Heard in My House Today . . .

Addison: Mommy, what you eating?

Me: Raviolies

Addison: Mommy eating holy holies.


Note: Yes, I understand that ravioli is plural, this is just the way it came out.

Me & My Babies

New Car Seat

Can you believe that Hunter has outgrown his infant car seat? He is not even a year old yet. So we decided to buy a new car seat for Addison, one that will last her and eventually him a long time. And we are going to put Hunter in the car seat we have been using for Addison.

Daniel, trying to figure out how to put the new car seat together.

Addison said she would help!

Addison trying out her new car seat.

Of course Addison's favorite part was playing with the box the car seat came in.

Hide & Seek

We taught Addison to play Hide & Seek this week. She loves playing. At first she only wanted to find us, but now she enjoys both finding and hiding.

We count to 10 and then say, "Ready or not, here I come." Every time after we say this Addison says, "Okay," which of course reviles where she is hiding. It is so funny. At some point we will need to teach her that she is hiding and therefore needs to be quite so she doesn't give away where she is hiding.

If you want to read about her potty training adventure go to Addison's blog and read the November 20th entry.

Mom Heart Conference

The Mom Heart Conference is coming to Raleigh in March. This conference is presented by Sally Clarkson. For those of you who don't know about Sally Clarkson, she is an advocate for homeschooling and a wonderful resource of wisdom for mothers. I highly recommend ANY mother to go to this conference, even if your kids are not school age and even if you are not planning on homeschooling. I went last year and I almost didn't go because I thought I might not get anything out of it because my kids are not school age yet. But I learned so much and was so encouraged. Any mother with any age children would find this conference very informative, motivating and encouraging.

If you register before November 30th the cost is only $79. I know this seems like a lot, but trust me, it is worth it. After the conference you will feel re-energized and motivated and you will feel more confident as a mother.

Here is the link to their website were you can register and get more information: Mom Heart!

Pajama Day

I declare today Pajama Day. Mainly because it is 1:17pm and Hunter, Addison and I are all still in our pajamas.

My Babies

Breakfast

Did I mention that Disney World brainwashes you.

Now everywhere I look I see Mickey Mouse.

Wild Ride. . . Down the Stairs

I fell down the stairs today. I am okay . . . I think. The really scary part was that I was holding Hunter. He is okay. Hunter landed against me, so he had the softest landing. I called his doctor and after a series of questions they said it sounded like he was fine.

But it was a scary experience. Praise God that I was past the turn in our stairs before I fell. I slipped coming down the stairs and my back was the first thing to hit the stairs. Then I continued to slip down each stair with my left arm, the back of my waist and my back taking the brunt of each stair. I couldn't use my hands to stop myself, because they were holding Hunter. When I finally made it to the bottom I had to let go of Hunter to stop myself from falling onto him. So he did have a little fall, but it was only inches.

The funny part is, somehow my bottom didn't hit anything. My bottom never touched the stairs as I was falling down and then once I hit the bottom of the stairs, I landed on the side of my hip. So the part of me that has the most cushion was no help at all.

I have a bloody spot on my arm about the size and shape of a quarter and I feel very sore, similar to after having a car accident. Pretty much everything on my left side from the hip up is sore. My lower back hurts when I sit down. But I really do think it is all just being sore and bruised and that there is no real damage.

As soon as I was at the bottom of the stairs, I called Daniel and asked him to come home. At this point I was in a lot of pain and had no idea if I could get up, let alone pick up Hunter. I wanted to make sure that Daniel was on his way home in case someone was really hurt. Then I called Hunter's doctor. After talking to the doctor most of the major pain had subsided and I was able to get up and pick Hunter up.

Praise God that our crazy ride down the stairs was not more serious!

Heard all day long

Heard all day long in my house:

What are you doing?

What's that?

And it is not like they are just asked once.

Addison: Mommy, what's that?

Mommy: That's a drum.

Addison: Mommy, what's that?

Mommy: That's a drum stick

Addison: Mommy, what's that?

Mommy: That's a drum, see you use the stick to hit the drum.

Addison: Mommy what's that?

Mommy: It's a DRUM.

Addison: Mommy what's that?

Mommy: Go ask daddy.

Good Big Sister

Today while Addison and I were playing with one of her puzzles, Addison said, "I need to check on Hunter." I didn't exactly know what "checking on Hunter" meant, but I said okay and watched as she walked over to Hunter. Hunter was on his play mat. Addison stood over him, watching him for a few seconds and then said, "Hunter is okay." Then she came back and continued working on her puzzle. It was so random, but very cute.

Dress Size ????

