Learning and Growing

Addison is growing so quickly and learning so many things. Not only is she saying all kinds of words, but she loves to feed herself. We don't love the mess, but we find ways for her to exhibit her independence all the time.

One thing that she loves is smoothies. She also loves having a straw in her cup! We love every new learned skill and moment that we have together.

4th of July

I love having time off work and it is just one of the reasons that I love July. In Utah, not only do we celebrate the 4th, but we also celebrate and observe the 24th of July. We started our morning on the 4th with a ward pancake breakfast.

After breakfast we went to Seven Peaks to enjoy the slides and pools. Oliver's family met us there so we were able to go on the big slides for the first time. It is nice that they open to season pass holders at 9:30 so the kiddie pools and wave pools weren't that busy on the holiday. By the time the park opened to the public at 11 we were ready to head home. Addison LOVES all things water!

We also take her down the slide in the kiddie pool which sometimes goes well and sometimes brings a little whimper. Either way - it's good for her ;)

After the water park, we went home for naps, baths, and preparation for a holiday BBQ. Oliver's family came to join us and after burgers, corn on the cob, fruit, chips, and Texas sheet cake we moved on to more common 4th festivities - brotherly rivalry,

and FIREWORKS! Addison liked them at first, but the louder and bigger they got the less and less she liked them.

We had a great holiday and spent time together - which in my opinion - is the best part of EVERY holiday.

We hope you had a great 4th too!

Backyard Pool

We're raising a water baby. She got a little pool in her Easter basket and we've been playing in the backyard. It has been a real blast and she just loves all things water!

taken June 22

Wheat Ground Homemade Bread

I recently got a wheat grinder and I tried my hand at making homemade bread. It wasn't that tasty, but it did make the house smell great. As I was cleaning up the kitchen and preparing dinner Addison was chatting with me in her counter chair. I turned around to find her LOVING the homemade bread...

taken June 30

I keep forgetting that she can reach a lot further than I think, but 'm glad she liked it.

The Aquarium

Addison and I met up with Charity and her son Isaac at the aquarium a few weeks ago. It was so fun! Addison loved all the animals, she loved that she could crawl all over and explore different things. We pet sting rays and looked at penguins and watched fish. It was especially nice that it wasn't very crowded.

taken June 28

It isn't some place that we would travel from out of town to visit but it was nice to be in the air conditioning on a hot summer day. Oliver's cousin was there with her son, they have a season pass, it is only $25 per year for her and her son. If we were going to go often then it would totally be worth that. For now, it was just a fun excursion to beat the summer heat.

Only Water

I've decided to drink only water. I'm on day three.

I was out having a spontaneous GNO until after midnight and Addison still woke up at 6 am thinking I should nurse her - THE NERVE!

I NEED a diet coke today - but I have still been drinking water.

It would help if the water at my office didn't taste so nasty, it tastes like metallic dirt.
It would also help if I didn't have to choose water out of the fountain machine that has the diet coke button right next to it.
It would help if I wasn't going on 5 hours of sleep and feeling a little bored at work.
It would help if I had some amount of self-control.

However, my friend Kirsten, has inspired me (you might have noticed how my blog has slowly morphed to look more and more like hers). She has a goal to drink 2 liters of water a day. I was totally impressed by her goal. Every week I read her updates I thought I could never drink that much water everyday...that is until I looked up how many ounces are in two liters and was surprised to find out that 2 liters just sounds impressive. In fact, I was already drinking more than that amount of water daily. I still love her and am still inspired to drink only water and I keep telling my brain that I'm drinking 2 liters because it just sounds cooler and like more of an accomplishment when I couch it that way.

So back to my nasty tasting 2 liters I go.

Do you think crystal light mix in packets count as only water?

Re-design

PS My friend Kirsten, previously heralded, is re-designing someone's blog and I'm hoping it turns out to be me. I would tell you that I want you to enter her online giveaway but I'd be lying to say that I want that because that just decreases my chance of winning :) You should, however, read her awesome tutorials and try to fancy up your blog if you have some downtime because they are super easy to follow!

We are THOSE Parents

Oliver and I ran about a hundred errands in one day and Addison was such a trooper. We had been home for every nap but other than that, we were gone all day. We had stopped at a gazillion stores and went out to dinner ($2.04 for all of us at Costa Vida!). She was pleasant and happy and content.

Important aside, on our way out the door after her afternoon nap we forgot her shoes.

Our last stop of the day was Home Depot. It was about 6:30 and she was ready to be home and headed to bed. Oliver was checking out lawn mowers - because ours is mostly broken and we desperately need a replacement. She was pitching a little screaming fit because she wanted out of the cart and down. In an effort to keep her pacified and happy through the last 20 minutes of our excursion I let her push the cart barefoot through Home Depot - up and down at least 5 isles. She loved every minute of it and laughed and giggled and said "hi" to everyone we passed.

