Happy Birthday, Baby Girl

Eating her first birthday cake!

Matt and I decided that on every birthday, we are going to write down a list of our top ten favorite things about our little one so we can give it to her one day. Here you go Ads...

10. Your double sneezes
9. Your love for the outdoors: the breeze, the sun and the water (yay!).
8. The way you love and notice people, regardless of who they are (and remind us to do the same).
7. Piranha kisses :).
6. Watching you learn new things, especially when you say "mama" and "dada".
5. Your "monkey face".
4. Your little "brown-berry feet".
3. How you make life SO MUCH fun and bring SO MUCH joy.
2. Your sweet smile (with your Goodwin-gap!).
1. How you are a beautiful and constant reminder of the Lord's faithfulness and goodness.

We love you so much!

Love,
Mama & Dada

Happy Last Day Before One...

When I was growing up we celebrated EVERYTHING. As in, we had special days for the last day of school, the first day of summer, the last day of an old job, the first day of a new job, and on and on and on. But the biggest celebration of all was birthdays. We didn't just have a birthday dinner, or a birthday-day, or even a birthday week, we had a birthday month. And since my parents and all three of us kids were born in the months of March, April or May, it was a BUSY season of celebration. It was awesome. And fattening.

Several years ago, my mom started warning us that we were, absolutely, under no circumstances, allowed to marry anyone who had a spring birthday. Uh-oh. Matt's birthday is in March, and my sis-in-law's is in May (actually it's tomorrow!!). My mom was feeling a little over-whelmed. So, when I got pregnant with Addie, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief. Due in June. June 12th to be exact. Close to March, April and May. But at least a different month.

But apparently, Ads didn't want to be left out (or she wanted to add to the chaos; both scenarios fit her personality), so she decided to make her grand arrival 3 weeks early...on May 19th (thanks for sharing your birthdays, Aunt Christina AND cousin Suz!).

Last day (and walk) before One!

So in honor of celebrating the last day before turning ONE, here are some fun Addie stats:

Height: 30.25 inches. She is LONG. 85th%.
Weight: 20 lbs 5ozs (with her diaper on). 40th%.
Sleeping: Bedtime is around 7:30 and she usually wakes up around 7:30-8 in the morning. She is still taking a good morning and afternoon nap.
Eating: She loves bitter, sour foods, like lemons, kale, asparagus, broccoli and pickles. Basically, any vegetable. She also loves avocados and berries. So far, we have a healthy, non-picky eater! She is also still nursing, which is one of the favorite parts of both of our days.

Addie giving Sophie a kiss!

Interests: People, people, people. Addie loves people. As in, she will crawl onto a stranger's lap during story time at the library,she will hold out her arms for waiters to hold her at restaurants, and will want to join the people next to us in church. She is also fascinated by other kids, and loves going to friends' houses. She loves books and her giraffe rocking-horse, Sophie (who she gives a kiss to every morning and after every nap). Ads loves to be outside and walks to the park are daily activities.
Getting Around: Addie can take a step before she falls over, but so far nothing I would consider walking. She can crawl around pretty fast though and loves walking with assistance.
Talking: Just "mama" and "dada". She was saying "hi" several months ago, but she hasn't said that in a while.
Temperament: I would say we are very blessed in this regard. Ads is very friendly, happy and easy. She is the most happy when she is with her family and friends. Addie is also very resilient. She can bang her head, slam her finger in the door or fall off the bed and literally keep on playing (don't worry, we do take good care of her, I promise). Her fearlessness means we are way past the stage of just playing on a blanket. I have friends who have said their girls would just sit and play quietly, but Addie is usually very active (unless she is being held; then she can be content for hours...good thing she is a firstborn!).

Obviously, I am biased, but I really do think she is so much fun. I am usually counting the minutes till nap-time is over and we can play :).

Happy Last Day Before One, Sweet Girl!!!

Mother's Day and Birthday Pics

This is a big week for us...Mother's Day (my first!), my 29th birthday (today!) and most importantly, Addie's FIRST birthday (on the 19th!). Our goal is to start taking some of Addie's one year pics over the next couple of weeks since its a little harder to get her to sit still for extended periods of time now that she is so mobile. Most of these are from Mother's Day, but the one at the end is from my birthday lunch today. I can't believe how big Ads is getting! Thanks to our amazing photographer (Matt)...which is why he is never in the pictures. That and he refuses to get in them. 

The Best

A few weeks ago I was asked what my mom was like growing up. It was a pretty easy answer. My mom was the best. She was, and is, probably the most hands-on-mom you will ever meet. In a good way. Occasionally, in an annoying way. But always in a way that you knew no matter what happened, she had your back. You also knew that, nine times out of ten, she already knew what you were going to do or say.

My mom and me :)

Growing up, she was also an odd combination of super strict and crazy fun. The same mom who would not answer a question that wasn't accompanied with a 'please' was the same mom who would declare it was pajama day and tell us we couldn't go to school and had to do everything in our pjs. She was consistently firm on discipline (except maybe occasionally with my sweet-talking brother), but she was spontaneously fun with life. And if you have never heard her read a children's book, you are really missing out. She can entertain any child, anywhere. They all love her. Especially Ads. She could play with Mila all day and still be sad to leave. 

My mom genuinely thought raising kids was a delight, and it showed. We were blessed to have her stay home with us, and both my parents sacrificed to make that happen. She is with-out a doubt the reason I went into motherhood believing it to be a blessing worth sacrificing for. And I haven't been disappointed. Even on its hardest day, it is an amazing blessing. 

My mom and Ads :)

I hope and pray that one day Addie is able to say I am even half the mom my mom is. 

Love you, Mom!

This was going to be a post on our awesome spring break week, but then my sweet husband had a run-in with a homeless guy while riding a bike on his way up to the hospital. so one broken arm later, I am going to do this post instead:

Just for clarification, Matt broke his arm, not the homeless guy. The homeless guy walked away with nary a scratch.

And for further clarification, Matt was not mugged, which was my first thought when Matt called me at 7 in the morning to tell me that a homeless guy had knocked him off his bike. What actually happened was that Matt was biking up to the hospital to start his first day of surgical rotation, when a drunk homeless man stumbled from the bushes where he had apparently been peeing and collided with Matt. My poor husband flew over his handle-bars and landed on his head, shoulder and arm.

What, thats never happened to you?

Thankfully, after two days of meeting with general practitioners, radiologists, orthopedics and advisers, it was determined that Matt doesn't need surgery or a cast, can complete his surgical rotation and just needs to take it easy with his arm.

Since this is Matt's millionth thirteenth broken bone, he doesn't think it is a very big deal.

Since it means Matt can't snuggle with me at night, I think its a huge deal.

And since Matt can't use his arm, Addie and I have been stuck with the task of finishing the reorganization that we started over spring break. And by reorganizing, I mean Matt and I took everything out of the two bedrooms, shoved it in the living room and then put about half the stuff back. Which means most of it is still in our living room, along with the still-packed suitcases from our trip last week. Fortunately Ads, has been really helpful...

Helping me sort through one of the many piles of laundry...

Helping me put away clean laundry...

And doing some reading so I could get some actual work done!

What a week!