5 1/2 months

I posted my first pregnancy belly pic when I was this far along with Addy, so I thought I would do the same with little Brayden. I don't have any good pics of him because he was so wiggly during the ultrasound! No picture of his profile! I was disappointed, but what can you do? So here we are!

Sensory Table

This is Addy's new favorite toy and it only cost about $20 to make! You can put so many different things in the table to play with and experiment with. In this picture, the table has just a little water, colored with a couple of drops of blue food coloring. I added some water toys and put a towel underneath the table to prevent and huge mess. I also had a little apron for her to wear to keep her clothes dry. She stayed entertained for a long time! If you make one yourself, be sure to get a lid with your container so you can cover it when it's not being used. Here is just a small list of some of the things I plan to put in the sensory table in the future:
* sand
* play dough
* shaving cream
* colored rice or pasta
* corn starch and water
It's going to be so much fun!



Materials needed for table:
28 qt container (23" x 16 1/4" x 6")
20 ft 3/4" PVC pipe (you may not use all of the pipe, but it's good to have just a little extra)
8 corner fittings
PVC pipe saw

Most containers have a little ridge half way up and that is where you want the top of your PVC frame to rest. You will need to measure around that ridge and cut the pipe according to those measurements. Use the rest of the pipe to cut 4 legs. I made mine about 16" tall. You may want to make them taller or shorter depending on how tall your child is. After you cut the pipe, just hook it all together with the corner fittings, to make a box. Set your container in the top and make sure it's a little snug, and you have a sensory table!

18 Months

Addy is now 18 months old. Yahoo! That means nursery! I have been looking forward to her being able to go to nursery for a couple of months now. It's not that I'm desperate to have time away from her. That couldn't be further from the truth. I love my time with her. I'm just happy that she has a place to play. It's hard for a little toddler to get through one meeting, let alone three! She get's so cranky and we spend pretty much all of our time in the hall. She had her first day in nursery a couple of weeks ago and she did pretty well. She got pretty attached to one of the nursery leaders and had a fit when she left the room for a minute, but calmed down when she got back. Addy has a tendency to get attached to certain people really quickly. She isn't like this with everyone, she just knows when she really likes a person I guess. She was sick last week and we had stake conference this week, so we will see how she does the second time around!
For some time now, Addy has been in-love with the phone. She loves so talk to daddy while he's at work. I thought I would put up a little clip of her talking on the phone.

Addy has also started "reading" to herself. It's so funny to watch her jibber-jabber and flip through the pages. Every now and then I'll hear something recognizable like an animal sound or name. She knows most of her farm animals and is currently obsessed with the song "Old McDonald Had A Farm". Matt found a little clip on youtube with cartoons and animal pictures that go along with the song. She loves it! She gets the biggest smile on her face and chimes in when she knows the words. She could probably watch it all day if I let her! As I have mentioned in previous entries, Addy LOVES to dance! She used to move her hips a lot, but now it's evolved into hand movements, twirling and wiggling. I tried to upload a little clip of her dancing and watching Old McDonald, but for some reason it isn't working! I'll have to try again in another post.

It's a Boy!

We just went in for our prenatal visit earlier this week and we were able to find out the sex of the baby. Matt and Kiera were right, it's a boy! While the doctor was doing the ultrasound he said "This kid is not shy! We are getting plenty of views in between the legs, but not many of the face!" He said he has never had such a clear view. That's good I guess, but I was hoping to see his little face! We have the official ultrasound in a couple of weeks, so hopefully we will get some good pictures then! I have had different symptoms this time around, so I figured it would be a boy as well. I know it's just an old wives tale that you have different symptoms with each sex, but I had to wonder. For example, with Addy, I craved frozen fruit and strawberry milk. With this little guy, I have been craving chips, french fries and fried chicken. Also, my morning sickness went away at about 12 or 13 weeks with Addy and this time around I was still feeling sick at 17 weeks. I am now 18 weeks and starting to feel better...knock on wood. Matt and I went out and bought his first little outfit and cuddly toy. I'm excited to get started on some projects for my little boy. Maybe I will try to make a quilt. Too ambitious? I have never made one before, so I'm a little nervous about it!

16 months and news

Here is a little list of what Addy and the rest of us have been up to this month:
-Nanna came to visit for a little over a week and we had lot's of fun with her. Addy especially loved playing with Nanna and spent every second she could with her.
-Addy discovered bubbles and is now obsessed. She asks for them all day long. She can even blow bubbles herself!
-Addy FINALLY started calling me Mama a couple of weeks ago. For a while I was wondering if I was just going to be Dada forever. It was a happy day for me!
-Addy can say over 20 words now and learns a new one almost every day. She always was a talker!

-This is just a funny picture of Addy wearing one of my shirts as a dress. She pulled it out of the laundry basket about two seconds after I folded it (this is something she does often) and tried to put it on. She finally got her head through one of the sleeves and then pulled it down around her waist. She wore my shirt like this for half the day. When I tried to take it off, she threw a huge fit!
-We have been working really hard to get Addy involved in prayers for meals and bedtime and she has been pretty good about folding her arms. Tonight, she decided to say the prayer too. She closed her little eyes about half way and started jibber jabbering. It was so sweet and funny at the same time.
-Our most exciting news is that we are going to have new little member of our family in November! Addy LOVES babies and I know she will be a wonderful little helper and big sister!

