BrianKaraAddison*Mckenzie

2012

2012-01-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping to a great year and more frequent blogging!

Super blogging mom.....not so much.

2011-12-07T10:24:00.001-08:00

So it has been brought to my attention that I haven't been the best at keeping up this blog....ok, I pretty much am awful at keeping it up. I keep telling Brian I want to be one of those super blogging moms....maybe one day. Anyhoo, here are the latest happenings in a nutshell: I quit my job at the end of September to stay at home full time and I LOVE it! Brian started with Bank of America in January and in October was approved to start working from home which means he commutes only one day a week....wooohooo! We love it! He starts at 8, is here at lunch and we get to eat dinner between 5:30 and 6....much better than the 7pm time we were averaging before. Addie is in preschool 2 days a week and loves it. She is obsessed with Christmas and LOVES the decorations and everything that has to do with Christmas. Every night when she sees our Christmas lights on the front of the house she squeals like it is the greatest thing she has ever seen! Kenzie is almost 16 months and is walking/running around. She is still as chunky as ever and is saying tons of words. There you have it. The last 7 months in one paragraph. We are doing an advent calendar and I have been taking pictures of each activity in the hopes of putting a small post each night with our activity. It is December 7th and you can see how that is working out. I am still going to try. Just have to download the pictures. Maybe later today? A girl can dream.

I can't post without pictures so here are some recents of the girls. :)

Kenzie doing her favorite past time.

Addie on a trip to Disney.

Hmmmm

2011-05-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

See a resemblance?

Busy busy

2011-05-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Can you believe your eyes? A new blog post? I'm sure most people have stopped checking this thing. My girls are definitely keeping me busy these days, but have a rare few moments so I actually made it to the computer to give a short update.

I have gotten a better handle on having 2 kids, but we are constantly running. Brian started a new job in January at Bank of America and with his commute to downtown LA, he has a longer work day than we were used to before. I went back to work (20 hours/week) at the end of December, and there isn't much time to get everything on the "to do" list accomplished. So, the blog kind of gets put on the back burner. Even though we are busy, we have had some time for fun. Mckenzie is now 8.5 months old and is a chunker! She has finally started sleeping through the night thanks to sleep training. It was so hard to start it, but it worked like a charm and we are a much happier family now that mom and dad are getting a full night of sleep! Addie had her 3rd birthday in March and is still talking about her princess party! Life has been busy, but we are so blessed to have 2 fun girls to keep it that way!

Cinderella very excited about her gifts!

Party wouldn't be complete without a pinata!

Cinderella wasn't the only princess at the party. Belle, Tinkerbell, and Mulan also made appearances!

And here is the AMAZING cake my MOM made for Addie!! She took a cake decorating class and really outdid herself!!! It took 6 cake mixes and LOTS AND LOTS of hours of decorating. I don't think I can top it next year for Addie's 4th birthday!

Can you believe how chunky this girl has gotten?

She is such a happy baby!

Can't believe she has had already hit 8 months!

Chips

2010-11-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

These days, life has been CRAZY! I love my babies, but the adjustment to have 2 kids was so much harder than I expected. Mckenzie has had some issues with nursing and without going into all the details I have had to spend a great deal of time with either my sweet girl attached to me or hooked up to a breast pump. So, I have had to learn to let things go. My house is dirtier than it's ever been, Addie's hair doesn't get done very much. My car is a disaster with toys and trash strewn throughout. I haven't blogged in almost 3 months. I finally downloaded pictures from my camera (the last download was 9/19). I'm lucky if I get a shower everyday and brush my teeth. Shaving my legs is a thing of the past. I never got a birth announcement out for Mckenzie and still haven't written my thank you cards for all the gifts I received (i know that's bad). And finally, when signing up for the potluck at Addie's preschool instead of signing up for some cool dessert I could whip up or some delicious specialty, salad or side dish like all the other moms, I signed up for CHIPS. I was the only one who took the easy route. But, my item was the only one completely gone with none to bring home. CHIPS describes my life these days. :)

Here are a few photos of the craziness and fun we've had with our sweet, sweet Mckenzie and big sis Addie.

Addie says "Mommy, I want to pump my boobies too!" There has been a lot of pumping going on around here.

A fun visit to the El Dorado duck pond

I got a smiling picture

Mckenzie's Baby Blessing ----- 10/10/10

Lots of naps with Dad!

And a sweet video of my sweet sweet girl!

Early Arrival

2010-08-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

Our little girl was due Sept 7 but decided she couldn't wait. So, I got out of work one day earlier than I had planned and had a healthy baby girl instead of going to work. :)

Mckenzie Brianne
Born: August 19,2010
6lb 4 oz
18.5 in

2010-08-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

Anatomy

2010-04-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

We had our 20 week ultrasound last week and dun dun dun......

