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!

Fourteen Weeks - What a Happy Baby!

Happy Birthday Uncle Neal!

I was hoping that our little spring flower would bring some warm temperatures! We were spoiled last week with the chance to go for a walk at night, but this week old man winter was back again!

Last night we put Addisen in the exersaucer for the first time. She enjoyed looking at the new scenery for about 5 minutes! She is gaining pretty good control of her head, but hates tummy time! So I thought this might be another way to strengthen her muscles.

I did her 3 month photo session last Sunday. The pictures didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped - but we did manage to get a few good ones.

This week went fairly well, but we were all tired by the end! Addisen slept thru the night two more times this week! It was such a great surprise...we must be getting closer to a nightly occurrence:) She has decided that her bedtime is around 8-8:30 each night, so that allows for Jim and I to have some "grown up time". She definitely is becoming more aware of her surroundings and enjoys looking at her hands and sucking on them! And boy does she like to move - if you lay her on the floor she just kicks and kicks!

Thirteen Weeks - Back to work!

I started back to work on Monday morning and that meant that the kids were both on their way to daycare. Jim took this picture on Monday morning - I thought that we all did pretty well with the transition, but looking at this picture it makes me laugh at how depressed we all looked!

On Sunday Addisen was baptized - what a great day it was! We were so happy that Chrissy was able to be here and agreed to be Addisen's Godmother!

We stayed in a hotel with the kids for the first time on Saturday night. It was the first time Brody has slept in a "big bed" in the same room as Jim and I. At about 4 in the morning we were all awake! Brody woke up asking a million questions when he saw that Jim and I were in the room. Then Addisen was up to eat, followed by the need to have a whole outfit change due to a blow out! I think it was another hour until we were all asleep again!

It was a LONG weekend and both of the kids were ready for naps on Sunday afternoon. Addisen was so tired that she even slept through the night for the first time on Sunday night! I was so grateful to her for making my transition back to work just a little easier!

This week we had great weather! Addisen and Brody were able to go outside to play for a little while after we got home.

Aunt Chrissy was a big hit with Brody and Addisen! She was great at playing hide and seek and putting Addisen right to sleep!

Addisen celebrated her Three month birthday and St. Patrick's day on Thursday. Her hair is starting to take one a red hue - so she fit in with the Irish theme!

Hopefully I will have a chance to get some 3 month portraits done this weekend! I hope everyone has a great week - hopefully this week will go a little easier for us as we continue to transition to the "real world".

Twelve Weeks - Time to return to work!

The big event this week is preparing for Addisen's Baptism! She will be baptized on Sunday at the church where I was baptized, Jim and I were married and Brody was baptized. We are so excited that Nanny and Aunt Chrissy are able to come all the way from Pennsylvania for the big day! I took the opportunity to take some photos of Addisen in her baptism gown yesterday (it will be our last midweek photo session since I will be returning to work on Monday!).

I can't believe that it has been 12 weeks since Addisen was born. It seems like just yesterday I was at the hospital (it is kind of crazy how you can remember everything about the day your children are born!). I am coping with the idea of going back to work and leaving Addisen with Brody at daycare starting on Monday. I took her in a few times this week to drop off some of her things and visit with the ladies that will be taking care of her. Luckily I have her baptism to focus on right now too. We will see how my post is for next week! The good news for Jim and I is that Addisen has started only getting up 1 time a night!

This morning Brody and I made a fort in the sun room so he could watch a movie in his "house". It only lasted about 30 minutes before he started to destroy it...but at least it was fun while it lasted!

I hope everyone has a great week! I will post pictures of our week back to the real world and Addisen's baptism next week.

Eleven Weeks (Where does the time go?)

We started out the week with Addisen's two month doctor's appointment. I was sad to have to see her get her first set of vaccinations, but excited to hear how much she weighed! Our little girls is already up to 12 lbs 4.5oz (75th percentile), 24 inches long (90th percentile) and just like her brother her head is large (75th percentile). It is a little different having a bigger baby - Brody was always so skinny and we didn't have the rolls around his neck and thighs! Maybe this will mean that Addisen will be a better eater than Brody is!

This week Brody started his "Sports sampler" at the local YMCA. They started out with soccer and Brody really enjoyed the class. He wasn't willing to go out on the floor by himself, but as long as Jim was with him he did pretty well. I am looking forward to watching him try out golf, football, baseball and rock climbing in the coming weeks!

Many of you may not have known, but Dr. Seuss had a birthday on Wednesday! While at daycare Brody made a special hat, read some of his books and celebrated with a pizza party to honor the great guy!

This week Addisen's smiles have been coming more often and I have finally been able to capture a few more on film. She is doing pretty well with sleeping at night and seems to be getting on somewhat of a routine.
I took Addisen in to daycare this week to meet her teacher, Ms. Terry. She is the same woman that took care of Brody. I know that Addisen will be in good hands, but I think I am going to have a really hard time going back to work in another week! It just all seems a little overwhelming to me right now - I wish I could just get paid to stay home!

Addisen has really started to notice Brody a lot more. She loves to watch him and gives him a lot of smiles! He returns the love with squeeze hugs and kisses - he is such a great big brother (I hope they are this nice to each other in another year when she is on the move)!

Ten Weeks! Bring on the Smiles!

I tried my hardest to catch Addien's smiles on film this week! They are coming a lot more often and are just so cute! You know she really means it mean she scrunches up her nose (this isn't the best picture of her, but the only one I could get)!

Brody is home with me today so we set up the "photo studio" again to capture some pictures. The best ones were from just setting the camera on the tripod and shooting with the remote! I just love the pictures of Addisen sitting up and smiling (above).

I realized I have very few pictures of me and the kids (because I am normally the one taking the pictures). So I thought we would try to get some today and it worked! These are some of my favorite pictures to date! I love my kids!

Addisen has become more alert this week and actually stays awake for multiple hours at a time. This allows her to get in some time with her favorite friend, "Toucan Sam" (this was Brody's favorite friend when he was a baby too!).

Before we were done with pictures today, Brody had to get a shot of his airplane! His favorite part of pictures is to take them and then run to the camera to look at them. Today he told me that I was taking way too many!

Addisen's sleeping habits have been up and down. Just when I think we are getting somewhere she starts to revert back to just a few hours of sleep. We were waiting to move her to her room until she was sleeping better, but it didn't seem like that was ever going to happen! So last night I made the decision to move her to her crib (although I thought about taking it back when it was bedtime!). She wouldn't fall asleep until after her feeding at 12:30am, but then to my surprise she made it until 4:30am and then again until 7:30am. That was a pretty good night for her (especially for sleeping in a new room). Now all we have to do is get her to fall asleep at a reasonable hour!