Snow Day 2009

I can't believe that it was snowing last Sunday and it was 80 degrees out today. I know it has taken me a while to post our snow day pictures. My laptop is super slow!

Addie was not too sure what to think about the snow.


She couldn't figure out where the grass went and why Eddie, the puppy dog, wouldn't walk on the snow.
Here is Daddy and Addie on our way to church.
I think it was snowing a little harder during our photo. HaHa. I was so mad that I had already packed up all of my heavy winter clothes and I didn't have any that would fit Addie. We just layered her up.
She was so mad! She had 2 shirts, 2 jackets, 2 pants, 2 socks, snow boots, mittens and toboggan. She couldn't move and more importantly to her, she couldn't eat her hands!

Well, I hope you enjoy our snow day pictures.

As February comes to a close...

Looking back on the month of February, we have had a very busy/hectic month.
We have:
- had family return home (MeMe we love you and are so grateful for your visit and all your help!)
- had family visit from "up north" (Mark, Rachel, and AJ)
-celebrated my birthday
-attended/participated in my little sister's 13th Birthday/Sleep over/ Mall Scavenger Hunt (Selah's B-day, I know I can't believe she is a teen now either)
-done a lot of work on the house (both inside and outside, mainly just cosmetic things)
-found ways to become more frugal (I will explain later)
-made a vow to stay home more this spring than we have the entire time since Addison was born

We stay on the "go" constantly! Addison is such a WONDERFUL baby. There is NO WAY we would be able to do half the things we do if she wasn't. For example, last Saturday we drove from my sister's birthday celebration in Fort Payne to Montgomery in one trip. She slept the entire time! She is awesome! We take her EVERYWHERE with us. I think that is they way that it should be. I don't feel like we should be going any place that she can't go, if we do, what does that say about us? Don't get me wrong, it is nice to have "Grown-Up" time but we are so completely wrapped up in our little princess that we couldn't imagine doing anything without her.
Since Addie has been born, she has:
-been in "big church" since she was 3 weeks old
-seen 2 movies ("Marley and Me" and "Bride Wars")
-been to almost every restaurant in Alabaster and several in Shelby and DeKalb County (including Mizu, the Japanese Steakhouse. She LOVES the fire when they cook in front of you at the hibachi grills)
-been to a Samford Football game (Appalachian State when she was a month old)
I'm sure there will be plenty more to add to this list in the near future.

Oh yeah, did I mention she is OBSESSED with Miss Z? We now have 3 Miss Zs. We have one that stays in the bed, one in the car and one downstairs to play with. She LOVES her!

Addison thoroughly enjoyed being part of a "big girl" birthday party. She even wrote on the card she gave Aunt Selah herself, ok she had a little help from mommy)

She didn't want to miss anything. She was the center of attention. She even helped blow out the candles on the awesome zebra cookie cake she had for her birthday (Ok, so I am biased because I made it. HaHa). She even got to have a small taste of the icing. She LOVED it. I'm guessing it tastes better than the soy formula and bland baby food she is used to.

So back to the being frugal... I have been convinced to begin "couponing" by a very dear friend of mine. I was very reluctant at first. I was AMAZED after the first week at the amount of savings in just one week. I now have a routine down. On Sundays, I go to Walgreen's and get a Birmingham News (they are only $1.50 there) and go home and catalog the coupons and sales papers that are relevant to our needs. Wednesday the new grocery sales papers come out and I make my list of items to "stock up" on. Why not stock up when you get great deals, many for dirt cheap with stacking sales and coupons. Friday is usually my errand running day. I generally knock all of these out. My errands include several stops at various grocery and drug stores depending on the best deals. Addison is my deal-hunting buddy. She does great getting in and out of the car so many times, especially today with the bad weather. We were halfway through our list of errands when the "bottom fell out". Over the month, I have spent about $250 and saved at least $225. If you are interested in couponing or just love great deals, I have added links to my favorite blogs where I find a lot of my deals each week.

Well, that is February in a nut shell. I hope you guys have a wonderful March!

5 Months!

I can't believe that Addison is 5 months already. Time has flown by. Here are a few things that she is into these days.

She has become a roly poly. She doesn't like to stay on her stomach for very long at all. She is getting much faster at rolling over.

Did I mention that she is a HAM? She is very sassy and LOVES zebra print. I know it is probably just the black and white pattern but I like to think that she has really good taste. HaHa.

We like playing with mommy and daddy on the floor. She will play for hours as long as someone is down there with her. She is VERY active. We are working on perfecting her sitting up. She sat up all by herself for the first time 2 weeks ago for about a minute and a half. We are also working on learning to crawl. She is very advanced. HaHa. Do I sound biased?

