Our Baby is 1!

She loves playing on the stairs

Adison turned 1 year old today. It is hard to believe that it has already been a year. She is my baby and I kind of want her to stay a baby for a long time. She definitely isn't listening to me and is ready to be big NOW. In the last couple of weeks especially she has been reaching new milestones it seems like everyday. Last week her first top tooth broke through and since then the other top tooth has as well. She is losing her toothless grin, which definitely makes her look more grown up. Last week she discovered that she could climb the stairs and they are her favorite new toy right now. She loves hanging out on the first couple of stairs and looking through the rails, making funny faces. She pulls up on everything and I've caught her a couple of times standing independently. I am in no hurry for her to walk, but I'm sure she will be walking around her within the next month or two. The other kids are excited that she is getting older and love interacting with their funny little sister.
Kendal and Spence in the jeep
Jaidyn was brave enough to ride with crazy driver Trey

Spencer, Leigh, Spence and Jaidyn came to Alabama to help us celebrate Adison's big day. We had a good time hanging out with them and we sure are glad that they live close enough that they can pull off a weekend trip to see the cousins. Bayley, Kendal, Trey and Adison LOVE seeing their cousins and enjoyed playing, playing and more playing! This morning Kendal and Trey had soccer games so we spent the morning at the ball fields. Its hard to believe that is fall in Alabama when its in the high 80's and blazing hot outside. This afternoon we grilled out, then finished off the party with cupcakes, ice cream and presents. Adison was ready to climb the presents...forget opening them!

She dug right in to her cupcake

Here are a few things that Adison is up to at 1 year old:

• Adison is a great sleeper. She goes to bed around 7 pm and sleeps until 6 am. She takes a short nap in the morning and then a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. I'm so glad that she is a good sleeper...it's makes her and her mom HAPPY!


• Adison's brother Trey loves her. He loves to bug her and most of the time she is a pretty good sport. She will let us know when she has had enough.


• Adison loves to stick our her tongue. I think a lot of it has to do with her teeth coming it, but it is funny to watch her play with her tongue sticking out.


• Adison is a great eater when it is food that she likes. Her favorites include pasta, waffles, yogurt, rice cereal and fruit, mixed vegetables and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She isn't that great of a drinker and until recently did not like milk. She will tolerate it now, but still does not drink a ton.


• Adison loves giving kisses and telling her brother and sisters good night. Every night she accompanies Jeff and I as we put each child to bed. She loves tailing along and has picked up on the routine...including bippity, boppety, boop for Trey.


• Adison's favorite words are more and Mom.


• Adison likes music and will dance along when others are dancing.


• Adison LOVES watching animals, especially dogs. She gets so excited when she sees a dog and loves watching them. She can make "doggy" sounds.

We love our Adison and we are so glad she is a part of our family!

September Summary

An attempt at a family picture using the camera's self-timer feature

September has been a fun and busy month. Just about every weekend we have had some fun activity that we have gotten to participate in. I will try to cover the highlights in chronological order so that I don't forget anything.

Jaidyn's Birthday Party
The last weekend in August the kids and I travelled over to Georgia for the weekend to celebrate my adorable niece's first birthday. As usual Jaidyn's parents Leigh and Spencer threw a great party. Her cake was amazing, the food was great, the kids got balloon animals made (Trey has requested that we hire the crazy balloon lady to come to his party), the kids got to swim in the pool and we finished off the day by taking a quick trip to the Lake near their home. You really couldn't pack much more into a day, but we had a great time!

The beautiful birthday girl...she and Kendal could be sisters!

