Happy 4th!

 

I love her.

Lincoln Park Zoo

We recently visited the Lincoln Park Zoo. Now, this zoo is not like any other zoo I've ever been to before...it is right in downtown Chicago with skyscrapers on every side and it's FREE! Thus, people would just be walking through the zoo to get somewhere or going on their daily run through the zoo. How fun would that be! Anyways, we had a wonderful time at the zoo. Some of our favorite animals included the giraffe, the tiger, the rhino, and, of course, the polar bear. Addie liked the animals and would point when she was actually paying attention. But I think she LOVED walking all by herself more! Miss Independent! It was another fun Chicago adventure.

 

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the man I love. There is something special about a Dad and his daughter-a bond, a trust, a love. I could watch David and Addie play all day. It melts my heart. Dave, thanks for all you do for me and Addie. We love you. I'm so glad that we have a day to celebrate Dads. They deserve it.

The Birthday Girl

Guess who had a birthday!?! Our Addie May is 1! Wow, that seemed like the fastest year of my life. I try to enjoy each and every day because I know tomorrow she was be a day bigger, older, and wiser. ;) Sometimes, I wish I could keep her as my little baby forever...but part of the joys of parenthood is seeing your child learn and grow. It still amazes me how much they change over the course of this first year. What an adventure! Addie is such a sweet, independent little girl. We are so LUCKY! We love our little one year old.

The final 12 month photo with the bear. It is hard to image that she was about bear-size a year ago.

 

This photo captures the little personality of our Addie May. Screaming is what she does BEST!

 

The Birthday Girl. Thanks to Grandma Marilyn for the cute, party dress.

 

I got called off of work on Addie's birthday, so I quick put together some cupcakes, candy, and lanterns for a small little birthday celebration. Here's our little birthday girl ready for some fun!

 

Like everything else, Addie had to try to touch the flame of the candle! Luckily, we were right there to prevent a birthday burn.

 

Mom helping Addie blow out the candle.

 

Addie picked off the frosting of her cupcake first. Eventually, she nibbled on some of the cupcake. Addie is a VERY slow eater...so this was a long process.

 

PRESENTS! Finally, Addie has some new toys to play with! Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes and presents. We heart you!

 

A Weekend Away

Last weekend, my grandparents came into town and invited us to stay with them downtown. Lucky for us, it just happened to be our 4 year anniversary! We stayed in a hotel right on Michigan Ave. We had TONS of fun just visiting, walking around, shopping, going to the symphony (which was absolutely amazing), and eating some delicious food. After the grandparents left, Dave, Addie, and I walked to Navy Pier. We decided to ride the ferris wheel...I have to be honest, I was totally freaked out. The ferris wheel goes SO high, and while you do get a great view of the city, you also get a great view of how far away the ground is. We had such a wonderful weekend in the city. Thanks gma and gpa for the good times!

 

P.S. Happy Anniversary to my sweet Honey Buns! What a fun, love-filled 4 years it has been!

All In A Day's Work

Dave and I have been wondering when this moment would occur... Addie finally decided she was ready to walk all in one day!

Happenings

It happened. Addie is now ten months going on eleven! I thought she was going to be my LITTLE baby forever. I wouldn't exactly call Addie "little" anymore. She is our cute, little rascal who loves to cuddle, read books, get into most things, play with anything that makes noise, and see/pet DOGGIES. One of Addie's first words was doggie. To David's delight, she's obsessed! My apologies to those dog lovers out there (2 of which reside in my home), but I am not a fan of dogs. The other day she found the DVD UP, squealed with glee, started saying, "doggie" over and over again, and crawled right to the TV. Yes, she is absolutely in LOVE. And I am in LOVE with her. After ten months of having her brighten each and every day, we have a hard time remembering what life was like before our Addie May. What a blessing she has been in our lives! We cannot thank our Heavenly Father enough for sending us this sweet girl.


It has FINALLY started warming up in Chicago! Thank goodness! Addie and I headed out to the Botanical Gardens for an afternoon. We had fun walking around and looking at a lot of dirt and bare trees...spring has not sprung in the gardens. Oh well, we had fun taking some pictures.





The Easter Bunny came to the Graham home on Sunday! Addie found her easter basket with some fun goodies. The Easter Bunny also hid some plastic eggs filled with baby treats. I thought Dave and I were going to have to help her find all the eggs, but to our surprise Addie quickly realized that the eggs had yummy things to eat inside. She crawled from egg to egg, eating what was inside, and then moving on to the next egg. It was hilarious...good times.

Addie loves her Daddy. He usually has to go to the library to study because we have a hard time leaving him alone if he is home. Daddy tried to study at home recently, and Addie wanted to help. Probably not the most effective studying partner, but she sure is cute.

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.