I love bunk beds!

Addison just got up, climbed down from her bunk, went to the restroom and went back to bed all on her own. The only reason I even know is because I stuck my head out from the office when I heard something only to see her go back in to her room. YES!
I made up both beds and will post pictures tomorrow. I really like them.

*update- Adds got up two more times to go to the bathroom, the second time I followed her back in to her room and as she stood on her ladder told her "Babe I am sorry but if you get out of your bed again, you will have to sleep in your crib. Please don't do that because that will make Mommy really sad. I want you to be able to sleep in your bunk bed", to which she grabbed my head, hugged it to her belly and said "It's okay Mommy, no sad". and patted my hair. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. I left, didn't hear another peep and just went it to cover her up. Addison, you are awesome.

More firsts....

Today I did something I have never done before and it kind of made me sad. I had to label what was whose. Allie is getting too big. But I love it too. She is so much fun.

Addison also has another, and her final, molar coming in right now.

The bunk beds went up in Addison's room yesterday. They are ADORABLE. They aren't the ones I posted before, these are better and cheaper and local. and I got the last of the bedding I needed for them today and will be posting pics soon. I looove them and Addison LOVES them.

More visitors!

Yay we love visitors!! Tomorrow Heather comes and then next week Elaine comes, then Dustin on the 4th, then Heather again, and then my mom comes after that and will stay a WHILE! and after that, Grandma Smythe comes for a while. Yayyyyy!!!
February will be a busy and fabulous month! I can't wait.

Allie the Amazing!

The more I look at Allie, watch Allie, enjoy Allie, the more I realize that she is simply Amazing. She is sweet when Addison hugs her almost unconscious. She is playful to no end. She is as cute as can be imagined and as adventurous as her sister. But what is striking me today is that she is SO strong. So strong.
Addison was sitting on her push bus and Allie came up behind her and started pushing Addison across the carpet. Then she went to her chair and used it to climb up on to the couch.
All of this today after undergoing an MRI. You would never know this kid did anything this morning except take a walk in the park.
LA Children's Hospital is a humbling place. Everyone we came in contact with was VERY professional and very caring. I got all the information I needed (and it was a lot), and felt as comfortable as I could with the procedure.

Allie you are a champ. Much stronger than me. YOU are amazing.

NAP!

It has been a sleepy day. Tovah and I took the girls for a brisk walk this morning and we were all in coats and then the sun came out...instant sleepy time for Addison. Slept all the way home, through the garage door, through the dogs greeting us, taking Allie out of the double, everything. So Al and I went inside to eat and Addison slept in the garage in the stroller for a little bit. lol. sleepy girl. Then she took another nap later today.
Her three favorite things right now are reading books, "napping" and hugging. It wonderful and strange! She is so not a snuggler up until now but now it's WONDERFUL. She gets that look and says "Hug Mom". Awww, how could I not? I love it! and now she will go turn off the lights in the family room, say nap, stretch and yawn and then lay on the couch with the afghan Aunt Angela made us. Happy as a clam to just "nap".

Here's a quick pic of the girls watching their signing time video before bed. sweeties.

Drama

Allie has a new nickname and it is DRAMA. lol. Switched recently from Porkchop. lol
She is so cute!


I just had her sitting up on the counter by me (and by the candy hearts), I look over and she is drooling like a mad dog and sure enough she had shoved 4 of the large candy hearts in her mouth. and the drama ensued when I pried them out! lol. trickster!!

Trouble.

I am in trouble. It hasn't hit yet, but it will and SOON.
First please understand that I spend a fair amount of time in trouble. Mostly because I spend too much time laughing and not enough time heeding Robin's incessant lecturing.
This is what I will be in trouble for today: and I don't even really care because these are dang cute and my goodness! It's a SAFETY issue!!


Okay the above car seat will not get me in TOO much trouble because it's for Allie and she's almost one and she needs a car seat. and this one is NAMED ALLIE! How could I resist that?? It's sooo her.

However, the below car seat will be the one that does me in. It's for Addison. And she already has a forward facing seat. But here is my defense: Allie's car seat is rated higher in safety. Do I really want Addison in a seat that's not the safest possible? Plus Allie's is CUTE, do I really want Addison to have to have an uglier chair that looks like a boy car seat? Seriously? and the clincher is that at least once each outing she screams out and grabs her back and says it hurts, and this has been going on for months. Poor baby. Okay that's my defense.
SO CUTE! and SOOO her.



And to make matters better in this deal is that I got a GREAT deal on both of them. =))and both of my sisters-in-law recommended this seat from their experience. Thanks girls!

