Update

Brett's birthday party was a lot of fun! The kids had a blast on the go-carts. Brett used the money that he got from his birthday to buy a playstation 3. His football season ended a few weeks ago. They didn't get very far in the playoffs. Basketball practice started this week. Hopefully his basketball team will do better. Today Brett is in Montgomery for his 4th grade field trip to the State Capital.

Addison is getting so big. She is now saying ma ma ma... and has started scooting around. She loves to scoot to the presents under the christmas tree. She can also hold her own bottle. She likes for you to feed her, but wants to play with it when she is done eating.

Thanksgiving was great! Everyone came to our house to eat. Then we took all the kids to the bay for Christmas pictures.

Update (Addison 7 mos. Brett 10)

October was a very busy month. Our family had birthdays galore! We celebrated mine, Sheryl's, Mom's, Joe's, and Brett's birthday last month. We have also stayed busy with football. Brett's team plays their last scheduled game on Saturday and then we begin the play offs. Brett wanted to have his birthday party at the Track. I booked it over a month ago and the closest date I could get to his actual birthday was for this Sunday. I will post pictures next week. Brett did very well on his report card. All A's and one B. We've got to work a little harder in Science this quarter. Addison is changing so much. It seems like she learns something new everyday. She is starting to try to talk. She is now saying ba ba ba ba... She loves rolling over. As soon as you put her on the floor she rolls over and goes back and forth. She reaches for everything. She pulled her jar of baby food off the table the other night and spilled it all over the kitchen floor. She is also beginning to sit up by herself. She can sit up for a few minutes then she falls back or to the side. Once she falls the first time it turns into a game and she begins throwing herself back as soon as you sit her up. She has also started throwing her toys on the floor for you to pick up. She thinks its funny! Grandma came to visit with us for a week. We went shopping and she taught me how to quilt. She also spent the night with us and had dinner with us on Brett's birthday. Halloween was a lot of fun. We had Brett's best friend and parents come over as well as Nick and Carrie and their kids. We went trick or treating and ate dinner afterwards. Micah's baby dedication was this past Sunday. It was one of the sweetest baby dedication's I have ever been to. He is so cute and is getting so big! I hope everyone is doing well. I will post again next week.

Update

Brett's football team played against Robertsdale this weekend and won! Mom, Dad, Brad Michael, Candice, & Micah came to watch. It was really hot and we had to keep the babies under an umbrella. Brett made two tackles. Brett is #26.

Addison rolling over

Addison rolled over for the first time by herself today. I got it on video and wanted to share it with everyone. I've also included a picture I took of her yesterday for Joe.

Vacation

We just got home last night from a great vacation. We spent two days at Universal Studios in Orlando and then headed up to Gainesville for a football game in the swamp. Universal Studios was not crowded at all. There were no lines for anything! We got to go on all the rides several times. Brett must have ridden The Hulk and Dueling Dragons at least ten times each. Addison did great! She put in long hours at the park and never got fussy. She really likes to be outside. The football game was fun but Joe's team lost by one point. Addison and I didn't sit in the stands b/c it was so hot. We went in the club area inside the stadium and watched the game on a television in an air conditioned room. I've included some pictures from our trip. I hope you enjoy!

Update

This Saturday was the opening day for football. Brett's team played two 15 min. games against different teams and won both. The first real game will be next Saturday against Elberta. Addison and I were running late and forgot the camera. I will bring it next weekend. On Sunday we went to Dad's house to see my step-brother. He is in the Marines and will be leaving to go to Japan for two years. He is in town until Thursday. I've added some new pictures. The first one is a picture of Addison. She fell asleep playing in her bouncy seat while we were getting ready to go to Dad's house. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th pictures were taken while we were at Dad's house. The last picture is an urn that dad has made. I am helping him put together a portfolio of his woodworking. He will be doing a craft show in November. His pieces are beautiful! I hope everyone is doing great. I will post again next week.

Update

Brad Michael's graduation party was a success! I didn't get to take any pictures b/c the weather was horrible and we were busy moving the party indoors which made our house was very crowded. Things are going great! Brett is doing well in school and is having a blast playing football. Addison's personality is starting to shine. She laughs all the time. She is also getting kind of bossy! Joe is doing great. He had a get together at our house last weekend to kick off the start of college football. Fall is his favorite time of year. Hunting season will also be here before he knows it! I hope everyone is doing good. I've included a few pictures. We put Brett to work power washing the driveway. I also posted one of Brett and Addison asleep on the couch after school one day. I also have a picture of Addison and John taken during Joe's football get together last weekend. Enjoy!

