Excuse me, I vlogged.

Is that even the correct past tense of vlog? I should look into that... being an English teacher and all.



Other noteworthy news that didn't make the vlog... I have a raw nerve in my jaw and am anxiously awaiting a root canal next Wednesday and last Sunday I ran in my first 5k fun run of the summer and finished in 41 minutes... That is all I have time to post now, homework, dinner, Addison, and my headache are all pulling me in different directions!

There's nothing like a trip to the cemetary for family pictures to brighten your day...

Sounds strange, no? Well, one of the best places to take pictures in this quirky little town just happens to be a cemetery. It's where Derek and I took our engagement pictures and since the weather was BEAUTIFUL today, we headed out for some family pictures with my parents.

7 Months...

Addison,

This has been quite the month of milestones, baby girl. The biggest one is the arrival of one (and I think number two today) teeth. Now you love to chomp down on the spoon when you're eating and it makes it tricky to get the spoon out of your mouth. You're rolling EVERYWHERE and have a fascination with Daddy's speakers. You like to roll over to them and push them over. He's not incredibly impressed with that one. You area also moving out of your 3-6 month clothes and swimming in your 6-9 month summer outfits. I think we may be at the end of size 2 diapers but we'll see how they're fitting in another week or so when we run out. I plopped you on the scale today and it read 16 pounds... Tonight you are sleeping in your crib without your Nap Nanny for the first time ever and when I snuck in to check on you, I found you face down on your crib. Honestly, it scared the heck out of me but you rolled over and sighed and went right back to sleep. We're almost done with stage 1 baby foods and are moving up to stage 2 this week. You love feeding yourself rice crackers and drank apple juice and water out of a sippy cup (okay, you poured it down your chest but some ended up in your mouth) at dinner tonight. You are also starting on formula now because Mommy is sick to death of pumping. We've used up all the milk from the freezer so now you're getting two or three bottles of Mommy's milk each day and the rest are formula. You've taken it like a champ so far and haven't been fussy at all. You're the sweetest, happiest baby I've ever met and you always have a smile and coo for everyone who stops to visit with you (which is just about everyone we meet).

You love: Fruits! Tags! Nylon straps! Kisses! Bath time! Bottles! Fuzzy blankets! Bouncing! Skyla! Binks! Your feet! Pooping in the tub!

You seriously dislike: Broccoli. The nose sucky-outy-thingy.

Happy seven month day peanut. I love you!

Mommy

The beginning of the end...

Addison just had her first formula bottle.

There is only a few days worth of milk left in the freeze and I'm only pumping twice a day (enough for maybe two feedings a day).

So this is it... the beginning of the end. Secretly, I was hoping she'd hate the formula because it wasn't 'my milk' and she'd refuse it. I guess I just wanted to think that she needed me more than she really does :( I know this is what I wanted and I am sick of pumping... it's just a lot to process... a tooth (and I think #2 is busting through right now), pulling up, and now... formula. Slow down, baby, mommy's not ready!!

Addison's 1st Easter...

On Saturday afternoon we went to my brother-in-law's house to dye Easter eggs and make cupcakes. Addison was all too helpful while we were dying eggs and poured the yellow dye on both of us. =] I was happy to make polka dotted eggs for her and 'help' her eat her cupcakes...

Addison made quite the haul on Easter morning. The Easter bunny stuffed her bouncer full of clothes, books, binkies, and stuffed animals. She was far more interested in the tags on everything and chewed on them all morning. My mom sent the sunglasses and we got some hysterical pictures of her in them being a little diva.

For Easter dinner and our Easter egg hunt we went back to Derek's brother's house. We had turkey and ham (Addison dined on milk) and then had a full scale Easter egg hunt. Addison wasn't sure why there were eggs laying around on the ground and she didn't appreciate that she couldn't lick them all but she got a basket full anyway. It was cold and windy so we had to put her jacket on but her little dress was so cute!! She ended up in a polka dotted dress, bib, and jacket by the time we made it outside. =]

Happy Easter!!

Home Sweet Home...

I was bored senseless cleaning my house over spring break (WHILE IT WAS SNOWING. ON SPRING BREAK. HUMPH.) and decided that I would snap some pics around the house and show ya'll around. I think Derek's family, my parents, and my Aunt Linda are the only family from my side who have ever been in our house... so, this is where we live.

