Christmas!

This year marks Addie's first Christmas! When we woke up this morning we went and looked at all the presents under the tree and I got super excited! Mostly for the coming years when she can really understand Christmas and what it means and be excited and grateful for it.

A few nights ago I told her all about the First Christmas and what it means to me. Even though she doesn't understand Christmas yet, I just looked at her thinking how perfect she was and how much love I felt when she was born and when I first held her. I can only imagine how Mary must have felt when she first held her little baby. I remember just being so grateful for this precious gift that had been placed in my arms; I couldn't stop smiling. I started to think the other day about the angels singing, "Glory to God in the highest!" They were praising and thanking our Heavenly Father for the special gift of the birth of the Savior. I think I felt a sliver of how they must have felt when I had my little Adeliade. But I am grateful for this time of year when we can really focus on the Savior and why he was born and came to earth. I hope that everyone will have a very Merry Christmas!

On a lighter note, we took a bunch of pictures this morning of her in her little Christmas Eve outfit. Here are two for you!

Move Over Martha Stewart....

So, I have kind of taken up sewing. I am not great and my mom did most of the work, but I made a dress!

It is for Lydig's Christmas party this weekend. I am excited about! I promise it looks better on.

OUR VACATION

Here are some pictures from our awesome vacation!

We did a ton and Addie was such a good sport the whole time! Mike got to go mountain biking, I didn't have to cook and went shopping with my Mother-in-law, and Addie slept great! We went swimming, ate too much at Thankgiving, ate out more than we should, had five Blow-outs from the champ...., hooked my Father-in-law on Cheaters and got to relax! We spent a week in St. George at Mike's parent's home and the two days in Vegas.

Here are just a few of the many pictures we took.

Mike taking a picture in Zion's Ntional Park! It was beautiful there!
A veiw from Angels Landing...a six mile hike that we did with Addie and the whole family!

Addie woke up one morning with a Mohawk....how it happened, I don't know.

The M&M store in Las Vegas...probably my favorite part of the strip...and the fountains at the Belagio.

On Monday, Mike, Addie and I took our drive to see the Hoover Dam. We really enjoyed it. Addie slept most of the time...but of course in the picture she was screaming.

The whole time I kept thinking: "MBE 1 here, aka Megatron..."

Thanksgiving Trip

So, we are headed to

LAS VEGAS & ST. GEORGE!

I am so excited to get out of Seattle. We will be gone for TEN WHOLE DAYS!

I will put up pictures when I get home!!

Here are some new pictures of Addie from today. We were just hanging out. She was in a good mood this morning before she decided not to take any naps today! That was really fun... She fussed the whole afternoon and wouldn't let me put her down. It was hard trying to pack and take care of a fussy child at the same time. If she weren't so cute.... :)

(The girl sucks on her fist!! I can hear her at night! I love this picture!)

Addie's Newest Hat

Ok, so I think that we have a problem.

We love to put Addie in HATS.

We got this set at Baby Gap. It has matching mittens

(her thumbs do not go into the thumb spots...)

Also, Addie sleeps from 10:30 at night until 6:00 AM!!!

I sure love that!!!

Blessing Day

On Sunday, November 1st, 2009, we were taking our sweet time getting ready for 12:30 church. Mike's parents had come into town for the blessing and we were just hanging out. I had just gotten out of the shower and started the long process of actually doing my hair (I hardley ever wear it straight anymore... I miss that). I was going to get Addie ready last because knowing her, she would spit up or poop on her blessing dress (which is actually my blessing dress). So at 11:30, I was bathing Addie, and I hear Mike's cell phone ring.

Mike: "Yes this is Mike"
(Something on the other end...)
Mike: "Well, noon? We are actually blessing our daughter today so I don't think that we would be able to make it back from the stake center in time for church."
(other end)
Mike: "Oh? At our building? I think we can make that work. We will see you at noon. Thanks!"


Mike says to me, "Well, I have an interview with a member of the stake presidency at noon, and you have to be there."

I almost wet my pants. I had to finish getting ready, finish Addie's bath, and get to the church in a half hour? We live 15 minutes from the church... I think I felt like a chicken with it's head cut off running around getting everything ready.

I was only able to to get two pictures of Addie on my phone in her blessing dress. None with me and Mike, none with his parents or my parents or my grandparents. I was so disappointed.


