Goodbye 2011....and welcome 2012!

dressed in my candy cane pjs!
my pretty new colts hat!
nap time with opa!
my new pjs from nanny!
love the tree!...and removing ornaments! :-)
my Nanny time!
smiles!
Christmas dinner with daddy!
my cute party dress for Christmas!
the whole gang on Santa's lap!
no smile...but hey, no tears either!!! :-)

I can't believe I am sitting here writing this blog an hour before the clock turns to 2012 (1) where did the year go?......and 2) wow am I boring these days :-))!! The year has gone so quickly, and our baby Addison has changed in such significant ways! What a joyous year she brought to us all!

The week before Christmas was busy in Minneapolis with a few holiday get-togethers and preparing for our trip to see family!

We all treked to Indy for Christmas festivities starting December 23....daddy left on the 26th....and Addison and mommy leave tomorrow. Our visit definitely got off to a rocky start.....we were all sick! Noah and mommy had the stomach bug, and Addison had double ear infections! Ugh!

On the 23rd we went to the annual family chili supper where Santa made a surprise visit! Addison sat on his lap like a big girl, and although she didn't smile, there were no tears for the pictures! :-) On the 24th we enjoyed a nice relaxing day of lunch out, a few errands, and lots of home time prepping for the big day. We also had our annual Detmer family dinner (thank goodness I married a guy who likes eggs benedict)! Unfortunately on Christmas morning I became very sick so had to spend most of the day in bed or on the couch. We did do some gifts in the morning, and then Noah and Addison attended Nanny's morning breakfast/gifts and evening dinner with mom and dad, and the extended family. On the 26th Opa and Jojo were sick, so Noah, Addie and I spent the day together relaxing and enjoying lunch out. Noah left to head back for the work week the night of the 26th, so sad! As the week continued we started feeling better, except Addie continued to be a little more irritable than normal! I ended up taking her to my uncle for a quick lookover, and sure enough double ear infections! It is amazing how much her antibiotics have helped, and so quickly! We spent a couple nights having dinners/drinks with friends, and catching up with family!

We did get to enjoy a belated Christmas with Nanny on the 30th where Addison got to open her presents.....some of the highlights included an "Addison" puzzle and a barn with animals and sounds!

Some of Addison's most special gifts from Opa and Jojo this year included a small stuffed chair for our living room with her name on it (the perfect size!) and a doll pram! She has really started to enjoy her dolls lately, and has had a great time running around pushing her pram this week and kissing "her babies"!

As I sit here reflecting on the past year, I am so thankful for our many blessings!!! Looking forward to another wonderful year together!

15 months!!

Patience of a champion!
Best friends snuggling on the couch
Concert time...Addison and her friend, William!
Just a little reading on the couch!
Big smiles... in her new Winter coat from Nana
The boys!

Addison turned 15 months old on December 6th!!! We had her check-up with the doctor this week, and all went well! She is still petite for her age...but growing nonetheless. She is currently 21 pounds, 3 ounces and 30 1/4 inches tall. The doctor told us it is time to start weaning from the bedtime bottle.....this will be our next challenge over the next couple of months. Other than that, everything looked great! Addison even handled her three shots quite well!

We had a few fun play dates with our friends Stacy and William, Levi and Ali, and Kristin, Jessie and Riloh over the last couple of weeks! Addison really enjoys other children now, and loves to be around them!! :-) It is definitely entertainment to watch toddlers interact!

Last night we had daddy's Christmas get together for work, and one of the physicians was dressed up as Santa. Addie was hysterical! She totally freaked and gave him "the eye!" I attempted to reach out and touch Santa's beard in hopes that Addison would warm up to him; however, no such luck! I don't think the big man in the red suit is going to get much love from little Addie this year! :-)

We are working on getting the last couple of our Christmas gifts, and then we are set for the holiday! We are looking forward to our trip to Indy to celebrate with family!

Exciting events of the upcoming week include a holiday get-together with friends in the neighborhood and kids on Sunday evening, a birthday party for a friend on Tuesday evening, and our flight to Indy on Friday!!!

Turkey......then Snow!

