My First 5K-I survived!!

John, Addison & I, pre-race, and soaking wet already.

A lifelong goal has now been achieved. This past Saturday I ran my first 5k. Surprisingly, it has taken me longer to commit to a 5k than it has to marriage or a family. I've dreamt of running one for years but for some reason always had an excuse. Luckily, with the help and excitement of our friend Dana, she got me pumped up and motivated for my first 5k - The Race For The Cure.

As luck would have it, my first 5k was in POURING down rain. The downpour did manage to lessen long enough for me to run but of course picked right back up with pelting rain right as I crossed the finish line. With all the sheets of rain we had to leave right afterward and thus missed out on all the freebies from the vendors. That was part of my motivation for completing the race! :(

My lovely Mooma came down to cheer us on and watch Addison while John and I ran. Actually, John could only walk thanks to his bad ankle - but he got to cross the finish line with our friends, Brad and Jenny and still had a blast.

Addison & Grandma.
She adores this woman....and we definitely do too since she was our live-in nanny for the whole weekend!
Thanks Mooma/Grandma!

Addison getting friendly with the Chick-fil-a cow before the race.
The same cow that had Garrett running in fear, Addison found very intriguing.

Here's the whole race crew waiting for our turn to run (minus Dana). It was such a fun experience to share with everyone we hardly noticed the rainy/yucky weather. It made for some great memories.

And here I am post-race with my cheer-leading crew.
According to my watch, I actually beat my practice time by 5 minutes. I finished the race in 35 minutes! Not too shabby considering I'm just in the beginning stages of being a "runner". (VERY beginning ;-)

All in all, it was a LOT of fun.....especially once I got past the pain of the first hill at the beginning of the race. The rain was a minor bump in the road but it was still great feeling the adrenaline in the air, being cheered on by strangers, and hanging out with friends and family and creating memories. Now, I think I'm addicted to running 5k's and am looking for my next one! Sign me up!! :D

I'm THAT Mom

So, for the past week Addison has been dealing with a bit of the yuckies. Nothing major, just a constant snotty nose. But it isn't fun when it keeps her up at night and I have to wrestle her with the booger sucker just to clean it all out so she can breath.

This is what kids go through right? The yuckies come and go and the immune system gets stronger and stronger. So, I talked myself out of taking her to the doctor and just letting it run it's course.

Then came today. She woke up and had a rattle in her chest/throat...something. So I thought to myself....should I call the doctor or no? I kept reassuring myself it was just a minor yucky and all was well. Then I got flashbacks of the first 3 months of her life and the constant congestion she dealt with....and if this was that. Which escalated into the ear tube surgery - was this affecting that etc. (Did I mention her ear was draining brown waxy stuff?)

I didn't want to turn into an overly paranoid mama and asked John what he thought. He said it was worth getting it looked at just to see if it was serious or not. I told myself if it takes a $30 co-pay for some peace of mind then it's worth it. So, my wonderful doctor got us in today and we went. And came home. Without any medications. And I confirmed to myself that I am "that mother". The overreacting paranoid type.

My doc just confirmed it was the minor yuckies and all was well. I asked him how I'll know next time if it's serious or minor and he gave me a list of suggestions all of which included a 3 act play in which he impersonated a list of ailments and symptoms and included barking coughs and wheezes...just for me. Did I mention he's a wonderful doctor? But then came the blow to my ego. He also suggested that maybe I could buy my very own stethoscope from Walmart so I can just listen to her 'lil chest cavity all on my very own next time. Um....seriously? Am I really THAT bad that I need to invest in my own stethoscope? Em.Barr.Ass.Ing.

So I thanked him for his reenactment of the common cold symptoms, took my healthy baby, paid my copay, and headed home. My head hung in shame. I used to make fun of people like me....now I'm THAT person!! :(

Maybe it's my Mom's fault since we never EVER went to the doctor when we were growing up. Seriously folks. Never. Even after my foot got bloodied in bike spokes and skin was removed. No doctor. Just soaked in water and Epsom salt.

So, I reasoned, I'm pushing the extreme in the other direction to compensate maybe? Or maybe....just maybe...I'm a first time mom that is still honing her "motherly instincts". I'd like to think it's the latter of the two. Either way, I have a healthy (or at least getting there) baby. Even if it took a $30 copay and mild embarrassment to confirm it.

Cabin Fever

(The side effects of cabin fever)

So, after a couple of days of hole-ing up in the house we hit our max with cabin fever today. The weather was beautiful and was calling our name. Um yeah, that and a whiney baby that couldn't finish her nap of course.

Before we left, I was convinced that Addison couldn't get any cuter than she already was. Until I came across this handy dandy hat in her dresser that she got to adorn for the first time today. Thanks Sun....you've proven to me that she indeed CAN get cuter!! Whodathunk?

She wasn't an "easy sell" on the whole hat idea.

Slowly but surely I am winning her over.

It's not a field trip without Sonic Happy Hour
(yes folks, that's just water - I'm not about to turn her into a Dr. Pepper-aholic like myself)

It's official! I've won her over!
Fussies are gone and smiles have returned!
Woot!

And we return home....exhausted.

