My Parents Visit and Addy's First Day of Kindergarten

My parents came to see us when Finn was 6 days old. I was so excited for them to meet my little guy. I was really starting to feel great and back to myself again. We got out walking everyday which really helped me heal quicker. On Saturday we decided to get the kids out of the house and headed to downtown Naperville. We walked the river-walk and my dad and Christian took the kids on a paddle boat ride. It was such a beautiful day! We stopped off at the Naper Sweets and Twisted Olive to pick up some treasures. 

My mom and I did a little shopping in the evenings once Chris was home so we could leave the baby with him. We were on the hunt to find Benson some more sports gear. His obsession that week was about getting a shirt or sports jersey that had a name and numbers on the back. He could not function until he had one. He seriously cracks me up! My mom surprised him with a baseball jersey that he absolutely loves and wore for 3 days straight.  

Here are some pictures of Finn at 1 week old. He is such a good baby! He gave me 2- 5 hour stretches in between feedings at 6 days old. It was the best feeling ever! I needed some catch up on sleep. Starting at 1 week old, he has been sleeping 8 hours at night. I put him to bed around 10 pm and he hasn't been waking up to eat until about 6 am. He goes right back to sleep until around 8 am. Such a good little sleeper. I hope it continues!

Finn is 10 days old in these pictures. Addy and Benson have been so sweet with Finn. I was prepared for some serious meltdowns once I brought him home. They have adjusted so great! Benson kisses him non stop. It's hard to keep his lips of the little guy. Such an amazing brother! He has done really well sharing all of his stuff and luckily isn't jealous of him. Addy has been so sweet and very helpful. She loves to hold and snuggle him. 

These pictures are of the day my parents left. It has been so nice having company to help me with my kids. I know they have loved all the attention!

My baby started kindergarten! This was such an exciting/sad day at our house. Addy has been waiting for this day for about a year. She couldn't wait to get to school and meet new friends. She got right up and ready without me even having to ask her. She had a hard time eating because she was so excited. It was really hard for me to let her go. I have really loved having her home with me and having her gone all day is going to be an adjustment for Benson and I. Having her in someone else's care for 6.5 hours a day is nerve wracking! The girl hardly is away from me at all. It was hard for me to send her also because of her nut allergy. I talked with the nurse and her teacher and I know she is in great hands, but it still doesn't ease my fears for her. Hopefully it will get easier for me as the school year goes by.

Her first day of school was more of a meet the teacher and orientation for the parents. I took her pictures right before we loaded in the van and it started pouring. It was the craziest storm! The wind was blowing the rain sideways so even though we had our umbrellas we both were drenched from head to toe. Addy didn't mind one bit!

Addy's teachers name is Mrs. Straughn. She is such a friendly smiley teacher. Addy was very shy and quiet while we were there but talked my ear off on the drive home. She loved Mrs. Straughn's pink shoes and her dress. 

Addy's first full day of school was a success! She loved it so much and gave me the thumbs up when I came to pick her up. She couldn't believe all the things they were able to do. Her favorite part of the day was art class and recess. It was spirit day so she wore navy and white and I thought she looked so cute! Addy wasn't able to eat her lunch because she said she had "nerves in her tummy".  She didn't even drink her juice or her water.  Luckily there was another little girl for her to sit by at the nut table. Addy said she didn't talk to her though. I am just grateful she didn't sit alone! I am sure Addy will warm up in no time. 

My friend Chelsea was so awesome and came over to help us take a family picture. Not bad considering we aren't photographers!  Finn turned two weeks old the day we did them. The kids were great and let me take a few of each of them. Of course I take way too many pictures, but I just can't resist! My kids are at such a fun stage and I love capturing how cute they are! 

Benson 3.5 years old

Addilyn 5 3/4 ( that is how old she tells everyone she is :)) 

Finn 2 weeks old

 Love my family!

Addy's 5th Birthday

Addy turned 5 in October! It seriously is crazy how fast she is growing up. She is such a fun little girl to have around. These pictures were on the day after her birthday right before school.  She had snack for pre-school that day and we made a fun little birthday treat for her class. She was so excited to take these treat pouches to all her friends.

