lucky ladybug

Fall-in-love

addie and her mama and her ladybug pumpkin...

Fall-0-weeeeen!!

addie wanted her pumpkin to match her costume - perhaps a new tradition?

so a ladybug it became...she did so well while mommy and daddy carved away until she started getting sleepy and almost fell asleep sitting up in her bumbo. we made sure to finish hers fast so she could approve of the final product. she loved touching the bottom of her pumpkin lid...

then she took almost a 3 hour nap so mommy and daddy could rake leaves and cut firewood and clean up pumpkin guts that had gotten everywhere!

she is itching to get into her costume! don't worry, there will be pictures...

to my growing lady

dear adelaide,

in 8 short months you have managed to turn my world around...i heard an interview with a new mom recently and when asked if she loved being a mom - she said "it's like my whole body just wakes up to love her". and i thought, i'm pretty good with words sometimes but that is the best way to describe how much i love you and love having you in my life. i remember every time i look at you how i thought i might not ever get to have someone as special as you in my life - and how i am filled with gratitude even in moments where loving you exhausts me.

and today, when it felt like a forever kind of day at school and it was only 10 am or so...i looked at a picture of you and everything got a little lighter. you do this for lots of people, grandma, nana, daddy, the ladies at your school, even strangers when we are out and about - you just seem to make the day shine a little bit brighter with your scrunched up sweet toothy smile and i love you for it!

you are getting so big, wearing 12-18 month clothing and of course the new winter hat we bought you was a 2T (no surprise). you don't love your veggies like you used to...but man, you would down a gallon of bananas or applesauce if i let you. you sleep with your bottom in the air which is freaking adorable and you still sleep anywhere...even sitting straight up. you are obsessed with buttons on anything - or tags - you stare at them intently and then dive in for the kill (sucking on them so hard i worry they will come off!). your 'fangs' are coming in causing you to twist the top of your mouth against the bottom making an awful sound...which obviously makes some of the pain go away. you are still hysterically funny and daddy and i just love listening to you tell us very loud stories. we think ourselves pretty darn lucky to hang out with you babe - you are 8 months of awesome.

things i can do that i now that i am a big 8 month old:

1. stand sometimes without holding on - this really freaks mommy out.

2. grind my top and bottom teeth together!

3. laugh to make others laugh along...

4. squirm and arch my back to show mommy its time to let me go and play...

miss emily said today at school that you are just itching to move - that you are watching your friends crawl around you and you are studying their moves to perfect your first one.

scrunchy smile

addie's new scrunchy smile...

god this little girl is fun

fall family traditions

once again...weird being the mom and not the aunt. it's fall, and fall means atleast one trip to shaw farms for a very special personal pumpkin picking moment...not to be completed without a trip up the road to rouster's apple farm where the "little apples for little people" are worth a half hour drive.

it's addie's first fall (obviously) and i just can't help but get excited for next year when all the things i love about fall will be things she can love too...hayrides, cornmazes, pumpkin carving, caramel apples, cider, costumes, etc.

until then, we have lots of other firsts to enjoy - like today when addie saw her first gigantic santa at the hardware store and couldn't take her eyes off of him.

riding for a cause...

it was chilly...but addie "walked" off the cold for Children's Hospital...and was very proud to show off her first medal!

way to ride addie! and all for a good cause - and without making a peep!

addie meets mr. b

today was a very special day - adelaide met brendan.

it meant a lot to me that while he was in town he made time to meet up and introduce himself to addie...

i drove away from lunch thinking to myself how many stories i could tell her someday about the fun mr. b and i have had through the years...and then it made me think of all the things i wouldn't want her to know about...perhaps that conversation can wait until she is at least 21 before I go giving her ideas on how to cause trouble.

fun at the park

years ago, we would have met at a bar...or even perhaps a fun restaurant...but now that most of my college friends have children, we met at the park.

i don't have pictures of their adorable children because addie isn't able to keep up with them...so she just hung out in a swing...and liked it only when she could lean all the way forward like she was flying. oddly enough she already has the "leg-pump" down...weird.

here's to chasing after her next year, and spotting her on monkey bars...anytime with addie is fun-time though...

all better now

i'm all better now, no more laryngitis, no more ear infection, no more shots, no more medicine...

i'm a healthy 22.4 lb 7 month old and happy as can be.

dear addie, thank you for being the most amazing 7 month old. i have expected a lot out of you this past week - running you all over town. you have not only been an angel, but you have also entertained everyone in our path. now i always knew how amazing you were, but this week, even when i had you out late at several student's homes for dinner - you were the hit of the meal...and everyone just couldn't believe how behaved you were. you even let one dad hold you while you ate your bottle.

i love a lot about you babe-but i love your social skills the best.

even today when i picked you up from school, miss jen said you had been flirting all afternoon with two of the boys-making them laugh. you crack me up laides, can't wait for what you'll do next.

things i can do:

1. pull myself up to stand.

2. drink 8 ozs. in less than a minute.

3. soak through waterproof bibs.

4. turn any objects into drumsticks - i prefer harder objects to increase the sound level.