Hmmm....

I'm not sure anyone looks at this anymore - not that I blame you since I haven't written in months. I have a bunch of cute pics to upload but first a little update:
My munchkin is 2! She had an "Olivia" party and loved it. She seems like such a big girl to me...and is full on in the two year old stage at times. We are talking throw herself on the ground when she is upset stage. It's not often and it doesn't always last long but oh my goodness it makes me crazy. She is also learning new words constantly and making sentences.She is recently obsessed with snow and pumpkins - adorable! She is doing great with potty training and says goodbye to her poop when she flushes - hilarious!
When we took her for her 2 year check up the doctor said that she was only at the 5% mark for weight and she was a little concerned since she had actually lost weight since an check up for an ear infection a few months ago. I am supposed to do the opposite of all my healthy habits like low fat cheese, not much butter, fat free yogurt etc to help her gain some more weight. We will do a check up in a few months to see how she is doing. It is hard on me that I have a child who does not eat veggies or fruit and is so picky. My favorite foods when I was a kids were veggies and fruits and I will eat anything. I want her to be healthy and eat more than chicken nuggets, grilled cheese and peanut butter and honey.

Anyway - Josh is busy but doing well. He was asked to be on the board of NCYM (National Conference on Youth Ministry) something he has been excited about for a few years. My job is crazy and stressful but it's a needed paycheck. And, I guess I would miss what I do, although I wouldn't mind having a less stressful type of job, working part time or working at a different agency. 

So, I think that's it for now....there really is so much going on but I don't really have much more time to type so it will have to wait.

Two Years Ago Sept 22

Two years ago today I had convinced my mom and Josh to let me out of the house by myself for a few hours. I was supposed to be on bedrest but since it was now ok for Addison to be born it was no longer as crucial and it was fine for me to do stuff if I felt like it. So, I went to the mall for a few hours to walk around. When I got home Josh had chili ready for dinner and I sat on my exercise ball that had become my regular chair.

Contractions started actually earlier that afternoon and I ignored them. They got worse about dinner and I waited, and waited and waited until I absolutely couldn't stand it or barely stand, any longer and then we went to the hospital. I listened to Weezer on the way to the hospital. I had Heartsongs in my head and it was great. We got there and I barely got the epidural in time. Minutes after getting the epidural my water broke. A few minutes later i started pushing and my little girl was here. (By this point it was no longer Sept 22, it was now into the 23rd).

It was a whirlwind  next few days and now I have an amazing, smart, sometimes sassy, independent, beautiful little girl who loves kisses, hugs, Oliva, Elmo, books and butterflies.

Vegas Vacation

Over Labor Day weekend we met Josh's family in Vegas. His brother Jared was there for a wedding and his parents have a condo/timeshare thing so it was a great place for us all to meet sicne we hadn't been together since last Thanksgiving. Plus tickets were pretty cheap.

Everyone was surprised at how big Addie had gotten and how much more she was talking etc. She says "thank you" all the time now and it is so, so sweet. She has also started saying "sorry" we are just trying to teach her when to say it. Josh and i were impressed at how well she did staying up late to accomodate the adults without being fussy. She is such a happy and flexible little girl!

We had a good time on the trip and saw some fun stuff (everyone had been there before except for Lauren), played at the pool and Josh even won some money. Gramps and Addie had a great time together and any time that Great Grandmother can spend with Addie is always special. I could obviously write more but it's the little Munchkin's bedtime so the picture's will have to do for now. 

300th post - Maybe when I'm 30

In honor of my 300th post and my approaching 30th birthday I decided to make a list.

Maybe when I am 30:
-I will actually, finally feel like a grown up.
-I will pick clothes that look nice over clothes that are comfy.
-I will wear make up more than 2 or 3 days a week.
-I will have another baby.
-I will stop loving crazy adrenaline inducing activities.
-I will keep my house clean and cook dinner more often.
-I will actually put away laundry the same day I fold it.
-I will read a more books a year that are for more than entertainment value (other than the Bible).
-I will learn to correctly fold a fitted sheet.

Maybe I will do some of those things when I am 30. Maybe.

300 posts is a lot. I have definitely slacked off on posting in the last year - part of that is because I have been busy with Addie, part of it is being busy with work and part of it is not really knowing what to write about. I mean, our lives are not super exciting. There have been things that have happened that I haven't written about though so I would really like to try and get better. Here's to 300 more posts (if anyone even still reads this)!

July 28th

I woke up today and thought "it's the 28th". That means that today would have been my friend Nathan's 30th birthday. Nathan passed away in 2003 on the day after Christmas in a car accident. Nathan was the oldest one in our huddle class. This is the year that we would/will all be turning 30 so it's a cool year.

We had all been friends for a long long time, some of us since elementary school - Nathan join our group in middle school. We all talked about what we would be doing when we were grown ups and when we would get together. I don't want to speak for anyone else, but when Nathan died right before we all graduated from college it knocked us down. It was rough, and still is rough. He was a friend to everyone, a goof who could make anyone laugh, a guy who was real, a leader, a Marine, a baby brother and a total mama's boy.

Nathan's favorite song was Create In Me. Today I have been singing that song a lot of the day. I have also been praying for his family and friends - praying for peace, joy and a sweet time of remembering Nathan.

I know that God is bigger, God is sovereign and God is good.

Sunday morning Chaos

Sunday mornings are always a little crazy - which has never made sense to me since we usually leave at the same time or later than regular work days. Sometimes Josh leaves an hour or so before Addie and I do, sometimes we all leave at the same time.

