Welcome Home, Tyler!

We are very happy that Tyler is back from Brazil! Of course his flight was delayed a bit, but it was very fun to see him home. He looked very dazed from such a long flight, very happy to be home and very cold!!!! We were excited for Addison to meet her Uncle Tyler, who looks so much like her dad, she couldn't stop staring at him for a while!!! :)

Of course our camera died after we took the video of Addison taking steps at the airport (OOPS!) so here are some pics of the dinner we had at Hartleys that night.



Addison has been LOVING playing with other older kids lately, I think playing with her older cousins in Mexico has a lot to do with it. Here she is trying to play a board game with her cousins at Grandma Joy's house.....Funny!!! :)



We are excited for Addison to see her cousin Jezelle for Christmas Eve and to see all of our family next week. We are so blessed this holiday season for many reasons, and hope all of you are enjoying this time as well!

Baby Steps....

While we were waiting for Tyler's plane to land in Boise, we decided to pass the time playing with Addison (who wasn't feeling too well). Uncle Chad and Jeremy got her to take a few steps back and forth! I think she looks so funny trying to figure out the one foot in front of the other thing.

I'm A Survivor....

We're back!!!!! I have lots of pics to post and stories to tell but just wanted to post and say we had lots of fun and are really glad to be back home. Addison did a pretty good job on the planes, but all of my hard work to get her to put herself to sleep in her own crib totally backfired as she would scream (she's a total screamer lately) for about 5-10 minutes before falling asleep for a good hour or two. I know 5 or 10 minutes doesn't seem like that long, but on an airplane it was an E-T-E-R-N-I-T-Y. I am also publicly apologizing to every mom that I ever intentionally or unintentionally gave that "look" to as their little ones fussed on airplanes. It is so stressful and then to have people looking at you like you're a total moron of a mother does NOT help! Anyway.....after she woke up from her nap she was a totally good kid - visiting with people around us, walking up and down the aisles, etc. Sheesh......good experience but totally exhausting!

It made it easier to come home knowing that Tyler was getting back from Brazil today - it was so fun to see him! I'll post more on that later.

Now here's a few pics of our trip to Mexico. I'm not in a ton of them because frankly Addison is way more fun to take photos of! And being 6 months pregnant in hot, humid weather....anyway.....

When I have more time and energy, I will post again.....

View from our hotel balcony

Addison and dad playing in the hammocks

Addison on the beach in Akumal - sand everywhere!!

We took very few family photos - so this was one of the only ones that turned out okay. Here we are at Turtle Beach and it was great.

Family at the beach when visiting Tulum.

Getting Closer.......

So Addie has been feeling pretty brave lately....standing on her own and cruising all over the place. Today, I was at a girlfriend's house and Jeremy called me and said Addison had just taken two steps on her own! I came home and we caught it on camera. The video doesn't show exactly what she was doing - she would go three or four steps to the couch. My camera started having memory card issues when I tried to shoot more video. :( Hope that gets fixed before we leave on Friday. Anyway, she's getting closer. How fun.

P.S. After watching this video, not sure who's more excited....us or Addison! :)

Thanksgiving Pics...

So...better late than never, right?!?! :) Thanks, Aunt Brittney for taking the photos. She noticed something funny - last year at Thanksgiving there were pictures of everybody - this year, just the baby! Interesting how they quickly become the center of attention.

Last night was our Relief Society Christmas dinner and enrichment meeting, so now that's over with, the next thing I get to plan in MEXICO!!! So excited and can't believe we leave a week from Friday. Jeremy is working everyday from now until we leave, so he will be ready for a vacation.

We're also excited because the day after we get back from our trip, Jeremy's little brother Tyler is getting home from his mission in Brazil. We all love Tyler and can't wait to see him.

Busy and exciting stuff happening! Will try and post again before we leave. I need to figure out a way to post a picture of Addie's passport - its the funniest thing I've ever seen. A 7-month old photo on a passport. It has a signature line.....am I supposed to sign it for her or what? Who knows.....this should be very interesting.

Addie Practices....