Update

Brett returned to school this week. On the first day, he got off the school bus with a 102.8 temperature. He ended up missing the 2nd and 3rd day. I took him to the doctor and it turned out his fever was due to a bug bite (possibly a spider) that caused an infection. The doctor put him on an antibiotic and he is feeling much better. He has also started practicing in pads for football. He seems to be enjoying it so far.

Addison is doing great. She has started to play with toys that she can grasp easily. She also reached for me while Joe was holding her for the first time yesterday morning. She is now 4 1/2 months old. I have posted a picture of her with John. John is Amanda's son. She is one of my closest friends. We got to know each other through IVF. She is also my sewing buddy.

As most of you probably know, Brad Michael finished his Ph. D. and is now teaching at the University of Mobile. We are going to be having a party for him at our house Saturday night. I will post some pictures of it next week.

Update

Things have been really busy. I went to my 10 year reunion a couple weeks ago. It was great seeing friends that I've lost touch with. My Aunt Mary and Uncle Porter drove their motorcycle down from West Virginia to visit for July 4th. Joe burned my aunt with a firecracker. We also went on vacation to Pensacola Beach for Joe's family beach week. We shared a house on the beach with about 30 members of Joe's family. Everyone had a great time. The men got to surf and play cards. The kids played ping pong, swam, and dug a huge hole with a plastic shovel. The women got to lay out on the beach while the men watched the babies. During the evenings everyone played monster ball on the beach. Brett said on the way home that he wished it was beach year instead of beach week. Brett is doing a football camp this week with two of his cousins and will be going back to school on Aug. 11th. It has been a great summer! I've added pictures from beach week and Addison's 3 month pictures. They are all mixed up. The 1st is Addison, 2nd is everyone at the house, 3rd is Brett in the hole they dug, 4th is Annie Kate, 5th Addison, 6th is our family, 7th is Will, Landon, and Brett, 8th and 9th are Addison.

Update

Brett is already getting bored this summer. With Addison being so small it is hard to stay on the go like we have in the past. We started going through his toy closet upstairs and found a book on making paper airplanes. Brett picked one that he wanted to make. It took us 6 hours over a 2 day period. It looks really cool, but it doesn't fly so well. We both enjoyed making it. Brett also got a great lesson in measurement without even realizing it. Each piece, fold, and cut had very precise measurements that he had to figure out. We went to the bookstore last night for him to pick out his last required read for the summer. He picked the shortest book on the list (of course). Joe tried to read him a chapter on the way home but he put on his headphones and watched part of a movie instead. He wants to finish all of his required reading before beach week starts. He has made it very clear that he doesn't want to do any homework while we're there.

Addison is doing great! She is smiling and laughing all the time. I took her to the Dr. last week and she was 10 lbs. 13 oz. She is beginning to grow out of her 0-3 month clothes and into her 3-6 month outfits. Now that she is filling out many people have commented that she is beginning to look a little like her daddy.

Joe and I watched the Bucket List last week and began talking about things that would be on ours. The top thing on his list was to go see a Florida game in the "swamp". So, we now have tickets to go see Ole Miss vs. Florida on September 27th. It is the SEC home game opener. We've decied to make a little vacation out of it and spend a few days at Universal Studios in Orlando. Brett is going to start doing lemonade stands this summer to save money for the trip. I don't know who's more excited!

The top picture was taken at our house on father's day. The second picture is of Addison at 12 weeks old. The third picture is Brett with his paper airplane. The last picture is Brett at his baseball campout on the river.

Big Week!

Addison took her first dip in a pool this week. She loved it! Brett is enjoying his summer break. He has had a few friends spend the night and tonight he will be camping out at his coach's house on the river with his baseball team. Brett and Addison also now have a new cousin. Micah Bradley Swiger was born last night. We went to the hospital today. Candice is doing great! She had to have a C-section but seems to be getting around really well. Brad Michael is on cloud 9. Micah is adorable. He is currently spending most of his time in the nursery. His sugar is low and they have him connected to an IV, but they allowed me to go back and see him briefly. I've included some pictures. The top picture is my dad and Micah. The next two are of Addison. The baby in the rest of the pictures is Micah. Enjoy!