Retraction

So, I didn't think we'd be going out this weekend. But our neighbors called and asked if we wanted to go to dinner with them, of course we jumped at the opportunity to not cook for ourselves! We had a great dinner, blah blah blah.

Then on the way home... We're approaching a stop sign at a "T-intersection". It's an incline to get to the stop sign. We see the Camry ahead of us stopping as he starts going up the short hill. Now there were no cars coming from either direction, so Steven and I are both saying, "Go, go, go, don't stop, what are you thinking? JUST GO!" And of course he gets stuck just before he reaches the top of the hill and his tires are just spinning. So, he backs up a little bit. No, not to the bottom of the hill, which just seems like common sense to us, but in the middle of the hill and starts over. Again, tires just spin, duh. So, we see him backing up down the hill a little more each time he tries, but instead of backing straight down the hill, he gets closer and closer to the edge of the street, heading toward the ditch. It was seriously painful to watch! So, Steven gets out of the car and tries to tell him how to do it right. Unfortunately, he doesn't speak much English, at least not enough to understand Steven's directions. But, he tries one more time, and manages to drive one back tire off the edge of the street, now he really has no clue what to do. So, Steven asks him if he can just do it for him. The man happily agrees.

Steven gets his car back on the road, and drives it right up the hill through the intersection for him. Seriously, Steven made it look so easy. No spinning tires, just drove right up the hill with a normal constant speed! I was telling Addy, "Too bad you're facing the wrong way, this is really funny to watch and you're Daddy is just awesome!" We had a really good laugh about it. We totally understand that many people down here don't know how to drive in snow, but it's still funny. Especially since we are able to help and no one is hurt. So, Steven is 3 for 3, helping at least one person every time he goes somewhere! The only thing we are bummed about is that we didn't get it on video, it was that good!

It Snowed!

For real this time, we actually have measurable snow! It's just a few inches, but still the most snow we've had since we moved here. And I can actually say I'm enjoying it. Perhaps that's because I know it will be gone next week! Addy, on the other hand, not really a fan. She didn't really like the idea of playing in the snow. She preferred being held. Maybe if she had more appropriate outerwear it would help! Robeez shoes aren't exactly meant for the snow. And I'm not sure how comfortable she was with 2 pair of pants, socks, and shirts on. She did well, though. We stayed outside for probably 20 minutes or so.

Before going outside:



Sitting in the snow:


Then we hooked up with Wendy and her family and they helped us do a little sledding, southern style. Maybe it's not just a southern thing, but I can't remember ever seeing a 4-wheeler pulling a sled up north. We just took our sleds to a hill and that was it. Again, I think I had more fun than Addy. She didn't really know what to think. She didn't complain, but she wasn't smiling, either.




This snowfall has made Steven's commute to and from work pretty eventful, too. Last night on his way to work someone spun out in front of him, so he stopped to help. Turns out it was someone who has never driven in snow before. He ended up driving her home because her husband had never driven in snow, either, and didn't want to take a chance with their 3 kids in the car! Then this morning the snow plows came out, but didn't really do anything to actually help with the road conditions. They only plowed the far left lane, leaving a nice bank of snow in the middle of the interstate. He came upon a woman that was stuck in this mess and stopped to help her out. Such a nice guy!

During Steven's shift last night he was driving around and kept hearing on the radio that other cops were pulling people over for excessive speed for the road conditions. After about the 5th call, he asked exactly how fast were people going because he hadn't seen anyone speeding. One officer replied, "They were going 25 mph in a 30 mph zone". Steven, in a much nicer and more appropriate way, told them to knock it off. He told them that he was driving the speed limit because there was no reason not to! Crazy southern cops getting a little carried away last night! Steven did ask if there was any other reason for pulling them over, were they fish-tailing or swerving, but nope, just going 5 mph under the speed limit! Seriously! Exactly how slow did they want people to drive last night? Too funny.

Well, we have no plans to be out and about for the rest of the weekend, so we will be safe at home! Steven does have to work tonight, though. I can't wait to hear how things go for him tonight!

We're Still At It

We went back to the doctor today to have Addy's ears checked. Her doctor asked us to bring her back about a week after she finished the antibiotic for a recheck. I'm glad we had the appointment today because she's been pulling at both ears this week. Turns out the antibiotic didn't clear it up in the right ear and now she has fluid in her left ear, too. So we left with a stronger antibiotic, and we'll go back again when this one is done. And boy is she growing! With all her clothes on today (they usually weigh her with only a diaper on) she weighed in at 21 lbs 11 oz! So we're thinking she weighs about 21 lbs stripped down!