Easter Sunday

She found her basket....and loved it! :D

We had a great Easter weekend. It was the perfect blend of family time, relaxation, inspiration, organization, and fun. It was a nice balance of busy and relaxed.

We enjoyed listening to the Conference sessions (am I the only one that still gets excited that we can watch these from the comfort of our own living room)? In the middle of conference sessions and naps (yes us AND Addison) we got to color some eggs in preparation for the Easter Bunny's arrival. Naturally, the majority of our celebration is probably more for my sake than Addison's or John's but it is sooo fun to celebrate all the details of the holidays with a little one and a family after you've spent so many of them single. I don't need many reasons to gear up and celebrate.....making memories are so fun.

So, since Easter Saturday was spent watching conference, and coloring eggs, Easter Sunday was the big celebration. The finding of Addison's Easter basket, digging through the loot, and playing and napping all day until it was time to head to Grandma Jean and Grandpa Joe's house that afternoon for the big Easter egg hunt and dinner. Thanks for the invite!! It was fun spending time with some of Addison's cousins and we look forward to doing it again. Conference sessions amidst all the celebrations were a great way of reminding us - in the moment - of the real reason we celebrate Easter. I hope as Addison grows up that I can do a good job of teaching her of our Savior and His sacrifice and ressurection - all for us.

Coloring eggs for the first time.

See those cute 'lil peering eyes? Adorable.

Mommy's handiwork.

Easter egg hunt at Grandma's

Riding high on the "Daddy-mobile"

Sittin' pretty with cousin Karah.

Givin' Grandma some loves.

10 Months Old

First of all, my apologies. Addison is now almost 11 months old so I'm a bit behind in my posting. But if it helps, this picture was taken when she was closer to 10 months! :D

I guess the delayed posting sort of describes what we've been doing around here lately. Chasing her everywhere! Addison has officially become a LOT more mobile! She loves it and we love it (most of the time) but it does make for extra work for us since we must constantly see what she's getting into. She's hardly held still since she mastered crawling.

The evolution of her crawling began with sort of an "army crawl" with a strained reach to get whatever she wanted. Then she progressed to her 3 legged crawl (my favorite). It was adorable. She'd start moving like she knew how to crawl, her arm, her arm, and her leg etc but when it came to the fourth leg she just hopped and drug it behind her. It was like she had a little gimpy leg. That crawl didn't last long before she mastered the full-blown traditional crawl. I guess she soon realized that one got her to her destination MUCH faster.

Of course, along with learning the world of mobility, comes the realization that your actual TOYS are way too boring. All of the sudden, everything that ISN'T a toy is much more exciting. The TV, the VCR, outlets, and the coffee table. She can be surrounded amongst all her toys and within seconds she's on the move looking for her next source of destruction.

Which leads me to her next milestone. She now has 5 teeth (3 on top and 2 on bottom) and will likely be working on a 6th one soon. This fact was made evident to me as I discovered her beaver chewing marks on our coffee table just a few days ago. Her favorite place to stand (yes she's pulling up on furniture now too!) is right at the corner of our coffee table. Once she gets there, she rests her right arm on the corner, stands with her left arm free, and just relaxes and watches her cartoon. It too is adorable to watch her just standing around and relaxing. She has even been daring a couple of times and teetered between furniture and of course let go of it all together for a split second before falling to the floor. I believe at this rate, she will be walking very soon!

She has officially moved on to Stage 3 baby food. This one actually has chunks for her to chew up but of course I suspect she's still swallowing a lot of it whole. With each meal, I've also made it a point to give her some real fruit or veggies so we can transition to table food easier. She always prefers our food over hers - she's a smart cookie - but I've been reluctant in giving it to her simply because ours is less healthy than hers.

She has also become quite the chatterbox lately. She hasn't mastered any actual words but definitely has her own vocabulary that only she understands. She still says "mamamama" and "dadada" a lot but I doubt she knows that those are our names. One of my favorite things to do is sit and watch her as she's playing and jabbering away with her toys. I can almost see her imagination going crazy and I love it.

Overall, she's SUCH a good baby and we are definitely spoiled. She only really gets fussy if she needs something or if her teeth are hurting her. She's had a hard time with sleeping lately but not too much. Just a cry or two every few nights but we definitely attribute it to her poor little mouth growing all those painful teeth.

One of my favorite things about her is that she is easily distracted. If she gets sad about something, you can usually give her a toy, take her for a walk, or talk to her about something and instantly she's over whatever was originally making her sad. This works wonders when she gets handed off to grandmas and grandpas, aunts, uncles, etc. She's been great about going to other people again, she does better at it when she can see us and notice that we aren't making a fuss about it.

I think that about sums up our adorable little 10 month old. I can't believe I'm already making rough plans for her 1st birthday! I absolutely LOVE getting to see her personality more and more each month. And still, most days, I sit in amazement that she is mine. I'm one lucky mama!

Triple "D"

Daddy Daughter Date!!

John took Addison out on her first ever Daddy Daughter Date. From the looks of the pictures and the stories they came back with it sounded like they had a blast. It's so fun seeing the relationship between Addison and her Dad develop.

