Off to Jersey!!!! Merrry Christmas Everyone!

Well today is the big day and we are sooooooo excited. We will fly out at 9am. So if you are wondering how in the world I have time to post on the blog page today when we will leave for the airport around 7am. Well, I can not sleep-I have been up since 4am! What's up with that? Maybe it is the excitement of seeing my family or that I am so ridiculous that I have thought a million times of what we need to take for Addie and I do not want to forget anything. So wish us luck that this flight is on time or it will make for a long airport experience with busy little Addie. HA!

Oh and for all of my Southern friends, we may see a white Christmas! YEAH! The forecast is for snow Sunday and again on Wednesday. Fun Times!

Oh and how perfect is this timing? I have been working to teach Addie to say Santa and Ho Ho Ho for the last few weeks! Well she has got it, she makes the funniest little face when she says Ho Ho Ho! Well Merry Christmas to Everyone!

Three More Days to Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay three more days and we are off! I can not wait. Just one more day of work and then I am off until the 29th- 10 whole days with Addie!!! Don't get me wrong I do like my job and I love my kids that I work with, but wow this is a much needed break. I have been working really hard lately. Don't feel bad for me, I just work so hard to have that four day work week- how awesome is that! Have I mentioned that everyone has that option and most people do not take it. They have seriously hit their heads! So tomorrow is my Friday!!! Happy Friday!!!


Okay this is just a little check to see if my mom and dad are reading this. So we have been really busy lately and we have not visited Santa yet- Oops! Do you want to go with us? I thought you might like that special treat? We love you guys and can not wait to see y'all!

6 More Days to Go!

Okay, we are getting really excited now! Only 6 more days until Addie and I fly North for the holidays. Okay well I am excited, Addie honestly has no idea of our plans! We will surely miss Chuck as we travel a few days ahead of him, but we are so excited to visit with my family. Grammy and Poppy here we come! We are going to get to attend Kylie's family birthday party as well! We never get to attend birthday parties with living so far away so this is really exciting. (Oh for those who do not know Kylie is our niece who is turning 5 on the 15th.)
So just a few more days mom and dad! We love you!

Oh and to my brother, the yankee. No offense, but you are a yankee! He called to tell me that he was offended by my yankee remarks on the blog. HA! Well to let everyone know, as I explained to him, I can make those comments as I am one too. And proud of it! HA! Does that make you feel better Scott! Just teasing- love ya!

Oh and on a side note for activities here before before we go. Addie and I are meeting Chuck at the ice rink for the holiday ice skating show today. Yes, we will freeze-AGH! IT is so darn cold in that place. I guess we can see today what she thinks of ice skating. She is a huge hockey fan, so I need to try to convert her to ice skating, that just seems a little safer for a little girl. Wish me luck!

11 Days and Counting!!

I am so excited! In less than 11 days (12/20) Addie and I will be off to New Jersey for the holidays! This will be Addie's first plane ride so keep your fingers crossed that she does well on the plane! The end result is well worth it as we will be in Jersey for a whole week with all of the kiddos, Grammy and Poppy, Addie's Aunts and Uncles and more! Actually the whole darn family is in Jersey, I am the only one who left town! So fun times are in the future for us! And yes Chuck will certainly be spending the holidays with us, he will drive up on Tuesday and meet us there. Addie will miss her Daddy for a few days, but she sure will be busy with her five cousins! So to my Mama and Daddy, the count down is on, we will be there before you know it! Your house will be taken over by one little busy bee! Dad get all of your singing Christmas gadgets ready, she will want you to play them over and over and over again! Oh and yes dad, she still says Hi over and over as well, but now she follows with getting your shoes to tell you to go. She likes to go places, she is a busy girl! Oh one last warning, you might want to take some of the ornaments off of the bottom of the tree, she is starting to get curious!

Christmas Festivities- Fun Times!

Okay so Sunday was jammed packed with holiday activities! We ventured out in the cold to go to the Jamestown Christmas parade. (For those Northerners reading this, that is the quaint little town that we live in and their own little holiday parade). Well it was cold in NC terms(about 40 degrees)so we had to bundle Addie up like a little snowman. She was not so thrilled at first to be bundled up, but I think she caught on as to the reason. The parade lasted over an hour so we had to bank out a little early as Addie had reached her limit, but it was an impressive little parade. Addie wanted to be right down in the action and we had to hold on to her to stop her from joining in the parade. She loved the music and was dancing right along with the bands. Chuck's parents went with us to the parade. Sorry Nanu that you are not in any of the pics! After the parade, we ventured into more Christmas festivities as we went to Tanglewood to see the Christmas lights. (Again for the Yankees, that is a wonderful Christmas display of thousands of lights- there is nothing like it in NJ, but picture a Storybook Land set up that you can drive through and then multiply that times five). Well Addie was excited for the lights, but tired too! She clapped and said yeah at times, but she was also excited just to climb around the car. Yes the Social Worker Mama took her out of her car seat to drive through the light display. Are you all proud- I actually broke a rule! (And yes to my mama it was safe, we were only going about 5 miles an hour!) She did like it though! To her daddy's delight though, she is just as impressed by his Christmas lights at our house! And that sure does make him happy! Here are some pics of Addie at the parade!

