dan, tay, & addy

phonebook fanatic

2012-02-09T16:21:00.000-05:00

Ever since she could play with books Addy has been in LOVE with them. She loves to turn the pages and point at things...and especially in magazines. Since she was probably 8 months old she has been able to turn the pages of magazines one at a time. She uses her cute little chubby fingers to find each page and turns them one by one. She will often finish a magazine then either start over, or begin again from the back. :) Well, a couple of weeks ago we had a phonebook delivered to our house and Addy has found her newest reading obsession. Her phonebook often goes with us into bed at bedtime, the car when we're going somewhere, and once, almost in the bathtub for bath time. This girl is a riot. :)

Can't leave without my phonebook, dad!

who needs PJ's?

2012-01-26T16:09:00.000-05:00

Lately Addy has been quite the little stinker at going to bed. Well, she doesn't mind being in her crib...but she just won't go to sleep! I'm starting to wonder if she's one of those crazy children who don't need much sleep, and I'm afraid to admit that that might be the case. I need my sleep, too! Anyway, last night Dan and I were watching TV when we noticed Addy was sitting up in her crib and had something on her head. We went to check her out and noticed that what was on her head was her PJ shirt...and she was also missing her pants. Hahahaha...after we both almost peed our pants we ran to get cameras and this is what we got from the little ham herself. Love this girl. :)

our newest obsession

2012-01-14T12:44:00.000-05:00

Last Friday (the 6th) we finally got to bring home our baby kitty! This was my special Christmas present from Daniel this year and she has made a sweet addition to our family! She is currently still nameless, but today we have been trying out the name Sophie. We'll see how it goes. Mostly we just call her kitty. :) She is a big hit with Addy, who loves to ~~terrorize~~ play with kitty whenever she can get her hands on her. So far she has been one patient, loving, snuggly little kitten! We love her! :)

She loves to sit on Daniel's shoulder...especially when he's eating :)

This is what is on my lap pretty much any time I sit down now

Maybe we should name her Patience? lol...

nursery time

2012-01-13T14:37:00.000-05:00

My baby is officially in nursery! I have to admit that Dan has been occasionally dropping her off in nursery since before she was 18 months since I became the Primary President in August. He's in the Young Men's presidency, my mom is the Young Women's President, and my dad is the High Priest Group Leader...so when we all have something to do, well, we have no babysitters! Addy is absolutely in LOVE with our nursery leader (who also happens to live just a few houses down the street from us) so she loves to go to nursery! Of course I had to take a few pictures...and it so happens that our nursery leader was sick so I was in nursery for the day, so more pictures were taken actually in nursery. Yeah, yeah...I'm the crazy mamarazzi. Sue me. :)

Really, mom? More pictures?

christmas comes but once a year

2012-01-10T15:07:00.000-05:00

It's so weird how Christmas changes as you grow up. I was feeling a little...different, somehow about Christmas this year and I couldn't explain why until Christmas day. Of course I was super excited and bought way too much stuff for Addy even though I told myself I wouldn't. I finally pinpointed why it was so different, and that I'd just have to get used to it: when you're little Christmas is SO magical. It has absolutely always been my favorite time of year. But when you grow up, you have to pass on the magic. Christmas isn't necessarily less magical...you just have to create the magic for all the little precious people in your home. Giver of magic instead of reciever. A bit of a role reversal, but magical nonetheless. :)

I must say, for her first Christmas that she could actually open presents...Addysen did not disappoint. Every single little toy from her stocking elicited a lot of ohhing and ahhing. Not to mention it actually took 2 days for her to open all of her presents. She would open one present and play with it for a long time and then we'd have to coax her back to the Christmas tree to open another. It was kind of fun having Christmas last for 2 days. :)

Can you guess the first thing Addy went for?

Yep, you guessed it! :)

Fascinated with her stocking

Ready for church

Siblings :)

Somehow I forgot to get a picture of me, Dan, & Addy!

The aftermath of Christmas morning and church

Trying to ride the gigantic rubber duck Gramma & Grampa got her

Giving all her ducks a try in the bath...it was a ducky Christmas :)

18 months

2012-01-02T19:49:00.000-05:00

I don't know where it went, but 18 months have come and gone. Every day brings new challenges and more love than I ever expected. I love this little girl so much! :)

pinteresting christmas

2011-12-29T23:39:00.000-05:00

I am horrible at documenting any of the crafts I attempt (usually because I hate them in the end). I really need to get better about taking pictures because sometimes they actually turn out looking quite nice! Most of my presents were homemade this year, and a lot of the ideas I got from Pinterest (where else?!) and made them my own. For my sister Jordan, the lover of books, I modge-podged a wooden letter J with one of her favorite books, Jane Eyre. Then I topped it off with some cute rosettes.

For Ashton, the college freshman living on her own for the first time, I made some cute matching pillows. I used an apple to stamp on some home decor fabric for one pillow, and the other I hand-sewed some ruffles (I still cannot get my darn machine to do them for me!) and put them on a coordinating fabric. I wish I had a picture of both pillows at the same time, but I actually only had one pillow form.

I'll have to see if I can at least get some final product pictures of the other things I did...honestly I was so proud of myself. Normally the crafts I make I end up hating because I see every little flaw that I made, but this time, well...some people almost didn't get Christmas presents! Anyway...I just had to share. :)

time for wrapping!

2011-12-20T16:48:00.000-05:00

It's been hard to wrap presents this year because I can basically only do it late at night when Addy is asleep or during nap time...when Addy is also asleep. It's an overall very small window of opportunity. Anyway, I found a few different cute ways on Pinterest for wrapping presents and I put a little of my own twist on them (and my mom's iconic yarn bows) to make them mine. It was a fun chance to involve Addy and they're just super cute! I think it goes without saying these are the cutest looking presents I've ever wrapped...I mean, they're the only ones I've ever felt like photographing so they must be cute! :)

The first step in making the best wrapped presents is to have the cutest little helper, as you can see here:

Then you cut up said helper's preciously painted paper, wrap the presents, add a fancy bow, stamp on names, and voila! The best wrapped presents you've (or I've) ever done! At least I like to think so... :)

daddy's helper

2011-12-19T15:46:00.000-05:00

Ever since we moved into our house we've wanted to pull up the carpet and put down wood floors. We didn't have the money before we moved in but now with another little one on the way plus the amazing deal we found, we decided to just bite the bullet and do it. Even though we had the carpets professionally cleaned before we moved in....they just never felt THAT clean to me. Not to mention all of the lovely stains because it is a very light carpet. Can you tell I didn't like it? Anyway, moving on.

So we brought home about 800 square feet of flooring to lay down ourselves in 3 different rooms. Dan started with the dining room because it was one of the smallest. He has now moved on to the living room...which is supposed to be finished before Christmas. Well, I think my exact words were something like "If you're going to start it now, I don't want you laying down baseboards and moving my tree back in on Christmas Eve." Needless to say he's done a great job with my timeline and we should hopefully have everything "moved back in"from other parts of the house where they're currently taking residence (would you like to prepare breakfast on my couch?) by Tuesday evening.

The biggest challenge has been keeping Addysen out of the way. She loves to help...but lots of times her "help" is her sitting on your lap to help you do whatever you're doing. Or stealing tools. We love her. :) We've been visiting a lot of cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents lately! :)

Here are a few pictures of the dining room before, during, and after...and some of the living room which is currently about 5/6 of the way done. Like my fraction? It's true.

Lemme get that for you, Dad.

Cheese! :)

Dining Room:

Wesley & Dan working on the living room

My living room in my kitchen...and the tree is in our bedroom :)

'tis the season

2011-12-10T18:51:00.000-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving we went to pick out our Christmas tree for this year. Addysen was able to stay awake for it this year, so it was a lot of fun letting her run around and smell all of the trees. Although, when she "smells" she actually just blows out of her mouth. I think she's trying to imitate the noise Dan and I make when we are showing her how to smell something. It's pretty cute. :) We got our tree home and Dan got it inside while Addy and I moved the furniture around. Addy loved helping Dan put the stand together and then I got to be the tree holder while he tightened it onto the tree. It was one sappy tree! It took forever to get off all the sticky.

We just now got around to decorating it because I couldn't find the lights for it. After hunting and hunting they are still nowhere to be found so I just bought new ones. It's amazing how easily something can be lost when I know it HAS to be somewhere in this house. Our house isn't THAT big. Anyway, we love it and I just love the feeling of Christmas. Occasionally I wish I could look outside and see some white snow...but alas I have still only worn a coat outside once this winter. Ah well. I still love Christmas. :)

I finally found an ornament I felt was appropriate to describe Addy for the year and so she got to open that and put it on the tree. She loved the little bunnies when she opened it. :) She got to put that on the tree and then helped Daddy put up the star. Then the next day after Addy started bringing me ornaments I realized she wasn't going to leave them alone. Now our tree is decorated with ornaments only on the top half. :) So there she is, folks...our 2011 Christmas tree!

Helping Daddy

Addy's handprint from her first Christmas. So tiny!

