The Party

Two days after Addy's birthday we had a little party and invited some family to join us.  I made homemade pimiento cheese, served with crackers, pasta salad, a veggie and dip platter, and these ladybug cupcakes from Mare's blog (near the bottom of her post).   I used her Basic Buttercream Frosting recipe and this One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcake Recipe from Martha Stewart - this will now be my go-to recipe for chocolate cupcakes - yummy!  My inspiration for the food and decorations was the Sesame Street Ladybug Picnic Song - by the way I love the new version!

 She still has fond memories of these balloons - she calls a balloon a "ball" and mentions them every time she sees these pictures.

Addy, wearing the dress I sewed for her.

The Birthday Girl - my favorite picture of her!

It was the perfect little first birthday party and Addy had a great time, especially after she got warmed up to the crowd.  Then she put on a performance for everybody, doing her cow sound and smiling, laughing and clapping (for herself of course!).

She's ONE!

"You mean it's my birthday today?"

"Yay!"

"I'm so excited!"

"Can I have my present now?"

Dear Sweet Adeline,
One year ago today, you changed my life forever.  You were such a beautiful surprise - we didn't know you were a girl until your birth.  Now I can't imagine what life would be like without you.  You are so much fun, and every day with you is sweeter than the one before.  You continue to be such a good natured and well behaved little princess.  You love to give kisses to me and Daddy and your doll.  You are now saying "book" clearly and from the minute you wake up until you go to bed at night, you ask for a book whenever you see one.  I think you will be a little bookworm.  To that you have added "ball" and "dog".  Everything round is a ball to you and you never fail to point one out wherever we go.  The addition of the word "dog" to your vocabulary was a little bit of a surprise to me, since we don't have one, but if your reaction to the zoo is any indication, you are an animal lover too.  You like to point out the dogs in your books.  You are pulling up to stand quite proficiently now, on anything you can get a hold on.  You have been cruising along holding onto furniture and sometimes you casually hold on with one hand like you might just let go and take your first step.  It hasn't happened quite yet though.  Soon enough you will be walking and talking my ear off!  You still like to "read" your books to us and it is so cute.  You say something that sounds kind of like "goggity, goggity, goggity" and you throw in an "uhoh" and "Mmmmm" here and there.  It just cracks me up.  I am so looking forward to the next few months and I can hardly wait to see what you do next.
I love you precious girl!
Mommy

1 year ago today

You Capture - Orange

      We went to Wal-mart.  She spied this cute little pie pumpkin and her eyes lit up.  "Ball!" she exclaimed, excitedly.  She sniffed it tentatively and then proceeded to stick her tongue out and try to lick it.  So I got her a pumpkin.  Did I mention IT'S HER BIRTHDAY TODAY?!  She's ONE.  Can you believe it?  I can't.

{Special Birthday post to come later}

For more You Capture, go here:

You Capture - Animals

I had paid attention to this week's You Capture assignment until I saw all the posts popping up.  I always tell myself I am going to participate, but then I forget and life gets in the way.  This time I got lucky!  It just so happens that Addy visited the zoo this week.  It was very entertaining, for us and for her.  She loved every minute of it.  We actually went to the zoo two weeks in a row since she liked it so much.  Both times the Jaguars paced in front of the window looking at all the small children like they would make a nice snack...creepy!

Jaguar looking for Baby Snacks

Addy doing her monkey impression.  Note the Chimps in the background :)

Addy doing her monkey impression for the Prairie Dog.

Some kind of Crane, or Spiky Headed Bird as I like to call it.

Go here for more...

