Not Playing With a Full Deck...

WIN AN IPAD!

2011-03-05T20:13:00.000-05:00

No, this isn't a spam blog... My good friends, the Maddexes are giving away an iPad! Its all for their hope in adopting Danil, a beautiful little boy living with Down Syndrome in an orphanage overseas.

There is a catch of course. You have to add to the cause by posting this link to your facebook and/or your blog and even better, give a few bucks!

So click on the link! You can get over 80 entries! Click below to see how!

http://addingtothemaddness.blogspot.com/2011/03/madd-ipad2-giveaway.html

THANKS!

Corinna Hoffman Family Photo Shoot

2011-02-13T08:04:00.000-05:00

Here's Alexsa's OFFICIAL Chair Picture for her first birthday:

We had a great time getting our pictures taken last week and Cori was great enough to have them ready for today, Alexsa's first birthday party! Check out the rest of the sweet pictures here:
http://corinnahoffman.blogspot.com/

2011-02-09 Pic of the Day!/ ALEXSA IS ONE!

2011-02-09T20:59:00.000-05:00

What a strange feeling it is when your only child turns one. Joy and sadness at the same time? I’m so excited to go through the next stage in her life, but why must it go by so fast? I had to pick her up an extra time last night before I put her down for one last hug as my little Baby Girl. When I see her again she’ll be ONE. Now we can measure her age by YEARs.  This is why parents still say “My child is 13 months” or “26 months” or whatever. It’s to hold on to that last glimpse of babyhood that we enjoy so much.

Some of her accomplishments now that she’s one:
·         She can sign “milk”, “bath”, “all-done”, “more”, “change”, and “shoes”. Change and Bath are her favorites. We’ve now had to start saying B-A-T-H when we mention it because she’ll start signing away and say “Uh?” like “Can I have one now?”
·         She is SUCH a walker. She barely will crawl at all anymore, except when she’s playing.
·         She no longer eats baby food.   She started spitting it out and squishing it through her pursed lips. At first we thought it was a taste thing, but I think she just likes the way it feels through her lips.
·         She can take off her shirt over her head if I get her arms free.
·         She can get off the couch without tumbling off. She knows HOW to climb up, but isn’t quite big enough.
·         She still only has 2 teeth!
·         She gives the best hugs.
·         She can blow you kisses.
·         She plays “How big is Alexsa?” SOO BIG!
·         If you sing Minnie Ripperton’s Lovin’ You at the “La la la la la… lalalalala… Do do do do do do do” part, she’ll finish with the high-pitched “AAAHHHHHH!!” at the end. Its adorable and makes us laugh every time.

Happy 1st Birthday, Alexsa Jade.

How old is Alexsa? "One!"

2011-02-08 Pic of the Day!

2011-02-08T19:53:00.000-05:00

Her feet are my favorite part of this picture. :)

PS I can't believe she's going to be ONE tomorrow!!!!

2011-02-04 Pic of the Day!

2011-02-08T19:50:00.000-05:00

Look what I have!

2010-01-31 Pic of the Day!

2011-01-31T20:25:00.001-05:00

Alexsa REALLY enjoyed her veggie soup tonight. :)

2010-01-29 Pic of the Day!

2011-01-31T20:23:00.001-05:00

Alexsa loves the camera. Its almost impossible to get a shot of her anymore, they seem to usually turn out like this:

Gotta love it. :)

2010-01-27 Pic of the Day!

2011-01-27T21:28:00.000-05:00

I can officially say that Alexsa is a walker! She walks all over the place like a little drunken sailor. Its adorable! So tonight before her bath I thought, How cute she would be walking around all nudy booty?
(like a Johnson and Johnson commercial.) Well as soon as I put her on the carpet she started peeing! It was just a little blip, so I didn't think much of it. I continued my quest to get a picture of her walking in the buff. Then 20 seconds later she just started GOING. On my Mom's carpet. I couldn't help but start laughing. I had the water running for the bath, a naked baby walking around willy-nilly, and now I have pee on the carpet and me laughing harder and harder trying to figure out how to simultaneously clean up the pee, take a picture of my adorable baby nekkid, and prevent her from running into the bathroom unsupervised while I sop up her mishap. This is what i ended up with:

Yep.

I think I got a picture of her stepping in it.

2010-01-22 Pic of the Day!

2011-01-26T20:45:00.000-05:00

Alexsa had her first PB & J today. :)

2010-01-19 Pic of the Day!

2011-01-19T20:32:00.000-05:00

Check out those curls! :)

2011-01-15

2011-01-17T21:20:00.000-05:00

The weather was so beautiful today! We walking over to the YMCA to check out their playground. It kind of sucked, especially for such youngin's as Alexsa, but at least they had a swing :)

She loves the swing!

Then later that day, Alexsa got her first shiner. I was doing dishes and she was in the living room w/ Barry. I heard a bang and then a cry. Poor thing!

2011-01-13 Pic of the Day!

2011-01-17T21:03:00.000-05:00

Mima's new favorite game to play w/ Alexsa:

2011-01-12 Pic of the Day!

2011-01-12T21:49:00.000-05:00

I remembered to take a picture today! YAY!

2011-1-10 Pic of the Day!

