Time to Play

Over the weekend Addie's friend, Ivory, came over to play. Ivory is a few months older than Addie and is way more mobile, but she is a great example to Addie and Addie really enjoys watching her and apparently following her wherever she goes. Soon she will be able to really run after her once she's ready to let go of the furniture and take off!

Here are a few photos from their day:

Conspiring to do something...

Addie: As soon as I can walk, we're on it.

Ivory: For now, we'll just hide the plans in the crack of this chair. No one will find them!

Addie: Hey, there's something on your face. Let me get that for you.

Ivory: Thanks. If there's ever anything hanging out of your nose, I'll be sure to tell you, 'cause that's what friends do.


Ivory: Yeah, check out my bellybutton. Jealous?


This week Ivory and Addie have had a few chances to play and it is cool to watch them interact or even just play individually in the same room and then see when they notice one another. Of course, it is usually when they want whatever the other is playing with, but they seem to do well together. It is sweet when Ivory says Addie's name and is able to give her a kiss goodbye.

I am thankful for Ivory and her parents, Jason and Lee Ann. They have been good friends to us here and it is good to get our girls together.

The Word of the Day is..."NO!"

Last week was a combination of things - a slow "news" week and days spent (and continuing so) making sure Addie didn't pull a nice snack out of the various trash cans around the house (hence the title of this post), patroling the living room and other areas of the house as she perfected her pulling up to stand, and protecting Addie's chin, forehead, nose, and whatever else got in the way as she came crashing down from said standing. Luckily for us her project for this week is fine tuning the ease-down-from-standing move. It's only Monday and she's already getting pretty good at it.

Needless to say, we're jumping all kinds of developmental hurdles these days. This still includes the ever present teething, which continues to wreak havoc on the sleeping in our house. "Wreak havoc" might be too harsh, but we are experiencing some unique sleep schedules and I continue to totter between freaking out that we're starting some new, terrible trend in sleep habits and remembering that teeth, not to mention many other factors, can throw a baby off for a bit, even the best of sleepers.

Did I mention that so far just one of her top front teeth has broken through her gums? My snaggle tooth girl.

In the midst of this, we've managed to get out and get some things done, as well as stay in and get other things done. Due to some major winds howling through the Panhandle, and some rain that threatened the return of Lake Chaney, we weren't able to get out and do some swingin' for a couple of days, but when we did, we sure had a good time.

I realize I have posted a lot of swing photos lately, but I think they are so funny and the sequence above was just too cute not to share.

Lately Addie has been getting acquainted with the characters on Sesame Street and lights up anytime she sees a baby on the screen. She also digs Elmo and Abby, but it really is the cutest when she sees a baby.

I suppose it makes the most sense to start heading for bed, given that who knows what tonight will bring.

I am thankful for teething tablets, Tylenol, and despite the lost sleep, the extra snuggles.

Back to the Beach

Friday the temps crawled into the 60s so we ran our errands by way of the beach. It was nice to see our old friends - the white sand, crashing waves, and busy birds. It had been way too long since we'd visited.

Admittedly, the water was extremely cold (our feet were numb) and Addie was more interested in my necklace than anything else (although a bird did catch her eye), but it was still good to get our toes in the sand.

Saturday we made it to a high school basketball game, where Sabian's name was drawn for the chance to win $175 if he sank a free throw. Sadly, we went home minus the money, but we still had a good time.

I am thankful for another laid back weekend. A good dinner with friends and some general laid back-ness.

Helping Haiti

It is hard to surf the Web or turn on the television without hearing about the devastation in Haiti. At the same time, it is just that easy for us to log off or turn the channel and move on with daily life if we don't want to hear about it or see the pictures of chaos.

If you're like many, you feel helpless when you see so much loss and really wonder what you can do to help. I feel the same. But, if you are looking for a way to help and wonder how you can donate through a legitimate organization that is putting money to the right use, check out Convoy of Hope.

Convoy of Hope is the relief organization affiliated with the Assemblies of God and currently has a team working to help people in Port au Prince. Convoy of Hope was already working in Haiti, feeding 7,000 children daily, before the earthquake hit. We learned this morning that the team there had just stockpiled their warehouse with food and supplies right before the earthquake struck, and as a result were able to mobilize and immediately begin reaching out to the people there.

I know there are many organizations collecting money for the people in Haiti, and I pray that they are legitimate. However you feel led to give, please do, and if you feel led to donate through Convoy of Hope, it is easy to do so. You can also visit their website to find out more about what they are specifically doing in Haiti and what the current needs are there.

You can also view Hal Donaldson's (CEO and President of Convoy of Hope) message about what they are doing to respond to this disaster.

While they do have a team in Haiti now, they are not looking for more volunteers to travel there quite yet. The time will come for that. For now, your donations are the best way you can help. When you donate to Convoy of Hope, 90 cents of every dollar goes to aid the relief effort.

