some more pics of the 3 girls & their parents

(l-r): griswold, lilly, addy, kierra, bobby
it's pretty amazing that they all got along well enough (mostly) share this car. usually bobby pushed, but apparently addy was also interested in pushing.

(l-r): wes & addy, erin & kierra, scott & lilly & bobby

Gma & Gpa Gerbick's party...or cute toddler girls

addy's yellow sundress from greece! (thanks gma & gpa!)

Addy, Kierra (in red), & Lilly (in checkered dress)

Kierra looking very interested in something

This past weekend was wes' parent's 35th wedding anniversary...a party was had for them in avon lake (where they live & wes grew up). there was an ENORMOUS amount of food, which is almost always wonderful for a pregnant lady. & it was wonderful. however, avon lake had one of it's hottest days of the year on this party day & it was hot & humid...so if you notice pictures were not taken of the sweaty prego sitting in the shade! (i even had a dress on...when i wear a dress that's a for sure camera moment, as it doesn't come very often). anyway, most of the adults celebrated by drinking lots of great beverages (some made by wes' brother, an ex-bartender & also wes' beer). so i decided to celebrate by eating non-stop. seriously! there was another prego there, erin byrne & we commiserated as all pregos should.

it was exceptionally fun to watch the 3 toddler girls playing with each other, their pics are above. growing up, wes prowled the avon lake neighborhood in a pack of 4 best friends who have roughly stayed in touch & get together at events like these, telling stories about how each of them was hurt (maybe could have died, just possibly!) but my favorite is how wes used to be sprayed off with a hose, NAKED, in the front yard by his mom; these are stories that should be told to the next generation. now 3 of them have toddler girls within 4 months of each other...what are the odds? now, kierra's mama (the commiserating prego mentioned earlier) is due in late december, about 3 months after us. crazy times. maybe we'll have boys this round... so here is the list: addy is 22 months, kierra is 20 months, & lilly is 18 months (lilly has an older brother, bobby, who is the sweetest little 5 year old out there...he really knows how to entertain a group of toddler girls; just play music for them to dance to!).

and, i have to wish sue & bruce a happy 35th year together as a married couple (i think they've been together since high school, actually). that's quite a long time to put up with someone else... wes thought up a gift: a globe. they can put pushpins into every place they've traveled to together (they really like to travel).

some of addy's favorite things to do

addy attempting to tackle monkey bars & a vertical ladder

so addy is quite the spirited child, at least her parents think so. lately she has been very 'challenging' with her tantrums (screaming fits over who knows what), her lack of talking clearly (did we mention already that she is now calling griswold GOD instead of DOG?! talk about getting it all backwards...) combined with her unending energy, fear of nothing (seriously), her apparent need to climb all structures, & her desire to be around others...oh wait, AND her ability to trip over nothing!

anyway, last night, i thought i couldn't take anymore of this parenting a toddler stuff. i even told wes i was seriously DREADING today b/c if it was like the past few days, i think i was going to lose it. combine my small amount of patience when pregnant & 90+ degree heat with humidity & 7 months of pregnancy misery=really impatient & exhausted heidi & mama... monday night i tried to do the visualization techniques for hypnobirthing & my 'PEACE SANCTUARY' had a huge snake in it; it's supposed to be my safe place to go to, to relax & de-stress....& there was the one thing i'm totally afraid of, in my 'mind's eye' as they say in hypnobirthing, lounging in my peace sanctuary. & i couldn't get it to leave. all that to say-stress level is very high :o) to say the least.

so i woke up this morning at 8 (wes is wonderful...he had already taken addy & griswold for a walk & given them both breakfast & eaten breakfast himself & gotten my coffee ready! wow) & felt much better...maybe it's the 70 degree weather today or maybe god saw that i was really going to lose it! but, today is much better. maybe addy can tell that i was more relaxed b/c she seemed more relaxed (or maybe it's the other way around?!). so we've had fun today & it's very nice to just hang out with her & laugh with her & even have mini conversations.
so to honor the fun we've had today, or at least this morning (b/c right now she's in her room supposedly taking a nap, but instead is crying & trying to shove books under her bedroom door) i will list some things that our adventurous little lady enjoys doing.

