Visits With Family

Visits with family are always a bright spot in our day, week, or month.  Over Thanksgiving weekend we were able to enjoy a few visits with family (with very few pictures), and we are now getting excited to spend time with family for Christmas.

We first spent time with some of my family down in Virginia Beach on Thanksgiving day.  The weather was pretty nice so we took a walk to a park nearby to try and find some pecans for a pregnant girl we know who has been craving nuts lately. ;D

Chris was good at encouraging the nuts to fall from the trees:

And Addie really wanted to join him:

After spending a couple of days in Virginia Beach we drove back up to the DC area and spent some time with Chris' sister Marne` and her family.  We took the kids to a farm where they enjoyed looking at all the animals, investigating the farm equipment, and playing at the park.

It was great to see and spend time with family, we sure do love them all!!

Share a Laugh

The last little while has been a little difficult, for a multitude of reasons.  We've been blessed in the midst of seemingly great trial, but on days when those blessings aren't so obvious (or in my face) I've been thankful for moments like these, which I thought I'd share:

Addie walking around "blowing her nose" into the wipes she sneakily acquired:

(FYI, she is an "expert" nose-blower, but she sometimes does it unnecessarily, as was the case this day)

Addie deciding she wanted to try on a few shirts:

Playing in the tub of blocks:

Hiding under blankets:

These pictures were taken on different days (look for her clothing), some days she'll sit on the floor and cover herself in the blanket and then just sit covered up, and other days she'll cover up and then walk around, which is simply hilarious to watch.

Hiding on the shelving unit in our closet:

Can you see what she did?

How 'bout now?

Obviously, this isn't really a safe habit, but I had to keep from laughing when I found her.  I'd removed a load from the dryer and then went to get a load of dirty clothes to put in the washer and didn't know where Addie had disappeared to until I heard a little noise and peered into the dryer--she crawled into it by herself!!

When I...

• Almost start crying at the tire shop after seeing an On-Star commercial
• Want to eat hot dogs for at least one meal a day every day (after cringing at the thought of them literally all my life)
• Get mad at my husband when he goes to serve me green beans and tell him, "I can serve myself, I'm not a child," and then we both laugh uncontrollably
• Go from vacuuming a few times a day to once every few days (or weeks)
• Start looking forward to my toddler's naps so I can nap too
• Don't want to think about preparing or even eating food
• Spend a little time almost every day "worshipping" the "porcelain god"
• Begin to consider buying stock in Canada Dry Ginger Ale
• Spend a lot of time looking at my toddler's baby pictures to remind myself that it's all worth it
• Eat a lot of refried beans and cheese (sometimes on a tostada or tortilla, sometimes not)

I just might be...

Ok, let's rephrase that...






I AM pregnant.






(Yes, you've just been informed.  Oh, and we're 12 weeks along.)

Halloween!

I've been rather excited for Halloween this year.  It's probably mostly due to the fact that I have a toddler that I can dress up, but that's still fun in my book!

Our ward held a Halloween carnival on Friday, the 30th, complete with potluck soup dinner, various "booths" and trunk-or-treat in the parking lot.  We were pretty busy the whole time since we are on the activities committee and were responsible for the eat-the-donut-on-a-string booth, but we had a lot of fun with it.  Unfortunately, we were so busy we don't have any pictures of it.  Maybe next year?

As we were going to bed Thursday night I had the epiphany that we should dress up as a senior missionary couple.  Obviously, there's not much room for a third in that kind of costume, but if we end up with any experiences like we had while in Almaty, a bat could very well be the perfect third to our trio. (If you've forgotten why, here's your reminder.  And a side-note:  We later determined it had to have been a bat after seeing them fly at a nearby canal.)

