circus. I'm still convinced you could hear my child over the crowd calling for her beloved "elesants!"

New Bed

2011-02-21T23:17:00.000-05:00

Addison slept in her toddler bed last night for the first time. She did great.
What I didn't bargain for is the fact that she didn't even want me to rock her to sleep, like I've done every night since she was born. Every night. Mommy didn't bargain for that one at all, nor did she like it.

A rose by any other name..

2011-02-15T14:14:00.000-05:00

I learned a new definition today. Colposcopy - torture from hell. That's it in a nutshell. That's all you really need to know. Sometimes I hate being female.
On top of my 9:45 ancient torture session, (Hasn't medicine evolved from this yet?) I had a small confrontation with a tenant. Let's just say that I got up close and personal with her lip ring. Unfortunately, she managed to yell all around my face without ever touching it so no assault charges got to be filed. That is very unfortunate. I have a lot of colorful words that I'd like to share regarding this person, but for the high road's sake, I'll just let it lie.
Let's recap. Today, I hate doctors and I hate my job. Tomorrow may be different, but I'm pretty much done with today and that's my professional assessment.

Fertility: The Sequal

2011-02-14T23:21:00.000-05:00

January 14, 2008 was the day my blog was born. It was born out of a necessity to share my fertility journey and has since turned into the chronicles of my life. I love my blog like it was my child although the real kid (Addison) takes a lot of time away from it.
Addison is 27 months old now. The pressures of time and age are pressing down on us to either stay a single child family or try again. For Addison's sake, we've decided to try for another child. So she can know the joy of a sibling...or the torture. I thought my journey would begin today. I had the appointments, I had the tests, I even had the prescriptions. For twenty minutes I sat at lunch discussing my fears and excitement with Michael. Then the doctor's office called with news of an abnormal test result. So, my journey is postponed (hopefully) for a month or so until I can get a biopsy and the results.
All technical issues aside, I was really scared today at the thought of getting pregnant again. I'm not the best pregnant person by any means. But, before - with Addison - I didn't know what to expect. It was all pretty stories and fairytales of babies. Now, I have lived the reality and I'm pretty sure that's the part that scared me....actually knowing what I was in for.
I also know, however, the end result is amazing and that is surely what drives any mother to give birth again.
There's also the worry, in the far depths of my mind, of how I could love another child as much as I love my Addison. It just doesn't seem possible. I hope to find out.
In the meantime, if you are a follower from way back, welcome back to the original theme!
Here we go again, on another roller coaster ride.

Addison Acclamations

2011-02-05T10:31:00.000-05:00

My angel has finally, finally, finally said "I love you." We've waited 2 years and 3 months to hear our baby return our affections this way. Her way of saying it is most precious sounding something like, "I num mommy," usually followed by a bone-crushing hug around the neck. I can now die happy.
Even more precious..if it's even possible, was Addison saying her first prayer last night. Typing it doesn't do it justice, but use your imagination for the cuteness factor.
"Dee Wod, taytoo Tenton, taytoo Daisy Amen."
Translated - Dear Lord, thank you for Trenton, thank you for Daisy. Amen. Why the dogs are so important...I have no idea. But it was indescribably priceless.

8 years

2011-02-01T17:48:00.000-05:00

The person who thinks they can remain the same person they were when they get married is a fool. So much goes into making a marriage not only survive, but thrive that the end result is two people who are changed. In considering this, you have to ask yourself, was it that you were so great before, or are you great now? I think about this a lot today as we reach our 8th Wedding Anniversary. Eight years of growing and changing and compromising and...well, there are so many others I can't even begin to finish.
Eight years ago I married a man who saw the very best in me. He was enthralled by my beauty (haha) and enamoured by my personality. He sought out my strength and marveled at my wisdom. Sitting here, 8 years later, I am enthralled by his beauty. The years only add to your attractiveness and even thought the hairs turn gray, I see the man I fell in love with. Eight years later, I am still enamoured with his personality, and his wit and his charm. The fact that he can spontaneously make me belly laugh is an achievement all in itself. After eight years, I seek out his strength and wisdom every day. It is only because he believed in me that I have accomplished so much over these years. He knows things...he just does. And it's so comforting to know that even when I'm so confused and turned upside down...he usually has it all figured out. I will borrow a description that I heard a friend use once. He is my lid. When my emotions bubble up and spill out, he is there to make sure there's no mess. To assure me and tidy me up. I am honored to have been paired by God to this man. He is the love of my life. Happy Anniversary Michael.

Killed by a Dead Person

2011-01-26T11:29:00.000-05:00

There is great irony in so many situations. For instance, when you open up your hall closet, only to be bombarded with the contents from the top (now broken) shelf. That is not ironic. That is just funny...and maddening when it's 10:30 p.m. No, the irony comes when you look up to shield yourself from the falling pumpkins and plate chargers and place mats and Easter-egg coloring kits, just in time to catch and keep your father-in-law from knocking you senseless. You see, he was cremated. We keep him in the closet. I think he resents us for that. He is very heavy for a container of ashes..very heavy. Wouldn't it be the funniest of ironies to be killed, by a blow to the head, from a dead person.

Multiplicity

2011-01-26T11:23:00.000-05:00

Have you ever thought of how many people it actually takes to help you run your life?
Today I left my house, occupied by my cleaning lady, to drop off my child at MDO so that I could do floor duty at Blanchard and Calhoun, all the while checking in with my rental office to check with my office staff to make sure things were on track. Already, by 10 a.m. on a Wednesday, I had to have 4 people to help me make this life of mine possible.... and that's just the beginning.
I think back to my mother who didn't even have a car when we were younger. She was stuck at home without transportation with the children and all the chores. I suppose it evens out She's quite proud that I was potty trained by 2 and yet my daughter won't even consider the option at 27 months old. I'm quite proud any night of the week where I have enough energy to stay in at home and cook/eat dinner.
I figure that by the end of the day, from the cleaning lady to the chef who will cook my dinner, I'll have needed at least a dozen people to function. And I'm thankful for every one:
For G-mama who watches Addison on Fridays and holidays when school is out.
For Mom who keeps her almost every other weekend.
For the lady's at the United House of Prayer who ensure that at least once a week, my husband gets a home-cooked meal with vegetable and all.
For the employees who are fixing my broken vanity stool and cleaning up after a teething puppy in the back yard and who fixed that clogged up drain so we didn't have to.
For the fast food employees on Walton Way and every waiter at Hibachi. I am full because of you.
For the wonderful men at Pratt Dudley who can find whatever it is you need.
So many people help me run this race....this life was brought to you by the generous contributions of viewers like you.

Snow pics

2011-01-23T23:18:00.001-05:00

We have been without a computer for a few weeks so I am finally getting around to posting snow pics. Addison could hardly move in her snow suite...a yard sale buy from nearly 11/2 years ago. Who knew we'd get to use it so soon. She had a blast.

Can you see how happy that face is?

Wheee!

THE snow

2011-01-10T00:26:00.000-05:00

It's January 9th..well, now it's the 10th technically, and we have snow on the ground in Georgia for the second time in 3 weeks. The first on Christmas day was an unheard of event since the late 1800s. This second appearance of snow is surely another rarity. I love Georgia snow. Everything closes, the streets are quiet. The appearance of our world is transformed, but only for a few days. It's all us southerners could handle I think...a day or two of snow. That is, in fact, why we live here and endure the humidity that can only be rivaled by the Amazon jungle...because we don't like snow.
Over the past few weeks in the news we heard about 100,000 blackbirds dead in Arkansas and again that same week, thousands of dead fish washing ashore in that same state. The Carolina's reported thousands of jellyfish found dead on their shores as well. It's Apocalyptic to some folks I'm sure. It's Global Warming to others. I'm kinda sticking with the theory that @?&$ happens. I plan on enjoying my snow day tomorrow since school is cancelled. I'm on day 4 with my new pair of perfect eyes so I should really enjoy the sunrise tomorrow. Pretty snow and 20/20 vision!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T22:48:00.000-05:00

There were some downsides to this Christmas season. The biggest was the fact that my sister couldn't come down to visit. Some lesser disappointment's were the fact that each day this week my pants have gotten tighter as all the home-baked goodies poor in. I love home-baked goodies. Then there's the half-done eye operation leaving me to experience all my holidays half blurry.

