The Gafford Family

What's next for the Gafford family?

2012-02-11T08:07:00.002-06:00

Some of you may be wondering just that. Some of you may not even realize there was a need to wonder what was next. It's a question we've been wondering for several months now, and we finally know the answer... or at least part of the answer.

For those of you in the second category, who didn't know there was any reason to wonder, let me quickly catch you up to speed. David finished his time serving at Five Oaks Church at the end of December. So he has been without work for a couple of months now. As we knew this time was coming, we've really taken this opportunity to do some self-searching. What is it that David likes to do? What is David good at? Work in a church? Work a secular job not in a church? What do we value as a family? Are we willing to move? If so, where are we willing to move to? You know, a few of those not-so-easy questions to ask without it hurting a little along the way.

In time we finally discovered answers to all the questions we'd been asking ourselves. Once we had those answers, it was time for some action and time to pursue the future we'd finally figured out we wanted for our family.

Fortunately, all the while there was a church out there that was doing a little search of their own. We are thankful that the answer to the questions they had been asking themselves was: David.

So here it is; here is what's next for the Gafford family. We will be moving to Fishers, Indiana in the later half of March where David will serve as Worship Architect for Bridgeway Community Church. We're blown away by what a great fit this job appears to be for David. We're thrilled that this move will put us within an hour of David's family and a now drivable distance to my family in New York. We're excited to see how God moves mountains in order to make this all work out.

The reality is that we own a house here in Minnesota. The reality is that the housing market has tanked in the last several years. The reality is, as much as we love this house, it does not fit in a U-Haul truck and we cannot take it with us. We must sell it; in spite of the housing market being what it is right now. We are choosing to trust that God will take care of this little matter in the time that He sees fit for the price that He sees fit and will meet our needs in the meantime. He's done it before (in a way I never would have even thought to ask for), and He will do it again.

**Shameless plug: if you or anyone you know might be interested in buying a beautiful home in Cottage Grove, great for entertaining, please let us know!!

Jingle Bells

2011-11-21T22:03:00.003-06:00

I'm not real sure where she picked it up (daycare maybe?) but Addison recently fell in love with the song "Jingle Bells". The last few nights, she has requested this video to be played before bed.

After bath time tonight, we let her pick out her own jammies and she selected her "jingle bell jammies", which are in fact her "Tinkerbell jammies", but we don't have the heart to correct her.

And lastly, before bed we were saying prayers and it went like this...

Mommy: Dear Jesus, bless
Addison: Mommy
Mommy: and...
Addison: Daddy
Mommy: and ...
Addison: Jingle Bells!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T18:31:00.003-06:00

We just got back from taking our little bumblebee trick-or-treating at the Mall of America. It's hard to reason with a not-yet-two-year-old that she can't eat all of that candy right now. So after letting her eat 2 suckers and a Twix bar we figured we'd better call it quits or we'd never get her to sleep tonight. Unfortunately she still had a remnant of a sucker in her mouth when I put her in the car seat and upon choking on it for a few seconds, she ended up throwing up. The good news was that she got the chunk of sucker out of her throat. The bad news is that the wad of napkins in the glove compartment and the 6 wipes we had in the car didn't do a whole lot of good in fighting the mess. We were able to "stabilize" and make our way home.

Then it was time to pull the liner out of the car seat for laundering. (Somehow, this is the first time that it has required a wash). Oh. my. goodness. It will truly be a miracle if I ever get that thing put back together. I know I must have done it once before when the seat was new, but for goodness sake! I skinned my knuckles trying to unhook the carseat from those little safety latches.

In spite of it all, I'd do it again to see her have that much fun (though I'd check her mouth better before putting her in the car seat). This year Addison's "trick or treat" sounds more like "trick or meat", but we think that's cuter anyway!

So, happy Halloween everyone, and trick or meat!

Addison and Minnie

2011-09-21T18:14:00.002-06:00

I love watching Addy play; especially when it shows her imagination at work. Tonight after dinner she loaded her giant Minnie Mouse into her high chair and proceeded to feed Minnie some supper. It was just so sweet and cute, I couldn't resist sharing a clip of the video I took.

Addison counts

2011-09-11T20:13:00.002-06:00

We finally got a video of Addison counting tonight, and once again, it takes place in the bathtub. You'll hear her say her numbers 1-10, but what you may or may not hear is the 11-13 that she whispers after 10. She amazes me every day how intelligent she's becoming. Such a little sponge soaking in every morsel she can get. Hip-hip-hooray for puzzles. They've helped Addison learn her shapes and her numbers.

Addison's Greatest Hits

2011-08-25T19:23:00.005-06:00

There will come a day when Addison will surely groan and roll her eyes into the back of her head when David and I break out into harmony singing silly songs for her. But for right now she loves it. "Wheels on the Bus," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," "If You're Happy and You Know It," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "The ABC song," "Jesus Loves Me," and "Jesus Loves the Little Children" are frequently requested at all times of the day. And as you'll see in this video, she'll often request a "mash-up," demanding the song be changed half way through. Here's Addison singing one of her current favorites, the alphabet song, appropriately mashed up with Twinkle Twinkle. Enjoy! Oh, and she also threw in a little bonus in the second half.

(Sorry about the technical difficulties at the beginning of the video...)

After bath time the other night we were snuggling in the rocking chair singing "Jesus Loves Me". Without prompting, this was how it went:
Me: Jesus loves
A: me
Me: this I know. For the Bible tells
A: me
Me: so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves
A: me
Me: Yes, Jesus loves
A: me
Me: Yes, Jesus loves
A: me
Me: The Bible tells
A: Addy
Me: so.

:-)

2011-08-18T20:53:00.002-06:00

I've had a stack of puzzles on the shelf in Addison's closet for over a year now. When I first put them up there I thought it would be forever before she would be ready for them. Last week I decided to pull a couple of them down to give it a shot. To my surprise, Addison really seemed interested in them and didn't do too bad. This afternoon she pulled out her shapes puzzle and put all the pieces in the right spaces right away. Then she dumped the pieces out and did it all over again, and again, and again. I was pretty impressed and I know her grandparents will be as well, so I'm posting the video here!

Indiana State Fair

2011-08-13T20:49:00.000-06:00

This corn dog and ear of corn were intended to be shared just two ways, but after offering Addy a taste, we had to give up a little more than we were expecting!

After a lifetime of refusing to even TRY ice cream, Addison finally indulged and decided that ice cream is indeed yummy.