Here's our little trio of fun at the Ward Carnival:

And a few more of that bat (when you ask her if she wants to go outside she quickly heads to, and up, the stairs!):

We had fun going around our block trick-or-treating Saturday night.  My mom came up to attend the temple and managed to stay (later than planned) and go with us when we ventured out.  It was a lot of fun watching Addie as we went to the doors.  She was much quieter than usual, but she knew what to do when homeowners offered their bowl of treats.  =D

About Hair

We occasionally have conversations about Addie's hair.

In case you hadn't previously noticed, we haven't done much to it in the past.  Apparently we were both rather bald babies, and Addie has followed suit.  I've been hesitant to cut her hair, because the poor thing doesn't have much of it!

At dinner today Chris somehow managed to bring up the subject of her hair again, and as has often been the case, words like "shaggy," "awful," and "mullet" were in the mix.  (Ok, I can't remember if they were in the mix this conversation, but they have been in the past...)  After dinner, Chris left to his LSAT prep course, and I decided to give Addie a bath and a haircut afterward.

I couldn't find the camera before, so here's the best "back" picture I could find, it's from September sometime.

I'll be honest, I was afraid of cutting her hair short because of a general fear of how it would turn out and a specific fear that it would make her look like a boy.  When you consider that I am only "experienced" in cutting Chris' hair--with a clipper set--you may better understand these fears of mine.

So, I tried to do a little "layering" action in the back that I've observed professionals do (I didn't want her to have a blunt cut after all), and this is how it all turned out:

I would like to thank my sister, Tori, my bff, Kara, and my bud, Bonnie, for all the haircuts and hair discussions I've had with them in the years they've each acted as my stylist and friend.  And I would especially like to thank my mother-in-law, Lisa, for teaching me that when you make a mistake you just hum: "Hmm...hm..hmmm."  It's much less distracting to a "client" than a gasp! =D

Costumes

I keep thinking about costumes for Addie's first real Halloween (I figure our being in Kazakhstan last year with no trick or treating, and Addie only being 4 months old doesn't count...).

I found this giveaway that is practically making me drool.

 http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2009/10/queen-of-hearts-and-alice-in-wonderland.html

The costumes are amazing and there would even be an amazing costume for Addie to grow into!!  You are all invited to link back to the original in a post on your blog on behalf of Addie. ;D  No seriously.

A Visit With Friends

A few weeks ago we were able to host the three children of my good friend Gladys while she and her husband went to the Washington DC Temple.  We were so glad they took us seriously when we told them we'd love to babysit their kids so they could go!  Chris and I had a blast and so did Addie!

Isabel, Danten, and Sam were very well behaved, so we had no trouble going from one child to four!

We went to a little walking area and played on some of the playground equipment.

 

Like usual, the kids really enjoyed the slide.

It was a lot of fun watching Addie observing the "big" kids and then trying new things because of it.  For instance, those bars that Danten and Sammy climbed on...

 

One of my favorite things was watching the way Isabel, Danten, and Sammy interacted.  They were usually very sweet to one another.  I didn't get the best pictures, but my favorite example of this was when Sammy got tired on the walk back and Isabel gave him a piggy back ride!  (The best part being that Sammy's not that much smaller than her.)

We were glad to be able to help Gladys and Daniel, and it was a lot of fun visiting with them before they got on the road to Virginia Beach.

If you come to the DC area, let us know...

This is What Peace Looks Like

My younger brother Ben joined the Navy and started boot camp right before we returned to the States.  That, of course, meant that we didn't see him upon our return.  So, when he finished boot camp and returned to Virginia Beach to move his wife and daughter to their new home, Addie and I took a long drive to spend a little bit of time with him.

After Addie spent much of the drive being an unhappy passenger, this little nap was a welcome reprieve for a tired momma!

Duckies

We like to take walks on a special bridge to see ducks, geese, turtles, and fish (I've even seen a water snake!).  Addie gets excited when we start to cross the bridge and often points and says, "Duckies!" (or, for some reason, "doggies," because lately every animal is one).

Of course, we pause and peer over the side of the bridge and see what is around.

When it's time to leave, we pry that little hand off the bar and scoot on out fast! =)

Shadows

I love the shadows of our little family!

Quality Time With Mimi

Mimi responded when Addie's nap didn't work out...

And I'm pretty sure they both enjoyed their time together.

Do You...

"Recycle" via

If you don't, you should!

In case you haven't heard of it, this is from the description on their website:

It's ... people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. ... Membership is free.

My sister told me about this a long time ago, but it took a few years and a reminder from Chris' sister for me to join the network.

How I do it:  I started a yahoo account so that I could join our local Freecycle group (which works through yahoo groups) and generally keep my yahoo account open in a tab on our browser.  I initially signed up for the alerts/emails to come in an abbreviated journal, but I have since changed that setting so that I receive an email for each alert sent to the group.  I don't sit at the computer all day, but when I do periodically use our computer I can quickly browse the subject lines of the new emails and see if there is anything we could use.

We were able to get this lovely jogging stroller:

(Which has a small stow that is apparently large enough to hold a small child)

And these Addie-size chairs (which induced squeals of delight in our little one!):

The Source of "It"

I was preparing dinner when I heard it.  If you are a parent you've probably heard it.  If you aren't a parent you've probably heard about it.  What is it?  Silence that has lasted a smidgen too long.

So I went searching and when I found Addie I laughed.  Long.  Loud.  Hard.  Every time I see these pictures (or even think about them) I can't help but laugh again.  You're invited to join me:

Honey Bunches of Trouble

The other day I heard a weird noise, went to investigate, and this is what I found:

This wasn't the first time she's gotten into the cereal and helped herself, but it was the last time--I have moved the cereal to the top shelf of our "cabinet."

The Stages of Motherhood

On our walk to the metro from the National Zoo we were stopped by a woman who noted that we are in a perfect line of some of the stages of motherhood.  We looked at ourselves and began to laugh as we realized it was true...

Sonya, on the left, has her three year old (she's pregnant too, but you can't really tell yet), I have my 15 month old, next is Miranda with her four month old, and last is Jessica with her nine month belly.  Our strollers seem to be pretty reflective of our various stages too!

Our Laundry Lady

We currently keep our dirty laundry bin in our bathroom and when I go to do laundry I sometimes sort and pile right there in the bathroom.  That's what I did today, and I managed to record our little laundry lady helping me bring the dirty laundry from the bathroom to the laundry closet.

I imagine she'd be much more helpful in this process if she could reach the washing machine and load the dirty laundry into it rather than the dryer...  But it's still plenty of fun to see her wanting to participate and do what I'm doing.

A Little Development: Video Fixed

At fourteen months Addie weighs 23 lbs and is 29 inches tall.  She's walking/running all over the place and loves the stairs in our apartment.  She is still a pretty good eater although she seems to be getting a little more picky these days.

I enjoy taking her outside and it's even more fun as she is becoming a little more verbal.  Her favorite words or phrases are "good," "thank you," and "what's that?" Good sounds like "gud," thank you most often sounds like "tayn too," and what's that usually sounds like "wus sa." Although I think you can discern what the words are if you pay close attention, it's likely we hear them mostly because we are fluent in Addie-talk.  Our walks outside are accompanied by frequent points and utterances of "wus sa?"

Here's a little bit of Addie for your viewing enjoyment:

Mimi's Sunflower Patch

One of the things we were able to do while in Virginia Beach was give Addie some quality time with her Mimi (my mom) and cousins!

My mother is like most grandmothers and loves her grandchildren.  She likes to come up with fun ways of spending time with the grandchildren which will allow for interaction and fun.

Mimi has a little sunflower garden that she grows in the front yard where there is lots of sun.  The garden is a small raised platform with sunflowers grown to line the outside.  Some of her favorite grand-baby activities are having little tea parties in the sunflower "house."  This "tea" party included popsicles which all the children were happy to enjoy, even if there was at least one runaway. ;)