11 months

 My Sweet Baby Girl,
It's hard to believe you are getting so close to 1.  You are definitely more of a toddler than a baby now, even though you aren't walking yet.  You have pulled up in your crib a couple times, but are still too cautious to do it very often.  You are learning more animal sounds - you can do a monkey and a bear imitation now and will make those sounds whenever you see those animals.  It is so cute.  You are attempting to say "book" although you don't really get the "k" sound on the end, you use it appropriately whenever you see a book.  You also pretend to read your books to Mommy and Daddy and it is so funny to listen to you babbling along while you flip the pages.  You can now say "bye bye" although you usually just choose to wave instead.  You have started saying "uhoh", and enjoy dropping things just so you can use it.  You also now know yourself in the mirror.  I guess I won't be sitting you in front of it and telling you to talk to the other baby anymore.  You're onto me now :)  Whenever you see something you like, you say "Oooooo!" with such excitement and awe.  I just can't get over how precious you are.  Everywhere I go, people comment on how well behaved you are - and it's true.  We can take you pretty much anywhere and you are such a good little lady.  I look forward to every day with you.
I love you so much Sweet Adeline!

10 months

My Sweet Baby Girl,

Every month brings new and exciting things for you.  This month the big one was crawling!  You got up at 3 am to show us you could crawl!  We thought you were just going to skip the crawling thing since you get around so well scooting on your tummy with your own little "army crawl".  But you decided you needed to reach things, so you learned how to crawl for that reason I think.  And because you are a cautious little thing.  You still haven't pulled up to stand yet, but I'm sure you will get there soon.  For now you are happy getting up on your knees to reach for things.  You still love to follow Mommy around and you do it mostly scooting on your stomach because you are much faster at that than crawling.  Your babbling sounds like talking now, but without the words.  

At the beginning of August we went on a little vacation to a cabin in the mountains and you had your first experience with blowing bubbles.  Actually Mommy blew the bubbles and you tried to catch them and loved it.  You also cut your top two front teeth that same week.  I thought teething would be easier for you this time around, but it seemed to bother you almost as much as the first time.  We found out you are afraid of strange places.   You slept the entire drive to the cabin and when we got there I took you inside and you took one look around and busted out crying like "This isn't my house!"  You wouldn't let me out of your sight for several days after that.  

You are my little copy cat, trying to imitate all kinds of things Mommy does, like rubbing Daddy's feet.  It is so cute!  You like to pucker up your little lips at me and you are tickled when I do it back.  Your attention span is getting longer and you can now sit through me reading a whole Dr. Seuss book (sometimes!).  Hop on Pop and the Dr. Seuss ABC book are your favorites.  Daddy usually reads your bedtime story and you love it and smile so big at him when he says "Night night".  You like to resist sleep and have been skipping naps during the day, but you are a good night sleeper as always - 11 1/2 hours most nights and often without waking up more than once about 9 hours in.  

You got your first haircut from Mommy this month.  The hair on top of your head was getting really long so I took off an inch and I can't believe how much lighter your hair looks now.  I think that was the last of your dark baby hair and you are looking much more blond, but still with a hint of red, just like me :)  You love to feed yourself peas, cheerios and graham crackers and you like pretty much anything I feed you.  Fresh peaches or pears with baby oatmeal is your favorite breakfast.  I'm so excited to see what the next month holds!  

I love you sweet Adeline!

9 months old already!

My Sweet Baby Girl,

Wow! Nine months already!  It hardly seems possible.  Suddenly it seems as though the whole world has opened up in front of you.  There are so many new things for you to explore and experience.  You are scooting around on your stomach and today you started kind of a half crawling half scooting thing.  I think soon you will be crawling very efficiently.  If I put you down on the floor and go into another room you come after me, looking to see where I went.  The other day I left you with Daddy and went upstairs to exercise and you scooted out into the hall and banged on a metal vent and yelled "MAMAAAAAA!" when you couldn't find me.  Sometimes you strike off on your own, scooting down the hall to the mirror where you sit and babble to yourself.  You clap your hands for everything from breast milk to diaper changes.  It is so cute!  Just this week you started pointing with your cute little finger.  You point at pictures in books and all kinds of things you want us to see.  You love it when we read you stories, especially at bedtime.  Peekaboo is your favorite game.  You like to snatch up a piece of clean laundry when I am folding clothes and hold it over your face while I say "Where's the baby?" Then you pull it down and laugh like crazy when I say "Peekaboo" or "There she is!"  You are so curious about everything now and you want to touch it all.  While you are still very attached to your mama, you are becoming a little more independent every day.  I have so much fun with you and cherish every minute I have with my sweet baby.  I love you!