Now, on to the highlights of our holiday:
This is probably the last Christmas morning that Michael and I will get to sleep in. At a comfortable 8:30a.m., Addison woke up and we headed downstairs. Grandma and Papa were waiting at the door. After breakfast, we hooked up the computer and opened our video chat with my sis and her husband so they could "virtually" experience Christmas morning with us. Addison is such a good present opener. She'll help anyone who will let her. Luckily she got most of the gifts this year. She loved her stocking from Santa and all the goodies she pulled out of it. She also got a see-n-say and a couple of magnadoodles, lots of pretty clothes from grandma and a whole slew of interesting new toys. The hit of the day was by far her kitchen. She's been trying to microwave grapes ever since. I've found that she really does understand what the different appliances should do. She promptly puts her drink in the "fridge" after she's finished with it.

I do need to note that besides the generous gift of vision from my husband this season (that's kinda hard to beat), my mother went all out and bought me an embroidering sewing machine. I haven't cried that much since they bought me my first car. It was way expensive and totally unexpected. When I get my eyesight back in a couple of weeks....I am gonna be all over that thing.

The year is closing out, so it's only appropriate to give some developmental updates before we bid 2010 goodbye....did I really just say that. Wow, this year has flown.
Addison is climbing out of her crib...a lot. I think Michael and I have negotiated to get down the toddler bed. Come to find out, his reasoning for not wanting to stemmed from the fact that she wouldn't be a "baby" anymore. Sadly, I feel his pain. She is an amazing little individual and as much as I love to see her growing and changing, it is sad to see the passing of this small, yet hugely impactful part of her life.
Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. She can copy almost anything you ask her to. She can successfully open and unlock any door, much to our dismay. We haven't ventured too far with the potty thing because she's just not interested. She is interested, however, in the contents of our refrigerator and has developed the strength to actually open the door now. I see many messes to clean up in my future.
I'm not sure if she knew that it was Christmas and so she started to behave or if she's just passing through another phase, but she has been an absolute angel this week. The tantrums are rare and the smiles and laughs are abundant. Ahhhh, my Addison is back.

Here are our Christmas photos. Merry Christmas everyone.

Our yard!

The tree!

Ham and Turkey coma.

The mess that used to be the living room.

Christmas Culinary Creations

2010-12-24T08:54:00.000-05:00

Well, I did help create her, but not in the kitchen per se. She's still the cutest little reindeer I've ever seen!

At the sight of this cake, Addison exclaimed, "Oh No! What Happened? Ho, Ho, Ho!"

My first attempt at a cake pop. They all have flat heads because I couldn't find anything to stand them up in till later, but they do make a cute looking reindeer choir when they're all together like that.

Christmas, Schmistmas!

2010-12-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

Christmas. I've been looking forward to this Christmas since last year. I knew that in 2010, Addison would be old enough to actually enjoy some of the festivities and decorations and of course, the presents. However,I'm afraid I have the ho-hums this year. Christmas is being overshadowed by things like the fact that my husband and I can't seem to put up decorations amicably. There must be something in the recipe for decorating and renovating , etc. that is a direct offense to a perfectly good marriage. After two weekends' attempts, we ended the process with a nearly lit tree and a yard half-way complete.
Then there's the fact that I've thought on about 20 different occasions that I really need to wrap presents. I don't even know who I have left to buy for at this point.
And of course,there's all that holiday food. I've declared broccoli casserole as "my dish" this holiday season, so if I'm coming to your house..that's what I'm bringing. I should be very well versed in the BC by the time Christmas day arrives.
In an attempt to reconcile the ho-hums, I've tried scheduling family activities like a breakfast with Santa on Saturday. It's lame for the adults, I know, but that's not the point. It's supposed to provide family time. Besides, I want to see my child scream in terror as I try and hand her over to a fat, white-haired stranger for 3 seconds to attempt a photo. Why do we do this to ourselves?
Normally, I love Christmas. But there's no singing in a choir this year. There's no repeat for the 100th time of some fluffed up teen playing the role of pregnant Mary. There's no "Christmas in Dixie" light display that was free for anyone who wanted to enjoy. There's no magical Christmas morning to look forward to anymore. Christmas was so much fun when we were young. I guess I'm just grieving my loss.
Or maybe I'm just grown. How incredibly sucky it is to be grown sometimes.
I'm still clinging to a hope that having my family all around on Christmas morning will be a grand time. I will listen to Christmas songs constantly until FM 104.3 stops playing them and I will eventually finish my Christmas shopping...before Christmas Eve. I WILL be overly excited about every present my child opens and I'll start traditions of leaving cookies for Santa and food for the reindeer in hopes that my little one finds the magic of Christmas that I used to love. She deserves my efforts even if the ho-hums are smothering me.

Learning to Pray

2010-11-18T21:53:00.000-05:00

Addison has reached an age where she understands more than she doesn't, so I've taken on the task of teaching her how to pray. It's ironic that I'm choosing this over potty training and dressing herself because I take so little of my time to actually pray myself. As I coach my little one through the process, I'm reminded of the simplicity of starting.... the "Thank yous".
There are lots of manufactured reasons not to pray - guilt, bad time management, ego, anger - and most of the time as adults I think we feel so beat up by life that the thought of a prayer almost seems like a resounding echo of all our wrongs that we'd rather just forget. The less we bring them up, the less they actually count..right?
But starting to pray with my daughter reminded me of where prayer should always begin. With thanks.
As we sit in the glider, we fold our hands. Addison is always so reverent during this time that it surprises me. There's no babble, no squirming...she knows that talking to God is important. And she stops to listen.
We start with our immediate family and our house and then move out toward the outer circles of our life, all the while giving thanks for these people and things that God has given us.
My little one doesn't utter a peep until I say "Amen." A little echo can then be heard from her.."amen."
In this season of Thanksgiving, hopefully it will spur in many and in my family, to start with the basics and be thankful to the One who deserves it the most.
At our house, we're going to keep using it as our pattern on "How to learn to Pray," as I teach my daughter and she reteaches me.

10/23/10

2010-11-09T23:57:00.000-05:00

We celebrated our daughter's 2nd birthday with family, friends and the members of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It always amazes me how much preparation goes into a 2-3 hour party. I worked tirelessly to prepare the house and the yard for company. Apparently I don't keep those places consistently presentable.
Today I got my reward for all that hard works. Today, my daughter floated from relative to friend to relative doling out hugs and attention. She showed off her new puppy to her visitors all the while sporting a new outfit and shiny new black shoes.
I was thrilled that she could eat her cake this year with an actual utensil. She hasn't mastered the art of blowing out candles, although she did warn me that they were "hot." I'm so glad that I was able to video the bemused look on her face when we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. We've been practicing that song all week. Her version is a little shortened to "Happy Daaaaaay!". It's so cute.
Even though we weren't successful at blowing out the candles, she did learn to blow bubbles.
My biggest thrill was watching her rip open her own presents. She chose which one she wanted to open and for the first time ever, she opened her own gifts. She was flippant regarding the clothes, which she promptly unwrapped and threw on her cousin Zach's head. I have no idea why. It was funny though. But she loved her new shoes. Who wouldn't love a pair of flashing, pink and white sneakers?
There were a lot of cool toys and some great books and puzzles in the mix - all of which Addison respectfully played with for a few seconds after opening.
All in all, it was a pretty wonderful day filled with enough sugar to kill a small dog, but also with enough proud moments to fly me to the moon.
And now for the mushy stuff:
My sweet baby is starting her 3rd year of life on this sometimes unlikable planet. To me, she embodies the best of humanity...the most beautiful part of life. She amazes me daily. Feeds my soul with her happy babble. Physically, she's 33lbs and 35 inches. To me that's just a whole lot of amazing.