More Indiana Fun

2011-08-13T08:44:00.001-06:00

We had lots of fun visiting Grandma and Grandpa's house in Indiana. Addison really enjoyed exploring their BIG yard and even the field of soybeans.

There's more than just corn in Indiana...

2011-08-12T20:26:00.001-06:00

I'd heard that the Gas City petting zoo existed, but had never been there myself. If you were familiar with the Gas City/Jonesboro area of Indiana, you might understand why I didn't have very high expectations. Don't misunderstand, I have nothing against those communities, (after all, my husband is a product of them!) but they're small, very rural towns in the middle of nowhere! I always had the impression there was "nothing" to do there and one had to drive to Muncie, Kokomo, or Indianapolis to find anything "fun". However, Addison's really into farm animals lately, so we thought it might be a nice little outing while we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Gafford. I must say, I was surprised and impressed with what we found. I had no idea the variety of animals we would encounter and you can't beat the price! (FREE plus a vending machine of food for the animals at a whopping quarter per bag). Addison had the time of her life and as always appeared to be fearless around each and every animal.

The 10th Anniversary Adventure Conclusion

2011-08-12T15:17:00.000-06:00

So sorry to have made you all wait so long, wondering if we were ever reunited with our car in Schaumburg! Has the suspense been killing you??? God worked it all out just perfectly. :-)

As a result of our previous blog post, our dear college friend Cami Thomas learned of our predicament and informed us that she in fact lives in Schaumburg. We've stayed in contact over the years through Facebook and email and we knew she lived somewhere in Chicago-land but had no idea she lived right where we needed help! So following our afternoon of fun at the Field Museum, we took a cab back to the hotel, picked up our luggage, continued on to the train station, and rode the train out to Schaumburg where Cami (and her little guy Levi) picked us up and drove us to the dealership. It's amazing how much catching up we managed to do in a mere 15 minutes! After we paid a rather hefty bill (which at least was $900 less thanks to our warranty), we checked into a nearby hotel and went on to enjoy a delightful anniversary dinner at the Weber Grill Restaurant.

Our 10th Anniversary Adventure

2011-08-04T16:09:00.001-06:00

In case you haven't read about yesterday's adventure on David's blog, we'll tell the story here as well...

You know those kind of days when you crawl into bed at night, reflecting on the last 24 hours and you think to yourself, “Huh; that didn’t go at ALL like I planned.” Yep; that was today and the start to our 10th anniversary trip to Chicago.

While the plan may have been rather last-minute, it was in fact a plan. Reservations had been made through Priceline, tickets were waiting for us at will-call for “Beauty and the Beast”, and arrangements had been made for Mom and Dad Gafford to meet us at the Ikea in Schaumburg to take Addison and Allie back to Indiana where we would meet them in a couple of days. Our first time leaving Addison for the night, but a fun opportunity to celebrate our decade of wedded bliss in one of our favorite cities.

I was driving the Outlook so David could be working from the passenger seat. Addison was happily watching “Finding Nemo” in the back seat for her 31st, 32nd, and 33rd time (it’s her favorite) and Allie was snoozing along in her crate. All was well and then the “change oil soon” message lit up on our dashboard. “Ok, no problem,” we thought. We can take care of that while we’re in Indiana. Over time though we began to notice our temperature gauge spiking and grew concerned. Fortunately we were pretty close to our meeting place so we pressed on. David called Dad and he was pretty confident that we could make it.

Once Mom and Dad arrived, we popped the hood and discovered that the radiator lacked any coolant. Dad made a quick trip over to Wal-mart and picked up 2 gallons. We poured it into the radiator reservoir but couldn’t get it to circulate into the radiator. Getting to the radiator cap turned out to be more complicated and time consuming than we would have liked. Meanwhile Mom and I had Addison playing with toys in the kids department in Ikea, and Allie was tethered to a nearby tree while David & Dad worked. All the while, our window of time that we’d allowed to get downtown, checked into our hotel, and eat dinner before the show was quickly diminishing.

About 90 minutes before the show was to begin, we thought we’d finally fixed the problem and proceeded to change to our “evening wear” in the back of the Outlook at the edge of the Ikea parking lot. Just as Mom and Dad were beginning to pull away, Dad noticed that the radiator appeared to have a very significant leak. How were we ever going to make it downtown in time?!? Mom and Dad followed us to a nearby dealership whose service garage had closed just 5 minutes previously. Fortunately we were still greeted by a very kind employee named Allen that was on his way to his car and he was able to quickly get the Outlook checked in and ready for service first thing tomorrow morning. We frantically transferred all of our bags over to Mom and Dad’s van and booked it to try to make it downtown in time.

Of course there was traffic along the way. When is there NOT traffic around Chicago? We watched the clock tick on and really couldn’t see how this was ever going to work out. Then, I kid you not, I looked over to Addison with folded hands who said clear as a bell, “Daddy pray”. So we did. We prayed for a miracle.

By the grace of God, we pulled up to the theater at 7:27 where we jumped out of Mom and Dad’s van at a red light, literally ran to will call to collect our tickets and were in our seats (after crawling over about 10 people to get to our seats in the exact center of our row) with about 20 seconds to spare before the show began. We were so frantic we were shaking and all we could do was laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Meanwhile, Mom and Dad continued to our hotel where Mom fought to be able to check in on our behalf and leave our luggage in our room for us so they could finally hit the road back to Indiana. When we finally got to the hotel a couple of hours later, we were scolded and shamed by the dude at the front desk for not having Mom’s name on our reservation with us. He just didn’t get it no matter how we tried explaining the circumstances.

Now here we sit having finally eaten dinner at the 24 hour Dunkin’ Donuts down the road, the only food place we could find that was still open. No, today didn’t go quite as we planned. We HAD plans for tomorrow too, though I have a feeling tomorrow won’t quite look how we expected it to either. We really have no idea what tomorrow will look like. Our car is in Schaumburg and we’re downtown Chicago without it. Will the car be fixed in time for us to pick it up tomorrow and carry out the rest of our plans, or will we be renting a car and figuring out a plan B. Only the Lord knows and we’re trying really hard to just enjoy this very nice hotel room and not worry about it.

We do know one thing for certain. We will always remember our 10th anniversary get-away and the “adventure” that came with it!

