Embarrasing...

Addie figured out last week how to get access to nurse anytime she wants to. She now is constantly pulling my shirt. She either pulls my shirt down and sticks her head in my shirt rooting around or she will pull the shirt out as far as it will go and starts smacking her lips and feeling around with her hand. It is quite embarrassing when we are out in public! I'm not ready to wean her yet, so I guess I'll just have to deal with the embarrassment of having myself exposed for a few more months!

Really Mom? Come on.

Doesn't this look just say "Really Mom, come on, give me something else to eat"? I snatched this from Mom's blog. There are some other cute pictures on her blog but I've got a little monkey crawling all over me and the keyboard so just look at Mom's blog for them.

Faker.

Addie is a faker!!! She finished her 3rd round of antibiotics for her ear infections this past Sunday and has still been pulling on and clawing at her ears. So finally after a really fussy night Wednesday and a fussy day Thursday I called the doctor and they said that I might need to take her to an Ear Mouth Throat doctor, but they wanted to see her first to check her ears again. So off we went to Dr. Cochran today and would you believe that her ears are 100% perfect??? That little booger has been pulling on her ears and they are completely clear. Dr. Cochran did say that Addie's molars are coming in, so that is probably why she was fussy.

Other than that we have had a pretty uneventful week except for Monday- we went to Decatur and Addie got to play with Abby, I got to visit with two friends from work, and we had a blast! I'll post pictures of that fun day later.

Jarom bought a SUV today. It has been a hassle trying to juggle cars when I need to be away from Addie because Jarom can't put her carseat in his truck, and I'm not very good at driving a stick shift (again his truck), so he found a used fully loaded GMC Jimmy that is pretty nice (so I hear, I haven't seen it) and he is bringing it home tonight. So if anyone is in need of a 2006 Chevy Silverado in great condition, we'll sell it to you!

Oh nummy nummy!

Addie loves to eat. This little girl has one heck of an appetite. We went to the temple Tuesday night and I nursed her before we left and fed her 4 oz on the way there. On the way home she ate a whopping 7.5 oz of food and then once we got to cracker barrell she whined and grabbed stuff off my plate until I gave her a dumpling, some hash brown casserole, a french fry and some cornbread.... ridiculous. She has got to be going through a growth spurt. By the way, she has gotten back to nursing a little more... I can usually get her once during the day and twice at night, so I figure that is ok.

Addie loves to eat her cookies. I found these little butter type cookies and they don't make a huge mess like the teething cookies, and they actually taste really good. We always ask Addie if her food is "nummy nummy" and she usually grins and chomps on it more. Well I asked her that the other day and she held her food out to me. Finally I leaned forward and took a bite and she got SO excited that she was feeding me. She proceeded to feed me and Jarom bites of her cookie in between her bites. What a good little sharer I have, lets see how long that lasts!

BIG!

Addie eating her muffin like a big girl...

Addie thinks she is a big girl... seriously. She is feeling MUCH better but now has almost completely weaned herself from nursing and from her pacifier. She will only nurse once during the night and when she wakes up in the morning and refuses it the rest of the day. She hasn't used her pacifier in several days either. I don't mind the paci being gone, because she looks so sweet asleep without the plug in her mouth, but I wasn't ready to always have to feed her real meals... it takes forever! She won't take formula, or milk in a bottle, but will drink out of a cup, so I have been pumping and pouring it in a cup for her once it is cold... ridiculous I know, but she'll take it. Addie also feels the need to eat like Jarom and I do. She has to eat her muffin by her holding it and biting off of it, she eats her baked potato off of a real fork, eats her fruit with her hands like I do, and likes to have her food on a plate like us. She will refuse foods if I try to feed her with my fingers, but will take it on a fork. She is so silly! I don't know what got into her while she was sick, but she thinks she is grown now. Jarom says she only nurses at night because its dark and she's embarrassed for anyone to see her nursing because she's so grown up now...

She has mastered clapping and still pats her hand in the "no no" fashion. She smacks her lips when she wants to eat, and grunts when she is full. I will grunt back at her sometimes to try to get her to laugh so I can shove in a few more bites if the jar is almost gone.

Saturday night we went out for dessert and to feed the ducks with Skyler, Ashley, & Maclane. We had so much fun, and were really enjoying watching the ducks until we saw two um... reproducing... cough cough. Maclane started crying because she thought the one was hurting the other one, giggle.

Everyone says we look like sisters and we always say we wish!We love hanging out with the Lee's, it is good to have such a great family to spend time with and Addie and Maclane are best buds and always give each other a smooch when they first see each other! It is adorable!
On another note, we have a huge new shopping center coming 3 miles or so from our house. It is going to be WONDERFUL!!! The Harris Hills development will have a Super Target, Barnes & Noble, Ross, Pier 1, J.C. Penny, World Market, Hobby Lobby, Dick's Sporting Goods, Kohl's, Pets Mart, Best Buy, Old Navy, and many more. There will also be a movie theatre! The only places I ever end up shopping at are Target, Old Navy, Ross, and Hobby Lobby and they are all going to be 3 minutes from my house... I am so excited I could scream, but Addie is asleep so I will have to contain myself.


