Fold me! Fold me!!!

Hi. My name is Amy and it has been 25 days since my last post. :)

So I've been running like a maniac for the last month. Some friends and I are training for a half marathon in September and I'm so excited about it! This Saturday we're running a 10K. My sister is here visiting and she's going to run it with me! And by "with me", I mean at the same time as me. She runs WAY faster! But it will be fun. So this morning as part of our training at *cough* 5:30am, we switched things up a bit and hiked Badger mountain. Now that I've tackled THAT mountain, I am left with THIS one:

That's right, my mountain of laundry. My sister has taken the girls on a little trip today, and I'm determined to get caught up here! SO. I need some motivation. I'm turning it into a little contest, at my expense of course:

Guess how long it will take me from start to finish to fold and put away this MOUNTAIN of laundry! Whoever guesses closest to the actual time wins a jar of homemade apricot jam! Which will be freshly made after I'm done folding laundry today! (if you hate apricot jam, I can negotiate. I have many varieties...)

GUESS AWAY!!!

Welcome to Café Daddy

Welcome to Café Daddy

with chefs Liah, Emily, Sean (and Mommy)

One day only!

The chefs/waiter/waitresses

Menu, courtesy of chef/waitress Liah
Looks delicious!

Our guest has arrived!

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Happy Father's Day Grampa MacGregor and Grandpa Meredith!

My favorite thing about Grandpa is...

11 months

Addison is 11 months now! I can't believe he will already be turning one next month. I love this little guy sooo much with all my heart!

Here are a few of his favorite things:

Playing with his daddy

Sleeping with his little bum up in the air

Exploring a whole new world on his magic carpet ride, courtesy of Emily

Reading books with Liah (he even says "bah-bah" now)

Of course hanging out here in his high chair, usually filling his face with something delicious. This kid LOVES to eat. Anything and everything. Here's hoping that keeps up. What would it be like to have a not-picky child? Love that smile!!! and of course the propped up foot. He's all about relaxation.

Trying to talk! It's kind of inaudible here, but you can kind of tell what he's saying. He's started saying "Hey-hi-hi-hey-hi," "buh-buh" for book and "Nigh-nigh" at bed time after he's finished giggling when I kiss his sweet little cheeks. It's soooo cute!

Happy 11 months Addison!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

As it turns out...

...if you come in the house running full speed toward the corner of this table...

...you end up here. In the E.R. With a hole in your lip.

Can you even tell this kid just gave himself a lip piercing? Yeah. Me neither. I have a feeling this won't be his last trip to the E.R.

Teeth!

Yeah, I know you can't see it, but I promise it's there! Not one, but TWO teeth popped through today. Addison is now a MUCH happier kid. (Oh yeah, and maybe I'll get to sleep again!)

Acute urticaria

• more commonly known as hives
• currently found all over my baby!

Yesterday I noticed a couple bumps and thought "poor baby has some bug bites." By last night he was covered and then this morning they looked awful. I was worried it might be chicken pox, so I called his doctor and they got me in right away. They made me use the backdoor so in case it was chicken pox, he wouldn't expose everyone in the waiting room. The only good thing about the doctor's office thinking your child has chicken pox is the fast service. No waiting at all.

Moral of the story, he does NOT have chicken pox. He has hives. That's right. An allergic reaction to.... I have no idea. There are about 100 possibilities of what it could be. Could be grass. Could be our laundry detergent. Could be nuts. Could be *gasp* strawberries! I have been so blessed to have no allergies in my first 3 children, but clearly not the case here. So I have to wait until his hives clear and I will try to pin point what his allergy actually is. It turns out that the first time your body experiences something you are allergic to, nothing will happen. But the next time, your body remembers that it didn't like it and freaks out... worse and worse each time. So whatever it is, is something he's had or had contact with before. I just don't know what. But I do know he had fresh strawberries yesterday, and I'm so hoping that's not it! How tragic would that be?!? A life without fresh strawberries!

I love the things that summer brings...

The icecream man drove by our house a week ago, and the kids were soooo excited. Do I ever buy from him? No. Did I always want it as a kid? Yes. Did I ever get any? No. But Jeremy had to get them some. I didn't ask, but I'm sure it costed more than I would have liked... but you can't put a price on the happy squeals of delight of little Emily running full speed up the sidewalk back from the icecream truck carrying an icecream sandwich in each hand: "Mommy!!! WE GOT ICECREAM!!!!!" That could possibly be one of the cutest things I have ever seen.

...and oh, how excited was this little boy. He loves his "creancone." I had to teach him how to eat a push-up... he didn't quite get it at first. He had it upside-down trying to suck the bottom part like a straw.

Today we let the kids swim in the front yard for our activity for Family Home Evening. Addison LOVED the water. He stuck it out longer than any of the other kids and stayed in the water the whole time! I know I'm biased, but he could quite possibly be one of the cutest babies on the face of this planet. I mean, really, how can you resist this face??

...and just because I thought it was cute: