18 Months Today

It seems that Addison has been with us forever and at the same time, it's so hard to believe that my baby is a year and a half old!! My oh my time flies.

Addison is absorbing everything. Its just amazing to watch her learn. She knows her shapes (circle, triangle, square, oval, star, & heart), colors (red, blue, yellow, green, purple, orange, white & black), animal sounds (dog, cat, sheep, chicken, cow, horse, squirrel, bear & owl), manners (please, thank you, you're welcome) and recognizes some letters (B is still the most important).

Things Addison loves: coloring, singing, music, the piano (real or pretend), 'plaaaay ball', hugs & kisses, books, spinning, being tickled, corn, brushing her teeth (really!), bows, chicken nuggets, Sesame Street, lotion, rainbows, stickers, buttons, spicy food, dancing, slippers, ravioli talking, water, bubbles and of course the moon.

The five things Addison wouldn't want to live without: Her Moon Book, her stuffies (dog, kitty-kitty, and just recently her bear), her crib aquarium, her sippy cup of water and crayons.

Addison still wags her little index finger at any electrical outlet she comes across, and takes direction pretty well. She is quiet when she's at a new location and around new people, but once she's done observing she is not shy - not one bit.


Addison is a little girl with a huge heart. She is very good at taking care of Maybel and being gentle with her old dog. Addison is very aware of others' feelings, is always happy to please and eager to earn praise (clapping and cheering 'yea' usually does the trick).


She's just the sweetest person I've been privileged to meet and it is a honor to be Addison's "Mum-Mum."



Eighteen months ago, my life took on a whole new meaning with a specific purpose of raising my little girl. Again, I ask: How can it get any better than this?

Thirty

When thinking about writing this post I get confused - which by the way, doesn't take much.


I'm just not sure what direction to take it . . . Do I get deep and philosophical about my twenties, my youth and my successes or regrets? Which leads me to regrets - do I TRULY have any?


Do I write about my age . . . . My mom asked me on my birthday, "Twenty-nine and holding?" Nah, don't want to be like that. You can change your nose, your finances, your home; but one thing you cannot change is your age. So there's no denying it - I'm thirty. Hmm . . . still sounds strange to hear - even though Jj has been making sure that I heard it A LOT this past year!!


Do I write about how I spent my thirtieth birthday surrounded by my family; who, by the way, spoiled me like crazy!!??

Since I don't do deep & philosophical all that well, and said all I need to about my age, I'm going to make this post about MY day!!! :)

November 22nd
I share my Birthday with: Mark Sams, Billie Jean King, Jamie Lee Curtis & JW Bogart
Is this why I like 'ewm?? The Beatles released their White Album
It is sad to share this day with this one: JFK was assassinated
The event I'm most excited to share my birthday with: My Grandparents were married!!
Astrological: First day of sun-sign Sagittarius or last day of Scorpio *yeah, that explains a lot*


My mom decorated her house in balloons and streamers (Addison was over-joyed), made my favorite foods (yum) and I spent the day with my local family. OH! And I got to visit Eli - don't worry, we kept him separated from Addison!!


When Sean was off work we ate dinner and I opened the last of my MANY gifts. Everyone was in bed by 8:30 and then I sat with my Dr. Pepper, in the comfy chair watching my favorite show - in. the. quiet. Ahh, relaxation!

Spotlight Thieves

Last week we attended the Fire Brigade Appreciation Dinner/Andy's local retirement party. I could write on and on about how great it was to work with Andy, how he took care of his employees, how he completely spoiled me and I'll never be able to have another job without comparing it to my former job. Like with Brian's retirement, I think this is a time to look forward and not back. Andy's got a great gig waiting for him at home and while it'll be way more tiring than work at Alyeska its gonna be a whole lot more amazing. Who wouldn't want to spend their days cuddling a sweet baby like Hayden??