It's another girl!!!

We are really excited and so happy Addie gets a sister! Not sure if I will be so excited about this during the teenage years. You'll have to check back to the blog then. But in the meantime we're thrilled and Brian is totally excited to be completely outnumbered by all his girls!

Happy Easter

2010-04-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! We had fun coloring eggs and finding them and then eating the candy!

Time is flying

2010-03-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

Addie had her 2nd birthday on Saturday and had a great time. I can't believe it has already been 2 years since she joined our family. We had a small get together with family and a couple of friends complete with a jumper (which we got to use for free...woohoo!), pinata, face painting (thanks Cece!), and sidewalk chalk! Please tell me that the rest of her growing up will be a little slower than the first 2 years....i may be changing my tune during the teenage years though huh?

She was so cute and CLEAN at the beginning of the party
(didn't last)

By the end, she had rubbed sidewalk all over her face and clothing, lost her hair clips, and was exhausted!
(although she looks upset, this is her saying "cheese")

My attempt at a monkey cake and cupcakes to appease those who didn't want anything to do with the animal. Addie LOVED having a monkey cake and made monkey sounds all day.

Happy Birthday to Addison!

Cousins and pals!

A long break...

2010-02-28T20:16:00.000-08:00

I haven't forgotten about my blog, just been really, really, really tired and not feeling so well the last couple of months. The last thing I wanted to do was get on the computer and update my blog. So, I'm back. So why the long break? Well, we're having baby #2!!!!! Thus explaining the really, really, really tired and not feeling well. But, I'm finally starting to feel alive again and am really excited about this new addition. We keep asking Addie if she wants a boy baby or a girl baby, and she repeats whatever gender we have said second. I think she'll just be happy with a baby! Baby is due Sept 7 and we are all ecstatic!

Traditions

2009-12-13T07:45:00.000-08:00

We just had our Christmas Party at church last night and tried to participate in the age old tradition of having our child see Santa. I was hoping Addie would be cooperative and we could snap a cute picture of her smiling wide eyed on Santa's lap. Not so much!

Why do we torture our kids? Notice Addie with the death grip on Brian's shirt. We never got her on Old Saint Nick's Lap.

Luckily Santa snuck up behind us before he left. Addie didn't know he was behind her. At least we got one smiling picture.

She was definitely happy to see him go. Hopefully this girl will learn she's got to butter him up for the goods!

Decorating Contest

2009-12-06T22:28:00.000-08:00

Addie's tree decorating job.
(the cluster approach)

Brian and my decorating job.
(the balanced approach)

You be the judge!!

Really?

2009-12-06T22:26:00.000-08:00

Is this really the most comfortable spot to watch Sesame Street???

Bedrock

2009-11-09T14:14:00.001-08:00

Introducing the Flinstones and the Rubbles!

Isn't she a cute Pebbles?

But, Pebbles wouldn't be complete without Bam Bam!

Ahh...Fall

2009-10-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

Fall??? Yeah right!!! I was so excited to visit a local pumpkin patch and have some fun picking out a pumpkin with Addie, a couple of her friends (Abby and Laney), and Addie's cousin Jaxon. Ok, so my hopes and dreams were demolished by the 90° heat, craziness of 2 toddlers running around and the rough terrain. Let's just say we had no fun and I was so hot I could feel sweat dripping behind my knees. To top it off, we couldn't find our camera before, so luckily Aunt Kelly had her's and snapped a couple of pics. I don't think we'll be visiting the pumpkin patch next year unless it really IS fall weather.

Addie and Jaxon
(looks nice right? wrong!! we were dying!)

Our one group shot of the kids
(notice only 6 year old Abby is smiling.)

When is fall REALLY arriving????

No news is good news

2009-10-04T22:04:00.001-07:00

Nothing new to report. Nothing exciting going on. The weather is cooling off. It's getting darker earlier. Addie is getting so big. AND my FAVORITE time of the year is coming...the Christmas Season! I absolutely love Christmas music and would listen to it all year long, but Brian won't let me. I'm one of the crazy's that loves it when KOST plays Christmas music all day everyday for an entire month. I know, I know, kind of annoying. So, our agreement is that I can listen from October 1 to the end of the year. It's time to break out the Christmas CD's! Wahoo! Anyway, here's a recent pic of Addie. She such a big girl...and is developing an attitude already. I am in so much trouble during the teenage years!

I'm just lazy...

2009-08-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write something on here for awhile, but I have no good excuse, just lazy. I really have nothing exciting to write about and nothing clever to say. So, I'll just post a few pix of my sweetness. Here are all the fun things we've been doing this summer.

Watched way too many Laker games!

Fed the ducks at El Dorado Park

Got passes to the LA Zoo

Made lots of messes

Started Gymnastics

Sprayed mommy with the hose

Went swimming

Used daddy as my primary mode of transportation.

Went to the beach for the first time!!!

Played with my cousin Jaxon

And there's still another month of summer! Woohoo!

My new favorite place

2009-06-14T21:58:00.001-07:00

It doesn't matter where Addie is in the house when the fridge is opened, she's comes running as fast as she can and sits herself down in her new favorite spot. I've almost closed the fridge on her a couple of times because she's so sneaky fast. :) I love this age!

Negotiations and Independence

2009-05-31T23:21:00.000-07:00

Addie was a great eater until she had to move from breast milk to solids. She is so picky that we are always trying to change things up to try and get her to eat more foods. So, it has come to negotiating (as much as you can with a 14 month old) and giving her independence. The problem is, she is way too smart and WAY too messy for either of these things to become a habit.

An inside look at real life negotiations with a toddler.
I'm trying to get her to eat some whole wheat bread.
p.s. - cheeto's are not usually part of her diet (although she would love them to be!)

The results of allowing her to try and feed herself a little bit of sweet potatoes! While she is distracted trying to feed herself the spoonful we give her, we quickly shove the rest of it in her mouth. Pretty successful, but not if we want to go anywhere after she eats.

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

I loved Mother's Day! Brian didn't have ANY meetings at church and got to come home with me instead of stay for the normal 1.5 - 2 hours after. He made me breakfast (3 different items because I couldn't decide what I wanted), cleaned up the house on Saturday night so it would be clean on Sunday AND kept it clean all day ( i woke up this morning to a perfectly clean house...it was awesome!!!). He made me dinner. And, the best part.....responded with "whatever you want, it's your day" all day long. Isn't he wonderful?? I love my husband!! I think we should turn this into Mother's Week. Who's with me?????

The Chef

The first meal
Egg Sandwhich and an omlet.
(we split everything)

The second meal
Homemade waffles with strawberries and raspberry puree...mmmm.

My two favorite people!

She is talking a bit now and her favorite word is duck. She says duck while scrunching her face and with a big smile!

Addie and mommy after church.

I did it...

2009-04-19T00:10:00.000-07:00

After months of Brian nagging me I finally did it...I joined facebook. Don't tell him, but I really like it and am already addicted. I usually check my email 2 - 3 times a week, but today I checked it like 5 times because I was so excited to see who wanted to be my friend. Ridiculous.

Bad blogging mommy

2009-04-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Everyday I say I am going to update my blog and everyday I don't. So, here is a short post to tell you what's happened the last month. Maybe one day I'll be a cool blogging mom with cute wall paper and something clever to say. In the meantime here's what I got...

Addie had her first birthday (March 13).

We got Disney passes.

Addie is almost walking.
(She is much faster and more independent with the walker, but again, I am a bad blogging mommy and have not downloaded the latest pictures and videos from my camera. Now she is taking about 5-7 steps without a walker...nice and controlled too I might add!)

And I got a pedicure today for the first time in a year!! Wahoo!!
(sorry no picture...i HATE my feet)

Freeman Family Pictures

2009-03-02T22:36:00.000-08:00

In January we had family pictures taken with the Freemans for the first time in 7 years. The last time I had just come home from my mission, my younger brother was about to leave for his, and it was right before I met Brian. So, we finally took pictures at Seal Beach with our amazing photographer from our wedding, Kaelene Petersen. Of course, she didn't let us down and captured some awesome moments with my family. If you want to check out her work, click on her name and it will take you to her site . Now, enjoy the show!!

The Scavenger

2009-02-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

How come Addie won't eat what I put on her clean high chair, but she'll eat anything on the floor???

Hmmmmm....what's this?

Looks like food to me! Yum!

Gross Alert, I repeat Gross Alert!!!! One time after coming in from out side, Brian found her moving something towards her mouth. He swatted at her hand before she got the object in her mouth and was horrified to find a wiggling silk worm on the floor!! Why? Why? Why?

Yeah!!!

2009-02-18T22:13:00.001-08:00

I am now working part time! Yeah!!! Brian started a new job 3 weeks ago and I am now able to work 3 days a week! He works Mon, Wed, Fri and I work Tues, Wed Thurs. Addie gets to go to our friends house (The Arroyos) every Wednesday and she absolutely loves it! They have a 5 year old girl (Abby) and a 21 month old girl (Lanie) who Addie adores. She has always loved being around other kids, but she is in hog heaven having a playmate for an entire day. So, we couldn't be happier with our new schedule and feel sooooo incredibly blessed that Brian was able to find a job during this horrible economic crisis. Now, I will finally get to spend more time with my baby girl and maybe, just maybe find a hobby. Currently, I am liking the photoshop thing. This picture was at the Santa Ana Zoo on Saturday and I couldn't resist posting it.

