Pacifier Passing!

Aunt Kimber (known affectionately as Aunt 'Ber) enjoys a moment with her neices!

Addison always goes for the hair-sorry Kenna!

Pass the Paci!

Addison and Brynlee were cracking us up!

I know we are suppose to teach them to share. . . .

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had Steve's mom and Lee down for a visit, and we went over to my parents house to eat. We ate dinner, all shared what we were thankful for, and then played chicken foot together.

We had some interesting moments yesterday. Dallin didn't want to play chicken foot, so he was in charge of watching Brynlee- until we caught her eating a plant, then he was fired :) Addison took a really short nap, so I tried to put her in the swing while I tried to continue playing chicken foot. I looked over to check on her and Brynlee had crawled over to say hello! They talked with each other and that's when Brynlee decided it was time to "share." She took Addison's pacifier out of her mouth and put it into her mouth! Addison immediately leaned over and grabbed it away from Brynlee and put it back in her mouth! They played "pass the pacifier" about twenty times. We were cracking up! They weren't getting mad at each other or anything; they just were enjoying practicing sharing.

Then, we got an interesting phone call this morning. Ty called to let us know that Brynlee went to the hospital last night because she was having trouble breathing. Turns out Brynlee has bronchitis. So, now we are watching Addison to make sure she doesn't get sick. Ty and Jen felt really bad about it, but it's totally fine. No one knew she was sick, and it was just one of those things that happens. We were just sad that Brynlee is sick!

Leaky, Goopy Eyes

Everyone who sees Addison begins the conservation with a comment like, "Oh, look at ALL THAT hair! I have never seen a baby with so much hair!" Then, they usually make a comment about how cute she is or how she is such a petite baby with doll features. That's when they make a comment about how Addison's "leaky eyes" or something like "Oh, she's been crying" or they see all the yellow goop stuck in her eyes and start commenting that she must be sick.
Addison has had these goopy, leaky eyes practically since birth. Both eyes continually water, and several times a day I wash all the yellow goop out of her eyes. We did two different rounds of antibiotic drops from the pediatrician. After the 2nd round, I went back to the pediatrician to try a different antiobiotic drop. He said that since the drops hadn't worked that if they hadn't cleared up by her 6th month checkup we would discuss what needed to happen.
So, here's the plan. The pediatrician sent us to the eye doctor; Addison did NOT like going to the eye doctor! She didn't mind the nurse too much, but the minute the eye doctor put on his equipment that helps him look into eyes, she immediately started crying! She turned toward me and held out her arms and buried her face in my chest. The eye doctor distracted her with a light up toy, which kind of worked.
The eye doctor says that both of her eyes have clogged ducts. So, on December 18th she will have a procedure done to correct this. She will be put to sleep and then the eye doctor will insert this very thin metal line to unplug the duct. He will unplug the right eye, but in the left eye (which is much more leaky/goopy) he will leave the metal line in her eye for 6 weeks. He said that there will be a small white rubber band like thing sticking out of the corner of her eye to help them retrieve it at her 6 week post checkup. This is insure that it won't plug up again.
I'm nervous about putting her to sleep. The pediatrician said that they don't always put the babies to sleep, but the eye doctor really prefers to do it this way so that she isn't scared and wiggling around everywhere. So, this will be the first big medical issue we've had with Addison. Addison really hasn't even been sick yet, except maybe a small cold here and there. We just pray that everything will be okay and that this will take care of those leaky, goopy eyes!

