Two Peas in a Pod

We went up to Northern Virginia on Saturday for our friend, Nicole's, baby shower. They are expect baby #2. They are not finding out the gender...I wish I could have that will power! Unfortunately, I forgot to take out the camera during the shower. When Tommy arrived to pick me up from the shower with Addisan, he took the camera out to capture two peas in a pod running a muck! My friend, Erin, hosted the shower and her son, J.T., and Addisan had a blast together. They ran around chasing each other and laughing so much! Addisan has been known to be a flirt with men...and now with boys. The highlight of their fun was when we were getting ready to head back to Richmond. JT was running around naked outside before a diaper change. While naked and walking around in the driveway, he ended up peeing and then playing in his puddle of urine. I think at that point Tommy was relieved to be having another girl!

Addisan reaching for a hug from JT.

Dance Party!

JT getting lost in Addisan's eyes.

I think Addisan might have found her soul mate!

One Proud Mama

I am not pushing potty training on Addisan, but just trying to follow her lead. TWICE, that's right...you heard me, she has peed in her potty. She had a fluke incident in the toilet in the beginning of the year, but I think she is really ready now. Two nights ago as well as tonight, she went to the potty knowing what she was doing. After we gave her a bath and put her pjs on tonight, she got into bed and started grabbing her diaper and saying "pee-pee." We immediately put her on her potty and gave her a book...within minutes, she had peed! We are so proud of her. I never thought I would be jumping up and down over pee, but I am! Now,once she is officially potty trained, all that money that I save from not buying diapers, I can put in a shoe fund for myself.

Addisan just relaxing before bedtime reading a book.

You Don't Tell a Pregnant Woman There are NO APPLE DONUTS!

So on Friday, Addisan and I went to Carter's Mountain and went apple picking. This is one of my favorite things to do each fall. To be honest, I don't love it is so much for picking apples, but their famous apple donuts. It is worth the hour drive to consume a half a dozen donuts. You cannot stop yourself from eating them...even though you know you are going to feel sick from eating so many. We met my sister-in-law Kris and my niece Samantha at the orchard. As soon as we arrived, the farm workers informed us that the baker called in sick that morning and their were NO APPLE DONUTS! This was the worse news I had heard all week...seriously! Fortunately, we did not let this setback hold us down. We proceeded to go down to the orchards and pick apples. Addisan LOVED it and picked them with all of her might. She would pull so hard that her whole body would start shaking. Since no apple donuts were in the plan for the day...the four of us consumed chocolate chip cookies, apple cider, apple pie, and a peach smoothie after a hard day of picking apples. This was not the most nutritious meal, but delicious! I knew Addisan would remember her experience at the apple orchard when I heard her say 101 times on the way home, "I pick apples too!"

Aunt Kris and Addisan picking apples.

Addisan eating her first of many apples of the day.

Some motherly love:)

Cousin Sam and Addisan posing for a picture.

Preschool...Easy as 1, 2, 3!

So my prediction was correct about preschool...Addisan is only going to cry when I come and pick her up from school. She just loves her friends and being with people. My feelings use to be hurt when she would cry when others left, but not when Tommy and I departed. She is definitely not a typical kid. My rationale is that she knows her mom and dad will always return, but she is not sure about her friends. Her teacher said that her class is pretty mature and doing things that are typically done by her students usually around Christmas time. There were some kids on the first day that cried during transitions, one cried when he wanted his pacifier during rest time...not my Addisan. She was the only one who did not shed a tear! You go girl! She is one tough cookie who loves life!

I could not get her to smile for the camera to save my life! She still looks cute though in my book.

Open House

This is the first time that I have been on the other side of Open House for school. Addisan and I went into her preschool classroom this morning to meet her teachers again and give her a chance to see her new Wednesday morning setting. She loved it! She went straight to the kitchen area and took out some food and plates. Addisan laid all the plates out on the table in a specific order as though she was having a dinner party for all of her stuffed animals. I would love to get into her mindset and know her thought process. She is always so meticulous!

She is all ready for her big day! This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Addisan!

Our Phat Daizee

We celebrated Daizee's second birthday with us. Her birthday is actually September 9, but we partied on Sunday instead. Ken, Kasey, and their dog Zep came to join in the festivities. I purchased a cake from Three Dog Bakery for our guest of honor and her friends as well as Frosty Paws. They were all a hit! Daizee received a new pink collar with cupcakes on it that she now sports every day. She is one hot chick!

It is hard to believe that two years have gone by so quickly since she came into our lives. It was just the other day I was seven months pregnant and we were on our way to Nisan Pavilion to see Rascal Flats. Our encounter with Daizee was pure fate. Tommy and I were traveling on Route 522 and I was talking on my phone...which was the only reason why I was not already asleep in the passenger seat. While talking to my friend Whitney, I noticed her standing next to this tall evergreen tree next to an industrial building and junk yard. As many of you know, I stop for stray dogs frequently. They always run away, but at least I can say I tried. Daizee was not like other dogs...she came right up to me and sat down. She immediately rolled on her back for a tummy rub. I knew that we had to rescue her. She was covered with fleas and you could see her ribs....hard to believe that she was ever that skinny! When Tommy saw me carrying her to the car, I think his stomach dropped. We put her in the back of our Pilot with Tivo and turned around and came back to Richmond. We contacted the first dog rescue that we were volunteering for in Richmond and they were not able to foster or board her. We told them that we would foster her and we never heard back from them again. Which is another sign that fate was at work...the rescue organization that we first volunteered for never reached out to us again. Their loss was our gain! When we got home, I gave her a flea bath right away. You could actually see what looked like black specks of pepper jumping on her back and stomach. Two weeks past and she was already growing on us. We took her to a local vet to get her shots and to find out that she had tape worms. Soon after remedying the tape worms, she began to gain weight and hasn't stopped since! The third sign of fate that she was meant to be with our family was a couple at the vet clinic just put down their dog and heard about our Daizee. They came over to check her out and loved her. They were just beginning the grieving process from the loss of their other dog and realized that they were not ready for a new addition quite yet. In the meantime, Tommy and I worked with Daizee on learning how to go up and down steps (which I think is a sign that she had never been indoors before), feeding her from her bowl to make sure food aggression never developed, and associating her with as many people and dogs as possible to ensure she would be a social dog.

Tommy was the first one to cave in with keeping Daizee as our permanent second dog. He would hold out his hand with treats in it and tell her, "Daizee, if you want to be a Taylor, you'll eat this treat" or would tell her, "Daizee, if you wag your tail, you're telling us that you want to stay with us." By the third week, we knew she was going to be part of our family and scheduled an appointment for her to get spayed. For those who know us well, we never do anything easy....three days before her appointment, I had Addisan six and half weeks early. By the time I got home from the hospital, the next day Daizee got fixed. When she returned from the vet's clinic, she was throwing up from the meds that she was given. I knew Tommy loved her because he did not complain once cleaning up the mess while caring for me after my c-section. Speaking of messes, she only peed in the house twice and pooped once (and the poop was my fault because I was trying to encourage her to go down the steps on her own when I should have just carried her downstairs because she obviously had to go really badly). When Addisan returned home from NICU, I was a little nervous with how the dogs were going to react. Having this stereotype of pits, I was worried. Daizee rose to the occasion. She was as gentle as could be along with Tivo. I never had, and still don't, have a worry with her around kids. The only thing we had to reprimand her on was jumping up on the bassinet every time Addisan would cry. She would put her paws on the edge and peak her head in to check on her each time she cried and would then cry with her! Daizee is an amazing dog. Even though she barks frequently when people and dogs stroll by the house, she does it with the best intentions. She wants to go out and play with them. I have learned a lot from Daizee. It reinforced to me that you cannot judge others by their "type" and that you cannot fault someone for their history. All you can do is love someone regardless and help them know that they are valued in your life. The return is priceless!

Ken and his crew.

Daizee and her new pink cupcake collar. Every girl needs a little pink in her life.

Daizee waiting patiently to open one of her gifts.

The cake that I purchased at Three Dog Bakery. All the dogs LOVED it!

Fun with Pickle

We got to watch my friend Angie's son while she had a obligation at her church. Addisan and Dylan (also known as Pickle) had a blast together! Where ever Dylan went, Addisan followed like a mother hen. She was a great helper with Dylan. She never got jealous, but just wanted to be part of everything with him. They played ball together and read a lot of books next to each other. Since we are having another girl next, I might need to borrow Dylan more often to get my "boy time" in:)

Dylan and Addisan buddy reading.

They both had such a good time with the balls!

Aren't his eyes so blue!