Home Ownership

2009-02-16T19:34:00.000-08:00

Brian and I have lived in our house for about 2.5 years and are still very much in the process of making home improvements. Since the day we moved in, I have hated the carpet in our family room. Most of the house has beautiful hard wood, but the family room had this awful forest green patterned carpet that had yellow bleach spots and felt like sand paper. When we had Addie we swore we would replace it before she was able to roll around or crawl on it. Well, she's been rolling for months and luckily was a late crawler (she was 10 months) and we FINALLY replaced it. We also painted (the previous walls were yellow complete with stains where the previous owners had hung pictures), replaced the ceiling fan and put in new baseboards. Now, we just have to finish putting new trim on the windows, hang the curtain rods and curtains we have, and figure out what we want to do with the brick shelving. I LOVE OUR NEW CARPET!!! It feels like heaven! Addie loves it too. Now maybe one of these days I will find the energy and the time to take down the fruit wall paper in the kitchen!!

Before

After!!!!

Before carpet, paint and furniture that is comfortable and actually matches.

After! I also love our couch. It's so comfy and fits so many people.

Yet another angle before:

Final after!!

Not possible!

2009-01-14T22:30:00.000-08:00

I didn't think it was possible, but Addison gets cuter and cuter every day!! How did we get so lucky?

Christmas goes WAY too fast!!!

2008-12-30T22:23:00.001-08:00

Every year I start listening to Christmas music in October, buy my new wrapping paper in September and get our tree pretty quick after Thanksgiving. I can't wait for our many stops on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Then before I realize it's Christmas, it's OVER and I'm so depressed that I have to wait a whole year before it gets here again....waaaahhhhh! But, we had a great Christmas and Addie did too. She had fun opening presents and is excited to have new toys. We haven't really bought her any toys and frequently are scolded because we give her measuring cups, spoons or other household objects to play with. So, now she actually has real age appropriate toys to play with...thanks family!!!

Family pic in front of the tree

Addie and mommy

Freeman Family 2008
Addie enjoying a new toy

Family pic and Addie not interested in smiling..

Addie loves her cousin Jaxon!

Wahoo!!! I get to rip it open!!!
Toys???

Yeah!!! Real toys!!!!

Costello Family 2008

Busy, busy, busy

2008-12-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has taken me so long to put an update on this thing. My favorite time of the year is here and I can't wait until Christmas. Here are a few pictures of my quickly growing baby girl. She is already 9 months old!!! She has now officially been out of my belly longer than she was in it. Time sure has flown. I just keep falling more and more in love with her!

Helping with Laundry

She loves to be naked!

Her hair is finally long enough to put in ponies.

Playing at Grammy and Papa's house.

We went to a friend's superhero birthday party. We were from the x-men. Brian was Wolverine, I was Rogue and Addie was night Crawler. Mark was Quailman from the cartoon Doug, and Kristina was the cheerleader from Heros.

The last 2 months

2008-11-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

So, I've been a really busy and have been bad about posting new pix. So, you get two posts in one night. I finally downloaded all the pictures from my camera and 270 images later, they are finally on my hard drive. Here are a few moments from the last two months.

My happy girl...

Addie and both of her grandpa's with her "I love grandpa" onesie and her grandpa's with the hats she got them for Father's Day.

Addie started eating food a couple of months ago and is finally liking it. There was a little while we thought this kid wasn't going to like anything but breastmilk!

She also loves her cool walker and loves being outside.

We are very fortunate to live right next door to Brian's sister Kelly and her husband Kevin. They had their baby boy Jaxon in July and the two get to see each other everyday. Addie LOVES it when Jaxon comes over and we sometimes have to keep her from attacking him. She usually screams and gets very excited when Kelly walks in with him. Here they are in their cool coordinating rockband outfits Auntie Kelly got them from Old Navy.

Addie got to spend time with her cousins Jason, Tyler, Josh and Brie!

Back to Normal and Halloween Fun!

2008-11-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

So, luckily, I didn't have to stay on the the no sugar diet for too long. After 2 weeks of torture, none of the symptoms had gone away. The doctor did a culture to see if I had a bacterial infection and it came back negative. Nobody knows what's wrong. So, I've been back on sugar for 2 weeks and am not any worse than I was before...yay! For now I am stable and have one sore left and a little bit of burning after I nurse Addie. I guess I will just keep going unless I get worse. But, let me tell you something; our brains NEED sugar!!! I was going absolutely crazy (just ask Brian)!!! I did not handle the no sugar thing very well, and everyone around me knew it. Now I'm back to normal and am actually enjoying eating again.

On a happier note, Addie had her first Halloween and had a great time. She was a ladybug and was so adorable. Brian's Aunt Judy made her costume and it couldn't be cuter. We went to our ward trunk-or-treat party and she LOVED being around all the kids. She had a great time.

Our little ladybug!

Her wings were detachable!

Too cute...

Family pic at the ward activity. Brian was a laker fan and I was tired.

Addie with her cousin Jaxon and Uncle Kevin. Aunt Judy made Jaxon's devil costume too!

What???? NO SUGAR?!?

2008-10-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

WARNING....this post is not so rosy, and may gross some of you out. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. Since the end of August I have been dealing with an infection related to breastfeeding called "thrush." Thrush is basically a yeast infection that thrives in warm moist places and commonly happens to babies and moms during breastfeeding. The baby will get small blisters in her mouth and moms will get very sore and painful breasts in the process. Originally I thought Addie was just changing the way she latches on and that's why I was sore, chapped and peeling (can you say ouch?), but then I would get intense burning shooting pains following nursing. So, I decided I should actually go to the doctor to see if anything could be done. Well, Addie had a couple of blisters on each side of her mouth and the chapped, red, painful cuts (along with the burning shooting pains) I had were definitely thrush. So, I learned all about how to get rid of this horrible infection and hoped for the best. Addie and I were both put on medication. I had to throw out over half of the milk supply I had built up in our freezer and couldn't keep and of the milk I would pump at work for more than a day because it was loaded with the infection. Not to mention the fact that I was in excruciating pain EVERY TIME I would feed Addie and pump at work. I was told the infection would be gone in about 4-5 days and that a couple days after that I could start keeping all of my milk again. So, we started the meds and it worked within 3 days for Addie. Me on the other hand is a different story. So here I am 6 weeks later, 3 rounds of medication later and it is still not gone! It is definitely not as bad as it was in the beginning, but my left side can't seem to get rid of it. So, the only way to kick this things is horrible. NO SUGAR OF ANY KIND in my diet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, NO CARBS!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!! So, I have to stick to this thing for at least 6 weeks but probably more like 2-3 months. Once all my symptoms are gone, I have to do this for at least another month and then I can SLOWLY work sugar and carbs back into my diet. So until then, my plight is vegetables, cheese, meats, eggs, hummus and some raw nuts. The good news is, I will probably lose some weight. I have been doing this for exactly 1 week and have eaten more vegetables this week than I have in the last year. I feel like I'm going to turn green! So next time you have pasta, potatoes or any kind of delicious sugar filled dessert, please savor every bite for me! Hopefully the next few months will fly by! :(

Vacation...yay!!!

2008-09-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

We have had the most insane summer of our lives, and we were finally able to get away from it all for Labor Day Weekend. We were lucky enough to spend some time in a condo on the beach in Oceanside with my mom, brother Mark and his wife Kristina. It was our first time going away with a baby and of course we brought WAY too much stuff, but had a great time away from all of our responsibilities. Addie went in the pool and the ocean for the first time and she loved it. Of course we are psycho and documented every moment of being in the water with videos and pictures for your viewing pleasure. Please prepare by putting on sunglasses to shield your eyes from my pasty white skin. Addie already has more color than me and she has never been tan. Lucky girl got her dad's coloring.

Addie's first swimsuit...she's ready for the pool!

Addie loving the water with mom.

All warmed up in her cover-up and towel.

This is what humidity does to her hair as if it wasn't crazy enough.

The Gang at the pool.

Venturing into the pacific

Family pic on the coast...like Brian's scruff?? He's on a strike from shaving.
We couldn't get Addie to look at the camera and we were sick of looking stupid trying to take our own picture so we gave up trying to get her attention.

We tried...

2008-08-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like Addie is just going to have to excel in academics or sports or some other thing worthy of a college scholarship. Thanks to everyone who voted but unfortunately, Addie did not make it to the finals of the contest. :( So, looks like we'll have to come up with some other scheme to pay for college. Thanks again! I can't post something without a picture, so here's a picture of my beautiful baby. Can you believe she is already 5 months old?

The Final Round

2008-08-14T09:22:00.001-07:00

Another BIG thank you to everyone that voted in Round 3 for the 104.3 myfm beautiful baby contest. Unfortunately again, we did not win round 3, so our last chance is round 4. If you have time, we would appreciate it if you would take a minute one LAST TIME . Addie is Contestant 11 again this week under the "Aa - An" category. It's the same picture as the previous 2 weeks. Thanks again for your time. I'll let you know if she wins and make her in debt to you forever!!! Our last hope if she doesn't win this week is for Tori Spelling to pick her as the wild card winner. I guess we'll see what happens. Thanks for your support everyone!!Here's the link again:

http://www.1043myfm.com/pages/beautifulbabycontest/index.html

Thanks a million!