And finally, I’ll leave you with this little visual image: In the flurry of changing in the back of the Outlook, David and I both forgot to change our shoes. You should have seen me rocking the little black dress with my “matching” Crocs.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hot Air Balloon Ride

2011-07-12T12:40:00.002-06:00

David knew that taking a hot air balloon ride was one of the few things that was on my bucket list. Though heights are not his favorite thing, when a half-off Groupon came across his email last year he decided he had to snatch it up. What we didn't know at the time was that weather conditions have to be absolutely PERFECT in order for the balloon to actually be able to fly. 12 times rescheduling and a full year later, we finally got to fly! It was a truly incredible experience free floating over the St. Croix River and into Wisconsin. In all, the flight lasted a little over an hour before we finally made our landing in a new housing addition north of Hudson. Thank you David for an unforgettable (and very early) morning!

Here you can watch our ascent into the sky and catch a glimpse of the sunrise. Our flight began at 6:00 a.m.

This was once we landed and the air was being let out of the balloon.

Fingerpainting with Shaving Cream

2011-06-17T13:03:00.004-06:00

Take me to Disney World

2011-06-15T16:32:00.002-06:00

Addison is so excited (or is that Mommy and Daddy are so excited?) that Grandma and Grandpa are taking us all to Disney World in a week! Of course she's excited to see Mickey and Minnie, but she's really excited about seeing her cousins Emily, Lauren, and Olivia again. Here she is practicing up on their names wearing a pretty princess dress on loan from a friend of mine (Thanks Amy!!).

Sandbox

2011-05-30T20:23:00.003-06:00

Grandpa Gafford worked all weekend to get Addison's sandbox in working order and she got to try it out for the first time tonight. I think we're going to have a fun summer because she absolutely loved it!

"Thank you "Dampa" for my sandbox. I love it almost as much as the strawberries all over my face!"

Let there be light!

2011-04-30T12:22:00.004-06:00

When we bought our house 3 years ago we loved everything.....except the chandelier hanging in the entry way. It already had 1/2 of its lightbulbs burned out, it was covered in dust and cobwebs, and it was completely out of reach for us to do anything about it. One by one the remaining bulbs went dim leaving us with very little light at all. About a year ago we found the perfect replacement light at Menard's. It was even on sale, so we snatched it up. However, the light did us absolutely no good in the box, but that's where it stayed. Until we could figure out a way to get up that high... in the middle of our entry way....over a flight of stairs. Lo and behold, Menard's now rents scaffolding so guess what we did this morning!

Thank you so much Jimmy for helping us out!!!

A pretty girl in her Easter dress

2011-04-24T17:33:00.003-06:00

Ooooh what's down there?

All ready to help Mommy water the flowers. When will there be flowers, Mommy?

Mmmm... chocolate!

2011-04-24T17:16:00.003-06:00

Here is Miss Addison indulging in a piece of chocolate from one of her Easter eggs...

This is the way Addison signs "more"...

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-24T16:53:00.006-06:00

Addison went on her first Easter egg hunt after waking up from her nap this afternoon. She caught on pretty quickly that the eggs had yummy things like Kix, raisins, fruit snacks, animal crackers, and there were even a couple eggs with pieces of chocolate!

Cutie McCuterson

2011-03-17T20:00:00.000-06:00

Addison's hair is getting long enough that it really needs to get pulled back to keep it out of her face. Sometimes she'll let me put it in pigtails. When I do, it's like she instantly ages another year. She looks so much older and more kid-like than baby. And boy, is this a fun age. As long as the three molars that she's cutting don't give her too much trouble, she is just a barrel of laughs and entertainment!

Spaghetti face

2011-03-17T17:00:00.000-06:00

Yes, that's our daughter with her finger up her nose.
We had a delicious dinner of chicken Parmesan and spaghetti the other night and as you can see, Addison really enjoyed hers. She ended up messy enough that we just had to take pictures. (Normally she's a fairly neat eater-- for a one year old).

Reading Books

2011-03-17T13:30:00.003-06:00

Every morning this week when Addison has woken up, I've gone in and gotten her out of her crib, and before a fresh diaper or anything, she wants to read books. She points to her book bin and says "Oooh!" like it's something she just happened to notice. It is absolutely the most precious thing to see her climb up into her little chair and look at a book. The teacher in me is so proud of her!

Spring Break Fun

2011-03-14T17:44:00.003-06:00

Addison usually spends her Mondays with Daddy (who likes to call himself "Monday Mommy"). This week she got to spend it with 2 Monday Mommies, because her actual mommy is home for spring break this week. We decided to check out the Minnesota Sea Life Aquarium (formerly known as Underwater Adventures) at the Mall of America. Teachers get a year-long membership for free and additional family members are only $10 for the year, so we look forward to many trips back over the next 12 months. Addison seemed to enjoy the fish, although her new molars did appear to be giving her some trouble, as you'll see indicated by the hand in her mouth.

Feed My Starving Children

2011-03-05T20:17:00.006-06:00

Our church hosted its third annual "Feed Event" this weekend. Actually, it's still going on for another day. We cancel services for the entire weekend and do nothing but pack meals for starving children around the world. Every year we've been challenged to invite friends/family members outside of the church to participate with us. However, having moved to the Twin Cities for a job at the church, not having any family living closer than 10 hours away, and with both of us working either at the church or a Christian school just down the road, we've had a difficult time finding anyone to invite. This year however, I've had a classroom full of second graders requesting a field trip to Feed My Starving Children all year, so I figured this was the perfect solution. This morning I had the opportunity to pack meals with 6 of my students along with their accompanying parents and siblings. We had a very fun time serving together, but more than that, I hope and pray that it was a meaninful experience for each of them. Here are a few pictures from our morning...

Grocery Day with Daddy

2011-02-28T11:29:00.001-06:00

This little girl thinks riding in shopping carts is like a ride at Cedar Point. Every time we get close to one, she gets extremely giddy and can't wait to ride. I think the ride from the car into the store is the highlight too, with all the bumps from the parking lot, how could I disagree? Anyhow, lots of fun today being out and about.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pigtail and Playtime

2011-02-20T19:23:00.004-06:00

Does this pigtail remind anyone else of the chick from "Napoleon Dynomite"?

Addison sporting her first-of-I'm-sure-many war wounds from learning how to walk. (which she hasn't mastered yet)

Having fun playing in her car in the basement.

Whoa, what did that do to your hair?!?

Stair Climbing

2011-02-20T19:11:00.002-06:00

When Addison and I got home from church this morning, I hung my coat up in the closet and when I turned around Addison was on her way to the third step of our staircase. I quickly joined her and watched her climb the entire flight of stairs as though she's been doing it for months now. It's now her new favorite thing (yikes!) and she's probably climbed them 10 times today. We have a gate at the top of the stairs, which she likes to close once we've reached the top, but I think a gate at the bottom is going to be a very soon addition. Here are a couple clips of Addison showing off her new skills.

