Eleven & Sixteen

ELEVEN

Addalyn is 11 months...last year about this time, I was VERY pregnant. I didn't know if I was having a son or a daughter. I was thinking that this was the month of my due date, and REALLY hoping that this was the month of my child's birthday. BUT, my baby girl wasn't quite ready to make an appearance, and therefore May went and June came. My little June Bug was well worth the wait though...most definitely!

There isn't much change to report from 10 to 11 months. She still only has her 2 bottom teeth. I've been saying for almost a month now that her top 2 teeth were going to come. And as Aaron says, one of these days I will be right! Really though, if you look at her gums you can see them just hanging out below the surface...so any day now she will have more teeth. Really!

Addy's new thing is to give kisses (my FAVORITE). Well, she REALLY gives her daddy a lot of kisses, but I'm starting to get more and more. Aaron is the one that taught her how to give kisses, so she was a little partial to only sharing kisses with daddy...but I'm getting to sneak some in every once in a while. And I LOVE that!

.

She also loves to get 'chased'. One day she came crawling at me full force with a huge grin on her face and I thought I was going to get some good snuggles...but right before she reached me, she dodged to one side and passed me...so I chased after her and it caused a fit of giggles! Now, she will get a big smile on her face and start crawling away super fast and hoping you follow. Sometimes she suddenly lays down on her tummy, because she actually wants you to catch her and give her kisses and tickles. So fun, and the giggles we get are THE BEST!

.

My goofy girl with her new goofy face she likes to do :)

Blue-eyed Babe :)

Getting into trouble in the cupboard......

Sooooo Big! (or "Touchdown!" if you ask Addalyn's daddy!)

I may only have 2 teeth, but I don't mind brushing them :)

It is so crazy to think that next month we will already be celebrating her 1st birthday. Today I read the saying:

"No one looks back on their life and remembers the nights they got plenty of sleep."

.

I agree with this quote, and I have read it many times before. Typically when I read that quote, I think of how true it is...and it tends to remind me of nights up late with friends when I was growing up, or the night after Aaron and I got engaged and we sat out on the porch of his cabin and talked about all the things in our future...or even nights when I couldn't sleep because I was troubled for one reason or another....

.

But today I read it, and the first thing I thought of was being a mother...and the nights right after Addy was born, when you are up in the middle of the night. Or the nights where Addy will randomly wake up and need some cuddles from me or her daddy and then go back to sleep. And, as Addalyn grows up, and I look back on her baby days...I'm sure those nights when I think I am the most important person in the world because my baby girl needs me, will be the ones that I remember the most. Funny how your views on life change as you move into different stages :)

**********************************************

SIXTEEN:

Wednesday marks 16 weeks for me :). I am at that stage in pregnancy where if you didn't know I was pregnant, you wouldn't be sure if I'm just adding on some weight...or having a baby (depending on what I wear). I love that stage of pregnancy - ha ha!!

.

Things have been going good - still feeling sick at times, some days worse than others. We have only had 2 appointments and will not have another one until the 24th...which will already be the big ultrasound! Mayo has changed their prenatal appt schedule for low risk pregnancies. They don't schedule as many at the beginning of the pregnancy as they used to. Which is good, the fact that I am considered low risk is of course a blessing. But, every once in a while I have the urge to listen to my baby's heart beat. Can't wait until the 24th!

.

Sixteen Weeks and Counting!

P.S. - we don't have a clever name for this baby (like we called Addalyn Little Poppy) -- any suggestions????!!!!

Ravioli's

I LOVE my Ravioli's -- eSpECiaLLy when mommy lets me feed myself! (which mommy only lets me do when we are at home...and she prefers it to be a bath night!!!)

10.20.10

We are super excited to be sharing the news that October brings baby number 2 to our family!! I have been meaning to post about this for a little while, but I wanted to make sure that we got the opportunity to share our news in person, via phone, etc with certain people so they didn't end up reading about it first. I think we've covered most of our bases (I HOPE!)...so now I get to blog about it!

I can't believe it, but I am already 14 weeks pregnant, which means that I'm officially through the 1st trimester. Whooo hooo! It has gone super fast. It probably has to do with the the fact that we shared are news about 3-4 weeks later with this baby, so I haven't been talking about it very much until recently, and also the fact that I have little miss Addalyn to help preoccupy my time so I don't just get to sit around and think and dream about my little babe :)

The most common question I've gotten so far is if we are going to find out the sex of this baby, and the answer is no. We already have the neutral sleepers and such for the first few weeks/months and the two will be sharing a room for a while (that is already decorated neutral). We have 4 bedrooms, but only 2 upstairs, and I can't imagine moving Addalyn downstairs by herself already. So, we will keep it a surprise until the day they are born!

For those of you already trying to decide of it will be a boy or a girl, I have no clue. But I WILL say, that there are some similarities between the pregnancies so far:

• I typically don't like orange juice, but for some reason I craved it the first month or so of being pregnant in both cases
• Morning Sickness: UGH! Brushing my teeth was my enemy with Addalyn, and is holding true with baby #2 (don't worry, I still manage to brush them, ha ha!). Although, I do seem to be rounding a corner a little bit on the sickness thing, but not the brushing the teeth thing!
• Heart rate for Addy & Baby 2 were both around 150 at the beginning: borderline for all the myths where high heart rates are girls, low are boys.

So, who knows? Part of me thinks it'll be a boy since we already have a girl, and part of me thinks the complete opposite. I had no clue with Addy :) And really, as it didn't before, it doesn't matter to me! Either one will be a new adventure regardless, since each little baby is so unique and has their own personality, regardless of if you are a boy or a girl!