Opening her ornament

Trying to put it on the tree

Addy's 2011 ornament

Touchdown! The star is up! :)

how does your garden grow

2011-11-27T18:37:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Dan went to help his dad plant a few things in the garden so Addy and I thought we'd tag along. We originally came to help...but I'd say we just ended up walking through the orange grove shoveling sand, picking up toads, running through the gigantic orange trees, and then trying to run through the freshly planted rows in the garden. (When I say "we", I mean Addy...I just had to tag along because I was supposed to be supervising her!) Addy had so much fun running through the groves and playing in all the dirt and sand. It reminded me of when I was little. :) Her dirty little pants and face were proof enough that she had a blast!

one lucky duck

2011-11-01T11:49:00.000-04:00

For Halloween I was going to make Addy's costume but I had a hard time deciding what she should be. When I finally realized that, duh, she is in LOVE with ducks I knew she had to be one. As I was looking online for inspiration on how to make her duck costume I came across this super cute duck costume (tights included!) with free shipping for only $15. Hello...I could not make something this cute for that cheap! I justified to myself that I made her costume last year, so I'll maybe just make her costume every other year. ;) Without further ado, our little lucky duck:

Rolling around (unsuccessfully) trying to escape the Mamarazzi :)

One of my favorite things: the little duck bum :)

Cinder-Elly & Addy the Duck :)

The whole motley crew :)

Oh, and because it is a part of Halloween...and I'm lazy and forgot...here are pictures from our Ward Fall Fest that we had on the 15th. :)

I love this face: More pictures, mom!?

Picking a duck at the duck pond. Is this wrong? hahaha...

One tired duck :)

punkin picks a punkin

2011-10-25T11:37:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we took Addy to the pumpkin patch with my parents. It was on a sod farm basically out in the Green Swamp....so I guess not your typical "pumpkin patch". :) They had a mini maze for little kids made out of bales of hay that Addy enjoyed. She kept picking the wrong way so she decided to just go over...it was pretty funny. They had some ponies to ride but Addy was too little so she just watched and was quite fascinated. They had a cow trough filled with hardened corn kernels for little kids to play in and once Addy finally figured out to just sit in it (she kept losing her balance standing up) she had a great time. We saw some bulls with super, duper, and I mean HUMONGOUS horns. We stayed far away from their fence. We also went on a hay ride, raced ducks, ate snow cones and cotton candy, and altogether had a really fun afternoon. Oh, and last but not least, we had to make a run for the car to avoid the hummingbird sized mosquitoes. Thanks, Florida. ;)

In front of the "corn maze"

Gramma, Grampa, & Addy

Hay ride!

Racing ducks with Grampa

Snow cone face :)

What?! No more snow cone?!

Cheesing with Daddy and his sunglasses :)

Time to go home...

sisters

2011-10-18T16:03:00.002-04:00

Sisters don't need words. They have perfected a language of snarls and smiles and frowns and winks - expressions of shocked surprise and incredulity and disbelief. Sniffs and snorts and gasps and sighs - that can undermine any tale you're telling.

- Pam Brown

Sisters wear goofy matching outfits with you...

They share bad haircuts and cool blankets on sunny days...

And they try to help you stay "cool" when you get old..

I hope these two can be the best of sisters like I am with mine :)

Baby girl #2 is scheduled to arrive around March 14, 2012. :)

buster

2011-10-13T16:30:00.000-04:00

Let me just go ahead and put it out there for anyone who doesn't know: I'm not a horse lover. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't hate them...we have just never really gotten along. But the Friddles have had this horse, Buster, for as long as anyone can remember and somehow he seemed to worm his little way into my heart. He was not a riding horse...which may have something to do with why we got along. Mostly Buster hung out around the shop and ventured into it whenever he got the chance. He liked when we would bring him apples and he would wait for hours at the gate if he thought he was going to get a snack. Buster was, as Dan would say, a stallion stuck in a donkey's body. Dan used to fuss at me a little when I would say "Hi donkey!" whenever we saw Buster. He was the shortest little grumpiest (and lovable) old horse I'd ever known.

Sad news is Buster finally found a special spot in my heart and now he has passed on. Hopefully he is in horse heaven running around as fast as ever and eating all the apples and delicious horsey treats he can find. It was fun while it lasted, Buster. :)

sneaking into the shop

Who me? I'm just working!

sleepover at gramma's

2011-10-06T16:15:00.000-04:00

Last weekend Dan and I went to Orlando for a La Nouba show and dinner out. Alone. It was weird! Then we came home and our baby wasn't there. Even weirder! Addy spent the night at my mom's house for her first night away from home without us. When I dropped Addy off she seriously could not have cared less that I was leaving but I cried for most of the 20 minute drive home. Then I cried again when we came home from our date and she wasn't here. I mostly blame that on the fact that I am turning into an old person and we got home MUCH later than our normal bedtime...I was so tired and when I'm tired I get emotional!

Anyway, Addy survived (and so did we) and we picked her up the next morning. She was a little angel (according to my mom, who is the grandma...so it could be a total lie!) and didn't miss me much until she saw me again that morning. Addy sure gives the best hugs and kisses. :) Here she is getting dropped off:

johnny-come-lately

2011-10-01T15:05:00.000-04:00

So I know I'm only years behind...but I would just like to say to the person who invented Pandora:

Thanks and I love you! :)

duck, duck,...

2011-09-27T19:51:00.000-04:00

Last week my mom and I took Addysen to a lake to feed some ducks and swans. As soon as Addy saw all the ducks she was instantly intrigued. So we brought out the bread and started to feed them. Then all these creepy birds flew over the ducks to steal the bread and scared all of the ducks into the lake. So rude. We fed the creepy birds for a while...and even the uber creepy grandpa bird that was as big as Addy, then we realized we could feed the ducks while they were in the lake and the other birds couldn't get the bread out of the water. :) Mission accomplished.

pointing at the ducks

the creepy birds fly in...

After a round of feeding we decided to feed ourselves with the delicious picnic we brought. Addy enjoyed part of a banana and that's about all she could sit still for. She was up picking flowers, chasing the birds, and getting way too close to the lake. Oh, and when Addy realized we were feeding the ducks and birds bread she thought she would help herself to a few pieces. Why give such delicious bread to animals?! ;)

We fed the creepy birds again after they saw us eating and surrounded us, practically demanding more bread. Then we cleaned up our picnic and fed the ducks and swans again. We even got super close to some black swans...which I still can't figure out if they're really pretty or terrifying. Either way, it was a fun outing with just us 3 girls. :)

another lesson learned

2011-09-21T19:59:00.000-04:00

Remember the lesson I just gave? About taking your naps? Well, Addy learned another lesson today.

You don't have to get up when your daddy does at 5:30 am for seminary. Because then you're up, you think have to join his class, and then you don't take a nap until...

you crash land on the coffee table and fall asleep!

So learn another lesson the easy way (from Addy): don't get up before you're supposed to! :)

when you fail to take a nap...

2011-09-19T17:22:00.000-04:00

You can fall asleep anywhere.

Even on top of the book you were reading in the hallway.

So take your naps! :)

around these parts

2011-09-17T14:36:00.000-04:00

Lately it seems I have been so busy, but that I'm doing nothing at the same time. Addysen is absolutely OBSESSED with emptying every last thing in our house. I clean it up and 5 seconds later she is right behind me uncleaning it for me. There are clothes, shoes, hair bands, toys, diapers, blankets everywhere. You name it, it's on our floor. Not to mention that she's also for some reason obsessed with the dish rags in the kitchen. As soon as I hang one up I turn around and Addy has pulled it down and is dragging it around the house. I think she has dish rag radar and I have yet to find where she's stashed them all. Ah well! :)

Let's see what else. Oh, she is definitely her mother's daughter...she loves shoes! She will find any shoes in the house and put them on and try to walk around. As soon as she gets some on she also wants to go outside. She loves to go out back and run around with the dogs. Which brings me to another fun activity we've done around here. :) Dan was working for several days burying chicken wire near our fence so the dogs wouldn't dig out. Wesley needed some money for a club at school, so Dan offered to pay him to come help him finish it up. Addy and I swam in the baby pool and played with the dogs while they were working on it. Addy got tired of the pool and decided to help the boys. It was really quite cute. :)

Helping the boys

(she's only a little bit slower than they are...)

Love that dirty bum :)

Addysen has also taken recently to climbing on chairs and then onto the table. This is one of the scariest things she has learned to do yet...thankfully we've only had one big spill so far. She has also grown accustomed to sticking her leg out of her crib on purpose because if she gets stuck she knows I will come get her. What can I say? She likes to live life on the edge.

Caught!

And lastly, today I found her dragging my purse behind her all over the house. I thought it was so cute so I just let her play with it. Well later I found her chewing on the handles...needless to say my once "No, I'm not a mommy" purse is now riddled with evidence of me having a small child...or a rat.

You have got to love the adventure. :)

vacation part 3: new mexico

2011-09-06T16:48:00.001-04:00

Well it's been about a month now, so I figured I better do this post already :)

Dan had to leave Utah early to head back to work but Addy and I stayed and drove to New Mexico with my family. We spent a week in New Mexico enjoying the lovely mountains and interesting cities. We got a chance to help Mommer and Popper in their garden down on the farm, watch hummingbirds at the mountain house, and enjoy the fresh mountain air. We also took time to visit Taos, Santa Fe, and Las Vegas (New Mexico, that is). :) Being in the great outdoors for over a week allowed Addysen to develop a deep passion for rocks. I think we have a collection from every place we got out of the car on our trip!

Beautiful Taos (Addy holding rocks, of course)

Watching for hummingbirds in the morning

Cruising the streets of Santa Fe

Delicious Santa Fe pasta ;)

touchdown!

2011-09-04T21:11:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was the first BYU football game of the season and it was a nail-biter! Here are just a few of the emotions we experienced...

First, nervous...

Then, more than a little bit sad...

Finally, happy! TOUCHDOWN! :)

Let's go Cougars!

Here's hoping for a great season as an independent team!