I wrote this on her birthday and apparently never actually posted it. Maybe I forgot...because I'm now the mother of a 2 year old. It really does change things. I've lost count of the number of tantrums my little wonder has thrown and how many times she's hit her head on the floor in the process. There's no telling how many times "no" has been the standing answer for absolutely any question. And yet, I also am losing track of how many times I actually understood what she was asking for or answered an actual question that she spoke. This mommyhood stuff is so much fun.

Literal Love

2010-11-09T23:47:00.000-05:00

The race will begin soon. Around and around my bathroom ceiling they'll go, following the picture moulding. They will run this race for a while and never seem to get tired of the fact that they're going absolutely nowhere.
The ladybugs have landed.
Every November, they swarm over town. They are in search of the Alpha house. Any big, white house on the block serves as a beacon for the many little red/orange spotted bugs. Fortunately for us, we own several Alpha houses.
Those ladybugs love that house. They love it so much that they are a huge headache for anyone living inside. From now until after the new year I will battle these harmless yet annoying little creatures for my sake and the sake of my tenants. In all, their life is short and for some of the offenders..even shorter.

My daughter has a puppy....Daisy. She loves that puppy more than anything I've ever seen her interact with. She reaches a whole new level of excitement with the sound of a tiny bark. When in the room with Daisy, it is her mission to love Daisy. And sometimes, I fear it will be to death.
With all her strength, she will squeeze Daisy around the neck. She'll bury her face in her fur until she's actually lying on top of the poor dog. Daisy is a really good natured dog. She bears it with barely a yelp. I hope she knows that Addison is just loving her so much...that Daisy can barely stand it.

The chatter in our house has greatly increased. Addison doesn't need anyone to be there to carry on a conversation. It's very amusing to watch her talk to her baby and bear and change their diapers and guide their hands as she pretends that they are real. Who knew that at 2 she could do all this? I'm still amazed at the learning curve that has taken place for a child of 2 years. If only we continued to learn at such a pace, we'd have colonized Mars by now or discovered new fuels that won't kill the environment. Or even better, we might all have those flying cars that we used to dream we'd have by the year 2000.

Snow White and Big Boy

2010-11-01T23:25:00.000-04:00

Addison has the longest lashes. They are as plush and perfect as the pair you can buy at the drugstore. She's very fair-skinned as well. And then there's Big Boy...her large, toddler-sized dwarf that the rest of the world knows as Dopey. So, it was completely perfect for Addison to be Snow White for Halloween. I think she pulled it off. She never was able to say Trick-or-Treat, but she managed a lot of Thank you's as a consolation. She had so much fun.

2

2010-11-01T23:15:00.000-04:00

It was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse at our house for Addison's birthday. It's her favorite show EVER. She can spot Mickey a mile away. So we celebrated Mouse style. :)

All the characters contributed to the meal.

Homemade Mouse Ear Party Hat.

This year, no one had to help her eat the cake.

She was so excited about her gifts and opened them like a pro.

Steed's Dairy

2010-10-09T19:06:00.002-04:00

stress

2010-10-06T10:43:00.000-04:00

The word stress itself doesn't even represent the complete magnitude of the effect it manages. It's deceptive in that it looks like a small word - but it has 6 letters. stress - orange. See the difference? Both have 6 letters and yet stress looks small. Deceptive. If I were king of the world, stress would always be referred to as S T R E S S...because that's exactly what it feels like. Big and bulky. Huge and heavy.
It's pretty hard to get rid of, too.
If you are to be a responsible contributor to society...if you care in the least about the welfare of your family and friends...if you are in any position in which you have to provide for someone or something else... you will undoubtedly never escape stress.
I have met people who are stress free. Unfortunately for them, they do not meet the previous qualifications.
Nonetheless, they are everywhere...and they cause me stress as well.
I've been delving into the different methods of stress relief lately. Some out of curiosity, but mostly out of necessity.
I've shied away from methods that involve medicine - although the thought of popping a little pill and suddenly being able to handle life better is very appealing.
Instead I do things like - blog. I look for the bright spots in life and I write about them. It has to do with positive thinking and the effect that manually changing your outlook can have on your being.
I also see a therapist regularly. I love her. For one hour, I get to talk about me..just me. I don't have to argue a point. I don't have to justify my feelings. I just get to let my emotions flow as they may. We do try and solve problems of course, but the therapy part is the absolute freedom to just be me....tears, laughs, curse words and all.
I've also learned some interesting stress relieving techniques such as tapping. I don't know if it has a proper name and sometimes, I'm not even sure I'm doing it exactly right. It looks funny to an outsider, but it has a strange calming effect on my body, sending it into another zone - another plane for as long as I do it.
There are simpler ways of stress relief. Why, just the other day, I rolled up the windows and blared "Wild Wild West" as loud as I could stand it. God bless the creators of 93.9 Bob FM where "we play anything" is the theme.
My mother had an interesting outlet of stress relief for us as children. She'd send us to chop wood. It's a shame I live in the city today, or I might practice this method from time to time. Mind you the thought of a 12-14 year old with an axe terrifies me as a mother, but she was from an entirely different era. It did the job.
If I were an exerciserr, I'd probably be less stressed. Or maybe a boxer...yes, knocking the lights out of an opponent is a tremendously satisfying thought. But I'm notoriously unsteady on my feet and completely inept when it comes to sports and 9 times out of 10 I hurt myself. Just ask my Jazzercise instructor who I met a total of 2 times before I threw my back out during a routine never to return again.
In short - as if this entry were short - there are tons of ways to lessen the effects of stress, but besides selling everything and living a monk's life in Tibet, I cannot figure out how to avoid it altogether.
So in the meantime, I'll embrace things like this. Phoebe from FRIENDS and her running style.

YouTube - Phoebe running style

See?

2010-09-29T21:01:00.000-04:00

O to live like Mickey Mouse

2010-09-18T22:37:00.001-04:00

I watch way too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse these days. Addison insists. The only way I can get her to stop asking to see it is to tell her that Mickey Mouse is sleeping. In reality, he could be, because he only works from 8-9a.m every day.
After much observation, I've come to really envy Mickey's entire life at the Clubhouse and in my dreams, I have a clubhouse of my own.
Who wouldn't love to have a contraption called the "handy helper?" Extra hands that do the simplest things like open doors, but who could also be used to change diapers, fold towels and take out the garbage. Oh the tasks I could think of for those handy helpers!
Then of course there's the fact that you have every mode of transportation available from a car housed in the "shoe garage" to the "glove balloon".
What I really want is a Mouse-ka-Do-er. I don't know how to spell it, but it is omnipotent. It always knows what problems will be encountered and what tools will be needed to accomplish ALL the tasks. Although I'm always amazed at how often a baby elephant is needed as a tool.
But I think the best part of living in a clubhouse would be "Toodles." When you need 'em, Toodles will bring 'em. Can you imagine someone available every minute of the day, ready to provide you with anything you ask for?
Then of course, if the handy helpers don't get all the work done and there are no more tasks that can be accomplished during that day....if Toodles is all out of helpful tools, all I'd have to do is fold the clubhouse back up into it's hidden underground chamber and remember that tomorrow will be saved by three simple words...Meeska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse!!!!
If only.

Personality Pics

2010-09-14T20:52:00.002-04:00

Babble continued

2010-09-13T22:41:00.000-04:00

Had to share tonight's baby babble.

"Bit! Bit! (Book! Book!)
There's a big shoe box.
"Nie, Nie Bit." She puts the books in the box.
"Seep" (Sleep)
"Seep Bit, Nie Nie"

So cute I can't stand it.

