Windy City... Here we come

Last week was really exciting. Bobby had to go to Chicago for two days of training. Since I am still on maternity leave, we decided that Addison and I would tag along. Our plans were to leave on Wednesday and return on Saturday. Initially when we booked the fight we thought we would leave Addison with her grandparents so we booked an early fight, 7:00 am. (I backed out on leaving her.) It was definitely more difficult packing with Addison. Bobby and I shared a suitcase so that Addison could have her own. I do not think I have ever backed so light. We encountered two types of people while flying, those who smiled and told us about their children or grandchildren and those who were completely annoyed that we were there. Addison flew like a champ. She cried for about 15 seconds on the way there and about the same on the way back. We could not have asked for her to be better. While we were there, we saw the Sears Tower and went to the Wood field mall (the second largest mall in the US). It was raining on Saturday so I checked the web to see if any flights were being canceled. Eveything looked good so we headed to the airport. Our flight on Saturday was scheduled to leave at 1:55. When we arrived at the airport there were tons of people standing on the sidewalk. They had closed the airport due to the basement and runways flooding. We had to stand on the sidewalk for about thirty minutes before getting into the airport. Our flight was one of the many that were canceled. The only flight to Tallahassee was going to be on Sunday so Bobby and I looked at each other and said... 'What do we do now?' Normally we would not have thought anything about it, but now we are standing in the airport with an 11 week old and massive flooding. It would have taken us hours to get away from the airport due to all the roads closed. Luckily the Hilton across the street had rooms availaable so we stayed there. There was no way to get to restaurants and they were not delivering due to the flooding, so we ate hotdogs at the airport for dinner. All in all it was a fun trip. Addison was great and went along for the ride. She seemed to have a good time and since the weather was cooler, she and I were able to enjoy the outside more than at home. Enjoy the photos from the trip.

Addison on the plane...


The hotel provided a pack and play that we used as her bed.

The park where Addison and I had lunch and took a walk.



Picture from the top of the Sears Tower.

Addison would take her naps on our King bed. She looked so small in the middle of the bed.

We tried to give Addison tummy time while we were traveling.

Addison is getting good at soothing herself while in the car. She has moved from her thumb to pretty much all the fingers now.

This is the car in front of us as we were trying to get to the airport.

Addison and I wasting time during our layover in Charlotte.

A week of Milestones

This week has been so exciting. Addison has started to enjoy lots of new things. Her bouncer has a bar that goes across that just two weeks ago she hated. As soon as I would put it on, she would being to cry. I think the bird scared her. This week we tried it again and she loved it. She has even learned to grap the butterflies attached. The first time Addison grabbed it, she started crying when she could not figure out how to let go.



Addison also tried her walker this week. She did prety good but we have to wait a little longer on it. Addison is strong and handles her head well, but after a few minutes she started looking like the Leaning Tower.


Addison has always been a fist (or nuckle) sucker. This week she found her thumb. It is so cute to watch. Her thumb is so little, but somehow she gets a good latch on it.


We are working on getting Addison into her room and out of the co-sleeper in our room. Addison takes naps in her crib now. Luckily I can place her in the crib when she is drowsy and she will go to sleep without much help. Her new favorite sleeping position is arms spread out. I used the bumper pad to "cut the crib in half." It is now more of the size of the co-sleeper and she seem to like being a little more closed in.


The most exciting thing we did this week was go visit Papa and Grandma at their lake house. There is also a pool. We did not venture into the lake water but Bobby took Addison for her first swim in the pool. I think I used a half bottle of water babies on her. She also had to have a hat and sunglasses. Addison did not cry at all while she was in the water, but was not too happy when I took her out of the pool. I think she enjoyed her first swim.

Whats New

I cannot believe that Addison is already six weeks old. We have had a lot of fun and excitement this week. On Saturday we went to a birthday party for my cousin who lives in Texas. The party was an hour a way. This was the farthest that Addison and I have ventured out on our own. She did great though. Addison is responding more and more. She is learning how to communicate through other sounds other than crying which I am SOOO excited about. She loves to play on the floor. Addison is starting to develop her own little personality and it is so fun to watch.

