18 Months!

Miss Addie Rae is now 18 months old! She's acting more and more toddler like by the day. I have to come to terms that my baby girl isn't much of a baby anymore. I think back on how I wished badly for a boy and on the day I found out Addie was a girl Danny still had to pry me away from the baby boy section. Today I could never imagine my life without this little girl of ours. She's exactly what I never knew I wanted. I wouldn't trade her for any other little person in the world.

Turning 18 months means that she's officially in the nursery. She's been going since she was 13 months old because of our church callings but now it's going to be weird knowing she's officially on the class roll. I got a little glimpse this week of what dropping her off at nursery would really feel like if I wasn't her teacher. There was a relief society activity I went to yesterday and I brought her because nursery was provided. I felt so sad dropping her off but she's so familiar with the nursery room that she had no problem going in. The elder's quorum was in charge of the children and near the end of the relief society activity I see a man running into the room we were in chasing three little toddlers. Addie was one of them. She's such an active little wild one. I love her.

I'm still in awe at everything she learns and does. One of the cute things she's doing these days is whenever she falls down she'll look around for you and hold out her hands so that her owies can be kissed better. Also, when she does something herself that she's particularly proud of she'll jump up and down saying "I did it!". She's been practicing her jumping skills everyday and I love watching her do it. It's still more of a skip but she's determined to get both feet high off the ground. If Addie needs a diaper change she'll grab a diaper and lay down in front of you. It's been making diaper changes so much easier. One more thing I want to remember is that she picks out her own shoes and grabs her jacket whenever she wants to let you know that it's time for a 'walk'. It's pretty cute so she usually gets her way. Speaking of shoes, she's  finally starting to outgrow size 0-6 month shoes. I've seen babies half her age with bigger feet than her, which is funny considering how tall she is for her age.

At 18 months Addie loves:

Books

Animals

Bubbles

Being Outside

Slides

Spinning Around

Puzzles

 Baths

Running after her Uncle Jon

Helping mommy unload the dishes

Calling her daddy

Favorite Shows:

Curious George

Super Simple Songs

Animals Sounds

Super Why
Minnie Mouse Bowtique

Favorite Songs:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree

5 Little Monkeys

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

Row Row Row Your Boat

Favorite Foods:

Pasta

Olives

Tomatoes

Cheese

Bananas

Goldfish Crackers

Broccoli

Cooked Carrots

(Basically almost all vegetables)

Dislikes:

Being brought inside from outside

The Drs Office

Showers

Space heaters (she's extremely terrified of them)

Addie is up to 85 words now. It's fun hearing new vocab come out of her mouth. Most of her new words to be honest though are animal sounds. She's pretty proud of herself whenever she can show people the sounds that she knows.

Her latest 25 words:

Hot

Hat

Poe Poe (Pollyanna)

Row (row row row your boat)

Walk

Book

Watch

Stuck

Shoe

Fish

Yuck

Danny

Horse

I did it

Eyes

Why

Pop

Cookie

Oink

Roar

Quack

Hiss

Pawroo (her elephant sound - she learned this from a show and it stuck)

Hoo Hoo (owl)

Buzz (before she mastered buzz she kept repeating butt butt butt)

The Animal Sounds show she's obsessed with:

We combined two of her favorite loves, bubbles and the park.

As Danny put it "18 months today, 18 years tomorrow".

18 month old stats:

Weight - 22.6 lbs (50.38%)

Length - 33.3 in (90.75%)

Easter 2016

We spent Saturday night finishing up my birthday shopping and since we were at the store we decided to look for plastic eggs since Easter was the next day. Everything was sold out. That's what we get for being last minute shoppers. We didn't feel too bad though because Addie had received a full basket from Mama Fertig just the other day. I tried to teach her a little bit about the resurrection but at almost 18 months old she doesn't have the best attention span.

Photo of Addie that mama Fertig took.

We waited until after her nap before going to the Fergusons for Easter dinner. Danny and I got there a little early because we wanted to give her some kind of an Easter egg hunt. The eggs were mostly empty but Addie wasn't bothered at all by it. She loved running after each egg and putting them in her little basket. After she got them all in the basket she grabbed the eggs and threw them back onto the grass so that she could do it all over again. We kept Easter very simple this year but memories were still created. Holidays are even more special when you have a little one.

Addie didn't get much from us but she was 100% spoiled by her grandma. She got so many outfits from Donna that she's now set for summer. She even got two new swimsuits on top of all her new outfits. Donna also made sure that Danny and I didn't leave their place empty handed. Boy do I love the Ferguson Family. Not all of Danny's siblings were able to get together this Easter so we'll be having the family Easter egg hunt in a couple of weeks from now. Donna even bought nerf guns for each member of the family for a nerf gun battle after the egg hunt. It's always a good time on the Fergy farm.

