Rain

In the sun, I move quickly. Energized by its warmth and promise of outdoor activities, fueled to cross as many things off of my to-do list as early in the day as possible so that after nap time we are free to go on walks, take road trips with the sun roof open and enjoy the beauty of our southern springtime. Monday was a sunny day, which spurred me to get just about everything on my to-do list for the week accomplished. Well yesterday the weather began to turn and alas it can not be sunny all the time.

So we do impromptu indoor activities. Like our version of a petting zoo!

And her new favorite sport: toilet paper unrolling:

(She knows when she's busted)



but to preface the good welcome of yesterday's rain. An entire day of gray skies, slick reflective pavement and the calming hum of steady rain, whispering Do Less.

We did less. And it was good.

...and our only Do Less disclaimer was that we baked, cookies and stewed homemade soup. We left the dirty dishes though...to abide by the whole Do Less rules, of course. And the daddy being the sweet man he is did them for me last night!

And we made this:(my mom has always wanted to do this!)

The dress she came home from the hospital in, framed in her room. So tiny.
Jared made a point of saying that he didn't think it looked that small, that he was pretty sure she could maybe wear it as a shirt still, maybe! To which I reminded him it was a dress and that in 15 years when we hold her first prom dress up to it, he may be singin' a different tune, which as you can imagine spawned a discussion of whether or not she will be attending prom!
(she will!)

I can honestly say lately my girl and I have been completely in sync. I've been noticing new blonde streaks in her hair, new sounds in her vocabulary. And I am feeling present and thankful and patient and not even seeing the half part of that glass-is-half-full. It's just full right now--pure and simple, life is good.

It's raining again this morning, and while there's dirty laundry piled in the corner of our bedroom, and I should probably be cleaning the spare bathroom there are old 90's sitcom re-run's calling my name! So while my girl naps, I sit here sipping my second cup of coffee, still in sweats, encouraged by the slow melodious drip of raindrops on the deck, watching re-run's on this rainy day!

Snack Time

Have you ever had astronaut food? Well, I have, they sell it at the museum we used to go to growing up. It's all dehydrated and way more expensive than I think it should be for less than mediocre food but, hey when you're on a field trip and you have $10 in your pocket what else are you going to buy? Well there are full on meals which are interesting to say the least but then there's the ice cream, it's like baked circus peanuts, all dehydrated but weirder. Well if you have had the privilege of partaking in astronaut ice cream you have a slight knowledge of what infant yogurt is!

She was so confused when we first gave it to her, with her quizzical look and the little tongue pushin' and trying to flip the lil communion like wafer out of her mouth. Then it started to "melt" and sure enough she flipped that sucker right back onto her tongue and before the first one was gone grabbed for more.


She's totally getting more into food, she has these teething biscuit/cookies that she's in love with. Gnaws on them till she's got a lil nubbin of one left and then she just shoves it in her mouth like a debit card in an ATM.



One of the doctor's at the practice we go to says she needs to be eating 6-8 jars of food per day and can I say that I don't think I could eat that much. I'm hoping she was confused as to her age or something but we're lucky if we can get our kid to eat 4! Our doc is totally on the same page as us when it come to feeding and nursing and all that entails so we're happy! And no worries, she's healthy!

And on the happy note; We bought her an insanely over the top stuffed animal Friday. We make it a point to not buy her excessive amounts of toys and really don't want a crib full of security plush toys but I just couldn't pass it up.

A 5 foot tall stuffed giraffe! I know you want one! Addiston loves it, get close and smiles real big then acts shy and buries her face in your shoulder then whips around and hugs it like it's a long lost friend.

Speak of new stuff: cheap art!

Thanks for the inspiration restoration hardware.


The little one is also mastering the art of the sippy cup, it's led to some minor confusion with nursing that we won't go to deep into detail about but we're gettin there!


I'm loving that she's getting more independent when it comes to food, I don't have to schedule things around her eating schedule, I can throw some veggie puffs in the diaper bag to hold her over in case I'm not going to be home on time and she is thrilled with them, so we're both happy!

Runnin on E

Aunt Kara arrived early (like 5am early) Saturday morning, accompanied by some of her friends, they made the 8 hour drive down here to visit for a few days during her Spring Break. They are such a sweet group of friends; considerate, respectful, and they laugh non-stop. Saturday afternoon we went over to the Gaylord Opry hotel for some girl time and were surprised (well one of us was) by non other than the Mr. Aaron Ballard!



They are truly the perfect couple and we are so happy for them.

And her ring is fabulous!

The rest of the time the girls were here we got to do touristy stuff. I stayed up way to late attempting to fit in as much girl time as possible and when the little one woke up at 6am I realized that I'm not in college anymore and therefore was left rallying most of the day because I was runnin on empty!

I will add that they are the most indecisive group of friends I have ever met, it's painful to watch, really, they are all so polite, and truly indifferent as to whether they eat BBQ or pizza, so simple dinner decisions turn into graceful "I don't mind, we can go wherever you want" and "no I don't care what we eat" being the type A, schedule driven, OCD person I am I made way too many of the decisions over the last few days, as well as ate way too much!


three of them are engaged, leading to most of the conversation centering around wedding planning



Addiston loved having so many visitors. She didn't sleep well and was constantly distracted during meal times by laughter, and waving, silly faces, and peek-a-boo. But she loved each of them and has been slightly high maintenance for just me to try and ceaselessly entertain her today as she's become accustom to.



Thanks Aunt Kara for grabbing the camera and capturing some pictures of me and my girl!

Friday Friend-day

Friends from college are coming down tonight. Girls that are great to laugh with, go out on the town with, or do nothing with. I'm looking forward to being irresponsible and smiling so much that my cheeks hurt at the end of the night.

And tomorrow...

She comes!

Jared's little sister Kara, one of my best friends and one of those people who when you are with them everything is shiny and happy. She is so precious and we love her. She and I used to be able to hang out all the time, steel each other's food and go to really bad movies anytime we wanted but now we are hours apart and our silliness must be scheduled. None-the-less I'm excited to see her as well as her friends she's bringing with her and I'm sure Addiston will enjoy her new playmate!

Fall softly

Day before yesterday the little girl and I were playing in the living room, reading board books, waving to each other across the coffee table when she took off towards her favorite toy (Mr. Giraffe) she was chewing on different parts of the brightly colored contraption when the trash can caught her eye.



As much as I hate to admit it she loves the trash can. It's tall and shiny, and I'm pretty sure she thinks it's a treasure chest. I mean the only things she ever notices that we put in it are things she wants, half melted puff's, random bits of paper she finds on the floor and puts in her mouth, empty food jars. She can barely reach the rim and Jared and I are always pulling her off of it scared that she'll pull it over and sure enough after weeks of attempting to get her to head our stern voices and avoid the "icky gross" it happened right before my eyes, at arms reach, she leaned back and the trash can came with her, or more, on top of her. Her head hit the transition between the ceramic tile of the kitchen and the warn carpet of the living room. Her right arm pinned under the now empty, stainless steel monstrosity.

She cried, refused a pacifier, knowing it would calm her down, and hey I can relate with just wanting to cry sometimes, so I let her cry a while. She has a little bump on the back of her head and welcomed the extra cuddle time she got this afternoon. I cursed the tile and the metal transition that dented my sweet little girl. We've joked about wrapping her in bubble wrap, putting her in a plastic bubble so that she wouldn't get hurt when she gets too close to the steps, or attempts to eat the coffee table.



But you can’t cushion your kids. You can’t send them into the world bubble-wrapped and helmeted even though you want to. You can’t carpet their universe, hoping their falls will always land softly. You love and let go and thank the modern world of advancements in safety for airbags and outlet covers, baby gates and bike helmets. And when our kids fall—and they will—you scoop them and hold them and tell them it’s okay.



There will be times when my patience is shot and I'm all hey-look-at-the-crazy-mom-who-can't-keep-it-together but there are moments when fessing up about the challenges of parenthood are good. Moments where I'll come here and write that there've been lots of whining, babies who won't sleep, a mama who's popping Oreo's and can't keep up with the laundry. And it feels good in that whole everyone relates kind of way. And it's kind of cool and in-with-the-times to be honest and lay some good self-deprecating parenthood admissions on the table because this generation is realizing it's good to be free and honest and, in doing so, we're going somewhere good with it.



Have a fabulous day! And if you fall this week, may you fall softly!

Stream of consciousness

Last weekend we took a family stay-cation to Opry and it was awesome. It was dreary outside so the garden's were all but empty. We let the little one play in the waterfalls and we rode up and down on the glass elevator one too many times.





