Hard to Let Go...

Okay, so I guess this was a huge accomplishment for me, but it was so pathetically difficult.  For the first time ever, Addi spent the night away from me last night.  It was definitely hard on me but I’m sure it didn’t phase her.

Craig normally works night shift so he takes Addison to my mom in the morning after he drops Austin off at school.  She usually gets to mom’s house at around 10.  Craig was needed to work day-shift on Friday and had to be at work at 7 AM which meant I would need to be the one to drop Addi off and then go in to work later than normal.

Mom suggested letting her stay the night Thursday night so that I didn’t have to go into work late.  It was already 8 PM Thursday night and she normally goes to bed at 9, so I only had another waking hour to spend with her and it was a very convenient suggestion, so I reluctantly agreed.  She is normally still asleep when I leave for work in the morning anyway, so I knew that I wasn’t going to miss out on spending any time with her Friday morning either.  I convinced myself that I could handle this and packed her overnight bag for her first sleep-over.

When they pulled out of the drive-way and I waved good-bye, I broke down and cried hysterically for about 30 seconds and then I quickly pulled myself together.  Hello?  She was in GREAT hands—it’s not like I was sending her off to spend an evening with some psycho-lunatic strangers.  She would be the center of attention and spoiled rotten!  Plus, she doesn’t get a lot of time with Grandma & Grandpa by herself because normally Katie & Connor are there too, so she needed the extra TLC. 

I cleaned like mad to keep myself from thinking about it and actually got a lot accomplished.  I had Craig call at 9:45 to make sure that she was sound asleep and found out that she and Grandpa were still reading books at that time (see, she was SPOILED)!  She should have been in dreamland by that time!

All was well and she did great.  As I knew it would be, it was much harder on Mommy than Addison.  It was a good first step for me, but it will probably be a while before I let her go again!!  J

Another Crazy Weekend...

Well, we knew that the weekend would be busy but weren’t expecting part of what was in store for us!

It started out Friday night as we prepared to get things ready for our yard sale on Saturday.  We had been cleaning out the basement several months ago and had a huge pile of stuff that we were ready to part with.  In addition to our stuff, Mom and Lyndi had a lot that they wanted to get rid of also so it turned out that we had a little bit of everything to offer at smashing, low prices!  We worked until late Friday night getting everything in our garage and organized so that Saturday morning, we could just move stuff out to the driveway.  After working hard Friday night, the guys were ready to eat again so Craig ran to McDonalds for a late-night snack.  Nosy Addi was still awake and when there is food, there is Addi so she had to be right in the middle of them while they ate—of course, they shared with her and she had a late–night snack too!

We sold a bedroom suite, chaise lounge, computer desk, 2 entertainment centers, several chairs, end tables, bar stools, patio set, vacuum cleaners, bouncy seat, double-stroller, TV, wooden shelves, home décor, clothes, shoes, toys, etc…  We got rid of a lot of stuff and made a little money too so it was a nice trade-off.  Most everything that was left was loaded up on a trailer and dropped off at Goodwill! 

Thankfully, it was a beautiful day and the crowds were out!  It was such a beautiful day that the kids (Addison, Katie Belle, and Connor) played most of the time in the garage or in the driveway—which meant they needed sunscreen.  We lathered them up and let them play.  We noticed that Addi had started to get a little rash on her belly but we thought it was probably heat rash since she has had that before so we didn’t think too much about it.  Craig took her in for a nap and after her nap, her rash looked better.

We decided that since it was so nice (and the yard sale crowd had really slowed down), we would take the kids to Craig’s sister’s house to swim.  Mom stayed at our house and tended to the yard sale while we went swimming.  More sunscreen of course and lots of fun in the water!  The kids had a blast and ended up swimming for probably close to two hours!  Addison still had a bit of a rash but it wasn’t too bad and was only on her stomach/chest area. 

We went home and I put her in the bath tub to get the sunscreen off.  The rash was still there but I figured it would take some time for it to go away and it certainly didn’t seem to be bothering her.

We decided to go to Gattitown for dinner which is an all-you-can-eat pizza, pasta, breadsticks place with indoor merry-go-round, games, etc…  She had a good time and enjoyed riding the merry-go-round (twice).  By the time we left though, she was starting to get a little fussy and we noticed her itching her chest and becoming agitated.  We decided to stop and get some Bendaryl on the way home and give her a dose of that to help with the itching.

When we got home and changed her clothes, we noticed that the rash was more prominent on her chest and stomach and was also on her back.  We called the pediatrician on-call and he said that we should continue to give her Benadryl and that it sounded like heat rash to him too.  We asked about taking her to the ER but he said that the only thing they would probably do would be to give her Benadryl, which we were already doing so we went to bed. 

