Addie May

New blog

2010-08-18T09:49:00.001-04:00

We are officially not using this blog anymore. Now that we have 2 kids, we thought it best not to have a blog called "Addie May." So, if you are interested in following our family of 4, check out our new blog at http://angovefamily.blogspot.com/.

Thursday

2010-08-09T13:51:00.003-04:00

For those of you who are not aware, we have a scheduled c-section for this Thursday, August 12. At some point, we will post pictures on the blog (on a new blog, actually), but in the beginning we will probably just send out a mass e-mail to announce the birth and send out some pictures. If we have time, we will also post pictures on the new blog and send that blog address out via e-mail and also post the new blog address on this blog. All that to say, if you would like to be included in that mass e-mail (for the birth announcement and such), please leave your e-mail address in the comments. Or, if you don't want to (or don't know how to) leave a comment, send me an e-mail at abigail.angove@gmail.com. We look forward to introducing our little boy to you in a few days!

Cousin fun...and an announcement!

2010-08-09T13:39:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday, Nana was gracious enough (and brave enough) to drive up to visit us with Olivia, one of Addie's cousins. They stayed Sunday night, then Nana kept Addie while I had to go for a doctor's visit. Addie really enjoyed playing both with Nana and Olivia-and hopefully they enjoyed it as well!

Addie was definitely happy to have someone (especially her cousin) sit with her to eat at her little picnic table. We thought they should have an eating contest, but Olivia is not competetive enough for that-she willingly lost, and even offered more food to Addie when Addie had cleared her own plate:

Bath time (as you might be able to tell, Addie is in a phase where she will not smile for pictures...or even look at the camera a lot of times):

Addie and Olivia really enjoyed playing on the "Sit and spin" together:

And for the big announcement....exactly 2 days before Addie turned 16 months old, she busted out her first tooth! Nana actually was the one to discover it (it was her bottom right tooth) and confirmed that it really had broken through by putting a metal spoon in her mouth to see if it clanked...and it did! Since then (this was a week ago), Addie broke through another tooth-bottom left. But, she does not let us look and the teeth have not been coming up quickly, so who knows when the world will actually be able to see them. But, I promise they really are there! For a while, it looked like Addie was going to have a brother before she had a tooth, but she snuck it in there right before his arrival.

A proud Nana:

Waterfall time

2010-08-09T13:24:00.002-04:00

A few months ago, we ventured out to see a couple waterfalls nearby and really enjoyed it. Somehow, in the busyness of summer (and the heat) we have not been to any more waterfalls since...until this past Saturday. When we woke up Saturday morning, we saw on the news it was going to stay in the 70's all morning and be beautiful, so we quickly decided to go check out a waterfall. We went to a little town called Saluda (it was even smaller than we realized it was going to be) and took a short hike to a waterfall. It was a lot of fun and we were really glad we did it!

Daddy carried Addie since she would have made the hike much longer than it really was if she had been walking:

Addie seemed intrigued by the waterfall and kept wanting to get closer to it:

Smiling up at Daddy:

Showing us the waterfall (in case we hadn't noticed it yet):

And there it is:

Pretty cool background for a picture:

Bob wanted to take this picture since he hasn't really taken any of me (side view) since I've been pregnant. So, here is me at almost 39 weeks:

Who needs toys?

2010-08-03T07:32:00.000-04:00

Lake Lure

2010-07-29T15:24:00.004-04:00

Last Saturday, we decided to take a drive to Lake Lure-a small town in the mountains with a lake (and a beach). We got there as soon as it opened since we knew we couldn't stay all day....Addie can't make it through a whole day without a nap! It took Addie a little while to get used to eveything, but once she did, she had a great time.

Here she is showing off her sand toys:

Playing with Mommy:

This was one of Addie's favorite things there-a little water works area. She loves to get wet!

She was a little wary of the lake, but bringing a ball out there helped a lot:

We left right after lunch, thinking we could keep Addie up on the drive home, so she could take a nap in her bed. We were obviously wrong-she was out within 15 minutes even while reading a book:

Talking

2010-07-21T12:57:00.003-04:00

Ever since Addie turned one, she started trying to talk some. Recently, though, it seems like she has really picked up the pace. As with most kids (I assume), Bob and I understand way more than others do, but that is okay. She is saying around 20-25 words now and consistently asks for things by saying "pees" (please). Somehow, she does not quite understand why she doesn't always get what she wants when she asks so politely. We have been working hard on "thank you", but that was much mroe challenging than "please" since she tunes us out once she has whatever it is she wanted. We finally figured out, though, that if we keep her from eating/using whatever she was given until she says "thank you", she says it. Her most recent words have been two syllables (cracker, cupcake, diaper) and they're pretty fun to hear her say. I think our favorite thing she does right now is anytime she hears someone say the word "hot", she starts to blow. I guess there were a lot of times I told her that her food was hot and then blew on it. It's crazy the things kids pick up on! One thing we are still working on is getting her to say some form of "Mommy." She has some kind of block with that it seems. I will get her to sounds out "mmm" and then "aaaa", but then when I get her to put it together, it is always "Dada." Weird.

Here are some videos of Addie talking/making animal noises recently (we are trying to think of more animal noises that she could make, but are drawing a blank...any suggestions?):

36 Weeks

2010-07-19T14:12:00.002-04:00

We made it to 36 weeks! Addie was born at 35 weeks and 3 days, so we are in unchartered territory now! I had my last (unless a problem arises) growth ultrasound this morning to check and see how baby boy is doing. There is still plenty of fluid (13.6 when it needs to be at least 10) and he is measuring as if he is 35 weeks 5 days (only 2 days behind what I actually am, which is awesome). The past few weeks when the doctor has measured my belly, it hasn't been as big as it "should" have been, but they said that can be very inaccurate, which it obviously was since the baby is plenty big! We were told he weighs aproximately 5 lbs. 9 oz. today and should gain about a half a pound each week from here on out, so we should be holding a baby that is over 7 pounds in just over 3 weeks! As I mentioned before, we are scheduled for a c-setion on August 12, and if today is any indicator, there is no reason we should have to deliver before then (which is fine with us!). So, we will plan to meet-and introduce to everyone-our baby boy 3 weeks from this Thursday. A new blog is in the works as we don't want our little guy to think our daughter is the favorite, so be on the lookout for a new blog address coming soon. In the meantime, here is the best picture we got today. It is his body on the left and a profile of his face on the right-he has outgrown the possibility of taking pictures of his whole body and face at one time:

15 months

2010-07-14T15:35:00.002-04:00

Addie has been 15 months old for a couple weeks now, but she just had her doctor's visit yesterday. Good news...she is healthy! She weighed in at 20 lbs. 2 oz, which puts her in the 10% and she is 30 1/4 in. tall, which is the 25%. So, she is still on the small side, but that is no surprise seeing as she is still wearing size 12 month clothes. We are so thankful for our healthy, happy little girl and hope her little brother will be healthy as well!

I didn't want to do a post without any pictures (those are no fun), so here is Addie helping to water the plants....or the grass, or her feet, or whatever happened to receive the water she dumped out of her little can as soon as she got it.

Our Little Calf

2010-07-13T11:32:00.002-04:00

We headed out for Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a on Friday, but had a trial run at the house on Thursday so I could try to get some pictures. Addie isn't very cooperative with posing for a camera, but I did the best I could. Here she is before the hat went on:

Full costume:

I tried to get her to get on all fours and moo like a cow, but that was pretty unsuccessful:

And here we are the day of. Unfortunately, Addie didn't enjoy it very much. She has had a rough last few days as we think (cross your fingers) she is teething. Don't worry, I will post on here if she ever actually breaks a tooth through those tough gums of hers!

Cow Appreciation Day

2010-07-08T11:39:00.003-04:00

Just a heads up that tomorrow, Friday July 9th, is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a. What that means is, if you dress up like a cow, you get a free combo. If you don't want to go all out, you can "partially" dress like a cow (just a shirt, purse, hat, etc.) and get a free sandwich. We have done this the past 3 years and enjoyed quite a few free combos in that time. We plan to take advantage tomorrow for sure! Here is a picture of the fun from last year:

Baby boy update

2010-07-06T11:50:00.002-04:00

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday-I am now 34 weeks along. They did a quick ultrasound to check the fluid and it was good, then I was on the monitor for 20 minutes and they said that our little boy is one of the most cooperative babies they deal with regularly, so hopefully that will continue after he is born! All that means is that he is active while on the monitor, which is good, and means I don't have to be on the monitor any longer than 20 minutes, which is great! Going to the doctor twice a week (25 minutes away) is very time-consuming as it is, so anything to speed up the process is much appreciated. The past 2 times I have gone, they had been really quick, which is much different than the times before that. So, I am hoping that is the new normal! We are about a week and a half away from the time we had Addie last time around (35 weeks, 4 days), so we are really hoping that is not the case again, but are also trying to get everything ready at home so we are not so behind starting out this time...whenever this little guy decides to come!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-06T11:47:00.001-04:00

Meeting more family

2010-07-06T11:21:00.002-04:00

Although Addie is now 15 months old, she still hasn't met all of her close extended family (extended family being aunts, uncles, and great-grandparents), but she is closer than she has ever been. This past weekend, we decided to take a quick trip up to Richmond, VA to visit Addie's great-grandpa, P.D. Snead, whom she had never met. While we were there, Uncle Josh drove down from D.C. to meet Addie for the first time as well. Unfortunately, Aunt Amy was not able to come down with Uncle Josh (hope you're feeling better, Amy!), so she is the last remaining family still needing to meet Addie. Like I said, it was a quick trip, but we are glad we went.

This is Daddy, Uncle Josh, and Addie putting flags at Addie's great-grandma's grave:
Out to dinner and some ice cream:

Addie has recently been a bit fearful of any men other than her Daddy. But, Uncle Josh was an exception. Apparently, he was just too much fun for Addie to be afraid of him. She really enjoyed playing with Uncle Josh!

