Aaron & Stacey

Addie's first dance class

2011-09-06T19:59:00.001-07:00

Today Addie pops out of bed at 7 am, runs into my room, and the first words out of her mouth are, "Is it time for dance class?" It was so cute. I was impressed that she slept in that late, and she did a good job the rest of the morning waiting until it was actually time to go. The funny thing is I was just as excited as she was! Once I got her all ready she was all twirls and poses, and I was a typical parent trying to get as many pictures as I could.

She almost could not hold this pose:
Had to put this pose in twice it was so cute:

Addie wanted to show off her hair:

Here she wanted to show off her pack-pack that has her dance shoes in:

Addie with a little attitude..."They call me A to the C, that's for Addie Cakers!"

Addie's class minus her friend Emily who came right after all the moms were taking this group picture.

At the bars doing ballet:

When they got their tap shoes on they were also able to play with these ribbon sticks while they learned a little of tap dancing:
It was so fun to gush over our children with the other Moms through the one sided window. Addie was exhausted after but is excited to go back next week. She got up once after we laid her down for bed tonight and asked if I would make sure to get her up in time in the morning. She did this last night because she was worried she would miss her dance class. So I asked her what she needed to get up in time for tomorrow. When she did not answer I explained to her again that she did not have dance tomorrow, and that she would not have it again until next week. Hopefully she does not forget and come running into my room early tomorrow morning!

Happy 30th Birthday Honey!

2011-06-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

This year Aaron turned the big 30 and he was so excited with his job as a principal to be able to say that he is in his 30's now! Addie was quite the big girl too. She was so excited to help get presents for Daddy, and she was quite the helper when it came to making the birthday cake. She wanted to mix it all herself and did a good job too.

Aaron almost tricked Addie into telling him what we got him for his birthday. She was so good at keeping his presents a secret, but Aaron was being very sneaky in trying to get her to spill the beans.

It was a fun night of cake and ice cream and licking frosting off the candles. We love you honey.

Dunk Tank Anyone?

2011-06-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

So during the last week of school Orchard had a dance festival. Then after the dance festival is was time to dunk the Principal. It was so fun to see all the children get excited and line up to get a chance to throw the ball at the target. Unfortunately, it was not quite warm enough out to offset the cold hose water in the tank. Aaron was a good sport and had fun despite the cold water.

Aaron watching the balls fly towards the target.

This was the first ball that actually hit the target on the button and you can see the seat Aaron is on has started to tip. These next pictures of Aaron are just priceless.

Addie was not sure what to think of it all as she watched her Daddy get dunked except that she thought it was pretty silly that he was getting all wet in his clothes. Silly Daddy!

Addie's 3rd Birthday

2011-06-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

Addie was so excited this year for her birthday. Everything she saw that she wanted she would ask if she could have it for her birthday. We had some neighborhood friends over and she had a blast!

Addie kept sneaking licks of her birthday cake.

Addie being patient.

My attempt at a "Uniqua" cake.

Addie opening her presents.

Addie sporting her new scooter, helmet, and "slip-slops"

We all had such a fun time celebrating. Happy Birthday Addie-cakes!

Easter 2011

2011-05-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

Easter this year was especially fun with Addie. It was also great to have Grandma and Grandpa Stevenson here to celebrate with us. Addie loved to color Easter eggs. Thankfully there were no huge messes. Addie was excited to have the Easter Bunny come so we made 'thank you' cards to leave by our baskets to tell him thanks for the candy he would leave us. In the morning she was excited to see her stash.

It didn't take long and she realized that all her eggs were hidden around the house. So we started picking up all the Easter eggs.

Thanks to Grandma Elder it also didn't take her long to realize that the plastic eggs had jelly beans in them.

Grandpa Stevenson happened to be sitting on one of the eggs...silly Grandpa.

Addie in her Easter dress and gloves

My handsome/cute family!

Twirls

When we went to roll our Easter eggs first we tried a grass hill we found and that didn't work.

Then we tried a slanted sidewalk, but it was not slanted enough.

Then we found the perfect hill just up the road from our house. It was fun to have so many egg rolling competitors!

