{the merriest place on earth}

Keeping up with our ongoing (10th year) tradition, we're here today. See ya soon!

{the winners}

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I'm working on a new post about our festivities! Stay tuned!

The Christmas Phictures: The Winners Edition

{the losers}

The Christmas Pictures: Losers Edition

{happy thanksgiving}

From our home to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.

We are looking forward to spending a great day filled with lots of family, good food and full bellies!

"Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.” –E.P. Powell

{wordless wednesday}

{successful...kind of}

Last night's photo attempt went slightly better than Sunday's. We didn't get the best pictures, but we did get some that were live able. Our experience time-wise was about the same, but with out the large crowd.

Here's a sneek peek. I'll do a full posting later on in the week.

I've also been asked quite a few times where I got her dress. It's from Crazy 8.

{photo fail}

It's that marvelous time of the year again...you know...Christmas pictures. UGH Or should it be Christmas nightmare?

I had made an appointment on Saturday at 5:20 for the munchkin to get some cute pictures in her pretty new Christmas dress taken. When we arrived, it was the total chaotic scene that is played across every photo studio in the country this time of year. Whiny kids, a cluster of strollers, fed up parents, etc. I check in for our appointment (10 minutes early I might add) and the wait begins. There's only so much patience one can have before they start to loose their cool. We ended up waiting over an hour...but the thing is, we didn't even get to have pictures taken because they were so backed up. We left because we had plans with some friends and that time was quickly approaching.

So, I called yesterday to re-reschedule for that afternoon and complained about the situation yesterday. The lady assures me that things will go much smoother today and they were just having an "off" day yesterday. Yeah, that's it! We get there 10 minutes prior to our appointment...and it's a mad house again. We wait about 40 minutes for our coveted time in the "studio" and someone decides that she isn't having it....any of it! I was that mom with that kid! She was a blubbering boogery mess. After about 10 minutes of that torture I decided to call it quits. So once again, we left without any pictures. Grrrrrrr

With that being said, we're hoping that the 3rd time truly is the charm. We have an appointment this evening. Wish us luck!

{blink}

As I was rocking Addison while she was asleep on Friday night, this song came on. I never really paid much attention to the lyrics...so true...and beautiful! Definitely made me tear up...and sadly realize that she's growing up quickly!



I'd like to remember
I'd like to know all you are
I'd like to know everything you'll be
Where will you go? What will you do?
When the world's right in front of you

When I think of how slowly life passes by
Then I'll blink and you're growing
No longer a child
What I can do, to capture this moment in time
Is to sing you a lullaby

I like to watch you dream
I like to touch your face
I like to hold you in a sweet embrace
When will you laugh? When will you cry?
When you need a special place to hide

When I think of how slowly life passes by
Then I'll blink and you're growing
No longer a child
What I can do, to capture this moment in time
Is to sing you a lullaby

When I think of how slowly life passes by
Then I'll blink and you're growing
No longer a child
What I can do, to capture this moment in time
Is to sing you a lullaby

{blocks & kitty cats}

Just an average Saturday morning...

{screamer}

Karl and I are severely sleep deprived. It's been at least a week since we've had a full night's sleep. It's almost like reverting back to the days of having a newborn, but she was an excellent sleeper from the get go...so you can't really compare apples to apples.

We've always been pretty good about keeping a consistent bedtime routine with Addison. She's always down by 8:30pm at the latest. She's been great about sleeping through the night, and even managing to sleep in on the weekends!

Well, that all changed this week. She's started fighting bedtime. She will scream her head off the second you put her in her crib. We've tried letting her cry it out, and sometimes it works. But then there's always the middle of the night scream fest. Last night she woke up at 11pm, Karl went into her room, rocked her, she fell asleep in his arms...and then BAM! she starts screaming bloody murder the second he layed her down. We let her go, hoping that she'd get worn out and fall back asleep. Nope. Not my stubborn girl! She carried on for an hour and half....I couldn't take it anymore so I went into her room...eventually bringing her into ours, but that never works because our bed = party time!

What gives?! Why is this happening all of a sudden out of the blue? Our daycare provider said that she's also started doing that at nap time. Not cool Addie, not cool!

