Addie and Charlie

These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago. I had Charlie on a Friday and we went to a play date at someone's house. On the way back they both fell asleep in the car. They were leaning the same way, so I thought it looked cute and ran to get the camera.





I set them on the couch and both were still sleeping. Charlie woke up as soon as I had the camera out.

Christmas decor

We have gotten the Christmas decorations up around here. Addie has been pretty good with it all, surprisingly. She's tried testing us by touching ornaments after we told her no. A few swats on the bottom have solved the situation. Now she squats in front of the tree and stares at it.

To be the mother of your Savior... how amazing and humbling would that be?


Camels are funny looking creatures.


What I wish for some day.... some day I will have one of those. :)


Super baby! Addie's ornament last year.


My favorite ornament when I was a kid. I picked it out at Brauner's Christmas Store in Frankenmuth, MI.


Addie seems to like this ornament in particular. I see some similarity to my favorite when I was a girl.


Addie points to this one and says, "Baby!" This is her cousin Andrew.


Adeline - pooped after a morning at church.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving Day at some friends of ours who live up in St. Paul - Ryan and Erin Hulse. Ryan is a teacher at the new middle school at St. Croix Lutheran High School. Erin stays home with their 2 boys - Malachi and Tristan, and are expecting a girl in January. They had 2 girls from MLC staying with them for the weekend, and they also invited Nate and Mary Hochmuth (Nate is also a teacher - both went to MLC with us) who have 2 kids - Natalie and Isaiah. (By the way, "little" 8-month Isaiah weighs more than Addie, and they're approximately the same height) Needless to say, it was a packed house! Some of the kids were sleeping during supper time.



Here are the kids awaiting the Hochmuths arrival.

Notice any similarities to these pictures?

Future engineer or architect - protractor in hand.

This picture's for you, Grandma Sandy! Love those tights!

These last 3 pictures were taken at the Shakopee Community Center. On Mon., Wed., and Fri. mornings they have "open gym" for 0-5 yr. olds. They have toys in there for the kids and only costs $1 per child. She loved it.




Answer: She's wearing stripes in all of the above pictures. That's not on purpose either. I just happened to notice it.

"I Don't Want to Raise Successful Children"

I saw this link to another blog on a friend of mine's page on Facebook. I thought the article was well-said. So many parents today need to hear this, and get the correct encouragement. Enjoy the read!

http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-dont-want-to-raise-successful.html

15 month check-up

Addie turned 15 months old on Saturday. She had another doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon. Had a few shots (no flu shot still... just regular immunizations), cried a lot for those. Here are her stats:

Weight: 20 lbs., 1 oz., 11th%tile
Height: 30 inches, 35th%tile
Head: 17.5 inches, 13th%tile

She's grown 1.5 inches since the end of August. I was wondering why she was able to reach things on the bathroom counter now... Everything else looks good. She's a healthy little girl.

Grandma Sandy's visit

Some of you may know that I was sick about a week and a half ago. I had a high fever and cold = basically the flu. So, Grandma made her way over to help cook and clean. Just shows that you can be 26 and still need your mom. It was fantastic. Wish I had her here every day. :) Love ya, Mom!

We THOUGHT Addie was getting the flu on Tuesday because she was acting very lethargic and had a temp of 102.6. Turns out it was just a tooth coming in. She has 4 on top and is getting a 3rd on the bottom now. She's all back to normal and it's nothing a little Tylenol couldn't help. Things are back to normal in the Zahn abode.

Helping Grandma cook... minus pants.

A typical Addie....

...and again....

....and AGAIN. What a ham!

A new magnetic toy from Grandma.

Grandma took this before she left. We miss you!

Sailor dress

Showing me the book she's reading - "Pajama Time!"





Love this face!

Checking out the pumpkin

Gotta check this thing out....




Hmmm, what's this?











So heavy!

Praise Band Songs

These are some recordings of my praise band that were done in the basement of a praise band members house. They are for a Christmas CD that the different music ministries at our church is putting out. "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" was arranged by one of the praise band members - Peter Moeller - he plays the piano and sings. I'm playing piano and doing some of the vocals in the other two songs. Anyways, enjoy!

Light Of The Stable sound bite

Away In A Manger sound bite

It Came Upon A Midnight Cle sound bite

Addie and Charlie

This is some "art" that Addie did at a recent play group play-date. Basically the next Michelangelo.

And this is Charlie! I watch Charlie on Wednesday mornings while his mom teaches piano lessons at school. In return, she watches Addie on Thursday mornings while I teach music class. Works out pretty slick.

I think I see Addie trying to hold hands here.... or maybe just grabbing for whatever is in his hand.

Addie: "Boys... ugh."

Update on our lives: Joel has about one month of school left. Anxiously looking forward to that and praising the good Lord! He'll be an official graduate on Dec. 20th, then. His work has been doing ok - they are encouraging workers to use all of their paid-leave before Christmas. They do this to make their numbers look good to investors. It sounds nice, but if you wanted to take some time off right after Christmas, it's not so good. We're thankful he has a job, though.

I'm currently fighting a cold. No flu, though. Also thanking God for that, as there have been bouts of the H1N1 flu going around school and among some staff members here. I subbed a few times in the last week - once for a teacher who was leaving for a wedding, and then again for half a day for a teacher whose daughter had the flu. Hope I don't pick up on anything!

Cold weather here - rainy and even snowing on some days. Quite a change from last month where it felt more like summer than September. We're hoping for a "warmer" and sunnier day next week so we can take Addie to the pumpkin patch and get some pictures. :)

Also got some good news this week that we'll have visitors around Christmas time! Joel's brother and family (Randy, Kat, and boys - traveling back from Peru) will be here before Christmas for a few days, and my parents will be here during Christmas time for a few days as well. We're excited about spending that time with them. Woohoo! Love you guys!

Edited to add some exciting (at least for me) news: Also, yesterday, since normally I have music class in the morning, but I have off because of teacher's conference, we headed to Schmitt Music to check out some digital pianos. We didn't get anything - yet. We're saving up for it with money I get from weddings, funerals, etc. It's a Kawai C22- a Japanese product. And yes, I'd like to have a real piano someday, but in our townhome we need something that won't be too loud, seeing that the place we'll be putting it will be against a wall. And besides, we can plug headphones into it while Addie or any other baby sleeps.

Addie's most recent adventures....

....or lack there-of.

I came home from teaching music class last Thursday and this is where she lay. Joel said she was playing and all of a sudden it was quiet, he looked down, and she was sleeping.

Wow, being a 1-year-old must be tough work.

Oh, she's almost up again.....

...and we're out. Guess it's time for her nap!

She LOVES to read. I found her up on the recliner in her bedroom reading this book.

A picture for her high school graduation.

Joel found Addie in her room a few mornings ago. Once again, reading...



Reading after church on a Sunday morning.