12 weeks of Addison!

We had some wonderful visitors at the hospital and had a great time getting to know our daughter but couldn't wait to get home from the hospital. Here we are leaving the hospital!
Here is little Addison in the bouncy chair a couple of days after we brought her home. Isn't she so small?
I was home for the first eight weeks and loved every minute. It was so wonderful to devote time and energy to our newborn. We had so much help and support rom friends, family, Mom and Dad Welstad have been so wonderful as well as our siblings. My sister comes down from Newberg and watches her two days a week and Lesley comes and visits often.
We were also blessed to have people bring us wonderful meals. It was so nice not to worry about cooking. Thanks to Tiffany and Deana for organizing the meals!
Kyle is such a wonderful Father! He loves his Addison so much! He is so good and patient with her. Her loves to dress her, sing her songs and smile at her.
Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of the last few weeks.
She is always moving! It is hard to get a picture of her being still!

We LOVE cuddling together! Addison is a real sweet cuddle bug! One of her favorite things is to nestle in on someone's shoulder! Oh there is just nothing better...
One month old with the teddy bear picture.

She is such a pretty girl! She has a cute round belly. Can you see it?
Tummy time! She is really strong and holds her head up so well.
We had her baby dedication on the 11th of October. It was really special for Kyle and I and our family.
Two months old!
She was a little lamb for Halloween. This is at our church's Fall Fun Fest.
Our beautiful girl in her church clothes!
She loves to smile! We love watching this amazing little person develop a personality and learn about the world around her. Each day is such a gift and we are so blessed!

Our daughter, Addison Grace

Ok.. I know this is 12 weeks overdue but I had saved this draft and kept intending to add it and finally just decided to post it.


This is Miss Addison Grace the day we left the hospital one week ago. Kyle and I purchased that outfit a year ago and it fit her perfectly. We bought it because it says "Little Sweetie." Kyle and I call each other "sweeetie" and we new we would be calling her out little sweetie. She looked so cute in it!
The labor and delivery process was pretty amazing. My water broke after our dr's apt on Thursday the 20th. I was at work and Kyle was at youth camp for the day. I called him then he came home and off to the hospital we went! It took a long time to progress but we filled the hours will music, watching Friends episodes and I was able to get into the jacuzzi tub (which was really helpful). My sister, Michelle and Kyle's sister, Lesley came to be a part of the birth process. It was wonderful to have them with us. They ended up leaving at 12:00 am cuz it was taking so long.
This is one of my favorite pictures from the labor. The girls are massaging my feet. Aren't they great?

Our wonderful Addison Grace was born at 6:30 am. She weighed 6 lbs and 10 oz and was 19 inches long. Pretty small and SO beautiful!


Here is our first family photo. We just can't believe how much we love her!

More to come of the past two months I promise!

Week 40 Update!

Hi everyone!
I am one day past our due date but feeling pretty good! We are both really excited to get to meet her and begin this transition in life! I have been going for about two walks a day and cleaning like crazy! Hopefully those things will get labor going. Today Kyle cleaned out the garage! It looks amazing! Thanks hon! You are incredible! I scrubbed and cleaned out the fridge, swept and mopped the hardwood floors, dusted the house and did laundry. Wheww! I was tired after that but the house looks great! Now to try and keep it that way for at least a day or two.
We have been able to visit with family, spend time together as a couple and also get some good rest in the last couple of days! Kyle and I went to see a movie last night and we really enjoyed our time together.
A couple family members are taking bets on when Addison will arrive. Some say Monday some say Tuesday and one even says Wednesday... who knows? She will come when she is ready to come! I am just excited to meet my daughter!
Here I am one day after the due date!

We will keep everyone posted as to when we go into labor and when she is born. We would appreciate continued prayers as we get ready for this new change in life. Thank you all and God Bless!

Week 38!

Hooray! We have made it to week 38! Two weeks until the due date. It is now a waiting game until we go into labor. Kyle and I go from moments of pure joy, excitement and anticipation to moments of nervousness and a sense of apprehension. We are sure this is normal for all first time parents. The feeling of one season ending and another beginning is very heavy on us at this point.