I have the honor of being a bridesmaid in a wedding for one of my best friends this coming March. My friend is trying to find reasonably priced bridesmaid dresses. Last night she called me and asked what my dress size was. I realized I have no idea what dress size I am. The last time I bought a nice dress was over 3 years and 2 babies ago. So I decided to look at some of the clothes I had to see what size they were. This is when I discovered something funny. The shorts that I had on and that fit nicely are size 6, but the jeans that I have been trying to get into for the past few months and can now finally, but barely, zip up are a size 8. This makes no sense. How can size 6 shorts fit better than size 8 jeans?

Heard in My House This Morning . . .

"Mommy, I don't want to get up."

"Neither do I, Daddy."

"Wait . . . we have to get up, we're the parents."

Some weekends I really miss being able to sleep in.

Copy Cat

We keep a few things that we don't use very often on top of our kitchen cabinets. I usually use a stool to get to these items, but this past Friday I was in a hurry and just decided to climb up onto the counter and then stand on the counter to reach the item.

Today in the kitchen, while I was cleaning up after lunch, I happen to turn around just in time to see Addison trying to climb up on the counter of her toy kitchen. I told her to get down and she said "mommy do it." And that is when I remembered that I had done the same thing a few days ago.

I am continually learning I have to be careful about what I say and do around Addison.

Walmart No More

I normally do my grocery shopping at Kroger. But yesterday I was out running some other errands and on my way home I knew I would pass by Super Walmart. In my mind I thought this was great, because I assumed groceries would be cheaper at Walmart then they are at Kroger. I WAS WRONG!!! Milk at Kroger is $2.99, milk at Walmart was $3.38 (and yes I get the cheapest brand they have at both places.) I can't remember the exact prices for everything else, but I do remember that cheese, bread, drinks, spaghetti sauce, meat, etc. were all more expensive at Walmart.

Not only was my trip to Walmart more expensive, it also took a lot longer. I didn't know where anything was and there were so many people. When I finally did get everything, the lines to check out were crazy long.

No more Walmart grocery shopping for me.

Toy Kitchen - Praise God!!!!!

A few months ago Daniel and I talked about getting Addison a play Kitchen for her birthday. But when I saw how much they are (from $100 to $700) we decided not to. Then I was talking with a good friend and she said that the best toy her two year old played with for many years was her play kitchen. So we decided we would look around and see if we could find one used. We went to Toys R Us to check out what they actually looked like. Some of them were too short for Addison (she is really tall for her age). The one we REALLY liked was $160. After seeing what we would like to get, we started looking for a used one.


Two weeks ago we went to a consignment sale, but they didn't have any play kitchens. I have been looking on Craig's List for two weeks and though there have been some kitchens on there, they were not really want we wanted, so we just decided to keep looking.


Then, today, on Craig's List was the exact kitchen we wanted for ONLY $60!!!!!! I emailed the lady and she emailed me back with her number and said that there were a number of other people who also wanted the kitchen, so I needed to call her ASAP if I still wanted it. Needless to say, I called and we got the kitchen. It is perfect! It doesn't even look like it has been played with. They still had all the accessories that went with it. We save $100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited. I just hope Addison gets as excited as I am over her new kitchen.

God has blessed us many times using Craig's List. Thank you God.

Such a Wonderful Big Sister

One day last week I had Hunter sitting in his Bumbo chair (yes that is really the name of the chair). Addison sat down beside him with one of her books. She proceeded to open each page, show it to Hunter and say "Look Hunter. What is this Hunter? . . . Dog, Hunter, dog. . . Hunter, what is this? . . . Duck, Hunter, duck." She went through the whole book showing Hunter each page and telling him what was on each page. It was so cute.

Addison has a baby doll that she calls baby Hunter. The other day I heard her saying, "Feed Hunter, Feed Hunter." It was about time for me to feed Hunter, so I walked into the room to tell her, yes mommy was going to feed Hunter. But when I walked into the room and saw her, she had her shirt up and her doll, baby Hunter, was to her chest. She was "breastfeeding" her baby doll. After a few seconds, she then put the doll up on her shoulder and said "Burp, Hunter, burp Hunter," and proceeded to pat the doll on it's back to burp it. It was so funny.

Journal - 6-29-09

I got to hold my wonderful baby, Hunter, today for a long while. Addison is growing up so fast and it makes me treasure the moments I get to hold Hunter. Because of Addison, I realize that Hunter will not be a baby for very long. Not nearly as long as I would like him to be. Addison only lets me hold her for short periods of time, in between her running around and playing. She no longer lets me hold her like a baby and stare into her beautiful eyes. So every moment I get, to hold Hunter and stare into his beautiful eyes, I want to fully enjoy and treasure. The age Addison is at also has incredibly precious moments. Like when she says something so funny, Daniel and I laugh so hard we are almost crying. Or when she says “I love you” how is melts my heart. But there is just something so enjoyable about holding your baby and I now understand that this time, for holding Hunter, will be gone before I know it.

