Alot sure does happen in 5 months......

Oh where to even begin! I have been dreading this post for a long time considering I new there would be so much to post about since so much has happened. So in efforts to not write an entire book and hope that you will come back to view the blog again I will just summarize some great things that have happened to us in the last five months!

*Well I guess the most exciting news around our house hold is that Addison is going to be a big sister! Here is my attempt at taking a picture of how we told our families. I am almost 12 weeks and have been feeling good! I do have to confess that this pregnancy does feel very different than when I had Addison but we will see. This baby's due date is March 10.

*We have had a great summer with lots of time spent with family and friends. I have loved being home with Addison and have loved watching her grow! Some highlights were our trip to Chicago to visit my brother, vacationing at the cottage, our annual Big Ski (which I had to miss because I was pregnant), our Tuesday trips to Grant, A great Tiger's game, lots of play dates, our weekly stroller strides class, and lots of playtime with the sprinklers.

15 skiers! John, Addi and I in front of the tigers

The gorilla was the only thing that scared Addison very up close and personal! An attempt at a family photo
This may be my favorite! She is calling the Seagulls at the beach which was her favorite part.
What a cutie!!!
Addison's new favorite past time is mowing with dad as long as she has her earplugs in:)

Smelling some of grandpa's flowers

Running through the sprinklers

*Every teacher's nightmare is happening school is around the corner and again I am doing a different job. I will be a Gifted and Talented Consultant for our district part time. I feel so blessed to be able to do what I love and still be able to stay home with Addison. I am very excited, a little overwhelmed but who isn't with a new job. Scott's job is going great and he has been able to take some great vacation this summer so that is great. He is ready for me to stop calling him everyday to tell him that I am at the lake or the pool:)

*Addison is 18 months. She is so busy and has such a personality. I like to talk to her about being a big sister and she just says ohh...and runs to get her baby doll. She is beginning to talk more but still doesn't talk alot. Apparently she gets what she needs without needing to say to much. She loves to read books, play with trucks (thanks daddy) and dolls too. She is really into pulling things out of cupboards and having me count the things she pulls out. Her new favorite thing to do is put money in her piggy bank. She loves it but she also wants to get the money back out. I give her money for helping pick up and do laundry and she loves it and I think I am teaching her at an early age:)

Well, Scott's sister Kristin and brother-in-law Dan moved to Ann Arbor to pursue the ministry so I vowed I would keep the blog updated so they didn't feel like they missed out on things. So I will try my hardest to update it more regularly.

I hope that all of you had a fabulous summer!

A Celebration of life!

It has been a while since I have written a post. It has been a busy couple of weeks. Two weeks ago my Grandpa passed away. He was 94 years old and lived a wonderful life. I only hope that I leave such a great and lasting legacy as he did. Over the last year he moved to an assisted living home and I loved bringing Addison to visit him on Sunday's after church. He loved to see her and it always brought a sparkle to his eye. I have so many great memories of him! We actually had the funeral on Addison's 1st birthday. What a wonderful celebration of life!

At night we went out to eat with our neighbors Mitch, Emily, and Kaden. I love watching the kids play together. The next day we had her birthday party at our house. We had a blast and Scott and I were reminded what wonderful families we have! I attempted to make her birthday cake with some serious help from my mother-in-law. Actually she did most of it and I helped:) It turned out so great! She got way to many presents and her favorite by far was the balloons. She still loves waking up and batting at them!

I love being the birthday girl!

Now balloons is what I do love!

Here is the cake that I helped with:)

Of course a family picture, but Addison was more interested in the cake and not having it on her hands.
Look all of my guests have arrived!

Here is the wagon Addison got!

We got Addison a trike and she really likes to ride it in the house or should I say likes to be pushed on it!
Scott and I are trying to get prepared for a cruise. We leave next week Sunday and we are so excited. We are going to the Western Caribbean for 5 nights. Our parents are watching Addison. I am so excited but starting to miss her already. How sad is that :) Hopefully the next post I make will be pictures from the trip.