So last night, Addie spent some time with our friends while Jeremy and I went out to dinner. When we came back, they told us she had taken the toy walker and started walking with it! I'm sure she's just anxious to keep up, since all of her friends and cousins are walking by now. She's still very nervous standing up by herself, but apparently has no fear when using the toy walker!!! :)

Christmas Tree Shopping....

So Jeremy insisted we get a real Christmas tree this year, even though I'm sure I'll be doing the majority of keeping Addie away from it. Anyway, so we went to get a Christmas tree and I brought our camera along to record our trip. Addison completely refused to even look at the camera....which for those of you who know, is TOTALLY unlike her. :) Anyway, we were successful and found our little tree. So far (knock on wood) she hasn't paid any attention to it and has continued spending her time awake doing her favorite thing - terrorizing our dog, Jake.

Nope, not gonna look........

Still not gonna look.....

Fine, I'll look, but I'm going to give you a weird smile....

Maybe next year........

Train to the North Pole!

So last week my brother and his family were here from Orange County, CA, visiting for an early Thanksgiving. My parents took us all on a train ride to the "North Pole" - it was a lot of fun! We loved seeing them and Addie loved playing with her cousins.

Here is the train we took to get to the "North Pole"....

Addie's cousin Camilla....she wasn't sure what to think about the whole thing! :)

Addie wouldn't look at the camera because she couldn't stop staring at Santa Claus....

....See what I mean??!? :)

All the kiddos on the ride home....

We had so much fun with them the beginning of the week and then were able to spend Thanksgiving day with both our families. Aunt Brit has the Thanksgiving photos from Grandma Joy's house, so I'll post those later. We had lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Little Cornhusker!

BIG Ultrasound Photos......

So today was our "big" ultrasound for baby #2. Here are some great shots.....

Here is the "profile" shot of baby - looks a lot like Addison to me, but then again, all ultrasound pictures look alike to me.

Here are two cute little feet.


Here are the baby's hands up by the face.


Here is a funny shot that the ultrasound tech loved. It is the baby's mouth, wide open!

Is one picture missing??!???! Oh yeah, the gender shot! Well, we decided to leave it a surprise. Not just for you guys, but for us as well. We decided this whole baby was a surprise why not go all the way. So, you will just have to wait for mid-April for that news.... They did say the baby was measuring a bit big based on how far along I am, so that either means an earlier due date or just a big baby. Addie was 8 lbs 9 oz two weeks early, so who knows......

Mom's Little Helper

So Addie loves "helping" me out around the house and I thought I'd share some funny pics of how she helps.

I swear the kid can hear me open the dishwasher from anywhere in the house. And no matter what she is playing with, she bolts for the kitchen.

"Mom, I think the garbage needs to be taken out."

She loves helping me grab the warm laundry out of the dryer, so I thought she'd want a ride in the laundry basket. Seems to be enjoying it...
Oops, maybe not so much...... (I think this picture is hilarious....)

Not much else is new.....we are looking forward to spending time with our families this Thanksgiving since next year we probably won't be home for this holiday. Addie now has FOUR teeth on top - all four in the last two weeks or so. Poor girl!! She still stays so happy most of the time, so we are lucky.

Hope everybody's doing great!

Halloween Leftovers

So I have new photos but don't have time to upload them to our laptop right now! But I wanted to post these pics - they were taken on Halloween at Grandma Joy's house. Heidi just sent me some copies and I wanted to share them all with you! I had no idea Heidi was going to be a cat for Halloween - so that was a fun picture to have of Addie and her aunt Heidi.

Hope everybody's doing well. Look for more updates soon - sorry I've been so lazy about updating lately!

She Dances!

So, Addison has been bouncing like crazy to music lately which totally cracks us up. She can't stand by herself too steadily yet - she has to be holding on to something. Anyway, last night she did a little dance that was too cute - I had to share.

Halloween Fun

We had a fun and busy first Halloween with Addison. We had little visits with both Grandmas, and had lots of fun with our friends at a little dinner we had at our house. Addison wasn't too crazy about her costume, but she eventually forgot about it.

