Addie Meets Santa

A short post for all those who have been anxiously looking for updates. We apologize...more pictures from Christmas in SoCal to come. For now, here's Addie meeting Santa at the Tucson Mall. For those interested, she loved Santa. She had just had a nap, woke up in a great mood and had a blast. She loved looking around at the decorations surrounding the photo area and smiled the entire time.

She's also loving her time in Escondido with her grandparents, aunts and uncles. She got to see Grandpa Beanpole early on Friday morning, then spent most of the day with Grandma Chris and Uncle Derek. He has been her favorite through the first couple of days, playing peek-a-boo and letting her jump until her little legs run out of jumps. Aunt Megan just landed tonight, so just about everyone is her. She's anxious to meet her new cousin Ryder, but he's in NICU for a few more days, so that might have to wait. Please pray that his lungs empty out of the fluid and he gets to go home soon.

Happy Thanksgiving - Bring on Christmas!

I have had such an eventful couple of weeks. First of all, Daddy went to Hawaii for 6 days in mid-November, so Grandma Chris and Aunt Bethie came out to visit me (they said it was to see mommy too - but we all know better!) It was so good to see them - we had a great time!

Then, the following weekend, Mom and I went to Granddad and Mema's house in Kansas City for Thanksgiving - it was a long plane ride, but it was so much fun standing on mom's lap and smiling at the people behind us. Standing and jumping on mom kept me entertained for most of the time - although mommy kept complaining that her arms couldn't take it anymore! I don't know why - I am only 19 pounds! Sheesh mom - keep up! Daddy came later on because of work.

Staying at Grandad and Mema's house was so much fun. At first, I was scared of almost everyone - but mostly men and especially Granddad. But after just a couple of days, I warmed up - and Grandad became my absolute favorite!! Everytime I heard his voice and saw him walk into the room, I kicked my legs and practically jumped into his arms!

And I was so excited to find out that I have cousins! How neat! Alek and I were instant friends. I had so much fun smiling and laughing at him - I even let him give me a bottle and feed me carrots. He is so wonderful - he sang me a lullaby and I went right to sleep! Thanks Alek!

Campbell is 4 years old, and she is a girl just like me. She was fun too - she would play with me on the floor and give me toys to play with. I really enjoyed smiling at her.

Cooper is only 14 months old - and I had to pay close attention to that one. He is over 30 pounds and walks kind of funny, so I was really careful not to get in his path. He was always smiling and toddling about! All that walking seems so interesting, I just might have to try that soon. He and I mostly have Mema in common - we both LOVE her, and most times would compete for her time and attention!

Actually all of the grandkids scrambled to get Mema's attention! But she is just the bestest - she would rock me and feed me bottles even when I was so extremely tired, I wasn't sure what I wanted or needed - she is the best rocker in the whole world! She did so much while we were there - she fed everyone (not just me!) and cleaned non-stop. I want to be just like her when I get bigger!

Overall, I would highly recommend family. They are the best! I loved sitting with Aunt Alexis and watching cartoons and flirting with Aunt Angela until she picked me up! Even Uncle Corey and Uncle Billy could coax a smile out of me - as long as mommy or Mema was close at hand! I thought watching Uncle Brett and Aunt Erin was exhausting - boy having two kids looks tiring!

Granddad and Mema even took us cousins to the playground for my first swing ride - but man, it was REALLY cold, and I wasn't too sure I liked it. Mema and Granddad took turns holding me and keeping me warm, so I was ok. I sure did enjoy watching the other kids run around and play - can't wait to join them next year!

Thanksgiving was a blast too - I just couldn't be left out, so I tried to eat everything on mommy's plate. Since that wasn't going to happen despite my best efforts, mommy got out my high chair and I had sweet potatoes with the entire clan - 14 adults and 4 kids - WOW THAT IS QUITE A BUNCH!

If there is even more family to meet and see - boy oh boy, I just can't wait for this Christmas thing everyone is talking about!

See you then!

