Poor Baby Girl!

My poor baby girl has been so sick. She randomly woke up with a 102 fever from her nap last Thursday. It seemed to come out of no where. The next day she seemed so miserable. Daddy was gone for work and had taken our truck to work. My car does not have 4-wheel drive so I was without a means of transportation. There is a huge patch of ice behind my car so I was unable to get out of the driveway even if I wanted to attempt to take my car. Luckily my good friend lives two houses down and offered to drive Addison and I to urgent care Friday night. It turned out both of her little ears were infected. They gave her a shot of antibiotics to help her feel better faster. We filled her prescription and then my friend took me to get our truck from the base. That way I could have a car until Joe got home. We spent 3 days snuggling on the couch watching Christmas movies and cartoons. I enjoyed the snuggle time but wished my little one felt better. Sunday Addison began having extremely bad diarrhea and this morning she woke up with a rash all over her little body. I called the doctor and we took her in right away. It turns out she is allergic to the antibiotics they put her on. Poor thing can't catch a break! So now we must wait till her rash goes away to start a new round of different antibiotics. I sure hope she feels better soon. We are planning on seeing Santa this Saturday so I hope she is healthy by then. I hate when she doesn't feel good. It breaks my heart. 

The Holiday Season!

The holidays are upon us and it has been a busy couple of weeks. We had an amazing Thanksgiving with all of our new and wonderful Kodiak friends. We decorated for Christmas and I am happy to say I am done with my Christmas shopping and everything is already wrapped. Just call me a Christmas over achiever this year! There are just two small things to pick up and then I have to ship our presents off to our families in the lower 48. I feel very productive and am so excited for Christmas and it is not even December yet! I guess all the snow and cold weather we have been having brings out my Christmas spirit.

Glitter Stars for the Holidays

Since living in Alaska I have been able to experience seasons! I loved the fall and now we have jumped into winter full force. I haven't lived in the snow since I was a little girl so this is a fun experience for me. This will be our first white Thanksgiving and Christmas as a family. I have been feeling very festive lately wanting to make all sorts of fun decorations for our house. I decided to make some fun glitter starts to hang over the kitchen bar. We are having friends over for Thanksgiving next week and I wanted to have some fun and festive decorations in the house. I printed stars on card stock paper, scored them, cut them, folded them and covered them in glitter. I think they turned out pretty cute. I took the hot glue gun and glued them to a ribbon and then hung them. The only downfall to this project was the fact that I got glitter EVERYWHERE!!!

Fun with Felt

I'm always trying to find new ways to entertain my little one. I had bought some felt at Walmart a while back and decided to pull it out and cut some letters for Addison to play with. She was having fun looking at them on the floor and then I decided to see if they would stick to the back of the couch. Well guess what they did!!! They didn't stick really well but good enough for her to play putting them on and off of the couch. It entertained her for a while, which was my goal!

The Joys of Owning a Lab!

Today was still freezing cold out but the sun was shining so I decided we needed to go for a walk. Our black lab Angel has been so stir crazy the last few days from being cooped up in the house. I bundled Addison up in her stroller and out we went. We recently got Angel a new training collar and it is simply AMAZING! It may look mean but it works great. I could never walk her while pushing the stroller before but now she walks so nicely next to us. You would think she was the most well trained dog if you saw us out walking. The collar we purchased is prong training collar. I'd suggest getting it if you have a dog that is really strong puller.

Once we got to the park I threw the ball a million times for Angel. Then our friends showed up with their dog Cloe, and Angel and Cloe competed for the ball making Angel even more tired. She was so wore out I wasn't sure if she would make it home. This was my plan! I wanted her so tired that all she would do the rest of the day is lie around and sleep. Once we got home she fell fast asleep on the living room floor. It wasn't till about 1pm that she regained her strength by eating a piece of frozen chicken I had pulled out for our dinner. I went upstairs for less than five minutes only to find when I came downstairs there were two pieces of chicken in the bowl on the counter instead of three. Angel had guilt written all over her face along with little pieces of chicken on the kitchen floor. If Joe were home Angel may of gotten a beating but she was lucky I only scolded her and put her on the porch for a timeout. Oh the joy of owning a Lab!!

