Then there was Three

I'm Moving

2010-12-06T17:47:00.001-08:00

I am fed up with the problems I keep having with blogger...I'm moving!

We hope you'll follow us to our new home at:

http://chrisandamandanichols.wordpress.com/

Last couple months in Review

2010-12-06T16:06:00.001-08:00

Snowflake Lane 2010

Feliz Navidad (Christmas Party 2010)

Decorating the tree

Friends Thanksgiving 2010

Addie on the "momo" with Daddy

At the Pumpkin Patch

Halloween 2010

Addie as a horse for Halloween

Happy 2nd Birthday to my baby!

Maui 2010

Christmas Cards

2010-12-06T15:59:00.000-08:00

Check out all the different Christmas cards here:http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards. They're even having a sale right now!

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have been on here to post, but I am just about to catch up on all that has been happening in our world

Since Christmas is around the corner I need to start thinking about cards! I have been searching for the perfect one at the perfect price and Shutterfly.com has the best cards at very reasonable prices. I'm excited to pick out the perfect one! Picking out the perfect picture is the next task! You should check them out!

Has it really been 2 months!

2010-09-27T10:16:00.001-07:00

The Below picture about sums up our summer! We spent as much time on the boat as we could! We did spend 9 days in Orondo soaking up some of the 100 degree weather!

We did Seafair by land this year, it was a great day and we got a little sun!

We got to spend some time with cousin Finny before they left! He'll probably hate me when he's older for posting this photo, but we had a great time with Aunt Kim and Finny at the outlet mall!

Celebrating a friend getting Married! Such a fun night! THANKS EMILY!

We did the Puyallup - Addie loved it and I can't wait to go back next year, because she'll be able to do more rides! She went on some and had a blast!

Chris and I celebrated 5 years of marriage! We spent a wonderful weekend on Orcas Island~

Boating on Elliot Bay

2010-07-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday we had the wonderful opportunity to go out on this amazing yacht! Addie loved every minute of it and it was great to see the city from a different view!

Our Summer in Pictures

2010-07-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

Our month in pictures

2010-05-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

No explanation needed...

2010-03-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

February Recap in Pictures

2010-03-09T12:59:00.001-08:00

It was a busy month - but we managed to get outside a lot and have a couple of fun activities!

Photo Update of December and Beginning of January

2010-01-26T09:50:00.001-08:00

Christmas Fun

2009-12-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we continued with our 2nd Annual Santa Excursion downtown with the family! It was so fun, I don't have any pictures of Addie with Santa (you'll have to visit us to see the masterpiece on our mantle). However I was expecting screaming and that it is just what we got! We did manage to get a great family shot with all of us (she stopped crying for a moment). We did enjoy the Carousel downtown, great food and some shopping. Here are a few of the pictures from the day we spent with the family.

Two weeks ago when we got our Christmas tree - we promptly brought it home and set it up. This promptly brought on a drippy nose for Addison. So we waited it out to see if it was a cold or a new tooth. 10 days later and no change and a lot of research, we realized the it was the tree that she was allergic to. So Chris did some research and found that if we sprayed it down with veggie wash, rinsed it and let it sit out for 24 hours then we could try and bring it back in. So in our 19 degree weather last week, Chris and I took down the tree and dragged it outside, sprayed it down and promptly put it up in the garage to dry. On Sunday when we came home we brought it back inside. As you can see below Addison is helping us decorate (for the second time this season). However we are on day 3 and we have no runny nose! YAY!

Thanksgiving and Beyond

2009-12-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

2009-11-19T08:43:00.000-08:00

It's been a while

2009-11-19T08:32:00.000-08:00

Well Life in the Nichols Household is crazier than usual. We have been busy with getting ready for Thanksgiving, enjoying the few nice days we have had and have enjoyed being cozy at home. I cannot believe that Addie is 13 months already, the year has flown by. It is crazy how everyone tells you how fast it goes, but you never believe them until a year has gone by and you say to yourself, what have I been doing. We had an amazing summer and it seems that fall has just flown by and now it is a week till Thanksgiving. We are getting ready to have Thanksgiving at our house this year, my first time to cook a turkey (wish me luck) and my first time to host. We are looking forward to it.

