Introducing...

My very first sewing project!! My sister in law left me her sewing machine last week and some scrap pieces of fabric, so I was fooling around with them and decided to make Acadia's bear a little pillow and blanket!

I don't know if the pictures do it justice, but it is the ugliest piece of shi$ ever! But - it's MY piece of shi$! I didn't have any proper sewing material to stuff the pillow, so I just threw some cotton balls in there. It's lumpy and ugly and I'm SO proud of it! I have never made anything before and this was a lot of fun!

This is what happens when Mommy does the dishes

Let me preface this by saying that I just went to Costco and bought new brands of dish and dish washing detergents.

I accidentally switched the two and put the dish detergent into the dishwasher. Never do this.

Playgroup fun

Daddy,

I made this for you in playgroup today. It's a picture of you and I. I love you!

Love,
Acadia

Acadia's New Words

Acadia has been saying momma and dadda for a little while now, and so we thought we would try to teach her some more words. Throughout the day, when she plays, I normally tell her what she's playing with, the color of it, etc., but we thought we would introduce the words "more" and "milk" and really try to work on her saying them. I think the next words will be "eat" and "dog".

We have been signing "milk" for about three months, but we haven't been consistent, and I'm hoping these little signs will be a reminder to us to continue signing to her and practicing her new words. When she's a little older, they will be a reminder to her what we are signing, and we can talk about the colors of the construction paper, etc.

Sorry the pictures are so small - I think you can click on them to enlarge them.

The money shot!

I finally got a picture of her 3 teeth!

Waiting for daddy to come home....

Sewing 101

My sister in law came over last night to (try) to teach me how to sew. The next time I try to learn something new, I am going to hire a sitter to take Acadia out for a couple hours. With dinner (for us and Cadi), bath time, bottle, bed time, a fussy baby, etc. etc. it was harder to learn, listen, and I'm sure teach than I realized it would be.

But Aly left me with her sewing machine and I am determined to look over the manual, examine the sewing machine and practice on the scraps of fabric that she brought over for me. Although I don't do New Year's resolutions, the one thing I am going to do this year is to learn how to sew. Having Acadia has inspired me to want to make her little art aprons, picnic blankets, dress up clothes.

It has been a long time since I have learned something new, and have been reading blogs, magazines, books and websites about sewing and unique projects to motivate and inspire me to learn to sew. I am so excited - wish me luck!

Daddy dresses Cadi part two...

Yes, her pjs are on backwards...which is actually really hard to do, because they are footed pjs...

Acadia's first basketball game

We went to see Acadia's big cousin play basketball on Friday night and Cadi was fascinated! She stared at the court most of the time, when she wasn't cracking up in her Auntie Becky's arms! We missed her cousin score 4 points because we had to leave early, but we can't wait to see her play at her next game.

Baby jails and other life savers

There are many baby items that I used to laugh at before I had Cadi. I would wonder if people would actually buy those?? This play yard (or baby jail, as I like to call it) was one of those things. Acadia will only last a few minutes now in her exersaucer or her pack n play, before she wants to get out. A few SAHMs I know have this, so when I found it on Craig's List for $10, I just couldn't pass it up! Matti set it up tonight and Oh. My. Word. I have no idea how we ever lived without it!

We don't have an open floor plan on the first level of our house, so when I am trying to load the dishwasher, make Cadi lunch, sweep, etc., I can't just let her crawl around, because I can't see her the way our house is set up. This is the perfect solution and Cadi seems to love it!

Love

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

9 months. It feels like forever, when you think about it. Because I just don't remember life without you. It doesn't seem possible that I was pregnant for the same amount of time that you've been here on earth. My pregnancy went by in the blink of an eye, but you....it feels like you've always been with me...You will never know how much you mean to me...Happy nine months my sweet one...

9 month birthday

Our photoshoot didn't go as planned, but I love these pictures!!

This is what happens when Daddy gets Cadi ready

Please note: This is not a joke


I guess it's in style to not button the shirt...

Perfect evening

I love nights like tonight...Matti, Cadi and I were just hanging out this afternoon and we decided we should invite Matti's parents and sister over for dinner. So last minute - we figured they would be busy or perhaps too tired to come over on a Sunday evening. Not only were they all able to come over, but Matt's parents insisted on bringing dinner over. We had the most relaxing and fun evening. They got to play with Acadia and she LOVED playing with them!

I also found out that - not only does my mother in law sew, but she sewed her cousin's wedding dress!! How freakin' cool is that?! My sister in law offered to come over this weekend with her sewing machine and show me how to sew - I'm counting down the days until Sunday!! No seriously. I made one of those little advent calendars that says "7 Days Until Sewing". I'm that excited! I have always wanted to learn to sew - I can't wait to make Acadia some yummy bibs and snuggly blankets!


Auntie Aly telling stories...


Listening to Grandpa read


Someone's in love....and her name is Cadi...


Quiet moment with Grandma...

Cousin Sean

Acadia recently met an important member of her family - her cousin Sean!! Sean lives in Montreal with his family, and he came down here this past weekend and spent some time with Acadia. Sean and his wife Linda are two of the most generous, kind hearted people I have ever met - with two of the sweetest kids EVER. We love the time we spend with them, which isn't nearly enough. Sean was so sweet and gentle with Cadi - he is such a teddy bear : ) We love you Sean!!

Congratulations, Momma!!

My mom applied for a new position in her company recently and was just offered the position!! She is now the new HR manager!! I am beyond proud and excited for her! It is such an exciting and new chapter in her career and one that I know she will excel at. She has a way of knowing exactly what people want and need before they even know it themselves. She is so good with people and is the most caring person I know. I realize that I may be a little biased because she's my mom, but I would think this even if she wasn't my mom - she really is that wonderful.

Table food yummyness!

What a difference a week makes! We started table foods a little over a week ago, and as you can see - Cadi hated them! We introduced elbow pasta cooked in chicken broth. You would have thought we were feeding her a lemon! She hated it and made the funniest faces. We gave her the same thing the next day and she gobbled it up!

A couple of days ago, she totally pushed away the baby food (puree) I was trying to feed her. She actually got a little mad and threw a fit until I fed her some table food! The next day was the same thing, so I threw out the rest of the baby food I had pureed and frozen for her. Lucky for me, the food I had made was going to "expire" on January 5th anyway, so it wasn't a huge loss.

So now our little girl is exclusively on table foods! A typical day goes like this: 6 oz. bottle when she wakes up, about an hour later she eats 3 mini pancakes, some fruit (bananas, pears or peaches) and her water, lunch has been either mac and cheese or elbow mac cooked in chicken broth, a veggie (carrots or green beans) and some fruit, dinner - anything goes! Sometimes it's pasta - last night she had the lasagna daddy cooked. It's hard to believe how much our little girl is growing up!

The first time we introduced table foods:




One week later:

Other people that matter

1. My sister
2. Everyone else

So long 2007...

This was a very good year for the Paradee family...it's so hard to sum it up in just one paragraph...I had no idea how much love would fill my heart when I woke up on April 6th...I was nervous to be induced, and I was certainly excited to meet "our little peanut" as we called her. But I had no idea how much fuller our lives were about to become. People can tell you all they want how much having a baby will change your life, how in love you will be with your newborn and how you will want to do nothing else but to stare at this little one. But you have to go through it to understand what they mean. And we did. And now we know.

What people told us during my pregnancy is true - having a baby will change everything.

And now...all that matters to me are these two people below...

2007 in Review

I found this on Nicole's blog...

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Had a baby!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't normally make New Year's resolutions, because I know I won't keep them

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Our friends Jon and Holly had a baby

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No

5. What states/countries did you visit?
New York City, Maine, Massachusetts, California

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
More family time. We tend to fill up our calendar with plans with friends and extended family, limiting the amount of time we spend together.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 6th was the day Acadia was born, August 26th was Matti's 31st birthday and the day Acadia was baptized and September 17, which was our 2nd anniversary

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Definitely giving birth to Acadia. It was the most empowering thing I have ever done

9. What was your biggest failure?
I don't know. I don't think I'm perfect, but I also don't think I "failed" at anything last year

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
A few colds, but that's about it

11. What was the best thing you bought?
We didn't buy anything major in 2007, besides appliances - boring!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Matti's - watching him with Cadi made me fall in love with him all over again

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Britney Spears

14. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage, utilities, gas, groceries... the usual

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Having Acadia!! (that calls for two explanation points!)

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
There are so many..."Hey There Delilah" (I know this song is about this guy being in love with is girlfriend, but it came out when Cadi was an infant, and the lyrics, "Oh...it's what you do to me, oh, it's what you do to me" always tear me up...I always seemed to be nursing her during this song and it would get me choked up every time I hear those lines...)

Other songs, which were on my playlist the entire time I was in labor...these songs will always remind me of her..."What a Wonderful World", "I Hope You Dance", "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon, "You Raise Me Up"

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier
b) thinner or fatter? fatter, for sure!
c) richer or poorer? neither

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Sleep! I wish I hadn't felt so guilty on the days I slept in before I had Cadi

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worked - boring!

20. How did you spend Christmas?
We spent the morning together opening up presents and our stocking at home, then went to my mom's house. We had dinner with my U. Craig, Sandy, Grandma, Grandpa, mom, Miche and Jimmy, then the rest of the family came over for desert and presents

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
YES. I fall in love with Acadia and Matti a little bit more every day

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Regis and Kelly

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No

24. What was the best book you read?
Harry Potter

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Grace Potter

26. What did you want and get?
A little girl

27. What did you want and not get?
Nothing

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
A Mighty Heart was good

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Matti took me out to dinner - 29 years old

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Winning the lottery!

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
In the beginning of the year, I just wore anything that fit. Once I had Acadia, I wore anything that didn't have spit up on it....most the time...

32. What kept you sane?
Many, many things! My husband being understanding when I needed time off from being a mommy, book group, "girls nights out", dates with Matti, quiet mornings with Acadia, awesome friends to vent to

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I must admit that I have a slight crush on Becks!

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
The war in Iraq

35. Who did you miss?
Tasha

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Jamie (Even though I knew her a bit in HS, we lost touch and re-connected in 2007)

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007
Time FLIES once you have children! I can't believe Cadi is already 9 months old!

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance ...