Addison Monroe - 9 Months!

Addie Bug,

I know I say this with each letter but I cannot believe you are 9 months old! These days you look less like our little baby and more like a little lady! Your personality comes out more and more every day and we are starting to realize we have a very girly little girl on our hands! You aren't a fan of dirt or the wet grass on your feet. When Daddy and I took your pictures this month you refused to put your feet on the grass with your bare feet and would curl your legs up so you wouldn't have to!

You LOVE your bath. No longer in the baby tub you have a whole big girl bath tub to explore and don't even cry when you dunk your head under water. You start kicking your legs and splashing excitedly from the moment we put you in the water until the moment we take you out and many times you fuss at us because you want to keep playing! You'd hang out until the water got cold if we'd let you. :)

You are crawling EVERYWHERE and we are trying our best to keep up with you. You discover something new in the house every day and examine it with complete and total fascination. You are pulling up on your play table and the tv stand and are so happy about your newfound independence.

You still eat like a little piggy though it is hard to tell because you are our super tall string bean! You love your veggie crunchies, cheese, yogurt, mashed potatoes and spaghetti.

Some of your favorite things to do are swinging in your swing, playing with the bathroom scale, jumping in your jumper, hanging out with your buddies Lexi, Jessa and Van and eating Cheerios with us in the morning while we watch cartoons and snuggle. In the past few months you have gone to the zoo, Chuck E. Cheese, The Little Gym and the lake to feed the ducks but your adventures have just begun!

We have started planning your
very first birthday party and it makes us so happy and so sad at the same time! We've been watching videos of you when you were tiny and brand new and wondering how the time flew by so quickly.

No matter how many months/years go by, one thing will always remain the same, we absolutely love and adore you!!

Love always,
Mommy & Daddy

The Littlest Valentine.

I know I am her mother and I am completely bias, but good lawd, the kid is beautiful.

Just had to get that out of the way. So! Onto Valentine's Day. Last year I remember being all round and pregnant and day dreaming about this years Valentine's Day, it made me smile to think about Jason being Addie's first Valentine, and how I am happy to share him. We celebrated on Sunday and the day started out with Jason coming home from the store with flowers for both Addie and I and all the fixins for a Valentine's Day feast. Steak Diane and Lobster Thermidor for us and homemade mashed potatoes for baby girl.

He also gave me some bling in the form of earrings to match Addie's but Shhh! don't tell her that hers aren't diamonds or she'll be miffed!

Jason got an appt for a hot stone massage and I scored us tickets to Cirque de Soleil, both are things he has never experienced so I am excited for him. :)

After giving Addie her goodies, we kissed our teeny Valentine good night and put her to bed and ended the night listening to music, chowing down and drinking rosa. Because well, you know, only REAL men drink pink champagne.

Addie Lou Retton.

A few weekends ago we went to Evan's 2nd birthday party at The Little Gym, it was such a good time! Jason had to hold me back from doing the vault and practicing my floor exercises because all the equipment was teeny tiny. Have I ever mentioned how I love tiny, miniature things? Makes me feel like a giant when I hold them. Anyway, back to the party, Addie was the youngest participant but she didn't let that stop her.... she takes her gym time very seriously:
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Big Things.

It has only been a few weeks since our last update but some very big things have been going on that I have to share! First of all, Addie cut her two bottom teeth within days of each other and at her 8 month well visit with her doc, he confirmed that her top two teeth are not far behind! She is a teething machine, drooling on everything like a mad woman.

We also started her on finger foods which has been a fun, messy experience! Her favorites so far are cheese chunks, banana slices and whole wheat ritz crackers. The kid would eat crackers constantly if I'd let her!

But the biggest news of all is that on her 8 month birthday, she officially started crawling! She had been up on her hands and knees rocking and scooting for a few weeks and even had the knee movement down but hadn't figured out to move her arms yet. Well on the morning of the 19th it is like something clicked and I looked down and she was crawling right toward me! I screamed and cheered and then when I realized what she had just done, I wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time, we are SO proud of her. At first she was pretty hesitant and looked like a sweet little baby deer trying to get her bearings but each day she is getting faster and more confident and holy smokes it is time to baby proof!

Me: Where did our baby go??
Jasom: Well evidently, she crawled off!

Eeeees Chilly!

It is 29 degrees at our house! I live in Texas for a reason, I don't do cold well. I like a miracle snow once every few years for fun but I don't want to shovel it or scrape it or drive in it by any means. Life doesn't stop for cold weather so I've been bundling Addie up to do our usual errands and I am pretty sure if they made this outfit in my size I would have one:

Gigi would say it is "cold cold (pronounced 'cole cole') winter time." Papaw (may he rest in peace) would say it is "as cold as a witches teet" outside and that my friends is your lesson for the week on where I came from. :)

Stay warm!!! xoxoxo

Ducks Of A Feather.

I am not big on resolutions but if we were to have one, as a family, I think it'd be to get out and experience as much as we can. We live in a beautiful city with plenty to do, a bazillion parks, museums, festivals, restaurants... all waiting to be explored. We started out close to home at the lake in our neighborhood, where Addie got to feed (and talk to!) ducks for the first time.

I am really looking forward to stopping and smelling the roses this year with my sweet little family. :)

Oh Lynyrd, You Speak To Me.

"Oh take your time, don't live too fast.

Troubles will come and they will pass."

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"And be a simple kind of man. Oh be something, you love and understand."

Happy New Year, all!

Merry Christmas From The Hensley's!

What an incredible first Christmas baby girl had today. I don't have much time as we are pooped and will have to come back with more details later. And pictures, lots of pictures.

