Say Goodbye to Keeley's Friend the Bottle

Keeley isn't attached to a teddybear, a blanket or even a binky. Nope. Her attachment is to a 8 oz. Dr. Browns' bottle. It is her friend when she bonks her head or when she is tried and wants to go to bed. She drags it around the house like it is stuffed bunny.


Sorry sis it's time to say goodbye to your friend. I just keep think of all the horrible things we are teaching her by letting her be attachment to a bottle. I think they had a Dateline Special on parents who allowed their children to become attached to food, or something like that. So, this week we will go to only sippy cups and try to force her to become attached to something else (hopefully that won't be a sippy cup). She can carry a teddy bear every where we go. Or she can choose a blanket to be hers and its okay to need it every time she goes to sleep. It is going to be a long week!

On 2 Feet

Keeley and I headed to get the mail last week but she was in a skirt and so she quickly taught herself this little trick so she wouldn't scratch those pretty little knees of hers.

A Tornado to Top Off the Day

Obviously this has been an interesting day in our house hold. Tonight Matt was suppose to go on a Scout Campout (which is why we switched cars earlier) and while he was gone I was going to go over to a friends house for dinner. When I left our house it was calm but it had been raining off and on all day so I stuck Keeley in a rain jacket and skipped out the door. About 3 miles from our house the rain was coming down so hard I couldn't really see out my window. But I was on a major road so I turned off to get onto a side road. I turned on the radio to see what was going on and they are talking of tornadoes. I assumed it was a tornado watch but I switched channels and I hear a tornado has been spotted on the ground only .5 mile from our house.

When I arrived at our friends house I got Keeley out of the car and by the time I got to their front door I was soaked totally through. I see on the news that the tornado cause damage within a mile of our house. It even removed a roof and dumped inthe field behind our house.

I call to Matt to see if I can convince them to come home. And I do mean convince. They still all wanted to go but a little wife persuasions and a few calls from the parents they turned around.

Three hours later I arrive back at our house which is fully in tack. I was secretly hoping that maybe the tornado would pick up all the trash in my neighbors yard and dump it a few miles from here but no luck I still get to look at his horrible pile of crap!

Everyone here says they never have tornados. But since we have lived here 3 have touched down in our little city. That is 3 more than I have experienced before. Everyone writes them off here like it isn't a big deal but I'm not to that point they still scare me.

Twice today our family has been blessed with safety not only for ourselves but also for our property. For that we are grateful.

Fender Bender

Keeley and I got into a little accident today. It was completely my fault and I was a mess. Here is the story (sorry its long):

I was leaving Wal-mart. Keeley was screaming. My friend Rebecca believes that they gas the children when you enter Wal-mart because they are always rotten. I was on Main Street headed home where the lanes merge. The traffic was stop and go. I was stopped. We started to go. I was shifting into 2nd and trying to calm my screaming baby when the traffic stopped. I looked up and slammed on my brakes but we didn't stop in time. We hit the back of a truck (A BIG truck).

I waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to pull over but when it became obvious she had no intention of getting off this incredibly busy street I got out of my car (Keeley is still screaming) and asked for her to get off the road. She was obviously upset, and rightfully so, and said no she had already called the police. I called Matt and he agreed with me that I needed to get off the road before I caused a second accident. I was about to go around her when I saw the cop driving up. I waited for him to get there when he immediately said "get your cars off the road."

We pulled off and I got out of my car (Keeley is still screaming). The officer looked at the damage, a small crack in our bumper, and asked if I wanted to file a report. I of course said no. I got Keeley out of the car and within a two minuets he returned with our licence plate cover that was stuck on the ladies hitch. He said "There isn't' any damage to her truck. She doesn't want to file a report she just was concerned that you were talking on your phone while driving (which I wasn't). But when she saw your screaming baby I think she realized that there were other distractions. Okay your free to leave."

Yep that was it. He didn't even ask for my drivers licence or insurance.

What can I say, we were very blessed today. First and foremost nobody got hurt. Secondly, the damage was minor. Thirdly the lady was totally reasonable and didn't get all worked up about it. Fourth the officer could have cared less. I thought for sure I would a ticket. I don't know for what but for something I was sure.

I believe in car karma. Let me explain. I don't think it matters how good of a driver you are your car and you either get along or you don't. My first car was 1984 Jeep Cherokee. It was sweet, plus we had good karma together. I loved that car and I probably would have driven it all through high school but one day it just gave up, another story for another day. My second car was a 98' Ford Taurus. I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I cried the day I got it. It just wasn't as cool as the Jeep. It was called the Mother ship by all my climbing buddies. I drove that car for years but we never got along. Lets see. I backed it into the garage one time, but even better than that I was 17 and trying to put my makeup on as I left the drive way and took the side mirror plus some ;) off with the fence. It would randomly stop running at one point. I think it was the transmission but I could be wrong. One time I even backed a trailer into my car. That is how much we didn't get along. I can't even count how many ticket I got in the car but lots. Then I got the equinox. I love that car, but Matt hates it. I have never had any problems with it. It runs like a charm for me and I can maneuver it so well. Matt on the other hand has bad karma with the Equinox. The only times that car has ever had problems it has been with Matt. I won't share his horror stories I might get in trouble but they are comparable to mine. Today I had switched cars with Matt. I was driving our Saturn. The Saturn and I apparently don't have good karma.

