Well... we have a walker! Yes, Addie is officially walking! Baby steps, of course... I can't put her down in the middle of Walmart and have her walk, but at home, with one of us across the room, she'll walk. Now we have to work on what to do when she falls. Since we worked backward here (walking before crawling), she needs to learn how to pull herself up once she's down. Needless to say, Mom and Dad are very proud :)
PS- Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the kitchen set. She loves it!

We had a nice weekend with Brandt's parents at the cabin. Nice to be away and relax! Our first night with Addie was rough, but after that, she slept like normal. Here are a few pictures. In a bit, we will be heading out to stay with Brandt's cousins for the week! Looking forward to it :) Again, I'd appreciate prayers that Addie adjusts to the new place quickly!

Addison and I have had a great week! We've stayed busy, but definitely got in some "just us" time too. Today we played in the pool. The sun warmed it up nicely, so she enjoyed being in it. We leave tonight for Hayward, WI... Brandt's dad won a weekend at a cabin, so we're heading there to enjoy it with them! Looking forward to relaxing on the boat :) Hopefully Addie will sleep ok in a new place...

I'm officially adjusted to this stay-at-home-mom business :) It has taken about two weeks, to be honest, but I'm happy to be at home now. I didn't know it would be so hard to not do anything at all! I'm just so used to working, leaving Addie at grandma's, having my "out"... so being at home with no agenda is very different. But we've gotten into a routine now, Addie and I. She's enjoying being at home (definitely a momma's girl these days!), and I'm enjoying every moment spent with her. Still no walking... working hard on it though!

We had Ana and Adam over last night and they bought Addie that toy you see in the first picture. She loves it! My mom took her today for a few hours, so I could have some free time.... it was nice :) She is soooo close to walking! Today she took 2 steps on her own walking toward me, and she later used the couch to walk alongside it. She's never done that before. And she just wants to be walking all the time, so I'm looking forward to the next week or two... she should be figuring it out! Then she won't be so bored and frustrated :)

A few pictures from Addie's birthday party with all the family today. She was very good, and I think everyone had a good time! She got some great gifts as well :) Thanks to everyone who joined us!!
A note to Kylee... this was one of the dresses you bought her... a perfect party dress! She looked adorable, so thank you!

Addie's 1st Birthday

Happy Birthday, baby girl! We love you so much -
Mom & Dad

Our day at the zoo was not all that I hoped it would be :) There were so many people there, we could barely get up to the animals. Many of the animals were sleeping, and Addie just wasn't interested. Maybe when she's older... She loved looking at the ducks, though! She was smiling and pointing... Funny thing, since she can see ducks every day in Grandma's back yard ;) So here is the one pic I managed to take from our outing. Fun times!! He he!
PS... We are really close to walking!! She stands on her own for a long time and can walk with only a couple of my fingers under her arms for support. And yesterday she lifted up her feet on her own while standing, but would just place them back down where they were before. This is progress!!!

B bought Addison a froggy pool, so we tried it out yesterday. Even after being filled for a day, the water was freezing, so Addie wasn't too thrilled. There is a sprinkler on the pool, so we turned that on and ran through it with her. She loved that!! She was ready to come inside though, put her p.j.'s on, and snuggle with her blankie. Today we're heading to Como Zoo... more pictures to come! Hope everyone's having a fabulous holiday :)

Just hanging out... Addie's almost a one-year-old!

To Phylee...



Love,
Addie

B and I had a date night last night for Mother's Day... kind-of ironic, I know... going out without the girl, but we spent today with her! For our date we went to Mall of America, ate, walked around, and shopped. Then we headed over to an old memorable place of ours- Pot O' Gold Bingo Hall :) We haven't been there in years, but it was one of our favorite things to do in college, so we went back to experience it again! Not much had changed... same Bingo caller, same people playing that did years ago (not kidding)... But no smoking, so that was nice! We felt out of place, but had a great time! AND my hubby won the very first game we played! A big $25.00! But it paid for our Bingo experience. He was very proud :) We had a fabulous evening.
Oh- Addie says, "Hi." She does... she says it ALL the time! It's real cute :)

An afternoon at the park :)

We spoke too soon... B got the flu last night! But now we should be good to go. He woke up today feeling much better. Not much else is going on... Celebrating Mother's Day with the Sorbel side tomorrow. And I have only 12 more school days with students... unbelievable!

My little dancer :)

Well, I think we may be done with flu season at the Sorbel household! It comes every three days, so today would be the day that Brandt would get it, but he has seemed to avoid it this time. Addie is feeling much better. I stayed home from school today, but will go back tomorrow. It was no fun!

HI/LO: My highs for the week are above... I got Addie's hair in pigtails (so cute!!) and my friend Amber had her second baby boy, Landon!
My low for the week... Addie had the stomach flu yesterday. She threw up so much, it was so sad :( Her diet yesterday consisted of PediaLyte and crackers by the end of the day. Thank goodness for the 24 hour bug, though, because she slept 12 hours last night and is acting completely normal today! I'll ease into the food... Oh the joys of parenting!

As we approach 11 months next week, my girlie still isn't crawling or walking and sometimes acts as if she never will! I know, I know... the time will come and I need to be patient and just enjoy the stage she's in- which I do everyday! This is by far my favorite age (I think I've said that before)...but I still get anxious that she'll learn to do the things she's supposed to be doing at this age. I work with her all the time on crawling and standing/walking, but she's just not getting it! She's doing everything else, though, the "book" says she should be doing at this age- using a sippy cup, picking up small things, rolling a ball back and forth, waving goodbye, and recognizing words. Just not the crawling. She is a bit chunky, though, if you haven't noticed by now :) so maybe that's holding her back. I'll continue being patient- the time will come and I'm sure I'll be wishing she would just stay in one place!!

Addison was dedicated yesterday at church. It was a wonderful dedication and she was very well-behaved! We had all our family and best friends there... what a great day!

My brother, Jeff, had these on his facebook. We never knew he took the pics! My daughter, the thug :)