catch up...

I guess you could say blogging is not high on my priority list seeing as how I haven't done it in almost a year. Its been a busy but fun year, Addy is growing up way too fast and becoming less like a baby and more like a little kid everyday. Since I last left off with Addy being 9 months old I will catch up from there by posting her 9-12 month book that I made for her. Since so much of my world revolves around pictures I like a lot of them so making Shuttefly books is the way that I document things instead of blogging I suppose. I am still working on her 13-18 month book but once I finish that one I will put it up on the blog as well.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Start your own Shutterfly Photo Book today.

The life of a 9 month old.

Well since I have taken quite a break from blogging I guess it is time for a quick catch up. Addy is now 9 almost 10 months old and I am having a hard time believing that. Where did my little brand new baby go!? She has such a fun personality and puts a smile on my face everyday. She has mastered the army crawl and is pretty quick at it. She will get up on her hands and knees and stay there and look like she will crawl normally and then flop to her stomach and take off. It is pretty funny to watch. She is pulling to stand but mostly just kneels up to our furniture and tries to see what she can get her hands on next. She loves pulling her basket of toys over and sitting in the middle of them and playing to her hearts content, until I leave the room that is. She is a mama's girl for sure and pretty much has to be in the same room as me at all times. She is very aware of strangers and will cling to me if they talk to her. She even gets concerned when her grandparents or Aunts come to talk to her. She won't let anyone but Mom or Dad hold her for too long before she starts to whine and cry. She loves to rip up our Ensign magazines that I keep in a basket under our end table, and she loves to eat. That girl can put away more food then you would believe a 9 month old could. She is sleeping through the night which is wonderful, it is so great to get a full nights rest again. She loves being outside so I am grateful that it has warmed up and we can spend the afternoon outside playing with the other little kids who live in our apartment complex. We recently took a family trip to Zion National Park, I was nervous to see how Addy would do since it was her first time not sleeping in her own bed, in her own room, but she did great. We brought along a few of her favorite toys and things we keep in her crib at home and I think that helped her to sleep well. She wasn't a huge fan of hiking in the hiking backpack but we still went on a few shorter hikes. She loved the swimming pool at the hotel which made me happy, with our two trips to Lake Powell and one trip to Hawaii this summer we are going to be spending a lot of time in the water so I was glad that she liked it. Nothing has changed much with Andrew and I. My schedule is Addy's schedule and our daily routine revolves around her mood, when she will be hungry, and nap time. It is nice now to have predictable nap times so I can better judge when I can get certain things done that require two hands and the ability to walk around without a baby attached to my ankle. My Primary calling is still going well and I am really enjoying it. I have been doing a few photo shoots the past couple of months and it has been nice to get out there and take pictures again. I did 3 shoots for the University of Utah, specifically the Graduate School which was fun and challenging. I've also done a few family photo sessions and a few senior sessions. It has kept me busy and given me a chance to do what I love. Andrew is staying busy with work, his calling, and going to grad school. He is almost a year away from graduation and I am not sure who is happier, me or him. Well not much else is going on. The day to day grind continues but we're happy and I guess that is all that matters.

Addy at 6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

and one of my favorites, just for good measure.

