Road Trip to Phoenix-Part I

I am fairly exhausted right now so I am going to break this up within a couple of posts.  What can I say?  We had lots of fun this past weekend and I want to write/post pictures of everything but cannot do it all tonight.

As a teacher I am spoiled with the number of days we have off throughout the school year.  Usually we only go 4-5 weeks without a break. Amazing, I know, why do you think I am a teacher? (wink, wink)  However, with Easter very late in April, we have 8 weeks in a row without one minimum day or one day off. This could cause a teacher to have a breakdown or it could give a teacher a great reason to take a mental health day and go on a mini road trip.  We decided to do the latter...so road trip it was.

For our road trip we decided to go to Phoenix to visit some of my family and maybe go to a Spring Training game.  It had been two years since we had last visited so we decided it was time to head out to one of our favorite springtime places.  Addy was excited to get on the road because we let her face forward for the trip. 

We stayed with my cousin, Justin, and his wife, Jamie, who are expecting a little girl in June.  We had not seen them in a year and it was fun to see Jamie pregnant.  It was great to see their house, the baby's nursery, and just be able to hang out with them both.  Justin & Jamie are going to be great parents as you can see by how much Addy loved playing with them both.

 

We enjoyed catching up on some tv, eating Mexican Chinese food (imagine orange chicken in a quesadilla, absolutely delicious), talking, playing with Addy, sleeping, and enjoying each others company.  Everything one could wish for when trying to escape from work. 

And I cannot forget to mention how much we enjoyed the beautiful Phoenix sunset.

I will leave you with that for tonight.  Thank you Justin & Jamie for letting us invade your house for a couple of days! We loved every minute of time we got to spend with you and cannot wait to visit again.

Milk

Addy loves her milk (it is in her bones with a grandpa who grew up on a dairy) which has made the transition from a bottle and formula to a sippy cup and milk very easy.  I have given Addy beverages with a straw too, but I have been too nervous to give her a regular cup.  Tonight, she was eyeing the last couple of drops of milk in my cup.  A bath was on the agenda after dinner so I figured, why not? 

A little messy, but overall a success.  Maybe time to move to a real cup?  Probably not quite yet.

Climber

Addy has definitely mastered crawling and is working on walking but she has started to master something I was not quite sure she should be doing...climbing the stairs.  Granted, she does not do this unless I am right behind her in case of a fall, but this little girl can climb like no other.  Tonight she climbed up all 13 of our stairs, quite a fete even for me.
I have been trying to video tape one of her climbs and here is one from last week.   She had not practiced as much, but you can get the gist of what she looks like climbing up our stairs. Enjoy!

St. Patrick's Day

Happy belated St. Patrick's Day

from our family to you!

Yogurt

What does the mommy of a toddler who woke up from her nap cranky and hungry do to appease her child?  Give her a spoon and some yogurt, of course.  And have the camera ready too, of course.

Still using the left hand and doing pretty okay with it

 Good thing a bath was still yet to come...things got a bit messy.

While I would like to think most of the yogurt made it into Addy's mouth, I cannot be sure.  A lot of it did end up on her shirt and the tray, but a happy baby equals a happy mommy, so it was all good.

Catching Up

You know when you talk to someone on the phone and you are catching up, there is always the question: "what have you been up to?"  In this house, we haven't been up to much and I am not complaining. It is nice to be calm, where all we have to do is relax and enjoy each other.  So, here is a quick post to share with you what we have been up to.

Playing with the Gate: The gate is still a source of entertainment for all of us: the baby,
the dogs, & the parents.

Please excuse the unedited pictures, I am just not into editing tonight.

Hanging out at Home: This involves watching SDSU kill BYU in basketball (finally!), mastering the art of pulling ourselves up,
walking around the coffee table, eating (of course), playing with iPhones, napping (but only when we want to),
and playing with necklaces.

Can you tell which pictures I took with my phone? 

Video of playing with a necklace...not super exciting.  

And nope, Mom, she does not show me where her tummy is but she really can do it...I swear.

Of course, we do love going out to eat with our family (which I forgot to take pictures of, maybe cause I was

talking, eating, and having a good time?) and our new fav, shopping with G-ma.

In a papasan chair at Pier 1.

Nothing like a calm weekend to remind me of what is important in life.

Some Days...

