Fifty Two Weeks - Wow what a year!

I can't believe this was me one year ago today! I can remember things so vividly, and am honestly a little depressed tonight as I realize the baby days are over.

Addisen: You have been such an amazing gift to our family! Your laid back personality and ability to make everyone smile, is just what we needed. There are times when Brody is flinging himself on the floor and saying he can't move - and just when I wonder what to do with him, you crawl up and giggle...what a silly brother. You know just what to do!

Jim and I had no idea what to expect with our second child - we had no idea how we would love another as much as we loved Brody - but we do! It is amazing how your love can just keep multiplying as a parent.

Luckily you still love to smile for my pictures - at least I have one child that appreciates my need to take pictures all the time!

You have the best teachers at Daycare. Ms. Terry made you the cutest sign with pictures of all of your little friends. Ms. Megan is just in love with you. She tries to take her breaks, but you crawl up to the door and knock on it until she hears you, then you blow her kisses. I don't think she has taken a break in weeks because you draw her in to your classroom - you are just irresistible!

You are getting so close to walking - tonight you mastered walking with just holding on to one of my hands - it will be any day now. Brody woke up this morning and told us that we should start calling you "Addisen" instead of "Baby Addisen" because you are now a toddler! Then we walked in to your room and he asked why you weren't bigger and walking...I think he thought you would transform overnight!

You are a Daddy's Girl (I wish you were more of a mommy's girl...). Daddy picks you up at Daycare and you just start chanting "Dada dada" and take off crawling for him. When I pick you up, you say nothing, but still make me feel good by your fast crawl to my arms!

Brody wanted to help you with everything today - from the candle on your cake to opening your toys for you. He sure does love you! He will get frustrated at so many things, but you could run him over and he would tolerate it - it is quite amazing!

Good thing your birthday is so close to Christmas - I'm not sure what Brody would have done if all the attention was just on you. You shared the spotlight well, letting him play with all of your toys and open Christmas presents.

Grandma, Bobo, Uncle Neal, Jenny, Aunt Judy, Uncle Bob, Josh, Jennie, Mom, Dad and Brody were all here to celebrate your birthday today. Nanny and Poppy were here in spirit and sent gifts along with a card from Aunt Joan. We will be celebrating more next week when we go to Pennsylvania for your first trip (you were there once before but were just the size of a pea in mommy's belly!).

I love you more than words could say, I really do cherish every moment we have with you. You are such a special little girl. I can't wait to see what you become, I wonder if you will want to follow in my footsteps and go in tothe medical world - or maybe you will follow daddy and become a business woman - it will be exciting to see!

You got so excited about your toys - especially when Brody would help you get them started. You would just sit there and wave your arms in the air (that is what you do when you are excited about anything).

Daddy had shared some cake with you last night when I was making it - you ate it all right down. Today you weren't so interested in feeding it to yourself. You did take a few bites, but mostly just from the spoon.

We love you so much Addisen!

I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us!

Fifty One Weeks - Holding on to the last few baby days!

Our Christmas photo for this year - I only had about 10 minutes to get the shots in - good thing one of them turned out!

I had to bribe Brody to smile for the pictures by telling him that he could play on my Ipad after we were done - what kind of mother am I becoming? A resourceful one...

Addisen on the other hand was full of smiles. My mom got her the cutest leg warmers - the whole outfit turned out perfect!

My favorite picture of Addisen - she was actually trying to rip the stocking off the chair - but the picture looks like she is daintily admiring it :)

LOVE this picture of Brody! Our neighbor's mom had two boys - Brody and Josh. When we were there visiting last year she gave me this scarf for Brody. One of her neighbors made it for her Brody about 30 years ago! I'm so happy she shared it with us!

On Sunday I decided to work on the gingerbread house with Brody. I'm not sure what I was thinking since Jim had the stomach flu and I was entertaining both of the kids when we started the project. About half way through Jim came downstairs to watch. I was getting frustrated with the project because I am such a perfectionist when Brody said "Mom, you just need to be patient with me". Jim couldn't help but start laughing...all I could say "was you are right Brody". It brought back all the memories of my mom and I trying to work on sewing projects when I was younger!

On Saturday we bought Brody bunk beds for his room. He has been sleeping in a toddler bed for the last few years and was definitely starting to outgrow it. I was very happy that he agreed to getting the one that had a full size bed on the bottom and a twin on top. Tonight Jim tackled the task of putting the beds together - we learned that Addisen is quite the handy lady! She loved picking up the tools and banging along with daddy. Brody on the other hand turned all the tools in to superheros and villains - it was so funny to listen to him playing - what an imagination!

Speaking of imagination - he made his own horse! I was watching him try to attach his pillow pet and just started laughing...he is so smart!

The finished product! I think it looks awesome in his room and he is so excited to be sleeping in a big bed! More excited that there is now room for mom or dad to sleep with him - I am trying to keep him convinced that can only happen on a weekend night! He thought he would be sleeping in the top bunk until we got it all put together - he is a little afraid that he might slip through the cracks. I am totally fine with him picking the bottom bed - this way I can sleep instead of worrying all night!

Addisen's first birthday is on Saturday - I can't believe how fast this year went by. I can remember this week last year vividly. We were once again dealing with the stomach flu and Brody was home all week with Jim. Every night I came home I knew that I was getting close to having the baby - that Wednesday I even called my parents to see if they could come at a moments notice. There are so many days that I wish I was back a year ago - what a magical part of my life...but then there is the part that looks at my sweet little girl and I am so thankful to have had all the days that have lead up to today! She is such a shining light in our lives!

Hope everyone has a great week! I will have lots of birthday pictures to post next week!

Fifty Weeks - Oh Christmas Tree

On Wednesday night I went up to tuck Brody in bed and this is what I found. Jim and I weren't sure exactly what lead to this, so I just buttoned his shirt back up and tucked him in. The next night Jim was talking to Brody and asked him why he had his shirt unbuttoned, Brody's answer "Because I was practicing breathing". We were speechless :)

On Thursday morning we were up early to take Addisen in for her surgery (tubes in her ears). We arrived at the facility, hopeful that everything would go as planned. Of course she was sounding junkier than normal - I was already fearful they would be sending us home. The first nurse listened to her and I could tell by her face that she was thinking they wouldn't do the surgery. The anesthesiologist came in to listen and he too said he didn't feel comfortable putting her under, but before he cancelled the appointment he would talk with the ENT. Jim and I were in complete limbo - we wanted the surgery because it had helped Brody so much, but we didn't want to put Addisen at risk. Dr. Hart entered, and before he said anything, we knew that he was going to do the surgery. Of course I started crying - I just didn't know what the right thing to do was. He was very nice and talked to us about the pros and cons, but ultimately we were afraid Addisen may not sound better for a long time, and that she would only be under for about 5-10 minutes. We agreed to the surgery and the nurse was in to get Addisen. It was the longest 10 minutes of my life...waiting to make sure we had made the right choice for our daughter. Thankfully Dr. Hart came out and said Addisen did great - she was back in my arms in about 10 more minutes. I am so happy that things worked out so well, and her breathing is 100% better now!

On Saturday we went on our annual trip to find the perfect tree. It has been our tradition for the last 3 years to go the first weekend of December and then head to the Santa Parade in Rockford after. It was no different this year, except we had rain instead of snow! Notice this year Brody brought his axe because we couldn't find his saw. He was a big help pushing Jim back and forth as he cut down the tree.

We rushed home, dropped off the tree and then headed in to town for the parade. The rain actually let up a little bit while we were watching, so we didn't get too wet.

Brody's favorite part was collecting the candy - he made sure to let us know when he got something he liked vs. the other candy!

Addisen was her smiley self!

Brody actually waved at Santa this year. He wasn't too impressed with seeing him, he asked to leave about 5 times before Santa appeared.

Decorating the tree was an interesting task this year. All Brody wanted to do was use the decorations as some sort of weapon and Addisen just wanted to see everything that was going on.

Brody added the star to the top of the tree this year! It only took 3 tries and a little extra convincing for him to attempt being lifted so high.

Addisen admiring the pig ornament I bought for her this year.

We actually got them to sit still long enough for a photo!
Some of the cutest kids I have ever seen!

Brody insisted on making crazy signs with his hands for all the pictures with Jim.
I'm getting so excited for Christmas - but dreading the idea that my baby girl is going to be one in two weeks. Although there is one thing that is weighing on my mind a little more - my first 5K run the day after Addisen's first birthday. Jim makes this running thing look so easy...it's not! I have been running for 30 minutes most nights of the week since mid October. I know that I am in better shape then when I started, but I am still nervous about running outside with a bunch of people - I know I will finish - but just probably not as fast as I hoped.

Forty Nine Weeks - A Lot to Be Thankful For

Addisen tried out some new foods at Thanksgiving dinner (her plate looks like a lot more food than what was actually there...).

The start of last week didn't start out as a week of thanks! Brody came down with a cough early last week which turned into an ear infection. He was started on an antibiotic on Tuesday, which lead to many fights over taking the medicine. We started off Wednesday morning rushing around the house to try to make it to Daycare for picture day. I was dropping Addisen off in her room when Brody started coughing and ended up throwing up on the floor. I thought at first that it was just from the cough and bent down in front of him to clean it up, little did I know that there was going to be another episode. Yep, Brody threw up on my head! Addisen's teacher felt so bad for me. Somehow I held it all together as I got our things around and took Brody back out to the car to drive him home. Oh what a beginning to our week of thanks! Just as I thought things would have to be getting better, the diarrhea from the antibiotic started with Brody!

We headed to my parents for Thanksgiving on Thursday and arrived without any accidents in the car. It looked like we were in the clear, but oh no - Addisen still had to show us what she had in store. Friday night she spiked a temperature greater than 102 after taking Tylenol - so my mom and I took her in to the ER in Charlotte. After a 3 hour visit, they sent us home with an antibiotic saying that it must be from an ear infection. As soon as I put Addisen to bed the coughing started and didn't let up until Sunday. I was just about ready to take her in to my work on Sunday afternoon when things started to sound better. Just as Jim and I started to think she was on the road to recovery, her temperature spiked to 103 on Tylenol. Off to Urgent Care we went. The doctor there said there was a virus going around causing these high temperatures and coughing in kids, unfortunately Addisen's had now gone to her lungs. So we left there were oral steroids! This girl has definitely taken a few years off my life with all my worrying! Today she is sounding much better, her fever is gone, and hopefully we will be able to go ahead with her scheduled surgery for tubes on Thursday. Addisen started her holidays last year with all of us getting the flu at Christmas, so I figure this has to be the end as it is her last "first" holiday!

Brody has this little toy computer that Addisen is in love with. I know in some of the pictures it looks like she is crying, but that is actually her look of excitement! She will open it up and just start slapping the keyboard! Maybe she will be the next Computer Wiz!

I found this little tree at Walmart when I was looking for some outdoor decorations. Brody and I had a fun time decorating it - at least this year it looks like some of the ornaments will be spaced out on our Christmas Tree.

Maybe Brody will be the next super model?

On Friday night while we were at the ER, Addisen started with a new face. It was about 1 in the morning when she started feeling better and my mom and I were getting exhausted - that is when the face emerged! She just looks at you and scrunches her little face up, I guess it is her laugh?

We have been working harder at introducing the sippy cup - Addisen has not been one to want to self feed or drink. I think she is perfectly content for us to cater to her every need! Now that she has mastered the feeding part, we thought we better move on to the cup. Tonight she sat at the table with us and shook her cup and then looked confused when it started to rain on her head. It was so funny to watch her keep repeating the process over and over - the good news...some of it made it in her mouth!

Through all of the stresses this week, I have to say I am so thankful to have these two little people to worry about so much. I wouldn't change the throw up on the head or the trips to the ER, because it is all worth it to hear Brody just randomly say "Hey mom, I love you a lot". Nothing gets better than that.

Forty Eight Weeks - Bath Time with Big Brother!

Tonight I was giving Addisen and bath and Brody surprised us by coming and getting in. They LOVED their first bath together! My guess is that they will be bathing together a lot now! The only problem is the water has to stay low for Addisen and Brody likes to keep adding more - I guess she will learn to swim quickly!

Today Jim was gone for most the day at a Brewing Class, so I tried to take the 11 month portraits alone. I did okay, but I just couldn't get the camera set up on the tripod like I hoped. Addisen was a trooper and allowed the headband to stay on for the 15 minutes we were shooting!

Her two front teeth make me laugh - I think it is funny how big those two teeth are in little babies. We will have to wait and see if the gap closes in as she gets more teeth.

A lot of these shots are of her trying to get that headband off - She just doesn't want to be the girly girl her mom wants!

Her "Hooray this photo shoot is almost over" pose!

I am just in love with her big blue eyes.

Overall today went pretty well with the kids. Addisen has started to hate her naps. As we walk towards her room she just starts crying. It is so obvious that she is tired (eyes barely open and red), but she hates to see you leave her room. This afternoon I was at my wits end after 45 minutes of screaming. I was downstairs with Brody and he looked at me and said "maybe you should just bring her back downstairs" - what a smart boy!

Today Addisen started to show me just how mobile she is....and she reminded me why this is really my least favorite age. She started climbing the stairs, climbing in to Brody's chair and banging on the blinds while she pulled the leaves off of my plant. She took a lot of nose dives out of the chair (it is only about 10 inches off the floor) - luckily I was there to catch her for most of them. I still believe that Addisen has a laid back personality, but she is also showing that she will be a very persistent lady.