Anyone have any tricks, tips or ideas? Is is just a crazy stage that happens around 20 months? We're missing our great sleeper!

{peek-a-boo}

I started this blog 2 years ago as a way to keep our family in the loop on all things pregnancy/baby related and it's kind of evolved from there. I love how blogging keeps us connected with friends & family afar, and opens up to new "friends" in cyberspace.

I've met lots of "friends" online through various methods of Social Networking, so I'm curious how you've found us.

So how about you come out of the woodwork and do us a favor:

1. Tell me how you found us and why you visit Adventures with Addison
2. Ask me a question!(within reason) I'll do a special post with Q&A's!

We love getting comments!

{all I want for chirstmas}

I thought it'd be fun to share what's on my imaginary Christmas wish list with the Blogverse. It's highly unlikely that Santa will deliver any of these goods, but it's fun to dream!

I've seen it going on on several other sites, so I thought I'd hop in on the game and hope that maybe Santa gets word that I've been a really good girl this year! Ha!

I'm starting with the top of my list. I've been dreaming of an SLR for a few years now. Last year I got a camera that has been a great starter on how to operate settings, etc. I think I'm ready to move on.

This year, I'm begging Santa to please bring me this...this beautiful baby...

What's on your Christmas wish list?

{wordless wednesday}

Happy 20 Month Birthday to our Sweet Baby Girl!

{after}

Our dining room is pretty much finished. We still have a few things left to do, but for the most part the project is d.o.n.e. We decided to go with a neutral shade because if we painted another actual color, I'd want to re-decorate the entire room and well...the piggy bank is pretty much empty these days! Ha!

We painted a color called 'Gobi Desert,' and I love the clean look and feel of it. We also re-upholstered the chairs with a fun dragonfly fabric. It adds a touch of whimsy to the room.

Who the heck names paint colors? How do I get that job? Some of the names of the colors we've used crack me up! For instance, my kitchen is painted 'Herbal Cornucopia'...it's a green color. Odd.

Remember this is what it looked like before:

And here's the after:

{lullaby}

Every night when we put the little Miss down to sleep, we play lullabys for her. I'm kind of over the stuff we've been listening to, although I love it, I've just heard it enough as of late.

A few of our regulars are:

Does any one have any new suggestions for us? I'm all ears!

{purge}

I spent yesterday morning over hauling Addison's room. I just got done purging all of her toys in preparation for Christmas and her birthday, but this time I focused on all of her clothes. She had a ton of them...that are now all boxed up and put out in storage. She's one spoiled little girl.

Her room now feels nice and airy. It was cluttered before. I know it won't look like this for long, so I'm just going to relish these photos while I can!

I've already began dreaming of what I'm going to do to her room when she's ready to transition to a twin bed. Is that wrong?! =o)

{before}

Karl & I used to spend our weekends doing home renovation projects...those days have been long gone now for about 2 years. I think the last project "we" did was Addison's room. Wow.

Our house was a wreck before we bought it. Seriously stuck in the late 70's with it's Harvest Gold appliances, metallic gold veined linoleum flooring and fugly brown & gold tiles. I think we've tackled every nook and cranny in this place. It's definitely not anything like it used to be 5 years ago when we purchased it.

This weekend we're embarking on a make-over of our dining room. And much to some people's dislike...the color is going. I'm going neutral. I'm over the boldness and if we went with another color I'd want to re-decorate it all and the funds just aren't there for that.

So, stay tuned to see what becomes of the place.

{fun with editing}

I'm having a really hard time with coming up with content to blog about once a day. We really don't lead a very exciting life! LOL

So today, I'm choosing to write about editing photos. I love it! You can take an average "meh" picture and turn it into something beautiful. Most of the time 'straight out of the camera' (SOOC) shots are not all they could be. With an adjustment of exposure and color it can become quite the gem.

Example 1:

SOOC


And here it is after some editing

I'm currently learning how to use Photoshop, that's a long and confusing process. If I'm in a pinch, I use Picnik. It's fast and easy, and you can link it up to just about any photo sharing site!

And here's one more before and after...

