Christina and Daniel tie the knot...

One of my dearest friends got married in Athens a few weekends ago and our family was lucky enough to share in festivities. Christina was a beautiful bride and we couldn't be happier for her and Daniel.

Enjoy the overload of pictures that everyone takes at a wedding..... :)

Addison was in awe of Christina the entire day and kept saying, "I want to get married" in which Duke quickly replied, "You have a VERY long time to wait!" To see the way that Addison looked at Christina was so sweet (see the photo above) and I wish I could have known what she was thinking in that head of hers. Guess there is some real truth in the saying that every little girl dreams of her wedding day. I know I certainly did and it looks like Addison is going to be no different....we're in trouble! ;)

Where did our child go???

One thing about having curly hair is no one ever notices how long your hair truly is. Just for fun the other night, I straightened Addison's hair (no worries, I only used a blow dryer) to show you how long her hair truly is...and this is AFTER her haircut!


She doesn't even look like the same child with straight hair, does she??? We got the biggest kick out of watching her play with her "long hair" as she called it. She really does have SO much hair! Doesn't it look like she is wearing a wig?

Another year older...

Somewhere among the craziness of the last two weeks, I turned 28. I have officially decided that I am going to stay 28 forever, so just a heads up...no more birthdays for me. :)

I say all the time what an amazing husband and family I have but the following story will prove it. I'm telling ya...I am a very lucky lady!

My birthday fell on a Friday this year and we had so much going on that weekend that I had asked that we celebrate it with everyone when things calmed down a bit. My girlfriend Christina was getting married that Sunday so I had a bridal shower to attend for her late that Friday afternoon, her wedding to get ready for on Sunday plus I had to be packed and ready to leave from her wedding in order to catch a late flight and then be in Tampa for a week.

However, my hubby had other plans. First, when I got home from the shower, I had a complete surprise waiting for me. A sewing machine! Can you believe it??? Which part, right? That I wanted a sewing machine or that Duke actually went out on his own and bought me one!?! If I were you...I would choose BOTH! But YES, I wanted a sewing machine (I watch my Mom make cool stuff for Addison all the time and I know I can make half of the dresses I buy for her at a lot less than $40-50 a pop!) and YES my sweet, sweet husband shopped for one on his own and bought it for me! Love him!

Then, we had made plans to grab dinner when I got home from the shower but by the time I got home, I was exhausted, it was POURING down rain plus Addison had fallen asleep on the floor watching T.V. and was in an AWFUL mood. With that said, I suggested Duke just run out and grab the food and bring it back to the house but he insisted we go anyways. So after a major meltdown from Addison and an all out war to get her dressed and half way presentable to go out in public....we piled into the car and headed to grab a quick bite to eat. To my surprise, my parents were waiting for us at the restaurant...major points to Duke for setting that up AND not throwing in the towel when Addison pitched her fit! I do mean MAJOR POINTS if I could go back in time and let all of you see the tantrum she threw!

To top everything off, we were sitting at the table and all of a sudden, Addison says, "Look Daddy! A cake!" Naturally, Duke and I look over and behind the bar in the refrigerator, sat an adorable Barbie cake that my Mom had made for me! We all died laughing because of course it was supposed to be a surprise and how in the world Addison saw it, we will never know! Leave it to Addison!

Here is a picture of the wonderful cake:


Addison enjoyed wearing the "Birthday hat" when they so nicely came over to sing Happy Birthday to me!

Thank you so much to my wonderful family for being so determined to make my birthday so special!

Addison's 1st Hair Cut!

Addison had a big day last Saturday...she got her first hair cut! She did SO well with it and was so excited about the entire day. She looked like such a big girl sitting in that chair and Miss Jamie did a great job with her. As you can tell from the pictures, she was a very proud little girl and felt so grown up. Na Na went with us and Addison liked watching her get her hair cut after she got hers done, although she made sure to let Mom know that SHE was going first (quickly reminding us that she is definitely three!).

Right before the first snip....look how excitied she was!

The first cut....and yes I was feeling VERY nervous right about now. ;)

Watching very closely to make sure Miss Jamie didn't take too much off...

She sat so still the entire time...such a big girl!

All smiles and ready for her treat!

Mommy had to get a picture also (please excuse the no makeup...we had LOTS to do that day!)

Such a blessing to be her Mommy!

Things they are a changing....

March has been a month of change for the Skalon's. As many of you know, I started a new job the last week of February and it was a change that didn't come easily.

For the past 2 1/2 years, I had been working for Hall County Magazine, a publication that I helped start with my dear friend Eryn and a wonderful woman that attends her church. Like anything that you start from the very beginning and pour so much into, it was a hard thing to leave. But sometimes opportunities fall into our laps and we know its time to move on. That doesn't mean that the choice is any easier and it's sad to know that you will no longer be a part of something that simply started as a conversation between two friends and a "dream." However, if the past 2 1/2 years have taught me anything (and believe me, they have taught me A LOT!), it's that anything you can dream and want badly enough, can come true. It has been great to watch something morph into a reality but I am looking forward to this next chapter.

So, as of February 22nd, I became an employee of Cox Target Media. It's been a change and we are adjusting. Going to work for a large company is extremely different than working for a company that has a total of 7 employees but it has it's benefits as well (one of those being just that...good benefits!). If you remember, I worked for Cox Communications for 4 years before I had Addison and it was a great company to work for, so I am excited to be under their umbrella again. I am still able to work from home and my territory is right in my own backyard so it truly was a great fit. Now if I can just learn all of the new stuff I need to know...we'll be in good shape. :)

The hardest part of this entire "change" was that I had to go down to our corporate office in Tampa, FL for a week and that almost did me in. Yep, I put my big girl panties on and navigated the airports of Atlanta and Tampa by myself! I learned a few secrets of "air travel" along the way and vowed I would never again take a late flight out of Atlanta when I have to be in a class by 7:30 AM the next morning. But, the trip itself was great and my brain was on information overload at the end of each day. Being away from Duke and Addison was so hard but thankfully we all survived (even Belle) and I owe a very special thanks to NaNa, Pop-Pop, Maw-Maw and Pa-Paw for feeding my crew while I was away.

