Christmas in Alabama

The final stop this busy Christmas was in Alabama at Grandma and Papa's lake house. We loaded up the car and drove, this time for 11 hours! It wouldn't have been so bad if Lexi wasn't sitting behind me and breathing on me, stinky! We were greeted by a house full... Grandma, Papa, Great Grandmother, Elizabeth, Tommy, Caleb, and their exchange student Christian. OH, and I can't forget that Lexi was also greeted by Bailey, Elizabeth and Tommy's dog, and Kelly, Grandma and Papa's 5 month old puppy. We had a perfect long weekend filled again with lots of eating and opening presents. The weather was unseasonably warm so we were even able to take a few trips out in the boat! The dogs got to roam free and while Kelly was having a ball, the poor old dogs, Lexi and Bailey, could barely walk up and down steps by the time the trip was through! Grandma and Addison made the best Christmas cookies I've ever tasted. Addison has gotten to be pretty good at making cookies... I'm thinking that next year, she'll be telling me what to do! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.


Hurry, Papa! Put my Dora jammies on!!


Twas the Night Before Christmas...


I'm such a happy baby!


Not too cold for me!


Cookie Time!


A special thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers for cousin Mattox. He was diagnosed with ITP and we all let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't leukemia. He will still need to be monitored closely by doctors and the family will have to keep a close eye on him to make sure he isn't too rambunctious... that's an almost impossible task with an 18 month old boy! I will keep you posted on his progress. Thank you again!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Christmas in Orlando

After a fun filled weekend in Winter Haven, we hopped in the car and headed back home to another Christmas celebration, this time with Nana Jo! Addison was so excited to see MORE presents under the tree to open up with cousin Haylee. We all loosened up the belt one more notch and ate some more! I fortunately have an excuse for all my weight gain although, the doctor may not see it that way!

The girls got the matching Barbie Diamond Castle dolls that sing. That sounded like such a great idea until we heard that Katherine McPhee song "Connected" for the hundredth time!

Another favorite toy was the classic doctor set. Addison checked everyone's heart and gave us and all her babies shots so that we would have a healthy holiday this year.

Addison did start to get a little tired and needed a helping hand to get into some of her presents and Nana Jo was happy to step in but... she got her second wind!

One of Addison's new favorite baby dolls from Nana Jo. She even made the trip up to Alabama.... which leads me into the third and final Christmas celebration.

Christmas in Winter Haven

Addison is such a lucky girl to have SO many family members to shower her with gifts that she needed three Christmas's this year!

First we set off to Grandma and Papa's in Winter Haven to celebrate with Haylee, Aunt Kimmie, Uncle Richie, and Uncle Woody. To get in the Christmas spirit, Addison decided to put her feet in the pool! Only in Florida, right? Papa must really love Addison to stick his feet in there with her! Haylee couldn't help but join in the fun too.

Addison got a new baby that she loves to serve tea to on her new tea set from Grandma and Papa. After lots of opening presents and eating, it was time for a little R&R. Grandma was happy to step in with a good book... and a little help from Lexi!

First Trip to Disney World

This past Thursday, we took Addison to Disney World for the first time! She loved it! Thanks to our GREAT friend HJ, we were able to go for the 'friends & family of Mickey' discount! She loved the shows were she could watch the princesses and Mickey sing and dance. I think that 'It's a Small World' was her favorite ride. She was mesmerized the whole time! She also loved 'Storytime with Belle'. Belle came out and told the Beauty and the Beast story for a small audience. It was perfect for her!


Addison and Daisy


Addison riding It's a Small World

I'm a big girl now!

My back finally ached enough from heaving all 30+ pounds of Addison over the side of her crib everyday that she is now sleeping in her toddler bed! YEAH! Bryan and I were very nervous about marking such a major milestone because of all the horror stories you hear about the big move. Much to our surprise, Addison has handled it wonderfully... so far. She asks permission to get out of bed after nap and in the morning and hops in when we ask her to. She loves her "big girl bed" because she can get in and out all by herself. I know enough to know that after a while, she is going to figure out that she can get out without me telling her it's okay to! But, until that day...







On a more serious note, we are all asking for a little prayer for cousin Mattox. My sister had been noticing the he was bruising pretty badly for bumps that shouldn't have and then he had a few nosebleeds for what seemed to be no reason. After quite a few blood test the doctors are fairly certain he has Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). In a nutshell, it is a rare blood disorder where his immune system attacks the platelets making it difficult for his blood to clot. While very serious, it is something that he should be able to overcome with time. There are still a few other possible reasons for what's happening but we are all praying the final diagnosis isn't something he can't handle.

The Best Part of Christmas

Cooking Making! Yeah! This is the first year that Addison has really tried to make and decorate cookies. She is a natural! All the other girls were so jealous of her perfectly rolled dough. Addison and I worked very hard to cut out and decorate sugar cookies only to have them gobbled up by none other than Lexi when the family went out to dinner that night. Ugh.


Chocolate covered Oreo's... yummy!

I think I might have to get a new title!

I recently realized that as baby Irish #2 updates pop up every now and again, I'll probably have to give this blog a new name in a few short months! Today was our 20 week check up and we had "the" ultrasound. I call it "the" ultrasound because it was the one where most families find out if it's a boy or a girl. BUT we are in the minority of people who are waiting to find out so the only thing I have to report is that the baby looked like a healthy baby should and for that I'm very grateful. The baby weighs 13 ozs and is in the 60th percentile... this is new to me, I didn't realize they had growth percentiles for babies before they were born! The baby was quite the little wiggle worm... moving ALL over the place and even playing patty cake! I gained a few extra pounds that I would love to attribute to my growing baby but, I'm pretty sure I ate too much over Thanksgiving... Anyway, here is a picture of the little bambino!

Speaking of Thanksgiving... I went to upload my pictures and realized that I have a picture of the table and that's it. I think I got a little sidetracked cooking the turkey! Woops! I will be better at Christmas time, I promise!