Love,

Addie Jean

PS: And for all those family members I missed this Thanksgiving - here are my Thanksgiving wishes and excitement about seeing you at Christmas!

Perspective

WARNING: The following includes thoughts from the head of the male portion of the Tucson Trio. Those hoping or expecting Addie updates will have to wait for the next entry.

Anytime I need an attitude and perspective adjustment, there are two people I tend to look at to straighten me out. One is my brother, Stew. Being less than 3 months apart, we pretty much have lived every stage of life at the same time, give or take a few months here and there. He always seems to have the insight that I need so I can stop being self-centered and be the husband and father my girls need from me.

The other is definitely my wife. Being home all weekend with her and Addie, I saw just how much she tried to cram into her day. With the least bit of self-promotion at its core, I share that I did the dishes and cleaned some of the kitchen the other night while she was asleep, then did more dishes and got up early to take care of Addie the other morning. I realize that my exhaustion, similar to that my brother describes in his blog, is cumulative, but even two days at home doing little but playing Dad and house helper was exhausting. The thought of piling on cooking dinner, unpacking our house, getting up earlier than I do to feed the baby, picking up the house and any number of other chores...all after working at her desk for 7-8 hours...is a quick reminder of just how much more I should be doing at home.

All of this is a precursor to the fact that I have the luxury of going to Hawaii for five days starting on Wednesday for work (if you can call a trip to Hawaii work). I was discussing the trip with a co-worker and how I planned to relax and rest both mentally and physically when I was struck with what felt like a brick upside my head (figuratively of course) with just how much my wife will have to take on while I'm gone. She will have some help with our nanny and family members until Saturday afternoon, but Saturday night until Monday around 8:00 a.m. she will be on her own with Addie, who is taking more and more energy from us by the day. It was at this point I realized as much as five days on the beach sounds great, I'd rather be home with her and Addie. She's gone through so much the last few months with our move and raising our daughter...she's the one that deserves this trip. She will have a few days with her family later this month that will hopefully be relaxing, but it's not soon enough. I guess all I can do is give her everything I've got for these final 36 hours before leaving on Wednesday morning and hope that's enough to sustain her until I return. I love my wife...I hope I can show her how much before I leave.

God, Prayer, Doctor, and 96 Cents

Praise God - She Pooped! We took the baby girl to the doctor yesterday after STILL NO POOP...poor little thing was absolutely miserable, fussing before we even went into the doctor, screaming when the doctor pushed on her belly, NOT GOOD. But the doctor recommended an infant glycerin suppository and prescriped some stool softener. We immediately went to the store and asked the pharmacist where to find this item...they rang us up at a whopping 96 cents. 96 cents@#&*^!@!&^(! What an incredible bargin...

Thank you for your prayers!

(and also thank God that I resisted the urge to take a picture of the poop itself and post it for all to see...)

Praying for Poop

So far as a new parent, I have done a lot of praying...for a job for Eric, for a job for me, for a house, for a move, for Addie's acid reflux, for Addie, period. But today I am praying that somehow, someway, Addie will poop. It probably sounds silly and downright disgusting - but when your child won't sleep for two nights in a row because she is constipated, curls her legs up in her crib literally SCREAMING, and looks at you like, "why can't you fix it?" - it makes you get on her hands and knees and pray for poop.

God - bless this child with the ability to pass this "grumpy" (as dad likes to refer to them - because they make her quite grumpy when she can't!). Enable her to do it without a lot of further pain. Help the doctors figure out this new symptom and find a way to fix it. Please heal her little body and let her parents rest both mentally and physically.

Amen.

Halloween

Quickly...before I run out of battery on my laptop.

Me with my first Halloween "loot" - two tootsie pops and a butterfinger...daddy helped me out with their consumption
I was more interested in how much of my lamb costume I could get into my mouth than the actual appearance of the costume itself.
Despite the fact that it was almost bedtime - I tolerated the costume, the mass quantities of pictures, and trick or treating quite well - although two houses proved enough and I was ready for a bottle and bed after that!
Although people keep saying that October is when Tucson "cools off" to a mere 70s daily - this year beats the odds. This lamb costume was NOT meant for 80+ degree weather!