Nothing is more comfortable than great grandmothers arms.....

Four generations.....

I love looking at the fan....

Such a big girl...

Addison and Daddy playing...


A month ago Addison had newborn pictures taken. She was not real excited about being there and cried pretty much the who time. Linda (of Long's Photography) was so patient. We were there for about two hours and Linda got some great shots. When we went to look at the proofs I was overjoyed. There were so many good ones it was hard to choose.








We still go to out breastfeeding support group on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is more now to get us out of the house and not as much as a necessity. I like to see how much weight Addison is gaining. Yesterday she weighed 11 lbs 2 oz. Needless to say we have overcome any eating issues we had.

I am having a blast being at home with Addison. She is so loving and and sweet. As tiring as it can be sometimes, a smile or look makes all the weariness disappear.

Funny Faces

Today in the middle of a crying spell, Addison was in a great mood. She was smiling and then trying to figure out why I was making so many funny faces. We do the dumbest things as parents to get a reaction from our children. Below are some pictures that I took. The last one let me know she was finished with the photo session.

A Month Old Already!

I can't believe that Addison has been here for five weeks already! It has been a whirlwind of a month. We are finally getting into a schedule. The last three nights she has slept for about four hours, up for two (to eat and play), and then slept for about three more. At this point, fours hours feels like eight though.

Eating is definitely her favorite thing to do. When she is full, she lets me know by giving me a huge smile. This is the only time I can get her to really smile. Hopefully in the next few weeks she will start laughing and cooing. I can't wait. Addison is almost ten pounds. We had a couple rough weeks with feeding, but seem to have gotten over the hurdle. Addison and I go to a breastfeeding group every Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The group has a scale that weighs Addison is grams before and after she eats so that I can see how many ounces she has eaten. This has been very helpful is subsiding my worries that she is not getting enough to eat.

She loves taking a bath. The first time she cried a little bit, but now she loves it. We can usually get a smile out of her during bath time too. She loves being wrapped in her towel and getting rubbed down with lotion.

Addison has learned that she has a great set of lungs. We have tried to use a pacifier to help with the crying, but she will rarely take it. She has never taken the ones that we got at Target. She has occasionally taken the one we received from the hospital. I guess it a blessing though so we will not have to break her from it later.

Hope you enjoy the pics and I will try to get some new ones soon...

The package is here!!!

Our little girl finally arrived Monday June 30th at 6:38 a.m. Baby Addison weighted 8 pounds 8 ounces and was twenty and one-half inches long. She was three days late, but luckily arrived before we had to be induced.

It is unbelievable how much we can love. We have heard that over and over from other parents, but never had a clue.....

She has brown hair and brown eyes. She is already darker than I am. There is a good chance that she has Bobby's skin tone, but it too early to be certain. If so, this is an answer to prayers. I was the biggest consumer of water babies growing up.

She weighed in at 8lbs. 8oz... that's right she is a chunk! She had only lost 7 oz. prior to leaving the hopsital, which is well under the 7-10% considered acceptable. She eats like a champ and had a poopy diaper about every two hours. Luckily for Mommy, Daddy had changed most of the diapers.

It looks like she has Dana's cheeks and lips. Luckily for Bobby she has a really strong neck and can hold her head up relatively well. She will hold her head up to look around for a good 7-10 seconds occasionally. She is so wide-eyed and ready to explore. This picture was taken just before placing her in the car seat to head home.

Babies typically copy their parents. Addison already has Daddy wrapped so that she can get him to copy her. She is yawning, so Daddy is yawning.

A lot of her mannerisims are similar to things we would see her do at the ultrasounds. She always had her hands around her face at the ultrasounds. Now, she cannot stand to have her hands swaddled because she likes to have them at her face.

Addison makes some of
the funniest faces. She
was tired of me taking
pictures so some of the
last ones at the hospital
was basically saying,
"Please get that flash
out of my face."

Well, anyway, we made it home today a little before lunch and its time to figure out a routine. We are all so much more comfortable at home. We are preparing for our first night alone.

We are so excited about our new additions and can't wait to see what's around the bend.