SNOW!

What a weird and fun day! Once Robbie got up today we went out and about which was crazy because it was POURING down rain. The storm has arrived and we are loving it. Robbie dropped Allie and I off at Target and then he and Addison went to Best Buy. Well, about ten minutes in Target and I see people RUNNING for the door. Usually NOT a good sign! But in this case it was merely due to snow falling. Where we live that is a big deal. It makes me smile because snow is so not a big deal in my world, I lived in Logan Utah for two years! Anywho, I took Allie over and showed her and the flakes were SOOOO big. It was actually really pretty and brought back a lot of good feelings for me.
Anywho, the snow quickly stopped and we went on about our day. But it was a nice reminder of days past and I loved that today.
A quick pic of the girls tonight in their new jammies.

Allie! Stop growing!!!

I think I have named about ten posts this same title, but seriously Allie got bigger overnight last night. This morning she rode the push toy bus by herself, on and off by herself as well. Then out of nowhere, she climbed INTO Addison's trampoline by herself and bounced around on her knees. This is NOT possible. Then for snack Addison was having peanut butter and by having I mean sharing with Allie...apparently she is NOT allergic, so I just said fine and gave Allie a spoonful of her own.

I can't believe my little Allie is going to be one in just a few weeks. Where did this year go? We have a lot to do to get ready though. There will be a party. Oh yes there will and it will look like Valentine's Day moved in to my house. and for this I cannot wait!!! But before the party comes the pictures. We are having the girl's pictures taken here shortly and I am very busy trying to find cute Valentine's Day outfits for them to wear. So far I am striking out completely. Everything I am finding is so casual. idk. I don't want dresses probably, but something a little nicer than teeshirts is a must. Although now I am thinking dresses and bare feet. OOh, this is a possibility. We'll see.
I LOVE VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

RAIN

I am kind of scared of rain now. At least the rain that is forecast for us...
So weather.com shows a ten day forecast and the next nine days show RAIN. I think that is a record for here. We will flood. Seriously. Like flash flooding, mudslides, the whole bit. Seriously. This is not good. I know I usually beg for rain and go outside with Addison and get all wet, but I am thinking we will be in the house for the next while. If I hear one more storm advisory I may seriously freak out. And it's not the normal California storm advisory where if LA gets lightning all of SoCal goes in to "STORMWATCH 2010 WITH CONTINUING COVERAGE". Cuz ya, I have experienced a few of those. ridiculous. This one may be legit. hm. yep. a little scared.

Teeth

Allie cut her sixth tooth yesterday. Okay I helped her cut it. I could see it was like totally out except a little tiny layer of skin so I push against it and bam, tooth out. And she didn't even care. She was just mellow. I thought I was a mean mommy there for a sec, but then decided if she didn't care, then it was just fine. =)

The Kitchen

The kitchen is fun. The girls LOVE the kitchen. Addison made Allie and I baked chicken tonight for dinner. But I found it interesting that instead of using this chicken:

We were served this:


Another fun use for the oven. SO Hansel and Gretel....
Allie looks so gorgeous in this one and Addison is just saying "Mom, seriously, get her OUT of here!"

But for the record, Allie WAS in there FIRST.

Baby Signing time...again!

It's so fun to be watching these videos again. I have taught Al a few signs myself, but it was time to get the videos out. She doesn't really enjoy Dora, but she will sit in her chair and watch a whole signing time video. It helps that Adds is such a good example because once the video comes on, she runs for her chair and doesn't budge. NICE!
And I rediscovered the Snacktrap as well today. Crystal had recommended these to me when Adds was little, but she didn't really need them. I gave Al some goldfish in one today and it worked PERFECTLY. YES! Now Addison doesn't have to keep Allie stocked with snacks, Al can do it herself.
One more testament to what a climber Allie is -- Addison yelled the first time when Allie tipped her chair over backwards. okay. no injury. Then Adds yells when Allie has somehow climbed up off her chair on to Rob's recliner which was easily almost a foot away. I do not know how she did it and I am glad I didn't witness it, I would have had a heart attack.
Here are the girls watching signing time. You can just barely see the tip of Allie's green hooded head. =)

I am thankful.

"Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body."
-Elizabeth Stone


I am thankful for so much. Allie is healthy, and that diagnosis has been a LONG time coming.
First they thought she had recurring UTIs. So we did tests.
Then she had an infection on that spot on her back. So we did antibiotics and tests.
Then we saw a pediatric surgeon about the spot on her back. and he ordered tests that were scary and serious. and today we got the results back from the ultrasound and the kidney function tests and now the lumbar xrays all to find out.....she is a perfectly healthy 11 month old girl! I feel like I can breathe.
Rob called me while I sat in the lobby of the imaging center (where I had gone to pick up the reports myself, because yes I am that impatient), to tell me that Dr. Shaul's office had called to let him know that Allie's spine is perfect. I sat there and sobbed. Totally oblivious to the 50 other people in there that I am sure all thought I was crazy....no actually they probably just realized that I am a Mom.
Like my Dad reminded me (he is good at this stuff), This is the life I live now. This is the life I chose. Yes I did and I am so thankful for it. The fear makes everything real and feeling stuff is necessary in this life sometimes. Although I hope its a long long long time before we get to this place again.
Allie has been sleeping through all of this today and I am thankful for that too.
Oh and I am also thankful for Crystal. She is a wealth of knowledge and just as importantly, she tempers it with her experience as a Mom, and I believe that that is rare and precious. So thank you very very much, I am glad you became a nurse. =)
Okay I am a mess so i have to go lay down and become a normal rational person again!

*UPDATE- Dr. Shaul called and talked to Rob and he had a neurosurgeon look at everything and he said to do an MRI to see what will be involved in removing it. We can do that. The important thing is that it's removable and not indicative of a bigger problem. It is what it is and in a month it'll be gone!

Yee haw!

The other night Addison was riding on Daddy's back on their way back from Shane's. Daddy called it a horsey ride and Addison came in the door whooping "YEE-HAW!!!". Uhhhh. ok. Shocking...as we are SO NOT HORSE PEOPLE! She must have seen this on Dora cowgirl or something. lol.
And now Allie is crawling in to the living room to get to her horse. She loves it!



Our weather has been so beautiful lately...Allie had it made the other day. =)

These are the beds we have chosen for the girls. We'll probably get them in March-ish. Fun!

Allie-O

So Allie. Sweet baby Allie. She has so much going on in her little life. Last night I put her down and she drank 12 OUNCES of formula. Uh. that's a lot. Like double what I would normally expect her to drink. Why did she want so much? Because she has has been refusing all food I have been trying to feed her! AGH! Eat child! So today the plan was to stuff her full of foooood. NO FORMULA! Breakfast was oatmeal mixed with apples, lunch was slices of cheese melted onto slices of ham. YUM. We all liked that one. And she finally ate like a pig. I think this is her way of saying, step it up MOM! I am tired of the same old food you feed me. So I am taking the hint, creative meals will follow! =))
She also had appointments today for her ultrasound and her kidney test. The ultrasound was cake, she liked it. The kidney testing not so much as it involved a catheter....enough said. Rob was in there with her and Addison and I were out in the waiting area where we could hear every yell. HORRIBLE. To put it mildly. In my mind they were torturing her, but Rob said (he's probably lying) that the yelling was all about the fact that she didn't want to lay on the table anymore and they wanted her to. um sure it was. But now she is home and sleeping in her snuggly bed. sweet sweet girl.
So that is over thank heavens and I am so glad. Results on Wednesday.

Church...successful!

So we started potty training Monday afternoon. She's been doing awesome as chronicled constantly on this blog. But today was the real test. In public, away from her Mommy, while playing with other kids (no way she's going to want to quit to go potty). So I dropped her off and explained to her nursery teacher our situation. Of course she was wonderful, she loves Addison. And Addison loooves her.
So I leave her and go to teach primary. Once done with junior primary I walk back over to nursery to check on her. I walk through the door and they both tell me that she already went!!!! She had told her teacher peepee and signed it and off they went. She did her business and then back to play. All was well in potty training church land. YES!!! Can I say that Addison is now officially potty trained??? I think so! Am I excited?? Definitely!

We braved the great outdoors!

As in we left the house. Yep, we left the house and went downtown. Just to a single store to pick up some necessities. and some more step stools.
Addison didn't need to go before we went....are you SURE? =) so off we go. Of course at first I am like rushing through the store, but she was so distracted by everything else going on, she didn't even mention it. We even had lunch and still nothing. So we got home and three seconds later she said she had to go and off she went. Amazing. I am super spoiled as she also got up dry and didn't need to go at all through the night. Thank you Addison, Mommy slept GREAT!
I wouldn't have slept so good had I known what Rob was up to....
Let me just sum it up... a stolen truck failure to yield another officer, perp gets stuck in the desert, Rob rolls up, two deps roll up and they are all around the guy and his truck. Sneaky Robbie heads into the dark and comes around the back side of him and all of the sudden the guy is shooting lighter fluid induced balls of flame at the other officers! Sweet. BAM! Rob didn't hesitate, stepped in to the cab of the truck on the passenger side and tazed the guy a few times resulting in the guy seizing up and then shooting himself in the face with the lighter fluid. Karma.