That will be the last time we switch cars! Thanks for letting me embarrass myself to you but I thought it was worth sharing.

Garden

I got ambitious this spring and decided that we needed a garden. Not just your average garden but 1000 square ft that will provide us enough vegtables for the entire family for a year (yes I have done my research). The Pope's came over one chilly morning and this is what we started.

Keeley and Chase playing in the dirt. When Keeley came in her face was covered in it. She made a few mud pies in her mouth I'm afraid. Ohh well, it beats what I fed my brother growing up. Don't you agree Sean.
The boys. Two rototillers. What more could they ask for? Maybe a cold beer, but too bad for them we don't drink!



Here is what it look like today. We will plant year round so the next round of veggies don't go in the ground until the middle of April. The same week my Mom will be visiting. I really know how to plan it to get extra help.

Our little Monstey just keeps on growing!!! I took her to the doctor last week and she weighed in at 17 pounds 8 ounces and 29 inches long. The doctor said two things that caught my ear. First, although it isn't likely to be a problem, he heard a little heart murmur. Most babies do have heart murmurs but he had never hear it in her little heart before. We will check on it at one year. But like I said it isn't likely to be anything to fret over. Secondly and perhaps the worse new is that he thinks that she will be walking within a month. I'm not ready for a walker that is just steps from a toddler. I was ready for her to crawl and even sit. But not walk. Where did my baby go?

Here is her most current growth chart:

Length

Weight

Grandma Gail bought Keeley this little bike last month and she adores it. She rides just like a teenager drives a car. Legs up, talking the entire way. She just sits and jabbers to herself about nothing. Sometimes she reaches out and feels the plants as you pass by. Here are few video of a back yard ride with Daddy while I was working. Matt said they were out for over and hour this night. Ohh and by the way it was over 80 degrees that day so she is just in a onesie.

A Glorious Give Away

If you enjoy sewing you are going to want to visit this site! Gail, these web pages could keep you entertained for days!

9 Months

Keeley is 9 months old already. Wow! I can't believe that 1 year is just around the corner. Matt and I took a couple picture on Sunday to document this Cutie.

She is so full of personality it kills us. We are constantly laughing at her facials and all the attitude this little one has. Ohh how We love her!!

Keeley Addison you are our little angel, we love you!

Raven Rock

This weekend the weather was perfect so we took a visit to soak up the the warm weather to Raven Rock. It was perfect. Between the three couples we had 9 kids 7 years old and younger. We did a total of 5 miles and the kids were troopers. We had a great time. After we finished hiking Karen and Randy (on right) grilled hot dogs and brauts for everyone. I couldn't think of a better way to finish off the day.

Scout Campout

Matt had a camp-out in January and I'm finally getting the pictures up. The boys had a great time, or so I heard! He goes on another one in 2 weeks.

Dinner or Breakfast? I'm sure this was breakfast because by the time they got to the site it was dark Friday night.
The boys found a rope swing and Matt said they were entertained for hours with this thing.

I'm A Lucky Girl

I planned on posting this on Valentines Day but as you can tell from previous posts thing have been a little crazy around here. But, I still wanted to say thanks for my wonderful husband who wakes up an hour before me each morning and leaves me these wonderful presents.


For those of you who have had formula babies you know that the task of making formula never seems to end. So we make batches every morning for the entire day and leave it in the fridge. It is always nice to wake up and find this in the fridge and know that you have one less thing to do. Plus the sweet note is always nice as well!
Thanks Matt for always being so thoughtful, your my favorite!

North Carolina Snow

It isn't suppose to snow in North Carolina but once every three to five year and it has snowed here 3 times this year alone, once this last week. Here are some pictures of Keeley enjoying a snow day in January.

And a video for your viewing pleasure.

Look What I Found

The other day I found Keeley like this! Some other good finds were on top of the fireplace, in the cupboard with the the toilet paper and in the fridge. She has just started to stand by herself this past week. Fortunately for us she doesn't like it. As soon as it occurs to her what she is doing she quickly sits down.

Work Work Work

For those of you who have know me several years your really going to get a kick out of this. . .

I decided that I needed to pick up a part time job to help out a little. I've been looking and looking for something that I can do part time and either from home or in the evenings. I even checked out the climbing gyms. However, I had a very difficult time finding something that would pay decent. Then I found a job as a cheerleading coach. haha! That is one part of my life that I thought I would never go back to. It has been over 10 years since I cheered and I have found so many other things that I enjoy doing more. But i have really enjoyed coaching. I work two nights a week and between both night coach more than 100 girls most between 4 and 7. I think I would enjoy anything that is active and with children. I will keep you updated on how it continues to go. I take the girls to compete in May.

Matt also received another calling a few months back. He was sustained Young Mens 1st Counselor. Between this and his calling as Scout Master (that he won't be released from) he should stay very busy. These are both new callings to him and I think he is pretty excited. He is finally getting the hang of all the scout stuff so it is good time to pick up a few extra responsibilities. I know many people who are severing church position that take much more time but I'm proud of Matt for how he handles everything. He works very hard to balance all of his responsibiliteis as a husband, a father, a provider, a designer, a friend, a home teacher, a scout master and now a counselor. I grateful that he works so hard for us.

Needless to say Matt and I don't get to see much of each other during the week and we have also been working weekends but it definitely makes Sundays that much more enjoyable! Only 6 more days until we get another.