PS - sorry for the picture quality...camera phone. Need I say more?

primarily speaking

2011-08-23T12:45:00.000-04:00

For almost 2 years now I have been the 2nd Counselor in our ward Young Women's presidency. I was so nervous when I got that calling and I shook in my high heels and sweated through my dress every time I had to teach. After a while I began to be very comfortable in my calling and I love, and I mean LOVE, teaching the young women. Well, you have to know you can never get comfortable with something, right?

I have recently been called as our ward Primary President...and I am once again shaking in my high heels and sweating through my dresses. Who knew that being responsible for the children of our ward ages 18 months through 11 years would be so nerve-wracking?! Oh wait, I seem to have had that thought when the Bishop asked me to accept the calling. Somehow, I accepted.

I gave my first sharing time last week, and it was the first sharing time I've been to since I was in primary over 12 years ago...needless to say it went okay. The children didn't boo at me or throw stinky rotten tomatoes (thank goodness). I was super duper nervous...but I had fun. :) I'm excited to get to know the children in our ward but I am still reeling at all the responsibility that has now been placed on my shoulders. Here's to coping quickly and getting this show on the road!

vacation part 2: uncivilized utah

2011-08-13T11:31:00.000-04:00

After a quick, less than 24 hour stay with Daniel's sisters we headed off early in the morning on Friday, the 29th, for a 4 day camping trip in the wilds of Utah's mountains. We drove about 6 hours south to Elk Ridge to meet up with my mom's side of the family where my mom, her sisters, and parents met the Mormons in 1974. The whole Montoya clan was there (even if some only for a few hours) and it was an outdoorsy blast! Addysen enjoyed getting to walk around everywhere with no limits! She picked lots of flowers and rocks, watched deer, learned how to play in the dirt via my cousin's kids, slept in a tent, took baths in a 5 gallon bucket, and lots of other super fun camping things. :)

only my grandparents would bring a tee-pee for camping :)

Addysen playing with Shaun David, Eva, and Jackson

Addy with Lyla and Eva

Addy and Lyla...yummy dirt :)

the "original met the Mormons" group

L-R: Ferrell, Terry, Cyndy, Mommer, Popper, Tricia (my madre), and Pam

the Cox crew

L-R back: Wesley, Ashton, Jordan, yours truly, Dan, & Addy

Front: padre & madre

(darn that wind, sun, and oh yeah, no bathing for 3 days...) ;)

We had a few rainy afternoons and I had to pull out the DVD player.

Me and Tara with our mini-me's: Addysen and Lyla :)

Addy and Lyla exploring

First marshmallow

This is my grandpa, Popper's, truck on the way out. Only he would pull a goose neck trailer full of camping supplies and tee-pee poles, which is then pulling a horse trailer full of food!

vacation part 1: civilized utah

2011-08-09T12:31:00.000-04:00

At the end of July Daniel, Addy, and I flew to Utah to begin our vacation. We flew in early on a Thursday and spent some time with Daniel's family. Kenna was ever so kind as to pick us up from the airport and we went straight to visit Daniel's Grandma Dortch who had not yet met Addysen. After some visiting we stole my sister Jordan's car, visited our alma mater, ran a few errands for our upcoming camping trip, and then made our way back up to Daniel's sister's house. Timberly was so sweet to make us dinner and give us a place to sleep for the night. Addy had lots of fun playing with her cousin, KeKe, and reading (and/or pulling off the shelf) lots of books!

let the birthday walls begin

2011-07-23T11:21:00.000-04:00

In my house growing up birthdays were a huge deal. Birthdays are my favorite time of year besides Christmas. I love birthdays! While we were sleeping my mom would decorate our bedroom and bed with balloons and crepe paper and then she would put up our own special "birthday wall" outside of our bedroom door. It was always so exciting to wake up and see all the decorations and have your own little special wall. I am, of course, a maniac who loves carrying on traditions so I got to make my first "birthday wall" for Addy this year. I didn't do anything over her bed..I was too afraid of waking her up! ;) I put up a few signs with some balloons that was just her height for when she came out of the bedroom in the morning. I love that little precious girl! And I must say, for a 1 year old she really appreciated a few pieces of colorful paper and balloons on the wall! :)

4 tanks of gas, 9 passengers, & 16 driving hours later...

2011-07-12T10:44:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we made a quick trip to Georgia to stay at Dan's brother and sister-in-law's hotel, I mean house, for a Friddle family reunion. We drove up Friday morning with 3/4 of the Pitts and because of several added riders on the way home we came back on Sunday with two of Dan's sisters and his dad. It was so fun to all be in the same house with all 11 grandchildren running around and just enjoying each other's company. While we were there we...

rode in Lightening McQueen

played on stairs

rough-housed

ate lots of delicious food

swam

surfed on dads

snoozed

went shooting

took walks in the yard

loved on babies

and took a new family picture...

I loved every minute and it was so great to have everyone together. :)

my baby is one...the sentimental post

2011-07-08T22:42:00.000-04:00

I realized I never did a post about my sweet angel, other than her birthday party. It was a hard road for me to get Addysen here but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I had a difficult time being pregnant and I was definitely not prepared for what happened when I went into labor. When my water broke at home on July 1st I thought I would be holding my sweet daughter in a few short hours. Little did I know that I would be in labor for 20 hours and still not be holding my angel. Finally my doctor decided I needed a c-section. Although part of me still regrets not waiting a little longer, I'm glad my baby came onto this earth safe and healthy. And really, that's all the matters.

My little daughter is growing so quickly I absolutely cannot believe it. When she was born she weighed 8 lbs and 4 oz. She now weighs almost 22 lbs. Addy has quickly become an efficient walker, and loves to walk down walkway and out the driveway any time we go outside. She has been clapping her hands and "dancing" (kind of doing these semi-squat maneuvers in somewhat rhythm to music). My sisters also taught her how to high five and she much prefers to give high fives instead of kisses (although when in the right mood she will). She often gives head butts as a sign of affection. So if Addy head butts you, be grateful...she loves you. :) She is a busy, busy, BUSY girl. If she takes a moment to let you hold her, you better savor it. They are too few these days and I love when she just lets me rock her. She loves to chase Sammie around the house and try to catch his tail, and she cannot stay away from Harley even though Harley jumps all over her...usually resulting in a knockdown. She is an amazing baby and is beginning to sleep (mostly) through the night in her own crib (which mommy appreciates!). She loves to investigate anything and everything...and when she is the most serious her tongue will stick out to let you know she is thinking hard! :)

I never knew being a mom would be so wonderful and so hard at the same time. It has been such a roller coaster but I wouldn't change the highs and lows for anything. Addysen has made me a better person and has already taught me so much about life in her short 12 months here. I couldn't ask for a more precious child and I'm so glad she has joined our family. Addysen Joan, your mommy loves you!!

happy first birthday, addysen!

2011-07-03T15:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my sweet little angel turned 1! I absolutely cannot believe it! We had a fun little shabby chic party in honor of Addysen's first birthday achievement and it was a smashing success! I spent most of Friday and Saturday cleaning and decorating, and with the help of lots of family we pulled off one cute party (if I do say so myself). :) We enjoyed delicious chicken salad sandwiches, lemonade, and lots of sweets and treats! Addy found herself surrounded by lots of cousins, presents, sugar, and most importantly, love. :) It was one special first birthday and I'm so thankful to everyone who helped and came. And a special thanks to my sweet sister, Ashton, for taking all the pictures. It was SO nice not having to worry about getting pictures of everything...I just enjoyed the party! So, thanks Ashton. :) And now I'll let her pictures fill in the gaps for the entire evening:

Lots of decorations!

I don't mean to toot my own horn...but toot toot :)

Seeing her swing set that her Daddy made her :)

Seeing the jungle gym from Gramma & Grampa

"Happy Birthday Dear Addy!!!!!"

And to top off the day: delicious birthday cupcake :)

June 29th

2011-06-29T16:33:00.000-04:00

After I had Addysen it was really hard to tell people her birthday was July 2nd because for 9 months the date I had been telling everyone was June 29th. So I must say, although July 2nd is now a special day in my heart, June 29th still has a little special place because it was the day my first little baby was due! So, without further ado, here is me last year on June 29th in all my pregnant glory! Happy due date! :)

Oh mama that looks painful!

snooze button: cruise edition

2011-06-26T18:47:00.000-04:00

I was worried that Addy's whole sleep schedule would get thrown off while we were on the cruise, but she ended up being a great sleeper despite all of our activities! She managed to sleep when she could and was a great sleeper at night, too.

Sleeping in her float in Mexico.

Thanks to Gramma for holding her head out of the water :)

Snoozing in her stroller in Haiti

(Un)sunbathing on the beach

Sleeping in with Daddy

no name friddle

2011-06-23T14:42:00.000-04:00

I'm not really sure what came over Daniel and I yesterday...but for some reason we think we have to always just jump into things with both feet. What is life if it isn't a little crazy?

Our little Sammie has seemed a little lonely lately and we thought it would be a good idea to get him a friend. That's where our craziness enters: we got a puppy! She's a little golden retriever (who is still nameless) and she is the cutest, softest, fluffiest thing you've ever laid eyes on and we adore her! Daniel is smitten, Addysen thinks she's hilarious, Sammie is indifferently curious, and me, well...I'm still wondering what the heck we got ourselves into but somehow we're all loving every minute of it. :)

Someone may or may not be jealous of puppy's cage...

feet fetish: cruise edition

2011-06-20T13:27:00.000-04:00

Addysen loves her feet...and I mean LOVES her feet. She's always holding onto them, playing with them, and putting them on everything. If I read her a book her feet have to be touching the book, if I'm nursing her she has to put her feet on my arm, if I'm changing her diaper she has to put her feet on my stomach...she's obsessed. Notice the trend at our dinners on the cruise? Not the most lady-like... ;)

my little helper: cruise edition

2011-06-19T12:43:00.000-04:00

With all the packing and unpacking going on lately Addysen has taken quite fondly to helping me fold and pack (or should I say unfold and unpack?) laundry. :) Here are a few shots of my amazing assistant hard at work:

What? Not me, mom!

toddler

2011-06-08T09:39:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess I'm going to say it's official: I have a toddler.

