Grandpa Bell

Our Christmas celebration got off to an early start this year. "Early" as in the week after Thanksgiving. We were lucky enough to have Grandpa Bell and Grandma Marchelle visit us from Utah. We were able to meet up with them in Kansas City and celebrate a good ole-fashioned family Christmas at Michelle & Kendall's house. Luckily for us, John had a business meeting in KC that following week so Addison and I got to play with cousins and aunts/uncles while we were there (but more on that later). That also gave us almost a full extra day to spend with Grandpa Bell & Grandma Marchelle. This was the first time since Addison's blessing in July that we were able to get all of the Bell siblings together. We celebrated with a family gift exchange, church, and a nice homemade Christmas dinner with all the fixin's. Addison also got in some great bonding time with Grandpa as well. She hadn't got to hang out with him since she was 1 month old, but it didn't take long for her to warm up to him.

This was our welcoming party upon our arrival into Kansas City early Sunday morning. Ashlyn is going to be elected President of the Addison fan club.

A picture of all the cute "Bell" side cousins. You would not believe how difficult it was to get this picture. Between meltdowns, distracting people, and little wandering feet, we just called this as good as it'd get. I don't blame them for being distracted though, we had probably 5 people with camera's in front of them calling names for smiles, looks, non-teary faces, and bribing everything under the sun just for them to hold still. Good thing we only attempt this once a year.

A picture of Addison, Ashlyn and Grandpa Bell in their Sunday best.

Let There Be Light...

Or in our case, not. In preparation for the holiday season, I decided to talk John and Addison into a light parade in Fayetteville for a Saturday evening adventure. Keep in mind, the email I received, called it a "Light Parade" so I naturally assumed there would be ..... well...... lights right? They even said due to conservation efforts all lights used would be LED lights. I immediately thought how exciting!! Addison LOVES looking at any/all lights so surely she'd love this parade right? So after a harried trip down to Fayetteville, wandering downtown trying to find the parade's path, and walking about 6 blocks from our parked vehicle. We arrived alas, along with the majority of Fayetteville's population. Not only could we not see above the towering people in front of us, once the parade started you couldn't see a thing! No lights! Floats, and marching people, and bands - WITH NO LIGHTS!! Sheesh! At least we were lucky enough to park the stroller right next to a twig of a tree adorned in Christmas lights. We just let Addison stare at those and called it good. She was more than happy with it since she konked out asleep 10 minutes after arriving.

However, as it turns out, the evening was not completely wasted. We did manage to have a nice, enjoyable walk through downtown Fayetteville, as we tried to locate our car. All in all, it was a lesson learned. 1. Don't believe everything an email says, and 2. Learn how to make a fun time out of a seemingly bad experience.

A shot of Addison as we set out on our adventure!

Mommy & Addison

Daddy & Addison

Initiation Day

It's official. John has been initiated.

Please allow me to set the scene:
For those who are unaware, a few months ago I got called to serve in Primary as a Sunbeam teacher. This left John as sole caretaker of Addison for 2 out of 3 hours every Sunday. Since Addison was born, I was the one to balance, wrassle, juggle all things baby-related every week at Church. This made it even more of a jump for John to adjust - but what an entertaining one it has been. And I must say, day one had him singing my praises on the way home!

A bit of history:
On John's first Sunday as caretaker, all three of us crammed into the family bathroom as I observed him using a changing table for the first time. Balancing a baby, changing her out of layers upon layers of Sunday clothes, mixing up a bottle, digging through the diaper bag etc etc. I coached him, encouraged him, and patted him on the back as he succeeded - granted a bit haphazardly on his first try but it was progress.

Now typically, John is the one that is over protective of Addison - blocking the sun, checking her body temp, blanket layers, etc. But after this Sunday he had changed. As I located them after church, he was already heading out the door anxious to get home. He kept saying "That was hard! That was hard!" and I was like "Yup!" On the way to the car he had her carrier smack dab in the sun. As I brought it to his attention he responded "Eh, a little vitamin D will do her some good!" as he tossed her carrier into the back seat of the car. All the way home I had to convince him that if it was hard for him - it was hard for me. He kept saying "Nah, it's easier for you". Once he realized I didn't have some magic little pill that made it easier, he finally understood what I endured weekly up to that point.