SLIDES: she will climb up them, usually the highest one she can find (& that we let her play on), turn around, go down very slowly (sometimes sliding over some other kids in the process) by holding her feet out. or she will rocket down the slide, bumping her butt on the ground as she lands with a loud thud. then she will clap & try to get others to clap for her also.
EATING: i think it's too early to say that she has adopted her mama's ability to do some true emotional eating, but she's getting close to that diagnosis! monday i made some rice krispie treats (with some fruity pebbles in them...the best way to make these treats) & her & i will just sit somewhere & eat these with a fork for up to 30 minutes. today it took her 30 minutes to eat her lunch b/c she just sat there oogling & analyzing her pizza...i think she even made up a song for it ('the love of my life, yum, pizza with lots of cheese, yum, sauce to dip it in, yum yum...').
COMPUTERS: yes, she loves the computer. she refuses to sit in front of a tv for longer than 1 minute, but set her up in front of a computer & she will sit there, babbling & entranced. then she will bang on the keyboard & lock our computer up! we've started playing some toddler games online, & she really enjoys this, especially when she gets to type.
BLOCKS: she will stack blocks as high as she can reach. then she will come get one of us to lift her up so she can keep adding things until her structure is complete. sometimes other random items get placed in the stacking (her favorite choices are little people & the treehouse animals). recently she has taken to only wanting a certain set of blocks stacked in order, with the numbers all facing the same way, & with the blocks flushed to one side (sort of like a left alignment). if she's not able to do this...those wonderful tantrums occur.
BOOKS: she has a set of books for every major room in the house. she has her bedtime books, her living room books, books for mama & daddy's bedroom... and she really likes to read them in order. and she really wants us to read the author's name...
WINDOW WATCHING: she can sit still in front of our front windows & just watch the birds, squirrels, passers-by, & cars. she really has enjoyed doing this her entire life!
TACKLING THE DOG: (err, tackling god?) addy really gets a kick out of her version of wrestling with griswold. she loves to lay on him, pet him, jump on him, ride him, chase him...basically make griswold wish she was just a blob of a baby again.
GIVING HI-FIVES: she has become very good at slapping a solid one high up in the air. it's very cute & she thinks it's very hip, apparently.

well, those are just a few that i could think of right now; i'm sure some of you who see her regularly can add your own things you've noticed. i guess i just needed to stop & remember that addy is really a fun little gal...even though she is most likely giving me gray hairs & stress lines prematurely. so sorry for the long entry, but it had to be done today while i am really enjoying her...or else it would be 'the things addy does to piss off mama...' ;o)

mmmhhhmmmm, fried green tomatoes!

these are the most fabulous food. if you like them, you may be salivating right now. if you have not had them before, i know they look a bit 'iffy' BUT don't be like the cat in the hat, not trying the green eggs & ham, or in this case, the fried green tomatoes. even wes, my fried food (near) phobic husband has grown to love these! whenever we plant tomatoes, i am not merely waiting for tomatoes to ripen, i really just want to pluck them ASAP, cut them, bread them (in flour, bread crumbs, or whatever your wish may be), put a little salt & pepper on them (wes adds some seasoning salt also), fry them in some butter or olive oil, & them gobble them up. wes made these for me the other day. i was in heaven. (then i was in hell b/c of acid relux. then i took a pepcid & life was okay again.) they are pretty close in wonderfulness as a fresh garden red tomato with a little bit of sugar on it (i also gobble those up quickly). also, some people eat these with a horseradish sauce, in case you are so inclined. this plateful, which consisted of 4 large green roma tomatoes, lasted approximately 4 minutes before they were gone. you can also make them with larger tomatoes for equal yumminess.
i may have to make more tomorrow.

