One last walk. . .

Brody went for her last walk today. She was just one week shy of her 12th birthday. We hoped she would make it to Christmas but when we returned from 8 days in Salt Lake City, it was clear that she was in a lot of pain and her medicine wasn't helping. She was really struggling to walk but we knew she would want to go for one last walk before she died. She was really excited to go but had to be carried back to the house. Her legs just couldn't carry her anymore. We took her to the vet and sat with her while she died. Addy even seemed to know something was wrong because she sat very quietly watching Brody while she died. What a horrible way to head into Christmas. We're going to miss Brody's snooring, barking after C-A-T's, running to the kitchen when she hears the cheese bag open or a yogurt container or spoons scraping the bowl of ice cream. I'm going to miss her following me around the house and sitting in Addy's room while I feed her. Brad's going to miss wrestling with her, teasing her and hiking with her. Once Brody led Brad to the summit of Mt. Harvard and back to the base in the middle of the night. She kept to the trail and kept Brad out of trouble (even if he shouldn't have been hiking a 14er in the middle of the night by himself anyway!!!). What a great dog. We'll miss her.

It's been 7 months since Brody started really struggling to walk. We're grateful we got to enjoy her those few extra months. The video below is of her last walk.

Thanksgiving Road Trip

For Thanksgiving we drove to Gunnison to my parents' house. It was Addy's first road trip and she really did well. We stopped halfway to and from to feed her and she cried a little but she slept most of the time. Here is Addy as we took off from our house on Wednesday night.

We enjoyed being on vacation, eating good food, and seeing lots of family. Even though Gunnison is generally the coldest spot in the country, we were able to get out for walks because the sunshine made 13 degrees feel like a heat wave! Addy was so cozy n her snow suit that she fell asleep on our walk.

Here is some of the family who joined us for Thanksgiving: (L to R and F then B) Dad, Grandpa Hulsbos, Me, Addy, Jenny, Papo Bursch, Brad, Auntie Zana, and Mom. My cousins Stella, Danny and Kaitlyn and my uncle David were also there. It was a good time and it was neat that Addy got to meet both her great Grandpas. Addy sure was the center of attention though. . . good grief! We need to have another kid quick or she'll think the world revolves around her! Wait, actually right now it does! :)

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Two Months Old!

Last Friday, Addy turned 2 months old. Just in time for her birthday, she started sleeping through the night. . . well, most nights. A few times this last week she woke up early in the morning super hungry. We wanted you to enjoy the early morning entertainment we have when she gets up that early. After I feed her, change her diaper and put her back down, she tends to 'sing' herself back to sleep. Push play below and listen to what that sounds like.

Here are just a few photos of the last week or so. . . Addy is getting so big! Push play to see the photos.

8 Weeks Old!

We have had a busy couple of weeks as Addy is changing so much! We also had our first BIG snow storm of the season. We had at least a foot of snow at our house the week before Halloween. It was the 4th storm of the season. I enjoyed staying in my PJ's all day and Brad enjoyed working from home for a couple of days. It was wet, heavy snow and we still have some in the backyard despite temperatures in the high 70's since then!

Right after the snow storm, Bill and Judy Slease came to visit their new granddaughter. It was a big weekend because Addy went to church for the first time (she woke up crying during the sermon and we headed of to the cry room with 12 other babies in the church!). After church we even managed to go out to lunch at a restraunt and Addy slept the whole time! Apparently church was exhausting for her!

For Halloween, Addy had a fleece costume all lined up from my cousin Michelle. We're not actually sure what animal it was (paws, round tail, long ears, round belly . . . bunny?) but it was really cute. Addy pretty much hated it though. Maybe she was just hot but she only wore it for about 15 minutes while our neighbors, the Sullivans, came over. The look on Addy's face pretty much sums it up. She ended up screaming her head off not long after this picture was taken!

Here is Olivia Sullivan as a giraffe, and Addy as a . . . ?

Addy has been busy growing and changing. She held a rattle for the first time, she squeals on a regular basis now, and she even SLEPT 8 HOURS LAST NIGHT!!! I didn't sleep that long since my super sonic mom ears hear every blasted peep that kid (or the dog, or Brad!) lets out! And let me tell you, Addy is not a peaceful sleeper! She peeps, squeaks, grunts, cries and squeals all night long in her sleep! Good grief. But, she did sleep all night long and woke up happy and very hungry! Yeah!

