A Very Merry Christmas

This year Christmas was a blast. Addison is at the age where she understands what is going on. We left cookies and milk out for Santa and she was delighted that he ate and drank everything the next morning. In fact I still get to hear about that. We celebrated Christmas a day early at our house and then spent Christmas Eve in Bozeman. It was a blast. It's so wonderful that Addie is at the age where she can play with her cousins and I don't have to watch her constantly. She still gets a little rough but is improving when she plays with others. She is just a very intense child. Bozeman was a lot of fun. The food was amazing, we all slept great, we got to go swimming and play cards, board games and rock band to our hearts content!

We did get some family photos this year which was a disaster! Addison would not smile. She just screamed and cried the whole time. It took some major photo shop to get them to look alright.

We also have had some great new additions to our lives. Chase (Justin's best friend) and his wife had a baby. The baby got flown from Bozeman to Missoula because of complications, but is doing a lot better. It's a great feeling being able to serve them in such a scary time! And my brother had there second kid. It's a boy and they named him Aiden (I'm not sure on the spelling yet). It seems like it is the month to have babies with three more of my friends having additions! When they are amazingly smiley babies like Brynn it makes it so much fun!

We had a great 2008 and are looking forward to a devine 2009!

Catching Up...

Brynn in her blessing dress courtesy of Auntie Frances

Brynn & Auntie Em

Well here is a quick catch up blog. Thanksgiving was awesome. My family got to come up and spend our first thanksgiving in our house. It was a blast! Emily and I went Black Friday shopping. Really we went to be wild and crazy. That day was non stop action with shopping, movie watching (the girls saw Twilight and LOVED it) and swimming to top it off. That Saturday we blessed Brynn and had the whole Winward clan come up. Justin counted 25 + people in our house. Addie went nuts with her cousins. It was good to see so much family in one weekend.

The Winwards

A few other highlights Addie & Brynn got to go to there first collegiate basketball game. I had some old teammate from MSU call up and got us tickets to the game. It was retired collegiate athelete verses University of Montana. And I got to see an old high school baller Ms. Mina Johnsen. It was a blast to see some good ole friends! We are in the third week of potty training. Addie loves to go potty and say TA DA! She's in pull-ups and I am impressed with how well she is doing. I'm not confident enough to put her in underwear, but maybe in a few more weeks. We are still working on going number 2. That is a road block, I hear, for many children.

Brynn and Addie remain great friends. Every time Addie is near Brynn see smiles and watches her intently. And Addie is still so sweet with her. Honestly it's like they have always been together. I just pray this bond lasts forever! Brynn is growing like a weed and is such a fun baby!

Tub Time = Happy Baby

This Video is a Special Treat For Those of You Who Have Not Seen It!

Story Time

Addison continues to impress with me with how good she is with Brynn. I am just waiting for the moment that she figures out all Brynn does is eat sleep and cry. But until then I will enjoy watching how proud she is of her.

Princess & The Pea

We had a non stop hectic Halloween. I had been talking up Halloween with Addison for the past week, so needless to say she was very excited... a little too excited. We went to the mall, ate out for lunch, and then hit up our wards Trunk or Treat. Throughout these activites Addison was off the wall! More so than usual. It's funny that most the parents I talked to said "boy the kids are crazy today because of all the sugar". Well Addison did not have much sugar at all. It was just Addison. She was super happy one moment and a train wreck the next. After we got the girls to bed Justin and I were exhausted!

Here's the whole family. If you don't know what Justin dressed up as then you need to watch The Office more. Whatta a man comming up with his own costume. It was funny walking around the mall and the people who got his costume thought it was hilarious! This year I was the lame one not dressing up.

Lolo Paradise

Here's a quick video of our fast growing Brynn. She's five weeks and I can't believe it! And a few pics for fun. Addie had her million and one hair cut. The girl's mop grows faster than anything I've seen. Things are going great! the key to two kids is simplify your life. I've cut it down to the basics eat sleep and feed kids. Addie is taking some extra patience. Most of my energy goes to letting her live another day. :) Good thing she is so darn cute.

Addie's Best Friends

This is Addison describing her two new best friends Lulu and Monty. They are the next door neighbors dogs. Please note the outfit a tutu and snow boots. What a combo!

Second Time Around...

Life after the second child is going great! Addie is handling things a lot better than I thought she would. She loves Brynn, but does have some attitude towards Justin and I. Justin's mom got to come up and help while I was in the hospital and then my mom came up last Tuesday and left Sunday. I think it's safe to say that both grandma's left more exhausted from Addie than I did from child birth :) But things went amazing in the delivery room. I got induced at 5:00 am, had an epidural at 12:30pm and Brynn was born at 2:00 pm. I only had to push for five minutes and did not have to have a single stitch. I am thinking being induced is the way to do it and the epidural is HEAVEN!! Brynn is an amazing baby! A little gassy (she gets that from her father) but a very good girl. I love having a new baby in the house!

Brynn Leigh Winward

She's Here!!

Born 9/17/08
8lbs 5oz

Nap Time?

Sorry this is on it's side. I can't figure out how to flip it.

