the beach!!

First beach trip!!!

Addison LOVED the beach. Her favorite part was most definitely the water and the waves. Adam took her out to about her chest and held her hands as they "jumped" the waves. She was "ooooo"ing and doing her new high pitched screech the whole time. When Adam would get tired from bending over he would bring her in and she would turn around and reach for the water as he brought her back. It was great, we were all very surprised that she wasn't afraid of the waves, or the water for that matter. She is going to be my little dare devil.

While we were there she got to spend some quality time with her (my) Aunt Judy and Aunt Susan. They loved on her the whole time and she ate it up. She really was great while we were there and never got cranky or whiny, and slept well for being in a different place and sleeping in the pack 'n play. She is starting to get to the age where she is sensitive to loud noises or things that startle her. My Aunt Susan was singing her a song one morning and hit a beautiful high note. Addison gave her a blank stare for a moment and then decided that that particular note scared her. She curled her bottom lip out as far as it would go and began to cry. We all laughed because it was just so cute, but she was consoled quickly and was happy and ready to go in no time.

This is technically the second time that she has been to Fripp but the first time she was only 2 months old and we didn't even go to the water because it was December. My Aunt Judy and Uncle Richard have a house on Fripp and we have been so blessed, and they have been so generous, to let us enjoy using it on occasion and spend great times with extended family down there. We have made so many memories and I know as Addison grows up, there will be many more memories to be made Fripp side. It will definitely be a place that comes up in many a family story in the future! Thank you Aunt Judy and Uncle Richard for allowing us to be a part of that.

A few other milestones for little pants:
Pulling up on absolutely EVERYTHING, crawling around like a maniac, stood by herself for about a half second on the beach, has started to babble combining different sounds instead of just the ol "oooo", will wave bye-bye when someone says bye-bye to her, has learned the talented act of throwing objects long distances just to see what they look like when they splat on the floor, and she is already wearing 12 month clothes and growing like a weed!

One milestone that she hasn't met is eating small pieces of solid food. We chuckle, although I'm sure she doesn't find it humorous, when we have tried to introduce her to small pieces of food. We have deduced that she must have a very sensitive gag reflex and though that isn't funny her reaction to the tiniest piece of food being on the very tip of her tongue/lip IS pretty funny. We started by giving her stage three baby food. The one that comes to mind is the chicken with vegetables. There were little pieces of carrots in the baby food and every time she would get a carrot she would gag and gag until she was able to get the carrot out, sometimes making herself throw up. A few days later I tried this little snack that they sell that taste like fake strawberry and it dissolves quickly on their tongue so that they can start to understand what it is like to have solid food in their mouth. This was a fail. I broke off the tiniest little piece of the fake strawberry, maybe the size of a grain of rice or smaller, and put it on the tip of her tongue...instant gag. We've tried a few other things since then but she just isn't ready, and that is okay, she will eat solids when she decides it just looks too good to pass up.

I can't believe my little angel is going to be 9 months old next week. I guess I better start thinking about a first birthday party!

Here are a few pics of the little nugget at the beach and at my parents house in the pond:

Addie and daddy at the beach (while daddy tries to do his hot model pose) :)

Her "faux-hawk" from the sunscreen in her hair.

My favorite picture of her at the beach. My Aunt Connie and cousin Kristen (and family) gave her this bathing suit. She had a cover-up that matched making her the best dressed on the beach.

She loved this soft sand. She would grab a handful and hold it close to her face and stare at it as she moved her hand around.

Saying "oooo"

Playing with Niles in the water while mommy and daddy fish.

Got a handful of mud!

the first, and hopefully the last

Yesterday was a day that Adam and I will not soon forget. It was the first traumatic or, I should say near traumatic experience that we had with Addison.

Addison woke up around 8:00am and per our usual routine Adam brought her in our room for a minute to wake up before we headed downstairs to get some breakfast. After playing for a while the three of us headed for the stairs. Mid descent I heard a loud crash behind me followed by what sounded like my biggest fear come to reality. It was just last week I was telling my mom that I was very worried about falling down the stairs with Addison. This is exactly what happened. Adam was walking down behind me with Addie in tow when his foot slipped off of the end of the step sending him falling backwards. When his back hit the stairs it sent Addison flying out of his arms and both of them proceeded to tumble down to the landing. Because I just had back surgery I wasn't able to whip around to see what was happening but I knew. I screamed at the top of my lungs with terror "Oh my God, Oh my God!!". Looking back I find it interesting that my brain would select that phrase as I never use it and actually find it annoying when others say it. Of course all of this happened in a split second but by the time I was able to turn around Adam had just ended his fall at the landing and I didn't see Addison. A quick look to the right found her propped up against the wall to my right screaming with fear. Adam snatched her up before I could even really process where she was. He later told me that when she flew out of his arms she went head over feet down the stairs before landing with a thud at the bottom. I was shaking uncontrollably and could not catch my breath. Adam kept saying, "she's okay, she's okay" and all I could think was "how do you know??" I need to KNOW that she is okay. I was able to compose myself enough to try to take her mind off of the incident with a silly song but I couldn't control my voice from shaking. We did a once over and saw no bumps or bruises, not even a red mark to remember the event by.

I called my pediatrician and they instructed me to watch her and make sure she was stirring in her sleep and wasn't vomiting. She actually took a three hour nap shortly after the event, I think just to make me worry a little more. Today she is back to her old self as if nothing happened. Thankful that children are so malleable at this age! It really is only by the grace of God that nothing serious really happened to anyone (although I think I might need to go get my heart checked out!). Throughout the day I kept replaying the event over and over in my head, thinking of all of the terrible things that COULD have happened. Of course the obvious, Adam or Addison or both could have been really hurt. Adam could have taken me out on his way down as well, opening my incision or worse, re-injuring my back. As I relived this event over and over I had to eventually make myself stop. I can't live my life like that. I would become one of those mothers that wouldn't allow my children to do anything because I would be so terrified that something would happen. That doesn't do me or Addison any good. So I had to let it go. And I have, but even putting this event down "on paper" has made my heart race.

I know that this probably wont be the last time that Addison has a close call but I hope that it is a long while before we face something like that again. Thank you Jesus for keeping my family safe.

I thought it fitting to now post some pictures of Addie happy and smiling:) These pictures are from a day of swimming at her Mimi's.

Saying he favorite vowel "ooooooo"

As usual, trying to put everything in her mouth. Just needs a little taste.