It's really been kind of a slow week around here. It's been busy, but just not picture or blog worthy! Other than Addy's ears bothering her, her nose is still running and she's still cutting teeth. She's still maintained a great mood. Just a sweetheart. See what I mean?


She also loves to escape to the bathroom when we're playing in her room. She loves to stand up at the tub or play with her bath toys. I think she likes playing with them outside the tub because when she's in the tub she's usually too busy playing with a washcloth!

Super Fun Day

To describe Addy's day in one word: overwhelming! We started off this morning with her first time at My Gym. She did really well, she was just so overwhelmed with so much going on! There were 12 kids in her class today, which is their max. She was the youngest, by 3 mo. Most of the kids were between 18-24 mo. She really enjoyed watching them run around. I was very proud of her, though, she participated in every activity they did today. She did everything the other kids did. She went to the teachers and let them assist her in the activities and she played with the other kids during "separation time" (when the parents all back away and just let the kids play with each other and the teachers). I think she really liked it and will be fun for us to see her doing more on her own as she gets bigger in the coming months. No pictures today. Hopefully we can get a few pictures next time!

Then this afternoon, after her nap, we met up with some friends at Monkey Joe's. It's a place full of bounce houses. Kids under 1 are free! It was absolutely CRAZY in there today. We will probably never go back again on a Saturday! It was fun though, and it was free. We stayed about an hour, and for the second time today Addy was a bit overwhelmed with all that was going on in that place! We think she enjoyed it. We'd like to go back when it's less busy to let the kids play again. We got some pictures from Monkey Joe's!







After playing at Monkey Joe's we went to dinner and the service was s l o w, even for us adults. Addy was just an angel. It's been a busy day and full of new, stimulating activities and she just took it all in and handled it so well. It doesn't surprise me, but it does really impress me. She just seems to handle life with such poise at such a young age. I know our days of melt downs are coming, but I thought she earned the right to one today. Not our sweet Addy, no whining or fussing at all. Such a proud mama. Can you tell? :)

Friendly Neighbors

It's not every day that we get this in our front yard:



Our neighbors across the street apparently have pigs. We didn't know. We've only seen the goats and horses get out! Only this time the neighbors didn't know they got out. We don't know these people, they really don't come outside much. I've only seen "him" yelling at their kids from their front porch (which is not close enough for me to even have a clue what the guy looks like) and I've only seen "her" on a 4-wheeler pulling her toddler children on a sled behind her. Anyway, back to the pigs. They were really tearing into our yard and our neighbor's shrubs and flowers. After Steven and our neighbor, Jeff, tried to catch the pigs without success, Steven went across the street to let the suspected owner know and ask him to come get them. He did. I guess he brought some feed over and used that to lure them home. I missed this fun event by just a few minutes. I'm so glad Steven thought about getting pictures. He knew I'd want to blog about it!

Tomorrow we are going to My Gym with Addy. We are so excited for her! We think she's really going to like it. She loves other kids, and they told us there are usually about 5-8 kids her age in the class. Plus there is so many things for her to crawl over and play with. When we went in to sign up, her eyes were so big! It looked really fun.

A couple pictures of our silly girl.




Addy's talking more these days, too. She's FINALLY saying "mama" more. It's usually associated with whining or crying, but it still counts. :) And she put her first sentence together on Thursday, "ba ba dada". We get to say goodbye to Steven every night now with his new schedule and she picked it up! She sort of uses it whenever she wants to, not just when Steven's leaving. She said it during dinner last night and while she was playing. She's trying to say more. Her babble is more animated when she plays, not quite so monotone. She's just growing so quickly!

Lost and Found

Last night Steven and I were lying on the floor in our family room letting Addy crawl over us like her personal jungle gym. We both have colds now and by last night we were both out of energy. Addy really likes crawling over things, under things, through things, whatever she can these days, so she was satisfied! Well, then she crawled away from us and we thought she was going toward her wagon. Just a few seconds later, Steven went to go see what she was up to and couldn't find her. We can always hear her when she crawls on the wood floors, but we starting looking everywhere. For probably 20 seconds or so, our hearts were really beating because we really couldn't find her! Then Steven saw her...behind the couch! She'd never done that before or even attempted to try to go back there before. We both just started laughing. I mean, we were calling for her and nothing. She was silent. Her nose is still stuffy, so we can normally hear her breathe, but she was totally trying to hide from us! Here she is after she was busted:


Here she's having tea time:


And check out this serious face! A future in basketball perhaps? I think with her height and weight stats and her Daddy's love of the game, it could be a possibility!