Goodbye Toaster

So this is the toaster that I (Wes) married into. It served us well for many years but it finally died. The handle that you press down to turn it on broke off. At any rate the feature I found most unique about this toaster is the location of the cord; it came out the front of the toaster. I always told Heidi it was the misfit toaster from the 'Island of Misfit Toys'. For those of you that don't know this is a reference to the Rudolph The Rednose Reindeer Christmas special. Every time I used it I would think to myself in a high pitched voice..."I'm a toaster with my cord on backwards". RIP misfit toaster.

addy's first (official) play DATE

michael kissing addy on the belly (see, i told her boys would like a "real-girl" size belly!)

the two playmates atop the swingset ('who goes first?')

addy & michael giving hugs...or is michael helping addy off the slide?

addy had her first playdate...yes, she's a bit old for this to be her first, but we have had a hard time finding little people her age around here! if we were living in boise, i don't think that would be a problem :o) but here we are in westerville. the boy is michael stevenson, addy's grandma sue's best friend's grandson (did everyone follow that?) & he is about 6 weeks younger than addy, but apparently he likes younger girls. so we had a playdate for the grandmas, for the mamas (jessica is michael's mom; they live in lancaster, ohio), & for the kiddos. it was very very hot & humid out (well, in my perspective, pregos are a bit unreliable for temperature readings) & we turned the sprinkler on...michael loved it, addy was afraid of it...go figure. she just stood by it, getting wet & cried, while michael attacked the water, laughing. michael really enjoyed kissing addy; this above picture is only one of the few times he pinned her, giving her nice little smooches & she would look frantic for a few seconds, then she would pat his head or they would hug & run off to play. it was fun to watch her play with someone her age! she really enjoyed it & t hey actually played together, sharing sippy cups & toys. good times!

Swimming, round 2

addy sitting pretty

addy & grandma sue

lifeguard looking for addy's poop in pool

wes' mom was visiting for a few days this week...it seems whenever there is a grandparent in the house, addy laughs almost constantly for at least the first day & this trip was no exception. addy showed gma sue all of her fun new toys, her new 'big girl' bedroom (which we will post about eventually!), & also enjoyed showing off her playground skills. the first morning sue was here, i slept in until about 9:15 & oh my was it glorious! i also was able to get my hair trimmed & even had some highlights put in! wowee, talk about pampering.

anyway, on to addy. on day two (tuesday) of sue's visit, we decided to go swimming in the afternoon & early evening. addy was having an exceptionally crabby morning, so she took a long nap & wes took a few hours off of work & off we all went to highland's pool. addy played & even swam a bit (well, floated) with her daddy & gma sue played with her in the water & chased her around b/c addy loves to get in & out. this time, we took many fun toys & kids were stealing our toys! it felt good to be on the other end; although, wes did have to track down the kid & parent who took our all-important plastic 'watering can' that is vital for bath time success... things we can't just let walk away! as wes & sue played with addy, i lounged in the shade under a pergola, reading my book club book ("beautiful boy" by david sheff...i found it insightful & agonizing, a good read), then we all snacked on watermelon & potato "thingies" (they're from trader joe's, the potato & veggie crisps or whatever. they're very good)...then addy & gma got back in the water.

