Headin' Out...

Well, we are about ready to head out for almost a week of Christmas bliss with our families. Addison and I are going on to my parents' today and Kevin is going to stay here and work on his dissertation in the peace and quiet for a couple of days. He will join us on Christmas Eve for the Lee family dinner. Then we'll get up Christmas morning at Mops and Pops' (my parents) house, open presents, have brunch, and hit the road again. We'll be at Kevin's parents' house for dinner Christmas night, and then stay until Saturday. I am so excited about spending Addison's first Christmas with all of our family!! I was getting us all packed up last night... do you know how much "stuff" if required to take an infant out of town for a week?! Geesh. But, we are all ready to go now. So... If I don't get a chance to post later on in the week... I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!!

Oh, I almost forgot! Here are a couple of pics from this past week... Addison - 6 weeks old ...

Watching football with Daddy...

Getting ready to run some errands with Mommy...

Addison's Pictures Are Up!!

In my last post I told you that Addison had her first photo shoot (and how unhappy she was about it). Well, they turned out even better than I had hoped. Janet and E.J. really did a great job despite Addison's cranky mood. The pictures are up on their website. There are 244 of them, so get comfy before you take a look! :)

www.blueworldstudios.com/KristaAndKevin/Addison

I don't know how I'll ever decide which ones I want to get in frames!!!

The pediatrician lied...and I believed her

Yesterday Addison had her first official photo shoot. Janet and E.J. of Blue World Studios did a fantastic job on our wedding photos, and they are just really cool people, so we were excited to have them come over and take some photos of 6-week-old Addison. The house is decorated for Christmas so we got some cute pictures of her in her Christmas dress in front of the tree, and then we did the obligatory nakie bottom pictures, and then just some ones of her in an every day outfit hanging out in her room. I can't wait to see the pictures and I'll be sure to post the link once they are finished with them. But, I digress... the whole point of this story is not the actual picture taking, but Addison's disposition during the picture taking...

Our usually very happy, very smiley baby was NOT enjoying all the paparazzi. She fussed and fussed and fussed some more. I know she wasn't happy about having tights on... or later the cute little Santa hat... but we couldn't get her to smile for anything... all this after I told Janet and E.J. "she just got up from her nap and finished eating, so we should have a HAPPY baby for pictures!" ... she made me a liar.

So we took what pictures we could, and they were SOOOOO patient with us - just telling us to go about our day like they weren't there and maybe she would calm down and we could get some good ones. And, we did get some good ones (or at least I think we did!)... Thankfully I had prepared a bottle that morning just in case I had to feed her while they were here. Every time she would get inconsolable we would give her an ounce or so just to calm her down... Hey, doesn't food make YOU happy?! :) I would never do that on a regular basis, but considering the situation, I was willing to try anything that would work.

After they left, Addison was knocked out in her crib and Kevin and I were talking...

Me: "I can't believe she was so fussy. She is never like that... especially in the mornings when we are playing!"

Kevin: "Didn't you notice that the only times she wasn't fussy and they could get her picture were the times when we were holding her and she had her paci? She's not used to being put down and not held."

Me: "But the pediatrician said that we couldn't spoil her this young, and to cuddle her and hold her as much as we want!"

Kevin: *raised eyebrow stare*

Sooooo... even though I don't want to believe that I have spoiled my child already, I also don't want to be the mom dropping my 4-year-old off at preschool with her clinging to my leg and screaming. So, this morning I decided to start working on NOT holding her every minute of the day (I do put her in her crib for naps, but other than that, she's pretty much in my arms or I am right there beside her on her playmat). So, she got up from her nap and got fed, and then I put her in her swing to rock for a while. I put the mirror up so she could see herself, turned the music on, even put her paci in her mouth... and. stepped. away. Then the crying began. And, not just a little whining... I'm talking screaming, thrashing, WAILING crying. So I sat down on the ottoman beside the swing and talked to her trying to sooth her. She kept crying. I put her paci back in her mouth. She spit it right back out and kept crying. I gently stroked her head. She kept crying. I let this go on for about 5 minutes and then she started looking at me through the screams with the most heartbreaking "mommy, why aren't you picking me up?" eyes I have ever seen, and my defenses buckled. I reached in and picked her up. And wouldn't you know the very instant she was picked up the crying stopped. So, now here I sit, with a literally smiling baby in my lap, and all I can think is that darned pediatrician lied to us and I WILL be the mom dropping her screaming 4-year-old off at preschool... but at least I don't have to look at those heart-wrenching eyes right now!

