Addison 12-15 Months

I cannot believe our little angel is already 15 months! These past few months have been so much fun, so lets see.... what have we been up too...

Fun & Developmental Stuff:

• Addison loves being outdoors, we go for small walks, go to the park, anything outdoors and she is happy!
• She is a good eater on days she feels like eating. She loves spicy foods like jalapeno chips, green chili enchiladas, etc. Veggies continue to be an issue.
• She is quite the talker and learns more words every day.
• Got her first blackberry at 15 months... it is not activated but she can dial (and talk to Verizon).
• Can still wear some of her 12 month clothing, but we have moved to 18 months because she is very LONG and her 12 month pants started looking like capri's. I wish they had long length options for toddlers because her waist is so skinny. She wears a size 3 diaper and size 4 shoes.
• Attended VBS and had so much fun! A petting zoo visted one day and she almost killed a baby rabbit by picking it up by it's neck. I am not an animal rights activist, but what those poor animals go through is pretty sad.
• Had her official "1st Birthday Party" at our new house... it was so much fun having all our friends over to celebrate!
• Brian and I went on vacation to Puerto Aventuras for 8 days. Addison stayed with Granmommy & Staci for the first half and GG & Grandpa for the second. She had so much fun and I did great being away (only called twice, thank you very much).
• Addison had her first temperature and ear infection. Unfortunately she started getting sick the week we were on vacation. We came home to a snot nosed fussy monster. It was a bit rough because this was the first time she has been sick with anything but a cold, but we got through it!
• Addison loves sitting on a couch or chair to read her books. We hardly watch any tv, she really enjoys reading the most.
• Moved her from her high chair to booster seat. She seems to like being at our table so much better. An added bonus is that the booster chair is so much easier to clean!
• Addison's hair is getting so long and it is constantly in her face. She will pull out any bow or clip I put on her head within minutes and she tugs at her little pony tail. I do not want to cut her hair, EVER, but bangs may be in our future.
• We stopped swim lessons for the time being until BB2 arrives and we come up with a new schedule.
• She is FINALLY A SNUGGLER! She will hug & kiss and is a total sweetheart! I have waited for this moment for so long. She will run to you and give you the biggest hug... it is sweet and can brighten any day.
• Her laugh is contagious and I love it! She has several different laughs that are hilarious.
• We are working on shapes, colors & words... she is so smart!

The Not-So-Fun-But-Knew-They-Were-Coming Accomplishments:

• Climbing on the fireplace
• Opening doors
• Climbing stairs (which is not an issue), thinking she can climb down the stairs is the issue.
• Open top drawers and reaches in to grab anything she can find. She is a tall girl!
• Temper Tantrums - we are reading a lot of books and taking classes to learn how to deal with this and PREVENT them in an effective matter. Whew... is all I can say about that! Trying to read a toddler's mind is not an easy task!
• Saying no, no no and no no no no no no

Pretty much we are starting on round 2 of baby proofing which will be door handles, baby gate on bottom of stairs, drawer stoppers, refridgerator and freezer lock.

The big news is that Addison starts Preschool today! She will be going Tuesday & Thursday from 8:30-2:30. I am sad that she is ready for "little people" school, but I know she will have so much fun. I will post more about this later.

Baby Betzen #2

I think my last post regarding the baby was announcing we were pregnant! I am now 24 weeks and we are having a baby GIRL! The name is still being decided, but right now her name is McKenna... her other names have been Sophia and Hailey. What amazes me is the similarity between BB2 & Addison's 20 week sonogram, they look so much alike but I know in real life they are going to look so different! http://thebetzens.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-girl.html

The pregnancy is going well, I am sporting a cute little bump. BB2 is pretty active and LOVES kicking my bladder. I still do not think she is as active as Addison was, but I may not notice her movements as much since I am chasing a 13 month old around.

We are so very thankful for our healthy baby girl and are getting so excited to meet her! We are going with a "You are my sunshine" themed nursery. It will be yellow, black, gray and creme. Our "inspiration" nursery is here http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6E.aspx?GrpTyp=ENS&ItemID=17fe04d&DeptID=70676&CatID=71676&SO=0&SelDim=4294957900%7e&CatSel=4294950472%7cgirls%27+crib+bedding&Ne=4294957900+5+18+8+904+949+833&pagesize=1&x5view=1&shopperType=G&N=4294950472&Nao=0&PSO=0&CmCatId=7067671676

Tania's mom is going to be making all the crib bedding, yesterday we went to the fabric store and picked out all the patterns. It is going to look AMAZING when it is all done and the bedding will be extra special since someone dear to us is making it!

