Catch up time!

Here we go...catch up time begins. I have been busy, Addie has been busy, and Daddy has been busy, too.

First a few silly pix of our growing girl. COOL!


I wanna wear pee-ter dress (pretty dress). She definitely says this every bath time.


Then we were off to Kiera's Hello Kitty 3rd birthday party. Mama Dee with the cousins...


I think she likes the song.


Cake? Addie is always up for anything with cake. Can you tell?


A playdate with Clark. Addison talked about this event for days. She looooooooves Clark. Who wouldn't? Look at that cutie patootie.

Is that Lucy, or is that a big furry brown chair? Yup, that's Lucy. And Addison is definitely sitting on her to play cars. Wow.


I wanna stir. This was fun, making pancakes; however, now anytime I pull a bowl or a pot out, Addison pulls the chair to the island and repeatedly shouts. I wanna stir, I wanna stir, I wanna stir! I created a monster....a stirring monster.


On our way to Tennessee, we always stay with my aunt and uncle, and this night, Addie got to meet her second cousin, Seth. They had a fun time!


Okay, I was planning to put the Tennessee pix on, too, but blogger does NOT like me. Aaargh! I guess I will have a joint Tennessee/Halloween post. I am awful.

She sleeps where?

Funny girl. She doesn't like to sleep in her bed. So, where does she sleep?

On her bench seat. Not so comfy.


A nap in the middle of the room (she woke up right when she heard the camera).


Oops. She does know what her bed is for. Maybe her stuffed animal army told her.


Back behind the door.


And over by the bathroom.


Sometimes she even wears heels. (I don't have a pic of that one).

Other funny things Addie is saying now...
I'm sorry door (while hugging the door after daddy told her not to hit the door).
I wanna tut it! (and, yes, she wants to touch everything)
Is she cute? Is she pretty? She need go potty? Take her panties off! (We are working on potty training her baby before we start with her. She is a hard-headed one!)
(Right now she is in her room crying "Come in Gran-ma, Gran-ma, Gran-ma, Gran-ma, Gran-ma!)
I wanna tut Mini-kate. (Mary Kate is our babysitter)

What a funny girl.

Such a funny girl.

Happy Birthday Addie!

Well Addie is finally 2! She is busy with lots of new tricks, but before I tell about those, here are a few things from Addie's last month of being 1!

Reading the funny papers. (She actually laughs when she does this! Soooo cute.)




Shifty eyes. This girl is trouble!


Yes. The dirt eating has begun. Addie was dipping her finger in the dirt and licking it off. Yum. I guess she is lacking protein...or something like that.


Playing with her 2nd cousin Andrew. What a cool train table!


Addie, Mommy, and Bryce


Addie and Jennifer, Bryce and Andrew's mom




Playing with cousin Kiera in our matching pajamas. So cute!


I love to play cars!


And then, a visit to the firestation to visit James (Bryce and Andrew's daddy), and see the firetrucks!





Addie did NOT want to leave. This is a pix capturing the little temper tantrum (without the sound it's not quite the same).


Last weekend we had such a FUN 2nd birthday party! It was a "play in walo" party named for Addison's favorite pasttime of 'playing in the the water.' Here are a few of the highlights...

The swimming pool cake. Even the cake was blue.














Sweet AJ...these have been 2 of the hardest, most exciting, incredible, and challenging years of my life. I wouldn't give them up for the world. Here are a few of my favorite things about you...

The first time I saw your sweet face...


The night before we met you. We were so excited!


Your 1st day you were out!


One year later


A year and 1/2 old. You have developed quite the little personality!


A few things about Addie that I love---
*EVERYTHING is exciting!
*She is always exploring and climbing.
*She is fiercely independent and thinks she can do everything by herself.
*She remembers everyones names!
*She loves to be outside, and will readily step on bugs saying "no bug, that's mine."
*She loves animals, and is always hugging the dog and chasing the cat.
*She has been known to go outside and walk around in the backyard for a few minutes before coming to tell mommy or daddy "I'm outside."
*She can count, but refuses to say "3"
*She loves to sing "Jelesus songs" (any song about Jesus)
*She does NOT like to go to bed
*She always giggles furiously when she runs. Soooo cute.
*She loves shoes and cars. Mostly cars, but shoes run a close second.
*She always wants to help...laundry, dishes, cleaning the floors, putting toys away.
*Addie has never seen a cow she didn't like.
*She says prayers that start with "Dear God, thank you day," with a bunch of babbling in the middle, and ending with a loud "Amen!"

