Life's a beach... and a zoo

I love summer. So far we've been to 1 festival, 1 trip to the beach, and several trips to the zoo... and it's only half over!

Troy LOVED the Summer Festival. The last time he went he was too small for most of the rides. I was surprised how willing he was to try them this year.

He rode the space ships:


The "spinner" (red basket on the left):



















The slide:


And more. Addison was happy to watch in the shade... at least for this year. I can't imagine she'll sit on the side lines long.




















In our solo trip to the beach, we had a blast playing in the sand. Troy wanted to be burried in it... Addison wanted to eat it!





















We have a few pictures of the zoo, but mostly just the animals. I'm actually pretty happy that we have a zoo in town. I never realized what a treasure that was until I started talking to people who don't live in the area... and to some who drive quite a distance to enjoy our little zoo. Troy certainly hasn't shown any sign of getting bored with it yet. We've already gotten our money's worth this year, that's for sure.

I hope every one else is enjoying the summer as much as we are. I was going to write a post about Addison's baptism, but the time has slipped away. Thank you to every one who made the trip to join us for her special day. I'll end this post with a picture of the whole gang (minus Aunt Toni and Uncle Don - sorry, guys. Wish we would have taken one Saturday too).




Thanks again to every one! It's been a great month!

14 Months

I know it's late, but I have a good excuse. I'll spare the details. Lets just say, it's been crazy. Addison is getting bigger by the minute. Instead of 14 fun facts, this month I'll share 14 photos...

Troy quote of the century!

I have a ton to write and even more pictures to post, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post one of the funniest things I have ever heard (and, honestly, who doesn't need a good laugh)...

Background: Troy was running around with no pants on. I'm not sure why, other than the fact that he declared he was ready for a bath. We told him we don't flash people our private parts. He then states...

"Addison has two butts!" It took me a minute and it didn't really kick in until he further explained, "I have a penis and Addison has two butts!"

Too funny not to share!

13 Months

Despite the fact that this post is late, I did manage to get Addison's 13 Month picture on the 7th of June. I'm going to steal an idea from Kara and write 13 things about Addison:

1. Addison can now wave "Hi" and "Bye-bye" (and is very proud of herself when she does)
2. She just recently started giving kisses - open mouth, of course.
3. Her scoot has developed and morphed in to some thing truly unique to Addison. She has recently started pulling to a full stand, but still prefers her own sort of bent-legged kneel
4. If there is a piece of paper in the room, Addison will find it. She can be entertained by paper for 30 minutes at a time.
5. Her other favorite activities include opening and closing cabinet doors, putting things in and out of containers, and trying to put the lids on the Tupperware.
6. She LOVES summer berries. Some times I'm not sure if she'll actually stop eating them once she starts. She can eat an entire container of raspberries in one sitting and has been making the most of strawberry season.



7. You can always tell by the expression on her face when her Dad, Grandpa, Troy, or Billy enter the room. She certainly loves the men in her life.
8. It took her a really long time for her teeth to start coming in, but once they started they haven't stopped. It seems like as soon as one finally pops through, another starts. Right now she has the 2 on the bottom and 2 on bottom with 2 more on top working there way through.
9. Like her little buddy, Lucy, Addison likes to help with laundry. She's great at pulling the clothes out of the laundry basket (after we've folded them!). She also loves to try to get dressed.
10. If there is music on any where, she can't seem to resist bobbing her head and shaking her butt (even from the seated position).
11. The first thing every one comments on when they see her are her gorgeous curls... followed by her big brown eyes.
12. She definitely has an opinion and isn't afraid to let you know. Have you ever been yelled at by a 1 year old that didn't have any words yet? It's an interesting experience.
13. She loves to play games - patty-cake, peek-a-boo, steam roller, etc. It's so much fun to see her developing her little personality and interacting with her. She has the most contagious smile and cutest laugh.

Here's our sweet little strawberry shortcake!

Never a dull moment...

It's been an exciting week around here (and it's only Wednesday)!

Sunday: We've been talking about it for a long time, but finally did it. We got Addison's ears pierced. It was sort of like getting shots; she cried when they did it, but forgot the second they gave her a sucker (yes, I let my 1 year old have a sucker!). It's hard to get a good picture, but this will give you a general idea...

