Let's try this again!

Ok so we sort of fell off the blogging wagon for a while, but now that Addisyn is getting older, this is a great way to keep everyone updated with what's going on. We were going to build a blog just for Addisyn, but seeing as how we have trouble keeping up this one, let's start here and see how it goes!

So the last post was back in June of last year - there's a lot of catching up to do! Here's the cliffnotes version:

Had a great 4th of July as a family - Addi fell asleep 2 fireworks into the evening so it was just Alex and I who enjoyed the majority of the festivities.

We celebrated Alex's 26th birthday on September 20th and Addisyn turned 1 on September 22nd and we had her birthday party at a local park here in Jacksonville. She really enjoyed herself and was so happy to celebrate with all of her friends and family. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such great people; she got SO much more than she needed! In fact we're already thinking about the 2nd birthday theme...

Addi had her first Trick or Treat with her buddy Anya at Halloween. She had a really good time and got tons of candy.


Thanksgiving was pretty uneventful. It was a small celebration with just the three of us due to the fact that Alex had to work the day before and the day after. I had a fabulous time shopping on Black Friday and managed to get all of Addisyn's gifts while Alex stayed at home with her. Shopping was followed by a visit with the Campbell/Alles/Knight clan for a Day after Thanksgiving dinner.

Addisyn officially began walking on a regular basis on Christmas Eve and hasn't looked back! My parents were lucky enough to witness her get up and just start walking - we were all very excited [especially Papaw who whooped and hollered for 20 good minutes lol]. Christmas was absolutely out of control. The amount of gifts we [and by "we" I mean mostly Addi lol] received was ridiculous and again we feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family! The car was packed driving back home and as it is, there are things crammed in every corner of Addi's bedroom.

I had a birthday on December 30th...again, another small family celebration, but fabulous nonetheless.

That brings us to the New Year. As usual, Alex and I watched the ball drop in Times Square [it's on our bucket list to actually be there one year]. Other than that, we've just been enjoying life. Alex and I started school on Feb. 21st and I'll be starting a new job on March 7th. I'm really looking forward to getting out of the house. I'm not looking forward to Addisyn starting daycare and being away from her, but it has to happen at some point. I've been so lucky to get to be at home with her for as long as I have and witness all of her major milestones. I'm amazed by how much she has learned and how fast she's growing. She will be 18 months on the 22nd of March and I can't even believe how fast time has flown [in fact, Alex and I both have serious baby fever...we'll see what comes of that]! She's a regular Chatty Cathy and I can't believe how many words she's picked up in the last few weeks [two favorites right now are "ball" and "mall"]. She's regularly saying "bye", "hi", "mine", "ball", "mall", "go", "no", "mom", "dada"...I can't even keep track of how much she's saying! She listens and understands so well when we talk to her and actually responds appropriately to our questions. I think it's safe to say we officially have a full blown toddler [of course she'll always be our baby!].

Whew! That was a huge update, hopefully the next one won't be so long! Thanks for stopping by!

Summertime!

It's been a little while since we've done one of these, so here goes!

Not a whole lot has been going on around here. We've had to say goodbye to some of our good friends who either have relocated or are in the process of relocating. I'm of course not happy about these changes, but at least it gives us somewhere new to visit! Alex has been off at his yearly training for Reserves out in NV the last week and a half. He'll be back this Wed. Miss Addisyn and I have been hanging out at home. Having some fun both outdoors and in. Addi had her first bout in the pool a few weeks ago. I daresay she rather enjoyed it.

I've been working as usual. Mostly we've been trying to make the most of the little bit of time we get to spend together. Sometimes I feel guilty for working so much and worry we don't get enough time together, but for now it can't really be helped. When Alex returns, he'll be starting a new job with Time Warner Cable...hopefully that will go well!

We are setting up a blog just for Addi so that family and friends can keep up with her as she grows. She turned 9 months on June 22nd and we thought a blog would be an excellent avenue for picture/milestone sharing. We've been slacking a bit on mailing pictures out... Stay tuned for details! Miss Addi had a photo shoot on 6/23. Here's a few pics of our [not so] little girl!

In other news, I have been quite a busy little bee. Aside from working I have also taken up a new hobby in bow-making. Yes, I said bow-making. As in making hairbows by hand, from scratch. Now if you know me at all, you know I'm not the craftiest person in the world, but I'm working hard to improve my skills. I wanted to make something special for Addisyn since her head has always been a little large for the traditional baby headbands [family trait]. I thought it would be nice for her to have something unique that she could say her mama made for her. There has been quite a bit of interest in the sale my bows, so I've actually set up a little section on my Facebook page where you can view and [hopefully] purchase one of your very own! It was a bit surprising at first, but I'm happy about the warm reception the bows are receiving.

I'm hoping to eventually expand to tutus and hairbow holders and paci holders...we'll see how it goes - that may be a bit ambitious for now. My next attempt at crafting will include making a "No Soliciting" sign for our front door. Those salesmen [and ladies] are persistent little buggers.

That's all for now! We can't wait to see what adventures this summer has in store and we will let you know when Addi's blog is up and running!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is a big day...Alex and I are celebrating 5 years of marriage. It's really hard to believe that it has already been 5 years since that whirlwind weekend of boot camp graduation. So much has happened in this half of a decade. Though technically due to deployments, work ups, schooling, and various other things courtesy of the USMC, we've probably only actually spent maybe 2 1/2 years of it together. I'm not complaining though - any time we get to spend together is definitely better than no time. And of course, this is the life we chose. Sometimes it seems like we've experienced in 5 years what most people might not even experience in an entire lifetime. But I'm thankful for every minute of it.

It's also a big day in another way...today Alex moves back home - officially. After basically 2 years of seperation, I think we are both looking forward to being husband and wife again. And I believe we both have a better understanding of exactly what that means. I think we're looking forward to forging a new path in life together and making sure we take full advantage of all life has to offer us. The past has been wiped away and we're starting on a clean slate. There have definitely been some essential life lessons learned here and I'm sure everything we've been through will make our future that much sweeter. He is truly the cheese to my macaroni.

Here's to the first day of the rest of our lives!

And We're Off...

Now that I finally have this do-hickie up and running, I'm pretty excited! I was inspired to create a blog months ago and just never got around to actually doing anything about it. Not a lot has been going on around here - just the usual working and trying to keep up with our amazing little girl!

A little bit about us - Alex and I met in high school, so this year will be 9 years that we've been together. We will be celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary on April 25th. We've had our ups and downs, but in the end true love wins. We're learning to put the past behind us and look forward to our many adventures to come in the future...to that day when we're 80 years old, rocking in our rockers on our porch drinking sweet tea and watching our grandbabies play in the yard. I thank God every day for blessing our family with a second chance. With Him, all things truly are possible.

We welcomed our little Addisyn September 22, 2009 - 2 days after her daddy's birthday. She is too grown for her own good growing up way too fast. It's hard to believe she's already 7 months old! She amazes us every day. She's learning how to do things on her own and is sitting up all by herself like a big girl. Before too long, she'll be walking and talking and we'll be planning her 1st birthday.

Thanks for reading, hopefully it'll get a bit more interesting as I get the hang of this!