And her first attempt at cereal at 4 months and 1 day old - NOT a fan!

Pumpkin Patch

So in the spirit of starting new "family" traditions for the Arizona Gumby clan, we visited the local pumpkin patch last weekend to pick out pumpkins. (Before you say anything - YES, they do grow pumpkins in the desert - we were just as surprised as you!) We road a wagon drawn by a horse out to the patch and picked out a pumpkin - one for each of us - took WAY too many pictures, and went back to purchase them and take even more pictures before we almost sweat to death before leaving. Grandad and Mema Timmons were here for a visit and joined along. They had a good time seeing Addie - but then again who wouldn't?

We just did her 4 month old checkup, and she is doing much better on her acid reflux. In fact, the doctor took her off one of her meds. This pediatrician here is great - we really like him. Also, she is a whooping 17 pounds, and the doc was very impressed at how strong she is. Said that she is pretty advanced for her age (and the parents simply beamed at this news - not that it was "new" news to us - we have known it for quite some time!). She is almost sitting up completely by herself. She is close to rolling over, and loves tummy time now. She is also big enough for her bouncer, and does a tremendous job of jumping around to turn the music on. She also already knows certain words. UP is one of them. She will be sitting on one of our laps and we hold onto her arms, and say STAND UP, and she does! She is brilliant! Also, she is quite the reader. She LOVES books. She stares at all the pictures, and can even turn the pages when she is ready to go to the next page.

We are having so much fun watching her change daily. We are also so blessed - her nanny is AWESOME - she loves her so much and the two of them get along swimmingly.

Tonight is Halloween - she will be dressed as a furry little lamb - and don't worry - she will have plenty of pictures taken to share.

Love to all of you out there - we miss you all tons.

Eric, Kara, and Addie

Lot of "New"s

Ok - so as the mommy - it is both exhilarating as well as sad to see your little one grow up. I know that she is only 4 days away from being 4 months old, but she has changed so much from the first day of life. She now laughs regularly - and not just little giggles, but real belly laughs. She is also very close to sitting up all by herself. She talks so much - and most of the time very loudly. She is just not a helpless little baby anymore. She loves looking at people and figuring things out...what can I say - she is BRILLIANT! (not that I am biased in any way, shape or form) She knows her daddy and definitely knows me, which is such a wonderful feeling. She is even getting a little clingy with me right now - especially with the other new thing - teething! She buries her little face into my chest and whines...so wonderful!



She slept in her crib for the very first time yesterday for a nap. Many reasons why she hasn't slept there yet - mainly because of the move, but also because at night it is nice to be able to open my eyes and have her right there, know that she is breathing, be able to soothe her if she is cranky. But this is a big step - sleeping in her crib...means she is growing up.

But this week there was one "new" thing that was not great. I had to hand over the little one to her first stranger this morning. What a hard thing to do...not hand her to daddy, grandma or aunt/uncle...but her first stranger. Granted I am just in the other room working, slaving away (and writing this blog!), but it is still hard to hear her talking to someone else - but even worse is when she cries. Everything in my very being wanted to throw open the door and RUN to her and pick her up and let her know that I am right here - don't worry. But alas, I let her cry and let the "nanny" take care it. And she did...beautifully. Which in some ways makes it even harder.

I know that God is directing our path - and I am grateful for the many answered prayers. Just pray for my sanity as I hand over our little one each day to someone else besides me...bummer to say the least!

Shameless Promotion

Not that we really need any reason to post a bunch of pictures of Addie, but life is pretty much status quo lately. The one story I can tell goes as follows...

With Kara staying home with Addie all day, the two of them have truly formed a strong bond that is awesome to see. Addie follows her all over the room and clearly seeks out her mother for comfort when she's tired or if she's upset about another worthless presidential debate.

