New Etsy Shop

I finally did it! I joined the world of Etsy. I can't believe how many people are on there, and so many neat products. I've been working hard on getting it all together, it's a lot of work! Go check it out and see some of our holiday stuff...

Thanks again to Samantha at Park Avenue Photography for the wonderful photos!

Our Princess

Seriously, this is like the second time we have witnessed this. Addie is not the type that will sleep anywhere. It is rare for her to sleep in the car, stroller, our arms. We decided to go for a quick walk today after church instead of laying her down right away for a nap. Not long into it she was resting her head on the side then she fell asleep! I couldn't believe it! I had to get a picture. We managed to carry the stroller up the porch steps and parked her in the living room where she slept for another 20 minutes or so. She woke up crying and Daniel put her in her bed. I think she might have slept all night if I had left her. I finally woke her up around 6:30. It was the most wonderful thing being able to cook AND eat dinner in peace tonight, but she wanted to stay up late! Finally around 10 she was acting sleepy and went to bed...we'll see what time she wakes up tomorrow!

I have to just say what a great little girl she is! This morning she had a short nap before church so I was worried she was going to be a monster! Daniel and I are both Sunbeam teachers (4 year olds) and she has 1 more month (yea!) until she goes into nursery so she is stuck in the room with us for the second and third hours of church. Today she was wonderful! She wanted to sit on a little chair just like all of the other kids, she colored when they did, I even saw her doing some of the arm movements to a song during singing time! Then we came home and she fell asleep in the stroller and was such a happy girl when she woke up. I have to say she is a sweetie pie! We were saying how we know our next child is going to be out of control because you can't have 2 angels in a row, can you?

Two more things. Isn't her jacket adorable? I know it's hard to see, but we found it at Old Navy for $10.99! And she loves wearing those mittens! We have been walking a lot lately and she puts her hands out so I can put them on. Again, sweetie pie.

Just something cute...

We have a cabinet in the kitchen that Addie knows she is not allowed to get into...it has the cereal boxes in it. Yesterday I was working on the computer when she left the room for a few minutes. When she returned she had the box of Kix in her hands. I wish I had gotten the smile on her face when she saw me. It was a mix of "I am so proud of myself that I carried this all the way here" and "Mom, please don't yell at me because I know I am not supposed to have this". It was one of the sweetest, cutest smiles, how could I get upset with her! So I let her keep the box and I went back to work. A few minutes later I looked over at her and this is what I saw:

She is watching a Baby Classical Music DVD we got from the library. Anything with music on it she loves! She lookes like she is watching a movie and eating popcorn!

Yea for the pink potty!

I realize that Addie is alittle too young to start potty training but we bought her a little potty from Ikea a month or 2 ago because she kept going on the floor right before we put her in the bath. When I first brought it home she cried when I tried to put her on it, then we moved on to her wanting to sit on it when one of us was in there. The only time she sits on it without her diaper on is right before the bath. She would never actually do anything in it though. Tonight, as usual, I put her on it nakey and she sat there for a minute then got up just like always. But tonight, she came back a minute later and sat on it all by herself and actually went! Yea!!!

Small milestones

This might seem like a boring post, but this is one of those small things that I like to document. This is also for those family members who don't get to see Addie often and how she is growing up!

I usually don't give Addie a bowl of rice cereal and a spoon and let her go at it without me standing there helping her. She has been getting better at eating by herself, so this morning I needed to finish the dishes and she wanted to eat. I gave her the cereal and figured it would entertain her while I finished what I was doing. She actually did pretty well, I think most of it went in her mouth. I got some on video, she thinks it's fun to feed herself. We have been talking about which hand she uses more. I said the other day that I think she is starting to favor the left hand, like her mom. What do you think?

New Beginnings update...

Well it's been a month since we moved into our house, started our new budget and I was supposed to be on my healthy diet. Thought I would post a little update on how things are going.

As far as the diet...well, that didn't go so well. I was good for about 2 weeks then I stopped writing down what I was eating. If I don't write it down there is no way I will stick to it. And now we have tons of Halloween candy so it's not looking like I will be going sugar free for a little bit longer. :) In those few weeks that I was eating well, I think I at least lost the weight that I gained right after Addie stopped nursing.

