Children's Mueseum

Addison was invited to her first birthday party, for our little neighbor boy who just turned ONE. It was at the Saginaw Children's Mueseum.  She is a little young to play with a lot of the things there, but enjoyed watching.  She was also pretty tired.  We will definately take her back when she' s a little older.

Tagged

1. What is your husband's name? Dean Ryan Bennett
2. Who eats more? Definately Dean
3. Who said, "I love you" first? I did.
4. Who is taller? Dean, by maybe and inch or two
5. Who is smarter? Dean. It only annoys me sometimes.
6. Who is more sensitive? Definately me.
7. Who does the laundry? Mostly me, but he helps when I get behind, or he has nothing to wear. :)
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does, if your standing looking at the bed.
9. Who pays the bills? We both do.
10. Who cooks more? He does, but I do the baking.
11. Who is more stubborn? that's a toss up....
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? we're both stubborn remember...
13. Who has more siblings? I do, he doesn't have any siblings.
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Probably Dean, but we try to make decisions together, like a team.
15. What do you like to do together? Watch movies/tv, hang out with friends, play games, go for walks
16. Who eats more sweets? another toss up, but probably me
17. Guilty Pleasures? ice-cream, chips, just junk food in general
18. How did you meet? At SVSU, I'm one of his customers.
19. Who asked whom out first? He did.
20. Who kissed who first? It was mutual.
21. Who proposed? He did.
22. His best features and qualities? He's is extremely intellegent. He loves me. He's a great daddy and husband.  He surprises me with chocolatety treats.

I tag Sarah J, and Brandi.

Update on Kara

I just talked to Kara's mom(she's home with the kids), and the surgery went well.  Kara is still at the hospital, and should be able to go home within a couple hours.  I'll post more later if I get an update.

5 Months!

Addie is 5 months old! Some of her new skills are eating from a spoon, sucking on her toes, and scooting along the floor, or launching herself forward. Here are her school(day care) pictures. They were taken about a month ago, but I just got them back.

A Night With The Veihl Kids

I watched the Veihl kids Saturday night so Kara could go to a Halloween party.  Addie stayed home with daddy(5 is my limit)!  The kids were pretty well behaved, I didn't have to give anyone a timeout(Tommy gave himself one).  Rachel is such a BIG helper, she helped Abby go potty and changed her diaper.  She also asked if she could help clean up the table after dinner.  As frustrating as the boys can be at times, they say things that just melt your heart.  As part of Adam 's bedtime prayers he said 'thank you Jesus for dying on the cross'.  As I was helping Tommy get his jammies on he said 'you could be like our mom'.  I took this as a complement, I must have been doing a pretty good job to be compared to mommy.  We had fun, I don't know how you do it Kara.

Last Weekend

We had a nice time last weekend with the kids. We took them to a pumpkin farm(Jake's little neighbor friend came along too). There were donuts and cider, a kiddie train/tractor ride, horse rides, and a pumpkin catapult to boot. We also enjoyed just hanging around home. Addie tried cereal for the first time...we are still working on that one. It was a good weekend.

Mongolian Spots

I noticed a few weeks ago that Addie had some bruises on her back and hip. I thought maybe they were from her diaper being too tight, or from her bathtub. Well, they are STILL there, so I asked the nurse about them at her doctor appointment. She said they are Mongolian spots. Huh(I thought to myself), what are those? The nurse explained, and then I did some research. They are flat bluish gray birth marks that look like bruises. They most often appear on the base of the spine, on their little bottoms, and backs. The spots can appear at birth or shortly after, and usually fade or disappear by age 2. The pigmented area has a large concentration of skin cells called melanocytes, with normal skin texture. They are most common among people of Asian, East Indian, African, and Latino heritage(which I know of none in our family). They are only seen in about 10% of Caucasians and 90% of Afican Americans. Because the spots are not as common in caucasians, parents are sometimes accused of abuse. SO, I made sure the nurse documented Addie's spots in case we are ever put in that situation. She does have one little round spot on her shoulder too that has been there since she was born. At least I know what they are now and can set my mind at ease that they are NOT bruises.

4 Months!!

My 'little' girl is 4 months old already. She weighs 13lbs. 4oz. and is 25 1/2 inches long(90th percentile). Addie had to get her YUCKY shots yesterday. :(

Chocolate Raspberry Bars

This is for Kara.  I made these last weekend and they are very YUMMY! They also look pretty and are easy to make.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup butter
FILLING:
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup vanilla or white chips, melted
GLAZE:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening

In a bowl, combine flour and confectioners' sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Press into an ungreased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake at 375° for 15-18 minutes or until browned. Spread jam over warm crust. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add vanilla chips; beat until smooth. Spread carefully over jam layer. Cool completely. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until set. For glaze, melt chocolate chips and shortening in a heavy saucepan or microwave; stir until smooth. Spread over filling. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Cut into bars; chill 1 hour longer. Store in refrigerator. 

1 Year Ago

One year ago today I took a home pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE! Since then our lives have changed A LOT! We are so blessed to have Addison and she brings us SO much joy!! We love our baby girl.

