First Christmas of the Season!

This past Saturday we had our first Christmas of the season. We are really lucky because we never have to miss a family Christmas. Since the year that we got engaged, my parents have moved up our family Christmas so Aaron & I can be in Michigan on the actual day of Christmas...and Aaron's mom always does Christmas in January. It is so great to not have to miss out on any Christmas's and be able to spend time with all of our family. We have great families -- love you guys!

We started off the day with some family pictures and brunch, and then went into presents. My parents actually made an ice skating rink in their back yard, so after presents, we went outside and ice skated. The set up is perfect, it is right next to my dad's shed that he has a wood stove in...so we had a little "warming house" too. No one ever really used it, but I think it will come in handy this winter.

I had so much fun - I hadn't skated since high school, I forgot how fun it was and want to go out to my parents a lot this winter to keep skating. Aaron actually helped flood the rink last week while my dad was out of town. I'm hoping to get him into skates this year and next, so then in a few years, he can help teach Addy how to skate!

The girls' (my nieces Brynne, Ella, and Brooklynn) all pretty much learned how to skate on Saturday. They were troopers, some of their falls made all of us adults cringe, but they acted like it was no big deal and most of the time, didn't want any help! So much fun!

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Addy with one of her new presents (she loves this monkey!)

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Posing by the tree - in her pretty Christmas outfit

I'm quite certain Addalyn has picked up on her mom's love for shoes...anytime she has new shoes on, she loves to grab her feet and play with her shoes. That's my girl!

Addy with her cousins: Drew, Brooklynn, Brynne, Addalyn, Ella & Hunter

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Playing with a new book!

Fun Family Photo - Go Wild! We are big hockey fans in my family...we had some serious photos also, but this is my fav! The Crazy "Gooo Wild" Photo! I love how Addy is looking around like "What the?" & Ella is sitting in the front row with no expression but everyone else is going crazy!

The Ice Skating Rink!

Playing "Train" on the ice!

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The "Son-in-Laws" (& Drew!)

My sister Angela, me, and Brynne posing on our skates!


Addalyn hanging out by the rink with us

Miss Ella getting the hang of things!

Brynne was pretty brave! I wonder how many bruises she had, she was getting too brave and took some hard falls!


Brooklynn Hope. She really got the hang of things too. That little chair she is pushing around helped her get the hang of things. My parents actually had my sisters and I use the same chairs to teach us how to skate when we were younger...aaaaah, memories!


The ice-skaters!

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It was truly a day of pure family fun...a great start to Christmas and time with family. We are very excited to be in Michigan and see all of you guys up there! We will be heading up Christmas Eve day. I'm hoping we are there in time for Christmas Eve mass, but if not, we will go to mass on Christmas day.

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We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with family & friends. If you are traveling, please be safe. Make sure to take time to appreciate all that is good, and remember what Christmas is all about. Merry Christmas from the Anderson's! ---Aaron, Marissa & Addalyn

Big Girl!

Addy has started to take big girl baths! The other night we were at my parents, and didn't have the little bath, and since she's been sitting on her own for a bit now, we figured we'd go ahead and try giving her a regular bath. She seemed to enjoy it so now we have done it at home too.

At first she was just sitting there staring at the water like "what is this strange stuff"...but eventually she realized it can be quite fun. By the end she was moving her hands through the water and starting to splash. Give it a few more times, and I'm sure we'll be drenched from all the splashing!

This is sorta fun, mom!

Starting to twirl her hands around and the water and make some splashes!

Santa!

Addy got to meet Santa for the first time last Saturday --- twice! We first went to meet him at Hiller's (a carpet store in Rochester) with my family. My family has gone every year to this, but we've never had a reason to join...now with Addalyn, we joined in on the fun! They provide a gift for each child and also serve lunch - it is really a very generous event!

Addalyn really loved Santa's beard!! I think Santa was a bit nervous that other kids would notice her grip on the beard :)

She was not scared of him at all, just sort've stared at him.

Waiting in line to meet Santa for the 1st time!!

Addy's first Santa encounter! Notice the grip on the beard!

Second, we went to the store that I scrapbook at with the Scheel's and met Santa again. This was Ella's first time meeting Santa. Both girls did really good :)

Addy & Santa (again)

Ella & Santa!!!

