Teething, Moms, and Raspberries

I feel like a broken record, but sorry it's been so long since I've provided an update on Addison. The Loch family is doing great! Our little one is now 8 months old and growing every day! Addison is now saying "da-da", "ba-ba", "pa-pa" (as in pup-pup for the two dogs), "na-na", and..........drumroll please.........."ma-ma"!!!!! As of yesterday, she is actually saying ma-ma pretty consistently! Definitely exciting for her mama!

Addison also had her first bout with teething. When her first two bottom teeth came in, she barely had any response whatsoever. Now that her top two front teeth are getting ready to come in, she was absolutely inconsolable last Thursday. I ended up staying up with her for an hour or so hoping to comfort her through her pain. A little Orajel and some Tylenol seemed to do the trick. I'll have to remember that when they actually punch through...not looking forward to that!

She's also so close to crawling it will likely happen within the next few days! I can't wait to see her take her first crawl...assuming she doesn't do it at daycare first :( So many people keep telling me how they had kids or know kids who were walking by her age...to which I want to say "great, but my daughter is going to crawl first". Developmentally, I know how crucial it is that a child learn to crawl before they learn to walk. I welcome crawling with open arms! That just gives us time to get our house "child-proofed" :) We are definitely not ready for a mobile child yet...pretty sad, huh?!?

Please keep Addison in your thoughts on Monday, June 1st. It's nothing serious at this point, but we have a preventative appointment with a Pediatric Opthamologist to have her checked for congenital glaucoma. Since Adam was born with glaucoma, we figured it was better safe than sorry. They told me the appointment will last 2-4 hours as we meet with a variety of doctors and specialists confirming that she either does or doesn't have glaucoma. Her eyes will be dialated and she will go through a host of tests that can see better into the eye than a typical doctor can.

As I believe I posted before, we are also in the process of trying to sell our house. You can't even imagine how hard it is to live in a "staged" house with 2 dogs and an infant. Everyday, I find myself cleaning the house and doing the same routine of dusting and vacuuming in the event that someone wants to see the house. So far, we've had 5 showing and an open house with good feedback overall. The only problem is we are charging more for our house than other houses in our neighborhood because we have literally updated the ENTIRE house...new kitchen, new bathrooms, master bedroom suite, deck, fence, driveway...you name it, we've probably done it. Buyers don't understand that though...and until we find one who does, we probably won't be moving any time soon...

Before I end this post, here are a few more pictures, videos, and links to albums. Check back often for more updates!

Riding a kiddy 4-wheeler we were selling in our garage sale My first Mother's Day at the Arboretum Hanging out in the backyard Super happy baby! Playing at the park during a showing Addison's new "silly face"

I realized I haven't posted the last couple monthly albums, so here you go...

Baby Addison: 6 Months		Baby Addison: 7 Months

Here's a video of Addison playing around...she's so silly


Here's another video of Addison blowing "raspberries"...I think she's just hilarious!

Addison Update and Bathtime Video

It's been a while again...sorry about that! Things have been pretty crazy in our lives lately. On April 17th, my grandpa was admitted to the hospital in Rochester with pneumonia following his open-heart surgery (less than two weeks prior). He was in congestive heart failure during the day, having difficulty breathing, and was rushed to the hospital almost immediately. After what looked like he was getting better, he took an extreme turn for the worst on April 21st when he "coded" twice. The doctors had to shock him, do compressions, and intubate him. My dad and his siblings were asked to come to the hospital and gather while the doctors discussed their options and the probability of my grandpa's recovery. The outlook was grim. They gave my grandpa a slim chance of survival, and thus, we prepared for the worst.

Let me tell you now that I truly believe in the power of prayer! On April 22nd, the doctors were set to remove the breathing tube from my Grandpa and the family was on pins and needles. However, when my aunt Mary Kay went in to check on him that morning, he was awake, alert, and waving at her as she entered the room. Not the greeting she was expecting! They extubated him as planned and amazingly, he's been on the road to recovery ever since! He was discharged from the hospital this past week and was admitted into the Lake City hospital to continue his rehabilitation before going home. He is such a fighter and I feel so blessed that he's been doing so well! After several trips back and forth to Rochester over the course of a week, Addison and I went to visit him in the hospital with my parents last Saturday. Here's a picture from our visit.

She is just the cutest!

