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Kwanzaa Day 6 and Dr Visit

Today is the 6th day of Kwanzaa and represents Kuumba, Creativity! Creativity in yourself and in your community. To always do as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our communities more beautiful and beneficial than when we inherited it. To be open to new ideas, viewpoints, and activities. Today the last red candle is lit.

Today we had Addy's one year appointment! She is getting taller! She is now just over 28 inches long and in the 61st percentile. If you remember, when she came home to us she was only in the 41st percentile! Her weight is now a little over 20 pounds and in the 30th percentile. She is very active and busy which is why she is thinning out more now. When she joined our family she was at the 89th percentile for weight! Unfortunately she did get four shots today, one in each arm and in each leg :( But she did well. We are hoping to start transitioning her to milk instead of formula and the sippy cup instead of the bottle. Hopefully those two little top teethys will poke through soon because they are making her a bit unhappy!

Kwanzaa Day 5

Nia "purpose" is celebrated today and the second green candle is lit! So dream big, follow your heart, and find your purpose!

I will get some pics posted soon!

Kwanzaa Day 4

Today represents the concept of Ujamaa. Ujamaa means coopereative economics, or more simply helping our neighborhood grow. Ujamaa means supporting local art, shops, diners, and businesses in order to help your own community. So as you start the new year, think about buying locally or buying free trade goods to help other communities across the globe.

Today the second red candle is lit.

Kwanzaa Day 3

Today celebrates Ujima which means working together and responsibility. It is a time to help others and work toward a common goal. Members of a community working together for the common good to achieve happiness and satisfaction is a key component of Ujima. It also is a commitment to work and raise your family with a responsible and collective work ethic that should be passed on from generation to generation. A few suggested ways of achieving Ujima are:

• Live your life as an example to your children and your friends
• Teach your children the value of working and respect
• Make it a point to appreciate those around you for what they do and for what they represent to you
• Make responsible decisions for yourself and for your family

On the third day of Kwanzaa the first green candle is lit (making the middle black candle, the most central red candle, and the most central green candle now flaming).

Kwanzaa Day 2

Today represents the principle of Kujichagulia (koo-jee-cha- goo-lee-ah), self determination. And the first red candle is lit. The honor of lighting the candles depends on the family itself. As there are no rules as to who lights the candles, many families give the honor to the youngest child. Some give it to the eldest family member. And others share the duties, with a different family member lighting the candles each night.

Kwanzaa

A little lesson in history (from My First Kwanzaa by Karen Katz)...

Kwanzaa is an African-American cultural holiday first celebrated in 1966 and developed by Dr Maulana Karenga. It is based on harvest celebrations traced back to ancient African civilizations. Kwanzaa is Swahili for "first fruits". Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26th through January 1st. Each day honors a different Nguzo Saba or the seven principles. Africans and African Americans of different religions and backgrounds celebrate Kwanzaa. There is a Kinara (wooden candle holder) which holds seven candles (3 red, 1 black, 3 green), each lit one by one on each of the seven days so that on the 7th day they all are lit.

Today is the first day of the Kwanzaa Holiday. The center black candle is to be lit. Today represents Umoja (Swahili for Unity). Today is the day to spend time with friends, family, and neighbors.

Stay tuned for more!

Merry Christmas

We hope everyone had a happy holiday season thus far!

Addy had a wonderful first real Christmas and we enjoyed our first Christmas as a family of three. Addy was overly spoiled and loved seeing everyone again. She recieved lots of wonderful gifts including a ride on pony, shopping cart, elmo airplane ride on toy, cabbage patch baby, and pretty clothes! She still doesn't quite get the hang of opening presents, but if you start opening it and she sees that there is a toy in there for her then she rips the paper off and wants the toy out of the box NOW! We decided that next year everything will have to be preassembled prior to wrapping!

Here are a few pictures of Addy's big week!

Pictures as promised!

A purple Christmas tree of my very own!!!

With my cousins (Jordan, Addy, Tyger, Brandt)

Happy Happy Birthday Happy Happy Birthday!

Addy is offically a year old! I cannot believe that she is already one and has been home and part of our family for ten months! It feels like we just brought her home yesterday. Who knew time would go so quickly!

Miss Addy J is very busy these days. Climbing, running, playing, growing! She has her official one year appointment on the 31st so we will se how big she has really gotten then. She is still just the sweetest funniest little girl!

The other day she was playing by the fishtank and started banging the cupboard doors underneath it. I told her no in a firm voice and she turned smiled and did it again. So I said it again, this time removing her from the fishtank and trying to redirect her with a different toy. A few minutes later she was back to the fishtank. I clapped my hand once to get her attention and said NO. She turned around and started clapping with a big smile on her face...... not exactly what I was going for but it sure was funny!

