Rice cereal - NO, oatmeal - OH YES!!

About three weeks ago we had Addie's 4 month check up! She is doing great - growing so fast! Our doctor gave us the go ahead to start feeding her cereal with one bottle feeding. We decided to try the ever so famous rice cereal! It was so much fun to feed Addie "solids". She is getting to be such a big girl. I'll let the videos speak for themselves!

Very first time to try rice cereal:

5 minutes after eating rice cereal

So, obviously Addie was not a fan of the rice cereal....but she sure does love oatmeal! We tried it about a week later and it was a success! It was so cute to see her eat the oatmeal! :)

Benton is here!

Welcome to the world Benton! Our dear friends Jen and Landon had their sweet baby yesterday afternoon and I must say he is an absolute cutie! Mom and baby are doing just perfect. Benton has lots of hair and the cutest lips. We introduced Addie to her very first boyfriend! hehe :) I was shocked to see how huge Addie looks compared to Benton. I forgot how small she used to be.

This picture makes me laugh b/c for some reason it reminds me of the movie Elf. Addie looks like a giant compared to Benton!

Cuddle session!!!

We love you Jen and Landon! You are going to be amazing parents to Benton. Can't wait for play dates!

Day of firsts

Addie and I had a great day today! I absolutely look forward to the days I am not working and get to spend lots of time with my sweet baby. My mom, sister and I decided to get our first pedicures of the season today and we had a blast. Addie LOVED watching me get a pedicure. As you can see Addie can't take her eyes off the nice lady who was working on my feet!

So today Addie tried formula for the first time. This was kind of a sad moment for me because I think that breast milk is so wonderful. However, Addie and I did not catch on to the whole breastfeeding thing, so I've been exclusively pumping for the past 3 1/2 months and my supply is starting to run out. So I mixed up the formula and tried to feed Addie -she absolutely HATED it! She would drink a little bit of it and then make a disgusted face and spit it out. It was kind of funny actually. Also, looking back I probably should not have tried to "capture the moment" for my blog - it just added to the chaos! So anyway, I called my friend Jeanna (I call her for all my mommy advice b/c she has a little one who is 3 months older than Addie) and she told me to mix the formula with my milk - and it worked! Thanks Jeanna.

And to leave you with a "good taste in your mouth"....

Nice to meet you

This past weekend was filled with fun! Hank's cousin Amy got married on Saturday and we enjoyed the wedding festivities all weekend long. On Friday night, Hank and I went to the rehearsal dinner and left our little one at home with our dear friends Corey and Amanda. They were the first non-family members to babysit Addie and they did a great job! They are going to be wonderful parents and we can't wait for little bold to get here!

Saturday was the wedding and Amy looked absolutely gorgeous! It was a beautiful wedding and a fun reception. Addie got to meet so many family members for the first time - it was so special! Addie's Aunt Caroline flew in from San Diego for the wedding and to meet Addie. We were so excited to have Caroline in Oklahoma! We also got a wonderful surprise this weekend. Caroline's husband (and Hank's brother) Andy arrived home on Sunday to San Diego from his deployment! We were all so happy! Caroline is leaving for her deployment in just a few weeks, so luckily they will be able to spend some time together before she leaves.

Aunt Caroline and Addie meet!

Addie also got to meet several of her cousins for the first time! It filled my heart with joy to be around our family! Addie's cousin Gracie was too cute! Gracie is about to become a big sister and she did great with little Addie.

Gracie giving Addie a kiss

Also, we've decided that Addie and her cousin Eli are going to be best friends! Eli's family will be moving to the same area that we will live in someday and that means Eli and Addie will be at the same school and same grade. Growing up, my family lived far away from my cousins, so I never got to experience what it was like to live near your extended family. I love the fact that Addie will have some cousins that will live close to us. So, at the wedding we introduced Addie and Eli and guess what? they love each other already :) We sat them down next to one another and they starting holding hands. (I promise we didn't stage it) So CUTE!!

Eli and Addie

happy baby

Sweet baby smiles are the best! Have a blessed and happy weekend!

Addie's newborn pictures

I just can't resist! We finally ordered our CD of Addie's new born pics and I just had to post some of them. Even though she is almost 3 months old and looks so much chubbier and bigger now.

Addie update:

- She is a great little sleeper! She has been consistently sleeping through the night since 8 weeks! I highly recommend Baby Wise to all you mommies-to-be. If you like schedules and sleep, this is the parenting style for you :)

- Addie was a smiley baby since birth, but now she definitely recognizes her mommy and daddy and smiles at us all the time! She also gives her grandparents big smiles too. We think she is on the verge of laughing - she's trying so hard but just can't figure out how to make it come out.

- She loves her mobile (and she can finally see it now too). We turn that thing on and she just smiles and follows it with her eyes. She also knows it is time for bed when when we turn it on b/c we play it before bed every night.

- Addie is doing a great job of holding up her head

- She has started to "coo" and "talk" to her mommy and daddy

- She now stays awake during walks and looks around at her surroundings

- Addie is a growing girl. She's outgrown her newborn clothes and we've had to move on to 8 oz bottles (she's not eating 8 oz now -but 5-6 at every feeding)

Ethel the bulldog update:

- Ethel's life before Addie: Ethel was our baby! We would practice her tricks, walk her and play with her everyday. She had a definite routine: eat dinner at 5:00, spend time with us in the family room; go outside to get busy, then she would go straight to her crate to go to bed.

- Ethel's life after Addie: We've neglected her tricks - now when we tell her to "give me paw" she lay's down.....she is so confused and just does whatever trick she can remember regardless of the command. She gets fed whenever we can remember (somewhere between 5-6:30); gets walked when we decide to take Addie for a walk. Oh, and best of all....now that Addie is sleeping through the night, Ethel has decided it is her turn to wake us up in the middle of the night. Ethel is consistently barking at NOTHING late at night! We've also neglected to put her in her crate and let her have free range in the entire downstairs area - BAD idea! So, needless to say the baby gates are back up and she is confined to the kitchen at night. Also, before Addie got here I would love to try to cuddle with Ethel. Bulldogs are not big on cuddling and Ethel would want nothing to do with it. Just a few days ago, I was sitting on the floor putting together a toy for Addie and along comes Ethel and just sits in my lap! I was shocked! She must be desperate for attention. I'm going to try to be a better mommy to my bully!!

Oprah is right.....

I was sitting at home watching TV during Addie's nap yesterday and flipped the channel to Oprah. I love watching Oprah and feel that she has great things to say (most of the time). Yesterday's show was all about driving while texting and talking on your phone. Oprah is extremely passionate about this subject, and after watching her show I am too. Oprah gave many statistics about the dangers of driving while being distracted by a cell phone, and I'm not a numbers person, so that didn't have much effect on me. I'm definitely an emotional person though and after hearing the stories of accidents and deaths that could have been prevented, I have decided to sign her "no phone zone" pledge and not use my cell phone in the car anymore. I did not text while driving on a regular basis, but I regretfully admit that I have done it before. I've definitely checked out status updates on facebook while driving and I am constantly talking on my phone while in the driver's seat. In fact, I used to call my mom everyday on my way home from work just to chat. I also must admit that I've had my fair share of "close calls" and thanked God because none of those close calls turned into accidents. Is it going to be easy not to use my phone in the car? NO!!!!! But I am now not only responsible for my life, but for the precious cargo that sits in my backseat. I've already talked with Hank about my decision not to use the phone in the car anymore - and I've promised him that I will call him before I leave and when I get to my destination. (we are so used to talking to each other to and from work, etc) I recorded yesterday's show on our DVR and am planning on having Hank watch it in hopes he will stop using his cell phone in his car too. I would like to encourage you all to do the same. You can find out more info about this at http://www.oprah.com/nophonezone. Also here is the link to watch the 1 hour show:

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Watch-the-Full-Hour-Americas-New-Deadly-Obsession-Video