Photo dump

Photo Shoot- 7.5 months

 

  

Daddy Daughter Time

Teething much?

Nashville

This past weekend Eric, Julia, Matt, and I ventured to Nashville, TN for our race. I decided not to do the full marathon, due slightly to the fact I would have an inadequate amount of time to train well. Maybe I'll do a full in our new country...that would be awesome. Well, deciding not to do the full was a decision that I am SO glad I made seeing how it was pouring down rain our entire race. I'm not talking about a drizzle that turns your hair frizzy. I'm talking about drenched clothes, soggy socks, and dripping hair. Water was pouring off our noses. It was normal to land in a puddle that covered your entire shoe and made you glad you put on waterproof mascara. Yes, I put on makeup. And also to mention it was cold. So yeah. Not exactly the ideal race weather. Thankfully poor weather didn't stop hundreds of spectators coming to cheer us on or the make-shift fully stocked bars that people set up outside their houses as they watch thousands of runners pass by at the crack of dawn. OR passing out bacon as people ran by. We really rely on these guys and their bacon for motivation. Regardless of the rain, it was still an entertaining run and the spectators were so encouraging. The actual run wasn't too miserable, it was after we finished. Freezing cold, numb fingers, just standing there in the rain, already soaking wet. But we had fun and I would definitely do this race again.

We stayed with our good friends Chris and Marie. It was so much fun to spend time with them and catch up. I love and am so blessed by my friendship with Marie. We have known each other for a few years now, and always have the best time together. We can literally talk about anything and everything. And we do. They were great hosts and pointed out all the hotspots of Nashville, from where Taylor Swift lived to where Scarlett and Gunnar play duets at the Bluebird.  After the race, we were so freezing all we could think about is how to get warm. Matt had this brilliant idea of going to the local Y and relaxing in the sauna and hot tub. And that we did! Saturday evening, after our naps, we went to Burger Up, then we cruised through downtown Nashville listening to all the Honky Tonk music from afar, and ended up at Frothy Monkey and enjoyed some hot chocolate. We were so worn out from the day that we crashed hard that night.

Thanks to my parents who watch our most loved and valued Addie Grace! We had a blast in Nashville but I definitely missed my sweet baby!

Julia and I before the race...starting to get soaked.

All of us after the race...completely drenched and freezing.

Marie and I at dinner.

My handsome hubby and I at Frothy Monkey

Matt and Julia at Frothy Monkey

Almost there

She's almost there. Any day now. She wants to do it. She gets up on all fours and just rocks. Back and forth, but can't seem to commit further than that. She hangs out, rocking for a few minutes, then falls back down to her tummy. I also noticed today that she can go from laying down to sitting up, by herself. Looks like we need to lower the crib before she falls out! EEK!

Also, so many people comment about how perfectly round AG's head is. And it is. Strangely, it is very round. I have my theories about why I think it stayed so round. Comments come from friends, random people, and doctors. Such a random and hilarious thing to comment on! Take a look at that round head...

Eric's birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favorite husband in the world! 

This is Eric's last birthday before we move across the world, so I wanted him to wake up to something fun. Because if I'm honest, when we get to where we are going, I probably won't know how to find a balloon or even sugar because nothing is in English. Oh dear. But anyways, if you didn't know we were moving, we are. In August.

I woke up before Eric on Friday morning (his actual bday), to surprise him with Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. You can click here for the recipe. UH-MAZ-ING. Seriously...I had to give some pans of rolls away because I could not stop eating them. I think I only ate sugar for the entire morning/afternoon on Saturday. Anyways, I started on the dough Thursday evening, which worked out great because Eric had class and wasn't home. I also decided to "decorate" the kitchen with balloons and streamers the morning of his birthday. Something fun to remember about this birthday in the States.

So he woke up, we ate cinnamon rolls, drank plenty of coffee, and he opened my gift. This gift may seem a little thoughtless, but actually, a lot of thought went into it. For awhile I had no idea what to buy. I kept thinking how we are moving to a completely different country in a few months, so what does he need that won't be "extra baggage" for the move. He mentioned something about language learning material. But that was all he mentioned. So I thought it would be a great idea to get him an Amazon giftcard. You can buy anything and everything from there, but with a giftcard he had to spend the money. If I just gave him money, he probably would've stored it in his hidden cash stash saving up to buy something ridiculous like an airplane or something. 