Addison and Allie

2011-02-04T20:31:00.002-06:00

Have we told you lately how much Addison loves Allie?

Addison uses coasters?

2011-02-01T19:03:00.000-06:00

Tonight during dinner, Addison just suddenly started using a coaster. No idea where she learned it, but apparently she's watching even when we're just living life. Scary thought for sure. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Addison!

2011-01-07T19:42:00.007-06:00

Today our precious Addison celebrated her first birthday. It's funny because it's hard to remember life before her, but it's also hard to believe she's been here for a year. She has brought us such joy this past year and we are so thankful to be able to call her our daughter. We can't believe how much she's growing up. She's just more and more fun every day!

We took advantage of visiting grandparents and celebrated her birthday early last weekend. Unfortunately, Addison must have been a little excited for her party and decided to only take a one hour nap that afternoon. That made for a slightly cranky party girl, but we persevered! Grandpa Liddick made home-made pizzas and Grandpa Gafford made the Winnie the Pooh birthday cake.

Addison kept taking a hit from her paci in between bites of pizza.

Enjoying her new laptop from her best friend, Ella.

Addison's pary peeps: Grandmas and Grandpas Gafford and Liddick, the Bowers, Bryan, and Mommy and Daddy

Winnie the Pooh Cake, by Grandpa Gafford

It's a pillow, it's a pet.... IT'S A PILLOW PET!
Amazing how she knew exactly what to do with it right away.

Opening presents

Her response to the cake: "Mmmmmm"

Ring in the New Year with Addison

2010-12-31T15:48:00.002-06:00

We brought in the New Year this morning with our friends on Sprout. If midnight is feeling like a little too late for you tonight, feel free to use our countdown for your own early celebrations. :-)

Happy New Year to you all!

Addison's First Christmas- pt. 5

2010-12-28T14:18:00.003-06:00

So, I got this "brilliant" idea to take Addison sledding on Christmas day. We've really been trying to figure out what our Christmas traditions will be as a family, and I thought this was a good possibility. Apparently I forgot about the three feet of snow outside.

It proved to be very difficult to maneuver through and our sledding was short lived.

Addison's First Christmas- pt. 4

2010-12-28T14:07:00.004-06:00

Addison's one lucky little girl, because not only did she get presents from Mommy and Daddy, but there were also several presents that had arrived in the mail from many of her birth-relatives. How special it was of them to think of her this first Christmas. Thank you so much!

Here's Addison playing with her new stash of toys. She enjoys taking them out of the bin and putting them back in. If I could only convince her to put them in the bin and leave them there when it's time to clean up...

Addison's First Christmas- pt. 3

2010-12-28T13:59:00.003-06:00

After breakfast we moved onward to the tree. And it's true what they say, it matters not what is in the package. It's the bag or box that the toy came in that proves to be the most fun.

Addison's First Christmas- pt. 2

2010-12-28T13:54:00.000-06:00

After her bottle, Addison got to open her stocking... Her favorite present by far was her new cell phone.

Addison's first Christmas- pt. 1

2010-12-28T13:32:00.004-06:00

We were delighted to be able to have a nice quiet Christmas with just the three of us at home this year. While I was making her bottle, Addison took her hunger into her own hands and found the container of Gerber Puffs in her diaper bag. We now know (as if there was doubt...) that the lid on those containers is not child-proof. She proceeded to dump out the remainder of the container and treated her and Allie to a little pre-breakfast appetizer. Fortunately the Puffs were down to the last 1/4 of the container to start with...

Oops! Sorry, ma-ma!

That's a good idea, Allie!

Almost got it all cleaned up!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T20:59:00.003-06:00

2010 has been a very good year for us. In fact, it's been our best year yet. We welcomed our dear Addison into the world last January 7 and she has brought such joy into our lives ever since. Though we can barely remember what life was like without her, it's also difficult to believe that she will be turning 1 in just a couple of weeks. We look forward to spending a nice peaceful Christmas at home in Minnesota, just the 3 of us. Our first chance to establish our new traditions as a family.

We wish you and your family a very merry Christmas!

Buried in Snow!

2010-12-12T16:37:00.003-06:00

In case you haven't heard, we've gotten a little bit of snow in Minnesota recently...

Eating a pickle

2010-12-11T11:32:00.002-06:00

We're currently getting pounded with a blizzard, so what better thing to do than dump videos from the camera and upload them to the blog!

Addison amazes me every day with what a brave eater she is. She tries everything and I literally haven't found a single thing yet that she doesn't like (besides baby food now; she only wants the real deal anymore...). Here is a clip of Addison trying her first pickle. It didn't seem to phase her in the least.

Piano Prodigy

2010-12-11T02:49:00.001-06:00

Perhaps we should actually have the piano tuned now that someone in the house is playing it...

Mischief

2010-12-11T01:40:00.001-06:00

Hi, my name is Addison and I like to put things inside other things. I've discovered how to open the doors of the entertainment center and I like to shove things inside. Just wait until I figure out how to eject the Blu Ray player!

Bye-bye Da-da

2010-12-11T00:36:00.001-06:00

David left the house, probably to head in to church, leaving Addison, Allie and I behind. Addison remained at the front door for close to 10 minutes watching for him to return. It was pretty cute.

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house

2010-12-03T18:58:00.006-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandkids

Cousin Emily reading Addison a book

Addison trying a wedge of lime... and liking it.

(Is there anything this girl doesn't like?)

She liked it so much that she took this one from Aunt Julie a day later and tried to bite into it!

Someone found Grandma's Tupperware cupboard!

Olivia is getting brave and petting Allie!

My cousins were just tackling Daddy. Now it's my turn!

Playing with the cousins

Thanksgiving

2010-12-03T18:46:00.006-06:00

We had the opportunity to drive down to Indiana to celebrate Thanksgiving with David's side of the family. Addison was a huge fan of the Thanksgiving meal. Her favorite parts were the turkey, the peas, and especially Aunt Julie's homemade rolls! It was great to see all of the family, including David's great-aunts who just moved from Colorado.

First snow

2010-11-13T11:19:00.003-06:00

We woke up to snow this morning and it's not supposed to taper off until later this evening, leaving us an expected 8 or so inches total. So we decided that it was time to introduce Addison to snow for the first time (of her more aware part of her life). Grandma and Grandpa Gafford had brought us a special sled just for her and her first trip out on it was a big hit!

