Ahh Charleston...we missed you so!

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Charleston. I think it has been a year since we have visited. We also celebrated are 5 year wedding anniversary while there. Time has really flown by. We have the most amazing friends there and as you can see fun was all around us. Thank you Melissa and Dylan for being such wonderful, accommodating hosts and to Jenny and Adam for making us the best burgers EVER!! It was such a blessing to see everyone and their families. It's so crazy to think that we are all parents now...mature adults!! What an encouragement it was to be around Godly friends who offered fellowship, advice, and amazing conversation!

So you can imagine how hard it would be to find a place that we would all feel comfortable taking this large group of people and children out to eat. We went a little on the creative side and found a dive, hole in the wall place called Dave's Seafood take-out. It was kinda sketchy but we went with it. We ordered our food and then went to Waterfront Park and had a picnic. It was absolutely crazy but so fun. We had fried shrimp and scallops! Not bad for fried take-out. After our picnic we strolled around down town and stopped for ice cream...of course!!
Notice Addison has BOTH fingers up her nose. Made for a very classy picture!
Love these girls!! I felt so loved around them and it was like we never left!


Ahh the beach. Addison was not the big fan I thought she would be of the beach. It was really her first time (that she could remember). She didn't want to have anything to do with the water and only cared about playing in the sand but had not interest in sitting in it or getting too dirty.
We had to keep telling her the shovel was not a spoon!

Easter weekend and family times.

We went to Spartanburg for Easter weekend and had the best time. Addison absolutely loves her family and screams with excitement when she spots them. We celebrated Grammy's birthday while we were all together. It was such a treat to have Grammy with us since she doesn't get to travel much. It was such a complete feeling to have Ryan's family as well as mine all there. I am overwhelmed by Gods reflection of love for us through the gift of family. What a glorious weekend it was. Thank you to Martha and Chris for being such gracious hosts to so many people and for providing wonderful food!! Martha truly has the gift of hospitality. Ryan's dad is a photographer (LifeSong photography/videography) and took all the pictures that I have recently posted! It was crazy trying to get pictures of everyone but he had all the patience in the world!

Who wouldn't want to be a part of this fun family! This right here inspires me to have three kids!! They are such a beautiful picture of family harmony! They are friends, siblings, encouragers, and advisors to one another.

Grammy (Queen of the family) and her son Chris (Papa).

We are going on 5 years in may and expecting our second child. Life is so sweet! Thank you Lord!!
This is my sweet, precious, darling little Addison! She was trying so hard to blow the bubbles.
Have you seen anything more sweet than this?!?! Maybe it's just a mother's bias! haha!
Who doesn't like ruffle buns?!?!

Easter weekend

No Easter weekend would be complete without some lawn mowing with dad. I think we might just have started a tradition! Dad seemed to be more amused by it than Addison.

Saturday morning Addison went to St. John's Lutheran church in Spartanburg for some egg hunting. She was so kind to all the other children, she wanted to give her eggs away and she would let all the kids take her eggs right out from under her. What a sweet heart! Although she was pretty excited to find this one.
It was in the tall grass so she had to work hard for it!
I have such wonderful in-laws and they made this Easter experience so special for us and definitely amped up the enthusiasm! Addison loves, loves, loves being around them and so do I!!
Addison's awesome Papa (Chris Sigmon from Lifesong photography) took all these cute pictures! He's the best!

Babymoon in Asheville

With a new baby boy on the way, we knew we needed to have a romantic getaway...I have learned this is called a babymoon. Ryan and I had our first getaway when Addison was 5 months old. It is always hard at first to leave your precious child for the weekend but it is soo worth it. Ryan and I love staying at bed and breakfasts so I started searching in Asheville and found this prefect place called 1900 Montford Inn. Just look at our room and decide for yourself if you could spend the weekend alone with your hubby in that room. It makes you not want to leave :) The owners were such wonderful hosts and the breakfast came to our room at 9:30 and it was soo yummy. It is so easy to forget who you and your husband were before you had kids because they just consume you (in a good way). This was such a refreshing trip for us and I hope to do this more often. I have the best husband in the world and I know the Lord was so gracious to me for bringing us together.

Ryan and I love to eat good food and Asheville is the perfect place for that. We had a multi-cultural experience when it came to food. We dined Jamaican, Indian, French, and Asian. All amazing! This weekend was pure indulgence for us!! I just want to shake everyone and tell them they have to make time for experiences like this with their spouse! Coming home was just as rewarding. Addison was so excited to see us and the weekend really reminded us of our burning love for each other...the key is trying to keep it during the everyday routine of the week. Oh if anyone is wondering what Addison did while we were gone, Nana and Mimi came and stayed at our house and watched her. So you can assume that she was utterly spoiled!

Our dear friends, Katie and Jeremy Ledford, live in Asheville and we had the treat of being able to dine with them at the French restaurant Bouchon.
Our amazing room had a steam shower with 6 extra jets that shot water out is all directions.
We had a private garden and a 12 jet bathtub and that a light show display in it. Amazing!!
Fire place and bar area and hot hubby...all came with the room!

Spring is here and Addie is 15 months!