On a lighter note, Addison also had her first experience in the swimming pool on April 18th! She did so good and absolutely loved the water! I suppose it helped that the pool water was extremely warm. We probably swam for 2.5 hours that morning before heading down to Rochester to visit Great-Grandpa. She had a great time playing with her new friend, Elle, who's only one week older than Addison. Elle's dad is our Loan Officer...that's right...we've been preapproved for a mortgage and are working on getting our house ready to put on the market!!! Ideally, we'd like to move to Bloomington, but it may end up that we'll stay in Blaine and get more house for our money...I guess we'll see once we actually get an offer on our house :) Anyway, here are a few pictures from her first swim!

She loved her lilypad! The "bath squirters" we brought were a big hit!Addison & Mama Addison & Daddy

Lastly, I just love sharing videos of our sweet baby. The older she gets, the more she absolutely loves bathtime! I just had to get some video of our little pumpkin splashing it up in the tub! Enjoy!

Easter & First Day at the Park

Hello again loyal blog followers! Thought I would post an update on Addison's first Easter and her first time playing at the park! I can't believe the number of firsts a child has that we take for granted every single day! Just before Easter, it was a beautiful day so we decided to see what Addison thought of the swings and the slide at the park. Not a whole lot of reaction yet, but at least she didn't cry :) Here's a couple pics from her experience.

Addison swinging...weeeeeee Going down the slide with daddy

Then came Easter... Quite the hectic weekend with family plans, but Addison was such a good baby! We tried to stick to her schedule as much as we could, but definitely didn't want her to miss out on some important firsts. My sister Erin and her boyfriend Nat were in town, so on Friday, Addison and I went to meet them at the airport with my mom. Then on Saturday, we went over to my sister Meredith's house for brunch and an Easter egg hunt. Afterwards, we headed down to my parent's house for some dinner and appetizers with the Van't Huls (my cousins). We had a very nice visit and enjoyed watching all the kids play...6 under the age of 5...let's just say it wasn't very quiet there :) Then on Sunday, we went to mass with my family and back to my parent's house for lunch. We visited for a while and said our goodbyes to Erin and Nat before heading over to Adam's parent's house for dinner. I must say, it was quite the jam packed weekend! We had a wonderful time and look forward to the next major holiday full of family time! Here are a few pictures from the weekend as well as a link to the full web album.

Four little bunniesHunting for Easter eggs What a sweet baby! The Happy Family Silly baby! Click here to visit the web album

Baby's First Easter

Addison Update and Videos

Hello again everyone! Just thought I'd update the blog with some more super cute pictures of Addison as well as a couple videos. Addison is changing every day, getting super good at eating solids, and is so good at sitting up on her own! It's like someone flipped a switch and all the sudden, she's an expert! It's such an amazing process watching a child grow up!

Such a good sitter! Addison just loves to eat EVERYTHING!

Last week, my family was also dealt a big blow when we found out that my Grandpa had to have open heart surgery to have his aortic valve replaced as well as bypass surgery. He did so well and is such a fighter that he went home after only 4 days!!! He's amazing and we love him so much! I'm so happy everything went well! The day he came home, my parents, Adam, Addison, and I when to Lake City to welcome him home. We had such a wonderful day visiting with my grandparents and some of my aunts and uncles! It was great to spend some quality time with my family! Here's a couple pictures from our visit.

Great-Grandpa & Grandma with Addison Super sleepy baby at Grandma & Grandpa's house

Last but not least, here are a couple silly videos of my baby. One is of Miss Addison trying to take a nap at Great-Grandma Gloria's house. There wasn't much sleeping going on :) The other video is of our ticklish little munchkin. I just love her laughter! It's contagious! Enjoy!!!

"Napping" baby...not so much


Super ticklish baby!

6 Months, Baby Milestones, Cancun, and a Trip to the Emergency Room!

Wow! A lot has happened since the last time I posted...amazingly enough! Addison is still doing great with solids. She's made it through all the stage 1 fruits and I tried to introduce her first veggies this week, but I'll get to that later. She's now starting to sit on her own like a tripod, not for very long, but it's a huge step for her! She's also rolling over several times in a row...looks like we're going to need to get a railing up and a gate for the stairs! She also got her second tooth while Adam and I were on vacation! She's quite the biter now with her new little chompers :)

We had her 6-month appointment Tuesday of this week and everything looked great! The doctor was very impressed with her, as usual! She's a tall, skinny baby with a big head just like her mama :) Here are her 6-month stats, her 6-month picture, and a link to her full 5-month web album:

Weight: 17lbs, 7oz (75th percentile)
Height: 27.5in (>97th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17.5in (90th percentile)

6-Months Old!!!

