A Visit from Mr. Luke

Meet Luke Schimmell, Addie's future boyfriend. Luke is my best friend Melissa's little boy and we watched him last Saturday night while his sister had her first dance recital. Luke, or "uk" as Addie pronounces it, turned 2 in March and he is such a joy!

This was technically Addie's first time playing with another child close to her age in a private setting (I know, I should get her out more) so it was so much fun to watch these two interacting with one another and sharing so well, especially at their ages.

They played with Addie's train and danced and even had their first kiss...Let me explain...Addie threw something at Luke and I asked her to say she was sorry and give him a hug. After saying "soee," she decided that rather than to settle for a hug, she would go right in for a smooch. We had a talk with her after Luke left about her aggressiveness ;) Just kidding! It was darling.

Now, Luke is doing a wonderful job of potty training these days so we were very impressed by his ability to stay dry throughout the whole visit. After each time he went potty on the potty, Addie gave him a high five for a job well done! These two were just hilarious!

The evening ended with a short viewing of the movie "Cars," one of Luke's favorites and they both were yelling "Queen, Queen!" talking about Lightning McQueen I suppose. Luke was quite the snuggler with me, which I am not used to with Miss Busybody so it was fun to just relax with the kiddos after some hard playing.

Good buds!

The Ultrasound Confims it...We're having a...

BABY! Gotcha! We had our big ultrasound today and it was so much fun to see little rascal #2. Although this little half-pounder was a bit more stubborn than Addie was for her ultrasound, we were able to get a few good pictures, especially this one of the profile. As you can see, our second sweetie pie looks a LOT like his/her big Sissy....cute little button noses and all :)

Addie Ruth at approximately 18 weeks

Rascal #2 at 18 weeks

So...keep guessing on the sex of this one because at this point, we have NO idea. I have been thinking all girl up to this point, but now I think I might be changing my mind to boy (this week at least). Chris still says, "probably girl." Now, we just can't wait until D-day to find out who this little person is we will be welcoming into our family!

A Sprinkler Kind of Day

Yesterday was one of the hottest days we've had in a while so Addie and I decided to whip out the trusty sprinkler and give it a whirl. It probably wasn't that hot out, but I thought it sounded like fun anyway!

Here is a look at Addie's first adventure with the sprinkler. She wasn't sure at first, but then liked it so much that she got upset at me when I turned it off. When she first started to get wet, she said, "uh oh, potty" because she thought she pottied in her swimsuit. Luckily, I caught that on video!

Later in the evening, she helped daddy wash his truck and even dried it with the shammy. She has a true love for "soapy" and loves to play in the bubbles.

On another note, this little girl has been talking like crazy the last week or so. She says at least 15 words on a regular basis and even more occasionally or when she is just repeating something we say. It is hilarious to hear and I just can't wait until she is able to put all those little thoughts into phrases and sentences. Some of her favorites are, "Joe," (our dog), "uh oh," "mess," "chicken," "soapy," "ball," "bye, see ya," "shoe," and the latest "beebo," which means "bug." Of course Mommy and Daddy are probably the most common along with "nummy," which is what she calls her pacifier and "mink," her favorite blankie. She just continues to amaze us more and more each day!

Oklahoma Trip

This blog is WAY late, but I guess it's better late than never, right? A few weeks ago, we (being me, Chris, Addie, and my parents) hopped in the van and took a trip out to good ole' Oklahoma.


My cousin Rebecca got married over Mother's Day weekend and we headed out early and made a few stops along the way. The original plan was to stop at the St. Louis Zoo, but unfortunately the rain caused us to drive on further to Oklahoma City...and their zoo was great! It was a Friday in May, which I should have known meant that every single school child in the city would be on a field trip there, and they were. The zoo was large enough that it really didn't make a difference how many thousands of kindergarten through high school kids were there. Addie really enjoyed the elephants, apes, and meows (tigers and other cats).

Despite all of our expectations, Addie was a total angel the entire trip. Even on the longest driving stretches in the car, she managed to entertain herself (and the rest of us) by playing the game of throw something down then say, "uh oh" so someone would have to dig it out or replace it. She wasn't very good at napping in the car, but still managed to be in good spirits the whole time.

Rebecca's wedding was absolutely beautiful and we were even able to spend some extra time with the whole family afterwards at their home in Mangum, OK. Look it up on the map....it's literally out in the middle of NOTHING, but it was wonderful to finally see where they live and catch up. I loved it there, even though we were about blown over by all the wind :)


Grandma and grandpa even made the trip out (they flew with Aunt Minky and Kelsey) so it was great to have almost everyone there to spend time together. Here is a great picture we captured of 4 generations!

A Neat Encounter

Almost 3 years ago, on June 25, two couples were married in two different places. Chris and I shared our vows in Indiana and Chris and Kristen Brace shared theirs in South Carolina. I'll never forget sitting in the airport in Atlanta for our 3 hour layover on the way to St. Thomas, USVI. We were dog tired and just wanted to get to our final destination. And next to us, sat this nice couple who also had that "honeymooning" look in their eyes. After an hour or so, we both finally introduced ourselves to one another and the rest is history!

First of all, the guys had their names in common to say the least. After talking for a while, they found out many more ways in which they were alike. Kristen seemed to be this caring, down to earth person from the start and we certainly hit it off when we figured out we were both first grade teachers! The rest of the layover was spent talking and getting to know one another, sharing stories of weddings, families, and thoughts of our futures as Christian married couples.

After departing ways once we arrived in St. Thomas, we decided to meet up during the week for an outing together. Chris and I are extremely laid back, non-planners...and Chris and Kristen, well, they were the yen to our yang. They planned for us all to go on a submarine trip to explore the beautiful sea creatures, then we headed to the highest point on the island for some lunch and relaxation. The day ended with a trip to one of the prettiest beaches and we were practically the only ones there. The guys explored the "sea cucumbers" while snorkeling and Kristen and I just laid back and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and jabbered on about everything imaginable.

We even met up with them again in both airports as we all made our way back home. I remember exchanging emails and talking about keeping in touch, but it seemed like life in our own worlds had just begun when we landed back home. Over the last couple years, Chris and I thought about the Brace's often, even trying to get in touch with them when we were vacationing in Myrtle Beach one summer. The connection was never made. After we had Addie, we both wondered if they had any babies yet. It was always a big mystery to us what they were up to until I received an email recently from Kristen! They do have a little boy who is a few months older than Addie and a little girl on the way, due just a few months before our second!

It's just so funny how you can meet people one time in your life, but feel like you've known them forever. We have always felt that connection with the Brace's and now we can actually keep in contact and meet up with them again. We sure hope an "anniversary visit" is somewhere in our future.

Addie Updates

If you've read most of my blogs on here, you may already know that Addie has had some experience going to the bathroom on the big potty since she was about 7 months old. Not our attempt at potty training, just our attempt to eliminate the worst possible messes in her cloth diapers :)

For the past month or so, I have been putting her on the potty every time I change her diaper and she usually goes, but lately she has been going into the bathroom and getting her potty out to let us know when she needs to go. She LOVES her potty so much that sometimes she will carry it around the house and just sit next to it on the floor looking at it. (It sounds gross, but I assure you I clean it well). And sure enough, every time I ask her if she needs to go, she runs in the bathroom and drags the potty out. I know at only 16 months this is just the beginning, but at least she is showing interest :) Maybe we'll have it mastered by the time the new baby comes!

Yesterday, she had her first experience helping Daddy wash the van. It was pretty funny to watch her with the scrub brush and even more funny to see her pretending to spray it off everytime Chris was using the hose. She even made the "SSSSSHHHHH" sound the hose makes :) She's growing up way too fast and it seems like every little moment like this makes us enjoy her even more!

Oh Dear!

It's been FOREVER since I've even touched this blog, since I started my business blog. I feel like I have neglected my family!!!!! So I've decided to make a pact with myself that I keep up with this one as much as I can and add fun little tidbits about us (mostly Addie dearest) to keep everyone up to date.

The latest, in case you haven't heard from any other source...we're having baby #2 in November. We couldn't be more excited about it, although it is scary at times thinking about carting around 2 small children under 2. Maybe we just won't ever leave the house ;) Just kidding, I know it can be done, but we probably won't venture out by ourselves (meaning me with the two little ones by myself) for a while. And NO, we're not finding out what this one is either! There is just nothing in the world like going to all that effort of pushing that little being out and then discovering the sex right then and there. Fabulous! Wouldn't have it any other way.

Business is going....well, it's going. Slow as a snail, but that's fine with me. I would hate to feel overwhelmed and bombarded, so this is a great alternative. I have a few wonderful repeat customers who keep me busy enough and I just love making custom clothing for their little sweeties. (Not saying I don't want more customers!) I'm thinking of venturing out and starting on some boys' stuff soon...you know, just in case we might have one of those growing inside me right now! I have actually had some requests for boy stuff, so we'll see how it goes.

Other than that, life is grand. Here are a few of the latest pics of my little model. She is such a sweetie, I tell ya!