2011-01-10T20:39:00.000-05:00

Alexsa and Hiro were playing today. :)

He's so tolerant. :)

20101-01-09 Pic of the Day/11 Months!

2011-01-09T20:02:00.000-05:00

Can you believe she's 11 months old?? I'm just amazed at how fast she's growing up. I really shouldn't be; everyone said it goes by fast.
Just in the last month you've:

Really gotten better at your sign language. Your "All-Done" is very good - you actually rotate your wrists now instead of just flailing your arms. You also do "more" by banging your fists and do "change" and "milk".
You can walk! On Dec 23rd, at Allison and Dave's Christmas Cookie Party, you walked from me to Ashley, taking at least 2 independent steps!
You've become very loving and sometimes clingy to me. You are a mama's girl. :)

11 months old!

I've Got Some Good Excuses, I Swear...

2011-01-07T21:48:00.000-05:00

After the Christmas weekend, Alexsa and I caught the crappy bug that had been going around. The poor thing looked so horrible I just couldn't take her picture, and honestly, I felt so crappy I didn't even want to deal with the posting of them. Then as soon as we started feeling better, we took the plunge and moved in with my parents. I just can't believe its been a week already! Alexsa and I moved in on the 1st, where we brought over her crib and most of her toys and our clothes. The next day Barry came, and the day after the boys (aka the cats) followed. We're still getting used to not being in our own space, but I think we're all adjusting well, and its been nice to have my mom help so much. She even put her down tonight! This was the first time i was home and didn't put Alexsa down for the night. I have to admit it was hard to let it go. I don't think i'll let that happen too often. :)
Every day we've been remembering things we forgot to pack and either Barry or I would make the trip to bring a few boxes over.(it took 3 days for my deoderant to make the trip! Good thing mom had extra!). Tomorrow we're going to start packing up the rest of the junk that we really don't need but can't bear to get rid of, as well as the stuff we need to keep, but don't need (like our kitchen stuff). I put our couches on craigslist and they sold within 2 days, but we still have to make the exchange. Hopefully most things will fit at Barry's dad's house, who has graciously said we could use his house as storage. This will save us a big chunk of change in storage costs.
Our goal is to have the house rental-ready by Feb 1, but I think we'll just have it ready for the carpets by then, and hopefully use Feb to get the place a renter by March 1. I'm crossing my fingers we'll get a GOOD renter! We're going to use a service so they do a background check, etc.
Other than the sick thing and the moving thing, I really don't have any other excuses. Maybe between now and Feb 9th (Alexsa's 1st Bday!) I'll be better about taking pictures and posting them. Here's hoping!

2011-01-07 Pic of the Day!

2011-01-07T21:21:00.000-05:00

2010-12-27 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-27T20:32:00.000-05:00

Guess she's getting too big for her activity table; she's finding a new way to play with it!

"Ta-da!"

2010-12-22 thru 12-26 Pics of the Day!

2010-12-27T07:05:00.002-05:00

You would think due to it being Christmas that I would have a bazillion photos... but I don't. In fact, I only took 3, all weekend. So here they are:

Alexsa belting it out on her new piano/karaoke toy from James' clan! (12/26)

The Swedlows with Barry's BFF Shawn and his fiance, Angela

mmm... SPOON!

2010-12-23 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-23T21:31:00.000-05:00

Aunt Christy gave Alexsa this outfit for Christmas! The peacoat is just adorable!!!

2010-12-22 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-22T22:40:00.000-05:00

This was Alexsa's Christmas present from Mima and Papa :) She loves making it whiny and dances when it plays "Oh Susanna" :)

2010-12-21 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-21T21:18:00.000-05:00

Alexsa got curious and fell into the tree... :)

(This is from Christy's camera from Sunday. Didn't get any pictures today since we were at my parent's house for the first Tuesday night dinner after them being back in town. They had been living up north with my grandpa until he passed.)

2010-12-20 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-20T20:15:00.001-05:00

I love this face!

2010-12-19 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-19T22:09:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrated Christmas at my sister's house. Santa came a week early because her step son will be at his Mom's for christmas, so we had Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, opened presents and took some photos. Most of the good pictures are on my sister's camera, but here's the best one I took w/ my camera:

2010-12-18 Pics of the Day!

2010-12-18T21:54:00.000-05:00

On a playground in Clermont, FL during a visit with family - Aunt Idalia and Uncle Bob and cousins Charissa and Kenny.

Getting ready to go down the BIG slide!

Wish this wasn't blurry! Check out her closed eyes. :)

2010-12-17 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-17T20:58:00.000-05:00

2010-12-16 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-16T21:43:00.000-05:00

We don't have enough pictures of Alexsa and Barry's Dad... so we took one today. :)

Alexsa and Grandpa!

2010-12-15 Pics of the Day!

2010-12-16T21:42:00.000-05:00

Alexsa and I stood in like for almost 2 solid hours last night to go see Santa for the first time. She was SO good, as usual :) I was kinda hoping for a crying shot, but she remained her cool self and just rolled w/ the Big Guy :).

Sizing each other up.

Best Buds

2010-12-14 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-14T20:50:00.000-05:00

SUPER ALEXSA!

(I'm laying on the floor taking this picture.)