I could talk forever about this exciting time in our lives, but for now, I'll leave it here, with the announcement finally out there.

Enjoy the pictures of our kids:

Baby 2, at 12 weeks/5days gestation

Huh? What's a big sister? I hope I like being one of those!

Ten Months!

I cannot believe our little miss Addalyn Jane is already 10 months old...seriously, this year is flying by. You'll notice more animals have been added to her monthly bear picture. That is because, sitting by the big bear all by herself is scary right now...so I put some familiar stuffed animals and of course her 'bear/blanket' by her so she'll sit by it without crying!!

She's getting to be such a big girl - she now crawls all over the place, which I've mentioned briefly before.

.

She is really good at eating, accept, now that we are on mainly finger foods, she tends to try and by-pass the veggies on her tray. When we spoon-feed her, she'll eat ANYTHING pretty much...but not when she gets to pick and choose (and she much prefers to pick and choose rather than have us feed her). She LOOOVES her fruits - I'd say mandarin oranges and peaches are her favorites!

.

She says "uh-oh" with the right context. Sometimes though, she's a little stinker and says "Uh-oh" right BEFORE she proceeds with dropping her sippy or some food on the floor (ON PURPOSE). Seriously, what a stinker. Ha ha!

.

She also says mama a lot, but I'm not convinced she's saying it to me yet. We have a baby Elmo book "So Big" where on one pages it says:

Baby Elmo says mamama!

Baby Elmo says dadadada!

Baby Elmo sings lalalala!

Baby Elmo laughs hahaha!

.

If you give her the opportunity, she will repeat all four of those, which is super cute. Her "lalala's" always have her sticking her tongue completely out of her mouth and she bobs her head up and down when she laughs "hahaha". Very Fun.

.

She has added clapping to her 'talents', and does the motions for "So Big" & "Touchdown" (same motion)...but she only does the motions when she wants to, sometimes she gives me a look that seems to say, "Uh, mom, I'm really not in the mood". She has this one ball popper toy that Aaron taught her how to push the button to make music and push the balls out --- she immediately starts clapping when she pushes the button, or looks around to see if someone else will clap for her - and always has a very "I'm proud of myself" look on her face when she does it :)

.

This is definitely a very fun stage, as she starts showing off more of her personality and interacting more. And, it is very fun to play with her right now because she is amused almost 99% of the time!

I LOVE this girl!

Crawling around and playing peek-a-boo with mommy!

Free shipping for anyone who wants this cute little girl (but you can only have her temporarily, mommy & daddy can only stand to be away for about 1 night these days...if at all!)

Oh, how I LOOOOOVE my bear/blankie. It comforts me when I'm sick, or when I'm tired...or really, it just always comforts me :)

Daddy reading Addalyn's "Baby Elmo is So Big" book...I'd say it is one of our favorites!

First Easter!

We celebrated Easter over a few days. My mom and dad had their Easter gathering on Palm Sunday. We started the day out with brunch, then an Easter Egg Hunt, played outside, and then we dyed Easter Eggs :) Well, Addy napped while I dyed eggs with my family...but I made all of them for her! We ended the day with some Easter gifts from G & G Tarara, a quick supper and headed home.

.

Easter @ Grandma and Grandpa Tarara's

Finding some Easter Eggs

We just found a few of the little ones and let the older kids get the rest...Addy really liked shaking the eggs!

Then we played on the swing! Check out how she is holding on to the eggs still!

Swinging is really fun!!

Dying Easter Eggs!

.

On Easter Sunday, we started off with going to Easter mass. Addalyn was very good in church, seriously -- an angel :) Then we came home and checked out our Easter baskets before we left for Minneapolis to see Jean and Paul.

.

Addy & her loot! She got some toys, a swimsuit, cover-up, sandals & sun hat, and a book titled "What is Easter" - which talks about how there is all kinds of fun stuff with Easter, but tells the story of Jesus and what Easter is really all about!

.

Addy & her sun-hat & swimsuit!

When we arrived at Jean's house - we had an Easter egg hunt with Mira & Serafina, opened Easter gifts from Jean & Paul (grandma and grandpa Bertucci!), and then had lunch and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. It was a great day!

.

Daddy helping Addalyn hunt for some eggs!

.

Opening her gift from grandma and grandpa Bertucci

Melting Pot

Quick Update! Addy started crawling on 3.23 :) Jessica (daycare) called me at work to tell me that Addalyn had just crawled. I was so excited I started crying at my desk at work...what a sap, ha ha! She's been showing off her skills since!

My post about Addalyn only being Irish from Aaron sparked up some conversation, so Aaron and I decided to call our moms and confirm what our heritage was (moms are good at knowing those things!!)...It turns out Addy got some Irish from both of us!! I knew mine pretty well, because both of my grandpas are 100% Polish, and my grandma Supalla was 100% German, so it was all up to my grandma Tarara to make things difficult in figuring out my heritage. Aaron on the other hand - is a lot of things (and I'm not sure what he got from the Graham side, and what from the Anderson's)..........well, combining the two makes Addalyn a MELTING POT! She is:

1/8 German
1/8 French
5/16 Polish
1/16 Swedish
1/16 Norwegian
1/16 Scottish
5/32 English
3/32 Irish

We'll make it easy on all of us...

...She's 1/2 Yooper

...and 100% OURS :)

And this goofy girl in the picture, is clearly showing off her Yooper side......CLEARLY! Eh??!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Addy is like 1/16 Irish I think (all due to Aaron) --- enough to have her dress up in green for the day!!

(Clapping Here) --- Happy St. Patrick's Day!

How cute is this picture????