So she keeps us on our toes. She found her independence this weekend at the Mall. We went to the little play area at our local mall and she ran and played with a bunch of other little toddlers. She was behind this big thing and Jared said, I think she is by the entrance. So I went over there and she was leaving the play area, saw me and ran two stores down. I picked her up and brought her back and placed her on the far side of the play area and she made a B line toward the entrance and took off at a full run. So I followed her to a little batch of ride on rides and to two stores. She no longer wanted to play in the thing but wanted to be free to run! And boy is she fast! And so we keep her in our arms or in the stroller as she refuses to hold our hand (and even if she would, we would be bent way over to hold her hand).

This weekend was the biggest snow storm yet this year. So our girls weekend was put on hold and we stayed home. We spent Saturday watching movies, playing at the mall, and going to Jared's step mom's family Christmas. It was nice to see everyone who we don't see but a few times a year. Addy had fun trying new foods and eating tons of cheese and crackers. She even got to spend time with her Great Grandma Marge!

Sunday we had family time and played and Addy opened a couple birthday presents from mom and dad! We then went to her cousin, Brandt's, birthday party in the evening for a little while. They share their special day! Brandt insisted that he did not turn three until he ate his cake, until then he was still two!

Addy has been sleeping well and through the night again which is really nice for mom and dad! Tomorrow she is bringing birthday treats to daycare with her... ok well she is bringing birthday stringcheese! We wanted her to bring something that she would be able to eat too and since stringcheese is her favorite we thought it was fitting!

Pictures from the weekend to be posted soon!

Snow Day and Baby Sign!

Jared lucked out with another snow day today! So he and Addy spent the day at home relaxing, playing, and taking naps. I am SO jealous!

With all the planned snow, it looks like our fun girls weekend is going to be put on hold. Addy is officially turning one on Sunday so I think we will have a fun snuggly family day with movies and staying warm.

With Chrismas just a few days away we are feeling very blessed to be a family of three! I have had all of my Christmas shopping done for a couple weeks, everything is wrapped and ready to go. I just need to make a grocery list and get the stuff to make a nice Christmas eve dinner for my fam. I will be sure to post lots of pics next week. Addy has an adorable little dress to wear and will look cute as can be!

Then next Friday, one of my friends who has been our photographer for Addys pictures over the past year is going to take pics of us out in the snow for her one year pictures! I finally found snowpants and boots for Addy J. Apparently you have to buy them at the beginning of the season or everyone runs out. It took me two weeks and twenty stores to find a pair the right size!

BABY SIGN...
Since Addy came home, I always thought I would do baby sign with her. I figured since I knew some ASL that it would be easy... Boy was I wrong! Trying to figure out how to sign while holding a baby food jar in one hand and a spoon in the other hand was a much bigger challenge than I anticipated. It took a much more conscious effort to try to sign to her. Well it is starting to pay off! She knows finished or all done and uses it appropriately. She knows more but only does it sometime since she has figure out if she points to the item that she will get more that way too. She has started signing milk for when she wants a bottle. It is pretty exciting and neat to see her absorbing information and then using it correctly! She babbles a lot but still does not say them for what they mean. She says mama and dada a lot but not in reference to us, although we like to think it is! She is such a little sponge and is so eager to learn new things!

Have a safe and warm weekend!

The much anticipated birthday video....

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Danger Will Robinson!!!!

Climbing, moving toys to climb, reaching for phone cords, pulling things off the wall..... We once thought our basement was baby proof, guess we have a lot to learn!

Addy is VERY determined and now also learned how to climb up the side of the coffee table to get onto the couch so that she could climb up the back of the couch to reach the light switches....

Santa!

Addy met Santa today at the mall! He was definitely the REAL Santa! We also went to the little play area and she played for quite a while with a few other little kids. She did better this time too. I put her down and off she went, no warm up period or anything! She did keep coming over and making sure I was watching her and nearby which was pretty cute. Addy got to spend some time with Katrina today too who graciously shopped with Addy while I got my haircut.

This afternoon she spent some time playing with her dollies and her Elmo. The picture is a little fuzzy but if you look at Elmo's mouth you will see that he needed a binky too! A few minutes later I noticed that she has switched binkies with Elmo and had the pink one in her mouth. Good thing she is learning to share!

Basketball!

Addy and I attended Jareds first basketball game of the season. His kids did great and won their first game! I made Addy a cute little sweatsuit that says our last name and the number 26 (our adoption date) on the back and has Komets (their mascott) on the butt. She got a chance to play with a basketball and really liked it... which may mean that Jared will get his way and have her playing basketball soon!

Happy Birthday Party!

She's showing you how old she is with her little fingers... ONE!

Addy's party was a blast! She had a lot of fun and was glad to see everyone. Addy helped open some of her presents and was fascinated with some hair clips that she got from Baby Carson. Many of her baby friends came (with their parents of course) and our familes were there as well. Addy was such a trooper seeing as her party was during nap time! She took a long morning nap and lasted all afternoon. Miss Addy enjoyed her cake with only a bit of frosting actually making it in her mouth and amazingly none actually made it in her hair either!

Here are a few pics of her big day!

Thank you to all of you who came and for the wonderful gifts for our little baby!