2010-12-13 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-13T20:48:00.000-05:00

Bath time! I remembered to bring the camera with me. I had fun with her hair ;)

2010-12-12 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-12T22:01:00.000-05:00

Our friends Dave and Jen hosted a family Christmas dinner party tonight. We had a great time! Here is the only picture I got of Alexsa looking at the camera, but its a great one of "Aunt' Adey and her favorite girl.

2010-12-11 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

Alexsa: Hey, Mom... I learned a joke today. Wanna hear it?
Me:      Sure, Hon!
A:        OK! "Do you like Seafood?"
Me:      I do!
A:        See FOOD! GET IT? HA!

2010-12-10 Pic of the Day!

2010-12-12T11:36:00.001-05:00

I got this cute hat up north, but it looks better on Alexsa. :)

Ok, so I know there's 2 "Pics of the Day" for the 10th, but the previous post really was intended for the 9th, so that's my excuse for this cutie picture.

2010-12-10* Pic of the Day/Happy 10 Months!

2010-12-10T20:08:00.031-05:00

*We didn't get a chance to take your chair pictures yesterday :( Sorry we're a day late!

I can't believe you're so big!! And I can't believe what a slacker i've been... I hope I can remember all the things you've learned in the last few months...

At 10 months, you can:

Hold your own bottle, yet you choose not to. Ms. Diva prefers that someone feeds you.
Use a sippy cup while sitting in your car seat. Anywhere else you can't stay still long enough to actually enjoy your drink.
Stand for a few seconds at a time before either falling or setting yourself down.
You're too tall to stand under the table anymore, but you haven't figured that out yet so you keep hitting your head. Silly girl.
For some STRANGE reason, you love to drink your bath water. Just tonight you starting sticking your tongue under the running water - maybe you've watched the cats do it?
98% of the time you go down for naps and bed without any fuss and you still sleep through the night. (Thank you!!) Currently you go to bed around 7:30 and sleep for 11-12 hrs.
Normally you're down to 2 naps. Sometimes you'll go down for a 3rd, but if you do its not very long.
Just today you started making a fishy kiss face - So cute!
You mimic many many sounds. You like to mimic the cats' meows too, which is really cute. You've repeated us when we've said ball ("Ba"), book ("ook"), and cat ("Ka") but you probably aren't saying the words yet, just repeating the sound.
EVERY time i ask you to say Mama, you say Dada! Its not very nice, you know :)
You are a bundle of energy. You crawl around and are pretty quick. You LOVE to laugh. I wish I could bottle your laughter and share it with the world. Its infectious.
You scream. It drives Daddy and I CRAZY. You scream so loud my eardrums hurt, and although most of the time its for a reason (dirty, hungry, sleepy, etc), sometimes its for no reason at all except to hear yourself scream. Daddy and I would GREATLY appreciate you getting over the screaming thing. Like now. Thanks.
In the last week or so you've started to pick things up to put them in boxes and buckets and other things.
My favorite part of the day is when I take that last step on top of the stairs, turn the corner and see you standing at the gate, squealing with delight when you see my face.

Happy 10 months, Baby Girl!

Pic of the Day Hiatus

2010-12-06T21:42:00.000-05:00

Because of our unexpected trip to Chicago, the pics of the day got ignored... And now I'm just not in the mood to post 1 each day, so i'm going to be lazy and just post all the pictures from last week to my FB...

I'll post about Grandpa when I get a few moments and I'm up for it... just not quite ready yet.

2010-11-29 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-29T21:19:00.000-05:00

I'm packing my bag for up north. (My Grandpa is in his last days). I had to start with the most important thing! Alexsa!

2010-11-28 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-28T21:10:00.000-05:00

Alexsa scuplted a swan from her chewed puff bits. it landed on her nose. :)

Aubrey and Alexsa!

2010-11-27 Pics of the Day!

2010-11-28T21:05:00.000-05:00

Saturday we went to MOSI for a few hours. They're showing Harry Potter on their IMAX so they've got some HP stuff around. Here is Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall. :)

Afterwards, we went back to Rachel's and relaxed...

That tongue!

2010-11-26 Pics of the Day!

2010-11-28T21:00:00.000-05:00

On Friday we travelled to Sarasota to visit with some cousins that were in town (Valerie, Aaron, Lyra Gabe, and Noni!) We met at the Ringing Circus Museum where Noni volunteers and spend a few hours walking around and talking before all but Noni had to catch a flight back home. I wish I had gotten some pictures of them and us together, but unfortunately it slipped my mind.

One of my new favs... On the way down there :)

Take the time to stop and lick the roses.

My attempt at a christmas picture for the Christmas Card...

2010-11-25 Pics of the Day/Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-28T20:48:00.001-05:00

The Swedlow family drove down to Tampa for a long Thanksgiving weekend. As per usual, we stayed at Rachel's, but for the actual day Rachel went to Sarasota to visit with some cousins, and we went to Safety Harbor and had a DELICIOUS Thanksgiving feast with the Gallers. Angelle did a fantastic job and even gave us some leftovers - YUM! Thanks Angelle, for a great day! Here's the day in pictures:

Spending some time w/ Aunt Rachel before we split for the day.

Adam and Alexsa playing together!

Adam loves his mommy's cooking!

And so did Alexsa!

