2009: What a Great Year it has Been!

It is hard to believe how fast this year has gone by for us. Looking back it has been the best year of our lives!  In January Dan and I found out that we would be expecting a baby.  How exciting that was!! In February we had our first doctors appointment and our first glimpse at little Addison.  She literally looked liked a little peanut!! I was about 8 weeks along and we were able to hear her heart beat for the first time.  This is when things became real for us!!
February and March were pretty uneventful, just trying to get through another cold winter!  In April we had more appts. and at about 16 weeks is when I first felt little Addison move. It was truly one of the most exciting moments I had in my pregnancy!!
In May we were back at the camper on the weekends and what a fun summer we had!! It was nice at this time because it wasn’t too hot yet!  On May 20th we found out that we were having a GIRL!!!  This was very surprising to us because EVERYONE thought that we were having a boy.  Dan even asked them to make sure because he was pretty certain that it was a boy!!  This is also when we picked out Addison’s name!
June was also pretty uneventful.  In July I went to my appt. to have my glucose test done and was measuring large already, so they decided to do another ultrasound!! I was so excited to have yet another chance to see little Addison!! This is when they found that I had extra fluid around the baby, but the doctor wasn’t too concerned yet.
In August we began to get Addie’s room ready for her arrival!  We decorated in Classic Pooh, so that it was neutral.  My biggest fear was that she would come out a BOY!!! I was also beginning to become large and uncomfortable!  In September I continued to get larger and larger by the day! I had a another couple of ultrasounds this month, which began to become part of my normal appts.  I would also have to sit on the heart monitor at each appt.  This was also a scary time for us because of the extra fluid I was carrying, there was a chance that something may have been wrong with Addison.  On the 9th Dan and I also celebrated our 3rd anniversary by going out to eat of course!!

This was me the morning of delivery!

September 29 Addison was finally in my arms!!! And she was perfectly healthy!! All that worrying for nothing! This was absolutely the highlight of my ENTIRE YEAR!!

This was our first family photo!

 October began our time with Addison at home.  We were completely sleep deprived, but loving every minute with Addison in our lives.  Each day brought on a new experience for us!
The highlight of November was Addison’s first smile! I was on the couch talking to her and she finally smiled a true (not gas) smile!! It brought tears to my eyes! Dan and I also celebrated our birthday’s this month!!

Addie and her little smirk!!

Here we are in December, and ending this wonderful year!  We have already had quite a large amount of snow and Addie has had her first BIG snow storm already.  Addison was baptised on the 6th.  I went back to work and left work to stay home with Addie, and we celebrated Addison’s first Christmas together.  She continues to grow each and every day.  She has also began to giggle, so EXCITING!!

Addison in her baptism dress.

Addie's first Christmas!

 2009 has by far been the best year in Dan and my life thus far.  We thank God every day for the blessings he has brought into our lives this year.  We are praying that 2010 brings just as many blessings to us and the ones we love.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

With Love,

The Garbes’

Our little morning routine...

Well, I am so happy to say that since I have been home we are finally on some sort of routine during the day!! Addie goes to bed around 10-10:30pm and wakes up around 9am. It’s great!! I get up around 8am and do a few things around the house before she wakes up.  Once she gets up I feed her, cuddle, and play with her and then she wants to go back down for a nap at around 10:30!! She sleeps for around 3 hrs!! This is my time to get in the shower (check), tidy up the house (somewhat check), and do things like keep up my blog (check)!!! During the day she just takes little 1 hr. naps and is up a lot of the day now!!

I am so happy that I get to stay home with her and spend time playing with her, now that she is doing more of those types of things! We have started putting her in her jumperoo (see below) and even though her little feet barely touch she loves just to sit up and watch what is going on!!

Tomorrow we have another appointment to go get more dreaded shots Addie is not too fond of this and neither is mommy.  Last time they made me hold her down and stand in front of her. I told the nurse that I didn’t what her to think that I was the one hurting her, so this time I think I will stand to the side!! We take Addie in once a month to get her shots because I am doing an alternative vaccination schedule. She will still get all of her shots, but they are spread out, and some are not given until she is a little older. I think that babies are given way too much when they are too little and given too much at once, so I decided to do this. Addie’s doctor said that it is becoming very popular with new moms.  My thought is that if I can in any way prevent Addie from any sort of consequences from vaccinations, than I am going to do all in my power to keep her safe.  The one downfall is that this means we have to deal with a rough night more often.  I remember the last time she got her shots (see below), she was not too happy with mommy and daddy that night!! Going to give her a little tylonol before we leave and I am praying that it helps!! Wish us luck!!

She’s still cute when she is mad, isn’t she!!

Everyone have a GREAT day!!

Reflections of the Past 3 Months

Today Addison is 3 months old. I am often asking myself where the time has gone.
When I go back and remember the last few days of my pregnancy I didn’t think it was ever going to end!! Due to my polyhydramnios (which means you have too much fluid) I was measuring what a person that would carry triplets to full term would measure. That’s what my doctor told me anyway!! I was miserable!! I continued to get bigger by the day so they decided that they would induce me on that Tuesday!  When we went in I thought it was going to be a fast labor because I was already at 3sm and it only took me a couple of hours to get to 9cm!! That is also when I asked for the good ol’ pain meds!! After spending the entire day in labor they finally decided to take her by c-section. I was dilated to almost 9.5cm, but she would not drop due to all the extra fluid. Addison Marie Garbes was born on September 29th at 7:32pm. She was 7lbs. 7oz. and 21.25in. long!! A day that Dan and I will never forget.The days in the hospital went by fast as we were getting used to our new lives with Addison and I was trying to heal.
We were able to come home that Friday and it felt GREAT to be home!! It was hard for me to get around so we had lots of help from our family. Addison slept most of the day at that time, but was up every two hours in the night to eat. We also thought those days would never end! She is now sleeping through the night with a 9-10hr stretch!!
In the past three months Addie went from sleeping most of the day to smiling, cooing, and giggling with mommy a lot of her day. She has more than doubled her birth weight (thanks to mommy’s milk) and has gotten much longer!! We have trouble with clothes being too short for her which is the opposite problem of her mother…lol!!
Everyday Dan and I find ourselves taking in each and every moment with her. I have been told by several people to enjoy this time because it goes by so fast. This was why I also made the decision to stay home with Addie. I found myself not wanting to miss these moments with her and wanting to raise her each and every day! It has been the best decision in my life! Dan is also very excited because his mother was able to stay home with him and that was important to him.
It has been quite an adventure these past three months jumping into the world of parenthood. Being a mother is the best job in the world!! I am hoping to take my family and friends along with us on our little adventure through blogging. Addison is loved by many many people and we want to share her life with those people.
Have a good night!
Love,
Dan, Sarah, and Addison

The Journey of Blogging Begins...

I have been pondering the idea of beginning a blog. Especially for our family that is unable to see us frequently because they live so far away. Who would have thought that I would ever be doing this!! I think it will be a fun way to stay in touch with all the people we love!! I hope everyone enjoys.