Some things to remember about Addy at 5.....

- She weighs 38 lbs and is 43 in tall

- She is wearing 5T in clothes and 8 1/2 in shoes

-She just got her bangs cut short after having them grown out for 2 yrs.

- She loves jewelry and all things girly

- Her favorite restaurant is Olive garden where she always orders Zuppa Toscana

- She loves school

-She is very good at writing all her letters and tries to write words

-She loves arts and crafts

-She is a very sweet friend

-She loves to play dolls and role play

-She enjoys playing in her sports class, t-ball being her favorite

- She loves primary and singing time 

- She is still loving her singing group and has become a great singer

-  She is obsessed with dogs and also is very fearful of them

- Her favorite places to go are the pet store with her dad and downtown Naperville with the family

- She is such a great help to me and is good about doing chores

- Her best little friend is her brother

We celebrated Addy's birthday this year with my parent and my sister Allyson. We love when we have visitors for Holidays! Benson slept through half her party so she got plenty of extra special attention. Here are some pictures of the birthday girl, party decor, and her guests.

Benson woke up in time for presents and cupcakes. After we sang to Addy and she blew out her candle, Benson wanted a turn. He loves to blow out the "fire".

I was really excited for Addy to open her presents. Christian and I surprised her with her first "big girl" bike. I took her randomly to a local bike shop to see how she would do on the bigger bikes. She rode all over the store and was so proud of herself. She liked the black bike in the store best. I was kinda surprised but was excited for that choice. It will be perfect to pass down to Benson. Addy had no idea we were going to get the bike for her so it was really fun to see her reaction.

 Allyson made Addy a quilt for her gift. Quilted in the top is a sweet message for Addy. It is her very favorite quilt to snuggle with. Since she has had it, she sleeps with it every night. She calls the quilt her "special blanket". We love it! Both of our families gave Addy very nice gifts. We are so lucky to have so many people that love her! 

May 2012

We had a last minute visit from my family the first part of May. Christian found some really cheap tickets and a week later nanny Elaine, Allyson, and Brooke were here for a fun weekend. We stayed up way to late every single night chatting, ate lots of yummy food, shopped, went to a cubs game, and of course had a hair party.

The Cubs game was a lot of fun. It started to rain while we were waiting for the game to start. Of course it postponed the game, so we headed to Portillo's for lunch. There were some intense plays in the game and the Cubs ended up winning in the 11 inning. Nanny Elaine purchased Benson his very first baseball. He sure loves that ball! Christian took the kids down to run the bases after the game. It was seriously such a fun opportunity for my kids. They were so brave and ran all the bases alone. Benson was hilarious! He fell and got right back up and started running again. He made it to home plate and turned back around to find his sister. Of course I just had my little point and shoot for this event so I wasn't able to get very good pictures. It was dark and the kids were in motion. The pictures are blurry but I was still able to capture the moment

Addy's first performance for the spring show of Singer's Company was at an assisted living in Naperville. The people there loved the girls! It is so sweet to watch them enjoy the music and our cute girls. Addy did great and sang a solo in "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Here are some pictures of after the show with most of the girls in our ward that are in the group.

Addy had her 2nd performance at the Morton Arboretum in the children's gardens. It was a very hot day, but the girls did great! I was so excited for Christian to hear all the new songs she has been working on.

We stayed after the performance and played in the children's area. It was our first time ever at the Arboretum. They had several playgrounds, fountains, ponds for the kids to explore, and lots more. Addy was very brave and wanted to try and catch a tadpole. This is definitely something she would normally be afraid of.  Both Addy and Benson loved it! Addy could catch them all by herself! It was so hard to get them out of the water because it was very refreshing to cool off from the heat.

Later that night, we got our 2nd babysitter for the year and went out and celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. We ate at McCormick & Schmick's for dinner. It was so yummy! We both got mahi mahi, but the way Christian's was prepared was the best. After dinner we walked the river walk in downtown Naperville and just talked. It was amazing to actually hear what each other was saying and not have our kids screaming over us. I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband! We have definitely been through a lot in the past 6 years. We have lived in 5 different homes in 2 different states. It has definitely been an adventure but one I would not change!

