A Year of Growth for Addie

I tried so hard to do the monthly mile marker photos for Addie, something I never got to with Collins but wish I had. You are supposed to photograph your baby on the same day each progressive month, in the same spot, with the same outfit on, and wearing the updated month sticker. Well...I came close... kind of...not really. Regardless- it's fun to look at her growth over the course of a year. It really is amazing how much they change those first 12 months, and how much your love grows for them over that same span of time. Here is Addie's first year in photos!

Month 1...

 Month 2...

Month 3...

Month 4...

Month 5...(no official photo)

Month 6...from here on out, she snatched her number and tried to eat it so there is not always a photo with a visible number available!

Month 7...

Month 8...

Month 9...

No 10 month official photo unfortunately!

Month 11...

Month 12,..the day she turned one. We stopped with the numbers and went straight to the cake. :)

Happy first year, Addie!

Addie at 10 and 11 Months

It makes me sad that I fell so far behind on my blogging the last part of 2014. I just did not make the time for it during a busy Fall season, and it doesn't help that Instagram is so easy and quick!

So normally, I finish a year of the Blog book with Collins's birthday party. This year will be a little different because I didn't get a couple of important posts in about Addie at the right time. I had fun documenting her growth with the month markers that everyone uses now, but I left out Month 10 and 11 so here goes!

Month 10

Apparently my disorganization runs deeper than I thought. I can't find Addie's official 10 month photos. Oh well, so much for that perfect first year! Good thing my camera is never far from this cutie, and these are my favorite pictures of her from her 10th month...

This month, Addie discovered food. She had pizza crust at Fall Fest at church and was a changed woman. She learned that food tastes better than milk and has become an eater! (and is quite cute when she shovels it in)

Month 11

The biggest thing you need to know about month 11 is that this is when Addie finally crawled! I have seriously been on crawl watch for three long months, worrying that she would never do it and be reading-impaired for the rest of her life (don't believe everything you hear!). I had finally come to peace that crawling might not happen for her and that she would go straight to walking. Of course that's when she did it completely out of the blue. That was a valuable lesson for me. No matter how many times I showed her how to do it or willed her to do it- it happened on her own schedule and THAT WAS FINE. 

I do think it's pretty funny that Addie started crawling when we were hanging out in Collins's bedroom and headed straight for her closet. We have some battles ahead of us. :)

 She couldn't get any cuter if she tried. Love everything about this baby.

The Almost Forgotten Ski Vacation

I was so wrapped up in the birthday excitement that I completely forgot to post about another major thing that happened in February...we went skiing! Kind of a big deal to leave the girls for four days, fly to Utah, ski down enormous mountains, do lots of fine dining and completely unwind...and kind of fabulous! How could I forget?

Ugh, it was really hard to leave the girls. I had lots of anxiety about us both getting on an airplane and going so far away. I knew they would be so happy in the care of their grandparents, but I was just afraid of the unknowns. But I also knew that it's important for us to take trips like this, and I'm glad we did it.

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I was anxious the whole plane ride until we came upon this cool view of Salt Lake City, and then I started getting excited...

We flew out on a Thursday afternoon and got to Salt Lake City around 8:30 p.m. We hadn't been in Park City 10 minutes before we went and stuffed our faces with the most impressive (and gigantic) pork chop you have ever seen. It was called "the tomahawk" and it was insanely good. Probably the best thing we ate while we were out there....

Friday came- our first day of skiing- and I should probably tell you about the really bad thing that happened before we left. Brian threw his back out carrying our (57 lb) suitcase down the stairs. Not good...he could barely walk or change positions the rest of the trip- let alone ski gracefully down the Black Diamonds. But he loaded up on drugs, took the pain, and made the most of a bad situation.

I skied solo on Friday and had an "aha" moment. I realized that skiing can be fun. I've always just viewed it as a lot of work (putting on all the gear, concentrating hard on not falling, extreme muscle fatigue), but for the first time I understood why Brian loves it so much. There I was soaring down this huge mountain all by myself with this incredible view in front of me, getting really good exercise and breathing in the fresh mountain air. It was kind of exhilarating! I'm not saying skiing is my new favorite hobby (a girl still has to go to the spa while on vacation!), but I'm glad I understood his perspective on skiing while we were out there.

