Our vacation to Florida

Day 1: We decided to take a beach vacation since we didn't go on one last year when I was pregnant and we were both wanting warm weather, ocean, and sand. We left on our 4 year anniversary and it was a great place! We were nervous as to how Addy would do flying, but she did AWESOME! We got compliments and the college guy sitting next to Jared on the first flight even said, "I'll be honest I saw I was near a baby and cringed, but she was the best baby I've ever seen on a plane". That made us feel good :) We had a short lay-over in Atlanta before arriving in Tampa and then rented a car,  and went to the Clearwater Aquarium where we saw 'Winter' the dolphin from the movie Dolphin Tale. Winter lost her tail due to being  caught in a crab net and was rescued, they had to amputate shortly after getting her to Clearwater Aquarium and then she had to learn to swim using a prosthetic. The aquarium was small but fun, we got some cute pictures and saw nurse sharks, sea turtles, fish, and sea otters in addition to dolphins. We then drove a little over an hour to Siesta Key. I had done some googling and this is currently the #1 beach in America and it was so pretty. There was white sand, plenty of room, and gorgeous water!!! The weather was awesome during our stay. We got to our resort and moved in before grabbing dinner at the Daiquiri Deck. We ordered drinks and appetizer of Gator Bites, which Addy tried grabbing right away. We were so hungry after traveling all day, and luckily dinner tasted very good! We walked to the beach but the sun had long since gone down, and it was nice to hear the waves crashing against the sand and Addy got excited to put her toes in the sand and feel the chilly water.

                                                              Ready for the plane ride

                                                                 Zonked Out

                                                                  Palm trees

                                                           Outside the Aquarium

                                                     Winter's Prosthetic

                                                            nurse shark

                                                   Addy touching the starfish

                                                                  Happy Girl

                                                              Winter

                                                      Sea turtle

                                                       Nicholas wanting to play

                                                            Addy trying to grab our gator bites

                                             Addy's first view of the beach, pretty dark out

                                                              Love the beach!

                                                          I've got my toes in the water....

Day 2: After getting up, we went to the store and got some groceries since we had a one bedroom suite, we had a fridge, stove, and microwave to use. We went to the pool in the morning and Addy loved the water and got used to her floatie, we then went back to our room for lunch and in the afternoon headed out to the beach where we walked almost 2 miles to the public beach and then back before enjoying the water. Addy enjoyed napping during our walk and we got our workout taking turns pushing the stroller (which we love by the way- it is a Jeep brand with big tires for off-roading, however the tires were a tad deflated so this made pushing it more difficult during our daily trips up and down the beach). Addy liked it when we held her in the ocean, but I think it was too wavy for her floatie. She loved to taste the salt water, licking our shoulders after coming out of the water. She enjoyed playing at the water's edge and would try to eat the sand at times. She definitely had the splashing down from bath time at home. That night I cooked spaghetti and made a salad and we ate dinner in then went on a walk and got some ice cream while we missed the sunset on the beach by about 10 minutes.

                                                             Good morning!

                                                              Love my daddy

                                                    1st time in the pool

                                                     Fun in the sun wears a girl out

                                                         gorgeous!

                                                                Play time!

                                                                 Siesta Key Beach

                                                    Hillbilly baby with her one top tooth showing

Day 3: We went to the pool in the morning again, lunch in the room, and beach in the afternoon and then had leftovers for dinner. We made it to the beach again in time for the sunset and it was gorgeous! We went out for yogurt and then to bed.

Day 4: was a lot like days 2 and 3. We wanted to take full advantage of our pool and beach time. We were worn out and all took naps and then got dressed up for dinner and went out the a place called The Hub. They had a band playing and Addy enjoyed "dancing" in her highchair, and flirting with a couple of guys at the bar. We went and watched the sunset and got some more good pics before getting ice cream and heading in to pack stuff up.

Dinner at The Hub

Family Pic on the Beach

                                                                   Sunset

Day 5: Headed out after breakfast to drive back to Tampa, return the rental car, and fly home. We had a layover in Houston (which of course the next flight was at a different terminal and quite a walk) and then were on a small plane. Addy did great again, thankfully and we received more compliments. We were sad to leave the beach behind, but glad to have our own beds again. Traveling with a little one is definitely different, but I wouldn't change it for the world! Overall the trip was great, the downfall was Addy did not sleep well at all but she hadn't been doing so at home either. She is teething and we think that is a big reason. Hope you enjoy the pictures! I'll post more to facebook.

                                                    Addy doesn't look too happy to leave

                                                                   Bye Bye resort

                                                             Silly girl on the plane

  What's out there?

