This morning I realized that I am all out of coffee filters. I almost cried. I mostly avoid regular coffee while prego, but my cup of decaf, particularly in a quiet house with a few moments to myself, is pure happiness. I decided to avoid doing laundry for a few more silent minutes and logged onto Facebook to see what the world was up to. I was greeted by this:

So I don't know if you know this but it has been ten days since you
posted a new blog and I am in Spain and have no way to know all the things
going on in my favorite niece's life. Can you please fix this?
Thanks. Love ya!

Dearest Nicole Elizabeth,
I am so sorry for being so lackadaisical about the blog. I know that your life in Spain, lounging on beaches, drinking sangria and being generally fabulous, has been really taken a toll on you. I do apologize - I have no excuse for not updating the blog.

I have not been busy getting a new stove installed. Or mulching all of our landscaping. Or enriching Addison's daily life. I have had no laundry to do and haven't bothered to clean the house at all. Addie and I haven't had errands to run or play dates to attend. I will try not let my pure exhaustion due to 17 weeks of pregnancy hinder my blogging. So to keep you, my dear sister-in-law, in the know, here is an update:

This week was our second YMCA swim lesson. Last week Addie jumped in the pool without reservation and volunteered to go first for everything in her class. When class was over she was beaming and oh-proud. This week she went underwater over and over and came up grinning. She learned about different swim strokes and swam, with a noodle, from one end of the pool to another. I was bursting with pride.

There has been a pretty horrendous emergence of preteen attitude as of late. Sadly Addie has logged many hours "pulling it together" and thinking about her choices. Last week, while Grandma, Aunt Kim, Uncle Rick and Ry were over Miss Thang was in rare form, threw a temper tantrum and then spit on me. Kim congratulated me on allowing her to continue living.

Addie has had many play dates over the past week. Last week revolved around the sprinkler and giggling with her buddy Nicholas. This week Rylan and Elise came over which resulted (surprisingly) in three very well behaved and happy preschoolers. There have been a couple quality visits to Fernbank playground, where she has mastered the climbing walls and parts of the park she wouldn't even attempt last summer. Last night I was given a reprieve around dinner time, as Nicholas requested the company of "his lady" for another play date.

Addie has been having Miss Kelsey come over on Thursdays for a few hours so that I can go to my knitting classes and run some errands. Miss Kelsey comes over because you selfishly ran away to Spain. Last week they baked a batch of delicious chocolate chip and M&M cookies - yummmm - and this week they played outside with (of course) Nicholas.

We are getting ready to visit cousins Jackson and Emerson for a day this weekend. We're also trying to get organized for Karen's wedding in Chicago. Addie's big purple bow came in this week and miraculously my dress fits.

I was asked by her highness to let you know that she misses you and she took good care of your Mom before Grandma headed on vacation. She thinks that it is imperative that I tell you that Mich is doing just fine.

Finally, I was informed today that she is planning to marry Nicholas. Oy.