Happy New Year!

2012 has been a very good year for us. We've had so much fun watching Addi grow up and have so many firsts and we're so happy to be able to share all of this with our family. So here's a little review of just a few of the things that have gone on in the Allen family this year.

January

Started out the year right with Addilyn's baby blessing. She looked so pretty and it was so wonderful to see her surrounded by love.

February

I got a job in Logan and we packed up everything and moved across the country (again). My grandma made room for our arrival by moving in with my mom so we could stay in her house which also happens to be right next to my mom and dad. My mom got some peace of mind by having Grandma closer, and Addi gets to spend quality time with Grammee, Papa, and Grandma Neta.

March

I started my new job. Addi started pulling up to furniture and we started finding her like this every morning usually yelling at us to come get her.

April

Another benefit of living in Utah, being close to cousins. We spent a weekend at my sister Mardee's house while I went to a work conference and Addi started what I'm sure will be a lifetime of chasing and torturing/ playing with her cousin Cooper.

May

We celebrated my birthday and Addi turned 9 months old on the same day. I love that my birthday marks the start of summer and we had plans to have a lot of fun.

June

We visited the Willow Park Zoo with our friends, the Fowlers. Addi had more fun watching Baby Lydia than the animals even though the peacocks were putting on a great show. We also spent a lot of the summer at Glendale Lake with all the cousins and would head up to Riverdale hot springs to find some warm water for Addi to swim in.

July

We went on our First Family Vacation to Oregon. We had a lot of fun visiting the aquarium, splashing in the ocean, and of course visiting the house where they filmed "Goonies."

August

We celebrated Addilyn's first birthday. She loved her cake and was happy to share it with all her cousins.

September

Addilyn started walking after spending a weekend watching all her cousins run around. Every once in awhile we could get her to slow down and sit with one of her favorite people, her Grandma Neta, especially if there was a phone involved.

October

Happy Halloween! We had a lot of fun celebrating. We went to the Pumpkin Walk twice, the corn maze and headed down to Heber to Trick-Or-Treat with Addilyn's cousins.

November

Addi went bowling for the first time and loved it. The only part she didn't like was having to take turns.

December

The best part of the Holidays is getting together with family and friends. Marinda and I moved into the dorms our freshman year and met Amber, Jessie and Kami, who lived across the hall. Seven years, 7 college degrees (and counting), 2 missions, 4 husbands, 1 fiance (Congrats Amber!), and 4 kids later we are still best friends. It was so fun to get together for our annual Christmas Party. We also enjoyed the getting together with my family, seeing extended family at my cousins wedding, and going to the annual Oliverson Christmas party. Addilyn loved being around all her cousins and got lots of practice saying her favorite new words "Shae" and "Nora."

So there you have it, just a little of what happened in 2012 in the Allen family. Here's hoping that 2013 will be just as great!

Best Friends

Addilyn just loves her Grandma Neta! I can't get enough of seeing these to together. We walk over to my mom and grandma's house almost every night after I get home from work. We eat dinner and then play until it's time for Addilyn to head to bed. As soon as we get Addilyn out of her highchair she runs over to grandma's chair to see if she has anything good to feed her. It's so cute how she stands there with her mouth wide open like a little bird until she gets a bite of ice cream or yogurt or whatever other yummy food Grandma might have.

Addilyn has also found that Grandma will do just about anything for her. She loves to pull bags of rolls out of the bread drawer and then runs off and takes them straight to Grandma who always opens them for her. She's already a pro at "If mom says no go ask grandma."

Another one of Addi's favorite things is riding on Grandma's walker. It has a little seat on it and Addi will whine to be put up there and then holds on while Grandma pushes her around. She always has the biggest smile on her face and just looks like she thinks that it is the coolest ride ever!

The last two nights we've discovered that these two also have some of the same tastes in t.v. shows. Grandma loves watching "Dancing with the Stars" and Addilyn started to dance and bounce up and down when she heard the music then when they start cheering she claps and smiles and just looks so proud of herself. It's so cute to watch.

I just wish I could capture each memory of these two and save them for Addilyn so she'll know someday how much her Grandma Neta loved her.

To Addilyn, On Your First Birthday

August 27, 2012

Dear Addilyn,

Happy birthday my sweet baby! I can't believe it has been a whole year since you were born. Words cannot begin to describe the joy you have brought to our lives. How do I tell you how wonderful you are? Almost every night me and your daddy lay in bed at night at compare notes about all the cute and wonderful things you've done that day. The conversation usually ends with "She's just so cute."

