stats

Addie seems to be on the mend. It's been a tough week for all of us especially now that Justin and I are coming down with the bug. A cuter bug is my little snuggle bug. Addie hasn't been her normal active self. She's wanted lots of cuddles from her parents. We are headed to see the pediatrician again tomorrow to make sure the fluid in her ears hasn't become infected. I have to admit that this first cold has really wiped me out.

On a more healthy note Addie's six month check-up was on Monday and she's doing really well. She is 18 lbs. 4 oz. and 27 inches tall! Amazing. I was looking back at her stats...well, here you can look too:

Birth-8lbs. 10 oz. 21 inches

2 Days-8lbs. 3 oz. 21 inches

2 Weeks-9lbs. 10 oz. 21.5 inches

2 Months-13lbs. 14 oz. 23.25 inches

4 Months-16lbs. 4 oz. 26 inches

6 Months-18lbs. 4 oz. 27 inches

I'm so proud she's doing so well. Now all we need to do is get over this cold and through this week.

sick baby

Addie has her first cold. For the past few days my darling girl has been fussy, snotty, and not sleeping. Her eyes are watery and she isn't very interested in eating. It's hard to see her uncomfortable and not be able to make it all better. She's smart enough to know when the turkey baster (nose aspirator) comes out it's time to flail her arms and bat our hands away. Our medicine cabinet is full of saline drops, baby chest rub, and infant Tylenol. The vaporizer is humidifying her bedroom. Hopefully she will sleep better tonight than the previous two nights. Addie only wants her Mommy to comfort her in the middle of the night while she's sick, which is touching but I'm exhausted. I guess this is the first of many colds we will suffer through this cold season. Even when she's sick, my daughter is beautiful and sweet as a gumdrop.

Black Friday = Best Day Ever

Megan and I conquer Tyson's Corner on Black Friday as an annual tradition. Last year I was pregnant; Addie was just a little jelly bean causing me to stop and pee every 45 min and eat every 90 min. I was exhausted last year so this year I had to shop extra hard to make up for my handicap from last year. We got a later start this morning than we would have liked. Addie was up last night quite a bit (cold and messy diapers) so I turned off the 6 AM alarm and soaked in a few extra hours of much needed sleep. When we finally got in the Jeep to drive to the mall Megan and I were giddy with anticipation of all the glorious gifts we were going to buy. And buy we did . I completed quite a bit of my shopping for family. I could have spent a lot of money on my daughter, but I limited myself to a few cute things. I am in love with a new kids store Pumpkin Patch. This line of clothing just opened it's own retail store and all I can say is "Thank You". Everything is precious. All the girls clothes have adorable appliques of darling childhood scenes, lots of patchwork and colorful stitching around the edges of sleeves and collars. The colors are bright and cheerful. Everything looks whimsical and a tad European. I love it. I treated myself to a few goodies at Sephora. I am adding the fresh sent Sugar Lychee to my wish list this year. Yum Yum. Megan and I grabbed a power lunch of salad and spinach artichoke dip at Coastal Flats. We finished the meal with See's Candy (thank goodness the East Coast has discovered See's). After lunch we shopped as long as our feet and our pocketbooks would allow then headed home to revel in all our retail glory. The festive crowds, Christmas carols, and holiday decorations put me in the Christmas spirit. What a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving

On this abnormally warm Thanksgiving, our main goal this year was to eat way too much food. I'm proud to say we reached our goal. The meal was absolutely amazing as always. Uncle Tim and Aunt Leslie especially outdid themselves on the twice baked mashed potatoes (recipe from Paula Dean). The sweet potato casserole was sweet and nutty like always. The gravy was super yummy. The food was superb but the company was even better. We dressed in our coolest fall clothing (I had on short sleeves and open toed shoes). Addie was adorable in her pink one piece outfit. We talked and laughed with Kiki and Po and all the family. We enjoyed having Megan with us for the third year in a row! We are so thankful for our family and the enjoyable time we get to spend together. We are also thankful for our family we didn't get to see this Thanksgiving. Addie and Justin, and I have so many people in our lives who love and support us. We are so blessed.

carrot cupcakes

The cupcakes were a hit for dessert today. I have to admit that they were tastier than the cupcakes we had at Buzz the other day. Megan and I baked them last night and frosted them this morning. They look beautiful and taste delicious. The cake was moist and the cream cheese frosting was sweet and creamy. Justin's family "rations the passion" with the Baileys and coffee after dinner. It's a fabulous tradition.