2008-08-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

So this is what Brian and Addie do while I'm out working....I think "working from home" is Brian's cover up! They're having way too much fun without me!

Addie helping Daddy with emails.

Going out for a walk.

I came home from work one day and found Addie and Daddy out back playing on the swing set. Addie LOVED it!

Holding on to dad!

Just looking too cute!

Round 3!!!

2008-08-06T22:50:00.001-07:00

A BIG thank you to everyone that vote for everyone last week for the 104.3 myfm beautiful baby contest. Unfortunately we did not win round 2, but we are trying to win round 3. If you have time, we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to vote in round 3. Addie is Contestant 11 this week under the "Aa - An" category. It's the same picture as last week. Thanks again for your time. I'll let you know if she wins and make her in debt to you forever!!! If for some unknown reason she happens to not win round 3 we have one last chance in round 4 and I'll be posting one more time for this next week. Thanks for your support everyone!!

Here's the link again:
http://www.1043myfm.com/pages/beautifulbabycontest/index.html

Thanks!

Vote for Addison!

2008-07-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

104.3 My FM is having a beautiful baby contest so of course we had to enter Addie. There are 4 rounds to the competition, and we didn't make it into round 1, but we are entered into round 2, 3 and hopefully round 4. So, we need your help to vote for Addie so she can win a $20,000 college fund!! Here is the link:

http://www.1043myfm.com/pages/beautifulbabycontest/index.html

Go to the "A" category to see Addison's picture. She is under "Addison" and is contestant 12. To vote, click on vote under the "A" category and choose CONTESTANT 12. You can vote once for every valid email address you have.

We appreciate your vote! We need your help with all 3 rounds. The voting is as follows:
Round 2: July 30 - Aug 3
Round 3: Aug 6 - Aug 10
Round4: Aug 13 - Aug 17

Here is the picture we entered. We will keep you updated to let you know if she makes the finals! THANKS A BUNCH!!!!

Hiatus

2008-07-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

I have not purposefully taken a hiatus from blogging, just been super busy. We have had a CRAZY month and haven't spent much time at the computer. After 4 months of bliss with my baby I went back to work June 30 full time....wahhh! But, we are really blessed because Brian is able to work from home so he can take care of Addie...wahoo!!! It's been a really tough transition for Brian and I (well, mostly for me), but Addie is happy as a clam. Some days she lets her daddy get some work done and others she requires a bit more attention. I'm slowly getting back into things at work and am now surviving without tearing up when I treat one of the cute little babies on my caseload. On a happy note, Addie is now in her own room in her crib and is sleeping through the night most of the time....she's such a good baby. She is also the most talented baby in the world...she can roll from her back to her stomach AND she eats her toes!!! Have you ever heard of a 4 month old doing this??? I think not!! :)

Here is my talented little girl in action!
(she was a bit cranky during the making of this film)

Addie happy as a clam.

The results of Brian's first week at home....ewwwwwww!

Happy Addie!

2008-06-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

Addie is smiling all the time and thought everyone would enjoy some new pictures of her. Enjoy!

Brian to Dean Cain

2008-06-06T13:41:00.001-07:00

So apparently Brian's celebrity look-alike is Dean Cain...cool huh? I always loved the show Lois and Clark!!

Kara to Katherine Heigl

2008-06-06T13:34:00.001-07:00

Katherine Heigl? I would have never guessed she is my look-alike!

Check out your celebrity look-alike at http://www.myheritage.com

Costello Look-alike Meter

2008-06-06T13:18:00.001-07:00

My friend Amy posted this look-alike meter on her blog for her boys and I thought it was so cool so I decided to try it. Everyone says Addie is a good mix of the 2 of us, but that she looks more like Brian. I guess they're right! If you want to try it out, go to http://www.myheritage.com and upload your pix. It's fun!

