Home Again

We sure hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. We certainly did! We gathered with lots of family at Steven's brother and sister-in-law's new house. They hosted about 25 people! It was super fun and Addy was never short on attention.






Notice a running theme here? Gabi was so sweet to Addy, never leaving her side!

Addy slept while the rest of us ate, but when she woke up she enjoyed some squash, sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes.


On Friday, we got to spend some time with our friends. Nina is 10 mo. older than Addy and had a lot of fun toys that Addy really enjoyed! This visit was a little easier on Nina...the last time we were together Nina would cry when Addy cried. It was so funny! She just wasn't so sure about Addy. Nina did a really good job showing Addy how to play with her toys. It was a fun day!


Saturday we celebrated with my mom's side of the family. Again, Addy was never short on attention. The kids helped her eat, they read to her, and played at the park.





Addy even had Christmas come a little early. She got a really neat recordable book from Grandma E. and her first ornament! She got some new clothes, new toys, books, a tea set, the whole works. She is such a blessed little girl to be loved so well by so many people. She really loves all of it. At the time, though, she was also really loving the wrapping paper! Go figure.


Thank you to everyone for helping us have a great Thanksgiving and a special 1st Thanksgiving for Addy!

Last weekend my parents were here for the weekend. Steven and I both had to work on Sunday, so they came to stay with Addy. I don't normally work weekends, but we do work the Sunday before Thanksgiving in order to have the Friday after off. It's a pretty nice deal! So anyway, we went to a park WITH swings on Saturday to let Addy play a little. It was getting close to nap time, so we didn't stay too long. We managed a few smiles, though!



Swinging was fun, but playing in the leaves was great!



What our sweet Addy wasn't into was group pictures!





Then, came the hard part...we decided at the last minute to let Addy go home with Grandma & Grandpa L. on Sunday! We were going up on Wednesday anyway, so it would be just 3 days and 3 nights without her. It was hard dropping them off at the airport!


We're missing her like crazy! It's not been easy, but it is going fast. We can't wait to see her tomorrow! We've left her for one night before, but this has been much harder. I know she's been having fun, though! And all I can say is I'm grateful for Skype! I can't imagine leaving her and really not being able to see her and talk to her!

As I said, Steven and I leave tomorrow for MN to enjoy Thanksgiving with our family and friends. Hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We certainly have a lot to be thankful for!

New Discovery

Wow, this week went really fast for us. I meant to post on Tuesday, and it's Friday already! Anyhoo, Addy has figured out a new fun way to play...under things. It's funny to watch her crawl under things and then she'll stop, look up, and just giggle. Not sure why she thinks it's so funny, but it makes us laugh, too!




Turns out this toy is also great for teething.


She also loves the blanket her Grandma E. crocheted for her. It was on the couch the other day and she crawled over to it and pulled it onto the floor with her. Then she proceeded to roll herself up in it! It was so sweet!

Saturdays are the Best!

Saturday morning I gave Addy some pancakes, and by some, I mean a very little bit. She wasn't crazy about them. She more or less played with it in her hands. She did actually eat a little bit, but not enough to actually qualify as a meal! We'll try again, I think the more she tries it the more she'll get the hang of it. Here's how the process went:




Just before nap time we headed out so she could nap in the car. We were going to lunch about 45 minutes from our house, so we took off and drove around some new areas of the city and just waited for Addy to wake up from her nap. After lunch we wanted to find a park so Addy could swing. The one we found, via GPS, didn't have swings! So Addy settled for a slide.


She had more fun with us taking pictures of her and climbing on some big rocks at the park! This is one of my favorite pictures of her:


One of my favorites of Addy and Daddy:


Our attempts at a family picture:




You get the idea! We had a great day. It was beautiful outside and a perfect way to spend a Saturday! Hope you all had a great weekend, too!

Christmas is Coming...