Hunter is almost 3 months old now. He is almost to the point of having full control of his head and neck movements. He is FINALLY, sleeping through most of the night, about 6.5 to 7.5 hours. He is staying awake longer during the day and loves looking around at all the commotion that is going on in our house.

Addison is getting ready to be 2 years old in August. I can't believe how fast these two years have gone. She is such an incredible child. She loves to sing. She loves bath time. She loves chasing Bailey around the house. But more than anything, she loves for someone to read to her. I am so grateful that she loves books so much. Not only do I think this will help her with learning, but I look forward to the day when Addison and I can sip coffee (or tea) and talk about the wonderful books we are reading.

Thank you God for blessing me with the most wonderful children I could ever imagine. And thank you for blessing me with their wonderful father, who is the best husband I could ever have asked for.

Romans Chapters 1 - 7

I have started a study of Romans, via John Piper's website (this is a great website, check it out). Today I learned the difference between justification and sanctification, according to Romans, chapters 1 - 7. To justify is to pronnouce free from guilt or blame. To become sanctified is to become holy.

In Romans it discusses that Christains are justified from their sin as soon as they believe in Jesus Christ. This justification is an instantaneous, free gift from God. There is nothing we do (besides believing in Jesus Christ) to receive this free gift. "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that comes by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:22-24, NIV

Sanctification on the other hand is a process of transforming ourselves from the sin centered person we were to the Christ centered person we are working to become. Sanctification is something that we work at each day (by building a relationship with God) and it is a transformation that we will continue to work on for our whole lives.

My Wonderful Husband!

I have the most wonderful husband.

The past few days have been really hard for me. The two and a half months of very little sleep has really started to effect me. I feel horrible. I am having trouble making decisions, even simple decisions. It is taking me much longer to get simple tasks done. I am extremely emotional.

As I was looking back over Addison's baby book today, I realized that at 8 to 9 weeks old, Addison was sleeping about 10 hours at night. Hunter is 10 and a half weeks old and still the longest he will sleep at night is about 5 hours. AHHHHHH!

By the time Daniel gets home in the evenings, I am extremely tired and irritable and of course he gets the brunt of my emotional state.

One of the problems is that Addison and Hunter don't seem to always take naps at the same time. So it is very difficult for me to get a nap during the day.

Daniel came home today at lunchtime and brought Addison and I lunch home. Then after lunch he told me to go take a nap. He stayed home (even though he is extremely busy at work) and took care of the kids until I had to get up and feed Hunter again. Also, while Addison was napping Daniel cleaned both our bathroom (which hadn't been cleaned in a long time) and the downstairs bathroom. It was so nice to be able to take a 2 hour nap during the day and it was wonderful to wake up and walk into a clean bathroom.

I have the most wonderful husband.

Strange Kids

Okay, so my kids may be a little strange.

Today I played fetch with Addison. I threw the ball (and it actually was Bailey's, our dog's, ball) and she ran after it and brought it back to me. She is actually better at fetch then Bailey is. The funny thing is she LOVED it and probably would have played fetch all afternoon, if mommy hadn't gotten tired of throwing the ball.

On top of that, during Hunter's tummy time today, he gave himself a hickey on his arm. Apparently he was sucking on his arm the whole time he was on his stomach.

Crazy kids, but I love them.

Trip to Marion - pictures

Wedding Tradition

It is wedding season and Daniel and I have been going to lots of different weddings. I love going to weddings and it has been fun talking with other people (who are already married) about what we did or did not do at our respective weddings.

Something that always seems to shock people about my wedding was the fact that Daniel and I took our wedding pictures before the wedding. When I tell people this, their eyes widen and they say, "You mean you two saw each other before the ceremony on your wedding day?!" YES, we saw each other on our wedding day before the ceremony. It is so funny to me that so many people think this is a BIG NO NO! No where in the Bible (as far as I know and I must admit I haven't exactly looked for this specific statement) does it say it is a sin for the bride and groom to see each other on their wedding day, before the ceremony. This is a superstition. Though I don't see anything wrong with keeping this superstitious tradition, I also don't think there is anything wrong with NOT keeping it. People have said to me that it is bad luck to see each other before the ceremony. Well, Daniel and I don't believe in luck. We just celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary and they have been the best 7 years of my life. God is what keeps our marriage strong, not luck.

Some people say that by seeing each other before the ceremony you miss the special moment when your groom sees you for the first time. I disagree. We had it set up were Daniel was in the church standing at the alter (where he would be for the ceremony) and he had his eyes closed. Then I came in and walked half way down the aisle. Then the photographer told Daniel to open his eyes. It was an incredible moment. The smile on Daniel's face was priceless. It was just me, Daniel and the photographer. No people starring at me, making me self conscious. Daniel was able to say that I looked beautiful without interrupting the wedding ceremony. It was perfect and I would not have wanted to do anything different.

