Cooking with Toddy

At some point Addie will call my mom Toddy. Right now she is calling her "Mo ma" which sounds similar to Maw Maw. She hates it...which causes us to egg it on even more.

Every time Toddy tried to talk the other night, Addie did this!

 Baking cookies with Toddy

 You can probably guess who rules our family...

I don't believe this is sanitary.

Day trippin

So, we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the girl who keeps Addie for us. I really do not know what we would do without her. I trust her 100% and most importantly, Addie is obsessed with her. We are SO thankful to have found such a wonderful person to step in while we are at work! We went on a little trip to visit her today and what do you know...Addie wanted to stay with her! Blessed!

From there, we Macgyvered our way to Macon (Mississippi) to see my cousins and grandparents. I plugged the iPad into the AUX port so I got to listen to the Lion King while Addie watched it. I really took in the scenery on the two hour drive. Wow, we live in a beautiful state! 

Here are some pics:

 A little jealous of the baby

She warmed up after a while though 

Granny with her 8th great grandchild 

Pretty sure he's the best grandfather around...

Enjoying this age

Addie will be two in February...that's hard to believe! This is such a fun age though. Besides the fact that she is a mini me, I love spending time with her. I'm not going to lie...she knows how to push my buttons. I have to be careful how I react and try to think back to what was effective with me. Neither one of us like to be told what to do. Well, of course this is a problem! I have to be very strategic and make her think that whatever I am getting her to do is her idea. It makes for an interesting adventure in parenting.

 This Christmas season we have decorated the tree together, thrown tea parties, baked, etc. It's been a great few days at home already! Ask me next week while I am POTTY TRAINING! To say that I am dreading it is a major understatement. Wish me luck!

 Watching as they tie on the tree

 Making memories...

 My little organizer. She sorted the ornaments for us.

 Carefully positioning the "kid friendly" ornaments on the bottom

 She grouped all of the ornaments that were the same. Hmm

Makeshift tea party with oatmeal cookies and hot cider. Yum!

Filling my spare time

I am off for Christmas break for two whole weeks! My pinterest addiction is actually starting to pay off. Yesterday I worked on a couple of "pallet" projects that I have been lusting over wanting to do. 

I am working on Addie's big girl room. We love animals. Let me clarify...Addie and I love animals! So decided to do some animal artwork for her room. I saw this on Restoration Hardware's website and swore that I could make my version of this for MUCH cheaper than $170 or whatever they were charging plus shipping. I didn't want the silhouette to be black and I didn't like the metal ties. 

Here is my version! 

How to: Andrew took apart the old pallets for me. They were old and brittle with lots of nails in them so it wasn't something I wanted to do.

I got the two side pieces from Lowes. I think they were $1.00 each. Originally I was going to put them on the back to hold the wood together but instead of making the dog bigger, I decided to put them on the front. I went ahead and painted and sanded these pieces to make them look old.

I picked out four "pretty" wood planks (some of them were split in half but it doesn't matter) and laid them out how I wanted them positioned.

I made a dog template with poster board and traced it with chalk. 

Then I put my two holding pieces on the front and screwed those in with 1 1/2 inch nail screws. I would suggest shorter screws because ours poked through the back...we just put foam over them.  

To minimize the fact that I used 1,000 screws, I painted over them again. 

Then, I painted inside of my chalk outline, let it dry, and wiped the chalk off.

All in all, it was a cheap and fun project. 

 I put it high above her bed only because she will have a big fabric headboard. We still have a long way to go with her room...

Project #2 was super easy. The pallet was already missing the middle board so all I had to do was paint it. I didn't sand it or anything before because I didn't want to lose the weathered look.

 I was going for a dark blue/gray but that's not what I got...I painted over it with a light gray.

 I am still deciding what to put in there...maybe an oversized glamour shot picture of Addie? 

Christmas!!!!!!

It's that time of year again...Thanksgiving comes and goes and it causes panic. I always freak out that I haven't ordered Christmas cards OR bought any gifts! This year is different...I am much calmer than usual. Maybe because I am doing everything online?!