Rest of April and Most of May Update

Rest of April: Since the last blog post, we have been pretty busy as seems to be our usual. We went to the neighbor's and sat around the fire pit and visited, Saturday April 21st we went to the KC Zoo with Kirk, Jennifer, Taylor, and Caden (Jared's brother and his family). We enjoyed the day and Addyson went on her first train ride and rode the carousel for the first time. She loved them both, making noise in the tunnel on the train, and waving to everyone on the carousel (she saw people waving to their kids and thought they were all waving to her). The next day Addy and I had a date at the park with Sara, we went walking and had a picnic lunch that was rushed due to windy/cold weather. That next week was full of lunches and dinner with family and friends, and visiting Caden who had his tonsils and adenoids out. Monday April 28th, Addy and I went to Deanna Rose Farmstead with my friend Lane that I work with and she brought her nephew. This was Addy's first visit there and she seemed to enjoy it, she definitely loves the outdoors.

May: May is always one of my favorite months, that is why I wanted to get married during this month I think. When I was younger, it meant school getting out for the summer, pools opening up, and freedom for awhile. Now it means Mother's Day, usually a vacation for us, celebrating our anniversary, and pools opening. We started the month off purchasing our pool passes for the Gardner pool. We haven't done this before but figured now that we have Addy, we will use them quite a bit. (I really wish we had a pool in our sub-division, or better yet one in our backyard!) We had a garage sale the first weekend in May. Every year Gardner does their city wide garage sale and I usually have to work, but this year we were able to do it. Mom took off and helped with it. We did pretty well and got the house de-cluttered. I am pleased to say we boxed most of the stuff that didn't sell and took it to Goodwill so it did not end up back in our house! We went out to eat with Brett and Kelly after the garage sale, and then Sunday May 6th, we went to my dad and Penny's for a surprise birthday party for my niece Miami. We had a great day, Addy even went on her first ride on the Yerf Dog, and sat on the tractor and motorcycle again. We ended the weekend by having dinner at Jared's parents. May 8th, was when Addy was 10 months and we got pictures done on the 10th. I had a nice first Mother's Day weekend with celebrations on Sat and Sun Addy and Jared got me a huge card, Jared had traced Addy with her arms open and said "Mommy, I love you this much.". May 16th Addy went from a laying to sitting position for the first time on her own at my grandma's. She still hasn't done it for us, but is definitely pulling herself up on everything! The 16th we left for Florida (I'll do a separate blog for that). We got back Monday evening, Tuesday I got laundry caught up and Addy and Jordan had a pool date. We had lunch and shopping with grandma and Brett yesterday, and this evening we saw Addy crawl for the first time on her hands and knees, not once but twice! She was after Jared's water bottle and I got a quick video clip of her. Tonight I also got to spend time with my best friend. Sara and I went for dinner and ended up having a whole pitcher of strawberry margaritas together! It was much needed and enjoyed. Jared and Addy stayed home and had father-daughter time. She definitely missed her mommy though and was very "chatty" when I got home as if telling me about it!

                                                 Zoo trip with cousins Taylor and Caden

                                                                     1st Train Ride

                                                 Aunt Jenn and  Uncle Kirk in the "ugly" hat ;)