Hey mom, what's this green stuff for?

Let's hear it for the boob!

I just had to share this.  I have been showing Addy how to clap her hands for a couple weeks now.  Then last week I bought her a ball and we sat on the floor rolling it back and forth.  She was doing surprisingly well with it and we were clapping and cheering for her.  And then she just started clapping her hands. And she's been clapping ever since, for all kinds of things. She claps for pictures and videos of herself and other babies. She claps when Mommy comes to get her out of the crib in the morning. And today, she nursed, popped off my boob and clapped like "Yay Mom, that milk was awesome!" At least that's what I think she would say if she could talk. It's so cute I can hardly stand it.

Strawberry Ice Cream and The Things People Say

I recently bought an ice cream maker.  It is a Cuisinart model that as far as I can tell, is only sold at places like Sam's Club.  For $40 I couldn't resist, and so far I've been very happy with it.  I've also made peach frozen yogurt with it, which was delicious.  The recipe for that and this strawberry ice cream (my favorite so far) came from the recipe book that came with the ice cream maker.  Here's the recipe if you care to try it yourself:

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream
Makes 10 1/2 cup servings
2 cups fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup sugar, divided
1 cup whole milk, well chilled
2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and lemon juice with 1/2 cup of the sugar.  Allow berries to macerate in the juices for two hours.
• Strain the strawberries, reserving the juices.  Mash or puree half the berries.
• In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the milk and remaining sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1-2 minutes.  Stir in the heavy cream, reserved strawberry juice, mashed berries and vanilla.
• Turn on the ice cream maker and pour the mixture into the freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 25 minutes.  About 5 minutes before mixing is complete, add the reserved sliced strawberries and allow to mix in completely.  Ice cream made like this will be like soft serve when finished, so put it in the freezer if you like it firmer.  Substitute fresh peaches for peach ice cream.

On to the things people say....I took Adeline to Barnes & Noble today.  A cute little girl who couldn't have been more than 2 toddled up to Addy's stroller and smiled and waved at her.  The little girl's grandmother (I assume) comes along behind her and says "Oh are you looking at the little boy?"  Huh?  Now this isn't the first time someone has called her a little boy, and it doesn't bother me but I do wonder what makes people decide that she's a boy.  Especially when she's wearing this:

Note the white lace.  And her cute little dress has flowers embroidered around the neck and flower shaped buttons.  Not that I expect people to notice such small details, however it didn't occur to me that she might be mistaken for a boy in this outfit.  Oh well.  The last time someone thought she was a boy, she was wearing something pink.  I don't even bother to correct them anymore unless they ask me what "his" name is ;)  My sister-in-law said that when my niece was a baby, she could be decked out in pink with frills and bows in her hair and people would still tell her what a cute little boy she had.

8 months old

My Sweet Baby Girl,

It seems like you are growing up in a flash!  I can hardly believe you are eight months old.  I know I probably say that every month, but every month it's true.  Before I know it you will be a year old, walking, talking and doing all kinds of new things.  I am so proud of you.  You say Mama and Dada now like you understand what it means.  You also say it just because and have entire conversations where all the words are Mama and Dada.  You sometimes wave bye bye and you are losing your stranger anxiety for the most part.  You warm up to people more quickly - female people anyway.  You are still afraid of strange men, but I think that is a good thing.  Recently you have been getting very excited to see Daddy when he comes home from work and it is so cute.  You smile so big and throw your arms up for him to pick you up.  Today you practically jumped up and down in your walker when Daddy came through the door.  You are working on getting up on your hands and knees and rocking back and forth.  I'm sure you will be crawling before we know it.  Right now you only know how to go in reverse in your walker and you scoot yourself backwards on your butt when you are sitting on the floor.  I'm sure you will figure out how to move forward soon.  I love you Sweet Girl!