A Not-So-Good First

Addy has her first ear infection. Poor girl, she just can't catch a break this week. I called the doctor's office today to see if there was anything we could do about her cough. Even though her fever broke yesterday, she's still not feeling well because of her stuffy then runny then stuffy nose and cough. Of course, the doctor wanted to see her. I'm so thankful she did! Addy wasn't complaining or giving us any indication her ears were bothering her, but she has an ear infection in her right ear. Her doctor said it was inevitable since she has so much drainage going on with her nose. Such a trooper. She has a Rx for amoxicillan. That medication brought back fond memories for both Steven and me! We remember how yummy this bubble gum flavored medicine was to us when we were kids! Addy likes it, too! I wonder if our parents only had to pay $5 for it? :)



This sweet girl is also cutting 3 teeth right now! I knew she was cutting 2 teeth, but today I saw the third one. Two teeth on top and one tooth on the bottom. I'm no doctor, but it seems like all her symptoms this week could be blamed on these 3 teeth and not just another "virus". Who knows. And her face is shiny because I smother Aquaphor on her cheeks and nose as often as I can to keep her skin from getting so raw from all the nose wiping!

We have a quiet weekend ahead of us. I think we'll be doing a lot of what we've done this week so far...cuddling on the couch! Hopefully the antibiotic will help Addy to feel better quickly.

By the way, for all our readers back home...it was 60 degrees here today! LOVE IT!!!

p.s. Addy weighed in at 20 lbs 6 oz today!

Sick Baby

Means not much time for blogging! Poor Addy. She started out waking up every 2 hours early Monday morning with a fever. It eventually reached 104.2! Addy has never had a fever that high before. She also didn't have a wet diaper from 6am-2pm after drinking 2 6oz bottles and eating a normal breakfast and lunch. So off to the doctor we went. Now, let me just paint a picture really quickly... I met Steven and Addy there since I was at work. I walked into the waiting room, and there sits my baby, looking as pitiful as I've ever seen her, sitting on her Daddy's lap. Steven is wearing sleep pants and a faded old sweatshirt, COVERED in snot! Such a good Daddy. He didn't change clothes because Addy just screamed any time he tried to set her down, and he didn't want her to cry! So sweet. Anyway, they did a white blood cell count, which was only slightly elevated, flu test, and urine culture...both negative. Her ears and chest were clear. So the final conclusion was it must be a virus. FUN.


And on our third day of this virus, we still have a fever, super snotty nose, and chest congestion. The fun never ends! Looks like we'll be heading back to the doctor tomorrow if the fever sticks around. All the snuggling has been sort of fun, but Steven and I agree we'd rather have a healthy baby. Addy has been extra clingy, too, which makes it so hard to do anything around here...until today when I thought I'd give the wagon a try. I think that wagon is magical.


She was so happy and content playing in her wagon. I didn't even have to keep it moving! She was just happy playing in it. Silly girl. Well, hopefully she'll be feeling better tomorrow. We just hate seeing her feeling so badly.

Still No Blizzard

This is a picture from yesterday. It snowed, but still not enough to even cover our grass!


Addy loves her wagon. We've been giving her rides daily in it around the house since it's too cold to use it outside! Yesterday's ride:


Who needs walking toys when you can just use dining room chairs?



Addy went to her first birthday party today! Her friend, Rex, turned 2 today. She loved it...the kids, ball pit, bounce house, pizza, cake, the works! Now, all the pictures I have don't reflect that because I couldn't get her to look at the camera! But, trust me, she had a great time.

Mmmmm, cake! "Mom, stop taking pictures and give me more cake. No, I'm not going to smile. I just want more cake."



The birthday boy giving Addy some love, and later Addy returning the love!



She is really into kissing these days. She kissed another little girl at the party today, too! She also kissed one of her friends at church last week. Boy was her daddy watching her! It's no wonder she likes to give kisses, I think she gets a few thousand every day herself!

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Not Quite a Blizzard

Well, we did get some snow today. Not as much as promised all week, more like just under 0.25", at least that's what was reported on the news tonight. Some of the rural areas did get 1", but not us city folk.

