GAP CASTING CALL

So I did one of those things that I sore as a parent I'd never do...I entered Addison in a photo contest.  I know the chances of her winning are slim but I figured what the heck & entered her in Gap's Casting Call. Voting begins May 21st so don't be surprised if there are a few nagging posts encouraging you to vote for Addison.  Here is the link to her entry Addison Grace.  I am not sure if you are aloud to change the photo or not...if so I might change it & use a photo from her photo shoot this coming weekend.  I know a lot of people "silently" read my blog based on my stats.  Thank you for your support.

UNFAILING LOVE

Well...Addison's Easter outfit didn't go quite as planned.  I bought her an adorable 3-6 month aqua & navy dress from Janie & Jack a long time ago. When 3-6 months came and went & she couldn't fit into it, I thought Easter would be the perfect occasion for it.  The dress is aqua with a fantastically J-Crew-ish navy ruffled neck & little navy bows on the pockets.  It has sort of a vintage/Parisian flair.  I even sewed a navy bow headband with lace to match.  Every week I have put the dress on in hopes that it would fit but to no surprise it's still too big. I hunted all week & found plenty of cute dresses but never could find Addison's size.  Last night before Addison went to bed I was frantically going through her closest & came upon a precious white lace dress that our friends Eliza & Marcello bought Addison for Christmas.  Although it was a little big, it fit much better than all the other dresses she tried on.  I had to cinch the waist in so I made her a little belt (which actually matched my outfit).  

Last year I wrote to Addison about our church's egg hunt, Jesus, picturing her dressed up for Easter & painting my belly in the "Happy Easter" post.  Although she had "wardrobe issues" her first Easter was exactly as I pictured. I am excited for the day that she will experience Jesus' unfailing love & come to an understanding that we celebrate Easter because of the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ.  While I look forward to taking her to egg hunts & picking out pretty dresses, I am even more excited about teaching her the true meaning of Easter.  Like I have blogged before, I love  Pinterest. I have found so many creative ways to do so.  Here is an example of an activity I would love to do with Addison as she grows up to teach her about Jesus's unfailing love for us:

Mommy's Idea Book

I was slack & waited until the very end of the day to take her picture so she looks sort of disheveled but still so darn cute.

THE BIG HUNT

Approximately 850 people turned out @ Clayton Middle School for "The Big Hunt" not including the 150+ volunteers & their families that participated.  This was the 2nd year our church sponsored a free egg hunt for the community. Each person attending was given a ticket which provided them with a food/drink, bag of candy & entrance to their appropriately aged egg hunt where they could win prizes like a Wii, leap pads, giftcards, etc. There was a rock climbing wall, inflatables, game stations, music, some pretty sweet prizes & gymnastics obstacle course.  I love doing things for our community, showing love through action.  We don't pass out tracks or promote our church.  Our volunteer shirts only have our church website...they don't even have our church name.  Most people probably think it's sponsored by the middle school. It's why we call our community events "love out loud" events.  It's awesome to just do...it's simple, like Jesus was.

Obviously this year Addison was too little to participate in the egg hunt but she had a blast nonetheless.  She LOVES watching people & was able to spend the day outside. 

{note the drool on her chin}

{trying to be tough & what not}

{checking out the Chick-fila cow}

{nom nom...phone}

{seriously mum...another picture}

THIS WEEK

This week...

• was just a typical week spent mostly at home
• Addison tried rutabaga & LOVES it
• a tooth FINALLY broke through her gums 
• her amber teething necklace came in the mail
• i made kale & walnut pesto...to die for
• my body took a beating thanks to Crossfit, my legs are covered in bruises (i love it) 
• i made Addison parsnips, plums, pears, apples, turnips, kale & asparagus
• philip planted some new herbs in our herb garden
• i made cinnamon, date & pumpkin muffins using protein powder & almond meal (they are already gone) :(
• addison was a party animal & stayed up past her bedtime every day
• we had some quality grandma tabor & grammy & puppa time

PURE DELIGHT

Since Addison is doing so great with her pincer grasp I decided to put a few puffs on her highchair tray & see what she did with them.  I wasn't sure if she knew what to do but she quickly proved me wrong. She went right for those suckers, chased them around the tray & gently picked 1 up between her thumb & forefinger.  As she placed it in her mouth she let out a squeal of pure delight, bounced up & down & jabbered away.  As soon as it melted she went for another one & did the same thing over & over again. 

Hampton sat at her feet, waiting for her to drop them but unfortunately for him most of them made it to her mouth. I am not sure who laughed more, Addison or me.  It's such a cool feeling watching your child gain independence & see them feel a sense of pride.  Boy was she proud doing it all by herself.

EASTER BUNNY BANDIT

Addison had a visit with the Easter Bunny yesterday. I think it's safe to say that she absolutely LOVED him. She had the 2 photographers cracking up & I definitely had plenty of awesome images to choose from. She sat upright on his lap, laughing & screaming at the top of her lungs. She kept making a gurgling cooing noise & softly touching the side of the bunny's face. I definitely had a moment & had to hold back tears of happiness. It was undoubtedly a huge slap in the face reminding me how fast she is growing up. Sorry for poor quality of photo.  It's a picture of the actual 5x7 taken with my iPhone.

The whole visit was impromptu. We were in Raleigh so I decided to swing by the mall to see if I could find her an Easter dress.  The dress I had planned for her to wear is 3-6 months from Janie & Jack...it's still too big.  [I've noticed their clothes tend to run a little bit bigger than other brands.] We were strolling through the mall & as soon as she set eyes on the Easter Bunny she started bouncing up & down.  (I left her shoes in the car).
Baby Gap had some cute things on their website so I figured I'd run in there & see if I I liked anything for Easter.  While I am picking clothes up & holding them up against Addison, apparently Addison is picking things up as well. She was a little thief & picked up a bunny that was a filler for a vase on display & began sucking on it.  The superbly attentive mum that I am thought it was McQuacken & didn't pay it any attention.  When I walked up to check out I realized this little pink bunny was completely saturated with Addison's drool.   I asked the sales clerk if it was for sale & she told me it was a vase filler.  Awwweeesome.  There was no way I was going to put that back.  We came to a price & she added it to my bill.  I must say my little Easter Bunny bandit has become quite fond of the little $6.95 pink bunny.

mmmmm bunny

in the top picture she is talking to the bunny & in the bottom left it looks like she is saying "whhhaaaat?"

and then she got bored playing with her bunny & decided her shoe lace was delicious

It held her attention for about 4.5 seconds but then the leather laces on her shoes (thanks Donyata for them) stole the spotlight.

HAPPY 7 MONTHS

Unbelievable...she's 7 months. How did it get here so fast?  I've been filling out milestones in her baby book left & right lately...she changing & doing new things constantly.

A few months back I suspected that she was going to have curls/wave in her hair & indeed she does. I love how it flips out behind her ears & at the bottom of her neck.  It's getting super long, enough that I can gather a small "ponytail" in the center of her head like Pebbles from the Flinstones. She is still extremely tolerant with things on her head i.e. headbands, clips, hats, bunny ears...

The drool is incessant but still no teeth.  I ordered an amber teething necklace for her the other day.

She has done fantastic with solids & is still breastfeeding.  Her favorite food so far is definitely carrots but she loved butternut squash & zucchini. She wasn't a fan of avocado & the verdict is still out on mango.  It's been so much fun making her food & seeing how excited she gets eating it. She loves her sippy cup with water & gets the most adorable look of pride as she brings it to her mouth.

She babbles non-stop.  She says "Da-da" & "bah-bah" & "muh" & all sorts of jibberish I can't make out.  She LOVES to yell, not in an angry/mad way but in a "oh hey, that's me doing that" way. Apparently she also finds it amusing because it makes her laugh. 

I know I write about it all the time but I am blown away by her affection for music. It can be music on the TV from a commercial, a car driving past us with window down, playing on iTunes or on the radio in the car..no matter where it is coming from she immediately stops what she is doing, smiles & squeals & wiggles/shakes.  You know she is really loving it when her little legs get going. Sometimes I think she is trying to sing along with the music because she just squeals away to it. It goes without saying that I listen to a lot of music so she is constantly being exposed to it. She is my tiny dancer & has been since she was in my belly. 

Although she doesn't watch much TV she loves Baby Einstein & is becoming interested in Sesame Street.  I downloaded an application on my iPhone where Elmo calls & I think that is what has sparked the interest.  She LOVES to watch basketball, especially if she is snuggled up with her Daddy.

She still loves books. I read the same book over & over while she sits on my lap & slaps the pages in excitement.  Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom is read more times then I can count.

Along with Sophie, McQuacken the Duck & her blankie, you will find her with a baby doll my Gram gave her for Christmas.  She literally talks to it. It's so sweet.  Give the kid a spoon & you'd think she was playing the drums...she loves to play with a spoon. Hitting things seems to be a source of entertainment, she is constantly taking 2 objects & hitting them together as she bounces up & down.

She loves her exersaucer...sometimes I think she is going to bounce out of it.  She can't sit in her bouncy seat anymore, even buckled in, because she has learned to crawl out.  Thankfully she loves to scoot around in her walker & is still content if I have to put her in her swing. 

Her giggle is my favorite sound.  She is soooooo ticklish around her belly button & under her arms.  It doesn't take much to hear that giggle but if you want to hear that sound, tickling her is a surefire way.  Also startling her. She loves to be startled...even something as little as a jack-in-the-box popping up or playing peek-a-boo.  It makes her laugh every time.  I probably spend 1/2 my day doing ridiculous things to make her laugh because her sweet raspy giggle is music to my ears.

I'd almost bet that bath time is her favorite time of day.  She splashes away & picks up her rubber duckies & throws them across the tub.  She LOVES to have her head washed & water squirted on her. The best part is dancing around her room in her princess towel while her Daddy sings "Only Girl in The World".

No more swaddling. She is just in the sleep sack now.  It was an easy transition since she was being swaddled inside her sleep sack.  She is still sleeping through the night, going to bed around 7:30 & getting up around 7:30-7:45.  We are so fortunate to have such a great sleeper. She is pretty much down to 2 naps a day but every now & then will squeeze in a short 3rd.

She has been scooting/army crawling for quite some time.  I have a feeling she will be "real" crawling VERY soon.  She has been getting up on all 4's & rocking back/forth.  She has crawled a few times but then falls forward, gets frustrated & rolls to whatever it is she is trying to get.  She pulls herself up from a sitting position & takes steps when you hold her fingers.  I am baby proofing the house even more this week.

I have my hands full, that is for sure.  Full of a bubbly, sweet, sweet, affectionate girl. She is my little side kick.

I totally forgot about her 7 month picture so this was totally an after thought. Her onesie was too big despite being 3-6 months & she had just woken up from a nap. She was extremely chill when we took the pictures...all I could get was blank stares & crinkled noses.

Happy 7 months sweet girl. I love you!