Please feel free to forward this post on to others you know who want to help and are not sure how. Again, however and wherever you feel led to give, move in that direction.

I am thankful for Convoy of Hope and for those who are willingly there, giving to the people in Haiti, and for those who are giving what they can from far away.

Busy Bee

Addie is 10 months old. What? Yes, that's right. In just two short months I will have a 1 year old. Cliche, but where has the time gone?

Lately this little girl has been very busy. She's currently perfecting her standing:

And just the other day she was helping Sabian hang some hooks behind our front door:

She's also been working on welcoming two brand new teeth, but no way would I attempt a photo of those right now. We've had some restless nights and some good nights in between, but I just wish they'd hurry up and get here already.

I noticed today how her babbling is turning into more of a real cadence, more like she is "saying" sentences rather than just sounds. I'm also pretty sure she uttered "Dada" under her breath when I got her up this morning, took her into our bedroom and she saw that he wasn't there.

Ooooof, too fast they say, and they're right.

Today I am thankful for the days I have with my girl. Although some days can be challenging, I try to enjoy each short one.

Swing Around The Rosy...

...rosy cheeks, that is. Since our temps finally soared all the way into the lower 50s today, we broke in Addie's Christmas gift. If I say so myself, cuteness ensued.











Personally, I love how she holds on to the ropes, like she thinks she's going to take off. Oh, and P.S., we have her swing anchored in under our porch since any trees to speak of around our house have wimpy limbs.

I am thankful for a happy girl! Now, if only she'd sleep...

Sunday Surprise

Sunday morning started as any other Sunday morning. I got up, got ready, and got some things done while I was waiting for Addie to wake up so we could get her breakfast, dressed, and out the door.

We made it to church and through the service, which I ducked out of right at the last minute so I could change her diaper. Diaper changed, we made it back in as everyone was leaving to go home to lunch and naps.

As I was holding Addie I felt something hard on her stomach. When I dressed her that morning I put a onesie on under her dress, as well as tights, so that she would be a little warmer since it has been colder than normal here. I was totally puzzled by what I felt and lifted her dress to see what it was.

Behold, the "I" from Addie's alphabet puzzle.


(Excuse my elementary PhotoShop skills. I'm workin' on it.)

Seems Addie had an idea to smuggle some stuff to church. She gave us a good laugh and a now, a fun memory.

I am thankful that this piece of the puzzle was found in her onesie and not in her tummy! I am also thankful for my silly girl.

Just a Little More Christmas

Last year I wanted to post photos of the Christmas decorations around town because I thought Wewa did a good job of dressing the streets for the holiday. However, I was too late. I blame it on being pregnant. Or being a born procrastinator. It's more likely the latter.

This year I was determined to document the decorations and bring them to you. Well, I was a little too late. I wasn't totally too late and even though I missed being able to take pictures of all of the decorations, I at least got a photo of my favorite.

Like just about every other town around Wewa decorates the lamp posts with lights that outline various Christmas themes. In addition to those lights, part of what I wanted to share were the windows of some of the businesses in town. For just about each major holiday, it seems, someone comes around and paints the windows with holiday scenes and greetings. These decorated windows really lend a lot to making it feel like Christmas and whoever does them does a great job. I was disappointed to see the wiped clean windows the other day and realized I waited too long to get my photos.

I may have mentioned before something about the parks around here and how there are a few to visit, which is nice. Lake Alice park sits on a lake (go figure) and is the park my friend Libby and I would frequently walk when I was pregnant. I didn't get a picture of the park decorated with all of the lights, but I did capture this:

When I first saw this tree last year, floating around on the lake, it was such a neat surprise! I know it's nothing major but I thought it was a little special.

I also wanted to post one of Addie's Christmas gifts from my friend, Lee Ann, who has more sewing talent in her little finger than I would ever have even if I tried to sew all day and all night.


She made this sweet dress for Addie, who wore it proudly!

I am thankful today for getting back to a seemingly "normal" Addie schedule. Travel and teething have thrown us for a loop but we had a good night last night and we were back to two naps today. We shall see what tomorrow brings! For now I am thankful for today!

Just in Case You Need a Couple More...

It appears the Movie Gallery in Panama City is in to selling more than just movies.

I am thankful for a pretty laid back weekend. It has been very nice.

A Rush of Blood to the Head

If you have been following our life here in Wewa you may remember that in November Addie and I both had a few days of feeling under the weather. Runny noses, coughs, and aches and pains took over for about a week but we made it through our first sickness together.

On one of those ill-feeling mornings something funny happened. Funny in the way that when I thought about it later and when Sabian and I recounted the events of that morning, we chuckled at the thought of what happened. As I attempt to tell the story I anticipate that it will not come across as funny as it really was, but I hope somehow you'll find some humor in it.

I mentioned in that November post that I was feeling a little lightheaded. Every now and again I will feel this way with no consequence, and until those few days of being sick it had been quite a while since I'd really felt like I could faint.

One of those mornings started like any other. I heard Addie stirring and when she'd had sufficient time to talk to herself and I knew she was ready for one of us to rescue her from the confines of her crib, I got up to answer her call.

The first order of business was to change her diaper. I almost made it through the diaper change when I could feel the familiar hot flash and the woozy, head-floating-above-my-shoulders feeling start to take over.

Here's what followed:

Me: "Sabian! Sabian! Come in here!"

(Sabian stumbles in, groggy from sleeping.)

Me: "I think I'm going to faint."

(Sabian takes over with Addie.)

I remember making it to the doorway of Addie's room and then everything went black.

CRASH.

This is what I remember next:

Sabian: "Melissa? Melissa? Honey, are you okay?"

Me: Laughing

As I slowly came to, before I even opened my eyes I knew exactly what had happened.

I had, in fact, fainted, and as I woke up I realized just where I had landed:

I was in my suitcase.

We had been on an overnight trip with some of our youth kids when Addie and I got sick and I had not had the chance to get everything put away before the aches and pains took over. My suitcase was still sitting, mouth open, on the floor by the doorway in our bedroom.

Apart from landing in my suitcase there are a couple of other nutty things attached to this story. To get into our bedroom from Addie's you simply take a hard left. Our doorways corner up at the end of the hall, so you just turn directly into one room from the other. My suitcase was on the floor in our bedroom, right next to the doorway, and it would have been on my right when I stumbled into our room. At that point I was already out, but somehow I made it into our room and stumbled far enough into the room that then I fell neatly backwards into the suitcase, rather than forward.

Right next to my suitcase (you can see it in the photo) is a wooden, antique trunk Sabian gave me as a gift for my birthday one year when we were dating. It is big and heavy, yet I missed it on my way down. I sure would have known if I'd hit it.

Instead, I woke up, laughing, and went on about my day.

Even in writing this post we have had a few more laughs about this incident. It was all a little bizarre and funny at the same time.

I am thankful we can look back on this and laugh about it and other kooky things that happen.

Disclaimer: the photos above depict a reenactment of my fainting spell rather than the actual event.

Chaney Christmas 2009 Wrap Up

Well, we didn't have to just dream of a white Christmas, we actually had a white Christmas! It actually snowed most of the time while we were visiting family in the Midwest. The accumulation was minimal, but there were almost always flakes falling, which made it feel a little like a Winter wonderland. Most of all it is cool to be able to say that Addie's first Christmas was adorned with snow.

We made it driving through the night to get to my mom's but it was rough. After a few late nights and busy days, Sabian and I were both tired, so our marathon stretches of driving were more like sprints - we switched on and off a lot more than we normally do, but we got there safely and Addie slept most of the trip.

It is always good to be with our families yet the time goes by so quickly. Going home, I always feel like I will have plenty of time to do many things and see many people and the opposite occurs. The time goes by too fast and I don't get to do all I wanted to do or see everyone I wanted to see. Nevertheless, we had a really good trip and were successful in wearing Addie out every day. She took it like a champ!

I've posted photos on Facebook and for the sake of saving space you can see them here. Addie really enjoyed being with all of her cousins and it was fun to see her interact with them and to watch as she engaged in all of the Christmas fun. I would say her first Christmas was a success.


We made it back to Florida, driving through the night once again, and are settling back in to life here. I'm not sure what 2010 will bring, but if the past couple of years prove anything, the year ahead is sure to be filled with plenty of new experiences.



Today I am thankful for our families and the good time we had with them. They are far away, but I appreciate them very much.

Winter in Wewa

We brought it back...the cold from the Midwest.

The thermometer above may not read an incredibly cold temperature, but this was smack in the middle of this afternoon.

I'll admit that it is cold here. In fact, weather.com is telling me it is currently 28 degrees. We've experienced 30s and 40s and, as of right now, degrees in the 20s at night. We've had the heat in the house running the past couple of days, which may be a first since we've moved here. Usually we'll turn it on to take the chill off the house, or maybe turn it on just at night, but lately it has been all day and all night. The newscasters are proclaiming temperature records broken, reminding viewers to protect their pets and plants, and forecasting about 14 days of cold temps.

Our plants are suffering, our front yard is barren.


Sure, it is bone chilling in Illinois and Missouri, where we just left, but we expect that there. Here, this stuff is big news.

Today I am thankful for heat and even for the cooler temps. I know soon it will be over and not far from now we'll be experiencing crazy temps on the other end of the spectrum.

Chaney Christmas 2009 wrap up is to come!