Reasons This Holiday Season has Been Great!!

12. I have two little girls to share it with this year.

11. Carsyn's butt looks so cute in the PJ's with the flap on the back that says Naughty.

10. Carsyn smiles for most of the pictures I take of her in front of the Christmas tree.

9. When we shopped for a stocking to give a little girl that is a ward of the state- Addison wouldn't let me leave Wal-Mart until it was overflowing with things she thought the little girl would like!

8. Carsyn doesn't mind the cute little Christmas hats I put on her head.

7. I only have two more gifts to wrap.

6. My husband is 31 and just as excited about Christmas as my four year old.

5. Addison has helped me wrap gifts for everyone else and never once asked about gifts for her.

4. I think one of my best friends has found happiness again.

3. We get to share Christmas with Steve's family and mine.

2. Addsion is so cute telling the story Twas the night before Christmas- she says " on Donald(Donner), on Comet, and Cuperd (Cupid), and Rudolph." That is all she can remember.

1. The best thing of all- Addison has learned and will tell you quick that on Christmas we are celebrating baby Jesus and his birhtday.

Santa Came to Town

So we know some people in high places! Santa came to our house and sat in our living room for about an hour last Sunday. Our wonderful friend, Terri Lynne, arranged it all. He was going to fly in om his plane from the North Pole but because it was cloudy he couldn't get clearance from the airport in Carrollton. So I told her to have him come to our house and we would have chocolate chip cookies waiting for him. It was great!! There were so many kids and they got to spend as much time as they wanted with him and he had some toys already in his bag. Addison was SOOO excited. I posted some of the pictures in the slide show below. Merry Christmas!!!

Santa Came to Town

A Little Christmas Cheer

My Little Turkey

I think she looks like a boy in this color but she still is so cute. I would have put a bow in her hair but her hair is so fine I end up picking the bow up off the ground all the time. We are on our way to SC to see our big turkey. She has been with my parents this week and we have missed her. My parents have rented a cabin in Gatlinburg for the weekend and we can't wait. Steve is hoping for snow. We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and counts their many blessings. We sure have a lot to be thankful for. Gobble! Gobble! PS I have tried to post a video without any luck- any suggestions?

4X4

Carsyn was 4 months on the 18th and I can't believe it! I started her on cereal and she has liked it a little better than Addison but is still somewhat unsure of the whole swallowing thing. I think half of what I make goes on her face, bib, leg, and me. I forgot how messy it was when a baby eats. She has been sick this week with a double ear infection so I probably didn't pick the best time to start. She was a healthy 16lbs2oz at the doctor yesterday. She has mastered rolling from back to belly and now wants to sleep on her belly. I was so worried about this and for the last week and a half couldn't sleep without getting up to check on her. Our pediatrician says she is fine now on her stomach so I guess I can start sleeping again. Addison had her 4year old well check and did great. She is 39lbs and 40in. She got 4 shots- and trust me I have been dreading these shots since I made the apt. 3 months ago. She didn't even shed a tear- just a few little whimpers. I let her pick out a princess stocking to hang in her room for being so brave. We are getting ready for the holidays and can't wait to spend some time with all of our friends and family.

Carsyn 's First Cereal

Halloween

Candy, candy, Candy!!! Between school and Halloween Addsion got so much candy. We went trick or treating with the Walkers, the Gilberts and the Scofields. The streets were packed with kids and it reminded me of Halloween when I was little. Carsyn fell asleep about have way through. I can't wait until next year where she can participate a little. On Sunday we went to Berry College to have some family pics made with our photographer Stacey. I took my camera so I could get some of my own pictures. Steve went to school at Berry before he came to Clemson. He did a great job of showing us around campus. It was crazy to see all the deer everywhere. They are so use to humans and cars they just stood there and stared.

Trick or Treat

Family Vacation

What an awesome trip toDisney!!! I couldn't have asked for a better response from Addison. I think we all turned back into kids again for the week. Steve and I can't wait to go back. My mom went with us and was a huge help. For Addison's birthday we did a character dining with all the princesses. She got to meet and have her picture made with all of them except Sleeping Beauty. Then she went to Bippidi Boppidi Boutique to have her hair, nails , and makeup done. It was worth every penny! There is an awesome light parade and fireworks show at night in the magic kingdom and Addison actually cried when it was over. Carsyn was such a trooper. she would hang out in her stroller her strapped in the baby Bjorn and just take it all in. When we saw Mickey in the Animal Kingdom he was giving her a kiss and she started sucking on his nose. I can't wait to tell her this over and over again when she gets older. I am so glad that we were able to take this family trip and that my mom was able to go. Steve and I both said that we can't wait to go back. Also if anyone is curious about why Steve is in a picture with Chip and Dale by himself- well Addison ran off just as it was their turn to have their picture made. She was a little uneasy around the characters that didn't look like real people. Steve said that he felt so ridiculous being up there by himself.