Initiation Day:
Now, fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I come out of primary, after church is over, and find him in the foyer with Addison in her carrier covered in blankets. Before I even get to him he's mouthing the words "Um, we had a bit of an accident". Once I near him, he pulls up the blankets from Addison and there she is sitting in her carrier in nothing but a diaper. She likes being nakey so she's loving every minute of it. I start laughing hysterically as John recounts the experience of juggling through layers of Sunday dress and a diaper-less baby on the changing table, and someone knocking on the bathroom door, as she decides to pee all over everything she was wearing. Somehow, when it happens to someone else, it's all the more funnier. However, I think it was still to recent for John to see the humor in it all. So here are the pics I took of Addison once we arrived home. This is the cute little nakey baby that greeted me, in the foyer, after church. I think she thought it was funnier than the Daddy did. So it's official, John has been initiated into the "Sunday Baby Club" and I have realized just how inspired my calling truly is!!



Completely unrelated but still cute. Here is another pic of Addison. Thanks to her Daddy, this is one of her favorite pastimes. Hanging out on the couch while she plays with Daddy's xBox controller.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...

Keep those babies rolling - raawwwhhhhiiiidddde!! Spoken in a sing-songy voice simply because I am THAT happy! Addison is now joining the rollers club - surely there is an exclusive club right? If not, I'll gladly organize one for my little Addibell.

For the past few months, I anxiously awaited for Addison to embark on her rolling adventures. As recently as last month, she did it a couple times for us, just to prove she could if/when she wanted to. So I knew she had the ability. I was just waiting for her to accept it as a means of transportation. Most everyone I knew reassured me she'd take it up eventually and every baby was different. I learned not to get obsessed over it but I must say I just get so excited when she learns something. I guess that officially classifies me as a "Proud Mama"!! (Don't even get me started on how excited I still get watching her take big bites of baby food - and she learned that a couple months ago!)

Not only can Addison do the simple roll of tummy to back - but she picked up the more difficult one of back-to-tummy as well. I guess she's making up for lost time and proving to me that she knows what she's doing. Today even, as I wrapped Christmas presents, she rolled over consecutively until she ran into the coffee table. No telling how far she would have gone had she not been obstructed. I knew she had it figured out this morning when I laid her on her back after breakfast, went to the bathroom, and came back to her on her tummy - Yayyy! She is getting quite talented at grabbing at the toys too which makes a nice break for me. No more picking up and handing her everything she drops - she has mastered the ability to do it herself. She's such a cutie when she does it. John and I start applauding and shouting while she just stares at us and acts like "Uh what's the big deal?"

And it doesn't stop there! Last week we decided to forgo the swaddle wrap at bedtime. She's used it since birth - even upgraded to a larger swaddle - so needless to say she likes it. Welp, the first night swaddle-free, she has passed with flying colors. She did great for a few nights in a row even. However, since she's had the sickies and wakes up coughing at night we decided not to torment her too much and gave the swaddle back. We are anxious to try it again once she gets to feeling better. Yay Addison! Such a big girl and growing up soooo fast! Mommy & Daddy are proud of you!

6 Months Old

It's official! Addison has finally hit her 6 month mark. Technically she did it about 3 weeks ago but we now have the pictures to prove it. As it turns out, Addison turning 6 months old happens at the same time everyone takes their christmas pictures. We had originally planned for her pictures to be taken last Saturday but apparently so did the rest of Fayetteville. Once we saw the zoo of waiting people all dressed in their Christmas best, we promptly rescheduled to Friday at noon. I'm so glad we did. We were the only ones in the studio so no crowd stress on top of the already stressful picture time. She did much better this time around than she did at her 3 month appointment. She had plenty of smiles to go around and lasted almost the whole time. However, at the end she got a little impatient with all the outfit changes and pulling and prodding for photos. The photographer asked us if we wanted a few more shots, John nor I could decide for sure, but one look at Addison and she started fussing - that was our answer....we were finished. It's always quite the workout for the Mom since I'm holding, moving, balancing, picking up, putting down while John is the "smile-getter" and stands by the camera the whole time. Once again, I had worked up quite a sweat. Someone needs to remind me to NOT wear a sweater next time. Here are the pictures of our gorgeous little girl, Addison. And some family shots to boot. Below are her milestones etc.