We left the house and Mike was a little nervous, so was I. We got to church and found who we were meeting with. After about 10 mintues of talking, we both felt really good about what we had just heard. Nothing to exciting, but Mike was called to be in the Elder's Quorum Presidency in the ward. He will do very well. He was set apart on Sunday.


After the interview, we walked into the chapel. My parents and siblings were there. Mike's parents. Scott and Janessa Schlegel, our very close friends. And my mom's parents, who are divorced and my Grandpa Ray's wife, Mary. My mom's parents no longer go to church, so it was really nice to see them there.


Mike did such a wonderful job on the blessing. Addie slept (and farted...the girl has gas like nothing else...) through the whole thing. At the end, he went to hold her up a little and she stretched and pulled her little white blanket over her face.

It was so nice to have everyone there for this special day in Addie's life and ours.

Happy First Halloween!

Addie was Cinderella this year.

The costume was too big, but sooooo CUTE!

She was such a good sport.

She was happy and chatty and didn't even fuss too much about getting into that rediculous dress.

Thank You Mitchel

So, Mitchel told me today to check my Facebook. To my delight, he had put up a video. I happen to find it very entertaining (maybe I have just been away from the real world for a long time)



OK... After I had a good laugh, I figured that I should give an update on our life.

-Addie is TWO MONTHS OLD on Friday.
-We are blessing her on Sunday. Mike's parents came into town and it is good to see them.
-I am finally finishing Addie's room. I will put up pictures.
-Addie is going to be Cinderella for Halloween. I am so excited. Her costume is way to big for her. But then again, she is just barely starting to grow out of her newborn clothes
-Makenna and I are working out in a few minutes.... (dallas cowboys cheerleaders... what?)
-I love being a stay at home mom. We watch the Hills together and more recently cartoons. I figure I shouldn't mess my daughter up too bad.
- I almost feel horrible about this one, but last night, my MIL was holding Addie. Addie was going through her nightly meltdown (it is a wonderful hour and a half where she just cries...). I suggested to my MIL that Addie was hungry, so she passed the baby back to me. Addie almost immediately stopped crying and fell asleep. It felt kind of good to know that she knows her mom and that she just wanted to be held by her mom last night. I love my MIL, but I will say, it felt good to calm down my daughter.

Addie Pictures

HERE are some pictures of ADDIE.

I tend to never have my real camera on me, so these first two have been taken on my phone. I have come to realize that my phone has a decent, but not great camera.
That makes Mike jealous.


This is probably my favorite picture of Addie. I love that I caught her crying. When I started to take the picture, she was smiling I promise, but as with a lot of babies, smiles quickly turned to tears.

This is classic Addie. She makes the goofiest faces ever. I love watching her.

Here are some pictures from when she was only two or three weeks old of Addie withGrandma and Grandpa Doty.

It's amazing to me how much she has grown over the past SEVEN weeks.

Addie's First Trip to Portland

We went down to Portland the last weekend of September for a wedding. We went on a little outing to Larch Mountain while we were there.

After walking a quarter of a mile and up a few stairs, I thought I was going to die. Apparently 9 months of not working out as much as I should have took its toll. Addie slept the whole time we walked.

Addie slept most of the drive in her car seat. I love the fact that she sleeps in her car seat. She slept the whole drive down there, 3 hours! It was awesome. Me and Mike at a look out point, ok by look out point I really mean we pulled over on the side of the road.

At the same point as above.

Here is Addie with Grandma and Grandpa Doty. They were so excited to see her!

ONE MONTH

Today marks the one month birthday for Addie.

She is doing really well. I love her and watching her every day.
She has grown quite a bit. She can now officially fit into the NEWBORN sized clothes that we got for her. She is almost at 7 pounds now.
She is such a smiley little girl, except for when she cries. She cries a lot, mostly when she is hungry and she is hungry all the time. I honestly sometimes feel like all I do is nurse her (Mama Moo Cow here...) Feedings seem to take an hour. And then an hour later, she is hungry again.
I love her smiles.
I love her yawns. They are the biggest yawns for a little face.
The girl has no manners ( I know she doesn't know any better, but I am sure that she could when a belching contest at a bar...).
I don't sleep too much. Sometimes I am up every hour. I sleep when she sleeps. (Sometimes I wonder who is really in charge at home)
We hang out in bed until 10 AM. How awesome is that?
I love that I can console her better than anyone else.
I hate it when she cries and she gets tears.
She loves her swing (So does mom!)
We take walks around the Cul-de-sac.
We come to Grandma and Grandpa's almost every other day so I can watch TV and pass her off for a few minutes.