Addie was a trooper on this trip. We drove about 900 miles in 2 and a half days, which was a lot for us, let alone for Addie. There was no way to prepare her for how much time she was going to spend in her car seat, but she did really well. She did not sleep much in her carseat-apparently those days have passed...unless she is so exhausted she can't help but close her eyes, which is what happened on the drive back home on Sunday.

Random pictures

2010-07-06T11:14:00.003-04:00

We recently saw a kids picnic table at Target on clearance and decided to get it for Addie. For those interested, there are tons at our Target (and I'm sure at others also) and they are 50% off, making them $25. They are extremely easy to put together and seem like they would be really easy to paint if you wanted it to be a different color than white. Anyways, Addie loves it!

Here she is, eating at her big girl table...she just needs a friend (or brother) to sit and eat at it with her!

Our neighbors are out of town, so we got to go feed their birds for them. Addie was a little nervous, but interested as to what they were doing:

As we are drawing closer to the arrival of our little boy, we have been trying to prepare in whatever ways we can. We knew we were going to be moving Addie into a different room so that the new baby could sleep in the crib, but we didn't know how to do the move since Addie is still pretty small/young for a toddler bed. We thought about just putting her in a pack-n-play in her new room until she was ready for the toddler bed. But, once we got the toddler bed up, and curtains in the window, I decided to try her out in it at naptime one day. I had expected her to get right out, or jump off of it, since that is what she did right after I put the bed together. Instead, Addie surprised me by actually taking a nap when I put her in the bed! Since that went so well, we put her to bed in the toddler bed that night and Addie slept in it without a problem! She has had some issues with falling out, which we have been working on (she falls out, cries, we put her back in, and she is asleep right away-so, not a big deal). We have tried putting the pack-n-play up against the bed so she can't fall out, but she falls out anyways-wedged between the pack-n-play, the floor, and the bed. Or, she climbs over the back of the bed, landing with a bang...and some bruises. So, our latest idea has been to leave the opening of the toddler bed as it is, so she has a way out, but we put bumpers around the rest of the bed, so she doesn't bang her head (or any other body parts) on the sides, front, or back anymore. She definitely moves a lot in her sleep! All that to say, Addie is totally in a toddler bed now-for naps and bedtime. We had initially thought the bed looked so tiny, but now that Addie is in it, it looks really big, and she is the one that looks tiny! We are so thankful for such an adaptable, happy little girl. We hope she continues to be that way when her little brother arrives!

Naked baby alert

2010-07-01T11:51:00.003-04:00

Just in case you do not want to see Addie without any clothes on, here is your warning-do not watch this video! Otherwise, enjoy! Addie is obviously not afraid of water, especially getting her face in it! Too bad we don't have a pool to go to.

Fun in the old car seat

2010-06-24T15:22:00.003-04:00

We have started trying to get things out and clean for the new baby-just to be prepared! Addie was a big fan of playing with the baby car seat!

Visitors

2010-06-24T14:52:00.002-04:00

Over the last couple of weeks, Addie has had some friends come to visit. She had a good time with both of them (both were boys and got kisses from her, though neither of them were very interested).

Here is Caleb Dockery. His mom (Katie Dockery-formerly Mowery) was my roommate in college for 3 years. Caleb is almost 2 and this is the first time we had met him, so that was fun. His Mom is expecting another boy in August!
Here is Caleb in action and Addie trying to keep up:

Next, Owen Ferguson came for a day. I used to teach with his mom (Michelle Ferguson) back in Charlotte. Owen just had his first birthday a couple days ago, so he is just a couple months younger than Addie, but has many more teeth than her....8 to be exact (she has none)! She may not be able to keep up with the pace of having teeth, but she could beat Owen up the stairs every time!

Playing alongside each other in the playroom:

Father's Day

2010-06-24T14:48:00.001-04:00

We had a good Father's day this past Sunday. We didn't do a whole lot, but we did go out to dinner together as a family, which was fun. We are so thankful for the wonderful Daddy Addie and her baby brother have!

Working with Mommy and Daddy

2010-06-24T14:38:00.003-04:00

This weekend, Addie got to help Mommy and Daddy with some chores around the house:

Update on baby boy

2010-06-22T15:19:00.002-04:00

As of yesterday, I am now 32 weeks along, which means I get to start going to the doctor twice a week. I had an ultrasound yesterday to check growth and fluid and got a good report. They like the fluid to at least be at a 10 and we are at a 14, so that is awesome. Also, our little guy is measuring 2 days ahead, and is estimated to weigh 4 lbs. 4 oz., which is exactly what Addie weighed when she was born at 35 weeks! So, it looks like whenever we have this little boy, he will definitely be bigger than Addie was! That is definitely good news. I go back to the doctor on Thursday to go on the non-stress fetal monitor to make sure everything still looks good. I was told yesterday that at this point, if anything goes wrong (there is low fluid or the baby shows any signs of stress at all) they will just send me to the hospital to deliver. They said there is no reason to risk anything and the baby would be safer on the outside than the inside if there is any problem. We are all hoping that there will be no problems and we will make it to our scheduled c-section (which is Thursday, August 12th), but would at least like to be able to make it to 34 weeks, in hopes to avoid the NICU. Anyways, thank you to everyone who has been praying for this pregnancy-obviously everything looks great at this point, but we never know what is in store for the future! I will keep everyone updated.

An afternoon at the park

2010-06-22T15:07:00.002-04:00

I realize it has been quite a while since I last updated the blog, so I am going to try to do some catching up this week. To go back a few weeks, Memorial Day weekend, we decided to go have lunch at the park one day and then feed the geese and play on the playground. Addie had a great time, and so did her parents!

Daddy and Addie looking out at the geese:

Addie got very excited about the geese so close to her in the water (even though you can't see them) and started to clap, then got a little too close...

resulting in a wet foot and dirty leg. No big deal!

Having a good time:

Walking around while Mommy forced Addie to hold her hand, much against Addie's will:

Swinging with Daddy:

Time to rest a little from all the tiring fun:

Pool progression

2010-06-01T16:09:00.002-04:00

I decided to get Addie's baby pool out for the first time last week, thinking Addie would love it, seeing as she loves taking baths. But, she was a little hesitant. As you will see below, it took her a while before she was actually comfortable getting in the water. For the most part, Addie does not seem to be very afraid of things. But sometimes, when she is encountering something new, she has to check it out for a little bit before getting too involved. Such was the case with the pool. Thankfully, she ended up getting in the water and absolutely loving it. Also thankfully, it wore her out enough for her to take her afternoon nap-something she had been fighting the previous days!

For a while, I thought this was as close as Addie was going to get to the water.
I convinced her to sit in my lap and put her feet in the water with mine.

Sorry about the stuff oozing out of her nose...

And I even snuck away from her to get a picture and she was okay with it-as long as she still got to lean up against the chair.

Success! I eventually just slid her on down into the water and she loved it...especially splashing and getting herself wet all over-including her hair and face! I think we will be breaking the pool out a lot this summer!

Baby boy

2010-05-28T10:15:00.003-04:00

Because of what happened while I was pregnant with Addie, we now get to have ultrasounds every four weeks and see how our little guy is growing, and to be sure there is still enough amniotic fluid. So, yesterday I had an ultrasound (28 weeks along) and everything looked great. Our little boy is growing right on track and they guestimated that he weighed 2 lbs. 6 oz. The doctor said they like the fluid level to be at a 10 and I am at an 11, so that is great news. Last time I had an ultrasound, our boy was head down, but this time, he was breech. No big deal, since it is still early, plus I am having a c-section anyways. At our next appointment (in 2 weeks), we should find out the date of our scheduled c-setion...assuming we make it until then! An interesting thing we have noticed in our ultrasounds is that this little boy has had at least one, if not both, arms up around his head every time we have seen him. Addie was the same way-even after she was born. We could never swaddle her arms down in a blanket because she would wiggle her arms out and lay them over her head, or on her face. It's funny to be able to see little similarities like that even before officially meeting our son. Below are a couple pictures we got of our him, though neither of them are great. Apparently, he doesn't like to show his face off very much, but here is the best we could see.

For those of you not so great at understanding what you are seeing when looking at an ultrasound picture, this one is a profile of the face, though you can really only see his nose and a little of his mouth. He is laying with his head on the left side of the picture and his nose is pointed up. Notice also, his arm is up with a hand resting right above his forehead.

This picture is looking straight at baby boy's face. You can see the eye sockets and faintly see his nose and mouth. Those are also two hands right below his face, looking like he is ready to fight somebody!

Kisses for Daddy

2010-05-27T15:14:00.003-04:00

Daddy has always loved getting kisses from Addie and she has really caught on-she might actually enjoy giving them as much as Daddy enjoys receiving them! Just the other day, Daddy was pretending to sleep on the floor and for some reason, Addie immediately went over to him and gave him a kiss to wake him up. This is something Bob has done with our neices and nephews before, but never with Addie, and we were both shocked to see that she stopped whatever she was doing to go give him a kiss!

A visit from...

2010-05-25T12:06:00.002-04:00

Aunt Melinda, Olivia, and Logan! Last week, they decided to come up for a few days to hang out and play. Addie had a good time with her two cousins and hope they will come back and visit again (though their not sleeping may keep their mom from wanting a repeat visit anytime soon).

Aunt Melinda reading to Addie-one of Addie's favorite things to do.
Happy baby Logan (6 months old)! Addie was very interested in Logan-I guess she hasn't been around a lot of babies before. She really liked touching him-especially his hair (the little that he has left) and face.

Getting ready for bed. Daddy was getting Addie ready for bed and Olivia crawled right up into his lap next to Addie. She then started stroking Addie's hair while Bob read the bedtime story-unfortunately, I didn't get that on camera.

The next few pictures were all an attempt to get a good shot of Addie and Olivia together-preferably smiling as well as looking at the camera. Easier said than done with these one and two-year-olds.

We recently turned Addie's carseat around and she seems to be enjoying the new views. I turned around the other day and she had taken both shoes and socks off, and was chewing on her big toe. Crazy kid!

She also kicks her feet while in the car a lot, which is why these pictures have her feet in the air.

