My 1st Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was wonderful. Scott made me breakfast and dinner all weekend and we picnicked at St. Teresa and just enjoyed time as a family. It was wonderfully relaxing and it made me really excited for our St. George Island trip coming up this weekend. Being a mother is such a wonderful gift...one that I am forever grateful for.

I stopped breastfeeding on Mother's Day. A few days before that I gradually lessened the number of breastfeedings. Although I wanted to go 12 months, there were several factors that played into my decision. Addi has been self-weaning and just didn't nurse well anymore. She takes much more from a bottle. Babies sometimes show their independence in this way. She also was getting distracted and was starting to bite, which isn't fun for anyone. My supply has been dropping since she turned 9 months so I couldn't keep up with the amount of milk she needed. So I made the decision, nursed that night and was done with it. So far it is going well. She hasn't grabbed at me or acted as if she wants it, which reaffirms my decision. It was time and we were both ready. Surprisingly, I didn't realize how much time pumping and nursing took! I feel like I have extra time in my day. That said, I would do it all over again and would have gone 12 months if possible. Nursing was something special between the two of us.

Addi was really funny at the beach. At first she didn't like the sand and would only sit on our laps in the water. Then, once she decided that she would sit in the water on the sand, she was both scared and excited about the waves. These are tiny waves...almost non-existent so this was really funny. She kept looking at them and crawling away into our laps. Finally, she got use to them and just played in the water.

Rocky Mountain High - Denver

I just got back from the AERA (American Educational Research Association) conference in Denver. While in Denver I learned many things:

1. I don't do well in high altitudes. While in Denver, I had what they call "high altitude sickness." It started with a headache and swollen eyes. I was exhausted but couldn't sleep, my stomach hurt - I was so bloated that I looked pregnant yet I couldn't eat, my nose bled, my ankles were swollen, my hands were peeling, I had to buy tears drops for my eyes - I was a mess! I drank more water than ever and still enjoyed my stay, but I don't think we will be moving to Denver anytime soon.
2. Denver isn't in the Rockies - it's near the foothills, which reminded me of the Appalachian mountains. It is considered "high desert" and only gets about 12inches of rain a year. 
3. I like living at or near sea level.
4. I enjoy tour-bus tours! Seriously, I had a blast on the one tour I went on - I loved the "all-knowing" tour guide as we drove by various things in CO.
5. Blue Moon beers are made by Coors. I do not like Coors beer but I love Blue Moon and their seasonal beers so this was a surprise to me. 
6. It is a pain in the butt to travel and I don't know how Scott does it all the time. 
7. Buffalo Bill was a huge supporter of women and minorities
8. There is a row of purple seats in the MLB stadium that is exactly a mile-high
9. I am getting better at articulating my research and was able to answer a lot of questions I didn't realize I could answer! This is a huge deal for me!!! I had three separate presentations and from each one I learned something about myself.
10. It is impossible to capture the beauty of Colorado in pictures, but I tried.

 

This is a picture of the skyline while I was walking to the Aquarium. I stay just outside of the downtown area.

 

This is the skyline of Denver from Lookout Mountain about 20-30 miles out I believe. It is where Buffalo Bill is buried.

I visited the Aquarium while in Denver and they had a tiger (just part of the exhibit I was told) and it was really cool! The tiger played in the water and was fascinating!  I also went on a foothills bus tour in which we visited the Coor's Brewery in Golden, CO (smelled awful), the Red Rock Amphitheater (this was so cool!!!!!), and the Buffalo Bill Museum (Buffalo Bill's grave site included).

 

Pictures of the amazing tiger!

 

Red Rock Amphitheater. Seats were carved out for about 10,000 people. You can see some of the rows of seats in the second picture.

 

Here I am at the museum hanging out with Bill and the buffalo.

A picture of me looking serious - I was caught off guard and didn't want to ask the guy to take another picture. I kind of like it although this coat makes me look larger than I really am.

Rock-a-bye Baby

Addi moves a lot in her sleep so I started to take pictures during the night. She starts out in the middle with her arms and legs tucked under and her fanny in the air (similar to picture 2 but turned the other way). The first three are from the same night. The fourth is from the next night...I heard a thump and went into her room to see her on her back with one leg propped up on the side of the crib.

She fell asleep while nursing the other day - I thought she would wake up (it was in the evening) so I put her down on the floor. She kept on sleeping...

New Addi Pictures

Here are a few new pictures of Addi. She is wearing a couple of the onesies that were decorated at my baby shower.

Also, today Addi said "duck" - she has been saying it for a while but today really confirmed it because I didn't say it to her for her to repeat it. She saw a duck on tv (she was watching a baby signs video and we were signing together) and she said duck and grabbed her rubber ducky! I was so excited that she made the connection.
 

 

Addi loves the bunny that Sitti gave her!

 

Michelle and I both wore this dress when we were little.

Standing up you say?

Today I turned around and Addi was standing up! She was holding onto her blocks box pulling blocks out of it. When she turned to look at me the box tumbled over and the blocked spilled out all over her. In addition to her love of blocks, Addi loves playing with her "house" and loves having books read to her. If she is cranky, all we have to do is pull out a book and read it to her. She enjoys the baby sign language books, animal books, the Doggies book - she giggles at all the different barks, and books with flip pages. She also likes climbing all over us if we are on the floor. She is growing so quickly, I am trying to cherish all the little moments and snuggle times. If she falls asleep in my arms, I enjoy just cuddling with her. Here is a picture of her from last week at a bridal store.

Addi's 9 Month Birthday!

I can't believe my little girl is 9 months old. She is 27 inches and 16.6 pounds. She is 25th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight.

Mom came in town for a couple of days to visit while she was on Spring Break. I don't think I've heard Addi laugh so much!

Here are a couple of pictures we took today on her 9 month birthday.

Washington DC

Last week Addi and I went to DC to see Scott. Addi traveled well although she has to be entertained on the plane. Luckily the people sitting around us enjoyed entertaining her. The first couple of days were cold, rainy, and windy which kept us inside more than we wanted but we still tried to get out. We had beautiful weather the rest of the week. We stayed right by George Washington University at the Doubletree Suites. It was also the week of the Cherry Blossom Festival and spring break so it was insanely crazy - we waited to get into everything! Although we had a wonderful trip walking around town and visiting all of the sites (we rode the metro train and walked everywhere! - we didn't even bring the car seat.) seeing Scott every day was the highlight of our trip. Plus, it was nice to see where he stays and have a better understanding of where he is. Addi didn't sleep while we were there -she was cutting teeth and all of the city noise kept her up. Often she fell asleep while we were out and about. I was able to visit with Tracy and her son Declan and Catey while I was in town. We all went to the International Spy Museum and then to lunch at Gordon Biersh. Scott and I ate at a ton of wonderful places including my favorite Thai place (ThaiTanic) of all times that I've been talking about for the last couple of years. It was better than I remember! We also had the best Chinese food at One Fish Two Fish - Scott said he will never eat "regular" Chinese again. Addi and I went to Georgetown and shopped and visited the Museum of Natural History and the Holocaust Museum. We walked around the National Mall area all week and of course walked by the White House many times. Scott, Addi, and I went to Chinatown/Verizon Center, the Cherry Blossom Festival by the Tidal Basin, Georgetown, Waterfront, and the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden just to name a few. Here are some pictures.

 

Addi loved playing on the king size bed - she just laughed and laughed!

   

waiting by the Metro train with Daddy who is heading to work

Addi finally met Catey!