Christer & Cat

My sister had her baby on Easter Sunday and I’m just now getting some pictures so I can sow you all! I think he looks just like his dad! Mom and baby did great with no complications

Welcome Karson!

Addison and I were playing outside with the neighbors the other day. We found a lady bug and I was trying to get Addison interested in it. I put it on my hand and it crawled all over- Addison poked at it and it flew onto her arm, which she didn’t seem to like. So she picked it up and put it back on the ground. I picked it back up and let it crawl on me to show her that it was ok- she poked it again and it went like that for a few more times. The last time she picked it off her arm, Franklin (the boy next door) was talking about eating something- bugs maybe? Faster than I realize what was happening Addison pops that bug into her mouth! We searched for it to make sure it didn’t go down her shirt- that she really did eat it! I saw it in her mouth… At least it wasn’t a spider or a worm. Addison seemed unphased LOL

So the dr appointment went great last week and today. Little baby girl Edwards #2 is right on track! I was able to get an ultrasound- and so I was able to answer Christer’s questions: Yes, still a girl- Yes, only one in there He told me to call him immediately if something had changed. I thought about calling him just to freak him out but I didn’t I feel her kicking (she has a really strong kick) all the time and she’s even has the hiccups almost daily! I’m still having braxton hicks but nothing scary- just uncomfortable.

Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL day! Addison and I went on a couple of walks and played outside. She had a teeny tiny – very faint – sunburn on one arm from Saturday- who da thunk that mid 60′s needed sunscreen. I’m on it now! I’m so excited that we get to go to California next week! I’m going to buy Addison a sun hat and sunglasses before we leave She is so adorable- she’s got the walking down and can even run in little spurts. Her U-Turns have gotten tight so she can just turn right around. She LOVES being chased my the tickle monster and of course we love doing it. She is a little talker now- whether she’s “reading” a book, talking into the phone (or remote, or calculator- really anything with buttons and is portable).

I love my baby

This is a bit of a long post but I thought I might share it. I was browsing the far reaches of “The Internets” today and found this list of kitchen tips. Now that I’m married and domesticated I found some of these to be very interesting.

Kitchen Hints

• To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh~if it rises to the surface, throw it away.
• Keep the linings from cereal boxes~they make great substitutes for waxed paper!
• To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes!
• Use a meat baster to “squeeze” your pancake batter onto the hot griddle~ perfect shaped pancakes every time!
• Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love ‘em!
• Poke an egg with a small sewing needle before hard-boiling, and the egg will peel with ease! And hold that needle in place with a magnet refrigerator clip!
• Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips!
• Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!
• To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard-boiling!
• Use a pastry blender to cut ground beef into small pieces after browning!
• Sweeten whipped cream with confectioners’ sugar instead of granulated sugar~it will stay fluffy and hold it’s shape better!
• For easy “meatloaf mixing”, combine the ingredients with a potato masher!
• If you don’t have enough batter to fill all cupcake tins, pour 1 tablespoon of water into the unfilled spots…this helps preserve the life of your pans!
• To easily remove honey from a measuring spoon, first coat the spoon with nonstick cooking spray!
• Run your hands under cold water before pressing Rice Krispies treats in the pan~the marshmallow won’t stick to your fingers!

Read the rest of this entry »

Addison had her first Easter egg hunt today! We showed up a little early and there were hundreds of eggs scattered all over the lawn. At first she didn’t seem to care- she just wanted to play with her friends, or I should say her soon-to-be friends. Once she started watching a girl pick up an egg for pictures (the hunt hadn’t started yet) she became curious. We only picked a handful of eggs (how much candy does a 14 mo need anyway? ) and once she figured out there was something in them she got really excited. At one point she even sat down to eat what she had just discovered. I kept trying to get her to pick up more eggs before they were all gone, slowly but surely we ended up with 6 eggs. She LOVES the Reese’s Easter eggs- peanut butter and chocolate- who doesn’t love that?! I think I got some great pix of the event- Enjoy!

I don’t remember when I started having Braxton Hicks with Addison- is 25 weeks too early? I have a feeling this girlie is going to come quickly when she does decide to come. I really love the feeling of a baby kicking around in me- but I’m even more excited to meet her face to face She is doing great and growing at the perfect rate. I have a dr’s appt next week so I’ll let you know more then- unless of course something exciting happens before then!

As you have probably heard, Addison is walking now, and boy is she moving! I remember my co-workers telling me to be careful what I wished for in hoping she’d start walking soon, and now I know why! I can hardly keep up with her, but boy can she keep up with me.

The other day we were playing in the living room and I took a break to go to the bathroom.

“Daddy has to go to the bathroom.  I’ll be right back”, I said and walked away.

A lot of times she is fine with this.  She may continue playing and then start crawling after me. By the time she makes it into the master bedroom I’ve already finished my business and I’m on my way back.  Not this time.

As I’m standing in the bathroom in a rather.. vulnerable position I hear footsteps. “Ohh no” I think to myself. She’s getting faster.

“Hurry! hurry!” I say to myself.

It’s now a race.  Can I finish before she gets into the bathroom, or will she get into something before I can stop her?

The uneven footsteps of a child start getting closer and closer.

“C’mon. Hurry” I coax myself forward. I know I haven’t had *that* much to drink!