She's a natural

2010-05-19T15:31:00.002-04:00

After Addie started "dancing" a couple weeks ago, Bob and I were discussing where she may have learned to do such a thing. Since the two of us have never danced in front of her (or any other time, really), we decided it must be something that is instinctive-not learned, which I think is pretty interesting. However, even more interesting is another instinct Addie has shown to have. As you will see in the video below, Addie has soccer instincts. Some of you may question as to whether or not she has been taught, but I promise I have never actually shown her to kick a ball-that was all her idea! A week or so ago, I was making dinner and noticed Addie in the other room, dribbling a ball. Of course, as soon as I got the camera, she stopped, but she has done it several times since. This morning, we went outside and as soon as I got a ball out (it's a basketball, but whatever) she was kicking and chasing...until she got distracted by something else-like dandelions. She is a natural!

Addie has started jabbering quite a bit, but most of the time it is nonsense. There are a few distinct words and sounds she is good at, though. "Da-da" is definitely her favorite. The only time she says "Ma-ma" is when she is sad and wants something from me (and she sounds very Italian when she says it). Another favorite is "uh-oh", but most of the time when she says it, she says "uh" 3 different times until she gets the sound she wants, then says "oh." It's pretty funny. I managed to get her saying uh-oh a couple times in this video, but she decided to say it correctly, so maybe she's getting better at it. She definitely knows what "uh-oh" means and uses it in the correct context often, but I guess it's so fun to say that she says it lots of other times as well.

Addie is also very into dogs. Anytime she sees a dog (or is looking somewhere she has seen a dog before-like our neighbor's back yard) she stares and "barks" (you will hear in the video that it is nowhere close to a bark, but it is what she does every time she sees a dog). She also gets very excited...until she gets real close to the dog, then she gets shy. Once the dog walks away, she starts "barking" again. Again, it's pretty funny. Unfortunately, from what we can tell, she is allergic to dogs. She has broken out 2 different times when she has been very close to a dog (touched it) so that is really too bad. Enjoy the video!

Waterfalls

2010-05-06T12:12:00.003-04:00

We have lived in the Asheville area for about 2 months now and decided last weekend to go out exploring a little bit. We know the area has lots of cool outdoorsy things to do and wanted to see what we could find. Brevard is a town not too far from where we are (about 20-30 minutes away) and it is known for the waterfalls it has in the area. We found a place called the "Pisgah Forest" where there is a road following a river through a forest. There are lots of places to pull off the road and hike to a waterfall, so we tried it out. The first waterfall we went to is supposedly one of the most photographed waterfalls in America. It was about 65 feet high and I think Addie was a little intimidated by it-she just had never seen anything like it before. It was right off the road, so no need to hike, which may have played a factor into why so many people have taken pictures of it, though it is a really cool waterfall. From there, we drove to another spot and hiked to a waterfall. It was supposedly a 1 mile roundtrip hike, but somehow that half mile to the waterfall seemed much longer! I guess we're pretty out of shape...and I don't think Bob realized his 4-year-old Crocs would not be the best hiking shoes while carrying his 20-lb. daughter. But, we made it and had a good time. Enjoy some of our pictures from the adventure:

Our little boy

2010-05-03T13:52:00.004-04:00

It seems like ever since we found out we were pregnant this time around, we have not given this baby as much attention (granted, he is still in the womb) as our first unborn baby. So, I thought I would post a picture of him on the blog for the first time. I realize our blog is called "Addie May" and that is something that will need to change in a few months, but for now, I can still post a picture of Addie's baby brother on "her" blog. I had an ultrasound last Thursday-at 24 weeks. From here on out, I will be having ultrasounds once a month so the doctor can check the growth of the baby as well as the fluid level, in hopes that we can avoid what happened last time (an emergency c-section due to low fluid and a small baby). So, here is one of the better pictures we have of our little guy. If you can't tell, this is a picture of his face (there is a bubble floating just above his eye):

Our little walker

2010-04-28T15:51:00.003-04:00

This video is just to show a little more of what Addie is up to these days. She is definitely walking, but it's pretty funny-looking a lot of times. I told Bob the other day that it looks like she's getting lucky all the time, but I guess all kids start out walking wobbly. That's not to say she does not fall because she does-lots. But, a few days ago, she learned to get back up on her own (without the help of any prop) and can also now reach down and pick something up without falling. She loves to walk with as many things in her hands as possible and is working on the ability to walk on vinyl floor with socks on, but has had some nasty falls in the meantime. It's good for her, though.

Addie Dancing

2010-04-26T09:47:00.003-04:00

Addie started doing quite a few new things over the past week or so and I am trying to catch them on video before she moves on to something else. We have definitely learned that what we think of as "normal" with her changes so frequently-pretty much as soon as we get used to her doing something, she starts doing something else. So, we want to remember all the little funny things she does. Over the next few days, I will hopefully be able to post some more of the funny little things she is doing. For today, though, check out Addie's dance moves. I just noticed her dancing (if you can call it that) for the first time last week as she was standing at a toy that made music. Ever since, she has done it quite a bit. Enjoy!

First Haircut

2010-04-19T15:41:00.004-04:00

Addie has been needing a haircut for quite some time now. If you can remember, she was born with quite a bit of hair. She did lose some on the top and back of her head, but never lost all of her hair. So, that means it got really long in certain places (relatively-not long compared to her cousin, Olivia's hair) over the course of the year. Daddy has been wanting it cut for quite some time since it is always in Addie's eyes, and she constantly gets food in it, but Mommy has been a little more hesitant for multiple reasons. First of all, the haircut is a big step out of being a baby to being a little girl-or so it seems. Plus, Mommy is not real confident in her haircutting abilities. Nonetheless, Mommy finally broke down and decided to attempt the haircut this past Saturday. Here are the before pictures:

And the one after picture:
I don't know if it's just me, but I really feel like Addie looks much more like a little girl here. As for the actual haircut, I would say Addie did okay. It was Daddy's job to entertain her while Mommy tried cutting. This was difficult, and the bangs definitely ended up shorter than we would have liked them to. But, at least hair grows back, right? All in all, though, I think the haircut was a good decision and I think the outcome is that Addie is still really cute...but I also know I'm biased. As for Daddy, he was not a big fan of the haircut right after it was completed, which is funny since he was the one that really wanted it to happen. He admited a day or two later, though, that he thought the reason he hadn't liked it too much was because it made Addie look older. He is getting used to it, though, and also thinks she's really cute! It's sad that our baby girl is growing into a little girl so quickly, but at least we will have another baby around before long!

Last 1st Birthday Celebration

2010-04-19T15:15:00.004-04:00

Addie recently got a belated birthday present from Mommy and Daddy. Here are some pictures of her trying it out:

There is plenty of room to grow!

As previously mentioned, Addie got to celebrate her birthday on 3 different occasions (all of which had cake and presents-not bad!). Her last celebration took place in Roanoke, VA with the Angove cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and grandparents. It just so happened that there were multiple other birthdays within the family that were all in a 2-week span, so we celebrated 6 birthdays at this party! It was a lot of fun.

Dottie worked really hard and made this awesome ladybug cake (in honor of Addie's love of ladybuys):

Here are all the 6 birthday girls:
Enjoying some chocolate cake:
We put this bib on her to try and cover her entire shirt and arms, but she somehow managed to get cake inside of it-oh well. Notice that her hair is constantly being pulled back by barrets...this is becuase her bangs are so long, covering her eyes. But, she recently had a haircut-there will be a post with pictures from that soon.
Opening presents. She still doesn't have it quite down yet-even after 3 different parties.
Sporting the bow in her hair:

And that's the end of Addie's 1st birthday celebrations!

A day at the park

2010-04-07T08:53:00.002-04:00

The weather has been so nice outside recently that we have been to the park a couple of times. Here, Addie is sporting some sweet shades. Unfortunately, they were way too big, and Addie wouldn't even leave them on long enough for a picture. Oh well.
Daddy got this bike attachment (called an "ibert") for Christmas and had been excited to be able to pull it out and take Addie on a bike ride. This past weekend was his first chance to do it, and he and Addie had a blast on it. Addie, thankfully, does not seem to be scared of too many things-especially new things...she just likes to try stuff out and see what happens! So, she got on the bike with Daddy, looked around, and enjoyed the ride! They definitely got a lot of stares from people as they passed by:

Daddy let Mommy try it out as well:

Here is Addie and Daddy waving as they rode by:

For those of you that may be nervous about the safety here, have no fear, Addie's helmet was fixed soon after this picture. Her helmet is pretty huge, but we were able to put enough padding into it so that it fit her head pretty snugly.

Addie's 2nd Easter

2010-04-07T08:47:00.004-04:00

Addie celebrated her 2nd Easter on her 1st birthday, which was a lot of fun. Just for a little perspective of how much Addie has changed over the past year, here is a picture of Addie last Easter (she was a week old):

Here, Addie was on her Easter egg hunt and found an egg. Can you see the excitement on her face? She wasn't a huge fan of the bunny ears, but we tried to keep them on her for a little while anyways...even with her tiny little head.

Daddy hid this egg really well with the egg being the same color as the flowers!

Addie figured out that the eggs opened and gobbled up the puffs that were inside:

Happy Birthday, Addie!

2010-04-07T08:29:00.003-04:00

As mentioned before, Addie had a birthday celebration with the Snead family a week before her actual birthday. This past weekend, Addie had her real birthday, so we celebrated as a family together. Here is her cookie cake:

Addie started licking the icing off the cookie before we even got the candle blown out:

Going to town:

She definitely liked that red icing!

Still working on it:

The messy face picture:

Addie has been making this smiley face recently, where she just seems to squish her face up. I love it:

Ready to open some presents with Daddy:

Trying out her new Mickey airplane toy. She is very intrigued with the propeller in the front:

Jealous that Daddy is playing with her other new toy:

Addie has always loved to watch Mommy vacuum, so now she has her own:

Family picture on Addie's first birthday:

Our baby girl is growing up so fast:

Nana nad Poppi dropped by to wish Addie a happy birthday, since they weren't too far away:

Happy birthday Addie!