One day...this will be funny!

"An unusual kid"

You simply never know what Addison is going to say these days. Here is one of the latest conversations we had with her......

Duke to Addison: "Addison, what is your name?"
Addison to Daddy: "My name is Addison Lee Skalon"
Duke to Addison: " If your name is Addison, why do people call you Addie?" "Do you have two names?"
Addison to Duke: " Humm...(long pause)...(slowly placing your finger to her lip, as in deep thought)..."Yep! I'm just an unusual kid!"

A few days later, Addison was in the childcare room at church and a little girl was climbing up onto something. Her Mom happened to be working childcare that night so she called the little girl by all three of her names (first, middle, last) in order to get her attention. When we picked Addison up that night, Stacy was laughing so hard at Addison and explained she had a story for us. Addison heard her call Ayla by all three of her names and asked Stacy why she called her that? Stacy explained to Addison why she had used all three of Ayla's names and then proceeded to ask Addison what her name was. Stacy said she completed expected Addison to say, "Addison Skalon" and move on but instead she got this reply:

"My name is Addison Lee Skalon. Or sometimes Addie Skalon, or sometimes Addison Lee, or sometimes Addie, or sometimes just Addison."

Stacy said Addison was so serious in what she was telling her that she was cracking up. I explained the conversation we had with her a few days prior and the fact that Addison blurted out all of her names/nicknames made a little bit more sense to her then. Guess Addison just wanted to make sure she had all of her names covered. :)

I have to admit, as crazy as the age three can be...it sure is amusing!

Typically Saturday night with friends!

We are SO blessed to have the best friends. Last Saturday, we got all the kiddos together and as you can tell from the smiles (and children being tossed in the air) everyone had a wonderful time...and slept well that night!

How many tattoos could they fit on their small arms??? Lola Cate and Addison were quite proud of their work!

Uncle James earned MAJOR points when he got one on his cheek (the girls chose the location of the tattoo, of course)!

Even better...he couldn't get it off for church the next morning and it looked like a "hickey"...how long has it been since you said that word???? :)

Jess said no tattoos for sweet Landon but he sure did enjoy playing in Addison's kitchen!

The girls made sure the guys got their workout in for the day with airplanes rides and laps around the house!

And of course they had to ride together...solo wouldn't be as much fun...or help Daddy build muscles! :)

Oh how these guys have grown up and what a blessing friends like this are!

The "Blizzard" of 2010

We have had some crazy weather this year but it sure has been fun! A few weeks ago, Atlanta got blasted with some major snow so we bundled up tightly and ventured outside. I have to say, Addison is definitely my child because she was less than impressed with all of it. We might have been outside a total of 45 minutes and considering the amount of time it took me to dig up clothes that were snow "appropriate" that isn't very long!

I did manage to snap some good photos of her. You can tell how hard the snow was falling by the photos.

Trying to catch a snowflake on her tongue...

Look how little she looks in front of the house.....

Daddy's snow angel!

Nothing like some hot chocolate to warm you up....Yummy!

Even Belle spent the day cuddled up with us on the couch...she also agreeed with Addison and thought the snow was over-rated and cold :)

Like I said, Addison was less than impressed and when we asked her what she thought about it, she said, "It was cold." That pretty much sums it up. The Skalon women are ready for the warm weather!

Curls Galore!

From the moment we found out Addison was a little girl, Duke prayed that she would have curly hair. He definitely got his wish! This was Addison's hair about 20 minutes after she got out of the bath the other night. Perfect little ringlets....just like her. :)

We're Alive...Promise!

Wow! I can not believe it is already March! This year is already flying by!

In typical Skalon fashion, we have been running around like crazy and enjoying every minute of our crazy lives. Addison seems to have changed so much since Christmas and I find myself wanting to freeze time with her even more these days. She is DEFINITELY three (no doubt about that one) and has become extremely independent and willing to push any and all limits you may give her. We moved her out of her crib about two months ago and I still can't decide if this was a good idea or not. She has done pretty well with it and if I wanted to be honest (I know that's what I am supposed to do) the transition overall went better than we expected. The main problem is nap time which has now been renamed "quiet time" but as you can see from the photos below...most days, it's just not worth it and not much of this time is spent doing anything "quiet"....


Can you find Addison???




Funny how she put all her dolls to bed and then crashed in the floor!

Yes, Addison is definitely three and doing all the things she "should be doing" according to my Mom. She sure is fun though!

Speaking of fun...here are some photos of fun stuff we're gotten into lately:


Painting with friends from our Mommy & Me group at Imaginations at Play


Getting our nails done...


She wanted bright purple...we compromised and got hot pink ;)


Playing with the fake dog inside Old Navy...funny thing is, people thought she was part of the "set up" and looked shocked everytime she would move! :)


Having play "dates" at the mall...if I didn't know his parents, I'd be worried. (No worries - he is our pastor's son) ;)


And yes, they really walked like this through the mall..it was actually easier to keep up with them this way! :)

So as you can see, the beginning of 2010 has been a busy one but we wouldn't have it any other way. We have enjoyed all of the snow days this year also...how crazy is that??? And I snapped some of the cutest photos of Addison out in it (although she didn't stay out long at all and wasn't thrilled with how cold it was). What can I say? She is my child!