Some days things just do not go smoothly.  Doesn't mean they are not fine days, they are just more challenging than others. Of course, these days also remind you to be thankful for those other days...the good ones.
Wednesday was definitely one of those days.  Addy decided to wake up an hour before normal on a day when Tim worked early.  So, we took a shower, cleaned up the "accident" Addy had in the shower, got dressed, and started eating breakfast all within a reasonable time to get out of the door on time.  Then love bug decided to start feeding the dogs instead of herself.  This is what resulted when I told her she was not able to share her food with the doggies:

Don't worry though, once love bug was in the car and on her way to G-ma's, she was a much happier camper.  So much so that she wouldn't sit still for a picture so you'll just have to take my word for it.
My day continued to be challenging (forgot to put in an earring, tried to make tea with only a cup and no water in the microwave, was late to 4th period, and Tim forgot his phone in his friend's car) but I am here to write about it so I survived.  I am writing to remind myself: there are going to be bad days, just remember to get through them, sleep it off, and then move on. And move on I did...

A year, 2 weeks, and one day

Dear Adelyn,
Today you are one year, 2 weeks, and one day old and while I wanted to write this on your first birthday, the days since then have just flown on by.  So, while this isn't on your actual birthday, I still wanted to share the following with you.
Baby girl, I am amazed by what a smart, beautiful, and friendly little girl you have become.  People tell me all of the time that you should become a baby model and how you look like the baby in this HP ePrint commercial (even though I think you are cuter).  When you smile, you make my heart melt and I cannot help but think how I made good on the promise I made to your daddy a long time ago, I do make adorable babies. While you are a good mix of Daddy & me, you have the most beautiful blue eyes that remind me of your Grandpa Arnie and I love to think you have some of him in you and with you all of the time.
When we go to a restaurant or a gathering of any type you like to act shy, as if you won't leave my side.  Give you a couple of minutes and you are working the room, letting everyone hold you, and playing with any kid who will give you the time of day.  You love to be out of the house and on days when you are irritable, Daddy & I make sure to take you somewhere.  Target and Costco are two of your favorites, probably because you get to ride in the cart and play with my wallet.  There have been many times where I am picking up all of my gift cards off the floor and you are just smirking at me.  How could I get mad?
Love bug, you are a talker.  You will talk to anyone/anything if it will listen.  Daddy & I know it is a good day when you wake up and chat with your dolls before you call for us to come get you.  You are starting to get better and better with words and have started repeating what I am saying to you.  Just today you were repeating "Baaaa" when we were reading about sheep.  Amazing to me, when only a year ago you did not even know how to smile yet.  And you love books, you will read them to yourself upside down, right side up, and backwards. :-)
You are not walking yet, Addy, but just like with crawling I think you are just waiting until you have fully thought out the whole walking thing.  You will walk around the coffee table, switch over to the couch, push your activity table across the room, but when it comes to walking by yourself, you prefer not to.  You would rather just crawl.
And one last thing, food.  How could I leave this out when it is one of my favorite things?  Believe it or not, it is also one of yours.  You love food (your G-ma would say it is because you are a Christman).  Your daddy is very proud to be raising a meat lover and you make him smile every time you devour meat he makes for you.  You also love fruit and veggies.  Carrots, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, string beans, blueberries, blackberries, bananas, you love them all.  And I must not forget Multigrain Cheerios, your breakfast of choice.  When you are done, you are also willing to "share" whatever is left with Daddy, me, or the dogs.  Usually this involves flinging your food towards us or over your shoulder.  The dogs especially appreciate this gesture, while not Daddy or I as much.  I was worried about getting rid of your morning and evening bottles, but over the last two days you have done just fine. Maybe it was just me, clinging onto the last parts of your "babydom". 
I just wanted to make sure you knew how much I love you and am amazed by you everyday, Love Bug.  I know I will continue to be in awe of you and look forward to our bright future.
Love you,
Mommy

And thank you, Lauren, for this idea!!

Styles

Addy has an awesome wardrobe, with much thanks to all of the awesome people she has in her life.

But I would like to think Addy has two styles.

"Daddy Style"

And "Mommy Style"

And thankfully, no matter the style she is happy.

Choo Choo

 For Addy's birthday I bought her the above wooden train. I am really good at buying toys that I would like to play with, you know, toys I can steal from my child and play with myself we can play with together and both be entertained. Addy has really taken to her train.  She loves the "choo choo" sound and has started pulling the train around the room.

I also love that my little girl can play with all types of toys.  It makes me happy to think she is as content playing with a train as she is a doll.  So, while Addy may be a girly girl (she loves her "necklaces" and her silver shoes) hopefully she will also learn how to shoot hoops and throw a softball.