Spreading Cheer

I just had to post this picture of my girl. Some days I get more into dressing her than others and I always think she's cute in this outfit. We went out to run a few errands at the mall during lunch and she made almost every person we passed smile. She was being so happy and sweet. Then we got home and I put her down for her afternoon nap which she spent playing in her crib so by about 5 o'clock most of the sweetness was gone. At least she brightened a few people's day! I don't mind it too much in the end because when she is really tired she'll let me rock her to sleep and that is hard to beat. :)

Come and Get It

 

This is a great visual of what it is like to get a picture of Addie lately. I put her far away and start trying to get a good shot before she gets to me & the camera.

One funny story from the week - we went to Best Buy on Monday to check out portable DVD players for our next vacation. I was keeping Addie "quiet" and somewhat occupied with Cheerios. She'd squawk a little, I'd put a Cheerio in her mouth, and then she'd be busy chewing it for a while. The cycle simply repeated as we strolled around the store. At one point I was about to leave her with Anthony and they were both "talking" to me at the same time (I say this because Anthony doesn't seem to realize that when Addie is whining for something his words simply sound like extra noise to me.) Without even realizing what I was doing, I tried to stick a Cheerio in Anthony's mouth. He kept talking and I still didn't realize what I was doing until he was like, "Julie! I don't want a Cheerio!" I'm sure anyone watching got a nice kick out of my insanity. Man...wouldn't it be cool if that worked for him like it does Addie?

Flower Power

 

Who can say no to a face like that?

Too Much Time on My Hands?

Which Napoleon Dynamite Character Are You?

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you? (pics)
Summer You are Summer Wheatley! Congratulations! You're the most popular kid in high school! You are the leader in style within your circle of friends. You are a natural leader and you enjoy attention, especially from the opposite sex!
Take The Quiz Now!	Quizzes by myYearbook.com

Pearls of Wisdom

This will always be one of my favorite pictures of my dad and Addie. This was just minutes after she was born and we were hanging out in the recovery room. I was so glad he could be there to meet my little girl! I am so lucky to have a great father who is always there to give love, support, and advice. Here are ten little jewels my dad has passed on to me in honor of Father's Day.

1. How to wash a car.
2. How to buy a car.
3. How to change a tire.
4. How to use the cell phone to call someone else to change the tire.
5. That if I couldn’t chew with my mouth closed I deserved to eat with the dog.
6. Not to watch garbage on TV.
7. That I am ten times more likely to get into a head on collision by driving in the left lane.
8. There is nothing we can’t fix.
9. The people who don’t love me just don’t know me. :)
10. If Mom says no, just ask Dad.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad as well as all the dads who read this!

Grandma Clarkson's B-day

 
 
 
 

Amber just sent me these pictures so I have to blog this even though it happened on the 7th. While I was in Texas we celebrated Grandma Clarkson's 74th birthday at Lupe Tortilla in Houston. There were only 3 of the 6 grandkids there, but you'd never have known it because Addie was yelling the entire time. Not crying or whining, just yelling. Maybe it was the Mexican background music or something. She was a wild woman. In one of these pictures I have a straw of water to her mouth. That was the best way to keep her quiet! She looked really cute too, just didn't act that way. These pictures are me, Addie, Grandma, Grandad, Nana, and Emma. My fake smile in picture #1 says it all. I love the picture of Grandad. He's so good! I guess that's why Addie is named after his Grandmother!

Icky Grass

 

We set Addie in the grass while we were at the park and she didn't really know what to think. I always love the way babies react to grass. Addie sat with one foot off the ground for most of the time. :)

Daddy Daughter Time

 
 
 
 

Anthony is in the SICU this month, which means he is really busy but also has random days off. Soooo, we took advantage and went to City Park yesterday afternoon. The weather has been so nice and it is suppose to warm up this weekend so we are trying to enjoy it. City Park is actually one of my favorite parks in Iowa City because of the river running through it and large Weeping Willow trees, but oddly enough it also has some mini-carnival rides. I never really noticed because I didn't have any children to entertain, but you can ride several different rides for a mere 75 cents each. I actually think the majority of them would scare my children more than entertain, but there is a train that is pretty cool so Anthony took Addie for a ride. She liked the wind blowing in her hair and seemed to enjoy it. I stood back so that I could get pictures.

The whole time I just couldn't stop wondering why this guy in the red shirt driving the train (who looks to be maybe 35-40) didn't have anything better to do with his time than operate sub-par carny rides at a city park. At first glance I totally judged him, but then I wondered what it might be like to not be concerned about paying bills, climbing the corporate ladder (there was a ferris wheel he could climb, but only about 15 feet tall), cleaning my house to perfection, retirement planning, and all of the other "stuff" Anthony and I keep ourselves busy with. I guess it takes all kinds. Even when Anthony got off the train, the first thing he asked me was if I got a picture of the carny. I guess it's a good thing we are the same "kind!"

"Swimming"

 
 
 
 

Yesterday Kristi and Julia McCord came over for lunch and "swimming" in the smallest pool ever. Addie and Julia had a lot of fun splashing around. I love some of the expressions Addie makes when she's looking at Julia. Julia is 3 1/2 months younger than she is but she seemed more excited about the water than Addie. The last picture is Addie "begging" for bits of my sandwich. After she'd been in the pool for a while she kept trying to get out to see the grass, which of course let the water out. As soon as she actually got to touch the grass, she really made a funny face but I didn't get that on camera. She'd get excited about something and accidentally stick one foot in the grass. Then she'd look at the grass like it had said something really offensive. Pretty funny.

