On the road to recovery...

Addie at the baby shower this past weekend...(I'll post more on that later...)

So I promise to be brutally honest when my friends start having babies. I will tell them exactly what it feels like to watch your baby hurt and cry. I will tell them how scary it is to know something is not "right", but still you have no idea how to fix things. I will warn them about the anxious feeling you get as you watch a doctor listen to her chest, or look in her ears, or shine a light down her throat. Because everyone loves to tell you how much you will love her, and how wonderful the years ahead will be...but they seem to forget to remind you that your worries are just beginning!

Addie has had a rough few nights. She isnt sleeping well, probably due to the nebulizer and steroid she is on, but she tosses and turns and moans every couple of hours. Tim and I are utterly exhausted. He is actually home from work a half day to day to help me and to get some rest himself. Last night, after waking in the middle of the night to do a breathing treatment and noticing that her eczema was acting up really bad on her poor little legs, I layed in bed and stared at the monitor, watching her struggle to sleep, praying that she would feel better soon, and worrying that I wasn't doing enough to help her. Once again, I called the doctor's office to get some of my questions answered and see if I needed to bring her in. After finally returning my call 6 hours later, the nurse calmed my nerves and told me that the side affects I am describing are totally normal. Addie does seem to be feeling better and is napping in her crib comfortably now. With Tim home, I was able to get my last paper written, and I am starting to feel a little less stressed. Thank you all for your prayers. I am sure we will need plenty of them to get us through this journey until we get a handle on her "asthma" problems and figure out what in the world she is allergic to.

So....for all you future mommies and daddies...get ready for the ride of your life.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Dave!

One of my favorites of the two of them so far....

Saturday was Dave, my step-dad's birthday, and we celebrated yesterday because Addie and I were in Richmond all weekend. Dave, who happens to cook the best steak in the world, fixed his own birthday dinner for us all and we ate until we were absolutely stuffed! Addie loves her Grandpa Dave so much, especially when he throws her up in the air! Happy Birthday Dave...we love you!

After dinner, Addie stayed at their house while Tim and I got some cleaning done and ran some errands. Addie woke up several times in the middle of the night coughing terribly and even threw up a couple of times from it. Needlesstosay, we got about 4 hours of sleep around here and we were up early headed to the doctor's office for the third time in 2 weeks. Addie has been wheezing some here lately and we were given an inhaler to use, but had such a difficult time getting her to let us use it on her...so, today, finally, the doctors heard her wheezing for themselves and ended up giving her a breathing treatment right then and there. It was so sad and she was so scared, but it did seem to help. We have a nebulizer (breathing treatment machine) coming here today and she will be getting a treatment every 5 hours for the next two days and on a steroid for the next four. So, yes, like every other child out there right now, she has a little cold. Hers just happens to have moved into her chest because of the asthma issues anyways. I am exhausted and so worried for her and just wish we could get healthy and stay that way for a little while. I HATE ALLERGIES! Please keep her in your prayers.

Also pray for Tim's grandfather, Pop, who is not doing well. We are all very worried and hope that he gets to feeling better soon!

I will try to post some pictures from our trip here soon, when things calm down and I get this last paper written for my class...

We are almost ready for our little road trip!

I finally got a few pictures of Addie doing what she loves best these days...looking through a book, or should I say looking through books! The girl asks me to read "Where's Baby's Belly Button?" at least 15 times in a row. Every time the book asks where something is...Addie lifts up her foot to show me her "piggies". My mom taught her where her "piggies" are, and I guess when I ask where her other parts are, she hears the tone of my voice and immediately things "piggies". Its really very cute. I will try and get that one video sometime soon.

We are getting ready to go get some blood drawn for our allergy screening. I hate these kinds of appointments. She just doesnt understand why I am letting them hurt her! Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, we will have a better idea of what she is allergic too. After our appointment, Addie is going to nap, while I pack and load up the car, and then we will eat lunch, and finally, head to Richmond! I am so excited to see my friends! Hopefully, Addie will cooperate and be a good little girl!

