Merry Christmas!!

Wow!!! How time has gotten away from us!! Between all our events, holiday get togethers, and working my weekends... I have not blogged in a while!! We apologize to our out of state family for taking so long to post a new update!!

Addison is doing fantastic!! She is such a good baby who is full of smiles and laughter!! Just this past week she has started babbling/talking non stop!! It is so fun to hear her little stories but also a tiny bit sad since we wonder if her and Landon would now be talking back and forth. We are still so very thankful to have her.

She is also very alert and SO curious!! She does not miss a thing!! She loves looking at books, playing with toys, or just looking at her hands :).When she rides in Mommy's car, she loves to look out the sunroof!!  She is able to roll from her tummy to her back without any effort. Tim is trying to teach her to crawl although she can't keep her face off the floor that long yet! :)

She got lots of new books and learning toys for Christmas, which she loves!! We were able to celebrate Christmas a little early with all our family, including hosting the Sall side at our new home. We are so blessed and are excited to see what God has in store for our family in the upcoming year!!


HUGE smiles for Daddy with her teether (no teeth yet)... just loves eating everything!!

One of her my first Christmas onesies...

I LOVE putting headbands on her... but she looks so big!!

She is getting a gut and some chunker thinghs!

Tim took some pics of her under the tree while I was at work Chrismas weekend...

Opening presents... she is small but strong!!!

Now it's official!!

It was a big week for Addison last week (which made the time fly!). Sunday was a very special and bittersweet day--Addison's baptism. The morning of her baptism we realized the day was an extra special day. Exactly one year prior (Dec 4, 2010) was the day that we did embryo transfer--when God gave us our 2 little blessings--and with Landon already in Jesus' arms, we then promised Addison to God as well.
All of the Sall family was there as well as Tim's mom and aunt (which was 3 rows of chairs). We had everyone over to our house afterwards which was great.

Monday we had another development check up with the home health nurse from Early On. Addison is 23 inches long and weighs 10# 7oz!! She is very alert, loves to play with her hands, eat her hands, and hold all kinds of things. She is full of smiles all the time!!  I have packed away her newborn clothes and organized her 3 month clothes. I guess it is time since she is almost 5 months old :).

Here are a couple random pics and some from her baptism.

                                                                          Baptism

Bumbo Baby!!!

Addison has been getting so big and so much stronger. She is able to hold her head up for stretches at a time although she can still be very "bobblehead-ish"! I was in a hurry to get to work (I picked up an extra shift on the fly to help out in our busy and full ICU) but she didn't want to lay down. So I grabbed her Bumbo which we had not tried with her yet and plopped her in. She thought she was big stuff! I had her sitting on the bathroom counter in front of me while I got ready and the kitchen counter while I made bottles.

She is about out of newborn size clothes even though she is 4.5 months old. :) Time for mommy to wash and organize the 3 month clothes and slowly pack away the newborn stuff. Time really does go SO fast!!

We look forward to Sunday when we will have Addison baptized. It will be bittersweet for us as we will also be thinking of Landon. We know he will be there with his big sister. :)


We are also continue to work hard on the house and are decorating for Christmas since we will have the Sall bunch over (about 25 people). This is the first year we are able to host the party now that we have a bigger house and are hoping to make it extra special to thank everyone for all the love and support we have received over this past summer.


She was just way to stinkin cute sitting in her bumbo. She was all smiles when Grandpa came to take care of her!

Her hair is getting so long!!.... Too bad she rubbed ALL her hair off in the back except for a small trail at the bottom!!

4 Month Check Up

Addison went in to see the Dr for her 4 month check up this past week. She is meeting all of her milestones and continues to grow!! She weighed in at 9 lbs 12 oz (we thought she was 10 lbs but is just shy) and 21.5 inches long. It is crazy for me to look at how long she is because that is how long I was when I was born! (Go figure right?!). She still is not on the growth chart for her chronological age. If you subtract to get her gestational age (if she would have been carried to 40 week due date) she would be 2.5 months old which then puts her height and weight in the 25th percentile. The Dr is happy with her progress. She is getting stronger everyday!! She can hold her head up for longer periods of time and is awake for much more of the day. She also sleeps for longer stretches of time at night... up to 7 hours which Mommy and Daddy LOVE!!  She is SO alert and doesn't miss a thing!! She always want to sit up like a big girl so she can see.

Here is a pic of her Thanksgiving morning before church... SO cute!!! She is such a little person!!

Our most precious gift....

