Ansley's 9 month pictures

The last few times we have had pictures scheduled for Ansley the weather has not cooperated and it did not this day either. The sun was shining but the temperature was low and the wind was blowing. Poor Ansley was still getting over her ear infection and did not like cold...I will say she was still cute as pie!







Um...HOLY HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spring has Sprung

Spring has Sprung in the Bond house and so have Ansley's teeth! On Friday Ansley took her first two steps! She is not even 10 months old! She is developing quite a sassy attitude as well. She has this God awful screech she does when she wants something or if something does not go her way. It is so bad I stop and wonder if she is part pterodactyl. :) I am now working diligently on getting her to use her signs for "please", "more" and "all done" instead lieu of screaming. She is using the "more" sign but looks away sheepishly when I tell her to use the "please" one...little booger.



Besides Ansley taking her 1st steps we had another HUGE milestone in our house. Addison FINALLY pooped on the potty. Charles told her when her diapers ran out she was done. No more! Not for pooping or for sleeping in. We cute her off cold turkey...and let me tell you it worked! She has pooped on the potty and has slept in big girl panties ever since. She has only wet the bed once which was totally my fault because I let her have a sip of water before bed. Ding dong, I know! She is getting her big girl bed this week. I will post pics when have it all set up! We did do a tiny weeny bribe to go along with the no more buying diapers thing...we are taking her to Disney World! We have been telling her for months that the princesses don't let little girls in diapers visit the castle. Whatever...it worked! We have our trip planned for March!!! We cannot wait! Most expensive poo EVER but totally worth it!



Addison and I planted some seeds a few weeks ago and after about 4 days they sprouted! I think I was more excited then she was but she makes sure to tell everyone that comes over to check out her Zinnias that she is growing.

Girlie Girl Goes Camping!

Lucky for daddy as you can see from the pictures our Addison was born to camp...not so lucky for mommy! :) I do have to admit it was much more enjoyable than I expected.



Daddy had been promising Addison to take her camping for months. The first time Charles tried to take her it was horrible weather so they put the tent up in her bedroom. There is something magical about a tent to a child. Everytime we drove past trees that looked remotely like a forest she would beg to go camp there.



We finally nailed down a weekend that our friends could go with us and the 4 families set out into the woods for a fun wholesome family camping trip! It was great fun, the kids explored, searched for bugs and of course roasted marshmallows to make smores with! I think Addy ate at least 3 smores while mommy and daddy endulged in just as many if not more.




Addison kept her girlie-ness with her by the way she sat in her campin chair! Fancy Nancy would be so proud of her! Other than Addison waking up at 4:30 ready to play outside it was a very successful camping trip and I did enjoy snuggling in our bed with her! We cant wait till we can take both girls with us, mommy wasn't brave enough to take Ansley too so she had fun with Mimi & Grandaddy!

Girl's Update

We are finally recovering from the holidays and trying to get back to a normal life. Of course with that said we all know how life likes to throw curve balls every now and then...somewhat more frequentlty in the Bond house it seems. :) Both of the girls came down with fevers about 2 weeks ago so I took them to the doctor and they both had ear infections. The pediatrician wanted to run a cbc on Addison because she had some random bruising around her mouth. We did on a Monday and her platelets had dropped from 125,000 to 72,000. We were super bummed but tried to stay optimistic that is was caused by the nasty runny nose and ear infection. That friday we had another cbc done at our normal hematologist's office and they were 83,000. It was a stressful week waiting until Friday to see if her body was crashing again but luckily that is NOt the case. Our hematologist mentioned possibly repeating a bone marrow biopsy in June at the 2 year anniversary. Can you believe its almost been 2 years!? I will keep you posted on her counts...we will re-test middle of February. So much for going every quarter. :(

Ansley is growing like a weed. Litterally...getting taller and skinnier! She was 29inches at her 9 month apointment which was the 90th percentile and only 17lbs 2 ounces which was 25th percentile. She is her daddy's daughter (a bean pole) :) She is so much fun and it is amazing to watch her little personality (should I say Sass) develop. She is walking along furniture and with her push walker all around the house. She can stand for a few seconds unassisted, she waves bye-bye, gives HUGE open-mouth kisses un-promted (grabs our face and dives in), and claps! She is trying to say words but she hasn't quite articulated her tongue movements. She has 4 teeth with the 5th one coming anyday. And our favorite new thing Ansley is doing is DANCING! That girl can bop up and down for hours if she likes the beat. Brittany Spears watch out!

We (by we I mean me) have been sleep training recently because I know Ansley has been milking her mama's soft spot for long enough and mommy needs sleep. We had a huge accomplishment today...I put her down for her nap and she actually played for about 10 minutes before falling asleep with NO TEARS! YAY! Then she woke up after 30 minutes cried for 12 minutes and is now still sleeping like a baby! :) Go mom for sticking with it! She wakes up at least once a night but I don't go in anymore and her crying is getting shorter. This sleep stuff is hard work and stressful. Her middle of the night crying pulls on my heart strings like no other.

The girls are finally attempting to play together...or at least interact. There is a lot of taking each other toys away or Ansley pulling (more like ripping) Addison's hair out of her head but it is neat to see their relationship grow. They tend to get along best in the bathtub. Ansley got two shots today and Addison was there and she was very unhappy with the nurse for making her sister cry. She turned to me and said "Mommy, that makes my heart sad that Ansley (Ans-wee) is crying." Awwww!!!! I love my girls.