Basketball Nursery

A friend of a friend of mine here in Kodiak is having a baby boy soon. Her nursery theme is basketballs and she was having a hard time finding things for the nursery with just basketballs and things to do with basketball. Everything had multiple sports or different kinds of balls like footballs, baseballs and basketballs. She came to me with a few ideas of what she wanted for three canvass and this is what I came up with. I think they turned out pretty cute. I hope she likes them!

First Snow!

Yesterday was a very exciting day! We got the first snow of the season yesterday and it was Addison's half birthday! That's right she is 18 months old now! She is growing so fast! We were so excited to see the snow we bundled all up and ran out to play. Angel (our dog) was so excited to play ball in the snow. Addison didn't know what to think of it all and had a hard time moving around in all of her snow gear. We wanted to wake up daddy to play but we knew he needed to sleep. Call me crazy but I am looking forward to a white winter!

Candy Land Theme Birthday

My good friend is throwing her daughter a Candy Land theme birthday party for her 5th birthday coming up. I have been helping with the decorations. Even though I'm miles away (her being in Hawaii and me in Alaska) I am still able to help. I have created a lot of things digitally and have emailed them to her. All she has to do is print and cut! Above is her invitation I created (minus the real info for privacy reasons). My friend sent me a sample of what she wanted it to look like. I took that idea and changed it to fit with the theme I've already created. I had already illustrated cupcakes for Shutterstock.com (where I sell stock images) so this made it easier to create her invite. I can't wait to see how the party turns out. I wish I could be there!

Homemade Board Book

I made Addison a board book this morning. It's not perfect by any means but I think it turned out cute. It has pictures of all her family. Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles and our dog on the cover. She instantly wanted the book when I was done and began flipping through all the pages pointing to each person. I made it from cut up illustration board that I tapped together and printed photos. I printed the photos on paper, cut them out and pasted them to the pages. I hope it helps Addison remember and learn all of her family members that she doesn't get to see all the time.

Monster Brownies

Tomorrow we are going to a Halloween party for the kids at my friends house. All the moms were told to either bring a Trick (something for the kids) or a Treat (something for everyone to eat). I have to bring a treat so I made some fun brownies. I had 2 different brownie mix boxes in my pantry so I started with those. I topped one pan of brownies with butterscotch chips and spread them once they melted and the other pan I topped with mini marshmallows and candy corn M&M candies. I then took apart chocolate oreos, put a little white frosting and a chocolate chip on them for eyes. I stuck the oreos in the brownies when they were done baking. I think they look fun and I came up with them all on my own. I call them Brownie Monsters!

Holli's Blossoms

My good friend Holli makes the cutest handmade hair bows and headbands. She made this adorable felt flower headband for Addison for Christmas. I had to put it on her yesterday to take her picture. She is so talented and makes the most unique things. She even does custom orders! I don't know how she finds the time since she has 3 small children and another on the way. She is one busy momma! Check out her sites if you are looking for some cute clips and bows for your little girl...

http://www.etsy.com/people/HollisBlossoms
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Hollis-Blossoms/117921318278423

Garage Garden

When we moved to Kodiak, Alaska at the end of June we suddenly found ourselves in shock over the lack of good produce and the high prices. We knew coming here that we wouldn't have the amazing produce we were used to when living in Sacramento, California. Sacramento had the most amazing produce! My husband came up with the idea of growing our own produce in our garage. Since we do not have a fenced it yard and it gets so cold here we couldn't have a garden outside he decided to build one in the garage. He built a huge planter box (it takes up the center of our garage and is about the same size as a pool table). He came up with the design all on his own and even installed sprinklers. He hung grow lights from the celling and purchased a small heater for the garage. Our garage is now at a cozy 80 degrees all the time. He put installation in the window and door to keep the heat in. This is also a great project for Joe (my husband). He needs something to tend to and keep him busy when the weather is bad. So far just about everything is sprouting and our beans even have flowers! I'm hoping for fresh green beans for Thanksgiving. I will keep you all posted!

