Today is our beautiful Addison’s birthday. We have an 8 year old!
It just seems like 5 minutes ago that she looked like this
And then she looked like this…
she keeps growing…
growing…
and growing…
I know it’s a cliche but I honestly can’t believe how fast the years have passed. Adam and I started out as parents at such a young age. We have practically become grown ups while trying to learn how to be parents. I think we are doing a pretty good job. We are raising an amazing and dynamic girl.
She doesn’t like us to call her a little girl anymore. She wants to be older than she is but she doesn’t realize how short her childhood will be. I want her to stay as young and innocent as possible.
She surprises me all the time. She knows more than I think she knows. She is beginning to understand things better when I explain them to her.
Adam and I read Bible stories to her at bedtime. One particular night Adam was out of town so she wanted to read to me. She blew me away. She read smoothly and added dramatic inflection at all the right parts.
She is goofy and silly and she loves to sing.
Addison is a genuinely caring person. She loves animals so much she sees them as our equals.
Addison was an only child and grandchild for 6 1/2 years. When Alivia was born I worried she would be jealous. Although Addie still requires a lot of attention she has been an awesome big sister. She tells me how much she loves Alivia all the time. I can’t even tell you how full that makes my heart feel.
Addison has a heart for the Lord and I pray as she grows her faith will grow along with her.
Her favorite bible verse :
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding
Addie is a good Samaritan. At 8 yrs old her spirit is sweet, her heart is kind and she has her whole life ahead of her. I can only imagine who she will become. Until then…she is ours to love and ours to guide. I thank God for blessing us with her life. It has changed us forever and for the better.
Happy Birthday Addison Makenze. Mommy and Daddy love you!
I have talked a lot about how I got pregnant with our oldest daughter when Adam and I hadn’t been dating very long and how that has affected the dynamics of our relationship over the past 8 years. I am not even close to being finished telling that story and I am planning on writing Part 6 of The Truth Is series very soon. If you haven’t read it and you are interested then you should go catch up.
It’s ok I will wait. No really go ahead….I will totally be here when you get back.
So yeah we were very young and scared and we were having a baby. Toward the end of my pregnancy my blood pressure started to rise and my doctor advised me to stop working. I was swelling and he was concerned that I might be heading into preeclampsia. About 2 weeks from my due date which was May 11th, 2001 we went in for our prenatal appointment. I was so ready to have our baby even though I had no idea what to expect.
People tell you things that you should listen closer to and you hear them, but you just can’t know how you will feel until you experience it. That day at the doctor’s office my blood pressure was dangerously high and I was so swollen that I didn’t recognize myself. So my Dr sent us home to get our stuff and told us to get to the hospital for an induction.
I won’t go into the whole birth story, but to make a long story short I was in labor for what seemed like 12 yrs and everyone thought I would NEVER dilate. But I finally did and the epidural worked so well that you could have sawed off my foot and I wouldn’t have felt it. I was so numb that the Dr had to put this suction cup thing on Addison’s head and help me get her out. It was traumatic to say the least. But finally she was here.
I had been watching TLC’s A Baby Story for weeks so I knew this was the part where the baby was supposed to cry. But she didn’t make a sound. She was limp and sort of a purplish color and I knew something was wrong. Adam’s mom immediately dropped to her knees and started praying and I was just in shock. A whole team of people came in and they were rubbing her and suctioning her. She started to wiggle around and she was trying really hard to cry. She was making these little sounds and her chest was filling up and collapsing and you could tell she was struggling to breathe.
After about 15 or 20 minutes they let me hold her for like 30 seconds. Then they whisked her away to the NICU. A few minutes later a woman came in to talk to me about Addison’s health. She was a pediatrician and she was very direct. She told me my baby was very sick but they weren’t sure what was wrong. She said she was pretty sure Addison had inhaled fluid and it had gone into her lungs. She said it could be pneumonia and that they were giving her oxygen and medicine. I asked her if she was ok and she told me simply and honestly “no”.
I remember being shocked. It was one of those moments that doesn’t feel real and you are sort of outside of yourself. The hospital where she was born has an excellent NICU and she was in really good hands. There were babies in there who were much sicker than Addison and although it was a serious situation for us I couldn’t help but feeling slightly thankful. I prayed very hard for our baby but I also prayed for the health of all of the other babies.
Looking back at the pictures I realize how rough she looked. I only remember thinking that she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I don’t think I will ever forget the smell of the soap that you had to wash your hands with before you could come in or the sound of all of those machines beeping.