CHP Kids Christmas Party

So I wanted to break up the topic of the blog and found these pics in my email again today. The party was a lot of fun and we had a great time. Mostly I wanted to post these because I LOVE the CHP chipmunk "Chipper". Hilarious. Addison thought him a bear and has said "bear ROAR" every day during breakfast because these pics are on our cabinet.



This is Addison opening her pots and pans, and check out Allie...this is the first cookie of her life. (One of the other mom's gave it to her. I resisted snatching it away and obviously Allie is thankful.)

Perfect Potty Day

Almost. She ran for it, I forgot I had moved the stool in to my vanity area. She stood there heart broken with no way to get on to the potty. SO SAD. Going to the store tomorrow, buying step stools for every bathroom in this house!!

Addison the Amazing!!!

So last night with the monitor on she woke me up at 12:40. Went in and pooped. Wow. Then a little bit later...went in and peeped. I can't believe she wakes up to go already, I had heard that that takes a while to get. But so far so good. and she got up with dry pants too.
Just now I was cooking chicken and eggs and Allie was in her high chair, Addison said she had to go but said she didn't want me to go with. WHEW! So she went in, got all ready, got up on the stool sat down (without the potty chair on!!!) and went. Then I hear wretching and fake barfing sounds. uhoh. what mess will I find? NONE! She had done a poopy in the potty! So we took care of everything and then went to have ice cream! Any little girl in this house that does poopy all by herself after only a couple days of potty training gets ice cream! I don't care what time of day it is! Good job Addison!!! Mommy is SO proud of you!!!!
(I know....too much information. =))

This method is really amazing me so far. I know it's probably not smooth sailing from this moment on and accidents may still happen. But I feel that this was the perfect method for us administered at the perfect time. I just can't believe how well she has done. and I love the method because it's so positive. Never a negative word is said, accident or not. And never ask her if she has to go, just remind her to tell me when she DOES have to go. That gives her the power, which she likes. I knew that no bribe would work and didn't really want to go that route, she wants to feel like she is the boss of herself and that has turned out to be the perfect potty training solution for us. Way to go Adds!

Rob has been an awesome partner in this and at the beginning Addison would only want him sometimes which was funny. haha Lucky guy.
But he had court yesterday afternoon and then got offered an overnight detail. We had kinda agreed that we were doing it now because we had a stretch of days where he could be here to help with Allie, but with Addison doing so well, it was fine that he took the OT. (Like I could really talk him out of it.) But it was really nice that when Allie yelled this morning, he had gotten home from OT and sent me back to bed while he gave her a bottle. Then she proceeded to sleep until 10:15am! I love her sleep schedule. To bed at 7:15pm, feed her a bottle about 6am, then she sleeps until atleast 9. NICE. Adds gets up at 7:30, so that gives us some time by ourselves to snuggle in my bed watching a show and waking up slowly. So all in all, things are status quo- fabulous!

Fashion Icon

We've been in the house the last couple days, and today it was finally warm enough to go out and play. So Addison got herself all ready and away we went. Everything she is wearing was of her own choosing.
She cracks me up.


Yes, we are outside in the cul de sac, but it's not as bad as it seems. Everyone in my neighborhood is at work during the day so basically no chance of her being seen. promise. =)
This is a particular sassy pose, she was trying to show me where her leg itched. lol.

Potty Training for Miss Addison

The method is still working. Way less accidents today, only three or four that we can remember. Wow! and many times said she had to go and then went in and went no prob. Once even on her own. Robbie was slow to follow her and by the time he got in there, she had climbed up, sat down and was doing her business. Yay for you Addison! I just realized that she is not going to be very happy with me for detailing to the world her potty training progress. lol. So I better stop being so detailed. I will leave it at this for now ---I am ecstatic with your progress babe!
She is in her bed and of course we can hear her talking because the monitor is on.
*****Okay one more embarrassing thing, but only because it's a milestone. Addison just did her first real (not counting the two rabbit poops she has done)man poop in the potty! OMGOSH. YAY I cannot believe it! She hadn't gone since we started the training so she was due and not going to sleep without doing it. So yay! Amazing.

First Poopy!!!

I missed it! I was upstairs putting Allie down for a nap and Robbie was on poopy patrol. Addison showed some signs, ran to hide (a sure sign), and Robbie was right on her heels. She was embarrassed and mad-ish at first but then he made her laugh and she admitted she needed to go and ran for the potty, put her up there and after a fair amount of work (lol!), she did her first poopy in the potty!!! YAY!!!!!! Deer nugget, but still! big girl!!! I was very worried about how this particular thing was going to happen, but Rob is a potty training pro and all was successful. Big first. Could this really work? maybe!...