Addison and Allie

2010-11-08T19:27:00.004-06:00

Here are a couple more cute video clips of Addison with her BFF Allie.

And here is a random moment where Addison decided to crawl under/through Allie, and Allie just let her...

Addison Gafford, World Explorer

2010-11-07T22:22:00.000-06:00

Addison turned 10 months old today. My how time flies. This past month seems to have been somewhat monumental for her. She seems to have grown up a LOT over the last 30 days. She has become one super-fast crawler and is into everything. She now has her fifth tooth breaking through as we speak. She loves eating table food and has enjoyed everything she's tried so far. She gives hugs and kisses freely (to mommy and daddy) and often gives them just because she feels like it and not just because one was requested. Her best friend is her doggie and Allie usually returns the sentiment. She jibber-jabbers all the time and is usually talking about da-da. She has brought so much joy into our lives!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T18:35:00.000-06:00

Miscellaneous Cuteness!

2010-10-26T18:04:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to post a few random videos of Addison from the last couple of weeks. Here she is playing with Daddy after dinner...

And here she is dancing/playing on the floor...

Finally, here she is playing with her new toy from Grandma and Grandpa Gafford.

This little one is growing up SO FAST! Lately I look at her and am seeing more of a toddler than a baby. How did that even happen? She's getting so big and so smart. I love watching her explore and discover new things. How fun and amazing :-)

Dinner Conversations

2010-10-23T16:19:00.002-06:00

Standing

2010-10-22T18:31:00.002-06:00

Addison was playing in her little play-yard while Mommy and Grandma were fixing dinner this evening. After a few minutes Grandma looked over to check on her to find this. It appears that someone knows how to pull up to standing now.

A day at the apple orchard

2010-10-02T18:13:00.009-06:00

We enjoyed this beautiful fall day as a family by going to Aamodt's apple orchard in Stillwater today. It was a little chilly, but a great day for some fun pictures.

Addison got to play in an apple tree...

and she tried stealing Mommy's hot cider...

she played in the hay bails...

and pet some baby goats with her friend Ella...

We had a wonderful day together as a family.

Happy 9 month birthday this week Addison! You're growing up so fast!

Two Peas in a Pod

2010-09-30T17:59:00.003-06:00

Crawling and Skyping

2010-09-19T18:59:00.002-06:00

Well, Addison has been teasing us with it all week. But until today she would only crawl forward 2 or 3 strides before calling it quits. Today was a different story. Earlier this afternoon she did this to get her dolly...

And after her nap we had a Skype date with her birthparents and she did this...

Apparently an expensive laptop on the floor is worth crawling greater lengths for. Or maybe it was the wonderful people ON the expensive laptop she was crawling towards. Either way, our little one is officially a crawler.

Swinging

2010-09-17T18:29:00.003-06:00

To Indiana and back....and then back to Indiana

2010-09-15T20:43:00.004-06:00

We've had a couple of crazy weeks here! And it's not over yet!

Labor Day weekend was a sad one for the Gafford family as David lost two different grandparents (Grandpa Gafford and Grandma Cox) only 2 days apart. So he and Addison hit the road on Labor Day and drove to Indiana (It took 14 hours!) for a week of visitations and funerals. My first day of school was the very next day, so I was unable to get away until Thursday at which point I flew one-way to join them through the weekend. The first couple of weeks of a new school year are tons of work and very busy days, but I'm glad that I was able to make it work to get away and be with the family. I know it meant a lot to the family that Addison was there. Many relatives were meeting her for the first time.

We drove back together on Sunday (making much better time without the holiday traffic) ready for another week of work/school the next morning. And now David hit the road again this morning to return to Indiana for a workshop/training in Church Communications at Grainger Church through the end of the week.

Here are some family pics we took while we were all together last week...

Pictures and Smiles

2010-08-27T19:25:00.000-06:00

Here are some fun new photos of our little baby girl! She had some fun this week with her friend Elizabeth during small group, and later in the week she posed for the camera while she worked on standing on her own. She is a fantastic little girl, and we love her so much! Enjoy the smiles.

Pool time and Addison's first tooth

2010-08-13T09:41:00.002-06:00

Now that Addison is sitting up so well, we decided that it was time to get her a swimming pool so she can cool off on these super hot, muggy days. So far she's been a big fan. Allie thought that Addison's pool looked like a huge water bowl to her. Hopefully Addison didn't pee in the water... but if she did, I'm certain that Allie has consumed worse.

Also, you'll see in this video that Addison's first tooth has popped through her bottom gums!

Liddick Family Christmas in July- #9

2010-08-05T19:00:00.000-06:00

Fun at Uncle Glenn and Aunt Linda's Cottage

Our last day together involved packing the crew up one last time and driving to Uncle Glenn and Aunt Linda's (VanHarken) cottage on a little bay off of Lake Ontario. The weather was beautiful and it was so good to see the VanHarkens and Grandma Liddick. We really wished we could have gotten cousins Sarah and Kristen and their families back for the day, though. Maybe next year! Marlena and Jacob experienced a couple of firsts on that trip. They both went fishing for the first time and they also both got to try tubing for the first time in Lake Ontario. Marlena made it look like so much fun that Uncle Dave and Aunt Melissa decided to give it a go even though we'd left our suits back at the cabin. My muscles are still sore; this body is not as young as it was the last time I went tubing!
We also managed to get some cousin pictures before going our separate ways. This is probably one of the best ones taken, but it's quite comical watching the sequence of all the pictures shot. It's not easy getting a good picture of little kids! We also tried getting pictures of Addison and Brogan in the fuzzy yellow chair. This chair used to live at Grandma and Grandpa's house and we all have pictures of ourselves in it when we were little. Brogan was definitely on the move and not really in the mood to sit down for a picture!

Matt, Brianne, and Brogan left from the lake to go home so Matt could preach the next morning. Mike and his kids left early the next morning for Arizona, and David, Addison, and I flew home Sunday night (with much less drama than the first time, however sleepy baby+flying does not equal easy). I'm sure Mom and Dad have been home today completely exhausted by all the hustle and bustle of the week! It was busy, but it was lots of fun!

Liddick Family Christmas in July- #8

2010-08-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

After the zoo, we met up at Ontario Beach for a picnic lunch followed by ice cream at Abbott's and a carousel ride. We had intended to go swimming after lunch, but unfortunately the beach was closed that day.

We were delightfully surprised at how much Addison enjoyed her first carousel ride!

Liddick Family Christmas in July- #7

2010-08-04T18:00:00.000-06:00

Seneca Park Zoo

While the guys went golfing, Grandma and the moms took the kids to the Seneca Park Zoo for the morning.