Addison Babble

2010-09-05T22:24:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted pictures of my cutie patootie. Today is a recap of some of our latest achievements at 22 months.
She's becoming more and more verbal even though most of the time I'm playing a guessing game trying to figure out what she's talking about. Many of her orations start with "bo bo be ba ba ba" or "dooeee dooee dee da"
There are other times when she's very clear and can mimick every word I say. Today she busted out with "Eat". It's the first time she's told me she was hungry.
She really likes reciting our family members names over and over, "mommydaddyaddison, mommydaddyaddison."
She loves Aunt Sandra and her dog, Pearle..."An San" and "Pear". I love her renditions of words - so cute.
And her favorite toys are things like a blueberry scented candle from the dollar store that we salvaged out of Aunt Sandra's yard sale pile. Then there's the swiffer wetjet and Trenton's fan and the ever popular empty diaper box.
She's very adventurous now since she learned to climb. She can climb out of her pack-n-play and climb up in chairs. Just tonight, I caught her up on the bar stool where she had gotten hold of daddy's chocolate iced donuts. She took a bite out of each one. We had to laugh. Sometimes, that's all you can do.
Here are some photos of my angel. She's growing up fast.

Last but not least...a funny video.

Mommy woes

2010-08-25T17:20:00.000-04:00

It is a myth that some children are misbehaved during their 2nd year of life. No, exactly all children are little monsters starting at precisely month 15. I have a little monster. Her name is Addison.

I remember looking at my child through big tears, absolutely amazed at how wonderful she was...how good...how happy...how quiet. Now I look at that same child through big tears because she threw her sippy cup at me and it hit me square in the nose.
I understand the whole wanting to be independent thing, really I do.

"But dear, must you throw yourself in the floor when you don't get your way? Why must your legs become jelly and your arms go limp to the point where there is no feasible area of your body that I can hold on to? Do you realize what you look like as you lie in the middle of Dillard's, or a parking lot, or..(sniff) the public restroom floor?! If there are horrible, awful germs to be found, I'm sure you've found where they reside during your tantrums.
If only I had big black ears and a squeaky voice like Mickey Mouse, you'd stay mesmerized, your little mouth dropping open, as you followed me around all day. But I don't. I'm the big bad mommy who really thinks it's necessary for you not to run out in traffic. Who feels like you should go lie down and take a nap. I'm the one with all your best interests at heart, but you repeatedly turn your face away, cross your arms and shout, "NO!" to my every request."

This is where being a mommy starts to get hard. This is where you look back on sleepless nights and go..HA!, that was easy. This is where hard work equals no pay...not even a hug.

"But I love you to the ends of the earth. And I know even in my limited wisdom that someday, you'll grow beyond this stage. I know that one day you will look at me and say, "I love you Mommy."
Until that day arrives, I will not stop in my pursuit to make you miserable...because I love you and it's what you need...even if it's NEVER what you want."

What do you say?

2010-08-04T17:04:00.001-04:00

Down a forgotten little street in the heart of the historic district in Augusta lies East Avenue. Tiny little row houses that are too close for comfort line this weedy, dilapidated street. Amidst the decay and neglect is a small house that someone actually does care about. The woman who lives there is about my age. Lately, in my passing, I've noticed her ever growing tummy. She usually isn't thrilled to see me. To her, I'm the absentee landlord who uses my house on that street as storage.
I have talked to her about her pregnancy, her first. It's a hobby of mine now that I'm in "the mommy club".
Today, as I pulled up the street, out she came with her round belly and protruding naval. She had a mad look on her face and I was poised to change her usual bad mood.
"Hi! It's almost time isn't it?"
Silence. Her faced was twisted. She was taking out some garbage and not looking at me.
Maybe she didn't hear me, "Looks like your about to pop. When's the due date?"
She was too close to ignore me now, but I could tell as she looked up that she wasn't mad. She was crying.
"No baby." was all she could muster.
"We go to the doctor tonight to take it out."
My heart fell, my hands dropped. Everything in me sank.
"I'm so sorry."
What a pitiful little response to this huge world of hurt this woman was in.
She went back inside and I stood right where I had, not moving, not looking at the cute happy house that now would not see the pitter patter of tiny feet. Not this year.
My thoughts are still with her hours later. My mind still wanders to East Avenue where a mommy lives without her baby.
What do you say that would ever make a difference?

The sound of thunder

2010-07-31T22:19:00.000-04:00

I'm sure that I've been too lost lately to gather an inspiration for a post. There are certain elements of the world that speak to a soul and invoke genius...certain elements that drown in the day to day.
This week we've had thunder and lightening storms almost every night. It's the perfect set up really. Do your work, come home and get stuck inside with your loved ones WITH a free light and sound show for entertainment.
Brilliant.
I have spent many a late evening sitting in my front porch swing just watching...and listening.
Last night, the echos of thunder sounded like resounding belly laughs from a large man with a deep voice.
I wonder what was so funny.
The lightening streaks across the sky at times. Others, it merely lights up the sky as if someone turned the sun on and then off again. Today, it got me. I was intently listening to the rolling laughter of the clouds, concentrating on the splatter of rain on my windows when the lightening flashed through my bedroom - turning on the lamp all by itself. The rumbling thunder changed it's pitch into a loud crack that made my entire body jump. I loved it.
The reminder that there are much greater things working and moving in our world. There are things to fear and respect.
It also offered me perspective that whatever it was that was robbing me of inspiration may not be quite significant after all.

Small notes

2010-07-17T23:12:00.002-04:00

The jibber-jabber has greatly increased in the house lately. When Addison picks up my purse, it's "heaby"..heavy. It took a bribe of a Dorito to finally get her to say "Pease"..please. Don't ever underestimate the power of potato chips.
My favorite is her rendition of Mickey Mouse's "Hot Dog Song", to which she sways from side to side while singing "hot dog".
Aside from her insistence of acting two daily, she's pretty amazing these days.

4th of July

2010-07-04T20:49:00.000-04:00

Second time in a pool...last 4th was her first.

Funny Faces

2010-07-03T09:02:00.001-04:00

No words are necessary. This is all Addison....out of the blue.

Cats

2010-06-22T10:58:00.000-04:00

This morning Mickey was fishing for Gooey Fish to feed the cat. On Handy Manny, Mr. Lopart gave an oration of how much he loved Fluffy. On our way to school, we found Smokey dead in the street.
On such a day seemingly dedicated to cats, we were heartbroken to find ours in rigor.
He was a really pretty cat. Everyone always thought so. Fittingly, he died...prettily. His eyes were open, his fur blowing in the wind....his tail still fluffy, all as if he were frozen in time.
My heart hurts for my husband. Smokey picked him at the pound. He was a gorgeous 10 month old grey and white cat with white "socks". He loved on Michael and it was all over. The next day, we rushed back to adopt our kitty. Michael was indeed his Owner. He would play-fight with him and nip at his hands. He'd always come when Michael called and his favorite spot every night was lying at Michael's feet. Ever so often, Michael would awake to find that Smokey had snuck up beside him and was stretched out as long as a cat could be along his side.
My heart also hurts for my daughter. "Meow" trumped anything...even Grandma. Any time Smokey walked through the room, my little cherub's eye's would light up and a resounding "meow, meow" would fill the room. I'm pretty sure it was her 2nd word. They would spend evenings playing chase. The cat would run and Addison would chase him. She LOVED this game. I don't think he minded much either because he would only run as far as to get out of reach and would wait until Addison came toddling back over to him. He'd even grin and bear it as she grabbed handfuls of fur and buried her face in his fluffy coat. He was a good good cat. And I am sad he's gone.

Roseola

2010-06-21T19:20:00.002-04:00

Do you remember the huge box of Crayola crayons that you used to play with as a child? Roseola should be one of those crayons in the red/pink area. It sounds so much prettier than what is. What it is - a miserable 4 days of fever in the 103 range with a grand finale of full body, itchy rashes. Last week was not a fun time. To add to the chaos, my father had to have emergency surgery on his abdomen for a kinked intestine. He's still in the hospital and tomorrow will be day 8, but in the meantime, he celebrated both his birthday and Father's Day from the 2nd floor of Trinity Hospital. My sister has had a better time of it lately. She's recovering from her 3 consecutive back surgeries and is working 4 hours a day.
Even as I sit here, Addison has just fallen off of her mini recliner and now has a black puffy eye.