Bayley turning the kneeboard
Kendal was pumped she got up by herself on the kneeboard

We usually don't let Bayley leave the house with her hair this way

Trey was pumped he was brave enough to do the tube by himself
Adison loves dogs, so Grandma "G" is making friends with Buddy!
Adison loved the swing
The amazing birthday cake...we taxied the cake in the van...it was very nerve-racking!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend we spent the 3 days at Lake Wedowee. Most of the wekend it was just our family, which was fun and relaxing. Saturday we did have an adventure on the lake. We decided to take out just one jet-ski and let the kids all ride on the back of the tube. We were having a great time until about 20 minutes into the fun our jet-ski died...it wouldn't start. We were stranded...all 6 of us a good distance away from the dock. Fortunately we were able to flag down another jet-skier who took Jeff back to the dock to retrieve our other jet-ski so that he could tow us back. While I was there stranded with the four kids, the girls took it upon themselves to see if they could pull the jet-ski through the water. They made decent progress but it probably would have taken at least a day to get back at the speed they were going. It didn't take long for Jeff to come to our rescue and we made it back safe and sound. We think the broken jet ski just had a low battery because when we took it out on Monday we didn't have any further problems. We did talk our good friend's the Dewsnups into joining us on Monday afternoon for some lake fun. It was fun hanging out with them and watching the kids jump back on the tubes over and over again for another beating. Hopefully it isn't the last weekend on the lake, but the way things are going it just might be(sadly).

The kids on the tube

Corrie was brave enough to ride with Brian

Grandma Nancy and Pawpaw Rick Visit

Last weekend Rick and Nancy (Jeff's step-dad and Mom) made the trip from Indiana to spend the weekend with us. My kiddos love having them here, even without Dixie their dog. We kept them busy and sent them home ready for a vacation from their vacation. Last Saturday was Kendal and Trey's first soccer games. It was an extremely hot and long morning, but despite the heat we had a good time. Kendal started out the soccer season by scoring 2 goals and leading her team to a victory. She is definitely one of the more skilled players in the league despite being one of the younger girls (she is the only 1st grader on her team, the rest are 2nd graders) She loves soccer and loves competition. It is fun watching her play. Jeff and I are helping to coach Trey's little soccer team. This is his first experience in organized sports, so our focus is to hopefully create a fun atmosphere that will keep him coming back for more. He is funny to watch. Most of the time he as well as 90% of the other kids in his league, have no idea what is going on. There are always one or two kids on the field that "get it" and seem to dominate. Last week there were 2 brothers who were all-stars. I didn't think Trey really was paying to close of attention, but after the game he commented that he heard one of the good players say that he practiced everyday at home. At that point, he said that he needed to practice everyday to get better. His highlight of the first game had to come when he totally pushed a kid over, bringing oohs and aahs from the parents in the stands. He was ready to cry but after a quick talk from his dad he got right back into the game.

After the games, we ate a quick lunch at home and then took Rick and Nancy to our summer hang out, Alabama Adventures. The park was not crowded at all and we enjoyed a couple of hours there. It was a long hot day, but we had a great time. We really are blessed to have such a great family and we are so glad when they come to visit!

Adison and Rick hanging out at the game

The girls hanging in the shade in between games

Trey and Daddy on the soccer field

Kendal waiting for the next big play

Bayley's way of enjoying the games
Adison and I at Alabama Adventures...still smiling after a long day!
Trey's broken butterfly....he loves bugs right now!
Kendal and Jeff skying high on the tube
> Adison and Bayley enjoying the cool water

This Weekend

We had plenty that went on the last couple of days as well. On Friday, Trey, Adison and I went and ate lunch with Bayley at school. She had her first big project of the year due on Friday so her teacher allowed us up to the room to take a peek at all of the completed projects. Bayley was of course my favorite. The assignment was to make a 3d replication of the animal she had been assigned to research, in this case a blood star. After talking about several different alternatives, I suggested that she decorate a cake to look like the blood star. She immediately fell in love with the idea and in the end did a great job decorating the cake. The class not 0nly loved looking at the unique project, but also they enjoyed eating the project as well.

Saturday was another morning filled with soccer games. Kendal again scored and continues to love everything about soccer. Trey continues to learn and vowed to practice more this week at home. After soccer, we met Grandma and Grandpa "G" at the Oxford Olive Garden for a early dinner to celebrate Grandpa's upcoming birthday. We had a great time eating with them and were glad that we got to see them even if it was only for a couple of hours. Jeff and I had stake conference on Saturday night, so we left the tired kids home with a sitter and enjoyed a nice evening together.
The beginning of the blood star decorating