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!

4 month checkup

Addison had her 4 month checkup today. She weighs 12.8 lbs (25%), is 24 inches long (41%), and her head circumference is 15 1/2 inches (11%). She also had to get three shots today. She was a real trooper about it. She cried really hard for a minute or two and then was just fussy and cranky for awhile. Around 7:00 she was getting really tired and I think the soreness from the shots set in, so I went ahead and put her to bed a little earlier than usual. I'm just hoping she's not too sore from the shots tomorrow.
I, as usual, had a list of about 10 questions for Dr. Simmons. The surprising one was when I checked with him to make sure it was okay to put Addison in the exersaucer. I really thought he would be fine with it, but he told me to wait a month or two until she can sit up better on her own. He also said that he thinks the jumperoo's are a really cool idea, but he thinks they are too dangerous. He said that if any of the springs break or come loose that they could slingshot straight at your baby. So, even though Steve and I got the exersaucer last week and were pretty excited about putting her in it I think we will go ahead and wait another month or two like the doctor suggests.

On a Mission!

Steve and I went back to Mercy hospital yesterday on a mission. Addison loves HER pacificier- the one she was given at the hospital. No other pacifier (even the same brand, same size, everything) will do. So, we took her back to see her nurses (Kyla, Casey, Genie the lactation consultant). They loved seeing baby Addison and they remembered mommy and the baby with all that hair! They were nice enough to give us a few pacifiers so we have less trouble finding one at the house!

Addison's wig

Addison, as lots of you know, has LOTS of hair! Everyone is always commenting on it wherever we go. One day our friend Camilla was talking to a lady and was talking about the Dodsons. The lady said, "oh is that the family that has the baby with a wig?" Yup, that's our baby. And then in Target yesterday, the cashier said "who slapped the toupee on that baby?"

The Accident

These pics are about 2 weeks after the accident when I was finally in the mood to take pics of it. They said this burn is either from the seatbelt or the air bag, but I think it was the seatbelt.

I think I banged my knee into the dashboard

My ankle is what hurt the most at first. I'm not sure how it got bruised all over, but I thought I had broken my ankle right after the accident. I was suppose to be on crutches for two weeks, but I only ended up needing them for about a week or so. I'm glad I got off the crutches much quicker because it's really hard taking care of a baby on crutches!

Here are some pics of my jeep that Steve took when he went to the salvage yard. The jeep was totaled, which really stinks because I really loved that car. Thankfully, my parents are letting us drive my dad's old jeep.

The airbag deployed when I hit the guard rail. The guard rail stopped the jeep after the accident.

So, a lot of you know that Addison and I were in a really bad car accident on Sunday, August 2. It was a really scary incident, but we really appreciate the concern that everyone has had for us. It was a four vehicle accident that probably should have caused a lot more injuries than it did. I feel that the Lord was watching out for everyone that day because injuries were very minor and Addison was perfectly fine with no injuries whatsoever. I did get injured a little bit, but am doing fine. I sprained my right ankle really bad, banged my left knee (just really badly bruised), and have some damage from the seat belt. I can see the seat belt line in bruise form on my waist and I've got a bad burn on my left shoulder/chest from the seat belt. We did ride in an ambulance that day- I was very unsure at the time what my injuries were because of being in horrible shock and just feeling pain everywhere I suspected that I was injured more than I ended up being. I almost fainted after the accident and that's when the people there decided to call the ambulance to come and get me, so I didn't really think about choosing whether or not to go in the ambulance. It was a really bad car wreck though, so I really didn't argue about it.
I really appreciate the help we've received after the crash. I'm thankful to all of our family that showed up at the hospital so quickly to be of any help they could. I'm thankful that everyone tried to contact Steve at church when I couldn't get hold of him (he had a meeting before church, so he was already there). (It's crazy how Steve finally found out what was going on- Ty and Jen were leaving to come to the hospital they told Tim and Catie on their way out to try and get a hold of Steve, so Tim and Catie text Tyler Prescott who went and got Steve and told him what had happened - thanks guys!) I'm thankful to those who have even just asked if they could be of any help. I really appreciate my mom for taking care of me on Monday and then taking Addison and I to the grocery store and to parenting class since I can't drive. I'm really thankful for Camilla Joern for bringing us dinner Monday night and then sitting with me all day on Tuesday since I've been on crutches and can't walk around and hold Addison.
So, thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and support. Addison is doing great, which makes me cry just thinking about it because I was so scared right after the accident on what had happened to her. I am getting much better and am just glad I wasn't more injured because looking at the wreck it could have been so much more worse.

Lightbulb!

They say that around 3 months it is like a lightbulb goes off and suddenly your baby is more interactive and can do more things. I didn't think it would be a sudden as a lightbulb, but it really did happen like that.
One day I put her in her car seat and it was like she realized for the first time that there was a toy there to play with. Since then, she's been playing with it every time I put her in the car seat! Now, when I lay her down on her playmat with toys hanging above her, she is actually playing with them. She can pick up her rattle by herself and play. It's amazing. I can see on her face when she is trying to figure things out. It's an amazing time in her life and I'm so glad to be here to see it.
We've started a new bedtime routine with Addison. We've had trouble getting her to bed at a decent time, so we started a really regular bedtime routine to get Addison to bed sooner. I can't believe how quickly it changed what time we were getting to bed! Right now, we're getting her to bed by about 10 p.m. when before we were lucky to get her in bed by 11 and sometimes 12! My favorite part of it is that it's Steve and I spending real quality time with Addison. We go change her diaper and give her a massage with night time lotion. Then, we put on her pajamas and take her in the living room and read her a few stories together. Steve then reads the scriptures to our family while I hold Addison and rock her to sleep. Finally, we put our sleeping baby in the bassinet in our room.

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!