Happy 1/2 Birthday Addy Bug

It is SO hard to believe that she is 18 months old already!  Time really flies when you are having fun!  Her vocabulary has really improved over the past month and she is starting to say her words instead of using her sign language.  She says "more, please, up, and whats that?"  She knows about 10 animal sounds and the cow still seems to be her favorite sound to make. At her 18 month check up she is now the 50th percentile for height, 40th in weight and 25th in head circumference. She has really grown a lot since her 15 month check up.    She loves to have the music on while she eats in her high chair, loves to try and pick Farley up to carry him around and most of all love to give everything kisses.  We have to spend at least 10 minute each night giving everyone and every stuffed animal a kiss goodnight, its so precious.  She adores her daddy and loves the "kissie monster!"  She gets so excited when she hears the garage door open and runs to the door in anticipation.  She still loves to read books, watch Bubble Guppies and dance and has now started running everywhere instead of walking.  I think she is going to have a tough time come winter time because she loves being outside!  She is still ornery and continues to test her boundaries but is doing much better the past few days with accepting the word "no" instead of crying about it every time you say it.  She is now just taking one nap a day for about 3 hours and is still sleeping at least 12 hours at night.  I hope she is still a wonderful sleeper when the baby gets here!  Addy has no idea what is coming and thinks that my belly is just a stepping stool to help her get onto the couch.  We have been practicing with her baby Shya and it seems to be going well so far!  She is so amazing and want the time to slow down so we can enjoy this age longer.  We love you Addy more than you will ever know!

As far as the baby goes, he is a BIG boy! I am measuring about two weeks bigger than my due date and he is already 3.5 pounds at 30 weeks.  He is long and has a bigger head than Addy did at this time.  My placenta has moved away from the danger zone so I am free to deliver normally instead of scheduling a c-section. I am so thankful! Even if one is inevitable at least I can say that I tried!  We are still struggling with a name just like we did with Addy.   I imagine we will be down to the wire at the hospital again and they are going to have to give us a 10 minute deadline like before. Its just so hard to choose!  We cant wait to meet him!  I have been really bad about taking pictures this time since I am lucky eat dinner and shower but here is a recent picture of my belly at 28 weeks.

Outside Fun

Since Addy loves being outdoors so much I took two separate days off work to have some Mommy and Addy time.   One day we ventured out to Deanna Rose and visited her favorite goats and ducks and stopped to smell all the flowers.

The second day we went and had a picnic at Heritage Park and ate, played on the equipment and fed the ducks! 

I can never get enough time with her and sometimes regret working so much but know that I have to work to provide her with everything she needs but darn it, working sucks sometimes and wish we could have many more days like these!

Circus

Addy got to experience the circus for the first time! She loved the animals but could really care less about the flying trapeze, trampolines and clowns. I think that she was a little too young for it but hopefully next year she will be able to enjoy it a little more! She of course loved running around the Sprint Center with her best buddy Callie!  They were the center of attention during intermission, it was hard to keep them still!

Aunt Shirley Comes to Visit

My wonderful Aunt Shirley came to visit from California and its always wonderful spending time with her.  I have so many wonderful childhood memories with her and hope that Addy can have the same!  The first time she came Addy was going through her stranger anxiety and fear of people with glasses but as you can see this time was much better!  She warmed right up and put Aunt Shirley to work! 

Tell those Chiefs how to play Addy!

Paint, Paint and More Paint

Labor Day weekend we worked really hard converting the office/spare room into the baby's new room.  Grandma Krebs bought us his adorable fish bedding so I came up with the idea to paint the walls to look like water. I had the idea but the follow through was a little more challenging then I ever imagined.  Coming up with a template to go by was tough but we put our heads and muscles together and went for it!  It actually turned out a lot better than I expected and cant wait to get the fish decals on the wall!  I will post pictures of the decals when I get them in the mail but until then here are the walls and the dresser and bed put together! 

Hard at work or hardly working?

17 Months Old

Time is just flying by and we are loving this age...well...everything but the tantrum part!  Its truely amazing to watch Addy grow and learn so many new things every day! Lately her favorite things to do are play on the slide outside and yell from the top "Da Da Da!!!!!"  We dont know why she says that exactly but I am sure she can be heard from a few blocks away. She loves to swing and be outside and chase grasshoppers with Farley.  She is also really getting carried away with her words and explanations. She has a story for everything and even though we have no idea what she is saying most of the time it sure sounds interesting!  Her favorite toys are still her doggie, horsey and Shya her baby. She always has one of them in tow.  She loves strawberries and anything with DIP, yea I know!  Grandpa started it so we can blame all of her dipping obessions on him. It really is adorable and loves to dip everything in ranch including animal crackers, veggie sticks and blueberries. It always gives us a good laugh!

