Silly Girl

Papa bought Addie these cool sunglasses last weekend. Surprisingly she kept them on long enough to snap this awesome photo.

Nine before Ten

Since Addie is already more than nine and a half months, I think I better post her nine month pictures. Our little Addie girl is now a crawling machine. She loves to explore every nook and cranny of our apartment. I am finally having to baby proof our home. Besides crawling, she loves to just stand...stand, stand, and more standing. She can now stand up from a sitting position all by herself! We are just waiting for her to take her first step, but she does not seem the least bit interested in walking. Addie May is also quite a talker now. Her new words include: doggie, tickle, no, and hi. She can also sign "more." We are amazed at how fast our little girl is growing up. Are we really coming up to her first birthday in a couple months? Crazy! She is such a sweetie, and we love her cute little personality. Until next week...ten months!

I did not have any plain and simple smiling photos, so we chose a serious picture. It was a quick photo session this month.

Addie thought it was way more fun to get out of the chair than stay in it. Thus, the lack of photos.

This is proof of Addie's standing capabilities. She loves STANDING.

We have finally been experiencing some nice weather here in Chicago. So, Addie and I needed to get out one day. I thought a little photo session would be fun. So, we had Addie's friend Jaxon along to take some pictures. Isn't he so stinkin cute? Thanks for coming Jaxon!

Thanks

Thanks everyone so far for the comments and suggestions about the family photo. Yes the guy in the top right (Ben) was photoshopped in as he was not present for the photo shoot and I know there are a few legs missing along with many other flaws :) I am working with what I have. Before I work on correcting the lighting and and making it look more natural and all the little details I just needed to know which direction to take the photo. It would take forever to fix all of those flaws and touchup details on each one of the choices and I do not have that kind of time. Thanks again. I'll post again when I think I have it right before it is printed to see if any other changes should be made.

Eight is Great!

Addie turned eight months this past week. The months are just disappearing...I'm having a hard time keeping up! Addie's new thing is trying to pull herself up and insisting on standing up all the time. She is still being such a stinker about eating. Sometimes, the only way we can get her to eat is by having her stand up or playing baby einstein. Her second bottom tooth has also poked through. Addie can now wave (she waves to herself though) and gives high fives. She still doesn't have much hair except for a little bit of peach fuzz that has gotten a bit longer. Addie also had her first pedicure this month. Every time I see her little pink toenails, I can't help but smile. I LOVE having a little girl! We have so much fun.


Eight months already!


Addie loves to stand up. She must feel like such a BIG girl.


Doing Addie's toenails. She was really good about holding still. I think she enjoyed it just as much as I did.

The Past Week

Last Sunday, I thought I saw something in Addie's mouth. I was surprised to find a little tooth! She has been so happy lately that I had no idea she was teething. We will see how she does with the next few teeth...


This week, I was so tired of being inside our apartment that I was determined to go outside despite the temperature being 18 degrees. I bundled up Addie, and we headed out into the cold. After walking across the parking lot and around the closest apartment building, we headed home. There is nothing like the Chicago cold. It honestly takes your breath away.


Addie was so cute with David this week. I think she was loving having Daddy home for a change.


This picture is priceless. Addie loves her thumb, and we love her cheeks!

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.