Like I said, I don't think there is anything wrong with keeping this superstitious wedding tradition, but here are my top 3 reasons for taking pictures before the wedding:

#3 - It calms your nerves before the big event. Most people are very nervous before their wedding ceremony. Getting a chance to see and talk to the person who was the best at calming my nerves was perfect for me. Seeing Daniel and talking to him before our ceremony made me feel so good, and completely calmed me.

#2 - Everyone looks fresh and perfect for pictures. No one has been crying from the emotions that a wedding ceremony can produce. Such as in the mothers or in the bride herself. No one has been sweating from having to stand in a tuxedo for an hour. And your wedding dress hasn't gotten dirty or messed up from walking around the church.

And the #1 reason - Your guest don't have to wait an hour for you to show up at the reception.

Disclaimer:
These are my reasons, why it was good that Daniel and I took pictures before the wedding. These reasons are specific to me and Daniel and this does not mean that I think it would be better for others to do the same. I think everyone needs to think about what would be best for them and do it that way. It is your wedding. I would point out not to let superstitions or even traditions prevent you from making your day perfect for YOU!

Addison used the Potty!!!

Today Addison told Miggy (my mother) that she had a poopy diaper. Miggy went to go change her diaper, but there was not any poopy in it. So Miggy decided to sit Addison on the toilet and see if she would poop. Miggy and I were both in the bathroom coaching Addison to poop in the toilet. We had been in there a few minutes and were getting ready to give up, when we hear "plop." She pooped in the toilet!!!!!!! We were so excited. We were clapping and singing to her. She thought it was great. And then as she flushed she said, "bye, bye poopy."

Hopefully this will be the beginning of using the potty and the end of diapers (at least for Addison).

Our Morning at the Mall

For our anniversary my wonderful husband got me a new watch. I had to take it to the mall today to get it sized. And then Addison got to play in the play area of the mall. She had a great time. Here are pictures.

My new watch:

Addison playing in the play area:

BUGS!

Yesterday we found the first cockroach we have ever seen in our house. We have lived in this house for five years and never seen one, until yesterday. Not fun.

On top of that, I found this (see pictures below) this morning in our dinning room. Again, not fun!

I HATE bugs!!!!

Worst Thing to Spill on Your Carpet

I now know what is the worst thing you can spill on your carpet. Cheese dip. I spilled a whole bowl of cheese dip on my carpet. First, it was very difficult to get the cheese dip off the carpet without rubbing it into the carpet. Once we finally got the cheese dip off the carpet, then it was time to deal with the stain. We tried a stain remover and though it got most of the stain off, you can still see a yellow tint. In the past our carpet has been amazing when it comes to removing stains. We have had grape juice spilled on our carpet and dried over night and we were still easily able to get it completely out of our carpet. We have also had chocolate, blood and even black wax spilled on our carpet and we were able to get all of them out without a trace left. But we have met our match with cheese dip. I think we are just going to permanently have a slight yellow stain on our carpet.

No Rest for the Weary #4

This week I was suppose to rest and be productive. Mom took Addison to Marion, so it has just been me and Hunter. I have been taking a nap everyday, but on Tuesday I didn't take one, because I was feeling energized. Then Tuesday night Daniel had to work until 11:00pm and I do not sleep when Daniel is not home. I try to sleep, but right as I am about to slip into sleep I hear a noise that wakes me up, because I worry that someone is going to break into our house. My fears are completely ill-logical (if that is a word), because we have an alarm and a dog. So if anyone tried to get into our house, I would know. But that still doesn't help me to sleep when Daniel is not here.

Anyway, so I didn't get to sleep on Tuesday until after 11:00pm and then of course I had to get up at 3:00am and 6:00am to feed Hunter.

Then on Wednesday I didn't get much of a nap because I had to unexpectedly take Hunter to the doctor in the afternoon (during my normal nap time). Then Wednesday night Daniel worked until 2:00am, so I didn't get to sleep until a little after 2:00am and then Hunter woke up to eat at 2:30am and than again at 5:30am.

Then today (Thursday) I had a doctor's appointment this morning, so I couldn't sleep in any. And when I tried to take a nap this afternoon, Hunter cried during most of the time.

I would really like to get some sleep soon!

How Sweet Are My Little Ones

No Rest for the Weary #3

My mother has taken Addison to Marion to visit and so you would think that I would get a great night of sleep, without having to worry about getting up to take care of Addison. Well, Hunter decided to make up for the fact that Addison was not here, by making it a long night. Actually, it was probably my fault he got sick, but it still made for a long night.