"Sure, I'd love to"

I said "yes" as a Mom for the first time the other day to something I really should have said "no thanks" to. Addie's daycare and our church, Our Lady Queen of Peace had a Thanksgiving lunch for the Early Learning Center's kids, administrators, and parents yesterday. On Monday Ms. Kay asked me if I was coming and that I should bring some dessert, and oh how nice it will be. So I said yes, knowing that I would have to drive from downtown DC to the church and then back to work all in a frenzy dealing with the mid-day un-synchronized traffic lights and saying goodbye to my daughter after the short visit. Anyway, I went to the lunch yesterday grabbing some overpriced but delicious cookies from Au Bon Pain on the way. I got to see Addie for 10 minutes then they ushered the Mom's to the gym for the meal where I scarfed turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffed a few of my store bought cookies in my pocket for the drive back to work. I was disappointed that in the end I didn't get to eat lunch with my daughter (duh! she's 5 and a 1/2 months old). I really did enjoy meeting a few of the other Moms and sharing our stories. The other great moment was seeing Father Nadolski and his faithful dog. In the end I snuggled Addie although it was hard to kiss her goodbye as she was going down for her afternoon nap. I swear the look on her face said "Mom, aren't you going to take me home now?". I'm just glad Justin has daycare drop-off duty in the morning. I couldn't deal.

Go Orange!

Addie is rooting for Syracuse today. Come Saturday she'll be a Hokie again rooting for Virginia Tech to beat the UVA sissies. This little one has higher education in her future no doubt. She'll have her pick of colleges to attend. Okay, I can't think about her grown up any longer or else I'll cry.

perfect moment

After a long hectic day my daughter reminded me in a few sweet moments that all that really matters in life now is her laughter and smile. Tonight at bath time she was so adorable and smoochable. She splashed in the water and smiled at the rubber ducks. She smelled so clean and felt so soft in my arms after soaking in her bath that my long hard day was a figment of my imagination. I can't believe how lucky I am to be this little girl's Mom. She's such an angel.

Good luck Emily

We are thinking about you, Emily! We are all hoping and praying that your surgery goes smoothly and the recovery is fast. Who needs a Gall Bladder anyway? Definitely not someone as cool as you are. Rest up and take care of yourself. We can't wait to see you for Christmas.

Buzz

Today Megan, Addie and I tried out Buzz Bakery which specializes in cupcakes. I decided to get inspired before I attempt to use my carrot cake recipe as cupcakes for Thanksgiving. Buzz (901 Slater Lane, Alexandria, VA) was super easy to find even for someone as directionally challenged as I am. The decor was extremely hip and cool. Old 1950's kitchen utensils were used as wall art and contrasted nicely with the brightly colored modern bakery. I ordered the Bumble Bee cupcake; vanilla cake with chocolate syrup inside covered in butter cream frosting. Megan had the Pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Both were yummy, mine was a tad sweet. I'd recommend any of the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. It was super yummy. We sat at the cool table and chatted while Addie flirted with the young guy sitting across the way. She stared, smiled, and cooed until he looker her way. Her Daddy was less than amused by this report. I have to admit she flirted like an old pro. I think all the patrons on their laptops were pleasantly surprised by Addie's giggles and chatter; she was in an especially good mood all day today. I ordered a few cupcakes to go and we headed to the cool women's boutique, Periwinkle across the street. It was definitely the place you go to if you need a unique party dress or an amazing designer jacket. I left with a turquoise belt that was calling my name. I could have done some serious damage but I resisted. All in all the afternoon was awesome. Buzz was worthy of the raving Washingtonian review it received. My one complaint is that the women's room was sans diaper changing station. Addie and I got creative when it was time to change a diaper that couldn't wait until we got home. This Mommy learned a lesson today: always perform the sniff test before you leave the house.

Megan's here!

Megan arrived early last night from Syracuse for Thanksgiving! Addie woke up this morning to her Aunt Meg and couldn't have been any happier. Today we had a mini photo shoot for our first family portrait. Addie was holding back her smiles but hopefully we caught a few on camera for our Christmas card. Thanks to the adorable sweater Aunt Meg brought, Addie looked precious all day.

Philippines here we come!

We are moving to the Philippines in 2008! Justin got accepted for a diplomatic post in Manila for 2 years. I am beyond excited. The timing of this move is perfect for our family. We have always been interested in living overseas and wanted to do so before Addie was old enough to be in school. For the past few months we were hoping our next move professionally and personally would become apparent to us, and here it is!

From the moment Justin mentioned applying for this post I began my research of the Philippines. I am an obsessive researcher. Knowledge is comfort for me. I of course was excited to learn that our new home is safe, tropical, westernized, English speaking for the most part, Catholic, and is very inexpensive regarding cost of living! To give you a tad more insight into my secondary priorities I became even more excited after I completed my research on the shopping malls and the food in the Philippines. I'm sure you aren't surprised by this. What girl doesn't love to shop and eat? Luckily Manila boasts an amazing variety of cuisines from Caribbean and Japanese to Mediterranean and Thai. I was thrilled to find plenty of American cuisine and pizza joints as well. Manila also happens to be the home of the SM Mall of Asia located right on the beautiful Manila Bay. It's the largest of the 8 malls in Manila and the third largest mall in the WORLD! Right in my backyard.

The beautiful beaches will by far be my favorite part of this move. There are 7,100 white sand beaches in the Philippines. I attached a gorgeous picture of Big La Laguna Beach which reminds me of Moloaa Bay in Kauai, HI where Justin and I stayed for our honeymoon. I have a feeling we will make a very nice home in Manila for the time we are there.

The pictures above are of the Manila Bay at sunset, the Manila skyline, Big La Laguna Beach on Puerto Galera.

real food

Addie's taste buds have been introduced to some crazy new flavors lately. We're trying whole grain oatmeal cereal which seemed to sit better in her tummy than the rice cereal. Unfortunately we didn't experience the miraculous sleeping-through-the-night that suddenly hits some kids after introducing cereal. Just the opposite. We've had some sleepless nights while this little one's digestive system gets used to something other than breast milk. Slowly but surely Addie is becoming familiar with the spoon and sitting in her high chair. Now she grabs the spoon and opens her mouth wide for the next bite. Just a few days ago we started prunes. It must have been an explosion of flavor in Addie's mouth. Her face after the introductory bite was hilarious. I can't imagine the intense flavor those prunes provided when all she's ever tasted is the milk and oatmeal (mixed with milk). Addie loves the prunes now and we plan on introducing other stage one fruits and veggies as time goes on. Hopefully we can instill good eating habits from the very beginning.

the great mundane day

Veteran's Day was wonderfully ordinary for us. We went to Trader Joe's, grabbed lunch at Panera, and stopped at Border's for some books. I picked my new read; Perfect Madness by Judith Warner. I love it already and I'm only 15 pages in. Addie gets a new book every time we go to a bookstore so this trip we nabbed The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown. I don't enjoy the illustrations as well as Goodnight Moon but the story is classic and rhyming. Addie loves it! While Addie was napping late in the afternoon I rested my eyes for what seemed to be an hour. Unfortunately Justin informed me that it had only been 15 minutes since I fell asleep. I guess that's what happens when you are a mom. I woke in a panic thinking about all the stuff I still had to do that day. No rest for the weary. The rest of the evening was spent feeding Addie her first prunes, laundry, making enchiladas for dinner, bath time, bedtime, a Sublime Ice Cream Sandwich from Trader Joe's (heavenly), and crashing in bed.