Click picture below to visit the web album!

Baby Addison: 5 Months

I've been working from home all week and spending time with Addison since her daycare lady is on vacation. Thank goodness because this week has been a doozy! As I said earlier, I started to introduce peas as of Monday. She loved them the first night, but was pretty iffy with them ever since.... On Tuesday, I got some sort of bug that had me laid up sick all day. Whether montezuma's revenge or the flu, it was not a very fun day. Thank you to Adam for working from home that day so I could get some rest! Then yesterday, Addison and I had an appointment at Babies R Us to get her 6-month pictures taken, so we had to get up a bit early. After showering, I had Addison sitting in her boppy chair and I heard her sneeze. When I looked over, she was absolutely covered head-to-toe in puke!!! Looking cute as ever with puke all over her face, I did my best to get her ready for her pictures so we could head on our way to Babies R Us.

On our way to her pictures, I called Adam to tell him that his daughter puked for the first time ever! What I thought was puke before was nothing compared to what I saw yesterday! While on the phone, I started to hear her dry-heaving in the back seat, so I let Adam go so I could pull over and check on her. Sure enough, she puked again! What in the world was going on with my little pumpkin?!? She seemed happy enough, so I continued on our way to her pics. Let me tell you, Babies R Us got some pretty awesome pictures of Addison! No matter how sick she was, she didn't let it show and looked absolutely adorable! (see the thumbnails of her pictures below)

After getting her pictures taken, Addison and I headed to my work for a visit and then headed home. Once again, her evening solids feeding with the peas didn't go very well. She didn't seem interested at all...so I gave up! Addison hung out for a little while in her Bumbo seat while Adam and I ate dinner. All the sudden, her face got really red...anyone who has or has babysat a child knows what that look means...get ready to change a diaper! Sure enough, blow out central! Although this time, it was more diarrhea than anything else...not a good sign after the day she had. After dinner, Addison and I headed to "The Wedding Chapel" to pick out my "best man" dress for Andy's wedding in October. She seemed to do fine, so I wasn't worried at all.

When we got home, it was time to get ready for bed and have her "nigh nigh" bottle. She got through about 3 ounces and then wanted to take a break. If only I had known what would happen next. While burping an coddling her close, it happened.............she puked for what seemed like forever and what seemed like gallons all over herself, all over me, all over the chair, and all over the floor. YUCK! No more messing around, it was time to call the doctor and head to the emergency room. The doctor called back and agreed. It was best to bring her in and make sure she wasn't getting dehydrated. So off to the ER we went. Let me tell you, the crazies definitely come out at night! We were probably the most normal people there :)

After tell 5 people the same thing over and over again about the kind of day Addison had, the doctor gave us some pedialyte to give her to see if she would keep it down. The doctor wasn't willing to diagnose what caused her awful vomitting and diarrhea, but it could have been a bug, the veggies, or a sudden aversion to her formula. There's really no way of knowing. By the way...she weighed a pound less last night than she did on Tuesday at her doctor appointment... Anyway, before sending us on our way, the doctor asked us to give her pedialyte for the next 24 hours and then slowly reintroduce her bottle and solids. Thank God our little one was ok nonetheless! After going to Cub Foods, we got home at about 12:30am...well past Miss Addison's bedtime. Just to be safe, our pumpkin slept in our room in her pack-n-play so we could keep an eye on her. She slept for about 6 hours before wanting more pedialyte and going back to bed. So far today, she's been doing really well and peeing a ton! A good sign for a baby who barely peed at all yesterday!

Now, on to a brighter topic! Last Wednesday, Adam and headed off to Cancun, Mexico with our friend Pat for 5 days of relaxing on the beach without a care in the world! This was our first trip away together without the baby and also a celebration of the two of us being together for 10 years!!! How fast time flies!!! After mechanical failures on two different planes (an oil leak and a cracked windshield), we got to Cancun 7-hours late and the fun began! We spent every day relaxing by the pool and beach, drinking some frosty beverages, and eating some amazing food! The highlight had to have been my 50-minute massage in a hut on the beach on the third day! The lowlight had to have been Adam getting second-degree burns on one of his hands that he apparently missed the sunblock on for an entire day... We checked on Addison at least twice a day to confirm that she was being a dream for everyone who was watching her. I say "everyone" because we had quite the babysitting schedule while we were gone.