We bought this house in 2004 and moved in a few days before Christmas. It's 1400 sq. feet, three bedrooms, and two bathrooms. We have slowly made it our own and even though we are looking for land and thinking about building in the next few years, we love it here and have so many great memories.

*Side note: this is how you can tell that I have too much time on my hands... blog posts that take more than fifteen minutes to dream up and write out... so enjoy. It's a rare occasion. =]

1. The exterior of our house from the street... I cheated, the outside pictures were taken at the end of last summer when everything was green. The day I took the rest of these pics it was snowing and raining and I didn't want to go slop through puddles for a snapshot. Yes, there is WSU stuff ALL over our house. Our neighbor hangs a Huskie flag and most of the time I think he does it just to piss us off.

2. Our back patio... we get the evening sun and after about 3pm the backyard becomes inhabitable. So, we built a deck and covered it to replace the 10x10 concrete slab that used to exist there. We don't exactly have a fantastic view (of the neighbor's scrap metal) but it's a great place to hide out during thunderstorms in the spring and drink coffee in the mornings.

3. The shed. It's a shed. My dad built it. We keep shed stuff in it. My dog is standing next to it. Pretty self explanatory.

4. This is the view from the living room. That's the neighbor with the obnoxious UW flag. We keep these curtains closed pretty much all the time.

5. The back half of the living room... Derek's chair and my couch - we pretty much live in this room.

6. The front half of the living room... it's what we're staring at while we're spending all our time in here. We looked all over for that clock (over the TV), painted it silver so it would show up on the wall, and then our neighbor came over and told us if we went back in time to the house where he grew up, that same clock was probably hanging on the wall. =]

7. The laundry room is right off the living room and leads out to the garage. ::points to cabinets in picture:: Derek hung cabinets for me for Christmas and I LOVE the extra storage. I still hate doing laundry though. Maybe if he buys me a front loading washer and dryer set I'll like it more. (hint, hint, nudge, nudge.)

8. The kitchen from the dining room. Pretty self explanatory.

9. This is a piece of artwork we have up on the ledge from a local artist. Derek and I went with my parents to her art studio and she had a piece that she thought was "flawed" (in reality, it has a TINY dent in the glaze). Anyway, she gave it to us for free and we absolutely adore it.

10. The "hutch", as it's called in our house. Derek's dad made it for me when we moved in and I realized that I had more stuff than I had cupboards. It's my appliance storage and cookbook central. I LOVE it and use it constantly. He designed it after one I was drooling over in a Pottery Barn catalog. Yeah. My father-in-law is cool like that.


12. Our dining room. I hate that I had to leave the curtains closed for these pictures (the light made the picture super dark) but we installed french doors last year and they look amazing! The door leads out onto the patio and the back yard.

13. A piece of art that was given to me by a close friend. Amazingly, it's the only polka dotted thing in the house (Derek has banned them for the most part) and I LOVE it!!

14. The other side of the room... my niece always asks me why we have "Christmas" lights on our trees. I love leaving most of the lights off and having just little things like the trees lit up at night.

15. Looking down the hallway from the dining room. The first door on the left side is the guest room, then the linen closet, then Addison's room. On the right side is the guest bathroom and then our bedroom.

16. The guest/Addison's bathroom. It has the BEST soaking tub ever... Don't ask me what possessed me to buy white towels. They are impossible to keep clean!

17. Wanna come stay with us? This is where we'll put you... =]


18. Our master bathroom... I *heart* my big Sephora make-up case... I bought it for myself for Christmas.

19. Yes, I know our comforter doesn't fit. We'll get to that in a minute. This is our bedroom. All of the furniture in this room was either made or refinished by Derek and his dad. Our room is incredibly dark - I love the red wall and the black out shades. I can walk in there at noon on a sunny day in July and it feels like midnight. Now, allow me to explain the bedding situation... I could have staged this. We do own a queen sized comforter that is beautiful and fits the bed wonderfully. Here is the problem... I am a massive cover hog. MASSIVE. I like to take my blanket, roll up in it like a burrito and bury myself. Derek, on the other hand, likes to sleep like a vampire - on his back, with his hands on his chest and the sheets pulled up to his chin. Therein lies the problem. We cannot share the same blanket without nearly killing each other. So, I curl up with the brown down comforter every night and Derek takes the sheets and blanket. I should also add that the ONLY reason our bed is made is because I just changed the sheets. I don't do bed making... not even for interweb company =]

20. Our headboard... Derek comes from a very crafty family and they like to take on DIY projects. Sometimes it's contagious and after watching a show on HGTV we decided to try our hand at turning a door into a headboard. We went out and bought an old door at a second hand store. Derek sanded it, stained it, and then sanded off the areas that are light now. He built the end caps and we absolutely love it. We have been putting off buying a king size bed because we don't want to give up our headboard.