...And Addy is ready now with her very own stocking, thanks to our very talented Aunt Diane! Diane made Addy's Christmas stocking for her and gave it to us while we were in FL. It is just awesome. Diane is extremely creative and just thought this up when I only told her that our Christmas decorations were blue and silver and white. Amazing. Steven and I both just love it and it will be something Addy will have forever. Thank you, Diane!



In other big news, Addy has her first tooth! It just started to poke through last week. It's on her bottom left. No fever, no diaper rash, no real sign it was coming in, it just popped up one day. She has had a couple days where it seemed like her mouth was bothering her so I put some Orajel on her gums and that seemed to help quite a bit. By the way, that stuff is nasty! I was surprised how strong the taste is, but it works. It certainly numbs the area! I just can't believe she tolerates it so well.

And last night, she pulled herself up to the couch for the first time! She was playing in front of the couch, then all of a sudden she was standing there. I got all excited for her, and she really didn't care or understand why I was excited for her.


My future partner in bow making!

Florida Fun

Addy and I had a great trip to Ft. Myers. We got to do way more than we ever imagined! We left on Thursday afternoon and made it to Atlanta. We were flying standby, and got bumped on all the flights to Ft. Myers that evening. We ended up getting a hotel for the night. That was quite an adventure since it was after 10:30 by the time we actually got to the hotel! So, Addy sleeping with me in a king size bed = FUN. I was so worried she'd fall off the bed I didn't get much sleep! Doesn't she look sweet, though?


We were so thankful we made it to Ft. Myers on the first flight on Friday morning. We had a great afternoon playing at a park. This park had a regular playground and also a bunch of water features. Addy got to swing for the first time! She loved it. She was hanging on white knuckled the whole time, but she loved it.


Addy also had fun going down the slides! She had plenty of volunteers to make sure she had a good time.



Then it was off to the water part of the park. Here's Addy sporting a new swim suit, thanks to Aunt Linda! Linda found this the last time we were in Ft. Myers, in Sept., but it didn't fit Addy then. So glad she was able to use it this time!


And, some more fun water pictures:





Big family dinner on Friday night:



Saturday we went swimming and Addy enjoyed it again. The air was a little cool because it was so windy, so it took Addy a bit to warm up to swimming. Once she got in, she really had fun. I didn't have my camera, so no pictures of it. This time she really liked being able to stand on the steps to splash. Then we went to Uncle Mike and Aunt Pam's for a delicious smoked turkey dinner. Seriously, so good! Here's 6 of us 10 cousins eating dinner together:


Hanging out on the patio before dinner:



Addy and I had to come back home on Sunday. We got a picture of the THIRD cousins together before we left! I think that is so much fun that these cousins are third cousins and know each other so well. And all of these cousins are so sweet to Addy! They adore her. I think she'll grown up admiring all of them, too. Our family is blessed. (Mackenzie 9, Brynn 6, Jack 5, Katie 5, Alex 2, and Addy 8 mo.)

We got bumped on 2 flights trying to leave, but made it out on the 3rd one. Chris and Jennifer came and kept us company while we waited, which was so nice!!! Addy even got to take a nap in one of her favorite places, Chris's arms. He has the touch. Within a minute or two he can have her sleeping. No one else has been able to do that with her. She will fall asleep for me in my arms when she needs to, or when I need her to, but it takes a while. Chris just has that magic touch with her!



I just have to brag a little on my sweet little girl. For all that she went through waiting in the airport with me, for hours at a time plus the flying time, she was an absolute angel. Seriously, no fussing. Ever. This is the sweet girl that I got to hang out with:


We ended up driving home from Atlanta last night because there was only one flight left for the night when we got there and it didn't look good. Turns out we wouldn't have made it, so I'm thankful we just rented a car and made it home safely. For all the adventure that came with this trip, I wouldn't have traded it for the world. We had an absolute blast in Ft. Myers and Addy and I had a lot of one on one time in the airports! It's so true to say that as long as you're together, you can make the best of any situation. We really missed Steven, and that's the only thing that would've made this big adventure even sweeter.