We're off to church again today and we'll see if we can do a better job of paying attention to the sermon today! HA HA!

Big Weekend for Addy!

This weekend Addy turned 6 weeks old and according to the official hospital paperwork, we could venture into crowds with her! Her first official outing besides our brief trip to a few stores last week (that was an adventure with me carting that huge car seat around!) was to our friend Lyle's wedding. Brad and I even got dressed up (contacts and make-up!) and tried to pretend like it was a date. The fact that we don't even have a picture of ourselves shows how well that worked! Addy did great for most of it but we were pretty focused on her instead of our date. Oh well. Congratulations Lyle and Bethany DeVries!

This weekend we also made our annual monster batch of apple butter. We started with 24 lbs. of apples peeled, cut and cored. . .

While the weather outside turned snowy we steamed up our kitchen with our production line. . .

Addy did what Addy does best. She napped. . .

and she played with us. Brody barked at the door every time a seal on a jar popped!

Brad slaved away over steaming apples processing them in the food processor to make the applesauce.

I was in charge of the canning pot and processing the jars to seal them.

By the end of the day we had a major mess in the kitchen and 51 jars of apple butter! What a great day and all that with a 6 week old!

Proud Mama of a One Month Old!

On Tuesday, Addy turned 1 month old! She has changed so much even in the last week! She has started smiling, not just in her milk coma, but also when she notices things and people.

This was the first time Addy really noticed the toys on her floor gym. She discovered that she could bat at the animals with her hands and she just giggled up a storm!

Addy sleeps most of the time but we've discovered that when she sleeps in pants instead of a sleep sack, she walks her way sideways in the crib. When her feet reach the side she tends to wake up pretty mad!

Goofy milk coma strikes again!

After waking up with dried spit up all over her head, Brad offered to wash her hair before he went to work. He'd never done it before but he was a pro! What a great dad!

Addy is practicing holding her head up. She's been able to do it since she was born (she has crazy strong muscles!) but now it's for longer periods of time. She really likes being on her belly on the boppy because she can scoot herself with her feet and look around.

After a week of round 2 of Brody not being able to walk again (we doubled her steroid dose and the pain and lameness in her back legs went away), she's back following me around and coming to hang out during each feeding. She really likes to lay on whatever is on the floor. So much for clean laundry!

Addy continues to gain weight and she's officially out of newborn clothes and into 0-3 month clothes already. This shirt was pathetically small on her and after she ate she had a serious pot belly problem!

Brad's mom, Grandma Lynn, is visiting right now. She's been sharing her wisdom and experience about Addy's gas fits that I couldn't figure out. I'm learning a lot and Addy is enjoying her time with Grandma!

3 weeks old!

Adalyn is heading into her 3rd Week birthday tomorrow and she's pretty excited about it! We went to the pediatrician this week and she weighed 8 lbs 6 oz. already. She was 7 lbs at birth and 7lbs 3 oz. 4 when she was 4 days old. The Dr. said she looks healthy and strong and is gaining weight like a pro. She ought to be, she is a serious eater!

Brad went back to work last Monday and so my mom came into town to help with that transition. She kept us fed and got to spend some time with Addy in her very brief awake times. My dad flew back to Denver on Thursday night to make sure he got some face time with Addy as well. They are loving being grandparents!

Last week we ventured outside for a walk with Addy. This time she didn't cry at all (we tried before and she melted down before we reached the end of the driveway!) and we even made it down the trail a ways. It felt really good to be outside and our stroller is awesome on the trail!

Most days this is what you would see if you came by to visit. Addy is only awake about 45 minutes each time she eats and then she's off to dreamland. And dream she does! Addy peeps and squeaks all through her naps and if you watch her she has quite the array of facial expressions. She's starting to get the difference between night and day and occasionally going 4-5 hours between feedings at night. Those are great nights!

I'm feeling almost normal (except there is nothing normal about getting up in the middle of the night!) and falling into the milk lady role for Adalyn. I haven't taken Adalyn anywhere by myself yet (yikes!) except I did try out the Baby Bjorn today to walk around the neighborhood. I'm going to need some practice gettting her in and out of that thing. . . I jostled her enough to cause her to lose her lunch all over my sweater once I finally got her in! Oops! Oh the learning curve of motherhood. :)