We are so excited for Addison to be older this year and to join in all our festivities for the Christmas Season. We are excited for snow, cutting down our Christmas tree in the mountains, getting to see Santa at Nordy's and just enjoying the season.

I cannot get Photos uploaded, I will try in a separate post! Blessing to you and your family during this wonderful time.

Addison's First Birthday

2009-10-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Addison's first birthday this last Saturday. Thank you to all the family and friends that blessed her with so many wonderful things. She had an amazing time and is loving all the new things to play with.

I cannot believe that my baby is one already. This last year has gone by so quickly, but we are so thankful for her. Over this last year we have seen her grow so much and she is quickly growing into a such a beautiful young toddler.

She is now walking and getting into everything. She is a lot more busy, but she is able to sit and focus on more things at a time. We now really enjoy reading books and being read to. She loves playing with other kids and we have been lucky to have two other kids coming over during the week.

Surf Slam and Various Adventures

2009-09-22T11:11:00.001-07:00

The weekend of September 11th - we loaded up the motor home and headed to Pacific City, OR for a wonderful Stand-up Jet Skiing competition with friends and family. The whole things was pretty cool. There were riders from all over the world competing and it was quite a sight to watch all of them compete. I have never seen so many backflips, jumps and barrel rolls on a jet-ski in my life! Addie did absolutely amazing...we got the greatest backup right before we left and she absolutely loved it. We also took Grace with us and she loved the ocean and running free! Below are some pictures from our time at the beach and also some from September.

Photo Updates

2009-09-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

Its been a crazy August - - I promise after Labor Day to have a post!

9 Month Stats

2009-07-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that Addie is 9 months old already it seems like time is flying by. She is crawling all over the place, pulling herself up on everything, into everything, loves the water (especially her pool in the backyard) and she is babbling about everything and anything.

We had her 9 month check up today and our little muffin is growing great. She is in the 50% for her height and her head and in the 40% for her weight. We topped out at 18lbs 1 ounce and 27 1/2 inches tall...

She enjoys anything outside and loves her new portable playpen that we got. It is nice, because we can set it up and she is free to roam anywhere within in...great for the camping trip we took last weekend...

We are excited to see what adventures we have next and we love every stage even more and more!

Photo Editing

2009-07-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

I know that a bunch of people have had this for a long time, but I just discovered Picnik...I am hooked! It is amazing! I have included a few that I did yesterday. I am excited to discover all its capabilities.

A Mid-Week Update

2009-07-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

So we have had a busy last couple of weeks...let's start out with the weekend before the 4th...

We took Addie on her first camping experience, yep that's right we stayed in a tent with our little muffin! She did awesome...she woke up with the sun, but promptly went back to sleep once she was snuggled tight in my sleeping bag!

Then for the 4th we headed south to the lake where Chris' family has a trailer, once again

she did amazing, despite the loud, late night fireworks and bonfires!

She has also had some big milestones during her 8th month (I cannot believe that she is almost 9 months). She has started crawling, at first she was a little unsure of this new mode of transportation, but once she determined that she could get places so much faster than rolling to them, she is now quite quick! She is also eating tons of food, we started meat this month and she loves it. She is quite the eater and enjoys nibbles of what I am having now as well! She has also discovered that she can feed herself. We give her half of a cheerio and she puts it right in her mouth! Those two teeth work pretty well!

Hope you all are having a great July and hopefully Summer will be back this weekend!

Slacking lately

2009-06-15T12:39:00.001-07:00

6 Month Facts

2009-05-05T08:31:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe that Addie turned 6 months on the 18th...here are her stats from our appointment.

Height - 26.5 Inches (50%)

Weight - 15.8 lbs (35%)

Head - 16 5/8 inches (42%)

We also graduated from Oatmeal to Peas, Apples and Sweet Potatoes. It has been so fun watching her explore new foods! She loves them, though I think she would prefer what we are eating.

Way behind

2009-05-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well I have been not so good about updating the blog this last month, where has the time gone. We had a busy April and I cannot believe that it is May already. Below are the highlights from our Nichols Family Vacation to Palm Springs!

After our first swim!

After Riding the Tram ---105 Degrees at the bottom a nice 70 degrees at the top!

In the Town of Idylwild...so fun!

First Time Swimming!

At the condo where we stayed!

Andrew and Leslie's Wedding

2009-03-29T15:28:00.001-07:00

Dinner Saturday night

2009-03-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

So I keep telling Chris how much I love food blogs...I have included some of my favorites below...enjoy! All of my friends know how much I enjoy cooking, so I thought why not start taking pictures of my food so here it goes the first round~ I forgot to take pictures throughout the whole dinner making process, but thanks to my husband you get dessert!

Whiskey Apple Crumb Pie

Whiskey Apple Pie Recipe:

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch crust pie (Pillsbury works great)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whiskey
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter (keep in fridge till ready to use)
3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 package instant oatmeal (I use maple/brown sugar)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar,whiskey, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Slice apples thinly and add nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix together with whiskey mixture.
3. In a food processor add 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, flour and oatmeal. Pulse until it forms a small crumb like mixture. (see picture above)
4. Add apples to pie crust and then spread crumb mixture evenly on the top.
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until bubbling on the edges.
6. Let cool for about 40 minutes or so...cut and serve with vanilla ice cream and whip cream! ENJOY!

The one picture of dinner below:

Alfredo Chicken Bacon Ranch Deep Dish Pizza

Some blogs I like to follow:

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/
http://thepioneerwoman.com/
http://cupcakeblog.com/?page_id=83 (this has great recipes, but the blog has been moved to the below)
http://www.idreamofdessert.com/idream/
http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/

Enjoy...I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!

What's new in our neck of the woods

2009-03-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

We have been up to quite a bit since the last post. We have just started on Rice Cereal, boy has this been fun. She loves it, it took her a couple times to get the hang of it, but now we hardly have any coming out of the mouth and she takes down all of it...by all of it, I mean a whole 2 T at a time...

Addie was vocal before, but has now taken on a whole new tone...screeching! Not just a nice screech, but a shrill ear piercing screech. IT is crazy that such a little thing can make such a shrill noise!

She is also moving into new clothes which is fun! I hate packing up the other ones, but it is fun to be able to wear new ones. I can't believe that next week she'll be 5 months old, it is crazy how fast it goes by...I love every stage and try to soak them up as much as I can!

This weekend it will just be Addie and I as Daddy heads to Whistler for his annual snowmobile trip. We are not looking forward to having him gone for 4 days...yikes...what will I do? I have lots of stuff planned for Addie and I including a girls trip to get our nails done (not her's, but hopefully I'll be able to get mine done uninterrupted!)

Finally Some Updated Pictures

2009-03-09T13:12:00.000-07:00

Baby Progress

2009-02-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

I need to post some pictures and will do so shortly, however we have had a great couple of weeks.

Two weeks ago we ventured to Sun Peaks Canada with Chris's family and work friends...it was great! We were a little worried because we were taking a 7 hour bus ride with a 4 month old baby. But Addie was a champ. Not only did she not make a peep the entire time...just her usual babbling and sleeping, she didn't poop the entire time we were on the bus! I know to some of you this may not seem blog worthy, but to us it was a small miracle...we were in the hotel exactly 5 minutes and she let it go :) She did great up there, despite the 8 degree weather and mom getting out to ski everyday for about 3 hours. On the way home she did great as well, but a little too much food, curvy roads and looking out the window did make for a very impressive spit up session. This resulted in me sitting in baby barf soaked pants for about 2 hours, she missed herself and her dad completely!

This last week we have been adjusting to life with a nanny. It has been wonderful to have some help on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday's. She is wonderful with Addie and it is great for me not to stress out about what is going on.

Yesterday we had her 4 month check up. Her stats are:

Height: 25.5 inches long (she is one tall baby) 60%
Weight: 13 lbs 8 ounces (she is still pretty little) 40%
Head circumference: 16 inches (no big head in this family) 30%

She had another shot and did great. I have to leave the room, so it is great that Chris is able to come with us.

That is all for now, I will update the pictures later!

Blessings to you all!

Update on our progress

2009-02-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

1. Bottle - Addie is now taking the bottle like a champ. Woohoo! She'll take it from anyone...Praise the Lord.
2. Food - We have started supplementing 1/2 formula and 1/2 breast milk for her last feeding and giving her an extra feeding at night.
3. Sleep - This is directly related to #2 - She is sleeping so much better after we started giving her a little more food.
4. We are all more rested and a lot more happy!