Pictures from December and January

I'm the Target...

Does every other mom in America get this overwhelming sense of satisfaction when they walk into Target like I do? Getting myself and my 2 children dressed and out the door can be a huge challenge in and of itself so I like to limit my destinations if I absolutely have to bring them with me. If I have to choose between grocery store or Target I will hands down choose Target, even if that means my pantry shelves remain empty! Target is a mother's dream. You have the opportunity to buy literally everything you need (minus all grocerys unless you are super lucky to have a super Target near you) from baby necesseties, to house stuff (decor your don't really need but HAVE TO HAVE because you have the perfect spot for it!), presents for people you should have mailed days ago and my personal favorite...the super cute trendy shirt/outfit that makes you feel a slight bit less than old mother frump! My new motto is "if it doesn't come from Target, I don't buy it!" OK with this being said and now we all know how much I enjoy shopping at Target...let me just fill you in on my most recent Target adventure.... I had to be up and out of the house for a 9:30 Dr apt for Addison in downtown Jax which is about a 45 minute drive. Our after doctor routine treat is a trip to Chic Fil A to eat and play. Target is oh-so-conveniently located right down the street from there so I planned on shopping Target first. The girls and I pull into our parking spot and head in...well we start to...Addison decides to throw a screaming pity party for herself because she wants me to hold her and not Ansley. I told her no and that she is a big girl and she can walk. After about 3 minutes of her refusing I carry both my children (about 56 lbs worth)in the store where I quickly put Ansley into the shopping cart. I shake this little episode off b/c now I am focused on taking in all the wonderful things Target has to offer me! We head to the baby section where I need diapers and baby food pouches for my littlest princess. As I am reviewing my coupons to make sure I buy the correct foods I hear a CRACK....followed by a weak "I'm sorry mommy...I didn't mean too...accidents happen mommy...I'm sorry". Why is it that the one thing Addison decides to touch out of the whole wall of baby food is the one in a glass jar? A fellow mom sees the disaster and offers to help with handfuls of paper towels and then throws it away for me! I was just going to tell a worker.."Clean up isle 11"! But she got to me first. Then I took a baby wipe to clean the butternut squash off Addison's foot more concerned it was going to ruin her brand new leopard shoes and of course there is a piece of glass that cuts her foot. Now we have blood all over the top of her foot. The super mom next to me whips out a bandaid and slaps it on Addy's foot good as new. Ansley decides it is time for her to get in on the action so she starts to scream. I hold her and thank the mom continuously and am a bit embarrassed I was not more well prepared for emergencies such as this. We finish up in the baby section and head to wrapping paper section when all of a sudden I hear "BURPPPP" follow by a warm sensation down my arm. I look down and baby-pukes-a-lot has spit up EVERYWHER...prunes from breakfast....lovely. "Clean up isle 15!" Now I decide this is not my perfect Target day so I better get what I need and get out. So we head to the small grocery section to get some last minute things for our Christmas party. They had just mopped the section which made me feel better that I was not the only customer making a mess in the store. Addison sees the "Caustion wet area" triangle and thinks it is a toy. That goes flying as I kick it into high speed. As we finally make it toward the check out I run into my friend who has 3 children with her and they are all behaving like perfect angels in the cart and she is calm as a cucumber. Grrrr The cherry on top was while I was checking out the lady rang up a christmas present, a piggy bank, and as I went to put it in the cart it shattered. Guess I won't be taking that home afterall. Thank you! Needless to say I think future trips to Target will happen when my little divas are in bed fast asleep and I can once again enjoy all that Target has to offer in peace!

Tis the Season...

To celebrate! Addison had some mysterious red dots all around her mouth and chin and was black & blue. Charles and I figured she fell so we let it go. It showed up again a few days later so I called Nemours and they told me to come in to get a CBC. I did not get all worked up because I know this is just a part of our life and her platelets can fluctuate up and down with no warning or explanation. Addison did great with her finger prick, no tears, just a big smile when she got to pick a princess Aurora sticker to take home. Later that afternoon our nurse, Megan, (conveniently named) called and told us Addisons platelets were 120,000!!!!!! Last time they were checked they were 85,000. Normal for Addison's age now is 150,000! All her other counts were completely NORMAL! Not teetering on just barely normal but super normal! Needless to say we are all so excited!!!! This time last year she was just starting to turn the corner and now her bone marrow is almost completely normal. Praise the Lord!

We took the girls to meet Santa on Sunday. I was a bit nervous about Ansley meeting him because she has a case of the "I want Mommy" all the time. She did great! It helped having big sis next to her. She enjoyed watching him and Addison enjoyed telling Santa everything (I mean EVERYTHING) she wanted for Christmas. When we left Addison was not happy that Santa did not give her everything she wanted right then and there. (think Willy Wonka and "I want a Golden Egg Daddy" scene) That is pretty much how it happened. She whined that Santa didn't give her anything and she wanted her presents and she wanted them now! So we quickly walked to the car and discussed the real meaning of Christmas and then explained Christmas Eve and the reindeer. She bought it for now. Thank God! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. We really enjoyed decorating our new house. We finally got to get a tree taller than 5 feet! The mantel my dad and Uncle Ralph built looks beautiful with our stockings and topiaries on it! Addison & Ansley even have their own tree in their playroom. I will take some pics to show you!