Addison's First Family Vacation

Horseshoes was probably everyone's favorite activity during the reunion. Here are Stetson and Uncle Lomand, our horshoe champions. (Dad and I came in second)

Who are these two crazy kids? Looks like Quenton and Kimber are trying to figure out how they are related.

This is during the championship game. I'm waiting nervously while Stetson takes his turn.

How many Beals relatives does it take to determine a point? Five apparently.

Dad got roped into being my partner (I let him know after I already signed him up to play- no one wanted to be my partner!). It did pay off for both of us though when we got second. Dad also took everyone four wheeling and shooting guns. I didn't ride four wheelers, but I did go shoot guns for the first time in my life. I did the very worst at shooting, which I think is completely fine with Steve. Who wants a wife with a really good shot?

Here is bug-eyed Addison at Great Grandma Beals house. She had a wonderful time getting all that attention during the whole reunion. Everyone wanted to hold her and everyone kept talking about how much hair she has! We are really proud of our beautiful, angel baby.

We had a LOT of firsts last week with the Beals reunion. Addison and I flew down by ourselves to Phoenix, Arizona to see Grandma Beals before the reunion started. (We decided to fly down early so we could see Grandma since she wasn't coming to the reunion)

Addison did really well with the flight. It was much easier getting through the airport and getting on the plane than I expected it to be. I think part of the reason it was easier was because I had talked to Jen before we left to get all her tips for flying alone with a baby. During the flight, Addison was really good. She ate on takeoff and landing, she slept on the plane, and we talked some. I was just really glad she didn't disturb other passengers.

It was really good seeing Grandma Beals and Aunt Cara before the reunion started. Dallin and Kimber were there and it was nice to have time to spend with them too. I kept telling Addison, "we're going to see Grandma Beals," but then later I realized "No, we're going to see Great Grandma Beals." Grandma Beals loved holding Addison and talking to her. Aunt Cara and Aunt Janice also loved getting to see her and hold her.

Addison did have some trouble with sleeping on the first part of our trip. The night before we left for Arizona, Addison was fussy all night and I barely got any sleep. The next night, I tried to lay her in a pack n' play at Grandma's house to sleep in, but she wasn't having it. She was up every twenty minutes all night long. I thought I was going to die the next day!

On Thursday, we drove to Hannagan Meadows (about 5 hours away from Phoenix). Again, Addison was a great traveler. I got very good very quickly at changing her on my lap. I was really happy that at the last minute Steve was able to come to the reunion. He was needing to stay home because of school, but he was able to work it out so he could drive down with my parents, Jen, Makenna, and Brynlee. I also finally figured out how to get Addison to sleep better in the pack n' play by making it feel more cozy and by playing some soft classical music for her.

We had a wonderful time. It was great seeing family members- many of them that I haven't seen in many years. I spent the first day trying to figure out what kids belonged to who because all of them had grown up so much I didn't recognize them anymore! We got to talk to everyone, play horseshoes, shoot dad's guns at targets, ride four wheelers, and make jewelry with Aunt Leslie.

My mom was in charge of the reunion and she was a funny character. Every five seconds she was on the microphone letting everyone know that their was plenty of food for everyone to eat. I really don't think my mom and a microphone is a good idea! We had some wonderful memories there. I loved that one morning I heard Addison starting to wake up. I opened up my eyes and saw Dallin standing in the doorway holding Addison. I told him "I can get her Dallin," but he said "No, I've got her." Dallin took care of her for me while I got an extra hour of sleep. Thanks Dallin! What a great uncle!

Steve taught me how to play horseshoes on the morning of the last day. I had a little trouble picking it up but after a couple of games I was getting alright at it. That evening, everyone had so much fun playing horseshoes that they decided to have a tournament. I tried to get Steve to get my partner, but he didn't want to be my partner!!! So, I got my dad to be my partner. We had a great time in the tournament. In our first game, it took like 45 minutes, but we beat John and Gretchen Noble. Our next game was against Rhett and J.R. and we beat them 13-0! They were pretty shocked. In the championship game it was close, but dad and I lost to Lomand and Stetson. Not bad after one day of playing the game!

The drive home was pretty succesful. I thought that Addison, Brynlee, and Makenna were a LOT better behaved than I thought they would be. Overall, I had been extremely anxious about the trip, but I am SOOOO glad that we went. I am also REALLY glad Steve was able to come too.

Bath Time!

Here are some of our pictures from some of Addison's bathtimes. She is getting really good at taking her baths. She rarely cries anymore, and she even gets smiley sometimes.

Our little wrapped up hippo.

Addison being very chill about her bathtime.

What's going on mommy?

I like to bath Addison in the sink (I always scrub it really really good before I bathe Addison). I like bathing her in the sink because it's the perfect size for her and it's up higher so you don't have to be all crouched over. Bathing a baby really is an art form that you have to learn, and I'm glad to say I now bathing Addison is an enjoyable experience for both of us!