I love this girl, and love being her mommy! Happy 2 big girl!
(Oh, and by the way, Addie pooped on the potty last night! Woo hoo! And, has been sleeping in a toddler bed all week. Here is the evidence. Such a big girl!)

Vacation, vacation, and another vacation!

This post will be an update...as usual! We are coming off the end of a couple of vacations since school has been out. But, before we took our trips, we celebrated Memorial Day with a trip to the zoo, and a BBQ with friends. Here's the whole crew at the zoo.

Checkin' out the new gator exhibit.

Whoa. He's a lot bigger than he looks in this picture.

Jon, Shaylin, Emmie, and Addie (Can you believe we got a one year old, two year old and two three year olds together and smiling, all at the same time...in front of the lion exhibit? Impressive, I know.)

A miniature crocodile. Yikes. The zookeeper told us that he is very fast and very aggressive. SO PUT HIM BACK IN HIS CAGE! AAAGGH!

The wives really liked this pix since all the husbands were holding the wrong children. Such sweet men we snagged!


Andy was quite the popular fella during play time in our backyard!




Sweet Emmie!


And the war wounds on our sweet baby who is TERRIBLY allergic to mosquito bites. We didn't even see any of the nasty little bugs in our yard. But, they were there, and to them, Addie tastes like candy. Here Addie's saying "bug bites, bug bites, red, ouchie."


Here is the side view of her right arm that swelled to twice it's size, got really hard, and ran a fever. Yikes! It is still purple where those three bites were.


And the clean-up...

No, diaper, no diaper!


Then, a couple of weekends ago we went to visit my sister and her family in the Metroplex. We had such a fun time! Here are a few of the highlights!
Dancing with Declan and Kiera!





Declan's last soccer game of the season. That's him...number 7. Great game, Declan!



Wearing our sunglasses at Declan's HOT soccer game. Yes, that glisten is LOTS of sunscreen!


Cooling off on the slip 'n slide. (Anyone know if it is Slip 'n Slide or Slippin' Slide?)





And now for our most recent trip, our 6th Anniversary. We decided to save some money and go to Austin for our anniversary trip. It was my first time to be away from Addison for the night, but she had so much fun with Mama Dee and Papa, I'm not sure that she even noticed that we were gone! We got a fancy hotel room at the Hilton, overlooking downtown Austin. We were on the 23rd floor and it was so nice! The view was amazing!


Check out the view!

After we arrived at our hotel, we immediately went swimming in the rooftop pool. Then we got cleaned up and made it to our reservation at Carmelo's where we had our rehearsal dinner. It is an upscale Italian restaurant with amazing food and incredible service. They even made us a special anniversary cheescake. You haven't lived until you've had Hazelnut Creme Broulee (sp?) Cheescake. Yum. Then, off we went to see Night at the Museum at the Bob Bullock Museum IMAX Theatre. So fun! That night we stayed up really late and watched late night TV that I haven't seen in years. Sounds silly, but it was very enjoyable.

In the morning, we were off for our Hilton breakfast (all the best breakfast foods you can imagine). After breakfast, we went down to rent a kayak to head down the river (AKA Town Lake).




We kayaked all the way to the Congress Ave. bridge because I wanted to see the bats. Of course, you can't see the bats from under the bridge, but you can hear them. They sound like millions of squeaking mice. Wow. So cool! Here's a picture anyway...

Some Town Lake turtles enjoying the warm sun.

After kayaking, we swam in Barton Springs, ate at Amy's ice cream on 6th, and bought a bunch of used CDs at Waterloo Records. Then, we headed to the Texas State History Museum where we camped out for the rest of the afternoon. It was very impressive. Even the bathroom stalls were made of granite. Cool. Here we are outside. The fella we asked to take our pix took us literally when we said we wanted the "whole" star in the pix. That's why we look so tiny.

Hey, who's that hot guy? Oh, that's my husband!

Isn't he cute!?

I can honestly say I love him more with each passing day. He is an incredible man, husband, and father. The last six years have been the best of my life, and I can't wait to see what our future holds! And, to my hubby, if you are reading this...get off the internet and back to work! (Just kidding:) Love you, and happy 6!