Addie is One!

One Year Old!

I can't believe Addie is one. This has been the fastest year I've ever had. She has grown and developed so much, it is incredible how much she has learned in such a short time. Addie is the greatest blessing we've ever had. She is our little sunshine and makes everything so much more fun. She keeps us laughing and never ceases to amaze me.

Just born

Addie was the most beautiful little baby I had ever seen. She was so teeny, weighing only 6 lbs 2 oz. The first week was such a shock to our systems. I remember freaking out when Jarom had to go back to work and it was just me and Addie. How would I go to the bathroom?! Jarom would come home and see that I hadn't even left the house (or the living room) and would take us out, even if only to drive around and look at Christmas lights.

First Week2nd WeekBy the 3rd week I was starting to adjust. Addie only wanted to sleep in our bed, and I was so worried I'd roll over on her, I barely slept. Her little personality was already starting to show, and we started to venture out more. I was so afraid we'd get out and need something that I'd almost pack up her entire room. When the doctor told us she wouldn't see us again until 8 weeks I again freaked... How would I know she was growing and getting enough to eat?!

3rd Week4th WeekFirst Christmas

Somehow we survived the first month and Christmas was fun. We were so exhausted by the end of the day Jarom and I both fell asleep at Mom's. Mom held Addie until after midnight while Jarom and I slept on the couches.

Christmas Eve5 Weeks & Blessing7 weeks2 MonthsBy 2 months we really started having fun. We got Addie to sleep in her bed and she was grinning and loved to be talked to.

2 1/2 Months3 MonthsSomewhere between 3 and 4 months Addie turned into a big girl. She became very opinionated and wanted to do things herself and was frustrated when her body wouldn't cooperate. She started standing and really loved cereal!

4 Months5 MonthsBy 6 months, we were always on the go. Addie enjoyed getting out of the house and seeing everything, so we went out all the time, even if just to window shop. She started sitting up which completely changed our world. She would sit and watch tv, play with her toys, or play with her toes for longer periods of time and I finally felt like I could leave her in a room for longer than a few seconds without disaster!

6 MonthsFirst Vacation- 6 1/2 Months7 MonthsBy 7 months Addie wanted to eat everything. Baby food was the yummiest stuff ever...

7 Months7 1/2 Months8 MonthsAddie started crawling which really changed things at 9 months. She started to follow me around the house and started to get into everything!

9 Months10 months was a blast. Addie had mastered crawling and loved to dance, play, eat, and finally started sleeping better again. She was all grins and fun, and loved being around people.

10 Months11 Months 11 1/2 Months Addie is so much fun. She "sings" along at church now, "talks" nonstop and expects you to respond. If you don't respond she gets up in your face and tells you again. She is getting really good at following directions and will bring me toys, follow me, etc. when I tell her to. She only eats our food now and is pretty much sleeping through the night. She cruises along the furniture and is trying to stand on her own, but isn't there yet. She prefers to feed herself, loves baths but hates to get out, loves stuffed animals, loves to go shopping and to see other people. Whenever Addie and I go to a store and she sees a stuffed animal, she says bear over and over until I finally hand it to her. She loves on it through the entire store and then I either have to sneak it away from her or buy it. All too often I buy it, and when I do, she acts like I am the best person in the world, other than the stuffed animal of course. She will kiss all over the stuffed animal and say "ooohhhh" over and over. Addie loves to play with Maclane, they laugh nonstop when they are together. Addie loves to call people on the phone. She loves jewelry and if she goes missing I always find her in our bedroom digging jewelry out of my jewelry box, arms covered in bracelets. 12 Months We celebrated Addie's birthday Saturday night with a party and then had a special Sunday dinner. Addie was so excited to get her presents and loved looking in gift bags. Jarom and I bought Addie 200 balls. Seriously. We took a play yard and filled it with the air-filled balls to make her a ball pit and Addie was SO appreciative. She played and squealed and laughed in the balls for a good 30 minutes. Now her thing is to throw all of the balls out and then once she gets out, she likes to throw them in. Unfortunately her throwing out is much faster than her collecting, so I end up doing most of it.

Addie loved everyone singing to her and acted sheepish. She wasn't too sure about the cake, and it took some help from Dad and her own fork before she started to dig in.