Here we are making our own totem pole.

Poor Brianne is behind that picture holding up the whole stroller so she didn't have to wrestle Brogan back in afterward.

Jacob had fun holding Brogan's tail (even though it doesn't look like he's having fun in the picture!).

I took Addison to Como Zoo a few weeks ago, and she didn't seem nearly as interested in the animals then. Apparently the view from mommy's belly is a little better than that from her stroller. She really had fun this time.

Liddick Family Christmas in July- #6

2010-08-04T08:00:00.001-06:00

Letchworth State Park

We all loaded up and went to Letchworth State Park for a picnic and pictures on Thursday. It was a lovely day for it and a gorgeous setting for pictures. (Notice Addison's wardrobe change half-way through... we had a little incident changing the diaper in the back of the van. That's why Mommy carries a spare outfit!)

After pictures and our picnic lunch we gave the kids a little time to play on the playground. Addison had her first swinging experience, and you can see that as little as she is, she required Grandma's purse and a blanket to keep her locked in place. She really had fun on the swing... especially when Uncle Matt came over acting like a monkey.

Liddick Family Christmas in July- #5

2010-08-03T18:00:00.003-06:00

We went to the Strong National Museum of Play a couple of years ago as a family when it was just all of us grown ups entertaining Jacob and Marlena. We knew those two would have a ball again, but had no idea how much fun there would be for the under 2 crowd. Addison had a blast!

Liddick Family Christmas in July- #4

2010-08-03T08:00:00.002-06:00

Getting to Know You

The sad part of not being able to get together more than once a year is that some time is required to just get to know each other at the beginning of each visit. All four of the cousins were meeting each other for the very first time on this trip. Addison was also meeting her aunt and uncles for the first time, and Brogan hadn't seen most of us since he was only about 6 weeks old last summer. In spite of the unfamiliarity, they all seemed to really enjoy playing together and even Addison got rid of her "stranger anxiety" before too long and was able to spend some more quality time with her grandparents and aunt and uncles. Marlena was instantly in love with Addison and Addison returned her affection. Even though there's a bit of an age difference between Mike's kids and Addison and Brogan, the older two seemed to have fun entertaining the younger two.

Liddick Family Christmas in July- #3

2010-08-02T20:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas!

Even though we got in so late, we still decided to go ahead and follow through with our scheduled Christmas festivities that night. Supposedly Jacob and Marlena really had their hearts set on it and had been waiting all day, but we know it was really Uncle Matt that couldn't wait. With the help of Mike's kids, Mom and Dad set up their Christmas tree earlier that day (which was promptly taken down the next morning for 14 month old Brogan's sake. Christmas decorations can be irresistible to a 1 year old!

Addison got "My Pal Violet" from Uncle Mike and her cousins, cool bathtub toys from Uncle Matt, Aunt Brianne, and cousin Brogan, and some cute clothes and shoes from Grandma and Grandpa. Her first Christmas was a hit!

Liddick Family Christmas in July- #2

2010-08-02T13:13:00.008-06:00

Addison's First Flight

A week or so ago I started asking friends for tips and advice for flying with a 6 month old. While I received a lot of great ideas that were very helpful, not one person recommended being prepared for the "just-in-case" scenario. My parents had diapers, formula, and baby food waiting for us in NY, so I had only packed what we would need to get there (plus a little extra), expecting to be to their house by 3:30 or so in the afternoon. Without going in to great detail, (don't get me started!) we experienced a number of non-weather-related delays throughout the day getting us to my parents house a little after 10:00 that night. It was a very stressful travel day, but Addison never even showed signs of it. In spite of Mommy's bad attitude, she traveled like a champ and got lots of attention both in the airports and on the plane.

Liddick Family Christmas in July- #1

2010-08-02T11:03:00.002-06:00

You may remember last year when my family started the tradition of celebrating Christmas in the summertime instead of the more "traditional" winter holiday season :-) This started for a couple of reasons. One, my family is quite spread out geographically. My parents live in upstate New York, we live in Minnesota, my older brother and his kids live in Arizona, and until very recently my younger brother and his family lived in Kentucky. (They have recently moved to New York as well, a couple of hours from the parents). That's a lot of different directions to bring together when the weather is "iffy". Also, growing up in a pastor's home, it may or may not be a surprise to learn that each of us kids have grown up ministry-minded as well, and for anyone involved in church work to be gone around Christmas is next to impossible. We were finding that even when we wanted to celebrate a traditional Christmas together, it was never on the actual holiday and we were all so exhausted from pulling together all of the Christmas Eve services that it wasn't as fun as it should have/could have been. We experimented last year and had such a great time together, that it has stuck. Over the next several posts, you can see pictures and read about our trip and time together with the family. Getting this whole crew together is something that we're only able to achieve once a year; and when we do it's a very special time.

Look Book

2010-07-21T19:37:00.002-06:00

Since all of our family lives so far away, I made a "Look Book" for Addison with pictures of her grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins so she could grow familiar with their faces even though she doesn't see them very often. Here's a video of her exploring that book this evening and I found it kind of cute about half way through the video, she discovered a picture of her family (Mommy, Daddy, and Addison). She clearly recognized the group on that page! I'm hoping with time, she'll recognize all those other faces in that book as well!

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

2010-07-16T10:02:00.003-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa Gafford came up from Indiana to visit Addison (and Mommy and Daddy) this week. It's been a fun week for them to be here because sitting up opens up a whole new world of play. Here are a few snapshot of our week so far.

Look what I can do!

2010-07-10T13:42:00.003-06:00

Someone decided to start sitting up today! Of course that would happen the day AFTER her 6 month pictures.... but oh well. Addison's discovered a whole new way to play sitting up and loves it.

Parents can hear what they want to hear

2010-07-05T12:27:00.002-06:00

Here's a little snippet from our lunchtime conversation today...

At the Drive In

2010-07-04T19:50:00.001-06:00

Today we celebrate the 4th of July with a trip to the Drive In. It's Toy Story and Karate Kid, and Addison is awake and entertaining us while the sun sets.

Dan and Angie Leverance drove down to join us, and we reunited high school buddies Melissa and Angie for the night.

Our new worship leader Justin graced us with his presence tonight also, so it's quite the raukus crowd!

Addison's first drive in experience should be a blast!

Adoption Chronicles: Officially a Gafford!