27 Reasons for 27 Years

I am now 27 years old! It's weird because I never accepted the age of 26. In fact I still feel like I'm 24. This year my birthday fell on the Friday before Easter Sunday. Friday is also one of Danny's long busy days. So far my birthday has always ended up on the busiest day of the week for him (next year that cycle will break since he doesn't have school on Saturdays). I married a real sweet guy and without me knowing it beforehand he had gone to his boss and asked for the night off. I love this man.

My birthday celebration started earlier in the week with Danny's family. His mom and sisters took me out to go swimsuit shopping. Kidnap might have been a better word because I was not looking forward to it at first. I hate shopping for swimsuits because I can never find anything I like on me. I'm pretty sure I had anxiety leading up to that day but in the end it wasn't at all how I pictured the day going. His sisters are swimsuit shopping pros! We found something in less than an hour when I was planning on it taking all night with nothing to show for it in the end. You have to understand, I have already been looking around on my own for three months now and I'm not even including all last summer. I just accepted that I have bad luck when it comes to that category. I learned that from now on I need to look around with my sister in laws if I want to find something and be happy with it. My mother in law was with us and bought me the suit before she had to leave. Addie was also spoiled that day. My sister in law Marie bought her a little swimsuit plus a cute summer outfit and my other sister in law Jill bought Addie a stuffed giraffe. After shopping around they treated me to sushi. I LOVE sushi! Danny isn't a huge fan so we don't go often. I definitely took advantage of it and ate a lot! Addie may or may not have also experienced her first sushi taste. Have to start her young. :)

I woke up Friday morning to Danny already at school but he had covered our place with 27 post it notes of reasons why he loves me. I'm a sucker for things like this and he knows it. More often than not while he's at the brink of falling asleep I turn to him and say "three reasons why you love me - go!". I always pick a random number, sometimes it's four reasons and sometimes it's just one reason. I tend to ask him at inconvenient times too which I need to work on but he always answers them for me. He must have been inspired because he thought of 27 reasons and surprised me with it. It looks like I won't be asking this question for a good while. :)

His 27 reasons:

* You love God.

* You are the most beautiful woman I know inside and out. I'm glad I have you.

* You are the best mom to our beautiful daughter.

* I love that you cook food for me!

* The way you use your hands to rinse your mouth after brushing your teeth.

* You help me learn vocab for school.

* We watch shows together. I love unwinding this way with you each day.

* We got married in the temple.

* When you're goofy at goofy times.

* You have boobs. I love that.

(Sorry Dad if you had to read that.)

* I love when we hold hands when we are walking.

* I love that you love me and it shows.

* I love how much you love our daughter.

* I love that you enjoy your job being a mom here at home. You're a very hard working lady.

* I love that you keep us fixated on the future.

* I love how kind you are to all people, even if you don't like them.

* I love how you sleep.

(He drew a picture of how I take the entire bed leaving him a corner in the bottom right side. Sadly his picture is spot on,)

* I love that you are very focused on your goal of eating well and exercising. You are looking good, keep it up!

* You dress so sexy!

* You're okay with my nerdiness . . .aka dinosaurs, reading, pokeman, animals, science . . . you know nerd stuff.

* You started going to the bathroom with the door open.

(He could have left this one out.)

* You are able to keep our house clean even with me here. It's hard I know.

* You have been going to the grocery store without me.

* You're good with our money.

* 27 years ago you came into this world . . . probably best day ever.

* Beautiful brown eyes.

* It takes us 20 minutes for one good picture. :)

I was able to find 26 of these notes on my own but then finally messaged him because I couldn't find the last one without help. Addie also helped me out which was fun. After reading all the notes I looked through my birthday gifts. I've been really getting into fitness this year so he got me Zumba exercise videos, a kettle ball, and a yoga workout video. He also updated my anniversary journal book. One of his pages he wrote had to do with his version of our recent spring break trip. His style of writing is like any typical man's style - short and to the point. I love when it writes in our book.

I was so happy after reading the notes and my journal book that I decided to surprise Danny by making Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli for lunch. It wasn't until after he came home for lunch that he remembered his mom wanted to take me out for lunch. Danny was planning on making my favorite Filipino dish that he learned from his mission for dinner later that night but since I missed lunch with his mom we decided to go out to dinner with the entire family at a Mexican restaurant. It was delicious. I really like that Danny's family is very close and get together a lot. After eating dinner with everyone we met back up at my in-laws for some birthday cake. I've never been a big fan of blowing out the candles on the cake because I always felt silly doing it but this year I blew them all out with one breath. 

