Loch Family / Addison Update and Christmas

Well, I'm in my 3rd week off of work and decided to update my blog...finally... The first two weeks off for Christmas were wonderful! I typically store up my vacation to use at the end of the year so I get a nice long break for the holidays. However, this 3rd week off was definitely not my choice. The Honeywell Aerospace organization is on furlough this week (unpaid for those of you keeping track). I'm not sure the exact number of employees in our organization, but is somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 employees that are going unpaid this week. It's pretty incredible the measures Honeywell is taking to not only save money, but to ensure we don't have any large-scale layoffs. In 2009, we all took a 10% pay reduction through shortened work weeks for 3 Quarters, but finally had our hours and pay reinstated at the end of the year. Honestly, I'd rather have my pay back and take a week unpaid than have smaller paychecks all year long. Needless to say, this week unpaid is bittersweet. I'm able to be home to get some of our home improvement projects done, but I'm not getting paid for it and I'm not able to do anything work-related all week. Typically I'd be on top of my emails, corresponding with my customers and getting work done. Unfortunately, I can't do any of that so I'm having to find other ways to keep myself busy. Thankfully, there's A LOT around this house to keep me busy.

Ok, on to more important things. The Loch family had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Now that Addison is 15 months, she's much more aware of what's going on and it was great to see her reaction to the chaos that is Christmas. On my birthday, we hosted the 6th Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater party at our new home and were blessed to have lots of friends attend. As always, it was tons of fun and made for a lot of laughs. Below, check out the link to the Christmas party web album.

6th Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

On 12/22, I took Addison in for her 15-month checkup and everything was great!

1. An ear infection she had been battling for a couple months had finally cleared up
2. The doctor indicated that the 2 VSD's (Ventricular Septal Defect) causing her heart murmur since birth sounded as though they had closed. This is great news and something we've been praying for since she was born.
3. He also checked her lungs, which both sounded good, but doesn't mean her asthma is gone. After talking at length, we decided to change her routine slightly to offer her more relief when she experiences wheezing or coughing that exacerbates her asthma. She's still on daily Pulmicort nebules in the evening and Albuterol nebules when she's sick, but we've also added a higher concentration Albuterol that can be added to her Pulmicort treatments as needed. She hasn't had an asthma attack since September and since she started her daily treatments, so I can only assume that the treatment is helping.
4. After evaluating her and her development, the doctor also was quite impressed with how advanced she was for her age. He said developmentally, she's at an 18-month level at least. He kept commenting on how smart she was, which made me feel really good that between us at home and her experiences at daycare, we must be doing something right.

Stats from her 15-month checkup:
Weight: 22lbs, 13oz (49th percentile)
Height: 2' 9" (97th percentile)
Head Circumference: 18.7in (89th percentile)

Over the break, Addison has also managed to cut 4 new teeth with at least 3 more on the way. She got a molar on top and bottom as well as her two lower "canine" teeth. She wasn't in too much discomfort through it all, but definitely has had some rosy cheeks for the past couple weeks. In addition to teeth is her daily addition of new words. Some of our favorite phrases are:

• "Hello Moto" or "Hi Moto"
• "Cookie" (as in monster)
• "Papa" (as in Grandpa)
• "Opie Opie (as in open)
• "Row Row Row Boat"
• "Poop" or "Poopie" (and is actually sometimes right)
• "Nigh Nigh" (when she wants to got to bed)
• "Apple"
• "Man" (as in snowman)
• "Bailey" and "Eva" (but usually just Eva for both dogs)
• "Nummies" (whenever she wants her nummies)
• "Bee" (anytime she sees a bee)
• "Baby" (anytime she sees a picture of herself or a baby)
• "Linny", "Tuck", and "Ming Ming" (as in the Wonder Pets)
• "Ball"
• "Duckie"
• She'll pretty much repeat just about anything you ask her to and can point out objects in her books that you ask her to show you

Check out some pictures from her 15th month of life her 12-15 Month web album link below.

Addison: 12 - 15 Months

And lastly, Christmas was quite exciting for our family. Here's the run-down as well as the link to the Christmas web album.

Christmas 2009

12/23: Erin and Nat finally got to come home from Boston after not seeing them since July. They flew in on the 23rd and stayed through the 29th.
12/24: We got about 10" of snow overnight, so Adam had to clear snow before starting the Christmas festivities. After that, we opened presents before heading over to my parent's house for the day. We had lunch and dinner with my family and then went over to Adam's aunt and uncle's house for the evening. After visiting with the Loch family, I headed back to my parent's house to get ready for midnight mass while Adam and Addison headed home to greet Corbett and the girls. Little did Erin know, Nat had set it up so that just our immediate family and he were at my parent's house so that he could ask Erin a very important question. That's right, Nat asked Erin to marry him and she said YES!!! We expect that the wedding will be this summer in Minneapolis and absolutely can't wait! After midnight mass, Adam and I hosted Meredith, Corbett, and family for the night so they didn't have to drive all the way back to Rogers just to come south again.
12/25: Christmas Day! We woke up early so that Adam could clear more snow and I could get breakfast ready for Adam's family. That's right! We had Adam's family over Christmas morning to open presents before we went down to my Grandma & Grandpa's house in Lake City. It wouldn't be Christmas if there wasn't constant chaos! After opening presents, Adam, Addison, and I decided to brave the icy roads and make our way down to Lake City for lunch and visiting with the Fuchs family. I look forward to this day every year since we don't get to see the Fuchs family very often. Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay as long as we liked because the roads were horrendous and we needed to make our way back to the cities. Once we got back, we dropped Addison off at Adam's parent's house and Meredith and Corbett left the girls with my parents so me, Adam, Meredith, Corbett, Erin, and Nat could have "family fun night" at our house. Was it ever fun!!! Check out the pictures from our fun night by clicking on the web album link below.

Family Fun Night

12/26: After two nights with Meredith and Corbett, what was one more night with the Meyer family? After a long night of "family fun" we decided to take it easy for the day and play with all the kids before heading over to Gastof's with my family for dinner. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it, but Gastof's is known for having their "meterwurst" challenge (3 feet of bratwurst) that Corbett couldn't pass up. In just 15 minutes, Corbett managed to eat the entire meter, two sides, and the rest of the food on Meredith's plate. After dinner, we headed back to the Loch residence to put all the girls to bed, watch a movie, and go to bed ourselves. We had so much fun with the Meyers that we can't wait for our next sleepover!
12/27-1/3: Adam decided to tackle a new home project...tearing up the foyer flooring and putting in a beautiful cherry-colored laminate. It looks absolutely gorgeous! I feel so fortunate to have a husband who likes to get his hands dirty and make our house a home. On the evening of 12/28, it was time to say goodbye to Erin and Nat. Our whole family decided to have one more dinner out at Christo's (our favorite Greek restaurant). It was a nice ending to a nice visit! The rest of the Christmas break was full of flooring, cleaning, and a nice New Year's evening with Addison at Adam's parent's house while Adam and I went out to dinner at Kabuki (our favorite Japanese restaurant) with Marissa and Scott and Meghan Boots. It was a quiet evening, but it was nice to spend it in the company of friends.

I think I've written enough now. I need to get back to removing wallpaper from one of our bathrooms before heading off to another bathroom to remove more wallpaper. A note to all of you...DO NOT PUT UP WALLPAPER EVER!!!