I love her. She is perfect. She is pretty much my best friend right now. I never thought I would be in this much love with a person whose diapers I change, whose poop sometimes ends up on my hands (or clothes once...), and who spits up on me.
She is beautiful. She is perfect.

SHE IS MINE

ADELAIDE JUNE

SHE CAME!!!!!

AUGUST 30, 2009 AT 1:18 PM. 5 LBS, 15OZ.

Here is her little story:
Sunday morning, August 30th, I woke up with really bad contractions, right on top of another. We call the hospital and they said to take a bath to see if that wouled take the edge off of the pain, no go. So I called again and they said to come on over. My dad and Mike gave me a blessing. and that is when I started to cry, but I was extremely comforted knowing that everything would be alright. At 8, we were in the hospital getting checked in and out and everything. I was at 3 cm, so they decided to admit us. I tried to walk around for a while and the pain and the contractions just kept coming. I got my epidural at 11. I had progressed up to a 4, then stopped. Little Addy wasnt doing so hot, so they decied in a second to go ahead with a C-section. I have never been so nervous before. Within 20 minutes, I saw her and she was crying, I was sobbing, and Mike was crying. It was one of the coolest things I have ever been through. One moment, there is 7 people in the room, the next second, there are EIGHT.

Last Working Day

Today is my last official day of working before BITTY BABY comes.

I have exactly one week and six days until my due date (I know, I know, it doesn’t mean that she will come by then, but I sure as heck hope so!).

I have worked here for almost one year.

It would be one year on September 2. I started the day after we came home from our honeymoon, and I am leaving just before the baby comes. I have enjoyed working here. There have been ups and downs, funny times and not so funny times, long days and short days, sunny days and snow days.

I am really starting to wonder what I am going to do until BITTY BABY comes.

I will watch a few movies. I will sleep in as much as I can. I will be cleaning and organizing the house.I know I am going to pull up our garden. It is in some dire need of love. I don’t know the first thing about gardening, but I know that I will be pulling up quite a bit.

Maybe that will send me into labor.

My mother pulled up two rose bushes the day before I came, so hopefully it could do something for me!

I Actually Kept Track

SO, I realize that this might not be a typical thing to put in your blog, but too late, I already did. I thought it might be a little bit interesting, at least for me, to track the number of times I went in a day (Mike is totally going to make fun of me for this, but I think it would be odd if I didn't get some flack for this...). I knew that being pregnant that you go more than normal, but how much more?

Apparently the average person should go no more than about

8

times a day.

(according to www.mayoclinic.com)

I, on the other hand, went

21

times yesterday.

You try having a 7 pound baby sit on your bladder and then talk to me.

Random Thoughts for Today

Mike sent me this email today full of random thoughts, and parts of it were pretty good. Here are all the

GOOD ONES:

• Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
• I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?
• Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk. (I remember at school, I would walk to the wrong building and realize that fact as I would open the door...)
• The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.
• How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? (Ever time I do laundry, this makes me so frustrated that the fitted sheet never folds up quite as nice as the flat sheet... http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/cleaning/laundry/fold-fitted-sheet-00000000002236/)
• I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
• Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
• My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy, bro.
• How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
• MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
• Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
• Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
• Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from; this shouldn't be a problem.... (Every new class, ward, job... My hands get sweaty and I blush when I have to introduce myself. You would think that it wouldn't be so scary any more)
• You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
• There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far
• As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

Demetri Martin: Our Favorite Comedian

We went and saw him on Saturday for our anniversary. Here is a recent interview he did on Conan O'Brien

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Happy One Year to US!

Our first anniversary is tomorrow! To celebrate, we are going to see one of our favorite comedians who happens to be in town! I never thought that I would ever be nine months pregnant on my first anniversary. But I am. I couldn’t be more excited.

First Date (the one that was supposed to be a date, but another guy came along, and I paid for my meal): April 24th, 2007. We went to Institute and Red Robins
First Real Date: April 25th 2007. Out to eat at Cactus in Kirkland and then watched Orange County at his apartment
First Kiss: April 29th, 2007 up at Spada Lake, just past Gold Bar. It was the best first kiss I have ever had.
Engaged: May 25, 2008 at Discovery Park on a trail by the water at 8 AM. He pulled me out of bed. I hadn’t brushed my teeth yet that day. But it was perfect. I had no idea he was even going to propose until he was down on one knee with the box in his had and he was telling me the how much he was looking forward to our life together no matter what the ups and downs were (maybe it is the pregnancy hormones that are getting to me, but I am totally tearing up as I am writing this).
We were married in the Seattle Temple on August 22, 2008 with our closest family and some very good friends. My Grandpa Doty performed the sealing and it was beautiful. I have never felt anything like that before in my life. I am so glad I was holding Mike's hand across that alter.

