Happy Father's Day!

We had a wonderful Father's Day weekend with a lot of quality time as a family. Aside from lots of playing and snuggling, Addi and I took Scott to St. Mark's for a view of the river and fresh seafood. Addi kept waving at the boats driving by and kept reaching for the water. Addi, Dylan, and I also cooked Scott a yummy dinner of porkchops, macaroni and cheese (with homemade cheese sauce), lima beans, and applesauce. Scott is such an amazing father and partner in being Addi's parent. I couldn't do it without him.

Here is a picture of Addi and her Daddy at St. Mark's.

11 months

Addi is almost 1 year old. Honestly, I can't believe it! She is so awesome! Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days. She cut her 6th tooth last weekend while we were in SC.

Scott is coming home! He is out of DC and is training this week and maybe next but we are so excited that he will be working close to home!!!

SC May 22-June 6

We spent 2.5 weeks in SC visiting with family and friends. We started out our trip with a party for my Aunt Judy who is getting remarried in just a month! It was great seeing all of the family at the party and of course the food was fantastic. Addi was still feeling a bit sick from the sinus infection so she was a bit cranky but by Sunday she seemed to be feeling better.

 

Addi and Monica at the party

We spent that weekend at Marie and Ricky's house with Derrick and Elise and of course Marie and Ricky. It was so great having all of us in one house. Elise and Addi had so much fun playing! By the end of the weekend, Addi was trying to take back the toys from Elise and at one point she was chasing after Elise. It was so adorable!

 

Grandmomma and her two grandbabies

Paul, Jesse and their kids were down from Ohio while we were in SC so  Addi got to play with Landon and CJ. CJ is Elise's age so she is 4 months older than Addi. It was so cute - she was hugging Addi (or putting her in a head lock) - either way it was cute!

 Addi and CJ

Addi also played with Dana again. He kept following her going, "baby" and looked for her when she left the room. Addi and I spent the entire day with Lindsey and Dana.

Addi and Dana playing on Dana's Rody

 

Dana giving Addi hugs. He had already planted one on her lips so she was a bit skeptical :)

We spent a day on the lake. Addi didn't like her life-jacket (can you blame her! But she had to wear one on the boat) but didn't seem to mind the ear plugs (maybe because they are bright orange?!?). She loved kicking in the water. She loved the pool as well.

 

"The Lifejacket"

 Looking out over the boat. She is definitely a water baby!

All the girls in the water - gotta love my "boat" hair!

Addi and Aunt Michelle in mom's friend's pool. Addi liked the car floatie.

While in SC, Addi fell in love with one of Michelle's dogs, Digger. She would laugh and laugh at him! We headed to Charleston the last weekend we were in town to hang out at Michelle and Charles' house. They had a cookout Friday night, and we got to see Derrick and Elise again. We went to my friend Sara's wedding Saturday night and Michelle kept Addi overnight. She said they had a blast! The wedding was beautiful. We had a nice time catching up with everyone. I am really glad that we were able to go and celebrate and meet Sara's husband, Marcus.

 

Addi, Digger, and the sea turtle at Aunt Michelle's house

Elise and Addi looking at the dogs

Addi and Elise

 It's times like this when I wish I had a fancy digital SLR

Addi and her new shoes. Please take note of the toys in the background...they are from the 60s-70s! My aunt brought them over from my grandparent's house from when my Uncle was little. 

 The wedding: Catey, Lindsey, Sara, Jana, and me - a high school reunion!

St. George Island Pictures

We went to St. George Island the second week of May, and I am just now getting around to uploading the pictures. This is the third year we've been to St. George with our group of friends. Emma flew in from Texas, Kristen and Colin came in from Alabama, Natalie, Mike, Brandy, Dan, Scott, Addi, and I came in from Tallahassee. Addi had a wonderful time although she didn't sleep that well...little did we know she was cutting her 5th tooth. The weather was wonderful! The water felt great. Addi didn't really like the waves and tried to eat the sand a few times. Her eyes were really irritated after the first day so we brought out the kiddie pool filled with fresh water and she had a blast!

 

One morning Addi and I sat on the beach and watched the sun rise. We were alone except for the people walking their dogs and the birds. 

Addi just played in her PJs. The first picture and this picture were taken just minutes apart.

 

We've learned that Addi and Scott have the same hair...especially when it gets wet. It just curls right up!

Addi loved playing with the water, sand, and beach toys.

Another morning looking out at the beach.

An explosion of communication!

In the last couple of weeks we have had an explosion of non-verbal communication. Addi has started to make the connection between more objects and what they do - she puts the phone to her ear and yesterday she picked up someone's hat and put it on her head (well, she tried). She signed doggie last week and has been doing it consistently. She also signed duck and phone. She is pointing more often when she wants things or she is noticing things (e.g. pointing at her puffs).

We are in SC this week and next. We had a wonderful time in St. George Island with our friends and I will post pictures soon. This week Addi has gotten to spend time with lots of family and friends and she has played with several babies and toddlers as well. She spent the entire weekend with her cousin Elise.

She has also gotten a new tooth and I have a feeling many more are about to make an appearance. She is feeling much better (we were dealing with a virus and sinus infection last week), and she is really enjoying her time at home. My aunts, parents, sister, and other family are helping watch her so I can get my work done while in SC. We've tried some new food as well - so far she does not like pasta  but she does like tomatoes in sauce, kibbee, and strawberries (she only had a taste of each but liked them all). I also found out that there is canned pumpkin in a store nearby so we are stocking up! I have been looking at home for months with no success.


I've taken a lot of pictures and will post them soon. I don't have Internet on my computer while at home so I am having to use mom's.

Scott should be coming home soon! He was told he will be starting  new position in the next couple of weeks and he wont be travelling nearly as often!!! We are so excited - he has been traveling for 3 years.

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.