It was such a fun Easter and we were glad to have Grandma and Grandpa Stevenson and Aunt Christine here to join in the fun with us. The winner of the Easter egg roll was....dah dah da...me, unless you count Addie's double tosses down the hill. Easter egg rolling takes years of practice...or maybe it is just luck. :)

Christmas Vacation

2011-01-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

Dec. 19: Travel to Idaho Falls (262 miles)
Dec. 24: Travel back home (262 miles)
Dec. 27: Travel to Modesto (759 miles)
Dec. 30: Travel to Anaheim (338 miles)
Jan. 1: Travel to Pasadena (34 miles)
Jan. 1: Travel to St. George (378 miles)
Jan. 2: Travel back home (265 miles)
Total: 2,298 miles

We had a great time. It was fun to see family. The days went by to fast. However, we are glad to be home, safe and sound.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

I think Addie is starting to get the hang of Christmas. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

New Pajamas

A necklace from Santa

Santa also brought Addie a Mick and Minnie doll, and a stroller

A pretty new coat and art set from Grandma and Grandpa

New Elmo slippers

A digital picture frame for my office

Silicon baking sheets and an easel for Stacey

Micky and Minnie rarely leave Addie's side

Let's paint and dance

Merry Christmas!

Big Girl Bed and Family Pictures

2010-11-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

This last weekend was crazy. The Saturday before Halloween we drove all over looking for a bed for Addie and finally found one we liked. Then last Saturday Aaron went and got a mattress and bunky board (instead of a box springs) for the bed. Then we all went out to get Addie a bed set and a cool rug. She is so excited about her big girl bed and loves sleeping in it. Periodically now during the day she'll say, "Want to come to Addie's room?" or "Want to see my big girl room? Come on, I show you." It is so cute. I am glad she likes it and is adjusting to it so well. I have some other things for her room, but we are going to wait until Christmas time to give them too her.

We finally were able to make it up the Canyon to take some family pictures this year. Thanks to Aaron for helping me and making it happen. We were worried that all the leaves would be off the trees and further up the canyon they were, but we found some good spots still left and were able to get some great pictures. This first one is great for seeing Addie's classic "CHEESE!" face:

Wish we had more time to just go play in the leaves. Maybe we'll make a second trip up there just for fun. I am excited to be on top of things enough this year to actually get Christmas cards out. Well I haven't quite gotten them yet...so....yeah hopefully it happens!

Halloween Festivities

2010-10-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween was quite the whirl wind this year. I wanted Addie to be Tinkerbell this year because with her blonde hair she was perfect for the role. I tried making her costume and she just looked like a green ballerina. So we went and bought her costume instead. Next I went to savers to find something for Aaron and I so we could be Wendy and Peter Pan. I have to say we turned out pretty good. So here we are, CHEESE!

Wendy's bangs were kind of curled in all the animated pictures that I looked at so I curled mine to in order to fit the part...I felt like I was ten again and didn't know how to do my hair!

On Saturday we took Addie to do some trick or treating, and she kept trying to give her candy to whoever answered the door. It took her about 3 doors before she realized that she didn't have to give her candy away but that she was going to get candy. Once she got it she would say, "That's cool!" Reverse trick or treating...we might have to try that one year.

Saturday night we also went to Addie's cousins party. Here they are having a donut eating contest. I think Addie may have gotten three bits in.

Our ward Halloween party was a lot of fun too. It started out with a parade and Addie waved "HI" the whole time she walked across the stage. There was chili and corn bread, pie eating contests, face painting and cake walk for the kiddos. While I was manning the cake walk Aaron was taking Addie around to get candy. Every couple of minutes she would be running back to me to show me what she got in her pumpkin. It was a lot of fun.

Addie's butterfly she got painted on her face

Addie got a stamp in her pumpkin at the ward party and ended up doing this when Mommy and Daddy were not looking.

Second halloween + tons of sugar = this:

It was a lot of fun and I am a lot of tired! Now to find a way to monitor the candy intake!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

So we carved pumpkins for the first time with Addie yesterday, and I was wondering how she was going to like it. Well she had no problem digging into the pumpkins and cleaning them out. I remember gagging when I had to clean out my own pumpkins growing up, but I am not surprised that it did not bug Addie at all. She was so fearless that she even tried taking bites out of the pumpkin lids after we cut them out. It was a lot of fun. Addie helped to carve the ghost pumpkin, I did the one with the spider, and Addie was so excited to have Daddy do a Mickey pumpkin!

