It's Christmas Time!

Addison opening her presents Christmas morning.....love the bed head!


Close up of Cooper in his Christmas clothes.


Addison & Cooper


Addison in the dress mommy made for her.


Addison opening presents.


Addison & Daddy

With all of the questionable weather lately our Christmas plans quickly melted....unlike the snow. Addison and I were going to go to my Grandma's house in Beaverton along with my mom, sister, and brother-in-law for Christmas Eve. However, we decided that since Brian and I were sharing a car and we didn't think it was good for everyone to rush around to go to the grocery store to have a Christmas Eve dinner that it was best to cancel and stay close to home. So, on Christmas Eve, my mom, Sarah and Chad brought pizza over and we had a non-traditional Canadian bacon, pineapple, and olive pizza for Christmas Eve dinner and opened a few presents, including a Strawberry Shortcake DVD and the dog house set for her dollhouse. Addison had a good time visiting and really enjoyed showing off to Uncle Chad, she kept showing him things and telling him what they were. It was really cute!

Christmas morning we woke up and Addison was eager to open her presents from us. She was a pro at opening presents by now and just tore them open. Addison got a doodle pro (magna doodle), Spongebob gift set (6 books, 2 note pads, stickers, magnets, nightlight, and book bag).

We went to Brandon, Shelby & Cooper's with Jeff & Cheryl for Christmas dinner and more gift exchanging. Addison had a good time playing with her cousin Cooper and most of all she enjoyed being the person to hand out the gifts. However, it was hard to get her to wait to open her turn to open presents, but she did very well. Addison got lots more clothes and toys, including a princess jewelery set. We ended the night playing Scene It, which was lots of fun! Addison was so tuckered out, as she didn't take a nap, that she fell asleep in the car and slept until the next morning only to get up and play with all her new toys!


Addison playing dress up with her princess jewelry from Uncle Brandon, Aunt Shelby & Cooper.


Addison's work of art.

Tis the Season.....For Snow!!!!

My car encased in ice.


The trail Brian dug to get the car out.


Brian digging his way out.


The play structure covered in snow.


Huge snowflakes falling Christmas afternoon.

We had an eventful Christmas week due to the "inclement weather" that the Portland news stations deemed an "arctic blast". First it started snowing on Addison's birthday and caused for a bit of a frenzy for the Portland Metro Area. However, Brian and I both managed to get to work on Monday in our sedan cars sans snow tires. The weather really took a turn for the worse and this past weekend we began to get snow that actually stuck around and it just kept coming down. My work ended up closing on Monday, but Brian was a trooper and dug my car out.....after about 2 hours he was on his way to work (with the help to Uncle Greg for coming over and plowing out a path in his Jeep), only this time we had chains on our tires (thanks to Brian's parents). Brian drove me to work on Tuesday and we played musical cars all day with me ending up picking Brian up at midnight only to turn around and get up at 5:00 AM to drive myself to work. By the afternoon of Christmas Eve the 18 inches of snow began to melt....in most areas....and we are now dealing with the slush. Again we are now getting more snow, for a truly "White Christmas". We are hoping that it doesn't freeze into a sheet of ice, but we will see. We are truly glad that my Audi A4, which has all wheel drive, has been able to get us around the past few days, however we can't say the same for Brian's BWM 325. It has been sitting covered in snow and encased in a sheet of ice for the better part of a week.

I would much rather have snow than rain....but treking around in 18 inches is starting to get old. I want my regular shoes back instead of these rubber boots I have been relying on to keep my feet dry and warm. We'll see what we have in store in the weeks to come. Regardless, I will continue to make my way in to work no matter the amount of snow....unless it is obviously dangerous....as I am better off being at work right next to Labor and Delivery in the event that I go into labor, as it is a real reality being that I only have 5 1/2 weeks left!

Ah the joys of pregnancy...

So, many of you are probably wondering about the new addition to our family due in February, as I haven't really talked much about anything other than Addison lately. Oooopps, I guess I have been slacking there!

Well, I am now 33 weeks along with about 7 weeks remaining in my pregnancy. Everything has been going great! The only problem that I have been having is with my back, which is to be expected being that not only am I 33 weeks pregnant and carrying extra weight, but I also have a previous L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc injury, as well as pain stemming from the injuries sustained from the rear end accident we were in when I was pregnant with Addison. However, my back pain has been much better than I had anticipated. I have been sleeping well and am still working and plan to work until I deliver in early February. I figure I am better off being at work than at home, especially since I work right next door to the labor and delivery department.

As you may know, we are pretty sure that we are having a girl, but again couldn't determine there wasn't anything between the legs, so we are planning for a girl and who knows, maybe we'll be surprised. If indeed she is a girl we will name her Kennedy Keaton. Where did we come up with the name? There is no significance, just a name that both Brian and I liked. We haven't bought anything new since we pretty much kept everything from when Addison was a baby. Although, we still have some preparing to do. Brian and I need to get to storage and find all of the baby stuff and decide what we want to use and what should be retired. I am also thinking that I would like to get a different baby carrier (sling) or at least one that Brian will use too. I suppose we should get a special outfit to take her home in as well, since that is a special event specific to each child. I need to buy more diaper covers and cloth diapers since I didn't keep those from Addison which I am kicking myself for! I got rid of them when we were having our garage sale in Texas just didn't want to haul them back with us. We are not going to use the diaper service like last time, I am going to launder the diapers myself. So, that's about all we have to do and really need to do it soon, since really the possibility of having the baby sooner is definately something that could happen and I would have to be caught off guard and not ready, since I am such a planner!

I am planning to take 3 months off with this baby too, but we will see if that financially possible when the time comes. Addison will be home with us, but I do plan to send her to daycare 1 day a week so that she still have the interaction with the other kids. I think that Addison is going to be a great big sister. She loves her little cousin and loves playing with baby dolls (she pretends to feed them and cuddles with them). However, I think that there will be some jealousy issues and she may try to play with the baby as if she is bigger and more durable than she is. It should be an adventure!

I am excited for the delivery this time, especially since we have a higher quality camera than when Addison was born, so I am sure there will be pictures galore! I am a little nervous though now that I have worked as a newborn nurse. I think that I am going to be one of those moms that wants to do everything like the first bath and all of that, but I know that is not my job to do, so I will have to do my best to sit on my hands. I will keep you all posted with any further developments.

Addison Turns 2!

Addison with her cake after the candles are blown out


Addison's Dora the Explorer cake, courtesty of mom


Addison excited about her new dollhouse


Addison likes her new pink cowgirl boots


Addison enjoying her Elmo birthday card


Addison likes her pretty pink & brown tutu


Addison checking out her new van that goes with her dollhouse


Addison likes her Five Little Monkeys book & CD


Addison decided to wear her bow


Addison can't wait to play with her new computer


A view of the party table

Addison turned 2 years old on 12/14 and we took the opportunity to get the family together to celebrate at Papa's Pizza. We had heard all week that it was supposed to snow on Addison's birthday, but it's always hard to believe the weather forecast, so I just brushed it off. Well, when I woke up early Sunday morning to finish Addison's Dora the Explorer cake I was a bit surprised to see that the forecast was right and there was a dusting of snow on the ground and more flurries coming down. Despite the weather we still have a good turn out of family to celebrate Addison's birthday! Addison had lots of fun playing and opening presents and wanted to play with all of the presents as they were opened and would say "pretty" when she got clothes. Addison got lots of great gifts: a dollhouse with the home office, kitchen, and family car (that has a radio and horn), school cool computer with Elmo and Sponge Bob programs, Aqua Doodle, pink cowgirl boots (to replace the ones she grew out of last year), lots of great clothes, books, an Elmo DVD and some money towards an OMSI, Zoo, or Children's Museum membership. We are so glad that everyone could join us and braved the snow to do so. We really appreciated it and I know Addison had a great time!

Addison also had her 2 year old visit on 12/15 and here are are her stats: 2ft 10.65 in tall (75%) and 27 1/2 lbs (62%). The Dr was pleased with her progress and felt she excelled her expectations for her age.

Taking Addison to see Santa

Well, it's that time of year again where we perform the old tradition of taking the little ones to see Santa Claus and tell him what they want for Christmas. Brian and I had a gleam of hope that Addison would actully take well to her yearly visit with Santa, as she was so excited to see him and said she was going to give him a hug. No so much. We went to the Eastport Plaza where they have it so you can take your own pictures of your child with Santa, they also have arts and crafts, a video room and play room for the kids to keep them busy until they have their turn meeting Santa. There was no line and we got to stroll right up to see Santa. Addison immediately froze up and started clinging to us. Addison wanted nothing to do with Santa and of course we didn't force him on her either. So, we opted to take advantage of the props and take pics of just Addison in front of their Christmas decorations. We got a few nice shots and even selected one for our Christmas cards.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Brian, Addison and I had a nice Thanksgiving. I spent the morning making a Pumpkin Pie (my favorite!) and then went to Brian's parent's house for dinner. We watched the Cowboys football game and ate a really yummy dinner! Brian's Aunt Debbie and Uncle Terry also joined us for dinner.

I spent the remainder of the evening looking at the sale ads trying to decide what I would send Cheryl out to get me for Addison, as I would not be able to go since I had to spend 4 hours at the lab getting my blood drawn for my glucose testing. I was not thrilled about spending so much time at the lab and not being able to leave, but it turned out not to be all that bad. I brought along a book that I was sucked into reading with me to read and the time just flew by. It turned out that my labs were just fine, so I don't have gestational diabetes. Yay!!!

Brian had the opportunity to go the Civil War game on Saturday while I watched the game with his parents and brother back at home. It turned out to be a disappointing game for those of us Beaver fans, but it was still nice to watch and I was glad Brian was able to go and spend time with his friends.

The rest of the weekend we just stayed home relaxed. I finished reading the 2nd and 3rd book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Wow, I jumped right and I nearly couldn't put the books down! Now I understand what everyone was making such a big fuss over :) I didn't return to work until Tuesday, so I had a nice long 5 day weekend and it sure was hard to go back after that.