I'll just say, we are so incredibly blessed and had the best Christmas morning ever. Our hearts and tummies are full and we still have one more round tomorrow!

Love to all our blog friends, hope your holiday was a great one!

She's Something Else.

I know it is something you hear from all parents, "Our son/daughter is special. He/she is different from all other babies." I'm guilty of it, that is for sure. There is just something about our sweet daughter that just completely sets her apart. Anytime she meets someone and charms the pants off of them, we always hear the same thing, "She's something else!" Oh yes, yes she is. She's quirky, she goofy, she's a chatterbox, she is the sweetest most affectionate little sass pot.

Her surgery was this morning and Jas and I were a bundle of nerves as we waited for her to go into the recovery room. They called us back and she was coming out of anesthesia which is something no parent should ever have to see their kiddo go through. She was in a very confused and frantic state, flailing her arms and legs, her eyes not really focusing on us. Like I said, frantic is probably the best word to describe it. Mommy and Daddy sang her the "Everything's Allright" song (that we totally made up on the spot... haha) and calmed her down.

Next thing we know, she is smiling at the nurses and wrapping her tiny arms around our necks for "huggles" and going back to her normal self. I held her hand all the way home in the car but I think that was more for me than for her.

We get home and she is laughing and playing and wanting to get right back into her routine. The child had hernias repaired on both sides but you'd never know it! I know children are resilient and they bounce back much more quickly than we do but I still think....

That she's just something else. :)

Addielicious Lurchenstein.

First off, baby girl got her ears pierced last Saturday, she was an absolute champ about it! I was a bit nervous, but she did great. She cried for about a minute and then got distracted by a sparkly scarf and completely got over it! Such a tough cookie.

Pretty girl with her sparkly new bling:

In other news, little miss sassy pants is trying her very hardest to crawl! She is pulling her legs up underneath her and lurching forward.

This morning she started doing what looked like pushups which cracked us up but then she started flopping herself forward and it literally looks like a fish out of water flopping around. Poor thing inherited her Daddy's dance moves! I kid. You can't tell by the pic but Zoe is standing there with her "WTH" face on.

Little nugget will be crawling in no time, time to hide the knives and fine china.

Best Pals.

The Littlest Patient.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving Jas and I got a pretty big scare when a bulge appeared near Addie's groin muscle while she was crying. The bulge went back in when she settled down but popped out any time she strained or fussed. A trip to the pediatrician the next day and she was diagnosed with an inguinal hernia and we were referred to a pediatric surgeon. After meeting with him today, he was able to put our minds and hearts at ease.

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He confirmed the hernia and let us know it was actually her ovary that was buldging out but not to worry as it was not in danger or anything. Basically he told us that there are a lot of gaps in infants bodies that close during development in the womb and one of hers just happened not to close up on its own.

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He said she is a rare case simply because this type of hernia usually happens in little boys (girls make up less than 3% of the cases) but the good news is the surgery to correct it is actually much easier than the procedure that is performed on males. I think our little girl is already showing us how unique she is determined to be!

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The surgeon summed it up best when he said this would be a lot harder on us than it would be on her. This will be a blip on her radar and she will be back to her normal self just days after surgery.

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It was good to get answers and we left feeling much more confident and definitely a bit relieved.

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I remember when I was pregnant, I felt like I could protect her as long as I was carrying her and was nervous for her to be on the outside because there are some things you just can't protect your kiddos from. I would do anything in the entire world to swap places with her for this darn thing.

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"Having a child is like having your heart forever walk on the outside of your body." That is no lie!

xoxo,

Mack

6 Months.

Half a year has gone by and you are growing cuter by the second. We had your doctor checkup yesterday and you are in the 50th percentile for weight and the 90th for height which confirms that you are indeed our little miss string bean.



Your doctor was so impressed with how much you have grown and how coordinated you are that he told us to skip Stage 1 and start you off on Stage 2 baby food. This is going to be a fun adventure even though the pureed beef with gravy does not look very appetizing. Pics will be coming soon of peas smeared all over your face, I'm sure.

Your favorite things right now are WonderPets (I'm pretty sure this has staying power, I've listed it every month in your faves), pureed pears, your plastic ring toys and your Daddy singing "Twist and Shout" to you.

You've mastered "Dada", "Baba" and Gaga and mimic so many things that we do. The other day we could have sworn you said "Hot Dog" but it was by accident. If I have anything in my hands (cell phone, papers, cup) you are reaching for it and trying to snatch it away from me. If I am on my laptop you are trying to "type" with me which makes for some interesting emails.

You are finding all kinds of ways to be mobile. You are rolling all over the place and squirming around to cover every inch of your mattress while you settle down to sleep. You have also been throwing your head backwards while we hold you in our laps which means you want to hang upside down and watch TV between our knees. Funny little thing. You LOVE music, anything musical makes you smile and giggle... when you are on your tummy and pushed up with your arms watching TV you sway your shoulders back and forth with the music and "dance." I finally caught it on this video.

Happy 6 Months, sweet girl. We love you to the moon and back!!!

xoxo,

Mommy & Daddy

Adultness.

The key to keeping your sanity while raising a feisty almost-six-month-old is date night. WOOO-WEEEEEEEE! The stars aligned (and my mom offered to babysit) on Saturday night and we had a wonderful evening including : hot husband, oysters on the half shell, champagne, good friends and Rock Band.

In order of importance of course. :)

I Think She Has "Dada" Down.

Even though she has no idea what it means, it seems to be her word of choice these days! :)