Addison turns 10 months!

Here's some fun pictures and video from Addy's first month in Indiana! We're having a blast being together as a family the first half of the day - and some nights Addy and I will hang out with the other wives and their kids. It's fun because right now there's a one year old little boy and a 11/2 yr old little girl and Addy will get SOOO excited whenever they're around. She likes to steal Tyson's binky and is learning to walk with Marli's walker. We'll have to get some pictures of them together soon. It's been really fun getting to know everyone and we're very excited to move into our apts this weekend. Work is picking up for Chris - it's definitely a lot less stressful this year now that he's experienced, so he's able to enjoy it more.

I was having fun the other day and managed to get two mini pigtails in her hair.

I had to get a few shots of my favorite outfit on her..plus she was all smiles that day.

This last one made me laugh..it looks like a model pose.

and some more videos...

Sorry about the bouncing in this..I had the camera on my knee while I was clapping. This is my new favorite thing she does: clapping!

Her new favorite thing is to hold onto everything standing up. She starts bouncing to the music in this, pats the couch when she wants to clap, and waves at the end. Love it!

To all our family/friends in Idaho: We Miss You!

Life then vs Life now

I was looking through old pictures, and "Wa La!" These pictures are great memories for me. I was living in Orem at the time, dating Chris..had a great job..had a membership at LA Boxing which I miss SO much...and I purchased these hair extensions off of E-bay!! HAHA..I would never have expected them to match my hair color so perfectly, but they did..and I LOVED them..not as much as Chris did though:) The only problem is they don't stay in very well..so they only went in for special occasions. It's interesting to compare life back then, to life now. I was up and ready for the day by 7:30am..went to work, came home, Chris and I would go to the gym together and then go back to one of our apts and make dinner, play with Batty (our cat)watch some favorite shows together etc. Now, I'm still up early - but in my p.j's while I get Addy fed, breakfast made for Chris, Addy down for a nap, lunch made for Chris to take..and I'm lucky to work out and finally shower and get ready for the day by 1pm! It's funny how your time isn't really your time anymore...and as much as I may miss those carefree days sometimes..at the end of the day I wouldn't trade them for any of my days spent as a mother and a wife. Seeing Addy learn new things each day and laughing makes me far happier than spending my days at work, evenings at the gym, and being able to come and go whenever I want etc. I stress so much about not being able to exercise enough and not having my pre-pregnancy body back - I see others that lose it in a month and each day look like they walked out of a magazine..but yesterday as I was looking back through photos and comparing it to my life now - I realized that even though I don't look like what I want...it is slowly coming back and will take time. But, inside I'm the happiest I've ever been. Being able to stay home with my beautiful little girl and seeing her so happy is what matters. Taking care of Chris while he goes out and works hard for us is what matters. When our time isn't "our" time anymore..and it's now about serving others..is what matters. Isn't that what life is truly all about..service and family.

Videos

I'm taking advantage of the computer working really good today and getting all our blogging done :)

Pool Time!

I love her face in this when we first put her in.

Pics of our "suite"and car ride

We love our 2 week home...except that it's a studio set-up and makes it really hard to do anything with Addy sleeping in the same room:) The past few days have been so much fun - I feel like a family again with our new schedule. We get to start our days with Chris home again..back in IF he worked 6:30am-3..and then had class at nights. Now he's gone in the evenings..but it's so nice to wake up and have breakfast together as a family(which is provided by the hotel) and spend the first half of the day together. I finally have a fitness room downstairs so I've been able to workout in the mornings..YAY! Work is starting out slow as usual..but it's a nice break before things get crazy busy!

She's loved finally being somewhat settled and done being hauled around:) Except it's been really hard because her sleep schedule is messed up with the time change, traveling, and being in a hotel where we can't let her cry herself to sleep. It's driving me crazy having to pick her up when she screams. All our hard work has gone down the drain:)

This is her new big girl carseat thanks to Grandma/Grandpa Rose.

She was surprisingly a good little traveler.

Carthage Jail

We left Nauvoo and headed for Carthage Thursday morning. It was so amazing..but I was really stressed the whole time, because it was Addy's naptime and she was doing her eagle screech and I was trying to keep her quiet before I got kicked out:) The visitor's center had 2 really cool paintings side-by-side..one of Joseph and one of Hyrum. I loved it because I've never really seen a painting of Hyrum before. We watched a video in the Visitor's Center and then they take you outside and they tell the history of the jail. I never knew it was lived in for several years. Then they take you room by room through it. Up in the room the prophet was shot it, they play an audio clip explaining what happened, what was said etc..with a solo of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief." The spirit is so strong there..and it's amazing the feeling of being in a room the Prophet Joseph Smith was in. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that he saw and spoke with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that he restored the Gospel to the earth and translated the Book of Mormon. My testimony of him has grown so much in the past week. Here's a few pictures of the jail.

The original door with the hole from the bullet that shot Hyrum.


The window on the left is the one that Joseph jumped/fell out of.


They were in this room..but were moved to the bedroom because of no ventilation.


Joseph on the left, Hyrum on the right.

View from the parking lot.

Saying Goodbye

Sorry, I forgot to make this post before our trip..but here's some pics of our family get togethers before we left.

Addy's last nap in her crib..I love her sleeping positions.


Our little car all loaded to the brim to go. Chris had one window to see out of:)

She's now finally used to being outside in the grass..but as you can see, she used to be so confused sitting on the lawn. She was watching Tosha and Nate play outside in this pic.

Her hair looks ridiculous..but this was her last night playing with Grandma.

Addy has become quite the bully..she was trying to detach Kyler's ear.

