mommy's obsessions

well, it is midnight and once again henry-dog and i are up waiting for addison to fall asleep in her crib. she can fall asleep just fine in my arms and on her daddy's chest (as you can see), but for the past two days she has wanted nothing to do with her room. uggghhhh. i have to remind myself she is only three weeks old...we will get the routine down eventually, but for now i am just going to relish in the fact she loves snuggling with us.

i also posted this picture to tell you all about her bad hip. addison's right hip is loose and could develop into hip displaysia if not properly treated. she and daddy went to the orthopedic surgeon on day two of her precious little life for an x-ray and ultrasound. the outcome of that appointment was that she has to wear this harness, or brace, for six weeks. 90% of the time this brace corrects the problem. for the remaining 10% that it doesn't, surgery during the first year will fix it. today marked three weeks in the brace...so three down and three to go, we pray. i will be honest with you and tell you it broke my heart the first day we put it on. it was all too emotional. i have been better until today...for some reason today it made me emotional again. probably because i have nothing else to freak out about. you see, my addison has already had downs syndrome, autism, been blind, had cancer, some kind of skin disease, a raging fever when she was clearly fine, and now i am back to the bad hip obsession. i never thought i would worry this much about my baby. but i do. this weeks goal for myself is to stop obsessing. i will let you know how it goes.

just so you know, it is 12:09 and my addison is finally asleep...in her crib. it is another small victory in the tingle household!! now henry-dog and i can join the rest of the world in that fabulous thing they call sleep!!

my sweet girl

addison was two weeks old yesterday...two weeks! such a small amount of time but there is so much i already know about her. for instance:

• she LOVES her sleep...and don't even try to wake her up, it will never happen.
• to be such a big girl, she has the smallest mouth and only the smallest paci at walmart will work (i bought every package i could find yesterday).
• she can spit that paci clear across the room the second you put it in her mouth.
• she gets the hiccups when she is full. everytime. like clock work.
• she loves to sleep on mommy and daddy's chest...especially when her tummy hurts.
• she loves to eat...three ounces, every three hours on the dot.
• henry dog's barking does not bother her...it is a miracle!!!
• she loves being outside. if she is crying all you have to do is walk out on the porch and the crying stops immediately.
• she is a loud sleeper...my monitor is constantly going off!

that is it for now. i better run and catch some zzzzz's before next mealtime. goodnight.

late night

it is 4:30 in the morning at the tingle home. little addison woke up at 2:30 starving and stayed awake for two hours just looking around at her home with her big beautiful eyes. old whitney would have been ticked that her sleep had been interrupted...new whitney, mommy whitney, loved that she got to hold her baby in her arms for two more hours. i can now hear my terry snoring and baby sleeping in the bedroom while my henry dog sits here looking at me asking "why are we still awake when they are sleeping." answer: addison's umbilical cord fell off tonight and i was wondering what to do with her belly button now. being the typical first-time mom, i couldn't sleep until google helped me find my answer. answer found, now i can rest.

while i was at it i thought i would post one of my favorite pictures my sister took of addison. i love terry's feet in the background while addison sleeps - it's a little reminder of his presence in her life. he is a good daddy. he will protect her, pray for her, love her. even more, he will teach her about a good god that will save her. i love that.

off to bed now...i need to put a stop to terry's snoring before he wakes the neighborhood up. more to come tomorrow.