Our normal nightly routine is for me to feed hunter and then Daniel also gives him a small bottle of formula, so he will sleep a little longer. Well apparently we might have given him too much last night. Hunter normally wakes up at 3:00am wanting to eat. But last night he did not wake up. I, on the other hand, did wake up (at 2:45am) with very full breasts. So I decided to wake Hunter up and feed him. He ate both breasts and as I was getting ready to burp him he vomited. I don't mean spit up, he VOMITED. It was a lot and was forceful and came out of his mouth and nose. At this point I figured he was done. I cleaned him and me up and started to change his diaper. And then he vomited again. Again it forcefully came out of his mouth and nose and made a mess over everything on the changing table and me. I again cleaned him up and started to change his outfit. As I was taking off his onesie, I scrapped his nose with my nail and his nose started bleeding. He started screaming. I held a burp cloth to his nose until it stopped bleeding. Then Daniel and I (at this point Daniel was up and helping me) finished cleaning Hunter up and changing him. When we thought he couldn't possibly have anything left in his stomach, guess what. He vomited AGAIN. Though this time was not as bad as the first two times. We decided to take his temperature and it was normal. We looked up vomiting in our child care book and it said that an infant will vomit if they have eaten too much, but it also said this could be a sign of digestional problems. Daniel and I finally got everything cleaned up and got Hunter back in bed and we got back to bed a little after 4:00am. At this point I had been up since 2:45am.

I talked to the nurse at Hunter's doctor's office and she said it sounded like he just ate too much.

Hopefully tonight will go better.

Warning - Raleigh News Story

I heard this on the news last night and again this morning and it just shocked me that people would take advantage of good Samaritans. This happened in Raleigh a few days ago.

Two women and a girl were driving home from mid-night bowling, when they noticed a man laying in the road. The women made a U-turn to go help the man. As their car got closer to the man and they started to slow down, the man got up and started running towards their car. This is when they also noticed two other men running towards their car. Luckily they were able to pull away before the men got to their car.

The ladies called the police, but by the time the police got there, the men were gone. The police said that you should NEVER stop to help someone. If you think someone needs help, you should call the police instead.

It is so sad that this is what our world is becoming. It is not even safe to try to help out another person, without fear that they may try to hurt you.

Small fingers fit into the strangest places

Addison was helping me put clothes into the dryer, a task she loves doing. I suddenly noticed that she was no longer grabbing the clothes I was handing her. I looked down and saw her hands wrapped around the bottom lip of the dryer opening. I didn't think much about it and I started saying "Addison take this and put it in the dryer." Addison didn't reach for the item, which was strange and then she started saying "fingers, fingers." I finally reached down to grab her hands, which is when I realized that her fingers were stuck in the little holes of the lint area. I didn't even know that there were holes there. I had to pull her fingers out, which luckily didn't seem to hurt her. Then she promptly went back to helping me put clothes in the dryer. She is such a good girl.

No Rest for the Weary #2

Our normal nightly routine is for me to get ready for bed right before Hunter's 9:30pm feeding, so I can go straight to bed after his feeding and get as much sleep as possible. Also, after I feed Hunter, Daniel gives him a bottle with about an ounce of formula, which helps Hunter to sleep longer at night, hence, giving mommy more sleep. We just bought the vitamins that you are suppose to give breastfeeding babies (because they don't get enough vitamin D from breast milk). After Hunter had fed on one side last night we decided to give him his vitamin before I fed him the other side. Apparently he does NOT like his vitamin. He started gaging when we gave it to him. And then when I tried to finish breast feeding him, he would not eat. He would not even latch on. Daniel tried to give him a bottle and he would not eat that either. We were getting a little stressed and it was getting later and later. Finally I decided to pump the other side (because I had to empty it somehow) and Daniel changed Hunter's diaper and got him swaddled for bed. At this point it is sometime after 10:30 and as we are starting to take Hunter to bed when he starts to suck, like he wants to eat. So we decide to give him the milk I pumped. He eats all of that and a ounce of formula. We were so thankful that he finally ate, but we were also VERY TIRED. I didn't get to bed until close to 11:00, which is really late when you have to get up at 2:00ish to feed again.

Needless to say, this morning was a coffee morning!

No Rest for the Weary & Another Addison story

Today I put Addison down for her nap and then Hunter and I laid down for a nap. I can usually get an hour to an hour and a half before either Hunter or Addison wake up. I didn't have coffee this morning, so I was particularly tired today. I immediately fell asleep, which is unusual for me. It usually takes me 15 to 20 minutes to get to sleep. After being asleep for about 30 minutes, Hunter starts crying. This has never happened before. I was REALLY tired and I didn't want to get up yet. So I re-swaddled him, hoping that would help. It did not work. In total desperation I gave him a pacifier (which we do not normally use). This worked as long as the pacifier stayed in his mouth. Ever 5 minutes or so, the pacifier would fall out of his mouth. So basically right as I was getting back to sleep, Hunter would start crying again and I would again put the pacifier in his mouth. We did this for about an hour, until I finally gave up and just got up. I then made myself a cup of coffee. Thank God for coffee!

