CATCH UP

Yah, I apparently can only get to the blog once a month. I am sure I have disappointed all three people who read this. Ha! Here's what we've been up to:

• Lyndon went to Pennsylvania to visit his brother and his family, and attend the blessing of our new nephew, Tyler Reed Call. He's a cutie.



• The condo we live in was supposed to get fumigated for termites (I know, disgusting), and though they cancelled it at the last minute, we had already bought tickets to go to Utah for the week so Addison and I had a nice little getaway. It was a fun week and we got to see lots of family and friends. Only downside is that flying with Addi is a nightmare. Lyndon had to stay home to work, he started a new job recently and has no vacay time, bummer.



• Our Mimi and Uncle Drew (Lyndon's Mom and little brother) came to visit and stayed with us the week of Thanksgiving. We had lots of laughs and good food.Oh, and we celebrated FOUR years of wedded bliss that week too!




• New stages of kid proofing, we've got the cabinet latches now in the kitchen and bathroom (thanks to our handy Mimi). I'll remember those are on there sometime right? Addi got so mad when she discovered them she kicked the cabinet, she had been having a really great time pulling everything out.



• Should I throw in here the flu Addi caught (which started with throwing up twice while we were in a restaurant in LA), or the mastitis I got? So not fun.



• Getting in the Christmas spirit! Decorating for Christmas now comes with the new challenge of making sure everything is out of reach to the kiddo. We also have a tradition to go to Rogers Gardens every year and see all the lights and pick out one new ornament to kick off the Holiday season. Seriously, if you haven't been there at night, head over it's free and very festive.



• Lots of shopping; the hard kind, which involves crowds, long lines and trying to not buy anything for yourself amongst the million great deals out there right now. I am COMPLETELY done with my Christmas shopping, stockings and all... miracle of all miracles! Everything is even wrapped. Well, I won't mention the few gifts I am making which aren't so close to being done....



• And finally, Addison turns one this Saturday... where in the world did a whole year go already? I have finished all her birthday shopping too, and am already making an all out effort to over compensate for her birthday since it's only five days before Christmas... admittedly this is the only year she'll be clueless and I could've just given her tissue to tear up but it was fun to get her lots of new 'big girl' toys. Please see her big birthday present, which we already gave her, the little red chair. I now know why the label said not for children under two...I was scouring the thing for anything sharp or dangerous, and upon not finding any choking or safety hazards, I bought it anyway. Oooooooh, I see... it makes the most fun jungle gym you can imagine for a one year old. She has no interest in sitting her bum in it, and has already fallen off it many times. Argh.

the proud peacock

first a little pumpkin...

and then the cutest peacock you've ever seen!

And for the second year in a row, we didn't have even ONE trick-or-treater, so I ate my weight in candy while we carved our pumpkins!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

almost....

We almost have a walker. Addi LOVES her new little walker toy, she instantly took to it, and is beside herself with giddiness after she walks with it. I am happy, proud, fearful and a little sad! Here's a small clip, enjoy.

The Patch

I find all 'firsts' to be so exciting! I think Lyndon and I enjoy them much more than Addison, actually. Here are a couple pics of our trip to the Pumpkin Patch. More to come after carving, and of course of her cute costume :).







p.s. a word to those new to pumpkin patches, like myself! The very same size pumpkin I paid $14 dollars for at the patch, can be purchased at Trader Joe's for $3.49. Play at the patch, but buy at the grocery store! Ah, next year....

Nine Months

Nine months (and five days to be exact). Forty weeks ago today. That's 280 days, 6,720 hours, 403,200 minutes and 24,192,000 seconds... that Addi's been mine. Sigh. It's true love.
Why does it seem so much longer?? Maybe it's that you can't imagine your life or family without them once they've arrived, or maybe as a Mother you actually feel like you have a child as soon as you've peed on the test/heard their heartbeat/seen them on the ultrasound screen... so that was a year and a half ago.
Whatever it may be, this little princess is nine months old! Her personality is coming out more every day, and unbelievably it's even cuter than her sweet face! Love this girl. Adore might be a better word.
9 month stats: 18.5 lbs (50%), 27" (50%), cruising but not walking!

too funny to not share...

So I'm sitting here browsing friends' blogs while Addi naps (yah, prob not the best use of my time since I'm still in my robe, don't judge me) and I run across a couple posts from girlfriends I grew up with in Orem that have me laughing out loud! HARD! Thank you girls!!!! And sorry, I just pirated this stuff off your blogs :)

First, one of my all time besties (on and off from second grade through freshman year in college), Emily, posted this hilarious blurb about the glory years in high school, she's a very creative writer...here are a couple excerpts:
I was also involved in Young Republicans (please don't judge me by this). My friends and I had agreed to be part of the club because one of the most popular boys had asked us (enough motivation for any teenage girl). Once we were asked to make phone calls--which we ended up calling people we knew, who we didn't usually call, but really wanted to, rather than the official list we were supposed to call. Another time we were asked to get people's permission to put signs on their yard. We had a big stack, and weren't too excited to be spending our Saturday like this, especially since we weren't even in the same group as the popular president, but wanting to please him, we got rid of our stack quickly putting them in any empty field, or available public land. When we got to school Monday, the president frustratingly told us how some people hadn't gotten permission to place their signs, and had put them on private property, which he had to go back and collect. Oops.

My best friend Lisa and I lived about 8 bocks from the school and would meet everyday on the corner to make the jaunt. This "quick" walk was miserable in the cold and we used to get so bugged by the friends who would drive by, honk, and wave. How about a ride?

I remember Lisa and I upgrading our friend's coolness quota, by quite a bit, when she was the first of us to get really kissed.

Dances were always looked on with excitement and dread (Would I get asked? Would I not get asked?). Once, Lisa told me an hour before a boy in our neighborhood was going to ask me to a dance in my History class. I had a complete panic attack. I did not want to go to the dance with this boy, so I begged Lisa to go and tell him that I had already been asked by my non-existent boyfriend. He didn't ask me, and I spent a lot of time feeling guilty about putting an end to his excited preparation. I didn't even go to the dance. This is something I would do differently if I had a chance to live my life again.

Another time Lisa and I decided to throw caution to the wind and ask boys in the top tier of popularity (who we never even talked to) if they would go with us to a girl's choice dance. We knew they were available, because we used to call boys we didn't dare talk to in real life, and anonymously ask them if they had been asked to the dance yet--with no intention of really asking them, just wanting the opportunity to talk to them (I'm embarrassed for my youth even typing that). I don't know if caller-id was available--let's hope not, but I can't be sure because my family was always 10 years late in getting new technology. Anyways Lisa and I bought some Happy Meals, put our names in the hamburger, and left the meal in their front yard. We were terrified to go to school the next day. Terrified!!! But amazingly the boys said yes, and we had an amusing date, at one point of which I was so nervous I forgot to turn off the car before I got out.


And a few days ago I saw this gem on Ashley's blog (she does this cute thing called Flash Back Friday): yep, you're looking at a Jr. High get together in about 1988/89 at Ashley's house. Holy BANGS-were we serious??? Me...awkward one in the black shirt, Ashley is behind me in red.

Desperate Housewife

If you are reading this post and you have one of these:


That you have gotten to stop using these:



And take this instead:


Please leave me a comment and tell me what worked for you. As per the post title, I'm getting desperate. We're making NO progress. XO~