2010-03-31T16:00:00.005-04:00

It has been a long time since I have posted on here, so I'll try to give a quick catch-up. We moved to Asheville, NC almost 4 weeks ago and are really enjoying it. We are still working on finding a church and meeting new people, but we know that will come with time. It has been a very busy last few weeks.

First, Addie had a little cousin, Madison Snead, born on March 15 unexpectedly. Sadly, Madison only lived here on earth for about 7 hours and is now in heaven. If you think about it, please keep Madison's parents, Josh and Amy, in your prayers.

Next, we got to find out the Addie is going to have a baby brother! Thankfully, the ultrasound showed that baby boy is healthy!

We spent last weekend in Charlotte, visiting with the Snead family-all but Josh and Amy. It was a lot of fun to hang out with everyone, though a little crazy at times as well. There are now a lot of young kids in our family! We also got to celebrate Addie's 1st birthday with everyone at the park on Saturday, so that was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

This is a picture of Addie at 11 months:
Apparently, she can't figure out if she wants to be a girly girl, or a tomboy:

Bath time is always fun:
The chocolate cupcake was a winner:

Our little chocolate ladybugs before they were devoured:

Addie's first cupcake:

Daddy hanging out with Addie and cousin Olivia:

Addie's favorite movie

2010-02-24T14:15:00.004-05:00

Daddy has been gone all week (like he has been for the past couple of months), so I wanted to post a video for him to watch. Anyone else is welcome to enjoy it as well. This is Addie watching the dvd of some Sesame Street characters singing different songs and Addie loves it. As you wil see, she gets so excited when it is on.

Snow!

2010-02-16T09:12:00.006-05:00

It has snowed a couple times at our house this year, but this was the first snow that was not real icy. So, we decided to take Addie out in it after breakfast Saturday morning.

Here she is, looking a little like Ralphy from "The Christmas Story." Ready to go!

This was the closest thing we could get to a smile. She normally smiles real big, but she definitely didn't know what to think of the snow. She didn't seem scared, but wasn't excited either. Just checking things out.

After a few minutes of us trying to get a good picture while she was sitting in the snow, she fell backwards and was completely still-didn't move at all.

Hanging out in the hammock for a little bit:

Still no smile, but at least she didn't cry! I'm sure she'll enjoy it more next year (at least I hope so).

2010-02-15T14:41:00.002-05:00

Addie can read clocks-she was born with that talent. From the day we brought her home from the hospital, she knew exactly when feeding time was (every 3 hours ON THE DOT) and nap time and bedtime work the same way. Addie could be happily playing and all of a sudden she will start to rub her eyes or lay her head on the floor. She tries not to make it too obvious, so she will try to rub her eyes when she thinks we aren't looking, or pick her head up as quickly as she can. But, there is no fighting it. When she is sleepy, she must be put in her crib. In fact, she was so tired last night, she would not let me rock with her for a minute like I normally do before I put her down for bed. She just wanted to be put straight in her crib so she could fall asleep. I'm not complaining!

Here is some good cuddle time with Daddy:

Our little basketball player...Daddy is proud of her loyalty to Duke already:

Puff on the cheek!

Bath time!

2010-02-15T09:19:00.004-05:00

Addie loves to take baths, and always has for the most part. She has started to get baths more often (every night most of the time) now that she is feeding herself...the food tends to get all over the place-especially in her hair.

Addie has quite the mullet going on, though her hair has really come in well all over. It just never fell out in the back at all, so it is crazy long back there. Oh well
Here is a swet hair picture right after her bath (before it was dried to calm it down a bit):

Addie is not much of a snuggler anymore, but thankfully she will snuggle for a couple minutes all bundled up right after her bath:

And some video footage to let you in on some of the fun:

Tsunami

2010-01-18T16:26:00.002-05:00

On Friday night, we took Addie to one of our favorite restaurants (a Japanese steakhouse), Tsunami, to celebrate our first ultrasound of Addie's younger brother/sister!

She was very interested in what the chef was doing...especially when there was fire!

9 months old

2010-01-13T09:35:00.003-05:00

Here is our happy, healthy 9 month old baby! She had her well check-up last week and is now 15 lbs. 1 oz (3%) and 28 in. (50%). So, I guess we have a somewhat tall, lightweight little girl. We thought 15 lbs. was getting up there in weight (seeing as she started at 4 lbs.), but apparently, she still hasn't broken out of that 3%...maybe next time! But, we are very thankful for the healthy child that we have.

Daddy has had to be out of town for work recently, but we have thankfully been able to talk on Skype and that way Addie gets to see her Daddy:

We have found that Addie really likes it when we wear hooded sweatshirts...so that she can chew on the strings hanging down. They can provide entertainment for quite a while!

Our happy girl:

Chewing on her toes is still a fun pasttime for Addie:

Chewing on fingers is fun also:

Christmas #3

2010-01-13T09:13:00.002-05:00

Unforunately, I don't have many pictures to post from our Christmas spent with Poppi and Nana...we let Poppi take most of the pictures on his camera. But, here are a few pictures as proof that it did happen.

Addie got lots of fun gifts from Poppi and Nana...thank you!

Christmas #2

2010-01-13T08:53:00.006-05:00

We spent Christmas in Roanoke, VA with the Angoves. It was a lot of fun, even though Addie decided not to sleep very much. We have a lot of pictures from our time there, so here they are:

Bathtime! Daddy found a good spot to stick Addie in as he was running the bath water.
As I have mentioned before, Addie's cousins really love her (she loves them too, but doesn't show it a whole lot yet). When Michaela and Trevor arrived at the house, they made a bee line to Addie. Thankfully, Dottie was ther to help monitor all the love:

Some crazy hair after a nap!

There was still a lot of snow in Virginia, so Addie got to experience that for the first time. She didn't seem too thrilled...maybe next year.

On Christmas Eve, Michaela recited the Christmas story:

Austin got a new jack hammer, which he seemed to enjoy.

Addie was more into the wrapping paper and bows than anything.

A family picture.

Bananas for Christmas morning breakfast!

Here is Addie Christmas morning trying out her new toy. She isn't quite ready to fully use it, but she had fun figuring it out.

Time to open the stocking:

She got all kinds of goodies in her stocking...puffs, socks, an ornament, and keys!

All of Addie's Christmas presents from her parents:
Snuggling with Dottie:

Videos

2010-01-12T14:06:00.004-05:00

As you will see in the videos below, Addie does not like being on her belly at all, but loves to stand (and really wishes she could figure walking out). At this point, she does not look like she will be a crawler anytime soon (if ever), but we'll see what happens. She's got a long way to go when it comes to balance if she's going to walk without too many spills.

Here Addie is standing. She does not yet know how to pull herself up to standing (other than to turn and grab for some fingers to hold onto) and also does nto realize that holding onto other props could help her stand much better. She has not fear, though, and loves to just let go and go for it. Enjoy!

Christmas #1

2010-01-12T13:51:00.006-05:00

I know it has been a very long time since I posted on here, so I'm going to attempt to catch up in the next couple of days. We had Christmas a few different times in December as we saw family members in various places. First, we had Christmas with the Sneads that live in China. No, we did not go to China to celebrate. Thankfully, they came to us (even if it wasn't necessarily to see us). Matt, Michelle, Vera, and Kai came over for dinner and Addie got to meet the only cousins she had not yet met! She does still have another aunt and uncle to meet, though. Anyways, we enjoyed celebrating Christmas together a little bit early.

It was hard to get a decent picture of the 3 kiddos together since Kai really didn't want to sit still, but this was our best attempt:

Vera really loved Addie...so much so that when they got to our house, she did not even acknowledge me. Instead, she ran past me to go give Addie a hug.

Merry Christmas:

We got Vera a Care Bears dvd, which she was very excited about...even if she did keep calling them the polar bears.

Addie was very clueless as to what was going on, but she did well.

As you can see here, Kai is a very manly man. Or he liked playing with his sister's toys. This one in particular is actually his new sister's toy, but she is not yet with them so Vera and Kai tried it out for her.

Another cousin picture:

2009-12-14T16:50:00.002-05:00

Even Addie knows it's funny to watch Dottie play basketball!

A week back at work

2009-12-10T15:27:00.005-05:00

Last week, I had the opportunity to go back to the school I used to teach at and substitute teach for one of the math teachers. Dottie (Bob's mom) was generous enough to come watch Addie for the week, so I decided to go back to teaching for the week! I had a good time going back and seeing a lot of my former students and it was fun to be teaching math again as well, but it was also nice to know it was only for a week. I am definitely very thankful that I am able to stay at home with Addie every day. But, I know Addie had a lot of fun with Dottie last week (and I don't think Dottie was hating her time with Addie).

Fun with Dottie!

Addie really seems to like the Christmas tree. I thought she would really love the lights (which she does like them), but she likes to touch the tree more than anything. I guess it's a texture she's not used to.

Our little 8-month-old. It is hard to believe Addie is already 2/3 of a year old-it is flying by. Here she is on her 8 month birthday:

The other night, I needed to work on a few things and so Daddy and Addie were hanging out together on the floor. Daddy decided to let Addie try standing on her own for the first time and found that she was able to balance for a few seconds before falling! I don't think Addie knew what to think of it at first, but after a few falls, she was wanting a little more support. But, Addie does love to stand, though she does not yet know how to pull herself up to standing.

Nana sent a package of "pre-Christmas" presents for Addie the other day. I don't know that Addie even cared to open it-she enjoyed just hitting the box!

We ended up busting into it for her and found some books (which she loved) and a little pair of mittens (which I loved since she really needed them and I hadn't been able to find any).

Hanging out in front of the Christmas tree:

As I mentioned earlier, Addie loves to stand. So, we pulled this toy out that we had stashed away. She really likes playing with it since she gets to stand the whole time, but once again, there are falls at times. She is still working on her balancing...and realizing that it is necessary for her to hold onto something in order to stay standing. She'll figure it out.