15 Months

We have had a busy month and the time has just flown by! We just got back from a week long visit to Georgia last week. Matt's sister Crystal was married and we were able to be there for the reception, but unfortunately not the wedding. She was married the week before and Matt wasn't out for Spring break yet. Anyway, Crystal and her husband Alex had a fun Luau reception and of course I didn't take any pictures! I am terrible about that! There was great food and decorations and I didn't get pictures of any of it. I'm so mad at myself! She had a fun "candy bar" with lot's of different kinds of candy in a variety of pretty glass containers. Addy looooved that! I spent most of my time trying to distract her from it. She kept walking up to it and saying "pwe?" (please)in her sweet little voice. It was hard not to give in. Her little cousin Brennan, who is just two months older than her was there and he was so excited to see her that he ran up to her and gave her such a big hug they both fell right over. He is such a sweet little boy. I don't think I have ever seen a child his age be so attentive and considerate! Here is just a cute little example of what I mean. He has this stuffed animal named Scout that he takes everywhere. He LOVES scout. Anyway, he saw Addy admiring his little Scout, so he picked him up and handed him to Addy, and then turned and walked away crying. It was quite a sacrifice for him to let her play with his toy for a minute, but he was willing to do it. I just wish we had gotten it on camera! Though he was constantly trying to share with Addy, she didn't quite know what to do. She's not really used to kids her age bringing her things and sharing with her, so she would just look at him kind of confused. She's actually pretty good at sharing most of the time as well. I hope it lasts. We took Addy to the park a few times while we were there and she loved the slides. I actually remembered to bring my camera to the park, so I got a few really cute pictures. Though the visit to Georgia was wonderful, getting there and back was horrible! Matt absolutely hates to fly. More than anyone I have ever known. While we were waiting to get on the plane, he seriously considered driving to Georgia instead of flying. This happened both ways. It takes about 34 hours to drive from Utah to Georgia! Fortunately, he faced his fears and got on the plane. On the way to Georgia, we had to fly from Salt Lake to Phoenix and then Phoenix to Atlanta. On the flight to Phoenix I sat between Matt and a sort of heavy set woman who seemed to be a little nervous or something. Addy was being very squirmy of course and a little fussy, but I was doing my best to keep her happy and calm. Just as I had accomplished this, the woman next to me asked the flight attendant for a coke. She had taken maybe two sips from it when somehow she knocked her entire cup of coke right into my lap. I was wearing light gray pants, so I kind of looked like I peed my pants for the rest of the day. The poor woman was so embarrassed! They really shouldn't put those seats so close together! So I was cold and very wet, but I was dealing with it. About 20 minutes before we were about to land, I felt Addy's diaper leak all over my leg. I had given her so much water and juice to keep her quiet that her diaper leaked! This was only the first hour of our travels! I still had 3 hours to go! On our flight from Phoenix to Atlanta, Addy cried for about 30 minutes and then fell asleep sucking on a lolly pop. I will admit it, she had quite a bit of sugar. Desperate times call for desperate measures. On the way back from Georgia, Addy would have nothing to do with any of the toys or snacks that I packed. She screamed her little lungs out for at least an hour. I felt sorry for the people on the plane, I felt sorry for her, but mostly, I felt sorry for myself. It was terrible! It was so bad I told Matt I would drive the 30 something hours next time! It was so bad that during our layover, a woman from our flight offered to buy me a margarita for the next flight. I also heard several other people comment on how Addy had behaved on the plane. I will never fly with a 15 month old again!
So here is a little update on what Addy has been doing this month.
* She can now say please, thank you, dog, eyes, teeth, water, light, baby, Jesus and her favorite "where is it". She puts her little hands out when she says it and looks at me inquisitively. It's so cute!
* She has learned to kick a ball, but is still working on throwing
* She still loves to dance
* She thinks the snow is lot's of fun and she loves her little hat. She likes to put it on and wear it around the house.

Dancing Queen

Addy is now 14 months old and she has accomplished some big things this past month! About one week before she turned 14 months, she decided it was time to start walking. She has been able to since she was almost 12 months old, but she just wasn't confident enough to do it without holding on to someones finger. Then, one Sunday night when we were at my mom's she just started walking around all by herself and now she can't get enough opportunities to do it! Of course with walking comes more curiosity. She is into everything! I try to direct her to a cupboard or drawer that is OK to pull everything out of and it works pretty well....most of the time. She has also discovered toilet paper and loves to tear it up into little tiny pieces after she has blown her nose. Yes she really does blow her nose! I couldn't do that until I was practically a teenager! She has learned a couple more words like "up" and "eat", but her favorite form of communication is to nod her head yes when she sees something she likes or wants. Usually it's food and along with the nodding she says "num! num!" enthusiastically. I don't give her dessert very often, but for some reason, even if she has never had it, she knows it's good. For example, the other day I was watching this show on food network called "The Best Thing I Ever Ate". I don't let her watch tv very often either, but I like to watch a cooking show every once in a while. Anyway, there were several different dishes featured on the show and most of them were pastas or meat or something, but one was a 24 layer chocolate cake. Addy didn't pay attention to the show until that giant slice of chocolate cake came on the screen. Her eyes got really wide and she said "num!num!" and pretended to take a little nibble from the screen. She's never even had chocolate cake!
Addy loves her stuffed animals and her doll. Over the past month, I have noticed her patting their backs, kissing them and rocking them. It is such a sweet and cute thing to see. I can tell that one day when she has a little brother or sister, she will be a great little helper. We used to have to ask for kisses, but I have noticed her voluntarily giving them out more often. It's usually to her toys, but every once in a while Matt and I get one. She has a little book that she likes to look at and there is a little boy in it dressed like super man and she gives him kisses over and over again when we read it. He has dark hair like Matt, so maybe that is why?
My favorite thing that she has started doing recently is dancing. It is just about the funniest thing I have ever seen. She will dance to most music, even commercial music which happens to be what she is dancing to in this little clip.