Hey Good Lookin' - Watcha Got Cookin?

Yes, I realize she looks naked but I promise there is a diaper there.

I was lucky enough to have the privilege of cooking along side this good-lookin' baby cakes today. I'm not much of a baker but I figured now that she is the ripe old age of 1 year old, it had become time to teach Addison the ways of the "women's work" and introduce her to the kitchen. (Totally kidding, I'm not a sexist -- I promise!) But it was fun sharing in Addison's first time cooking. Overall it was quite a success! We are currently reaping the benefits as we speak. Yummo!

I think she was a bit concerned that Mommy was too involved in the photo shoot to actually watch the cookies on the stove.

And here she is showing off our finished product. No-bake cookies! (Did I mention I'm not much of a baker? ;-) Ya gotta start somewhere!

Shout Out

For quite some time, I've been meaning to devote a blog post to the two, current loves of mine & Addison's lives. These two always come through for us on the days that just seem a bit too long or a bit too full of tears (from both of us). These two seem to grant me the reprieve to do something/anything for at least 30 minutes by myself. They give us space for the times we've been a bit too much on each others tails. And sometimes they give us just that extra bit of silence or patience.


First, MJ - thanks a TON for your greatest hits CD! I know you are no longer on this earth but I'm very glad you left this behind for us. I grew up listening to him (yes as weird as he is - ya gotta admit he can get ya dancing). And that is just what Addison does every time I play his CD in the car. It's saved us from many many long traffic jams, crying fits, and frustration while buckled in with nowhere else to go. EVERY single time his music starts playing, regardless of her prior mood, Addison starts dancing and giggling in her car seat. It's a glorious, glorious thing.

I'm sure all of you that have been trapped in cars w/crying babies understand the importance of moments like these. So, thanks MJ - you let your freak flag fly while you were alive but you sang/danced with the best of them!



And of course, Yo Gabba Gabba. Even though you, as well are a bit weird and freaky, whatever magnetic charm you have in a little girl's eyes, I thank you for it. There isn't ANY other show that can captivate her as well as you can. So much so, that I'll come in the room and find her sitting 3 feet from the t.v. just enthralled in every movement. Sometimes you even get me laughing with your songs like "Please don't bite your friends" or "There's a party in my tummy!" or "Try it, you may like it!"

Whenever, I get the TiVo episode going, the minute the music starts playing she starts laughing/squealing, and running to the T.V. Yes, she's even watching it as I post this blog. Some days it's just nice to know if/when I need it, I have something to grant me a 30 minute reprieve. Plus, I just discovered the creators of this show are LDS. Click here for the very interesting article.

Yes, there are times I feel the "mommy guilt" for planting her in front of the TV or drowning out the car seat crying fit by blaring Michael Jackson through the speakers. But in those quick moments of reprieve it is a blessed, blessed thing and I am very grateful for them. They've helped both of us stay sane on multiple occasions.

Baby, Baby, Baby, Ohhhhh

Addison may only be 1 year but she already has a famous link. Every morning when I get her out of bed I always call her Justin Bieber. It's mostly the hair look-a-like after a long night of loose locks. She and I barely know who he is except for the time he sang "Baby" on the Oprah show and Addison danced to it like crazy. So young but she is already falling for the tween crowds. Sigh....my baby is growing up I guess.

My little Bieber baby. Yes, I had to play his song/video to get her to hold still for the pic. Sigh...kids these days....;-)

The real Bieber baby. Yes, I can say this right? Isn't he only like 12 years old?

Oh and speaking of those long locks - we finally achieved a hair moment this past Tuesday. Check it out! Yep, that's right ALL of her hair now fits into a ponytail. It doesn't stay long and the little bob of hair hanging out of it is small but it's soooo adorable. Another productive Tuesday I'd say!

One Must Accessorize!

I must admit....I'm a sucker.