                                                Checking out the animals

                                                 Jared, Taylor, and Addy

                                                           Blue Tongue

                                                            1st Carousel Ride

                                                                So Tall

                                                            Chomp Chomp

                                                   First trip to Deanna Rose

                                                            My first Mother's Day

April Update

Wow, it's the middle of April already, this year is just flying by! We have had several lunch dates, Jared and I had a dinner date at Gojo's one night, we enjoyed Easter with family, and got Addyson's 9 month pictures taken. For Easter we went to my mom's, my dad and Penny's, and Jared's parents. Easter morning it was cold so Jared brought up Addy's goodies from the Easter bunny and we snuggled in bed. She had eggs with money for her piggy bank and a floatie for the water this summer. Jared and I got her a new outfit. It was a relaxing morning Addy wore her Easter dress that Jared picked out awhile ago and had 2 Easter egg hunts and loved to shake the eggs. She also got some goodies and more change/money for her piggy bank. She has been teething and was pretty fussy and kept waking up frequently at night. We can see a white bump where a tooth is about to come through on top, it just needs to break through already! Last week we went for her 9 month check up (no shots this time -yay!!) She is doing great, she weighed 15 lbs, 12 oz and is in the 5th%ile for weight and was 26.5 inches so almost 25%ile for height. Last Wednesday the 11th, Addy said "da-da" for the first time, it sounded like it but I wasn't sure then on Thursday she said it twice during the day and while I was at work I got a text from Jared saying he heard her and he was so happy. Now for the past few days that is her favorite word and she says it over and over again. Also on Thursday night, Jared was cleaning (yes I know I am one lucky girl) and Addy wanted his attention so she would yell "Hey, Hey" and Jared said she was just too funny. On Monday Addy began waving bye-bye, and clapping with excitement. We have been walking a lot and working out. Addy loves to be outside and after a couple weeks of not seeing her boyfriend Jordan, we have seen him more lately. He is 2 months younger then Addy and lives across from us. They are so much fun to watch. On Monday night Jared went to the Royals game so Addy and I were going to walk and the neighbors were out so we visited with them for over an hour instead. The kiddos were so entertaining, Addy would pull Jordan's hair, socks, and take his bottle and Jordan would grab her jacket or arm and also lay his head in her lap. They would babble and then yell back and forth. He will army crawl but not sit and Addy sits but refuses to crawl. Addy has been pulling herself up more and does a really good job of it in the pack and play (it is still at the half-way level, but not for long!) She finds a way to scoot or turn on her bottom to get what she wants. She also still loves to stand and is walking more and more with holding our fingers or pushing her toys. She got some adorable purple and gray tennis shoes from Great grandma and they help her be more sturdy on her feet. I'm sure it won't be long now before we are having to get the baby gates up!

March Madness

Wow what a month March was! It began with Addy and I going to see my friend Christine and her new baby, then Jared and I traded in his truck and got a Sequoia (SUV) and we love it!! Between working, lunch and dinner dates, play dates, getting Addy's pictures taken,  and going on our first long trip, the month flew by! Brett and Kelly found out they are having a girl, and we can't wait to meet Miss Hannah Jane in August!!  We left at 6pm Thurs March 22nd and drove all night to Louisiana where our friends Punkin (John) and Cindy live. My mom and brother went with us, after all it was Jason's idea to go as he wanted to go somewhere fun for Spring Break this year. We got to their house around 8am Friday morning and I have to say Addyson did very well, sleeping most of the trip down (which is what we were hoping for!) After resting for a bit, we went for a ride to see their friends' new home they were building on the Bayou. We saw an alligator sunning itself on their neighbor's property, then went for a boat ride and saw a couple more gators. This was Addy's first boat ride and she was not happy about having to wear her lifejacket! That night Cindy made us an amazing dinner of fried catfish and shrimp pasta with a delious alfredo sauce, it was so good we had the rest for breakfast the next day! Saturday we drove about 45 minutes south to New Orleans to show mom the city. Addy went on her first ferry ride, had lunch at Drago's, walked down Bourbon Street where she clapped her hands for the first time, went to the french quarter, and then through the drive through Daquiri shop before going back to the house, it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it and are glad crazy Larry came to meet us too! Addy also learned 2 more new things, waving (with both hands) and sticking her tongue out :) On Sunday we went back to their friend's and they boiled crawfish and had a get together... and it wasn't just a few either, it was 150 pounds of crawfish!! It was delicious, and it was mom and Jason's first time eating it. Jason was so proud of himself as he was told he could eat them "like a pro". We then went on a boat ride again and Addy still cried with her life jacket, but did better on the way back. Monday the 26th, we ran errands, got 37 pounds of shrimp to bring home, went to the cemetary to take balloons to Garret and Addy got to let them go, and then drove home that night. We had a great time and appreciate everything, but wish we could have stayed longer and been able to stay there a week later for the Final Four tournament to cheer on our Jayhawks! Addy was great during the drives but man was she glad to be home and out of her carseat. My mom swears she said "yay!!"  We ended the month with more lunch and dinner get togethers and I worked the weekend. We weighed Addy and on the 30th she was 15.4 pounds, 27 inches. She is still in 6 month clothes and can even wear a few 3 month stuff still, and is still in size 2 diapers. She loves Peek-a-boo, songs with gestures like itsy bitsy spider and where is thumbkin. She is stubborn and has no desire to crawl, but tries to stand getting on one knee and then not able to get her other foot turned right to get up on it. She loves to stand and play with her leap frog table and doll stroller. She loves the outdoors and we go for walks a lot, and she loves to swing. We love watching her explore and are enjoying her so much!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

                                                   Road Trip to Louisiana

                                                 Playing with Cindy

                                                       Uncle Jason

                                                             Lizzie the Gator

                                                                   Addy's first boat ride

                                                           Not a happy camper

                                            Taking a break from crying, but still not a happy camper

I will post more pics on Facebook of our trip!