RIP Mrs. Potts

2008-05-31T16:08:00.001-07:00

When I graduated from High School way back in 1997, I was very fortunate and my parents bought me a car. I had received a scholarship from CSULB, so my parents decided that since they didn't have to pay tuition, they would instead buy me a car. Having a car also meant I didn't have any excuse not visit them on weekends....Long Beach and Fontana are not that far from each other when you're driving. So, we looked around and found the perfect college student car, a 1995 4-door Honda Civic. It was only 2 years old, but it already had 75,000 miles on it and a lot of quirky things the previous owner has done to "improve"the car. There were power windows added in the front (only the passenger side worked, the driver side was manual), the windows were tinted (which soon began to bubble up), and it had an alarm that honked to horn when you pressed the button (it was the wimpiest sounding thing ever). Despite these quirks, I loved it!!! The body and interior were in great condition and I had my own car! I decided that I would keep it until the wheels fell off or it died. Well, the wheels have not fallen off, but Mrs. Potts (my name for the car....as in the fat little tea pot from Beauty and the Beast) has died. We have had 11 good years together! She was there when I left for college, received my mission call, graduated from college, got married, graduated from grad school, started my first "real job", and when Addie was born. She held out as long as she could. She will now be sold to some other lucky person who can fix her to work again as I move on to my upgrade. Mrs. Potts has been replaced.....hallelujah!!!! After11 years, that car has taken a beating as well as given others a good beating (including hitting a cyclist outside of CSULB....that's a whole other blog entry). She's old!!!!! The paint is oxidizing, she takes about 10 minutes in the morning before her heater works, and 10 minutes in the dead of summer before the a/c actually feels cold, she's loud on the freeway, had dents, scratches and cracks all over!!!! I have been waiting for her to kick the bucket for a while and she just kept going! Honda's last forever!!! Mrs. Potts has been good to me over the years and I am grateful for her, but soooooooooooo excited to have a new car! Well, it's a used car, but new to me. My parents bought a new Toyota Prius and sold their 2002 Lexus ES 300 to us! Leather seats, sunroof, dual climate control, keyless entry, 6 disc CD changer..... need I say more....I'm in heaven! I feel so ostentatious in this car, but I'm over it. I love it! Now I need a name for her and then I can drive this one into the ground too! Rest in peace Mrs. Potts!

Mrs. Potts
(dents in the hood from that pesky biker that decided to ride out in front of us at CSULB)

Backside view...it's hard to see the crappy paint, but you can see some of the bad paint in the bumper.

My new ride!!!!

Isn't she beautiful !!!!

Addie's Blessing

2008-05-15T09:11:00.001-07:00

So, I'm a little late posting this, but better late than never. Addie was blessed in church on Sunday May 4 bright and early at 8am. Gotta love 8am church...are you catching the hint of sarcasm? Anyways, Brian did a great job blessing her of course, and all of our family and friends came to our house afterwards for a brunch. I made two kinds of quiche, potatoes and had fruit, muffins, bagels and homemade bread. Luckily, everything turned out fine. In the morning before church, my lovely oven decided to turn off in the middle of cooking the quiches and I didn't find out until I went to take them out of the oven...ugghhh!! I still had more quiches to put in the oven, but wasn't going to have time to finish the half cooked ones and still cook the others. I had a momentary freak out, but thankfully, my mom was here and she came home early from church to finish everything up. Have I mentioned church is at 8am? It was an early crazy morning, but everything turned out fine and Addison received a beautiful first blessing from her father. It turned out great!

Everyone who attended the blessing!
(Minus my parents - - they left a little early to get the rest of the food ready)
Addie in her white dress and fast asleep.

Addie and her Daddy...

My parents and all of their grandchildren...the other four are my brother's cute kids.
(Left - right....Brie, Grammie, Addie, Jason, Papa, Joshua, & Tyler)

The cousins having fun with bubbles...Brie, Tyler, and Isabella (Brian's brother's daughter)

Grandma Junell and Auntie Kelly (Kelly's baby boy is due in July!)
Papa and Brian relaxing out back.

Cousins Tyler and Blake

Cousin Joseph having fun with bubbles.

Bath Time!!

2008-04-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know if all newborns hate baths, but Addie swore Brian and I were committing a crime every time we gave her a bath. Well, since the first bath, we have learned how to keep her from screaming bloody murder and maybe even enjoy being clean. She even struck a pose in her bathtub for the camera. She just gets cuter everyday!

The towel on the tummy keeps her warm and
very nicely keeps her modest for the camera!

She's so happy that she's out of the tub
in warm in her towel

Yay, I'm clean!!

The Jelly Belly Game

2008-04-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

50 flavors??? I don't know whose job it is to come up with all the flavors, but there are way too many flavors than should be allowed for a jelly bean.

So, one night my brother-in-law, Kevin and I were playing "guess the flavor." What idiot decided that popcorn or cappucino would be a good flavor for candy. Anyways, we had our fun of trying to figure out the flavors and then our game was over. I carefully put all the beans back in the jar and thought I correctly screwed on the lid. Well, thought is the key word. I have never really been graceful, I'm uncoordinated when I dance, and never claimed to be a ballerina, so the following ensued...