Birthday Busyness

So it has been a while since I have posted something, but we have been very busy. See between December 30 and February 27, we celebrate 8 birthdays between Scott and I's families. And this year we will be adding a new birthday to the 2 month craze....Addison's on the 27th!!! We are already beginning to plan: party hats, plates, cakes, etc... It is hard to believe that it has almost been a year since she was born! I always questioned people who said "you need to cherish the moments, because it flies bye." I am starting to realize though how true this is. Anyways, here are some new pictures!

Bundled up and ready to go!

My crazy hair do with the bows Grandma made me!

Hey how did that get on my head!!!

Are you serious....who keeps putting those things on my head!!!

Despite the fact that Addison is only in the 50% percentile for weight, she is very strong...I think this frog weighs about as much as she does.

She loves playing with her ball!

Grandpa's LARGE PRINT birthday cake.....nice work Kristin!!!

Addison trying on Grandpa's birthday gift...quite the little ninja.

Happy Valentines Day!!! Grandma and Grandpa Pell brought me these balloons...and boy does Addison love balloons.
Addison and me on Valentines Day. Grandma Plakmeyer came to babysit so we could go out for a night on the town.
Scott got me flowers, and they looked really nice next to Addison's 9 month pictures we just got back...thanks Kris...nice work as always!!!

Walking on my Own

We finally were able to get Addison walking on video. Usually we pull it out and she just stands there and stares at it. We were so surprised when she walked from the family room to the kitchen on her own. She didn't really get into crawling much but walking is another story! She does great as long as you don't get her to excited:) but the falls are getting more graceful! Excuse the narrator in the background:) After listening to himself he says he needs to do less talking in the future! We just love every stage and feel so blessed to have her!

Happy Holidays!!!

Okay, so I know I am way behind in updating our blog. You would think that with having an extended Christmas break being a teacher, I would have plenty of time to do this. However, it seemed that the holidays kept us on the go, and it seemed rare that we weren't on the go somewhere. In addtion to Christmas, Scott and I also both celebrated birthdays between

Christmas and New Years!!!

Here is a picture of Addison and I braving the elements. It was amazing looking back at how much snow we got in December. One of Addison's favorite things to do was to watch her daddy snow blow the driveway.

Addison certainly enjoyed her first Christmas. However, we realized that she enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper, as much as she did with the gift that was inside.

Addison was so excited to get her first piggy bank...

and her first car!!!Every year my brother Josh gets the "boys" a surprise gift, this year it was a couple snazzy ties.

Picture of the fam on New Years Day celebrating both our birthdays. You will note that Scott looks fairly tired. Unfortunately for us, the holidays resulted in Addison catching a cold, an ear infection and teething. Needless to say, we got re-aquianted with what it was like to be new parents.....Addison was getting up 2-3 times a night.

New Year's Day was spent at a cabin in Fremont that Scott's parents rented on the White River. There wasn't a lot of snow, but we were able to do some hiking, snowmobiling, card(Wizard!!!) and watch some college football.

Addison was quick to find the piano at the cabin and loved to play the keys.

Scott even made a new friend! All in all, we had a great break and got to spend a lot of time with our families. Best wishes for the New Year!!!

I love Christmas presents!

We have been wrapping presents and getting ready for Christmas. Addison loves her knew stocking and loves presents especially the wrapping paper. Her favorite thing to do is eat the presents. The last 3 weeks she is really starting to move. Yesterday she took four steps on her own. At her nine month appointment the doctor said she may just be running by Christmas. I can't believe that! Here are a few pictures from our present wrapping days and of course Christmas p.j.'s to set the mood.

Christmas Tree Shopping

The day after Thanksgiving we went to cut down our Christmas tree! It was a beautiful day and we found just the perfect tree we thought! Of course we picked out one that was 10 1/2 feet tall and had a crooked top half:) We did though have a great time cutting it down. Here are some pictures from our adventure! I am not so sure that Addison loved it though:)
So the remainder of the story is that we got the tree home and decorated it and as the night progressed I thought I saw the tree move but my dear hubby said no way. And then we heard a loud crash at 4:30 in the morning! I swore that some one was breaking in the house but no it was the christmas tree that crashed to the ground. Only 6 of the ornaments were broken which was a miracle. The moral of the story is make sure that you have a stand that is big enough for your tree! But none the less a story that will be remembered forever!