Ahhh! *short freak out*

Okay. Back to the post. For about 3 weeks now we've been trying to coax Addysen to walk on her own. She's made a few steps on her own, but nothing substantial, and usually when she really wanted something she resorted to her old faithful: crawling. If I have learned anything about Addy in the past few weeks, it is definitely that she will do things when she wants and how she wants. There is no bribing this girl. So just within the last day or so she has realized that there is actually something special about this walking world we all live in and she wants to be a part of it! She still crawls but she is definitely trying to walk everywhere and when she's not in a hurry, she does it. :) I think I'll just leave you with a few pictures from my sister Ashton's graduation party (a post to come on that soon!) for now because if I say much more I can't guarantee I won't get all teary-eyed about it.

silence is [not] golden

2011-05-28T09:24:00.000-04:00

I've recently discovered for myself that the phrase "silence is golden" usually only applies to children when they're asleep. This is what I found when I hadn't heard Addy for a little while...

Never mind it was a brand new box of tissues...who could say no to that face? :)

recent findings

2011-05-21T21:02:00.002-04:00

Now that Addy has been crawling for a while she is getting more and more curious. She has been walking while holding onto furniture for a while now, but has been afraid to let go. My mom bought her one of those toys that Addy can hang onto and walk behind. When we first tried to show Addy how it worked she literally shook because she was scared. We just let it sit in the living room so she could explore it on her own and now she's a pro at it! We have discovered that she has a little bit of road rage...some would say like her mother. I don't know who those people are. :) Whenever she would push it she couldn't figure out how to turn and when she would run into something she would stand there yelling and ramming the little walker into whatever it was she had run into until Dan or I would come and turn it for her. She did finally figure out how to maneuver it...but I must say, it was pretty hilarious to watch her get angry when she ran into things.

Addysen is getting braver each day (which, of course, scares me more and more) and is trying to take steps on her own sometimes. She has walked from the coffee table to the couch (about 2 steps) and one time from the couch to me (about 3 steps). So she's still a bit wobbly, but she can do it! Any day I expect her to take off on her own. Once she gets the hang of it I know she'll love it because the girl is always busy doing something and going somewhere. :)

In her curiosity Addy has also discovered the kitchen cabinets, our dresser drawers, and of course, the elliptical. I call her my mountain goat because if there is something for her to put her foot on and climb, she will do it. She cracks me up!

teeth!

2011-05-18T15:27:00.001-04:00

When I posted on Addy's 9 month birthday I didn't realize that that day she would cut her first tooth! On April 2nd Addysen cut her first tooth, on the bottom. Last week she cut her second tooth, which is right next to the first one. And this past weekend she cut her third, which is on the top. It looks like she's getting the other 3 on top...which seems painful, if I do say so myself. Hopefully they come in quickly so she doesn't have to be in too much pain! She doesn't show them often and they're hard to see with that cheesy grin, but here's a look at my girl's pearly whites. :)

And this is more recent, but taken with my iPod so it is pretty crappy quality. Ah well...she's cute!

my baby is growing up...

2011-05-06T08:25:00.000-04:00

Does anyone know who told my daughter she could grow up? I'd like to have a talk with them. This is ridiculous. This is Addy when she's 2 weeks old and then 9 months. Where did my little tiny baby go?!

And long gone are these days...snuggling with a sleeping baby on my chest. Although, I must say, my daughter does love to snuggle when she's tired. The girl cannot be close enough to me or her dad. Holy moly. I just love her :)

new photos

2011-05-05T16:00:00.000-04:00

You may notice my new blog header...with a few of my new favorite pictures from Fishy Face Studios! I'm in love with all of them, but I'll try to share just a few of my very favorites. :)

Well...8 is a few, right? :)

groupon-oholics anonymous

2011-05-04T21:08:00.000-04:00

Have you checked out Groupon? Hello, my name is Taylor and I'm a groupon-oholic.

So if you haven't checked out Groupon, do it now. I haven't actually bought too many things from it...but it's so fun to check every day and they do have really great deals that pop up! Anyway, so one of my great deals was a photoshoot with Fishy Face Studios and it was AMAZING! I'm awaiting the arrival of our CD full of photos in the mail any day now and I think I'm going to go crazy if I don't get them soon! The anticipation is killing me. Okay. Long story short: Mother's Day Giveaway for those of you who are in the Central Florida/Polk County area! Check out the link for ways to enter the giveaway and if you aren't in the Central Florida area....well, go see my cute baby! She's in this post and this one. Precious. Now I've officially plugged my sweet angel and Fishy Face Studios, including her amazing giveaway! :)

mini me

2011-04-27T09:08:00.000-04:00

I have a mini me following me around my house...

addy's 1st easter

2011-04-25T10:56:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Addy's first Easter and it was a great day! We got ready for church in enough time to take a few family pictures and even get to church on time (shocking, I know!). Sadly this was the best of our family pictures:

At least we did a little better than this:

At least she was looking at the camera and her finger was mostly out of her nose, right? She cracks me up! :) After church we took a few more pictures of just me and Addy. These are my favorite:

(again with the nose picking...) :)

After church and pictures we had family over for a delicious Easter dinner and for Addy to get her Easter basket. Dinner was extra yummy and Addy loved her basket! I think Dan also enjoyed the leftover deviled egg filling...he may or may not have regretted eating it. You'll have to ask him. :)

And then later in the afternoon once it stopped raining I took Addy outside to try and take a few pictures of her in her Easter dress. I didn't put her cute little shoes on because they're white and the ground was very dirty...but then I didn't get the happiest faces because Addy did not appreciate the grass. Oh well! :)

harriet potter

2011-04-21T09:10:00.000-04:00

Last night for mutual our Young Men and Young Women played a rousing few games of Quidditch. Needless to say a few of us really got in on the action. I'm not sure Addy necessarily appreciated it. :)

i ain't as young as i once was

2011-04-09T20:18:00.000-04:00

When you get older and have kids birthdays aren't quite the same. Although wonderful in a different way they're never really completely about you anymore, and frankly, I love it. :) Here's a ~~brief~~ synopsis of my wonderfully different birthday:

Alarm clock went off at midnight....Addy must've turned it on by accident while playing with it. I like to think she just wanted to be the first to wish me a happy birthday! ;)
Dan's phone rings at 12:15 am...a reminder for "Taylor's birthday" from his calendar
Dan's phone rings again at 2:15 am...another reminder for "Taylor's birthday"
Addy wakes up crying at 2:30 am from teething
Dan's phone rings again at 4:15 am....he finally dismissed the reminder for my birthday :)
Addy wakes up again at 4:30 am hungry and in pain from teething
5:30 am...Addy finally falls back asleep after being awake since 4:30
At 7:30 am Addy wakes up, and therefore so do I
At 8 am I feed Addy and change her diaper
Around 10 am we go to the park as a family; Dan lets me jog while he pushes the stroller
Addy is getting too hot so my jog is cut short around 10:30 am and we head home
Addy has taken a brief nap in the car and so no longer feels the need to take her morning nap
From about 11 am to 1 pm we watch some Wonder Pets, feed Addy some lunch while intermittently trying to eat our own, change a few diapers, cuddle, and finally Addy is out for her afternoon nap
By 1:30 pm Addy is awake from her nap....only 30 minutes. Not the normal 1.5-2 hours...
From 2-4 pm we're cleaning the house and preparing a few things for family that's coming over. Dan helps wrangle Addy while I try to take a shower and get ready in peace.
4 pm - let the party begin! Lots of delicious mexican food and cupcakes prepared by my wonderful husband, my amazing sister Jo, and my charming mama.
7:45 pm - the party is over and it's just me, Dan, and Addy.

Now if you don't mind me I'm going to put up a few pictures and go spend the rest of my birthday snuggling, cuddling, and maybe having one more cupcake. The perfect ending to a delightfully different birthday :)

"Just texting my BFF Mommy"

lighting my poor little cupcake with 24 candles

cupcake bonfire!

got 'em!

just enough cupcakes leftover for a midnight snack ;)

wuv...twue wuv

2011-04-07T10:59:00.001-04:00

It truly amazes me that no matter how absolutely loooooooong (and I mean long) my night was with Addy, she still makes me smile in the morning. That is true love right there.

love that little diaper bum :)

cheese!

i had a baby 9 months ago

2011-04-02T18:48:00.003-04:00

Today my baby is 9 months old.

I can barely wrap my brain around that little fact. I know I say it almost every time I post...but where does the time go? There is not enough time in each day. My little girl is growing up so fast and I fall more in love with her every day. It's amazing how you never know something is missing in your life until you have it. I am so grateful for my little angel girl.

