Busy start to life....

It's been a busy start to life for little Ms. Paige. She is now 8 weeks old and has been to Casper, WY twice, pictures taken with her sister and two trips to the doctor's--for wellness checkups, plus visits from many different friends and family.

First off, here is a picture I just couldn't resist putting up. Brett took the picture just in time. This picture cracks me up every time I see it!
On a last minute whim, I decided to take Addison and Paige back to Casper, WY to visit my parents and Brett's family. It was the last weekend in September. Paige did great in the car...she was such a little trooper. Addison was a great helper. It was strange to travel all that way with two kids and strange to believe I have two. Brett couldn't come because of his church calling.

Addison had so much fun with her Casper cousins. She loves playing with them! She was very sad to leave. Little did we know, that would be the first and last time Paige would be able to see her Grandma Stagg and the last time for Addison. Here is the picture we have of Grandma Stagg holding Paige....this was the last picture ever taken of her.
Three days after returning home, we received the call that Grandma Stagg passed away. It was pretty sudden. Brett and his family are doing well, considering. Addison was really upset. Grandma Stagg would write her little letters quite frequently and Addison loved getting them.

It has been humbling to see a little child's perception of death. They are so sweet and innocent in their questions. We told Addison that Heavenly Father called Grandma Stagg home to help Him. She asked a few hours later, in tears, "why couldn't Heavenly Father get someone else to help Him?" A good friend of the family really put things in a comforting light. She said, "when you go to a righteous person's funeral, it is like going to the temple. You leave feeling at peace." I really think that is true. As hard as it was at the funeral, after it was done, you couldn't help but feeling at peace. It really strengthend my testimony of the gospel. They were sealed as a family and we will be able to see Grandma Stagg again.

Below is a picture of Brett and Addison at Grandma Stagg's grave.
Before the funeral, Brett was able to make a memorial video for his mom. He took all the pictures his entire family could find of his mom (she wasn't a fan of the camera) and put them together to a couple of her favorite Hymns. He is working on condensing it so I can post it here for those who want to see it.

The weekend before the funeral (conference weekend), we were able to celebrate something happy. My sister, Terra, had a 1st birthday party for her little boy, Benjamin. Uncle Blake and Aunt Trish and cousin Lincoln were able to come. Uncle Trevor and cousin Tyler were able to come up, as well as Nanna Howard. Here is Aunt Trish, Benjamin, Paige, Lincoln, Addison and Tyler.

Terra made some really cute cupcakes for Benjamin's birthday. Here are some pictures of them:

Here is crazy Aunt Terra decorating them:We were also able to get Paige's 4 week old pictures taken. We were given a gift certificate to a cute girls dress store and I got Addison and Paige matching dresses. Here are the scanned images of some of the pictures:

Addison is having fun in first grade. She is doing well. She loves spelling and math and of course recess. Just today she went around collecting leaves for a school assignment. It is really neat to see her learning and growing and being curious about the world around her.

Paige is doing well. It is crazy how big she is getting and yet she is just barely fitting completely into her newborn clothes! She is continuing to grow and become more alert. I have so many more pictures I would love to share, but I will just include the ones above. :)

Brett is still looking for a job. This is now the 6th month. He has an interview this coming week. We are still hopeful that he will find something.

I have just finished my maternity leave and now head into the optional, up to 12 weeks, of unpaid leave. Before Brett lost his job, we decided to do 4 weeks of unpaid leave. When he lost his job, we thought that would be un-doable...however, we have decided that we will stick with the original plan and have faith that Brett will find something. I can't bare to leave such a sweet little spirit...at least if I leave her, Brett will be able to be with her. I will be going back to work November 2nd if Brett's job situation doesn't change. We will be blessing Paige November 1st, so it will be nice to know I will be a stay-at-home mom up until she is blessed. :)

Thank you all for your love, support and prayers. It has been a roller-coaster of a ride for our family these past several months. Knowing that our trials are given to us to help make us stronger and that Heavenly Father doesn't give us anything we can't handle has been a comfort. When I am frustrated and to the point of giving up, I am reminded of that and know (even though at the time it's harder than hard) that things will be okay for our family. It is also been a real help to have such great family, friends, neighbors and ward family. Thank you all!

Introducing Paige Alayna Stagg!!

Yes, it finally happened. It was a bit faster/earlier than we anticipated. But now that she is here, we couldn't be happier. Paige's due date was August 30th and she was born on August 21st, the day after Addison's birthday!!

On the 21st, I went in for my weekly doctor's visit and my blood pressure was quite high...never been like that during the pregnancy. The doctor was very concerned. She had my blood pressure taken a few more times just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. It was high and she said, "looks like you're going to be having this baby today." Of course, I started to cry. I wasn't ready for this at all. We didn't bring anything to the hospital, Addison was in school...what do we do with her? I was scared and taken by surprise. We started the walk from the doctor's office down the hall to Labor and Delivery. We delivered at McKay Dee Hospital and my doctor's office happens to be in the actual hospital.