Homemade Mini Bean Bags

I woke up this morning to no cable or Internet. The wind was so bad last night it knocked down a tower. We usually don't watch a lot of TV during the day but it's nice to have some background noise or watch a show when Addison naps. With no Internet meant no Pandora, which we love to listen to. It was also nasty outside so Addison and I would not be venturing out in bad weather. I decided to make a game for Addison and I to play today. I made bean bags! I used old squares of fabric that I had (they were from old baby clothes that I had cut months ago). I pulled out my sewing machine and sewed two pieces of fabric together inside out then turned them right side out and filled them with dry beans. My husband had bought a few bags of dry beans last week upon my request. I knew I would want them for a craft soon. They were only $1 a bag! After I filled them with beans I hand sewed the ends close. Addison (my almost 18 month old baby girl) loved them!!! They were very fast and easy to make and once Addison had a hold of them she was tossing them all over the living room. We set a basked in the hall and played a game with tossing them in the basket from the couch. Once my husband woke up he joined in on our game. It was a lot of fun!

**WARNING**
 If you make bean bags with dry beans we aware that the beans are a choking hazard. Do not let your small child play with the beans. If you are worried your child will be able to get the beans out of the bag once made supervise them while playing with the bean bags.

My Zazzle Store

Check out my new Zazzle store!!! I'm very excited about it. I made my first sell yesterday. It wasn't a lot but it was exciting and gave me motivation to create more. I enjoy designing on my own time and what I want. Zazzle is a great site to give me this opportunity. I hope more of my stuff continues to sell!

http://www.zazzle.com/emcreative

Cat in the Hat Birthday

Today was a very fun day! My good friend's little girl turned 2. She had a Cat in the Hat theme birthday party and I helped with the decorations and food. We made a hat cake and even thought there were complications with the cake wanting to fall over I still think it turned out pretty cute. Her mom came up with the idea of using Swedish fish for the red stripes on the cake. What a hit that was! Everyone loved the fish. She also had a great idea of giving out Cat in the Hat board books as favors for all the kids. The kids loved them! They were mostly toddlers so they were so excited to pick out a book. I made the sign and cupcake toppers which also turned out pretty cute. All in all it was a very fun party and the kids had a blast!

Halloween Boo Sign

My friend texted me a picture of a cute BOO sign she made out of wood with a little paint and ribbon. I thought it was so cute and wanted to make one. My house is lacking in Halloween decorations big time! I asked my husband if he would cut me some wood squares. Well he never got around to it so today I took it upon myself to make a sign out of cardboard instead. It won't last as long as wood but I think it still turned out pretty cute. I cut three strips of cardboard from a diaper box (which I always seem to have) and folded each once twice into a square. I used a small piece of tape to fasten the end. I covered each square like a present with brown paper I found in my husbands toolbox. Then I painted each square with orange paint and then used white and black paint to create the dots and letters. Once it was all dry I used ribbon and a hot glue gun to attach all three squares. I think it turned out cute enough to hang in my house for Halloween. Maybe next year I will make one out of wood.

A Cookie Inside a Cookie

Yesterday my husband came across a picture online of an Oreo cookie inside a chocolate chip cookie. Of course he begged me to make these for him to take to work. I always seem to have a bag of chocolate chip cookie mix in my pantry so we picked up some Oreos at Walmart and I made them this evening. They were a little tricky to make but I think the way to do it is put a little chocolate chip cookie dough on each side of the Oreo. It's okay if the sides are not covered because as it starts to bake the dough will form around the Oreo. They turned out as good as you would think! Actually amazing! A cookie inside a cookie. What could be better than that?