More Addi-isms

I really loved posting a list of Addi-isms a while back. Even reading back over them, it is interesting to see what isms have changed and the ones she has held on to. I would like to add to that list.
1. She's a hugger. Seriously. When Addison gets up from a nap or when you pick her up in the morning, she wraps her arms tightly around your neck and just squeezes on you. The other morning Steve was actually up when we were (he usually gets up an hour after Addison and me), and he begged me to be the one to pick her up. It was so funny! The minute he picked her up she gave him a big hug, but then she looked at me like, "why is dad picking me up?" Luckily, she still decided to give me a hug when he gave her back.
2. She LOVES hair! She loves running her fingers through her hair, she loves to grab onto your hair and pull you super close to her face (her way of getting you closer to her), she loves to run her fingers through my hair when I am holding her and rocking her in my arms. I'm not sure what she would do if she didn't have any. . .
3. She is a mommy's girl (sorry daddy). She LOVES her daddy, don't get me wrong, but if she is upset or if I come on by she wants me, which 99% of the time (unless I'm super tired) makes me happy too. I feel like we just get each other and have this awesome connection. I never knew being a mom would be like this. I'm so blessed.
4. She has some new favorite toys. Right now, she loves playing with her miniature piano. She bangs away on it. I love that she has a little piano and is able to explore music at such a young age. She also really digs her inflatable penguin. It stands upright and can wobble around, but for the most part it doesn't fall over. She loves to hug it, she loves to shove it away, and she really loves when her daddy holds her arms and helps her box the penguin. It CRACKS her up! She also loves to pull the penguin down and put the fabric pieces in her mouth.
5. Addison knows how to play one game- correctly. Okay, almost correctly. She is suppose to take these shapes and put them into a bucket through the lid piece with the shapes correctly positioned. She can't match the shapes up with the lid piece (totally advanced shape positioning!), but she can pick up the blocks and put them into the bucket! I was so proud of my baby Addison for learning how to play that. And no, I wasn't teaching her that just so she knows how to pick up her toys! :)
6. She loves horsey! Last night, I was telling Steve that we should put her on my back like she is riding a horsey; it's a family affair! One of us is the horsey, Addison is the giggling cowgirl, and the other parent is in charge of holding the baby on the back (essentially, they are the saddle). We ride around the room making horsey noises, and sometimes the horsey even bucks! I love when we do things like that. . . just playing together and being a silly family together.
7. Today was the first day Addison got toys in her bath with her. I am still bathing Addison in the sink (a very clean sink, but I like the sink because I don't have to bend down really far and I can better control Addison slipping around). I've had to make some changes to bathing lately. About a week ago, I started using the hose to wash out Addison's hair. The girls hair is so thick that just using a cup, a scrub brush, and wash cloth just ain't cutting it. Secondly, Addison has started grabbing everything in sight. The soap, the lotion, reaching for the sponge, washcloth, anything! So, today I gave her some squirt toys to play with. She had just gotten up from a bath, so the first half of the bath she was still waking up, but the second half of the bath she was enjoying the entertainment. (I have on occassion washed her in a little baby bathtub. Addison looks hilarious in that thing! She acts like she is at the spa. She holds onto the sides of the tub and tries to keep her head off the wet mat. She even peed in the little tub this last time, so I held her over the sink while Steve washed out the tub and refilled it. Good times.)
8. Leaky eyes. First, it was two goopy, leaky eyes (underdeveloped tear ducts, very common in babies). Then, it was one eye that just kept gooping up. So, the doctor said that if it didn't clear up by 6 months that we would have to do "something" about it. 6 months went by and this Monday, we will be taking care of the leaky eye. What the doctor said will happen is that they will stick a little wire into the tear duct and unplug the duct. I was a little worried about this, but he said it's an extremely common procedure and takes two seconds. Some doctors put the babies under, but the doctor said he prefers it when they don't since it is such a short procedure. I don't know how the doctor will do this all when we see him Monday, but I'll let you know. I'm just going to be really happy when my baby doesn't look like she is crying 24-7 and doesn't have to have her eye washed multiple times a day.
9. Addison is a social butterfly. She just wants to be a part of the group! If she thinks we are really doing something when it's time for bed, she will fight me on going to sleep. She just loves to be a part of what is going on. At primary, if the children start singing the songs really loudly, Addison starts to screech and scream out her version of the song! It is so funny! She just wants to be a part of the group, of course the minute everyone stops to listen to her talk or sing her solo, she just stops and stares back!
10. We are in BIG trouble! I have noticed that when I take Addison to church yes, the little girls want to play with her,but it is the boys that are truly in love with her. The boys in primary all want to hold her and play with her and talk to her. I have warned Steve; we are going to be in BIG trouble!