Addie also has a habit of doing her best entertaining during the middle of the day, but tends to get a little cranky and moody later in the evening. Thus, I hear some of her better moments over the phone, but have not been able to experience many of them over the past few weeks.


Today, however, brought that light at the end of the tunnel that every parent needs from time to time. I got home a little early today and caught Addie in a very good mood. After hearing a story about her laughing earlier in the day, I tried to mimic that behavior...which was basically just spitting bubbles back at her. I think that brought about the first time where I actually made her laugh and giggle out loud. She looked like she was having so much fun and truly enjoying being with me.

As we both head into full time work again and leaving Addie at home with a nanny, we both fear that these moments will become few and further between. I guess that will just make them become that much more precious.

Tucson Toilings

We're well aware of the overall disappointment that will come from this blog entry only including one new photo of my child, but until we dig out our camera chargers, all I have to say is tough crunchies.

We can, however, fill everyone in on what we have been doing the last few weeks. Kara and Addie spend most of their days in the house since the daytime temperature hasn't dove below 90 since we arrived and Addie wants constant entertainment. She's also starting the wonderful process of teething, so she's constantly trying to chew on everything. She's even resorted to chewing on our noses if she can get her little gums around them. Eric's presence upon the end of the workday is welcomed so Kara can talk to someone who responds with actual words and gives her a break from the 9-hour variety show she has to perform each day.

We do love our house, though that's still a work in progress. We already received a notice from the housing association about the empty boxes on our back porch, though somehow it was dated the day we moved in...not sure how they knew we were going to have them there...

We were invited to try out a church in town that has a Sunday School class that we're hoping can provide some much-needed new friends. Eric has been able to hang out with some guys a little bit, but Kara is still waiting for her first reprieve with some other women. The people are very nice and hopefully with time it will develop into something that will provide those relationships.

The job front for Kara has no news, which is agonizing for both of us. Any answer at this point in time would be better than dangling on a wire. While we are of course hopeful for a positive response, we're just very anxious to know what direction to move in. Now if QLogic wants to pay Kara to do nothing, we'll gladly cash their paychecks...though that's probably not going to happen. A second income is going to become very necessary in the near future...otherwise we'll be repacking boxes and heading to live with one set of parents.

Home Sweet Home

After tearing our hair out for the better part of two weeks, looking at countless houses and getting stabbed in the back by a supposedly-reputable real estage agent (plenty of other stories to follow), the Tucson Montgomerys finally have a place to call home. We live to the northeast side of downtown Tucson and about 15 or so miles from my other new home at the University of Arizona. For those curious to see what our house looks like, paste this link below. The house is basically exactly the same except our door is left of the garage instead of right.

http://www.forsalebyownercenter.com/listing-43885-Marana-AZ-85653-RealEstate.aspx

As I previously mentioned, it was quite a chore trying to find a place to live and God surely tested our faith in His provision. Kara was here two weeks ago and we looked at a few places that were nice, but nothing that really met all of our wishes. After she left, I found a place last Sunday that I thought would be nice.

After meeting with the owners that day, I filled out the paperwork and thought we were in the clear. I called them on Tuesday morning and they informed me someone offered them more money and they were going to rent the house to this person. No warning, no chance to counter. I was 72 hours from movers showing up with a full truck of our possessions and no address to give them.

Kara and I went back to the drawing board and I finally walked into the place I knew we'd want to call home. The kitchen made Kara giggle, the master bedroom makes our king sized bed look small and there's great natural light...to list a few of its highlights.

Finding the house was only a fraction of the battle. Most realtors like to take their time when processing paperwork and generally don't do so without money in hand. As we frantically got paperwork turned in and Dad raced across the desert with the 3 checks they needed, we still were not guaranteed keys at 5pm on Thursday.

As I said before, God allowed our faith to be stretched and He came through as always. I got a phone call at 8:30am on Friday morning saying we could come get the keys. The movers, who we'd begged to hold our stuff until Monday, agreed to come that morning and there ended up being 5 guys to unload the truck, a task that took them just over 3 hours to complete.