YEAR OF FIRSTS
FIRST APARTMENT
BOUGHT OUR FIRST CAR TOGETHER
I SKIIED FOR THE FRIST TIME (and kept skiing...is it winter yet?)
SNOWMOBILING (first for me…)
FIRST PREGNANCY (Luckily, the baby wont come for a few more weeks, but I can't wait!)
FIRST HOUSE!

After one year, it is still good. I am glad that he comes home to me every night and that I still get butterflies when he holds my hand.

Words Per Minute?

...Maybe for me I should say words per hour because then my number would be larger.

Most of us have taken a computer class at some point or another in our formal education. The last one that I took was actually in college, my freshman year. It was a basics class that taught a few things that I already knew about Word and Excel. In seventh grade, I took another computer class. Part of that class included typing. We would take that Mavis Beacon test all the time. It would give us different sentences and we would have to type them as correctly and quickly as we could. I seem to remember that I would always do a decent job.

(Maybe I would even go as far as to say that I had an average of 80 WPM and a 90 percent accurancy.)

At work this morning, I happened to hear that a co-worker type 86 WPM. Needless to say, I got curious. I went to the following website http://www.typingtest.com/ and took a typing test. What a let down I was to myself. I took three tests. I am pretty sure that my average was 51 WPM and I had an accuracy of about 75 percent.

Maybe I should work on my typing skills instead others that I seem hone when I am at a computer, like shopping and watching CSI: Miami

My First Attempt at Being Domestic

So, with Bitty Baby coming in three weeks (we can always hope for sooner!!), I had yet to find the perfect diaper bag for me. I browsed online, and I have walked up and down countless ailes in too many Babies R Us and Targets. You would think after nine months of looking, one bag might speak to me and say, "I am the one. I want to carry all of your most important items for the next four years. I want to be the one you go to whenever you leave your home. I can carry the things that will make you and those around you happiest. I want to have all those Cherrios jammed in my corners. I want baby food to accidentally spill down the front of me.

I am the bag for you."

I had the thought, WHY DON'T YOU JUST MAKE ONE?




I thought finding a pattern would be difficult, but after a stop at Joann Fabrics with my mom, we found one that we thought might not be too hard for a beginner to sew. We have picked out some fun fabric and we are going to be working on my DIAPER BAG this week! I will be sure to put up pictures of my trip down the Domestic Road.

Birthing Class Number Four

Last night we had the fourth class in a series of five birthing classes. It was actually a good class. No scary movies this time! We took a tour of the Maternity Center at Evergreen Hospital. We learned what to do when we need to go to the hospital and where to go, which is a comforting thing to know. And finally, I think this is the first week Mike didn’t as where to turn into the hospital. It seemed like every week that we went he would always say, “Now, where do I go? … Turn where again?” It was nice to see he has learned his way around the hospital now and when we are going there to have the baby, I don’t need to give directions.

We learned all about different transition labor positions and breathing techniques. It turns out there are many different positions for this. Our instructor made us practice and I think everyone in the class felt goofy. I know I did. I couldn’t stop laughing when I was supposed to be focusing on my breathing.

Our instructor probably thinks that Mike and I are too immature to handle this, but we aren’t... ok maybe a little bit.

The best part of the night though was when the instructor had the partners (the men) get down on the floor and practice pushing. The women had to encourage their partner with words and techniques that they would want. Mike laid on his back and pulled his knees to his chest and pretended to push. I rubbed his back and arms and told him, “Keep pushing… You are so pretty… I am sorry I knocked you up.” The he quit pushing and started to laugh. “Keep going… You are almost there.” After the 45 second “contraction” the instructor announced, “Congratulations, you have a baby!”

Only in my dreams does labor last for 45 seconds.

Even though we both felt like dorks at class doing all the practicing, we have been learning a lot. It might no be super helpful during actual labor (I think that everything will go out the door during…), but I think more it helped us learn about each other and just spend more time TOGETHER Life has been hectic lately for us and to have one night set aside that we have to go somewhere together has been nice.
We are getting really excited for Baby Girl to get here. She is getting huge and up in my ribs. Even when I fold my arms across my stomach, she pushes them away. Mom is already cramping her style.