UPDATE: Addie was such a big girl during the doctor's visit. We were in and out in less than 30 minutes. She cried during the actual needle prick, but soon forgot all about it and was back to giggling and babbling in the back seat of the car!

Rainy day blues....

Can you believe I wrote an entire lengthy post and it didn't save properly? And now I have a whiney little girl waiting on me and no more time to re-write it. Oh well.....we'll catch up tomorrow when I have some new pictures to share!

Picnic Time!

I know...I know....the hair is a mess! I can't bring myself to trim it up yet, so I'm waiting for it to get long enough to pull back...

I took Addie to the park yesterday for a picnic and to enjoy the playground before it gets too chilly. We are really going to miss being outdoors during the winter months. We played there for amost 3 hours yesterday! She loves being outside and watching all of the big kids play and run around. She even got to see some crabs that had been caught by a young lady fishing off the side of the pier. She just stared at those crabs and then pointed as if to say "mom, look there....look at those things!". She practiced walking on the playground and got to go down a slide for the first time! She loved it and kept wanting me to put her up there. This morning we are getting ready for music class and then Mommy needs Addie to sit really still in her stroller while I get my hair cut! Yeah right! This should be an interesting day.....

Cartoons are so much fun!

Leave me alone Mom! My favorite show is on......
Check out that hair...its going WILD!

Tim and I just had the conversation about when and how much TV Addie should be watching last night. She recently started watching cartoons and she LOVES them! She remembers certain theme songs and will dance to the music when it comes on! We watch a lot of Noggin, and for those of you who do not have any small children, this is a preschool channel by Nickelodeon. It is as educational as a cartoon can be, but it is still a cartoon! When we are playing in the playroom, Addie will grab the remote control and point it at the television...she wants those cartoons! Yesterday she really got into dancing to the music standing up. Usually she is sitting down and she sort of sways to the music, but yesterday she stuck that rear end out and bounced up and down to the music of the Wonder Pets!

Oh, by the way...Grandma Julie, this was one of the outfits you got her! Isn't it so cute and fall-like?

A little break....

from blogging and computer stuff! After my class was over on Saturday, I just couldnt bring myself to sit in front of the computer for another second. Unfortunately, I don't have any new pictures to post of the little girl, but I plan on spending the day inside playing, so I will have lots of opportunities to snap some pictures. She is doing awesome! Mom and I took her shopping yesterday, not that she needs anything in particular, but my mother LOVES Gymboree and she wanted to treat the little girl to a few things from there. So, we had a girls afternoon while Tim and Dave went somewhere to watch the race and some football. It was nice to get out, but I wish I had a million dollars to shop with....then it would have been really nice! Addie is getting several new teeth right now, including a molar in the back, so she is a little grumpy, but nothing too unusual. We take her friday to get blood work for the allergies and then I am taking her for the weekend to stay with one of my dear friends, Anna, in Richmond. We are throwing a baby shower for another close friend of mine, Shannon, on Saturday and Addie gets to come! Tim needs to get some painting done on the outside of the house and everyone would like to see her before she grows up, so......shes tagging along! Happy Monday everyone!

Happy Friday!

Last night Tim and I got Addie a little stroller for her beloved baby dolls. We were hoping that it would inspire her to get up and walk and push those babies around a little. She was very interested in the stroller, but because it is so light, it kept making her fall flat on her face when she would lean into it to walk. She is so stubborn, she would fall, but never, not once, take her little hands off of the handles. Even as she lay on the floor face down screaming, those little hands gripped the stroller the whole time! Notice in the first picture by the look on her face...she does not like it when we try to help either! She seems to be confused about what goes in the stroller too. She kept throwing the baby out and putting her sippy cup in. What a funny girl! As I sit her typing, she is babbling in her crib, refusing to rest those tired eyes. It has been a long week, and Im glad that she and Daddy will get a little alone time tonight. She sure loves her Daddy!

Starting to feel better.....

And cute as ever...... In these pictures, she was so fixated on all the little kids playing on the jungle gym, I couldnt even get her to look at me to take the picture! When she starts walking, she will have a blast at the park!

She still loves to swing. That is Katelyn beside her, who is 9 months older and about to turn 2! Don't they look the same size?

Today we managed to get out of this dark house for a couple of hours and headed to the park for a picnic lunch with my friend, Stephanie, and her kids. It was such a nice day, and Addie was in a really good mood. She is starting to feel like her old self again! I am still a little paranoid about what I give her to eat and wish I could just figure out now what it was that made her react the way she did. I'm a huge worrier anyways, but when it comes to her, I'm even worse. I am anxious to have her tests done and get it all figured out. Tim and I plan on having a little "lesson" tonight on how to use the epipen, and we will teach our families after we feel confident ourselves. I know that if it should ever come to that, and I should have to use it, I will do what I need to do to help her, but it still scares me to pieces!

Addie and Tim are getting ready to have another "Addie and Daddy " weekend. I have class tomorrow and half a day on Saturday. No yardsaling this weekend!

A scary day.....

We had a pretty scary day yesterday, but everyone is ok now. Addie had some sort of allergic reaction and had to be rushed to the doctor's office to get checked out. While I was at the dentist, she stayed with her GaGa and Pop Pop. When I came to get her, she was sound asleep on her Ga Ga's chest. When she heard my voice she woke up, and when she turned around, my heart began to pound, and I began to panic (as I have been known to do). Her eyes were almost swollen shut and she had huge swollen bags under her eyes. Her little lip was swollen on one side, and she didn't even look like my little girl. Luckily, the allergic reaction wasn't causing any disturbances to her breathing, so....as bad as it looked, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. We believe she may have touched a cookie that was on the counter that had some peanut butter on top of it, and then maybe brought her hands to her mouth. That is the only thing we could think of that might have triggered a reaction like this. Considering she didn't really eat it and only touched it for just a second, we are guessing she has a pretty severe allergy to peanuts. Who would have known? I mean..I knew she had some allergies with her skin problems and all and the reaction she had to her vaccines last time, told me something, but what if I had given her a whole peanut butter cookie to try? What if someone had given her a spoon full of peanut butter to lick? What would have happened then? I can't even imagine. She looked horrible and we were all so scared. I am so thankful it happened as it did. The doctors have prescribed us epipens for the next reaction should she come into contact with whatever it was again. We also have an appointment to run some allergy tests next week to determine what all she may be allergic to. Please say a little prayer for her. And why didn't anyone warn me that being a mommy was this HARD? It is the worse feeling in the world to see her hurting or in pain......

We are back!

Well, I don't believe we ever had a virus. I'm still not exactly sure what caused all the "mess" that was going on with our computer. I did manage to clear things up, somehow, so I am hoping we will remain up and working for atleast a little while. I'm definitely no computer whiz, so.....just keep your fingers crossed!

This past Saturday we went to Tim's Pop's 88th Birthday Party. What a reason to celebrate! He is doing so well, and we really enjoyed the time with his family. The picture above is of Addie and her cousins, Skylar and Lakyne. They don't get to see each other often, so when they do, it is really very cute!

Addie is going to spend the morning with Ga Ga (Tim's Mom) while I go to a dental appointment and take an hour or so to write one of the many papers I have due for this class I am taking. Im just not sure how anyone teaching full time is suppose to actually teach and get all the work done for this class. I guess I will find out since that is what every one else is doing that I take class with. Im trying to remain positive about it all, but have any of you ever been assigned a group project and one of the group members is extremely difficult to get along with and impossible to please?......well, then you feel my pain!

Please be patient....