Spirit of Nauvoo

We had so much fun in Nauvoo - it was my second time going there and Chris's first. We felt the spirit immediately when we started up the street into city. It makes me so excited for the future when Chris and I can serve a mission together - hopefully to Nauvoo:) It's my favorite place on earth so far. I never want to leave that special town. I loved waking up knowing I was there..it was such a different feeling than waking up everywhere else. The biggest difference for me going this time compared to a few years ago - was walking down Parley street with my little family. Pres. Hinckley said that everyone that goes there should make the walk down that street just like the Pioneers did on their way out of town. This time making the walk, I was married with a daughter so it made me tear up putting myself in the Pioneer's shoes. I was very aware of how they must have felt..I had Addy wrapped up in a blanket holding her and Chris next to me and it made me so emotional imagining having to make that journey with a baby. We went to the Rendevous (a play the Senior Missionaries put on each night) Wednesday night. It tells the story about Nauvoo. The most touching part for both Chris and I, was during the song " Goodbye Nauvoo." The husband comes home to tell his wife they needed to leave, and at first she was saying no. She had willingly accepted all the other departures they had to make from other cities. But asking her to leave Nauvoo was asking to much. After seeing it as a commandment, she obediently said okay..and then started singing this song about everything she loved and will miss about Nauvoo. Anyway, we had an awesome time and loved getting to know the Nelson's. We're so grateful they let us stay there with them, and it's always so awesome to be around missionaries and feel of their spirit. Here's some of the pics we took.

This is the statue of Joseph and Hyrum just down from the temple. It's of them leaving together for Carthage.

Addy and I in the Family Living Center..it has stations where you can learn everything they did back then..from candle making, spinning cotton into thread/yarn etc., how they made tools and on and on!! It was incredible!

This is a statue of Joseph and Brigham Young at the banks of the Mississippi where they had to cross. The plaque talked about how Joseph took him down there to show him his vision of moving to Salt Lake.


Our little family after taking a wagon ride to all the sites.

All settled in, in our 2 week home.

Finally our loooong week is over! We started our trip on Monday - and drove 11 hours to North Platte, NE. Stayed the night there, and then went another 10 hours on Tuesday to Nauvoo! We were so blessed to stay there with a couple that my parents served their mission with in Winter Quarters. We toured Nauvoo on Wednesday, and poor Addy had had enough traveling by then. We didn't get to see everything we wanted to, but instead took her back to the house for a much needed nap. That night we went to Rendevous..which is a play the missionaries put on. It was so awesome! We stayed a second night there and hit the road in the morning for Carthage! Addy had REALLY had enough touring by then and by the time we got to the Visitor's Center she was ready for a nap. The tour there is only an hour and we really had to hurry so we took the tour of the jail and Visitor's Center which I'm soooo glad we took the time to do, and then hit the road for Ft. Wayne, IN which was another 8 hours. We'll be here in Staybridge Suites(extended stay hotel) for 2 weeks and then move into our apts in Westville, IN the first of May. This hotel is SO nice! It's like a luxurious mini apt. We took Addy to the pool today and let her float around in her crab floater for the first time! She didn't know what was going on at first, but then she got used to it and loved it. I'm not able to plug our camera into the computer yet, so pictures will come later. But we wanted to let everyone know that we got here safe and Addy was actually better than we thought she'd be in the long car rides. She's happy to be done with the driving and able to roll around and play finally:) Today is Chris's second day of work..we have gorgeous weather, and have loved being able to see new scenery and meet new people!

Another Beautiful Day!

I was so excited that Tuesday was a GORGEOUS day! After a few hours of packing (addy packed the hangers), I took Addy for a walk and she was so excited the whole time! Our neighbors have horses and roosters etc, which Addy was bouncing in her stroller about:) When we got back home, I took her out on the deck and let her play with our cats..which I don't think Batty was too thrilled about:) She kept grabbing handfuls of skin and pulling him towards her. I can't wait for our summer to start so I can play with Addy outside everyday!!

Conference Weekend

We had such a fun, relaxing Conference Weekend. I always get so excited because it's a weekend where we put everything aside and just spend time together as family. I love that we have this awesome experience twice a year, because I'm always so ready for the spiritual uplift. I heard many talks that apply to what I need to improve on. (all of them!) With both Chris and I's families living in the same time we always spend one day with each of them. This year, we had my neice Ellie for the weekend and then her family (Darik & Kristine) came up on Sunday. So Saturday, Chris and I went into his parent's house and spent the day listening to Conference there. In between sessions Shawn and his family came over and Jamie and her family came over for a little bit. That night I went with my mom to Ladies Night at Deseret (it's a tradition) then Chris and I went into Shawn's and watched the Final Four games. Sunday we stayed here at my parents..and it was FINALLY a beautiful day! We played with the kids outside..and it was also Addy's first day outside playing in the grass. She didn't know what to think of her hands in the grass, but she'll get used to it:) I loved the pictures of her outside because she was so focused on staring at everything going on. Then Jake/Alyssa stopped by on their way up to Rexburg which was awesome, since it might be the last time to see Darik's fam before we all leave for the summer. I can't wait for the May Ensign to come out so I can re-read all the talks..especially the ones I didn't really hear much of while trying to entertain and keep Addy quiet:)

Darik/Kristine with Addy......Shawn/Tosha's kids with Addy...Grandma Rose/Addy

Addy's new smile

Her new thing is to scrunch up her nose and breathe really loud through it. Soooo funny! I haven't got it on video yet, she stops as soon as she hears me press record -but here's some pics of it:)