Beach Baby

Last week we decided to take a vacation, kind of a spur of the moment thing.  We wanted to take Addy to the beach and visit some family.  First we headed over to North Carolina to see my family for a few days, and then continued on to Kiawah Island, SC for a few more days.  It was good to see everyone and the Grandmas thoroughly enjoyed spending time with us and Addy.  Watching her with my Mom and Grandma was a lot of fun.  She and my Grandma are so much alike in personality and a couple times we have taken pictures of them with the same look on their faces. It's all in the eyes and raised eyebrows.

Two peas in a pod.

Flashback!  This picture, taken in January is when we first noticed their similar look.  So cute!  

This trip was the first time Addy has really been able to go in the ocean or get down in the sand.  It was very entertaining for us and she loved it.  She was kind of afraid of the water at first but as long as I held her close in my arms and kind of dipped down in the water with her whenever a wave came in, she loved it.

Ready for the beach.

Little toes in the water...

When you're a princess,  Daddy builds your sandcastles for you :)

Sandy face.

Baby in a Basket

I needed something cute to look at while I folded laundry, so I put her in the basket.  Of course she thought it was great fun.

7 months

I can't believe Adeline is seven months old already (as of the 21st, I am so behind!)...and getting more precious by the minute.  She says Mamama now and seems to understand what it means.  She also says Dadada but I don't think she connects it with Daddy yet.  I got a kick out of watching her with her Daddy yesterday.  Every time she said "Dadada" he would say "What?" and she would look surprised.  She cut her two bottom front teeth last week.  There was one day that she was really fussy and when she was hurting and distressed she would hold her arms up to be picked up (another first) and cry "MAMAMAMA!"  It was so pitiful and cute.  Then she proceeded to bite my chin, which is how I discovered her first tooth!  She wants to get her hands on anything Mommy or Daddy has.  She is sure that my computer is a fabulous toy since I play with it so much.  We found out completely by accident that she loves the theme song/intro from Star Trek: The Next Generation.  We don't have the TV on much and she never pays attention to it, except one day she was sitting there when the show came on and she bobbed around to the song.  Now every time we play it for her she gets a big smile on her face and sometimes she even laughs.  I don't know why she likes it so much, but it is hilarious!  She begs Daddy for a sip of whatever he is drinking by leaning towards him, staring at his cup and smacking her lips.  She loves getting out of the house and riding around in her stroller at the mall or anywhere there is shopping to be done.  She pays attention to everything like she is trying to figure it all out.  I took her to the post office with me last week and she stared intently at the lady behind the counter and watched everything she did, to the point that another woman working there noticed and commented on it.  I love you sweet girl!

Sassy Addy

Mother's Day, Turning 30 and Miscellaneous Cuteness

I had a wonderful weekend.  On Saturday I turned 30.  I think it was my best birthday so far.  My Mom came to visit for the weekend, and my Grandma stopped by for a little while too.  On my birthday Mama cooked a delicious lunch for us and had a beautiful and very tasty chocolate cake for me.  My wonderful husband took me out to dinner on Saturday night, just the two of us, for the first time in a long time.  On Sunday, we spent time together as a family, and Mama and I did a little shopping together.  I am very blessed to have such a wonderful family and this precious little girl for my first Mother's Day.  My husband bought me flowers for Mother's Day, from him and Addy of course.  He says it was her idea.  For my birthday he got me a new laptop to replace my 5-year old one that was on its last leg.  I am a lucky woman!

Puppy Dog

Addy's Grandpa (my Dad) sent her a stuffed beagle puppy.  This was her reaction when I took it out of the box and gave it to her.  She loves it!  We had two different beagles when I was growing up, both named Poochie.  What can I say, we are not very original with our pet names in my family and we like to reuse them!  Poochie II is 13 years old now and still living with my Dad.  I got Poochie when I was 17 and he was a very cute 5 week old puppy.  It was a lot like taking care of a baby actually. Except the potty training started immediately and I'm pretty sure he was weaned on the day I took him home.  I swaddled him so I could put him down in his little crate at night and he wouldn't cry.  Don't laugh, it works for puppies too!  So now Addy has a little pet substitute until she is old enough for the real thing :)  It was funny to watch her interact with her stuffed puppy.

When she started biting it, I was definitely glad we are waiting for the real thing until she is older!