The girls :)

I explained to Addy when I got her ready for bed that night all about the reason that she met 2 santa's and why they didn't look exactly the same. She seemed to understand that Santa is just such a busy guy this time of year, and that he has so many places that he has to be, that he has helpers so that all the kids get the chance to tell him all about how good they were and what they want for Christmas. :)

'Tis the Season

I love this time of year...everything about it - from the church services and family gatherings to the decorating, meeting Santa, and the gift giving to those we care about :)

I started working on our house decorating before Thanksgiving (the weekend after was too busy, and any later would have just been way too long for me to wait)! So our house has been decorated for a while, but I finally got our presents wrapped and we got to do our holiday blocks this week.

I posted about these last Christmas too - we do blocks every year. We are getting to have a lot, so we've decided that we are only going to do one as a family each year from now on. ACCEPT for when we have a new addition to our family. Addalyn got to do her own block this year, and on her sibling's first Christmas, they will get to do their own block too...

Getting ready to do the blocks!

Addy wasn't really into touching the paint...so we ended up starting over! But this is when we were trying to have her "finger paint". Most of that on the block is Aaron's work :)

This is how they ended up this year! You can barely see it, but Aaron's gingerbread man has a Packer's cap on his head!

Adding them to the collection!

Stockings are up...Addalyn's will change in the future, but for now this one will do :)

Tree is all decked out!

And of course, how can we post about Christmas without our most precious gift this year?

What Santa? I swear it wasn't me...I've been good for the entire 6 months of my life :)

Half a Year???

Addy turned 6 months last Thursday ----- CRAZY! I can't believe it was her 1/2 birthday :) Time sure has been flying.

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Addalyn is doing so great, we just love her so much (OBVIOUSLY!). She gets a TON of kisses from us each night when we get home from work! She is getting so big physically, as well as in her personality/development. It is so fun to watch her discover new things.

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She loves loves loves being in her jumperoo and in her exersaucer. She tells us wonderful stories too. Most of the time we think she's telling us about the fun she had at daycare! She is quite the squealer too! Addy just recently decided to laugh...she's only done it a few times but she's been working on a little chuckle for a while.

One thing Addy HATES is getting her face wiped. It is very traumetizing to her! Poor little girl, she has a cold right now too, so her face is wiped lots. :)

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Addalyn is a really good eater. We introduced her to sweet potatoes this weekend, and it didn't even phase her that there was a new taste. I'm trying green beans today at lunch (I'm on a snow day!) so we'll see how she reacts to those.

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We have turned over a new leaf with sleeping! There is no need anymore for a bottle at night. She discovered that she likes to sleep on her side and tummy, I think that helps. Sometimes she wakes up and needs her pacifier, but not always. I was going to get rid of the pacifier while I'm on vacation at Christmas time, but our doctor last week pretty much told me that she'd likely find her thumb if I did that since she needs a pacifier to sleep and such. Therefore, the pacifier will stick around longer than planned, but we are limiting it to tired times though...

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Addy sits up on her own, and shows an interest in crawling when we have her on her tummy. She hasn't gotten any teeth yet. I think that she's asking for those from Santa (get it - her 2 front teeth?? Ha ha!).

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Here are her 6 month stats:

Weight - 17 lbs 3 oz (74%)

Height - 26 inches (60%)

Head - 17.13 inches (79%)

The teddy bear shot

Sitting Up :)

Our little lady

Getting ready to run some errands in the cold! I think hats, mittens and coats are so cute!

The Big 9-0!

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Thursday we had thanksgiving lunch at Aaron's step-sister's house in Minneapolis, then headed to dinner at my parents. Friday I shopped 'til I was ready to drop with my sisters (we were at Toys R Us at midnight...Target at 5 in the morning, and didn't get home until 3 p.m.)...and after that I went scrapbooking and stayed there until midnight! Aaron was home and had an "Addy 'n' Daddy" day :)

We also celebreted my grandpa's birthday this weekend. On Thanksgiving day my grandpa Tarara turned 90 years old!!! We had cake & ice cream with our Thanksgiving meal - and then on Saturday we had an open house style birthday party for him at the nursing home for friends & family to visit.

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The birthday boy!