So this is how things went this morning. Addie and I woke up at 7:30am. Addie looked out the window and saw that it snowed and want to go outside. We bundled up. First went out to check on the Mickey pumpkin. Went out back to run around in the snow. Made a snowman. Checked on the Mickey pumpkin again. Came inside and had some hot chocolate. It was a fun morning. It is always exciting the first time it snows.

Really how can I say no to this and not go out and play in the snow!

In this one she is saying "Come on Momma."

2010-09-11T06:36:00.000-07:00

So the other day in nursery the children all made these paper crowns. There were a couple different things from them to choose from to decorate their crowns, so it was no big surprise when Addie showed up with "happy" stickers covering her crown. She was so proud of it. It was so cute.

For labor day we drove up to Sun Dance to just look around and ride the lift. I was not prepared for how nervous I was going to feel with Addie on the lift with us. I made sure I was constantly hanging onto her except for when I was taking pictures. Then Aaron was holding onto her. However, half way back down the lift Addie managed to kick one of her shoes off, and then she pretty much cried the rest of the way down that she had lost her shoe.

So I remembered which post we were at when Addie's shoe fell off and we did a bit of off-roading in the Mazda! It was awesome. Aaron ran up the hill to the lift and he managed to get Addie's shoe back. The funny thing is those shoes are so torn up they are going to get thrown out at the end of the summer anyway. It made Addie feel better to get her shoe back though.

All-in-all it made for quite an exciting adventure for the holiday. We had a good time, and the trees were just starting to turn colors so it made for a pretty view.

Our Little Angle

2010-07-03T07:20:00.001-07:00

It's a Boy

It's a boy
We'd happily say
Then all that happiness
Got stripped away
His diagnosis was fatal
It didn't seem fair
He seemed so healthy
But was not meant for here
We loved him and cared for him
As best we could
But in the end
We understood
He had to go
Yet in our hearts he'll stay
Forever our Angel
Perfect that way

Caden Louis Stevenson was born at 11:20am. He was 3 lbs 1 oz and 16 1/2 inches long! We had to have an emergency c-section, but in the end it was too much and he passed away. It was still great to see and hold him. We love him!

Addie Fashion

2010-06-29T06:46:00.001-07:00

Lately Addie has been realizing that she can start making her own decisions especially when it comes to what she wears. It fun to see her own fashion emerging. Addie was given this cute little fairy outfit from her Uncle Bryan and Aunt Emily and the girls for her birthday, and she loved it.

But then she has been obsessed lately with wearing her winter hat and mittens. One day we were going to go to the grocery and she insisted on wearing her hat and mittens to the store. Mind you it was close to 90 degrees that day. Well, she likes to add these accessories to just about any outfit!

Addie has also started to take a big interest in stickers. We have played with stickers with her before, but it hasn't been until that last little while that she has really start to play with them. Usually by the end Addie and everyone that is playing with stickers with her is covered.
We have a lot fun and it is so fun to watch Addie grow.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2010-06-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

So while we were in California for the wedding we were also able to go to the Monterey Aquarium, and it was so much fun. I love how children are excited by the littlest things and Addie seemed to have a blast looking at all the fish. Her reactions were priceless.

There is an area at the very beginning of the aquarium where the tide comes in and over a glass walk way. Addie love it and we could barely pull her away to go see anything else.

The jellyfish were awesome. I love seeing all the different kinds and just watching them squish around.

One of my favorite aquatic species are sea horses. They are just so interesting to me. I love how they have these tiny fins but they still zip around pretty darn fast. There were baby ones smaller than my thumb nail and these particular guys are called sea dragons.

The Aquarium also has a whole upstairs wing with all kinds of kids stuff to play on. There was a tunnel of aquariums for the little ones to walk through, a bounce area, and a bunch of water games to play with. Addie put up quite a fuss when it was time to go. It was worth the drive and putting up with my swollen pregnant feet!

California Wedding

2010-06-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

So we went this last week to Aaron's youngest sister's wedding in California. I have been so impressed with how detailed both my sister-in-laws have been with their weddings. Rachel and Tim both looked great and it was fun to be able to be there for all the festivities.

Addie loved seeing all her cousins

The cupcake cake was way cute.