Marissa stayed at our house the night before we left since we were leaving early in the morning and dropped her off at daycare on Wednesday morning. My mom picked her up on Wednesday evening and she and my dad stayed at our house that night. Then my mom dropped her off at daycare on Thursday, whereby Marissa then picked her up and stayed at our house Thursday night. Then, Marissa dropped her off at daycare Friday morning and my mom picked her up and brought her back to Bloomington for the night. Then, Saturday morning, my mom dropped off Miss Addison at Adam's parent's house where she stayed until we got home Sunday evening. Where were the dogs you may ask?!? They stayed with Adam's parent's the whole time...that was the only constant the entire trip :) Thank you to everyone for watching Addison and our pups! It was nice to get away, but we missed our princess like crazy and were happy to come home! Here are a couple of pictures from our trip and the link to the entire web album.

Libby, Adam, and Pat in Cancun
Surf & Turf!!!

Click picture below to visit the web album!

Cancun 2009

Addison's First Tooth!

Well, I can barely believe it...Addison is getting her first tooth! Last night after I picked her up from daycare, I did what's been a daily ritual for a while and felt her gums for any signs of teeth. To my astonishment, the beginnings of a tooth could be felt that was not there the previous day! My baby's a big girl now!!! So far, the new tooth hasn't upset her at all, so let's hope it doesn't anytime soon. I would hate for my sweet baby to be in pain or upset by her new teeth! I'm not holding my breath...I'm sure she'll start wailing soon :)

Boston & Addison Updates

Well, it's been a while again, so I have lots of updates to share! From 2/18-2/21, I finally left Addison home alone with Daddy while Meredith and I went out to Boston to surprise Erin for her 30th birthday. I thought I would take leaving her a lot harder than I did, but I knew she was in good hands. My sisters and I had a blast and I can't believe we pulled off the surprise after keeping it a secret since Thanksgiving. Nat was quite the trooper and had the whole thing planned for us...I must say...he's either really good at keeping secrets or really good at lying :) Here are a couple pictures from our trip. To see all the pictures, visit the link to the full album just below.

Sissies outside "Cheers" Eno's birthday dinner at "The Melting Pot" Pooped after a long trip
Click here to visit the album

Boston 2009 (Eno's 30th Birthday)

Addison did great with Daddy while I was gone, though her schedule was a little messed up when I got back. Adam's more of a pushover than I am when it comes to "giving in" to what the baby wants :) Thanks to Sandra (her daycare lady) she was back on schedule within a day or so. Since getting home from Boston, we've been preparing for our trip to Cancun that we'll be taking with our friend Pat on 3/18-3/22. It may sound stupid, but our 10-year "dating" anniversary falls on 3/19, so we're excited to celebrate our being together for 10 years! I think it's pretty incredible since we starting dating in high school and Adam was gone quite a bit for the military.

Anyway, in getting ready for our trip, we've also been trying to get Addison ready too. Since she'll be home with Auntie Rissa and both sets of grandparents, we want to make sure that taking care of her is as easy as possible. To do that, we've officially transitioned her to her own room (it only took 5+ months) and we got her eating solids at least once a day. She is such a trooper that I can't believe how well she's taken to all the changes!

She started eating just rice cereal on 2/25, but really wasn't very good at it. We thought maybe physiologically she wasn't ready for solids yet...that is until we realized that she didn't like rice cereal alone all that much. On Monday of this week (3/2) we introduced apple sauce in her rice cereal and she absolutely can't get enough of it...that is until she gets full :) She still doesn't eat much quantity, but the amount she eats she takes pretty quickly and constantly has a gaping mouth waiting for more. I can't believe our little girl is growing up so fast!

After solids came moving her out of her co-sleeper in our room and into her crib in her own room. I knew this would definitely be harder on me than it would be on her since I've grown so used to being able to roll over and look at my little sweetheart anytime I want. We started her in her crib on Friday night and were suckers to her crying for 3 nights in a row. Either Adam or I would go upstairs, change her diaper, rock her a little bit, and then put her back down once she was sleepy again. This definitely had to stop!