For her rewards for all this big girl behavior I went to Target and got some stuff from the dollar bin, stickers, sunglasses, a comb and brush set, also yogos and fruit snacks. I let her choose one every couple hours after she goes and she is excited about it. Super fun.

Here she is getting good use out of her comb/brush set. Daddy has been brushing her hair and now she is combing his. lol. besties.



Allie is super cute as always and probably thinks we are all crazy! lol

Good Dry Morning!

Last night was the first night of potty training and Addison slept all the way through the night (11 hours), and woke up with dry panties! I am in shock. I can't even believe it!
We set up the baby monitor so I could hear her better if she got up at night and I heard her stir twice. I jumped out of bed and ran to her room only to find her fast asleep. I asked her anyway, but no reaction. She was out. Then this morning heard her stir, was sure she would be wet, but nope. Dry as dry and ready to get up! We went to my bed (very nervous at this point =), waited five minutes and she told us she had to go. Ran her in and sure enough Peeeeeeeee! lol. I never thought I would be so happy about pee. She has had two tiny accidents so far today and we only started yesterday at 2. This method is working so far, I just hope it continues.

The beginning of the end....of diapers!!

Okay, so today marked day one of potty training Addison. Yes it's here, that wonderful time. So at 2pm, right after nap, we commenced. Starting with taking all the diapers in the house to Allie's room and saying that these are only for Mimi, which she was allll about. "Silly Mimi wear diapers, silly MIMI!!". Awesome. Then we took her last diaper off and put on Dora panties. YES! Dora is a big hit with her and she was all excited to dance around showing everyone her Dora's. (whom she calls backpack). Anywho, after many accidents and the wheels turning about pee, at 5pm we had our first Yay moment. She told me she had to go BEFORE she went instead of during and on to the potty she went and yay! PEE! So that was awesome, had some more successful moments, some more wet moments, but overall she did awesome for her first few hours of potty training. I think she successfully told us in time like four times for pee and then went on the potty and once for a tiny poopy. That makes me suuuuper happy. We'll see how tonight goes. She's still in panties and went to sleep no problems. Who knows what time we'll be up to change her bedding and clothes. lol.
All I gotta say is that I am exhausted. I was tied to her even more than usual and packed her way more than usual with all the running to the potty. 27 pounds of kid is a lot! My back can testify to that tonight.
The deal is that your child will be potty trained in a few days if you do this method and I am all about it. I can't bear the thought of fighting this battle for months, so the intensity of this program is worth it to me if it works...only time will tell. Wish us luck.

The beginning of the end....of formula!

Allie is getting so big. Yes she spoke and she also had her very first bottle with milk in it today. She is 11 months in two days so I am starting to put two ounces of milk in each 6 ounce bottle. Nice. I look forward excitedly to no longer using formula. I nursed each girl until they were over 8 months old, but then there is that three - four month gap between nursing and whole milk, and that means formula. I don't like buying formula. at all. Plus it's just messy and kind of a pain. So yay! Now if I could just get Addison potty trained, our diaper bill would be cut in half too! yay! Potty training is beginning in earnest here shortly. She is finally showing some interest (more in the Dora panties I bought her than actually going in the potty), but hopefully the motivation will be there. We'll see.

Allie's first milk bottle ever...and Addison kissing her goodnight for her nap. (They are still sleeping now and it's been 3 and a half hours of which I slept for two! yayayayaya!)

Allie pretending to sleep on the counter after we told her it was nap time.

I thought they looked so cute in their pink shirts today, wanted to get a shot. Oh and this is the aforementioned "high chair" for Allie. love it. Although I may have to move them apart a little...Allie wanted Addison's apple yesterday and that could have gotten ugly.

No Happy

So the other day Addison did something and it wasn't very nice. I don't remember what it was but I told her, "Oh Honey, don't do that, that doesn't make Mommy very happy". She got a very concerned look and said "No happy?", no honey that doesn't make Mommy happy. "Mom-Mom Mean?" uhhhhhh. no. Mommy's not mean. Then an even more puzzled look. Apparently those are my choices...either happy or mean.

Bye!

Allie spoke. She totally looked at Uncle Spencer and said "Bye" and waved! Omgosh! I can't believe it!!!! She's not even 11 months old. And I am now going to be obsessed with getting her to talk to us. Yay Allie, you are so awesome!