21. The key. I found this key when I was 17 years old and dating my high school boyfriend. I have always had a fascination with skeleton keys and when I say it in an antique shop. I put it on a piece of ribbon and gave it to my boyfriend as the key to my heart. Two years later, when we broke up I took it back. In it's existence it has belonged to three people. Since I gave it to Derek he has kept it next to him in our room hanging from his lamp.

22. The current reading material on my nightstand, recommended to me by a student. It's actually pretty good... I'll let you know how it turns out.

23. Addison's room... my FAVORITE room in the house. Derek painted the yellow stripes for me and even though it was a pain it was SO worth it. I loved the idea of pink and lime green instead of pastels.

24. Our glider and Addison's toy box (which is a lifesaver in such a tiny room!!!).

25. I bought the wooden letters for Addison's room but they were black and very boyish looking. I decided to cover them with scrap booking paper and a little glitter. They turned out great and they match her room perfectly.

26. We got this owl as a gift at our last baby shower from my cousin. Her friend is an artist and made this piece specially for Addison using pieces of fabric from her bedding that my mom made. It is so cute and it's neat to know that it's a one of a kind.

27. The room wouldn't be complete without this little cutie =]

28. The lamp that my mom made for Addison... we sit and cuddle every night in the rocker and read our bedtime stories by the light of the lamp.

29. The birth announcement that my Aunt Linda painted for Addison after she was born.

30. The Noah's Ark that my mom made for Addi's room...

Well... there you have it, that's our house. If you're ever in wine country and need a place to stay, give us a call!! G'night!

Chatty Addi...

Addison has recently developed the need to chat ALL the time... and I LOVE it!! She chatter along like this throughout her entire bath (even when she pooped in the tub - AGAIN)...



but the fun doesn't stop there... she keeps going until bottle time! Despite how riled up she gets, twenty minutes and 6 ounces later, she's out cold!

Hey, I know you!!!

I always find it funny when I run into a student at Target or Costco and they get all weirded out that I actually exist outside of the classroom. It blows their mind to think that I buy groceries, go out to dinner, and go shopping just like "normal people" do.

When I was out buying groceries at Fred Meyer the other day I almost walked smack into one of the lactation nurses from the hospital where Addison was born. During the first two weeks of her life, we were in the ABC Clinic (After Baby Comes Clinic) almost daily because she lost so much weight. So, when I saw this nurse who had spent several hours with us trying to help Addison learn how to latch on I almost instantly walked up to say something along the lines of, "OMG! Hi! Do you remember us? I had my baby in September and we had trouble nursing so we came into the clinic a bunch and you worked with us on the whole breastfeeding thing it didn't' end up working out so I've had to pump and bottle feed instead and I got mastitis twice and my daughter is so cute do you remember her?" ::gasp in air after one incredibly LONG sentence::

Then, I paused and thought of my students. Of course she is out buying groceries, talking on her phone, and living her totally normal life. She was off duty... der. She wouldn't remember us, she probably would have been polite, faked that she had a clue who I was, cooed over Addison, asked how things were going, and we would have said our goodbyes. But in reality, I was just another in a long line of boobs with a newborn attached who was in need of her assistance. So, I smiled to myself, said a silent thank you to her for her help, and went searching for the half-and-half.

Now, my students strange reactions make a little more sense to me...

Oh, I'm sorry. Am I flooding your yard?

This ::points to picture:: was the scene behind our shed when I got home from grocery shopping today. Apparently the city turned on the irrigation water and we had a pipe freeze over the winter. See that green round thingy? About 4 feet down in that hole is a little lever that you have to turn to shut off the water. So, armed with a hot dog roasting stick, I waded out into the weeds, grass clippings, mud, and I'm sure, dog poop too, to try and turn the damn thing off. No luck. Got SOAKED with ice water in the process. Next bright idea, try and turn the little blue lever right next to where the water is shooting out of... got even MORE SOAKED. Called father-in-law. He came, armed with an appropriate tool and got the stupid geyser turned off... Happy spring y'all. I'm going to go take a hot shower and try to regain feeling in my toes again.