Wow these past few months have FLOWN by!!! We would like to share Addi's 6 month pictures from January..We LOVE them...exactly what I had in mind! Thanks to Robyn at Life's Little Celebrations for taking them!!

10-22-11
The McCormack's wedding weekend and Uncle Marcus, Aunt Lindsey, cousins Sydney and Dane visit!
What a fun weekend celebrating Maribeth and Tom's wedding..then hanging out with cousins Syd and Dane!

Addison's Baptism 9-11-11
Godmother: Maribeth Jo Oldelehr Godfather: Randy Schalhamer

We also enjoyed Nana, Grandpa, Uncle Randy, Aunt Jen, and cousins Salma and Isla who came in town that weekend too!

Miss Addi's newborn pics....are so adorable, we love them!! Thanks to Danielle Murphy at Avenue Bella Photography!!

IT'S A......GIRL!!! Introducing Addison Jo Schalhamer

Born 7-17-11
6lbs 11oz
12:20am
20.25 inches long
Blue eyes, blondish brown hair

We are so excited and so in love with our newest addition! She is beautiful and perfect and we couldn't ask for anything more! She looks just like her daddy!

Birth story:
I woke up in the middle of the night on the 16th, having some pains, but didn't think anything of them.I called the doctor and they said the contractions needed to be 5 min apart for longer than an hour. So we woke up and went to the pool that day with Sarah and Aaron Greenwood. After, around 3:30, we stopped and got Oberweis (my favorite ice cream being preggo) and the pain started increasing and happening closer together. So i wondered...if this was a contraction?? We got home and I went to the bathroom, and lo and behold there is my mucus plug. So I called my sister in law Lindsey to ask her what my contractions are supposed to feel like....she said i needed to time them. And in my mind i had been timing when it hurt already....and it was about 10 min apart by this point-5pm. As I was on the phone with her, the pain started increasing, so she goes, YOU BETTER GO TO THE HOSPITAL!! So Todd and I hopped in the shower...still timing them, and everytime i said AGAIN, todd was like AGAIN!!??? yep they were def about 5 minutes apart at this point. Nervous as heck, we got the hospital bag and drove to the hospital...by this point i couldn't believe how painful the contractions were. I mean cuss out loud fall over HURT! haha. We get to the hospital and they check us in..and I am about 2cm dialated still. But my blood pressure was high so they let us stay. About half an hour later, they check me again and I am now 4 cm dialated and fully effaced. The contractions hurt SO bad, i demanded the epidural ASAP. :) After that it was EASY! Nothing hurt anymore! So Todd went down to get dinner (around 9:30) and all the sudden my water broke. Nurse came in and they were concerned because the baby's heartbeat was slowing down. So they went to put an internal monitor on the baby....and in a matter of 5 minutes, I am now dialated to a 10!! So we decide to push a little, nurse says ok wait...and they call dr. We decide to put off the birth until after midnight so i can stay in the hospital an extra day. Meanwhile, the Sheads drive up from the lake, my parents drive up from Jeff City and my sister and Tom all come to see me at the hospital. They couldn't believe how calm and normal I was. Drugs do wonders :) So about 12:15am, the dr gets there, and they do have to use the vacuum to help suction the baby out cause they were worried about the heartbeat slowing down. Next contraction I push three times and wala....the baby is out!!! Such a priceless look on our faces when we see it's a girl!! Miss Addison Jo was born! We couldn't be more happy and excited! She was so alert! About 15 minutes later we let everyone in and they are SO excited and surprised it was a girl!!! I think everyone including us thought it was a boy the whole pregnancy! :) THE most amazing and beautiful day of my life!!!  

June 4, 2011-My sister, Maribeth, cousin Jill, and friends Laura, Lori and Courtney threw me a baby shower in Jeff City! Everyone managed to dodge the cicada's that were swarming my parents house (well minus my sister who claims she got bit on the neck by one! yuck!) and have a good time!! Jill brought over a yummy cake that matched the invitations, my mom made a diaper cake that matched the theme of elephants in baby s's room, lori brought my most favorite cupcakes ever, court brought some yummy punch (i need that recipe!), mary did a great job on all the decorations, food, invites and organization of the whole thing,  and laura brought some delicious crackers and cheese. They also played a game, where everyone had to guess which baby's mama (todds mom, karen, or my mom, melita) answered the question. For example, we all learned that Karen threw up in every parking lot in Big Rapids when she was pregnant with Todd, he was born during a tornado, his first word was Ball,  and she shaved her legs AFTER her water broke before going to the hospital! haha. Melita craved mexican, was in labor for only 3 hours (lets hope its this easy for me :)) said my first word was dada, and I came a whole month before her due date! My aunt wanneta and sister maribeth won that game! We got alot of wonderful presents, alot of gift cards which we will use to finish off our registry items, and had a great time! Most of all I think everyone enjoyed holding everyone's babies!! There were 6 of us pregnant just a few months ago, and I am the only one left standing!! Thanks to everyone who came and Baby S sure is lucky to be welcomed into the world  with so many great friends and family!!! love you all!!! and thanks again to my besties and sissy for throwing me a shower! :)

 May 21st, the Sheads threw us a STL baby shower for all our friends and family! The theme was the "Newlyrents"!! Talk about some fun games...we had a "baby toss" where everyone lined up and tossed a baby back and forth until you dropped it then you were eliminated...guess who were the first two couples out...yep me and todd and my sister and tom! haha. I blame it on the pregnancy clumsiness....not sure what happened with my sister..she claims it was a bad toss by Tom :) Meghan and Guy managed to win that game with an impressive last toss!! Then we had to "toss a baby" in the rings...and the further away the rings went, the more points you got...Matt Shead won this game...but he made it up....did  he practice at all?? hmmm :) Finally we played the "newlyrents" game...sort of like the newlyweds game where the girls had to answer questions about the guys and vice versa. so it was Todd and I, my parents and his parents. My parents took the crown, while Karen and I still question why the heck Todd and Mike answered some of the questions the way they did! haha. (wine cork...really!!?) :) They also had some great food, diaper cake, elephant themed cake like the babies room, we got awesome gifts, and they had about 10 buckets of cotton candy that I think I ate in about 2 days :) lol. I think my favorite part of the whole thing was Golden Boy Matt Shead's prediction of what Baby S will look like. They took a picture of me as a baby and todd as a baby and merged them together...you can see the picture on the side of the cake in the pictures below....hopefully baby s turns out that cute ;) haha. Flash also did a great job his first time (and hopefully not his last) MCing the reading of the cards!! Thanks again to all our family and friends that made it, we had a blast and I still hear how it was one of the MOST FUN baby showers people have ever been to :) the party didn't end till 3am! :) Sheads, you rock!!!