Don't give up on the Hewitts! Our computer has a nasty VIRUS and I won't be able to post until we get it taken care of and hopefully fixed! As I type, Tim is upstairs trying to save my pictures before we have to delete all files and reinstall windows. Cross your fingers that he is successful.....all of her birthday pictures are on that computer and my heart will just break if I lose them all! I am very stressed about it all, not to mention the class I am taking right now has a killer syllabus with so much required work. I NEED A VACATION! Love to you all.....

Addie and Lily.....

Wow, our girls are growing up so fast! They got their pictures taken the other day, and they both have changed so much in the last year. Kristy and I were talking about how we hope they get a long as well as we do because we spend quite a bit of time with each other. They play together pretty well, however, neither one is too good at sharing yet! I secretly shot this picture with my digital camera when our photographer stepped out of the studio....don't think that is actually allowed, but I couldn't resist. That place was going to get plenty of our money, so I didn't feel too bad.

Addie is going to spend most of the day with my mom, her Mamaw, today. Im sure she will be spoiled rotten by the time I get home! Yesterday I counted 2 more teeth coming in at the top in the back of her mouth, so......hopefully, she won't be too much of a bear for Mom today!

Story time with Mommy!

Addie has really started to enjoy looking at books and listening to us read to her. She will crawl over to her shelf and pull down a couple of books and bring them over to us, tossing them on our lap as if to say "hey, read me this story please!". My mom is always giving her new books and whenever I see some nice ones at yardsales, I pick them up for her too. Her favorite right now is the Itsy Bitsy Spider book, which I sing while I am reading it to her and she rocks back and forth.

We have been very busy here lately. Yesterday we took pictures at the mall, which turned out pretty good. Lily and Kristy and Brian spent the night because Lily had her pictures takent too, which were adorable! Finally, this morning we had music class and now nap time! Whew...what a crazy week so far! Im having a procedure done tomorrow that has me on a liquid diet for the next day and a half, so.....Im hungry and grumpy and really craving some Taco Bell right about now! Its just a precautionary procedure, nothings wrong, but geeez, who ever came up with the idea of a liquid diet was CRAZY! Wish me luck!

Addie and her Four Wheeler...

She has a brush in one hand and her baby in the other....How will you drive the four-wheeler Addie?

Well, we can take one of my many tasks off of my to do list for the week....Jazzercise at 5:30 AM. Why? Well, evidently, I either sleep right through the alarm or have absolutely no idea how to even set the stupid thing because I didn't make it to my class this morning. I even went to bed super early and layed out all of my clothes on the table downstairs so that I wouldnt wake Tim stumbling around half asleep as I got dressed. I was extremely dissappointed (no, really I was) when I opened my eyes at 5:59 and realized that I had already missed 14min of the class! Oh well...I guess I will attempt the class on Wed. morning!

Addie is currently screaming from her crib, tired as ever, but refusing to nap. I am forcing myself to let her whine for another 10 minutes in the hopes that she will get tired and lay down, but her little "ma ma" voice is about to make me cave in......She is ROTTEN! Tim and I are really making an effort to not give in to her so much and to let her fuss it out. She needs to learn that she will not always get her way all of the time! Picture day tomorrow.....We'll see how that goes!

Addie learns to color.....

at the BIG GIRL TABLE too!

Well, we survived Hurricane Hanna. My class was still cancelled, and other than a large limb from a neighbors tree that fell across the street, we didn't even really notice the storm. It was nice to spend the day with Addie and Tim instead of sitting in a windowless classroom! I can't complain. Addie learned to color but like most things these days, she grew tired of it quickly and decided she wanted to get into something else. She is all over the place these days, not walking but still all over the place! We finally lowered her crib all the way down today, so my tiny baby days are really over! It is always sad for me to do things like that. Even putting away some of the adorable little outfits that she grows out of so fast makes me sad! I have an incredibly busy week ahead with out-of-town friends, picture appointments, music class, yucky dr. appointments, 5:30 am Jazzercise Classes, and a gazillion birthdays coming up we have to prepare for!!!!!! Whew! I know I like to stay busy, but geez.......Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Happy Friday!