I still don't have the house decorated, the walls are so bare! I am thinking about making a cover for our old comforter, some new curtains and something to cover our open closets (besides the ugly white doors that slide). These things, and hanging stuff on the walls will be my next project

Our new budget is working out great! It's not so fun sticking to a budget all of the time but our bank account benefits from it. About the third week into it, Daniel told me he was dying and couldn't handle not eating out. Except for the occasional snack at McDonald's and Daniel's Thursday morning breakfasts at work, we only ate out for dinner like 2 or 3 times during the month. Although there were a lot of things we had to pass up buying during the month, there were a few fun purchases: I bought fabric to make some changing pads, Addie's new table from Ikea and Daniel got a lawn mower. Addie loves her table! It's usually in my craft room for her to color at while I am working. Here are a couple cute pictures of her sitting at it reading...

Monster Addie

Listen closely...

We call it her 'monster' voice. I am pretty sure she is imitating her train that makes animal sounds. This must be the lion, but monster is funnier!

All about Addisen

Name and Meaning: Addisen Rochelle. Addisen means "strong woman". We thought it was appropriate because she would kick like a maniac in my belly and she actually, literally kicked her way out when I was in labor. Rochelle is my middle name.

Age : 16.5 months
Nicknames : Pumpkin, Monster, Munch.
Favorite Activities : Eating snacks, being outside, coloring, reading books, pulling things out of drawers.

Favorite Foods: Crackers, ice cream, cheese, bananas.

Least Favorite Foods : Vegetables

Music : Rhapsody Blues, the one on Fantasia 2000. The 5 Browns have it on their CD and she loves it! Most of the other songs on the Fantasia movies.

Favorite Toys : Her pink airplane, the silly cat we got from the library. She actually has a lot...

Favorite Books: Amazing Airplanes, Picture This, Happy Baby Animals.

Favorite Item of Clothing : Any of her socks and shoes

What Makes Her Happy : Food, when daddy comes home, reading with us, getting attention.

What Makes Her Sad: Being told no, not getting food in the car, when Daddy yells at her.

Now I tag: Kristi (Brooklyn), Alice (Emma), Mel (Kadence), Katy (Jack), Rebecca (Benjamin)

Happy Birthday and Halloween

I have to say how glad I am that last week is over!! I love Halloween and I got to celebrate my birthday, but due to the craft boutique on Saturday, the whole week was super stressful!
Here is my week in review:

Monday was my birthday. Daniel had a whole afternoon planned for us. He came home early from work and we dropped Addie off with our friend Katy. Then we headed to dinner at Olive Garden and then we actually went and saw a movie in the theater! I can't remember the last time we did that. I didn't know he had any of this planned until about noon that day. I was surprised because he is horrible at keeping secrets! Another surprise he kept a secret was my Wii fit! I came downstairs in the morning and there it was by the TV! Yea!! My mom got me a GPS for the car so I won't get lost any more. Thanks for all of the birthday cards, calls and texts!

Addie got to wear her costume out like 4 times, so I feel like we got good use out of it. The first little party we went to was the play group for our new ward. They had yummy snacks and lost of cute costumes! Thursday we went to our old wards Halloween party and trunk or treat. Addie caught on pretty quick that people handed her candy and she got to keep it! We even got some of her dancing on video. Friday morning we went to another play group and then trick or treating that night with Katy, Clay and Addie's buddy Jack. Our camera died so we didn't get any trick or treating pictures but I think you get the idea of what her costume looked like from these pictures...

The kids did a costume parade on the stage at the party.


I think she is hugging her friend Jack.


Here is her dancing, I think it's pretty funny.

This is the second play group we went to, of course she wouldn't look at the camera and she absolutely refused to put the sippy cup down!

Except for the shoes, this was her complete costume, pig tails and all.

Saturday was the big day. Our first big boutique. We had a lot of help setting it all up, but it looked great! It was fun to be there with all of the other vendors and we learned a lot!