Addison's 5 month pics!

I can't believe our little Adidson is now 5 months old. She sure is getting big!

Steve and I looked really funny during the whole photo shoot; we were doing everything we could to get her smiling and happy!

I love Addison's beautiful eyes!

Just for the record, I did not put her arms like this! We laid her on her belly and this is how she put her hands- in a perfect pose!

I love Addison in yellow!

Is this flower bigger than my head?

This is one of our favorite pics! I love her doe eyes and her pouty lips!

A little smile!

We loved getting pictures of her outside, but both Addison and her daddy were having allergies trouble by the time we were done!

This is the best smile we've gotten on camera so far!

Call me crazy, but I think this is pretty stinking cute.

She was not digging the scratchy tutu.

I love this pic!

That's my girl- eating her hands, feet, socks, basically anything that will go in her mouth will do!

She is always grabbing her feet. She loves to suck on her big toe! (I should be grossed out by that, but it is soooo cute when she pulls off her socks and starts sucking on her toes)

Are we done yet?

5 months pics, do people even do 5 month pics? Okay, so basically I have been wanting to have pics taking of Addison for a while, but Steve and I have been going back on forth on when we were going to do it and if Kimber or Trish would be around to take pics so we don't have to pay. Finally, I just decided I really wanted to take pics before she grows out of her 0-3 month clothes (which will be VERY soon).

The "photo shoot" was a lot of fun. Steve went with and helped me changing her outfits and keeping her in a good mood. I brought some fresh flowers (I think babies look so cute with fresh flowers) and a few of my favorite outfits for her to wear. Cara, the photographer, suggested putting her in a tutu that she had and putting some pearls around her, so we did that too.

Overall, I think the pics turned out really well. I was rushing a lot trying not to take too much of Cara's time, so I think Addison's hair could have been a little cuter if I had taken more time. But, it all worked out great because just as we did the last shots Addison let us all know that she was done for the day! She was no longer a happy camper. Hope you enjoy!

Makenna's first soccer game!

Last Saturday, Addison and I went to watch Makenna play her first soccer game. I wish I had thought to bring the camera! We had a great time, even though it was raining. Makenna scored the first goal for her team! Yeah, Kenna! By the end of the game, she had scored 3 goals- Amazing! We were really proud of her.
You have to love watching 3 year olds playing soccer. Makenna would be doing just fine, but then she would suddenly turn to her parents with tears in her eyes and would say, "I quit! I quit!" Later in the game she said, "I really quit!" It was SOOO cute. There were a couple of other children on her team that sat on the sidelines the whole time because they decided they didn't want to play. Parents would go out on the field with their children trying to help them play- encouraging them, pulling them, teasing them. . . anything to get them to play the game they had been practicing probably for weeks!
It really reminded me of when I was a kid and all of us in my family played soccer. I hope we get to see more of Makenna's soccer games in the future!

New Bedtime Routine

So, Addison's bedtime routine has slowly become a nightmare for us. It was really becoming apparent that wrestling a screaming Addison every night and having to hold her, pat her, rock her, and shush her was really draining me. Then, after holding her for about 30 minutes (until I felt she was really asleep) and then laying her down, only to have her wake up again in 20 minutes and have to start the process all over again.
The first night of the new routine was interesting. I really didn't discuss this beforehand much with Steve, because I am the one who puts her to bed every night. So, basically I just told him, "hey, tonight I am laying her down awake and am going to let her cry. I'll check on her a few times, but I can't keep holding her all night trying to get her to sleep." I put Addison to bed that night, awake, and of course she started crying immediately. So, for the next 5 minutes Steve kept asking me if he could go in there. He was getting really worried about Addison; he didn't think letting her cry was a very good idea. So, we got out our baby manual that we got from our parenting class and we looked up "methods for putting baby to sleep."
The manual offered 3 choices: 1- no-crying method: try and stimulate baby throughout the day, so they are really tired at night, have someone other than the mother put the baby to bed (interesting. . . ), hold, rock, pat, soothe, etc. So, Steve is like, "hey, let's do that!" I told him, "That's what I HAVE been doing!!!" He started offering to put her to bed himself (I think we all know he would only last at that for like a day), and I told him, "no, we are not doing that option." Option 2: crying method: Lay baby down awake, after 5 mins. of crying, go in for 1 minute to soothe and comfort (do not pick baby up), leave room, if baby is still crying wait 10 minutes then check on baby if she is still crying, next would be 15 mins. then 20 mins and so on. The 3rd option: crying method: Lay baby down awake, close door, leave the monitor on and just leave the baby alone all night knowing that she is safe and needs to comfort herself to sleep.
Steve and I easily agreed that option 2 was the one for us. We've been doing that now for about 4 days (or nights I should say) and it's going pretty good. Addison is finally sleeping almost the whole night and usually only starts fussing once during the night. It is a little rough on me emotionally putting her to bed because she is crying and I know she wants to be held, but I just try and remind myself that she was crying before at night when I held her too. Here's hoping that this method continues to work for us and that our little family gets some good rest!

Rolling, rolling, rolling. . .

I've been so bad about updating lately! It has been hard adjusting to the hectic life of teaching and taken care of Addison. Right after school I find myself picking up Addison, cooking dinner, feeding Addison, playing with Addison, feeding Addison again, putting Addison to bed, pumping, and then going to bed- exhausted. I'm sure it sounds like I am complaining, but really I'm just really busy. The best part of the day is the time I spend with Addison. Even in the morning, I get her up at 6:30 to feed her. Originally, when school started, I thought that Addison would eat in the morning and then fall back to sleep. But, I find that mornings are some of my favorite times with Addison. She eats at 6:30 and then she sits in her bouncer while I pump. I talk to her and she smiles and laughs. Then, I pack everything I need for the day while holding her and talking to her. So, mornings have really become a special time for me and Addison together.
Addison has really started doing some new things. Two weeks ago, on Sunday (August 31st), Addison rolled over for the first time. The ONLY reason she rolled over is because we knew that any day she was going to roll over, so that morning I was talking to Addison and Steve and I said, "Well, I guess grammy is going to be the first one to see you roll over!" 10 minutes later, she rolls over!!! She rolled over one more time that day and hasn't stopped since!
The first time she rolled over from her stomache to her back, but she is rolling like crazy these days. She rolled herself 3 times in a row today to where she wasn't on her floor mat anymore! And when I put her to bed at night, she is never where I put her when I check on her later. Steve discovered that she now likes sleeping on her side, so that's often how we put her. So, basically there has been a lot of growing and developing going on for our little Addison. We sure love our little lady!