One of the cutest pics ever taken by Addison's Aunt Darlene!!

Our Beefy Baby!!

Miss Addison's unofficial weigh in.... 10 pounds!!! She is almost too long for her newborn clothes!! I realize she is 4 months old and still small for her chronological age... but she keeps growing and that is what counts!! Maybe someday she will even be on the pediatrician's growth chart ;). She is such a little person with so many expressions!! We love and cherish every second we spend with her.


Here is Addison checking out her snowglobe snowman that changes colors (and it has her name on it)

She is very alert... doesn't miss a thing!

Her big feet!!

Popped out her pipe to smile at Daddy :)

Blue Eyed Babe!!

Addison went in to see the eye Dr again today and did fantastic!! This was her second NORMAL eye exam which means we don't have to go back until she is 1 yr old!! She is very alert, tracks well, and is always looking around. She is so curious!! She loves to lay on the floor with her favorite monkey hanging above her and just whack him around and watch him swing. She has her own little giggle and is full of smiles. We are constantly feeding her and she is growing like crazy!! We cannot believe how big our little peanut is getting!!

 I love this sleeper b/c under the zebra it says "Wild About Mommy"!! :)

 Addison loved laying in the laundry fresh out of the dryer!!

Addison peaking through the car seat cover that Grandma Sall made her. She loved it!!

Triple Size!

It is so hard to believe how big our little peanut has gotten!! We had "Early On" home nurse visit today for a development check up. Addison continues to meet her milestones and appears to be on track regardless of being a small preemie. The nurse also took the opportunity to measure and weigh her!! Our precious angel is almost 22 inches long and weighs 8#13oz!! This is basically triple her lowest weight!! She has such an amazing story even though she is only 3 months old. We are so thankful for both our heavenly and earthly little blessings that we have been given.

Here is Miss Addison sporting her snowsuit for winter :)

Look At Me!!

It seems our baby girl changes everyday!! This morning we all slept in (well between feedings) and we had her in her boppy on our bed. We like to talk to her and pull funny faces to see her little reactions. This morning she actually had huge smiles and audibly giggled! It was so stinkin cute! She loves holding things (like her rattle, rings, and mommy and daddy's hands).

Here is the latest thing she is learning to hold....

We love you baby Addison!!

Nothing new to report

Nothing new going on here in VanHorssenAroundLand.  Just keeping busy with working, and trying to get enough sleep.  The weather has turned colder, so we decided to build a fire in our fireplace, and for dessert, SMORES! Yum!  Just in case you missed the update at the bottom of the last post, Addison is up to 8# 1oz.  What a big girl!!!!

SOOOooooo BIG!

Miss Addison continues to get great reports. Today she had another check up with the eye doctor and her eyes looked completely normal!! No more bleeding, her blood vessels have grown and developed, her vision is normal and she focuses and tracks VERY well! The Dr said she is difficult to assess (since you can't reason with babies ;)) so we have to go back in 4 weeks again to confirm that everything is developed.

In the last week we also ran out of our milk fortifier that she has been getting since the NICU. Premature babies are usually on this until they are about 8 pounds. She is so close!! Last week Monday she weighed 7#10oz and this past Sunday she was 7#14oz!! We have to weigh her once more and if she continues to gain weight and do well with just straight breastmilk we will be done with that too!!

Developmentally she is also right on track meeting all of her milestones. She definitely knows Mommy and Daddy by sight and sound. She is full of smiles and loves it when we stick our tongues out at her... she will do it right back. :)

Update-Oct 15...Addison now weighs 8# 1oz!!!!  We are so proud of her!!!

"A Walk to Remember"

Today was all about Landon. Tim and I went out to Fallasburg Park in Lowell to remember Landon. This year was "A Walk to Remember" 's 25th year. This event is organized and put on by families who have lost a baby or babies and sponsored by Saint Mary's Hospital and Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. Some doctors and nurses even came out to show support to the families there.

We were given a booklet that had all of the names of the children who had passed away. We had the option to write a 100 word or less message to go under our baby's name (which we did). There was a small memorial service which we received a white rose in memory of him. Next we decorated a blue balloon for Landon and everyone walked down to an open field where each baby's name was read. When Landon's name was read, we released our balloon. It really was a neat experience and gave us time together to remember him in a special way.

At our new home, we have also planted a tree in memory of Landon and are working on making a stone to go under it from Mommy, Daddy, and big sister Addison. We love and miss him everyday and cannot wait to see him again in heaven.

Here are a few pics that we took of the event today...