Barry enjoyed it too... this was after round 1. Yes, he's sleeping w/ his eyes open. ACK!

This is my favorite picture of the day! SO cute! Mike and Addie ready for a Cowboys WIN!

On the way to the park!

Starting her young!

WAHOO!

I can't believe i didn't get any pictures of the Galler Girls! :( They were there too....

Thanks again, Angelle for a great day!

2010-11-24 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-28T19:59:00.000-05:00

Sporting another pair of adorable leg warmers :)

2010-11-23 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-23T21:30:00.000-05:00

I was blowdrying my hair this morning when I looked down to see this! Here she's clapping at herself - she was so proud!

I had other pictures, but for some reason they won't upload...

2010-11-22 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-22T21:45:00.000-05:00

I tried to give her green beans tonight. the real ones, not pureed... She was making the funniest faces - I don't think she's quite ready for them, but it made for a cute picture. :)

2010-11-21 Pics of the Day!

2010-11-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

We have these chairs on their sides all around the house to create a 'safe zone' for Alexsa. After months of this chair being here, she somehow figured out how to get on the other side of it...

Look at my big girl feeding herself! (This lasted about 2 minutes before i glanced back at her to see her dumping the formula all over the carpet while trying to soothe her gums with the bottom of the glass bottle.

2010-11-20 Pics of the Day!

2010-11-20T23:07:00.001-05:00

Today was a fun-filled day! After Alexsa's morning nap, we headed to the zoo for her first trip (and to use our GROUPON!) with my sister Christy and BIL Keith. Christy took most of the pictures, so i'll post some more when she puts them on FB... We saw all sorts of animals and even went to the petting zoo and pet the goats. Of all that, her favorite part was washing her hands after hanging out w/ the goats! We went into the Discovery Center so she could crawl a bit and I dressed her up like a Giraffe:

Alexsa actually fell asleep in her stroller! I couldn't believe it. She was so tired. So we left the zoo and drove to Orange Park so barry could climb a bit. While Barry climbed, we played with Evan's toys and went on her first Radio Flyer ride! She absolutely LOVED it. Hopefully Mima and Papa will get her one for her birthday :)

Lost in conversation

She looks frightened, but she was screaming with excitement!

After the wagon ride she got pushed around in this car - could be another bday gift idea! she really had fun with it.

This thing is sweet, but not as sweet as my Mustang...

Checking her mirrors...

After playing with Evan's car at Dave and Jen's we headed to St. Augustine for their lighting of the Nights of Lights. We didn't get there to watch the actual lighting, but at least we got to walk around and enjoy the people watching and music and of course the lights. Alexsa was so good up to the very end. We're so lucky to have such a laid back little girl.

I love this picture of Barry, Jen and Penny in the background laughing :)

My Cutie in her hoodie. :)

2010-11-19 2nd Pic of the Day!

2010-11-20T22:30:00.000-05:00

2010-11-19 1st Pic of the Day

2010-11-19T06:40:00.000-05:00

I was at work then a work function yesterday ALL day, so in the very short time I saw her yesterday morning, there wasn't time for a picture. I'll try and do 2 today, since she was up at 5:15...

She's even cute at 5:30 in the morning. :) Silly face!

2010-11-16 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-16T21:02:00.000-05:00

Waiting for the Doctor!

We went to Alexsa's 9 month wellness check today. Here are her stats:

Weight: 17lb 7 oz (25%)

Height: 28 1/2 in (75%)

Head Cir: 44cm (50%)

The doctor said she's doing great! We gave her a DTAP vaccine, even though she seemed to have a little cold. Other than that it was a normal check up w/ nothing interesting to report. :)

2010-11-14 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-14T22:44:00.000-05:00

Playing in the laundry basket :)

2010-11-13 Pics of the Day!

2010-11-14T22:42:00.000-05:00

I let Alexsa 'paint' with her food. She had a pretty good time. :)

She wasn't happy with me after I wiped her face.

2010-11-12 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-14T22:36:00.000-05:00

Of course she wouldn't sit still long enough to take a decent picture...

2010-11-10 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-14T22:33:00.000-05:00

A stand in :)

9 Months Old!

2010-11-09T21:14:00.001-05:00

Happy 9 months! (I had to hold her w/ my foot - she wouldn't sit still!)

1. What’s her middle name? Jade

2. What food will she eat every time? Everything! She does love her puffs though.

3. Describe a usual lunch for her: 7oz of formula with oats, then a portion of babyfood

4. What’s her favorite drink? Similac Sensitive

5. What is her favorite song? She LOVES Dean Martin and Harry Belafonte.
6. What milestone has she recently achieved? She just cut her first tooth!

7. What milestone is she working on? Standing without help and cruising.

8. How many teeth does she have? just one is peaking through

9. What are her favorite toys? Her Lovey Cow, and her activity table

10. When’s her naptime? sometime around 10, then again around 2.

11. When’s her bedtime? 7:30-8pm

15. What’s her bedtime routine? Bedtime bottle, change into a clean diaper and jammie, a book, then she comes with me to turn off the lights and sing a lulliby. She usually goes right down.
16. Besides the obvious, what’s in her bed at night? her lovey, a yellow cow rag that Cousin Valerie and Lyra gave to her.