Much needed update!

Life has been crazy busy lately, but that hasn't stopped little Addison from developing some new skills. About a week ago she began saying "dada." I am very happy to say that she said "momma" first, but now that "dada" is on the scene, where has "momma" gone? So, Addison do me a favor and bring back "momma" cause she misses you.
Addison has been working on sittting up for a while now, and she really has become almost a pro in the last couple of weeks. I think she would have gotten the hang of it sooner, but the girl is an observor. If anything happens around her, BAM! She loses her concentration and starts to fall over (luckily, most falls aren't followed by a BAM!). She is now learning how to be fascinated by Gigi running by her or not to lose all concentration when a toy is placed in front of her.
Addison has also really discovered her voice this past week. Addison has always loved "talking," but this last week she has really been exploring the different tones and volume levels she can create with her voice. I don't even mind the tones that are basically screams; I scream back. I love that she is developing her voice and exploring what it can do. A side note, Addison has actually always been a little "talker," but what has been interesting is that she really would only do it around Steve and I. The minute other people would come around, she would become so fascinated with observing them that she stopped talking. People would always tell me that she was such a quiet baby, and I would always be thinking, "if only you could see her at home!" Now, she's pretty found of talking to just about anyone!

6 month checkup!

Addison went in on Thursday for her 6 month checkup. She now weighs 13.6 lbs (6%), is 25 inches tall (22%), and her head circumference is 16 1/2 inches (32%). So, she's a petite baby! The doctor says she is 100% healthy, and he is not worried at all about her weight. She has some rolls on her, and he said that she has been growing and gaining weight steadily, so he doesn't have any concerns. Dr. Simmons does appreciate that I always come into his office with a long list of questions for him! :)
Addison wasn't happy to get 4 shots. Poor Addison! She got the three that were scheduled, but we also added the flu shot since she goes to daycare and this year has been very bad with the flu going around. Steve and I are just so happy to have such a healthy girl. Knock on wood, she hasn't gotten sick yet. We have been very blessed.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Powell

I'm taking the picture, so that's why it looks like I'm not in Portland too.

Addison sure has a soft spot for this Great Grandpa. He would just look at her and she would smile and laugh!

Here is Addison enjoying time with her Great Grandma Powell.

We went to Portland for Fall Break to visit Addison's Great Grandma and Grandpa Powell. She has already met her Great Grandma Beals, so we were very glad she got to meet some Great Grandparents from her daddy's side. We had a wonderful time visiting an aviation musuem where we got to see the Spruce Goose. We got to visit with them, play card games (we learned how to play head and foot, which was a lot of fun), we went antiquing, and we got to look at all of Grandma's amazing quilts that she makes! She really has a lot of talent. Oh, we can't forget Grandpa's talent at building amazing model boats! They were really impressive too. We had a fabulous time visiting Portland and are happy to say that Addison enjoyed it too and was a great traveler.

Brynlee's surgery

What a brave girl our niece is! We are so happy that Brynlee and Addison are just 6 months apart, so they can be really close!

Now. this is a cute picture!

Here is Bryn getting ready for surgery. Doesn't she have a great smile?

We left town on Tuesday, October 13th to go to Portland to see Steve's grandparents, so we missed Brynlee's surgery! We were very sad that we were not here for such an important event, but we are very happy to say that the surgery went really well. Now Byrnlee has a thumb! We are so proud of our brave little niece!

Pumpkin Girls!

Pumpkin carving time!

We had four pumpkins, but only ended up carving three. Jen carved one for her family, I carved (while Steve videotaped the event), and Tyler was nice enough to carve out the pumpkin for us to stick the babies in!

Who let Jen have a knife? :)

Tyler did an amazing job getting the pumpkin ready for taking pics of the babies. I saw a picture of a baby inside of a pumpkin, and I thought it looked SO cute! Tyler was a real trooper to carve it for us.