I'm realizing as I write this that I'm in desperate need of some time on my face thanking God for all of these blessings.

Anyways, all of our stuff is in the house and we're slowly but surely getting everything unpacked. Only one more night until the cable guy comes...

And for those interested in the daily tidings of the littlest one, Addie has been a champ. She's not feeling well right now, but she's sleeping a ton, which has been awesome for us, and her smiles and laughs are becoming more and more frequent. She also seems to have an affinity for CSI.

Single Parent & Acid Reflux Update

Thanks to all of you that came up this week to support me while Eric was gone. I cannot say thank you enough for the time that you all took to hold Addie while I either got sleep or packed. I couldn't have survived this week without you. I have such a new appreciation for single parents - how do they do it?? A big shout out to Chris and Alan (aka Grandma and Grandpa), Lisa (and Matt for letting her spend the night!), Alexis, Beth, Laura, and Derek. And thanks to Stew and Annie for your understanding and sharing Grandma. You are all so appreciated and so loved. It is humbling to have such a great support system - it makes me really sad to be leaving our close proximity to our family and friends.

So many of you have asked for an update on our little girl's acid reflux disease, so I thought that I could provide an update. Last thursday, I took our little on into the specialist for a check-up. Addie has gained a full pound in a week and a half (now at 13 pounds!), but it still seems that she was not as thrilled as I was on the progress of Addie's condition (sounds so bad when she says it that way!). Although Addie has not had any more projectile vomiting episodes, she has developed new symptoms. She doesn't seem to have as much pain when she spits up as before, but she is still spitting up too much for the doctor's comfort level. Also her nasty "from the depths of her stomach" hiccup episodes that occur at least twice daily also has the doctors concerned. But the most troubling are the two new symptoms this week. She is getting fluid into her nose and chest when she spits up - which is causing ratting in her chest that sounds like bronchitus...and the fluid in her nose is giving her nasty boogers in which the suctioning of them has her literally erupting into angry cries because it interupts her eating - and NOTHING is to interup her eating. The docs have upped her prescription to twice a day antacid at twice the dose she was at previously - as well as starting her on a new medication that is to improve motility in her digestive tract. Who knew that a little one would need so much help with medication - so sad!

But Addie has been such a little champ through all of this. She might be hurting, but her favorite thing to do now is to smile and laugh at everyone - especially when you stick out your tongue at her. And her favorite time is diaper changes - who wouldn't like a clean butt?

So please continue to keep our little one in your prayers. And keep Eric in your prayers as he ventures home in CA for the last time tonight. Addie misses her daddy - she recognizes his voice on the phone and waves her hands and feet when he talks to her. She also looks at his empty chair quite often. It must be confusing to see someone everyday and then have them be gone...glad that he will be back tonight.

I promise new pics on the next post - being a single parent this week has prevented me from downloading the new pics.

Love and thanks to you all,

Eric, Kara and Addie Jean

Taming the Tucson Sun

Well friends and family, it is day four for me out in the desert. Hopefully all of you know by now that I took a job at the University of Arizona, doing a similar job to the ones I've had before. This time, I get to focus on a few sports instead of working with all of them. There are four full-time staffers, a paid intern and a bunch of student-workers...a far cry from the one-man show I'd been producing for the better part of 10 years. This job has truly been a blessing so far. The people I work with are very much the same temperament as me, my boss is a laid-back, just get your work done kind of guy, which suits me fine. I still get lost working my way around the maze that is the McKale Center, but I'm sure I'll get it figured out soon. The hardest part is being away from my little girl for an entire week, knowing that she's growing and changing so much. At least I get to hear her little voice on the phone and look at her pictures until I get home on Sunday morning. Please pray for my late-night drive home Saturday night/Sunday morning. I won't leave Tucson until close to midnight, and I'll be so anxious to get home and hug and kiss my girls.