I loved the cute family tree table

I cannot believe Rachel made her cake topper herself! Way cute!

Addie loved the harp player and twirled most of the night away. Usually she'll keep her eyes open but she would just keep spinning with her eyes closed until she fell over. It was the cutest thing.

It was fun to spend time with family and to get away. I always feel like we never get to stay long enough when we are in Cali, but we enjoy every minute we get!

A Fun Weekend

2010-05-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to a little place in Utah called Gardner village. It is a gorgeous little place with a bunch of shops, boutiques, and restaurants. Addie had a fun time running around while Aaron followed her with the camera and I tried to keep up. Of course I would get distracted and peruse a boutique here or there.

Addie found a cool new set of wheels

Potty break?

She loved the Big Wheel and didn't want to leave. We had a good time. Definitely a fun place to go visit.

Two and Loving It!

2010-05-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

Addie's just had a birthday on the 10th and I cannot believe that she is two years old already, but she had let Aaron and I know she is two and a big girl! She definitely has a mind of her own and she is starting to voice her opinions. It has been fun though to watching her grow from baby to toddler. Addie has a bunch of friends around her age in the neighborhood that she loves to play with, so I decided it would be fun to throw her a "little" pool party the weekend before her birthday to celebrate. While it was fun getting things together for her birthday the closer it got to her party the bigger it became and the bigger of a deal it turned into. From stressing about the weather to getting all the decorations, food, and chairs I was glad Aaron and Addie's Uncle Randy and Aunt Suzie were there to help. The children had fun playing in the pool and sprinkler the first hour, but then the wind picked up and all the children's lips started turning blue so we moved it inside for the cake and presents. Not a total failure as the children seemed to have fun regardless. Although one of Addie's friends was a very determined little girl and wanted to go back out into the pool even though it looked liked it was going to storm. It was cute.

Addie loved the sprinkler, I thought she would be a little scared of it at first but she jumped right in.

We got Addie a crawl tube from Ikea and she loved it!

Daddy and Addie stuck in the tube

Thanks for everyone who came and brought Addie gifts. I was worried about Addie liking all these boy toys because most of her friends that she plays with are boys, but thankfully she got plenty of princess puzzles and rings and dress-up closes! Happy Birthday Addie!

Pllowcase dress

2010-04-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

So I am trying to get back into sewing, and since I haven't done a whole lot with sewing in the first place I wanted to start out easy. I decided to make a pillowcase dress for Addie for Easter. It was fairly quick and easy. It was the perfect thing to get re-acquainted with the sewing machine, and it was fun to do. I just googled pillowcase dress instructions and went from there. The only thing I would suggest if anyone is interested in trying this is to make the cuts for the arm holes 1-1 1/2 inches instead of 3 inches, and then I just hemmed the arm holes instead of using bias tape because I sewed on ribbons to tie over the shoulders. Other than that the steps are pretty easy and then it is fun to add on any decorations you want.

This dress ended up being a little bit longer than I intended, but Addie will be able to wear it for a long time now since she is growing so fast. So happy sewing to anyone who wants to try.

2010-04-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

While we were up in Idaho this weekend it snowed a good 9 inches, so Addie got to have a fun time with Grandpa in the tractor while he plowed out the driveway.

She had a blast, and unlike the dry snow in Utah this snow was perfect for making a snowman. It has been years since I have made a snowman myself, and I don't know who had more fun Addie or I.

Addie had to try on the gloves I was using to make the snowman and they were three times to big for her. It was a great weekend and it was nice to relax and have fun.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T17:51:00.001-07:00

Now that it is Easter, and the last post I did was Christmas, I thought I'd better get around to updating the blog. We made it up to Idaho this weekend to spend Easter with my parents and my sister and her husband. One of the traditions of my family is the usual decoration of the eggs, but then on Easter we take them to a hill and roll them to see whose egg goes the farthest. Sometimes the eggs start to peel as they roll until there is just the yoke that is left going down the hill. It has always been a fun competition for my siblings and I, and Addie seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself this Easter. So here we are dying the eggs.

Of course Addie ended up with multi-colored hands by the time we were done.

Here is the end result, nothing fancy, but we had fun making them.

My parents have a little toy house with people and furniture, and Addie had to bring them to the dining table when she was ready to eat so that they could eat too.

Here we are lined up to roll our eggs. The hill we picked this year ended up not being very steep so the eggs only rolled about two feet. Once Addie got the hang of what we were doing she just started throwing one egg right after the other out of her basket.

Addie pulled a couple of the eggs apart to see what was on the inside, but it wasn't candy!

It was fun to have her able to participate more with the holiday festivities this year. Of other news I am 5 months along with our little baby boy. So we are excited have a new addition to our family come the end of July. We'll talk to Addie about her baby brother and I think she is starting to understand a little that she is not going to be the only child anymore. Also, Aaron just got offered a job as an Assistant Principal for a couple Elementary schools. We do not know which schools he will be at yet, but we are thrilled that he got the job.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-10T19:49:00.001-08:00

It seems like there is always a lot going on in December, but this year has been especially fun to watch Addie's reaction to all of the Christmas festivities. She has loved having the tree up in the house and she knows what Santa looks like and that he says "Ho Ho Ho!" We had our ward Christmas party this weekend and it was the first time Addie got to sit on Santa's lap. Of course sitting on some strangers lap that has a big white beard was not to her liking. So Addie got to sit on Mama's lap while Mama sat on Santa's lap. I would have to say I cannot remember the last time I actually sat on Santa's lap. I was worried I was going to crush him. Fortunately, he was a pretty sturdy guy. Addie began to warm up to Santa when he handed her a candy cane, but only a little bit.

It has been snowing quite a bit lately too so it was fun to get all bundled up and go out and play in the snow. Addie thought it was quite fun to make tracks in the snow, but besides that she didn't know what to do. Since the snow was to flaky to make a snowman, Addie took advantage of the fact that she was outside and went to the snow covered park to play.

So yesterday morning I got Addie all ready for the day and then I went to get ready myself. Well by the time I came out of the shower (which was probably only 8-10 minutes) Addie was fast asleep curled up on the toilet. Luckily I had the camera near by so I was able to get this picture.

We made our first fort this morning. Addie thought it was the neatest thing. So we brought all of her stuffed friends in to share in the fun too.

We hope everyone is having a just as much fun this holiday season as we are!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year Addie was a ladybug. She was so cute and it was fun that her squeaky shoes just happened to match her costume, so not only was she adorable all dressed up but she squeaked everywhere she went too. Aaron was a scare crow this year, and I was a witch. As soon as I get some of the pictures of us I'll get those posted too. Addie did not like her costume at first but that quickly changed, and she loved carrying her bucket around and having people put candy in it.

In this picture she is running off into the kitchen saying "Get YOU!" Meaning she wants one of us to catch her and tickle her. It has become a regular game at our house, but it was even more cute in the costume.

We have a play group that meets every week and we had a little party for them this last Wednesday. There were a ton of little cuties running around.

The two ladybugs of the day!

Chicken little and Snow white:

A group shot of most of the children that were there. There were some little ones that were not able to sit on the stage. It was a lot of fun. We had a blast this Halloween.

Addie's First Hair Do

2009-09-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

I was so excited today when I realized that Addie's hair was finally long enough to pull back into a pony tail! It still does not stay in very well, but that just means that Mommy gets to go to the store and buy some cute hair clips to help her hair stay back. It is not a very big pony but it sure is cute!

This picture is thanks to some friends of ours who came over for dinner one night. Addie was very interested in their cowboy boots so we had her try them on and it was hilarious. She wanted to walk around in them, but they were to heavy for her to move them.

Here are some random pictures of Addie playing with a couple of her boyfriends that live next to us. They all brought out some of their toys a had a blast playing together. Addie cried when it was time to go inside that night.

It is so fun to watch Addie grow and start to play with our neighbor's children. Now she doesn't want to just go outside, but she wants to go outside and play with whoever is outside too. It is a lot of fun. Thank goodness we have good neighbors for her to play with.

Goofing Around

2009-09-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

So we have not been doing anything much different lately to talk about. Aaron and I are still training for the St. George Marathon and Addie is getting more grown up everyday. Here are some pictures of Addie playing with her 3-D glasses and a little hike we went on a month ago:

Happy Fathers Day!

2009-06-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

It is so sweet to see Aaron and Addie together. Aaron is so cute with his little girl, and Addie is always so excited when Daddy comes home! Daddies seem to discover fun and exciting new adventures and things to explore. Aaron gave Addie her first "driving lesson" in our parking lot. It was short but she loved it!

Just relaxin'

I just love Addie's face in this picture

We were at Target the other day and saw this little pool and just could not resist. Addie loves it. Especially the slide.

Thanks honey for all you do for us! We sure do love you.

First Birthday

2009-06-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

Addie had her first birthday a couple of weeks ago, and she had a blast celebrating it twice! First we were up in Idaho the weekend before. She never really dug into her cake that much which we all thought was pretty funny. Then the week after on Mother's day we celebrated her actual birthday and she would not dig into that cake then either! I guess she is just not that big of a fan of cake. A couple days later I was feeding her refried beans, which happen to be her favorite, for dinner and I realized I should have made her birthday cake out of refried beans! She loves the balls she got for her birthday, and she is starting to understand how to make the popper work although she often runs it into the wall and then gets frustrated. Here are some other pictures too just for fun.

Vacation

2009-04-26T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it. I finished up school for the most part. I have a few internship hours to complete and by the end of June I'll be all done! Some of you might not know this but I am going to be going to a brand new school and teaching 6th grade. The school is called North Point and is just about 1 mile south of Thanksgiving Point. I'm pretty excited about the prospect of opening a new school. While I'm aware of challenges that are prevalent in a new school this one is going to be pretty stacked. Smart boards, elmo document cameras, and projectors in each classroom. I'm also going to get a pretty good start up budget.
Stacey, Addie and I went on a little trip to Bryce Canyon National Park during spring break with Stacey's parents. We had a great time despite the cold and snow. Enjoy the pictures.

Addie in her Easter dress!!!

Our Little Fishy

2009-03-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

We were finally able to get our passes renewed at the Rec Center in Orem, and since we had just bought Addie a swimsuit and swimmer diapers we thought we would go to the pool. It was definitely a special treat for Addie. She loves taking a bath, and she did not know what to do with herself in the pool she was so excited! Poor Grandma Stevenson could not come into the pool area and watch because she was in her street clothes, but we were happy she was able to spend some time with us and help anyway.

Addie was a good little kicker and had fun splashing around. I am sure it will not be long before we will not be able to get her out of the pool!

Our Big Little Girl

2009-03-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

Addie is growing so fast. Here are some fun recent pictures of her.

Random Photos

2009-02-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

So I finally got some of the photos off of my phone and onto the computer. Some are old and some are new, but I thought they were fun. Recently Addie has discovered the toilet paper in the bathrooms, and the other day I caught her red handed. It was quite funny. I'm just sad I don't have a better picture of it, so maybe I'll have to let her play with it again. :)

Addie and Daddy resting together.

Addie helping me with the laundry.

Some cute old pictures:

Sleepy Time

2009-02-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

So our little Addie is growing up fast and getting cuter everyday! She is crawling all over and getting into everything. She has mastered pulling herself up, walking while holding onto the furniture, and lowering herself back down when she wants to start crawling again.

She is even getting brave enough to briefly let go and stand on her own, but only briefly! She has also mastered being able to turn over making it extremely difficult for Daddy and Mommy to change and dress her. We also had to lower her crib because of this. She has been teething lately and that combined with her flipping over in her crib has lead to her not sleeping very well during the day, and when she does fall asleep it is usually some pretty funny positions. Oh what would be like to be that flexible again?

Grocery Luck

2009-02-02T06:56:00.000-08:00

So Stacey and I decided to go grocery shopping on the Saturday before the Superbowl. Needless to say the store was crazy. In addition to the craziness associated with the general shopping the store was also having a drawing for a 42" flat screen T.V. To make a short story shorter. I put my name in the drawing and won. We I went up there I found out I didn't just win a T.V. but a recliner and a stand for the T.V. also. A pleasant addition to our already good deal on groceries.

Addie Cakes

2009-02-01T14:56:00.000-08:00

The last time I tried to publish a post my computer crashed. Let's see what happens this time.