Oh Dear

2010-06-17T22:52:00.002-04:00

I logged on tonight to post. Being a design geek, I was drawn to the glowing tab that blogger had depicting a new design feature. Before I knew it, I was clicking away, playing with all the new toys. Much to my dismay, the changes I had made stuck and my Gerber daisies were no more. So, welcome to the new blogger background. It's impromptu and has sucked out all the inspiration I had for the night. Oh well.

Precious and Priceless

2010-06-06T21:32:00.004-04:00

I really want to install hidden cameras in my house.

Tonight they would have captured a 45 second session of face mimicking between Addison and I during our nightly teeth brushing routine. She likes it when I copy her silly faces and it's even more exciting when there's a mirror. She has to look from the mirror to me and back just to make sure that I'm the one making that face she sees in the reflection.

Other days those cameras would help me find all those hidden sippy cups. Addison is a master magician when it comes to a disappearing cup. It's the reappearing part that is never quite so pleasant with it's fermenting juice or clabbored milk.

I'd need night vision cameras in the nursery...with high quality audio.

That way you could hear my baby humming in a small, sleepy, squeaky voice as I sing along with her bedtime CD while we rock.

If there were hidden cameras, you could witness my tiny thief as she snatches a newly folded towel from the finished laundry and scampers to the other side of the bed with a huge grin on her face. She thinks it's very funny. And it is.

It's too bad that everyone can't see these moments. They are precious and priceless.

Gold Medal

2010-05-24T22:10:00.004-04:00

Life is full of choices. That's the biggest understatement ever written.
Today, I had to choose. Should I drop the pack of very breakable light bulbs or should I catch my 19 month old who is precariously dangling from the seat of the grocery cart.
Thank goodness for sturdy cardboard packaging.
Again later in the day; should I chase the toddler across the grocery store parking lot or should I pick up the pile of papers I dropped that are flying in 20 different directions?
Thank goodness for the help of kind, stooping, strangers.
I don't even know if I'd call it a choice because in all cases, I opt for the child. But there's this one half second of hesitation where my brain is trying to process all scenarios and see if I can actually do everything AT ONCE.
As amazing as I am, there are just gonna be some broken bulbs and some lost papers.
At 19 months, my daughter has me completely convinced that toddlers should be included in the Olympics. There could be events such as the "100 Meter, Dress the Toddler Dash." We play this every single morning in my house. She runs, I chase, she throws her clothes on the floor, I swoop it up for the save, she pulls out her bow, I put it back in. I think it's a brilliant game. And the winner is the person who gets their toddler downstairs, in the car, diaper bag packed, child fed and fully clothed, in the original outfit they were given,....in the least amount of time. You Win!
However, if your more of an endurance athlete, you could always do the Lowe's Marathon Obstacle Course run. Those long isles are just calling the toddler to run. And those mini humans will challenge you with their dexterity as they weave in and out of the huge pallets of insulation with 6 inches of room between each towering bail. You'll meet your match in the squeeze department. While you run from one side of the bail to the other, your toddler is winding in and out like a dog show champion.
The worst thing about those toddlers is that they have no fear and will scale a pile of 4x8 plywood faster than you can blink. Did someone put grips on that stack that I can't see?!?!
It would be entertaining....toddlers in the Olympics.
In the meantime, Addison and I will continue our training.

Are we 2 yet?

2010-05-19T12:24:00.004-04:00

There's no doubt whatsoever that Addison is heading towards her terrible two's. This morning she threw herself on the floor no less than 5 times while I tried to get her ready for "school." She is very definite about what she wants and does not want to do these days. For instance, she DOES want to run into the bathroom and pull out all her tub toys. She DOES NOT want to put on a diaper on any other semblance of clothing. She DOES want to swing the gate at the top of the stairs and bang it against the wall as many times as she possibly can. She DOES NOT want her hair brushed. She DOES want to free climb into her cradle that is supposed to house only toys these days. She DOES NOT want to get out once inside.

It is quite difficult for us to come to an understanding some days that include both parties being happy. Fortunately for me, I'm bigger. However she is gaining speed, so I can bet that it's only a matter of time when speed will overcome size.

After a relatively aggravating morning of getting Addison ready, I managed to corral her into the car. She was crying. I was short. There had even been a hand pop involved.

I reversed the car in the driveway and stopped short of the fence. I turned around and there was my munchkin. She held up the hand that I popped and said "ouw".

"I know, I'm sorry. Mommy loves you so much. I need to not get so aggravated."

As if she understood every word, she blew me a forgiving kiss.

I blew one back. She smiled a big smile.

We were happy once again.

Addison - Portraits by Alison - Powered by Phanfare

2010-05-11T11:36:00.000-04:00

Addison - Portraits by Alison - Powered by Phanfare

18 months photos

2010-05-09T21:22:00.007-04:00

Here are some wonderful moments captured by photographer Alison Williams.

This is my absolute favorite! You'd never know from looking at these photos that she was really not in the greatest of moods when we were photographing. That's a good photographer!

You can view more of her work on her website at http://www.portraitsbyalison.phanfare.com/

Beach Time, First Time

2010-05-09T18:42:00.003-04:00

My friend Tamra and I were fortunate to spend a few days at Hilton Head together last week. Our first destination...the actual beach. Addison HATED the beach for the 1st 45 minutes. Luckily, she gave it a chance and really had a great time...as did we.

Sister

2010-04-28T21:55:00.002-04:00

My dear sister has had a very bad run of things lately. She went in on March 15th for back surgery. One week later, they had to go back in for infection and to readjust some of the screws. It was then that they discovered she had MRSA, a very hard to kill infection that requires at least 6 weeks of IV antibiotic treatment. Two days ago, her fever spiked again and the doctor, for the third time, opened up her back to clean out infection. It is not fair. It is not fair. It is not fair. My poor sister only wanted to be able to walk without pain. She merely wanted to be able to bend over and pick up the laundry basket without wailing. She wanted to be able to travel to Augusta to see her family without ending her journey in tears. It's not fair that she has had such a terrible time.
I worry for her daily. I call every day to track her progress in hopes that one day I'll call and she'll be chipper and happy and pain free.
So tonight, I'm thinking of my sister, whom I love immeasurably. And I wish for the annihilation of infection and everything yellow and green in the body that spikes a fever.
Get well very soon, my dear Sandra. I love you.

I hope I remember

2010-04-24T22:05:00.003-04:00

There are so many things that I try and file away in the storage cabinets of my brain. Some of those include the fact that at 18 months old - my girl is a whopper of a toddler at 29 lbs wearing a size 6 shoe. And like Doug and squirrels in the movie "Up," she is easily distracted by one of two things, her "toe" and "dog". I hope I can remember how she tells me that she wants to get down sounding something like, "birdown". Or the way she points out to me the most minuscule detail of something as she says, "See!" At 18 months she is a bread-a-holic and a huge fan of balls...and balloons, which she calls ball. But after a year and a half of life, we still have our special moment every evening when we go "nigh nigh" ..... which is similar to "nah nah" for banana, but can be deciphered based on what time of day it is. Baths are a favorite time and she'd really rather go "nigh nigh" in her crib than in mommy's lap, much to my dismay. Her Independence often leads her to little breakdowns of shear aggravation because I didn't hand her the entire cookie, or I didn't let her hold the fork, or she wanted the grape, not the pineapple. She can't say it yet, but if she could, she'd just bust out with an "I can do it myself!"
With her pitter patter becoming more and more steady by the day, I can only imagine where she'll e in the next 6 months. It's still so wild that last year this time, she was barely able to sit up.

Nearly 18 months

2010-04-13T22:33:00.003-04:00

With one week to go, we are quickly approaching the 1 1/2 year old mark. How is it humanly possible that 6 months have passed since we celebrated my "baby" turning ONE.

We did reach another milestone this past weekend..our first fever. I have been really blessed with a healthy, healthy, healthy little girl. So much so, the doctor laughed at me when I told her how much Tylenol I was giving Addison for her fever.., "I give her to the top line on the dropper."