Then off to work, Eric goes. That night we had our small group, which we love love love. Seriously, we have the best small group. We are friends and we love being with each other. On Saturday, the celebration continued with Eric's sister and her husband who came into town where we got to hang out with them for a few hours. Then I decided to continue the celebration into night, where we met up with two of Eric's bffs and their wives...and it just so happens all of us wives are great friends too! We all went downtown and enjoyed a dinner at Sitti. Thanks to Dara who watched our baby girl :)

After dinner we came back, sang "Happy Birthday", enjoyed Eric's birthday cake, and hung out for a couple more hours. We love these sweet friends and are so thankful we could celebrate with them before we leave in August. It was such a fun weekend, thanks to all those who celebrated with us :)

Sorry about the horrible picture quality

Needtobreathe

Last week I went to a NeedToBreathe concert with some favorite friends of mine. We met at Tyler's Taproom in Durham for dinner then headed on over to the dpac to go to the concert. Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors opened, whom I have been a huge fan for a couple of years now. We had such a great time, and I'm so thankful for these girls.

NeedToBreath was AMAZING. They sound in person exactly as they do on CD which is incredible. I could have thoroughly enjoyed the music even if I went by myself...but definitely WAY MORE FUN with friends.

Hanging out

7 months

Reading

Yep, she's reading at 7 months. Child prodigy on our hands people ;)

7 month update

Seven months later...

~SCREAMING. Addie has learned how to scream to get my attention. Let me just say it's quite irritating but hilarious at the same time.

~TEETH. She has a tooth! Her bottom right one came in first, and now the bottom left is working on making its appearance. She really hasn't been too fussy!

~SOLIDS. I didn't start solids until 5 1/2 months, so I still only do 1 solid feeding at day in the evening, but now I'm going to start the second feeding, probably in the morning.

~EATING. She really loves vegetables. She doesn't love fruits as much, we really surprised me. I have SUCH a sweet tooth, that I just knew she would want fruits more then veggies, but not the case here!

~PLAY. She LOVES to play on the floor. She rolls around everywhere. She still loves being on her tummy surrounded by toys. She never stays in the same spot.

~SLEEP. She is a great sleeper. She takes two naps a day, the morning nap being 1 to 1.5 hours. The afternoon nap is typically 2.5 hours. She sleeps around 11 hours at night! PTL! She typically goes from 7:30-6:30. We just moved up her bedtime to 7:30, it has been 8:00 but now that she is older, she can sleep longer at night.

~PERSONALITY. Addie is such a happy girl. When she isn't sleepy, she is so smiley and friendly. She talks a lot when she feels comfortable in her setting. She is very chill and loves to observe new places. She goes with the flow and lets anyone hold her.  She still loves to be held but is also becoming a little independent. She can be so silly and we often become silly together. We will make funny noises and die laughing together. She is so fun! Her favorite place right now is to roll around on the floor with toys. Not in the bouncy seat. The floor. I think this is hilarious. She still likes to take pictures and look at herself in the mirror. Haha...may have to regulate this vanity when she actually is aware of what she is doing. She really likes books, so I'm hoping this will definitely continue throughout her life.

~SCHEDULE. with the implementation of the second solid feeding
7:00- wake up, eat  
8:00- solid feeding #1
9:00- nap time
10:30- wake up, eat
1:00- eat/ nap
3:30-4- wake up, play
4:30- eat
5:30- solid feeding #2
6:45- bath
7:15- small eating session, top her off before bedtime :)
7:30- bed!

Playing on the floor, her favorite! And her silliness :)

Just would rather be on the floor...

Addie's first Easter. Eric was out of the country, we missed him!

Our silly time of laughing together!

Learning to hold her own bottle! We practice, she doesn't last too long :)

Sitting all by herself. Still a bit wobbly and falls over after a little while.