Addison's First 1st Birthday Party

Addison actually had 2 birthday parties. The first one occured on her actual birthday. Since we were right in the middle of selling our house, buying a new house, getting ready to move, etc. we decided to do have a small celebration on her actually birthday with family and close friends. Food wise we served fajitas and had cake for dessert. I thought Addison would dig right into the cake, but she was actually very graceful. After cake, Addison opened gifts and played. It was a fun, low-key afternoon celebrating our precious girl's first year of life with the people who helped us make it successful.

12 Month Well Check

I am slowly catching up on blogging... maybe I will be caught up by the time Addison turns 2. Addison's well check went awesome, she is a healthy happy baby and definitely put on a good show for Dr. Sperling! Here are her stats: Weight: 19 pounds, 11 ounces (27th percentile) Height: 30 inches (75th percentile) Head: 44.75 cm. (49th percentile) Other 1 year news is that Addison is totally weaned from the bottle, uses a straw cup for her water and we installed her new forward facing car seat. Having her face forward makes car rides so much more pleasant. The only downfall is that she does not fall asleep as easily as she did in the infant carrier.

Addison - 12 Months!

It is hard to imagine that our precious little girl is already a year old! She is talking, walking and having so much fun exploring new things! We simply adore her!

We started her on whole milk, and like everything else "new" she resisted it at first, but finally gave in and decided to drink it. It is so nice not having to buy formula!

She is still an excellent sleeper and eater. They only issue we have is getting enough vegetables in that precious belly of hers.

She is super healthy! It is hard to believe that in the past 12 months she has never had a fever over 99 and only had 4 colds.

We traveled to Hereford to visit Brian's parents and grandparents. Addison had so much fun playing on the farm!

We still attend swim lessons every Thursday morning. It has been such a fun mommy and baby activity and Addison has learned so much!

We are really starting to work on sign language, it is evident that the lack of being able to communicate is going to be an issue.

Addison has 6 teeth.

She has a very strong, spunky personality!

It is amazing what we have accomplished together as a family over the past year. We could not have done it without the support of our family and friends. We feel so blessed to have such a healthy, beautiful child.

The past two months...

The past two months have been totally crazy! I know I have dropped out of the blogging world, but plan on getting back into it real soon. To catch you up (and I know I am forgetting things), here is a brief summary of the past two months:

• Sold our home
• Bought a new home
• Moved and got settled into our new home
• Addison turned 1 (thank you Jesus for our precious, precious sweet girl who brings pure joy to our lives)
• Chasing a 1 year old who has mastered walking, unscrewing bottles and lids, climbing stairs and pretty much just keeping me on my toes. I now see why people don't gain as much weight during the second pregnancy!
• Rodnee, our furbaby miniature dachshund got paralyzed due to a back injury and we had to put him to sleep. This was totally devastating to our family.
• Found out we are having another baby girl!
• Planning Addison's 1st birthday party, which will be this Sunday (a month late but she will never know)
• I am working 20-25 hours a week for my contract employer
• Brian's business is doing great!
• Volunteered at VBS the entire week after moving into our home.

Lots of stuff going on, but that is our life and I would not trade it for the world! I will elaborate on everything in the next few weeks, just wanted to say hi!

My Sweet Little 11 Month Old

Every month I am amazed that yet another month has gone by so fast. This month Addison really started "aging". I am happy to say she is walking, but sad because it makes her look so grown up. She definitely loves this new avenue of getting around, the bear crawl occurs less and less every day. Addison is very independent, she feeds herself finger foods and her bottle. I can remember the time not too long ago where she was completely dependent on me for her food, now she is only dependent on me to prepare her food which really is a role anyone could fill. She loves fruit over veggies, but I have learned if I put dressing (italian or ranch) over her veggies she will eat them. She could eat her weight in mandarin oranges and loves rotissere chicken as her favorite meat. She love her "mama" for times of comforting & eating... she loves her "dada" for time of play. Her favorite toy right now is the Roomba vacuum, I swear it is the best baby entertainer ever... she chases it around the house until the battery dies. My floor is cleaned and the baby is entertained, cannot beat that combo! Addison loves the pool! We took her to Milburn Pool in our neighborhood which has a fun kids area she can play in. We also took her to Staci's apartment pool where they have a 6" section she can crawl and walk around. The mosquitoes are awful right now and they eat baby girl up. I found some natural insect repellent that we are going to try. Being outdoors is her favorite thing, so I am determined to figure out a way for her to have fun and not get eaten alive. Her favorite words right now are Hi, All Done and Woah... pretty darn cute! She is so goofy and playful. Addison is the sweetest, happiest baby in the world. We just love her so much and every month gets more and more fun! I cannot believe that she will be a one year old in just a month! Her party is going to be delayed a couple of weeks until all the house stuff is figured out.