We are also trying to cut some teeth so we have all the drooling and fussiness that comes along with it.

She has discovered the baby in the mirror. This keeps her amused for a good 20 minutes. She thinks that baby is so funny.

She truly is a wonderful baby. She is generally happy most of the time. EVERYTHING is funny to her, especially her daddy. She LOVES animals. Her favorite video is her Baby Einstein, Noah's Ark. Her favorite TV shows are Sesame Street and Curious George. The books she likes the best at the moment are The Runaway Bunny, Goodnight Moon and 100 Bible Stories for Children. Her favorite songs are "Old McDonald," "You Are My Sunshine," and "The Alphabet Song."

Well, that is what we are enjoying these days. I hope you guys enjoy the photos and the updates!

Christmas Photos and Random things

Well, I know that it has taken way to long to update the blog. I just never realized how one little girl could turn your life upside down. It has been a very bumpy road but we are adjusting to parenthood and becoming a family. There are so many things that they don't tell you when you bring your little bundle of joy home form the hospital. I have learned to just "wing it" so to speak. We are slowly getting adjusted to a schedule. So many things have happened since the last post. I will go ahead and apologize for this post being so long

This picture was taken at Moments In Time Photography in Fort Payne, AL. Addison is 3 months in this picture. We had a difficult time during this photo shoot so this is really the only decent picture of us.

This is one of the pictures that we gave my parents for Christmas. It is the first time we have had professional pictures made of all of us since Paxton, my baby sister who is 11, was 3. This time we have 3 additions, Brian, Addison and my brother's fiance, Jacqueline.

Christmas was a very fun time for us. As you can tell, Addison is very fun! She is into EVERYTHING. She truly is a ham.

I love this picture because you can really see how much she looks like her daddy, especially her dimples.

She is actually inside of her stocking that we had hanging on the fireplace mantle.

Can you tell that we like BIG bows?

Addison got some very beautiful pearls from her Nena and Grandpa Andy. She LOVED showing them off.

Addie got a BUMBO for Christmas form Selah and Paxton. This thing is wonderful. She has actually started sitting up all by herself since she got this seat.

She is the BEST present we could ever ask for. She was obsessed with the ornaments and lights.

Opening presents was interesting. She didn't care about the presents at all. She was more interested in the paper.

We decided to have Santa come early to our house since we were not going to be home on Christmas morning.

Addison LOVES bath time! She would probably play and splash around until the water got cold if we let her.

Well, I will try to post more pictures very soon but for now, I need to go make dinner. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

"It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas"

I know it has been WAY to long since we have posted anything new. Sorry about that. Things have been really crazy lately. It is amazing how much time I didn't realize that I actually had before Addison came along. Now it seems like there is not enough hours in the day. Addison has had her nights and days mixed up for a couple of weeks now. We are slowly adjusting and trying to get her back on schedule.

Addie is beginning to develop the cutest personality. EVERYTHING is funny to her. If you really want to see how cute her personality is, it usually peaks around 2a.m. so come on over. I'm sure we will be up. HAHA. She is constantly smiling and laughing. Her hair continues to get more red and she is definitely becoming a big mommy's girl. I love it! Don't get me wrong, she is still crazy about her Daddy and whenever he enters the room she goes crazy until he picks her up. They are football buddies. Every time there is an Alabama game, Brian gets both of them dressed from head to toe in Alabama gear and they watch the game together. He claims that she is their good luck charm and that is why they are having such a great season.

Thanksgiving was a blast. We have so much to be thankful for this year. God has truly blessed us beyond what we deserve. I can't help but be reminded of it every time I look at my wonderful husband and beautiful baby girl. It is wonderful being able to share the holidays with my new little family as well as our extended families. I can't wait for Christmas to arrive. We have so many traditions that we want to share with Addison, not to mention traditions we want to start as a family.

So yes, we have had our Christmas decorations up since before Halloween. Christmas is Brian's FAVORITE holiday so he goes all out. So why go through all that trouble for just one month. Our house is beginning to look like toy land. Brian LOVES animated Christmas toys (pretty much anything that sings, dances or even just talks). Addison is beginning to gain an appreciation for them as well. She also is mesmerized by the lights on the tree.

I hope to get back into a regular schedule of posting. I can't really plan anything these days. Some little red-headed princess dictates my life lately, but I wouldn't have it any other way. So, if I don't post before Christmas, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's! Oh yeah, ROLL TIDE!

6 Weeks

Many of you have asked for a Daddy update. I'm doing well. Thanks!