Here are a few things about Addy at 9 months old:

Is still toothless
Loves to eat puffs (they are strewn all over the house)
Likes to read books and helps turn the pages
Is video camera shy
Loves to go swimming
Bananas and carrots are her favorite baby food choices, closely followed by oatmeal
Thinks bottles and sippy cups are pretty funny...(breastfed much?)
Crawls all over the house and pulls up on everything, including mom and dad
Likes to watch Yo Gabba Gabba, Wonder Pets, and The Backyardigans
Loves people and attention. If someone catches her eye she is all smiles!
Loves watching herself on camera (if you can catch her) or in the mirror
Can sometimes be persuaded to "Gimme kisses!"...but only if it's her idea

cute, right? :)

around june avenue

2011-03-30T15:24:00.001-04:00

Lately not too many huge exciting things have been going on...but it's going and a few things have been happening. We found out a few weeks ago that our dog, Sammie, needs to have basically a knee replacement. He has been living with my in-laws pretty much since we got him because we haven't really had anywhere to keep him for any extended period of time. Now that we have our house and a decent size yard we've been saving up to buy a fence. Because of our homeowners' association (curse you) we can only have white PVC fencing. Have you checked the price of that stuff lately? Ouch. So we've been saving and saving. Anyway, long story short. Because Sammie needs his knee replaced he can't go up and down stairs for 8 weeks...and, well, at my in-laws he has to go up and down stairs to get in and out. Thus, goodbye savings and hello large, expensive, white PVC fence so Sammie can move into our house. We really weren't ready for the fence yet so we're a bit stretched...but it'll be nice to have it for the summer and to finally have a little more privacy. Dan has been hard at work putting up the fence and his dad has let us borrow one of his employees to help put it in. Thankfully that has cut back on cost and on Dan having to do it all by himself. Addy enjoys going to her window to check things out.

Since we have a partial fence up (hopefully it'll be done in the next day or two) I bought Addy a tiny little pool and a lounge chair for me. The weather has been so nice and sunny and I have been dying to be outside. Thank goodness for a little privacy! Now I just have to get Addy to stay in this little pool by herself and not have her cry for me to get in it with her every time. Imagine this with Addy and me in it...not a pretty sight. It's a small pool!

For a while I was in a funk and wasn't the best at making dinner for Daniel. It's been a challenge getting used to each stage of Addy's life and then when I think I finally have it figured out everything changes again! But I've been doing better and poor Dan doesn't usually have to come home from work to make dinner. ;) Addy has taken up the role as my sou chef, and I must say she is quite good. That is, when she can stay out of the pantry and away from the chocolate. She has become quite the mischievous little girl.

Anyway...I guess that's all the updating for now. One more cute picture just because. Okay, maybe two.

her new favorite way to sleep

me? trouble? no way, mom!

chocoholic

2011-03-22T20:31:00.000-04:00

Dan gave Addy a few (okay maybe more than a few) licks of his dessert tonight: a chocolate covered banana. Let's just say Addy loves bananas and apparently loves chocolate too. She couldn't get enough of it! This girl cracks me up.

Chocolate mustache

The face of pure delight :)

it begins

2011-03-16T21:07:00.000-04:00

She has already started trying to steal my checkbook and credit card. Me oh my...

just for the fun of it

2011-03-12T12:34:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking that it's awful to waste such a cute little model at my disposal every single day...so the other day Addy and I had ourselves a quick little photo shoot. I'm definitely no pro at taking pictures OR editing them...so they aren't amazing. But hey, they can't be that bad with such a cute model, right?

sister cousins

2011-03-10T10:15:00.000-05:00

These two girls love each other so much! Addy thinks Elly is the coolest thing since sliced bread and Elly loves to take care of her "Baby Addy". I love watching them interact. They are seriously too precious! :)

Hanging out in the stroller while the moms walk

will the real addy please stand up?

2011-03-06T14:33:00.001-05:00

Notice a theme in these pictures?

Before Addysen could crawl she was climbing up on things. Well now that she is crawling she is getting around a whole lot more and loves to stand up using various items around the house. She now also prefers to eat standing up instead of sitting. This girl is on the go!

(Sorry about the picture quality...some of these were taken with my iPod)

Hanging onto the coffee table watching The Backyardigans

If you're wondering why we have church chairs in our house, it's because Dan was called as the seminary teacher in December. We now house around 12 youth each morning from 5:40-6:20 am. Our small couch and one recliner alone just don't cut it when it comes to seating!

Looking out her bedroom window :)

cousin love! but not the kissing kind

2011-03-05T13:34:00.000-05:00

I was going to blog some more about Utah a while ago, but my laptop decided to finally bite the dust leaving me with no computer. We eventually dug out my old dinosaur desktop from my freshman year of college and it is doing the trick for now.

So while we were in Utah we also got to visit Dan's sisters and all their crazies and my cousins, Keith and his wife Rachelle, and Todd and his wife Kristen. We only got to visit each for several hours so I was kind of bummed we didn't get to visit longer, but we were so busy helping Jordan with her party...and I guess we did go to Utah for Jordan's birthday. I suppose it was only fair. ;) Anyway, here are a few pictures to commemorate our visits. We love family!

Love us some cousins!

[L-R: Sadie, KeKe, Madden, Skye, Addysen, & Max]

This is the best picture I got of Addy & KeKe playing...at least Addy wasn't stealing his toy!

Keith & Rachelle...and Buzz. Thanks Todd ;)

Todd & Kristen. Addy really did enjoy the visit...she was just VERY tired

Cousins!

[L-R: Keith, Rachelle, Todd (holding Addy), Kristen, me, & Jordan]

And just a cute picture of Addy for good measure :)

21 on the 22nd

2011-03-02T11:32:00.002-05:00

At the very last minute mom decided to go to Utah and surprise Jordan for her 21st birthday and invited me and Addysen to go along. Really we just knew Jordan would love to see Addy, but since she's still a baby me and mom had to go too. :) We flew to Salt Lake on the 22nd, which is Jordan's birthday, and surprised her while she was out to dinner with friends. She, of course, gave the most priceless reaction. We spent the week shopping, eating, and planning the party Jordan had scheduled for Saturday night. Those few days went by so fast. It was so much fun to get to visit with Jordan...Addy loved being with her Auntie J. On this trip there were also a few first for Addy: first plane ride, first snow, and first college party. She loved 2 out of the 3, I'll let you guess which. ;)

watching Yo Gabba Gabba on the plane

She didn't quite appreciate the snow and cold

helping Auntie open her birthday presents

where'd Addy go?

Happy Birthday to Jordan!

Addy was quite the party-goer

and the party aftermath...

we are fam-i-ly

2011-03-01T10:16:00.004-05:00

About 2 weeks ago my grandparents from New Mexico were in town for a visit. They haven't seen Addysen since she was a few days old, so it was fun to watch her interact with them. While they were here it was also my littlest sister Ashton's 18th birthday. I cannot believe how everyone insists on getting older and growing up. Not fair!

Mommer, Popper, & Addy

4 generations

Ashton's birthday fried ice cream and sombrero. Ole!

'cause they're the best of friends

2011-02-17T21:04:00.000-05:00

Around the Friddle home we're a little sad inside because the sweetest Sitakes are leaving tomorrow morning. I tried to bribe Dan to not to take them to the airport...but so far it hasn't worked (I think he fears the wrath of Kalani if he didn't take them). ;) Little Addy has worked up quite an attachment to KeKe and they are the cutest together! He is exactly 2 weeks younger than Addysen and once she quit yelling at him they fast became friends. We can't wait til the next visit!

dan's 25th birthday fiesta

2011-02-13T17:14:00.001-05:00

Well Dan has finally gotten better and I was able to throw him his 25th birthday bash. Thanks to the idea from my amazing-party-throwing-SIL Maranda, we had a fiesta! If you know my Daniel (or even if you don't!) you probably know of his great love for burritos. And thus a party was born.
Oh, and also if you know my Daniel, you know how he loves his chocolate chip cookie dough ("Why do you even bake them into cookies?", he always asks). So I made chocolate chip cookie dough cup cakes. Sound delicous? They were. Vanilla cupcakes stuffed with chocolate chip cookie dough and then topped with a buttercream frosting and mini chocolate chips. Go ahead and lick the screen, I won't judge you...but I'm pretty sure it won't be as good.

The birthday boy's cupcake on the Happy Birthday cupcake plate

Ohhhh deliciousness

(we won't talk about how much butter I put in these)

The birthday boy's place at the table. Extra large mustache and sombrero included.

Mustaches and flowers for guests

The birthday boy! (His shirt says "Mmm...burritos")

"These are just fake mustaches.."

Mustaches everywhere!

After burritos, seven layer salad, jalepeno poppers, chips and salsa, and (fake) margaritas, we decided to work it all off with a few games. We started with "Pin the Tail on the Donkey (Wearing a Sombrero)". The girls each took a turn then they got to blindfold and give "Uncle Dangle" a spin. He gave the donkey an earring instead of a tail!

Following "Pin the Tail on the Donkey (With a Sombrero)" [I have to call it by it's correct name, for Daniel, since he drew the donkey!] we went to the porch to take a few whacks at the pinata. It sure was a tough little booger! After each of the girls and Weston took a few cracks at it Dan finally gave it it's final blows and the candy came a-flowin!

Enjoying the spoils of the pinata.

Weston is so tough he doesn't even need to take the wrapper off ;)

After all the games we finally sang "Happy Birthday" to Dan and got to enjoy the delicious cupcakes...or, for some of us, just the frosting! :)

I just love this picture of Weston. It's one of the few I got of him the whole party!

It's hard to hold your mustache and a baby at the same time!

Addy did great helping her dad open presents

And after it was all said and done, Addy finally got to enjoy her mustache just the way she likes it: with a binky on top! ;)

stuck in reverse and loving it

2011-02-09T10:12:00.001-05:00

While Addy cannot actually crawl forward yet she is quite skilled at getting around. She often uses reverse, rolling, and the old sit and switch to get what she wants. I'm amazed at how fast she can get somewhere and not actually be crawling! The only problem she has is that if she backs into a corner she has a tough time getting out, which is usually when I hear her pitiful little whimper to let me know she's stuck! She is also addicted to our coffee table and loves to go under it...but then of course gets stuck when she tries to sit up. Currently she is still in love with her feet (which she eats and puts on everything in reach) and anything that mom and dad are doing/using. This girl is going to know how to use electronics by the time she's one.