Addy's last performance was at the library. She had a second solo also in "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Daddy brought her flowers which made her night! This has been such a fun group for Addy to be in. She has definitely built more self confidence and loves to sing. We are very excited to sign up for the Fall semester.

Addy had her last day of preschool the 3rd week in May. Christian surprised her and took the day off of work. The class put on a little program for the parents. They sang all the songs they had learned through out the year. Mrs. Linda gave them their certificate and a treat for completing the class. 

Addy chose to eat at Olive Garden afterwards for her special lunch. She is so much like her mom! We decided to let her pick what she wanted to do for the rest of the day, and she chose the zoo. We had a great day together as a family celebrating Addy.

Memorial Day we went to Nike Park and played for the day. Christian and Addy made us a picnic lunch. The kids played for hours on the playground and Benson got to fly a kite for the first time. 

The wind was blowing like crazy so it was perfect for our kites. Addy did great and loved running all over the soccer field with her kite.

After the park we came home and grilled for dinner. The kids enjoyed a sprite and sherbet float for dessert. They were being so silly and I couldn't resist more pictures of them! Shocking, I know! 

December 2011

At the beginning of December we went to our ward Christmas party. They had a yummy breakfast and the primary sang a few songs. When it was time to go up, Addy and Madelyn walked up holding hands. They were being so brave together. The girls were so cute and held hands threw the whole program. 

Grandpa Dave drove back from Utah with Christian and stayed for a night with us. My kids loved seeing him. He helped us get a few projects done and even made time to build some shelves with me. The guys pulled out the Christmas tree and the kids went to town "decorating" it with their toys. It took me awhile to take down all the toys that ended up on the tree that weekend!

Addy's preschool had a Christmas sing-a -long with all the morning classes. She did a great job singing.

Addy really loved decorating the Christmas tree again this year. She remembered all the ornaments she picked out from last year. I did really good and let her decorate it how she wanted. I only had to help in a couple ares where the ornaments got a little too clustered. Benson wasn't too interested in helping. He did however enjoy throwing all the "ball" ornaments at the tree. Not many of my ornaments survived this year, but they sure entertained Benson all month long!

I turned 28 in December but unfortunately had to pass on celebrating because my family was hit with the flu. It was BAD! Poor Benson had it the worst. My girl friends had a fun party for me that I had to miss and we had to cancel on what was going to be our very first babysitter ever. I seriously was looking forward to a fun night out with Christian. It was an awful week and a half! So we will scratch this birthday and hope next year is better!

We had our first visitors for Christmas this year! My parents flew here on Christmas Eve. We picked them up and went for an early dinner at Shinto. We all ordered the Hibachi grill and some yummy appetizers and sushi to share. We spent the rest of our evening at home playing games and watching movies. Addy couldn't get in enough card games the whole weekend! She has become quiet the card shark.

The kids opened their jammies and a book before bed. It was fun to see how excited Benson was this year. They both loved their new jammies and looked adorable in them.

Christmas morning was really exciting for us! I loved having my parents here to share all the fun and excitement with my kids. I am not sure if Benson knew what to expect coming down stairs, but as soon as he saw his basketball hoop he took off running! Addy was so happy Santa brought her the hair chair she had been wanting. She couldn't wait to give her dollies their first "hair do" in the chair.

Opening presents always makes me laugh. My kids want to play with whatever they open right then. We had to keep convincing Benny to open more presents. A few treats were given to him to finish the task.

I surprised Christian this year with an Ipad. My mom and I thought we were being so funny by pretending the huge box I was carrying up the stairs to wrap for him was so heavy! We were laughing the whole night and being silly. I filled the box with towels and a few other things with his wrapped gift in the bottom. He seriously thought I was so lame! He wasn't expecting an Ipad but he knew it wasn't something heavy. I loved surprising him! He definitely deserved an extra special present this year.

We enjoyed every minute my parents were here. We had a lot of down time spent at home with them. We all needed the slow paced weekend. My mom and I made lots of yummy food and even got in a little sewing. Of course we went shopping too! Christmas went by super fast, but we sure enjoyed our company this year!