I can't handle it.

I had to take it down. I couldn't handle it anymore. I liked seeing that people from different places visited my blog, but I don't know who you are! Thanks, Kristen for telling me yours said Keller, you are sort of who I had in mind for that one. Come on, now that I can't see that you came can't you tell me who you are.. so I'll call you out one last time in my own little way and see if you will respond. After this I'm done. (unless I decide to put it back up at a later time)

SCOTT RUSSELL
I know that was you from Wichita Falls... Come on, you said that you would comment. Addison and I are still waiting. I mean really, your Cowboys nightlight is the only one that we use / have ever used.

PHILADELPHIA, PENN.
Jen, is that you?

TATUM, TEXAS
Your only 30 min. from me and I don't know who you are, come on... give me a hint...

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
Aimee Massey?

HOUSTON, TEXAS
Kayci moved, Jenna moved, Jennifer moved... Holly and Steph are you there?

KINGSTON, ONTARIO
Really, Canada?

WEST VIRGINIA?

VIRGINIA

HAWAII

UTAH

Come one people give me some peace of mind... If I didn't name your city it's because I probably know who you are! I have to stop.

I did just find a new function of FEEDJIT though, Nadine, you were the link that was clicked the most from my blog today. You received 8.4% of clicks! Aren't you special!!

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On to more important things like Addison. We are really excited that we get to go and play with Jaymie and Kanyon tomorrow! It's been so long. It was so great to see his little head and ears in front of us at church on Sunday!

PICTURES FROM THE PAST WEEK...


I've learned the fastest way to stop these tears is to get the camera out... I'm okay with that.

Addison likes to cook when I cook. Mostly she makes her own little creative meals in her bowl as she stirs things around. Apparently she likes Nutramagin (her formula) so much that she thought she needed to add some to her creation!

Watching Daddy on his new grill cooking is Father's Day dinner!

Addison wanted to make sure that Chris knew that she signed the card herself... the card, her legs, her tummy, the carpet... whatever!

Addison likes to put her bowl back when she's finished cooking for the night. I keep it in the bottom drawer, her drawer, but she tried to make it fit in the other.

This is her other drawer. I houses all her bottles, sippie cups, etc. She loves to pull this dishwasher basket out and put it back in. She can fit her little fingers in the holes and she can fling it around!

Just funny!

I was playing around the the camera last week trying some stuff Clay taught me with the camera, I just think this is cute!

My little angel! Her color is off just a bit...

Craig, prepare yourself for what you are about to read. Rhonda, you will be excited. While I was folding cloths last week Addison kept pulling them out, its a constant battle, put I put socks and underwear on top so that I don't have to refold... I'm not a big Kenny Chesney fan. I've seen him in concert but that is only because that who just happened to be playing when we went to the Houston Rodeo one year. Any, how are these two things related? Look below...

Addison was in the process of pulling things, everything that is in the floor, out of the laundry basket when Kenny came on the Today Show. She literally stopped in her tracks. She stood like this the whole entire time he was singing. Occasionally she would turn around and look at me like "mom, do you see this. This is awesome!" So I told Christopher that we needed to download his videos to use in moments of desperation.

Introducing the newest baby robe model! (if you look closely to the right side, your right, of her head you can see that her hair is starting to curl! I LOVE IT!)

YEAH for Tiger...

Well, I occasionally checked the scores online. I was in Christopher office and he told me that there were only 2 holes left. I said "I wish that I could watch it!" He reminded me that I should go to the LifeCenter and watch it on one of those TV's. I did. The US Open wasn't even on one of the five tv's when I walked in. I got one of the trainers to change the channel and me and three other men were standing in front of the tv watching. Felt sort of bad since I was suppose to be working, but I didn't take a lunch so I thought it was okay. I was literally shaking when Tiger stepped up to that last putt. There was another guy walking on the treadmill behind me and he wanted Rocco to win. So yeah, that's right, I was talking golf trash to an old man on a treadmill today, so what. Well. I felt sort of bad since I had stood in there for 15 minutes watching the last hole so I went back to my office. I misunderstood how they were going to to the sudden death...