THEN...when sue was doing 'motorboat addy' in the water, she noticed some brown water & chunks coming out of addy's diaper...YES. egads. addy had diarrhea in the pool! sue quickly took addy out of the pool & over to me & as she laid her down on the towel, all of this brown stuff (to be a little less descriptive & gross, we'll call it "stuff") literally flowed out of her diaper & onto the towel. yuck. wes was in shock for some reason...it may be b/c he was once a lifeguard & it just irked him when kids lost a turd in the pool & they had to clean it, etc etc. so he asked if i thought he should tell the lifeguard that addy had some diarrhea in the pool & sue & i both said 'YES!' off he went, head hung low...& then the lifeguards blew the whistle & yelled 'everyone out!' & there was wes looking MORTIFIED! other lifeguards came over to help search through the pool, looking for addy's little 'stuff' floating (or does it not float?? hhmm?). as for me, i thought it was pretty funny in general & the worst part was getting her out of poopy clothes. it was fairly obvious that it was our daughter who caused the problem, the poop in the pool problem (no one else was quickly changing their kid out of the swim suit & into regular clothes...no other father was standing by with a humiliated look on his face, FRANTICALLY packing up our belongings. sue & i seemed to get addy dressed & attempted to calm wes down. i mean, come on, she had a swim diaper on, she didn't have diarrhea in the morning...there's just no way to predict when addy will get diarrhea anymore.

soon enough, an entire group of kids (maybe in 2 or 3rd grades??) came over from their swim lesson the next pool over & helped the lifeguards search for addy's poop. all the other kids who could understand what was going on were thoroughly enjoying it all. we kept hearing boys pointing & shouting "there's a piece of poop! there is is!" (most likely it wasn't, we're pretty sure the poop lost in the pool was picked up immediately by the first lifeguard notified). but it seemed to make the day of many many kids. before leaving, i snapped a few pictures of a lifeguard walking through the kiddy pool, with a net & blue gloves...searching for addy's poop, with kids excitedly yelling all around 'i see the poop!' ... overall, pretty humorous.

heidi's birthday cupcake

fun at heidi's bday party!

owen crawford jumping down the waterslide

adeline crashing down the waterslide

adeline admiring judy's flowers

i know, there's not a picture of the birthday girl here...but that's b/c everyone else was having so much fun at this party! a dear friend, judy crawford, threw a little bash in my honor...really just a good excuse for her to have one of her famous parties. it was fabulous, complete with guiness cupcake (picture next post up, somehow it didn't show up on this one! argh, must figure out nuances of posting), appetizers that were yummy (my favorite), & some wonderful fillet steaks & gorgonzola cheese fondue! pretty amazing times.

the pinnacle of the night wasn't singing happy birthday or eating the fondue or steak. nope. it was wes taking addy down the CHILDREN'S water slide. apparently there was some miscommunication as to how wes could attempt going down this water slide & her thought it was perfectly okay to first of all go down the water slide, then to also have addy in his arms. anyway, it ended as i expected: the slide collapsed, he & addy gently crashed to the ground, addy cried out of fear of dying & wes was laughing hysterically. i had little visions of addy & wes both suffocating from the material or even drowning?! judy got most of this on video; i'm not sure if she's going to blog it or not, but we'll attempt to get it. check her blog (it's listed under 'my blogging friends') to see! anyway, it may be worth 10,000 on AFV. to top it off, the fall tore the bottom of the slide where it was grounded...thankfully, judy was able to fix it already.

it was good times had by all. thanks for the party judy. i promise at the next one, i won't let my husband do anything stupid (for those not in the know, two years ago, judy hosted a bday party for wes & wes nearly broke his tailbone jumping off the top of their boys' new swingset...long story, but a very stupid idea!). happy birthday to me... :o)

swimming!

addy in the "inflatable thingy"

heidi saying 'why take a picture of me?'

addy looking very confused at the pool

so we finally made it to the pool this summer! and we happened to arrive at the area pool on a 'family fun night'!! super duper times. they were giving out free popcorn & lemonade, had a big red inflatable jumping thing (what is that really called? we have no idea) & did face painting. addy loved jumping around in the inflatable thingy, even more than she enjoyed swimming. she practiced her swimming lesson techniques of getting in & out of the pool very often...actually, that's mostly all she did; get in & out of the pool, in & out. she did steal some great toys from other unsuspecting kids & was also very upset when we made her return them (we went to the pool fully unprepared as parents: no toys!). she cried when her & daddy went under the very large water fountain. she tried to sit down in two feet of water & then had a very panicked look on her face as we pulled her up (but she didn't breathe in! go swim lessons!). she also tried to eat several soggy pieces of popcorn found on the ground. we didn't think she would sit still long enough to have her face painted (good thought). and most importantly: we used enough sunscreen to keep her from burning!
we will return to the pool this week with grandma sue & this time we will bring toys!