Favorite Holiday Pics- So Far!

Okay so I know it is early in the season, but I just love these pictures. How cute is this outfit! Okay back to the theme of the rocking chair photos as stated previously in the blog, but you see the rocking chair is the only place that Addie seems to stay still these days! She is just a moving and a shaking! Literally, she is walking non-stop or dancing around all of the time. And yes her favorite word is still "GO!"

Back to the weekend update, so after the party Friday night, we hung at home most of the day Saturday as Addie was quite clingy and fussy! The poor baby seems to have three new teeth coming in. The three teeth is just really an educated guess as that is the the best of my estimating abilities. See you can not really feel in her mouth to check the status to well as she will bite you. Sweet huh! She only bites me too, what is that about it! I guess she bites the ones she loves, not so sure! So anyway, we stayed around the house and we had to back out of a fun Christmas party at the Calfo house on Saturday night! Sorry Stacy that we missed it, but it was probably best! I would have possibly pulled my hair out chasing the little darling around or I would have had to overindulge in alcohol. HA! Just kidding, I love Addie dearly and we stayed home from the party to best serve my little darling. Here are my new favorite pics!

Can anyone tell that I have already taken some medicine to help me sleep! Ha! It makes me chatty!

Busy Busy Weekend! Bounce, Bounce, Bounce!

Wow what a whirlwind of weekend! And let me first tell you all, you better love me! My camera and computer have not been cooperating tonight to add this post and yes I am still at it afer hours ot trying. By the way, I have been making a rice casserole for a work party tomorrow at the same time and writing out Christmas cards all while messing with the computer. Yes I am skilled at multi-tasking!Anyway, back to the weekend. Well I was off on Friday for my four day workweek. Sorry- another sidenote! Can I tell you all I just love this schedule. Despite having to work on this past Friday morning briefly due to a previously scheduled court hearing, it is the bomb of a schedule! And yes I am actually off completely this Friday and next!

Well after being off on Friday, we had a Birthday party to go to at the Bounce place. The party was for Dylan who is now 6!! Dylan is the son of Crystal who keeps Addie for us! He is just a doll! He was very excited for Addie to attend his party and he wanted to be sure that she sat with him while he had his birthday cake. And do you know that there were probably 30 kids at the party and in the middle of all of his friends he paid attention to Addie. And he did have her sit with him while enjoying his cake. How sweet is he!!! He said a while back that he planned to marry Addie, I think I may allow that! HA! Anyway, Happy Birthday Dylan!!

The rest of the weekend activities to follow! Here are some pictures from Bounce U! By the way Addie just loved it! She went down the slides with her daddy, bounced with mommy, daddy, Crystal, and her friends from daycare, and she of course enjoyed the cake! Oh and I was there, I am just missing from pictures as I was taking the pics! Can we say that she slept wonderful that night! She was all bounced out!

Do we see a theme here!

Can we say that Addie loves rocking chairs. She just loves to climb in and out of her rocking chair every day. Well she liked to climb in and out of the rocking chair at Chuck's Aunt and Uncle's house as well. Here is Ms. Addie on Thanksgiving just rocking away.

Holiday Time!

Well we are very excited about the holidays with Addie. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Burch family. Holidays sure are fun with Little Miss Addie around for entertainment. Okay so how does Addie know that you typically stuff yourself on Thanksgiving? Seriously, she ate more food then she ever does. Funny huh!

Well as for Christmas, we have very exciting news. Addie and I will fly out to New Jersey earlier then planned. I was able to get some extra time off of work so Addie and I will leave on Saturday the 20th and then Chuck will drive up on the 23rd. Okay so did I mention flying. Addie has never flown before and this will just be Addie and Mommy. Wish me luck! It is a short flight, but I sure hope she does not freak out. You know whoever has the seat with us will have that look of panic when they get on the plane. HA! It is kind of funny that we can provide torture to some stranger.

As for the Christmas preparations, well the tree is up and Addie is doing well to not mess with it. The bottom of the tree (anything in the reach of little hands) is pretty bare and of course there are no fragile ornaments there. But to my surprise Addie has only messed with one ornament. It is a fluffy snowman and I think she tries to take it off as she thinks it is a doll. She just loves the lights and the reindeer outside. She waves to the reindeer out the window, pretty cute huh! Chuck makes fun of my reindeer, but he thinks it is pretty cute how much Addie likes it.

As for shopping, can I say I am one of the few that love Black Friday, what deals. I was at Walmart at 5:01am with all of the crazies. What is with people? I must say I am obviously nuts to go to Walmart on Black Friday, but do people really need to yell and fight. I heard from some other shoppers that people were sitting on TV boxes so that noone could get the TV and that some guy bit another guy. Are you kidding me! By the way, I never ever go to Walmart on a normal day so going there on Black Friday is pretty insane. I went to KMart too which is a never in my book! Those stores are just too chaotic for me. Well I managed to go to Walmart, Macys, Dicks, Kohls, Target, Linens and Things, Michaels, and Kmart all before 9:15am. And I am almost done shopping. So for all of you that are thinking that I am nuts, take on the challenge next year, it is pretty fun to get good deals. And yes for any serious shoppers, you can go with me on Black Friday, but only if you follow the important rules of being prepared with a list, and no shopping carts unless absolutely necessary- they will slow you down on Black Friday. HA! Happy shopping everyone!

Aunt Lori - It is NOT going to happen!!!!

Well to Addie's Aunt Lori, We have tried and tried to get a good picture with Addie in her adorable camoflauge hat that you bought for her, but it is just not meant to be. Tonight she actually wore it for a while, but only until I would try to take a picture. Here are the efforts! It is a cute hat, but she is not having it. HA! Oh and for the cute little bows that some of you witnessed for about two weeks, yeah well she will not wear them any longer. She now pulls them right out and eats them! So no bows and no hats, just her plain little hair will have to do. Which at times I might add is a little funky lately. The other day it was standing straight up in the back and mommy was already gone to work and her dear dear daddy would not understand the need to slick that hair down with some water. It was a sight when I picked her up! It was a new meaning to hat hair!

Okay Okay- I know it has been forever!

Yes I have been totally slack with posting pics. Well there are few excuses for that-HA! I have not exactly taken too many pictures lately. Pathetic I know, Addie turns one and the camera has been out minimally. What is wrong with me? Well for the updates she is growing so fast. She is now not only walking, but running occasionally. It is pretty funny! She also now refers to me as mom instead of mama. And her vocabularly is growing. Last night she kept telling her daddy to go. They were playing catch and he needed to go and get the potato. Yes I said potato. She has play food and the potato is most fun for her to have a catch with. Forget the balls, the potato bounces better. Silly little girl! She likes to wrestle too. We tackle Chuck and tickle and play each night and she thinks that is great fun! Her other favorite past times are rocking in her rocking chair, riding horsey on her mommy's leg, dancing, and playing with babies. She pats the baby dolls on the back and says awe baby. Oh and hockey, she loves that too. I have started my four day work weeks, which I am liking some, but it is tough. Well, I meet Crystal, our wonderful daycare provider, to get Addie at the icerink on Mondays and Wednesdays as her son plays hockey. Well Addie likes to stand on the ledge up against the glass with her face stuck to the glass watching. Seriously there was a wet mark on the glass from her being so close and slobbering all over it. Oh no I may really have a little girl hockey player one day! As for the 4 day work week, I love the schedule and I am so excited about Fridays off, but I miss Addie so much. I do not see her in the morning as she is still sleeping when I leave and then I do not get her until 6:30pm. That is a long day away from my munchin. So we will keep giving it a go and seeing if Addie and I adjust. Fridays will sure be fun! Here are some pics of Ms. Addie around the house and at her friend Ellison's birthday party. Yes I am posting pics from Ellison's party, when I never posted any from Addie's party. How ridiculous am I. We just had way too many pictures from her party. You all will just need to come to our house to see that photo album, which of course is not put together yet. HA!

Grammy and Poppy are Coming to Visit!!

We are so excited!!! My parents called today and they are coming to visit this weekend for a long weekend. How fun and spontaneous! We are so thrilled to see my mom and dad and for them to visit with Addie. My mom was here for Addie's Birthday, but my dad has not seen Addie since July. And wow how she has changed! By the way for Addie updates, she is walking!!! She can now take about 5 or 6 steps in a row. The trick was she had something in each hand the other day and she could not touch anything and to our surprise she just started walking. She is pretty consistently taking 5 or 6 steps now. She can side step really well, it is funny! You go girl!

