Tackle

Addie's favorite game has been "Tackle" lately. As in, "Let's play Tackle! I want to tackle you!"

It involves Keith and I each sitting on the floor of her room with about three feet of space between us.

She starts in one of our laps and then runs and flings herself into the arms of the other.

She squeals and giggles.

She lets her entire body go limp and soft with trust at the collision of her little body into our bigger, stronger arms.

She mock-wails in protest as we catch her and hold her tight.

She howls with laughter as we snatch the back of her nightgown or trip and tangle her legs to foil her attempts at tackling the other parent.

We pretend-fight over her, over her love, over her snuggles and she chooses sides according to her pliable, fickle, ever-changing will.

She launches herself and lands in our arms over, and over, and over again.

Hair flying, feet flailing, voice rising, she is wildness and freedom, joy and delight.

She loves playing Tackle even more than she loves her Paci, and that is saying something.

But she'll put it aside, back in her crib to wait for bedtime, if it means she can play Tackle a little bit longer.

I know the game will change. She will develop and grow.

She will not always be a tiny body collapsing into mine in a fury of pleasure.

But, oh, may she always love to be wild and free.

May she always trust her joy to my arms, and his.

May she launch herself a thousand, billion times, knowing she has a safe place to come to rest at the end of the arc.

May I always be there to catch her, and hold her, just a little bit longer.

Holiday Greetings

Here's what my creative side has been up to lately...

Bee Stings

Last night we wrestled Addie into her Halloween costume for a dress rehearsal (mainly to make sure it fits). She picked it out herself, at Marshall's last Saturday. I held up several adorable 24 month sized outfits and she said no, no, no to all of them with a shake of her little curly head, until finally I held up my own personal favorite...a bumblebee. It has sparkly, glittery gossamer wings and a tiny black stinger and adorable antennae - perfect for "Papas' Little Bumblebee." At the sight of it she nodded her head solemnly, then broke into a gleeful grin.

So far, so good.

But then we got home with it, and I tried to put it over her head. Screaming, wailing, and gnashing of teeth ensued. I thought maybe she was just tired, in a bad mood, being obstinate. Another time, tomorrow perhaps, she will wear it. She will love it.

Tomorrow and the next day and the next, same tune, same dance. Keith and I took to hugging the bumblebee costume in great, big shows of affection several times a day. We kissed the bumblebee. We loved the bumblebee. The bumblebee was "so pretty!" we'd exclaim. Nada. Zero. Zilch. We tried the bumblebee costume on her favorite stuffed animals and baby dolls, at which point she would lean way, way over and give the dolls and animals a tiny peck on the cheek, as long as she could ensure no direct contact between herself and the costume would be made.

The bumblebee costume was hated!

Finally, last night, I'd had enough. Between banshee wails and heaving sobs Keith and I managed to hold her wriggling body still and force the costume over her head. She bucked and kicked and pushed as I wrangled her arms through the holes. She howled as I held her up to the mirror and said...

"You know who I bet would like this outfit? Logan! Logan would probably LOVE this outfit."

I said the words. And then I was instantly shocked and horrified to realize that statement was my first reaction. Because Logan is the five year old little boy of her daycare "teacher" and he's great, we love Logan. And Addie really loves Logan. She gets an extra special smile on her face when she says his name (which she pronounces as "Bacon").

But I'll be damned if I'm going to teach my daughter to wear clothes she hates because a boy might like her in them!

She has a whole lifetime ahead of her full of the pressure to conform to another's expectations, to make a certain impression, to be and look and act a certain way. And that's an unavoidable part of living in society. And she will get that. She will get message from everywhere, from all sides, over and over again in various gentle and not-so-gentle ways. She'll get plenty of that, enough.

But she's too young!

And that's not what I want her to get from me.

I don't want to be another voice that reaffirms everything the world says about her. I want to be the other side of the coin telling her that she is beautiful and amazing and talented and brave and smart and kind and strong, exactly as she is. That her greatest, highest calling is to live into exactly who and how God has created her to be. That she is loved. That she is enough.

And she doesn't have to wear a damn bumblebee costume because some silly little boy might like it.

Ever.