Mommy's Makes My Bows!

Pictured from left to right: bow w/ nylon headband, pacifier clip, small flower hairclip, and bow on hairclip.

My friend Lindsey from church called me up last week and asked if I wanted to join their bow exchange group. These ladies get together about once a month and all swap homemade bows/clips that they make for their babies. I told her that I would love to, but that I didn't know how to make homemade bows.

Lindsey offered to show me how. I've gone to her house twice and learned to make several different types of bows that I can make for Addison or for other friends. It's not near as difficult as I thought it would be. I have also made her a pacifier clip to hook onto her clothes since she loves her pacifier so much. The best part of having a little girl is definitely the accessorizing you get to do!

I failed THAT quiz!

I took Addison in on Friday for her 3 month checkup (most babies don't do 3 month checkups, but Dr. Simmons knows how worried I am about starting work again and how worried I had been about her weight when she was first born). She is now weighing 10 lbs 3 oz and is 22 3/4 inches long!
Dr. Simmons and I talked about traveling with Addison to the Beals reunion in Arizona next week, going back to work, and how to keep breastfeeding succesful. I am very glad to have such a supportive, caring doctor for Addison. After sharing my long lists of questions and my many concerns Dr. Simmons and I started talking about how I could get Addison to sleep better at night. I told him she's been getting up about 3 times a night and that especially with work starting that it was getting really hard for me to keep up with her. This lead to a discussion on how I do go and pick up Addison sooner than I probably need to and that especially at night I could let her fuss a little longer before picking her up. Here's the quiz that followed:
Dr. Simmons: Whose the most important person in your life?
Me: Addison.
Dr. Simmons: No, whose the most important person in your life?
Me: Me?
Dr. Simmons: No, whose the most important person in your life?
Me: . . . I have no idea. . . .
Dr. Simmons: Your husband.
Dr. Simmons reminded me that I don't go running the minute that Steve starts "crying" for me, so I don't need to do that for Addison. It has definitely been harder since Addison has been born to pay attention to our relationship as husband and wife cause we're always thinking about our roles as mom and dad, so that was a good little reminder that I really needed considering how badly I failed that quiz!

Addison's First 4th of July!

Here's mommy, Addison, and and our friend Tim hanging out at Grammy and Poppa's house on the 4th.

Addison's 4th of July outfit (minus the bow).

Makenna sure loves her cousin Addison. Every time we come over, she comes running up "Can I see baby Addison?" Then, she wants you to take Addison out of the carseat and take her over to the couch so that she can hold her and kiss on her. Sometimes the kissing, hugging, and patting of Addison's belly gets a little too rough for Addison, but Makenna is just trying to love on her!

Look at those long arms and legs!

I was trying to take a couple of pictures of Addison in her 4th of July outfit and then Makenna started jumping into the pictures too. It's always more fun with two! Makenna and Addison sure love the camera.

Tyler the pyro teaching his daughter how to be a pyro too. :)

Finally, we got the bow on her head.

Kelly, Tanner, Steve, and Tyler P. shooting off fireworks. The boys got so excited, they went to the fireworks stand 3 times!

Makenna with her sparkler and Tyler's very big sparker- a Roman candle.

Brynlee is SO cute! We love our little niece. I am SO glad she and Addison are close in age, so they can be really good friends. Brynlee loves to run her hands through Addison's hair whenever she sees her; Addison loves to suck on Brynlee's elbow, shoulder, etc. . .

Addison's first sparkler. She wasn't that interested in it.

Brynlee was FASCINATED by the sparkler!

No Roman candles for you Addison. . . . . .maybe next year.

Brynlee, I don't think your old enough for Roman candles yet. Better stick to the sparklers.

Jen teaches Brynlee the fundamentals of using the sparkler. That flashing light sure is fascinating.

Mommy looks horrible here, but you can see how much she loves her baby Addison! Look at how good she holds her head up; she is seriously a pro for her age at holding her head up.

I love this picture of Tyler and Makenna.

Blurry picture I know, but I love seeing how much fun Steve and Makenna are having and how much they love each other.

Two cousins! Addison and Brynlee are discussing the party- they are not as impressed as the rest of us were.

Catie, Makenna, and Steve going for a 4th of July swim. You gotta swim on the 4th!

Tyler Prescott showing everyone what a REAL firecracker looks like. It was suppose to last 45 minutes! The boys lit it on both sides to make it more interesting and the whole show lasted about 12 minutes.

Future pyro in training.

Steve and Makenna bonding- over fire.

Steve and I love the 4th of July, so we were very excited to celebrate Addison's first 4th of July. We went over to Grammy and Poppa Larsen's house so that we could go swimming, barbeque, and shoot off fireworks. Ty, Jen, Makenna, and Brynlee joined us along with our friends Tyler Prescott, Tanner and Kelly Prescott, and Tim and Catie Gregory. The boys had a little to much fun. . . they went to the firework stand 3 times!!!! Everyone had a blast!