Addison is a VERY happy baby. We've always known this but it's amazing how many people comment on it when they are around her. She did struggle a little with new faces, fussiness, and mommy/daddy clingy-ness but we immediately solved that by putting her around more and more people. It's not hard to do since it's such a busy holiday season and lots of family and friends are already around. She now adjusts quite well to new faces - even though it may take a couple of minutes to warm up to them. Before long, she's laughing and smiling with the rest of them. She loves watching little kids and really enjoys her cousins. She has rolled over a few more times, both front to back and back to front, but still doesn't seem interested in using it as a means of transportation. She enjoys sitting up but still needs a little assistance in doing so. She loves to laugh and we love to hear it just as much. I swear there is no better sound than her laugh. She loves to gab and talk and holler. When she gets excited she arches her back and stiffens her body. It's cute most of the time but difficult when it's time to eat. Speaking of eating, she is now on Stage 2 food and loves it. I think her current favorite is sweet potatoes. For Thanksgiving I brought along a turkey dinner just for her. This being the first time she ever experienced meat, it didn't go over so well. Luckily she didn't notice that she had an audience of family watching her partake of her first Thanksgiving dinner. It was sooo sad to watch her take her first big bite, gag a couple of times, and then promptly vomit it back up. Poor thing! I felt so bad for her. It was quite a bit thicker than she was used to. She has also finally figured out the game of "Peek-a-boo." Once the blankie is on her face, we say "Where's Addison" - she immediately pulls it off and starts laughing. Most of the time she's yanking at it before I can even get it on her face. However, when I put it on my face, she gets confused and just stares at me. I guess she doesn't know how to play it when we assume opposite roles. Addison is such a pleasant baby and we love having her in our family. It's hard to imagine our life before she came. She adds such joy and happiness to ALL of her family.

6 month stats:
Weight: 17 lbs 5.5 oz (76.49%)
Height: 25.33" (33.82%)
Head: 45.5 cm (98.64%) *I'm sure the Hufford side of the family is proud she is carrying on the family gene!

5 Months Old

Once again, this post is a little delayed since Addison will be celebrating 6 months this coming week. But I wanted to make sure that her 5 month pictures and updates are posted since we are working hard on posting each month. Mommy and Addison had an impromptu photo shoot in the living room again. While they turned out fairly decent, I wasn't able to get a lot of smiles since I was also working as the photographer and by the time I peered around the camera, got the smile, then went to push the button, smile was gone. :( So just know Addison is a very very happy baby and always smiling regardless of what these pictures show.

Addison's fifth month was a roller coaster of emotions. The poor little thing has spent most of her life so far (since 3 months to now) with a nasty cough, congestion, and ear ache. We went to the doctor about five different times trying any/everything to get rid of it. She was such a trooper through it all, she never once acted sick or achy or in pain. Just stayed her usual happy self despite all the nasties she was dealing with. She endured about 4 different antibiotics, numerous saline nasal drops, countless booger sucker sessions. At one doctor's appointment, when I heard that the ear infection had not gone away, but worsened, I lost it. I hate seeing my little girl sick and strugging to breathe, sleeping elevated at night, waking up to cough for sooo long. I had heard various speculations over what it may be but luckily my sister-in-law came to the rescue and suggested a formula allergy. I was elated to think we found the source of the yuckies but also frustrated that our doctor or nurses never suggested that as a possible option. So two weeks later after more antibiotics and switching to soy formula I think we've finally kicked the yuckies. I have a healthy baby again and she never seemed to miss a beat - always smiling and enduring along the way. She is such a trooper!!