Cardboard Box Dollhouse

I woke up this morning wanting to make something fun for Addison. I have recently put us on a tight budget so I've been looking for fun things I can make at home to entertain Addison. Today I decided to make a dollhouse out of old diaper boxes. If you are a mom you know how many diaper and wipe boxes you end up with around the house. Ours usually end up in a heaping pile in the garage. My Cardboard Box Dollhouse was super easy and fun to make and I was able to use things I already had around the house. Here are my step by step directions...

Supplies: 3 medium size cardboard boxes, scissors, duct tape, white glue, water, paint brush, wrapping paper, construction paper & fabric (optional), ribbon, hot glue gun.

1. Cut the tops off of two boxes (try and get two boxes the same size). Using the duct tape tape the boxes together. This makes the two main stories of the house.
2. Cut the third box to make the roof and tape it to the top of the other two boxes. Should look like a triangle on top.
3. Once the frame of the house is tapped together you are ready to decorate your house. I used wrapping paper for the outside and construction paper and fabric for the inside. You can use whatever you like to decorate the house.
4. Mix together your glue and water to make a paint texture. With your paintbrush paint the glue/water mixture on the back of your paper and begin applying to the walls. 
5. Once your walls are all covered you can use ribbon to cover the edges of your house so it looks cleaner. I used a hot glue gun to apply the ribbon.
6. Once the house it all decorated let it dry before giving to your child to play. 

Here are the before and after pictures of my house!

Tough day at work!

My day started at about 3:30am with the sound of a screaming toddler jumping in her crib. I was in the middle of the best nights sleep I have had in a long time. I knew it was too good to last. My little one hardly ever wakes in the night anymore so I knew something must of been wrong. She has been getting her top two molars for a while now. They are almost fully cut so I figured that was the culprit. I scooped her out of her crib, changed her diaper, gave her some Tylenol, handed her a sippy of water and laid her back down. She seemed fine so I went back to bed. Just as a snuggled deeper under my covers she started screaming again. To make a long story short this went on till 6am. I lost track of how many times I went back into her room. Usually I'd let her cry it out a bit but I knew she didn't feel good so I couldn't do it. At about 5am she started yelling "Momma!" then an occasional "Dada!" It was kinda cute but I was still a bit annoyed because now I was beyond tired. She finally fell back asleep around 6am so I got to go back to bed.

At 8am Joe got home from work and despite his best efforts to be quiet I still woke up when he came into bed. I tossed an turned till about 9 when Addison woke back up for the day. She seemed just fine as if she had a full nights sleep. We went downstairs had some breakfast along with my huge cup of coffee. I'm trying to give up coffee but today was an emergency. I needed it. We played a little and then headed back upstairs to get ready for the day. As I attempted to put on some makeup and straighten my hair Addison thought it would be so funny to bang on our bedroom door where her daddy was sleeping. I kept chasing her back into her room to play but she would find a new wall or door to bang on and the minute I turned my back she would be back to knocking on our bedroom door. Poor Joe! I'm not sure if he woke up. I finally gave up on my hair, having only straightened half, and got dressed. In the mean time Addison managed to take off her diaper and run around naked. Oh this child kills me sometimes!

Finally we were out the door at 11am and headed to the store. I needed to get a few things for dinner. My brain was so scattered today I forgot my purse in the car so we had to go back out to get it. What a wonderful day this was turning out to be. We were home by noon just in time for lunch. During lunch I realized that Addison is getting all four of her canine teeth at the same time! No wonder she is so fussy and woke up crying. This should be a fun couple of weeks.

After lunch I attempted to put Addison down for a nap. Well after almost 2 hours of her screaming and jumping in her crib I gave up. Please tell me my 16 month old is not giving up her naps!!! So now she is watching her show and oh yes I smell a poo! Guess I get to go change her diaper now. It's only 2:18pm and there is still so much more of the day to come. I have to go pick up some friends from the airport, make dinner, give Addison a bath and hope she is not crabby the rest of the day.

It's not always easy being a stay at home mom. It is a full time job! Off to change that diaper now.

Beautiful Kodiak!