Spit Bubbles and Smiles

In the midst of planning a move, thinking about starting and finding new jobs and dealing with raising a now-8-week old little girl, somehow we've found the greatest joy in watching Addie graduate to spitting bubbles with her saliva and slowly figuring out how to smile. Nothing has been better than to see her cute little face light up in a smile. Whether she actually knows she's doing it right now or not isn't important. For two parents that wait in anticipation for every new thing that she does, nothing has been better over the past week than to watch these revelations take place. Throw in extended periods of her locking eyes with each of us and...well...life is great.

Daddy helps me practice my bubbles...his are bigger than mine



The cute little girl in red



This is her Supergirl pose...just needs a better cape and some tights



A rare moment in a clean outfit not covered in spit-up

On a Lighter Note

Following the heavy-hearted post from last night, today provided us a much-needed moment of comic relief. As Addie continues to redisplay her meals both on herself and on each of us, this latest episode was too funny not to record in photograph. Parenthood continues to provide everything...including the opportunity to laugh at her and ourselves.

We've also attached some other recent photos...just because.



Mommy took the brunt of the latest round of Addie's meal review.



Addie's first head band...and yes, those are spit-up spots down near her tummy.



This look has been labeled a smile...this is as close as she gets so far, so we'll take it.



Great-grandma Kay and great-grandpa Mac came up to our house to visit. They had lots of stories of how I'm just like my Daddy.



Addie is not to be disturbed when she is sleeping. She is very particular about the time she needs to wake up from her naps. And bright lights...don't get us started.

Feeling Helpless

Within the past 12 hours, I've learned a great deal about feeling helpless. Two distinct incidents have come and gone and made me feel like I'm standing on a tightrope in the middle of the longest gulf of the Grand Canyon staring down a 80mph wind.

This morning, I was offered and later accepted a job I never thought I would get. For those that read this before I get a chance to formally announce it, the Orange County Montgomery clan will soon be the Tucson, Arizona Montgomery clan. God has blessed me with a job at the University of Arizona, the kind of position I never thought I'd be able to get. I sent in my application materials at what amounted to an outright military order by my wife and four weeks later I'm heading into unchartered territory.

Despite all of that, the helpless part still hasn't come. With my salary, we'll only be paying about half of our bills. I'm absolutely convinced that this is a door that God has opened for our family, but we still have to find Kara a job within 3-4 months. Otherwise, some lucky family member will have 3 semi-permanent guests living with them just after Christmas. I have one friend that lives in the area who has been gracious enough to offer his assistance, but I still feel helpless when it comes to her job search. I don't know anybody in her field. We are walking blindly into a place we know nothing about with only the promises of an almighty God to fall back on. Despite His 100 percent record of faithfulness, my weakness still keeps me feeling on edge as this day has progressed.

Those feelings came to an abrupt halt about 20 minutes ago. Addie has been having some trouble spitting up...and when I say spitting up, I mean peppering the center of a target 4-6 feet away from her with her latest meal. After spending a fun evening with her family, we settled in to watch some TV before bed. I went to the back to change clothes and briefly wondered when I came out whether Addie might have a similar episode. I needed just one look into the eyes of my wife to confirm my latest fear.

The t-shirt Kara was wearing was soaked from another incident. These have become more frequent over the last few days. Though we have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday with a specialist, that hasn't helped me from this pit-of-the-stomach feeling of nausea because there's not a thing in the world I can do for my precious little girl. After this last round, she promptly fell into a deep sleep. All I could do was stand there, watching my wife sob in fear and accept the fact that I'm completely helpless to change this latest course of action.

A friend of mine used to frequently say that he wanted to have faith like gravity. In my head, I always knew what that meant. In my heart, I had a pretty firm grasp on the concept. That grasp, however, has been challenged in a mighty way over the last 12 hours. As I've grown, I've felt like my faith in God's provision has been pretty consistent and unshakeable. Today, I'm back at square one, begging for that super-size portion of gravity-like faith. As my trepidations over our bank account status faded into the fear over what might fly out of Addie the next time she feeds, I'm remidned of a verse that has brought me comfort time and time again. Isaiah 41:10. Take the time to look it up. It won't take long to memorize. I'm glad I did.

