Addie at Four Months

Our sweet Adeline is officially four months old today.  I tell you . . . I thought the time flew by with Evie, but it is flying so much faster with Addie.  I'm sure it's because I am caring for two children now, but I sure wish time would SLOW down.  These little babes grow so fast that it seems like you blink (or literally go to sleep one night) and they are bigger and headed on to the next stage.

Addie is a dream.  She continues to have the sweetest temperament.  She is delightful and happy and brings so much joy into our home.  I just love to snuggle her whenever I can.

Here's what she's doing now:

• She is finally sleeping longer at night.  She'll give me anywhere between 5 and 9 hours at a time, although it's usually 6 or 7 (an occasional 5 or 9 sneak in there).  
• She's eating about 4 ounces at each feeding.  Very occasionally she'll eat a little less or a little more, but it's usually 4 ounces every time.  She also loves to hold my hand while she eats.
• Okay . . this girl totally rolled over (one way) for the first time two days ago.  That is not super usual for babies.  Usually they roll over some time after four months, but she beat the four month mark.  Once she took her first roll, she had it down.  She rolls ALL of the time when she's put down on her back.  The funny thing is, once she gets rolled over on her tummy she doesn't want to stay there for very long.  Silly girl!
• She definitely responds to her name now.
• She started to play with toys . . . you know, the ones that can dangle over the babies while they lay on the floor.  She has fun with them for about 5-10 minutes, and then she's done.  But, she does enjoy the play for a few minutes.  She'll grab the toys, talk to them, and she'll also try to grab them with her feet.  Being the social little baby that she is, she particularly loves the toys that have eyes (our little frog or butterfly are her favorites right now).  This being said, she would obviously still WAY rather play with us and talk with us.  She prefers one-on-one interaction above anything else.
• I constantly find her looking at both of her hands held above her face.  She loves to watch them move as she plays with her fingers.
• She's so wiggly.  She seems to be constantly on the go.  She even wiggles when we feed her . . . which is sometimes pretty difficult and looks like a circus.  
• She can easily scoot around by using her heals.  She'll turn in circles a lot.  She's never in the same spot when I get her out of bed because she'll scoot to the other side or something.
• She loves to watch the TV.  I joke around about how I have a TV Junkie at 3-4 months.  She's a riot.  She'll seriously turn her head to position herself so she can watch the TV.  It cracks us up.  Most babies could care less about the TV at this stage.
• She loves to laugh.  She'll often times give me a spontaneous laugh to let me know she just wants to giggle.  So, I'll tickle her or just simply laugh back and she'll start laughing and laughing.  I tell you . . . baby giggles are the BEST sound in the whole wide world!
• She is slobbery.  I don't know where all that saliva comes from, but she's got plenty of it.  If she's not sucking on a pacifier, then she'll often times suck on her hands and that saliva is everywhere.  
• She is very partial to her immediate family members.  She's getting picky about who she lets hold her.  She usually breaks out in tears and wants her mommy or daddy back.  And, she always wants to know where Evie is.  She watches that girl like a hawk.  She recognizes all three of our voices and will turn towards them if she hears them.
• She loves to play/sing "Pat-a-Cake."  She also loves the "Jump, Jump, Jump Jimmy Crow" song because it has actions and we use her name instead of Jimmy Crow.  Both of these songs usually spur on her giggles.  She also loves us to sing, "I love My Addie Baby, She Loves Me" as well as "Here We Are Together" as both of those songs have her name in it and she always smiles SO big when her name is mentioned.  
• She just started to razz (make a wet razzing sound).
• She can bear some weight on her legs when held upright.  In fact, she loves to stand on our laps because that brings her on a closer eye-to-eye level with us.

Her official Stats from her 4-month Wellness Check:

Weight:  14 lbs, 13.5 oz (62.92 %tile)

Length:  25 inches (71.47 %tile)

Head Circumference:  83.87 %tile

She is so healthy and happy.  She is sweet as can be and seriously adds a HUGE dose of her sweetness to our home and family.  We love her to pieces.  I mean. . . look at her!  How could we not be in love with this beauty!?

It's Another Birthday!

My birthday came around again and we had fun celebrating.  Before the date of my actual birthday both my parents and Beau's parents took me out to dinner (on separate nights, of course).

Goodwood with my parents.
(Addie was there . . . just out of the picture sitting in her car seat.)

Magelby's with Beau's parents.

I love the excuse to make dinner plans and I'm super grateful to both sets of parents for their love, for spoiling me with a paid dinner, and making the time for me.

The day of my actual birthday was spent with my little family.  Beau had to work during the day so I chose to take the girls to a picnic in the park.  I had a friend offer to watch my girls so I could go shopping or something, but my girls are my best friends and I wanted to be with them on my birthday.

Best picture I could grab with the self timer.  :)

After naps, Beau had made his way home from work (earlier than usual) and he brought a babysitter with him so he could take me out to dinner.  Super thoughtful, right!?  With kids there is usually a snag and this particular night there were two (one for each kid).  Addie would not stay with the sitter.  She cried and cried.  As soon as I would take her back, she was totally fine.  So, instead of torturing the sitter and Addie (and truthfully myself as I would have worried the whole time I was away) we let Addie come along.  The second snag was with Evie.  She hadn't been feeling very well (she had been fevering) and she didn't want mom and dad to leave either.  I gave her some medicine and food to see if that would temper her a little and it did.  Her fever came down a little and she was ready to play.

