Just us - there’s a little of the before, but mostly it’s the after...: September 2012

Birmingham Museum of Art

During most of the month of August, we were consumed by life in downtown Birmingham.

On the Sunday before Addie started school, we were headed back up to the hospital, when I decided that Addie needed some time of her own.

Since we were in the neighborhood, and Addie had such a great time on our last visit, we headed back to the Birmingham Museum of Art.

It was a rainy day and Addie tried her best to catch a few raindrops as they rolled down the window.

We were the ONLY people in the children's area.

It took all the pressure off of worrying about keeping Addie's excitement at a low volume and she got to play with whatever she chose - no sharing!

Addie did a really good job, but needed some help from time to time.

I guess I was somewhat wrong about not having to share with anyone...

This was Addie's favorite area of the day!

You tap the computer screen to pick a background for the green screen, run to get into the picture, wait for the picture to take and then you can email the photo to yourself.

Addie was all about pushing every button on the computer screen...and she was very quick to let me know she did not need any help!

It was very much a work in progress!

~~~

August 19, 2012

Football 2012 - Game Three

I have got to do something about my camera.

Maybe if I write a letter to Santa...

Until I hear back from one of Santa's helpers or the big guy himself, please enjoy the blurry, unidentifiable pictures of my #68.

Game three of the season was a good game, but it had to be one of the longest football games in middle school history.

We were all exhausted and so ready to go by the end of the game.

I would not want to be on the receiving end of that block.

Yep.

He's in there.

It's kind of like, Where's Waldo?

If you have your glasses on and squint really hard, with your nose almost touching the screen, you'll see my baby.

That's kind of how we all felt as the time just kept slowly ticking by...

Based on my professional coaching experience, I would say there were some decent blocks taking place.

Game Three - Win Three.

~~~

September 13, 2012

~~~

The Little Fungus was happy as could be!
She loves watching Julien play football!

ER Baby couldn't miss the game!
Although, just like the rest of us, she was exhausted!

A friend at work added the adorable football owl and Addie's name to her dress.
It's a good thing that I know talented people!

Sweet girl!

When I asked her if I could take a picture of her football owl, she immediately stood so very still!
She is so proud of her, "Julien football dress!".

.....and of course.....

post game.

Addie always wants to wait for Julien.

As soon as she sees him, she runs straight to him!

The long nights in the stands is all worth it.

A Day at the Park

This time of year is awesome!

I love nothing more than being outside in air that doesn't feel like it's made of molasses.

On Saturday, we enjoyed an afternoon at the park.

Addie made a beeline to the swing since her beloved tire swing was occupied.

She settled in and got comfy with her baby as she kept a close watch on the ~~heathens~~ children who occupied her tire swing.

We were beginning to wonder if her behind had become permanently glued to the swing

when we somehow managed to bribe her into setting foot onto solid ground again.

We started by climbing up to the slide.

This is, by far, my favorite playground for integrated PT.

It has been a little while since our last visit and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Addie has made progress!

She did a fantastic job climbing the different levels!

I noticed that as we crossed over the wooden platform and neared the edge, she began to slide each foot forward, trying to feel for the step down.

I was so impressed!!!!

I didn't have to help her climb from stair to stair this time, I just had to provide balance support!

Walking down the stairs and changing surfaces did require assistance, but she was doing an amazing job!

....Oh my goodness, I just searched for my last post about this playground and it was exactly one year ago - September 22, 2011!...No wonder Addie has made great progress!....

She thought she was pretty cute stuff!

Of course ER Baby was tucked safely in her arms.

I encouraged Addie to try the enclosed slide and she was receptive to the idea, just as long as I went with her!

It really wouldn't have been a problem had she not pressure mounted us about halfway down the slide, causing me to lose a bit of skin off the heel of my foot.

Oh the things I will do for that little Monkey!

On another note, a friend at work made Addie football ponytail holders!

Not only does Addie love them, she is overly protective of her "Julien football" ponytail holders.

Thank you Dana!

~~~

September 22, 2012

I Created a Monster

It is all my husband's fault.

My husband was away enjoying the Tour Championship, which meant that I had to find a way to busy myself.
In an effort to succeed, I decided to take care of some very important business...

the business of taking a Little Monkey for her very first manicure.

Overall, Addie did a fantastic job, sans the mini meltdown when she thought I was going to make her sit in the pedicure chair.

The pedicure chair resembled something along the line of this, except it was a plush bear that should have been more than inviting.

If I had to take a guess, I would say that the chairs reminded Addie of going to the dentist.

Since she couldn't tell me what was going on and I couldn't calm her, we went back out to the front and I let Addie sit on my lap while she had her nails done.

She was such a good girl!

She was super careful with her nails and even tried to convince me to let her forgo hand washing before lunch.

That didn't happen...

Before our lunch arrived, Addie was more than happy to take a picture of her nails so that we could send it to her Daddy.

On the way home, I kept hearing Addie giggle.

It was one of those moments where it just wouldn't be right to question it.

If she is giggling, that means that she is not in any type of respiratory distress and she is still doing well.

I don't want to be the one to upset her happiness...

even if that means that she is dunking her baby into a cup full of water the entire way home and I have to spend intermittent parts of the next two hours wrapping and re-wrapping baby in a towel in order to dry her completely.

Whatever makes her happy and content in the car.

Addie is so proud of her nails!

It was a special treat for her, and will not become a habit until she is older.

When the next time comes for her to get her nails done, I hope she will be more at ease around the vicious pedicure chairs.

It was me, then it was Chris, next came Julien.

Apparently, we are taking our time spreading the cooties throughout our house.

The symptoms vary in severity and the cooties seem to be hanging around abnormally long.

The one constant, is the amount of whining involved.

Julien was so sick Thursday night that he only managed a few plays before he ended up on the sidelines for the rest of the evening.

As soon as he walked off the field, he told me he needed to go to the doctor.

When we got home, I confirmed he was running a fever.
He couldn't get into bed fast enough.

After I managed to rearrange a few things on Friday, I took Julien in to Greenvale.

I don't know if it is the change in weather that has brightened my mood and overall well-being, but something was in the air on Friday.

Even Julien, who was more than miserable, couldn't help but find humor in every wrong situation we encountered.

We were lucky enough to get an appointment with Dr. Dudgeon, who thankfully cleared Julien from all serious contagions and diagnosed Julien with one very nasty sinus infection.

This evening, Julien appears to be feeling better, so hopefully we are moving past all fungusy ailments for a good long while.

Addie's First Field Trip!!!

Another milestone...

Today was Addie's very first Field Trip....AND Bus Ride!!!

I was so excited for this opportunity for Addie.

I knew she would be so excited to ride the bus, but I honestly wasn't sure how well she would do at the Children's Theatre with all the costumes and excitement.

She did a fantastic job today!

She was so excited and had a wonderful day!

Addie's aide and teachers went with the class, so I had no worries.

It certainly helped to receive pictures and confirmation that all was well!

Pre-Field Trip.

She looks so excited!

When we picked Addie up this afternoon and got her settled into the car, I showed her the pictures from her day.

I could tell she was thinking it through and trying to figure out how I had the pictures.

When she saw this picture, she immediately got so excited and started pointing at the "Choo-Choo".

No matter how many times I said, "School bus.", she countered with, "Choo-Choo".

When we picked Julien up from football and he asked Addie about her day, all she said was, "Choo-Choo".

Once we clarified with Julien that she did not go to the zoo for her field trip and she didn't really ride a train, he was so excited to see the pictures from her day.

Addie adored her ride on the big yellow choo-choo and she looked through the pictures for over half an hour while on the way to dinner.

Addie's first steps onto a school bus.

I would have loved to see her little face, I bet she was so thrilled!

I had just walked out of a meeting when this picture came to me.

When I read the text, I immediately teared up (what the heck?!?!?).

It said, "Waiving and saying, "Hey Momma!" as we drive through Birmingham!".

Oh my goodness, Addie is such a sweet girl!

Look at all this hard work!!!

So many stairs!

What a very special day for Addie (and all her friends)!

The first field trip is such a big day!

A huge "Thank You!" to Mrs. Anita, Mrs. Allison and Mrs. Morris for taking such great care of our little ones today and for making this day so very special!

We are so blessed to have you!

Kitty

The football mascot will come into the stands during the games to "visit".

We have made tremendous progress over the last two seasons with Kitty, to the point where Addie even made contact with the Kitty's paw during one of the games this season.

This past game, Kitty came around with a bucket full of Tootsie Rolls.

I took one for Addie and she seemed quite thrilled.

When she was finished, she started scanning the stands and the field looking for "Kitty" because she apparently wanted "More".

We never did catch back up with Kitty and Addie managed to get through it in one piece.

Today on the way to work, I picked up a bag of Tootsie Rolls,

(only because the bag caught my eye as I was leaving the cold and flu aisle after stocking up on anything that would provide my husband with any relief).

I left a few treats in the car and took the rest into work.

When we picked Addie up this afternoon, I handed her a Tootsie Roll.

Her eyes immediately lit up, she had the sweetest little inquisitive smile on her face and she asked me,

"Kitty?".

The sound of her sweet little voice made me smile and of course,

I gave Kitty credit for the little treat.

It was worth it, there is nothing like seeing Addie make connections and remember events.

It's the little things that make me so happy.

Addie inspecting Kitty - prior to seeing the bucket full of candy.

~~~

September 13, 2012

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town...

I effectively managed to scare Addie without actually putting forth any effort.

In an attempt to keep the Monkey somewhat subdued, I came up with the brilliant idea of putting her favorite Christmas CD on for her.

I was busy cleaning between her room, Julien's room and the laundry room, when I noticed that she had followed me into the hallway.

She had her back to me, was holding onto the gate and was trying to peek around the corner to look into her room.

When I called her name, she looked at me and I could tell that she was so scared.

I started towards her and that's when it hit me....

Out of her room came the Little People happily singing, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town".

It is the one song that she refuses to listen to and each time it came on during this past Christmas Season, she would tell us, "No, no, no" until we changed it.

I imagine that when she heard the tune coming from her room, she must have expected the jolly old soul to come bouncing through the doorway.

Bless her.