Acid Reflux

Life comes at you fast - and so does projectile spit up when it hits a record 4 feet. Although her spit-up has always been legendary, last Thursday, Addie Jean gave us quite a scare. About 30 min after she finished a "feed," she doused mommy with 5 back to back 4 feet projectile vomits and officially empited out all the contents of her stomach. Since we were already worried about her spit ups, we immediately took her to the doctor to see what was wrong with our little peanut. First things first, it appears that altough she empties the contents of her stomach quite often - she is still getting something of value in there. As of Thursday (her five week old birthday) she was 10 lbs, 9oz of love. That means that she has gained 3 whole pounds since she was born. I guess the feedings that occur every 2 hours were happening for a reason. After explaining to the doctor that our little girl has a great new talent of throwing her spit up record lengths and that she wimpers after an episode like it is hurting her, the doctor let us know that our little one has acid reflux. Although it is good to know what she has, there is not so good news as to how to "fix" it. The doctor recommended that we try putting her at an angle when she sleeps, not laying her flat for 30 min after she eats, giving her adult Maalox to help coat her throat, and worst case give her baby Zantac twice a day to help manage it. However, she also let us know that none of these remedies will alleviate the problem or the pain or the spit up. Huh. We know that this is not the worst problem that our child could have - but no parent really wants any problem...and what is worse, is that she handles it pretty well most of the time. I know that doesn't sound bad - but what makes it bad is when she really does scream because of the pain - then we know that it is really, really hurting her. It sucks. We can handle getting all of our t-shirts doused on an hourly basis and changing her sleeper 3-4 times a night, but the hardest part is hearing her grunt and seeing her little face wrinkle in pain...we knew that parenting would be hard, but not being able to fix this for our little one is the hardest thing ever.

One Month in the Books

Yesterday marked the one month milestone in the life of one Addie Jean. Her latest developments include eating more often than a sumo wrestler in training, spitting up with the volume and velocity of a drunk fraternity pledge, burping like she's been entered in a contest and choosing to prevent both Mommy and Daddy from sleeping more than two hours at any one stretch per night.

In other words...she's doing just fine.


In the meantime, Daddy has some thoughts about the current state of things...in honor of Addie's Auntie Joe.


1. Wipeout is the funniest show on TV since Seinfeld. No matter how many times I see the contestants crash into the rubber balls, I still laugh like it was the first time.
2. This week, us parentals are leaving the house for the first time together without the baby girl. What would be so important for this? Only great seats to see both MercyMe and the David Crowder Band, two of Mommy and Daddy's favorites. If you haven't heard them, you're missing out...and they are both awesome live.
3. Despite the lack of sleep, Mommy and Daddy have both quickly adjusted to the constant state of fatigue. I can now see how people get used to sleeping 5 hours or less per night and still function semi-normally. Oh please let her sleep for at least 4 hours sometime soon or Mommy might have to take an extended leave.
4. Bring on football season!! I'm sick and tired of watching the Padres come from ahead to blow leads. I heard today they have given up the most inherited runners since the pathetic Royals of 8 seasons ago. Two words: We Suck. LT, when do you start scoring touchdowns again?

Two week birthday

I love my tongue - one of my favorite things in life thus far. I love to click it loudly when I am hungry and play with it while staying awake for hours at a time. The doctors told my parents that newborns sleep approximately 18 hours a day - boy did I have them fooled! I love to stay awake and be social between one and two hours after I eat - there is just too much to see and hear in this life! It does seem to cause some concern for mommy and daddy in the middle of the night - a lot of times I stare at them and they simply fall asleep sitting up!



My mommy and daddy keep telling me that I shouldn't worry so much about this thing called life - but I can't help it! This look is one of my favorite faces that I make - and this furrowed brow look reminds mommy of daddy, and boy do I keep looking more and more like him everyday!