Major Catch Up...

I will do better blogging, I will do better blogging...

I am so sad that I got so far behind with blogging. The first week of December was a sickly one around the Cox Household. Alexa and Justin had both been fighting coughs. They were both given 2 rounds of antibiotics and were able to fight it off. Fortunately it was not anything too serious. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we do not have a bigger winter illness coming as we have had in the past. I somehow managed to escape the sickness so far. Addison has had really crusty eyes for several weeks. She had her appointment with the eye doctor. He diagnosed her with a clogged tear duct. I am not 100% certain on this but he said she had all the symptoms. She was given an eye antibiotics to clear up the current infection from the clogged duct. It worked very quickly. She was better within 2 days. The doctor told us to use the eye drops for 5 days. If the infection returns we can use the drops again no sooner than 3 weeks after the last time. If they continue to get infected, meaning the ducts have not opened around the age of one they will operate to open. He is predicting that they clear up over the next few months. Another thing only time will tell. Over Christmas Addison's eyes started crusting up but nothing severe. They cleared up on their own and I did not use the drops. Somehow I managed to get pink eye right around Christmas Eve. I have NO idea how, but it's an easy fix and life continued.

Alexa had sooo much fun this month getting gifts in the mail. Her enthusiasm is something I hope to never forget. She is very appreciative of each package that arrives and loves to tell everyone about it. I am glad she at least knows that Christmas is more about Baby Jesus' Birthday, but the gifts are certainly the high light for our 3 year old. I am sure as she gets older she will learn more about the true meaning of Christmas. Alexa also enjoyed watching "Fab," her elf bounce around the house and even get into some mischievous situations. Fab has since returned to the North Pole and Alexa misses him. We have reassured her that he will be back next year (Yah!).

Since Justin is leaving the Army in just a few months he has made the decision to save as much of his vacation time as he can. This meant we were not going to travel like we usually do for Christmas. Justin had to be in North Carolina for the weekend before Christmas, so I took the opportunity to take the girls in Cincinnati. Alexa was VERY excited to see Matthew, Aunt Megan & Steve. I actually think Matthew wore Alexa out. This is no easy task, but he did it. She went to bed exhausted from all the fun they had together. I really hope they stay close and have fun together. Alexa told me Matthew is her friend and he is a boy. This is a big deal for Alexa who really prefers to have female friends.

In Ohio we saw Papa's new house, GB, Uncle Jeff, Maggie, David, Grammie,  and Aunt Heather & her family. We kept super busy as always and had a great time. Alexa decorated cookies. The highlight for me was she made four, one for each member of her family. Her cookie had LOTS of MnM's on it. At GB's house she played on her new piano with Matthew and Uncle Jeff. At one point she went potty and then told GB she gets MnM's. It made me laugh that she remembered the special treat she got when we were in town 3 months previously. At Grammie's house Alexa had a lot of fun playing Matches and doing shape sorting with Jackson. She got a scooter from Aunt Heather and LOVED it. She still rides it around the house daily. We are going to keep it inside for the winter so she can get more use out of it. We were really sad to leave, but excited to spend our first Christmas in Kansas.

On the way home we stopped in St. Louis. We got our room updated to a super nice one. Alexa had her own room but decided our big king size bed looked better. When Justin went to the restroom, Alexa jumped into our bed and fell asleep. When Justin returned he decided there was not enough room on the bed and sleep on Alexa's. Alexa, Addison and I enjoyed our king size bed.

Christmas ever was soo much fun at home. I got everyone their traditional Christmas Eve PJ's and we watched a Chrismtas movie. Alexa could not wait for Santa to arrive. She went to bed with no trouble and slept all night. Christmas morning we brought her down and she was excited to see the presents. Unfortunately she was sad because she thought Santa and the Reindeer were still going to be here. She quickly got over it when we said she could open her gifts. She loved everything she received. She was a very generous helper and handed out everyone stockings and even opened them for us. The cats loved their usually toys and Dad enjoyed his candy. We had lunch at June's Cottage. Alexa did not eat much but enjoyed watching Mrs. Clause sitting at the next table. After lunch we went to the movies and saw Frozen. It is probably one of my favorite Disney movies ever. Alexa sat through the entire thing and enjoyed it. Addison ate her lunch in the beginning (nursing) and then slept through most of the rest of the movie. Christmas a great family day and I look forward to next year.

4 Months Old

Our baby girl is 4 months old. I cannot believe it. On one hand it feels like it was just yesterday but on the other hand I cant remember life before her. She has been the perfect addition to our family. She certainly has her own personality & makes it clear when she wants something. However when she smiles at you it melts your heart. I really did not know how I could love another daughter the way I love Alexa. Now that Addison is here I have found a new love that is equal but different than my love for Alexa. It's amazing to realize the capabilities of our heart and how it can grow beyond what one can imagine.

Addison weighed in at 12lbs 5oz at 24 inches long. She is tiny but perfect. She is actually around the 20th percentile, she is bigger than I am. Since she is exclusively breast fed and does not take a bottle I believe her weight will pick up once she starts on food in a couple months. She has a hemangioma on the right side of her head. It looks similar to Alexa's but it's not raised. I guess it's just a birth mark they get from their Momma. :) Addison's eyelids have been red since she was born. The doctors were not worried about them and said they would fade. In the last few weeks they have built up a scaly type crust on them. The doctor referred us to a specialists just to make sure it's nothings we need to treat. The eye doctor visit was a really good one. I enjoy being able to go off post to a "civilian" doctor. Addison has a clogged tear duct. She was started on antibiotics with the hopes that the duct will open up before she needs surgery to assist. We go back in 2 months.

Thanksgiving was spent in Chicago as usual. Both girls did great in the car. We spent the night in Springfield since we got a late start. Alexa fell instantly asleep on the couch & Addison was up every few hours because it was cold. She ended up sleeping next to me most of the night. Thanksgiving morning we arrived at my Grandparents house. Alexa was soo excited to see her Grandparents & Great- Grandparents. Alexa really enjoyed seeing her cousins Ethan & Henry. She also loved sitting with her Great- Grandfather and making up songs together.