California

After Christmas, we headed to California for a week. We stayed at Grandma Graham's house with the Grahams, Martinos, and Kochs. It was a full house, but the more, the merrier! We had so much fun hanging out with everyone. It was a week full of games, laughs, some shopping, great food, wonderful weather, and of course lots and lots of family. What a week!


Since we were all together (minus Ben who left the day before we got there), we took Graham family photos. This is a picture of all the cousins. So cute!


A picture of the whole fam. Love the funny faces!


Stealing a moment to ourselves! I love my husband.


I love Addie's face.


We went to visit the Hales while we were in California. Addie absolutely loved the dog! She just laughed and laughed! I guess she got it from her dad because I am definitely not a fan. Sorry!


The older cousins all hanging out with Dodo in our bed. I think they were watching videos on youtube. Sure looks like fun.


Girls night! It was a needed few hours of undisrupted girls talk and great food.


We rang in the New Year at the Grahams.


We had a little New Year's celebration with the kids before they all went to bed. Emily was in charge of all the kid entertainment. She was a pro! I don't know what we would do without Aunt Emily!


Steven, Melinda, and Grandma joined us at the Rose Parade. We woke up at 4:30 am to get a seat, but it was well worth the lack of sleep.


The three little girls in their matching dresses from Grandma. We took a ton of pictures, but this is the only one I had of all three of them facing forward. We have some wiggly babies.


Our little family enjoying the warm California outdoors.


I love this picture. Ali is such a good older cousin! Addie seems to be quite comfortable.

Christmas in Chicago

This year, I had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas (I work at night). Therefore, Dave and I spent our first Christmas on our own in Chicago...and it was a white Christmas! I was worried that we were going to feel lonely without all our family, but we had a wonderful Christmas with just our little family. David did a wonderful job making sure we covered all the usual traditions, getting the house cleaned, and making sure Santa didn't forget us in Chicago. I was pretty tired, but a nice family nap in the middle of opening presents fixed that. What a fun few days!


This year, we went to the North Pole (aka The Bass Pro Shop) to see Santa! It was too cute!


Most of the time, Addie has a hard time going to people she doesn't know, so Dave and I thought she was going to scream when we put her on Santa's lap. Surprisingly, she just stared at him! I bet she was thinking about pulling that beard the whole time. She LOVES to pull hair.


We went to the Zumsteg's home for Christmas Eve dinner. It was delicious as usual! We had a great time eating and visiting.


Santa came to our apartment! After a long night at work, I came home to find my rocker finished and in one piece (the last I knew of the rocker, it was in a million pieces in the closet outside). My sweet husband had been working on it all week to finish it for Christmas. He'd wait for me to leave for work, pack up Addie and all her stuff, drive to our friend's house, and work on the rocker until about 2 am. In the morning, he acted like nothing had happened all night. That was probably the sweetest present I have ever gotten. Not to mention, I am thrilled about having my rocker back, and David did an excellent job! I love you sweetie. Thank you!


Christmas Sunday. All of us in our new Christmas outfits.


Our sweet Addie May at 7 months. Her vocabulary now consists of "mama," "dada," and "baba". Still not crawling, but she either scoots (mostly in circles) or rolls to what she wants. She's a picky eater...meals are getting to be more of a production. Addie knows what she wants and does this fake cry until she gets it. Addie also got two colds in a row. So, she also does a fake cough to get our attention. It is hilarious. Dave and I get a kick out of it. She is such a joy! It is amazing to she how much she has changed our lives for the better. We love you Addie!

6 months and counting...

Addie is 6 months already! We can barely keep up! She is such a happy, fun, busy baby. Addie now weighs in at 17 lbs 14 oz and is 26.5 inches long. She sits up all by herself, laughs, screams, scoots, jumps in her jumperoo, and just started to say her first word "Dada." Is that fair to me? ;) She loves to cuddle when she's tired and eat applesauce, pears, and tonight green beans! Peas are definitely not her favorite. We absolutely love our little girl.