Enjoying her cake Time for another bathLoving her bear from Uncle Bob post bathAddie with her ball pit, she LOVED it if you can't tell... SO excited over the balls

Addie was so exhausted after her party she fell asleep on Jarom while watching tv

Addie turning one is so bittersweet. I love to watch her grow, but at the same time it makes me so sad that her time being little is so short. I try to savor each moment, but it still goes so fast. I love my beautiful baby girl and I love being a Mom.

Booboo

I was trying to read everyones blogs this morning and Addie wanted to play on the computer. She kept scrolling down and so all I could see were pictures of her on my blog. She kept pointing to the pictures so I asked her who it was. Her reply "booboo". Booboo is Jarom's pet name for her.

All of us

It was a frigid day... So we had to cut short the outdoor photos and Kim was so sweet to let us take a few at her house to finish up! Take a peek!

Addie!

Yesterday we got some of Addie's year pictures made at Kim's. I couldn't be more pleased!!! Check out our sneak peak!!! I was really worried I'd have to cancel because Tuesday we took Addie to the doctor and she has double ear infections, but they gave her a shot and she woke up a new baby Wednesday. Addie has to go back to the doctor today for another shot and a round of antibiotics (the Dr said her ears were the worst he'd seen that week). Aren't her pictures adorable?!

I have to document a few of Addie's cute things she does recently. Now whenever she or anyone else for that matter burps or poots she looks sheepish and says "uh Oh...".

She loves to talk on the phone now and actually "chats" to whoever is on the phone. Today she called Jarom and Grandma. She told Jarom "dada, dad, daaaaad, gibberish, mom, half-chuckle, daaaaaaddddddd". Grandma's call consisted of "dad, mama, lots of grins, followed by other random words and sounds".

Addie loves to make choices. I let her choose between usually two foods, outfits, books, toys, etc. whenever we do things. She studies her choices for a moment then either grabs the one she wants or pushes away the one she doesn't want. When I go with her choice I am rewarded with a mega grin.

Addie has to be a big girl about 90% of the time now. She hates her sippy cups, cups with straws, chopped up foods, and pureed baby food is out of the question. She feels she must have her drinks in a cup, sandwiches must be only quartered, she wants pizza sliced like ours, and if we don't abide by this she will either refuse to eat or drink or will whine and try to grab ours from us. Occasionally she will allow me to cut up her food or will drink from a sippy cup, but only if the food/drink are so enticing she can't pass it up. Chocolate milk is one constant exception I've found to her big girl rule. She gulps down chocolate milk like someone is trying to steal it from her.

Addie makes the "awww" sound whenever she gives us hugs (loves) and kisses (sugars). If I make the "aww" sound when she is near, she will collapse on me in a hug and sometimes reward me with a kiss.

Addie loves to dance now. She was asleep when we got to the mall the other day so I just put her car seat in her stroller and went in. When she woke up she didn't want to have anything to do with the car seat so I unbuckled her and let her sit up in the seat. She decided to stand in her seat, holding on to the back of the car seat so rather than fight it, I just held onto her back as I pushed the stroller. She heard the music and started bumping to it. As we went from store to store she would change the rhythm of her bopping to the music. She loves music with a lot of bass. She kept me and everyone else at the mall grinning.

Tomorrow we get our family pictures made by Kim, so look on her blog for that tomorrow or Saturday!

4 Year Anniversary

Today Jarom and I reached our four year wedding anniversary! I can't believe how fast time has passed, but in other ways it seems like we've always been together. He is my handsome hubby, my best friend, my confidante, my rock, my bug killer, my sweetheart.

The past four years have only made me love him more. I enjoy nothing more than cuddling up and watching TV with him. He is a true homebody, but somehow, I have come to really enjoy just sitting.

The most important thing I think I've learned over the past four years is how to really compromise. I am a very stubborn person and like to do things my way, so this came hard for me, but Jarom sweetly put up with me until we reached an agreement. I am so thankful for my Jarom. I love him more each and every day. I am so thankful that we were sealed together forever in the temple and that our sweet baby girl is ours forever as well.