There are SO many things that I love about Christmas...I mean we basically count down from Easter, right? Decorating, are you kidding?! SO much fun! One of my favorite things about "the season" is exchanging Christmas cards. I have kept the cards from years past and always go back and look at them before I send mine. I enjoy seeing families change each year. Someone got married, got a new dog, or had a child. I rip open the envelope (saving the return address) and post them around our kitchen door frame. I do look at them when I open them, but I seriously look at them everyday and notice something new. Maybe it's my lack of attention to detail...it takes me a little while, ha! Tiny prints has the most awesome Christmas cards. Here is one that I really like. 

Favorite card on Tiny Prints

Now to choose a picture! I like this one but I didn't have my flash on and I will need to doctor it...

Mulligan for the season?

As I was uploading this weekend's pictures, Addie climbed up next to me, picked up Andrew's iPad and opened her learning game. What in the world?!?! She is currently looking at pictures on Facebook...seriously?! When did she grow up?

We love going to Oxford to see our friends. If we are good at football, that's a plus. Clearly this season was strictly social. We had a great weekend with friends and got lots of good pictures. 

 It was Sean's first trip to meet M.E.'s family! We got to hang with them for a while Saturday.

Family photo in the grove 

 Haley and KJ

 Staring at someone

 Uncles! Charles and Matthew

 Girl pic

 It's been a long time since we all got together for a pic

 No tears this year!

She seemed pretty happy...

Rambling

For the first time this year, the fireplace is on. Andrew hates when I turn it on, but because he is working, Addie and I can do what we want. We are currently curled up watching Cars 2. We have both been stopped up and of course I am an adult (sometimes) and can blow my nose. Addie doesn't know how to get rid of it so she's just been throwing up mucus. Yuck! Before I leave for school each morning, we lay in my bed and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This morning was a little bit different. While enjoying Mickey, Addie threw up a little bit on our comforter. Mind you, we have an oversized california king. Now I have to take our huge comforter to the laundromat because it won't fit in our front loaders. The funniest part of it was that she started dancing right after. Love this age...

I have to share what we did at school today! I have been teaching about Washington D.C. for the past week. Well, I happen to have an awesome friend (Mary Ellis) that lives and works in D.C. We "facetimed" with her this morning in my classroom! My students each came up with one question to ask her. I hooked my iPad up to my projector and displayed her beautiful face on the screen, ha! One at a time, they stood in front of the iPad and asked the question. They thought it was awesome!!!

On a different note: tomorrow I am getting the iPhone 4s. Finally! I am SO excited. If they are out by the time I get out of school, I will be crushed. Let's hope for the best.

Picking it up

Although I was still cramping pretty bad, I went back to school today. I was so scared that I would have to re-live the miscarriage and even more worried about everyone knowing we are trying to have a baby. I still worry that the question will begin soon. "When are y'all going to try again?" I don't mind the question so much, it's just that I can't think about trying again. I need time to grieve the loss. I understand that it happened for a reason, but I keep going back to the fact that I'm not pregnant anymore. Moving Addie to a big girl room doesn't seem so easy anymore. That's what I get for planning...

There are many reasons why I love teaching but I was reminded today when I went back. Instead of a barrage of questions, I got loving hugs from my co-workers and a normal day from my students. You could say my classroom is my La-La Land. It's a special place where the outside world doesn't seep in. There is no tv, my phone stays on silent, I get occasional emails, and very little time to myself. Sometimes I think being cut off from the world is a bad thing, but today was different. All I wanted was normalcy.

Planning for a sub is always a nightmare. I knew that I was going to be out Monday for my doctor's appointment so I had sticky notes on books, I typed up the day's schedule, every book needed was laid out, morning work was on the board, homework was ready, copies were made. Tuesday, though, was a total surprise. My poor sub just had to wing it. I didn't mind getting my room back together today and re-teaching everything. It kept me occupied. Now if I can just muster through the aching and constant yearning for sleep, I will make it.