Apparently when your nearly 18 month old weighs 29 lbs, it's time to stop with the infant Tylenol and move on to Children's Tylenol. Makes sense and yet...it alluded me - because SHE HASN'T HAD A FEVER...EVER.

We rang in our new achievement well with a whopping 103.7 degrees. Poor baby was shivering so hard from chills. Unfortunately, we were in a hotel room in Greenville, SC which prompted a 4 a.m. run to the 24-hour CVS for more supplies. By the time I had returned from my adventure, her fever had broken.

Bill Cosby, Cornflake and a Tot tale

2010-03-30T11:17:00.005-04:00

There have been some BIG times in the Thurman house lately. Some are happy and some have been sad. Seems to me that we chug along for a time and then, one after another things happen all at the same time.
My cousin Emily was married on Saturday. She was a stunning vision of beauty. We attempted to take Addison to the ceremony and were able to halfway succeed. That means, she made it halfway through. After one congregational song I heard my little cheerleader from the back row where she sat with her dad - "Yaaaaay!" She's a big fan of songs and lots of people and singing.
To add to this weekend, we commenced the Michael Birthday Week. My dear is turning 40 and I decided to declare an entire week dedicated to the event. To kick it off, I bought him tickets to see Bill Cosby. Amazingly, he came to town. I thought one thing when I saw him walk on to stage Sunday...Who is that?! My favorite comedian and family show star has really gotten old..to the point that I didn't recognize him at first. Slowly, as his performance progressed, I saw flashes of the Cosby I grew up loving. Tru to form, half-way through the show, he had me in literal tears. Thank goodness I didn't get any concessions or I would have peed my pants. One interesting thing I noticed however, was the subject matter....it was the same as always. I'm not talking topic, I'm talking era. He always tells stories from his very young days, growing up. Most of these stories happened when he was 19. I wondered to myself if he finds anything of late that interesting or amusing. It also made me ponder what era I would be stuck in when I reached his age.

There is one story I'd like to share about another lovely man, Uncle Dick. Dick Fox was a terribly active man. One day, he came into the print shop where I worked after experiencing a terrible fall off of his bike. The result of a run in with a set of railroad tracks I'm afraid. The only casualty...his broken cell phone. I worked with Mr. Fox for 5 years on the Fox Appliance catalog. It was a cornucopia of parts for every appliance ever made and then some. If you are from Georgia in the Columbus, Augusta, Savannah area, I'm sure that you've heard of them..the Fox's. They had a large family from what I understand, devout Catholics, so there were plenty of family members all over the state.

Uncle Dick was passionate about his parts. His head held vast amounts of knowledge. It was for that reason that last Friday was a somber day for the Fox family. They laid him to rest next to his beloved wife. He was passionate about her too. He built an elaborate waterfall in her honor near his riverfront home. It was a beautiful creation. He was an active advocate for the Canal Authority who worked hard to preserve our waterway. In short, he was an amazing man.

It didn't surprise me that he had an equally amazing dog.
Cornflake was a terrier. He may have been a Yorkie, but he was so old when I met him that I couldn't really tell. He was a sweet, sweet animal and HE was passionate about Uncle Dick. They would ride around town in the convertible with the top down. There wasn't much hair blowing going on because even the dog was balding. That dog was always 2 feet behind Uncle Dick no matter where he went. And if Uncle Dick stopped to chat, Cornflake would wait patiently. I think that they were all each other had really. Sure, there were the sons and daughters and grandchildren, but Cornflake and Uncle Dick had a special connection.

That's a pair that the world will surely miss.

Toes

2010-03-22T21:11:00.002-04:00

I love being a mommy more than anything else I've ever done. Tonight's bathtime was brought to us by the letter T for TOES. Addison decided to name her appendages correctly during our nightly routine.

The Letter

2010-03-12T21:51:00.004-05:00

I received a letter in the mail from a doctor. My files, it said, were now in his office. My files used to be at his wife's office.
Dr. Chudgar. I've been thinking a lot about her lately...ever since the letter. Long ago, before this blog existed, I went to see Dr. Chudgar for my infertility. We were excitedly anticipating what steps we would be taking to try and create a family of our own. The process was fresh and she was a very caring, very short Indian doctor who was as equally excited about beginning our journey together. A short 2 months into our process, we were notified that Dr. Chudgar would not be returning. Her cancer was no longer in remission. She would not be returning. At that point our lives took very separate paths as I pursued a few more doctors and many more procedures which happily ended with my successful pregnancy.
This is how Dr. Chudgar found me on our last encounter. Infertility procedures are expensive. My bill had not been paid. She was personally calling encouraging me to pay the amount owed. The moment she heard that we had been successful with our in vitro, she forgave my debt and wished me well. It was the ultimate example of what kind of doctor and person Dr. Chudgar was. I thought of that kind act when I read the letter from Dr. Chudgar, the husband. His dear wife, my benevolent doctor had passed away in April of 2009. I think of her tonight and how privileged I was to know her.

Deathly decisions

2010-03-06T23:21:00.003-05:00

We have decided that one day we will write a book about our rentals. We've had some truly amazing, shocking, sickening things happen over the years. Some are just too unbelievable to be true...but they are. We had another such occurrence this week. Monday morning, we found that one of our young tenants, a girl of 25, had died over the weekend. It's not the first time, nor will it be the last time that a tenant has died. It is, however, even more disturbing when it doesn't have to happen. When that person's ill choices have caused their demise. It seems to be the case more often than not.
Ever see that show, "Early Edition?" I wish I could have had a morning paper that day that foretold of that young girl's death. I wish she had a maintenance emergency that required someone to be there so that the series of events would have been disrupted. There's a lot of "I wishes" because it's not right for someone that young with all that life ahead of her to have it end so soon. It's not right that when she rented my apartment, it would be not only the place she lived, but the place she died.
The ambulance that answered the call left their body board out front. They forgot it because when they got there, she was already gone and they didn't need to use it. So, for 2 days it sat out front like a bright orange flag yelling at the passerby - SOMEONE HERE WAS IN TROUBLE. I had to take it down from it's propped up place on the tree. It sits behind a bush now - hiding - waiting for the ambulance company to come back for it. I hope they hurry. That's a funny statement in itself.
It's just a reminder of how incredibly fragile we are as humans and how quickly a life can be snuffed out.
But it urges me to do everything in my power NOT to make a deadly decision for myself or my loved ones.
Sounds pretty easy. Let's hope.

Crazy Cowgirl

2010-02-22T22:01:00.002-05:00

Monkey see, little monkey do

2010-02-14T22:50:00.004-05:00

Addison is getting to be the best little copy cat around. After a mere 15 months on the planet, she is starting to try and use objects for their intended use. For instance, tonight, she was quite eager to hold the fingernail clippers. After getting them, she promptly sat in the floor, lifted her foot and put the clippers to her toes. She's very foot oriented at this point in time. She tries to put on her socks and shoes as well. And who knew that daddy's big ol' sneakers would be just the right fit for Addison's baby doll? Well she did of course. Many evenings are spent as she puts the baby's feet in daddy's shoes and tries to get those cloghoppers to fit!
She's getting pretty good with a fork and spoon too. I'm not at the point where I let her fly solo during her meals, but she definitely is gaining knowledge about how to maneuver her new tools and actually get the food in her mouth. She knows that a brush is for hair and tries to brush her own....usually to my dismay after I've worked so hard to get those pigtails in place. There have been so many "Aha!" moments for me...as if I'm trying to communicated with a foreigner and I finally figure out what they are trying to say to me. Every day I have these moments where I actually get it! I get the word that she is using for something, like banana to her is "Nah". She consistently calls it "nah" and it took a while to recognize that. To date, she can say the following words: mama, dadda, dog, wow, woof woof, meow, "nah", uh-oh, book, no and sometimes I think she's saying her name in the form of "Adda".
This morning I had another "Aha!" moment:
Mornings are our snuggle times in the Thurman house. Addison always wakes up in the best mood. She is loving and happy as she inundates us with hugs and kisses. This morning she had a small lotion bottle with her as daddy plopped her in our bed for our morning love fest. She would take her lotion bottle and put in on her head. It wasn't until she started doing it to Michael that I understood that she was pretending to put shampoo on her daddy's head..and my head....and her head..and the cat. That really floored me, as I watched her rub the "shampoo" in my husband's hair, that she was already pretending even at this young age.
I am here to tell you that nothing on this planet beats being a mom. It's the most amazing journey and every day a new adventure.