It's suppose to be Addie and Daddy weekend, but Hurricane Hanna is headed this way and my class has already been cancelled for tomorrow. I still have to go tonight, but since the storm is suppose to arrive with strong winds and heavy rain sometime tomorrow, they went ahead and cancelled classes. Since I rarely watch the news anymore, I have no idea how bad this storm is suppose to be, but I have heard that we should expect lots of rain and winds around 45 mph. So...I went ahead and put our porch furniture in the garage and am praying that all will be safe and sound!

Addie and I ran a few errands today and played for quite a long time in the playroom this afternoon. She already has such a strong personality. It is so amazing! I have a feeling she is going to have my stubborn, yet strong-willed character with just the right mix of her Daddy's sweetness and kind heart. She might give me (and others too) a mean scowl every now and then, and she can throw a temper tantrum if she isn't getting her way, but she is also really good at sharing and very gentle with other children and her baby dolls and stuffed animals. She loves to hug and rock them, and she has never once shown any aggressiveness towards anyone other than me! I love watching her change and grow and do new things every day. Tim and I are already so proud of her!

Music Class Update.....

Just a quick note to let you know how music class went yesterday. Well...I am trying to be positive and pray that next week she will be more interested in participating with me and actually smiling instead of scowling at everyone. As soon as we walked in the room, she spotted this baby doll on a shelf that she just had to have. It was downhill after that. We finally gave her the baby just to keep her quiet so that we could begin class. She carried the baby to a corner outside of the little class circle of other mothers and babies and proceeded to sit and rock her baby with this mean grumpy face. She would turn and run from me if I tried to scoop her up and once she even swatted at my hands- in front of all these other mothers with their sweet, quiet little babies! After a brief meltdown, I was able to snatch the doll and shove it in a closet, but not without lots of tears. Finally, I got her to sit down....in the MIDDLE of the circle! What am I going to do? I hope we didnt waste our money!

Music Class is BACK!

Addie finally got a chance to try out the adorable little 4-wheeler she got from her cousins, Skylar and Lakyne, last night. I was trying to wait until she was a little more comfortable on her feet, but......that seems to be taking forever, so I put it together yesterday and began charging up the battery! She isn't too sure about it yet, but I can see it is going to be a favorite here soon!

Today, we will venture to our first Music class since the winter! I am so excited to see Addie and how she reacts to the class now that she is older and seems more interested in music and dancing. The class will give us a chance to get out of the house during the cold months and keep her around some children her own age. We love the teacher Miss Tracey and I am very excited for her to see how big Addie is now! Hope she doesn't expect her to be walking yet? .......can you tell I'm getting stressed? I'll let ya know how it goes......

1st Day of school.....

This was a picture of Addie by the time we were ready to leave the zoo the other day! What a nightmare! Either she really loved the zoo and didn't want to leave yet, or she was really, really tired and in desperate need of a nap! Surprisingly enough, she never did nap that afternoon.....we just packed her up and dropped her off at my mom's for the night! Ha! And of course, she was a perfect angel for her mamaw!

Nothing new to write about today, just relaxing and trying not to think about it being the first day back to school for everyone...oh well...I'm right where I want to be!

Happy Labor Day!

I hope everyone is enjoying the nice long holiday weekend and all of you teachers out there are ready to head back to school tomorrow. I will be thinking about you all day, I'm sure.....Today has been a pretty quiet day around here. Tim volunteered to work to earn some extra money, so Addie and I have been hanging out by ourselves for most of the day. My Mom and Dave did come by and pick us up for a nice lunch out, which we really appreciated! It's nice to have some company every once in a while. It is going to be a big adjustment for me since my mom will no longer be around during the days to do stuff with. Addie and I will sure miss her! Well, I better get off here and take advantage of her nap time to get the living room vacuumed!