Baby Shots

So I forgot to post this before. Here are a couple of images of Baby #2, taken at 12 weeks.





We are still all set with a due date of April 11, 2008. We go in for our 2nd trimester screening (the "big" ultrasound....) on November 14th. It is absolutely amazing to me how quickly this pregnancy is going by. There is nothing like your first pregnancy - all of the anticipation, etc. We're still feeling very blessed, of course, it just seems to be flying by compared to the way time seemed to drag when I was pregnant with Addison.

So.....taking guesses........boy or girl??!??!

Fall Fun

So for the past two years, Jeremy and I have gone to this cute pumpkin patch in South Meridian. It was a family-owned place and all of the kids and parents were the ones who worked there. Now the farm is so popular during Halloween for picking pumpkins, there is a corn maze, concession stands, a little train for the kids, etc. It's really fun and so we decided to take Addie to see what she thought. We had a good time with her (and our friends).

We walked Addison through a little-kid hay bale maze and she loved watching her feet walk through the straw.

(Addie checking out her feet while we "walk" through the maze.)

Whenever Addison and her friend Addie are together, they get so competitive with one another - who can eat more, who can scream the loudest, who can get to a toy first, etc. Anyway, my Addison has never liked being thrown and caught in the air. It has always really frightened her. Well, when she saw her friend Addie being thrown and caught, she thought she could do it too. So Jeremy tried it and she laughed so loud. I'm not sure if you can see her cheeks smiling in this picture, but it was so funny.

Curiousity....

We recently had our friends over for dinner and our girls were playing together. Addison kept trying to get to something that was in the corner of the kitchen, next to the fridge. She kept going for it and before we knew it, she was wedging herself in between the fridge and the wall. (Notice her friend Addison looking at her....)


Last week I had my big Enrichment activity for Relief Society. I had craft supplies all over the house. I put this bucket full of acrylic paints out of reach (or so I thought) on the sofa.

Here is Addison and her friend, also Addison, after discovering the paints.

Jeremy came home with a bottle of bubbles recently and we decided to see what the girls would think. After staring at them float to the carpet for what seemed like forever, they decided to try and pop them. It's so fun to try and see the world through their eyes!

We Give In!!!

After numerous requests to start "blogging", here we go! I had planned on starting a blog once we move to Nebraska next fall, but it looks like we're starting one now. I guess now we'll be able to document all of the craziness leading up to a second child and a first year of medical school (wow - did I say that right??!?).

Jeremy is busy at work and at home. I think he's actually missing not being in school this fall. He's also teaching the 14 & 15 year-old Sunday School class at church. They usually sucker him into telling stories about Finland and his mission, thus avoiding a lesson altogether.

I (Natalie) am staying home full-time with Addison and having fun running around with her all day. I'm also the Enrichment leader in our ward (biggest joke in the universe!!!) and am keeping busy with getting ready for a trip to Mexico in December, a baby in April, and cross-country move in July.

Addison is a happy, healthy 9-month old! She's really laid back and independent, and doesn't need to be entertained. She spends most of her days terrorizing Jake (our dog) - playing tug of war with her stuffed animals, tipping over his water bowl, etc. She's crawling all over the place, pulling up on the furniture and even cruising a bit. Despite tons of toys, her absolute favorite thing to play with is her mom's makeup bag. She has lots of cousins she can't wait to see at Christmas time!!!

We have made some great friends in our new ward - one couple even has a daughter named Addison that is just a couple months older than our Addie. The girls really like to play together (or is it their moms that like to hang out???) and it's fun to see them interact.

We can't wait for the changes this next year will bring and are glad you guys will be here with us through it all!

Latest pic of Addie - she received this headband from somebody when she was born and it's MUCH to big to actually wear in public, so I've just been hanging it from her doorknob to her nursery. Anyway, it fell the other day and she picked it up and kept trying to swing it on her head. I couldn't believe it!!! I put it on her and she freaked if I tried to take it off.......so I had to take a couple of funny pics. (The headband is now hidden in my entertainment center.....)