In the past few weeks Addy has moved into her big girl crib since she started to sit up in her co-sleeper. This is the crib that I slept in when I was little. She seems to really enjoy it and has been sleeping great in it. I also painted Addysen's toenails for the first time last week. Ever heard of Piggy Paint? I love the stuff and it's what I used on Addy's toes. She got some from her aunts for Christmas and I finally remembered to use it while she was sleeping. I can't wait til she can get in on the nail painting parties with her little cousins. So cute! Well I guess that's all I have to share about Addy lately. She's been a little sicky for a few days so I'm hoping she gets better soon. We've been doing a lot of cuddling and rocking...which I hate that she's sick, but love to do with her. :)

playing with dad's Playstation remote

stuck under the coffee table

nothing goes with dinner better than some yummy toes!

my little love bug exploring

leaving a diaper trail

Addy in her big girl crib

"um guys....I'm stuck in here!"

cute, fat little painted toenails

quarter of a century

2011-02-07T20:52:00.002-05:00

This, the seventh day of February, marks the quarter of a century point for my dear, sweet husband. I had big plans for a wonderfully special birthday to make up for the stinky one I gave him last year (c'mon people, I was pregnant!). But alas, plans are made to be spoiled. Dan came down with some sort of virus something-or-other on Friday and has yet to recover. As of last night he had passed it on to our sweet Addysen, who I ended up having to take to the doctor this afternoon. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't get whatever is swirling around our household. Wish me luck.

Needless to say, laying around with a fever, coughing, and trying to help me take care of our also sick baby is not exactly what Dan had in mind for his birthday...but we'll make do. He seems to be getting a little better. Right now he's playing NCAA football on the Playstation and having a (hopefully) less sick moment to himself on his birthday. Although he is watching Addy while I do this....that doesn't seem fair. I better go rescue him.

Happy Birthday to my best friend and love of my life. So far we've spent 8 birthdays together and I hope we get many more! I love you!

soccer fan

2011-01-23T19:41:00.003-05:00

I coached soccer again this year and my sweet little Addy has been a loyal fan of her Bloodhound soccer. This girl has been through the cold, the warm, the windy...there is not much that she won't do to watch a little soccer. Okay, so I don't take her out when it's that cold or that windy. I'm not a horrible mom. ;)

practice with mom

watching the 2010 Turkey Cup final game with dad

a closer look at 2010

2011-01-16T19:45:00.002-05:00

January

We told everyone we're having a baby (15 weeks)

February

We found out it's a girl!
Home improvements

March

More home improvements

April

Finally moving in!
Pregnant at the beach (28 weeks)

May

Baby shower
Maternity photos (34 weeks)

June

Due date came and went (June 29th)

July

In labor (July 1st)
Newborn baby Addysen (July 2nd)
Addysen's blessing

August

Addysen's first trip to The Keys

September

Football is back. Go Cougars!

October

My little lady bug
Daniel holding his lady bug

November

Meeting cousin KeKe
Eating Thanksgiving turkey

December

Presents from Gramma & Grandpa
Eating Christmas lights on New Year's Eve

Well it was hard to choose but that's a quick snapshot of our year in pictures. It was a great one and I'm hoping 2011 can compare!

a holly jolly christmas

2011-01-11T11:02:00.002-05:00

Looking back at my blog I realized I never actually did a "Christmas Day" post, so here it goes.

This Christmas I dubbed my "no nonsense" Christmas. I know, sounds exciting, right? Well I'm just sick of buying presents that get a "Ohhh thanks!" and then sit around the house in the corner somewhere unopened for, well...forever! And I hate getting those presents because I feel guilty that someone spent money on me and I'm not using/enjoying the present! So this year I made all my presents count. Everything I got I thought about long and hard and once I hit my spending budget I did my best to stay out of the stores. I'll be the first to admit I bought a few things I shouldn't have, but I did much better this year!

Anyway, Christmas day was so much fun. I still feel like a 5 year old on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I am usually so excited I can hardly sleep! We got up a little before Addy so we had a little relaxation time then when Addy woke up around 8:30 we opened presents. Addy loved her stocking (mostly because it had the cute sock monkey sticking out the top) and she enjoyed rolling around trying to grab the presents under the tree. After our quick round of opening presents (it goes much faster when you only have 3 people, one of which is an infant) Dan made us biscuits and chocolate gravy for breakfast. Delicious!

It's so nice being so close to both of our families, especially when the holidays roll around. We were able to visit both of our families on Christmas day and open more presents and spend time with family. Dan's sisters, Kenna and Andrea, were in town for Christmas and my sister, Jordan, was also in town. The only thing I (slightly) regret is that I kind of spaced and did not take that many pictures! I'm still shocked. Normally I am so snap happy that I have way too many pictures. When I think about it I kind of regret it, but then again, I don't. I got enough pictures and I got to actually enjoy the moment. I got to really enjoy watching Addysen have her first Christmas and see her with family. It was a wonderful day and I loved it so much. I'm always a little sad when January rolls around and I have to wave goodbye to Christmas for 11 months. I love that time of year.

reading on Christmas Eve. Addy loves a good book!

Christmas morning

this girl loves her daddy!

worn out from Christmas festivities & snuggling with Aunt Jordan

Merry Christmas from the Friddles! :)

compilation of addysen friddle short stories

2011-01-08T15:13:00.002-05:00

A few days after Christmas we started giving Addysen solid foods. We started with rice cereal in breastmilk and then when that went well we moved on to bananas. She loves bananas. We tried peas and those didn't go over so well. We'll try them again in a few days. We're now on a streak of carrots (which she also loves) and we will probably be trying pears or apples soon. All I'm saying is this girl loves to eat!

I don't think she likes peas! (don't mind my phone's horrible camera quality)

mmmm...carrots!

Our house is continually a project, and today my dad helped Dan install some cabinets as a workbench area and storage for Dan's tools. We recycled the cabinets that came out of my parents' house and found some butcher block countertop at Ikea on sale, so overall it's been one of our cheaper projects around the house (thankfully). The weather has been really nice so I let Addy sit outside in the garage with them while they worked for a little while. She loves to be able to see what's going on...the girl cannot be left out of anything. :)

don't mind our messy garage...it is soon to be organized! :)

love that face

sitting so big :)

Also today I was stripping the sheets off our bed to wash them so I put Addy in her co-sleeper to sit for a minute with a few things. Remember my beloved blankie? Well, I always knew Dan was trying to get rid of him...but now I fear Addy is as well. I am sad to say that blankie may not have much life left in him.

little angel girl

and then she turns on me...trying to kill blankie!

On another note, Addy is now getting SO good at sitting up by herself and absolutely loves it! She loves to sit up and play with her toys, ride in her stroller, and just generally see what's going on around her. She is such a little busy body and loves to know exactly what is happening. Not only is she sitting up so good, but she is now rolling and scooting backwards everywhere. I can't just leave her in one spot and expect her to be there when I get back anymore. My baby is growing up!

It's our version of the "Where's Waldo?" game: "Where's Addy?"

six months

2011-01-02T21:40:00.000-05:00

Today my baby is 6 months old.

Tomorrow my sister is going back to Utah.

Do we have to grow up?

I'm screaming inside.

happy christmas

2010-12-26T22:05:00.000-05:00

I may be a day late and a dollar short, but Merry Christmas from our monkey to you and yours! :)

Was your Christmas delicious too?

swaddle me no more

2010-12-12T20:36:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry. It's yet another post about how big Addysen is getting. Lately she refuses to be swaddled and wakes up with arms completely broken out of her "burrito" and flailing. I wanted to swaddle until she was at least 6 months old...but we made it to 5 so I guess that's okay. She loves to be swaddled and sleeps so much better that way (like, through the night better) but I guess the girl loves to wake herself up by hitting her face even more. Who knew? This is how I found her a few mornings ago before I finally quit swaddling her:

The other day I was baking for our ward's Christmas party and I needed Addy in the kitchen so I could keep an eye on her. She doesn't really like bouncy seats anymore (they don't sit up far enough for her) and the Bumbo is a little too iffy on the counter now that she's so mobile. Anyway, we've had this high chair in our dining room for a while and haven't used it yet and I moved it into the kitchen to see how she'd do in it. She did pretty good, but she's still a little bit wobbly so I stuffed a towel beside her so she could stay up straight and play with her toys. She loved it! It worked out great for me except for the fact that I was picking toys up off the floor for her every 2 seconds. Ah well. She's precious and it was fun. (Notice the Pooh on the floor...no pun intended...)

In other news, I'm working on our stockings. I've had the material for a while and I finally have gotten around to cutting them, getting them embroidered (something I wish I could do), and now I'm putting them together. I can't wait to show them off! Hopefully they look as good as I planned! Here's a sneak peek:

where, oh where

2010-12-04T12:13:00.001-05:00

We had our pictures taken for our Christmas cards last week and I'm starting to freak out a little bit. Where did my teeny tiny, sleeping baby go? Remember? This one?