She was probably up half a dozen times itching and miserable.  It was pathetic to see her that way.  We tried everything we could think of to keep her comfortable but nothing was helping.  The rash had spread to her bottom and was itching her like crazy. 

Sunday morning, we decided it was time to go to the ER because the rash had spread to her face now too.  To make a long story short, six hours later we left the UK Pediatric ER with a couple of prescriptions (one for a steroid) and not many answers.  The doctors really thought she had had an allergic reaction to something—maybe the sunscreen since it was a kind I’d never used before.  It was the “Especially for Kids” brand from Babies R’ Us.  Needless to say, I have already thrown it away.  I’m not 100% sure that is what caused it but I’m not taking any chances.  I just can’t think of anything different that she ate or was exposed to other than the sunscreen.  I have used the Baby Blanket brand before (also from Babies R’ Us) without any problem, so I will be going back to that.  Her pediatrician recommended Coppertone Waterbabies so I also bought some of that—the Pure & Simple kind.

A few days have passed and she is much better now.  The medications have cleared up most of the rash and we expect it to be completely gone by the time the last of the medicine is gone.  That was NOT fun.  It was so hard to see her so agitated by the itching.  It’s never fun to go through that but even harder to see a baby grabbing her skin and scratching it.  Good times…

Hodgepodge...

I don’t have anything terribly exciting to post.  Since the frenzy and hectic-ness (not a word, I know) of Mother’s Day/Baby Dedication Day/Addi’s B-day party weekend, we have been rather low-key and in recovery mode. 

Austin’s musical was a great success but I am happy to report that it is OVER.  The long practices and late pick-ups have finally come to an end.  I’m sure he feels a major void in his life having gone from 20 + hours per week of practicing to ZERO but hopefully he can focus on some other things now such as getting back into piano practice and taking voice lessons.

He only has a few weeks left of school—I can’t believe he will be a SOPHOMORE and will be turning 16 in only 5 months.  This year has totally been a blur….

Addison has really been developing a little vocabulary of her own.  She definitely has a language of her own that she speaks quite fluently but she also throws a few words, on occasion, that we can identify with!  She has started this new thing, which is adorable, where she will point at something and say, “I want DAT.”  Awww-her first complete sentence!  So if she sees anything that she wants, she is sure to make her requests known.  In addition to her first sentence, she also says “momma, daddy, ball, peep-eye, papaw, bawoon (balloon).”  For the most part though, she speaks her own language and we just nod our head and pretend we understand!

She had her 12-month baby visit on 5/11 and weighed 21.1 lbs (70^th percentile) and her height was 30.5 inches (90^th percentile).  Her head circumference was in the 50^th percentile.  She got a round of shots and actually handled them better than I was expecting.  She did scream of course but the screaming didn’t last long thankfully.  It was the first time I had taken her to the doctor to get shots without Craig so I was nervous that I would have a harder time than she would but I didn’t cry.

She had to have a blood test a couple of weeks ago to check her enzyme levels of the vitamin Biotin—thankfully this time, it came back in the normal range so we have stopped having to give her the vitamin Biotin every day which is nice.  She goes back on 6/2 to have an EEG done and if it is normal, her neurologist may start weaning her off of the Keppra, which is the seizure medication that she has been on since she was 3 months old.

She is still wearing size 3 diapers and mostly 12-month (and some 18-month) clothing.  She is starting to get more hair and it curls up in the back.  She loves wearing hairbows and is very good about leaving them on.  Craig would prefer her to wear a ball hat and she likes wearing those too.

She has zero patience and can go from happy to blistering mad in a New-York minute, but she is such a good girl 99% of the time.  She is a very happy and sweet little girl and loves sharing her “sugars” with her family!

Until next time...

A Weekend of Celebrations....

Wow, what a busy weekend we had.  It may take me all week to recover!  I have a feeling that this post is going to be extra long—there’s your warning!

We began our busy weekend Friday night by going to Austin’s musical/play at school.  Craig’s mom and dad reluctantly (ha) agreed to watch Addison while we went to the play.  The musical was called South Pacific and they did an excellent job.  They have put in LOTS of hours practicing and it paid off because they did a really good job.  I wasn’t able to take pictures because flash photography was prohibited.  It was a very long musical though—it started at 7:30 and wasn’t over until 10:45!  By the time we picked up Addison and got home and in bed, it was midnight!

 

Addison was up bright and early Saturday morning (6:40 AM)—so much for sleeping in a little bit!  We had to be at Portrait Innovations at 12:30 for her 1-year pictures so off we all went and of course, she did really well and we got several great pictures—including a family photo!  

I didn't buy this photo but it's hilarious because she wanted this rubber ducky in the picture!

LOVE THIS FACE!

She makes this face ALL THE TIME!