So far we have enjoyed living in Kodiak. We have met so many wonderful new friends and have managed to stay really busy. I feel like I do more living here than I did before. This is our first time living in base housing and so far it has been an awesome experience. It's nice being surrounded by people that are in the same situation as us. It has made it very easy to meet people. Yes we miss the heat but Addison and I have been going to the indoor pool once or twice a week and every time the suns out we go for walks or exploring. It is very cold for summer but we will survive. We have enjoyed days at the beach, seeing our first Kodiak bears, lots of fishing for Joe, bomb fires with the neighbors and so much more. So far Kodiak is turning out to be better than expected. Stay tuned...it's not winter yet, my opinion may change!

Finally in Kodiak!

We are finally in Kodiak, Alaska. We are staying in a hotel until we can get into a house. We are on the list for base housing so who knows how long it could take. The past two months have been insane for us so we are looking forward to settling down in our new home. Addison has been our little trooper with all the traveling and visiting family. We drove all the way through Canada to Homer, AK and then took a 13 hour ferry to Kodiak. It was a long and exhausting trip but had it's moments of fun.

So far we like Kodiak but then again it's summer time. The weather is cool, mid 50's, and rains on and off. Today is a beautiful day so we went on a little nature walk this morning. I forgot my camera but I managed to get some great pics on my phone. I now know to take my camera everywhere we go. I just never know what I might see and want to snap a picture of. Maybe I will get to see a Kodiak Bear while we live here. Hopefully not up close!

A Ladybug Birthday!

My beautiful baby girl turned one on May 1st. She had a ladybug birthday party. I had so much fun making all the decorations and food for the party. With the help of all our family we were able to pull off an amazing party for an amazing little girl. She had such a blast opening her presents, eating her cake and playing will all of her friends. This birthday is going to be a tough one to beat.

Sneaky Cook

A good friend of mine told me about a cookbook that I just had to buy. She was having problems getting her kids to eat their veggies until she stumbled upon this amazing cookbook called "Deceptively Delicious". It is full of sneaky ways to mix veggies into normal meals that kids love. They don't even know they are eating healthy. I decided this is going to be a new way of cooking in our house. Addison is still so little she eats anything I give her but my loving husband is not so willing. Wait till he comes home tonight and tries the brownies I made. Little does he know they are packed full of spinach and carrots!

Birthday Cake

I'm experimenting with how to make Addison's birthday cake. I want to make a ladybug cake so I practiced making a cake today. I have never made black or red frosting so I was worried it wouldn't turn out tasting very good. I made the black frosting from homemade chocolate frosting by adding black food coloring and letting it sit for a few hours in the refrigerator. I make the red frosting from homemade vanilla frosting and adding red food coloring. I also let the red sit for a few hours. It seemed to help darken up the colors by sitting. When I put the black in the frig it was a dark gray and a few hours later it was really black. I was surprised. The red however turned more of a dark pink. I'm going to have to try again on the red. I may use strawberries to start and then add red food coloring. I was worried the cake wouldn't taste very good but I was pleasantly surprised. It was so good!!! I made a small version of my idea of her cake today. The actual cake I am planning on making for her birthday will be much larger. I also think I am going to make the ladybug have a head instead of just a big circle that looks like a ladybug. I have some more experimenting to do. Joe is very excited about all the cakes I will be making. Looks like I will be sending cake to work with him!

Pee Wee Pillow Pet

Joe, Addison and I went to Frys today to look at TV's and all the fun gadgets we needed to get for our road trip to Alaska coming up. I came across a Pee Wee Pillow Pet in one of the big baskets in between the isles. I picked up a ladybug one because I thought it was so cute and handed it to Addison. She seemed very excited about it and placed it next to her in the cart. It was official! We were taking it home to add to her stuffed animal collection. We continued our shopping then headed home for lunch and Addison's afternoon nap. After her nap I took her in the living room and handed her the Pee Wee Pillow Pet. She immediately threw it as far away as she could and started crying. What had come over her? It was so strange. She wanted nothing to do with it. I picked it up and handed it to her again. Just like before she threw it and started crying. I took the poor little pillow pet and hugged it and kissed it to show her it was nice. Still she had no interest and kept trying to push it away. I have no idea what has come over her. Maybe she will love it tomorrow. Silly girl.