Addison Story:
I was breastfeeding Hunter today, when Addison brought her toy phone up and put it up to Hunter's ear. Then she said "talk Hunter, talk." She held the phone at Hunter's ear for a few seconds, and then said "Bye" and took the phone away. She did this a few times. It was so cute.

By the Numbers

I borrowed this from my friend Courtney. I hope you don't mind Courtney.

• 3 weeks, Hunter's age as of today
• 4 months until Addison's 2nd birthday
• 2 months until my 30th birthday
• 1 month until 7 year anniversary
• 245,568 number of diapers Hunter has gone through in his short 3 weeks, or at least it feels like it.
• 5 total number of hours I slept last night
• 38 number of ounces of water I have drank since 1:00am this morning - it is 10:30am
• 5:45 time Hunter got up this morning
• 8:45 time Addison got up this morning
• 2.5 hours until I can take a nap!!!!!
• 27 number of times I have helped Addison put glow worm's diaper back on
• 5 number of times Addison has asked me to read "Splat Cat"
• 1 number of times I have read "Splat Cat" today. . . so far

Funny Girl

Addison has been watching us change Hunter's diapers and his diapers are just the right size for her glow worm. So we gave her a diaper that she can put on her glow worm. She will undo the diaper, look inside, say "no pee pee" or "no poo poo" and then close the diaper back. She will do this over and over again. It is so funny.

We put the day bed in Addison's room, mainly because we have no other place to put it. The day bed has a few little screws sticking out on the metal frame and the screws have plastic, bright red, covers. Both yesterday morning and this morning I found the bright red, plastic covers in her poop. There were four. I have found 2 in her poop, one was still on the bed, so I am still missing one. Maybe I will find it in her poop this afternoon.

Addison likes to try to sweep when I sweep, so while mom was here, she bought Addison a kid size broom. This morning I left Addison in the kitchen, sweeping, while I took care of some things in the living room. When I returned to the kitchen I discovered that Addison had put her broom into Bailey's water bowl and was using her now wet broom to "mop" the floor.

Addison keeps me entertained, that is for sure.

Celebrate!

There are many events that will be celebrated in our house over the next few months

April/ May - birth of Hunter Immanuel Woods

May 18th - Daniel's dad's birthday

May 29th - My dad's birthday

June 1st - Our 7 year wedding anniversary

June 21st - My 30th birthday

August 6th - Three's 23rd birthday

August 23 - Addison's 2nd birthday

CELEBRATE!

Super Friendly Addison

Today we went to the park, because it was such a beautiful day. At first Addison was playing her heart out. She was running around and going down the slide and I pushed her in the swing for a long time. But then other children started showing up. After that, all she wanted to do was follow the other children around, continually saying "Hi." She said hi at least a hundred times. At first the other children (who were a little older) would say hi back, but after a while they just started to ignore her. I want her to be friendly, but I don't want her to be annoying.

Stress Level going down, YEAH!

So I have been stressing about getting things done. This past week, I again realized that I have 7 weeks to get everything ready for Hunter. Also, I have been focused on tax returns lately, because those are due before Hunter is due. I had one tax return to finish, but I was having a really hard time getting it done. Not only was the tax return challenging, but I was having a hard time finding time to really sit down and focus on it. So that was one of my prayer requests this week at root group. I actually had two prayer request and both were answered. I wanted to be done with this tax return and I wanted to make significant progress with Hunter's room. It is funny how God answers prayers.

This week Daniel and I were able to move the guest bed from the bonus room into the office, which was a huge task and it helped us get enough room in the bonus room to were we can start to move the desk in their. So we did make significant progress with Hunter's room.

As for the tax return, God answered that prayer, but in a way I was not expecting. I finally got some time to work on it this week and I realized that their 2007 tax return was done incorrectly (or at least it was not done in the best way to save this couple money). Because of the way the 2007 tax return was done, I didn't know how to proceed with the 2008 tax return. I called the CPA I currently work under and explained the situation and asked what I should do. It is very complicated what needs to be done and it was way over my head. I wanted to make sure that this nice couple's tax return was done right and I couldn't do it. So I had to go over to their house and explain the situation and why I could not finish their tax return. I was worried that they would be mad. But they were very grateful that I had found the problem and also grateful that I was being honest with them about the fact that this was over my head. So, that is how God took care of the tax return prayer request.

I really feel like things are going well. We still have a lot of things we want to get done before Hunter arrives, but I feel like it is a reasonable amount of stuff to get done, assuming Hunter doesn't make his appearance early.

So these days my stress level is very low, which is REALLY nice.