17. When is her happiest time of the day? almost all the time! but she's really adorable in the mornings.
18. What can make her laugh 100% of the time? Mommy walking in the door from work :)

19. What makes her mad 100% of the time? Wiping her face after she eats

20. What does she do to make others smile? Laugh, give kisses, play "I'm gonna getcha!"
21. What does she do that drives Mommy crazy? Screams like a banchee. UGH.

22. What words/sounds is she making? She says Bababa, Gagaga, Dadada. She also loves to make raspberries.

23. Any signs yet? she used to do milk but not so much anymore. She does All done.

24. Who are her biggest fans? Mommy and Daddy of course! But I'd say everyone pretty much loves her. She's especially fond of her Aunts Christy, Denise, and Rachel.

25. What is her most notable physical feature? Everyone comments on her long eyelashes and beautiful blue eyes.

2010-11-09 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-09T20:23:00.000-05:00

She looked super cute when we went to BJ's tonight, but she wouldn't stop screaming! This is mid-scream:

2010-11-08 Pics of the Day!

2010-11-08T19:03:00.001-05:00

Daddy dressed Alexsa today!

Yes, that is a Santa onsie in early November, pink and grey pants and purple socks. He told me earlier she had leg warmers on too!

Alexsa is getting ready to go to Aunt Christy's for a few hours so Barry and I can go out to dinner. :) She looked so cute in her coat!

2010-11-07 Pics of the Day!

2010-11-08T18:59:00.000-05:00

Sunday we spent the day with Rachel! We relaxed in the morning, then headed to Acropolis in Ybor for some yummy greek food. Alexsa had Babaganoush and ate her fair share of the yummy appitizer. After we hopped over to Ikea for some always oh-so-awesome shopping. I can always find at least 3234645 things I like there. :)

Alexsa's watching Sunday Morning in her leg warmers :) She's going to try out for Fame later.

At the restaurant. She looked so pretty in the natural light.

Giving "Aunt" Rachel kisses. :)

Didn't get any pics at Ikea, but we had a great time, then headed back to Jacksonville!

2010-11-06 Pics of the Day!

2010-11-08T18:45:00.003-05:00

Wow... 2 days without a picture! I'm such a bad mommy... Oh well, moving on ...

On Friday Alexsa and I drove to Tampa to visit with my cousin Rachel and to go to Adam's 1st birthday party! It was a train theme, and the kids 'took' a train to the playground! It was absolutely adorable.

At the playground... :)

Alexsa LOVES to swing!

The older 'kids' took the train back to the house. :)

Alexsa playing with Mike

It was a great day! A big THANKS to Angelle for throwing a great birthday party for Addie.

2010-11-03 Pics of the Day!

2010-11-03T20:53:00.000-04:00

Last week I purchased some adorable leg warmers from http://www.mamabargains.com/. I love this site and visit it multiple times a day to see what the latest deal is. Well I got them in today! I couldn't wait to bring them home and play dressup with Alexsa. Here's just 1 of the 5 pairs I got.

2010-11-02 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-02T21:37:00.000-04:00

OK, well this is from Sunday, but it was on my sister's camera and she just sent it to me. Its worth the wait! HA!

2010-11-01 Pic of the Day!

2010-11-01T22:10:00.000-04:00

Biting the Bullet

2010-11-01T15:58:00.001-04:00

We are so blessed. We have a roof over our heads in a gated community in an area of town that is good for kids and close to pretty much everything. We have family and friends that live within an hour's drive. Every time there's a crazy rain storm outside, I just breathe a little sigh of thanks that I am indoors and dry, watching TV on my flat screen, or doing dishes with hot water. Our bills are paid on time, and I have gas in my car to take me wherever I want to take myself. But at the end of the month, its been getting just a BIT too close for comfort, and frankly, I'm not used to saying "I can't" when friends want to do something fun that involves money.

So, Barry and I are biting the bullet. We have set a target date of Jan 1, 2011 to move in to my parents house. Its actually been talked about for a few months now, but daily life gets in the way and we've probably been ignoring the need. I am so grateful that I have amazing parents that are not only willing, but seem genuinely excited about having 3 more mouths to feed. My dad said something about "multi-generational" living or something like that. Mom is excited that Barry will be helping her cook (our "Rent" is that Barry has too cook one meal a week.)

Its going to be challenging. For silly reasons like being used to walking around in our skivvies (or less) and having our own space to lounge and kiss and play. For not-so-silly reasons like differences of opinion when it comes to where we should be spending our time on Sunday mornings. But I need to remember that my parents are much more open than I ever give them credit for, and that they respect us as parents ourselves. We'll need to remember that its only temporary, and will help us tremendously in saving money towards a house of our own.

Once we are moved out, our home will be going on the market for Rent. We had a carpet guy come and measure today; as soon as we move the furniture they'll be in there replacing the carpet. Unfortunately, we won't be able to get close to what our mortgage is, but at least it'll help. I'm fairly confident that we won't have any trouble finding a renter.

UGH. Its hard to ask for help. But we're so lucky to have family that is ready and willing to lift you up.

2010-10-31 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-31T23:12:00.000-04:00

Glinda the Good Witch!

She's a sleepy witch, even before we went trick-or-treating!