Independent Baby

Addison has decided she wants to do everything herself. She has started to refuse the bottle, which is probably a good thing. Maybe this means she is ready to be done with the bottle. However, she doesn't like drinking her formula from a sippy cup. She will drink water or juice all day long from her sippy but not formula. Maybe I will have better luck with milk. Only a little over a month and she can switch to milk. She is such a stubborn child and will only do something when she wants to. She is not one of those babies who will take a bottle whenever offered. She will only drink her bottle or sippy at the exact moment  that she is ready. It's actually kind of funny. I often sit holding it and just wait for her to take it. If she doesn't want something she has no problem throwing it or slapping it away. She has also started to protest being fed. She will only eat if she can feed herself which doesn't really work since she can't use a spoon yet. She doesn't really understand how to feed herself with a spoon and everything often ends up on the floor, wall or me. I have better luck finding food I can cut up and serve her. If its a small piece of food she will eat it, no matter what it is. She will also eat anything small off the floor even if it isn't food. This kid cracks me up sometimes!

So much to do!

Well it's pretty much official! We will be moving to Kodiak, Alaska this June. I don't see this changing so we are starting to get ready. The lists seem like miles long of all the things there is to do and buy before we start our journey. I'm not really sure how I am going to make it through the next couple of months. Plus we have Addison's big first birthday party coming up and I need to try and get caught up with work since I will be traveling most of June. We decided we are going to have a garage sale before we go. I didn't realize just how much stuff we have and don't need. How on earth did we accumulate so much crap? We were going to have a joint garage sale with some friends but now it seems we have too much stuff to take to someones house and sell. We are going to try and downsize our stuff since we will be moving into a two bedroom house from a three bedroom house. This should be interesting! I'm not looking forward to a smaller house but I think we will manage.

Mommy needs a break!

Something has got to give! I am beyond tired and overworked. I love what I do but I wish I didn't have to work sometimes. Everyone says how lucky I am to be able to stay at home with Addison and work from home but I don't think people realize just how hard it is. It is the ultimate balancing act. I never get down time. I never get to just relax. My day starts at about 7am with Addison waking up. I grab her, change her, plop her down in the living room with some toys and cartoons, feed the dog, make a cup of coffee, get Addison's breakfast ready, feed Addison, play with Addison, get dressed, fix my face and hair, check my email for work, make Addison a bottle, put Addison down for a nap, start work, get Addison up from nap, make lunch, feed Addison, play with Addison, hang out with Joe for a second, back to work while Joe watches Addison, Joe leaves for work, play with Addison, afternoon bottle and nap for Addison, clean or laundry, more work, Addison wakes from nap, play with Addison, feed Addison Dinner, more play time, bath time, read stories, bedtime bottle, put Addison to bed, do the dishes, clean house, back to work, work, work, work, shower and finally bed for me!!! That is the longest sentence ever and pretty much how my day goes. Sometimes I squeeze a trip to the store in there. It would be nice to be able to just spend the day with my family and not always look for a moment of time when I can sit down and work. It's very stressful and clients want to give me more and more work and I am just out of time and energy. It is good that I am in demand but when will I have time for myself? Okay enough complaining from me. I am very blessed and I truly appreciate everything that I have in life.

Rain Rain Go Away!!!

Yesterday was the most beautiful day. The sun was shining and not a cloud in site. So why is it that today when we planned on taking a trip to the farmers market it started pouring down rain? Addison was just as upset about this nasty weather as her daddy and I were. I need all the sunshine and rain free days I can get now since we are moving to Alaska in June. I can kiss my warm beautiful weather goodbye! I was hoping to get out of the house today and walk around in the fresh, warm air. No luck here! Not only was it nasty outside but it made us all lazy today. I tried to be productive and get some stuff done around the house but Addison was super fussy, must be getting another tooth, and Joe just wanted to watch TV all day. We did manage to make a trip to Walmart which was the highlight of our Sunday. My little munchkin was drooling like a mad woman and crying for no obvious reason all day. Hopefully that nasty tooth will pop through and the sun will come out and we can have a wonderful day tomorrow!