We were young and totally unprepared, but I think the experience brought us all closer as a family. Addison coming into our lives made such a positive impact on us and changed our future forever. She made a full recovery from her traumatic beginning and after 6 days in the hospital we took her home.
And literally 5 minutes after we got home with her from the hospital she gave me another kind of shock…..
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry….so I did both.
It was just her little way of saying welcome to motherhood.
That is what my problem is. That is why I haven’t been here for 7 days. I have opened my blog and pushed the ‘write’ button 15 times. I have listened to music and stared at the screen. I have twittered and facebooked and read some blogs. But every time I came to write I ended up sitting here so long my fingers turned into ice and my butt felt like it was part of this ugly green corduroy chair. And then the baby would wake up and my opportunity had passed.
I have been whining and complaining about how messy our house is. I have talked a lot about getting rid of everything and starting from scratch. I have this mental image of pulling a dumpster up the the side of the house and throwing stuff into it. I am not one to hold on to junk for posterity. I regularly take van loads of toys and clothes and all sorts of stuff to the goodwill or the consignment shop. But yet we still have too. much. freakin crap.
Clutter. I despise it. It affects me on so many levels. It puts me in a bad mood. It overwhelms me to the point that I don’t know where to start to fix the problem. The clutter is real and tangible and I can see it and touch it. But it affects me physically and mentally. I don’t have the amount of energy it will take to get the house to where I want it to be.
I have excuses for that too. NEVER ending dishes, meal planning and laundry. Adam and I stay up until almost midnight every night and get up around 6:30. I have stopped exercising. Alivia is constantly moving and when she naps I get on the computer and try to write. Aaaand I am holding onto some emotional stuff that I am not sure will ever go away. So needless to say I sometimes feel like I want to run away.
But I have so many blessings here. I would come right back if I ran away.
I love them….the people here in my house.
Adam is an awesome husband and a loving daddy.
Addison has an amazingly intense personality and is one of the smartest funniest kids I know.
And that Alivia…she is happy and sassy and goofy and adorable.
So what are my options here?
I figured that out too. Get over myself and get out the trash bags. Suck it up and do my job. Yeah…I can do that. Because they deserve a mom who is not crazy, a house that is not a mess and a dinner that is not pizza.
For this week’s Fro me to you I just wanted to take this opportunity to recap some pictures from the past few months. We are NOT the people you love to hate because of our perfection. We are just hanging in there every day trying not to run from the house screaming. Most of the time we just have to laugh and go with the flow. So here you go…a little taste of the madness:
Remember our stupid kitten? He is still driving us crazy daily. He is still free to a good home ;)
A collaborative effort. The dog and the cat were in on this one. Gah!
Remind me again why we have animals.
Oh that's right. I am insane.
Some days I can't catch a break
This keeps me up at night
My laundry room at it's worst. I should be more embarrassed.
I am not lazy I swear.
10 granola bar wrappers from under the couch cushion. Where else would they be?
1. Addison wanted to know how to spell Hottie the other day
2. She actually said to me after school last week “Are you with me mom?….I said Austin put his arm around me in the hallway!” Um yeah she is 7! 2nd grade is a little early for boys to be macking right?…whatever happened to the I hate girls/boys phase?
3. Did I mention that Addison wanted to know how to spell Hottie the other day?
4. I have seen every.single.episode of Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly place, and if I have to listen to the High School Musical soundtrack one more time I am going to gouge my eyes out!
5. When the phone rings it is usually one of the little girls from her class wanting to trade Webkinz passwords or talk about the 2nd grade “hotties”
(P.S. I have a story to tell about one of those phone calls)
6. Addison asked me why her friend Caitlin wears a bra and I saw her eying the tiny little bras at Target the other day. Um let me just say hell to the no! She still wears days of the week and Curious George panties..I am thinking a bra is like light years into our future….right?
7. She is going to be asking me for a thong soon.
8. I have to figure out a way to keep my girls away from ALL the penises.
9. How does my child even know what the word Hottie means? I guess the Disney channel just isn’t what it used to be.
10. 7 year old girls seem to have PMS when they haven’t even hit puberty yet
We have only one bathroom. It sucks. But we live in an older home that was built in 1962. It has a certain charm, but the one bathroom part just isn’t part of the charming character.
Tonight I was peeing while my 7 year old daughter Addison was brushing her teeth.
