Christmas Fun & My First Snowfall

For Aaron's work Christmas party this year they did a type of Polar Express theme, and it was a lot of fun and a lot of great food. At the end when everyone reached to North Pole Santa came and handed out sleigh bells with red tags that said "believe" to everyone. It was so fun to see Addie's reaction to Santa. Surprisingly she didn't cry but just stared at him. I think it was because she was so tired. Well, she did love the bells he gave her! She had one in each hand and was vigorously ringing them all the way out to the car, and then half way home the ringing stopped. When we got her into the house we saw she had fallen asleep still clutching the bells in her hands! It was so cute, and she still loves to play with them.



We finally had our first real snowfall of the year last night and this morning. It makes everything so beautiful, and now it actually feels like winter & Christmas for that matter. I could not resist introducing Addie to the snow today. We were out and about shopping yesterday when we had some flurries, but nothing started to stick until last night. So I bundled her up and we when outside.



There wasn't a good spot for her to get into the snow out the back door without falling completely into it. So we went out the front door and found the perfect place on the front step.

Having a staring contest with the snowmen outside.


Starting to play in the snow.


Trying to eat the snow, but the darn stuff keeps melting to fast!


It wasn't to long and I think her bum started to get cold from sitting on the cement step so we went back inside. She was so excited to be out playing though that I am sure we'll so out again later this afternoon.

All grown up...or getting there at least.

About a month ago we started feeding Addie some blended peas and her reaction to the taste was just classic. Here are a couple of pictures of her first bites:

Here she was happy to see Daddy with the camera but that did not last long.


Here was our second attempt at giving her some peas:

At first she was happy to be eating thinking she was going to get rice cereal again but...

her reaction was much the same as before. It was quite funny.

She is doing good now. She eats her peas with almost no problem. She eats them pretty quick which Mommy cannot blame her, I always hated eating peas too when I was little. She also loves carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, pears, & apple sauce. She has also doing well at holding she own bottle. She is just getting bigger and more independent every day. Once she starts walking there is going to be no stopping her!

Calavarous Big Trees

Last weekend we were able to take a little vacation to California and spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Stevenson, Brian, Emily, and Lucy. It was wonderful to be able to go relax and have some fun. One of those days we were able to go to Calavarous Big Trees and see the big red woods trees. It was amazing how huge they are! One of the first guys that found these trees decided to cut one down so that he could take a portion of the stump to New York and London and make money off of it. The people of New York and London were so appalled that he cut the tree down that his money making venture completely back fired. The stump that we are standing on they actually made into a dance floor at one point in time. It is huge! When I first stepped onto the stump I said, "Whoa!" and Addie made a whoa sound mimicking me! It was so cute. There is also another portion of the stump laying on its side right behind us.

Here is a closer picture of that portion that was behind us in the picture above.

So here is Addie and I standing by one of the red woods.

And here is a zoomed out picture to give you a little perspective of how big these things are! This picture only goes about half way up the tree. Addie and I look like ants.

This is along the trail that goes by a lot of the red woods.

Here is Aaron and our friend Todd that came with us.

And here is the tree they are standing on.

This tree was either uprooted or had fallen over and you can see the start of its massive root system.

They say that when red wood trees start growing that only one or two from each pine cone that are the strongest will mature into a giant and the rest die. I am sure it is because the giant trees need all the space and nutrients they can get for their roots. However, sometimes you do find two or three that are close together like these two.
This part of the tree where the path goes through is up the trunk a little ways, so it gets bigger at the bottom!

There is a pathway through this tree that you can walk through without having to bend over.

The bark of the red woods help them stay resistant to fires. On this tree people stripped its bark off for a museum show that would also go to New York and London. They reassembled the peeled off bark to show people how big these trees were. Once again people were appalled and some were even skeptical that the tree was actually that big. Well, in 1908 there was a fire and since this tree lost its bark it was burned. It is now called the Mother of the Forest-or something to that affect. Its interesting because there are other huge red woods in the area and you cannot even tell there was a fire except with this tree.
Addie seemed to be having a fun time, but when it got to her nap time, even though she tried to fight it, the fresh forest air was too much for her! We were close to the end of the trail anyway.

Here is the last tree on the trail. It is dead so they cut a hole to allow people to walk through it.

It was a fun trip. The weather was perfect and it was wonderful smell that fresh forest air and see those beautiful giants! I felt like I was watching a plant earth episode that I could touch!

Rice Cereal, Pajamas, & Bundled for Winter!

About a month ago we started feeding Addie rice cereal. Her face the first time she tasted it was pretty funny, but by the end she was loving it. Now she does a great job eating with a spoon, and anytime she sees one of us eating out of a dish she shows quite a bit of interest.





I love pajamas! I found a cute set of Whinnie-the-Pooh pajamas that I bought for Addie, and they are just now fitting her. It is kind of good, however, because these pajamas have the little hand covers so that Addie cannot suck her fingers when she is going to sleep. So hopefully it will help her break that habit early. They also keep her a little bit warmer with the hat and hand covers.




This weekend it got down into the forties and it even snowed here in the valley. So along with winter comes the bundling up for it and Addie didn't mind one bit.

Four Months Old!

I cannot believe how fast time has flown by. Addie is starting to grow so fast now. It seems like once you get used to one routine she grow and change and we have to get used to a new routine. The doctor said that we can start her on some rice cereal so we'll see how that goes. She is able to hold herself up now while she is on her stomach and it is so cute! So now that she can look around while she is on her stomach she is starting to like it more. Last month she found her fingers and this month she has found her feet. Although she has not gotten her toes in her mouth yet I am sure that it wont be long.

Addie & Daddy Time

Addie's personality is beginning to show more everyday, and she loves playing and cuddling with her Daddy! She likes sit up like a big girl...and be able to see out the window.


I was playing with Addie in her crib the other day while I was cleaning up her room, and I introduced her to some friends that stay in the crib with her. The duck in the corner of the pictures will quack when you squeeze its wing, and she just thinks it is the funniest thing ever. They little horse plays music too which she thought was pretty fun as well. It is cute to see her start to play with things around her.