HORRIBLE quality (dang iPhone), but we had fun.

While we were away Evie was spoiled and our sitter bought her a "blue ice cream" as she likes to call it (really it's a shave ice).  She was thrilled!

When I got home we opened presents.  Beau was SUPER great with the gifts this go-around.  They were all things I wanted.

Evie REALLY wanted to get me birthday balloons.

I got the 48-cup muffin tin I wanted and a book on my list.

I also got a big flat screen TV.  We brought it in the house a couple days later.

So . . . I survived another year.  I was pounded with loving texts, cards, and messages during the day from people who love me and thought about me.  I am grateful for all of the people in my life and feel so blessed in so many ways.

April Snowman

Evie has never built a snowman.  Last year she was still just a little too small to make one and this year we really hadn't had any good snow . . . until today!  When the snow came down and it was wet, packable snow I knew today was the day Evie would build her first snowman.  She was SO excited to play in the snow.  We hurried to get our snow gear on and we headed outside (all while Addie was napping).

Here she goes!  I would start her snowball for her
and she would push until she couldn't push anymore.

This was the our finished product.  Our snowman got a hat,
a scarf, and its very own carrot nose.  Evie had to have her own carrot too.

Evie was so happy with her snowman.
She named him Olaf (big surprise!).

I gotta be honest . . . playing in the snow is not one of my favorite things.  However, it is A LOT more fun with little children . . . especially mine.  Evie is definitely worth "suiting up" for when it comes to snowy weather.  We had a blast together!

Beau Is a Winner

He totally is!  He was nominated for an alumni award at Snow College and, after they reviewed all the recipients, he was chosen as the winner for the Lorenzo Snow Young Alumnus award.  This award recognizes recent Snow College graduates who have gone on to demonstrate excellence in their personal and professional achievements.

Anyone who knows Beau well will attest to his determination to work hard, achieve great results, and inspire others along the way.  He TOTALLY deserves this award and so much more.  I'm kind of a proud wife.  :)

Easter Fun

We had a lot of fun with our Easter celebrations this year!  Evie was WAY into the Easter egg hunts and Addie added another element of sweetness to everything.

We started with a family Easter party on my side of the family.  Everyone was able to make it . . . even my sister's family from Idaho came.  We always do a huge Easter egg hunt, filled by a very yummy lunch.  Afterwards, the kids just play and play.  

Here are all the younger cousins right before the hunt.
(The older cousins are "too cool" to get in the photo these days.)

Evie found lots of eggs and loaded up on the candy that was scattered all over the yard.
We had a blast following her around the yard.  It was hard to keep up with her . . . she is so fast!

Here I am with my little Sweet Pea.  She is so darn cute!

We spent Easter morning just with our little family.  Evie made her way into our room where we all snuggled together on our bed for a while.  

We watched a video about Jesus because we want our girls to know that Easter is more than about eggs containing candy.  Evie is definitely at an age where she is starting to understand more and more and we want her to know Jesus and follow his example.  If you want to watch what we watched . . .   This is the video we watched.  It's only two minutes long.  Evie was actually VERY engaged and when it came to the part where Jesus wasn't in the tomb she asked, "Where did Jesus go?"  We continued to watch and when he showed up in white she said very excitedly, "There He is!"  I tell you . . . these little kids KNOW and they feel of the truth and the love that Jesus has to offer us!  

After that, we asked Evie if she wanted to see if the Easter bunny left her a surprise?  We told her that the Easter bunny brings surprises and he always includes one about Jesus since Easter is about Him.  She was excited to go see.  

She loved going through her basket.  She got an Easter book called "Easter Walk" where a couple of kids go on a treasure hunt with grandpa and find things that resemble the Easter story.  She also got a new Pez dispenser of a baby chick, a new train for her train set (Emily), a new dress, and the "Penguins of Madagascar" movie.  There were a couple of "healthy" treats in there too.

Addie clearly loves her basket too!  She got a little board book entitled, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me."  She also got a bunny rabbit Pez, a hide-n-seek book, a new dress, and baby lotion.  

The Easter bunny hid a few eggs for Evie to find too.

We then just hung out and read their new books and snuggled with our girls.  We're so incredibly grateful for them!

We had Easter dinner with Beau's family.  We enjoyed being with them.  Evie loves playing with HaLee . . . they are only 9 months different in age and they have so much fun together.  

Their aunt Amber surprised the girls with this motorized car!  They were truly surprised and VERY delighted!  I'm sure that car will get plenty of use!

The girls also got to go on a little Easter egg hunt in Nana and Papa's backyard.

We had so much fun with family this weekend!  We're so grateful for the reason behind Easter . . . that our Savior died for us, that he rose, and that he lives.  His atonement is real and allows us to live forever with our families.  

We hope you had a beautiful Easter weekend!  Happy Easter from all four of us in the Hunter clan!