Sometimes we take for granted the things that are right at our finger tips. Like when we lived in Ohio there was this amazing science center within an hour of our house and although I had been as a kid and Jared had been as a kid I always wanted to go, as a couple, on a date, but we got busy and we went on vacations to other parts of the world and overlooked the attractions in our own back yard. So I'm determined not to do that here in the south. So we're taking advantage of all the tourist traps set right here in front of us. And the best part, it's free.

And now, Let me just announce:

Which means fresh coffee every morning, going out to eat more than normal, and a very clingy little girl. I don't know what it is with her but every time I walk out of the room she drops whatever she is doing and crawls after me crying. Apparently it's my fault and I have her spoiled rotten. But hey it's kinda fun that she likes me best!

Jared's dad drove through town the other day and Addiston had no idea what to do, out to lunch with her dad, and both of her grandpa's on a boring ol' Tuesday.

This past week was great, relaxing, and full; cheerleading banquets, doctor's appointments, mechanic's, and little adventures around town: including my dad trying his first crepe, "a cosmic experience." So it's back to the normal routine of things, cleaning and laundry, cooking dinner, and chasing around a sweet little girl who has learned that the faster she crawls the higher I toss her when I catch her resulting in enormous amounts of giggling. She's growing so fast, learning to bounce, and wave, give five and play peek-a-boo like it's her business. She's slow to warm up but I'm pretty sure she liked having her loud pa-pa here, and I liked that he helped fold the laundry!

We miss you Daddy!

24 while 24

We do Birthday's up right in this house, hype, week long celebrations, friends, elaborate plans and fancy dinners. Monday was my birthday and it was a success. I felt so special and was able to relax, and was overwhelmed with love and excitement.

We started the celebrating Saturday night with a dinner out with friends.


Sunday my friend Lindsey took me to a precious little cafe/bar where I had, brace yourself: cookie dough egg rolls! They were in fact as amazing as they sound and yes they did rock my world! Apparently they are Carrie Underwood's favorite so who knows maybe next time I need to indulge in something insanely unhealthy I'll see her and we'll chat over coffee about how on earth someone would think to make an egg roll with cookie dough. Hey, it could happen.

Monday was B day and Jared brought me breakfast in bed, (we'll neglect to mention that it was a slice of quiche that I had made the day before) We went out to dinner that night while some friends had a lil party at our house to watch the babe. Dinner was romantic and delectable, so relaxing and a much needed time of just us! Before dinner the cheerleading squad I coach hi-jacked practice and had a little party for me, I have a half dozen crayon colored cards to prove it. Jared got me a kindle, we both love to read, so I'm pretty sure he'll get just as much use out of it as I do and sooner rather than later Addiston will sample how it tastes.



So my friend Nate has done this thing the last two years where instead of making new years resolutions he makes sort of birthday resolutions or lists of goals to accomplish during the next year. I've decided to use his practice as an inspiration for a sort of annual bucket list. So here it is: my list of 24 things to do while I am 24.

1. Go on a vacation with our family of 3!
2. Be slow to speak.
3. Join a choir.
4. Pick up the tab of a random family in a restaurant with me.
5. Skydive.
6. Fast.
7. Meet a celebrity.
8. Read at least 1 book a month.
9. Send birthday card's to every member of my family.
10. Learn how to do something new.
11. Play the piano sitting in my living room.
12. Go on more date's with my husband.
13. Purge my wardrobe down to the minimum.
14. Get involved in a charity.
15. Create a recipe from scratch.
16. Go camping.
17. Build something.
18. Learn Dutch.
19. Help someone achieve their dream.
20. Complete P90x.
21. Plant a garden.
22. Try at least 24 new recipes.
23. Surprise someone-successfully.
24. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Last night 2 of my closest girl friends took me out to dinner and then we went down town for dessert and a little tourist like fun. We didn't get home till after midnight and Yes I am still in my pajama's and drinking coffee at 1 pm on a Wednesday, but it was my birthday, I can wear pj's if I want to-they should totally change the song to that.

I don't write any of this to brag about how much I did this week, but more to revel in how much "family" we have grown down here and how blessed I feel to have had an amazing birthday. That even though I didn't get to see any of my family and I miss them desperately I felt loved and special and am so very thankful!

Oh and one last thing.

Her first pony-tail.

In the words of her father, "it's like a fountain coming out of her head."