Dr. said on Friday that everything is looking good! Hopefully we will deliver on time! Please pray for us as we head into these last to weeks and get ready for labor, delivery and bringing our little girl home! Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive to us in many ways these last couple of months!

Week 37

We have about three weeks to go until the arrival of baby Addison! We will keep everyone updated as the due date gets closer!

Favorite Craving!

For those of you who know me well know that I am a HUGE fan of Ice cream! Since being pregnant I have LOVED taking advantage of it. I think I have had a small scoop almost every night!
I do love all types of ice cream but what I have craved the most since being pregnant is vanilla ice cream and fresh fruit. Every time I am at a store to buy raspberries or blueberries I can't bring myself to buy them because they are SO expensive..... but guess what? Today a sweet older lady at our church called and said that she had some fruit for us. I was even more excited to find out that it was FRESH from her garden raspberries and blueberries!
So I had to take a picture of my favorite craving so far! I REALLY enjoyed it!

Baby showers

We have been blessed with two baby showers! One that the church family put on for us and another that my sister hosted. I felt so loved by both of the groups and we received some really wonderful gifts.
At the church shower we had yummy white cake with strawberry creme filling and chocolate frosting! They were so sweet and decorated with pink and brown. I was overwhelmed by how generous all the ladies were. One of the ladies even brought roses from her garden and let me keep them for my office. They smelled so wonderful.
Here is a picture of the cake and one of my sister-in-law Lesley and I at the church shower.


My sister's shower was full of friends and family. It was really special. Michelle had the great idea to have the guest decorate white onesie's with fabric paint. Now we have about 12 uniquely designed onesie's for Addison to wear!



The food was super yummy! There was cheese and crackers, fruit, bruschetta and strawberry shortcake. I stuffed myself!
Here is the food spread.

We played a couple of cute games that Shelly had planned and then dove into the gifts! Again I was so blown away by how generous everyone was. Our little Addison is going to be so well dressed and taken care of!
Here is Michelle and I!


Some of my special girlfriends came and it was so good to see them! I am the first in our group to be pregnant and it has been fun to have them so excited for me. Here is Sarah, Terra, Maia and me!


It has been such a special time preparing for baby Addison! Kyle and I feel so loved by all the friends and family who have blessed us with gifts, time and wonderful words of advice and encouragement!

Baby Addison's Room!

We have been working on getting her room ready and it is looking beautiful! Today my sister came over to help me organize all the clothes and gifts we have received from the showers. Here are a couple of pictures of the room before Michelle and I clean/organized it.


Here is the end result! It is so beautiful! We are so excited to bring her home to this room!

Week 36!

Here I am at week 36! Taken exactly four weeks from the due date of August 14th!

I am feeling pretty good, and I'm starting to get more and more uncomfortable; but that is to be expected at this point. We had a Dr's apt on Wednesday and she said that everything looks good, we should be on time. I was excited to hear that because I really don't want to go overdue. At the same time the baby will come when the baby wants to come. I think it is pretty great that the exact date and timing of a birth of a baby, for the most part, remains one of life's last mysteries. So much the world tries and works to control things, I like how this little baby gets to control things. Again I know that there are many situations where a mother has to be induced or there is a planned c-section, but for the most part it's a surprise. Who knows how our situation will turn out.
I'm excited for the journey and to find out how our story of baby Addison will be told.

Beach Vacation for our 5 year Anniversary

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary on the 26th of June. It landed on the Free Methodist Annual Conference so we celebrated a couple of days later by going to the beach. We had three beautiful days of sunshine in Lincoln City. This is the great view of the beach from our room. (ignore the dates on the pics.... we didn't change it yet)

We found a great local coffee shop and enjoyed yummy coffee in "for here" mugs. Coffee always taste better in "for here" mugs! (Decaf for me of course :O)) Kyle loves his black coffee!

I had visions of us spending tons of time reading and playing on the beach but when we got there the wind was SO strong even I didn't want to stay out long! The beach is always windy but this was crazy! We ventured out once or twice and our feet were pelted with sand and we had to keep our heads down or we would get a mouthful of sand! It was an adventure!

Each day we relaxed, read books, ate good food, took naps and just enjoyed being in one another's company! It was so wonderful for us to get away and concentrate on each other. It was slightly bittersweet celebrating five wonderful years together but also realizing it was our last vacation as a couple. We are thrilled to become parents and can't wait to meet Addison yet there is a piece of us that will miss our years without children. I am so excited for the ways that God is preparing us and getting us ready to have her in our lives.
Kyle, Thank you for being such an amazing husband to me! I am so thankful for you, the memories we have made and life journey we are on together! Here is to a lifetime of more memories! I love you!

33 Weeks and Baby's Name!

This is me 33 weeks pregnant! We are really anxious to meet our little girl! The next six and a half weeks are going to go really fast I am sure. We have a lot to do and it feels like not enough time but I have faith that we will be ready when we need to be.

We have decided to call our little girl...... drum roll please......

ADDISON GRACE!

We love it and and are so excited to begin life with her!

Our niece Campbell!

We recently got to spend some time with our niece Campbell. Sarah and Campbell came about a week early for Lesley's wedding. Kyle and I loved getting to know her a bit more. We really wish that we all lived closer together.
Campbel is such a doll with such a sweet spirit!

The dress she is wearing is one that we got her. It was fun to see her in it. Sarah and Jeff, we love her so much and miss you guys a lot. You are very special to us!

The "cadillac" stroller!

We were given a baby stroller as a gift from my dad. It is the neatest stroller EVER! It is from a company called Uppababy and we love it! The neatest thing about it is that it has a bassinet for the little baby and a rear or front facing seat for the older babies. We decided on blue because we figure it was the most gender neutral for future babies too! Plus, Kyle and I are very much blue people. Kyle said that it was so easy to put together, which is good. Here he is putting it together.
Here I am posing with the great stroller! We are so excited to push out little one in it! We know she is going to love it!

Michelle's Wedding!

My beautiful sister got married on May 24th in a beautiful ceremony at the West End Ballroom!
She was so gorgeous!
Here she is right before she went out to meet Sam, her amazing husband!


My mom and sister together before the ceremony! Aren't they so beautiful?


I had the privilege of being Michelle's Matron of Honor and I got to wear this great black strapless dress! It was so fun to wear and I loved showing off my baby bump! Unfortunately the only picture I have doesn't show my belly!
This picture is me and Tennley Potoff , who was the cutest flower girl I have ever seen!


My dad was a great Father of the Bride and got to walk his baby girl down the isle. This is a picture of then when he first saw Michelle. It was a sweet moment.

It was such an amazing wedding! Kyle had the privilege of doing the ceremony and it was really special for him to be a part of it. I loved watching my husband do what he loves for people he loves. He did such an amazing job and the Lord was so glorified through his words. I know that Sam and Michelle appreciated the words he said. I was so proud! I love you Kyle, Michelle and Sam!

29 Weeks!

Here is a picture of me at 29 weeks! ( two weeks ago)

A Few Random Pictures

It has been too long since I have blogged but here are a couple pictures!


Here I am at 26 weeks pregnant!

This is my family at my sisters graduation from George Fox University! I am so proud of her!


and here is Kyle and I at our friend Wendy's wedding!



We have about thirteen weeks of the of the pregnancy left! It has gone pretty good so far and I am feeling great! Kyle is loving being able to feel the baby kick! It is so amazing to be able to experience this together. We are so excited to meet our little one! Pray for us all this week as we begin some really busy weeks. We have my sisters wedding, then Kyle's sisters wedding and then soon after we have the Free Methodist Annual Conference. That same weekend is our 5 year anniversary! What a joy to be married to my best friend! I am sure I will have plenty to post about and many more to pictures to show!