Kissing Baby

Last night I caught Addison kissing herself in the mirror. I couldn't stop laughing at my little girl. She was having so much fun banging on the mirror, laughing and giving herself kisses. This kid cracks me up! I think Joe and I are going to be in trouble with this little one.

Standing Alone

Yesterday Addison was standing against the sliding glass door in the living room. As usually she was banging against the glass and yelling at the top of her lungs. This is something she does often and I'm never really sure what she is yelling at. When Angel our black lab is outside it's usually her she is yelling at. I was talking to my mom on the phone when Addison removed both hands from the glass and stood all by herself. I couldn't believe it. I squealed so loud with excitement it may have startled  her because she quickly grabbed the glass again. I can't believe my little girl is growing so fast and learning to stand all on her own. It wont be long now before she is walking and then running. I guess I better get my running shoes out because once she gets going she isn't going to stop!

Going or Staying

Yesterday my husband received a call that may have changed the course of our lives for the next several years. He was told that we will be moving to Kodiak, Alaska this summer. We were told we would be staying put for the next year but I guess things can change. I cried immediately after he told me the news. There are so many things to think about and do I don't even know where to begin.

There are several things that concern me about possibly moving there. I have severe allergies to mold and asthma. I am constantly sick and battling with my asthma and allergies. The thought of moving to a place that rains constantly and is at high risk for mold scares me. I never had a problem with my mold allergy until I moved to San Diego several years back. My apartment had a leak in the wall that I did not know about and mold began to grow like a wild fire. There was black mold on the walls of my bedroom and bathroom. I suddenly began to get hives and itch all the time then one day I woke up with a stiff neck. I went to work that day and began to have problems breathing. I immediately went to the emergency room and my throat was swelling shut. I was given all sorts of medications and covered in ice packs. I was having a horrible allergic reaction but I didn't know to what at the time. I began seeing an allergist and realized I was allergic to the mold in my apartment. I was able to break my lease and move out almost over night with the help of my mom and a few letters to the property management. After that I had to carry an epi-pen in my purse.

My husband brought up our concerns yesterday when he went to work. Now we have to fill out a bunch of paper work and I need to try and get my records from my old doctor in San Diego. I'm not sure if this means we are going or staying. It would be nice to know soon. I just want to make sure I am not going to be miserable and sick for the next three years. Hopefully it will all work out whether we move or not.

Family Vacation

We took a mini vacation this weekend. Joe, Addison and I went to see my cousin Ryan, his girlfriend Andrea and their new baby boy Atticus. They live in a very small town in California up in the mountains. Addison had never seen snow before so it was fun taking her. We stayed in a nice little lodge that was surrounded by trees, a frozen pond and lots of snow. They had a 6 hole golf course that was also cover in snow which made Joe very sad. We enjoyed hanging out with Ryan, Andrea and Atticus. Atticus is only two weeks old and such a good little guy. He hardly cried and slept most of the time we were there. Ryan cooked us some amazing meals and we even got to see my Aunt Lynn our last night there. It was so great to see them and their new addition.

What a Day!

This day has been insane! I'm so glad it's almost over. It started out early this morning with both clients I do work for wanting work from me at the same time! Addison was being her usual clingy self and Joe was sound asleep so I couldn't ask him for help. He had to work last night so I would of felt bad waking him. I tired to have Addison play in her room while I got some work done on the computer but she just kept crawling in the office to me. She loves to pull all the cords and touch all of the things that she is not suppose to. I tell her no but she just doesn't seem to listen. Go figure! Luckily little Addison decided she needed her morning nap earlier than usual so I got a chance to get some of my work done. When Joe woke up he helped by feeding Addison her lunch while I managed to make time to cook us some tacos for our lunch. Then there was dishes, laundry, cleaning and more work. Joe made time to change the oil in my car and give it a good wash. Then Addison went into her full on melt down mode for the rest of the evening. I'm not sure what is going on with her. She will be perfectly fine all day then around 4pm she cries and screams if I am not holding her. I think I need to call the doctor tomorrow. I keep thinking it's just teething but now I'm just not sure. She has also gone to bed at 6:30 the last two nights, sleeping 12-13 hours and napping about 4 hours a day. Why so much sleep? Why so fussy? Can someone please answer these questions for me? Thanks!