Morning Snow....and a snow woman

2010-02-13T10:37:00.004-05:00

SNOW

2010-02-12T22:00:00.003-05:00

I had snow in my sweet tea today. What a fabulous treat. Truly a southern thing I'm sure.

I passed children on the street with their heads tilted toward the sky and their mouths wide open trying to catch snow. We haven't had snow in Augusta in at least 5 years.

The beautiful blanket of white that covered the landscape in 3 hours is quite a sight to behold. It happens so rarely and totally transforms the way my usual surroundings appear, that I feel transported to another time and another place.

I've seen a lot of walkers out. I have the same desire, to explore, to see...I just have a 15 month-old keeping me here.

But, I look forward to tomorrow when I can bundle her up and stick her in the middle of all that white stuff she keeps saying "wow" to...and watch to see what she thinks of her very first snow.

What's a man to do?

2010-02-01T22:47:00.002-05:00

I think men are funny. They're brains work so differently than ours.
I rented a unit to a man last week who was on a mission. He had recently found out that his fiance was pregnant so he was "doing his part by finding a house." I had to laugh to myself. I think men really do think that way. How rude will that awakening be when the baby gets here and he finds out the full extent of HIS PART.

On a different note...today is my 7 year anniversary. Boy, what a trip it's been so far! It seems so quick and yet when I think back to February 1st, 2003, I see a very young and naive little girl walking down that isle. The old adage, "If I knew then what I know now...." sure does apply. I'm sure I would have made the same choices, I'd have just sat myself down for a chat beforehand.
Happy Anniversary Michael! Seven years and counting...

15 Months

2010-01-23T21:35:00.005-05:00

It's the 23rd again. That day of the month seems to come more often than I could have ever imagined. Addison is so interesting these days that I need to share and record some of her Addisonisms...new word there.
She has a few words or signature sounds. Some she's been doing for a while and some are new.
Her reaction to anything blinking or bright, big or tall (including people which can be a bit embarrassing at times) is Wow. She does it several times in a row like, "wow, wow, wow." Large men usually agree with her assessment. Women ignore it and go on about her cuteness.
She calls the kitty Mow Mow. She also "calls" the kitty by rubbing her finger and thumb together. She calls me a daddy like that when she wants us to follow as well.
Dogs, horses, cows...anything on 4 legs is a double grunt sound..like a bark. To Addison, they are all dogs. She can say ball, although it sounds the same as "BA!" for her cup.
Amazingly enough, she understands EVERYTHING. If I tell her to go get her doll, she walks right over and picks her up. My favorite part is when she feeds the doll her play bottle.

This week she's learned to tickle. Her dad taught her that. "Tickle mommy Addison...tickle mommy!" The ticklee must always pretend that they are very tickle-ish and laugh accordingly of course. It's funny though, sometimes she decides to tickle on her own without prompting. Those little moments are subtle and hard to catch if you're not careful.

She's gotten really good at "uh-oh". She pulls her socks off and throws them on the floor - uh-oh; she hurls her cup across the kitchen, uh-oh.

She is the queen of funny looks. Strangers are usually the victim of her - over the glasses- look she casts. Although during a stare down, she rotates through that one and closing her eyes while raising her eyebrows and a big toothy grin with squinty eyes.

Addison is at times very affectionate. She loves to hug you, while patting you and then plants a big, wet, open mouth kiss on the closest available part of your face....over and over. Just remember to beware of the undercover bite that may ensue. The bites sneak up on unsuspecting adults lost in the wonder of receiving love from a charismatic little girl.
Speaking of biting, she has a whole slew of teeth these days. Four top, four bottom and 2 upper molars that have just broken ground. Those mean teeth sure do cause a lot of issues.

Playtime these days is nothing short of academic. Every single thing she does, from helping me with the laundry to playing with her shaped blocks and bucket reveals that little brain growing, changing, and figuring out each and every challenge. For example, while doing laundry one day, I told Addison to put her dirty clothes into the basket. The clothes were strewn all over the room (by her of course), so one by one she would pick up an item and walk it across the room to the basket. I praised her continually with each item. I was most impressed when she picked up one sock and started her trek again...and then she stopped, turned around and picked up another sock in the other hand....and then finished her trip to the basket. I was IMPRESSED that she realized she could maximize her time and energy by carrying 2 items. I have employees that haven't figured that out to this day!

Addison is going to be a good mountain climber one day. Do they have baby climber classes? She can scale our stairs in a matter of minutes and even faster if I'm behind her telling her not to. We've had to install gates at the top and bottom of the staircase now to protect her from herself.

So, at 15 months I am in awe of my baby every single day.

The power of Family

2010-01-07T12:17:00.002-05:00

In 1996 Hillary Clinton wrote a book, "It takes a Village." She was referring to raising children and society's role in meeting all of children's needs...outside the home. At first glance it's such an obvious statement. Of course it takes a village. But each day of being an actual mother leads me to a deeper understanding of what a "village" really consists of.
Addison has one set of Grandparents in the whole wide world. My husband's parents died far too young leaving him motherless and fatherless earlier than most. It's still an injustice that plagues him to this day. Life marches on.
As with most things, you work with what you're given. So, in addition to her one set of Grandparents, Addison has one Great-Grandma. I'm not sure how to convey the literal glee that happens when my daughter gets together with her 2 grandmas. I was sure growing up that my mother and grandmother loved me, but I am also sure that their love for Addison has reached a new and improved height.
I am fortunate that these women care so deeply for my child.
It was truly evident this past week. For the new year, my husband and I got brand new shiny viruses! My temps hovered around 101 while his virus took a different turn leaving him vomiting for nearly 8 hours. We were beaten. It was all I could do to get Addison from her crib, drag us all downstairs and call my saviours....the Grandmas.
My mother promptly picked up the baby and whisked her away to Grandma-land where between the two of them (my mother works during the day), they cared for my child day and night for 2 days.
I never worried about her, I never wondered if her best interests were in mind, if she was being fed properly. I never once feared for her safety or that she was being exposed to something distasteful.

So, I don't believe I'm on board with the village concept. I could hire a nanny. I could enlist a daycare for services. These are tools that I use everyday to CARE for my child, but none of these will always have my child's best interest in mind. None of them should ever be responsible for raising my child. It's a family that makes a difference to a child....because they love her. And love is the key.

A Shout Out

2010-01-07T12:07:00.002-05:00

This blog was born nearly 2 years ago. I started it as I began fertility and have turned it into my own little voice amongst the masses. Because I am not extremely technically savvy, I don't know how to track who reads it. I know my friends read it. My family members do as well. But a couple of posts ago, I was tickled to see a comment from "Leanne in Washington". I have no idea of who Leanne is, but it is astounding to me that she has found my little pinpoint of a blog in this sea of internet traffic. I have a new friend in Washington named Leanne that I will continue to share this journey through life with her for as long as she tunes in...and I am honored and humbled all at the same time. So, this blog is to all the unseen readers who I'll never know and never meet. Thank you. It's nice to know you're listening.

The conversations went something like this....

2009-12-30T20:58:00.003-05:00

"I laughed so hard when I read your comment about JR not EVER getting sleepy. So how's he doing?"

"I saw you were on vacation in California." How was the trip?"

"Did you see what Janice posted yesterday?"

It's the new and improved world of conversation AFTER Facebook.

Last Christmas, the conversation had no jumping off point. We were a room of people with absolutely no clue about each other for the better part of a year. Virtual strangers. There was a warming up period where conversation was awkward and mucky. The niceties of getting started were a necessity. But not this year.