The Holidays

January already!? Time goes way too fast. We had a great holiday season spent with lots of family and enjoying the festivities. For Thanksgiving we spent it with my family. We had two dinners this year, one with my Mom and the extended family on her side and then another with my dad and siblings. We ate a lot, made some memories and ate some more. Then the busy weeks getting ready for Christmas came and went and suddenly Christmas was upon us. Addy turned 5 months old on christmas eve and just a few days before that learned how to roll from her stomach to back and from back to stomach in just a few days of each other. She showed no desire to move up until the day she rolled now she wont stay in one place for long. Once she figures out the crawling thing I know we will be in trouble. Addy didn't have much interest in her presents, just the paper they were wrapped in. She had fun trying to shove the paper in her mouth and crinkling it up. As I expected she got spoiled, and I took part in that spoiling. It was a fun first Christmas with Addy, and I'm sure they can only get better. Andrew and I also celebrated our third anniversary. We went to dinner at an italian restaurant in Provo and then to an improve comedy show. It was fun, three years has gone by so fast. Andrew's mom came down to watch Addy so we could go out, I still have a little anxiety about leaving Addy. I guess that is bound to happen when I spend every waking minute with her on my hip, and when she is not there it sort of feels like a part of me is missing. Now that she can roll over she is a little more content to play on her own for a while. She doesn't like it when I leave the room and she can't see me anymore so as long as I mover her from room to room with me she will play contently for a while. We also started her on solid food after her 4 month appointment. She hadn't gained much weight since her 2 month so the dr. said to try some solids and see if that would help her put on a few pounds. She loves and I mean LOVES the solids. So far she has eaten everything I have given her and will often try to taste whatever I am eating as well. she likes to suck on apple and orange slices in her little fruit mesh holder thing (don't know the official name for it) and is still putting anything and everything in her mouth even it if doesn't belong there. She likes to play with her cousin Norah who is 4 months older then her. They spend the majority of the time trying to poke and scratch each others eyes out but they seem to like each other, which will be fun for them to grow up together and have fun. She is still a pretty good sleeper most nights only waking up once maybe twice and every now and then will sleep through the night. She is laughing so much more, usually at me as I make a fool of my self trying to get her to laugh, but there is just something about baby laughs that make the day so much better. My calling as the Primary Secretary is keeping me busy and I am enjoying being in the Primary, It is the perfect calling for me to have with Addy who does not like to stay sitting for very long. Andrew just got put into the Elders Quorum Presidency as the second counselor, so with that work, and school he stays pretty busy and we are lucky if we get to spend an Saturday afternoon together.

Addy Update

It's amazing to me how fast time has gone! Addy is almost four months old and it just blows my mind. The past couple of months have been great, we both learn something every day, even though I feel like all I am learning is patience I guess that is a good thing. Addy and I have a schedule down for the most part which is nice because it makes our days more predictable. It also makes it easier to read her signals, and we both stay happier during the day. She is still a skinny tall thing but starting to bulk up a little, she has almost out grown her 3 month clothes and her six months clothes are kind of big on her but that is okay, she will grow into them eventually. She is also starting to get more interested in toys and books. She will sit in her high chair for about 15 minutes and try to grab her toys and if she does manage to get a grip on one of them, in true baby fashion it goes straight to her mouth... everything goes straight to her mouth... My hair, my sleeves, Andrews hands, her hands, her toys, her burp cloths, anything she can get her cute little hands on ends up in her mouth. She has also discovered her thumb! I know most people warn against thumb sucking, and I realize it has its pros and cons but right now I am enjoying the pros. She is much better about putting herself to sleep for naps and bed time. She will suck on her thumb if she starts to get ornery and she is much MUCH happier laying on the ground or hanging out in her swing. She will usually give me about 15 minutes on most occasions if she is in a good mood before she starts to cry, which is a HUGE improvement from about a month ago when it was .25 seconds before she would start to cry. It is amazing how much you can get done in 15 minutes when you have two hands to do it! She is also starting to talk and coo a lot more. She has the biggest smiles and is laughing occasionally, which I swear is the cutest thing ever! She is also a tech junkie. Anytime I pull my phone out her eyes lock right on it. She stares at the TV and occasionally will jabber at it. I try my best to keep her attention on other things but I will admit to finding a Baby Einstein show on youtube and letting her stare at it while I load the dishwasher really fast. Like I mentioned earlier she is also loving books, we read a few stories before nap time everyday and she always scans the pages and kicks her feet and smiles every time I turn the page. I think she will be getting quite a few books for Christmas, just so we can mix things up a bit. She has also been sleeping like a champ! I seriously doubted whether or not she would ever learn to sleep at night. At 2 months she was still waking up every 2.5-3 hours a night, sometimes staying wide awake for 2-3 hours. I had almost come to terms that I would be a sleep deprived zombie until I died but then one night she just decided to sleep for 5 hours straight, that 5 hours has turned into roughly 10 hours and words can not describe how wonderful it is. She usually goes down for the night between 8-8:30 and will sleep till 6:30 or 7. I try to get a few chores done after she goes down, get my self ready for bed, or in this case catch up on the blog. The one big event in the last two months was Addy's blessing. We blessed her on September 29th and had a great turn out of friends and family who came to support her. Andrew blessed her in our ward in American Fork and then we had lunch afterwards at our apartment. It was a great day and Andrew gave her a wonderful blessing. It was so nice to be able to share that day with our family and friends. Addy's first halloween was also fun. We dressed her up as a little lady bug. I just found a sleeper at target and called it good. I was having a hard time finding a costume that would fit her since she is in between sizes right now but the sleeper worked great and she looked super cute. We were able to participate in my families halloween tradition of having soup and scones at my moms house then all the grandkids go trick or treating. Addy did not trick or treat this year but I am looking forward to taking her next year, and reaping the benefits! Other happenings in our family include Andrew doing lots and lots of homework, occasionally after Addy goes to sleep we will watch a TV show together but he doesn't have much free time. Masters programs have lots of homework so he stays pretty busy when he gets home from work. I got called to be the Primary Secretary so that has been taking up a little of my free time, mostly I am just trying to figure out what I need to do, there are lots of little things that this calling requires but it is great and Addy loves to hang out in primary. She will even coo along with the kids when they sing, except for when they sing "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam." She is nervous wreck during that song. The "sunbeam" part makes her jump every time. Well that is about it for now. Enjoy the pics of the adorable Addy!