Typically I try to resist the urge to buy Addison toys "just because". But I figured today we could make an exception to the rule. After all, Christmas is sooooo far away! Plus she's lucky enough to be the first child and will likely benefit from that for the rest of her life. (Have you figured out that I'm a 2nd child? ;-)

Plus, she made it hard to resist. A few weeks ago she started turning into the girly girl - but she didn't have the accessories. She turned all her toys into pretend phones and held them up to her ear and gabbed away. She carried her toy dog carrier around on her elbow like a little purse. And she started putting on a pair of broken sunglasses we've had since forever ago. So what is a Mom to do? Today, we accessorized. And boy was it fun?! Thank you Walmart!





I think these skills are ingrained from birth. After all, aside from using a cellphone, she's never seen me carry a purse nor has she seen me wear sunglasses. It's impressive she knows how to use everything properly at her young age. Impressive...yet creepy! I think we are in for a headache when she becomes a teenager. I must learn to suppress my weakness for accessories for her by then. Or maybe it'll just be easier to send her to her father when it's time to say "no". ;-)

Blessing Babies

This past weekend was a busy one but was also a very fun one as well. With John being so busy with work lately it was a nice little mini-vacation and a chance to get away and clear the head. We headed up to KC to participate/watch in the blessing of these two little ones:

Garrett Wayne Walker - 3 months old

Rex Nicholas Bell - 1 month old

Of course we had plenty more fun planned all around the special occasion as well. Between a birthday celebration, family pictures, cousin playtime, shopping, napping, swimming, and eating we all came home pretty exhausted and happy by the time it was all over.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - Apparently Mr. Subway has an inkling for Chick-fil-a. Hopefully this picture doesn't get out or he could lose his job!

Cousin Ashlyn modeling her new frames for me.

The biggest excitement of the weekend was this couple and their BIG news! Grand-baby #9 will make their debut this February! :D

Grandpa Bell & Addison hanging out. Now you see where I get my photogenic genes from eh?

Addison holding the youngest cousin, baby Rex.

Killing time waiting for our family pictures.

1 Year Pics

So we finally got around to getting Addison's 1 year old pics. Here are just a few of our favorites. Addison has grown SOOOO much from her tiny little baby days. I spend most days just looking at her and seeing a little girl now instead of a baby. She gets cuter and cuter as the days go by and I love just watching her personality develop even more.

Nowadays she is saying LOTS. However, none of us understand what exactly it is she is saying. She speaks in her own little language and often while she's off playing by herself. She has a great little imagination and I am grateful for that. She LOVES to read. She'd probably rather do that than play with toys even. A few weeks ago we went to the library for story time and while I was perusing through books, she had grabbed one and sat down to read it. She was just jabbering away to herself quite happily. But when the librarian came out to watch her and comment on her amazing reading skills, she immediately jumped up, threw the book down and ran to find me. She must have thought she was getting in trouble or something.

Some of her other favorite toys to play with are baby dolls and balls. And I think I've even heard her say the words as she plays with them. She's also into carrying a purse around on her arm while she's holding her hand in the air to keep it from falling off. She's even learning how to jabber into a phone. She turns all of her toys into phones as well and holds them to her cheek and jabbers away. So, with a purse and a phone, it won't be too much longer before she's asking me to take her to the mall! I guess she better start looking for a job to fund all of those mall excursions!

Addison is still such an easy going baby and just plays happily by herself. Although she is more apt to do it when other kids are around. When it's just me and her, she'd rather just follow me around everywhere and be right on my tail. She can be playing quite well in another room but the minute I stand up and go somewhere she hears me and jumps up and follows me so quickly. I'm amazed at how in tune she is....I've even tried sneaking by but somehow she still hears me.

So far we are doing pretty good on our signs. However, she does get frustrated with not knowing how to communicate with me. That usually leaves her grunting and whining at me while I try to teach her "her words" to use instead. Hopefully soon we'll start learning more communication skills with each other.

She is very much a Mommy's girl - can you blame her? We spend most days together after all! But she does get excited to play/wrestle with Daddy when he comes home from work. She does well with other people but does usually take a few seconds to warm up to them. She's still MUCH better than I was at her age. I was horribly shy growing up. I'm just glad she's not as much.

Overall, we still LOVE having her as part of our family and couldn't imagine life without her. She is so adorable and so entertaining to watch.