Happy Half Birthday!

I can't believe that we just celebrated Addy's Half Birthday!  :D  I don't know where the last 6 months have gone, but we really have enjoyed every minute.  She's growing and changing so much everyday and her little personality is shining through a little more each day.  She's becoming so much fun with all of her little antics and preferences.  Here are a few things about Adelyn at 6 months old:
-Biggest news- we have two teeth!  Teething was pretty rough on our girl-- she had a very runny nose and cough for a couple of weeks before those little guys popped through.  I think we're going to try an amber teething necklace for the next ones.  I can't believe she got her teeth so early. Liam was walking before he got his first teeth. haha.  They are awfully cute though. 
-She finally will lay down and sleep without being swaddled.  We were so nervous to try this with her because she's always been such a good sleeper, but Sammy told us she just lays her down while she's awake and she falls asleep on her own, so we tried it and it works. Hooray! Makes life a lot easier and she's still a good sleeper.
-We tried rice cereal this weekend and she did pretty well with it. She wasn't 100% in love with it, but she didn't seem to hate it either. We'll keep trying it out.
-She is still 100% breastfed.  I am so happy that I've been able to keep up with her by pumping while I'm working. I've worked really hard to keep it going and it is 100% worth the effort. I'm really hoping to make it at least until she's a year.  I love nursing her.
-She's really starting to roll around more on her own. She's been able to do it before, but now she's really starting to do it while she's playing.
-Her favorite thing to do now is to grab everything.  It's pretty cute, if not a little annoying when she rips one of my earrings out.  haha.  But, she loves to hold her toys and eat them. ;)  She puts everything in her mouth! 
-She's in love with her brother. When he's in the room, her eyes never leave him.
-She loves to play in her jumperoo and just jumps like crazy. So cute.
-Her eyes are getting bigger and bluer every single day.  We get lots of comments on her big blue eyes when we're out in public.

Happy 6 months, Addy!  We hope that time slows down a little bit for the next 6 months, even though we know it'll probably just go even faster.  We're enjoying each and every moment with our sweet girl.

My Reader

Liam has been reading since he was about 3 1/2 years old. Really, he taught himself to read after he learned all the letters and sounds.  We also simply read to him every night before bed.  This has been a huge blessing to us because he now can read books in bed by himself before he goes to sleep with means that he doesn't get out of bed 233724324 times. ;)  But, in all honesty, it is so much fun having him read.  He loves to read The Friend and gets soo excited when it comes in the mail. It's adorable.  One night, before bed, I went into his room and found him like this. It was so adorable that I just had to snap a photo. He looks like *such* a big kid.  When did this happen?!  Sheesh. I really hope he continues his love of reading, like Wes and I do.  I think we're off to a good start though.

Our Karate Kid

One of Wes's favorite movies of all time is The Karate Kid. I can't tell you how many times I've heard about it over the last seven years. ;)  (yes, isn't it insane that we've been together that long?!)  Anyway, I think Wes secretly wishes that he could have become some karate master.  So, when we moved into our ward, we found out one of the members owns a karate studio and teaches.  He offers great deals and we thought it'd be something really beneficial for Liam.  We're hoping it helps his coordination and we've heard many people say how much it helps kids in general with focus and respect, so we thought it'd be a win/win situation. He's only been going for about a month and a half, but he's loving it. The studio and teachers are awesome.  He and Wes have been practicing a lot together too. So, without further ado, here's our awesome karate kid.

Here Liam is sparring with another kid in the class. It's pretty funny watching them use their techniques to hit eachother since we constantly are telling kids NOT to hit.  haha.  But, they teach them the appropriate uses for these tools, such as self-defence. It's sorta like watching miniature rock 'em sock 'em robots.  Liam is the one in the bright blue helmet.

Here he's doing a pretty good side kick!  Good job, buddy!

He's really looking forward to two months when he can test for his first stripe! I'll be sure to keep updated with all of that.

Not a Fan

As previously mentioned, we had decided to delay starting Addy on solids because of her tummy issues and such.  However, one evening I made some steamed carrots and we smashed a little bite just to see if she'd go for it.  The pictures speak for themselved as to what she thought about the whole table food thing.

I love this first photo. What a sweet girl!

First Bite!

Hmm...

Not thinking I like this...

Nope sure don't.

I think I'll take my thumb, thanks. :)

So, I think it's safe to say we'll be waiting a bit longer.  She wasn't quite sure what to do with the food.  I don't think it was just that she didn't like the food, but more she wasn't too keen on the process yet. That's ok, she can stay my milk baby a bit longer.

More Toes

This girl really is obsessed with the toes. It cracks us up every day and never gets old. We've found the best way to entertain her is just to remove her socks and let her go for it. The minute she is unswaddled in the morning, up come the toes. Her new goal is to see just how many she can fit in her mouth at once.

Vlog

I got a new phone that allows me to take videos so I've been taking full advantage and capturing some of my favorite Liam and Addy things. I love it because it's usually handy and I can just pop it up quickly to capture their cuteness. So here is a full-on video blog aka Vlog

First up, Miss Addy and her crazy chewing and talking. :) so cute. I think the teeth are coming in, so she's been chewing on everything.

Liam has been working really hard to memorize his articles of faith. We've been doing one for family home evening some weeks, and then when we learn about it, we tape it up on his wall. He reads them as he goes to sleep and has gotten pretty good.


Miss giggle monster at church:

And Dance Party at the Stephensons!

Spring? Could it be?

We've had some surprisingly nice weather the last week or so around here. I took the children out for a little walk to the park. They loved it!  It was nice to soak up some vitamin D and get some fresh air!  Adelyn also tried out the swing for the first time. Liam thought that was the coolest thing ever. Even though I couldn't get the little girl to crack a smile, she did enjoy her first little jaunt on the swing. 







Liam watches the weather forecast everyday hoping for sunny, warm weather.  Unfortunately, this week we'll be back in the 40's, but this little glimpse of spring let us know that it will be on its way. Hopefully, anyway. ;)

First Hair Cut

Addy's hair has gotten increasingly wild and out-of-control.  The weekend we were at my parents, my mom convinced me that it was time for a little trim. We finally convinced daddy and away we went.  The funny thing about Addy's hair is that her hair behind her ears was about an inch and a half longer than the rest of her hair. :)  So we trimmed about 1 1/2 inches off behind her ears. 
Before:


She wasn't too enthusiastic about the whole process, but we got it done.
During:




After:

So, it at least looks a little better around her ears. The rest is still pretty out-of-contol on a daily basis, but it's pretty adorable.  :) 

To try to control the wildness, I tried out biggies the other day.  Soooo adorable!!

Nice Weekend

Two weeks ago, we headed out to Yerington for a nice relaxing weekend of crafts and fun. I didn't take very many pictures, but we sure enjoyed ourselves. I love going 'home' and having my mom cook for me. ;)  No matter how old I get, I still enjoy having my mom take care of me. :D   I am sure I appreciate it more than ever now!

Liam enjoyed breakfast with Papa each morning.  Sunday he decided to read the comics. This kid cracks me up.  He thought they were all pretty hilarious.

We then made some adorable felt flower headbands. They were a lot of fun to make. We may have gone a little crazy, but we had fun and they turned out soooo cute.

The last thing we made was duct tape flower pens. These were so easy and fun!  Perfect for spring.


Thanks for such a great weekend, mom and dad!!

Buddies

Wherever Adelyn is, Liam is there also. They constantly giggle and laugh at each other. I love it!