Labor was officially induced at about 11:30am. I had Paige at 6:12pm. I cannot believe how much she looks like Addison! She has Addison's nose (which is Brett's nose--so he can know for sure they are his girls ;) ) and looking at Addison's baby pictures, they really do look a lot alike. Paige has been a good girl and is such a joy in our home. I can't believe we were finally able to have another child. She is a blessing and I am so grateful to The Lord for allowing us to care and raise her. She was 6lbs 3oz, 18.1 inches long. Addison is loving being a big sister. She loves to hold and kiss her sister. I think she might be a little disappointed that her sister doesn't talk or play back with her. She loves to sing to her and Paige loves to stare at her.

So, not only did we have a baby, but we did have Addison's birthday. We decided to have her party the week before her birthday (good thing). She wanted an all girl party and she wanted to go swimming. We set up the blow up pool and let the girls go out side after doing a crown craft and playing some games. It happened to be a little cooler that day, so the girls didn't play too much in the water, but they had fun none the less. On Addison's birthday, we went to Chuck E. Cheeses. I am not sure what a child's facination is with that place, but I wanted this birthday to be special for her since this would be her last birthday without a sibling. She and Brett had a lot of fun playing the games.
The other event that happend this month was Addison's first day of school. She was so excited to be in 1st grade. Here are some pictures of her on her first day. Also, the only "belly" picture I have. Addison loved to kiss my tummy goodbye everyday. :)Well, that is all for now. I am doing well. Because of the preclampsia, the doctor is still monitoring my blood pressure. I guess it can sometimes get worse after labor, so she wants to make sure everything gets back to normal. It has been great to have such great friends and neighbors. Everyone is so willing to help and we really appreciate it all. It is so weird going from an almost independant child to a totally dependant child. Thank you all for your love and support!

One Crazy Summer!

I know! I know! It's been a long time since I've posted anything. It's been a crazy month. I get home and just want to get to sleep...and if I do have energy, I want to get the last little organizational projects done before the baby. But, today, I decided to get this done.

First, Addison was in swimming lessons this summer. She loved them! She is now sticking her head under water for 10 seconds in the bath tub and wants to be one her own with her floaties whenever we go swimming. Here is her kicking at swimming lessons.
She LOVES jumping in the water--even if I am not looking. She doesn't seem to mind to go fully under water-just as long as she comes back up. Here she is jumping into her teacher's arms.


Here is her holding up her Swimming Advancement Certificate.She finished her dance "season" right around the time that swimming started. Needless to say, I am so glad that it is over. I am not cut out to be a "dance mom". Because Brett is still out of a job....and the fact that dance is expensive and time consuming, Addison will not be continuing in dance. Instead she wants to try Gymnastics. It costs less, so we will see if we can squeeze it in the budget.

Here is her in one of her outfits holding up the flowers mommy and daddy gave her.


Here is Addison backstage at her dance recital.

Here is Addison posing for us...she LOVES to pose. Her recital was held at Weber State University.

Not only did Addison dance her little heart out at the end of June, but she danced a tooth right out as well. Here are some pictures of Addison and her 2nd lost tooth.
For the 4th of July, we went to Idaho for a family reunion. We had a lot of fun with my cousins from my dad's side of the family. At the end of the fun, Addison went to Casper, Wyoming (Brett and I's hometown) with her Nanna and Pa Howard (my parents). She had a lot of fun while there. She was there for about a week. Brett was able to go up to pick her up. It was so strange to be away from her. I really missed her! It was really strange for Brett and I to drive in the car and not have her in the back seat.

While in Casper, Addison went to Garden Creek Falls with her Stagg Cousins. Here are some picutres of her at the falls.





She was also able to visit Brett's parents. Here is a picture of her with Grandma and Grandpa Stagg and her Uncle Ben (Brett's brother).