the things griswold puts up with

so this is our wonderful dog, who allows addy to do things to him that most dogs wouldn't allow... addy does like to dress & undress dolls, but i think griz will be her manequin of choice as she grows up. what next, a tutu?

another rash

so this is addy's newest & finest. it came just 2 hours after the pediatric nurse called to say all her blood results came back negative for food allergies or intolerances...this rash appeared barely 5 minutes after she tried to eat a fortune cookie (she really really wanted to try it, but didn't like it). i have no idea what's going on with her system. this is very frustrating. we do have a follow up appointment with a ped next week. it was about 8 days ago that her last round of rash appeared but that one looked entirely different, was on one side of her face & lasted for about 5 days. good grief. i just hope she's not in pain!

but...she does look very cute today in her green jumper!

terrible two's

addy is officially full throttle in the "terrible two's"...what a few weeks it has been. wait, what a few months; that sounds better. and it is a bit more interesting b/c she can't talk! so she wants something SO BAD that she screams & cries & throws things for it, but she can't say it, only points to something (that we have no idea what it is).

yesterday i ran an errand that took us out in the car for about 10 minutes. addy apparently thought we were going to do something fun out of the house so when i pulled back into our driveway, she started sobbing. it was very disheartening. she is quite the extrovert who NEEDS to get out & be with other people to be happy...which is unfortunate that she lives with parents who are introverts & who NEED to be at home, away from others at times.

so this morning, i was very groggy b/c last night i had to take a unisom sleeping pill (b/c i was very sick & nauseous yesterday, so unisom helps relieve that)...a groggy mama with a very active toddler does not mix well. it was almost as if she was literally bouncing from toy to toy, thinking to herself 'i've already played with this & this & this & this...what next?!' & i'm just laying on the couch wondering if she'd really notice if i fell asleep or not. then i also wondered if this is what kids of addicts go through--their moms or dad passed out on the couch! (parental guilt has to creep in somehow)...anyway. i couldn't take the crying & whining anymore & i peeled myself off the couch & somehow got both of us dressed & out the door in 30 minutes. probably b/c i didn't care what we looked like b/c unisom also does that to me. we made it to the mall without an accident, but i was wondering if i should be driving under such sleepy & groggy conditions... as we pulled into the mall parking lot, addy actually starts clapping her hands, kicking her legs, & shouting happily (for those of you not in the know...the polaris mall has a very exciting toddler/kid indoor playground; it is a lifesaver).

addy did manage to patiently eat part of her snack & let me drink almost all of my latte (full caffeine for today) before she started the pointing. it's really odd that she actually new which direction to point in, towards the playground. hhhmmm. but she had a grand time & i sat there drinking starbucks, probably looking very out of it. then a friend from the women's group walks in & we chat about the terrible two's & newborns (she has a 25 month old & 1 month old...the same situation we'll have after j2 arrives). that's our story for today: very tired mama, very active addy, very humid weather...what a day.

if anyone reads this & is the least bit concerned for addy's happiness or safety, feel free to offer babysitting! :o)

watching fireworks

somehow this pic didn't post before. but here's addy within the first few minutes of the display. she really didn't move. notice her & wes have a similar look of awe & joy :o)

4th of july

low flying balloon

addy entranced by the hot air balloons

addy with gram-mum (top)
scott (heidi's brother) w/ one twin, chloe (i think!)