Yum! Yum!

This afternoon I put Addison in her bouncer so I could finish up a few things on the computer. As she started bouncing wild with excitement I noticed she was chewing on something. I thought this was strange since I didn't give her anything to eat. What could she possibly be eating? I rushed over to her and tried to pry her little mouth open. She absolutely hates when I do this but sometimes she leaves me no other option. In the right side of her mouth I could see something black floating around. What could that possibly be? What had my child found and put in her mouth now? I quickly scooped her up and out of the bouncer and placed her on the bed. By this time she started to choke on the foreign object. I went into full on mom emergency mode!!! I grabbed her little face and shoved both of my fingers into her mouth to retrieve whatever she thought she could eat. To my surprise out came a three inch black piece of yarn. This looked very much like a piece of our living room carpet. My little scavenger must of pulled it free from the carpet and decided it would make a nice snack. After almost giving me a heart attack I explained to Addison that we cannot eat everything we find on the ground. I'm not sure how much of this she understood since she is only 9 1/2 months old. What is a mom to do?

Missing Daddy

Today was a big day! Today Addison cried for the first time when daddy left for work. She cries when we leave her alone in a room but has never cried when one of us leaves. I was sitting on the floor with her and she had just gotten done playing with her daddy. He picked up his bag, gave us both a kiss and headed out the door for work. Addison immediately started crawling toward the door crying. Joe happened to forget something and came back into the house. The second she saw him her little face lit up with joy. She was so excited he came back. I swooped her up in my arms so I could distract her for the second time he goes out the door. We began dancing around the living room and Joe was able to sneak out without Addison noticing. I think he was excited she cried when he left. You can't deny that our little girl loves her daddy. If she is anything like her mommy she will be a daddy's girl for sure!

Singing Momma

I never would of thought when I became a mom I would suddenly be singing all the time. I seem to make everything into a song these days. Weather we are cleaning up toys, eating lunch or taking a bath I am always singing to my little one. She loves it so much. I love to see her little face light up every time I sing to her. She flaps her little arms in the air and bounces up and down wishing she knew how to sing along. It's too bad I can't carry a tune to save my life. At least someone thinks I am a good singer.

Lately I have been trying to encourage my husband to watch less television during the day while Addison is awake. He doesn't like the idea but he has been trying. Since he can't seem to stand silence in our house he has been playing music while we play or do stuff around the house. Addison seems to love it and we often stop to have dance parties. We twirl little Addison around the living room and sing along. She seems so happy when we have these moments with her. It's so much better than watching television.

Grandma & Grandpa Mackey

My husband's parents came to visit for the weekend. It's always good to see them. It was too bad that Addison didn't feel very well all weekend and was running a fever. Joe's mom and I went shopping and she bought Addison tons of new clothes for this spring and summer. I hope they fit! She is growing so fast it's hard to keep up with her.

Sick Baby

My poor baby girl woke up this morning at 4am crying and with a fever of 102.7. She has never had a fever before so I freaked out! I gave her a some Tylenol and a bottle and luckily she went right back to sleep. My mother in law and father in law are in town for the weekend so they have helped me battle her fever all day. She screamed at the cold washcloth on her hot little body but it seemed to help. It breaks my heart to see her sick. Hopefully it is just a 24 hour bug and she wakes up cool and healthy tomorrow. I hope she sleeps tonight but she went to bed without a bottle so I'm sure she will wake up soon hungry. Poor baby!