Both pictures are from the greatest bookstore in existence Powell's Books. The online store is awesome but the Burnside location (Powell's City of Books) in Portland, Oregon is unlike anything you've ever seen. It's a bookworm's dream come true. It's a four story, full city block of books. We are already salivating at the thought of making the trip to Powell's when we visit my folks for Christmas.

Playtime!

I had to share these adorable shots of Addie playing with her toys. She loves this set of stacking cups that a friends gave us. She was so animated and excited to knock them down. Her movements are becoming much more precise. Last night she actually concentrated enough on the top cup to reach for it and pick it up without disturbing the cups underneath. I was beaming with pride.

Miyagi Sushi

Friday night is sushi night in our family. It started during the Lenten season in 2006. We got sushi at Miyagi every Friday night for the full 40 days between January and Easter. I was completely hooked! Miyagi is a little hidden gem in McLean, VA. The place is small, friendly, and smells deliciously like tempura bubbling away in the fryer. We've become regulars so the staff recognizes us and loves cooing over Addie. I had to swear off sushi during my pregnancy but it was the first place we went to eat out after Addie was born. Addie goes with us to Miyagi often. She used to sit in her car seat but tonight she sat in her first highchair! We stuffed our jackets behind her to give her some extra support. She loved being able to bang her hands on the table.

Tonight we met our good friends Wendy and Derrick for dinner at Miyagi. We've enjoyed introducing friends to the amazing sushi rolls there and have yet to find someone who doesn't love everything about this restaurant. Our favorite rolls are the Japanese Lasagna (baked California roll). Godzilla, Holiday, and Creamy Spicy Tuna Roll. The nigiri is top notch as well. The tuna, salmon, and unagi is always fresh. Our weakness is definitely the bad-for-you rolls with sauces and tempura flakes. It's all so good. We've ventured to other sushi joints in VA but nothing compares to Miyagi.

Greatest Dad

I have to toot my husband's horn a bit (I know he'll turn that statement into an innuendo tonight). But seriously, Justin is the greatest Dad! I knew when I met him he'd not only be a great husband but also a wonderful father. For those of you who know Justin well you know his love for kids and their love for him in return. Kids just gravitate to him.

Addie is so lucky to have such an amazing father. Not only has my husband been involved in every aspect of Addie's life from the moment of conception until now, he was a stay-at-home-Dad for the month of October. How many men do you know volunteer their vacation time to stay home with their new babies? Justin gladly stayed home and at the end of the month was sad to head back to work. For the entire month he was the one who put her down for naps, took her on walks, sang silly songs, and cared for her all day long. He also cooked, cleaned, and ran errands, all with a smile on his face. No complaints, frustration or loosing his cool when Addie pooped through her third onesie of the day or decided she wasn't going to take a nap at all. He took it all in stride like the amazing Dad that he is. Becoming a father has made Justin an even better man and husband and I am so blessed to be his partner in parenting and in life. He challenges me to be a better wife, mother, and woman.

Seeing Addie's face light up when she sees her father is all the confirmation anyone needs to know what a great Dad Justin is. Addie loves her Daddy and so do I!

Sitting Up

Addie has started to sit up on her own. I knew she was on her way to sitting when she tried pulling herself into a sitting position every time she was laying down. Now she can balance pretty well. She is still a bit wobbly so we place the Boppy behind her. She's getting to be such a big girl!

Tonight Addie discovered a new toy that Grandma bought for her when she was too little to appreciate it. Now she loves it. The little squeaking mouse makes her laugh.

Lucy came to watch during Addie's bath tonight. She thought Addie's squeaky rubber duck was her ball. In any other situation Lucy stays far away from the bath. This is the dog who walks around mud puddles on the sidewalk. Addie tried sitting up in her bath. It's a tad to slippery for her to get her balance. She splashed her hands in the water. My baby loves bath-time.