Addie Kate LOVES Santa Claus!

Last weekend our friends Shannon and Will called to see if we wanted to bring Addie Kate to meet Santa with Cody, their little boy. "Sure, that'll be fun.... "

OH MY GOODNESS did she EVER scream! Holy Moly that poor, sweet man. Whew, it was rough. I have nothing else to say to describe it...

Here she is checking things out from a distance...

Sweet Cody loving some Santa Claus

Addie Kate, a little unsure so Mommy got Santa to read to her...

And then Mommy put her on his lap...

And we scream louder...

Shannon (bravely) puts Cody up there to maybe calm her... Didn't work - Save me Mommy!

But she did look adorable, that's really all that counts, right?

Clemson Homecoming 2008

Tommy and I took Addie Kate to TigerTown for Homecoming this past weekend. It was definitely different for the two of us - we didn't tailgate because we stayed in Greenville to make sure it wasn't going to rain, and the only ones of our regular tailgating friends/family to be up there were Paul and Susan. They got to sit with us and we did enjoy that! Addie Kate did great. She made it to the 3rd quarter, then I decided that I would take her out, go downtown or something until the game was over. She was D-O-N-E. But with the Tigers having an obvious victory, Tommy decided to leave with us and beat the traffic. Plus, we wanted to take her to Bowman to see the floats. Well, we took her, and we saw the floats, but only stood by one for a quick Kodak moment, then left - Bowman was soupy! (We all remember those Clemson days, don't we?) Below are some pics of Addie at her first of many Tiger Homecomings!

She entertained herself at the game by taking her shoes on, and off, and on, and off, handing them to Sue, handing them to Mommy...

Check out the wind! She would NOT leave her hat on (or her bow, but we are making progress with that one!)

Walking with Daddy into the stadium (cute new bow from Aunt Ellen!)

Here we are trying to decide if we can brave the Bowman mud... (And yes, that is a link-a-doo in my hair. Somehow I managed to forget a ponytail holder for gale-force winds. Nice!)

Mommy and her girl!

Oh, and just a little aside for those of you who don't know. That is the dress she wore home from the hospital! I guess Daddy can't complain about the price tag when we wear it for over a year!

Playtime... at the Mall!

With some yucky weather last week, Addie Kate's babysitter took the kids to the little toddler play area in the mall. (before it opened, thankfully!) I didn't even know they had this thing, but apparently we'll be visiting it again. Addie loved it there. The babysitter emailed me some pictures of her playing there, and you can see how much fun she had!

I love this look on her face and whatever it is she's doing with her little mouth. That's SO Addie!

And how many children do you know that would rather read a book than play with these other things? I love, love, love it!

We bought her one of those collapsible tunnel things for her birthday. She wasn't so wild about it, but apparently she enjoyed this one. Maybe we should drag it back out! Look at that sweet smile!

Little Stinker

She is such a mess! There's no other words to describe this child's beautiful, funny, fabulous personality! Oh how we love you so Addie Kate!

And do I even need to mention these gorgeous blue eyes?

First Boo-Boo!

Last Saturday, Addie Kate was playing with us in the living room and she somehow managed to fall, face first, down the front of our coffee table. We think she hit the drawer knobs on the way down. Man oh man did she cry. It just broke my heart! Here are pictures of her first accident! We are thankful it was nothing more than this!

Baby Doll

For Addie Kate's birthday, she received a beautiful, fun doll from her Mema (my father's mother). Addie loved this doll and played with it even before we took it out of the package. Mostly, she loved the fact that the baby had a pacifier just like her! (She was, however, confused with why Mommy and Daddy wouldn't let her use it!) Little did we know, when this doll "talked" or "cooed," it had HIDDEN MESSAGES! Yes, sadly enough, the doll said phrases we'd prefer our child not hear, nor repeat. I had actually seen this on the news the morning of Addie's party, and saved it for Tommy to see. I hated, hated to tell Mema this, but I had to. She, of course, understood. Addie and I took her doll back and got her a new one, which she also loves! (but isn't near as cute!) I was very careful in picking one out that both talked and had a passy. (Side note - Mema went back to the store and pushed another doll's tummy and heard the hidden message for herself! So pitiful some of the people in this world!) Below are pics of Addie Kate and her new doll - she just couldn't wait for me to get her out of the package!

Waiting patiently for me to open the doll:

How cute am I?

The other weekend we went shopping at the mall (yes everyone, Tommy went shopping!). The main reason was a visit to Stride Rite for Addie Kate and Belk for Tommy (Mommy does NOT shop for herself with these two!). We walked by the hat store and Tommy wanted to see if they had one for Addie. Sure enough, they did, and isn't it adorable?

Here she's just a wee bit mad at me, and wants it OFF!

Here, she's trying to get it off herself, and can't... which led to the above picture!

Walking and Talking

This video was taken on Election Day morning. It is so cute that I actually tried to post it that day, and blogger would not work with me until today. Addie Kate was talking, talking, talking and walking, walking, walking! She jib-jabs nonstop and now walks more than crawls! Today, just four days later, she is walking even more. In fact, I don't know that I've seen her crawl anywhere! Oh my little girl!

Can 1-year olds have OCD's?

Addie Kate has a MAJOR obsession with tearing up my magazine rack! Still! I know I've posted about this at least 3 times already, and she's only 1! We are just so used to stepping over them now that we rarely pick them up!