Swimming!

After a few apprehensive swimming outings, Addie has finally started enjoying the pool. It helps that she has fun cousins around and a few cool toys. She's still pretty timid, but I catch her laughing and splashing around after a while. The most fun is seeing her chubby little self in a swimsuit. The worst is seeing my chubby little self in a swimsuit! Please excuse the insanely white legs in the picture. Iowa has given me a whole new shade of whiteness. We are still in Texas so I'm also posting a few pictures of Addie with Emma. They are getting to be good friends which is so cute.

Crawling!

I think I mentioned it in another post this week, but Addie started crawling this week so here are the official pictures to document it. They are not the best pictures. I'll post a video sometime. It's so funny to watch her crawl. She doesn't actually move her legs much, she just shifts her hips and drags herself along. It looks like those toy dolls that crawl. Either way, she's really enjoying herself.

Which Jane Austen Heroine Are You?

This was too hard to resist! Any female who reads this & likes Jane Austen needs to do this. I'd love to see your results as COMMENTS!! :)

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of silliness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

I have to say that I wasn't surprised much by this. Pride and Prejudice has always been my favorite Jane Austen book because I relate to this character so much, but I was still interested in the quiz. I guess that proves that it is really scientifically correct. :)

How funny is it that I am posting a blog entry stating that I am intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive but also humble? I guess it's okay when it's true? (That was for Emily!)

Reverence and Danger

We decided recently that Addie is getting to the age where we need to be more proactive about helping her be quiet in church, so Anthony went out this week and bought her some church books. One of them is called "Jesus Loves Me" and it is made from this cool brightly colored foam with shiny paper glued on top of it containing the illustrations and stories. Addie loves this book, but for all the wrong reasons.

Today I broke it out during the sacrament and she immediately put it in her mouth. While I seldom encourage eating books, I figured the reverence result had been achieved so mission accomplished. Then Addie realized that if she rubbed her teeth on the book just so it made a fun squeaking noise. So she would make the book squeak, take it out of her mouth to look at it, and laugh. Over and over. Hmmmm... Well she was at least occupied for a while and she knows she likes "reading" about Jesus so I guess we are on the right track.

On a completely non-religious note, here we have a photo that Anthony took of Addie outside a Mexican (oh so good) restaurant. He is trying to get her barefooted self to sit still on this nasty public bench which is set right beside the door to the restaurant where people are going in and out. I should also mention that below the nasty bench is concrete. Oh, yes, and she started crawling this week so getting her to sit still on a nasty bench in an interesting public place is entirely unlikely. Now I realize that many a father does things with their children that mothers would never do because of "danger" or "germs" and it's good for the kids to try new things and that's why you need moms and dads to expose kids to different stuff and bla bla bla...What I'm wondering is why Anthony feels the need to capture such moments on camera?

A Tribute to Simon

We made a final move in a long debated decision about our Yorkie Simon this week and took him to Texas with us to a new home. I'm still in Texas and Anthony flew back today to an empty house with no Simon. So sad. So here's my tribute to a great dog who was just a little too energetic and stubborn for our growing family.

We got Simon in October of 2004, almost four months after moving to Iowa. I missed Texas, wanted a baby, couldn't find a job, and Anthony was working all the time. In came Simon and there was something to smile about! He and I went everywhere together, and that first month while Anthony worked every night Simon snuggled me in the bed. We'd had him like 2 nights when he came down with kennel cough and his entire little 2.5 lb body would convulse as he coughed. Of course it happened at night when Anthony was gone and I was scared I was going to loose my new little baby so I rushed him to the pet hospital. A few hundred dollars later I was home with an antibiotic and a cough suppressant (how funny is that??) One trip to the pet hospital and you feel a true connection!

Before Addie was born I asked Anthony if I would love her as much as I loved Simon. Naturally, this is very humorous now because he has gotten the "boot", but that is just how much I love him. Somehow in the past 10 months, Simon's barking and constant need to go outside (we have no yard so this requires a leash) his presence has become primarily a nuisance to me and I didn't want things to be like that anymore. He deserves better and I didn't want to have an unnecessary reason for Addie to see me annoyed.

It will be a long time until we have another pet because it has been so hard to see Simon go. To give an idea of how spoiled good ole Simon is, he has a bed on 3 out of our 4 floors, his own carseat (he actually outgrew it, but this thing sat on the console of my car so he could sit up and see out of the windshield. It was so cute!), 7-8 sweaters (1 A&M of course), a winter coat with matching boots, a designer dog bowl, several holiday neck "scarves", more pictures than the average dog owner has of their dog and many many toys. His favorite toy was always this little plush squeaky duck which we would simply replace every few months when it was falling apart. This week I bought Addie a duck toy. I think I was missing Simon. Now we have to do something with all the STUFF!

On the upswing, Simon has been adopted by a nice family in Waco, Texas so we can rest assured he is in the right place. His new home has another Yorkie by the name of Fibi, so he will be hanging out with Fibi now and that should be great for him. These are two of my favorite pictures of him. One when he was such a tiny little puppy sleeping on my bed and the other of him doing his favorite thing in the winter - sunbathing!