Four things you might or might not know about us:
1. We love to dream big. I'm talking huge. We want to be millionaires (at least). We love to dream about our next home and have the same taste in styles, so we discuss it constantly! One of our favorite things to do is to drive around and look at houses. And watch out if they are having an open house, we have to go through them. We will have to build or remodel our next home because our "wants" list is huge. Tonight we decided a built in heater on the wall in the bathroom is a must! Gosh those things are so darn great. If I have to move the one from our house now I will.
2. We got married after dating only 4 months. Shocker, I know. If Addie does it, we'll kill her! :) But when you know, you know, so why wait?
3. We love to grill out. Food tastes so much better off of a grill. (We grilled steak tonight and it was SO good!) We also love gourmet hot chocolate and ciders, chocolate crocodile apples, Italian food, chocolate milk, and milkshakes. We seriously have chocolate milk with dinner almost every night.
4. We love pajamas and blankets. We love to be in our comfy clothes, watching TV, drinking our hot chocolate and playing with Addie. (Addie also loves the hot chocolate). We love watching shows like Pushing Daisies, Greys Anatomy, and Life. We have many other favorites, but these were the first I thought of.

How NOT to fry a turkey...

1. Ignore your wife when she tells you to heat the oil to 350 degrees. Instead, heat oil to 550 degrees.

2. Why doesn't the packaging or receipt give the weight of the turkey? Lets weigh it this way!

3. Rub Cajun seasoning all over turkey. (this is one of the only things done right)

4. Lower turkey in oil. So far so good. (Ignore again that oil is supposed to be at 350).

5. Check to see if turkey is done. When the turkey starts to slip off the drainer, grab drainer with your hand.... 2nd degree burns did ensue for Jarom. (Probably wouldn't have been so bad if the oil hadn't been 200 degrees hotter than it was supposed to be!)

6. Turkey isn't quite done so lets put it back in. Oops, went in a little too fast, splash, ouch, Uncle Bob got a grease burn on his nose.

7. Leave turkey in another 5 minutes....

8. Raise your newly formed charcoal briquette out of the oil.

9. Try to salvage the remaining turkey once you chisel through the burnt outside. Never mind the fact that all of the Cajun seasoning is now burnt completely up.

10. Nurse wounds the rest of the evening.

Our casualtiesI'm glad we did a practice run before Thanksgiving! It would not have been fun trying to find a cooked turkey on Thanksgiving Day an hour before our meal! I do need to mention that Jarom and Uncle Bob finally realized the oil was too hot, let it cool and cooked chicken quarters to golden crispy perfection. That will be Monday's dinner.

This was Addie's favorite part of the meal. Actually, we had put a straw in it so she could have some of Jarom's and then he set it back on the coffee table and was watching TV while I cleaned dishes. I came in to grab some more dishes and this is what I found. Addie had pulled up to the table and was helping herself.

Give Thanks IV

I am so thankful for Daddies! Addie adores Jarom and always has a blast with him. He thinks of things I would never think of to do with her and keeps her laughing. They play so hard together that they are both pooped by bedtime.

Addie after Jarom gave her an OreoOn another note, I am so thankful for SUCKERS!!! Addie has been on some nasty tasting antibiotics to help clear up her runny nose and it is an all out fit when I try to give it to her. Tuesday Addie had a death grip on a peppermint that had fallen out of our Steak Out bag, so I crushed it and gave her little pieces. In between bites I put the dropper up to her mouth and she actually sucked all of the medicine out of it! I was shocked. So for the last few nights I give Addie a sucker from leftover Halloween candy and let her lick away, and she takes the medicine like a pro. It has worked like a charm. Luckily today is the last day of that! Addie's been really good at sharing lately and wants to feed everyone around her while she eats. She especially loves sharing her suckers.

Addie playing in Daddy's turkey fryer boxAt Enrichment, Mom gave Addie a fork and Addie started feeding herself with it! I guess I've never really thought to do it, but Addie thought she was so big! We had to help her get the food on it sometimes, but then she got it into her mouth and would try to get more.
Here are a few cute pictures of Jarom running around with Addie in the Target parking lot. Addie had fallen asleep in the car and slept through most of our trip so we just left her in her car seat. She was really wanting to get out until Jarom starting running around.

Cheesy grin