We had a wonderful 9 days in North Carolina visiting with family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday! The weather was gorgeous in the South this time of year.....60s and 70s with sun each day! We spent the week enjoying coffee and the newspaper for a couple hours in the morning, playing outside at the neighborhood park and new Raleigh park (complete with a train, paddle boats, and tons of playground equipment!), running in the Turkey trot, enjoying meals out and in (Trish cooked a delicious turkey dinner!!!), attending the UNC football game, spending time with Adam and Victoria, and seeing some of our good friends! It was a very relazing and much needed vacation! We missed Wally....but our great friend Emily was nice enough to stay with him and give him his much needed attention! :-) Thank you!

We returned to a busy last week of work and activities. Two highlights of the weekend were going to the Holidazzle parade on Nicollet Mall Friday night, and Addison's first time ever sledding today! Friday night several of our neighborhood friends and us bundled the kids, packed hot chocolate and headed downtown to watch the adorable floats filled with all of the favorite cartoon and Disney characters! Addison loved the lights and seemed to really enjoy herself! It was a fun evening! Today, we enjoyed an exciting afternoon taking Addison sledding for her first time! She seemed to love dressing up in all of her new snow gear, and breaking in her new pink sled!

Addison is still very focused on language the last couple of weeks.......with her new obsession being "da????" as she points to about every object in the room. We are pretty sure she is asking "that?"......so we tell her what each thing is called. It's so much fun to watch her learn! We have also been working on "All done" when she finishes her meals. It's so cute when she gets it right....she claps her hands and grins ear to ear! :-)

We've got our stockings hung, and we are ready for the holiday season ahead!!!

busy start to November = blog slacker!

Addison entering the dark cave at the Minnesota Zoo....she loved it!
Snuggling with Opa!
Wagon rides at Opa and Jojo's house!
One of our last times at the playground this year.....playing in the leaves!!
(This picture was taken fter grandma/great-grandma Betty's funeral in Cincinnatti.....Addison meeting mommy's cousins! Addie is the first great-grandchild on that side of the family!)
(Bath time at Opa and Jojo's house....always a highlight!!!)

It's already November 18....where has this month gone???!!!!! Other than the colder weather starting to kick in, it's amazing that it is already almost another Thanksgiving.

We have had a busy month (hence my blog slacking!)..........including the following:

-Noah and I both turned the big 3-1; we decided this birthday is "blah!"-hope they aren't all like this!-honestly there is nothing really exciting about 31....you aren't the big 3-0 anymore, and you are slowly approaching "over the hill," wow!

-Addison and I traveled to Indy from November 3 to November 8; we said our goodbyes to grandma/great grandma Betty at her beautiful funeral in Cincinnatti, Addison got to meet many "new" relatives, we celebrated grandma/great grandma Nanny's 90th birthday (she is as gorgeous as ever!) with a big family dinner celebration, we spent time hanging out at home with Opa, Jojo, Uncle Nick and Aunt Jen! Addison loved playing outside with some old outside toys that date back to when I was a kid! Addison also said, "papa" and "jojo" for the first time, and Uncle Nick taught her "cheers!" (Addie lifts her sippy cup to toast!)

-Addison continues to attend her music class on McPhail on Monday mornings-she is still loving the instruments, playtime with other kids and music! She now continually wants to play dada's guitar at home. Maybe more music toys are a must for Christmas!

-We have tried to spend lots of time outdoors at the playground and on "Wally walks," as we know the cold, cold weather is right around the corner! We have had fun in the leaves, and climbing on all of the equipment at the 4th street playground.

-Addison and daddy had a great weekend together last week-attending a make-up music class at McPhail on Saturday, and a 1st birthday party for Addison's friend Levi on Sunday. Addie brought home a blue balloon and a gold truck as party favors-how exciting!

-Addison has been busy making art projects at "school" on Wednesday and Thursdays.....and the most recent one is an adorable sand turkey decorated with hand print feathers (hard to explain, but cute nonetheless!)

-We went to the zoo with our friend Levi and his mom today! We were mostly inside in the tropics area checking out the turtles (seemed to be Addie's favorite), flamingos, monkeys, lemurs, fish, etc.....Addison and Levi loved pointing to things, walking through the dark caves and watching the animals play. A great morning!

On the development front, Addison is changing and growing constantly! She is attempting to communicate much more lately....including a couple new words and starting to learn some animal sounds (so far, we are only consistent with the dog "woof, woof"). She is also has been pointing to things she wants and to objects when asked to look for something..... Such a big girl!