2010-10-30 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-31T23:00:00.002-04:00

Taken by my sister at Aubrey's baptism :)

2010-10-29 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-30T22:14:00.000-04:00

*I wish this came out clearer. She was having so much fun with the doors. I love how she discovers new things... and opening (and then closing, then opening, etc.) the door is something she loves to do!

Small Joys

2010-10-28T10:01:00.000-04:00

Its the little things in life that bring me joy. One of those things I thought I lost was Starbucks coffee. When you're on a tight budget, Starbucks is one of the first things to go.

I found out last week that the cafe across the street sells pour-yourself Starbucks coffee, complete with flavored syrups! I splurged a $1.69 and got one. YUM. (PS The coffee they make here at work is like black water - weak!) Then a co-worker gave me a coupon for a free coffee YAY! So the next day I went back for FREE yummy coffee and when I checked out the cashier handed me ANOTHER coupon.

WHAT?

So now, every morning I go and get free starbucks: half-caff, 3-pumps hazelnut, 2 creams, 2 sugars coffee. And the cashier hands me a coupon for the next day.

Yay!

2010-10-27 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-27T20:20:00.000-04:00

Umm... Alexsa? You got a little something... nevermind.

No More Treatments

2010-10-26T15:24:00.002-04:00

I mentioned a while back about Grandpa and his cancer. Well he went through his radiation only to slow the cancer down. After that he decided to try chemotherapy in 3 doses, 3 weeks apart. The first dose (about 3 weeks ago) really knocked him on his ass and hasn't been the same since. He's been in and out of the hospital, and finally came home last week. He's been on different drugs for various things (fluid in his lungs, pains in his wrist and shoulder, etc). He's started to get confused by the time. He wakes up in the middle of the night thinking its morning, or tries to take his evening meds an hour after taking them, not remembering that he's already taken them. My aunt, who's been staying there with him, thought it might be the percocet, so they switched to vicodin. The pain management got better (which is good) but the loopiness didn't really go away.

Grandpa with his 3 kids

They had an appointment last week to discuss options, and Grandpa and the doctors decided not to continue with the treatments. For the first time, the doctor gave a timeline: 1-9 months. They brought up Hospice, and today, he reluctantly signed up.

I've been reading the daily email updates from my aunt and talking about it with my family, and I've been pretty calm about it. It wasn't until I read the last email, with the subject "No More Treatments" that its really hitting me that I'll never see him alive again. I'll never feel another bear hug that almost squeeze the air out of your lungs. I'll miss our card games with the "Ik - Ik - LaBOO!" curses after being given a bad card.

At Grandpa's 80th Birthday Party

Grandpa has always been the stone foundation of our family. The house on the lake has been the place to be for anything from July 4th celebrations to Just-Because bonfires and summer parties. What's to become of the house? Will it even be the same without its heart? How do you say goodbye to your last living Grandparent?

I wonder how he's feeling. Is he sad to be leaving all of us behind? Is the thought of being with Grandma again comforting at all? He loves life more than anyone I know. Is that love so strong that the thought of death terrifying? I worry about him. I want to hug him and tell him its OK, but at the same time, I'm being selfish. I haven't talked to him in a few months. During the end of my Grandma's life, we went to visit for Thanksgiving. She wasn't the same person. She didn't talk, and due to the steroids was about 50 pounds heavier. Will Grandpa be the same? They have skype, but again - will he even look the same? I want to remember him as the smiling leprechaun that gave us $10 whenever we went to walmart and bought me my first bikini behind my Dad's back.

2010-10-25 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-25T21:59:00.000-04:00

"I'm sooo scared..." (Blair Witch, get it?)

BIG SMILES!

Notice her snaps are un snapped? That's because daddy put her in a size 3 month onsie and it was too small!

2010-10-24 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-25T21:53:00.000-04:00

It was my church's annual bazaar this weekend! Denise and I took the girls down their first slide ride. The Moms freaked out a bit - it was WAY faster than we thought it would be. The girls didn't seem to care one way or another!

2010-10-23 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-25T21:48:00.000-04:00

I have been trying to get a picture of this for weeks! This is how she holds her binky sometimes. Upside down with her bottom lip sticking out. Its flipping adorable :)

2010-10-22 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-23T00:12:00.000-04:00

Check out her track suit! HA!! Aunt Nichole bought that for her - its size 12 months!!! ahhh!!

My sweet neice Aubrey Grace. This was right before I made her cry... :( (in my defense she was hungry!)

2010-10-21 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-23T00:07:00.000-04:00

I haven't taken a picture of Alexsa in her car seat recently. She's getting so big!!

After her bath, beautiful as ever :)

2010-10-20 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-20T22:15:00.000-04:00

Alexsa insists on feeding herself!

Heehee...

2010-10-18 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-19T21:06:00.000-04:00

I've finally started bouncing in my bouncer!! (Not that you can tell from the picture, but still...)

2010-10-17 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-19T21:02:00.000-04:00

Sunday we had breakfast together before Barry, Alexsa, Grandpa and Abuelita went to MOSI for a bit (again - free with our MOSH passes! yay!)

Alexsa loves her "Aunt" Rachel!

