Twenty Six Weeks - Happy Father's Day!

Well I made it 26 weeks before buying the headbands - I just couldn't resist!

The highlight of this week was Addisen's allergic reaction. On Sunday night she started to break out in a rash and by Monday mid-morning she was red all the way to her hips! After seeing the doctor and getting some benadryl the rash stopped spreading. Of course through it all Addisen was as happy as could be. We still don't know what caused the rash, she really hadn't tried anything new since Friday night. So we will see if she stays rash clear! At the office they weighed her and she is now over 19lbs! I think she is starting to slow down on the weight gain, so hopefully we will get to continue using her infant carrier until she can sit up on her own!

Tonight Jim requested that we go to the Whitecaps Baseball game. It was a gorgeous night here and the kids had a great time with their Dad! We sat on the lawn and Brody enjoyed rolling around.

My photo star is starting to refuse pictures, so I have to take them when I can get them (however he is posed).

I may be biased, but even when he doesn't want to pose, he is still one of the cutest boys I know!

While Brody doesn't like to pose, Addisen is always smiles!

After some bribing we got a good picture with Dad! As you can see, the tattoos from last week were well worth their $1! I do admit that we have been taking "mini baths" because Brody didn't want to lose his tattoo.

I got everyone to look at the camera!

Today was our day of bargains - we found this spiderman at a garage sale for 25 cents and a Dinaco Helicopter (from the Cars Movie) at Goodwill for $1.99 - and of course these are now Brody's favorite toys!

She loves her Daddy! I foresee this being a picture shown at her wedding :)

Brody wanted to take some pictures with the camera tonight - while there were a lot of strange photos - this one turned out pretty cool!

Our little baseball player showing off his new tattoo on his right arm and new baseball hat (although he kept saying we were at a basketball game).

They were celebrating Japanese Baseball at the game tonight, so they let off these balloons that had valves on the end that make squeaking noises and shot through the air - it was pretty entertaining.

Hope everyone has a great Father's Day tomorrow! We sure are happy to celebrate our Daddy tomorrow!!!

Twenty Five Weeks - We have Teeth!

This is what Addisen looks like for most of the day - hands in her mouth :) Last Saturday night I discovered that there was a tooth popping through! And now today I saw that the second tooth on the bottom is just about ready to break through. I know Addisen will be very excited when she can start chewing on the food she watches us eat!

We spent the morning at the Start of Summer Festival in Rockford this morning. Both of the kids did really well at the Parade - Addisen didn't even flinch with all of the band and firetruck noise!

Brody enjoyed all of the people in the parade - but most of all he enjoyed the candy!

After the parade we headed down to the carnival. To start off the adventure, Brody felt like he needed to fit in - so he got two tattoos! Doesn't he have the perfect "tattoo" boy face?

I was so impressed at how much Brody had grown since we visited the carnival last year. I can remember the day clearly - I was extremely nauseated from being pregnant with Addisen! Brody was too scared to ride the rides alone last year - but this year we had a hard time keeping him off! What a big boy he is!

I was amazed at how fast this ride seemed to go - of course it was Brody's favorite!

The merry go round was the only one that Jim went with Brody on (mainly because I insisted)!

And of course we had to play a few games!

It was so cute when Brody went to get on this ride. There were a lot of open seats, but instead Brody decided to get on and sit right next to another little boy. It was so cute to watch them ride around talking with each other!

This week was another eventful one for us! On our way home on Monday I knew something wasn't quite right with Brody. I thought that maybe he was just tired, but about 1/2 way home I heard some coughing and then some splashing! I couldn't believe it - Brody had gotten sick in the car! That night Brody's temperature reached 104, needless to say I was really worried about him. Jim had to leave for California on Tuesday, so I stayed home with Brody and luckily he continued to improve. My mom came to stay the night to make sure that I was able to go to work on Wednesday - luckily everyone remained healthy for the remainder of the week!

I have my fingers crossed that Jim will not be traveling again for work for a few weeks. I feel like I have become so disorganized during the last 3 weeks, so it will be great to share some of the family life with Jim!

Twenty Four Weeks - Goodbye Hawk :(

I was planning on posting the picture of the newest edition to the fish tank, but unfortunately this is a hello and goodbye picture in one. Every night this week I have been researching different things to insure that goldfish remain healthy...I'm sad to say that I failed. While we were successful in saving Swimmy from the "ICK", I was not successful in saving Hawk. We found him on the bottom of the tank yesterday morning. Brody did better with it then I thought, but it did lead to a lot more discussion about death, a conversation I wasn't planning to have on Friday morning. He did agree to flush him down the toilet, and his comment "Wow, he went down fast!" We've decided that it is probably best that Swimmy live alone from now on, so we moved him up to Brody's room last night for his permanent housing.

Today was a gorgeous day! Brody and I had fun playing with water balloons this morning while Jim did prep work on our swing set. We were able to finally get the sand delivered for the surrounding area - it is starting to look good...but what a lot work!

Addisen has been a great baby today! She slept through breakfast this morning and also took her naps in her crib! That was a great help as we were working outside and it was way too hot for her today! She is developing a little more of a personality now, and still is as happy as ever!