So Addie has been growing and getting cuter every day. On Christmas day she began to crawl, she talks, giggles, and sings all the time, and just recently her two bottom teeth have started to come in. In our ward Stacey has befriended a Korean lady. Her husband came to visit a week ago and she invited friends over to meet him. Today at church she told us after we left her husband couldn't stop talking about how much she looked like a little doll. We agree. She is so dang cute it's hard to put her down at nights. Addie also loves her baths. She cries when we take her out. She is turning out to be quite the fish already. We'll have to get some pictures of her rub-a-dub-tubing. Until then these will have to do. Enjoy!!!

Christmas Fun & My First Snowfall

2008-12-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-11T18:58:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

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.

The Jumper Chair

2008-09-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

Addie has really started to kick and scoot when she is on her back on the floor. So a couple weeks ago we pulled the jumper out of the basement, and the only door frame we had that worked on the main floor was the one to the bathroom. It was pretty fun to watch her in it. She did not quite know what to do. She is still pretty little so we had to fold up a blanket and stuff it in the seat with her to prop her up. Well, eventually she found she was able to lean to the side and suck on the chair while I was taking pictures. It must have tasted pretty good because she started sucking on it quite vigorously. She is getting the hang of the jumper more and more now. She smiles when I bounce her in it, so once she figures out she can to that on her own I'm sure she'll love it.

SO Big!

2008-08-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

We've hit another milestone with Addie. She is now big enough to fit into her 0-3 month clothes and she is 3 1/2 months. I know that she is still pretty little compared to most babies, but to Aaron and I she is getting so big! Addie has also found her fingers and she is starting to spit out her binkie so that she can suck her fingers! So we have to watch her now and take her fingers out of her mouth if she really starts sucking on them instead of just investigating them. Its so funny. She really does not have a preference as to which fingers she sucks just any that she can get into her mouth and the more the merrier!
We just love her little tummy too.

Daddy and Addie ready for church.

Oh the fingers! She is starting to try to put rattles and toys in her mouth too, but she has not quite got it down yet so after a couple of tries she'll just slip her fingers into her mouth instead.
Addie has become quite the wiggle worm and quite the kicker. If you lay her down and play with her, she'll get so excited and just kick and wiggle like crazy. Before we know it she'll be crawling!

Addie at 3 months

2008-08-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

Addie is three months old now and getting cuter everyday. She is starting to coo a lot more, and she gets so excited when she realizes when we are talking back to her. She still is pretty small but she is getting bigger all the time. She is just now fitting into her 0-3 month clothes! It is fun to watch her grow!

I love how she is sticking her foot out here

She is just so much fun. She little smiles are so cute.

Our little flower.

I love her little raised eyebrow here.

This is her "ooo" face when she talking to us.

So cute!

Balancing Act

2008-07-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

Addie has become great at holding her head up. It is amazing how she gets stronger and develops more and more everyday. It is so fun to watch her grow. Well, along with holding her head up Daddy and her have come up with a little balancing game that they both enjoy quite a bit, and I was able to catch a little of it in these pictures.

She so good to smile for the camera. Her and Daddy have a lot of fun together.

Bouncy Chair and Friends

2008-07-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

Addie has started to realize there are stuffed animals hanging in front of her on her bouncy chair. It is so cute. I'll set her in the chair and she'll be fine until she fling's her arms and they hit the little animals. Then she'll just sit there and stare at them like, "Where did these guys come from all of a sudden?" It's so cute, and she starting to like sitting in her bouncy chair more and more.

This is a typical look when she realizes that she can touch the things hanging in front of her.

What a cute smile, huh?!

First Shots

2008-07-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Addie went to the doctor's for her two month appointment. She was such a trouper. She was all smiles for the doctor, but then the nurse had to come in with those awful shots. I had given her some Tylenol before her appointment, and by the time we were home she was smiling again.

Yeah, I cannot believe that she was still smiling.
It was so sad. She had a little band aide on each leg.

She was 9 1/2 lbs and she is probably close to 11 or 12 now!

Farm Fun

2008-07-06T21:07:00.001-07:00

We went to the Sunderland Farm for a family reunion. The farm is not quite what it used to, but it was fun to spend time with the family. Here are a few pictures I took for fun.