addison leigh

she is finally here...meet little miss addison leigh! quick version of her arrival...last saturday in the wee hours of the morning, i started having irregular contractions - nothing exciting. i decide that the day needs to be spent walking, packing my bags, buying some pj's, and spending time with brooke and josh. so after getting some things in order that the house (packing - check)terry and i go to the galleria and walk to the chick-fil-a (walking - check), then we go to old navy to buy pj's (pj's for hospital - check), and then to brooke's for some hanging out (good times - check). after a nice couple of hours on the porch and a few more contractions here and there we head to eat some mexican. while at dinner my contractions start getting s little more intense and a bit more regular...but probably only due to the bad cheese dip. we head back to brooke's and hang out a little more where brooke proceeds to talk to addison and coax her out of me. we finally head home and at 10:31 a big one hits and i know tonight is where is all begins and tomorrow will be the big day - addison's birthday. i watch the clock, breathe, and rest until 2 when i tell terry he really should pack his bags (he seriously thinks i am kidding). at 2:20 we head to the hospital and after checking me they admit me and terry and i get settled in a room by 3:45. by 7:00 terry and brooke are holding my hand through contractions while josh is monitoring them on the computer, telling me if they were good enough...they had to get up to almost 100 to impress him :). by 8:30 i was given some pain medicine that felt like those frozen margaritas i have been missing for 9 months. in my drunkin state brooke catches me attempting to tell my favorite mary jane jokes on video (i haven't worked up the nerve to watch it yet). not soon after the drunk drug i get my epidural - can i sau heaven! it was fabulous! by 9:45 mom and jim arrive and soon after dad and jackie come in. finally, everyone is there. addison can come now. by 10:30 ny amazing nurse stacy tells us we are about to start pushing. so i push, and push, and push some more. addison's big ole head was getting stuck by the pelvic bone and wouldn't move around it. i convince myself that i am NOT having a c-section. so we keep pushing, and pushing. finally dr. ingram comes in and she says she is staying. wahoo!!! i push for about 15 more minutes and at 12:54 on june 3, 2007, my 9 lb 12 oz beautiful baby girl makes her way into this world.

6 days later i sit in awe of this person, this baby that terry and i created, that my amazing god created. and i am overwhelmed with love. i love her so much my heart hurts. she is mine. tonight i cannot stop crying. i want to freeze time and keep her from growing up in this big bad world. i want to protect her from the pain, disappointment, and hurt life often hands us. maybe more than anything i want to cherish the right now and hold her and never let her go. i never knew my heart could be so full - not just full but downright overflowing. and not just for addison, but for my whole family. i have felt blessings before and have been overwhelmed with god's grace...but now, this time in my life, i am blown away. i love my terry, i love my addison, and yes, i still love my henry dog. life as i know it is perfect.

i also just have to say thank you and i love you to brooke and josh for being there with us in the early morning and for taking such beautiful pictures of addison - i will forever cherish them and you. and to mom for spending the week with us and taking shifts at night to rock addison to sleep - i miss you already. and to dad and jackie for calling everyday to check on their new granddaughter...i cannot wait for you to get here friday - addison is dying to see you!

ode to sandwiches

so i know i promised a happy, joyful, funny, light-hearted blog but sadness and disappointment has once again encompassed my life. i am just at a loss for words. what is it you ask that has happened this time?!?!? this week, in the beautiful state of Georgia, people will flock to the motherland of golf, to the most gorgeous place in the south, where the azaleas have been packed with ice to preserve their blooming until the appointed time, where Phil will try to once again win the coveted green jacket, where Tiger will be the most watched and most adored golfer in history, where girls will wait at holes just to see Adam Scott walk by (wait, that would be me), and yes, where for only a buck twenty-five you can enjoy a little piece of heaven right in you very own mouth. It is that time of year my friends, time for the Masters...and this year i am bowing out gracefully and sending terry without me. people have said "you will still be able to watch Phil choke it away...they will show amen corner on the screen at least a dozen times....you will get to see a close up shot of Adam Scott, you wouldn't get that if you were there." these are all very true statements...i will get to see Phil choke, azaleas in bloom and Adam up close...but it is that little buck twenty-five piece of heaven that i will miss most, long for most, crave most - the sandwiches of the Masters. I am not kidding people, my mouth is in a depression...even Addison is feeling the desperation for the coveted taste of perfect chicken salad between two pieces of white wonder bread all packaged so neatly in a plastic bag with the famous Masters logo on it. it doesn't stop there, an hour later the chicken salad is followed by the pimento cheese sandwich, then the egg salad sandwich, the BBQ sandwich, and back to chicken salad sandwich if you wish. it is a day of feasting on God's gift to sandwich lovers. but i will be OK...i will get through it. i will go to nu-way to distract my taste buds from their grief. surely nu-way can cure all woes of the mouth. surely.

so to Terry's best friend in the world, Tim, i expect you to eat those sandwiches until you can no longer stand the sight of wonder bread. try them all, try them with a coke, a sprite, or even a beer (the BBQ is really good with a beer), try them with some m&m's or a Reece's cup...just try them all. eat your heart out. and walk away with only spending ten bucks on the most fabulous feast of sandwiches. oh, and enjoy the golf!