We are busy packing for our trip to North Carolina........we are leaving early tomorrow morning for a 9 day trip to visit daddy's family! We are so excited for the warmer weather, a little UNC/Duke football, a couple visits with friends, and relaxing with family!

A rough start to a fun week....

We love and miss our grandma Betty! (taken Christmas 2010)
Not so sure about the talking skeleton outside a neighbor's door! :-)
Addie and her trick or treating friends in the neighborhood!
So excited about Halloween! Our little ballerina!
Enjoying the other children at mommy's work Halloween party!

MacPhail music class on Halloween morning.....such cute costumes, and so much fun!
Posing for the camera...our little dancer!
Colts players!
Tearing apart the pumpkin!
Addison's first pumpkin......!

We were greatly saddened to hear about the passing of mommy's grandma "Betty" and Addie's great-grandma "Betty" last Wednesday. She was such a special woman, and sure understood the value of good friends/family and living each day to its fullest! My dad told me that one of the last days he visited her, when she was very ill, she asked "What's going on tonight?" Grandma Betty was always looking for a good time! I loved that about her, and look forward to passing my wonderful memories of her on to Addie in the years ahead!

We were also, of course, disappointed that Opa and Jojo had to cancel their visit due to this unfortunate event back home.

In order to get through these difficult times, I tried to follow the old saying that I look forward to teaching Addison someday, "After every storm, look for the rainbow"............we planned an exciting end of the week celebrating Halloween!!!

On Friday we had a group play date with Addison's friends and their mommies where we enjoyed Halloween treats and attempted to have the kids explore pumpkin carving. I say attempted, because as much as we thought they would jump right in and love the "goop," not so much! Addie put her hands in for a few minutes, then off she went to play!

Friday night, we carved Addison's pumpkin here at home! We designed it with her initials, "A-M-P"....she did put her hands in a little more than she had that morning, but was more interested in trying to get away with putting a pumpkin seed or piece of pumpkin in her mouth than anything else! After the pumpkin was carved, I tried to get her picture with it, and instantly she grabbed the small area separating each initial and pulled them right out! So much for A-M-P....it looked more like a big hole in the front! :-( We baked the yummy pumpkin seeds on Saturday and enjoyed a few before daddy accidentally knocked the bowl off the table and the pumpkin seeds were interspersed with pieces of broken clay....no longer edible! Well, so much for the pumpkin experience this year! :-) Maybe more success to come in the years ahead!

Saturday was a fun neighborhood event at Corner Coffee. It was baby/dog dress-up day! It ended up being quite chilly that morning, so I decided the ballerina outfit was not going to happen. I ended up dressing Addie in her way-to0-big Colts jersey over a fleece, and Wally in his way-too-tight Colts jersey for the event! They were adorable dressed as twins!

On Monday, actual Halloween, we had an entire day full of celebrations! Addison was dressed as a ballerina from 8am-8pm! We attended our music class at MacPhail in the morning and all of the toddlers were dressed in costume! It was a blast! We danced to monster mash, played on the parachute and sang lots of Halloween songs! We also got lots of cute pictures! For lunch, we went to mommy's work and had "babypalooza"-an annual Halloween party for rehab staff! There were about 8-9 little ones all dressed up for the big day! We had lunch together, visited with friends and took pics of all of the adorable costumes! This event has become a great tradition! In the evening, we went trick or treating in our condo building! There were many families who participated in handing out candy to the little ones, and we had a blast joining a few other couples/toddler friends for the door to door treking! Addison seemed to enjoy running up and down the hallways with her friends and getting presents at each door!

Needless to say, it was an exhausting week! We are planning to spend the first day of November, today, resting at home and preparing for our trek to Indy on Thursday. As much as we are saddened by the reason for this travel (to attend grandma Betty's funeral on Saturday), we are looking forward to seeing family and spending quality time with Opa, Jojo, Uncle Nick and Aunt Jen!

Enjoy our Halloween pics!!!-and a memorable picture of grandma "Betty" from last Christmas.

More Fall Fun in Minneapolis!

Our sweet pumpkin in her cute Fall sweater dress and tights......playing at home!
Addison LOVES to brush her teeth now.....she walks around the house for atleast 20 minutes wiggling her toothbrush in her mouth with drool running down the front of her :-) Such a big girl!



