Baby Steps

We are on the move... or should I say , Addison is on the move! Yesterday she was officially 10 months and 2 days old and sick of crawling. She decided it might be more fun to just walk, and since then she is getting braver and braver and taking more steps at a time. Thankfully Robert was home to see the blessed event, and then later in the day when she became a pro at it, I called him at work and he rushed home to see his little angel practically running from the couch to the ottoman!

I am so proud of her, and also freaking out a little that she is growing up so terribly fast. Where did the time go? I mean I know she is only 10 months old, but I feel like now that she is walking she won't need old mommy anymore. She is growing so independent and strong-willed... I have no idea where she gets that from! She won't even eat sitting in my lap anymore, she has to be in a chair with no help from mommy.

And don't even get me started on how she made a big, fat liar out of me yesterday. I decided to join a gym with several of the other mommies in our playgroup and yesterday was our first day. I have never left Addison with anyone we aren't related to and she normally won't let strangers touch her, so I was feeling anxiety about leaving her with total strangers. However, her friends from playgroup were all going to be there and I thought that might keep her company. Well, when we arrived, I told Janelle that Addison was going to scream her guts out as soon as I left the room and they would probably have to come and get me before the class was over. Well, we left and she played with Sienna like she was at home... I don't even think she missed me!

She had a big day yesterday, but I think it had more of an impact on me. I am glad she is growing and changing and becoming her own little person, but she is steadily becoming more and more of a little girl and less and less of a little baby!

Caricatures are for the Birds!

As a couple, Robert and I luckily haven't made many mistakes. We seem to make pretty sound decisions between the two of us, and haven't royally screwed anything up yet. However, there are two specific subjects that we just cannot seem to get right. They are: selling our house, and having caricatures drawn.

I know you're thinking, "What the hell do those two things have to do with one another?" The answer is nothing, except for the fact that neither of them have seemed to work out for us so far. We put our house up for sale just as the market tanked and no one wants to buy anything, so we still live here.

And as for caricatures, we went to Las Vegas on vacation back in 2005 and we thought it would be so fun to have a silly picture drawn of the two of us as a memento of the occasion. We sat there for about 20 minutes while this old man in the Venetian Hotel proceeded to capture our beauty on paper. We were sweating bullets and starving and ready to get the hell out of there, but it was going to be so worth it! When he was through with all the finishing touches, he handed over his artwork. OMG, my jaw must have dropped to the ground in awe at how much this did NOT look like either of us. Well, lets just say it was hideous. My best friend of all time, Sherry, told me I looked like the Bride of Chuckie and Robert looked like a 12 year old boy! That's what is so great about best friends, honesty!

Now, you would think we would've learned our lesson. Oh... No... we aren't that smart.

We went to a local festival this weekend and there was a caricaturist there. All of the artwork that he had displayed was really good and we watched him draw several portraits while we waited patiently for our turn. We thought that it would be great to have Addison's picture drawn as a memento of the occasion... $15 down the drain!

Addison sat there so patiently and allowed this man to draw her to perfection. He was grinning from ear to ear as he revealed his latest masterpiece. When he showed me that picture, I almost laughed out loud in his face. It is scary looking. That picture doesn't even look like a baby, let alone my baby! Robert said it looked like an 80 year old woman with piggy tails! I think I agree.

Tell me what you think. Should I have told that guy he could keep his creepy old picture and ran? I mean what do you do in a situation like this? I know one thing, we will not be paying for anymore of these so called masterpieces!

Peeved

O.k. so this doesn't really have anything to do with being a mommy or anything, but it is still hilarious. Well, hilarious to me anyway.

Robert and I have many inside jokes, quotes, tag lines, etc... just as any other couple I am sure. But one thing in particular, which comes up frequently just really makes me chuckle. Robert is usually a pretty calm guy. Frivolous things don't usually get him all riled up, but one thing in particular really gets him going!

Anytime that you see a survey (phone, email, web, television, or mail), there are always several different options for each question. Now most of us don't really give much thought to the answers that other people would give to any of these questions. But not my husband. He just gets all bent out of shape because of "stupid people."

He can go on and on for hours about the idiocracy of taking the effort to fill out a survey or answer a question online, only to choose the ever so controversial "Not Sure" answer.

"Why would you be like, yeah I'm going to fill out this survey because I have an opinion about this subject. Oh wait, I'm not sure!" This is a statement I have heard several dozen times from my endearing hubby, each time inducing significant laughter on my end.

I feel like, "Really? This is what bothers you? Who cares whether these random individuals choose Not Sure on a question." There are so many other things that people do that are a lot more annoying, but this is what really gets his goat!

I think it's absolutely hilarious every time he gets going on his rampage about how stupid people are and how they waste their time. He get so bent out of shape, and I just find it amusing! The reason that I am writing about this today is because once again on Sunday we had about a 15 minute conversation over who these people are and what else they could be doing with their time. Also, a new quote from dear ole hubby was, "Just make a f@$%ing decision already!" He... He... my man is so funny sometimes!