This is just one of the hundreds of things for the kids to do. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything for Alexsa to roam free, but the Adults defintitely had a good time! And she enjoyed looking at everything.

2010-10-16 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-18T21:12:00.000-04:00

We went to the Pumpkin Patch today! Alexsa wasn't very interested in the camera at all... I could barely get her to look towards the camera.

Alexsa, Mya & Max

Cousins!
Rachel, Mya, Stephanie, Max, Barry, Mandi, & Alexsa

Happy Halloween from the Swedlows!

2010-10-15 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-18T21:04:00.000-04:00

Most of the day today was spent with The Gallers! Have I mentioned that I'm so glad they now live in Florida and are only a few hours away? :) First we went to The Lucky Dill Deli for lunch. It definitely has Triple D potential.

Alexsa is working on her pincer grip at lunch

Afterwards we went to Great Explorations Children's Museum. Because we have the year passes to MOSH, we got in for free! YAY! It was awesome! They had a fenced in baby area and Alexsa was able to crawl around and explore and socialize with other kids.

They had a music hour. Alexsa mostly liked to chew the tambourine.

Row Row Row your boat!

Leah's insides!

Adam on stage (I love this picture! :))

She's testing out the "bernoulli effect"

Barry being a good sport so i could get a cute shot of Alexsa :)

It was great to spend some time w/ Angelle, but as always it went by too fast. Luckily we'll be back in a few weeks for Adam's Bday. :)

2010-10-14 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-18T20:42:00.000-04:00

We travelled to Tampa to visit with friends and family for a long weekend on Thursday! For some reason, I only took this one picture today. I guess I was so excited to see everyone. :)

On the left is Alexsa's cousin Mya, and "Grandma Sharon" is feeding Alexsa. Sharon is Barry's Aunt. :)

2010-10-13 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-13T20:48:00.000-04:00

Alexsa looks like her Aunt Denise here :) So pretty!

I gave Alexsa her first puffs today. she did pretty good with them :)

2010-10-12 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-12T19:59:00.000-04:00

Look at how tall she's getting! Remember here when I first caught her standing in her crib?

2010-10-11 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

Alexsa met a new friend today! A co-worker's daughter, Sarah, is 11 months old - exactly 3 months older than Alexsa. We went to lunch then went to a park!

It was Alexsa's first time in a park swing and she loved it! She laughed and laughed :)

Sarah climbed 1/2 way UP the slide! Go girl!

It was impossible to get them to BOTH look at the camera.

I really liked the park's "grass". it was some sort of turf w/ small tire pieces. I was comfortable letting alexsa crawl around on it and not worried about ants.

Thanks, Ashley, for introducing this park to us! We'll be back!

2010-10-10 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-11T20:33:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately this was the only picture I took of Alexsa on Sunday! She has 2 new favorite 'toys'. first - her diapers. She loves them. and second - plastic bags! She collect them from the floor and carry them arround then sit and shake them like pom-poms! And yes, I make sure to keep a close eye on her when she plays with them. :)

2010-10-09 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-09T20:34:00.001-04:00

Happy 8 months Alexsa!

Waiting for Papa at Cracker Barrel :)

We had lunch with Papa today, back from Bolivia! (Doesn't he look like a mountain man? I like the scruff!)

Sleep Update

2010-10-09T09:46:00.000-04:00

I finally thought, with these ear plugs, that if I go lie in bed, maybe I'll not hear her.(I'm farther away) I crawled into bed and buried my head in the pillow when Barry put his hand on my back. I lost it. I broke, started crying. Luckily, shortly after I started talkinig to barry about it, she fell asleep. It was about 1:30. We (Barry and I) woke up shortly before 8:30 thinking that we should wake her up when she started waking up.

I was happy to see when I walked in her room and she was smiling. She still loves me... that's good. :)

8 Month Sleep Regression

2010-10-09T01:16:00.000-04:00

After being an angel sleeper since she was 8 weeks old, Alexsa has decided to rebel at full force. For about a week now, she's been waking up in the middle of the night. Sometimes its for a few hours at a time, sometimes it was just to be rocked back to sleep. Some nights are better than others. Well, I thought the night before last was the worst. Up from from 11:30 to 1, then from 2-3:30, then again at 5. The last night was just a play hour from 12-2... Then she slept until 10:30!!!! So i was afraid tonight would be bad. Well, here we are, 1:04 AM, and she's only slept in 2 small spurts since 3:00. She went down at her normal time, around 8:00, but woke up at 8:45. I decided to take her with me to go to the airport to pick up my Dad (back from Bolivia!) so she was up the whole time, and finally fell asleep on the way home, which was about a 30 minute ride. We got home at 11:45ish and she's been crying ever since. I read that this is called Sleep Regression. They're little bodies and brains are going through such a hugh developmental push that they just can't take it and don't sleep. So what do they suggest to help? Sleep. Well no shit. If i could get her to sleep we wouldn't be having this conversation, now would we?

I'm sitting here with ear plugs in my ears and I still hear my baby wailing. Its breaking my heart. I need her to sleep and i can't think of another way except to let her tire herself out - i've tried everything else: We rocked, she won't take a bottle, I gave her teething tablets, we took a lavender bath, I gave her tylenol, i just let her play.... nothing soothed her for more than a few minutes. She doesn't want to be held, yet she doesn't want to be too far from you... I feel like a horrible mother with these plugs in my ears, but its the only way i'm not walking in there every 5 minutes. its now been 13 or so and i think she's finally calming down, then she goes for round 2. Its a good thing you can't hear this blog...

*sigh*

2010-10-08 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-08T19:16:00.000-04:00

The ducks were ready for some bread today!

And one took a nibble of Alexsa's toe! I screamed a bit, but she didn't even notice. :)

2010-10-07 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-07T21:08:00.001-04:00

Thought we'd try out the sippy cup tonight! She kinda gets it...

But we still have to work out some kinks...

And here's another 'new' outfit from the closet. I had to get a picture of her little feet and tushy covered in all those hearts. :)

2010-10-06 Pic of the Day!

2010-10-07T21:02:00.002-04:00

I brought down Alexsa's 12 month clothes. And, even though they're still way too big, I had to put her in some jeans. SOOOO adorable! :)

2010-10-05 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-05T19:41:00.000-04:00

All Done!!

Click on this one for enlarged cuteness :)

2010-10-04 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-04T20:18:00.000-04:00

I didn't get any pictures (of Alexsa) all weekend! Barry and I went to Orlando for a Paradigm reunion and Alexsa stayed with Mima. We had a blast, but I'm glad to be back w/ my baby girl. I think she's glad to be back with me too, because she was soooo hyper tonight. She almost never stopped laughing!

Here's a preview of what her chair comparison pic will be like on the 9th. SOOO Big. :)

2010-10-01 Pics of the Day!

2010-10-01T16:11:00.000-04:00

Alexsa spent the day at Mima's and she got dirty playing so hard all day! So we gave her a little sponge bath before we left. She looks so big in the sink!

Check out my big girl holding her own bottle. What a princess. :)

2010-09-29 Pic of the Day!

2010-09-29T19:37:00.000-04:00

Auntie Nichole came to visit today! Even though you've only seen her a few times, you took to her pretty quickly! Its a good thing because she's pretty smitten with you, too. :)

2010-09-28 Pic of the Day!

2010-09-28T20:42:00.001-04:00

Alexsa is explaining the ways of the world to Aubrey:

Lucky Bum

2010-09-28T10:53:00.001-04:00

This morning I went to get my new favorite breakfast – a Cuban toast w/ Café Con Leche at this great place around the block from my office. It’s a delicious coffee and it doesn’t make me jittery like normal coffee does. A bum stops me on the way back and asks if I could spare some money for food. So here I am, holding a bag that’s obviously filled with food, and a cup with my delicious coffee and I’m put to the test. I always tell myself that if I’m stopped, I’d gladly give a bum any food I had, but I wouldn’t give them any money “to waste away on booze”. (Working downtown, you have to think about these things)

So I give the bum my coffee. My delicious café con leche that actually tastes like coffee, unlike the brown water that they pour here at the office. He surprisingly asks, “You don’t want it?” I hesitate… smile, then say “Well, you can have it.” So as I walk away, thinking I should feel happy and proud for being selfless, all I can think about is how pissed I am now that I don’t have my dang coffee.

Not 30 seconds later a second bum asks the same exact question, like they taught at Bum School: “Could you spare some money for food?”. I just frown and point to the guy behind us… “sorry, just gave him my coffee.” And keep walking. Shoulda been quicker, dude, or you’d be drinking my café con leche…

2010-09-27 Pic of the Day!

2010-09-27T20:49:00.000-04:00

This isn't the best picture, but I had to capture it. Alexsa is giving me kisses!!! My heart melted all over again...

*MUAH!*

I don't know if I've posted this before, but this is Alexsa's go-to stance. I call it her 'kickstand' stance :)

2010-9/24-9/26 Pics

2010-09-27T20:36:00.000-04:00

I really slacked this weekend w/ the pictures. On Friday I actually only saw Alexsa in the morning and didn't take any pictures then. Alexsa spent the night at Aunt Christy's house while Barry and I spend the evening at my friend Nichole's place for an awesome cheese and wine dinner (more on that later). Saturday we slept in until 9:45(!!!!!!) got up and around and picked up alexsa about noon. After spending some time at my sisters, driving home (about 30 minutes) and getting Alexsa down for her afternoon nap, there wasn't much time to get any pictures Saturday either! But I did get some shots of her playing with her new favorite toy:

"Mom, that's just mean..."

But I think its funny!

Lets blow this popsicle stand. I'm taking the diaper with me.

Its almost impossible to keep her still! (notice she's 1/2 dressed.)

Sunday we were getting ready for a bike ride (yay!) and making sure the house was suitable for our friend Adey and her boys to watch Alexsa. I ended up with a horrible headache so I did all I could to get through the night of her love screams until it was time for bed.

2010-09-23 Pic of the Day!

2010-09-23T21:16:00.000-04:00

Green Beans! YUM!

2010-09-22 Pic of the Day!

2010-09-23T06:31:00.000-04:00

Can you come up w/ your own caption? :)

2010-09-21 Pic of the Day!

2010-09-21T20:52:00.000-04:00

Starting 'em young... :)

2010-09-20 Pic of the Day!

2010-09-20T22:02:00.000-04:00