Addie: “Mommy why are you wearing a diaper in your panties?”
Me: ” heehee it’s not a diaper”
Addie: ” well it looks like a diaper what the heck is it?”
Addie again: “mommy…why is there pink on your paper towel?”
Me: “You mean toilet paper?”
Addison : “well yeah”
Me (completely caught off guard): “well it is something that happens to grown up girls. It’s called a period”
Addie:”….”
Me ( in my head) : ” she thinks I am talking about a dot…she thinks I am referring to punctuation. Oh jeez”
Oh and I was right
Addie: “a period?…like at the end of a sentence?”
Me: ” it’s actually called a menstrual cycle. It’s something God gave women so we can have babies”
Addie: “YOU”RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY? I don’t think I can handle it!”
Seriously that’s what she said….
Me:” no I am not having another baby….not for a couple of years”
Apparently when we had Alivia, Addison’s whole world turned upside down. And now she thinks I have punctuation in my panties. I am probably gonna hear from the school counselor on that one.
This is the story of the day my lovely innocent cherub of a child stuck lip gloss up the dog’s butt.
This lip gloss was a staple during my high school years. I had a certain obsession with it. It smells like cake. Delicious wonderful vanilla cake with luscious vanilla frosting. In my lifetime I have probably purchased approximately 50 tubes of this shiny lip enhancer. Sometimes I would use it until the very last drop was gone. And sometimes I would lose a brand new tube the day after I bought it. So for years I would find them everywhere. Under the passenger seat in my car, in an old purse I was giving to Goodwill or the pocket of a jacket I have been keeping around since 1999.
So it didn’t come as much of a shock when a 3 year old Addison came toddling up to me carrying the familiar tube. I thought to myself…”wow I haven’t seen one of those in a while”.
Then she said these words. “Smell it”.
I wish I could say that I didn’t do it. I guess I just couldn’t even fathom the horror of what was about to happen to my nostrils.
But this sweet little face was looking at me and saying “Mommy smell it”.
So I put the tube up to my nose and sniffed.
OH! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GAG! RETCH! OH NO!
What IN THE SAM HILL WORLD did I just smell?
After I regained consciousness…I asked Addison where exactly she had put that lip gloss tube before she brought it to me to smell it.
Her silence spoke volumes.
After a series of questions I was able to deduce that she had in fact stuck the vanilla frosting lip smackers lip gloss tube up Max’s butt.
I have smelled a lot of gross things in my life. But I have NEVER I repeat NEVER smelled anything as horrible or wretched in my entire existence on this planet!
This incident happened 4 years ago people! I can still remember the horribleness.
Clearly I am suffering from Post Traumatic Olfactory Disorder. I need help.
I don’t think you can fully grasp the seriousness of the situation. Let’s recap.
I SMELLED A LIP GLOSS TUBE THAT WAS INSIDE MY DOG’S BUTT!
Ok. I am ok now. I am calm.
You may have a hard time understanding why I chose to put my nose to the lip gloss, so to speak. Well Addison’s cuteness had a hold of me. Here is a video that will serve 2 purposes. Show you the caliber of cuteness we were dealing with. And to honor Veterans day yesterday and show a little patriotism.
For more pictures and stories that will NEVER make it into a scrapbook visit Kristen’s Fro’ Me to You Thursday’s here.
I love this time of year! I am not a fan of winter, but when we get to wear sweatshirts, watch SEC football and bring out the Publix pilgrims I am a happy person. Simple minded maybe….but happy.
Hey peeps. You hungry? I have another recipe for you.
I make 2 different types of enchiladas. One is creamy and one is not. One thing I have observed in my 27 years on earth is that creamy is usually better. In most cases anyway.
Ingredients:
10 soft taco size tortillas
1 cup of sour cream
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup Pace picante sauce
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese
2 tsp chili powder
Garnishes : tomatoes, green onion, black olives, shredded lettuce
Directions:
First you gather all of your ingredients and take a picture for your blog. What’s that? I’m weird for taking pictures of grocery’s and food prep? Ok well…if taking pictures of recipes for my blog is wrong….well I don’t want to be right!
Mix soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder
Hey….you have to stir it
Take one cup of this sauce mix out and mix it with the chicken and one cup of the cheese
Spoon chicken mixture on each tortilla
Place tortilla’s seam side down in a greased 13×9 dish
Pour remaining sauce mix over enchiladas and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese
