Nineteen Weeks

Hope you had a great Easter!

This was a great Easter for Brody. He was able to have two Easter Egg hunts, one on Saturday before we left for my parents and then another on Easter morning. He was so thrilled that the Easter Bunny had left so many eggs for him!

The Easter Bunny left Brody a new airplane kite at Grandma and Bobo's. Uncle Neal headed out with Brody to try to get flight...unfortunately there just wasn't enough wind and we ended up with more time on the ground than in the air.

At our house the Easter Bunny left Brody a big boy bike! It only took about 15 minutes and he had figured out how to ride around with ease! During the few nights of nice weather this week we have been out riding the street in the neighborhood. It seems like yesterday he was attempting to ride a tricycle...my baby boy seems like he is growing up so fast!

Addisen was back to the doctor again yesterday because her cough doesn't seem to be going away. She was a trooper through the chest xray and exam. She weighed in about 6oz more than last week...she is now officially over 16lbs! I am afraid that she is not going to fit in most of the summer clothes that I bought! She barely fit in her 3-6 month size Easter Dress...luckily those button holes stretched just a little bit!

Tonight we went to a circus in Grand Rapids. There were free kids tickets available at my work, so I thought it would be a great idea (mainly because there was an elephant on the ticket and Brody has been interested in them). When we arrived at the arena Jim and I began to get a little leery. At the ticket office there was a sign posted that there wouldn't be an elephant at the show (good thing we have learned not to tell Brody what to expect - otherwise he would have been devastated with the change). The kids did great during the circus even though I would have called it more of a "talent show"... I guess we live and learn! Luckily it doesn't take too much to amuse a 3 year old - he was so excited to see the 2 guys riding motorcycles in a big steel cage!

Addisen's Photo Book

I received a gift code to make a free photo book for Addisen! I think it turned out pretty cute!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Eighteen Weeks

We were in the Easter Picture mode today! I got Addisen's four month pictures taken and we went to visit the Easter Bunny for some more pictures! Brody was so excited to see the Easter Bunny...until we got there! We finally convinced him to go and stand next to the bunny so we could get a picture - maybe next year he will touch him!

My parents bought me a new flash for my camera as part of my birthday present. I am a bit naive with the whole photo taking thing and assumed I could just attach it and "wing it". Our first photo session today was pretty much just darkness through the lens...but I finally managed to get some good lighting.

Last night I finished this headband for Addisen - I wanted something to make her look a little more girly! Her hair isn't nearly as long as Brody's was at this stage - so it doesn't look like she will be wearing bows anytime soon!

Yesterday was Addisen's 4 month check up. She weighed in at 15lbs 11oz (this was up 6oz from when we were at the doctor on Saturday!). She definitely is a "healthy" girl! Unfortunately she has held on to a cold and cough for the past 10 days. Yesterday it had progressed to her lungs and we started her on Albuterol to help her breath. You wouldn't know from looking at her that she isn't feeling well - she gave everyone lots of smiles! She fell into the 90th% for weight and was still in the 75% for length (pretty much stayed the same) and although I thought her head was smaller...she followed in Brody's footsteps (95th%). Everything developmentally looked great and we will probably start feeding her cereal sometime next month. She is very content with her bottles and sleeps through most of the night - so there is no need to rush into the foods.

We colored Easter Eggs with Brody today. He had a great time mixing them in colors and seeing what came out. In the end we had a dozen eggs to show (some with a few more cracks then others).

This was Brody's last week at Sports Class and we finally got to tackle the rock wall! I was surprised at how willing he was to try it out! He walked right up the first time and started climbing. When he fell off for the first time he was a little started, but I was so proud of him for being brave enough to try it again!

We hope everyone has a great Easter!

Seventeen Weeks - Happy Birthday Mommy!

The big event this week was my Birthday! Jim was out of town for the majority of it - but the kids were so good to me! Addisen painted a card for me at daycare and Brody colored me a picture (and wrote his name!).

Last night Jim got home and surprised me with this certificate that he made with the kids! It is so cute! They all did a great job on it!

Addisen still continues to love her naps! She sleeps for about 4 of the 8 hours she is at daycare. Still the best baby there! Night time still fluctuates, but for the most part I don't mind having to get up one time a night.

We met my parents tonight for dinner and then they took Brody home with them. They are going to MSU tomorrow for small animal day. It isn't going to be the best weather for them, but Brody will be excited to go with Grandma, Bobo, Uncle Neal and Jenny! It is strange to be home with just Addisen. This is the first time she has been the only child in this house - it is quiet!

Last Sunday we were spoiled with 80 degree weather (tonight it is closer to 30!). While we were out playing in the yard we found a caterpillar. Brody was brave enough to hold it! We even had to take it on our walk (we...because I had to carry it the majority of the way). When we got back Brody put it back in the flowerbed and made it a "home". Everyday we are out looking for him - but he never seems to be at home. Brody thinks maybe he is out looking for his mom.

Brody got to try out his baseball skills with Uncle Neal. By the end of the morning he was doing a really good job hitting the ball to Jim. This week at Sports Class he learned about golf. It was pretty funny to see all of these 3-5 year olds putting! It was also amazing that they didn't swing the clubs at each other! We only have one more week of class - the last activity will be rock climbing! That will be something to see!

We go for Addisen's 4 month check up on Thursday. I am excited to see how much she weighs and see what the doctor thinks about starting cereal. I think she is ready to start, she really enjoys watching us at dinner time...and maybe this could mean a full night of sleep!

Sixteen Weeks

Addisen continues to be the happiest baby I know! She is such a light in our lives, even in the middle of the nights! Her sleeping schedule has varied a lot in the last week - last night being the best night (sleeping from 8:30 - 5:45!). Earlier in the week she was quite fussy going to bed, but would just smile and smile at you when you came to her room to console her - she definitely has us wrapped around her finger. I think we are breaking every rule in the book with her, with Brody we would do the "cry out method" and with her it seems like she makes a small noise and Jim is out of bed to get her.

Grandma, Bobo, Uncle Neal and Jenny were here to spend the night with us on Friday night. Brody was very excited to have every one here to celebrate Uncle Neal and my birthdays. The best part was that Bobo bought a cake decorated with Toy Story rings! I found this costume today at the Meijer Thrifty store - it was so cute to see Brody running around the house as Buzz Lightyear.

My sweet baby girl was happy to have the company too! She smiled and smiled at everyone that was here. She can capture your heart in just one minute!

It was such a great day today! The weather was so nice outside that we were able to have a Penn State vs. Michigan State Football game in the backyard! Brody was very excited to show Uncle Neal his football skills and of course tackle him!

This should be an interesting week for our family. Jim will be traveling for the first time since I have returned to work. So that means - for my birthday this year I will be tested with getting our kids to bed, hoping Addisen sleeps through the night and getting all three of us ready in time to be to work at 8am - oh what a gift :)

Fifteen Weeks

Addisen continues to be a very happy girl, but we have gone a little backwards on sleep! We were spoiled with the 5 days of sleeping through the night and are now back to a little bit of a fussy phase. She still heads to bed about the same time as Brody, but is up around 2:30am to eat. We are still lucky enough that Jim or I only have to get up every other night - but we were spoiled by those few nights of no awakenings! She is continuing gain weight - I will be interested to know how much she weighs when we go for her 4 month doctors appointment in a couple weeks. She eats about 6oz every 3-5 hours and she LIKES her food! Addisen is wearing mostly 3-6 month clothes and fills them out well! The only 0-3 month clothes she has left are onesies and nightgowns.

We were lucky to have a lot of sunny days in the last week (not too warm but at least sunny!). Jim and Brody were out last Sunday practicing their football skills! I found out this week that we will be able to sign Brody up for flag football in the fall, so he has to start his training!

Grandma and Bobo came to visit us tonight. Brody loves to play/torture his Bobo! We had a lot of fun attempting to make paper airplanes that would fly!

Addisen is a lot nicer to her Bobo!

Brody definitely has a mind of his own these days. Often too busy to talk on the phone to Grandma! But we did convince him to at least be in a picture!

We couldn't get Addisen to stop watching tv tonight - so we had to settle for this picture!

Hopefully next week we will have some more pictures of us playing outside!