On their way home, Brett and Addison stopped by Martin's Cove. Casper is only 50 miles away from this Historic Pioneer area. The Casper Stake was asked to help with getting the area ready for dedication. Brett and I were able to be apart of cleaning up the Cove to get it ready for it's dedication by President Hinkley in 1997. I had a great, great, great grandma in the Martin handcart company. So, Martin's Cove has a special meaning to me. We really haven't been back since then. Brett was excited to go back and Addison enjoyed it. Here are some pictures of her pulling a hand cart.
Here is Addison...again, posing...that is Devil's Gate in the back ground.
With Brett not working, he and Addison have been able to go out and do some fun things. One of those things was the 24th of July Parade in Ogden. Addison had a good time, but was disappointed that there wasn't a lot of candy. When we were in Idaho for the 4th of July, we went to the parade in Ashton, ID and they had a TON of candy. I think she still had fun despite that. :)



So, with me getting closer to delivery, my place of work threw me a baby shower. I asked Brett if he and Addison would like to come into SLC for it. I thought it would be fun--more so for Addison than Brett. :) So, they headed into Salt Lake and hit some construction traffic. Everyone slammed on their breaks. Unfortunately, the person behind Brett couldn't get his pick-up stopped in time and rear-ended Brett. Brett and Addison were okay. They didn't get hit very hard, however it gouged out some of the back bumper and it dented the trunk. The guy's insurance that hit us has been great. They got the car in and got Brett a rental car. They found that there was about $1200 worth of damage done! Who would have thought that a little rear-ender would cost that much. I guess it doesn't help that we were in a little Civic and he was in a pick-up truck. I am just very gratful that Brett and Addison are okay and that no other damage was done.
So, onto other news. Brett still hasn't been able to find a job yet. He has been getting more interviews, which is very encouraging. We are just trying to have the faith that things will work out and he will find something. I am very grateful that we are financially prepared for this and so it hasn't been as stressful as it could be. He has some freelance prospects, so we are hoping that something comes from that.

I am almost in my 38th week. I am ready to not throw up each day and to be able to eat. The end is near. Now I am getting nervous....we have no idea what to call the baby. We have some names, but none that jump out at me. I guess she will have to be born for us to decide.

Addison will be starting 1st grade next week! I can't believe she is that big. She is excited. She will also be celebrating her 6th birthday this weekend as well. Whoever said that time stands still when you are young and then speeds up when you get older was right. Brett and I have been married for 11 1/2 years and Addison has been with us for 6 years of that. It seems like she has always been with us.

Well, there is probably a lot of things that I have left out, but I will not bore you further with all the mundane aspects of our life. Good bye for now. :)

This....that...and the other....

Addison had the opportunity to participate in a dance competition at Lagoon. Her dance class performed a cute dance to the "Oompa Loompa" song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They did a great job. She was able to get a cute dance crystal trophy. Here is Addison in her outfit with the other girls in her class.

After she danced (it was in the morning), we were able to (well, Brett and Addison were able to) go and play on the rides. Addison, to my surprise, wanted to go on The Bat. She ended up going on it twice. She really liked it. Here is Brett and Addison getting ready to go on the ride.
Because I couldn't ride any rides, Addison was able to ride a lot of the kiddy rides she wanted to. Brett was able to go on some of his rides too. Addison had a lot of fun and really enjoyed herself. We ended up leaving when it started pouring in the afternoon. It was a great day and a lot of fun.Not only were we able to have fun at Lagoon this month, but Brett was able to get some stuff done around the house. Below are the pictures of the baby's room. We decided on purple...not a huge fan of pink. Brett did a great job painting.

My mom is going to make the curtains, crib skirt and bumper pad. I think butterflies will be cute, so that is what we are doing. Still have a lot of things to do....but at least the baby can sleep on the floor in a painted room. :) I have a little over 10 weeks left with the pregnancy. The baby is really moving now....and no, we don't have any names picked out yet.

We were also able to finally get the concrete poured over the weed patch to the north of the house. This will help with the water and the foundation and not to mention get rid of those ugly obnoxious weeds.

Brett still hasn't found a job yet. He did have a promising interview, but nothing as of yet. We still have faith that something will present itself. Brett went to the LDS unemployment office last week and was able to do a 2 day seminar on networking, resume writing, interviewing and other job seeking techniques. He's had a lot of friends and family sending his resume around and for that we are grateful.

We are going to Idaho for a cousin reunion on my dad's side of the family for the 4th of July. We will be able to camp outside in the back yard. Addison is excited to run around, get dirty and have fun. I have a lot of memories visiting Grandma Howard's and my cousins....I am excited to go back.

Well, that's all for now. :)

Where, oh where did Addison's tooth go?!

It's finally happened. Addison lost her first tooth! The tooth was pretty loose and she was eating watermelon and said that she couldn't eat anymore because it hurt. Brett looked at her tooth and sure enough, it was very wobbly. We got some string and tied it around the tooth and I wiggled it back and forth. Finally I gave it a hard tug and POP! Out it came. She decided to not put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy quite yet. She wanted to take it for her last show-and-tell of the year. It is hard to believe how big she is getting!




Here is a video of her after her tooth came out.



Addison will finish her Kindergarten year on June 5th. Boy has the year flown by.

I am now 27 weeks...just 13 left to go. We started painting the baby's room and started getting some of the things together. I need to get the clothes out and air them out.

Brett is still searching for a job and getting his honey-do list done. :)