Well look at her now...5 months old and getting too big. Holy guacamole...someone please stop time! I'm begging you! Someone has to know the secret!

daddys are a daughter's best friend

2010-11-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

Do you ever feel a certain way but don't know how to put it into words? I often feel things that I don't know how to explain, and even if I do, I don't usually put them into words well. Many of you might know of and read the blog of c jane. I have come to absolutely love her ability to put her feelings into words onto her blog. The other day I ran across this post she wrote and, wow, that is exactly how I have been feeling lately! I did not know how to put it into words but she definitely tells it perfectly and so I will share my feelings through her. Click on over and read her post. If you are a mother of a daughter you might feel this way too. :)

love these two with all my heart

gratitude & turkey

2010-11-25T08:03:00.012-05:00

I've been so excited about getting together with family and eating delicious food on Thanksgiving that I think I forgot to stop and think twice about the purpose of this day. I have been so blessed...far beyond what I deserve. Today I'm up at my normal time (thanks Addy) while Addy and Dan are still snuggling together in the bed. I cannot even imagine my life without those two. It's so insane how you cannot imagine your life without someone else in it...I struggle to remember my life before I met Daniel. And even though Addy has only been on this earth for a short time so far, I can hardly remember being without her. Family is truly the purpose of our lives and I am so grateful for mine.

Sometimes it is hard to be grateful for the little things in our lives when so much seems to be going wrong. I am trying so hard to not let the day pass me by without stopping and being truly grateful for something in my life. I could go on and on, but I'll save you all. :) I have been blessed beyond measure, much more than I deserve, and I am grateful.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed your turkey as much as Addy :)

little guppy

2010-11-24T20:55:00.001-05:00

Jordan and I took Addy swimming today. It's only the second time she's really been swimming and she has really come to love it! Today she kept chasing a ball around and grabbing it with her feet and hands at the same time. She loves her feet (and has become quite the monkey)! Anyway...it was just fun and I wanted to share cute pictures. :)

four and going for more

2010-11-21T20:49:00.001-05:00

Earlier this month my baby turned 4 months old. She was a little late getting into the doctor, so she was more along the lines of being 4 1/2 months old when they weighed her and everything...but I guess that's as close as we're getting for now. :) I just shake my head and sigh every time I think how old she is. When I was pregnant I thought she would never get here, and now...where is time going? I cannot believe it has been almost 5 months since I had her.

Addy is (thankfully) still doing great. The doctor says she looks healthy and still like my mini-me. He is the doctor that I had growing up, so he says he feels like he is going back in time when we bring Addysen in. Anyway, Addy's stats for 4 months old are:

Weight: 14 lbs 10 oz

Height: 25.25 in

I can't believe she's grown almost 5 inches since she was born! How do parents ever let their children grow up. Addy is only 4 months and I have a hard time letting her do things like hold her own head up, grab toys, and have tummy time. I just always want her to be my sweet little newborn baby! I guess we all grow up one day...and it'll be okay. Maybe.

mmm...delicious carseat, mom!

oh november

2010-11-17T11:43:00.000-05:00

Where has November gone?! I can't believe this month is half over and I have not even gotten half of the things done that I wanted to. It seems that every year I lose November in the midst of Halloween and Christmas.

Daniel's sisters (Andrea, Kenna, and Timberly) have all come to visit (and are still visiting) recently, as well as my sister, Jordan. It is so fun to get to the holidays and spending time with family. Jordan, Andrea, and Kenna haven't seen Addy since she was a few weeks old so it was great for them to see her again. Timberly and her kids hadn't ever met Addy, plus Timberly had her sweet baby boy (KeKe) exactly 2 weeks after I had Addysen so we finally got to meet him! Addysen is loving this time with her cousins and aunts. She sure loves all the attention!

Other than lots of family time not a whole lot has been happening in November. I'm coaching soccer again this year (it's Ashton's senior year) and so that takes up quite a few of my afternoons and/or evenings lately. Addy usually gets babysat by Gramma and she gets to come to a few games and sometimes practice.

Anyway I guess I really don't have too much terribly exciting stuff to talk about...November just needed some updating. Just every day ordinary stuff going on with a little extra family on the side (which is always a plus). What's not to love?

can we guess who dressed Addysen?

soccer practice with mommy

sitting with Grandma and KeKe...he doesn't look too sure about Addy! :)

found her toes :)

caught ya!

halloweeny par-tay

2010-10-31T22:07:00.000-04:00

Saturday evening we had a small (and I mean small) Halloween party. Now I'm no Maranda when it comes to throwing cute, fun parties...but I tried and it was fun for me. Addy and I invited over our closest friends and family...aka the Padgetts. :) I made witches' hats, pumpkin cupcakes, and worms in dirt. I love Halloween, but I love the cute Halloween. Not the spooky, creepy, gory Halloween. Hence my kid and Taylor-friendly Halloween treats. JoAnna and her munchkins provided pizza and we had a splendid time just hanging out. I was hoping we would get our first trick-or-treaters in this brand new house of our own...but we didn't. I suppose in Florida most people don't trick-or-treat on Saturday when Halloween is on Sunday. Oh well. Anyway, I enjoyed putting together little snacks and playing with Elly and Weston. Love those two. Can't wait til Addysen is running around with them!

my table of goodies:

our extra cute guests, Elly and Weston:

Addysen also got a chance to wear her pea in the pod costume. It was a teeny bit too small, but we squeezed her in anyway. :) She liked to try and eat the peas.

the lady bug lives on

2010-10-30T20:36:00.002-04:00

If you know our family, you know the lady bug is a Halloween tradition. If you didn't know, well now you do! :) It started with just me. Then Jordan was born and there were 2 lady bugs. Then Ashton was born and there were 3 lady bugs. Now Addysen is here and, you guessed it, she was a lady bug for Halloween! I had a heck of a time making her little skull cap to hold up the antennas since they don't really make headbands for babies. I like to think it turned out pretty cute. But again, I could be a little biased...I made the costume and the baby. Dan says that's too scandalous for a family-friendly blog...but I refuse to remove it. :)

Anyway...last Saturday we had a little Fall Fest dinner at the church and we took Addy in her costume. She was so precious. I don't know if you can really see it in the picture, but I made myself a flower shirt. I'm the precious lady bug's little flower. She can hang out with this flower any day!

left picture: 1993. (left to right) Jordan, me, & Ashton
right picture: 2010. Addysen

rollin, rollin, rollin...

2010-10-26T09:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Daniel and I were eating dinner while Addy was laying on her blanket wrestling her favorite caterpillar. For a few weeks now she's been rolling from her back to her side anytime we lay her down, and more recently she can scoot herself clockwise 360 degrees if she flings onto her side enough times. These past few days she's been trying sooooo hard to get onto her stomach but that darn arm of hers is always in the way. Last night I look down and:

"Daniel, did you put Addy on her stomach?"

"No..did you?"

"No...she rolled over!!"

And of course, out came the camera. It wouldn't be a moment if I didn't capture it, right? Actually it would. And sometimes I wish I didn't have the overwhelming need to photographically document every moment of Addysen's life. Oh well...I do. :)

They say (I don't exactly know who they is) that babies usually roll first from their stomach to their backs, but not our Addy. I suppose it could partly be due to the fact that it's a rare day when I actually let her have some tummy time. Shame on me. It seems in spite of me she is progressing, though...thank goodness!

She still can't quite get that arm completely out of the way. Soon, my little grasshopper.

punkin patch

2010-10-23T21:24:00.000-04:00

Thursday Addy and I dragged Daniel to the pumpkin patch. Addy got to pick out her first ever pumpkin (with a little help from Daddy)! After the pumpkin patch we snuck over to the annual Bloodhound Bash. Every year the Thursday before Auburndale High School's homecoming they have a huge "bash" in the park and (it's been called "World's Largest High School Reunion"). Basically anyone who went to AHS or lives in/around Auburndale comes out and it's a huge get-together. There is a large parade (which we avoided this year), lots of booths set up by high school clubs/sports, and concert-type stuff. We had to bring Addy out to show off and she was a big hit. :) It's so much fun to do activites (and easier to get Dan to join me) with Addysen. I feel like a celebrity when I carry her around. I'm thinking about keeping her. ;)

Addy would not look up for any pictures. She just kept staring at the ground haha! Her onesie is so cute. It has a little spider on it and it says "too cute to scare". Precious :)

tongue tied

2010-10-21T10:55:00.001-04:00

Addy has recently discovered her tongue. She thinks it's the coolest thing since sliced bread. This girl cracks me up! She is now always sticking her tongue out, especially when she smiles and laughs. When she woke up yesterday morning she was all smiles and so the tongue ensued. Of course I had to grab my camera and snag a ~~million~~ few pictures. Love this girl!

that's a big no no

2010-10-15T10:42:00.000-04:00

In the wee morning hours on Wednesday I woke up to the lovely sounds of...shall we say...Daniel's dinner being regurgitated into the toilet. I'll skip all the gore and just say that Dan got the flu. Joy.

So Dan was officially banned to the other side of the house in the guest room and extra bathroom. Addy and I holed ourselves up in our bedroom hoping to avoid catching anything. Needless to say the past 2 days haven't been so fun. Last night when I got back from soccer practice Dan had taken the liberty of cloroxing and lysoling (yes, I made those adjectives) the entire house. I was grateful because numero uno: I didn't want Addy or me to get sick (I don't even want to think about taking care of a baby while having the flu...) and numero dos: I just hate cleaning up sickness...especially of the regurgitated variety.

Anyway this is becoming much longer than planned. Moving on. :) Come to find out Dan had actually Lysol sprayed my blanket...that's right people...my beloved Blankie (which, by the way, still sleeps in my bed). Need I remind everyone how fragile Blankie is? That Daniel...

All night Blankie smelled like stinky Lysol and I was forced to keep him (yes, Blankie is a boy) under the covers instead of snuggled next to my face, like usual. I think I'm going to have to start hiding him when I go out and Dan is home alone. I may come back one day to find Blankie suddenly missing. That's definitely not okay.