Addison's First Trip to UGA and Seeing Santa

Yesterday, I took Addison up to Athens for the first time. We were going to meet Kevin at the mall to see Santa after he got out of school. I didn't have a whole lot going on during the day so I decided to take her up a little early and go see some of my favorite people. When we got there we went and saw Ms. Kathy first. She is pretty much responsible for getting me out of that place with a degree. We love Ms. Kathy! :) Then, since we were all bundled up and had the stroller anyway, we went for a little walk around North Campus. I told her what all the buildings were and even pointed out the library with hopes that she might actually use it one day, unlike her Mommy. After that, we walked down the hill and ended up on the bridge by the stadium, so we paused for another photo-op. Then it was on to the baseball office to see another one of Mommy's favorite people - Ms. Shirley the baseball secretary. After that, we walked down to Foley Field where Mommy spend a great deal of her time while in college. They were working on the field, so we didn't walk all the way out there. We just took a few pics from the leftfield bullpen area. THEN it was time to get ready to go meet Daddy and sit in Santa's lap. So, we got our Christmas dress on and headed to the mall. Here we are getting hyped up to sit in the big guy's lap.

And finally, Addison met Santa for the first time. I think she asked for a pony but I'm not sure.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT KAILA!! :)

OK, OK... SORRY!

So sorry it has been a while since my last post. We were able to get out of town and back to be with family for Thanksgiving, and then we've been pretty busy since then! We went and cut down Addison's first Christmas tree and have gotten the house all decorated. I love Christmas time! I wish I could leave my Christmas decorations up all year!!

Addison is doing so great. She really is just a happy baby. I joke with Kevin that maybe we should just stop right now because no other babies will be as good and happy as she is. She had her one month check up this week (I CANNOT believe she's a month old already!) and the doctor said she is doing great. She weighed 11lbs 14 oz, and was 23 1/4 inches long (which is in the 90th percentile in both). She is mostly wearing 3 month clothes already because she is too long for most of her newborn stuff. She really started smiling this week... and not just I'm-passing-gas-smiles... actually SMILING! It absolutely melts my heart every time she does it. I can get her to smile if I tickle her cheeks or playfully pull out her paci, but her Daddy can get her to smile just by talking to her and making funny faces... I think she's a Daddy's girl already.

She is starting to sleep really well. She makes it from around 10:30 to about 5:00 each night. Then some mornings she'll go back to sleep after she eats, and some mornings we start our day at 5:00. I'm working on getting her on a set nap schedule during the day, so maybe that will help her to sleep a little better at night.

I'll quit babbling now and show you some pictures since that's what everyone wants anyway!! :) Have a great week!!!

Addison with her Great-Papaw at Thanksgiving

Cutting down her first Christmas tree (she slept through the whole thing!)At the Christmas tree farm
SMILE!!!
She's up to something! :)
My sweet little China doll
BIG SMILES!!

Addison Update

Hey all. Addison is doing great. I just haven't had a lot of time lately to post anything. She is such a happy baby. She is sleeping well and eating great. We've been weighing her at home and she's topping out at a little over 11 pounds now! She's taking about one bottle a day of pumped milk now, which is so nice because Kevin can help me feed her if I have something else that needs to get done (like cooking dinner!). And I've figured out that on weekend nights, that one bottle a day looks really great around 2:30am! :) Some of her loves are taking baths, tummy time with Daddy, her Baby Einstein play mat, taking naps in Mommy's lap, and riding in the car. Kevin and I actually went out for the first time without her Saturday night. We went and had a nice dinner date while Mamaw and Pops (my parents) and Aunt Kaila came and stayed with her. We were gone all of 15 minutes before I broke down and called to check on her. They said she did great the whole time we were gone (all 3 hours of it!), and slept the majority of the night.

Here are a few pictures from the last week and a half...

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!!!

Best Baby Products

One of my friends is getting ready to have a baby in a few weeks. I ran into her the other night at the Parkview game and she was asking me about some of the "baby things" I use that I really like or that help me out the most. That got me thinking about ALL of the things I use on a daily basis with Addison... feeding things, entertaining things, changing things, bathing things, etc. etc. etc... and what I truly couldn't live without.

So, here are Krista's Official Cannot Live Without Baby Things:

# 3 - The Boppy - this pillow gets lugged all over the house... it is wonderful for nursing, lounging, sitting her in on the floor for 2.5 seconds so I can get something done quickly, helping to hold her so your other hand can eat, change channels, use the computer, hold the phone - you get the idea...

#2 - The Miracle Blanket - for the first few nights we had Addison home, she was not a good sleeper. And try as we might, we just couldn't get the regular receiving blankets to swaddle her like the nurses in the hospital could. Then I remembered we had The Miracle Blanket. It looks pretty cruel - I mean it is essentially a baby straight jacket - but we used it about 4 nights in, and that was the first night she slept for 2 4-hour stretches... and she has done the same every night since... It truly is a MIRACLE!