After seeking advice from more a experienced parent (AKA my sister Meredith), we knew it was time to "cry it out". So, on Monday and Tuesday night, that's exactly what we did. She would wake up at 1:30am and we'd hear her on her monitor crying, but we wouldn't move an inch. After crying for an hour each night (which seemed more like an eternity), she successfully put herself back to sleep.

However, I knew something was a little fishy about why she was waking up crying. Each morning that I went to get her, she would be turned 180-degrees in her crib, laying on top of her blankets with her hands, legs, and feet super freezing. So, on Wednesday night, we decided to bundle our little baby up before bed and see if that would help. We kept her in socks and put her in her sleeper, then we put her in her fleece "sleep sack", and then we put her blankets on top of her. It sounds like a lot, but it's really not. And guess what?!? It totally worked! For the past two nights, she has slept perfectly! She barely moves from the position I originally put her in and she doesn't make a peep all night! Who would've thought that we didn't need to "cry it out" with her...she was just cold?!?

Here are some pictures of our big 5-month old...Enjoy!

"Baby Grumpis" home with daddy
She says, "Get me out of this tiny bed!" Cutest baby ever!!!So pooped from playing...she couldn't keep her eyes open!
(Looks like she takes after mommy...see the picture of me above from Boston!)

Addison's First Overnight!

We did it! We had our first night without Addison and I didn't cry once! Last night, Adam and I went to dinner and "Annie" at the Orpheum with Marrisa (my sister-in-law) and Ed (her boyfriend) for Valentine's Day. Because we knew the show wouldn't get over until well after Addison's bedtime, Adam's parents were kind enough to take her for the night. Thankfully, she had a great night and slept just as well in their crib as she does at home...10 HOURS! I'm not kidding...we pretty much have the best baby ever!

This is one of many overnights Addison will be having without us over the next couple months. We have babysitting lined up for two different nights in March and 5 full days while we're in Mexico. I'm just glad that I was able to get through it without being too crazy about it. We called once last night and once this morning. We knew she was in good hands with her Grandma & Grandpa, so we knew there wasn't much to worry about :)

Check out a couple of pictures we took of her before we left. If you notice the hat, this was a gift from Auntie Eno (my sister Erin) shortly after she was born. I'm so happy she's finally able to wear it while it's still cold out! Thank you Eno!!!

Mommy & Addison all dolled up!

Addison ready for her first overnight!

When it rains, it pours!

Well, if it's not one thing with Addison lately, it's something else. Over the past few weeks, not only has Addison been battling her UTI and a cold, but then on Tuesday (2/10) when I picked her up from daycare, she was covered head-to-toe in a rash. I've tried really hard not to be "that mom" that brings their kid to the doctor over every little thing, but I could not let this rash go without being checked out by a doctor. So off I went to urgent care (when all I wanted to do was go home and relax) and what did I find out? After 7 days of being on the "right" medication to take care of her UTI, she was finally having an allergic reaction. SERIOUSLY?!?! First she was put on a medication that couldn't kill the bacteria, then she was put on a medication that she was allergic to??? What are the chances?!?Anyway...the doctor recommended I take her off the meds and hope that the UTI had already resolved itself. So far, so good! Check out the picture just below of the rash on her face :( I might be kind of hard to see...sorry about that!
On a brighter note, Adam and I have been "working our plan" to try and finally lose my baby weight. After losing over half the weight I gained, I still have a ways to go. So, every evening, Adam and I go down to our workout room in the basement (that we've never really used, by the way) and work out for 20-30 minutes. Addison usually spends this time jumping in her jumperoo, but on this particular evening, all she wanted to do is walk with mama. It's surprising hard it is to strap that old weight back on and walk at a decent pace. She seemed to like it though, or at least it kept her from crying so we could actually work out!

Until next time!

All Clear!

Addison's appointment this morning at Children's Hospital went very well. Thankfully, she didn't have to be sedated at all!!! Her ultrasound appointment showed that her kidneys were a normal size and functioning properly. Her x-ray with contrast appointment showed that she is able to "void" her bladder completely without having any urine reflux back into her kidneys. Long story short, her urinary tract infection was not caused by any issues with her kidneys. So, what does that mean for Addison? We need to make sure she doesn't poop while she sleeps or that we get her changed when she does :)