 

You make everyone around you smile. No one can resist that smile of yours, that laugh, or your wonderful little chatter. Everyone, not just your mommy, is astounded by how smart you are. You say "hi, daddy, Addi, thank you, and woof" and even though I'm not always sure your saying them on purpose, I love to hear your babble. You also love to sing. Every time you hear music I can hear your sweet little voice following along with the tune.

I love seeing you watch and learn new things. Just yesterday you picked up the forehead thermometer that I had just used on you and held it up to your head like you knew exactly what it was for. You do the same thing with any electronic device in our hands. You've mastered the use of the iPad and hold anything that resembles a phone up to your ear. Your favorite thing to do is to look at pictures on our phones. I love the way you laugh and giggle at pictures of yourself and other little kids.

I love that you are equally a daddy's and mommy's girl. You have been lucky enough to have a daddy that has been able to stay home with you while I work and I know the bond you two have because of that will always be there. I know you'll need that someday, like when your about 13 and are having a hard time feeling pretty or loved. I also love to see your face light up when I walk in the door and just see so clearly that you know that I am your mommy. Sometimes, it's hard for me to leave you and it's hard for me to think about the time that I am missing but I know the time I spend away makes me that much more grateful for the time I do spend with you. I cherish that time so much. I hope I am showing you all that you can be as a wife, a mother, and a girl.

Looking back at the past year, I think about all those questions I had when you were so little.  Yes, those dark dark blue eyes have turned to brown like your dad's, making you the only brown-eyed grandbaby in the Dutro family, and I love it. Yes, you have followed your mommy's looks in the hair department and are still as bald as can be.

Yes, you have stayed as sweet as you were at one month old, with just a little bit of stubborn and sweet sassiness that I just love. And you love to laugh, at Daddy stealing your binkie, at me or your dad tickling you, at your cousin's making faces at you, at us playing peek-a-boo, at me chasing you down the hall or up the stairs or anywhere else you thing you shouldn't be going, and sometimes you just crack up for no reason at all, like you've just told a hilarious joke that only you understand.

Now I can't wait to keep watching you grow. I love watching you take your first tentative steps and I know it won't be long until you're running all over the house. I can't wait to hear what you have to say when you can tell me just exactly what is running through that cute little head of yours. I am so excited to see your eyes light up each time you discover some new and wonderful skill, and I love being able to share it with your wonderful grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends. You are just too cute to keep to ourselves. So my sweet girl, thank you for one wonderful year together and I am so happy to know I have an eternity with you to look foreword to.

Love, 

Your Mommy

11 Months

Addilyn had a lot of new adventures when she turned 11-months old. At the end of July I knew I would have to be out of town for a work conference for a couple days so to make up for that time away from my baby I took a couple of days off and we headed to the Oregon coast for a kind of spur-of-the-moment vacation. Addilyn was quite the trooper during the 12+ hour car ride. We had so much fun at the beach, the hotel pool, seeing the sites, and visiting the aquarium. Addilyn would yell and squeal when she saw the fishies swimming around. It was a lot of fun!

Addilyn and Mom in Astoria, Oregon (Where they filmed Goonies!)

At the Seaside Aquarium feeding the seals

Seals waiting for some fish. They word start slapping their sides and barking at you to get some food. So fun!

Addilyn touching a starfish, she wasn't a fan.

Dad and Addilyn at the beach, too cold to swim!

Mom getting some snuggles at the beach.

Our first time at the ocean together!

Addilyn and mom outside the Maritime Museum.

One of the things I missed about being in Logan when we lived in North Carolina was all the summer traditions I had grown up with; days up at the lake, the fireworks on the 3rd of July at the stadium (yes the 3rd, they do that so the smaller towns can have their own fireworks on the 4th), watching the Lewiston fireworks from our backyard, the Cruise In, and the Cache County Fair. I was so glad that we got to make it to all of  those things this summer! I can't wait to see Addilyn grow up loving them as much as I do.

Addilyn and Mom sharing some corn on the cob at the fair

Dad showing Addilyn all the animals. 

The animals were the one part of the fair that I always bypassed for the food, rides and booths, but Dustin grew up on a farm so this was the ONLY part of the fair for him. Addilyn started to make the animal sounds along with her new friends, the chickens and coos. It was very cute. Overall we had a very fun summer!

