23 on the 23rd

Yes, that is right. I just celebrated my GOLDEN birthday. I am now living the high life of my GOLDEN year. It has welcomed me with super hot hot days and not so cool nights. Scott had been away at scout camp for a whole week leading up to my birthday. He threatened me with making some leather belt or something while at camp for me. I smiled and said thanks but no thanks. The day before I went online to check out what things you can do for free on your birthday, aka free food. So in the morning,  I went to IHOP for my first time ever and had breakfast with my date, Addilyn. It was free except for my OJ. Then we went to the mall. I had a nice little bday gift card from my dad to Old Navy so I figured to kill time until Scott came home I might spend a little of it. Before the stores opened I let Addi run around their play toys. There were some other girls there and Addilyn had a blast with them. Ever since she's been able to walk she is much more confident about going out and playing with other kids. It is too darn cute.

While I was at Old Navy trying on a shirt, Scott called me saying he was home...early! Like by an hour. So I bought a shirt and picked up Scott. We headed north to Hanging Rock state park and went swimming. It reminded me of Lake Goodwin (where we always went growing up in WA).

look at that sandy bum

We swam there for a while and then started heading back and stopped for dinner at a seafood shack. Scott had heard it gets super crowded and you could be waiting for a table for an hour. Well, we pull up and saw about 60 (no joke) people standing outside. you've got to be kidding me. Scott went in and came back and told us we were 2nd on the list. Apparently the crowd came off of the tour bus that was in the parking lot and were waiting for their tables to be set up. Geesh. Anywho, we had a fried seafood platter including: shrimp, scallops, stuffed crab, flounder, and the best- oysters. mmm.

don't mind the crazy doo

Once we got back into Winston-Salem, we went to get frozen yogurt. Which I got for FREE with as much and whatever I wanted in it. Oh yes. I took advantage of that.

Overall, it was a great birthday. I did some of my favorite things: eat, shop, and swim.

Here are the only pics Scott took about scout camp:

The top of their hike to Raven Knob.

 The amphitheater you see is where we were at Wednesday night for the Order of the Arrow ceremony. They had traditional Indian garb while they danced and shot bow and arrows with fire.

at the top of the Knob. They have that there all the time

engraved on the blade is the BSA symbol

Scott's troop got the Honor Troop award. One of the requirements to get that award is to have someone get the scout master merit badge, which Scott did! That leads us to his hatchet/ax thing he got. The leaders who run the camp awarded him this because they think he's awesome and a great scout master!

So this is completely unrelated to our week, but these pics below are from memorial day weekend. We went to a guy's home from Scott's work who was having a pool party. Well, everyone else had plans, so we had our own party for us. lol. They had great food too. They bought Richard Petty's starter home...(he's one of the racing Petty's)

the spa overflows to the pool

 I wish I got pictures of what's surrounding the pool. They have such beautiful seating arrangements and landscaping. It was such a nice relaxing day.

Note the oxygen tank there. They have scuba gear and let us use it in their pool. It was such a cool experience. Neither Scott or I have done it before. After we did it, we both said we felt like James Bond. I don't know how they do all those underwater scuba fight scenes! It's so hard to see anything than what's in front of you.

Father's Day & Crafts

My blogs tend to be a throw up of a lot of things mixed into one. Welllll, to start with, Scott had a decent Father's Day. I surprised him with tickets to the Winston Cup museum he's been wanting to go to. We went to the Richard Childress museum a while back and it was really cool. Well, I'm glad I got the tickets 2 for 1 because I would have been ticked if we paid full price for the museum. It was honestly pretty lame. They had about 10 cars and photos on the walls. That was about it. Addilyn roamed free in there so that was fun. We did that on Saturday. Sunday he spent doing scout stuff. Camp was the next day so he had to call a few stragglers for paper work before they could go. Then we went to a court of honor. Two boys got their Eagles.

this was basically the entire museum. not much to it!

back and forth

she was a wild woman

Currently Scott's at scout camp and has been since Monday. Since he's been gone, I've been busy doing all sorts of crafts. I have already made a wooden sign to go above our kitchen cabinets that says "EAT". I redid one piece of furniture and CHOPPED my hair off. That's right, 8 whole inches and then some. I also got it high lighted. Please forgive the photo quality, bad lighting and on my phone so deal.

before

 I painted it a light blue, it looks white here, but it's got faint blue to it. I also antiqued it a little bit.

after

We've been to a pool 3 times this week. Addilyn LOVES the pool. She's been so awesome. We went to our friends house to do some crafts. I did work and the girls played. They were so cute together. 