JUST ONE MORE MONTH!

#124 Hating People Who Wear Ed Hardy

Ok, so this isn't something I came up with, but it is from that blog: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com I look at this every once in a while and find it amusing.

Now, I absolutely love my brother and my sisters, so I am not trying to bash on them, but the all love to wear Ed Hardy. Call me Plain Jane, but that is something I have never gotten into. But when I read this, it reminded me of them and Spencer Pratt (who the Doty's LOVE hating). I also thought of my husband who most decidedly does not like Ed Hardy.

Often it can be easier to find common ground with a white person by talking to them about something you both hate. Discussing things you both like might lead to an argument over who likes it more or who liked it first. Clearly, the safest route is mutual hatred. When choosing to talk about something that white people hate, it’s best to choose something that will allow white people to make clever comments or at the very least feel better about themselves. Currently, the easiest way to do that is to ask a white person for their thoughts on people who wear Ed Hardy.

Ed Hardy is a clothing company that makes a wide range of expensive t-shirts, hoodies, and jeans. These clothes are notable for their use of elements from classic tattoo design such as skulls, hearts, and dragons. On the surface, the use of the words “classic” “tattoo” and “t-shirt” would seem like a logical fit for white people, but it is not. White people hate these clothes unilaterally and it is advised that you merely accept that at face value. If you were to ask a white person to explain why a regular size dragon logo is ok but one that goes around the neck is not, you would be trapped in a long and fruitless conversation.

To put this in proper perspective, Ed Hardy is so hated by white people that it cannot be worn ironically. This is no small feat. As it stands, the only other entries in this category are Nazi Uniforms, Ku Klux Klan Robes, and self-tanner.

Since you cannot in good conscience have an Ed Hardy themed party, the best way to make use of this white hatred is to give your stories a little more appeal to white people.

For example, if you take the reasonable but not compelling story: “I got cut off in traffic this morning and when I honked the guy gave me the finger,” and replace it with: “I got cut off in traffic this morning by this guy in an Ed Hardy shirt. I honked and then he gave me the finger!” The story will become sixty percent more interesting to white people because it allows them to make a witty response like: “I guess that douche bag had to get to a UFC party or a nightclub event he was promoting.”

Follow this up with a laugh, a high five, and a compliment about the acceptable shirt the white person is wearing and you will find yourself with a new friend.

Who Loves Commuting in Seattle?

I DO!

Since we have finally moved from our small little apartment (with great access to freeways and Seattle, and easy commutes), I decided that I should look for a better way to get to work in downtown Seattle.

There is always DRIVING, but it can take up to an hour just sitting in traffic to get home.

I could take the BUS, but it just wasn't feeling right.

I finally realized on other option, THE TRAIN!

My commute has become so much less stress free.

• I leave the house at 6:20 AM
• Drive to the Edmonds train station where I purchase my round trip ticket
• Hop on the morning train and relax as we cruise along the Puget Sound

Carkeek Park

Shilshoe Bay

Bridge in Ballard that we cross

Finally we arrive at the King Street Station and I only have a hop, skip and a jump (as much as a 9 month pregnant lady can) to work.

BABY SHOWER

I had a baby shower at work yesterday and it was really nice. Very laid back, no goofy games, cake and presents. I got the COOLEST gift from Lauren Pelton. She gave me "Baby Sushi."

I guess that I have been complaining a bit at work because I can't have sushi right now. Lauren remembered and came up with this! There are little wash cloths, mittens, socks and onsies. I thought this was a very good idea. I might steal it for the next baby shower...

Nerds and Model UN

Funny Rainn Wilson on Conan O'Brien.
I laughed out loud...alone

BREAK TIME

Today, during our "afternoon break," Lauren and I hit up Cow Chips.

the best cookies ever

TODAY IS THE DAY!

Today is the day that we finally get the keys to our new house. After a few minor road blocks, difficult people and a bit too much stress…

WE GET THE KEYS TO OUR NEW HOUSE TONIGHT!

On Wednesday evening we signed all the papers. I was amazed at how many there were. I had to sign my full name. I don’t know who thought that was a good idea, but it isn’t. I have a long name since getting married. You try signing Alyse Kristine Huskinson about 100 times. On some documents, I even accidentally signed my maiden name, Doty… woops. Turns out they like your legal name on those.

We are really excited.