Skiing makes you really hungry. Lucky for me there was a little waffle house near one of the lifts.

After all my hard work on Friday, I took the day off on Saturday. :) I had a delicious breakfast of Huevos Rancheros on Main Street...

Then did some shopping for the girls...I'm not kidding you it was 60 degrees in Park City that day. Crazy! People were saying they hadn't seen February temperatures like that in 15 years...(which was annoying b/c all I wanted was a winter wonderland)

After shopping, I headed back to the Westgate for my spa treatment. I spent four hours at the spa getting a massage and getting way too sucked in to "Sharp Objects". Al- based on how disturbed I still am by that book- I might not be taking any of your book recommendations any time soon! :)

On Sunday, I decided to try skiing again and this time I had a partner. Alessandra, who was a really nice non-Davidson wife on the trip, was skiing on my level so we tackled the blues together. By the end of the day, I was really feeling confident in my abilities which is awesome because I always thought I had to ski greens. I won't be scared of the blues next time we come to Canyons.

Here we are at the top!

Then we met up with the guys for lunch...

The last night, our group of 16 had dwindled all the way down to Brian, Tee and me...and at this point, we were just killing time until it was time to catch our red-eye.

We had some fantastic (expensive) meals, good skiing, and lots of relaxation. It was a good trip, but after four days away, I was so ready to get back to the girls...

Pure relief and happiness to see them again...Collins loved her hard hat from the Park City Museum.

And Addie was up to her usual antics....aww it's good to be back!

A "Frozen" Birthday Celebration

Collins knew exactly what type of party she wanted to have on her birthday- FROZEN!!!! I was hoping this "Frozen" obsession would die down by February, but no luck. :) So we starting working on our blue and purple, snowflake flying, Elsa-loving Frozen party. I'd love to say that we just threw it together, but that's not my style so I'm afraid a lot of work went into this little gathering. Lucky for me, Mom got inspired by Pinterest and made a lot of the fun decor pieces which was a huge help. Overall, the party turned out super fun and Collins loved it and isn't that really all that matters?

Collins and Nana watching for the first party guests...

Like my crowns? Upon arrival, the girls got Elsa crowns and the boys got Sven reindeer antlers...

Large Elsa greeted guests at the door...

  

Isn't she fabulous? Collins requested an Elsa barbie cake for her party, and I thought there was no way. There were three ugly trial runs trying to figure out how to shape/fill out her skirt, but we finally got it. And then Alli did an amazing job decorating her! The little girls were in awe!

Since we didn't have enough life-size Elsas running around the party, Donna and Marty picked up another one for us at Party City. People kept confusing them with real people. :)

Addie all ready to party!

 Nora Rose found the fake snow in the backyard...

It was cute seeing all the Dads helping their daughters make snowflake necklaces...

Eleanor had fun playing in the ice castle...

Reeves, Eleanor and Laney played with the glittery Frozen silly putty...

An impromptu snowball fight broke out in the backyard (with Reeves climbing the Pinata ladder in her heels of course)...

 Then it was time to eat! We had a lunch spread out, and everyone seemed to really like the roasted turkey sliders and orzo pasta salad. Simple menu, but tasty. (Go Dad and Heather on the snowflake sandwiches!) :)

 

Dad and Heather also took on the big and messy job of feeding Addie lunch!

 Then it was time to get some energy out...

 We played a chaotic Frozen tag game with silly string....

Then Sara showed the kids how it's done...McKay loved it!

Then it was pinata time...this was one of a few requests from Collins for the party (besides the Elsa cake)! The kids really got into this as well...

It was funny seeing the men have what appeared to be a serious conversation in reindeer antlers...

 Then it was cake time! She was beaming as everybody sang to her...

 We had to be really careful lighting the candles...could have easily set her hair on fire!

 More play time after cake...

 Group shot...(it's never easy with kids!)

 For favors, we gave everyone a Frozen cup with some Frozen jewelry inside, and Mom made everyone a pretty snowflake wand. Collins took great pride in handing out the favors...

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It was such a fun party! Everybody seemed to have a really good time. I loved watching Collins as the star of the party surrounded by all her cute friends and family members who love her so much. Eleanor told us as she was leaving, "This was the best day ever!". That made my day! Happy fourth birthday, Collins! It was a good one!