Growing

Addison hit the 10 month mark late last week. I have no doubt in my mind that she will be walking before she turns one. She has incredible balance, she just needs the right motivation to move forward. She has taken "a" step here and there but then lunges forward to grab on to something (or someone). Any day now. I just hope I can get it on camera! She also popped out her two top front teeth...and has been sleeping through the night ever since! Woo hoo! She may not be teething as much at the moment but everything still goes into her mouth. She has this one toy, a pink pig, that she loves to carry around in her mouth. It's just as cute as can be. She just pops it in and then carries on with herself, crawling around the house with it in her mouth. I really need to get a picture of this!



She tries to repeat a lot of what we say. In addition to waving she also says bye bye and now also waves hello (hi). I walked into daycare one afternoon and as soon as she saw me she waved, then speed crawled across the room with a huge smile on her face. We've notice she loves to dance but even her daycare teachers tell us how much she moves throughout the day. They say she even bops to the beat when they put on music! We had started "real" finger foods/solids here at home but now even daycare has requested it. They say she is ready and ready she is! Her pincer grasp amazes me. She loves having pancakes or waffles with us on the weekends.  I don't remember Connor eating foods like this until he was closer to one. But then again I used to be terrified he would choke so I probably held him back a bit :p On one hand I want her to grow and hit all of these fun and important milestones, but on the other I don't want to lose my baby girl. It's a little bittersweet.

Connor will be three in just one more month. I can't believe it. He continues to amaze me on a daily basis. Sometimes I wonder when my (first) baby grew up on me! He has grown out of his "Why?" stage and has moved onto doing everything "by MY self!" Everything. Or you will hear about it! It's great, really, but it can also be trying at times. Mostly because he doesn't tell us he wants to do it until after it is done. So we do things multiple times around here for now. The only thing that keeps him from being a true big boy is his diaper. Yes. He is still wearing a pull up. He has good days and bad days but the truth of the matter is he just isn't ready. I think the last several busy, hectic and eventful months have been a huge contributing factor. One step forward....two steps back. Can you blame him? In the last 6 months he moved 3 times, has had 3 different teachers and surgery! Oh, and not to mention having to adjust to sharing Mommy and Daddy....and his toys! We couldn't be more proud. He is one smart, incredible kid. And he can make us laugh like no other. He definitely has a sense of humor on him. Not sure where he gets that from actually. I know I'm not funny!

So in less than 2 months I'll have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Wow! And we're loving every second of it...

Belated Christmas...and Birthday!

BeBe and Grandpa came to visit us this past weekend for my birthday. My brother Chris also tagged along. We had such a great visit. Chris hadn't seen the kids since Thanksgiving so he had a few Christmas gifts for the kids. They loved it! Presents a months later, how can you beat that? :)

After visiting and having cake, John and I snuck out for a few hours to check out Gasparilla. You can read up on the history here if you want to know more but it's essentially Tampa's version of Mardi Gras. John had never been before and it isn't anything you can explain. You just have to go and experience it for yourself.

Saturday was also my Grandma Charlotte's birthday. Happy Birthday Nana!!! We love and miss you and hope to see you soon!  

We also got to see Grandma and Papa for a bit on Sunday. The girls had a baby shower to attend for John's cousin Kelli. We had a great time. Addie is becoming my regular baby shower buddy as this was her 3rd shower since we moved to Tampa! :)

You can view more pictures from our weekend here. Have a great week!

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was a busy one for the Gumula's. Friday night John and I went out for dinner and drinks with our friends to celebrate my birthday. Grandma and Papa were in town to babysit Addison on Saturday so we could take Connor to Monster Jam. So we utilized them while we could :) We started the night at The Lounge and bar hopped from there. We had a lot of fun!

 

On Saturday we had some of John's relatives that live in Tampa over for a little BBQ. This was the first time we have all got together since we lived here. It was great visiting and catching up. Around 3:30 pm we took off for the Monster Truck show. Addie stayed home and got some undivided attention from Grandma and Papa. We had pit passes that were from 2 - 5 pm. The actual show wasn't until 7 pm. We figured we could just tailgate with all the rednecks in between. Connor loved seeing the trucks in person. His favorite was Grave Digger. I think he had more fun tailgating though. We were there with two other couples and their boys, all around the same age. They had fun playing with their trucks. Connor also had a blast playing football with the guys.