Here is our little blessing...think we should cut out some tv? ha...

Losing a piece of me

   Some of you reading may already know that we experienced a great loss today. We found out two weeks ago that we were pregnant. We told our family this weekend but were waiting to tell others. I took off from school today for our first doctor appointment expecting to be leaving with a smile and sonogram pictures in hand. Instead we left with heavy hearts and tears in our eyes.

   The sonogram didn't look like it should have and when I went upstairs for the urine sample, I lost a lot of blood. I knew what was happening. I walked into the waiting room and sobbed into Andrew's shoulder. My doctor examined me, sent me back down for another sonogram and it was gone. When we skipped the blood-work, it really set in and I fell apart. I knew she was about to sit down and tell us that we miscarried.

    We are blessed to have such a wonderful doctor. She hugged me and explained everything in detail. It meant so much that she took so much time with us. I didn't ask many questions because when it hit me, I wanted to be ok. I tried to hold back. All I could think about was moving on. How can we think about trying again when I'm not sure how long it will take to recover emotionally from this? It's something that will take time and trust that God has a plan for us.

   Addie was asleep when I got home from the doctor. I got her out of her bed and put her in our big bed. Andrew, Addie, and I snuggled together for most of the day. It's comforting that she doesn't know what is going on. All she knows is that we are sad about something so she keeps dishing out kisses to us. Mom came and got her to give us a little break but I couldn't be without her for long. She is even more special to us now. It was a surprise to us that we were pregnant with her and we had an easy delivery. What a blessing she was and is! What would we do without her?

   Patience, understanding and trust are three things that we are learning through this. It's funny that Sunday night, with my 12th graders, we talked about how God uses the valleys and the peaks to teach us to trust in Him. Here is my real-world application. Praise him in the peaks AND in the valleys. Although I am struggling to understand, I know that there is a reason.

   It's been a roller coaster of a day.  We have gone through every emotion. I now know what this is like. I have always heard of it and have had close friends and family members go through it, but I could never relate. You can't until you have experienced this. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. It's physically and emotionally painful. It's not going to be easy but we will get to ok. I have heard that you never forget this baby but you do move on and find peace about it. I hope that we get there soon.

 

Air show part 2

Here are the other air show pics:

Family photo

 I thought this was great of Andrew and Addie

Airplane!!

 Addie wasn't really sure what to do

 Watching the planes

 Addie and Toddy

 Eating parts of a chicken on a stick...so healthy 

 Watching the planes do tricks

Very entertained

Chowing down on Uncle Sean's apple

Air Show

Addie is infatuated with airplanes so when Mom asked me if we wanted to go to the air show today, we got really excited!  The whole family loaded up in the suburban and headed to Hawkins Field. It was a free show and I think it was an all day thing. We just stayed from 1:00 to around 3:00 and it was plenty. It was an interesting crowd...

Addie and I got to sit in an airplane! I'm not going to lie...I enjoyed it. Although we will probably be sunburned, it was very entertaining. I took a ton of pictures on my mom's camera so I will post those later. 

Playing in the airplane

Catching a break from the sun

She loved watching the planes

This Beautiful Saturday

(Most of) Today has been one of those days that I want to treasure. Andrew had to go to the ribbon cutting of the renovated Kroger this morning so Addie and I decorated the driveway in chalk with notes for Daddy. (Side note about the Kroger...it's now the largest Kroger in the country. It's a big deal.) When he got home, the family loaded up and went to A Day in the Country. If you aren't familiar, it's a huge event that Chapel of the Cross, a historic Episcopal church in Madison, puts on each year. There are tents full of hand-made crafts, children's clothing, great food, and funky finds. It was so nice to stroll around and look at all of the cool crafts for sale. What a perfect day for that!

On the way home, we made a pit stop at the Farmer's Market to get some gourds (of course!), fresh fruits, veggies AND boiled peanuts. The peanuts were delicious! We spread a blanket out in the front yard and ate every single one. Which leads to my other discovery and why I said "most of" at the beginning of the post.