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Addy's all ready to party! My mom made this dress for Addalyn & her other granddaughters - isn't it ADORABLE??!!

My mom and dad with their grandkids

The whole family! Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Cousin's kids, etc :)

Addy was all partied-out and fell asleep in my arms, didn't even open her eyes when I set her down, or when Aaron buckled her in her car seat. She slept until we arrived home!

Not much new...

I can't believe so much time has passed since my last post. Time sure does fly! We are hanging in there...gearing up for the holiday season. I'm so excited for Christmas this year, especially with Addalyn. We had some Christmas music going tonight (Amy Grant...my favorite holiday CD) and I got super excited thinking of all the future Christmas's and being able to see the spirit of Christmas through my baby's eyes.

We haven't been up to much this month, but next month will be busy, so more posts to come!

My precious cargo :) Addy usually is ready for a snooze by the time I pick her up from daycare. This is right when we arrived home...she looked so cuddly!

I discovered new headbands for Addy - her head had outgrown the others. I'm so excited about them!

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On a side note - we went to the Viking's game this weekend with our good friends, Jeff & Rachel. We had awesome seats! 5 rows up on the 10 yard line. I just uploaded pics, and I took 70 of them...apparently I was camera happy. I refrained and only am sharing 4 pics...

Aaron wore green to the game, there was no way he was going to act like a Viking fan. I swear I looked over and saw him clap for us once, but now he says that isn't true. Oh well, I'm not trying to convert him to a Viking's fan anyway! I was just happy he agreed to go because I had never been to a professional football game so I was very excited. He wants to take me to a Packer's game next...I'm game!!!

Aaron, Jeff, Rachel, and Me - thanks guys for taking us to the game -- it was so much fun!

Rachel and I :)

Time to Party!!!

You're Invited: To a party in Addy's crib

When: Around 3 a.m.

If I remember correctly from being a kid, it's not "cool" when your parents try to hang out at your party, so Aaron and I will respect her wishes and stay in our bed sleeping...we trust that you guys will take good care of her!

(Not the best picture due to lack of lighting...but you get the idea of our happy babe at 3 a.m.!)

5 Months already??!!

I can't believe Addalyn is already 5 months old. It is going so fast, which is scary, I can't believe how fast it has gone. I also can't imagine what we did before Addalyn. It's funny how quickly you can't imagine life without your baby.

Not much new to report in the life of Addalyn, she's sleeping the same (wakes up once for a bottle). I'm starting to think she has an internal clock of about 3ish and may not even be waking up because she is necessarily hungry. Who knows...I keep thinking 'tonight's the night'! I'm really hoping that sometime this week she figures it out, 'cause Aaron will be in Michigan for 4 nights starting Friday. We typically rotate 'night duty', so with me being home alone w/ Addy, I get night duty for 4 nights in a row! Do you think that means he'll get it for 4 nights when he returns?? Yeah right, he'll probably be super tired from being out a Deer Camp while he's in MI!

She is LOVING her cereal now and takes it like a pro. We've started doing cereal for breakfast and in the evening...here's to hoping this will help her sleep through the night soon :) One can wish, right??

She has officially decided that it is super fun to roll over, and does that all of the time now. And, she is really close to sitting on her own. She will 'sit' by herself for about 5-10 seconds before she starts slumping to one side...so maybe by her 6 month post she'll be doing that ...she also is starting to show an interest in crawling. Not that she's anywhere near ready for that, but when she's on her tummy, she's started to move her legs in the crawling position...so maybe by her 6 month post there will be a lot of firsts to report!

Getting her to stay still to pose with the bear is becoming a chore...it'll be interesting the next 6 months as she starts crawling and such!

I love to play!

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Thanks Grandma Jean for making me this hat. We love it!

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Other than that, life in the Anderson household is going good. We still love each other, despite the fact that Aaron's a Packer fan and I'm a Vikings fan - ha ha! I guess we must have true love, huh? :)

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We dressed Addalyn in white last Sunday...so she'd be 'neutral' and not be cheering for the Packers or the Vikings. I'm willing to bet she'll end up being a Packer fan like her daddy, since she's going to be a daddy's girl. Hmmm, maybe someday I'll have a mama's boy that can be on my team?