I guess I need to start from the time we came home. It's comforting starting life in Alabaster. Addison does great in the morning and even better at night! She sleeps in the bed in between Mattea and myself. When we start to get ready in the morning, she stays asleep in the big bed. The visual of her by herself in her "queen" size bed is enough to get your day started on a bright note.

the first day I had to go back to work, it was really hard to leave. As much as I wanted to get back into a routine, I kept thinking about my girls back home. I knew they would be ok together but I never want to miss a moment! I guess I've become a softy.

When i get home, I always get to hold her. Typically, she's sleeping and that's fine. We still get our quality Addie and Daddie time. I feel honored that Mattea lets me change Addie's diapers...she even renamed them Daddy Diapers. It is truly special to have poop named after you but hey, it works.

There are two things that Addison loves the most.....her showers and dancing with Daddy. You would think a baby would scream the whole time she was in a shower but she absolutely loves the water. She gets her face right in there and gets all cleaned up. The part where she cries is when we get her in a towel.

Daddy Dancing Time happens every once in a while when Mommy falls asleep. We go downstairs and put on the music channels on the TV. She mostly likes Arena Rock, Party Zone, and the 70s (sound familiar). She really has enjoyed selections from Queen, Katy Perry, and Chicago! Can't blame her.....it's good music.

Some other things we do are reading Daddy's old Sesame Street Books, Watching Disney Movies, going on walks in her stroller and watching Alabama Football (she is the reason they are undefeated).

Its weird to know she has been on this earth for 6 weeks and that she should've come this past Sunday. it's like that defies the law of physics or something! But it's been a great 6 weeks. We ahve already made several trips to Fort Payne and had dinner for a night in Montgomery. Of course, she is slowly becomming the queen of alabaster. Everyone has either seen her or has seen the pics.

Mattea has done soo well since the birth. She has since subbed at some of the local schools and has been brave enough to leave Addison at home. Don't worry.....she is getting spoiled with MeMe (my grandmother from New York) and Nena (my mom).

It will be nice this weekend when Mattea and I finally get a chance to relax and nothing else. We need this weekend to recoop and catch our breath. pretty soon we'll have the holidays and that will be special. Addie's first Christmas is coming and I get to play Santa.....why not? i've already got the suit.

And because I can't leave this on a serious note, here are some musings that I thought of for you:

*You are never too young to have pierced ears.....or painted fingernails!
*It can be ugly as sin.....but if it is sized preemie....it is the cutest outfit ever.
*Actually....every new day is the cutest outfit ever!
*I secretly put an extra dab of Sleep Time Lotion on my hands to help me fall asleep.
*You can never own enough burp cloths, germx, diapers, baby wipes or hair bows!
*Finally.....the only outfit a little girl should wear for her first Halloween is a cat outfit....thus Addie the Kitty is born!

Love to all,
BP

Loving every minute of it!

I know it has been a while since we have updated the blog. Sorry! I have been a little busy lately. A lot of things have happened since we last wrote. Addison is now almost 6 weeks and we are approaching her due date on Sunday. Addison is wonderful! I am absolutely loving every minute of it! She is now almost 6 pounds.

We have already experienced several firsts together. At about 2 1/2 weeks, she was able to take her first bath. She LOVES water! It is the transition time from to the tub to back to her PJ's that she isn't thrilled about. Baths absolutely exhaust her. It is so cute.

We also took her to Samford University for the first time on Saturday. She got to see where Mommy and Daddy met. We took her to her first football game. It was a lot of fun with all of the pre-game festivities that were not available when we went to school there.







Our families are absolutely crazy about her. They jump every time she makes a sound. She is already so spoiled! Addie has now gotten to meet both of her great grandmothers. Babies cannot ever have too much love. I love the fact that she is surrounded with so much love. Brian's grandmother is now staying with us for a little while. It has been great! The only problem is that I have been eating so much of her wonderful cooking that I may never lose all of this baby weight. The other night after dinner I was looking around and couldn't see the baby and she had her wrapped up in her apron. It was so cute! We have spent most of the day today baking cookies. I have so much to learn from her. My grandmother asks about Addison all the time. The minute we walk in the door, she wants to hold her. We usually have to fight her to get to hold her.

I went back to work for the first time this week. It was the hardest thing that I have ever had to do. I cried all morning. I even went home at lunch just to see her. She was fine. Her grandmother (Nena) and her great grandmother (meme) had everything under control. We are very blessed that she hasn't had to go to daycare yet.

For those of you who are interested, Addison's baby dedication will be November 9th at 11:00am at our church, Westwood Baptist Church. We would love it to have as many friends and family there as possible. If you can't make it, please just lift up our family in your prayers.

When more stories and pictures are available, we will post them. Until then, ENJOY!