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.

Boundaries

Well, the time has come...we knew it would be difficult at some point to keep Addy within sight, and now with her crawling as fast as she is, that time has come. With the layout of our house, we really can't just put gates up to keep her in one room, so our friends were very kind to let us borrow their kiddie cage, I mean "play yard". She loves it, can't you tell?


And here she is doing some yoga, or more specifically, the "downward dog" as she plays her keyboard.


She really doesn't mind playing in her new play yard. She thinks it's really funny when her daddy gets in there with her. It is pretty funny since the space isn't that big!

And just one more cute picture of Addy sporting some new pjs:



Tomorrow Addy and I are off to Ft. Myers for the weekend! We're excited to be meeting up with some of our family from MN there, too. I'll post pictures when we get back! Have a great weekend.

Trick or Treat

Addy's first Halloween was pretty fun. Grandma L. flew down to spend the day with us. We tried a new Tex-Mex restaurant, and it was FANTASTIC!!! Absolutely loved it. Addy did, too, since there was so much to look at!


After dinner, we stopped to see Steven at work. Addy was worn out from our afternoon out, only taking a cat nap in her stroller, so this is what we had once we got to Steven: (yes, her pants are unsnapped...Grandma thought she'd be more comfortable that way!)


Unfortunately, Steven had to work the evening of Addy's first Halloween. She wasn't really into it anyway, so it really wasn't that big of a deal. We still got our picture, that's all I cared about! Addy wasn't really into posing for any pictures, though.


I didn't dress Addy up until we got home to go to our neighbors' houses. Again, not totally into posing!





Addy did have one other very SCARY costume to wear this year:



My favorite picture in this scary costume:


Addy, I feel the same way!

Hope you all had a great Halloween!