Since we were in Hamburg, we had to make a trip to Steak n’ Shake and Addison got her own kids meal with a hot dog and French fries and loved it!  She is such a good eater as you can tell!  She also shared some our milkshake too which is one of her favorite treats.

After a few other errands, we went to a Derby party at some friends’ house and had a really good time.  Craig’s horse, Animal Kingdom, even won so that was an added bonus!  Addison loved playing with Carson and Beckett and Katie Belle and Connor.  She always loves being around other kids. 

Our last stop before going home on Saturday was my mom and dad’s house to visit my dad’s parents who came in town and was staying the night at their house.  It was so great to see them.  They had watched the Derby and were having Peach Cobbler for dessert.  YUM!  They enjoyed seeing Addi walk around the house as this was a new trick that she had learned since the last time they had seen her! 

We finally made it home Saturday night at around 9 PM to give Addi a bath and get ready for bed.  We had another busy day ahead of us on Sunday! 

Sunday was Mother’s Day and also Baby Dedication Day at our church.  We were excited that a lot of our family had come to watch as we made the commitment as parents to raise Addison to know and love the Lord.  It was really cool because there were 28 babies who were dedicated on Mother’s Day—it just doesn’t get any better than that!  The sermon was centered around Mothers and it was wonderful.  It was so great to have my parents there, my brother Brad, my sister Lyndi and brother-in-law Randy, Katie Belle, Connor, my grandparents from Louisville (Pogue’s and Smith’s), Craig’s parents, and Craig’s sister Dee and nephew Nick.  Thank you to all of you for coming—it was a very special day for me. 

After church we went to Applebees for lunch and then rushed home because Addison’s party was later that day.  I had to make 2 chicken casseroles to take while Craig went and picked up 20 helium balloons for the party.  Addi LOVES balloons and can even say “bawoon.”  It is adorable.  She’s so stinkin’ smart!

Lunch at Applebee's

We got all set-up and decorated for the party which we had at Lyndi’s house.  What a beautiful day it was too!  I couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather.  The kids were able to play outside which I was so thankful for. 

We changed Addison into her new birthday dress which was a pillowcase dress that I had ordered for her online.  I had her name embroidered on it too—it turned out cute!

We started out by letting Addi open her presents.  She’s still too young to get into it so I had Katie Belle and Kylee help with that!  She got lots of great stuff—not that she really NEEDED anything at all but …..

Birthday Card from Katie Belle--LOVE IT!

Her 1st set of wheels!

After presents, we had dinner ready so we ate.  We had salad, lasagna or chicken casserole, corn, and garlic bread.  Lyndi had also made some appetizers—spinach dip, pickle dip, and bean dip and that we snacked on before dinner. 

Next was piñata time so the kids lined up to pull the strings out of the piñatas in hopes of getting the string that would release the candy.  Kylee got the lucky string and candy poured all over the floor—m&ms, candy bars, blow pops, etc…  All the kids filled up their goody bags!  

Finally it was time to cut the cake and have cake and ice cream.  Austin had stayed up until 2 AM Sunday morning making special cupcakes for Addison’s party.  They turned out beautifully.  He used fondant and they really look like I had spent big money on them at a fancy bake shop.  He really wanted to make them for her and he did a great job.  Unfortunately she was not that interested in eating them.  We were hoping that she would really tear into it and devour it but that just didn’t happen.  Oh well—maybe next year.  They were very good though and the kids (and adults) loved them!  I had ordered her cake from Sam’s and had given them a party napkin so that they could make the cake resemble the napkin.  I wasn’t pleased AT ALL with the way it turned out (it looked like a 5-year old decorated it) but it tasted good so I guess that is what is most important.  At least we had pretty cupcakes.

Austin decorated these--WOW!!!

Addison wasn’t interested in the cupcake but wanted a sucker instead and she had it ALL over her.  It was so bad that she had to go straight from the high chair to the bath tub! 

Look at that tired, sweet face!

After the bath she was getting really cranky because she was tired so I rocked her to sleep and she took a nap (at around 7 PM) in Connor’s room while we cleaned up from the party and got Lyndi’s house back in order!  When we left around 8, it didn’t even look like we’d had a big party there thankfully!  I was hoping to leave it the way we found it. 

Thank you for letting us use your beautiful home for Addi’s party—it was the perfect size and Addi had a great party.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make her 1^st birthday so much fun!  We love you all!

It was a great day and weekend and I had wonderful Mother’s Day with my 2 beautiful kids!  They are the most precious things on Earth and I am the luckiest Mom in the world.  Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there and a special HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to MY mom who I am so very thankful for.  I have had the best childhood and the best family and I am so thankful to my mom for giving me such a wonderful life and for always being the kind of mother that I hope to be!