3 years and 3 tough days

my terry has had a hard week. in my "june" blog i talked about his college friend dustin who has suffered brain injuries from a bicycle accident. monday afternoon we got the call that dustin had gone to meet jesus...he is finally whole again. within 30 mintues of that phone call we received another - one of terry's favorite students had died on the way to the hospital after collapsing at baseball practice. we spent the good part of that night at the highschool, standing on the baseball field watching hundreds of kids drown in shock, grief, anger and many, many tears. it broke my heart, it breaks my heart.

the next day, yesterday, was our 3rd anniversary. i can officially say that #3 will not go down in the record books as the most romantic. there were flowers, a good meal, and big hugs...but there was also big pain. so yeah, not the most romantic, but by far the most blessed. i have a husband of three years and this year i learned about the blessing of a companion. we have cried together the past three days, alot. but in the midst of those tears i felt closer to my terry than i would if we were having a candle light dinner with a $50 steak and potato, and "the way you look tonight" softly playing in the background. no, this year all it took was a broken heart, open arms and a good god.

i am sorry that for many of you, all you hear is sadness in these blogs of late. i am sorry for that. i am laughing, i really am...and i am even funny at times. i will get back there on these pages, i will get through this season. i will write a funny blog. but for now, pray for the familes of these two precious people, pray for the students - that they will run to christ, pray for my terry.

my people and my home

I am a grey’s anatomy fan…and just like Kristina I have “a person” but it is more like “people”…I have my “people”. My people are not foreign to this blog…their pictures have graced the pages many a times and their names pop up here and there. Just to refresh, Haley, Shan, and Kel…these are my people and my people came in town this weekend and warmed my heart, touched my belly, and made me laugh – many times.

I remember not too long ago when I would weep for my people…I would weep to be close to them, for them to live across the street from me, for them to be apart of my everyday life. I would let my mind hate this state and hate this town. I would make my Terry believe that my only happiness was in Georgia, right next to my people. I am glad to say God has renewed this place to me. I love my people, but we are better for each other by making footprints in different towns. We bring more wisdom to each other, more to our friendship, and in the end my people bring more to my heart.

As my people left our house yesterday, I was thankful for their presence in my home. My home. Yes, Birmingham is my home. And instead of crying when the left, I smiled that Mike and Cara were outside with Bryson washing cars and asking us to grill out. I smiled that Chelsey is coming for dinner on Wednesday to let us meet her new boy. I smiled that Robyn, Bridges and the rest of our small group form church are coming on Thursday to watch Lost. I smiled that I love our new church…that it feel like home to us. I smiled that Addison would know this place as her home, too – and that she already has friends in our neighborhood waiting for her to come and play. I smiled that my place in this world is perfect. Those girls are my people, but this neighborhood, this town, this state, this is my place – and I love it.

In the midst of this smiling, I wondered when it was I realized this place had become home. And then it dawned on me…a couple of weeks ago, we had Robyn, Bridges and little Evynne over for dinner. They are not only friends from church, they are neighbors and they make me smile. Robyn has a sweet gift of making people feel like you have known them for years…it is refreshing. So we had them for dinner. My Henry-dog about drove them nuts, but they handled it like troopers. As with any other night, Henry was waiting for the end of the meal when he gets to lick our plates. First, I put down my plate, then Terry and then even Robyn puts down her plate. It was so sweet to me. And probably so weird to her…we are officially the weird Tingles. But it was ok. It is so hard sometimes - being real with people you want to get to know so badly. But we were real…I was real. That is when I realized I was home.

I have been in Birmingham for almost 5 years. And for most of four, I fought it. I put on a smile to make acquaintances – not friends. Like I said, I already had my people. But I was wrong. I need community, I need friends, I need a home. My footprints are now permanent here…like I said, I am home.