We tried to get Poppa to carve with us, but he just wanted to hold the babies. That's the job he always wants! :)

Addison was not very happy being stuck inside a pumpkin. It was a little chilly on the inside! Sorry Addison!

Okay, maybe pumpkin guts aren't so bad. . .

Okay, seriously mom I'm done with this pumpkin thing.

Brynlee didn't mind being inside the pumpkin as much as Addison did. I think Addison got the pumpkin warmed up for her!

Looking for something?

Baby sized pumpkin!

I'm not sure if that's for eating Bryn. . . .

I love this picture! They are so cute together!

We're still working on learning to sit up.

It's so much fun having cousins that are so close together in age!

Okay, I've been wanting to post this for two weeks but have been crazy busy. I have been thinking about carving pumpkins for over a month now! I don't know why, I haven't carved pumpkins for a few years now, but I was really feeling the urge this year. So, at our family Sunday dinner we all got together and carved some pumpkins. It was so much fun!

First Word!

"Ma-muh." After saying it 3 times, I was finally fully convinced that she did it. She said her first word! It happened last night right after dinner. We are visiting Addison's Great Grandpa and Grandma Powell (Steve's mom's mom and stepdad) in Oregon. We were all talking and Addison, of course, wanted to "talk" to. So, she starts blabbing away and we all stop to listen to her. We all started saying "Ma-muh" to her, trying to get her to say it. Then, we heard "Ma-muh." I looked at Steve, "I think she just said it." Steve said, "I'm not sure. . ." Then again, Addison goes "Ma-muh." At this point, I'm looking at everyone and saying, "Does this count? Is she really saying Mama?" A third time, Addison goes "Ma-muh." I looked at Steve and said, "Okay, does THAT count?" Steve smiled and said, "Yeah, that counts."
I have no idea when I will hear that precious word again or when the next word will follow, but it was a wonderfully unexpected moment when my baby Addison said, "Ma-muh." I couldn't be happier!

Addi-isms

Our little baby is growing up so fast! Okay, maybe not as fast as other babies her age (last week she barely grew out of her 0-3 month clothes and is now sporting 3-6 months clothes!), but some mornings I wake up and when I pick her up I tell her "I think you're bigger! You grew last night, didn't you!"
Not only is she growing fast, but she is developing these little quirks and -isms that I just love about her. Here are some of my favorites:
1. Whenever she finds something funny, she has the most beautiful toothless grin! If Steve gets her to laugh, she will grin and giggle and then bury her head into my shoulder!
2. Her favorite toys are as follows: 1. her snuggly, also known as her lamby (She gets a huge smile on her face anytime she sees her lamby and she loves getting kisses from her lamby- she kisses back by chewing on its ear) 2. her pacifier- it's an endless game of pulling it out of her mouth and sticking it back in. She has eating ALL sides of her pacifier! 3. plastic bags and her- a hazard "toy" we know, but if she even sees a plastic bag she wants to grab it and shake it all around (just to reassure you, she rarely has a plastic bag in hand, and I always stay right in her face to make sure the plastic bag isn't on her face!) 4. her mommy's necklaces
3. She loves being "tossed" in the air. I hold her and lift her and up down; she just loves it!
4. She is an observer- BIG TIME! She has to look around and see everything that is going on!
5. She LOVES Gigi. I'm not sure if the feeling is 100% mutual, but she loves petting Gigi. She loves watching Gigi run around- it cracks her up!
6. She is a rolling fool! She rolls around, and around, and around (I think you get the point)
7. She loves to run her fingers through her hair while she is breastfeeding
8. She loves to play games with me- her favorite game right now is to use her hand to push my face to the side. I look back at her again, and she pushes my face away again!
9. She says hello by grabbing your nose
10. She loves to eat her feet! I am huge on putting socks on her feet, even though I know that two seconds later she will pull of one of those socks and will proceed to munch on either the sock or the bare foot!
These are just a few of our baby's -isms, and they just make us love her all the more!

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!