We have so enjoyed this warm weather we have been having. Addison will sit by the door and try for 3o minutes to put on her shoes, as if to tell me she wants to go outside. We have been going to the park about 3 times a week. This stage is soo much fun and now that she is walking it is also so much easier! She loves the swings and the slide! She has blossomed from a shy little girl into a social butterfly. She has to go up to all the kids on the playground and say hi. Her favorite toy is probably a plain old ball...she LOVES it!!

She loves to show everyone her tummy. I wish we were all as proud of our tummies!

Daddy couldn't resist. Her hair is finally starting to grow but still this is the only hair-do we can come up with.

She just had her 15 month appointment and is still in the 95th percentile for height and weight. She weighs in at a hefty 27.6 pounds and is 33 3/4 inches tall. She is saying so many things now and loves to mimic everything we do and say. She says words like: eat, please, dog, up, mommy, daddy, mimi, boo, ball, bath, book etc. It's amazing to me how much she actually understands. She obeys almost all of my "no's" and comes when commanded. She can make all kinds of animal noises, the monkey being my favorite. Nana just got Addie her first kitchen set and baby in a highchair set up. She plays with it all the time. She is so appropriate with it! She puts the baby in the highchair and then proceeds to feed her. She amazes me every day! I am reminded everyday that God is soooo good!!

Feeling like a clueless mom right now!!!!

I will be the first one to admit I am not a reader. Even before Addison was born, people suggested books for me to read in preparation for her and the only thing I read was the "Week by Week" book. Things have been going fine but Addison has definitely reached the pre-toddler stage, throwing fits and demonstrating defiant behaviors. This has prompted me to do some reading. So I spent 2 days soaking up this "Baby Wise" book (5-15months). All of a sudden my child rearing world that was doing just fine turned upside down. I began to think I was doing things all wrong and I didn't have her schedule regimented enough and that I needed to be more in control etc. So...I decided to put some of their techniques into practice starting 2 days ago. The book said that even at this age you can start "time out." This was new to me but I tried it anyways. So I set up her pack n play and used that as her time out space. I knew I was going to get some resistance, being that this was a new thing to her. Well...she screamed a scream that I have never heard for FOREVER!! The book doesn't say how long to leave her in there. I mean if I follow the rule of one minute for how old she is then she will not have calmed down in one minute. Is the goal to get her to calm herself down or to do one minute and take her out...but then what?? Do you comfort her because she is sooooooo upset she can't calm herself down or do you just distract her by reading a book?? Well I decided to give it another go today. Between trying to get her to go down for her usual morning nap and being in the time out space 3 or 4 times, the entire morning was nothing but screaming and crying. After one hour of this I felt soo defeated and just cried. I don't want to put her through all this if it doesn't mean anything. If I know this is just a period of time and then it will get better than I can push through it, but I honestly have no clue what I am doing and if this is the right time to start this. That book made it sound like if you don't do this now then you will have a wild child when she hits 2. I spent all day today feeling like a failed mother. All I wanted to do was go in and hug and love on her but then felt like it would cancel out everything I had already tried to do. I told myself I would give the time out thing one week and see if she recognizes the consequence but I just don't even know if I am doing the right thing right now. This is my first start at disciplining and I hate it already. There is no formula to creating the perfect child. I was so eager to read more books but now I am honestly scared to. I feel like I have created a monster in the last 24 hours, one that screams and cries non stop when I try to put her time out! She was better before the time out. So I wonder if this is making it worse? To you moms out there: When did you start time out with your children? What did you do when they threw tantrums? Any encouragement would be sooo appreciated!!

We are still alive!!

It has been a very long time since I have updated everyone in the lives of the Sigmon's! I am sure you all have heard that we are expecting a baby boy this June and we are very overjoyed about it. Addison is so sweet to my growing belly. She kisses it and lays her precious head on it all the time, almost as if she knows! We have been enjoying this odd warm weather we are having and have been going to the park 3 times a week. Addison has grown to love the outdoors and will stand at the storm door until we go outside. I am amazed at how much Addison has grown up and how she changes every day. She has been taking random steps on her own but with lots of encouragement and bribing. Today for the first time she just took off! No bribing or anything. It's like she won't stop. It is so precious and I can't stop laughing just from being overjoyed!!

We are still living in Conover, NC and are continuing the process of buying the dental practice here, however some things have changed and we are seeking God's guidance in questioning if this is the right opportunity for us. This is such a draining decision and so difficult to make on our own. Praise God we don't have to do it on our own!! Ryan and I are going on a babymoon the end of March for the weekend. We will be gone for two nights in Asheville and staying at this amazing bed and breakfast called "1900 Montford Inn." We are soo excited about it and are looking forward to the time together!!

Here are some pictures that we have taken the past month.

The park with Hannah and James!
Daddy is soo much fun at the park!
She loves the slide (sliding down AND climbing up).


Our Valentine's date.

Feeding herself yogurt.

Addison is 14 months and can do so many things...

• waves hi and bye
• says: hi, bye, ball, book, eye, dada, baby, can moo like a cow, mama, up
• walks unsupported all over the house
• can point to her head, ear, nose, eye, teeth, tongue, elbow, tummy, and toes
• knows her socks and shoes go on her feet
• loves books and will spend 30 minutes solid just looking at them
• dances and sings on command
• loves to dance
• feeds herself from a bowl with a spoon
• takes two naps a day
• sleeps all night until 8 or 9 (thank you Lord!)
• starting to look interested in potty training
• has 16 teeth and can eat almost anything