we were going to have a westerville 4th of july celebration...but it rained the day before (all day), & was forecast to rain the rest of the day & be hot & muggy. so we decided to quickly pack up & head just 70 minutes north, to ashland, where it was sunny, clear, & even a bit cool. wes was very excited to go b/c of the 'balloon fest'...only someone NOT from ashland would be excited for this! it is neat to see all the balloons, but we weren't able to stay saturday night for the 'balloon glow.' anyway, it was a lovely day, complete with t-bone steaks from gma & gpa gerwig. addy was able to play with the twins, chloe & zoe & griswold played with ruger (scotty's dog); gram-mum & pop-pop got to play with addy & mama got to sleep in! everyone was happy.

while with gram-mum & pop pop, it has been noticed that addy does not leave g-mum's side at any time. it's very cute (a little disheartening as a mama, but i'm sure she loves me more...it's just that i do say 'no' sometimes whereas g-mum doesn't????). addy & the twins are really starting to communicate & play with each other; although, it does appear the twins are more used to sharing things than addy is....we'll work on that in about 10 weeks! addy had fun with them, giving them hugs, patting their heads, giving them kisses, & sharing sippy cups (they even played with toys a little bit). the twins are crawling now, so that added another level of excitement for addy...'peers who are cousins & who are girls! marvelous!'

all the 'babies' (who really are no longer babies...) stayed up to watch the fireworks. it took a lot of cheerios for this to happen, but we made it! addy loved them (this was her first time watching fireworks) & totally froze in place for about a minute after they started. she was just staring off into the sky, mesmerized. she sat on daddy's lap first, then snuggled with mama on the chair, then after that she laid on the blanket with gram mum & pop-pop. the twins faired okay; zoe LOVED the display & kept pointing to them with a big grin...chloe cried in terror, holding onto her daddy for dear life (then also biting him, we found out later). good times.

Bath time with Daddy & duckies

today addy has yet another of her famous diaper rashes which developed from yet another round of equally famous diarrhea. so to help her bum soothe a bit, we give her mini baths throughout the day, followed by some 'diaper off time' that usually involves the parent cleaning up several pee spots on the carpet. today, she didn't want to get in the tub; then, there wasn't enough water in the tub (mamais cheap!); then mama wasn't playing with her the way she wanted. SO daddy got in the tub (you are missing in view wes' wonderful red boxers...). and that was all she needed to have a wonderfully fun mini bath time. this was after she was in her bedroom for 2 hours taking a non-sleeping 'nap' so getting her to smile, laugh, & cooperate all at once is quite a feat.

other exciting things today: b/c of addy's bouts of diarrhea, the pediatrician thought it necessary to do blood work to test for several different causes of the diarreah that has come & gone her entire 21 months of living (bacteria, virus, food allergies, lactose intolerance, & celiac disease). she's also on a strict no-fruit diet for a week to determine if that could also cause the constant loose stools. anyway, driving from the pediatrician to children's hospital in westerville to have blood taken, we were both a bit anxious that she would respond to having blood taken as i do (heidi: passing out, nausea, lightheadedness...). we said a quick prayer & walked in & addy of course surprises us again. she was a CHAMP! she walked right up into the chair with daddy, didn't wince or complain with the tourniquet & then just looked around the room & at the lady bug hair barrett i pulled out of her hair to distract her as the needle went in. she didn't flinch a bit, through 2 vials of blood! amazing. she picked a 'goofy' sticker out, pointed at her bandaid in pride, & she hopped down, like nothing had happened. again, AMAZING. the nurses mentioned that they would like all their patients to be as agreeable AND cute as addy...they have the benefit of being a stranger; she saves all the crying & tantrums for mama & daddy!

we will keep everyone posted as we learn what's going on with addy. hopefully it's nothing! maybe we're just letting her eat more fruit than she needs (she does pick fruit over ice cream, candy, juice, really anything). if not, we'll adjust our eating habits to accomodate a new diet (b/c it's nearly impossible to eat something around addy without her getting a piece of it).