Thank you to all for your comments and suggestions!

Just some updated photos...3 months old

2009-02-04T14:04:00.001-08:00

Addie is getting bigger everyday. It is crazy, I spend everyday with her, but I still am so surprised by all the changes that she goes through. Yesterday she started rolling a lot...she rolls from her back to her side and can almost get over, however when she is on her stomach she rolls right to her back. She thinks it is a game, because when I help her go back, she laughs and just goes right back to her back. It is so cute!

It is so fun to see all her changes and I am loving this stage!

Sleep

2009-01-31T10:17:00.000-08:00

I know that all mom's can sympathize with me on this one that the moment your baby arrives in this world you take on new sleep patterns. I however forgot what it was like to have a newborn already and have a 14 week old that has reminded me everyday this week what it was like! It has been a week now since Addie has decided that she wants to get up in the middle of the night...by middle of the night I mean 3 or 4 am. Now I am sure this isn't bad to most of you, but since she has been sleeping 10-12 hrs since she was 6 weeks old and I am back to work, this is so hard! Last night she was up at 12am, 3am and 6am...

So my question is, did any of you moms experience this with your kids and what did you do? We are going to try supplementing formula (a suggestion for the Dr.) or I thought about starting rice cereal just once at night...but I need advice and a good nights sleep again!

Bottle and Baby

2009-01-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

I can use any advice at this point and I feel like we have tried everything. Addison HATES the bottle. And by HATE I mean she screams bloody murder and won't take it. The girl is stubborn, I am not sure who she got that from.

After trying out 13 different brands, we think that we found one that is manageable. Who knew that there were even 13 different brands of bottle. Leave it to my daughter to like the most expensive one. We have been trying to give her a bottle a least once a day so that she would get used to it. She likes it from the grandmas, but it still takes her at least an hour and she cries during most of it.

I could use any help or advice!

The Year of Firsts

2009-01-12T14:29:00.000-08:00

Well Friends and Family - I promise to be better on this thing, if not for all of you, but so that Addie will have something to look back on and read.

Let's go backwards a bit...

Oct.10th - Addison's due date...come and gone!
Oct. 17th - Scheduled induction, finally got into the hospital at 8pm Friday night
Oct. 18th - A very very long day of waiting for anything to happen
Time line for the day:
8:00am - Wake up get more pitocin
9:00am - First doctor tries to break my water
10:00am - Second doctor actually achieves success and breaks my water
12:00pm - Walk around maternity floor - hear all sorts of babies being born...nothing yet
1:00pm - Still nothing - up pitocin level
3:00pm - Getting discouraged, napped, watched a lot of TV and got more pitocin
5:00pm - Doctor thinks that I should get an epidural and see if that will relax my body, stop receiving pitocin.
7:00pm - Get epidural, take a nap...still nothing
9:00pm - Started going backwards, talk to doctor about options, decide a C-section is in order
9:05pm - Call our parents
9:45pm - Baby Addison is welcomed into this world

She weighed in at 7lbs 6 ounces and was 19.5 inches long

October 21st - We finally went home from the hospital. Let me tell you though, it was the greatest to be there so long, because we got so much help.

November 26th -Welcomed Finn to the family.

November 27th - First Thanksgiving - It was a wonderful time spent with Chris' family.

December 25th - First Christmas

And then we are to January...hopefully I will keep up with this more...

She Arrived - As told by her Dad!

2009-01-12T14:22:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday evening and Amanda and baby Addie are resting peacefully while I'm watching the Hawks on Sunday Night Football. But - it took some work to get here. Let me set the frame work for what is now a very peaceful situation.

Sometimes things just don't go to plan, you know? Addison was actually due on 10/10 but that day came and went without incident. No big deal - we just planned to wait it out. Another week went by with a few more doctors visits, various baby health tests, and some added worry just because monitoring the baby becomes more important when they are over due. Addie passed all the tests with rock solid heart rates and good movement and response. Unfortunately Amanda wasn't making much progress. So, on Thursday the doc decided it was time to induce and get the baby on it's way.

Well, apparently full moons mean crazy times in baby land. We had a restlessness nights sleep Thursday night and got up early to make sure we were still good to come into the hospital first thing Friday morning. So busy was the hospital that we didn't get in until 8pm Friday night. The induction started at 10pm and Amanda started getting light contractions shortly there after. We got some sleep and then tried to get Addie into this world. We tried EVERYTHING to get her to get going but again, nothing went to our plan...