Is it really the end of October already???!!! I can't believe how quickly the past almost 14 months have gone since Addie was born!

In the last couple weeks we have had the peak of Fall, and now things are really cooling off around here. The highs are around 50 degrees this week. Addison is definitely feeling the change in weather.....with a constant runny nose and a little cough. Poor thing! It never seems to turn in to anything more serious than a cold, thank goodness, but I'm sure she can't be terribly comfortably with a constant head full of snot! Ugh! We are doing our best to keep her hydrated, well fed and warm!

Addie got her new brown puffy Winter jacket last week, and it fits perfect! After we were disappointed with the thin "Winter" jacket that we had ordered from Patagonia, we re-ordered a new jacket from Old Navy, and believe it or not, it is much thicker and warmer than the other! I guess we learned our lesson.....you don't have to pay a lot of money to keep your baby warm! :-) Good to know! We have also bought a couple more Winter hats to add to our collection from Opa from last year (some of which still fit great!)

Addison is continuing to enjoy music class each Monday......she seems to like the other children, and loves exploring the instruments and sounds! She takes wonderful naps after so much stimulation in this class. She is also doing well with daycare. Last week she had to go for 3 days, as mommy had to work an extra day, but seemed happy each day when I came to get her. The caregivers said she loves to go on the buggy rides with the other children! I came to pick her up on Friday evening and she was sitting on the mat next to a smaller child turning the pages of a book and "reading" aloud to them. So cute! Our favorite moments are of course when mommy and/or daddy arrive at the end of the day and Addison lets out a squeal as she hurries over to us with open arms! Our sweet baby girl! :-)

On the days that daddy works and mommy is home with Addie and Wally, it has been fun to excite them at the end of the day that "daddy is coming home!" They each run from the living room to the door and await his arrival! We even wait in the hallway sometimes! One day last week Addison was hiding in the kitchen closet when daddy arrived....it was adorable! :-)

Addie has had some fun days with Annie lately, and she seems to remember how much she loves her each time! Yesterday when Annie arrived to watch Addie during the Vikings/Packers game, Addie ran across the room to greet her with a big hug! We are so fortunate to have the BEST babysitter ever!

We are eagerly awaiting Opa and Jojo's arrival this Wednesday evening for 5 days!!! We have a few activities planned to celebrate Halloween with them, but other than that they are just looking forward to some snuggle time with Addison! And Addison can't wait to show off all of her new tricks! :-) There will be ballerina pictures soon! :-)

a return to summer for a few days!!!

Our family at the pumpkin patch!


Addison and her friend William on the slide!
Addison loved the string trio! She sat in this little red chair for ~20 minutes hypnotized by the music!
Addison and daddy rode Sadie, Joe and William rode Babe!


One of the last times wearing sun-dresses this year!
A lazy day with daddy-resting!

We have had some interesting weather here lately! The temperatures returned to the upper 70s-80s for about a week or so.....so we have been taking full advantage of enjoying outside time!

Addison turned 13 months on the 6th of October...wow, our big girl!

We had a busy weekend...including mommy and daddy each getting to spend a night out with friends, a Saturday trip to Uptown for shopping and appetizers (Addison entertained the entire place by switching around all of the outside chair cushions, and dancing!), and a Sunday trip with our friends the Grunnet family to Apple Jack's Orchard (pumpkin patch) in Delano, MN.

Addison loved the trip to the pumpkin patch! There was a petting zoo, a store with a cafe/bakery with yummy treats, a small cow train that went through the fields, lots of pumpkins to choose from for Halloween, a small slide for kids, and wagon rides! Addison's favorite part of all was listening to the string trio-she was absolutely still and quiet, watching intently for about 20 minutes! We had a wonderful time enjoying the beautiful weather. Addison has a pumpkin that weighs the same as she does this year....19 and a half pounds! We look forward to carving it with her some day soon and baking pumpkin seeds!

Addison had another fun day at music class yesterday.....this time she got to play with ribbon sticks and egg shakers! She always loves the rhythm sticks and parachute rides too! She really does seem to just LOVE music! She regularly makes her way over the piano at home and reaches up to play a few notes, as well as strumming the guitars a little too! :-)

Enjoy the pictures!