Anyway, it always seems like things go wrong on Sundays, especially when it is just me getting her ready. For example, the Sunday after Josh left for Kadesh Addie put her shoes in the toilet. Yesterday she stepped up her game. She was eating breakfast (luckily in just a diaper) and I was less than 5 feet away getting some coffee and when I come back into the living room her stomach, head, hands and face are covered in yogurt and she is making designs in it on her tray. This is not typical behavior, lately she has been doing really well with yogurt and spoon and last time made hardly any mess at all.

Sunday after church we were able to have lunch with a wonderful woman from church, Marita McKay. She is a sweet lady that I have grown to love and respect. She has actually been at University longer than anyone else in the congregation and has been in Denver for about 80 years. I learned so much about her at lunch. Her mom raised 5 kids alone after their dad passed away when Marita was 6. Marita also has 5 kids and tons of grandkids and great grand kids. She made Addie the yellow dress she is wearing in some of the pictures. It is so special to be able to have people here that can be psudeo family for us and Addison.

I may have mentioned this before but Addie has a few baby dolls. One that she recently got from my mom, her Nana. She is so sweet to these babies and puts them to bed, feeds them etc. She loves to kiss them, give them to Josh and I to kiss and so many other things. I was finally able to get some pictures of her with her baby Sunday afternoon. It is just to precious. She will be a great big sister some day.

I never thought...

-that I would say the phrase "shoes do not belong in the toilet". Addie threw her shoe in the toilet this morning when she was angry and then this afternoon decided to try to put to her shoes in there for fun (the lid was up because it is broken).

-that I would have to be thinking up ways to trick my daughter to eat veggies or any sort of fruit. She used to love them and then all of a sudden stopped eating them all together unless they are in chip or fruit rollup form. So, if anyone has ideas, bring 'em on.

-that I would rather buy kid clothes/toys etc than stuff for me.

-that I would care so little that my house is a disaster 75% of the time.

-that my daughter would kiss my "ouchies" or that before I convinced her to call them "ouchies" she would combine "owie" and "boo-boo" and say "boobie" when she was hurt. 

-that I could love each stage that she goes through so much for its own unique things - like even right now when she is stubborn and rebellious she is also discovering more about her sense of humor and her affectionate side. She is also learning so many new skills and words.
 
I knew there are going to be a lot more things that I never thought would happen - some great and some not so great. This parenthood thing is definitely an adventure. 

Two weeks is a long time

Josh is gone for two weeks - first at Kadesh at ACU and then at Cornerstone at OC. First of all, this is a transportation nightmare. I won't get into all of the details of renting vans, trailers that can't go on the rental vans etc but after Kadesh Josh takes 4 kids to OC with him from Abilene and the rest of the adults take the rest of the kids home, the two other adults drive the MS group to OC on Saturday (passing the HS group) then they leave to go back on Sunday. Josh is at camp for another week then bring everyone home on Friday. Like I said,m transportation nightmare.

Anyway, I am used to him being gone - this has been happening every summer since we started dating. But, it is getting hard as Addie gets older. She is now asking about him when he is gone, she looks for him in the mornings or when we get home in the evenings. I tell her that Daddy is working and that we can talk to him later and she is just fine, but she knows that he is not here.

It's also hard because she is headed full speed towards the stubborn two-year old behaviors. My work schedule also has a tendency to get a little insane, especially since I just picked up several new families as one of my co-workers just resigned to move to OK. Each summer I get a new appreciation for single parents who also work full time (or who don't).

But, no matter how stressful and exhausting it is, I try to remember that Josh is doing what he loves and what God has blessed him with gifts to do. I know he LOVES camp each summer but that he also misses us. I hope that someday we can go with him (especially to Kadesh which I love so much too). So, until these two weeks are over we will keep praying for Dada while he is at camp and having lots of fun Mama and Addie time!

Kisses

One of Addison's new favorite things is to give kisses. She makes the cutest "Mmmuuuaaa" noise as she either gives kisses or blows kisses. She is also an "equal opportunity kisser" - if she kisses me, she has to then kiss Josh, Gigi and whoever else is in the room. She has been known to blow kisses to Elmo while watching Sesame Street and to sit and just kiss her baby doll in the car.

It is adorable.

I love that she is so affectionate and loving. Josh just keeps telling her that she needs to stop this kissing behavior before she becomes a teenager. I can't seem to get a cute picture of her sith her kissing face but I will eventually. There was a super sweet picture taken of her kissing my sister in her wedding dress last weekend and I can't wait to see it!

I love this little girl - she is such a joy!!

After the Mavs won the CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

Addison!

I have been so, so bad about keeping up with the blog lately. Really, life has just been a little out of control. So, I have a few minutes right now while Addie is napping so I thought I would upload some pictures and type a few fun things that she is doing.
-She still loves to have books read to her. This is great except that now she is getting whiny when we say no, or not right now.
- She loves to brush her teeth. Hopefully this continues.
-Connie is helping her learn her name. If you spell it she will say that is says Addie. She will also repeat the letters and sometimes say it one her own. Super cute.
-I love her prayers at night. "Thank you (for) Mama, Dada, Nonnie (Connie), Jesus. Amen." and then we get kisses. It is awesome!
-I just cannot believe how much she has grown and how fast she is learning. Really, it is amazing. I have been so busy lately that there have been times I haven't enjoyed her like I should have but I am so blessed by her.