That is our happy girl!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-08T16:00:00.003-05:00

Bob, Addie, and I spent Thanksgiving this year with family in Atlanta. We weren't there for a long time, but were glad we were able to go...and especially excited to meet the newest addition to our extended family! Pictured below is Logan Matthew Rowand.
Here are the cousins together. Once we saw Logan, we realized that Addie is officially not a baby anymore.
Addie got to go see one of her great-grandmothers, Mimi.

Thanks to Olivia for letting Addie borrow this shirt for the day.

Nana bought Olivia and Addie matching Christmas dresses. Addie's was not very modest, but still cute.

We actually got a bow to stay in her hair for a little while!

Nana enjoying time with Addie.

Sitting up and going to the park

2009-11-19T12:45:00.003-05:00

We have been working on sitting up with Addie for quite some time now and she finally seems to have it down...for the most part. At times, she plays for 10-15 minutes without any faceplants, but other times (when she gets really excited and jerky) she may continually fall over without much time in between. We now know Addie is totally capable of sitting up on her own, but she does not always choose to use this new skill of hers. Here are some pictures of the sitting:

I just busted this toy out the other day because I thought Addie might like it (she is totally into anything that makes noise or has lights...or both). She loves it, so I'm glad I realized it was time to pull it out!

We got a few good shots of her here:

Napping together...except Mommy wasn't actually asleep.

On Saturday, we took Addie to the park for a little bit since it was such a beautiful day outside. We weren't there long, but Addie got to "play" on the playground for the first time! Daddy took her down the slide, which we thought she was going to love. Addie normally enjoys being tossed around (she really likes it when we pretend to drop her a little), but when she went on the slide, she surprisingly seemed to have no reaction. I guess it wasn't fast enough for her-I wonder how long until she can go on a roller coaster? Here is the before picture:

And they made it to down:Addie also got to try out the swing. I don't know if you can tell, but we did have to stuff a blanket behind her since the seat was huge. As an infant, Addie never liked the swing we had, so we didn't know what she would think of going on a swing now. You can decide for yourself as to whether or not she liked it:

Sorry the video is sideways...I have no idea how to turn it. If you are prone to motion sickness, you probably don't want to watch this, but otherwise, enjoy:

Our still toothless 7 month old

2009-11-13T16:07:00.003-05:00

I am finally posting Addie's 7 month old update. Here is the picture I took of her on her birthday (if you can call it that). I did weigh her and she was 13 lb. 9 oz., so not much bigger than a month earlier, but some of that might be due to her little sickness a couple weeks ago. I tried measuring her, but that didn't work out. We'll find out how long she is at her 9 month appointment in January.

A few weeks ago (definitely not this week), it was beautiful outside, so I decided to wash the car while Addie enjoyed the outdoors in her Exersaucer. Little did I know of just how much she would enjoy the outdoors. If you can't tell in the picture below, she was able to grab leaves periodically and play with them. They were excellent toys as she loves things that make crinkling noises. Not great for her constant chewing, though.

Addie continues to love food-sometimes (as seen below) she reaches out of her seat, trying to get that next bite just a little bit sooner!

Addie is always wanting to try food that we are eating, though she rarely gets the chance to. This time, though, I allowed her to "try" my apple. She was able to suck some juices out and was hooked immediately.

We decided to be brave last weekend and take Addie out to a Bobcats basketball game Friday night. Bob had been given tickets, so we went for it. Addie looked confused for most of the time, but really did well. She has always liked watching tv, so she really liked watching the huge tv in the middle of the arena (too bad she didn't watch the live game right below the screen).

Daddy kept her warm on the walk to the stadium.

We had some friends over the other night for dinner, which Addie seemed to enjoy. Pictured below is Clay, who is about 2 months older than Addie. They seem like they have a lot bigger age gap, though, since Clay's head is one of the biggest for his age and Addie's is one of the smallest for her age. They seemed to enjoy looking at each other quite a bit, and holding hands a little...until Bob quickly put a stop to it!

Halloween

2009-11-04T13:16:00.002-05:00

This was Addie's "daytime" Halloween shirt. It was size 12 months, which is nowhere close to what she normally wears, but we made it work for the day. Can you tell her face is filling out a lot? We noticed this weekend that her cheeks are starting to sag some-pretty funny...and cute!
We worked very hard at trying to get Addie to smile in her Halloween costume, but she was not very cooperative. So, I put a couple of our best attempts below. It was a rainy Halloween and Addie had been sick, so we didn't take her to the fall festival at church like we had planned. We did walk around to the neighbors close to us and showed her off in her cute Winne the Pooh costume!

Play date with Owen

2009-11-04T13:13:00.002-05:00

Addie and I went over to a friend's house last Friday to play for a while. Addie's friend, Owen (pictured below), is 2 months younger than her, but weighs more than her! We decided to sit them facing each other to see what they would do. It wasn't quite as entertaining as we thought it was going to be.

Here is another friend who was there, named Jonathan. He is 9 years old and really enjoyed holding and playing with both Addie and Owen. Unfortunately, our time there was cut short when Addie decided to throw up...twice! Thankfully, the only people it got on were herself and me. As a side note, Addie is fine now...she had a cold and a lot of stuff draining down in her throat, which made her cough, which led to her gagging and throwing up. Nice. We already knew she was doomed for this at some point since both of her parents have tendencies to regurgitate easily.

Addie loves plumbing, peas, and her paci

2009-11-04T13:07:00.002-05:00

Our little plumber girl, as we affectionately like to refer to her at times like this:

"More peas, please!" Addie was introduced to peas for the first time a couple weeks ago. I hate peas (and most other green vegetables), but thought they would be good for Addie to eat. So, I had thought it was going to be a long drawn out process, trying to get Addie to eat peas. I was so wrong. Addie loved them more than squash and couldn't get enough of them. Now, I'm worried that I am going to have to include peas (and possibly other green vegetables) into our daily meals once Addie is older and eating what we eat!

All done, but she saved some for later all around her mouth and on her bib.

Addie has figured out how to chew on every possible part of her pacified. She turns it every different direction, seeing what she likes the best. Her pacifier seems to entertain her more than anything else. Thankfully, it is easy to take along wherever we go, but we also dread the day we will take it away from her...it might be tough!

Backwards and upside down!

Pigtails

2009-11-04T13:01:00.003-05:00

Since Addie's hair has continued to grow quite a bit, I have put pigtails in her hair a few different times. Her hair is extremely thin, though, so it's hard to get the little rubberbands in while she is squirming constantly. Also, it was hard to get a good picture where both pigtails were visible, so here are my attempts:

Dottie and Pops' 35th Anniversary

2009-11-04T12:58:00.001-05:00

One weekend in the middle of October, we drove up to Roanoke, VA to celebrate Dottie and Pops' (Daddy's parents) 35th anniversary. It was good to see everyone and I'm pretty sure they were all excited to see us as well.....actually I'm pretty sure Addie is the one they were really excited to see!

Here is Addie hanging out with her cousins, Michaela and Trevor.
She still got a little time with Mommy in.

Dottie and Pops with all of their grandchildren together...and one kid is even smiling!

Addie enjoys all the attention she gets when we go to see family. She basically gets held the entire time (and kissed also!).

This is one of the best family pictures we have-Addie is actually smiling and looking at the camera! Thanks to Dottie for taking it and sharing it with us.

Fun with Nana and Poppi (and Daddy)

2009-11-04T12:51:00.002-05:00

I know it has been a long time since I have posted any pictures on here (about a month, I think?) and just realized I have a lot of pictures to post. So, I am separating them into a few different posts-I'm not sure if I'll get them all on today, but plan to very soon. As for an update on Addie, she is doing great. She has unfortunately been a little under the weather (cold), but feeling much better now. She is actually 7 months today, so I will try to get a good picture of her later on today, and possibly try to weigh and measure her as well...we'll see how that goes.

Nana and Poppi (my parents) came to visit the second weekend in October to celebrate birthday's (my Dad's, my brother, Nate's, and Bob's...as well as Addie's half-birthday). Unfortunately, Bob had to be out of town that weekend, so he missed the celebration.

Hanging out on the front porch with Nana and Poppi.

Addie was given a Sesame Street dvd called "Make Music Together" and she really seems to like it. We have watched it a lot over the past month...enough for Mommy and Daddy to catch themselves singing along to the songs (even when the dvd is not on!).

Always happy with Daddy. Well, not always, but most of the time. Daddy was helping Addie learn to stand up unassisted while playing with this toy. She still has a ways to go until she masters that.

Happy bithday, Daddy!

Adoption

2009-10-30T08:29:00.002-04:00

I have quite a few pictures to post and hope to do so soon, but this post is for something else. A lot of you know that my brother and sister-in-law (Matt and Michelle) are in the process of adopting 2 Ethiopian children. They will be going to pick up the kids within a couple months most likely and are currently having an online auction in hopes to raise some money for the costly adoption. They would like for as many people to see this auction as possible, so if you have any way to get the word out about it, please do so (via Facebook, a blog, etc.). Here is the website for the auction: http://sneadadoptionauction.blogspot.com/

If this doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will

2009-10-22T12:14:00.002-04:00

When we got back from a walk last night, it was time to take out the trash. So, Daddy took care of that while Mommy put a new trash bag in the can. We never thought Addie would enjoy it so much:

Rice Cereal!

2009-10-06T15:49:00.006-04:00

Mommy and Daddy spent the weekend working in the yard (mostly pulling weeds), then Daddy fertilized, seeded, and did lots of watering after someone came to aerate. Thankfully, Addie was a good sport (for most of the time) and played in her exersaucer as she watched us work. We are glad to be done working on that and are now hoping for some grass!

A close-up of Addie hanging out while we worked. We liked the hat on her.

Rice cereal all over the face! She seemed to enjoy the new experience of eating from a spoon. As you will see below, she wasn't exactly sure of what to think, but she did well.

Happy half-birthday, Addie! As many of you know, I grew up in a family that celebrated half-birthdays...my whole life-not just when we turned 6 months old. So, Addie's very first half-birthday was on Sunday and she got a few presents that you will see below. This was her excited face-she couldn't wait to find out what was behind the wrapping paper!

Mommy and Daddy got her 2 toys-the leap frog and the push-down popper thing (I have no idea what it is called). Dottie and Pops got her a Christmas ornament (baby's first Christmas), and Nana and Poppi are coming up this weekend and will bring her something as well. She seems to like everything.

Happy to be 6 months old! She had her 6 month check-up on Monday and has been doing some growing...not so much out, but up. She weighs 13 lb. 2 oz. (3-10%), 16 cm head circumference (10%), and for the big one...26 in tall, which is the 50%! She has never had anything be above the 25%, so that was HUGE! Thankfully, the doctor said she seemed very healthy and right on track developmentally, which we are so thankful for.

Now, for the exciting videos. Here is Addie's first opportunity to eat anything but straight milk. We thought she did pretty well for it being the first time (please turn off the sound on your computer now so as to avoid having to hear my voice here):

And here is Addie eating rice cereal just a few days later...what a change!

As I have mentioned before, Addie loves her Daddy. This is something new she has started to enjoy. It is the first time we have noticed that she has specifically "asked" for one of us to continue doing something. And of course, Daddy continued doing this until his jaws couldn't move any longer.

2009-09-30T08:56:00.004-04:00

I know it has been a couple weeks since I last posted any pictures, so there are quite a few here. Addie had a big week last week, as you will see. Daddy had to go to Charleston for the week because of work, so Addie and I decided to drive down and spend some time there with him. While there, Addie got to see the beach for the first time, but she didn't really care about it. I think the water intrigued her, as did the wind, but other than that, she just kept chewing on her hands like she always does. We did let her go into the ocean a little, so she definitely tasted salt water for the first time, but didn't even make a sour face at the flavor! Since that was the case, we are not expecting any problems with Addie eating baby food (since it can't taste QUITE as bad as the ocean), but we will see soon enough!
Addie is just lounging with Daddy here. The past few weeks, we have had movie night at home on either Friday or Saturday night and Addie seems to love it! We watch the movie on our bed and Addie just sits right between us and stares intently at the tv...until she get sleepy. She normally misses the end of the movie because she falls asleep-I wonder who she gets that from?
I bought this little winter hat for Addie at a consignment sale and decided to put it on her to show Daddy what it looked like (surprisingly, it wasn't too massive for her tiny head). We thought it was pretty cute-hopefully it will be cold enough at some point for her to wear it this winter!

On the beach with Daddy!

We couldn't quite get Addie to look up for the picture, but that's okay.

This was us walking away from the ocean to leave. Daddy was walking behind us and she was so excited to be looking at him that we decided to take a picture...at least there is one picture of her smiling on the beach!

Addie got to do some sightseeing as well...even though she was asleep. I decided to take pictures to be able to prove to her that she really has been to these places before. The above picture supposedly has Fort Sumter in the background, but I never could find it.

Addie with a cannon.

And Addie with some palm trees.

One night, we found a cool little park that had a pier under a bridge, so we hung out there for a while. Addie loved being out there and seeing lots of new people.

She also enjoyed time being carried instead of being in her carseat or stroller.

Lastly, here is a video of Addie's new "talking." I know we posted a video of her jabbering before, but she has recently started this and we think it is so sweet:

2009-09-17T15:58:00.002-04:00

Here is Addie trying to eat her favorite book/toy. I don't know if you can hear it, but the front and back cover crinkle a lot, which is most of the reason she loves it so much, I think. Now, if only she could fit the entire thing in her mouth!

Addie loves to blow bubbles. "What a talent!

5 Months

2009-09-13T21:50:00.005-04:00

About a week and a half ago, Addie had her 5-month-old birthday, so here is her picture to celebrate!

We took a trip to Atlanta Labor Day weekend and got to see both sides of our family. Olivia (Addie's cousin who is almost 2) was very excited to see and play with Addie.

Addie has not liked toys very much until recently. While we were in Atlanta, Addie saw her cousin playing with Elmo doing the hokey pokey...and Addie loved it! She wanted to watch Elmo over and over.

More Elmo!

Addie also had her first experience in a walker. She seemed to like it, though it's hard to tell here that her legs are not yet long enough to reach the floor while she's in it.
I tried turning this picture, but the computer wouldn't let me. But, here are the happy grandparents!

Everyone who made the trip down. The main reason for the trip was to go to the VT vs. Alabama game. Unfortunately, the Hokies did not pull through.

Poppi had a little bit of a rough weekend, as he broke his foot at church that Sunday, but he still enjoyed hanging out with Addie...and I think she enjoyed it too.

Nana and Poppi time.

We had our team t-shirts on to go get free Chik-fil-a on Labor Day.

Back at home, Addie got spoiled a little bit this weekend, taking a couple naps while being held. It seems like she is growing up so fast and we don't get to hold/snuggle with her much anymore, so it's something we want to take advantage of the few times that we can.

Daddy decided to nap right along with Addie.

I put a dress on Addie for church yesterday that she hadn't worn yet. We have so many clothes for Addie that it's hard to get her in every one before she outgrows them. This dress fit her very well and was really cute, so I decided to post a few different pictures of our little photo shoot yesterday. We were trying to get her picture standing, but it ended up being a sitting picture by the end.

A trip to the pool

2009-09-02T13:32:00.003-04:00

Addie finally got to go to the pool for the first time this weekend. We were told by our pediatrician that Addie should not wear any sunscreen or get into any chlorinated water until she was 6 months old...so we waited as long as we could. On Saturday, we decided to take her to the pool because we really wanted to go (we did not have anywhere close to as much pool time as past summers) and there were a lot of clouds in the sky, so there was not too much direct sunlight. Thankfully, there weren't many people there, so we let Addie put her feet in the water and check out a new place. She seemed to like it, so that is good news for next summer!

Addie has recently been very entertained by pulling her pacifier out and putting it back in (sometimes). It looks like she fell asleep playing her little game here.

Addie used to always put her face down and try to eat the floor when she was on her tummy, so I was glad to see her pulling her head/chest up and looking at me the other day.

It's hard to tell here, but Bob is holding up one of Addie's old preemie outfits to show how much she has grown over the last 5 months-it is unbelievable she ever fit into that sleeper!

Happy Addie!

2009-08-29T13:43:00.005-04:00

Here is a video of Addie cracking up at her Daddy. We have gotten her to laugh a few times just for a second. For some reason though she couldn't stop laughing at her Dad laughing. Mommy isn't as funny apparently. She tried laughing the same way but Addie just stared at her.

Another Aunt and Uncle

2009-08-26T09:25:00.001-04:00

Addie's Aunt Deborah and Uncle Corey got back to the States from their year-long trip to Bolivia a few weeks ago. Their flight came into the Charlotte airport, so that was very convenient for us to not only get to meet them at the aitport, but also have Corey and Deborah stay at our house for a couple days! Addie is slowly but surely meeting all of her parents' siblings and their families...it takes a while when each parent has 4 siblings, most of which are married and some of which have children!
Aunt Deborah excited to finally meet (and hold) Addie.
Here they are!

Proud Dottie and Pops with all of their grandchildren.

Addie wakes up so happy in the morning, as long as she has slept enough (anywhere from 10-12 hours and she's happy). I came in one morning when I heard she was awake and saw she was smiling like crazy, so I went and got the camera real quick. Addie not only wakes up smiling, but kicking as well (ready for soccer already!). The way I normally know she is awake is not because she cries, but because I hear her kicking the mattress. I'm not sure if you can completely tell in this picture, but Addie had kicked her foot out of her sleeper. Pretty funny. Since this picture, I got her one morning with both feet out of the sleeper.

This is a new toy I busted out recently and Addie really likes it. It is a jump seat that hangs from the doorway. Addie doesn't jump so much as she spins, but whatever works.
I know there are straps on the bouncy seat, but haven't really seen the need to use them much in the past. I realized very recently, though, that they are very necessary now. I put Addie in the bouncy seat one day and before I was 5 feet away, Addie was literally rolling out of the bouncy seat-head first! Thankfully, I made it there before she hit the floor!

Life as I knew it is over!

2009-08-11T08:12:00.000-04:00

Addie finally fully figured out how to roll! For the past few weeks, she seems like she has been trying to get from her back to her belly, but she always got stuck on her arm. She was getting closer and closer until yesterday she did it! It is pretty funny when she rolls. Addie throws her feet straight up in the air, then puts all her energy into forcing her entire body over. That allows her to roll over her little arm and onto her belly. As soon as she gets on her belly, though, she starts to cry. Bob and I both thought it might take a little while for Addie to get the hang of rolling over, even after she did it once. But, that is not the case at all. Addie rolled for the first time around dinner time, then that evening was doing it constantly. Bob was working outside and I was just trying to empty the dishwasher. Normally, Addie plays very well by herself on her blanket, but that is over. In the time I was trying to put the silverware away, I had to go roll Addie back over to her back 3 times! So, today's goal is to teach Addie how to roll from her belly to her back-does anyone have any suggestions on how to teach her that? I assume I need to put her on her belly a lot, but every time I do that, she just wants to kick her legs and wave her arms as she eats the blanket or screams. So, I am up for suggestions. Enjoy the video!

Happy 1/3 of a year old!

2009-08-05T12:01:00.000-04:00

As you can see from the title, Addie is now 4 months old (for those of you that are scared of fractions)! She had her doctor's appointment yesterday and is completely healthy. I was asked a list of questions regarding her development and she is doing everything I was asked about except for rolling over. I think she has more interest in crawling and walking than rolling-that is too boring for her, I guess. So, the doctor was happy with how she is doing and so are we. For those of you that are wondering, she weighs 11 lb. 4 and 3/4 oz. (10%), is 23 1/2 in. tall (10-25 %), and her head is 15 1/4 in. around (3-10%). So, she is still on the small side of things (especially her head, but I don't think that has anything to do with her being born early...those of you that have seen her Mommy's head know what I'm talking about), but she has already passed where I (her Mommy) was at when I was her age and I was born full term at 6 lb. 15 oz.! Addie was very happy at the doctor's office and did lots of smiling, "talking", and moving. Here are some recent pictures:

This picture isn't very recent, but I wanted to put a picture of Daddy with Addie and realized I have not taken any recently, so I need to get on that. Daddy has been home for the past few weeks after work everyday, so that has been wonderful! Addie loves her Daddy very much.

Addie has an addiction to the tv. If it is on and it is possible for her to somehow turn herself to be able to see it, she will. I guess she just likes all the color or something. The other night, Daddy was watching Addie for a little while and she started screaming like crazy (a rare occurence). He tried all kinds of stuff to try to calm her down and nothing was working. Finally, he turned the tv on and she completely stopped crying and just stared at it. We're going to have to limit her tv time already!

This is Bob's cousin, Victoria, who absolutely loves Addie-and as you can see, Addie enjoyed her as well.

Another thing that interests Addie is a mirror. I don't think she understands that she is looking at herself, but she loves looking in the mirror. I tried to get a picture of her smiling at herself, but it didn't work out.

She gave us a little smirk here.

Happy with Mommy!

The thumb is great. Addie is sleeping better than ever at night. I think she is able to put herself back to sleep when she wakes up much better now that she has a convenient thumb to pop in. Since last Friday night, Addie has been sleeping 10 hours at night, eating, then going back to bed for another 2 hours. But last night, she outdid herself and skipped the morning feeding and slept for 13 hours straight! I'm not sure if getting a shot yesterday had an effect on her or what. I definitely went in a few times this morning to make sure she was still breathing.

Last week, I took Addie back to the NICU she had been in. The nurses got to see how she was doing and we were able to donate a bunch of preemie clothes so that other kids could have cute little things to wear just like she did while she was in the hospital! The nurses loved getting to see her, so I'm glad we went. Unfortunately, the nurse that took care of Addie the majority of the time was not there, but we left a picture for her. We are very thankful for the nurses in the NICU at our hospital-they took such great care of our daughter the first few days of her life.

Playing with Mommy!

Addie got to meet Mommy's Aunt Joyce and Uncle Bruce, who drove up from Atlanta one day just to see her for the first time!

Bob and I put Addie's 1-month and 3-month pictures in frames to put on the wall, but let Addie look at them for a little while first.

This is Addie's new favorite thing to do. Addie is a mover. I know I titled a post a few weeks ago as "Active Addie" and it was true then, but is even more true now. I hung out with some friends the other day and they told me Addie was no longer fun to hold because she would not stay still! She always wants to be standing and it was wearing Bob and I out (even if she is only 11 lbs.!), so we tried out the Exersaucer we had. It was way too big for her-her body would just get flung around in the huge seat. So, we were telling some friends from church about it and they suggested to stuff a blanket behind her for more support. We did that, and it worked great! Now the only problem is that the Exersaucer takes up our entire living room!

Here is Addie's 4-month-old picture we took yesterday. She is such a little smiler now. I'm not sure if you can fully tell here, but she has definitely lost tons of hair on the top of her head. But, it seems to be staying put on the sides and back, so she's starting to have more and more of a mullet, but we still love her!

Addie finally found her thumb!

2009-07-27T15:29:00.001-04:00

Active Addie

2009-07-22T19:08:00.000-04:00

Our baby Addie is definitely growing up. She is such a happy baby. She has been smiling tons recently-from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep for the most part. She even laughed for the first time the other night (she thinks Daddy is really funny)! I am a little worried about her hair situation...she has been doing a lot of shedding the past few days, so I hope that doesn't mean it is all going to fall out. That would be so sad. But, even though she has shed quite a bit, you can't tell just by looking at her-there is plenty still there as of right now! We weighed Addie the other day and she was 10 lb. 10 oz. We aren't sure how long she is, but everyone talks about how tall she looks, so we'll see how true that is when we go back to the doctor in a couple weeks. Addie is also a bit camera shy. As I said, she loves to smile, but when she sees the hot pink thing (our camera), she immediately stops smiling and just stares. I don't know what it is. Addie also enjoys watching tv and lounging in her bumbo seat. She is still a wonderful sleeper too. The past 2 nights, she has slept between 8 and 8 and a half hours! Even with her wonderful nighttime sleep, Addie still naps quite a bit during the day-probably because she plays so hard when she is awake! This girl will just lay on her blanket and kick her legs and wave her arms constantly for a while after she eats, then she is pooped and goes to sleep for a while. I had a dentist appointment yesterday and was a little nervous to be taking Addie with me, but she was great, and also a big hit. She just sat in her carseat and "talked" and kicked her legs while I got my teeth cleaned. We definitely have an easy baby. Here are some recent pics and a video:Addie lounging in her bumbo seat.

Hanging out for some "tummy time" on her Boppy, but she had other things in mind that just hanging out there...the following video shows what she did next:

Addie did this once before I got the camera out and I was shocked that she did it again once I was taping her. She somehow lost her balance, I guess, and lunged forward. She didn't just lay there and cry, though, as I would have thought she would. Apparently, she is a mover. We thought she was getting close to rolling over, but she has quit that and while on her belly, just tried to push off with her feet. We could have some craziness in store for us soon if she figures out how to move!

A visit to Atlanta

2009-07-13T17:50:00.000-04:00

Addie and I took a trip to Atlanta last week while Daddy was out of town for work.

She got to meet Uncle Matt for the first time (well, one if her Uncle Matt's)!

Poppi was happy to see her...it had been a while.We got to spend the night at Aunt Melinda's house one night.

Addie also got to meet another great-grandmother...Mimi!

Olivia loved getting to see Addie, though she didn't fully understand why Addie would not eat Goldfish with her or walk around the house holding hands with her. It won't be long, though.

Matching outfits!

Olivia must have a strong right arm to hold Addie with only one arm.

You got free Chik-fil-a on Friday if you dressed up like a cow, so we took advantage of that and let Addie join in on the fun.

Glad to see Daddy again!

Double Digits

2009-07-07T14:56:00.000-04:00

Addie is officially 3 months old and weighs 10 lbs! She has had a busy last couple of weeks, so here are some pictures to fill you in:

We went to the annual Angove family reunion at Hungry Mother State Park. All of the family was glad to see/meet Addie, but I think Trevor (Addie's cousin) loved Addie the most and gave her more kisses than anyone else (Dottie and Aunt Jennifer were giving Trevor a run for his money, though).

This picture is of Addie being ready to go to the beach (at the lake) for the first time. We thought it was one of the best recent pictures we have of her.

Apparently the beach was not exciting enough to keep her awake, but she did sweat a lot! She got that from her Daddy.

We had a nice little set-up for her thanks to Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Emily.

Family picture right before we went back up to the cabin.

Addie also got to meet Aunt Grace, who is her Daddy's Great Aunt (I think that's what it is called).

When we got back from the reunion, Addie and I went to a friend's house to meet a new friend. This is Owen and he is about a pound and a half lighter than Addie, but about 2 and a half months younger. Addie enjoyed punching him while they were laying on the floor together.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July again! This outfit definitely fit her much better than the other one.

Father's Day and other pictures

2009-06-22T17:13:00.000-04:00

Bob's Father's Day gifts...a picture book of Addie's life so far as well as a book called "The Unlikely Disciple."Addie has perfected the poochy lip.

It looks like the tummy time mat wore Addie out, but really she didn't do anything on it other than fall asleep. Apparently she likes sleeping on a pillow.

Addie does smile some, but it's hard to catch on camera. We got this one, though!

Addie still hasn't found her thumb to suck on yet, but she's got her index finger here!
Here is the outfit Addie wore to church yesterday, which her Daddy picked out for her to wear. It was very cute!

Here is a video of Addie enjoying her mobile.

Just over 2 Months

2009-06-11T14:00:00.000-04:00

Addie has been doing great and is growing up so fast. She has had a busy last few weeks and has been able to see lots of people. Addie had her 2-month appointment last Friday (almost a week ago) and was 8 lb. 8 oz., which is exactly double her birth weight! She is also 21 inches long and has a tiny head (14 in. circumference, which is less than the 3rd percentile). Her height and weight are in the 10th percentile, which is awesome! Developmentally, Addie is holding her own with other 2-month-olds and is in no way acting like a preemie. She has been so much fun lately. As of yesterday, she just started loving watching her mobile. She just lays there and kicks her feet and waves her arms as her head turns as the mobile turns. It was crazy to see her do that because he have tried getting her to look at it other times and she has had no interest whatsoever. Anyways, she is also holding her head up more and more as well as now enjoys putting weight on her legs ("standing" while we hold her). She is constantly changing!

Addie finally got to meet Uncle John at his high school graduation. This was a big weekend for her as she took her first trip (3 hours to Roanoke, VA and slept the entire car ride), got to meet her uncle, got to meet 2 of her great-grandmothers, and slept in a crib for the first time!

Addie with Granny and Grandma.

Mommy had to go back to work for a few days, so Addie got to hang out with Dottie for a while, which she loved. I think Dottie liked it too.

Addie has been a bit gassy lately (probably due to her large quantities of milk she has been taking in) and Daddy knows just what position to put her in to help her get it all out.

Addie had her first shot and got a hot pink band-aid!

Nana brought up a "tummy time" mat for Addie. She is working on that neck strength.

Nana also got to come babysit some while Mommy was at work. She couldn't believe how much Addie sleeps.

Here is Addie standing. Daddy is just helping out with balance, but all her weight is on her own little chubby legs!

The hair is growing!

2009-05-26T11:52:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since I last posted, so I've got quite a few pictures. Addie continues to grow...we weighed her last night and she was at 7 lb. 12.5 oz., so it won't be long before she's 8 lbs.! Her hair is also growing, as you will see below. She is a very happy baby for the most part, but changing constantly. She now has a "real" cry, which she is not afraid to use if she wants something or gets ignored at all. The lungs have definitely developed over the past month or so. She is also smiling more, especially right after she gets her belly full of milk. Her hands are still up all the time and she loves to kick her feet in the air.