Our wonderful Parents as Teachers woman says that Addy is ahead of most kiddo's her age with her developmental skills which is wonderful!  Recently she has begun testing her boundries and pushing the limits with things that she knows she is not suppose to do such as throwing her cup off her high chair, throwing food on the ground, and when she doesnt get her way head butting everything (including concrete) are her ways of showing her aggression. Its crazy!  We had to start time-out already which has definatly been a challenge for mommy!  My patients have been tested and I really need to work on some things myself, this job as a mommy is tough stuff!  We have been really good about being consistant and they seem to be working. We might have a long road ahead of us but love every second of her! She truely has both of our personalities that are really starting to shine!

Also I finally figured out how to use my camera properly so I have been able to get some great pictures of her and her personality! 

Roots Festival

We started a new 'family tradition' of sorts last year when we attended the Roots Festival down in Paola. The weather was wonderful so we decided to make another trip there this year. They have lots of food vendors, a BBQ competition, lots of fun booths with cute hair bows and best of all some good music. Addy had a wonderful time and sat on the blanket and danced the night away. She was pretty fascinated by the ants on the tree and eating the bark but for the most part she loved it!

Tomboy?

Addy has always loved loud noises and doesn't really seem to be afraid of much, although the funny part about that statement is the one thing I can think of that she is completely freaked out about is a vibrating Halloween witch. If she even places an eye on that toy in her toy box she goes into full freak out mode shaking her hands and crying. So when Mat breaks out the riding lawn mower Addy goes running up to it for a ride!  The mower sounds like the biggest and baddest thing on the block and she has no fear in hopping right on the thing to take it for a spin!  After witnessing her excitement when Daddy let her drive it, I am convinced that her pretty pink dress and hair bow are just for show, she is going to be a tomboy!

Pretending

Addy has defiantly started her "pretending stage" and oh my is it precious! We got her a bean bag baby so she can get used to us holding a baby and talking about a baby before "he" gets here. She loves her baby named "Shya" and takes her everywhere!  She loves to take her hat on and off, put her in and out of her car and let me tell you how much Farley loves Shya (not)!  "Mommy Addy" sure does like to put baby Shya on Farley's back so she can ride him, its hilarious!  She is also a real climber, our couches have become jungle jims and she seems to think that she can lay on the back of the couch like Farley does too. She is busy busy busy and is really starting to develop her personality which is much like her daddy, she is very hard headed and knows exactly what she wants and she wants it NOW (not the two minutes it takes the food to warm up in the microwave darn it!).  She also loves shoes and loves to put on our shoes and walk around. Her swing outside and wagon rides are some of her favorite summertime activities including swimming of course! She is such a fish and loves the water so much, fountains are her all time favorite!  She is getting so big so quickly!

 "Don't you dare touch that" face!

 Busted!

New Adventures

We have been adventurous recently and its makes us look like we are sport fanatics when in reality we just keep getting free tickets to things!  My work has purchased season tickets to just about all sporting events and concerts and we are living it up!

Addy (along with us) got to experience her first soccer game at the brand new Livestrong Sporting Park with Eileen and Hunter! It was amazing!  The seats were great, the food was fantastic and overall it was a great experience! Addy loved all of the drums and people cheering, she thought it was all for her of course, she was sucking it up! 

However a few tears were shed when the mascot snuck up behind her and Hunter

 Hmmm...too many choices on this menu

 Teasing Hunter of course, they love each other!

Addy also got to enjoy her first Chiefs game at the season opener. She was super tired but hung in there really well and loved having her own chair to sit in and having an endless amount of nanny's Oreo cookies! 

Its a Boy!

Boy!

Legs

Profile

Again, clearly its a boy!

...he wasn't shy about letting us know either! As soon as she put it on my belly there he was legs wide open!  She quickly said "do you want to know cause now is the time!"  It was hilarious!  I saw it first and immediately looked at Mat and he just squinting trying to make sense of the black and white fuzziness and when she said "its a boy" Mat looked like a deer in headlights and immediately got a bit smile on his face! It was priceless! 

Everything looks great but of course, just like when I was pregnant with Addy, there is a small concern.  My placenta is placed on the front of my belly this time and spans the whole front therefore my placenta is so low that its attached to my cervix.  We are hoping that when I go back for a second sonogram at 28 weeks it will show that my placenta has moved and stretched upward with my belly but if it doesn't then there is no chance that I will be able to deliver vaginally and will have to have a scheduled c-section. If I were to attempt to deliver vaginally my placenta could tear away from my cervix and ultimately I could bleed to death. I am not going to worry about it until after my sonogram at 28 weeks and am hopeful everything will turn out just fine. Everything else looks really healthy and he was really good about taking measurements and moving around while taking pictures, unlike Addy, she was camera shy!  

So far so good!  We are so thrilled and cant wait to meet him!