We headed to the stadium when it was time for the show. As we got closer Connor could hear the trucks revving their engines. I just wish I could have captured the look on his face when he first heard it. He was so excited! We had great seats and Connor didn't give us any trouble with his ear muffs. He even got to try cotton candy for the first time....and loved it of course. We all had a great time!

 

Sunday morning, my actual birthday, we all went out to brunch. The kids were super good. I was expecting a little bit of grouchiness from Addie as we arrived at her nap time, but she didn't fuss one bit. Before Grandma and Papa headed home we had cake. Connor and Daddy made me a special blue cake (Connor's favorite color) with chocolate chips of course! He even helped put the candles on it :) I had the best birthday weekend!

 

On Sunday while playing out back Connor started digging in the dirt. What was he doing? Building a monster truck pit! How cute it that? Addie had fun playing in her play house.

I have a rediculous amount of pictures to share. Click here if you have the time. A big thank you to everyone that helped make my birthday so special!!! :)

 

 

SUPing

What is SUPing? I didn't know either, not until Monday. John and I went Stand Up Paddle boarding for our MLK holiday. Surprisingly, daycare was open. We lost out on a lot of money during the month of December with Connor home for 2 weeks, Addie out sick and then our Christmas vacation. So the kids were going to school if it was open. We were a little sceptical at first. The high on Monday was only 68 and it was quite windy. But the guy we rented the boards from told us to head out to Fort De Soto where we could paddle through the mangroves without much wind. It was perfect and not a cloud in the sky. The learning curve was short and it didn't take long to get our sea legs. So we were off! We paddled around for about an hour and a half. Talk about a great workout, and you can't beat the scenery. Most of our pictures were taken by John with my cell phone, which is why he isn't in many of them. I'm due for a new phone so we risked it and brought it out with us. We didn't know if we would fall off so didn't want to take our camera. Glad we didn't because the water was freezing! On our way home we stopped at the beach for a drink and appetizer. It was such a fun day!

You can view these and a few more pictures from my cell phone here.

Weekend Recap

We had a pretty full weekend. If we weren't out and about we were busy playing at home. If you asked Connor what he wanted to do at any given time he would say 'paint.' So he painted. Addie practiced walking behind her push toy. Short video clip of that below. 

  

Addie came with me to a baby shower luncheon for Tiffany on Saturday. We both had fun. She was a perfect little angel sitting in her high chair.

On Sunday we made a quick trip to the St. Pete pier. Nothing like free outdoor entertainment. They had a live band and it was a beautiful day out. Connor had fun running up and down the dock. Addie had fun dancing to the music.

We started introducing real solids to Addie. I snapped a before picture from spaghetti night but forgot to take one afterwards. She had fun getting messy and squishing the food between her fingers :) Not sure she actually ate much. She did like her avocado though!

I have more pictures to share here. The series of photos at the end aren't great but entertaining. I was attempting to get a picture of Connor and Addison sitting with their Daddy. I'll just say it didn't happen....enjoy!

Happy New Year!!!

The Cordeau's invited us and the Peper's over to spend New Year's Eve with them. On our way over we stopped and picked up some fireworks for the kids. Connor loves fireworks. He got so excited when he heard them going off the night before so we knew we had to get some. We had fun in the car telling Connor to shout "Happy New Year" when we got there. He wanted to say "Happy Birthday." Naturally he wouldn't say either once we got there but it was fun practicing :)

 

 

Courtney got a bounce house from Santa so the kids had fun playing on that. Addison had fun on their swing (yes, this was where she first enjoyed her first ride!). All of the kids had fun playing with their toys and running around the house together. I hope you all had a fun night too! Here is a link to more pictures from our evening. 

Happy New Year!!!

9 Months!

Addison turned 9 months old the day after Christmas. Since last month she has started cruising along furniture and mastering standing unsupported! The other day she was standing and let go of her support only to realize she wasn't holding onto anything and lowered herself down with full control. It's amazing to me how quickly she picks up on things. We have pulled out the push toys now that Christmas is over and our decorations are down. Once she figures those out I'm sure walking will soon follow.