She seems to be growing so fast! I decided today to try to capture some pictures documenting her "infant" stage, because before I know it she is going to be a toddler!

I was able to capture her cheeks too!

We started using the the jumparoo last weekend. She has started to master the jumping and likes to bounce and watch Brody. She definitely is becoming a lot more independent - she would rather plan on her own most of the time vs. being held.

At the beginning of the week I was giving the kids a bath and put some baby oil on Addisen's head to try to clear up the dry skin. Brody asked "what are you putting on baby Addisen?" I said "It's baby oil" He then said "Oil is only for tractors and trucks, not babies". I laughed and said "this is BABY oil, not the oil for cars." He said "Oh, it's to give her gas". All I could do was laugh. Thank God for cute little toddler moments (to help offset the many toddler meltdowns)!

Twenty Three Weeks - We are on the roll!

This week Jim traveled from Monday until late Thursday night - it was a LONG week for me! Grandma and Bobo were lifesavers and came to stay with us on Monday - Wednesday morning and then back again for dinner on Thursday. It meant so much to Brody (and me!).

I attempted to take Addisen's 5 month pictures this week, but they didn't turn out too well. I think it is a must to have at least 2 people here to entertain Brody and try to get Addisen to look at the camera.

This is one of my favorites from the session and it happened because Brody was walking past Addisen and she was mid falling over!

Anytime the "photo sessions" are set up, Brody must be a part of them! He usually lasts for about 2 pictures and then thinks it is boring. At least I get some good Brother and Sister pictures.

We had a very busy "medical" week this week. It started out last Sunday at the urgent care at my work - Brody had been bitten by a bug on Friday and it continued to swell up until it covered his whole forearm. While we were there getting that checked out, the doctor heard a heart murmur. As you can imagine I began to think the worst - and that was easy to do because I had gone alone assuming we would be in and out for the bug bite. So we left there with a prescription for steroids, an antibiotic and antihistamine - it was a trick to get Brody to take all of that medicine! Jim (knowing that I was not looking forward to a week of this alone without him) came up with a great idea for a sticker chart. Brody filled up his sticker chart - and today we are now the proud parents of another fish - Hawk (picture to come next week).

On Monday it was decided that we should follow up with a pediatric cardiologist for Brody's heart murmur. Our doctor was reassuring that it was most likely nothing, but better to get it checked out since no one had heard it in the past. We thought that it would be July before we would get an appointment, but they called on Thursday night with a cancellation for Friday - so I took it! Brody was the best patient! We were at the new Children's Hospital for 1 1/2 hours and Brody had an EKG and Echocardiogram done - he was impressed with seeing his heart on the computer screen! We are so thankful that everything turned out to be fine - he has two heart murmurs, but the doctor said that they are "innocent" and that they will not keep him from playing any sports or being as active as he would like to be! Just as I was starting to relax from this appointment, they called from Daycare and said Addisen was coughing a lot and wheezing - so in I went to pick her up. She didn't sound well to me, so I quickly took her to my work and had a doctor listen to her. She said the wheeze was actually coming from her throat - not her lungs. And there really wasn't anything we could do to help, she said that it was likely croup and we would just have to wait it out. Luckily, it seems to be getting better and today she only wheezed for a little while tonight.

Addisen continues to be the happiest baby I know! She is always full of smiles, especially first thing in the morning! The belly laughs have started to come on a more regular basis - and that is enough to make any one's day!

Tonight I was helping Brody build an airplane and turned to look at Addisen and this is what I saw! She offically rolled ALL the way over - and I missed it! I yelled for Jim to come and see, and of course she didn't do it again for us!

Big Brother Brody wanted to be part of the first rollover picture!

I am always trying to capture Addisen's expressions - it never turns out just right on the camera. She tends to give these gazes that are priceless...but of course they change right before I snap the picture!

I was able to see Addisen rollover again right before I took this video - but of course she did it right after Jim left the room. So I decided to video her so that he could witness her. What a big girl!

My friend,Erica, that I had posted about earlier, had her baby, Grace, on Tuesday at 32 weeks. She was a beautiful girl who got to spend a day with her family before being taken back to heaven. Please add Erica and her family to your prayers. I cannot imagine experiencing what they have gone through in the last 8 months - it is something that no parent should have to face. I admit I have been holding Addisen and Brody for just a little longer each day this week - I am so thankful to be able to have all of this time with my beautiful and healthy children.

Twenty Two Weeks

The big event for Addisen this week is that she is ROLLING over! Although she does not like to totally roll to her stomach, she has proven that she can roll her bottom half all the way! At night we always laugh because she moves herself all around her crib. Jim jokes that if we didn't have her in her crib she would make her way down the hallway.

I just love this picture. I think it captures Addisen's personality so well. She is the happiest baby that I know and can light up a room in minutes! We are so blessed to have her in our lives!

Of course I have to follow that up with a picture of Brody - this captures his personality too! He is the LIFE of the party! It has been a great week for him to just be a kid! For those blog followers from Jim's family - I think Brody looks SO MUCH like his cousin Jordan in the picture!