I tried to watch it on usopen.com but the hospital server blocks anything like that. So I had to settle for waiting for the ticker to update... It updated 3 seconds after Jill texted me. Thanks Jill!! It's not the same as when you are watching it live though. I just watched it on ESPN.com. I wasn't even nervous.

I think that part of being a fan is going through the emotions with the players. It was not as much fun not having the emotions, but I enjoyed watching Tiger.

RANDOM

I like golf. I have since my freshman year of high school when me and my best friend Jenny decided to play golf only so that we could letter our freshman year and have 4 bars on our letter jackets when we were seniors. But then we got addicted. I taught Christopher, or I should say, I helped him improve but I don't really get to play that much anymore. I am one of those crazy people that likes to watch golf on tv. Most of the time I would rather stab my eyes out then watch baseball but give me a gold tournament and I'm hooked! The U.S. Open was that only thing on at my house all day Thursday and Friday and then when Tiger and Phil were playing on Saturday and Sunday. I love it! I became a Phil Mickelson fan my junior year of high school when I skipped school to go to the colonial, my sister and I follow Phil most of time!

All this to say that I am so sad that I have to go to work tomorrow. I've watched 4 days of golf to not get to watch the playoff round.?? What? That STINKS! In case you didn't see Tigers last hole today, he had to make the birdie putt to go to the playoff. The tv was so quiet once he stepped up to the ball, I even caught myself holding my breath because I was so nervous. I really have no idea what Addison was doing at the time, I'm pretty sure that Chris and I were only watching the tv with tunnel vision on Tiger, his nike ball and the hole. When he made that putt we both let out a little holler! I felt like we were part of the crowd with the huge roar. I was so happy for him. I mean how much would it stink to play 4 days in so much pain at times that you had to use your club as a crutch to walk off the tee box and still finish one shot behind. I liked watching his reaction, but more than his I always love to watch his caddies reactions, they are always so fun!

We had a good fathers day! Addison got Christopher a superman card that played music when it opened. He loved it, so did she, open... music... close... open... music... close... He also got pictures of Addison to put in his office. These are the two that he picked. I love them, they just make you smile!

I have a new obsession. I put the FEEDJIT counter on my blog on Thursday to see who visits... BIG MISTAKE. I can't stop looking at it. Today I've only looked at it 2 times, but Thursday and Friday I couldn't stop looking at it. Based on the amount of comments that I usually get I thought that maybe 10 people looked at my blog, well... was I wrong. That FEEDJIT did two things in my mind: 1. made me feel good because I learned that way more people than I thought looked at our blog and 2. made me angry. I was amazed that nobody leaves comments. I used to be a blog stalker, I know that sometimes you just want to read and run. Since Friday if I've visited your blog, I've left a comment. I will no longer be the blog stalker. I really didn't think it would bother me: however, when I get visits from people in California, Michigan, Utah, West Virginia, Virginia and Flint, Texas. I don't even know who is in these places...

I think that I'm going to have to take it off. I'm not sure that I can handle it. I need to go back to thinking that there were only 10 people a day that visit... better for my sanity.

SUCH A BIG GIRL

HOW BIG YOU ASK?

So big she thinks she doesn’t need baby food…

Addison has decided that she will no longer eat baby food. What? Really? At 9 months? She literally tries to climb out of her chair when we put the spoon in the jar and bring it to her mouth. A lady from work told me that her Dr. said that for some babies once you give them a little table food that is all that they are going to want. Well… that’s Addison. I wanted to try baby food one more time before I just completely gave up. I moved up to Stage 3 food thought that she might like the bigger chucks, it was spaghetti in meat sauce. How did that go you ask? Well, she ate the first few bites and I was super excited. Then, on the 3rd bite she wouldn’t close her mouth. Just sat there looking at me with her mouth open like, “What is this nasty stuff in my mouth and do you really expect me to swallow it?” She did close her mouth once, but still wouldn’t swallow. So she decided to spit it out in a big clump. Yummy! She used to be such an easy baby… I’m afraid she has a little of mine and Christopher’s stubbornness and wanting to do everything herself. I just keep wondering what we are in for later if she is already like this at 9 months. YIKES. The same lady at work (I share and office with her and she has a little boy that is 14 months) said that she asked her Dr. about his constant fits and her Dr said “You may not want to hear this but it’s actually a sign of intelligence because they are associating not getting what they want with screaming and letting you know about it” Can I get confirmation either way from those Dr’s out there that maybe reading this… NADINE???

Here is when I was trying to feed her baby food the other day. I was so frustrated (this was a few days before I decided to give up) all I could do was take pictures; I knew that would calm her and me down. She did stop trying to climb out of the highchair, but she didn’t take a 2nd look at that baby food.

"I said I'm too big for that stuff"

She used to be a super clean eater, I never used a bib. As you can see, it's a littler harder when she is trying to get out of her chair!

So big she’s already working at the hospital…

These next pictures are from last week. Russ wanted to see Addison before I took her home so I meet Kim in his office to pick her up. I think that we may have a future account on our hands, as if there aren’t enough already in the Collier family…

Sitting with Grandad discussing the budget with her dad.

"These numbers can’t be right."

So big she had her first sleep over…

Yes, that’s right last Friday Christopher and I let her stay with Nonna and Granddad in Elysian Fields. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do while I was packing up all of her things Friday morning. When we got to the hospital I took her to Christopher’s office so he could say good-bye he said “Addison, I’m not sure how you are going to tell your Granddad, but you are not going with him.” We did both survive… We went and ate then played golf! We never get to play golf since we can’t really take her along, so it was a treat. I felt like we were in college again, eat, golf and ice cream!

This was before I put her in Russ's truck. Chris took several pictures this was the best, she was ready to get into his truck.

Playing in the tent with Granddad.

So big that she thought she needed a grill...

No, not the cooking kind, the tooth kind. I had switched some of the drawers around in the kitchen since she pulled out the aluminum foil the other day. I thought that I had taken everything out of that drawer which now contained just pot holders. I heard a little crunching going on while I was cooking and looked down and there was one small piece of aluminum foil in the drawer she was trying to pull out. So I took it, then she smiled at me. Apparently she had found another piece earlier and I didn’t notice and now it was stuck to her top teeth so when she smiled all I could see was shiny silver… Nice, very classy! No pictures, thought it would be better to make sure she didn't choke.

9 months old

In honor of Addison being 9 months old I decided that I would write 9 things that make me laugh about her (most of the time).

9. How much she hates going to sleep. Of course this is only funny after the 20 minute “war” is over and she is asleep in her crib. Not funny when she wins…

8. If whatever she is eating is too thick she’ll gag and try very hard not to swallow.

7. She loves her bath time, but her favorite thing is to see the "naked baby" in the mirror before she gets into the bath. (this has resulted in her peeing on the cabinet several times!!)

6. The fact that she thinks it’s hilarious to pull up on the toilet… while you’re going to the bathroom…

5. She only says “Hi” to strangers if they are ignoring her, the longer they don’t pay attention to her, the louder the “hi” gets. However, if they start talking to her first she acts shy.

4. When I go to get her out of her bed after a nap and she pats my back as if she’s saying “Thank you mommy, Thank you for rescuing me!”

3. She gasps when she gets real excited.

2. She smells her blanket like I did. If she's really sleepy and you put it to her face she'll grab it and hold it to her nose and fall on your shoulder, it's like you drugged her.

1. When she makes her old man face!

Family, Aunts, Wedding, Pool and one Idiot.

Has it really been almost 3 weeks since I posted? Yeah, so that means that this is going to be, and is, a SUPER long post. It has been a family filled 3 weeks, that is for sure. I'll start at the beginning and get to the idiot part, or if you want to skip to the end... go ahead. I'll wait... ... ...

The Saturday after Chad and Cassy left (May 17) Chris and I went out to eat for our 4 year anniversary. 4 years, really, has it been that long. That means that we've been together for 7.5 years and known each other 9.5 years. That seems like such a long time.

Christopher's Papa's wife, Shirley had been sick for a while. Saturday night we were talking to Christopher's parents when we went to pick up Addison and they said that Harold, Papa, had told them that the Dr's said that she didn't have much longer. Well, Sunday morning while we were getting ready for church Kim called to tell us that Shirley had passed away. We were very sad, for her family and for Harold. How is it that God can allow a man to lose two wives to cancer 1 day short of seven years apart and have their memorial services exactly seven years apart. What seems fair about that? NOTHING. Chris did say that he thought that God put those two together so that Shirley would have someone to care for her while she was sick. Harold did, he was a great nurse, caretaker, everything.

There was a lot of family that came in early that week. The Russell boys came in from Denver. They had so much fun playing with Addison. As you can see...

Addison was intrigued by Jake.
Brian really did like playing with Addison, although his expression in this picture doesn't show it.
Her and Kyle playing in the mirror.
Addison has also discovered the dishwasher. She loves to play in it, it's so funny to watch, push and pull, push and pull...

Just a cute picture of her with Christopher.
Ewww, Daddy, yucky kisses...
Awhh, stop I said...

The next weekend (May 23) Christopher went to Lake Fork with a bunch of his friends so my sisters came into town to spend the weekend.

Mary Beth and Addison had so much fun together! No Mary is not about it hit her in this picture, I think I caught her in the middle of a game of peek-a-boo. Mary did teach Addison how to play peek-a-boo above and below the coffee table, it's her new favorite game. Thanks Mary...

Saturday night we went and had pedicures. Addison got passed around while we were in our chairs, Mary giggled like a little girl anytime they touched her feet and my lady coughed (yes coughed) on my feet while she was painting them. I thought that I was going to throw up.
Last weekend we went to Oklahoma City. No, not for the Women's College World Series, but for my cousins wedding. The hotel didn't have a bathtub in our room so we had to improvise, Addison didn't seem to mind.
I never seem to get a picture of me and my sisters, at least I got one of them with Addison!
Here is my cousin Amanda trying to juggle Talon and Addison, as you can tell by Addison's sideways bow it was a little hard.

Here is my dad's sisters and mom. Kathy, far left, and Joyce, far right, bought the same dress for the wedding without the other one knowing and didn't bring anything else to wear for the wedding, aren't they cute!
Grandma and Addison

Addison enjoyed Vernon's beard!
I thought it was funny how Addison turns around to see the people in the front seat. She liked talking to Mary.
Sunday the Porters came over to swim. Didn't Mark do an awesome job of finding Mallory's swimsuit while Amy was at a meeting! Top that was too small and no bottoms! She was still cute though in just her swim diaper! She couldn't wait to go swim with "Cwis."

How cute is Blake! We got him this swimsuit for his birthday so that he could come and use it at the "spa!"
Mallory also decided to go off the diving board for the first time. She went off of it about 10 times! At first she just stepped off, then she started jumping, and pushing Christopher under in the mean time, it was funny.
Okay, the idiot part. When I was in high school my English teacher said that idiot meant "uninformed." I'm not sure how accurate that is, but that is what I was today for sure! So I like to back my car into the garage. Today I was completely uninformed about where I was on my left side, I am usually too close on the right side and that is where I watch. I heard this noise and wondered what I back backing over, not thinking that I was backing into the house... the pictures tell the rest.
Not too much damage on the back end of the car... I hope. Sometimes the little ones can be more expensive.