Pumpkin Carving 101

We had a beautiful afternoon for pumpkin carving yesterday! Everyone got in on the fun...

Afterwards we headed inside to warm up with a nice big bowl of chili (thanks to chef John) and corn bread muffins.

Kicked up cornbread muffins with fresh jalapenos.

And it wouldn't be Halloween or a meal at my house if we didn't have some sweet treats to enjoy at the end...



Ghost and personalized tombstone cookies for everyone

Spooky chocolate ganache spider cupcakes

 

Halloween Candy Bark
Everything you love and shouldn't have in one thing -- YUM!

Halloween Preview

We went to a Halloween Birthday Party yesterday so Addison was able to try out her costume...pretty cute cupcake if you ask me!

Pumpkin Patch

So we didn't make it back to the actual pumpkin patch on Saturday to pick-out pumpkins, but the pumpkin stand close to our house made for a nice substitute.  And there was hardly anyone there so Addison was able to frolic amongst the pumpkins without being trampled on.

 

After playing with all the big pumpkins, which she kept calling balls, we opted for a smaller Addison-sized pumpkin for the front porch.

And not because it was necessary (we didn't buy much) but mostly because it looked fun, Addison got to ride in one of the wagons.

Well Child Check-up

We took Addison to her 1 year well child check-up yesterday...it was almost a sick child check-up as Addison had some sort of stomach bug most of the day Wednesday.   But it turned out to be more of a 24 hour thing and she was fine when she woke up on Thursday. 

We had to wait a little bit for the doctor to see us so against my better motherly judgement we let Addison down to play with the toys in the room.  I know, I know...I cringe just thinking about all the kids and their snotty noses that have touched those toys!?  We did put her shoes on her though, for whatever that's worth...so she rocked a diaper and Pumas.

Baby girl got a good report...developing well, hitting her milestones and despite the excessive ear wax in the right ear that we can't seem to shake, all was good.  She weighed in at 19lbs and 3oz and 28.5 inches tall...so she is still our little peanut.

She got 4 shots and the battle wounds (Loony Tunes bandaids) to prove it!

12 Month Update

Where did the year go?!  I am still amazed that I have a 1 year old...but this had been another great month and it seems like Addison is doing something new almost everyday.

Developments this month...

• We have been cutting back on nursing over the last 5 weeks or so and she is now just nursing before bed...I'm dreading taking that one away from her
• She is eating 3 good meals a day and 1 or 2 good snacks.  Her favorite food is still macaroni and cheese but she has probably eaten her weight in grapes this month too
• She is still taking 2 good naps each day and we are waking her up at 7:30 in the morning and she goes to sleep for the night after her last feeding which is somewhere between 9 and 10.
• She has added 'ball' and 'WOW!' and 'Mimi' to her ever growing vocabulary
• She is working on her animals sounds and makes sounds for dog, monkey and elephant...they all kind of sound the same but we are still working on that ;)
• She loves to play outside and most evenings include at least a little outside time so she can ride in her little car, play ball or just run
• She can throw the ball and can kick/dribble the soccer ball.
• She is a runner now!  We've moved past walking and she now runs from one end of the room to another or away from me the second I take her diaper off to get into the bath
• She has been climbing up the stairs for awhile now but this month John taught her to crawl down the stairs backwards
• She raises her hands above her head when you ask her how big she is or when you say 'touchdown'
• She loves to read books and will bring us endless amounts of books to read to her while we are sitting on the ground playing
• She can blow bubbles in the bath but refused to ever do it while at swim lessons :)
• She has started pointing to things and even says what's that...or her version of it anyways

What a difference 12 months make!

  

 

      

 

  

    

 

    

 

  

Addison's 1st Birthday

TEN -- ELEVEN -- TWELVE...Addison Marie Dougherty turned one today!  I never really appreciated how fast a year goes by until now.  I know my mom always says "it seemed like just yesterday you were..."  And now after having Addison, I totally understand what she means.

Today was all about Addison...we had no major plans, we just wanted to enjoy the day with our sweet Addison.  John didn't work so we woke Addison up together with our rendition of 'Happy Birthday' and made pancakes for breakfast.  Addison may have found a box of cookies and since it was 'her' day she convinced her dad to let her have a few before the pancakes were ready.

Addison was a huge fan of the pancakes...I think it was because I made them in the shape of A's and 1's in honor of the big day!

 

After lunch we went to the park and played for a bit.  Addison seemed to have a good time and we still made it home in time for our afternoon naps!  All three of us...my birthday present to myself was a nap this afternoon and it was wonderful ;)

 

 

 

The celebration continued as we met up with some friends and family for dinner...but no pictures, sorry!  Addison actually ate before we left but kept herself occupied by playing drums with our straws.

 

I'll do her 12 month update in the next day or 2 -- I didn't get around to taking her picture with the 12 month sticker yet.

Corn Maze

I may have tricked most of my family into going to the corn maze Sunday by telling them it was a pumpkin patch but in all honestly its a corn maze with a pumpkin patch next to it...who knew that the pumpkin patch was going to be practically empty?!

But we all made it through and even had time to shoot the corn cannon and take a little ride on the cow train before everyone had to hop on a plane home.