Addison's Adventures

Addison has been a very busy girl lately and is keeping me on my toes. Here are a few of her recent adventures. Sorry, there are a lot of pictures, but I had trouble deciding.

Addy is getting to be a pro at walking with help. Practicing her 'sprinter's stretch'. Someday maybe she'll be a hurdler like her daddy.

She loves to try to climb into the bath tub, and says "bat" over and over.

She loves putting hand prints all over the kitchen appliances.

I don't think she was very enthused with the fairy skirt I bought her.My little drummer girl.

She's destined to be a musician. She loves to play music on her piano and dance.

She recently discovered that she can stand in the tub, which makes bathtime a little more stressful for me.

Addy is very advanced and has already mastered reading. Of course, she only reads to herself because she can't talk yet.

Hurricane Addy wreaks havoc wherever she goesAddy recently discovered the toilet paper roll and plays with it anytime I forget to close the bathroom door. She also loves the dishwasher. You can see her handprints all over it, and recently she discovered licking it. I don't know what it is with her, but she's obsessed with metal. Maybe she likes that it's cool on her mouth?

Grampa loves his Addy and makes sure to tell her at least 100 times a day. Remember: he only sees her for about 3 hours per day.

Addy recently moved up to a big-girl carseat. She got too tall for her infant seat, so the dr. told me to upgrade her because he was afraid that she would break her legs if we got into an accident (because they hung way off the end of her seat). She loves her new seat and stares out the window. It took a while, but she's finally getting used to sleeping in a new position.

It was in the 70's here last week, so I took Addison to the park. She loved the swing, but didn't quite understand the slide yet.

2008

January: We rang in the new year with friends and family in Washington. I started working out at the gym.

February: My sister and a few friends threw my baby shower.

March: Jamey had Spring Break, during which we did some major landscaping projects.

April: I turned 24 on the 9th. We helped with Miles 4 Smiles on the 12th, and later that night I went into labor. On the 13th we welcomed our beautiful baby Addy into the world.

May: Jamey graduated from UNC, and left for Washington to begin his internship with the National Park Service. Jamey had his 25th birthday on the 16th. Addison was blessed and I celebrated my 1st Mother's Day on the 11th.

June: Addy and I moved to Washington. Jamey and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary and Jamey's 1st Father's Day on the 15th.

July: Jamey's brother and his family came to visit.

August: I had to speak in church. We spent a day at Riverside Park in Spokane.

September: Jamey finished his internship, and we moved back to Colorado.

October: We took Addison trick-or-treating, she dressed as a bumble bee. Jamey started a new job. We spent General Conference weekend in Vail with friends.

November: We celebrated Thanksgiving with my Grannie in Oklahoma.

December: We celebrated Christmas with my entire family.

Sad Day

Last Monday night, I noticed that Addy's right eye had a little bit of discharge in it. I didn't really worry about it, but then on Tuesday when she woke up, it was completely matted shut. I figured that she had pink eye, so I called her doctor to see if he could see her that day. He didn't have any openings so I went to his other clinic to see another doctor. That doctor gave me some drops to use in her eye. Turns out that the drops were sulfacetamide and apparently, contrary to my knowledge, sulfa drug reactions run in Jamey's family. Addy has a nice allergic reaction. We noticed that she had a rash all over her arms and legs and that she was getting a blister under her eye. I called the doctors office to see if I could go in on Wednesday to get a new prescription for her. Instead, he told me to take her to the emergency room. I was so annoyed by this. It was just a little rash and all she needed was a different eye drop. So, I took her to the ER. I felt like a complete idiot because she wasn't even that bad. The PA at the ER came in and did his little exam. Reminder: Her rash was a pin-point rash on her arms and legs. It was tiny, red, hot bumps all over. After the PA finished the exam, he told me that all it was was dry skin. I was so pissed at him because the "dry skin" didn't appear until after I gave her the drops, and last time I checked, dry skin doesn't cause blisters. The next day, when I cleaned her eyes, the blister started bleeding. It made me so sad, but Addy didn't mind at all and you couldn't even tell that there was a thing wrong with her.