Closer. She’s getting closer.

Suddenly, before I realize whats going on I feel something behind me and Addison pops her head between my legs.

“Whoa!” I yell as I try to move and contort myself in an ungraceful attempt to not pee on my childs head.

“Addison, no please!” I say, standing on one foot and trying to push her back behind me with the other.

She keeps going.

I can just imaging her thinking “What’s that Daddy?” or “Ohh, water! Water is fun!”

“Addison, no!” I attempt to be firm, but how firm can you be in a situation like that?

Finally the torrent stops and I’m able to free my hands to corral her back to safety.  I can’t help but laugh at this point.

“Addison, you can’t do that. Daddy almost peed on your head.” I try to say this without smiling. It’s difficult.

She smiles at me and nods her head like she does when she wants more.

Again I can hear her thoughts “Do it again Daddy. Do it again!”

Addison has been changing and growing so much just this past month! On March 19th she officially started walking by herself! We were sitting on the living room floor playing when she used me to pull herself up to her feet. She had been doing that for awhile now so I didn’t think much of it. Then she saw something she wanted on the coffee table and just took off- I don’t think she even really noticed until I started cheering her on- then she got a HUGE grin on her face It was just a few feet in distance, but this was the first time that she wasn’t being coached or walking between me and Christer. The next day we practiced again and again until Christer got home from work. I told him that we had something to show him. Addison took off walking towards him and he stayed pretty close until I told him to back up (over and over again) and then he realized what was really going on and had her walking a through a couple rooms to get him. Now she’s cruising faster than ever and follows anything that moves (as I’ll describe here in a bit). Here is a movie of her a couple days after those first steps. I think she was tired and smoothly transition from walking to crawling.

She also loves to help me with the dishes, laundry- really anything that takes my attention. Here she pulled a load of laundry off the chair one piece at a time, tried to pull them over her feet (that’s her way of trying to dress herself) She then laid down on top of them and continued watching Curious George. She cracks me up.

She also LOVES bananas sliced with peanut butter on them- this time I let her feed herself. I realized I should probably only do that when she and the food is restrained- aka in a high chair.

The day she was helping with laundry she was also trying to discover new areas to explore. She got stuck under the chair- which wasn’t very funny for her, but I was trying to muffle my laugh

I’m really excited for the weather to start warming up. Addison is going to LOVE the summer and hopefully we’ll get a lot of swimming in

Today we took Addison to Petco to see the animals and see how she would react to them. I knew that she LOVES cats and dogs. We also watch the birds out our window most mornings. She really liked watching the mice run in their exercise wheels. They looked really cute… but I can’t bring myself to have pet mice. Then I saw a rat- yes, pet rat and that just grossed me out (mostly the tail and claws- ewww). We walked around to the birds and she really liked the little one that flew all over the place. The fish were fun too- except that she kept trying to pet them and take them out of their tanks.

Christer anad I realized that we hadn’t fallen in love with anything so we were just going to leave. On our way out we saw two dogs that were playing with each other. They just crossed paths and the owners thought it was so cute that they just let them play. The dogs were small and very cute. I had Addison sit with me and pet them. The smallest one was the cutest- so friendly, energetic (but not wild). I asked the owner about her and apparently she is a Yorkie Shitzu mix- which is a really fun mix. Great with kids, even small ones, they stay small. They are social yet mellow when they need to be. I have to be honest- the thing was so cute I wouldn’t mind picking up the poop! Someday I’ll get one…. someday

I heard from a co-worker this morning that their newborn baby has been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.  I thought I would pass on his message for anyone that is interested and able to give support.

On March 25th, 2009, our son Adrian Abraham Barrett was diagnosed with
cystic fibrosis. While we know the news is sour, we also know that this
will make us treasure each day we have together and hope that we are
together not just months, and not just years, but we hope to be together
for decades. This bit of sour will make the sweet even sweeter. You can
read more about Adrian by visiting his website: Baby Barrett

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs
and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United
States (70,000 worldwide). A defective gene and its protein product
cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that clogs the
lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections, and also obstructs
the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down
and absorb food. In the 1950s, few children with cystic fibrosis lived
to attend elementary school. Today, advances in research and medical
treatments have further enhanced and extended life for children and
adults with cystic fibrosis. The median survival age is now 37, with
more than 40% surviving past the age of 18.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is making a huge difference in extending
the quality of life for those with CF. However, we continue to lose
precious lives to CF every day. That’s why your help is needed now more
than ever to ensure that a cure is found sooner – rather than later. To
learn more about CF and the CF Foundation, visit
www.cff.org.

I’m walking in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s GREAT STRIDES walk at
the Tooele City Park walk on June 6th, 2009. Please help me meet my
fund-raising goal of $3,000.00 by sponsoring me. Your
generous gift will be used efficiently and effectively, as nearly 90
cents of every dollar of revenue raised is available for investment in
vital CF programs to support research, care and education.

Thank you for supporting the mission of the CF Foundation, and
ultimately Adrian!

Its sad to hear such news, but I’m sure progress can be made by giving your support.  Even if you’re not able to sponsor Jonathan in the fundraiser, by sharing this link and message with others they may have the opportunity to help where you cannot.