SOOC


After

{an afternoon at the park}

Yesterday Addison and I got to spend some quality time together. Yes, we get to spend the weekends together, but those are usually filled with errand running and housework. Today, we just played! We spent a few hours at the park...running, climbing and swinging...I snapped pictures. And this day's photos produced our Christmas card picture (no, I didn't post it, you'll have to wait and see).

Picking Dandelions






Teeter-Totter


First time on the "big girl" swings

Publish Post

{wordless wednesday}

{cooking light}

I don’t know if any of you are interested in Cooking Light magazine, but right now a year’s subscription is on sale for dirt cheap on Amazon.com It’s normally about $50/year and it’s on sale for $5 right now! It goes back up to the normal price on 11/14. Click here to steal your subscription!

Just thought I’d share!

{better}

I think we are finally free of the sickly bugs!

Addison went back to daycare yesterday and seemed to really enjoy herself. I think she really missed her buddies. She was wiped out when we got home, but she hasn't had a full day like that in almost a week.

We're enjoying a few days of 73* temperatures before it nosedives into the mid-50's on Thursday! Gotta to love the rollercoaster of seasons changing! I love fall though and I'm glad it's finally starting to show up!

{gobble-gobble}

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is seriously 3 weeks away? Where has this year gone?

Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays! A holiday centered around food? What's not to like about that?!

In honor of Thanksgiving, I'm giving away an adorable Turkey candle holder & Pomegranate votive from Gold Canyon!

Wouldn't this little guy look at home on your table?

To enter, simply leave a comment telling me what your favorite Thanksgiving dish is. If you don't have a Blogger account, please be sure to leave your email address and/or Twitter name so that you can be contacted.

The giveaway will end on Wednesday, November 11th at 5:00pm PST.

Winner will be selected using the random.org

Also, be sure to check out my Gold Canyon website for great gift giving ideas! They aren't called the World's Finest Candles for nothing!

{new hobby}

I've been needing to fill a void in my creativity, being that wasn't anything occupying that outlet to begin with. I was needing something that I could do on the weekends during the 3 hour time frame that I am allotted when Addison naps. Something simple and inexpensive was my goal.

My mother-in-law gave me a sewing machine about 4 years ago for Christmas. It's collected a lot of dust over the years. I have always wanted to learn how to sew, but was never able to find a beginners class. Being that I'd have to teach myself how to do something like this was quite intimidating. I decided to take a leap....

I've fallen in LOVE with minky fabrics. I cannot get enough of the soft, plush, cuddly-ness of it. I'm obsessed with it. I've found a little gem of a fabric store here in Bakersfield that has more minky than I've ever laid my eyes on. A friend took me there one day and I've been back several times since.

I've started making minky blankets. The more I make, the better I get. I've even pondered opening an etsy shop to sell them. I don't know if I'm dreaming too big, but I'm having a blast making them.

If you'd like one of my creations, let me know. I'd love to make one for you. There are SO many different patterns of it to choose from. I've only made a slight dent in the variety offered.

{out and about}

I think it's safe to say that the sickly bugs are gone! Addison is pretty much back to her normal self. She insisted on going to Super Target with Aunt Bucket (she now says Becca though) & I last night. I was nervous about taking her out, but she did pretty well considering what she was just getting out from under.

Today we hit up my most favorite fabric store, had a nice lunch at Marie Callendars and strolled the children's book section of Barnes & Noble. She loved the bookstore. I can see us spending lots of time there on Saturday mornings now that the weather is starting to get cooler.

We said goodbye to Aunt Bucket just a short while ago. I already miss her! She's so much fun and Addison absolutely adores her...but maybe that's because she lets her get away with murder?! LOL

{things are looking up}

I just got back from taking Addison to the Dr for her follow up from yesterday and things are definitely looking up! That makes me a happy Mama!

They gave her a shot of Rocephin yesterday and that worked wonders. It made her fever break and it's not been back in 12+ hours. Her ears are looking much better and her Bronchitis seems to be mellowing out. Her cheery personality is also starting to reemerge! We sure missed her!

Thanks for your concern. It's so comforting to know that we have awesome family & friends that care!

XoXo