So sorry to all of those hoping for some pics in this post (my mom especially)- I am just way too tired and going to bed. We will post pictures soon! Addie did go trick or treating on Halloween to a few neighbors and to Chuck's Aunt and Uncle around the corner. It was sooo fun!!

Oh and to Krysta, you are back on the blog as a friend. HA! I really did not mean to delete you. I guess that is what happens to family! You better post some new pics now!! Ha! Love ya! Stacy

Happy Early Halloween!!

Addie got to try out her Lion costume early for the Halloween party at the ice rink! The party was Saturday and she cooperated fully with wearing her costume. Addie had her first ice skating experience as well. Crsytal who is Addie's childcare provider took her for a few rounds of skating. No Addie's mommy was not about to try to skate holding Addie that would have been dangerous! And Addie's Daddy was busy working! Addie had a blast. After the party we went on to Chuck's parent's house for a surprise party for Chuck's grandpa (Paw Paw) who turned 90. Addie sported her costume through some of that party as well. She is certainly all ready for Halloween!!

13 Months Old!

Well as of Friday (10/24/08) Addie is 13 months old! Time Flies! Let me just announce that Addie is not walking yet. Let me tell you that is all that everyone ever wants to know- poor baby- no pressure! And her poor mama, as that is all that everyone ever asks. It is getting annoying! As for her walking status for everyone that wants to know, she will take a step or two and then down to her knees. She can just move much quicker crawling. She is just babbling away now! And this girl loves to dance. If you play music or just say dance, she gets a moving! Her other favorite past times and climbing in and out of her rocking chair repeatedly, and yes sometimes she does not get back out of it too gracefully. She also loves her rocking horse, not riding it, but pushing it all around the room and dancing when it sings. She is a trip.

Well here are some pics from the weekend. Addie eating pasta- so messy! Addie feeding herself icecream- she is too funny learning to use the spoon! That is messy too! And Addie sporting her new coat and adorable hat. Thanks Ella James for the hat for Addie's birthday- too cute!!

First Time Away From Addie!

Well, I did it! I made it through the weekend away from Addie, how hard was that!! Okay, I know some people may think it is pathetic that Addie is now one years old and this is the first time I spent a night away from her, but it is true. And even wrose, I was so anxious about leaving her and missing her that I was breaking out in hives at work on Friday. Seriously, I had hives on my arms! Before we left I typed a list of instructions for Chuck's poor parents that probably made them think I was nutty, as it was 1 1/2 pages long! For those of you who do not realize how silly that is, they knew most of things on the list. And when it was time to leave, I just cried and cried! Absolutely pathetic!!! I cried for like 15 minutes because I was going to miss her. So I just had to drown my sorrows with alcohol that night!

As much as I missed Addie and trust me I sure did, we had lots of fun though! We went to a wedding at the beach for Chuck's college buddy and lets just say we are not as young as we used to be. So I can pretty much still hang with one late night of partying and staying up until 3am, but not two nights of staying up until 3am and 4am. Wow I am still tired. The wedding was at the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium, what fun to be partying and dancing with the sharks!!! It was really nice and fun to have quality time with the hubby and to see some of his buddies that we do not see that often anymore with being parents.

I know I have been slack with posting the last few weeks, but pics of Addie will follow soon. I am still too tired to deal with it tonight. For some updates of Addie, she is just jibberjabbing away. She said Addie yesterday a few times, how sweet. And she is still in a mommy phase, she loves to be up under my feet. It is pretty sweet. As for the walking, still not quite. She can take some steps, but she realizes it is much easier and she can move much faster by crawling. She is pretty close though! As for teeth, there are two new teeth for a total of six now. What a big girl! Oh and to Addie's Uncle Scott and Aunt Krysta, she loves her rocking chair. She climbs in and out of it non-stop. She gets in it well and most of the time out of it well, but she still face plants occasionally. It is sad, but if you laugh, she thinks it is funny and does not cry. Am I bad mom to use such antics.
As for Halloween, we are very excited to sport Addie's costume. She will go to the Halloween party at the ice rink this Saturday and then tricking treating to a few special places, like relatives, on Halloween. She is going to be a lion. Of course we will post some pics.

Addie's Birthday Cake Experience!!!!!

Here are the best pics of the day from beginning with the cake to the end result. She is still a little pink after her bath from this birthday cake experience. It sure was fun!! She loved it!!!! She enjoyed that her cousins, Drew and Kylie called and sang Happy Birthday to her as well. It was so sweet!!!