10 Months

Bring on Summer! We spent some time swimming at the Lake but since it was so cold we would usually pass the lake and head to the Riverdale Hotsprings up past Preston. It took her a little bit but Addi started to love the water and is my little fish now.

Addi and her cousin Taylor

Addilyn rockin' her swimsuit at the Lake.

We also made another visit to Willow Park zoo. This time we were joined by our friends, Scott and Marinda and their little girl Lydia. Addilyn was more interested in watching Lydia than the animals but the peacocks definitely were putting on a show.

Peacock at Willow Park Zoo

Addi and Mom at the Zoo

Now I have to brag about my baby girl a little. She is such a smarty-pants. She imitates just about anything you say and has been doing it for awhile. As a speech language pathologist it just thrills me to hear her do this :-).

9 Months

Okay, so in case you haven't noticed I've fallen a bit behind with my monthly Addilyn updates. So I'm getting caught up with some picture posts. Here you go:
 
We celebrated Mother's Day at Maddox with all the Dutro Family. Here's Addilyn with her cousin Cooper. Can you believe that they are just one day apart? And Addi is older? And Cooper was born 6 weeks early? Ha Ha.

We had an impromptu Family Night trip to the great Willow Park Zoo in Logan. Addilyn liked the monkeys and we all had fun chasing the peacocks around.

Addilyn celebrated her hitting the 9 month mark on my birthday and she was more than happy to help herself to some cake and licorice. 

She also had fun playing with Cooper for the weekend. These two sat at that table for quite a while playing with/eating the blocks.

Dustin got me a great birthday present of a new lens for my camera that was perfect for taking portraits. We just had to try it out.
 

You can also see the lovely shelf/bench Dustin got me for Mother's Day. It looks perfect by our front door.

Addilyn at 8 months

Can I please just make time go slower!?!? I really just want to soak up every minute I've got with this little cutie. Ugh I know it's not possible so I'll just make sure I remember the highlights of my 8-month-old:

• She is an awesome sleeper! Consistently sleeps through the night now. Goes to bed about 8 and I have to wake her up to feed her before I go to work. Then she's back to bed for about another 2 hours. Throw in 2 more 1-2 hour naps and you've got one happy baby.

Taking a nap with her bum straight up in the air. A mid-day pick-me-up text from Daddy for me :-).

• She is doing a real crawl and is a little speed demon. She can make it all the way across the room in seconds, especially if she sees that her mom or dad just got home :)
• She has started drinking formula which was a huge weight off my shoulders. Up until this month I was struggling to keep up with how much she wanted to eat and how much I could pump at work. Things are going much better now.
• She has her first tooth! It's on the bottom right side and is just so cute. It's a little hard to get a glimpse of it because anytime you try to pull her lip down to look at it she sticks her tongue out. So you just have to catch it when she gives you a big grin.
• She is a super eater. Grammee loves to feed her and she loves to be fed. Her favorites are: sweet potatoes (yep my little Southern Bell), apple-cinnamon oatmeal, pretzels, yogurt snacks (Aunt Lauren calls these her "happy pills") and just about anything else you want to feed her. She doesn't care for blueberry meltable puffs, bananas, or rice cereal. Oh and she loves strawberries but we found out they give her a rash so we are currently battling over that one.
• She loves to walk around the furniture and shove herself into little cracks between the tables and couches and just basically get into everything. 

It's okay, I promise the can was empty!

• She's an escape artist. Daddy and Grammee have both lost her while each of them were in the bathroom. Grammee found her in a room that she hadn't thought to look in because the door was shut but Addilyn had crawled in there and then pushed it shut. Daddy found her in her room playing with her toys which has about 5 tiled stairs leading to it. She also still likes to escape from her jammies whenever possible.

Rockin' the one shoulder look.

• She loves people. She likes to try to kiss the babies and smiles at just about everybody.

Addilyn and her cousin Cooper (just one day apart from each other)

Addilyn and her "Best Friend" Lydia

Addilyn and Aunt Jen

Addilyn with Great-Grandma Neta. Even though they have an age difference of almost 95 years Grandma is one of her favorite people!

• She has the cutest laugh. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before but I just can't get enough of it.

Addilyn is just an all-around happy sweet baby and we feel so blessed to have her as part of our family. I really am so lucky to be her mommy!