The Preparation

We are getting prepared for Addy's first birthday party. It will be a small get together but is turning into way more work than I thought. Apparently once you have a child, your house is never really as clean as it should be! So I have been busy cleaning, organizing, and going through all of those piles that seem to be stacking up! I was hoping to have her scrapbook up to date by the time she was one but it is not looking very likely as I am only through her 9 month pictures and have a four inch stack of pictures still to do. Yikes! It is also looking unlikely that it is all going to fit in one scrapbook. Who knew I would be one of those annoying moms who takes pictures of EVERYTHING!

Basketball season is just getting going so Jared is pretty busy with that. He is finding out that he really misses Addy when he is gone so is spending extra daddy time on the nights he is home early. The other basketball coaches wives and I have started a basketball widows club and are going to get together frequently during the season with our little ones to keep us busy and sane!

I will post more pictures after this weekend!

Busy Baby, Busy Weekend

A few quick pics from our busy weekend. Jared and Addy went shopping on black friday with the crowds. Addy and I then went again after work! Didn't buy much but was fun to be out in the holiday spirit. Saturday we met a friend at the indoor park at the mall. Addy really enjoyed it but it took her a while to warm up to the new area and all the kids. Then lunch and more shopping! Today we met another friend and her two little girls at an indoor Christmas tree festival. We took lots of pictures of the girls in their pretty dresses and even got to see Santa!

First Thanksgiving

We have SO much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! We celebrated with all of our families yesterday and Addy had a blast! She even branched out and tried a few new foods. She did really well with all of the traveling and people.

10 things we are thankful for this year....

• First and foremost our beautiful daughter who is just the perfect addition to our family
• Baby snuggles
• Blankies and Binkies
• Health
• Out loving family
• Baby giggles
• Baby smiles
• Diapers that don't leak
• Wonderful caring friends
• A happy family and cozy home
  
  

Play date!

Today we got together for a playdate with some dear friends of ours who are moving to Kansas. Addy and Carson had on their Kansas State shirts for some pics!

A Sad Day at the Pittmans...

Today we said goodbye to our sweet Tattoo. It has been very hard on all us as we loved him dearly. For those of you who don't know his story he was my chemo puppy. When I was diagnosed with cancer, we had one of our horses at a trainers. They raised Jack Russel Terriers. We had gone and visited their new batch of puppies and fell in love with a little dark one which was not the breed standard of being mostly white, but we thought he was the cutest one. The next day they stopped at my moms work and asked if they could give me a puppy, that puppy. And so it began. He was the most hyper doggie but any time he jumped up to lay with me when I was sick, he knew to be more careful and quiet. He was a very terrier puppy... chewed a hole in my moms new couch, ate my sisters new birkenstocks, ate every stuffed animal he could find, and barked at everything that moved. He helped me get through the most difficult time of my life and has been through a lot with us. He was a very funny little doggy and will always hold a special place in our hearts.

In loving memory....

Hobo girl and a new best friend...

This is what happens when you let daddy dress the baby.... Items that are cute alone, suddenly just don't work!Last time we were in the cities, Addy took a trip to Target with Grandma and Grandpa and came home with a new best friend. She LOVES her little Elmo! He is the perfect size and when you shake him he laughs and talks. She has even figured out how to put her binky in his mouth. Look at those pearly white chompers!
Love my Elmy!

On the mend... and new hobbies!

Addy and I are feeling MUCH bettter! I will be going in to work tomorrow for part of a day and Grandma Deb is coming over to watch Miss Addy. Hopefully Addy will be able to return to her regular daycare with her little friends soon!

So due to the boredom of taking care of Addy and I for four days, Jared bought himself an early Christmas present... An XBOX! So we (and when I say we, I mean he) got it all hooked up and it is actually pretty cool. The best part is that you can pause the games, something his computer games didn't allow. So he has a new hobby.

As for myself....I found a new hobby too! Digital scrapbooking! I saw a friends scrapbook that she did for her son and it was all digital pages and it was amazing (good job Marianne!). So I decided to go online and see what I could find out. I downloaded a bunch of papers and elements and a trial version of a good scrapbooking program and got started on Addy's lifebook. What's nice is that with little Addison I can work on the scrapbook on the computer where as with the paper kind it was a nightmare trying to keep little hands off of my supplies! And so I may be getting a new laptop here soon too since my old one keeps dying. So Merry Christmas to me too!

Now if we could just figure out what Addy wants for Christmas!

Daddy of the year

5 loads of laundry
8 changes of clothes
6 trips to the supermarket
1 trip to the doctor
3 dirty blankeys
18 diapers
1 stomach bug
and 2 days away from work taking care of sick baby and sick mommy....(with No complaining or anything, except that I apparently owe him numerous dirty diaper changes)

Gives Jared the daddy and husband of the year award!

Hopefully we are going to be feeling better soon!

Play Date!

Yesterday Addy and I had a play date with three other adoptive moms and thier babes. We all went through the same agency, did domestic adoptions, and connected through their forum community. It was nice to get together, get to know eachother better, and let the kiddos play. We are planning on getting together a few times a year. We made an attempt to get a group picture, however they were all a little wiggly!