#1 - The Graco Sweet Peace Soothing Center - OH MY GOODNESS!! My child LOVES this swing. It sways at 6 different speeds in 3 different directions, it plays COUNTLESS songs both classical and lively, it has many different white noise options (Addison's favorite is the heartbeat sound), you can plug your own iPod into it to play your music, and the seat pops off so you can snap your Graco carseat straight into it so you can transfer a sleeping child from the car to the swing without having to get her out of the seat. This thing is AMAZING, and by far Addison's most used baby thing.

So... Moms weigh in... what are YOUR favorite cannot live without baby things?!

An Addison Divided

I know it has been a week since my last post, but Addison has kept me pretty busy this week. Last night we took her to her first live football game. Parkview was playing in the first round of the playoffs at home and we really wanted to go see them (and Mommy really didn't care WHERE we went as long as she got out of the house!). So we bundled up the little one and headed out to the Big Orange Jungle. She did so great. She fell asleep in the car on the way there and didn't wake up until we got home. It was great that she slept through the game and wasn't fussy, but we paid for it at 2:00 am when she was wide awake and wanting to play. Oh well... it's the weekend, right?! Here is Addison at her first game.

Today is also a big day. It's the UGA/Auburn game! I swear our family isn't as football crazed as we sound (OK, maybe we are a little), but that's what we do in the fall in the south!! Addison has inherited her Mommy's love for the Dawgs, but on the UGA/Auburn gameday we have to be respectful to our family members who made poor choices and went to that OTHER school. Aunt Kim, Aunt Shannon, Uncle Todd, and Cousin Allison were all Tigers, or War Eagles, or whatever they decide to be at any given time. So to be fair, our little Addison is divided today... she's sporting her Georgia onesie and her Auburn booties... that way she's a winner no matter what the outcome of the game is! :)

"Oh, I'm so confused..."

GO DAWGS!!!

We tried really hard to have Addison with us before kickoff of the UGA/UF game last week, but she was born just after it was over... we actually watched the horrible game in the L&D room... SO, today is her first UGA gameday! We are trying to teach her how to call the dawgs already, but she isn't picking it up as quickly as we thought she would... oh well... I think she is adorable anyway! :)

Touchdown GEORGIA!

Addison's First Outing

Last night Addison had her first outing (other than the dr.'s office)... Mommy, Daddy, Mamaw, Pops, Abuelita, and Uncle Todd took her to our favorite Mexican restaurant - El Ranchero. She did so great... she slept the whole time we were in there. Not a peep!

"Her" first tortilla chip!

My new obsession...

Had I been told just a week ago that I would become obsessed with poop, I would have laughed and said that was crazy. I would never be that mom. Lesson learned - never say never... I have turned into that mom. I mean not just keeping up with how many times she poops a day, but also the color, the consistency, the texture, the smell, how much, how little... my life is now literally poop.

Well today we went to the pediatrician for Addison's jaundice recheck. The dr. said she looks great and her jaundice is getting better. But, the real news of the day is the little chunkster has gained 11 ounces in 3 days. She is now 9lbs 2.5 ounces! So, I reassured myself - the nervous, poop-obsessed, first-time mommy- that she was indeed getting enough to eat, and her poops are just fine... So, just to prove to me that she's OK and normal, my sweet little angel of a child pooped for me when we got home... and not just any ol' run-of-the-mill poop, but a fill the diaper, shoot out the top, smear all the way up the back, need a bath immediately poop.

So I did what any nervous, poop-obsessed, first-time mommy would do... I smiled, said that I had asked for it, and went and gave the little booger a bath and a clean diaper. Here's the picture only a mother could love... my sweet little pooper! :)

My Whole World

All of the sudden my heart is on the outside of my body... I never imagined this kind of love existed.

Rock The Vote!

Addison says "don't forget to vote today!"

Addison Reese is Here!!!

Addison made it by her eviction date!!! She came into the world at 7:36 pm on Saturday, November 1st. She weighed in at 8lbs 14 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She has a head full of dark hair, dark blue eyes, and the cutest little pouty lips I have ever seen. My scheduled induction was for Monday morning, but Friday afternoon I got knocked over at school by a student coming through a door, so they sent me on over to the hospital for observation overnight. Since we were already there, they went ahead and started the pitocin drip at 6:00 am on Saturday. "We" started pushing at 6:00 pm. Unfortunately after about an hour of pushing they determined she was "sunny-side-up" and not receptive to being turned, so they had to use a little vacuum suction to help her out... and out she came about 30 minutes later. So far, she is a very happy baby. She loves being cuddled close and hates having her diaper changed. She is eating well, and is SO strong already.

We are home and settled and taking in each minute of her. I already feel like the days are going by too fast. I want to hold on to each passing second. We are pretty much eating, sleeping, changing diapers, and repeating the pattern.

HERE are some pictures of little Addison that a mom of one of my players took at the hospital. I have a bazillion more on my camera, and some our families have taken and sent to us, but I haven't gotten around to uploading and saving them yet.