As an aside Amanda and I are planners. Amanda is BIG planner. And I like to plan too, but am OK with flexing a bit. Good thing - as we had to pretty much tossed our entire birthing plan out the window. We had an idea of how we wanted everything to go, and even some "flexibility" planned. Ha ha. Well, at the end of the day only two things on our ENTIRE plan were implemented. We opted out of one shot for Addie, and we had a baby. Everything else (for the most part) - not an option.

So... back to the story. We kept trying all day to get the baby to start the march toward the real world. We walked the halls, we talked, we moved Amanda's position, tried sitting on the ball, everything... Finally at 7pm the doc came in and said even though we wanted to go all natural, that we needed to try an epidural as the C-section was likely anyway and it was his last idea to help Amanda relax and get Addie moving. At this point, the epidural was a huge help in getting Amanda to relax after almost 24 hours of working. Lots of tears were shed, ideals given up on, and lots of encouragement by me and our nurses. A C-section was our last idea of what we'd have to go through. Again, some good chat during the day started making it pretty obvious that this baby wasn't going to come through the natural way. So, with Amanda OK with the C-section, but her and i both concerned about the surgery, we gave into the idea. We waited out the last 2 hours to see if we get Addie to get moving and the doc came back in and told us that we'd actually gonna backwards in progress. During the whole ordeal Addison was monitored and showed us her strength. Rock solid heartbeats, and good response to changes. What a trooper! So, at 9:20pm on Saturday night, 25 hours after we'd gotten settled in our hospital room the doc told us that Amanda wasn't going get this baby out on her own.

The next 20 minutes went by in flurry of movement. The nurses swarmed the room, unplugging Amanda from everything and getting me ready for Amanda's surgery. Full OR gear for me, clean hands, and my new camera. Amanda was wheeled across the hall and within in 20 minutes of us hearing "C-section" I watched the docs make some cuts and pull my blue and red little girl from my wife. CRAZY. I had not prepared for this. In my mind's eye i thought i'd easing her into coming by being beside Amanda's side as Addie got closer and closer. Not a "wam, bam, here's your baby." But here came Addie anyway. Within in seconds Addison was crying with the best of babies.

And just like that, I'm a DAD. I'm holding this girl that has my wife's nose and what looks my dark hair (though i don't have much anymore!), and maybe some of my darker features. I also gotta be honest here - and biased at the same time - but this little girl is a beauty. I'm already wrapped around that tiny little finger. Such cute little fingers and toes too. More daddy here too - the longer thin feet with long toes and longer fingers. Yep, this is surely my kid too. My kid. My kid. My child. My daughter. I'm a DAD. Just like that. I'm a DAD!!!

Oh, there's a lot more to this story too. Lots of attention for Amanda, holding Addie's little face right on Amanda's face as the docs sewed her back up. Tearing in my wife's eyes as she looked upon this everyday miracle, this precious gift, this creation of God, and this little piece of life that represents the bond my wife and I share together.

I'm a man with family now. A family man... I'm a DAD.

Baby Update

2008-10-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

Well most of you know by now that we are expecting our first baby, I have been really bad at this blog thing, so Chris may have to take over. I have posted pictures of my pregnancy from beginning to the almost end. I threw in some of Addison's nursery as well. I am going to attempt to be a better blogger, my friends with blogs are an inspiration! Blessings~

20 Weeks

26 Weeks

34 Weeks

37 Weeks

Nursery

Jaime and Travis' Wedding

2008-03-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend one of my best friends got married. I was blessed to be part of all the festivities...We had so much fun the day of, as it was probably the most relaxed pre-wedding I have ever been to. I will post more pictures later. Congrats Travis and Jaime!

The first of many to come

2008-03-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well, we have had this blog since June of 2007 and I have yet to post something on here. Since I don't want to go a year without posting, I thought I better update ASAP. We'll start with 2008, which has been a great year...we have been traveling quite a bit for skiing, weddings and took a golf outing to Palm Springs. The Lord has blessed us with great family and friends. I will try to keep this updated more often as I have time! We hope to have a spring joint birthday party...so we'll keep you informed.