Love ya' Babe:)

PS- I would love to hear what is Peeving you! Leave me a comment so we can all share all those silly little things that get us up in a tizzy! Also, if you are one of those crazies who picks "Not Sure" please leave an explanation of why so that I can ease my hubby's angst!

Cheerio

Well, ever since we were at a play date a couple of weeks ago, and I saw a little girl the same age as Addison feeding herself an entire meal I have been trying to teach Addison that she can do it. She is coming along nicely.

At first she just kind of threw the food in the direction of her mouth hoping something would land inside. Then she would be so hungry and teased by all this delicious food on her highchair that she just couldn't seem to get into her mouth! That's when she would just look at me and start yelling, like "Hey Mom, I'm starving! Isn't it your job to feed me?"

But, for the last few days, she has been progressively getting more and more into her mouth. And every time she seamlessly picks up a Cheerio and shoves it into her mouth I cheer like a wild woman. You would think she had been elected the first female president of this great United States. I mean my child can feed herself.

Then I started thinking about how as parents, we love our children so much and they are our whole world. So everything that they do is amazing to us and we think it's the most impressive, magical, extraordinary thing we have ever seen. When in reality, every child since the dawn of civilization has done all the same things at some point. But to us our child is special. I love that. It gives me hope that the second child will be just as mind-boggling as the first. Everything that he or she does will be just as special and amazing as Addison.

So, not only can my child eat Cheerios, but she can eat bagels, sandwiches, bananas, fruit bars, you name it! She is special, an over achiever. She even figured out that all the slippery foods that she cannot grab onto can simply be scooted to the edge of the highchair tray and sucked up by her mouth. She is exceptional:)

To Have, and to See Sometimes in the Bathroom

So, when you get married, you think it's going to be so great to get to see this man everyday and spend time with him for the next, I don't know, 100 years. And it is great, when you actually get to see each other and have an adult conversation. Robert has been working so much lately it's like we say "Hi" to each other in the bathroom while brushing our teeth, and then we go to bed. I miss him.

You know, as SAHMs, our husbands work really hard to provide for our families so that we can stay home with the kiddos. I really appreciate EVERYTHING that Robert does for our family, and believe me I know he would rather be at home with us. But that still doesn't change the fact that he is at work... a lot!

So, he has the day off tomorrow (shocker). However, he has to go in for a "mandatory" meeting in the morning.... argggghh!! And April is pretty much a goner for us because the other manager that works with him is having surgery (out for 10 days), and then having a baby (out for 7 days). Maybe if we are lucky Robert might get one day off in there.

So today, I have called him about 17 times. You know to say, "Hey Addison just burped!" or something rather insignificant like that.

Let the screaming begin

So, for the last 3 days, Addison has finally been sleeping through the night!! We are talking from 7 pm to 7:30 am. This is amazing! I haven't slept all the way through the night since I got pregnant in October of 2007!

So this morning I was telling Robert that I think we have turned the corner into a new phase where she sleeps more often and wow isn't it amazing. Little did I know that I would jinx myself. What was I thinking? I know better.

It's like when you are going to bed at like 11:30 and your like, "Wow she hasn't made a peep since I laid her down." and then 5 seconds later she screams like a wild animal is gnawing on her arm through her crib, and you think to yourself, "Self, why did you say anything out loud? You know better!"

Well, tonight I put her to bed at around 7 with high hopes that this night would be like the previous 3, quiet. I sat down and began working on this site only to hear her wild woman screams 30 minutes later!! What, you are supposed to be sleeping through the night, remember. Your Dad and I were so proud, we bragged about it all morning. Now your making us out to be liars!

Anyway, I went into her room and picked her up (because she's just too cute not to) and comforted her for a few minutes. Now I am not going to tell you that she's sleeping like an angel but you can guess what is going on since I am sitting here writing this entry. SHHHHH don't tell anyone.

Newby

Where to begin. This is my first blog EVER!! I guess I am behind the times, as my grandmother would've said. At first I didn't get why anyone would spend so much time journaling on the internet for others to see, and now I realise that it is a process that has brought people together worldwide. It's pretty amazing.

Now that I am a mother of a beautiful little girl, Addison, I am experiencing some incredible new life lessons/moments that HAVE to be documented and what better way than by blogging. I want this site to be fun, lighthearted, and truthful. Hopefully no family members or friends will become embarrassed to say they know me as a result of this honesty, nonetheless I plan to be completely candid.

My name is Amanda and I am married to a magnificent man, Robert. He is a wonderful father and husband and our daughter worships him! Addison is 9 months old and she is the center of our universe as you can imagine. Together we live in a suburb of Atlanta, however moving closer to family is high on our list of life goals! It is hard to raise a child with abosolutely no family nearby. You know what they say, "It takes a village." Well, our village consists of my husband and myself and he works around 80 hours a week so you do the math.

I am a SAHM (stay at home mom) and Robert works in the automotive industry, not the greatest business in this economy, but so far so good.