Before they even left, she woke up from her nap this morning and he handed her to me so he could get ready and she started crying out of nowhere....this usually rarely happens. I kept trying to make her happy to no avail. She then took off crawling back over to John on the couch and once he picked her up and cuddled with her she started smiling. I think this is the makings of a little Daddy's girl! :D

First stop on their journey...Walmart! This stop was a request from the Mommy since Addison is now working on cutting her 5th tooth and we need restocked on Motrin. Fortunately, Addison loves riding in the shopping cart at Wal-mart so it looks like a fun time was had by all.

Next, they went to the Centerton park and played on the swings, and the gazebo, and learned about trees and their textures.

After the park, they headed over to McDonald's to share an ice cream cone together. Unfortunately, I didn't get pics of this since John hasn't quite yet mastered the art of juggling a baby, an ice cream cone, AND a camera. Give them a few more outings together and he'll have it down pat! If not, then the Mommy can give him lessons! ;-)

They came home, tired, happy, and with a full diaper ;-). But most of all LOTS of fun memories between daddy and daughter! I'm so glad to be married to a husband that values the relationship he has with his daughter even at this young age. Addison and I are both pretty lucky girls!

Walker Pit Stop

Color coordinating cousins (and Aunt!)

This past Friday Addison and I were in for a lucky surprise. My sister Michelle and her cute family were returning from vacation in Texas and chose us as one of their many pit stops on their journey back home! We were very excited that our typically uneventful day now had some last minute fun thrown in!

We got to meet for lunch and then hang out with cousins at our house. Our mission was to wear them out for their journey back home. I have yet to hear if we were successful at our mission?? Regardless, we had so much fun playing with Preston, Ashlyn, and Aunt Michelle (and Uncle Kendall - who slept in preparation for his driving shift).

We had originally planned on walking to the park to expel energy but the downpour rain curtain nixed those plans. Oh well, nothing like kicking around at home and having a good visit instead.

Ashlyn is always such a good little helper!

Preston & Addison working on a puzzle together.

And sharing a sucker! Yum!

Thanks for stopping by for a quick visit Walker family!! We had a lot of fun! And we can't wait to meet our next niece/nephew in May! :D

Short Stack

This is one of our new nicknames for Addison. Of course, we really only refer to her as "short stack" on the days that John makes pancakes for us. I'm notorious for screwing up pancakes, too raw, or overdone, sticky, blobs....that is usually how my pancakes turn out. Embarrassing to admit because I do realize pancakes (from a box mix that only requires water to be mixed in it) SHOULD be an easy thing to make right? Well wrong....at least in my case. However, John is the chef extraordinaire when it comes to pancakes. Not only do they taste delicious but they are cooked perfectly golden (just like you'd find at a restaurant) and are all the same size. I'm still in awe of how he does this.

But however, he does it, I just consider myself lucky enough to partake of his efforts. Usually I'm the one that does most of the cooking, however, when John does cook he makes delicious food and takes great pride in the presentation especially. Which is where this post leads us. To this adorable picture...

Addison sized pancakes!

Presenting them to the Addibell for approval...

Inspection and taste testing take place....

And success! The Addibell approves!
Two thumbs up Daddy!

Old As Dirt

Assuming that dirt is 32 years old ;-). (And no offense intended to anyone older than 32 ;-).

So, this last March 25th, I celebrated a wonderful birthday and was spoiled rotten. So much so, that I almost forgot just how old I was getting.

John and Addison had a wonderful day planned for me and I loved every minute of it. It started off by me being serenaded w/my Happy birthday song at 6:30 am (Yep, that's our wake-up time thanks to Addibell). I was even lucky enough to get a teaser and open one of my presents early. Lucky me got my favorite movie of all time: "Four Feathers". I have been looking for a copy of this FOREVER since I lost my original one years ago. Literally...EVERY time I went to Walmart I would double check to see if they had it and always come away empty handed. Well, John must have heard my numerous complaints about not ever finding a copy and had better luck than I.

I highly recommend this movie for all who haven't seen it.

Afterward, John went off to work and Addison and I got to play and nap until it was time to meet up again with him for our lunch date. I picked Applebee's of course and the food was delicious. The downpour of rain on our outing....was not. But not even rain could deter the fun.

Addison and I had a nice relaxing afternoon. Then when John came home from work, we got to pig out on all my favorite foods: Johnny Bruscoe's pizza, Pop, and a bucket of corn (movie theater specialty) to go. Got showered with gifts when I got home. John did great all on his very own in this department - especially since I gave him no intel beforehand. He got Addison and I got some nice beach towels to take to the pool since we plan on living there this summer. A very nice pair of workout clothes (which is a treat for me since I can never bring myself to pay good money for these). And some recipe/journaling books for our accumulation of our favorite recipes. I loved it all - especially the adorable monkey cake!

Not only great to look upon but great tasting as well. Once we ate our cake and put Addison to bed, we got to curl up and watch Four Feathers while munching on our delicious corn. It was a great day even though it ended in a belly ache from all the junk we managed to eat.

Thanks John & Addison for the wonderful day of birthday treats! I am so glad I was born! :D