Daddy is reading Addie a book, but she hasn't quite figured out that she is supposed to look at the book while he reads.

We recently put our hammock up and Addie loves to sleep in it with Daddy.

Addie has been having some gas issued and enjoys laying on her belly while she works on getting it out. Sometimes she falls asleep in that position...don't tell the doctor!

Here is the party in the back. Addie has enough hair to be putting barets and bows in it, but it is so thin that everything falls out!

Here she is in the sling again, which she still loves. Her hands had been folded together, but she stopped that as soon as we got the camera out.

Bathtime has become much more enjoyable for Addie recently. We found that she doesn't mind it so much when someone else is in the tub with her, so we have been doing that. She really likes to have as much of her body in the water as possible.

Here is Addie's hair when it's wet-it looks like she is mostly bald! That really shows just how thin it is.

Sprawled out on Daddy, taking a nap. Addie gets a little spoiled on the weekend when Daddy is around. He likes to hold her a lot and she definitely doesn't mind at all.

We tried putting Addie in her crib for a little bit this weekend to try to get her used to it. She has been sleeping in a bassinet in our room, but the time may be coming soon when she will get moved into her own room and her own crib. She looks like she's got shifty eyes here...who knows what she is up to!

Addie has really been trying to hold her head up quite a bit recently. She is able to hold it up for a little while, then drops it forward as if exhausted.

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T18:11:00.000-04:00

Addie remembered Mother's Day and got me...A necklace with her name and birthstone on it!

Here is our Mother's Day picture. We took Addie to church for the first time, so this was her first time in a dress. It was a bit big, but still cute!

Addie got to meet another cousin, aunt, and uncle this weekend. Pictured here is her cousin Austin and Aunt Emily.

Austin was not very interested in Addie most of the time, but he got to know her a little bit.

Here us Uncle Jonathan putting Addie right to sleep.

1 Month old and still 2 days from the due date

2009-05-04T16:12:00.000-04:00

Addie had her one month doctor's appointment this morning and officially weighs 6 lb. 4 oz. (3rd percentile) and is 20 inches long (10th percentile). Here are some pictures taken recently:

I got a sling to put Addie in and thought it would be for walks, but it turns out that she likes it so much that I use it way more often than that. Basically, if she is upset and won't stop crying, I put her in the sling and she calms right down (usually even falls asleep). Plus, I am able to still do things while she is in it, so that is an added bonus.

Our rose bush has really taken off this spring, so we thought we would take a picture with it while it was in full bloom.
Here is Addie thinking...what about? Who knows. Probably wondering when she gets to eat again.

Addie hanging out on her activity mat with her wrist rattle. We've got to get her used to soccer balls...even if she can't kick them yet.

This is Addie's favorite way to sleep-hands up. If we swaddle her with her hands trapped in the blanket, she always somehow gets them out and up. Maybe she will be a goalkeeper.

The hospital never gave us any handprints or footprints, so we decided to get some on our own.

Here she is...it took a long time to get a picture where Addie actually had her eyes open and looking at the camera.

Meeting More Family

2009-04-28T13:32:00.000-04:00

Bob's mom (Dottie to Addie) came down for the week last week to help out with Addie. It was definitely nice to have someone else around the house and she also babysat Addie so that I could run a few errands, which was great.

My parents as well as my sister and her daughter came down Friday for the night to see Addie. Nana was excited to see her again and see how much she had grown!We have always talked about how small Olivia has been, but for the first time this weekend, she looked big! Olivia was a little confused about Addie's name...apparently she thought we were saying her name was "Daddy" because she kept referring to baby Dada. Olivia also got to meet her Aunt Melinda for the first time.

Poppi got to hold 2 grandaughters at once!

Daddy reading Addie a book. He was trying to take advantage of one of her few awake moments in the day.

A full body shot. This picture makes her look so much older to me with the pants on. Addie is growing a lot. As of Friday, she weighed 5 lbs. 10 oz. She has outgrown almost all of her preemie clothes, but is not quite filling out the newborn clothes yet. I'm sure she will soon!

Daddy rocking Addie on the front porch.

I've started taking Addie on walks in the morning, so here she is in her stroller. It puts her right to sleep.

Our 5 Pounder

2009-04-20T14:51:00.000-04:00

Addie had her newborn doctor's appointment this morning, so she was measured and weighed and our little girl has grown! She now weighs 5 lb. 3 oz., so almost a full pound more than she weighed when she was born! She continues to eat well, so we expect her to continue to grow and catch up with other newborns (she is in the 3rd percentile for weight right now, but that compares her with full-term newborns).

I don't know if you can fully tell here, but Addie is definitely getting a double chin. It seems like the majority of the weight she is putting on is in her face-definitely not her arms or legs-they just keep getting longer! She is 18 and 3/4 inches long. Bob and I think she has changed so much already-it's crazy.

Here is Addie holding her Daddy's wedding rind-it fits perfectly in the palm of her hand.

Addie got to meet some cousins as well as an aunt and an uncle this weekend. This is her cousin, Michaela, who is 5 years old and loved to give her kisses.
This is 2-year-old cousin Trevor's first meeting. He was constantly asking where the baby was when he was here. He loved to just touch her.

The whole Clarke family: Uncle J.R., cousin Trevor, cousin Michaela, and Aunt Jennifer.

Just lounging on the couch in her diaper.

Easter and First Bath

2009-04-15T21:25:00.000-04:00

Bob and I colored eggs for Addie which she was really excited about.

Bob's parents got Addie her first Easter basket. There were plastic eggs in the basket, but they were empty this year. Hopefully next year she will be able to enjoy some Easter candy in them. The outfit Addie is wearing here was an Easter outfit. The little bunnies on her feet were supposed to be mittens, but we were able to squeeze them onto her feet for the picture. That hat on her head was way too big for her, so it didn't stay on long.
Addie had her first bath at home on Tuesday. The first thing she did when she was put in the tub was pee in the water, then she proceeded to scream until it was over. As you can see from the picture, Addie has been gaining weight (check out the belly)-she is up to 4 lbs. 9.5 oz.

Addie got really cold during bathtime, so she got to cuddle for a while afterwards to warm up.

Pictures of Addie

2009-04-12T15:55:00.000-04:00

Our arrival at the hospital-the 2nd hospital we were admitted to. Thankfully, the doctor let us run home before we checked in so that we could have a few things with us for our stay.

Here she is! We didn't think we would get any pictures of her in the operating room due to possible complications, but everything turned out great and Bob got some good pictures right away.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to get this picture turned, but here is our first family picture. Not the greatest picture of each of us, but we were all very happy!

Here are all of our waiting room guests. Nate was with us in the first hospital we checked into, then met us at the next hospital. He was the first one there Saturday morning, ready to meet his newest neice. Abigail's parents drove up Friday as soon as they heard what was going on and Bob's parents came early Saturday morning in time for the c-section. We were thankful to have family there on such short notice!

This is Addie in the NICU. She was there for her size and, as you can see, had a lot of wires attached to her.

This shows where Addie's IV had been-it was so sad. It also shows just how tiny her hand is in comparison to bob's hand. Everything about her is so tiny!

Here is an overview of Addie's little corner in the NICU. She was one of the healthiest babies in there. Every time we went to see her, we were reminded of how blessed we were that Addie did not have any health problems. There were tons of babies in the NICU that had been there for weeks and months.

There's a little smile! Addie smiles at the most random times-mostly when she is sleeping. We wonder what she could be dreaming about that would make her smile. Milk?

Over the last week we have caught on to some of Addie's favorite things to do (other than eat, sleep, pee, and poop). This picture captures one of those things: putting her hands on her face. She is very aware of her hands and loves to scratch herself with them as well as suck on them. Other favorite things of Addie's are having the hiccups (she gets them multiple times a day, as she also did in the womb) and having one eye open and one eye closed.

Addie had jaundice, so the doctors said she needed phototherapy, which meant put Addie under some bright lights. She had to wear this mask while under the lights. It was so sad when we had to put the mask on her while she was awake and trying to look around. I'm glad those days of phototherapy are over!

Just a full body shot. It was hard to dress Addie with so many wires attached. What was really annoying was that the monitor her wires were hooked up to would beep anytime the wires moved on her body very much. She was glad to get them off on Thursday.

Ready to come home. The carseat seemed to swallow her right up!

The Angove family of 3 about to take their first ride in the dar together. Addie had to take a carseat test before we left. Basically, they just put her in the carseat for 30 minutes and monitor her oxygen levels to see if she minds it. Well, they took her out of the carseat after 10 minutes because she had already failed the test. Apparently, the carseat stressed her out, so she has to have someone sit right next to her anytime she is in the car.

We made it home!

I thought this was a funny picture to end with. The bottle looks massive, but it actually only hold just over 2 ounces.

Addie May: Born April 4, 2009

2009-04-12T13:09:00.000-04:00

We have decided to start a blog in order to keep friends and family connected to Addie. We plan to upload lots of pictures here of her first week of life very soon. As for now, I will just give a little summary of her first week of life. As most of you know, Addie was born Saturday, April 4th at 9:30 in the morning via c-section. She came out crying and completely healthy-against what the doctor's had warned us could have happened. She spent the next 2 days in the NICU nursery, then 3 days in the progressive care nursery. Every time the doctor's said she needed to be able to do something (gain weight, get her jaundice numbers down, eat well), she did it. She has surprised everyone over and over again and ended up coming home with us on Thursday, April 9th (doctor's had originally said it would probably be about 2 weeks). Since being home, Addie has gained weight. She was born 4lbs. 4 oz., then lost some weight while in the hospital (down to 4lbs. 2.2 oz.). Yesterday, we had to take her in to the pediatrician to be weighed and she is up to 4lbs. 6.5 oz., so she is gaining quickly! We have been trying to keep Addie on the same schedule she was on in the hosoital, eating every 3 hours, but she has struggled with that at night some. We are hoping she will adjust to life here at home quickly and we will all start getting a little more sleep at night. That is the jist of Addie's first week of life...pictures to follow!