That jar was 3/4 way full!!!! Can you say ooops? Needless to say, we found jelly bellies in crevices for many days following the incident.

My Favorite Things

2008-04-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

Since joining the world of motherhood, I have found a few new favorite things.

This bouncing vibration chair takes Addie from.....

this to....

to this in about 5 seconds!

She will sleep for hours in her fancy swing!!!

I know people say babies don't need a wipe warmer, but Addie does so much better when her wipes are warm instead of freezing cold on her bum. Try wiping your bum in the middle of the night with a cold wipe and see if you like it!

My glider is so comfy for me and helps me put Addie to sleep. And, I feel like I'm in a Downey Softener commercial when I rock her during the day with the sunlight on those curtains. All I need is that little teddy bear to pop up somewhere and land on a stack of freshly cleaned towels...ha ha.

Addie's first play date!

2008-04-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

So on my first day by myself, my good friend Amy brought me lunch and her baby boy Carson to play with Addie. Carson was born exactly one month before Addie and this was our first time meeting him. The babies were so cute together and actually cooperated quite nicely so Amy and I could catch up with each other. They were awake together, ate at the same time and both fell asleep after lunch. What a great first play date. We'll definitely have to plan more of them. Thanks Amy!

They're already holding hands....

The real test!

2008-04-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

I have been really fortunate since Addie was born to have Brian (the first week) or my mom (weeks 2 and 3) here with me to help with her. It was so nice to have another set of hands to change diapers, grab my boppy or watch her so I could take a shower. So of course all good things come to an end and I found myself and Addie by ourselves wondering if we would survive with just the two of us. Luckily, we survived the day and our first week. Each day I was so happy to see Brian when he got home from work, and I know he was happy to be home with his baby girl. Addie and I both survived, I actually managed to take a shower everyday, and even squeezed in some naps. So, I think I passed for the first week anyway!

Addie and her Grammie!

Addie and her Daddy

We survived!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T11:09:00.001-07:00

Well, we survived our first weekend as parents with the help of Kara's mom, and are totally loving it. Brian's sister Kelly got Addie this outfit and we put it on her last night for a pre-St. Patrick's Day Dinner with Brian's family.

She's here!!

2008-03-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

Addison Kate Costello arrived happy and healthy on March 13, 2008 @ 8:26 am. She weighed in at 8lbs 8oz and measured 20 1/2 inches.

We're not biased or anything, but she is the most gorgeous baby on earth. Look! The pictures prove it! We can't wait to put bows and other hair accessories in her beautiful full head of hair.

Brian is in love again. He can't stop staring at her and saying, "Wow! Shes' ours!"

After lunch food coma!!

The Costello Family ready to go home from the hospital. We look a little tired huh?

Addie is bundled up and ready to come home from the hospital. (Friday night March 14)

Addie staring at mom this morning after her feeding. See! We told you she is beautiful!!

From couple to family...

2008-03-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

So today is the last day Brian and I will be a couple. Our last day kid free, we had our last night with uninterrupted sleeping, and our last day of just the two of us. Scary thoughts, but I am so excited to finally have a baby to make us a family and my husband a dad...he's waited for so long. We can't wait to meet this girl and finally give her a name. Tonight we check into the hospital to be induced and finally get this girl going. I guess she is taking after her mom instead of her dad and taking all the time in the world to get here. Hopefully this picture is the last time she'll be photographed inside my tummy. Wish us luck!

Worst bloggers in history!

2008-03-05T14:11:00.001-08:00

So, we just may be the worst bloggers in the history of blogging. I have no good excuse, just busy. But, now that I am finally off of work and ready for this baby, I have no excuses not to update this thing. So here's a quick update of the last 3 months. We had our last holiday season kid free, our 5 year wedding anniversary in Jan, my 29th birthday in Jan, finally finished the baby's room (that was fun...not really), learned how to put a carseat in the car, realized our daughter has more shoes, clothes, and stuff than she'll ever need and are now just waiting, waiting and waiting for this girl to get here. By the way, lets hope the modern world of technology is right and this baby is really a girl, because if not, our son is really going to have to be open minded in his clothing selections!

Are we ready for this?

2007-11-14T21:04:00.000-08:00

So, after reading so many other peoples blogs, we finally decided it would be fun to create our own. A quick update for everyone: I am working as a pediatric physical therapist for orange county, Brian is running his own business (ease e-waste an electronics recycling company), we live in Long Beach, CA and we are expecting our first baby (a girl) in March 2008. Hopefully, we won't be flakes and will keep you all updated on life. So, the question isn't are we ready for blogging, but are we really ready for this baby girl? More to come!

Brian*Kara*Addison*Mckenzie