Jarom and I also have been bitten by the house bug. Our favorite pastime is to drive around looking at houses and there is a subdivision called Hawks ridge a few minutes from us that we LOVE! Come to find out, we could actually afford it (and it would put me only a minute from all of my favorite stores). We would have to sell our house and really live on a budget, but the neighborhood is gorgeous and is surrounded by million plus dollar homes and land trusts. The problem is that we don't have a need for a bigger home at the moment and had planned on living in our itty bitty house for at least another 2-3 years. Sigh. I guess we might just have to dream a little longer.

Daddy & Addie dancing

Louisville, Kentucky

So as I was trying to find the post I had almost completed that disappeared when the computer froze and crashed, I found a post I never finished... oops! A few weeks ago we went to KY (I think July 22-24). That Tuesday morning we headed out to Louisville, KY for Jarom's GE appliance training. His rep had told him to arrive any time Tuesday and that we could eat at the hotel restaurant and such for dinner, so we were excited to have an evening together with Addie before all the training started. Well at 11:30 am as we were trying to head out the door to leave, a lady at GE calls Jarom wondering where he is. Apparently we were supposed to arrive Monday night... So we had to rush up there, it was a 5 hour drive, and we only stopped for a few minutes to get gas and the minute we pull up to the hotel, the limo was already waiting for Jarom so he jumped in and headed off leaving me to deal with the car, bags, and Addie. So I entailed the help of a very nice valet guy and he parked the car and helped me get the bags to my room.

At the training all they do is sit in a couple of classes and then eat, cook, eat some more and cook some more, so I spent all of my meals alone (with Addie) because Jarom was stuffed by the time he made it back each night. The first night I found a local yummy pizza place to deliver and then ordered room service from Proof on Main (the hotel restaurant) for breakfast the next morning. After Addie and I ventured out shopping with the trusty navigation system, I ordered food to go at Texas Roadhouse for dinner and I was really enjoying it until I found a nasty curly hair in my mashed potatoes... YUCK! I went to Target and got muffins for the next morning and then Jarom brought me lunch that last day before we headed home.

We stayed at 21C Museum Hotel in downtown. It was a very strange but nice hotel. They have these huge red penguins everywhere and the staff moves them around all day long, so sometimes you'll come out of your room and there will be a penguin at your door. They had this cool limo completely studded in red rhinestones, I am talking major bling, and they had lots of weird art such as an "artificial intelligence" set of robots that fight, feel bad and then make up. It is just two heads laying on pillows and they turn towards and away from each other throughout the conversation... supposedly they never say the same thing twice. They had lots of random things, like lights shaped like nooses and had a really neat wall by the elevators that as you walked by it you showed up on the screen and the letters that were falling on the screen made words as they landed on your shoulders and head, and if you walked back and forth you could read the poem.

The hotel was only a block from the Louisville Slugger factory/museum, so before we headed home we toured it. It was really interesting how they make bats, and they had over 100 years of baseballs signed by Presidents, the bat specifications and examples of what lots of the MLB baseball players use according to their personal preferences, and even the bat they special made for Carrie Underwood for her song "before he cheats". We were also right on the Ohio River so Jarom and I took Addie out in the stroller the second night there and walked up and down the wharf. It was so much cooler there than Huntsville is. Evenings were in the low 60s and day time didn't go above around 85.

Addie did great on the ride up, but on the ride back about an hour from home she was over it completely. She would fuss unless we had crackers in her mouth, so by the time we got home she was packed. We enjoyed our trip, but after being out of town so much this summer, it is nice to be home!

My poor baby girl!!!

Addie is MISERABLE! She still has 2 ear infections, is running a 102 fever, has a viral infection, 6 ulcers on her tongue, and is trying to cut a molar on top and a tooth on bottom. She got a shot at the doctor yesterday of some strong antibiotic and then starts another stronger antibiotic tomorrow and is on it another 10 days. We are seriously racking up the doctor bills these past two months, whew! Addie slept better last night than she did the night before, but is having a hard time napping today and will only sleep about 30 minutes at a time. She was refusing to eat, drink, or nurse, but finally hunger got the better part of her a little bit ago and she ate a little baby food, drank some water and then after her nap nursed some. Right now she is in a better mood and knocked over a whole thing of Strawberry apple puffs that I thought was out of her reach.... little bum scooter. She creeps across the floor on her bum and it is so gradual you don't notice it until she is several feet from where you put her. Did I mention she has a constant stream of drool out of her mouth at all times now? The doctor was trying to check her heart, lungs and all of that and the whole time big drops of drool were going all over his arms, the sheet Addie was sitting on, and her shirt. Everything in our house that Addie has been near is sopping wet.