Four Generations

Our friends who came to support us

Our cute little family

I love that smile!

So big sitting up in her high chair eating her toys

Cutest lady bug in town!

The Worst Night of My Life

Before I get to the story behind the title of this post I'll give a little update on our lives with little Addy. Life with Addy has been wonderful, difficult, sleep deprived, exciting, terrifying, and full of crying- from me and her. She's almost two months old but it seems like she's always been a part of our lives and family. I am lucky enough to get to stay home with her and we have had many ups and downs as I try to get her on a schedule and figure out what she needs. I don't want to jinx myself but I think we are finally starting to get the hang of each other. Somedays my hair and makeup don't get done but she doesn't care about that and most days neither do I. We are working on her sleeping in her crib and she's getting the hang of it. She doesn't seem to mind it as long as we keep some sort of white noise going in her room while she sleeps. She seems to like the ocean waves which is nice, at least they are pleasent to listen to when I feed her in the middle of the night. She has been kind of a fussy baby, I don't think I've stood and bounced, swayed, danced or done so many calf raises in the last two months as in my whole life. At this rate I'll have some sweet calf muscles, having a fussy baby is great exercise. She loves to be held and is not a fan of her swing, bouncer, or the floor. Put her down and the wailing begins. I have learned to do many things one handed. Somedays it's all I can do to keep my sanity and my patience in check. I knew being a mom would be hard but I don't think I was fully prepared for it, but I don't think anyone is. However at the end of each day we are both still alive and that is what matters, no matter how tired I am when she gives me her silly little grin I know it is all worth it. She is my sweet baby girl and I love spending my days with her. 