Happy 4th Birthday Addison

So I am a little early but we will be in Disney World on Sunday the 19th and I won't have a computer. I t blows my mind that my first born will be 4 in two days. I still feel like it wasn't that long ago that she took her first step. There is nothing baby about her anymore. Maybe that is why I didn't push the pacifier thing so hard because I knew that it was the last link to her being a baby. I am so excited that we have the opportunity to take her to Disney while she is still in the Princess phase because I know it won't last forever. Her favorite princess is Cinderella and I can't wait for her to see her in person. Some of her other favorite things are make-up, jewelry, pens, papers, and notebooks. She also loves to pretend that she is her teacher at school and lays out blankets for all the kids to take naps on. She loves pizza, macaroni, anything sweet, books , and The Goodnight Show. Her favorite color of course is pink with purple coming in a close second. She loves to be outdoors and funny enough doesn't mind getting dirty. She loves to hear Kenny Chesney and George Straight and the ABC music and me from Kindermusic class. I could go on and on. I saw a quote the other day that rang so true for me " We try to teach our children all about life, they teach us what life is all about." God has blessed Steve and I with two amazing little girls - they have taught us over and over about loving unconditional, sacrifice and enjoying everyday that we are given. Giving birth to Addison 4 years ago opened up a whole new part of me . I am grateful that God chose me to be her Mom. Happy Birthday Addy B!!!

3 Months old Already

I can't believe my baby girl will be 3 months old tomm. She is getting so big so fast and I wish I could slow it down a little. She , like her sister, is a very happy baby and very much just goes with the flow. Recently she has discovered her hands and loves to stick them in her mouth- so far sometimes that she gags herself. Within the last two weeks she has started sleeping through the night- AWESOME!! And even more recently- just this week- she has started laughing a bit. She has the biggest smile and a lot of the time she will stop eating and just look up at you and smile. We are so in love with her that now it is hard to imagine what it was like before she was here. We love you baby Carsyn!

Burt's Pumpkin Patch

In October of 2005 Steve, Addison, and I took our first trip to Burt's in Dawsonville, Ga. We loved it so much that the next year my family went along. This past weekend there were 27 of us (including kids) in a group together. Our whole group had a hayride all to ourselves. This picture is only of half of the little ones in our group. We had such a great time and Steve and I felt so good that we were able to bring our different groups of friends together for this awesome outing. One of the high points on the trip was that I had my picture made with Bert (no relation to the name of the pumpkin patch)from all the hits Q100. It is a huge radio station here in Atlanta and Terri Lynne and I listen every morning. Well being the crazy woman that she is she stalked him and asked if we could get our picture made with him. He was really nice and to my surprise sounds exactly the same in person has he does on the radio. Thank you to everyone for making our trip the the pumpkin patch one of the best!!! I hope we can all do it again next year.

Pumpkin Patch

Fall

I love the Fall season. There is something so inviting about the temperature dropping and being able to wear fleece pants and the scent of pumpkin pie candles burning. And of course for me Fall is the prelude to Christmas. This will sound funny to a lot of you but there is a hill just past my parents house and I can remember in high school driving down the hill around dusk to a football game and the leaves falling off the trees and hitting the windshield, almost like you would see in the opening scene of a movie, and thinking this is hat Fall looks like. Things are different now and when I think about Fall more things come to mind than the leaves hitting the windshield. I think about the birth of my Addy B., the hayride at my grandparents that seems to now be a tradition, Bert's Pumpkin patch and how it was just Steve and I the first year and every year since we have brought more and more people with us. Also Halloween and how I want my kids to experience it the way I did as a kid. As I thought about all these things I realized that I am so blessed to have family and friends to share Fall with. The slide show below this post is of this year's hayride and tomorrow we go to Berts with 5 other families. I am really counting on getting some great pictures and I will post them. So now that I have rambled on Happy Fall- Ya'll!

Down on the Farm

My Mom had a wedding in Savannah so we met her there and did some sight seeing. Neither one of us have been there and we loved it. It is a lot like Charleston but different at the same time. We are already planning a trip back. Addison was amazed at the Spanish Moss(which I learned on the trip is actually in the pineapple family - go figure). We had to bring a wad of it home. It is currently on the floor in the garage even though she wants to bring it in the house. Thanks Mom for letting us tag along!!!

Savannah

Hold Your Head Up High

Look how well Carsyn is holding her head up. Even with the second one every milestone is so exciting. I can't believe she will be 2 months old tomm. Time flies- Addison will be 4 next month. I have been a mom for 4 years. That is crazy to me!! I started work on Monday and other than being very fatigued I have welcomed getting back into a good routine. I haven't even been late yet. I guess getting everything together the night before pays off. Carsyn seems to be doing well at the daycare. Addison even gets to go and visit her some. The teachers there are really great and that makes a huge difference.

All Smiles

This is all it takes to brighten up my day!!! Carsyn is smiling like crazy now. Her first smile was around 4 weeks but they were few and far between now if you just talk to her or even smile at her she smiles right back. She loves Addison! Addison will get right in front of her and talk to her and she just smiles and kicks her legs. It is the most precious thing in the world. I want to always remember it because I know when they are older there will be times when they aren't this sweet with each other.

Grandma Great

A few weeks ago Steve's grandmother came down from Indiana to see her two new great grand-daughters. I am so glad she was able to make the trip. She is in her 90's and has Alzheimer's. I a sure not soon after she left she didn't remember being here. Carsyn obviously will not remember her and I'm not sure if Addison will or not. I am so glad I got these pictures so they can look at them when they are older. While she was her we talked about how her great grandchildren from Steve's dad side are all girls and how all her great grand kids from Steve's aunts side are all boys. She has 5 great grandsons and then the 3 girls. I hope that we can make a trip to Indiana sometime next year. I would love to get a picture of all 8 of her great grandkids.

Go Clemson Tigers

Either Carsyn knew that we were going to get beat by Alabama or she thinks Orange isn't her color. She screamed the whole time I tried to take a picture of her with Steve before the big game. Steve actually got to go and was in the WORST mood for two days after they lost. I am so glad that we beat the Citadel this past weekend.

Helping Daddy

The last few weeks Addison has loved going out and helping Steve cut the grass. She really gets into and stays outside until whole job is done - including edging and blowing off the drive way. She even gets her rake and helps rake up the grass clippings. Last week she got her safety scissors and cut of the dead steams of my daylillies. The dogs love it when she comes outside and plays with them. Tillman and Savannah(Addison says Sabanna) are the best Basset hounds. They are so good with Addison. The day these pictures were taken she slipped outside before I saw her and didn't change into plat clothes. I couldn't believe Steve let her help him in this smocked outfit.

"Sabanna"

Addsion and Tillman

Meeting Cousin Caroline and Grandma Joanne

A couple of weeks ago Steve's sister came to stay with his mom while her husband was in Africa. She has a little girl, Caroline, that is 17 days older than Carsyn. Steve's step-grandmother also came to visit from NC. We were taking picture of the little ones in their Alpaca dresses that a friend in New Mexico made and then decided to get a picture of Joanne with all 3 girls. It was great to spend some time with Jennifer and Caroline before she starts back at Med-school. I am also glad that Joanne was able to make a trip down to see the girls.

Meeting Family and Friends

The pictures in this slide show are from a few weekends ago when we went to SC for Olivia's graduation party. Carsyn got to meet some of the extended family and friends and Addison got to hang out with Gralynn.

Compare and Contrast

My friend Kerri asked me to post a picture of Addison when she was around 1 month old so she could compare Carsyn to her. As you can see - in my opinion at least- they look nothing alike. Addison can't be denied by my side of the family. Steve is thrilled to have a child that he can claim!! The top picture is of Steve when he was around 2and a half months and I think Carsyn looks just like him.

Addison had her first dance class of the year yesterday. She is such a big girl. She went right into the class without any problems- it was a very different experience from last year.

She was so over me taking pictures but I had to get one with the little jacket.

One Month Old

I can't believe that Carsyn is a month old today !!! That also means I only have a month until I go back to work. Except for some bad baby acne she is doing great. She is trying really hard to smile and has been for about a week and a half. She met all of her SC family and some friends last weekend. We were there for Olivia's graduation party- Congrats Aunt Olivia!!! She had her first poopy in the bathtub tonight and hopefully it will be her last. She is growing so fast I can't wait to see how much she weighs at her next doctors appointment. We are so in love with our baby Carsyn!!!

Update

So Tuesday night was hard. Addison cried for her pacifier but eventually fell asleep. It was so sad but Steve and I knew we had to stick to it and things would get better. Last night was a lot better so I think the habit has officially been kicked. She is mad at the trash men for taking it so I am thankful for that!!!

Huge Event at the Baird Household

Ok so I am somewhat embarassed to say this but Addison still takes a pacifier at nap time and at night (only at home). For the record though when she was 18months old I had her broken of it and then she got sick and my spouse gave in and gave it back. Since then it has been difficult to break her of it and then we just got lazy. It did have limitations- for the most part and could only be used when she was asleep. Anyway, Addsion went to the dentist yesterday and I had been telling her that we were going to get fussed at because at the last appt. the dentist told us we had to get rid of it and we hadn't. Well Addison went and got her teeth cleaned and did great. They gave her a goody bag with mouthwash in it and she was so excited about that. When we got in the car she told me," Mommy the dentist didn't fuss about my pacie but my teeth are so beautiful that I'm going to throw it in the trash." I thought to myself this is WONDERFUL- if she will do it on her own that takes the pressure off me. Well when nap time came around guess what she asked for- she said she needed to suck on it one more time. Of course I gave in because at that moment I was getting ready to nurse Carsyn and just wasn't willing to fight. At bedtime she said the same thing and of course we gave in but not before I told her that in October when she turns 4 we are getting rid of it, period, no discussion, end of story!! Well this morning after she woke up she came downstairs walked to the pantry and said " Mommy I'm throwing it in the trash can." And she did. After she did it I could tell by the look on her face that it was hard for her to do that and that she was thinking about getting it back out but she didn't!! I am so proud of her!! Now I'm not sure how tonight will be but I have already called Steve at work and told him we are sticking to our guns this time. She willling got rid of it and we are going to stand by that. I did go back and pull it out and I will keep it as a keepsake like my grandparents did with mine. I know this is a long story but this is a HUGE deal!!!

Growing like a Weed

I have been trying to get this slide show to upload for over an hour. I only got 5 pictures to save all of the others ones wouldn't save . Does anybody know what that is about? Carsyn went to the doctor yesterday and is 9# 4ozs and 21and3/4 inches long. That means in 17 days she grew over 2 inches. She was 19.5 at birth. Is that possible? I think maybe she was measured wrong wither at the hospital or at the doctors. Addison is at school today and because i have been on this computer I have completed only one of the task I set out to do today - unload the dishwasher. Oh well all the other stuff can wait.

Thank You Grammy!!! ( and Gramps too)

So this is what my mom had to endure for two weeks while she was here not to mention having to read the same handful of books over and over, telling a story about three princesses that had to be exactly the each night , and many other activities that Addison found entertaining. She really was a huge help and Ithink her being here helped Addison with the adjustment of not being the only child. My dad also helped. He came down three weekends in a row and although he didn't have to go through the beauty parlor torture he did have to put on latex gloves and change diapers on all the stuffed animals that are still in our den. I also can't port this without thanking Steve's mom. She has brought dinner,also entertained Addison and even watched both of the girls last night while we went to dinner. It is wonderful to have such involved grandparents that don't mind acting like kids again.

Happy Anniversary Steve!!!

Today was our 7th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been seven years. We went to dinner and it was nice to have some time for just the two of us even if it was just and 2 hours. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is also a wonderful father. Happy Anniversary Steve- I LOVE YOU!!!!

Full Circle

I wanted to do this post on July 29 but of course I didn't get to it that day, or the next , or even the next. So here it is Aug. 1 and I am able to sit down and blog again. This is our new addition who is doing the same thing right now that she is doing in this picture. A year ago on the 29th I was in the hospital having a D&C and it was hard for me to imagine that in a year I would be blessed with a healthy baby. All I could think about was that maybe we were only meant to have one child, or if we did get pregnant the age difference between Addison and the new baby would be so big that they would never be close. It was really hard for us I think because we took for granted how perfect things went with my pregnancy with Addison. I eventually realized that I had to have faith and trust in God and whatever he saw in our future was for the best. I remember one of my friends saying that it isn't hard to have faith and trust in Him, but it can be hard to have patience. I took this to heart and did my best to be patient. Now a year later he has blessed our family with Carsyn Greer Baird. She arrived on July 18 at 4:48 pm and looks nothing like her sister or me. Steve gets to take the credit for this one. The age difference I was so worried about has been perfect. Addison is old enough to help and eager to, she is patient when I am not able to meet her needs right away, and best of all she wants to love on Carsyn all the time. So for the most part the adjustment has been pretty smooth. I know it may sound cheesy but I really feel like we have come full circle. We had to experience loss to bring us to the joy and happiness we feel today. I am very thankful that God has blessed us again.