picking up the pieces...

...with the

http://broom-and-dustpan.blogspot.com/

Oh 28...

So today I turn 28, which means I am officially closer to thirty than twenty five. I dont know how I feel about this, since honestly, I have felt really old ever since I had Addison. We hung out with friends this morning, and then went to a hibachi restaurant for dinner, and I ate whatever I pleased and didnt think about it...which was my birthday present to myself. Back on the wagon tomorrow. I have about 15lbs til I reach my goal weight, and let me tell you, this process is as slow as anything. I lose about a pound a week, which is healthy, but jeez it is frustrating. I feel like you put so much work into it, and you get such little gratification. But i am trying to hang in there, remembering that in two months, I am going to be in a bathing suit, and that our 10 year (yes, another thing reminding me I am old) reunion is this year. This whole thing has been pretty hard for me. I mean, since I had Addison two years ago, I have lost at least 35lbs. I worked for it, some of it just disappeared, but I seem to be stuck at 140. This is the threshold I gave up on last time, and here I am again struggling to get below the line. Ugh. What makes it worse is that for someone who like to suppress their feelings with food (I am happy...I celebrate by eating. I am stressed...I deal by eating) not being able to eat yourself into a peaceful place leaves your emotions out to dry, with no idea how to deal with them. So it has been a process, to say the least. They say its a lifestyle change, but I never realized how it touched every single part of your life.
Josh got me a spa package for my birthday, so on Sunday, I will be basking in the glory of the Kingsmill spa, and enjoying my time away. I will be getting a massage, a pedi, mani, facial, and lunch. I am super excited. He's the best.

I have been reminded a couple times recently that I havent been blogging as much. I guess as Addison gets older and the milestones get fewer and farther between, there is not as much to type about. So you guys are probably going to go back to getting more of me, and less of her. :P
Funny Addison moments of recent memory...
*the other day she told me "Thank you very much. I 'preciate it."
*Every time we hear an airplane, she runs to the window to see it. When I ask her where its going, she tells me Chick-fil-a. Everytime. The child could be their marketing director. Hmm...maybe she has been hanging around Josh too much :)
She is talking up a storm, and really learning how to play pretend and tell stories. The things that come out of her mouth amaze me. The sentences just flow and flow and she is so proud of herself when she tells us stuff. She recently told both of us (on separate occasions) that she loved us, unprovoked, and randomly. It was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. When I tell her I love her, she says "thanks, mommy" :) Silly girl. She is the best hugger ever.
Addison had her first gymnastics class this week. I will leave it at that. It didnt go very well, she wasnt very cooperative, and well, at least she looked cute, haha. We are hoping for a better session next week.



we had all sorts of visitors this past weekend. My parents, and my nieces and nephew came down on saturday, and we got to go to the park and play. Josh's parents came down on Sunday and we got to enjoy the nice weather once again. We took the opportunity to get a couple of family shots, since I spend a lot of the time behind the camera. They are super cute :) Thanks grandpa!



Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts. I love you all and feel so blessed to have you all in my life! I am sorry if this post is jumbled at all, my brain has been mush lately, and I am trying to type and watch idol at the same time... :)

please excuse...

... all of my typos and grammatical errors in the previous post. Thats what happens when I am trying to type and play "nite nite" with Addison at the same time! :)

our snowy adventure....

As if it being snowy wasnt enough, on saturday we returned home from Fredericksburg to find that our heat wasnt working downstairs. We got it looked at, and they said they would be out to fix it when they got the part on either Monday or Tuesday. Well, Monday was frigid and snowy, so they didnt get the part until Tuesday. Addison and I hibernated upstairs, which was annoying, but tolerable, and played in her room and the playroom all day. On Monday night I woke up at 3AM to find that the upstairs was pretty cold...when I went to check the thermostat, it said 55. Okay, I know Josh and I keep our house a little colder than others, but not that cold. I woke Josh up and he tried to flip the breaker to no avail. So here we are, our only snowstorm of the entire year on the coldest day of the year, with no heat. Frustrating that its supposed to be near 70 this weekend! When Addison woke up, you could tell from the look on her face that she knew it was cold, and she didnt even attempt to move from the bed. I got her up, got her bundled up, got my dressed, and we headed out to chickfila for breakfast, followed by walmart, followed by a whole lot of driving. Our friend Katie was kind enough to take us in for the morning, and we attempted to head back to the house for nap, but by then, it was 44 downstairs, and 49 upstairs. Addison ran to target, got some sleeping bags, and headed over to the condo. She was really confused, but we managed to nap for about an hour before the builder called us and told us to head home to meet the HVAC guy. I think yesterday was one of the longest days of my life. Being that cold for that long and worrying whether your child is warm enough is absolutely draining. I cant imagine how people deal with that all winter, and am extremely grateful that this is not something we face everyday. Yesterday afternoon we enjoyed our nice warm house and stayed put. I have been trying to get Addison to help me in the kitchen for some time now, and she finally agreed to help me make some brownies (no pudge fat free brownies!) and help "do" the dishes. I filled the sink with water and let her use some measuring cups to pour the water from one side to another. She was so cute, and was loving every minute of it. I was really shocked, but she had NO interest in licking the brownie spoon! (these brownies are made from mix and plain yogurt, so no eggs involved!)...she hasnt been into sweets much lately, and has been a berry-aholic! The brownies turned out great and I cant wait for her to help me more. I am leaving the stool out so that she can be apart of the cooking everyday!