One Year Check-Up

This is what shots do to our girl. This was taken about 5:30 pm. Tommy told me that Addie walked over to him and laid her head on his lap, so he picked her up and they just rocked. He said he felt the passy fall and knew she was out! I know she felt rotten, but this is such a sweet picture!

Last Monday we took Addie Kate for her one year doctor's visit. Everything was perfect and we are so happy. (Do all of you mothers get nervous when taking your child to one of these visits? It may be just me stemmed from those days a year ago when we took her every other day for weight checks!) Our little pumpkin has finally reached, and surpassed, the 50th percentile in weight! She weighed 22 lbs. and was in the 67th percentile. She was 29 inches long, which is the 48th percentile (which we are thrilled about because she was in the 27th at her 9 month visit!), and her head was 18 inches, which is in the 77th percentile (which I freaked out about, but the Dr. reassured me that was a good and healthy measurement!). We sure have come a long way from her 4th percentile days! I'm telling you though, this girl can put some food away!

We are now beginning to let go of the baby days and head towards toddler-hood. We try our very hardest to only give her the pacifier at naptime and bedtime, and our goal (As advised by the pediadontist) is to have her only use it at bedtime by 18 months. Whew, that's a tough one to think about! We are only using a bottle at night, and I finished up the last bit of formula tonight (we were doing 4 oz. whole milk, 2 oz. formula, just to use it up). We'll be attempting getting rid of that night time bottle in the next few days... weeks.

Lastly, her top teeth are finally breaking through. We've had a lovely teething experience with these two teeth as well. Nasty diapers, cough, runny nose, less eating, crabby-ness, the works. Bless her sweet heart. I think they have finally cut all the way through, just need to come down.

She has begun some small tantrums. She wants what she wants and fusses until she gets it - whether that is on her own or with someone else helping her. She's such a stinker!

Her vocabulary continues to expand. Words to add to her list (and I know I'm leaving some out):

good girl

Nana (banana)

co-co (we have no idea who/what this is!)

ba-be (I'm starting to think this is the bottle or sippycup)

more

We have begun putting her down with a blanket, which stresses me out. I don't like those thick, fleece-y pajamas - they seem too hot, but in the cotton pajamas, in the mornings everything but her tummy/ chest is really cold. So, I did break down and put her in some last night. We'll see.

Her playroom is almost 100% put together. I think she knows that's her little room, and I think she enjoys it!

We've still done really well with no television. I'm not much of a TV person at all, but at the same time, I'm not the least bit above it if need be! We are just trying to hold out as long as we can!

She is walking more than crawling now. She prefers to walk but if she stumbles she'll crawl the rest of the way.

She is into more and more each day. Anything and everything and nonstop. Whew, she wears me out! I can't wait for her to learn to pick up!

I think that's all for now. The joy this child brings to us is immeasurable!

New Decor

Wow, have things changed in the Sweatman household! I guess we truly are parents now... when you not only have your kids toys on the fridge, but also their artwork, yep, we are parents! And loving every minute of it!

Here is Aiden and Addie Kate enjoying Addie's new toys on the morning after her birthday party. Isn't this sweet?

And here are Addie Kate's first art projects! I was so excited when the babysitter gave them to me last week! (even though I know Addie had A LOT of help with them!) They did them at the library the day before Halloween, and then on Halloween they made a spider! I realize Addie isn't doing all of this, but the experiences and exposure is great for her at any rate!

What a difference a year makes!

Addie Kate, Halloween 2007 - 9 days old.

Addie Kate, Halloween 2008 - 1 year, 9 days old.

Trick or Treat... or Something Sweet!

We had a non-traditional Halloween this year! To begin, I called Tommy around 4:30 and told him that I heard Walgreens was having a "photo shoot" where they'd take kids' pictures on a Halloween backdrop, in their Halloween costumes. For 31 cents you'd get a picture with a Halloween border and a CD with the pictures they took. So, naturally, I wanted to go. Tommy said he'd meet me in the driveway (which I didn't think was strange, and should have) and we'd go. Turns out, he didn't want me in the house because he had bought me Guitar Hero for the Wii and wanted to surprise me. (Yay!!!! I have a fabulous husband!) Anyway, our friend Shannon and her son Cody met us at Walgreens. (FYI - this "photo shoot" was only worth about 31 cents. But hey, it was fun!) From there we, of course, had to eat. So, we take the kids in their costumes to Fuddruckers! Next we had to go to Tommy and Shannon's boss' house. Jim's wife lives for Halloween. She does the greatest set up in her front yard, complete with some of her students as gatekeepers, mummies, etc. She had 7 actors and actresses out there to scare the trick or treaters! Finally, we did some real trick or treating at our friends Amber and Mikey's house. We ended the night just hanging out there, letting the kids play and the adults socialize. I deem the evening a success!

Trick or Treat!

We forgot to take pictures at our own house, so we used Amber's pumpkins instead!

We aren't 100% sure what Addie Kate was this year - a leopard I'm assuming. Basically, my mom got her costume for $1.50 at Baby Gap last year after Halloween. She'd be cute in anything, so we took the economic route! It was nice to have someone take a picture of all 3 of us!

Cody (the frog), Addie Kate, and William (the cowardly lion). (They are all exactly 3 months apart, Cody being the youngest and Addie Kate the oldest!)Playing with Amber's exercise ball. They loved it!