Jenna coordinated a great party. They had yummy food (prime rib for you carnivores), fun decorations and even a life sized replica of Andy in his turnouts! I tell ya, that girl is creative!!

Now, onto the real stars of the party . . . . And I don't mean Andy or the Firefighters. The adorable kids, of course!!

The girls must have been wearing their 'dancin' shoes' cuz they spent as much time as possible on the dance floor!


Sweet babies Charlie & Hayden (Andy's grandson) were completely outnumbered!! But Charile didn't seem to mind all of those girls one bit - just as long as he had his main gal, Mama, nearby!


Little Lola is always dressed so cute and this night was no exception. Don't you just love her looking all sophisticated in black?


Addison was so excited to play with Hailey. Hailey is just on the brink of walking . . But still prefers to keep on all fours.


Addison just didn't understand. She wanted Hailey to get right up and play with her. Here she is giving Hailey the Come-On-Up-Here hand signal.


At this point I'm pretty sure she's begging Hailey to get up and play. This picture was taken right after Addison tried to lift Hailey up!


Finally, The Compromise.

Worth The Wait

Last month I visited my doctor in Anchorage at the same hospital that Addison was born in.


It had already been a long, busy day for Addison and I had disappeared several times during the day for doctor appointments. Addison was tired of me leaving and was ready to go back to the house for some snuggle-time. Unfortunately, leaving just wasn't possible at that moment.

Walking in with the doctor, I could hear my little girl crying down the hall. Don't worry - I didn't abandon her - she was with Sean! It was so hard to leave her behind - but you know, sometimes you gotta do what'cha gotta do.

When I got out of the office, I was surprised to hear her still crying. I walked (really fast) down the hall to Sean and Addison. Addison reached out for me and as I took her she stopped crying; but still had little hiccup sobs.


Sean said she was asking for Mum-Mum. I couldn't figure out what that might have been. I thought that must have been a coincidence that it sounded like Mama. She had never tried to say Mama, Mommy or anything similar.

Just recently Addison began referring to me as "Baa." Seriously. She had been talking since she was eleven months old, and while she could say difficult words like vacuum and balloon, she was not saying Mommy. Heck, she even knew the names of my parents' dogs. But I was Baa.

Anyhow, as we loaded onto the elevator her hiccup sobs subsided and she looked into my eyes, smiled while putting her tiny hand on my shoulder and said "Mum-Mum-Mum." My heart melted.


It took 16 months, but I FINALLY got to hear it!!! If I had known that she was waiting to say my name at the place where she was born, we would have visited the hospital A LONG TIME AGO!!!

Pumpkin Bumpkin

Halloween was so much fun this year! It was Addison's first Halloween in town and boy, this little one was busy!


First she attended a costume party at Ireland's house. She had a lot of fun playing with the other kids while us Mommies gushed over the kids' costumes.

Poor little Rachel wasn't sure about wearing a costume and was definitely not gonna have her picture taken in it!!


This picture just cracks me up. It looks like Ireland is trying to get away from that lil Monkey by hiding behind Addison's costume!!


Hangin' with her peeps . . .


Ireland & Addison's costumes complimented each other so well. Their pictures together were so cute I couldn't pick my one favorite so here are a few:




It looks as almost they're saying to each other, "Yeah, you're Mom got to you too, eh?" You know, thats probably what they WOULD say if they were Canadian!


After the costume party we were off to Grandma & Grandpa's for a little trick or treating.


She's figuring this whole Grandparent thing out . . .


. . . just flash 'em a smile and get whatever you want!!


After a dinner break, Sean came home from work and we were off to the Halloween carnival. Addison loved it there - she just wanted to use all of that wide-open space to run in! Sean could hardly catch her as she zoomed from one end of the gym to the other.



Final stop for the night was to Nemo's. She kinda digs him . . . can you tell?



And here is a shot of her trying her costume on for the first time. Obviously she loved it from the start - and, not that it really matters, but so did I!!