This is a picture taken in our front yard a few days ago. It has no connection to the story, but I really like it.

This weekend, Jamey was able to come home to visit. It is the only time that he will be able to visit because he will have training on Saturday's from now until his program ends. He will finally be done on March 27th. I was extremely happy to see him, and I kept telling Addy all day on Saturday that her dada would be home when she woke up on Sunday. All day Sunday she just kept saying dada over and over. She was so excited to see him. I was a little bit worried because she hadn't seen him all week, and she's having a little bit of stranger axiety lately. She did great, and they had a blast playing together. Jamey left early this morning, and ever since he left Addison has been yelling DADA. It makes me sad. We are so proud of him and know that he'll be a fantastic Federal Law Enforcement Officer when he's done. We can't wait to have him back with us for good!

A Wonderful Gift

For Christmas everyone kept asking what I wanted, and all I would say was a Canon Rebel camera. Now, I knew that this wasn't in anyones price range because they are pretty pricy, but I hoped. When we opened gifts, I wasn't surprised that I didn't find a new camera wrapped for me under the tree. Jamey knew how much I really wanted one, so he started looking at pawn shops for a used one. On the day before he left for school, he found one for $200. Which is a huge steal! So, he bought it for me. I love it, and take pictures of everything. I am really grateful, because he spent a lot of the money that he had been given for Christmas gifts to buy it for me. Here are a few sample pics that I have taken so far. This is my dog Duke right after her came in from playing in the snow.

Here's Addy all ready to go to church. She hates dresses because she can't crawl in them, so she only wears them on Sunday.

Here's Addy in the bath with her Jimmy Neutron hairdo.

Addy and her daddy the day that Jamey left for school.

Addy getting into things while we were packing up Jamey's stuff. She could pull stuff out of the boxes faster than I could put it in. She always has wild hair when I take her bows out.

8 wonderful years

This post is more for my benefit than anyone else's, but feel free to read it if you like. 8 years ago today, Jamey and I started dating. It seems like it's been far longer than that. Over the past 8 years, we have travelled all over and had a lot of adventures. I've posted some pictures of some of our more memorable adventures. They are not in any order, and the captions are underneath them. In Vail in October 2008. General Conference in April 2007.

On an air boat ride in the Everglades in May 2007.

Pompano Beach in May 2007.

Rafting the Poudre in June 2007.

This is a picture of us at the Notre Dame vs Air Force Academy football game in November 2006.

This one is of us at the Brad Paisley concert at the Greeley Stampede in June 2007.

Estes Park in October 2006.

Bishop's Castle in May 2006.

Jaguars/Titans game in Jacksonville, FL in January 2006.

This is in Washington in 2003. We helped Jamey's parents move. While we were there, we visited Lake Roosevelt NRA and went to Canada. This picture is along the Columbia River.

This is a picture from April 2001. We had only been dating for a few months at that time. It was after track practice hanging out with friends.

This picture is from my high school graduation in May 2002.

This one is on top of Angel's Landing at Zion National Park in September 2005. The hike was intense, but the view was well worth the effort.

This picture is from our wedding at the Salt Lake Temple in June 2005.

9 month check up

Addy had her 9 month check up this week. She is still very healthy. She weighed 19 lbs 1 oz and is still 29.5 inches. She hasn't gotten any taller in the last month and a half, but she's still taller than average. She now has two teeth on the bottom. She is super fast at crawling and cruises around all of the furniture. She has stood on her own a few times, but then sits as soon as she realizes that she's not holding on to anything. It won't be long until she's walking. I'm excited and scared for that moment.

Look closely and you can see her teeth.

Addy in her lucky Gator onesie ready for the National Championship Game.