Addie's Birthday !

Today is a very special day - Addie Grace is a year old! What a year it has been and I cannot believe how fast it has gone by. I can honestly say that I have smiled more this year than any year before. Every time I see that little girl she does something to put a smile on my face.

I am thankful that she is healthy. I am thankful that she is happy. I am thankful that she has a great Momma that takes extra good care of her. And I am thankful that she is my baby girl.

Her favorite words are “Uh Oh” and “Nee Nee”. She loves yelling and playing with Neely, our mini schnauzer.

She isn’t walking just yet, but she will take an unassisted step or two to get to food, or Neely. She will stand on her own and walk behind a walker, but she crawls so fast I think she realizes that it would be a waste of time to try and walk.

She may look more like me, but her personality has Lacy written all over it. Addie is curious, going non-stop all the time and barely sits still, unless she has food or a bottle (see a theme here J ) She does like to be held, but rarely will she let you rock her or cuddle with her. If she’s awake, she’s playing. This might be why she sleeps so well.

Her favorite foods are blueberries and cheerios, but I don’t think there is anything she won’t eat. Actually, any kind of food could be her favorite food. It’s amazing to me that she knows the difference between what’s food and what isn’t. Rarely does she put anything in her mouth that she isn’t supposed too. …Knock on wood….

She loves to pull all her books off her shelf and flip through the pages, but she doesn’t get into reading from Mommy or Daddy yet, not enough action I imagine.

Her favorite toys are cell phones, iPad’s, pots and pans and remote controls. You know, the things she isn’t allowed to have but somehow always ends up with them. She also likes to throw the ball back and forth with you, which Daddy likes to do too.

She can’t sleep without Elphy, her blanket/toy that she cuddles with while sleeping. If only Daddy could get some of that love.

She’s got a mouthful of teeth, and she takes full advantage of them.

Her laugh is infectious.

And….. I know she’s going to be a great big sister.

We love you Addie!

11 Months

Has anyone missed us? Its only been 4 months since our last update! Needless to say, we have been busy in our household, and little Addie has been growing like a weed.


A lot can happen in 4 months. Addie celebrated her first Christmas, she learned how to maneuver all over the house, she's only days away from walking, she's got a mouthful of teeth and she has learned a few words (Mama, NeNe for Neely and Uh Oh). Below is a picture/video recap of the last months:

Not a huge fan of Santa.... Yet.

So Santa isn't so bad afterall? How did he know you loved Elephants? This giant elephant (Elphy) has been a hit in our house. We wrestle with him, we lay on him, and we love on him.

We do love Wallabies!

Play hard. Sleep hard.

Learning to play the piano with Daddy.

And when Daddy isn't around she still wants to practice.

This was funny. She went down for a nap in Pop's office and the pack n' play was a little to close to Pop's desk.
She pulled down all his work papers that were on his desk and she was so proud of herself when we found her.

We can eat and drink by ourself now.

Helping Daddy at work.

Did I mention she sleeps pretty good? She didn't wake up until 9:30 today!

 Sometimes we fight the bow.



And sometimes we are ok with the bow. Mission accomplished.

 


Unfortunately, we have been sick a couple times. Seems like this is the only time
she'll let us really rock her and love on her. Or if we have a bottle in our hand, ha.

It has been a fun and eventful last four months. It is crazy how babies change so much from week to week. We had some friends over for pizza one night recently and there were two other babies in the house, both were younger than Addie and it's hard to believe Addie was once that small. She's a big girl, I call her my little giant baby, and I love her.

Check back in another four months for another update! Kidding, hopefully it won't be that long before I can update again.

7 Months

Time flies. No doubt about it. And you can’t go backwards.
I go through pictures all the time and look at how far Addie has come and how much she has grown. She was so little, so innocent, so helpless. And now she seems like such a big girl who is developing the sweetest personality. Over the last few months we have had a number of “firsts”... (and seconds). Here are a few.

Our first trip to the pool.

Our first true love.... Green Beans.

Our first trip for Ice Cream

Our first glamour shot, ha.

Our first time surprising Daddy at work.

Our first UT shirt thanks to Mimi and Pops, our first UT football game, and our first win!

Our first rude awakening.

Our second UT football game, and first loss :(

This isn't our first bath, but she is adorable in this picture.

And we are learning how to FEED OURSELF!

Our first glass of wine.... kidding.

 

Our second trip to the beach.

See what I mean? She’s growing up so fast. At this rate my next post will talk about her first boyfriend and first car! Ok nevermind, changing the subject from that.... I catch myself saying things I’ve always heard other parents say about their kids, like “They grow up too fast” and “Being a parent is one of the greatest of God’s gifts.” It’s all true, I’m a Dad, I know, ha.

My life changed for the absolute best when Addie Grace was born. She is such a blessing and it is an honor being her Dad. But being a Dad comes with new challenges, and I was also blessed with a wife who is an incredible Mom, who is a natural, and meets those challenges head on with me. No matter what kind of day I’ve had, good or bad, nothing makes me happier than seeing Lacy and Addie playing, and Addie smiling and getting excited when she sees me walk in the door. And knowing that when my alarm goes off in the mornings, it’s only a few minutes before Addie wakes up and I get to go get her out of bed. She loves it when I come in her room in the mornings, I’m sure it will always be that way, right? It’s these little things that I will never forget.

Addie is fun, especially now. Don’t get me wrong, she was fun during those first few months, but its different now. I connect with her now whereas it was tough for me in the beginning. She knows who I am, she will play with me, she laughs at my crazy faces, she lays her head on my shoulder when other people try to hold her, etc.

Most guys want to have a boy when they start thinking about having children, and I always envisioned myself having a boy first, and being able to do the kind of things with him that I did with my Dad. But if you’ve read this blog before, you know Lacy and I had a pretty good feeling that when she got pregnant that it was going to be a girl. I was never disappointed and like all parents, I just wanted a healthy baby and a healthy Momma.

Now, when we talk about our next child, I’m 100% fine with having another girl. Something about a Dad and his little girl, it is a gift.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

Family Photos

A couple months ago we had some family photos taken down the road from our house. I think it was one of the hottest days of the year, and for an hour or so Addie was a smiling machine. She is growing up way to fast and I love her so much. She is sitting up on her own, eating baby food now, sleeping good (most of the time), and she definitely knows who her Daddy is.

Like the nursery pictures, Lindsay Parks did these and did a great job!

Starting to get HOT and sleepy...

Even the carseat is more fun if it's in the A/C. Proof that she does cry every now and then.

Addie DOES have a Nursery!

I know we have kept saying we were going to put pictures of Addie Grace's nursery on here, and today is the day.... Finally right? As I mentioned in our last post, we had some family pictures taken a couple weeks ago, and our photographer took some pictures of Addie's nursery so we could show the world that Addie isn't deprived of her own room.

Lacy did the nursery all by herself. The ideas behind it were 100% hers, and along with some affirmation from friends and family, it was finished awhile ago. It is a grayish and pink theme. What do you think?

Special gift from Cousin Bailey

Meet Elphy - Elphy never leaves Addie's arms when she is sleeping.

Thank you to Lindsay Parks who took most of these pictures and our family pictures that we will put up later. She was awesome! www.lparksphotography.com