This year we sailed right by those "how are you's" into really great conversation. I think it actually made us all feel closer to each other because we weren't strangers reconnecting after such a long time.

So..kudos to my favorite social networking, family connecting, status conveying, sneak-a-peaking, big news breaking, helpful advice giving, got-more-friends-than-I-can-count website.

Family Pictures...click here.

See the light

2009-12-22T23:09:00.002-05:00

As I left work today I passed Mr. White's house. He's a tenant of mine who lives beside my office. His porch is always decked out in wind chimes and plants, but to celebrate the season, he's literally decked the halls with lights. It's a festive display although small. It caught me off guard seeing it today as I left the office as night was falling. It caught me off guard when I realized, Mr. White is blind. Of all my tenants on that street - the blind one decorated for Christmas...with lights...that he'll never see. He told me he has to feel them to make sure they're burning. He has to make sure they are warm. On this same evening, I rode through a neighborhood. A seemingly normal place for people to live. Some houses I passed had decorations and some did not. As I approached the stop light, scrawled on the back of a convenient store were 2 words.."War Zone." As I looked past the decorations, there were groups of people walking the street. Were they kids? Who knows? But this didn't look like a war zone to me. The evening just seemed to be full of contradictions in my mind. A friendly looking neighborhood labeled "war zone," a blind man putting up decorations for all the world to see...except him.

December

2009-12-21T21:48:00.003-05:00

December has been a whirlwind. We spent 14 days out west visiting family in Nevada and California. Addison had wonderful time meeting great aunts, uncles and cousins. She rode a cable car in her daddy's lap and saw her first displays of Christmas lights through the open doors of a van with the heat blasting. She's eaten shrimp salad down at Fisherman's Wharf and helped usher in the opening of an 8.5 billion dollar CityCenter in Vegas. She banged her head more times than we could count in her repeated attempts to walk...and run to the point where one bruise was yellowing as another was born. At 13 months, she has seen more of the world than I had at age 21. And she did it all with laughter and smiles and hugs and kisses - the best traveler ever. What a wonderful Christmas present. The actuality of spending 24 hours a day for 14 days with my family and seeing my little girl change by the day from an infant to a toddler. With our crawling days behind us I'm only asking for one more gift this season...running shoes, to keep up with her in the days to come.

Pictures of our TRIP.

Fox in socks...

2009-11-28T21:38:00.002-05:00

is the most impossible book to read. If you've never read it, you should crack the cover at least once in your life if for no other reason than to give your brain a workout in rhyming. Better yet, read it out loud...to a 13 month old. I think that book can only confuse a child...or a 33 year old and even moreso trip up a tongue faster than a drunken tumble down a flight of stairs.

A View on Marriage

2009-11-11T21:37:00.003-05:00

There is a picture that sits on my dining room buffet of Michael and I on our first date. It's probably rare that people have pictures of their first date, but we were fortunate to be attending an event with a shutterbug present.

Early on I put that picture in a frame where it has sat through changed seasons and rooms and addresses.

I recently attempted to take the picture out of the frame only to find that it is impossible. By some event of moisture or heat or mere chemical reaction, that picture has adhered itself to the glass of the frame. It can never be removed or the entire integrity of that picture will be destroyed. The photo will be torn from the paper and the picture will be destroyed.

I thought today about the irony of that situation as it pertains to our marriage.

Just like that picture of Michael and I, our marriage has been effected by so many things. We have had our seasons. There have been sorrows and joys and struggles and bliss. Maybe it was the moisture of our tears or the heat of our anger that made the bond so strong. Or was it the wetness of our kisses and the burn of our passion? Whatever the contributors, they have resulted in a bond wherein any attempt to break it would destroy both parties.

It's a little scary to think I'm so connected to another being. And yet it's the biggest comfort I can ever imagine.

So, I'll never ever take that picture out of the frame. It will and must remain, untouched for eternity in order to preserve it's integrity. And with my marriage, I must strive to do the same.

Halloweeeeeeeeen

2009-11-02T22:07:00.002-05:00

Little Miss Queen of Hearts.

The Party

2009-10-28T21:34:00.003-04:00

I think she liked it.
See more pics here.

Birthday Blog

2009-10-28T16:39:00.004-04:00

Addison on her birthday!

I love this outfit.

One of her birthday photos from the mall.

Five days late. That's about right. I think I'm perpetually five days late on everything these days. Moving on.

Addison turned one on the 23rd. My baby girl is growing up. She's taken a total of 4 steps so far. She is also really partial to a hamburger all the while, still extremely attached to her bottle. She has a great right curve that can send a sippy cup clear across the kitchen. But the girl's also got rhythm. If there's a beat, she'll start boppin' to it. I cannot convey the joy I feel when she buries her head in my chest or grabs both sides of my face with her hands, only to slobber all over my chin. Almost as enjoyable are her blown kisses of which she'll give out to pretty much anyone who asks.

Our newest feat - What sound does the doggy make? (She answers with a grunt grunt). What sound does the kitty cat make? (A long and quiet "mow"). My kid is smart, I'm tellin' ya!

Pigs, sheep and cows have yet to make it into her animal repertoire, but the barnyard sound corral is getting fuller by the day.
For her birthday, we had a Large party. Notice the capital letter there. It was a bunch-o-people. She had a blast and so did I. Not to mention, she racked up. We are now clothed for winter....THANK YOU ALL!
She also received fluffy new car set for a forward-facing gal. She really can enjoy that in-flight movie now. I'm so glad since we paid extra for the DVD feature.
Michael and I gave her a red wagon and a radio flyer bouncing horse. She absolutely loves cruising around the yard in her deluxe, 1 human powered vehicle. She's even had her first wreck. Luckily the spill only resulted in a face full of grass and dirt. (Note to self, 6 year olds are reckless wagon drivers..lol).
I will post party pictures as soon as I can. My laptop has died and I am a blogger without her tools!

Faces

2009-10-17T23:38:00.002-04:00

Sometimes you don't need words.

Each little milestone

2009-10-12T20:06:00.002-04:00

It is clearly evident that I am already falling behind on recording my daughters' achievements. I'm pretty sure I haven't weighed her since her 9 month doctor's appointment and I'm also fairly certain that I haven't recorded all her new teeth or words, or funny little nuances that developed seemingly overnight.
Six. We have six teeth now. Four up top and 2 on the bottom.
Mama, Dada, bye-bye are our favorite "words" and our biggest achievement this week....drum roll..."UH-OH!"
Addison can stand really really well. She rolls around and stands and sits and stands and sits and falls over and rolls over to do it all again. Lots of stamina that young one.
She kisses at whomever she really likes. Sometimes it's me...sometimes it's daddy.
It is absolutely impossible to try and help her walk. She gets very annoyed at that. I see glimpses of her Independence even at 11 months.
I have read that I may become saddened by her impending 1 year birthday. I have talked with many who also share the dismay and utter disbelief that an entire year has passed by to be coined with a party and a cake-smashing spectacle.
It is upsetting. I signed up for a baby. I waited 4 long years and endured so much to conceive...for a baby. And here she is on the brink of toddlerhood.
This is reality and honestly, I love 11 month-olds even better than 10 months or 9 or 8. Each age she reaches is my absolute favorite so far. If my daughter gets to be any more fun, I don't know what I'll do with myself.
Even considering this fact, it is worrisome that Addison will be 1 year old in 2 weeks. I'm worried that all our future years will fly by with the lightning speed that this year has.
But onward we must go.
She's brilliant you know. This child of mine. In less than a year she has gone from a lump of yummy immobile baby sugar to this active acrobatic, investigative, giggle machine who just can't get enough of her surroundings.....who can pick up a cheerio with the most impressive dexterity and crawl from the living room to the kitchen in 2.3 seconds. She's an absolute magician making her bows and socks completely disappear in the blink of an eye. Not to mention the way she can fit the entire circus of animal crackers in her mouth and never choke.
All things considered, I'll probably stay off the pity party wagon and count my blessings that I'm the mom of one phenomenal little girl.

11 months Today

2009-09-23T19:53:00.002-04:00