The House

View of the Front Deck/ Backyard View






Kitchen/ Dining Room (take a look at that table)




Addie's Room/ My Tub



Living Room




So there's a few pics of our new house. We are still putting things away, but the bulk is done. Addie still isn't too sure about the house. But she is loving that it has a lot more room to hide in. Yesterday we were playing and she ran into my room. I went to look for her and could not find her. She was hiding in my closet behind my shirts not moving a muscle. It was a great hiding place. I passed by her twice before she started laughing. I on the other hand am loving the new place. And there is a spare room for visitors. Just let us know and we can book you your reservation at hotel Winward. We are a five star establishment. We have all the amenities you could want, t.v with stations (yes we now have TV channels in our house), a pool (okay it's a canal), complimentary wake-up calls (provided by a early riser red head), and free entertainment (once again provided by a lively red head, it's entertaining to she what she will do next).

Oh Boy Here They Come...

Contractions Contractions Contractions

I've heard everyone say that you are able to feel the Braxton Hicks alot more your second pregnancy but oh boy this much? I'm sure the move into our house has helped speed things up, but every day I get a few contractions that stop me in my tracks, thank heavens the nursery is good to go (thanks to my mom) so she can come whenever she wants and will have clean clothes and a room to sleep in. However, the longer the better. I can't believe how much crap we have. It's just box after box! I'm am just so glad for the help we had from our family comming up to help! I'll post pictures as soon as it looks somewhat organized.

Playing catch up

Things have been nuts around here. We are closing this Thursday (horray) and I have been trying to get our apartment ready for the move. Poor Addie has been stuck in the house while mom packs. On top of that I got rid of the last binky last week. It was a hard couple of nights, but she hasn't asked for it the last two days. Justin has been busy finishing his projects so we don't see a lot of him. He did our countertops, made our mantel for our fireplace, and is finishing our kitchen table as we speak. We are excited when he is done so we can have our evenings with him again. But I must say his handiwork amazes me. And I only married him for his looks, I didn't know he was so talented :) The house is comming along beautifully but, it's crunch time so we are hoping all the little odds and ends are wrapped up here. Today was supposed to be a big working day, but no one was at the house all day. Not a good sign.

Back to Reality...

The past week was spent enjoying the summer sun at Seeley Lake. We have a family reunion there every year with Justin's family. The hardest part of the lake is coming back from it. I guess that goes with every vacation, reality is no fun. We had a great time and I think Addison will agree. She got to play in the water, go on four wheeler rides, go on a boat, ate at least 5 otter pops a day (her favorite) and was surrounded by cousins. Like her dad, the Seeley Lake reunion is her heaven.

Shout Out To Da Man...

So the past couple of days I've been sick. Just the normal sore throat runny nose deal. However, add to that the joys of being pregnant i.e heartburn, increased body temperature, uncomfortable big belly, and you have yourself a recipe for fun. So I am just waiting for this to run it's course. Fortunately I am married to Justin who came home yesterday and before I even asked for help he started cleaning the messy apartment and whisked Addie off to the park.

Today I decided I had enough of trying to grow Addie's hair out. Luckily her hair is curly so the flaws of my haircutting skills are not visible.

And a big thanks to our friends Mike and Katie for once again letting us in on their FREE fun entertainment nights. Last Saturday we went to Missoula's outdoor water park and had a blast. I was impressed with the water park. It had a great lazy river and a fun kids area. I'm sure the Boulters will love that I posted this picture :)

Fun with Firecrackers

This fourth of July we spent in Helena, MT with Justin's brothers family. Good times were had at the other Winwards. The girls loved the firecrackers, we brewed up some homemade rootbeer and relaxed (well except for the install that Justin helped his brother with that lasted until 5:00am).

Addie eating diaper rash cream (and they say pregnant people have weird cravings)

Playing w/Dry Ice

In June we had the Winward family reunion in Pocatello. We had some fun going to a water park and seeing family we hadn't seen in a long while.

Addie & Cousin Joe

Addie Packed & Ready for Vacation

When we got back form our Utah and Pocatello trip much had been done on our house. The most exciting part was the painting of the inside and out. I am pleased with both. Only a few more weeks and hello AIR CONDITIONING!! We've been going to our new house alot. We have a canal in our backyard with clear COLD water. Addie throws rocks into the canal while Justin and I wade in it. The canal might be one of my favorite things about our land.

The House

The Canal

Terrible Twos Here We Come...

Yesterday was Addies birthday. The big 2 and boy did I get an introduction into what the next year will be like. She started the day fine. She woke up to a room full of balloons and then ate balloon shaped pancakes (okay they were really just circles).












We went to a water park with some friends, but after that it was evil Addie. I've never seen her be so mean. We had plans to go to the train (it's in our mall), but she was fussy so, I decided we would come home for a nap. She fought the nap until 4:00 and I mean FOUGHT! When she woke up she was the same meanie, but with more energy. We couldn't get her to eat anything, so we just went straight to the cake. She picked out sponge bob decorations and wanted her cake blue (everything is either blue or pink).

We ended the night by watching Monsters Inc (thank you grandma it's now her favortie show) and then I finally put her to sleep at 10:30 (bedtime is usually around 8:30). You gotta laugh or cry right? And sometimes you do both! Luckily evil Addie left the building and today it has been normal Addie.

The simple things...

The one thing I've been enjoying, of late, is the joy that Addie has in the simple things. It gives you a whole new perspective on life. For example, we went to the Hogle Zoo (Addie and I got to spend a week with my family) and the absolute amazement she had while we were there was so fun to watch! Every animal she was overjoyed to see and riding on the train was a dream come true. There is nothing more fullfilling in life than to see that kind of joy in your child's face. The same goes whenever we go on walks. She finds the littlest things (today it was a colored BB pellet) and thinks she struck gold! It makes life fun!

Here we are being elephants. Addie does the best impression. Of course she is showing the elephant her impression.