And just because a post is not complete without a picture. Enjoy :)

another weekend project

2010-10-09T21:16:00.000-04:00

Seriously where does the time go?! It seems since I had Addy time is zooming past. Can't it just stop for a few years? Well it seems my last post was about a weekend project and it is yet another weekend with another project! This time I painted an end table and turned it into somewhat of a nightstand. This is for our guest bedroom (which is the last room we have to paint in our house) and I have been so indecisive on colors until we went to Ikea (love that place!) the other night. While there I found the perfect quilt and then it all just fell into place after that.

This is an end table we inherited from Dan's parents. I love getting furniture that is beaten up because I don't mind taking a chance re-doing it. :) So I decided on a nice, bright red. I'm still debating on whether I should glaze it with some black to bring out the little accents it has. Dan suggested I live with it just red for a while and see. What do you think? Glaze? No glaze? Anyway, here are some pictures. I think I want to live in this room now...

weekend project

2010-10-03T14:13:00.000-04:00

Can you guess what I did this weekend? It involved organizing something I have too much of. Oy...

life nowadays

2010-09-28T21:55:00.000-04:00

It's amazing how fast life changes. I'll admit that I haven't always had the easiest time with the changes since Addy was born. She is an amazing baby - but even still there are changes that happen every day. It's hard getting used to it...but I love that baby and I wouldn't change these changes for the world! :) So I've been trying to get back into somewhat of a routine and kind of figure out my role as a mom, wife, and as an individual. I can definitely say that I appreciate the simple things in life these days. Change is good, right?

My days have been full of laughs, spit-ups, thumb sucking, late nights, early mornings, middle-of-the-nights (or is it morning? I can't read the clock because I can't find my glasses and it's dark), drool, diapers, blankets, swaddled "burrito", binkys, tummy time, coos, snuggling, car seats, poopy blow-outs, and lots and lots and lots of smiles. I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life and I am so grateful!

sleeping beauty

2010-09-16T10:20:00.000-04:00

My baby is so cute when she sleeps. Here's my proof:

Not that she isn't always cute...but boy is she precious when she's snoozing!

Last week Daniel and I took Addysen to the doctor for her 2 month check-up. She is growing great and is a healthy little baby. We are so grateful! Here are Addy's new stats (as of last week - they're probably different now!):

Weight: 12 lbs

Height: 23.25 inches

So in 4 weeks my little sunshine gained 2.5 pounds and grew 2 whole inches! Ahhh! Stop growing! I am not ready for her to grow up. I just love her baby face too much! Well I'm out. I have to go enjoy her little babyness while it's still here!

laughable goodness

2010-09-09T19:51:00.002-04:00

Seriously...only my daughter could first laugh at a farting noise (those of you who know me, my husband, and my family...well, you know). But come on, how precious is that laugh?!

Sorry the picture is so dark.
We don't like to waste energy in our house...just kidding..I'm too lazy to turn on the lights!

that's what i love about saturdays

2010-09-05T22:03:00.001-04:00

College football is back in session and I have missed it! I never used to be a big football fan, but the past few years I have really gotten into it and I seriously love it! BYU had their season opener Saturday evening against Washington and according to all the "football analysts" BYU was going to have a rough time. The game was super good and wasn't the easiest, but BYU finally pulled out all the stops and won the game 23-17. We had to get dressed up in all of our BYU gear, including Addysen (thanks Auntie Jordan!). We got some good pictures then hunkered down for the game. Hopefully the rest of the season is just as fun and exciting. Let's go Cougars!

thumb-elina

2010-09-03T20:23:00.000-04:00

Okay, so this is one habit I was hoping to avoid but it seems to have been picked up regardless. (It's amazing how babies learn to do things without being taught, but that's another topic for another day!) I don't mind binkys and bottles...you can throw those away, but a thumb? Well not so easy to get rid of that. ;) She hasn't been sucking it too much yet so hopefully it won't become too bad of a habit. I'll just keep pushing the binkys! In the meantime it's really cute. :)

yo-yo what's up

2010-08-28T14:45:00.000-04:00

Okay, nerdy title but I couldn't resist. It's the gangster in me, what can I say? ;)

So today I was feeling kinda crafty and made a trip to Joann's for a few supplies. I love putting things in Addy's hair because I like for people to know that she's a girl without looking too hard at her clothes, blanket, etc. Anyway, so I love hair accessories, hate paying like $5 for one bow. Today I found this tutorial online that is super simple and shows how to make fabric yo-yos.

I made one for Addy and hot glued and sewed it onto a small clip. Right now her hair is still too thin for most clips so I just clip them onto stretchy headbands. This is also a headband that I made for her out of...well, whatever that stuff is. It's just stretchy and I sewed the ends together. Yeah, I'm ghetto...I already warned you that I'm gangster!

Without further ado, my cute model who was paid in milk (don't mind the leftover evidence on her chin):

Next up on my list is those cute little rolled up fabric rose thing-a-ma-bobs. I'll let you know how it goes!

lucky number seven

2010-08-26T09:52:00.000-04:00

Last night my baby girl slept a whole 7 hours. That's right people, I said 7..as in, 7 hours in a row! At first when I woke up and saw the time I kind of freaked out and felt guilty. I freaked because she normally doesn't sleep longer than 4-4.5 hours in a row at night (when I'm really lucky) and so I had to make sure she was okay. Well of course she was...but then I felt guilty because normally this little chickie wants to eat all the time! Then I didn't feel so guilty because when she is hungry she sure lets me know...she does not hesitate!

Needless to say for a sleep deprived mommy those 7 hours might as well have been 12! *sigh* Oh to feel rested. (At least more rested. The lost hours never come back, do they?) Now I'm going to go relish in the energy from my sleep-filled night and hope that this is going to become Addy's routine. A girl can dream, right? :)

[in] The Key[s] to my heart: the end

2010-08-15T21:47:00.000-04:00

Our week of bliss in The Keys has now ended and we are back to reality. Well reality isn't so bad, but it was definitely a good week of vacation. :) We ended the week with a little bit more laying around, reading books, swimming in the pool, and visiting Key West. Some more pictures to show the end of our week.

[at Islamorada right before Dan had to leave]

[the cute one of the family]

[asleep on her Gramma]

[the girls about to leave for Key West]

[cruising the streets of Key West]

[the family (sans Daniel) in Key West]

[just a cute picture of the cutest] :)

[in] The Key[s] to my heart: the middle

2010-08-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

We're halfway through our vacation and we've got a few more pictures! Daniel had to leave today to go back to work, but Addy and I are staying with my parents and siblings for the rest of the week. Addysen had her first dip in the pool...which entailed sticking her feet in with one parent holding and the other ready to catch - just incase. ;) She pretty much slept through the entire event. One day she'll love the pool as much as her mom and dad did when they were little!

After swimming, Addy got to hang out with the girls by the pool for a little while. She thought she was pretty cool in her shades and had a pretty good time with us. :)

Most of all we've been doing a lot of relaxing and snoozing! Obviously Grandpa and Addy's favorite. :)

[in] The Key[s] to my heart: the beginning

2010-08-08T17:05:00.000-04:00

We are finally in The Keys for our vacation with my family. We've only been here 2 days so we haven't done much (not much more than lounging around, anyway) but I just can't resist posting these pictures of Addysen's first trip to the pool! (She has yet to actually go in the water, though.) :) Oh I could just eat her up she is so cute!

[ready to go!]

[cute bow hat and ruffle-butt bathing suit] :)

[just precious]

[family at the pool]

5 weeks and counting!

2010-08-06T18:55:00.000-04:00

Today I took Addysen to the doctor for her 1 month well check. Technically she is 5 weeks old today, but hey, who's counting? (Okay, maybe me!) :) When I took Addy for her initial well check she was 1 week old and weighed 7 lbs 14 oz, was 20.5 inches long, and had a 14.25 inch head circumference. Today, 4 weeks later, she weighs 9 lbs 12 oz, is 21.25 inches long, and has a head circumference of 15.25 inches. The doctor said she is looking nice and healthy and is growing just right. We sure love our Addy Jo!

Addysen in her cute outfit she wore to the doctor :)

houston, we have smiles!

2010-07-30T10:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday our sweet girl started smiling (intentionally, not just gas smiles!) at us. We got one on video. Again, don't mind the mommy baby-talk and the daddy sarcastically teasing his daughter (already). :)

binky time

2010-07-28T10:58:00.000-04:00

This girl is the squeakiest, gruntiest (I may or may not have invented that word), noisest little thing I have ever seen. Oh she is so cute!! And she sure loves her binky!

(Please don't mind the new mommy baby-talking in the background) ;)

3 years down...

2010-07-27T21:45:00.000-04:00

..and forever to go. Thanks for a wonderful 3 years, my love. I hope the rest are just as good (and even better!) than the first 3. I love you!

ell-oh-vee-ee this girl!

2010-07-25T13:04:00.000-04:00

We got our pictures from Addy's first photo shoot (thanks Mindy!). She was 15 days old when these were taken. Seriously, I could not love this girl more! Enjoy :)

wakey, wakey, eggs & bakey

2010-07-19T10:34:00.000-04:00

Here's proof:

my baby does stay awake and open her eyes...sometimes. :)

[but this is her most favorite - milk induced coma]

2 weeks

2010-07-16T21:20:00.000-04:00

Today my baby is 2 weeks old! My life doesn't consist of much besides her right now, so I hope you enjoy me talking about my baby all the time. :) Where does time go? It's been a wonderfully challenging and rewarding 2 weeks. I can't wait for countless more.