I will post more a little later.

Book Club!

I am joining a book club of sorts and would like to invite you to join as well. It actually works more like a book "chain"... let me explain... I was sent an invitation by my mother-in-law to join the club. Now, to join I will send ONE paperback book of my choice (obviously something I enjoyed reading - and something I already have at home) to the person who sent the invitation to my mother-in-law. Then I will send an invitation out to 6 of my friends who will each send ONE paperback book of their choice to my mother-in-law. My 6 friends will then send the invitation on to six of THEIR friends who will send ONE paperback book each to me... If you are keeping up with this, I will have sent ONE book, and received THIRTY-SIX books in return. You would do the same. Talk about some good reading!

Now, I didn't want to send the invitation out to anyone who would not want to participate, so I thought I would put "feelers" out for anyone interested first. So, if you are up for some good reading and would like to join our "club", please let me know and I will gladly send you your invitation with all the information you will need.

Update

Well, the eggplant parmesan didn't work very well (but it sure was good!!). We went to the dr. on Monday for my weekly appointment. She said that I've actually started to progress (2cm, 80% effaced, -3 station), but it's a slow-go. I've had contractions on and off since then, but nothing worth writing home about. Each night before we go to bed, I make sure our bags are all set and everything is laid out that we might need quickly if we had to leave in the middle of the night. Then, every morning before we leave for work I ask Kevin to make sure his cell phone is on and in his pocket. We've pretty much developed a well-oiled "any minute now" routine. And so we just wait... and wait... and wait...

Notice of Eviction

Tenant: Addison Reese Stewart

Landlord: Your Mommy

Address: My Uterus

You are hereby notified, in any event, that your tenancy is hereby terminated effective immediately. You are hereby requested to quit, vacate, and deliver possession therefore to the undersigned on or before Saturday, November 1, 2008. This notice to vacate is due to your following breach of tenancy: Outstaying your welcome. Should you fail, refuse or neglect to cure the breach, or vacate said premises within 6 days of this notice, I will take such legal action as the law requires to evict you from the premises. Notice is further given that failure to respond to this notice on or before the date specified in the above paragraph, shall result in due process of the law for eviction and collection of amounts due to be commenced and for other remedies available to landlord for which you will be responsible for costs and attorney fees.

Your Mother

40 week picture

Eggplant Parmesan at Provino's

Things NOT to say to a 9 months pregnant woman...

I will be the first one to admit that I am guilty of saying some (if not all) of these things to pregnant women before... but now that I'm at this point of pregnancy, and I'm hearing them multiple times EVERY day, I vow to be very careful of what I say from now on... While I know they are all well-meaning, good natured, sincere questions and comments, nothing makes me grind my teeth more than hearing one of these:

1. (at work) You're STILL here?! (except for Leigh and Anne because I know you say it JUST to make me grind my teeth!)

"Yes, I'm still here... I will be here until the baby comes, which she obviously hasn't yet...Thank you for stating the obvious - the baby is NOT here."

2. When are you going to have that baby?"

"Well, my crystal ball says she will be here on X date. If you find out differently, please let me know!"

3. How are you feeling? (asked with the sympathetic head tilt)

"I'm 3 days from my due date... I'm quite positive I'm carrying a 25 pound child... My feet and hands are swollen beyond recognition... And I couldn't tell you the last night I strung together 3 hours of solid sleep... Other than that, I'm just GREAT!!"

4. What is it?

"'IT' is a baby. HER name is Addison."

and my all-time favorite...

5. Are you SURE there is only one in there?

"While I know you are just trying to be funny and cute, yes, I'm sure there is only one in there. I have had 7 ultrasounds in the last 9 months. If there is another one in there, and we don't know about it, I will be firing my doctor. But, thanks for making me feel like a truck!"

OK... I've vented... It's out there... Like I said, I'm guilty of saying or asking these in the past... From now on I will simply smile, say congratulations, and "yes, I know it's tough, but there is an end in sight... hang in there... it will all be so worth it!"

Any of you mommies out there have any more to add?!

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock...

Still nothing new from the dr... I feel like I'm going to be pregnant forever... any home induction suggestions? I'll go for just about anything at this point... 5 days until due date and counting...

Really?! Part II

Again, the stupid stuff kids say...

I was asked literally 5 different times today by students, "Have you had the baby yet?!"

Yes, yes I did.... I had her Saturday morning and I'm back at school with you lovely children 48 hours later... she's at home, but I'm sure she's fine... geesh...

I'm off to the dr. for my weekly visit... keep your fingers crossed! :)

Addison's Nursery

I thought I would share a *few* pictures of Addison's nursery before she gets here and it becomes a mess! It is decorated in ladybugs and dragonflies. I love to just go in there and sit and rock while it is still peaceful and quiet...