Playing Catch Up

2008-07-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

Things have been pretty busy lately. I've been going to the internship from 7:00 till 3:00 and then class from 4:00 till 7:00. Fortunately this is my last summer I have to attend school. We've been having a lot of fun when we can. Here are a few pictures of things that have been going on the last month. Enjoy!!!
Summer Fest Parade
Adelaide's Blessing (She is wearing the same dress Stacey was blessed in)
Freedom Festival Balloon Launch

2008-05-30T19:10:00.000-07:00

Adelaide hasn't quite taken to bathing yet. She cries during the whole process. However she seems to like the way she feels afterwards. Next time we're going to actually wash her in the tub. Perhaps she'll like that a little better.Notice any thing peculiar about this photo. Addie is definitely taking after the Stevenson side when it comes to her sleeping habits. She seems to always have to have her arm up there by her head to be sleeping comfortable.
Here's a closer look. She is just so dang cute!!!

Adelaide Stevenson

2008-05-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been about 12 days. Sorry it's taken so long to get pictures up. Addie is doing much better now. She's eating pretty good and going to the bathroom much more. Her jaundice has gone down quite considerably and she is supper cute. Stacey is such a good mother to her and I think she's going to have us wrapped around her little finger. Anyway here's some pictures of her. We'll have to get some more up soon.

Oh, the choices!!

2008-04-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

So, who would ever thought choosing bedding for a crib would one be necessary and two so difficult. You could chose boy bedding, girl bedding, or even unisex, who knew. The choices of each are endless. We decided on a more neutral bed set and we seem to be pleased with it (in the event that after this trial run another baby is considered). I guess you can't go wrong with Whinne the Pooh. The decorations are ones Stacey found online. She likes the uniquely girly touch they add to the room. Now all we need is a hanging shelf and a baby and the room will be complete.

Gearing Up for a baby!

2008-04-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not to much longer until we have a baby in the house so we're trying to get things ready. Last week we got the nursery painted and just yesterday we bought a crib and dresser from Ikea. When ever you buy something from Ikea that also means installation. So last night we put it all together. Things are coming together quite nicely. Stacey also purchased some decorations online and those should be coming soon. The room has been empty for so long the reality of a baby inhabiting the room is starting to settle in. Here are some pictures of the progress.

When Stacey's decorations come we'll post more pictures. Until then enjoy these.

Painting

2008-04-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well, Stacey finally convinced me to paint one of the rooms in the house. So today I spent the morning painting what will become the nursery. It went pretty quick because Stacey and I prepped the room on Saturday. Here's some before and after picks.

Pretty soon Stacey will have some decorations up and the room filled with baby paraphernalia. We're excited and counting down the days.

8 Weeks Left

2008-04-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

Well, Stacey only has a couple of weeks left. We are both very excited for the new addition of our family to come. We've been thinking of names for some time now and we've narrowed it down to a few we like. So if you are really nice and sign a nondisclosure document you might be able to convince us to share them with you. Here are some pictures of a very pregnant Stacey. I imagine there is still more growth to come.

During spring break my job is to paint the soon to be nursery. So we'll be posting some before and after pictures for that. Pretty soon the room will be filled with baby accessories and not to soon after that a baby.

Easter Egg Excitement

2008-03-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

So my parents were down this weekend and we decided to decorate Easter eggs since Easter is coming up next weekend. The kit that I got, however, was not what I thought it was going to be. It was a gold decorating and it was missing one of the gold packets that was supposed to come with the kit. So instead of dunking the eggs you had to put the color on with these little water-color paint brushes. Needless to say we got creative and it was fun!

Visitors Welcome!!

2008-03-02T17:32:00.000-08:00

So Stacey and I thought we'd give this blogging thing a whirl. I'm pretty new at it so here it goes. Stacey's parents recently got home from their mission. They were serving in the Santiago, Chile North mission and spent the majority of their time on Easter Island. Well, now that they are home they are making their rounds and this weekend they are going to stay with us. We don't lack any space at our place, however we were lacking bedding. So Saturday we went out bed shopping. We decided to replace our old bed and place it in the guest room. The mattress we bought was a "Europa Luxury Mattresses". It feels nice and I slept great last night but I'm weary of the deal I got. I tried searching online for the mattress company and couldn't find much at all about it. So if anyones heard about them let me know. I feel better knowing that Stacey's parents don't have to sleep on an air mattress on the ground now and my pregnant wife is sleeping better already. I hope you're all sleeping well!! ZZZZ