Addie's 6 month picture.


Addie's trip to the beach during our Thanksgiving trip.

From Addie May

Addie's 5 month picture. I know, we're a little late.


Addie was a bumble bee for Halloween. She was so good about keeping her costume on. What a cutie!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rice Cereal

Yesterday, Addie had her first experience with rice cereal. I was a little unsure of how this was going to go because Addie only likes breastmilk. Everything else that we have given her including sweet tasting medicines or vitamins, she spits out. To our surprise, Addie loved the rice cereal (I used breastmilk to water it down, so that may have helped). She kept trying to drink it instead of eating it, but she figured it out. In the end, we had a happy, messy baby!

David is getting a hang of this new rice cereal thing.

She was so happy!

I love this face. Addie was being so funny yesterday.

Addie had thrush for a second time. We used a new medication that turned her mouth purple and anything else that touched her mouth (which is everything). Luckily, the medication was very effective and cleared up the thrush in just a couple days. No more purple!

A Quick Trip Home

A couple weeks ago, Addie and I took a quick trip to California for Nana's birthday. We spent lots of time shopping, eating, and visiting. Of course, the best part was seeing family again! We had a blast! We can't wait for next month to go back!

Addie went swimming with the girls. She just loved being in the water! She would kick her chubby legs as we swirled her around.

Grandma Graham came for a visit! We missed Grandma Graham!

Addie met up with her older and wiser cousin June. We couldn't resist getting tons of pictures of these cute little girls. While we were taking pictures, Charlie was waving his hands back and forth trying to make the girls smile. I think that was my favorite part...thus, most of my pictures have tiny little hands at the bottom. It's a cute reminder of Charlie-boy.

Grandma Jonnie, Nana, Me, and Addie would go for a walk every morning. This was Addie before we left. I just love her chub!

A Golden Birthday

Happy Birthday sweetie! 28 on the 28th! Addie and I love you heaps and heaps. We are so lucky to have you forever. Kiss kiss.

My handsome honey buns.

Daddy Addie time. Addie absolutely loves her Daddy. Sometimes, only Daddy can make things better.

Addie actually loves this. I know it looks like she's crying in the picture, but Dave was actually trying to win her over by throwing her up and making her smile.

Four Months

Another month has come and gone! We absolutely love this age. Addie has quite the personality. She loves to talk, talk, talk, and scream... Our days are usually spent playing with her and holding her since she gets very upset when we turn our attention elsewhere. I think she got spoiled in California last week by all the doting family. Oh well, we don't mind. This past month was so much fun, and we are so excited for this next one!

My Mom Moment

Addie LOVES to cuddle, and I usually can't pass up an opportunity to cuddle up with my sweet girl. So this morning when Addie started to get sleepy for her nap, I picked her up and held her in my arms. After a few minutes of squirming around, she looked up at me with her beautiful blue eyes and smiled. Then she nestled her head into my chest and immediately fell asleep. I know, it sounds so insignificant, but to me it meant the world. I couldn't help but shed a few tears as I thought about how lucky I am to have this special little person in our home. I truly cherish each "mom moment". I don't think anything else can be quite as rewarding as being a mom. I love you my sweet Addie May.

Three Months

We can't believe our little girl is three months! Where has the time gone? Everyday is an unexpected adventure with our Addie May. She is our little cuddle bug who loves to talk and laugh at us. Don't be fooled by her cute, innocent pictures though because she can be a BIG stinker. She keeps us on our toes! We have loved these last three months with our little girl.

California Trip

In the beginning of July, we had the chance to go to California for a week. We had a fun filled week that started with a 4th of July parade in Huntington beach with the Kochs, Menloves, Uncle Steven, and Grandma Graham. We then headed down to the Hales beach house to meet all the Hales gang. We had Addie's baby blessing in Kenna's ward on Sunday. We was such a special day. Thanks to all those who came! The rest of the week consisted of visiting Grandma Graham's house and spending more time at the Hales beach house. This was Addie's first trip of many we hope to make to California in the future.