2010-06-30T16:05:00.004-06:00

Today was Adoption Day for Addison! She is officially and legally a Gafford, though in our hearts she has been for quite some time. To be honest, all week I've been afraid that I would forget to go to court today because I had kind of forgotten that there was still one more thing yet to be done until it was "official". The whole thing was very quick and painless; we were in and out in less than 10 minutes I think (including pictures!).

The Washington County Courthouse is in Stillwater, so we decided to make a bit of an afternoon of the occasion and went out for a late lunch to Nacho Mamas afterward to celebrate.

David must have decided to test Addison's Gafford-ness by swapping her bottle with hotsauce. I don't think she minded :-)

We have so much enjoyed having Addison be a part of our family and I was just thinking this morning I don't think I could love her any different had I delivered her myself. I think the only difference would be that I would have different memories leading up to her birth. She has brought such tremendous joy to our lives and we are so thankful for her every day.

Trash bags are hilarious!

2010-06-28T14:29:00.003-06:00

Addison was starting to get a little fussy when I was cleaning earlier this afternoon so I decided to have her ride along and help Mommy with some chores. Much to my surprise, when I snapped open a fresh trash bag she nearly lost it with laughter. I tried it again and again, and she laughed harder each time. Addison enjoys being silly and laughing with Mommy and Daddy but up until now, we've had a hard time finding that one thing that consistently makes her laugh. I think we've finally discovered her funny bone.

Visitors!

2010-06-25T19:42:00.004-06:00

Addison got to meet her Uncle Nate, Aunt Julie, and cousins Emily, Lauren, and Olivia today. Our visitors from Indiana arrived this afternoon. We spent a couple of hours in the back yard so the girls could warm up to the idea of being around Allie. Then we went inside and worked on dinner. Emily and Lauren helped Uncle David make guacamole while Allie watched hopefully.

Shortly after dinner a serious storm blew through dropping buckets of water and hail.

I'm not sure if you can see it, but there's a bit of a river running through our yard coming from the water pouring out of the downspout.

One of the thousands of pieces of hail that fell. Maybe we'll be getting a new roof this year?

Nate and Julie's poor van "Rocket" had to stay out in the hail.

Our property backs up to an open ravine that is normally completely dry. That is not the case right now. It's completely full of water for a while, I'm afraid.

Father's Day Follies

2010-06-21T09:24:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we celebrated David's first Father's Day. After feeding Addison her bedtime bottle, David commenced with the routine burping session that always follows. This time Addison did something she's never done before.

I wonder where she learned it from....

Exersaucer fun

2010-06-19T09:26:00.000-06:00

Addison has been gaining strength in her legs and seems to like being in the standing position a lot these days, so we figured it was time to break out the Exersaucer from Aunt Julie.

All worn out from that hard playtime!

Some May pictures

2010-06-18T09:19:00.000-06:00

Here are a few random pictures from last month that I'm just now getting to!

Addison telling Grandpa Gafford a bedtime story

Yummy fingers

Allie and Addison sniffing each other

Happy girl!

Daddy's lil' helper

2010-06-17T09:07:00.000-06:00

Daddy and Addison teamed up to build Mommy a new computer recently. Normally Daddy does just fine all by himself, but this time he needed to call for some tech support. Luckily his little Geek Squad agent was quick to assist and show him how things are done.

First you have to open it like this...

Daddy, this doesn't look right at all...

What's this supposed to be for?

I prefer to chew on my mouse...

I think I work better if I have my tongue sticking out.

Don't forget to put this in!

It's Mommy's new computer... and I helped!

Storytime with Addison

2010-06-16T12:49:00.001-06:00

Baby cereal.... mmmmmm

2010-06-15T12:39:00.002-06:00

Addison celebrated Mommy being home for the summer with her first meal of baby cereal last Friday night. The directions say to mix it really thin the first couple of feedings and as you'll see that made for a very messy meal. After Daddy put down the video camera, Addison was able to share the rest of her first meal with Grandma and Grandpa Liddick via Skype. All in all, so far she likes her cereal and gets better and better at each feeding.

The end of another school year

2010-06-10T17:43:00.002-06:00

Well, today marks the end of another school year. This year has certainly been different than any other since I had a 12 week break in the middle when we adopted Addison. I can honestly say that it's been a very good year. I was blessed with an incredible group of second graders that I truly enjoyed spending my days with. For 7 and 8 year olds, their spiritual maturity blew me away some days and I was humbled and challenged myself in my own walk.

We only had a half day today, dismissing at 11:00 and we spent a fair share of our morning together talking about our spiritual walks and praying together. We prayed for the two classmates that won't be returning in the fall but will be transferring to public schools instead. I gave the kids an opportunity to "popcorn pray" for their two classmates and told them I would close in the end. They didn't give me an opportunity to close for at least 8 or 9 minutes. They're 8 years old and they prayed non-stop for that long! They were praying for things like for those students to be able to "stand against the crowd" when others are making bad choices. They prayed for the students to have boldness to share their faith with their classmates. It was absolutely incredible. I had tears in my eyes by the end and as soon as I said "amen" one of my boys shouted out "That was so much fun!" God has done incredible things with my students this year and it's my prayer that this fire they seem to have right now will continue and their zeal for God's word will remain strong.

Speaking of zeal for God's Word... Our principal sent home a summer reading log and reading goals for the kids and this morning one of my boys asked if reading a book of the Bible would count as a chapter book. Yes, young man, you may read a book of the Bible and record it as a chapter book. Thank you for asking. :-)

Can you say thpfft?

2010-06-03T18:10:00.002-06:00

This is a sound we are hearing a lot of these days :-)

Addison's New BFF

2010-06-03T18:00:00.002-06:00

Addison has really been interested in Allie lately and will watch her every move. If Allie comes close enough, Addison reaches out to touch her, usually with the back of her hand. A few times she's grabbed hold of a flap of Allie's skin, but fortunately Allie has so much extra she's never even noticed.

Those of you that know Allie are well aware of her OCD tendencies to lick obsessively. To most of us that habit is royally annoying, but to Addison it brought sheer delight. Here's a cute video of her squeals and giggles at Allie's licks.

Four month pictures/Mother's Day present

2010-05-24T21:12:00.003-06:00

Here are a few selections from our Mother's Day photo shoot. David was in charge of renting equipment/setting up/and organizing the taking of family photos at church in order to give all the moms a free 8x10 the following week. The one advantage of him being so occupied the whole weekend with this huge task was the fact that we were able to hold our own private photo shoot before tearing down the equipment to return. David has learned a lot about photography in the mean time and did a fantastic job taking and editing these pictures (don't you think?). Enjoy! (I know I am!)

It's getting kind of late and this process is sort of slow so I'm going to stop with these three for now and I promise to post more as soon as I can!

Addison's New Trick

2010-05-03T19:02:00.002-06:00

Today, Addison learned a new trick. Enjoy!

Addison giggling

2010-05-02T17:33:00.002-06:00

Addison has started really giggling in the past week. She still isn't consistently ticklish yet, but if you catch her in the right mood, you can get her to really giggle. She only does it a little bit in this clip. Of course by the time we turned the camera on, she was half done... that's the way it goes. But at least you can get a little idea of what her giggle sounds like. It's music to our ears!

Gafford Grandparents visit

2010-04-25T15:25:00.004-06:00

Well, our lack of posts for a couple of weeks is evidence of my going back to work this month. It has been an adjustment for sure, but we're doing alright getting into the swing of things. Unfortunately after only one week, our daycare providers informed us that they would be closing, so we were forced to come up with a plan B for childcare. With David out of town the first half of this week and me single-working-momming it this week (I don't know how single working moms do it!), David's parents offered to spend the week with us and be our live-in daycare for this week. They were a HUGE help and Addison loved spending so much time with them. One of the extra perks was that Grandma and Grandpa took lots of pictures throughout the week. (Not spending our days together anymore, I'm finding a lot fewer pictures on my camera these days!)

Addison has decided that she would like to hold onto her bottle now.
I think she's afraid we're going to pull it out of her mouth to burp her!

Addison went outside with Grandma to check on Grandpa's progress. Grandpa was a busy little bee working on painting the deck this week. It looks incredible!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Gafford for all your help this week!

Easter 2010

2010-04-04T09:05:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter to all! Enjoy these pictures of our beautiful girl!

Happy birthday Allie!

2010-03-27T19:16:00.001-06:00

Today was Allie's 6th birthday, so this evening we made a trip to Dairy Queen to celebrate.

Happy girl

2010-03-18T10:47:00.003-06:00

This little rockstar got a full night of sleep and even slept in until 9:00! She was extra playful (and cute) this morning after getting so much rest.

Spring Fever!

2010-03-15T19:10:00.000-06:00

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful spring-like day with temperatures in the 60's. After being cooped up all winter, we were ALL eager to get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors.

Allie enjoyed her Sunday afternoon nap on the deck.

After naptime we took a nice walk. Within moments of leaving the house Addison was out like a light!

I'm sure there's more winter weather to come, but we're enjoying this while we can!

Bumbo Fun-bo

2010-03-15T09:29:00.000-06:00

It's a corny title, I admit it.

Our little girl is getting stronger and stronger each day. She seems to really be working at and wanting to be sitting up more than before, so we decided to give a try in the Bumbo chair. She kind of liked it! It's so crazy to step back and see your baby sitting up!

Our little chatterbox

2010-03-14T18:25:00.005-06:00

Addison has recently discovered her voice.... and she seems to really like how it sounds. Sometimes she'll really get going, take a deep breath, and try to belt her sounds out even louder. Last night she was in really rare form and I was able to get a bit of it on video for your viewing enjoyment.

I don't know if you could actually hear the toot on the video, but I promise it was there. You see how she's kind of shaking her head no to deny it was her? She's so smart.

Showered again!

2010-03-13T11:38:00.002-06:00

Yesterday my students and their parents threw a shower for Addison and myself at school. It was fun to see my kiddos and hear their comments about Addison. The moms who put the shower together did a fantastic job of gearing it to the younger audience. They started out by giving each of the kids a card to write a note to second-grade-Addison. David and I really enjoyed reading through them when I got home. Some of our favorites include...

"Dear Addison, I hope you have fun in second grade. If you need to know 18+50 it's 68." (random, but helpful)

"Dear Addison, you will learn how to add 3 numbers at one time." (way to freak her out!)

"Dear Addison, I know you will be good in second grade. From your good friend ____. P.S. Here is a good math problem 200+500=700."

"Dear Addison, I think the best thing in 2nd grade is going outside. It is so much fun. Your mom is a great teacher. This is at your baby shower."

"Dear Addison, It is so much fun in second grade and your mom was my teacher and your mom is asum (awesome)." (she may need a little reminder of my awesome-ness by second grade).

"I hope you have a good year in 2nd grade. Do good in math. I do hope you learn a lot of stuff. You twinkle like a star!"

and my personal favorite.... (spelling mistakes included because it's cuter that way)

" If you have a litel sister she will be anowing." (annoying)

After writing their cards to Addison, they each made a model of Addison out of playdough (they could choose baby Addison or 2nd grade Addison) and had their picture taken with their model. We then enjoyed delicious cupcakes and punch and opened gifts. Once again, we were spoiled by many wonderful and generous treasures!

While I'm definitely sad that my time home with Addison is winding down to a close in a couple of weeks, I can't think of a better group of second graders to spend my days with.

Two months old!

2010-03-07T15:04:00.003-06:00

Happy birthday, Addison!

Nursery improvements

2010-03-02T15:51:00.004-06:00

It's been over a week since we've posted, so I figured I ought to give an update! We've had David's parents up for a long weekend and Addison sure has enjoyed having her grandma and grandpa here!

I am proud to announce (but not too proud because I realize that it probably won't last...) that Addison has been sleeping through the night for over a week now. I think I've only gotten up in the night with her once in the last 10 nights. It has been... AWESOME! So with that step taken (and the peace of mind having a video monitor), we decided to graduate her to her "big girl" crib/bedroom this past weekend. Grandma Gafford, Addison, and I took a trip to JoAnn Fabric's on Friday for some odds and ends to decorate her room with and after a couple of hours that night with my sewing machine, this is what I came up with:

(note the adorable model in the picture)

Addison continues to bring us the utmost joy. We are so thankful to have this beautiful, healthy baby in our lives!

Happy birthday, Grandma Gafford!!

2010-02-21T13:58:00.002-06:00

Addison heard it was her Grandma Gafford's birthday today and didn't want to have to wait until the end of the week to sing happy birthday to her. She asked us to record this little ditty for Grandma and post it to the blog for her to see.

This one was an outtake, but too funny to keep it to ourselves...

Bath time- Now...

2010-02-20T20:00:00.000-06:00

She's come a long way since then! We now have a baby bathtub with a handy little hammock for her to hang out in and we've gotten wise and turn a space heater on in the bathroom to keep her toasty warm. Here's a video of a bath earlier this week. You can see she not only tolerates baths now, but may actually like them!