On Monday, Addison and I (okay, more me than her) were getting really stir crazy, so we decided to take our new jogging stroller out for its first hoorah out in the snow. We bundled up and walked over to starbucks, where I enjoyed a nice warm mocha, and she had some special milk and a cookies :) She seemed so grown up sitting there in the cafe sharing coffee time with mommy and chatting about her surroundings.

Here are pictures of her playing in her room on our snow day, bundled up for a snowy walk to starbucks, and helping mommy in the kitchen. 

The pictures...

Me and Ava, 

Addison's bathroom

Addison's dresser

The master bath

The master bedroom

Addison's room with all her friends

The princess in the snow

Playing in her room

The playroom





 
 
 
 

Snow! (for real this time...)

well last night we had our first and probably only snow storm of the season. It started around 8PM and produced heavy winds, sleet, and about 2 inches of snow and ice. Addison woke up and looked outside in amazement. She was so excited that she wouldnt even eat breakfast before going outside. We bundled her all up, and took her out only for her to whine about everything and exclaim "I too cold, Mommy!". She didnt like wearing her mittens because she couldnt really maneuver in them, but also didnt like getting cold. Not to mommy's surprise, our little princess seems to be a beach bunny. After we came inside and I got her to eat breakfast, she was looking at some of the pictures on the digital frame and said "I miss beach, mommy." Me, too, Addison, me too. Not too much longer and we will be lounging on the beaches of Aruba! Only three months to go!

I took this snow day as an opportunity to clean and take some pics of the rest of the house. We are far from done with the decorating...we are still looking for wall hangings, lamps, curtains, etc. But this will give you the idea. :)
We went to Fredericksburg this weekend to visit with baby Ava. It was a great visit, we managed to visit with everyone in the little bit of time that we were there :) Addison wasnt as Anti-Ava as she was before, although Aunt Taras house had plenty of things (and cats) to distract her. She did give Ava a kiss before we left, so we are making progress! :)
We came home to find that our downstairs heating unit (thank goodness we have two!) fried itself while we were gone, so its currently about 55 degrees downstairs, and it feels like the icy tundra. We have had someone out to look at it, but it looks like its not getting fixed until tomorrow, so while Josh is at work today, Addison and I are hibernating upstairs. I brought up snacks and lucky for us the playroom is upstairs, so we are bunkered down until its time to bundle up for lunch!
Hope everyone is safe, warm, and snuggling on this snow day!

Welcome Ava Corinne!

My sister and bestest friend Tara had her first baby on Friday. At 3:43PM we welcomed Ava at a whoppin 7lbs 10oz and 20in long :)
She is absolutely gorgeous, and looks just like her mama. Addison wasnt too fond of her new cousin just yet, but I know that in a short time they will be the best of friends. Since I dont really have permission to post pictures of Ava, nor do I want to be the first to announce her to the world ;) I will just give you a few teasers until I get the go ahead to share the photos I have of her :)
We made the trip up to Fredericksburg and made it there before Ava's arrival. Before that, Addison and I had our last day at the Y. While it wasnt what I expected since I was all hyped up about Tara and Ava, it was very nice and bittersweet. My coworkers are the best, and they got me flowers and cake. I couldnt have asked for better coworkers and friends and I am going to miss them dearly. I know that Addison is going to miss them tons!
We are ready for the new adventures that staying home again will bring us. Next week we start a mommy and me gymnastics class, and Addison keeps talking about going to school in the fall. I am excited about not rushing around in the morning, and spending more times with our friends, and at Busch Gardens which opens in ONE MONTH!

We saw snow today, but it didnt last long. We got Addison up from her nap so she could see it, and bundled her up so she could at least play while it was coming out, only for it to stop as soon as we got outside. She was ready for the snow, but the snow couldnt handle her and went away!