After eating several boiled peanuts on our beautiful blanket in the sun, Addie threw up! SO glad we were in the front yard. She has eaten peanuts several times and we've never had an issue. WELL...long story short, her face has been broken out a little bit this week. I noticed a couple of bumps Thursday and I just thought it was just because I washed her clothes with regular Tide because I normally use Tide Free. I re-washed everything yesterday but she still had a couple of bumps today.

Wheels in my head starting turning when she threw up!!! She didn't sleep well Thursday night or Friday night which means I didn't sleep well either. I checked her hands and feet...and found 3 bumps on the bottom of her foot! Mom + Teacher + No medical degree (but close enough) = Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease. (They should leave off the word disease...it sounds so permanent) If you don't know about this it's kind of like the chicken pox. It is very common and contagious among 3 year or younger children. Normally, it spreads through daycares, schools, etc. I have NO IDEA where Addie got it since she isn't in daycare and hasn't been in a nursery in the past month. They have sores, or bumps, in or around their mouth, on their hands, and on their feet. It lasts about a week and then goes away. They might run fever, vomit, and the sores can be painful. Bless her heart!! It caught me so off-guard tonight because I can't figure out where she would have been exposed to it.

Knock on wood, the only allergy she has is an orange allergy. My brother has the same allergy so it's not weird to us. Andrew and I don't have allergies and pray that we don't have children that are allergic to everything under the sun. For a brief second tonight, I was having a panic attack about a possible peanut allergy. Thank goodness that's not what it is. Whew! I think I can handle a week of HFMD. I guess we will just hang out around the house for a week.

 Love some sidewalk chalk...except when the piece gets so small that you scrape your finger, ha

 She loved carrying the bucket around

 I love this picture!

Taking the chalk out and putting it back in...so fun

Speaking of...

Last night I blogged about Addie needing me (and not) sometimes. Today is one of those days when all she wants is Mommy. She got sick yesterday afternoon so today we are laying around watching Mickey Mouse, Disney movies and rocking. Although I hate missing school, I am trying to enjoy being needed. This makes it worth it:

Growing pains

Blogging has not been my strong suit lately. I'm not even going to try to recap the summer...too much happened.

Moving right along, Addie is GROWING up!! I have to say that I have gotten very comfortable with her independence. She will point to her diaper and babble something important to let me know that she has gone to the bathroom...although the awful rotting garbage smell gives it away! Tiny handprints are all over the cabinets (where she gets her cookies), fridge (when she wants milk or grapes), windows (from wanting to leave with Carla everyday...she pitches a fit to go), and mirrors (where she makes silly faces to herself). It's amazing to me that she is only one. There are times when I feel sad about her growing up so fast. I don't want to move her into a big girl room, take the pacifier away, or put away the high chair. It's going to happen, just not now. Even though she is doing all of these awesome things by herself, it melts my heart when she "needs" me. If I am in the kitchen washing dishes and she wants a hug, she will grab my leg and turn me around so that she can get my attention. Addie also gets needy if Andrew hugs me or kisses me. Rule number one: she always has be in the center of a family hug!

An issue and rule number two: if she isn't comfortable with you, don't try to pick her up. She will freeze like a popsicle and start to cry. Not sure why but she has done that since birth. It's always a little embarrassing when she does that to someone she should know. It's not her fault...it just happens.

Currently, these are her favorite things: Minnie Mouse, Tinkerbell, watching football, ballet, talking nonsense, Chips Ahoy cookies (she secretly gets them out of the cabinet), pushing Charlie out of the way, and running through grass. Here are some pics as of lately.

 With the big kindergarteners at the pep rally!

 Uncle Alec and Sean after a pep rally

 Rocking chair

 Excited about something

 "What's that?" favorite phrase

 Reading the book to us

Playing with her Little People house

 Knocking over the Little People house

 Smelling her plastic "tea cake"

Fake smile...

 Surprised face!

How do I look?!