Although, she did end up liking it. And we will wrestle her into again on Halloween. Because I'm her mommy and I said so. And she really is so stinking cute in it.

First Halloween

Addie's Mimi went a little crazy and we ended up with three costumes for Addie's first Halloween instead of the customary single one. So we had a little photoshoot that I just have to share with everyone. 

First we have a soft, downy Li'l Duckie....

Then our Pumpkin Princess makes her appearance....

For the main event we all dressed up together as Granny, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Big Bad Wolf...

A fun time was had by all....and they all lived happily ever after!

Something Amazing Just Happened

You know that amazing thing that happens when the weather turns chilly each year? How you start to pull out coats and sweaters and fleeces you haven't worn in months? And inevitably you reach into at least one pocket and pull out a folded up ten or twenty dollar bill? Score!!!

Well, I just put on my favorite red fleece for the first time in I don't know when....

     .....reached into the pocket....

          .....and pulled out a pacifier!!!

Everything changes when you become a parent. Everything! In ways you could just never predict or imagine.

Here's Addie at Baylor's homecoming football game last weekend. She made it through the entire game and loved every minute. She's a fan!

Catching Up

Happy Easter

Addison Grace Reich

Now that they've officially gone out in the mail, I feel like I can share the birth announcements on the blog. So I'd like to invite you, formally, to meet Addison.

This card was so much fun to create, not just because we're ridiculously proud of our precious daughter, but also because they turned out exactly as I envisioned them (and how rarely does that happen?)! Keith did all the photography. He's practically a pro, y'all. And I did the design and layout. I got the idea from Pinterest (it actually is good for more than aspirational time-wasting!). 

Getting the girl to happily balance on the books with almost no clothes on was tricky and induced a tiny bit of screaming (on her part) and anxiety (on mine), but weeventually managed to get the shot. My hand was hovering nearby just in case she slipped. Keith had to photo-shop it out (I'm telling you, he's got skills!).

One Month

Our Addie Grace is one month old now. Once again, we can hardly believe how the time is flying! She grows and changes so fast sometimes I can hardly recognize her as the same tiny baby we brought home from the hospital. It seems like just yesterday, and yet I can barely imagine, much less remember, what we did with ourselves before her arrival.


We're settling into a somewhat predicable routine. She gives us two good blocks of uninterrupted sleep most nights, 3-4 hours at a stretch. She rarely cries and when she does it stops as soon as we fix whatever is bothering her (empty belly, full diaper, and not enough attention fixed on her are the usual suspects). She already seems to take a certain delight in life and is happy and content most of the time, adapting quickly and easily to new things, people, and experiences. She shows signs that she will be passionate and enthusiastic about things she enjoys, traits demonstrated especially by her love and gusto for eating and of course her pacifier.


She's had several outings- to the salon in Norfolk (an hour away), to Target (also an hour away), a few doctor appointments, the grocery store, the Rotary Club's annual pancake dinner, the home of a dear couple from our church who invited us for a meal, and of course several trips to the coffee shop. With each of these she's been equally content in her carseat or her stroller. She especially loved the long walk we took yesterday (the first pretty day we've had where the temperature warmed and the sun came out), keeping her eyes open and alertly surveying the world around her for the better part of an hour before settling into sleep.


She's collected a few nicknames in her short time. We often refer to her as Wonderbaby, because she's just so good and sweet and happy and easy. Her Papa Cherry started calling her his Little Bumblebee thanks to a sleeper with a bee on the bum, and that one seems to be sticking as well. Her daddy calls her Ton Ton (Star Wars, anyone?) because of the grunty, whiny sounds she makes while eating. It's pretty fitting. She also gets called Baby Burrito when she's swaddled up for the night. And I often find myself nibbling her cheeks and cooing that she's my little Sugar Bean or Sugar Bear. The bear makes more sense than the bean, obviously, but my mind is weird. And slightly sleep-deprived.


Of course, it's not always perfect either. She has some explosive poopoos from time to time and takes full advantage the second her diaper is removed so she can show them off! There's also the aforementioned constant worry, which I'm sorry to say I have not yet conquered. But I wouldn't change a single thing about her or this first month of being a mommy. Not for anything in the world.