Now on to the story behind the title. Every Friday night Andrew has class so I usually go hang out with my mom and my sisters. Last Friday I left my moms a little earlier then I usually do, Addy had been a little more fussy then usual and I wanted to get her to bed. So we drove the 25 minutes home, got home and started to put things away. I had gotten Addy out of her car seat and tried to lay her down on the floor so I could get something. She started crying so I picked her back up and I am so greatful I did. She sort if coughed/sneezed/gagged out a bunch of mucus. She had been congested all day so it wasn't unexpected. How much mucus there was was the unexpected part, coming out both her nostrils and her mouth as thick as a grown mans. I freaked out a little, and do did she. She inhaled some of it back down and started to choke. I tried to suck it out of her and tried to get it out by turning her over tipping her head towards the floor and patting her back. That didn't seem to help much but it did make her cry so I thought she was okay. But when I tipped her upright again she would choke all over again and struggle to breath. I did this repeatedly a few times trying to clear her throat. She would breath and cry when I tipped her towards the floor so I called Andrew and told him to come home right away we needed to take addy to the hospital cause she was having trouble breathing. I didn't want to strap her in her car seat since the only way I could get her to breath was to tip her towards the floor and pat her back. But right after I hung up with Andrew that stopped working. She started twitching, her eyes were watering and rolling back in her head and saliva was poring out of her mouth. She wasn't breathing, and she was starting to go unconscious. That has to be one of the worst feelings ever to look at your infant and realize she isn't breathing anymore and trying to hold on to her life. I had kind of been freaking out this whole time but now I was in a full blown panic. I grabbed my phone and called 911 the dispatch lady did a great job of keeping me calm while getting my information so she could dispatch the ambulance, I told her what was going on and she had me lay Addy on the floor and start chest compressions. I could hear the sirens so I knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the paramedics got there. She kept me as calm as she could and told me what I needed to do. Right as the paramedics came bursting in the door Addy let out a little cry. She was breathing again. I got out of the way and let them work on her. Andrew came in the door right after the paramedics and all I wanted to do was collapse in his arms. The paramedics suctioned Addy out and hooked her up to some monitors. She was stable but they wanted to take her to the hospital and run some tests. So they put her in her car seat and strapped her to the gurney inside the ambulance. I was able to ride in the ambulance with her and off we went to the hospital. The paramedic had her on blow by oxygen and all her readings from the monitors were looking normal. When we got to the hospital they did some X-rays, suctioned her out two more times and ran some tests to see what was wrong and why all the mucus. It was determined that she has bronchiolitis. It's a viral infection in her lungs common in babies 2-6 months of age. Addy wasn't quite able to handle what she inhaled back down and so she choked on it and it got stuck in her throat blocking her airway. I was kind of expecting them to keep her overnight since she is so young but they sent us home three hours later with instructions to keep her hydrated, suck her out a few times a day and keep a humidifier in her room at night. Needless to say I was a nervous wreck when we got home and maybe got an hour of sleep. I just layed there and listened to her breath. I am still super paranoid and check on her repeatedly during the night and anytime she sneezes, coughs, or makes a weird noise I tense up. I will never get the image of my baby girls face as she struggled for life out of my head. I know it's the mothers plight to be a worrier but now I'm just downright paranoid. I had Andrew giver her a blessing when we got home and that helped calm me down a little. We have had many people concerned for her and for us and I appreciate their thoughts and prayers. I hope and pray something like this never happens again. I don't think I could take it but I guess it's nice to know how you will react in an emergency. But I think I would rather not know.  

First and hopefully only ambulance ride. 

Getting x-rays taken. 

The doctor checking her out. 

Andrew keeping her calm. 

Adalyn Ann

She's here! Our sweet little Adalyn Ann joined our family on July 24th. She was 8lbs 15oz and 21.75 inches long. We are so thrilled to have her in our family and fall in love with her more every second. She made quite an entrance into this world, or maybe that is just how I feel, after 20.5 hours of labor and 15 hours of un-medicated contractions I was more then happy to hold my little girl in my arms. She had lots of visitors while we were in the hospital and are so grateful to the many family members and friends who came to support us. It has been a rough couple of days adjusting to no sleep, and becoming a family of three but well worth all the sleepless nights. We love cuddling her, and I often find my self just staring at our beautiful little girl. Welcome to our family little Addy, we're so happy you are finally here.

