phonebook fanatic

Ever since she could play with books Addy has been in LOVE with them. She loves to turn the pages and point at things...and especially in magazines. Since she was probably 8 months old she has been able to turn the pages of magazines one at a time. She uses her cute little chubby fingers to find each page and turns them one by one. She will often finish a magazine then either start over, or begin again from the back. :) Well, a couple of weeks ago we had a phonebook delivered to our house and Addy has found her newest reading obsession. Her phonebook often goes with us into bed at bedtime, the car when we're going somewhere, and once, almost in the bathtub for bath time. This girl is a riot. :)

Can't leave without my phonebook, dad!

who needs PJ's?

Lately Addy has been quite the little stinker at going to bed. Well, she doesn't mind being in her crib...but she just won't go to sleep! I'm starting to wonder if she's one of those crazy children who don't need much sleep, and I'm afraid to admit that that might be the case. I need my sleep, too! Anyway, last night Dan and I were watching TV when we noticed Addy was sitting up in her crib and had something on her head. We went to check her out and noticed that what was on her head was her PJ shirt...and she was also missing her pants. Hahahaha...after we both almost peed our pants we ran to get cameras and this is what we got from the little ham herself. Love this girl. :)

our newest obsession

Last Friday (the 6th) we finally got to bring home our baby kitty! This was my special Christmas present from Daniel this year and she has made a sweet addition to our family! She is currently still nameless, but today we have been trying out the name Sophie. We'll see how it goes. Mostly we just call her kitty. :) She is a big hit with Addy, who loves to terrorize play with kitty whenever she can get her hands on her. So far she has been one patient, loving, snuggly little kitten! We love her! :)

She loves to sit on Daniel's shoulder...especially when he's eating :)

This is what is on my lap pretty much any time I sit down now

Maybe we should name her Patience? lol...

nursery time

My baby is officially in nursery! I have to admit that Dan has been occasionally dropping her off in nursery since before she was 18 months since I became the Primary President in August. He's in the Young Men's presidency, my mom is the Young Women's President, and my dad is the High Priest Group Leader...so when we all have something to do, well, we have no babysitters! Addy is absolutely in LOVE with our nursery leader (who also happens to live just a few houses down the street from us) so she loves to go to nursery! Of course I had to take a few pictures...and it so happens that our nursery leader was sick so I was in nursery for the day, so more pictures were taken actually in nursery. Yeah, yeah...I'm the crazy mamarazzi. Sue me. :)

Really, mom? More pictures?

christmas comes but once a year

It's so weird how Christmas changes as you grow up. I was feeling a little...different, somehow about Christmas this year and I couldn't explain why until Christmas day. Of course I was super excited and bought way too much stuff for Addy even though I told myself I wouldn't. I finally pinpointed why it was so different, and that I'd just have to get used to it: when you're little Christmas is SO magical. It has absolutely always been my favorite time of year. But when you grow up, you have to pass on the magic. Christmas isn't necessarily less magical...you just have to create the magic for all the little precious people in your home. Giver of magic instead of reciever. A bit of a role reversal, but magical nonetheless. :)

I must say, for her first Christmas that she could actually open presents...Addysen did not disappoint. Every single little toy from her stocking elicited a lot of ohhing and ahhing. Not to mention it actually took 2 days for her to open all of her presents. She would open one present and play with it for a long time and then we'd have to coax her back to the Christmas tree to open another. It was kind of fun having Christmas last for 2 days. :)

Can you guess the first thing Addy went for?

Yep, you guessed it! :)

Fascinated with her stocking

Ready for church

Siblings :)

Somehow I forgot to get a picture of me, Dan, & Addy!

The aftermath of Christmas morning and church

Trying to ride the gigantic rubber duck Gramma & Grampa got her

Giving all her ducks a try in the bath...it was a ducky Christmas :)

18 months

I don't know where it went, but 18 months have come and gone. Every day brings new challenges and more love than I ever expected. I love this little girl so much! :)

pinteresting christmas

I am horrible at documenting any of the crafts I attempt (usually because I hate them in the end). I really need to get better about taking pictures because sometimes they actually turn out looking quite nice! Most of my presents were homemade this year, and a lot of the ideas I got from Pinterest (where else?!) and made them my own. For my sister Jordan, the lover of books, I modge-podged a wooden letter J with one of her favorite books, Jane Eyre. Then I topped it off with some cute rosettes.

For Ashton, the college freshman living on her own for the first time, I made some cute matching pillows. I used an apple to stamp on some home decor fabric for one pillow, and the other I hand-sewed some ruffles (I still cannot get my darn machine to do them for me!) and put them on a coordinating fabric. I wish I had a picture of both pillows at the same time, but I actually only had one pillow form.

I'll have to see if I can at least get some final product pictures of the other things I did...honestly I was so proud of myself. Normally the crafts I make I end up hating because I see every little flaw that I made, but this time, well...some people almost didn't get Christmas presents! Anyway...I just had to share. :)