Connor and Addison shopping with Mommy & Daddy at Sam's

Addison has outgrown her ducky bath and now just sits in the tub. She loves it! She loves to crawl about and splash as much as she can! She has even joined Connor a time or two but she just annoys him so it isn't a nightly ritual. It's almost comical how easily she can annoy him at times. She only has to look in the direction of his toys for him to freak out. That probably won't ever change :) It's like she knows it so she only wants to play with his toys. If you set her in her room she will immediately start to crawl towards her brothers. He truly loves his sister though, that is when she isn't trying to "eat" his toys. He gives her hugs all the time and will flat out say "I love my Addison." Melts my heart every time.

She still only has 2 teeth. They don't seem to be bothering her as much these days so she's getting a little break for the moment. That or she is getting used to the pain. I hope it's the latter. She isn't a big eater but loves to feed herself. I think we'll be transitioning from purees to table food soon.

Addison has been working on waving bye bye for awhile but now seems to use it appropriately. She started to crawl out of her room the other day so I said "bye bye Addie." She stopped in her tracks to sit up and turn to wave bye bye to me, then carried on her way. She also loves to play peek-a-boo and patty-cake. Both will surely bring a smile to her face every time. And she is really ticklish! I just love to hear her laugh.

Below is a video of Addie on a swing for the first time. I can't believe it took 9 months to get her on a swing but I guess that is all a part of moving....or being the second child. We used to have a swing in our backyard so surely she would have enjoyed this sooner had we not moved. Maybe if the mosquito's weren't so bad here we would take them to the park more. Whatever the case may be she thoroughly enjoyed it. More swing time for Addie in the near future :) 

9 month checkup stats:

Height:  26.75 inches (23rd percentile)

Weight:  16 lbs 3 oz (9th percentile)

Head:  16.75 inches (12th percentile) 

She only gained 1.75 lbs since her 6 month checkup. At this rate our princess will never get to turn around in her car seat! The car seat should be rear facing until your child is 1 year old AND over 20 lbs. She's not even close. Oh well, we're kind of getting used to her crying in the car :p I will give her some credit, she has gotten a lot better but I know it will make a huge difference when she can face forward. Not only will she be able to see us but we will have the option of distracting her with the DVD player!

Here is a link to a few more recent pictures of Addison.

Christmas: Part II

We spent our Christmas holiday in Cape Haze with the Gumula family. Everyone was there, even Andrew who usually has to work. It was a really nice, long, relaxing weekend. I think I was most excited that neither of my kids were sick. Well, not sick enough to ruin Christmas anyway. Connor was still recovering from his surgery but he handled that all like a champ. He even administered his own medicine! With adult supervision of course ;) He was so sick last year we actually had his Christmas a day later. 

Connor had been getting really psyched up for Christmas. Wilson played a big part in that. He of course followed us to Grandma and Papa's house much to Connor's delight. When we mentioned to Connor that Wilson would be going back to the North Pole after Christmas, he shouted out "No! I love Wilson" and sounded completely heartbroken. Needless to say Wilson stuck around for another day and we just never brought him back up.

Cookes for Santa and carrotts for the Reindeer!

The kids had such a good time opening presents. And we all had a great time watching them! I was a little surprised with how excited Addison seemed to get over her gifts. I knew she would have fun opening them and tearing up the paper but never really thought she would pay much attention to more than that. Connor loved passing out the presents and helping us all open them. This was by far the best Christmas yet and I imagine they will only get better as they get older. I think next year we'll have more fun with Santa and gifts from him. This year only the toys in their stockings came from him.

 

 

 

 

 

We also had a lot of fun family time playing corn hole, scrabble, scattegories and watching old Christmas classics. We visited with Jeremy, Danielle and their baby Jacye one night too. It was also great to see Busia and Zsa Zsa again (John's grandparents). This was their first time seeing little Addie in person!

I took a million pictures but narrowed it down a bit so you wouldn't be here all day. You can view them by clicking here. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas, we sure did!