This Sunday we had an interesting Sunday night dinner! My mom had bought cow corncob holders for Brody a few weeks ago, so it was time to use them! Brody was so excited to attach the head and butts! That night he had also watched one of his shows and it was teaching kids how to use chop sticks. So Jim attempted to teach Brody how to use them...it was more of Jim feeding Brody.

The highlight of Brody's week was CHUCK E CHEESE! He has been asking for us to take him there for months! We have never talked to him about it, but it appears that the kids at daycare have been sharing stories! Jim took Thursday off to spend the day with Brody and surprised him by taking him to Chuck E Cheese. Jim even convinced me to go with them over my lunch hour. I have to admit that it wasn't as bad as I feared (I definitely recommend going there early afternoon on weekdays!). Brody's reaction to the whole experience was priceless! He is still talking about it today (and asking over and over again if we can go again now).

Tonight we went to Relay for Life in Rockford. We have been going for the past few years because most of the booths have games for kids to play. Brody had a great time winning little prizes, getting his face painted and even convincing us to let him catch (and keep) a goldfish! It is pretty impossible to tell such a cute little boy no! So we are now the proud parents of a goldfish named "swimmy"! You will notice in the picture that there is a net over his bowl...I insisted on taking precautionary steps to make sure swimmy doesn't become a jumper! Jim and I are hoping that swimmy makes it at least a week...we'll see - it may be a late night run to a store for a new swimmy one of these nights :)

Twenty One Weeks - Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's Day a day early this year since Jim was running in the Kalamazoo Marathon on Sunday. I received the greatest gifts from Jim and the kids. Brody picked me out "an angel with a stick" (really a wooden angel with a flute) and Jim bought me a pandora bracelet with 3 beads from the kids.

We headed to Kalamazoo on Saturday afternoon and met my parents at the hotel. Brody was excited to go swimming and I was excited to put Addisen in her first swimsuit! Unfortunately the pool was crazy, so Addisen just lounged on the side with my mom.

We gave my mom a collage of pictures for her Mother's Day present. Brody was very excited to help her open it. Although this Mother's day was celebrated in an unconventional way, we had a great time being with Grandma and Bobo!

Sunday ended up being a beautiful day. Addisen gave me the best Mother's Day present by sleeping through the night in the hotel (wish I could say the same for Brody). We were able to watch Jim run past in 3 different spots. At the first stop Brody even got to hand Jim a refill on his water - that just made his day! Addisen was a trooper through it all and did really well considering she didn't get to take a long nap that morning.

Jim did great in the Marathon. He had set a goal of finishing in under 4 hours. Unfortunately he did not meet that goal - but finished in 4 hours and 3 minutes! It was so close and a great time for the difficult (hilly) course! We are so proud of our daddy!

We almost forgot - but remembered right before bed to get a picture of me with my babies! I am so lucky to have a happy and healthy family! I was reminded of that today when I went to visit a friend from Pharmacy School. She and her husband have been through such a roller coaster ride in the last 6 months. She is currently in the hospital 30 weeks pregnant with their second child (a little girl, Grace). They found out earlier in the pregnancy that there were complications. In the beginning they were told that their daughter had a 0% chance of survival, and now she is in the hospital with hopes that there may be a chance that baby Grace will be able to survive outside the womb. Visiting with her today reminded me just how lucky we are to have all of the people we love in our lives, especially healthy children. My heart goes out to her and her family in this difficult time of uncertainty. If you have a spare moment today, please pray for strength for my friend Erica and her husband Brad.

Twenty Weeks - All About Food!

Our original plans were to wait a few more weeks to start Addisen on cereal, but as you can see we started this week. Addisen had started to wake up around 12-1am instead of making it until 3am, so I thought lets give it a try! And....SHE LOVED IT! She is so happy to see the food coming on the spoon - she just laughs and smiles the whole time you are feeding her! We have only experimented with oatmeal and peaches so far, but not surprisingly, she loves her food.

Staying with our "Food Theme", Brody and I made ourselves some pizzas for dinner last night. He had a great time and enjoyed "tasting" all of the ingredients the most. It seems like if Brody is able to participate in making dinner he is more likely to eat it. So we have been trying to come up with ways to include him in cooking.

Earlier in the week I decided to try Addisen out in her Bumbo seat. She is always trying to sit up while you are holding her, so I figured she would enjoy "sitting" on her own. It was fun to watch her discover her feet!

I really can't believe how big Addisen is! I know everyone tells me that she is a healthy girl - and I by no means think there is something wrong with her, but am just amazed at how much she can grow every week. Today she went to school in 9 month clothes...and they really weren't that big on her! My baby girl is only 20 weeks old and wearing 9 month clothes! I just feel like she is growing up so fast (well maybe growing out more than up!). I am starting to come to terms with the fact that she will not be wearing the CUTE 6 month summer outfits I had bought for her :( It is just crazy that Brody was such a small guy and Addisen is the opposite! I wouldn't change her for the world...I just really wanted to hang on to my "little" baby longer!

I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day Weekend! We will be celebrating the day cheering Jim on during his 2nd Marathon! I will be posting pictures next week of the big race.

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