On a funnier note, Addie is always getting into everything so I will swat at her hand if she keeps doing it over and over after I tell her no several times. Well apparently she thinks that is funny and has started mocking me. She will take her left hand and pat the top of her right hand while grinning if I say "no no no". She is trying to clap too now, she thinks it is hilarious if I take her hands and make them clap, and then she will try it herself. I was saying "no no" to her a little bit ago and she was patting her own hand then looked over and starting patting my hand... little booger. She is doing the wrist roll with her arm outstretched, but has only done it twice when people are actually saying bye bye to her. I sure do love my little girl, say some prayers for my little sicky.

Four's

A) Four places that I go to over and over: Target, Church, Hobby Lobby, Moms
B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly): Mom, Grandpa Brimhall, Katie, Kristi
C) Four places I love to eat: Tellini's, Little Rosies, Macaroni Grill, Longhorn
D) Four places I would rather be right now: At the beach, asleep, asleep on the beach, at a spa getting a massage
E) Four TV shows I watch all the time: Today, Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break, American Idol

So I noticed after doing this that there are 5 categories... so much for "four's".

8 Months Old

I know I say it every month, but I can't believe she is already 8 months old. Addie is so much fun now, she and I play all the time. She LOVES food and feels the need to eat every time anyone else is eating unless she just ate. She starting eating chicken and turkey this month and it really makes feedings stretch out longer. I was nursing her around 8 or 9 times a day last month, but since I started doing 3 meals with her I only have to nurse her 4 or 5 times usually-Addie has a very healthy appetite! :) She doesn't love her cereal as much anymore since she has had a taste of everything else. She really likes to eat avocados, tomatoes, baby cookies, and is ecstatic when I give her fresh peaches. The doctor said I can start her on baby yogurt, orange juice, tomato juice, beans, and any soft fruits and veggies. Addie LOVES tomato and orange juice. She has never really liked juice and drinks water really well, but she can't get enough of tomato and orange... isn't that crazy? She really enjoys it.

Addie is pulling up but only in her pack and play and in her crib. She thinks she is SO big. She recently also starting going from a sitting position to on her hands and knees, but she can't figure out what to do with her feet. Her feet still stay like they were when she was sitting so it looks like she's doing some yoga position or something. She is really bad about lunging forward from a sitting position to get whatever she wants in front of her. I have to really watch her when she is sitting on the couch or changing table when I am drying her off from her bath because when she sees something she wants she tries to get it. Addie also scoots all around our sink on her little bum to get things that are on the counters or in the other sink, but she doesn't scoot on the floor yet. Soon I will have to start baby proofing our house, yay. :(

Addie is very verbal about things. She likes to mimic sounds and says mama, baba, geegee, along with some others. Jarom is really trying to get her to say dada, but no luck yet. She squeals when she is tickled, laughs so hard now, and loves to play games. She really thinks its funny now to throw a blanket on her head and say "where's Addie?" and then she will pull it off and laugh. Addie is very nosy and has to know what is going on all the time. She loves to peep around things to look at people and really looks for people or things when they disappear. She will almost fall out of her chair trying to see someone if they go around the corner and throws her toys then peeps over to look at them in the floor. She loves to be read to and her favorite book is "the very quiet cricket". She anticipates the last page where the cricket starts chirping and gives the biggest grin when we get to that part.

I am working on making her room a little more girly. Mom says I don't have it fun for a little girl and that it is too "grown up" so I bought some really bright daisies for her room and some daisy prints. I also bought some letters to do her name on the wall and am taking scrapbook paper and covering them, so far I have finished the "A" and the "D" and it took over an hour... but its super cute. I put the daisies in a vase and placed them in Addie's room when she was down for a nap and when she woke up I started out of the room with her when the flowers caught her eye. She gave me the biggest grin and kept alternating looking at the flowers and grinning and then looking at me and grinning. She loves bright colors. I'll have to post some pictures of the finished room whenever I complete it.

Addie passed out after a long day

Addie is my little parter each and every day. She will go anywhere and doesn't seem to mind it. Last night we took her to a Vipers football game, which is played indoors and so is really loud. The whole time she just took it all in and would get loud with her chitter chatter when everyone got excited and just really did well. The people in front of us kept saying "I can't believe how calm and good she is during all of this". She will shop with me until I am ready to go home (which is quite a feat if you ask Mom, Katie, and Jarom) and I found that if I put her in the buggy where all of the stuff normally goes and give her a few toys she will entertain herself for hours. She played and played while I browsed through Hobby Lobby Friday and did well at Old Navy too afterwards.

Addie is getting so long and big. At her sick visit to the doctor last week she weighed 14 lbs 14 oz with clothes and diaper after lunch. I was worried Addie was eating too much, since she eats constantly it seems, but the doctor said she is fine and to feed her 3 meals a day if I have time and if not, feed her 2 and nurse her more. She is better about sleeping at night now and takes two naps and an occasional short third nap, so I think we are all happier. I am excited that the holidays are just around the corner, it seems that once labor day gets here everything goes really fast. Before I know it, Addie will be a year old.

Addie with Daddy's cereal bowl on her head, silly Daddy