In my defense, the store was mostly empty and I was checking the floor for debris as we walked.

I would do it again. Yes, I am one of THOSE parents who allowed my child to walk barefoot in public {insert shocking gasp here}.

Barefoot children in public is one of my mom's biggest horrors. I called her gleefully the next morning at 6:00 am to tell her the tale and she promised to try not to be so judgmental of other mom's when she sees such a horrid infraction next time.

However, let's be totally truthful, she was still horrified!

Yes, I am also one of THOSE parents who sits my child on the kitchen counter to take her picture...she hasn't fallen and broken her head yet.

The Morning After

After gorging on a Cafe Rio pork salad and getting a good night's sleep some perspective has come.

Growing up might now be so bad with memories like this created...
I love our family.

I also love that Addison drinks out of the CamelBak now and we don't have to pack a sippy in addition to what we're already hefting around (ie a 24 lb baby girl).

I Must Be An Adult

We just went camping for four days.

No flushing toilets, no shower, no running water, little shade.

We took with us an almost one year old breast feeding, bottle drinking, crawling, two daily nap taking, eats-everything-in-sight, exploring, curious little Addison.

We hiked, swam, splashed, napped, played, ate, and cooked.

It was bliss.

Until we came home.

I love camping - I hate coming home. It isn't the flash back to reality, the turning on of the cell phones that have been without service, the checking of the email, the unwatered struggling garden or the pile of mail. And, I was ready for a shower, please don't misunderstand.

What I wasn't prepared for is what comes before the long awaited shower.

Clean out the cooler, wash a gazillion loads of smoke smelling laundry, scrub mud and dirt out of everything Addison owns, unload the car, wash it, season the dutch oven, re-wash all the kitchen dishes, wash the toys, reset up the tent to dry, unpack my stuff and Addison's stuff, take everything to the basement, etc.

Camping as a child is so much EASIER. I guess it means that I'm the adult now.

That just blows!

(pictures to follow)

11 Months

Addison is 11 months old today. The time is going by so quickly and there is almost nothing "baby" about her anymore. She now says "Boo" in addition to "Hi" which she has totally mastered. Just after her 10th month she received her first molar and then last week she got her second. She now has 10 teeth - with two more molars about to come in on the bottom! She stands and walks around objects like tables and chairs. She has become a speedy crawler and would now prefer to crawl rather than walk because she crawls much faster. She has also decided that it's okay to hug us and will cuddle for upwards of 30 seconds...we treasure every brief gesture of physical affection. She loves the teddy that she sleeps with and went swimming and down the water slides for the first time this past month.

She weighs 23.1 pounds and is still 28". She seems taller to us, but we believe that height is hard to accurately meausre with how wiggly she is and how much she hates having to be still for any reason. Just one more month and she will be 1...it truly is amazing and humbling to see just how quickly the time passes.

Yard Help

If you haven't gotten the gist, Addison's favorite thing to do lately is help. She finds ways to be helpful no matter what mom or dad are working on. It is such a fun/messy/frustrating/cute stage!
Addison helped her dad weed the flower beds one morning while mom weeded the garden. I don't know about you, but the most important part of weeding for Addison is sampling her work!

PS Next time she weeds it will probably not be in pale pink jammies, I did get all the dirt and grass stains out but naked yard work will be my preference from now on :)

Laundry Help

Addison knows how much we love folding and putting laundry away. I'm going to venture a guess that we aren't the only people who wear our whites out of the dryer for several days before putting them away. Or sometimes - as horrifying as this is to admit - we just start the cycle all over with wash, dry, wear :)

After nap I was working on cleaning our bathrooms and Addison was playing in her room. She was so happy to be playing away and I was amazed that I got almost 15 minutes of uninterrupted cleaning time. When I went to check on her, she was in the laundry room helping encourage us to put away our laundry!
What I cropped out of every photo is the mountain of laundry piled up on the counter waiting to be folded and put away. These whites may or may not have been added to the mountain!

I'll admit, I love all the counter space in my laundry room.

Kiddie Pool

The Easter Bunny brought Addison a $5 kiddie pool (yes, the bunny told me how much it cost).
She loves it. I fill it up before her afternoon nap and it is warm enough to play in when she wakes up.

Splurge Gone Wrong

Frosted Animal Cookies are Oliver's favorite! When I was picking up some groceries I decided to buy them for him as a treat. He does so much for our family that it just seemed like a nice little thank you.
Well - holy rip-off! That is how full the bag was right when it was opened. It was ridiculous! I understand that it is a tight economy and the food people are trying to make a profit...blah blah blah. However, they say the consumer reacts more to increased prize than decreased quantity - well let me tell you - I totally disagree.

What a waste of money - I'll just stick with baking at home!