Addie finds a bug

Addie is really fascinated by the Box Elder bugs that manage to make their way into our house during our cold Minnesotan winter. She's not afraid of them and enjoys carefully picking them up for closer inspections. This series of pictures demonstrate her successfully capturing one, but then it eventually ends up down her sleeve. :)

Addie and Norm

Addie feeding Norman

Every breakfast and lunch, Addie enjoys feeding Norm his meals (she likes to try and give him snacks too). She actually picks up his bowl, walks it to the closet, opens the container, "pretends" to scoop out food (I have to help with that part), puts the cover back on, carries his bowl back into the kitchen, and sets it down right next to his water dish. My mom captured the last part of this routine on video yesterday. So funny! She is really proud of herself, and sometimes even claps as if to say, "Yeah Addie!!" Love and miss you all, Betsy

Family Photo Shoot

Stefan, Addie and I are up in Canada for Christmas. We are having a wonderful time visiting with Auntie Carley, Nana and Papa. Auntie Sarah and her beau are coming in today (Sarah from Australia and Fergus from Edson). We were able to Skype with Uncle Markie on Christmas Eve. Addie can't wait to give him a hug in March. We were also blessed with a surprise visit from Stef's Auntie Allyson and Uncle John from Vancouver. They called on Saturday and asked what we were doing this weekend, and when Sue walked downstairs, they were just pulling up in the driveway. We had fun watching two Canucks games (they won both of them because Addie wore her lucky jersey), going to Stefan homecoming basketball games, and playing Rockband.

We had our family photo shoot yesterday with Heidi and wanted to post a couple of the pictures. http://hmckelveyphotography.blogspot.com/Thanks mom for the adorable toque, Addie wasn't very cooperative with wearing it, but Heidi was able to snap a couple pics with her wearing it. We love you all and hope you had a blessed and relaxing Christmas with family.

See you soon! God Bless, The Minnesota Julien's

Addie - Almost Christmas

Addie is almost 1 year and 2 months (the technical term I believe is 15 months). Stefan and I cannot believe how quickly she is changing. She has turned her toddling into a full fledged run and a game of chase. She LOVES to sit in her room, and read. I will come in after 20 minutes, and she is in exactly the same spot with a huge pile of books around her. She continues to LOVE playing with Norman. Last week she suddenly surprised us by attempting to feed him. She picked up his bowl in the kitchen, walked it to the front hall closet, opened the door, and took off his food cover. I then helped out by scooping in his food. She then set or shall I say tipped over his food bowl and started feeding him handfuls of dog food (I only had to pry out 2 pieces from her tight little lips). We leave for Canada in 4 sleeps and Addie is super excited to hang out with Nana, Papa, and her aunties. She's misses her uncle Mark, but we'll definitely have to Skype. We wish you all a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year! Lots of love. :)

Addie walking

Toilet Paper

Addie has discovered the wonders of toilet paper. She's not satisfied until A LOT of paper comes off. We have to be careful, between Norman and Addie they can make a pretty big mess (Addie pulls it off and then Norm shreds it up all over the house).

Addie is SO ticklish!

Pumpkin Addie

Addie loved her first official Halloween. She dressed up as a pumpkin and mommy was a cow girl (basically whatever I could find in the closet). We went trick-or-treating to a few of our neighbors. Addie held on to her own pumpkin bucket the entire time (except when she kept wanting to reach in, and grab the candy to share with our neighbors).

Of course Norm dressed up too. He was a golf caddy and was not a fan of his costume. It's quite restricting in certain areas. He was frozen in the living room and couldn't move, so we took off his bloomers before we went trick-or-treating.

Addie's first steps sometimes mean she grabs a hold of anything she can get her hands on, "Norm's head".

Addie in her chair. She loves her chair, but hasn't figured out how to gracefully go from sitting in it, back to the floor.

Addie's 1st Birthday & Canadian Thanksgiving

Addie LOVED her chocolate birthday cake. Her nice big piece was polished off in about 3 minutes.

Addie's buddy Ben!

Addie didn't make it long at her birthday party. She was a party pooper right after dessert was served, so Ben took over and helped open all her presents while she went to bed. It worked out perfectly. Addie was able to re-open them all in the morning, and everything was already assembled (thanks boys).

Addie's dance moves

Kickball Team

Our friends Cristin and Tony organized a kickball team this fall. It has been so much fun!! We are ranked #1. Next week is the true test, if we win, we get really cool T-shirts. So much to look forward to.

More Pics - 3 days away from Addie's 1st Birthday :)

It looks uncomfortable, but this is how Bobo sleeps. Butt up in the air. Even if I try to rearrange her, she always ends up back like this.
Waiting for mom and dad to get home from work!

Addie LOVES talking!

Minnetonka Apple Orchard

This morning, we all (Norm too) went to the Minnetonka Apple Orchard. The drive out there was absolutely beautiful with all the changing tree colors and Lake Minnetonka in the background. Good thing for the Garmen, because we took a few too many wrong turns! We picked a HUGE bag full of Honeycrisp apples. We had a blast. It was a gorgeous morning.

Addie really enjoyed visiting the pigs and turkeys. Too bad I did zoom out just a little bit more. The pig is snout to nose with Norman. I actually think Norm had a better time visiting the barn animals than all of us combined.

Addie picked out her first pumpkin.

Addie - Almost ONE

About 3 weeks ago we had our annual Momentum Bocce Ball Tournament. Despite the crummy weather, we had a wonderful evening. This was our attempt to take a picture of most of the tots present. I'm glad I am only posting the first picture, by the end, the last four our leaning in a heap and a few are crying.

Helping mom with laundry. It's the only way I can successful carry up one load of laundry and one little girl.

Trying to sneak a peak at Daddy's football game that is on TV. :)

Addie - 11 months

Addie and Great Grandpa Martin.

Addie enjoy mommy's birthday cake. Addie thoroughly enjoyed her first piece of chocolate cake. It was gone in less than a minute and she was already signing for more.

Addie wearing her birthday suit. She is teething really bad right now, and consequently had pretty bad diaper rash. We decided to let her run around naked, and man, she loved it.

Addie is standing!

Addie loves piano time. Stef and I try to play with her as much as we can. She likes it when we play, and then let her play after us. She even uses a different tone while she is playing, like singing.

Addie can stand on her own, but sometimes isn't too happy about it. You can tell by her look.

I made these hanging animals to match Addie's curtains and crib skirt. They turned out pretty cute. Addie loves looking at them before she goes to bed.

A race for the Cheerios

Last Saturday morning, I gave Addie a box of Cheerios (I remember seeing pictures of myself, around the same age, LOVING the entire box of Cheerios, not just a handful). Well, exactly what I expected, happened. All the Cheerios ended up on the floor. Addie didn't mind, and neither did Norman. It was a race for the Cheerios and who could eat them the fastest. Addie had total of around 4, while Norman polished off around 40.

This is my new roller backpack for school. It's what I asked Stef for, for Mother's day, and we finally got around to picking one out and ordering it. WOW, do I look like a nerd at school, but I am much happier nerd getting to and from the car. It works great!!!

Garage remodel

Stef was able to go to the first Gopher football game at the TCF Stadium. Amazing!! The Gopher's beat Northwestern for their first win of the season.

My dad and Stefan tore down our garage wall. Always a project going on. When we redid the downstairs bathroom, we noticed the previous homeowners did not put up installation between the basement and garage. No wonder it's always freezing in our basement. We are putting in installation, a new door (our old one was not to code), and sheet rock. Wow, it looks great so far.

Addie sporting her Hopkins Royals apparel.