Addy and me outside Wendy's house this morning, pre-blizzard:


Yes, Addy is in her pajamas! We are so lucky. Wendy gives her breakfast for me and also dresses her!

This is mid-blizzard tonight around 5 pm:

Addy didn't mind it. She actually seemed pretty indifferent about it.

Front yard:


Back yard:


Schools are out again tomorrow because our temps are cold. The wind chill in the morning is supposed to be around 0, which is unusual for these parts. The combination of the snow today, even if it was 0.25", plus the cold temps are troublesome for the roads. Now, I will say that the roads today were just fine on the main roads, but the side roads are slick. Our street wasn't treated ahead of time and it is slippery.

Our neighbor was out "shoveling" his driveway today. Steven and I just laughed. It would've been easier on him to sweep it! Or just wait until next week when our temps will get back to normal, the 40s! Gotta love it.

Warning: Blizzard Coming

It's been in the news for a week now that we could get up to 2" of snow tomorrow, maybe even 3" by Friday.

So, let's just make sure we're really ready for this blizzard:

*Start putting salt on the roads 48 hours ahead of time, especially since the roads are completely dry. Check.
*Get to the grocery store and clear the shelves of milk, eggs, and bread. Make sure all media outlets know which stores in the area haven't been cleared yet for all the procrastinators out there. Check.
*Close all schools in every county at least 12 hours prior to the anticipated first snowflake. Check. The teachers in our county are totally ahead of the game, they sent Thursday's and Friday's homework assignments home with their students today!

Okay, I think we've got it all covered. Let it snow. :)

Check back soon, if I can get pictures of Addy experiencing her first blizzard before it's gone, I most certainly will.

First Major Fall

First thing yesterday morning Addy made my heart skip a beat when she fell off her changing table, head first. I was right there, putting her diaper in the garbage, but I wasn't quick enough to catch her. She scratched her upper left eyelid and had a small mark, not really a bruise, under her eye. I think it really scared her, maybe even more than it hurt her. I'm so glad Grandma E., RN was here! She quickly helped get a cold wash cloth on it. Addy settled right down when she saw her bottle, go figure. I tried to get pictures of her eye, but it wasn't very easy. This is the best I could do:



Looking cute for church, despite the rough start to the day!


I'm thankful there wasn't a serious injury. She's doing just fine and the scratch above her eye is starting to heal. And I'm thankful Grandma E. was here, too!

Switching gears here, do you know what 80 lbs of ground beef looks like? Let me show you:



Well, in the photo you only see 40 lbs, there's 2 layers. So why do we have so much ground beef at our house you might be thinking? Because there was a slight miscommunication between my hubby and me! We were at Sam's Club and saw the sign for the price per pound of ground beef, if you buy a case. It's less than half what we normally pay in the grocery store, so we were curious how much came in a case. Steven asked the butcher and then turned to me (I was probably 30 feet away) and apparently told me 80 lbs, but I heard 8 lbs. For the record, my mother-in-law heard him say 8 as well. My reaction was, "great, let's take a case"! So after spending Saturday night separating all the meat into smaller packages, we now have 80 lbs of ground beef in our freezer. Correction, we have 75 lbs in the freezer...Steven's mom has helped lighten the load by cooking meatloaf and tater tot hotdish for us! So yes, if you come to our house for dinner this year, the dish will some how include ground beef! Any takers? :)

Happy New Year

Hope all of you had a great New Year's, we sure did. Grandma E. came down on Wednesday to spend a week with us, so Steven and I went out last night while Grandma E. stayed with Addy. Our neighbors set off some fireworks and Addy and Grandma E. watched them from our back porch. She really enjoyed them. The noise didn't bother her and she especially liked watching the sky light up.

Grandma E. brought Addy some Christmas presents, and she LOVES them...books! Addy absolutely loves her book called "Little Hands Love" which has different textures to touch on each page. Well, Grandma E. found a similar book called "Little Feet Like". She loves this one just as much. When I say she loves them, I mean she will literally sit and page through these books for 20 minutes or more without getting distracted. She just loves them. She really likes any book, so the other ones Grandma E. got were a hit, too.



Addy got a new pair of earrings from her aunt, uncle. and cousins. They are super cute. It's her first pair of new earrings!!!


One big present Addy got for Christmas was a new wagon! Steven put it together tonight, with Addy's help. She was very interested in it and pretty excited about it, too!






And just some more cute pictures from the last couple of days: