Addie is one lucky Christmas girl. She's already had more gifts this month then she'll have on Christmas morning. All I can say is thank you secret Santa. Wow!
Carter wanted in on the action
Lovin' Uncle Sean
Addie and Aunt DeeDee
Carter having fun with Uncle Josh
Addie and Uncle Chris
Lexie got jealous
Addie has turned into quite the little girl lately and I'm loving it. One of her favorite toys of the week is definitely her Disney Princess tea set. She even has to take it in the bath. Her favorite thing to serve... water and raisin soup.
I remember Addie doing the same exact thing (see picture below). They really are brother and sister. 
Do Addie and Carter look alike?
Another year, another win for Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes. I must admit it is a good time to be an Ohio State fan. After growing up watching John Cooper go 1-8-1 versus that team up north, this is just sweet, sweet redemption. Tressel is now 7-1 against that team up north, the Buckeyes have their first ever 5 game winning streak against them, and 42-7 is the biggest margin of victory since 1968. It was a beautiful day. On a side note, a buddy of mine told me a joke the other day that I thought was good. People were worried about Michigan making it down to Columbus because they couldn't get past Toledo. Priceless.
So lately Carter has been making very happy because when I watch football he will sit there and watch it with me (or at least stare in the direction of the TV). He will usually sit for like 20 minutes at a time, which for a 9 month old must feel like an eternity. I like to think that he is quietly soaking up an immense amount of football knowledge that he will one day apply to a stellar career. My favorite part of the whole thing is that he likes to hold the remote while he watches, like father like son. I am stoked to get to introduce him this Saturday to what will hopefully be a life long passion: The Ohio State-Michigan game!
I know that Jamie and Chris are ready!
A new found hobby of mine is definitely now quilting. All the thanks for this joy has to go to my little quilting group here in Augusta (you guys rock!). I have to say that I didn't know what I was getting myself into. We started a friendship quilt and I'm thinking that it may take me till I leave Augusta to finish it. I'm doing this whole thing by hand because I don't own one of those fancy machines that gives me any other option. Needless to say, my fingers really do hurt. Yes Mom, I am forming some very handy callouses. I think that I finally understand the phrase "she who dies with the most fabric wins". Keep sending me your scraps Mom.
Just enjoying a little down time in the bat caveSo Carter learned a new trick the other day. I don't know how it happened, he was just looking at me and started clapping. Probably because I am so awesome and it was his way of saying "Wow Dad, you are the greatest ever! Here, I will clap for you!" (Slash Rachelle worked on it with him and then had me film it. But I like my story better!)
Wow Mommy, what is this stuff?
Once she realized we wanted her to look at the camera, it was all over.
One more time around the house please!
Mommy's good helpers
With the current financial and housing crisis as a backdrop, I was just searching lds.org for a talk that I had been told that President Hinckley gave concerning the Old Testament story of Joseph's interpretation of the Pharaoh's dream. Joseph told the Pharaoh that he needed to prepare because there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. In a talk given at the October 1998 Priesthood session President Hinckley read the scriptural account of Joseph and the Pharaoh and then said this....
Now, brethren, I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of famine in the future. But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order. So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings.
We have witnessed in recent weeks wide and fearsome swings in the markets of the world. The economy is a fragile thing. A stumble in the economy in Jakarta or Moscow can immediately affect the entire world. It can eventually reach down to each of us as individuals. There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.
I repeat, I hope we will never again see such a depression. But I am troubled by the huge consumer installment debt which hangs over the people of the nation, including our own people. In March 1997 that debt totaled $1.2 trillion, which represented a 7 percent increase over the previous year.
In December of 1997, 55 to 60 million households in the United States carried credit card balances. These balances averaged more than $7,000 and cost $1,000 per year in interest and fees. Consumer debt as a percentage of disposable income rose from 16.3 percent in 1993 to 19.3 percent in 1996.
Everyone knows that every dollar borrowed carries with it the penalty of paying interest. When money cannot be repaid, then bankruptcy follows. There were 1,350,118 bankruptcies in the United States last year. This represented a 50 percent increase from 1992. In the second quarter of this year, nearly 362,000 persons filed for bankruptcy, a record number for a three-month period.
We are beguiled by seductive advertising. Television carries the enticing invitation to borrow up to 125 percent of the value of one’s home. But no mention is made of interest. I urge you, brethren, to look to the condition of your finances. I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage.
These were probably not popular words back in 1998. The economy was booming and credit was incredibly easy to come by. But President Hinckley was a Prophet of God, and he knew what was coming. Now luckily as bad as things are we are not under famine conditions. Most people still have the resources to support themselves and their families. But what a different situation this world would be in today if people would heed the words of the prophets.
So really, why get a dog when you can just have a baby. They are just as loyal and help keep the floors clean. Personally, I think they are a lot cuter too. Carter is definitely one big pet to Addie. I rounded the corner today and caught her dropping bits of corn dog on the floor for him. No wonder he's always following her around these days. I'd find it more cute if I wasn't appalled that my 8 month old is eating corn dog off the floor. 
Lately Addie has loved singing her ABC's. I thought that I'd pick up the camera and let her perform for you all. She surprised me by taking a bow in all directions to her pretend audience at the end of her song. This is something I never taught her and must have been picked up from cartoons somehow. She cracks me up.
Contemplating Life's Mysteries
I Think He Felt I Was Patronizing Him
The Aftermath
So I think that Addie is a very normal toddler with her love for her baby dolls. She does all the normal things like feeding, burping, changing, and napping. But her favorite is to punish her babies on the time out stool because that is where she spends most of her day. She always has a reason, one of the many that she has been put in time out for, and makes the baby say sorry. I've got to tell you that it is something that I love to watch and usually makes me laugh. Hey, at least it shows that she listens to me and knows what she's not supposed to be doing. She just does it all anyway. 
Setting the timer for baby's time out.
He's poopy.
Open wide.
Typical time out.
This is a vent post for all those who may have ever had a child with a mouth fetish. My precious Addie is one of those. From the moment of her discovery that she can put things in her mouth, she's been chewing ever since. I've had many comforters assuring me that she'll "grow out of it" but have yet to see the light at the end of that tunnel. This picture is just this morning while she's watching her cartoons. Her favorite chew toys are books (anything paper), shoes, and fake plants. Sounds like a dog, how sad! If you don't believe me, I've captured just a few of the things around my home with her mark. If you have any suggestions I'll gladly take them!