My Big Girl

Addie started rolling over about a month ago at 2 1/2 months old. She is very good at it now and thinks she is hot stuff.

3 Months Old!

Addie is just over 3 months old now. She is losing that newborn baby look, but everyday is such a joy with her. She makes me laugh. She smiles at me when I pick her up from daycare everyday. That makes me feel good. I even treasure our late night/early morning feedings. Such a big girl, she started rolling over at 2 1/2 months. I just love her sooooo much! So here are a few random pictures of my little girl.

On the way to grandma's, spiting bubbles. Looks like a little bubble goatee.

Puke face. This is what happens when she rolls over and spits up, then rubs her face in it.

Sleeping on the way home from grandma's

Will you be my friend?

Look at that cute little person in the mirror.

Mighty Mac

We walked the Mackinac Bridge this year with a couple of our cousins from Minnesota! We had fun, and I got a little sunburn.

The Start

Cousins Pam and Mark

For Aunt Sarah

My sister got Addie this adorable little dress, and I of course thinks she looks very pretty in it. I feel the need to take a picture of just about every little outfit she wears. Maybe that will change someday...or maybe not.

Back to Work

Well, today was my first day back to work. It went better than I expected. Yes, I did cry...last night when I was trying to decide what to wear, and nothing fit , including my shoes(my feet grew about a half a size during pregnancy). I had a little cry this morning too, after Addie puked on me right before we were walking out the door. I did visit her at lunch, and she was doing fine of course. They were impressed with her eating habits...6 oz. about every 3 hours. My husband greeted me with flowers when I got home. Thanks for all of your prayers.

The CRIM and a Birthday!

Today is Dean's birthday, and he celebrated by running the CRIM with Pastor Matt. They ran 10 miles, and both did well, finishing in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Amber and I hung out with the kids. Of course there was ice-cream and cake afterwards. We had a good time.

Finish Line

Relaxing after the big race

Happy Birthday Honey, I love you!

Tahquamenon Falls

We took a little family vacation up to Tahquaamenon Falls. My mom and dad took us up there when we were kids. It was nice for the four of us to get away together. We started out with a picnic in the park. Addie had her first boat ride in a row boat. She didn't like her life jacket at all, and it was too big. We rented the row boat to get to the small island near the lower falls, it was relaxing. The boys enjoyed playing in the water and on the rocks. We also went tubing down the Sturgeon river one day and left Addie with grandma. The water was a chilly 58 degrees, but it was fun.

Party of 8

Here are all 8 of the cousins together for the first time. This was taken just a couple days after Anna was born. Not bad for our first attempt, Christmas will be great this year!!

8 Hours

Addison slept for 8 hours straight last night ! Yeeahhhhh I put her to bed at 11:00, she woke up around midnight because she was laying in a pool of spit-up...I would have been unhappy too. So I moved her to another part of the crib and she slept until 8am. I was so happy...I don't remember the last time I was able to sleep for 8 hours straight. She has been sleeping between 6-7 hours for the past couple weeks. I hope she keeps this up, even if she has an occasional night where she gets off schedule and wakes up in the middle of the night. This also eases my mind about going back to work in a couple weeks.

Anna Christine

I took Rachel up to see mommy and her new baby sis today.  Rachel just LOVES her and wants to know when they can take their baby home.  Kara and Anna are both doing great, and will hopefully be able to go home sometime tomorrow.  Here are the details again since I didn't have all of the information in the first post.  Anna Christine Veihl born at 5:45am, Aug. 7, weighing 8 lbs. 14 oz., and 20 1/2 inches long.  

Baby Veihl is Here!

The Veihl's have welcomed Anna Christine to their cute little family.  Not sure how big she is yet.  I'm told she has dark hair(for now).  Another quick labor and delivery for Kara.  I arrived at their house around 1 am and they called saying they had the baby just after 6 am.  I will post a picture as soon as I can get up to seen all of them.

'The Call'

I just got 'the call', so I'm off to the Veihl's . I'll try to blog updates from there when I know more.

Landscaping

Finally here are some pictures of our landscaping we put in this year. Actually Dean did all of the work. We have been in our house a for one year now. Landscaping was our big project for this year, next year will be a privacy fence and a nice play set for the kids.

2 Months

Addie is 2 months old now, and had her check up today. She weighs in at 11 lbs. 2 oz. and is 22 1/2 inches long. Such a big girl! She is pretty sleepy today after having 5 shots, poor little girl. Here are some pictures we have taken over the past few weeks.

Some of these pictures are more than a month old , sorry it took me so long to post. Addies's interests include long walks with mommy, sucking on her fist(when she can find it), making smily faces, cooing, and scooching around in her crib and waking up 90 degrees from how she started.

Our Little Visitors

Rachel and Adam came over for a few hours for a visit . Here are some photos of our activities. We had fun.

Bath Time

Addie loves her bath time! Sometimes it will calm her down when she is cranky.....sometimes.

She likes to look at her reflection in the faucet.

Clean, happy baby!