PS, my birthday is this Saturday. I'll be 23 on the 23rd. Scott should be back around noon from camp. Stinky man.

As of late

So much has changed in the last few weeks. First off, many of the people that Scott and I became friends with when we moved here last year have moved! Since we live right by the Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, we have tons of med students in the area. Our ward at church has many families who are going to school (not just as med students). Within the last month or so there have been/will be about 8 families leaving. It has been so great getting to know them all, but I am definitely bummed with a few that I got closer to. BUT with people leaving, means more are coming. Already I have become fast friends with....another Smith! That's right. There were 2 new Smith families that moved in. One of whom I'm helping host her baby shower.

At the park!

As for other changes, Addilyn is WALKING. I mentioned in my last post, but wow. She decided one day that she could keep going instead of walk a few steps and plop. She has great balance and everything. Other updates include her pointing to her nose when I ask where her nose is. That one she learned today actually.

trying to walk Cabo

We also snipped the binky! Monday night we finally did it. I am pretty sure the weaning is harder on me! Mostly because she only used it when she was napping or going to sleep at night. So her naps are now her screaming until she calms herself down enough to fall asleep. Before with the bink she would just suck on it and fall asleep quietly. Ugh. I'm hoping she'll get better in the next week with it.

Not getting too far with Cabo

Addilyn has also been cutting more teeth. The past week and a half she has been a snot face. She currently has her two front bottom, two front top, and one to the left on top that have cut all the way through. Her right on top and left & right on bottom are under the surface making their way. BLEH. She is quite funny when she uses her teeth to cut her cheerios in half though.

My most favorite hats of these are the bottom three. The orange one is definitely the Cat in the Hat type. I found these at JcPenny's while waiting for Scott who was talking to someone. I couldn't help myself. Really???

Family photos

So it feels like I haven't blogged in quite some time. Well, it's June now. And it's the month of schools getting out, the longest day of the year, my birthday, and the hot humid summer really beginning.

For Addilyn's one year, we took family photos courtesy of Megan Ronnow. We took them at one of mine and Scott's favorite places here in Winston-Salem, the Reynolda Village. It's where the home of RJ Reynolds is at. It's so beautiful.

 They have gardens there at the village and they are original to the layout when the Reynolds lived there. Wake Forest takes care of them now. We love coming here in the evening to see all the fire flies in the fields. There's a large trail that goes around the many acres that we've gone on with Cabo. 

Lately Addilyn has been walking a lot! She took her first steps just 2 days before Grandpa came. Ever since then she'll take an average of 3 steps and then stop. But yesterday and today she walks like it's no big deal. Granted she still crawls often. But she's walking across the room without any trouble.

Other cute things about Addilyn is when she says "please" in sign language, she rubs her belly instead of her chest. She pats her mouth and your mouth like an Indian and says "awww". She also sticks her tongue in and out of her mouth to feel her teeth. When she does that, she also does her baby talk, so it sounds really funny.

When she goes down stairs, she turns around really early at the top. That way she has a foot or two to back up while she's trying to feel for the first step.  Also with her teeth, since her two front teeth are now more prominent, they are now more useful to her. So she'll take her food, like cheerios, and bite them in half between her teeth before putting them into her mouth.

Addi loves eskimo kisses. She even gives them to her polar bear. And today I showed her how to give them to Cabo, and she DID! It was too cute. Addilyn thinks butterfly kisses are ridiculously ticklish and with smack your face away laughing.