The Big Three Zero

In a few more months I am going to be 30. Truthfully I am not quite sure how I feel about this. I would like to be mature and say that it is just a number and I don't really care, but there is a part of me that knows that is not true. Since Daniel and I go to a church that is made up of mostly college students, I have always just felt like one of the college students. Being surrounded by young people somehow makes you feel younger. I am just not sure how I am going to feel about being 30. I know that 30 is by no means "old". But it is different from the age group I was in before. Mentally I still feel like I should be 26 or so.


But one thing is for sure, I can tell physically that I am no longer a 26 year old. Until the past couple of years, I had an incredible metabolism. I could eat anything I wanted, anytime I wanted and never gain an ounce. I usually ate every two to three hours and loved it. After Addison was born, I continued this habit, but I discovered that I started gaining weight. So I started eating just at meal times and one snack during the day (as opposed to eating every two hours) and I stopped gaining weight, but I wasn't losing the weight I had already gained. I had to actually EXERCISE to lose the weight.

Another thing I have noticed is energy. I remember in college there was a time when I worked three jobs (one of which required me to be on my feet the whole time), was taking a full load of classes, was dating Daniel and was president of Accounting Society. I remember staying up late and still getting up at a reasonable hour. I remember going strong all day, sleeping really well and then getting up and doing it all over again, day after day. I don't do nearly as many activities these days, but yet I feel much more tired. Today I don't think I could endure the same schedule that I did in college.

I guess I don't really have any choice in the matter. 30 is coming whether I want it to or not. I still have a few months to get used to the idea. Maybe I will feel differently by the time my birthday rolls around.

Update

Okay, so I am a horrible blogger. I know. But there is just so much stuff I am trying to get done in the next seven weeks (before my due date). Anyway, here is a short update of what has been going on with us.

Addison is still sick. She has been sick for almost three weeks (it will officially be three weeks this Thursday). The doctor prescribed antibiotics for her on Monday. So far they don't seem to be doing much, but the doctor said it would take a few days for her to start to feel better.

My pregnancy is going pretty well. We had a little of a scare with an irregular heartbeat, but the doctor has been monitoring me twice a week for the past three weeks and everything has been good. So starting this week I only have to go to the doctor once a week. So that is all good news.

We still do not have Hunter's room ready, but we are working on it. I am trying to get some tax returns done, which is taking priority over everything else at this point.

We got a brand new mattress today. It is from the Original Mattress Factory. It is wonderful. I can't wait to sleep on it tonight. The mattress we had was at least 15 years old, probably older and it had gotten to the point, no matter where on the mattress you slept you could feel a spring poking you. Neither Daniel or I have been sleeping well for a very long time. I am hoping that this will help.

Well, that is the highlights from what is going on in my life. Thanks for reading.

To my Surprise!

Today when I went to the bathroom I closed the door. Usually Addison either ignores this or she stands outside the door knocking and talking to me. Well, today, to my great surprise, I hear the door handle jiggle and then the door opens. Addison is standing there looking very proud and she says "Hi Mama." Then she closes the door and continues to open and close the door as I finish using the bathroom.

ADDISON CAN OPEN DOORS!

Tonight Daniel and I are going to Target to look into what is available to stop her from opening doors.

SNOW

It snowed! It is so beautiful. It snowed all morning and I really enjoyed watching it. It makes me remember back to being in school and how excited we would get when it snowed and school would get canceled. This snow has been even more exciting, because this is Addison's first experience with snow. We got her dressed in many layers and took her out into the snow. She didn't like walking around in it too much, but she loved riding the sled. Click here to see pictures!

And I thought it couldn't get worse.

My sickness started with a really bad cough and just mild sinus problems. That lasted about two weeks. Then my cough started to go away, but my nose got really stuffy and runny. I was actually grateful though, because a stuffy nose was better than coughing all the time. Now I have a horrible stuffy nose and a horrible cough. I am going on three weeks of being sick. Thanks to my wonderful husband I spent most of yesterday in bed. Today I am trying to take it easy. As easy as you can take it when you have a one year old running around.

I AM SICK OF BEING SICK!

From One Sickness to Another

Okay, so I thought I was getting better. I really did. It turns out I am just going from one form of sickness to another. Last week when I was sick I was constantly coughing. My coughing is almost gone (though not completely), but now my nose is very stuffy and runny. So instead of coughing all day, now I am blowing my nose all day. I must say though, that I much prefer blowing my nose all day as compared to coughing. Coughing really hurts your chest, stomach muscles, throat and makes you tired. You can't talk when you are constantly coughing. While blowing your nose, just makes your nose red and sore.

I am ready to be completely well!

On a brighter note, Addison has been home now for two days and is doing great. I was worried that she would want constant attention, considering that is what she got when she was at my mom's. But to my surprise, when I have needed her to play by herself, she has done it without any problems. And she still shows no signs of getting sick, Praise God!

Feeling Better & Drinking Water

Finally I am starting to feel better. I actually got somethings on my To Do List done yesterday and today. I am still taking my medicine, but I am not sleeping all day long anymore and I am not coughing as much. I even went out today to run some errands. This is the first day I have been out of the house in a week (if you don't count going to the doctor).

One positive thing that has come out of me being sick is I am drinking lots of water now. I know you are suppose to drink around 8 cups of fluids a day (water is the best option, but doesn't have to be the only option). Especially when you are pregnant, the doctors always tell you it is important to drink plenty of fluids. Well while I was sick I was drinking about 120 oz or about 15 cups of water in a 24 hour period. No, I am not kidding. If I was awake, drinking water was the only thing that stopped me from coughing, so I was constantly drinking water. My water bottle is 24 oz and I was drinking at least 5 of them in a 24 hour period. At night alone I was drinking around 2 of my water bottles which equals 48 oz.

Anyway, I am now only drinking 3 water bottles a day which equals about 9 cups of water. But prior to getting sick, I didn't even drink a full water bottle in a day, so this is a mass improvement over what I was doing. Hopefully I will be able to keep it up.

And for those of you who are wondering, after a week of drinking that much water, your body gets used to it and you do not go to the bathroom all the time like you would think.

Sick of Being Sick

I am still sick. Not only am I still sick, but I have felt worse today then I have this whole sickness. I have been sick since last Wednesday (Dec. 31). The doctor I went to on Friday said that I had a virus (which of course they can't do anything for) and that with rest and lots of fluids I would be feeling better by Monday. Today is Monday and I feel horrible. I called the doctor today and they said because I am pregnant they would prefer that I see my OB because they did not feel comfortable prescribing meds for me. They said my OB would know better what I can take. I called my OB and THANK GOD, he was able to prescribe a cough syrup and antibiotic and I also have an appointment with him tomorrow for a check up. I am so tired of being sick. I haven't had a good night of sleep in days. And my wonderful husband has been taking care of me and Addison and trying to work.

Even in my sickness I do have two praises. I am first thankful to God that as of yet Addison has not gotten sick. I have been very careful around her and so far she has shown no signs of getting sick. I am also thankful to God for my wonderful mother, who on very short notice (only a few hours) was driving to meet Daniel in Winston Salem to pick up Addison. Daniel has to go back to work and I CAN NOT take care of a one year old in my current state. So it is a huge blessing that my mother would be willing to take care of Addison for a few days.

Hopefully the next time I blog, I will no longer be sick!

The Growing TO DO LIST, AHHHHHH!

These days I can never seem to get ahead. My To Do List just keeps getting bigger and bigger and many of the items on the list have so called "due dates." For example, we still don't have a room cleaned out for the baby. I have 4 months (give or take a week) to clean out the office, make room in the bonus room, move everything out of the office into the bonus room and set up Addison's room, so that the baby can sleep in the nursery. Setting up the room involves putting together an old crib that has no instructions and is probably missing parts. We are very grateful that our friends gave us this crib, so we don't have buy another one, but I am not looking forward to trying to put it together. Now, 4 months may sound like plenty of time, but I have been working a little each week for the past two months and have not made much progress. We just have TOO MUCH STUFF and not enough room.

Since I spend most of my day chasing after a 1 year old and just getting the day to day things done around our house, that really doesn't leave me much time on a normal day to work on my To Do List. And when I am presented with a day that Daniel does not have to work and we don't have anything planned, I always get SICK! Like yesterday. We had nothing planned, Daniel was home, I could have gotten a lot of stuff done, but I was SICK. I went to the doctor today and even asked the doctor; "does resting while you are sick really make you get better faster or is that just what you are suppose to say." The doctor looked at me funny for a minute and said; "no, resting really does make you get better faster." Then she sent me home with no miracle drug, but a prescription to rest and drink lots of fluids.

Another item on my list, that is really concerning me, is not even something that I can do. One of the posts on our front porch is rotting and needs to be replaced before it gives out (yet another unknown "due date"). I have no idea even where to start and Daniel is very busy, so he hasn't had time to get to it either. We have know that we need to replace it for over 6 months now and still we have not gotten around to doing it. I know that in 4 months, if it is not done by then, it is not going to get done for a LONG time. I just don't know how much time we have left before it rots to the point of collapsing.

I also need to go through Addison's old clothes to see what a boy can wear. We spent lots of time organizing Addison's clothes into boxes by age and labeling everything, so that for the next child it would be easy to get things out as we needed them. What we didn't do, was organize it by "girly" and "gender neutral." If we had been smart, we would also have divided out what was "girly" and what was neutral. But since we didn't, I have to go through EVERYTHING, to see what we have.

So these are just a few of the items on my To Do List. And every week more items are being added, while not many are being marked off as DONE. I am probably complaining more right now than I should be, but I am SICK and all I am doing is resting (doctor's orders), so what else do I have to do but blog about the things I should be getting done, but can't.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!