A little update

With the whirl wind of events that have happend in the last few months, it feels like life is beginning to slow down a little, at least for me. We got Andrew graduated and our old apartment packed up. We moved into our new apartment in American Fork the second week of May and so far it has been pretty good. Andrew loves his new job and is really enjoying the projects he is working on. It took me about a week and two days to get everything unpacked which isn't too bad considering the whole being pregnant thing. Our new apartment is slowly starting to feel like home. Even though all of our stuff is here it is still weird sometimes to wake up in a new place. I guess once you have lived in the same apartment for two years you get used to it, I know in due time our new apartment will feel like home too. I spent the first few weeks we lived here driving back and forth from West Jordan to American Fork. I had lots of play dates with my sisters, it is so great to just be able to drive up for a few hours and then be able to come home. It is so nice to have family near by, and close enough to go visit at the drop of a hat. We no longer have to plan weekends to come down and visit. Now that the apartment is unpacked and we are pretty much settled I have once again turned my attention to preparing for the baby. I have had two visits with my new doctor at the University hospital, I like her well enough, but am grateful that I was able to go through most of my pregnancy with my Doctor in Logan. I am working on a few projects in preparation for the baby to come. One of them being her crib quilt and the other being her car seat canopy. I am also trying to figure out what other cute crafts and decorations I want to hang on her walls. We still need to put the crib together but other then the decorations and the crib we are pretty much ready for her. We still have 7 weeks to go, which I know will come fast so I am trying to soak up as much "quite time" as I can. Relaxing with my feet up and doing some baking. Things I know will be a little harder once baby comes home. My friends threw me a baby shower a few weeks ago and I, or should I say Baby got some adorable gifts and some much needed things as well. I have one more shower coming up and then we can finish purchasing all the things we still need for baby girl. No, she does not have a name yet. I have found that choosing a name is much harder then I originally thought it would be. I had lots of names I liked before we found out she was a girl, but for some reason I can't commit to any of them. Hopefully she will have a name before we leave the hospital. Last week we had another ultrasound and baby is healthy and strong...and big. She is measuring 3 weeks off from my original due date, mostly due to her length and they estimate her to weigh 6 pounds already. My doctor doesn't want to move my due date up so both she and I are hoping that I deliver around 37 weeks. Which puts us at more like 4.5 weeks. But baby girl will come when she wants to come and I am trying to be patient, which become especially hard when she starts to treat my insides like her own personal bounce house, and my ribs her personal punching bag. I know all this movement is a good thing, but I look forward to being able to breath normally again. Like I said before it has been nice to be close to family. We have done some fun things with them like go car shopping with Andrew's mom, I was able to go to the Taylor Swift concert with Andrews sisters, and we were able to spend a weekend in East Canyon with my family. We are adjusting to our new ward as well. It is a weird transition, at least for me to go from a Married Student Ward where we had 50 couples in our ward and very few kids to a full on family ward with all ages from newborn to grandparents. Relief Society is so different not sitting up in the front, being responsible for all the sisters and attending multiple meetings every sunday. That alone has taken some adjusting. We don't have callings in our new ward yet, but I am sure we will get some soon enough. Our neighbors have been very friendly and we have met quite a few of them. We had a complex BBQ on Saturday with a bunch of them and then on Sunday a few couples that couldn't attend the BBQ invited us over for dinner. I am grateful we have nice friendly neighbors, it will make the transition from Logan to American Fork a little easier on me. Well I guess that is all for now, here are a few pictures from our recent events.


Andrew's Graduation!

Moving Day

Old Apartment


New Apartment

Taylor Swift Concert


East Canyon Resort

Yes, I did sit in the kiddie pool. The big pool was a little chilly so I stayed in there as long as I could, and since I couldn't get in the hot tub, the 2 foot kiddie pool became my personal "hot tub" It was much warmer and a little more relaxing then the big pool.