At five months old: Addison loves taking baths and splashing in the water. She smiles and laughs all the time, especially at night when she's super tired and a little slap happy. This is one of my favorite times of the day. But of course, she'll only give you a limited number of laughs and then you must try something else for more laughs. She loved halloween and watching Daddy carve her pumpkin for her. She especially loved her wagon ride at the pumpkin patch. She is still learning to rollover. She did it a couple of times with a lot of encouragement but hasn't mastered it yet. She loves staring at her hands and especially loves looking at her Mommy's hands when they wave in front of her. She still doesn't like to lay down like a baby since she is grown up now she prefers to sit up and look around at everything. She has learned to sit up by herself for quite awhile before she starts leaning. We are learning to adjust to lots of people/faces since for awhile there she just seemed to recognize only a few faces. I must say now after all of our outings that she now loves to watch little kids play and is fascinated with everything they do. She loves to sit in her bumbo and look in the mirror while Mommy gets ready for the day. She especially loves when she gets her hair brushed after Mommy's done fixing hers. I must say she may definitely be a girly girl at this rate! Addison and Mommy also finally mastered eating solid food this month. It took lots of patience as we both learned but now she is quite the professional eater. When she's really hungry she opens wide, swallows one mouthful, then immediately opens her mouth and waits for the spoon of food to come back. It's so cute! :D

Under Appreciated Toe

This post is devoted to the most under appreciated toe of all ten toes. Yes, that's right...the poor little baby toe. Does anyone know the huge role it plays in just about everything that every day life encounters? I mean it's not there just to look cute. It literally gets used a million times a day just keeping your balance.

Recently, I was unlucky enough to learn first-hand how under appreciated and ever-involved this toe is. Like most people, I spent the majority of my life completely oblivious. Don't get me wrong, I have a toe fetish, but that mostly consisted of just making sure they were manicured and clean and painted and cute - especially that cute little pudgy baby toe. However, a couple of months ago my eyes were finally opened to reality. They weren't put there just to look cute.

John, Addison, and I went to Walmart for a late night venture. I had made it through almost the whole visit when "it happened". Yep, that's right in one split second I experienced some painstaking ..... well pain. I swung my foot smack dab into the wheel of the grocery cart. Honestly, I couldn't have aimed any better if I had tried. Luckily John was there to take care of the runaway cart, and Addison, while I ran to the nearest aisle and tried my hardest to hold back my dinner from visiting me again. This was PAIN people!! Throbbing, pulsating pain!! Don't get me wrong....I'm notorious for bumping my toes into things all the time...whether the lights are on or not. My toes have had a pretty rough road in life. After all, Grace is not my middle name. And while I'm sure you may agree that it's never "fun" to jam a toe on anything.....I must say this was NOTHING compared to what I have experienced before.

Within seconds, I was convinced I had broke it. My brain went wild....what do they do for broken toes? I've never seen one in a cast after all...especially the teeny tiny baby one. Immediately I started thinking of treatment and how I could finagle a toothpick and a little tape into some type of "toe-splint". I managed to keep my brain occupied on the various therapies I would put myself on in the coming days while I hobbled around Walmart, still in excruciating pain. Luckily we had an extended family weekend that following day and I got the opportunity to have my bro-in-law doc examine it to find out the extent of the injuries. Despite that it now had an ugly bruise growing across half of my foot - he assured me that it wasn't broken in a "serious" area. So I spent the next two months hobbling, crying, having people step on it, and walking in flip flops, and have just now gotten to the point that I can wear normal shoes and not wince in pain with each step.

So, in case you weren't aware, your little teeny tiny baby toe is a HUGE participant in just about everything you do! I must declare a "Baby Toe" day so we can all start giving them more appreciation for everything they do. So, this being the week of Thanksgiving, I urge you to lean down, give your toe a kiss and a great big THANK YOU! I know I will. I'm glad to have you back baby toe! Woot! I'll never take you for granted again.