We continued celebrating my birthday the next day by completing our own birthday tradition - going to a Brazilian grill steakhouse. We always go to either Tucanos or Rodizio and sometimes we even do both (usually for Danny because he loves his meat). This time I chose Rodizio because I was craving their dessert flan. I don't think Danny or I will ever stop this tradition because we love it so much. Even Addie ate an amazing portion so even though it's not cheap it's very worth it. 

Danny got me an additional complete set of Zumba DVDs for my birthday, a kickboxing video, and two active wear tops for me to exercise in. I love that Danny is supporting my fitness goals. One of my all time favorite things I got actually came from Danny's mom, Donna. She surprised me with an Ancestry's DNA Testing Kit during my birthday dinner with the whole family. This is something that both Danny and I had really wanted and we were going to save money so that we could get two by Christmas time. I had no idea that I would get one for my birthday from Donna. This DNA kit is supposed to tell me down to the percentage what my ethnicity is made up of. I don't get the results for another 6-8 weeks but I'm so excited for it. I've never really known what I am because I'm adopted. All I know is that my birth mom is Brazilian but I really have no information about my biological father. We still plan on saving up to get Danny one as well because it would be fun to see what percentage of Italian he is as well as the other European areas from his family line. 

2nd Zumba set is still on its way.

*Side note: I met my birth mom a couple of summers ago and I have a post all typed up about that. One of these days I'll finally feel ready enough to share it.

Arizona Spring Break

Vacation is over and it was just long enough for us. Addisyn did amazing during the drives and so did Danny for that matter. He's usually not a fan of sitting in the car for too long but he did great. Addie didn't seem to mind at all so hopefully she turns into a vacation lover like me. I meant to blog about our trip last night but I was too exhausted by the time we got back. We thought we would be back Wednesday night but we decided to extend our trip by one day. 

We've been asked why we chose Arizona for our vacation. Danny's best friend Dallen and his wife live there so we wanted to pay them a visit (it was a surprise to Dallen). Danny also wanted to go somewhere warm. It also helps that Danny's grandparents have an empty condo in Mesa Arizona which is close to Phoenix where Dallen lives. Plus it was about time our little family  had a little getaway. 

The following are my journal entries from each night. 

SATURDAY- We drove 11 hours and Addie only whined when the GPS said there was 59 minutes left in the drive. Danny and I were beyond surprised with how well she did. She only whined because the sun was in her eyes. We stopped twice, once for lunch and the second time to switch drivers. I had so much fun on our drive. I felt like we were in the early stages of dating as we talked and talked about whatever came into our minds. It reminded me of the first road trip we ever took where someone told us to be prepared because road trips either make or break a relationship. This was near the beginning of our relationship and now three years later we're married with a kid. 

Enjoying one of our stops.

Chelsea did a great job keeping our secret a surprise for Dallen. We met them in a Mexican restaurant and it was cool to see how shocked he was when we sat down in front of them. He had no idea we were coming. We were able to visit a little bit through dinner but then ended the night because both Addie and Emerson were ready for bed. Our condo was still another 40 minutes away and now that we're here I'm ready for Danny and I to go to bed ourselves. 

SUNDAY - Today was a relaxing day full of snuggles from Addisyn. 

We were also able to enjoy swimming with Dallen and his family. Their boy Emerson is one fearless little guy, especially around water. Addie on the other hand is the complete opposite. For the most part she's a cautious little girl. After watching Emerson jumping in the water and splashing around she finally started to loosen up and enjoy herself. She even started jumping into my arms from the ledge which is something she would never dare to attempt before. 

We got the 'okay' from her pediatrician to turn the carseat around.

Tonight while we were back at the condo we decided to go for a late night walk around the condominium. We checked out the pool they have here and it was beautifully lit. It's a heated pool so I can't wait to take Addie there in the morning. 

Also, Danny and I did something I don't want to forget. We acted like we were on a first date and I loved it. We pretended to be on bad first dates where we shared all of our crazy facts to each other. The truth is though our crazy facts only made me love him more. I'm blessed to be his wife. I'm not sure what it is about this vacation but I LOVE all this time we're spending together. I think I'll be just as sad as Addie will be when he goes back to school and work. 

One last memory before I go to bed. The funniest thing about this trip is that Addie now says Danny instead of Daddy. We try correcting her, but hey she's not in the wrong haha since that is his name. I might feel differently the day she figures out my real name is not mommy. 

MONDAY- It's crazy that today is only Monday. It's felt like a Saturday all day long. Dallen woke up sick today so our plans for the day had to change a little bit but we still had fun. We spent our morning at the pool here, which was nice. The pool was heated so the water was nice and warm. 

We shopped around for a little while before eating at Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles for dinner. I had heard of this combination before but never thought they would go well together. This place even had kool-aid served in mason jars which was Danny's favorite part. We enjoyed our dinner outside. 

I wish Utah had more restaurants with outdoor seating options, but I understand how that could be hard with Utah's unpredictable weather. Apparently it rained today there with expected snow later this week. It makes me enjoy this Arizona weather that much more. It's been in the high 70s here with it getting closer to 90 the rest of our trip. I'm looking forward to the summer we have coming up. 

Anyway we decided to see the Gilbert Arizona temple after our dinner tonight. Addie loved walking around and struggled a lot when it was time to get back in the car, by "struggle" I mean she screamed a lot. We couldn't believe the tantrum she threw when we got her back in the car. We felt pretty bad about how frustrated she was feeling. We plan on doing activities that we know she'll especially enjoy tomorrow. 

TUESDAY- We started off our morning at the swimming pool but only lasted a little over a half hour before we were kicked out for not having a guest pass. We felt bad for Addie because she was really enjoying herself in the water. 

Today we decided to find things to do that Addie would enjoy. After all of us got a nap in we headed to a nearby park. Addie loved playing in the dirt which is something I didn't particularly love. I'm learning that I just need to let her get dirty sometimes, even if that means her white shoes will be ruined. Eventually she stopped with the dirt and focused her attention on running after birds. That was pretty fun watching her. 

We ended tonight having dinner at Dallen and Chelsea's house and then having a game night. Addie and her future boyfriend Emerson got along really well and played with each other while we played games. They also snuck a couple kisses in before we told them to stop. 

WEDNESDAY- It was a little bittersweet leaving the condo this morning, but we're ready to return back to our normalcy. I'm especially hoping Addie returns to her usual sleeping schedule. She's been going to bed around 9pm on average every night and is waking up before 7am. I'm definitely not used to this new schedule. I miss her over 12 hour sleep schedule. 

Watching Curious George while we pack up.

The condo

We visited the Mesa Arizona temple this morning and it was beautiful! It was surprisingly very small but Danny and I loved the landscape and the cacti everywhere. Addie also loved it. She kept running around the lawn just giggling to herself. She was in heaven. She saw the little pool of water in front of the temple and wanted to go for a swim. We tried to explain that she couldn't jump in the water and that's when she showed us what a real temper tantrum is. She absolutely lost it. We decided to leave and she was so mad at us. This little girl of ours made sure that we knew how she was feeling. We thought her other tantrum was bad but this one had that one beat. The only way we finally got her to calm down was by singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".  It's a little funny that her two worst tantrums ever have both been on this trip and both times were because we left the temple grounds. I guess her love for the temples is starting early so we must be doing something right. 

We met Dallen and Chelsea one last time for lunch. Addie and Emerson are really cute together. I hope one day we can all live closer to one another. 

We finally got on the road to head home. Once again Addie did amazing for the car ride. She slept for a couple hours of it and did very well when she was awake. 

Happy trooper

We weren't originally planning on seeing the Grand Canyon during this trip but we decided to go for it and we don't regret it one bit. Danny was in awe with it and that made it more than worth it for me. I've been there before but this was a first for Danny and Addie. 

Since we decided on the Grand Canyon we are cutting our drive home into two days. We thought it was a good plan until we stopped for the night in Page, Arizona. Lake Powell is here. This place is a popular spring break destination so the first five hotels we attempted were full with no vacancy. We were worried we wouldn't find a place to stay and we were exhausted. We finally found a hotel for the night and will be back on the road in the morning. Here's to hoping for a good nights rest. 

THURSDAY- And we're back! Addie and I slept okay last night but Danny had the worst night yet. He was up most the night feeling sick. After some medicine he felt better and we got on the road. We drove for maybe five minutes before we decided to make a stop and explore Lake Powell since we were already there and neither one of us had been there before. We hiked along this cool rock trail and then put Addie down so she could explore. She was in heaven! She turned out to be quite the little rock climber and didn't seem to have any fear where we were. We weren't planning on stopping for this hike but we're all glad we did. I thought Addie was going to throw another fit like she did leaving the temples but she didn't fight the car seat at all. She didn't whine the whole way it took for us to drive home. We've been so impressed with how great she's been on our spring break road trip. I was definitely expecting the worst. It's so good to be back home now. Addie is in bed, everything is unpacked, and now it's time for us to end our day as well.

She was determined to climb up everything she could see.

TODAY - We all slept in til 10am today which felt amazing. Addie is already back to her old sleeping schedule which makes me happy. It's good to be home. Danny and I have both agreed that if we do another Arizona trip we plan on spending more time at the Grand Canyon National Park and to also stop at the Out Of Africa Wildlife Park they have in Arizona. All in all it was a very much needed and great way to spend Danny's spring break.