She doesn't really like me cleaning them, but doesn't mess with them much either so that's good. We can't take them out or change them for 4-6 weeks, but she already has a beautiful pair of birthstone earrings from Grandma & Grandpa waiting to be worn.

Monday: We were very excited to get the call that the newest member of the family was on her way... Lillian Jain was born Monday evening (congratulations Joe & Joan)!!! She was 7lbs.5oz, 19" long, and has super thick dark black hair... LOTS OF IT! She's absolutely adorable and I can't wait to get my hands on those cheeks! I showed Troy some pictures, but I don't think he fully understands yet. I'm sure once he meets her, he'll be in love too. It makes Addison seem so big.

Tuesday: We had an unexpected house guest. After dropping of the kids at daycare, I was checking my e-mail and some thing caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.



It seems one of Troy's favorite outdoor buddies made his way in the house. I'm still not sure how, but it was interesting to watch him climb up the wall. I'm not 100% sure if it was a frog or a toad. I think it was probably a toad since frogs are less common in this area. The real hoot was watching it jump from wall to wall when it reached the corner.



I was able to catch him in a strawberry container and set it free outside without any incident. I'm not sure what would have happened if Troy had been here. I think he would have been initially freaked out and then overly fascinated. Like I said... never a dull minute. I wonder what the rest of the week will bring.

The summer has started...

... at least the summer session at Daycare anyway. Today was a bitter-sweet day. Addison started daycare. Since my job can be quite demanding at times, we had decided it would probably be a good idea to enroll Addison in the same daycare Troy attends. Their program is in very high demand, so we requested 1 day a week starting with the summer session (and for the fall/spring session). It was hard to tell back in March where she would be at this point, so we figured it would be better to sign up for the day and change it later if we needed to. Since Tim got there early and was the 8th person in line, we got our request. We had until May 4th to make any changes, which came and passed before I even realized it. I had sort of decided to hold her off until this fall since she isn't walking yet and would have to go to the nursery instead of the 1 year olds' class. But, since it was too late to change, she went to the nursery this morning.

She had gotten up at 5a.m. (teething again) and ended up falling asleep by 7, so she didn't actually go until closer to 10. They said she did GREAT! Of course she did. She's a great baby. She only napped about 45 minutes, but the little aquarium toy they have on her crib was apparently enough to lull her to sleep today. She naps really well for me at home, but never does well on the road so I was a little nervous. It was a little bitter sweet for me to have a day to get things done. I'm on a work break right now, with new meetings starting up in mid-June, so I took advantage of the time to run some errands and start some spring cleaning. The day flew by in a flash and before I knew it she had scooted back over to my arms.

Troy also moved up to the 3 year olds' class today. He's more than ready to move up to the next level of skills, but I'm not as excited about the fact that they don't offer a nap. They have quiet time with a video (where I guess some of the kids actually drift off to sleep). I'm still not sure about this since he usually naps for 2-3 hours at home. It was a little rough tonight after he got home, so we'll have to play it by ear to see if it gets any better.

Other than that, things have been zipping by (and I don't even have any photos to show for it). Addison is working on more teeth. This time it's 4 on top... all at the same time. NOT FUN! Troy is still obsessed with all things creepy and crawly. We're all looking forward to the nicer weather sticking around for a while (although it's rainy this week). I think we might even break out the kiddy pool this weekend. I'll surely get pictures of that.

Birthday Take 2

We had a little party for Addison's 1st Birthday today. It started off a cold rainy day, but by the time the afternoon gathering began the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining. We cooked out and kept it simple, which was definitely the way to go. I think every one had a wonderful time... especially Addison.

She tried some new things today - hamburger. She really seemed to like it. Actually, she had a lot to eat. This is also a good before picture for what comes later... another newbie - chocolate cake.

I couldn't decide what kind of cake, but mid-week decided a May flower was only appropriate for the occasion. I'm not good at decorating cakes, but... I can arrange cupcakes to get the general point across. I love the flavor of the Wilton Whipped Frosting I use, but it doesn't hold it's shape well. I think her "cake" still turned out pretty cute. The bug is a little gummy bug that I picked up at after Easter sales. It was a fun addition.

Addison didn't even wait for us to finish singing "Happy Birthday" before she dug in to the frosting. I think it was a huge hit. She actually wasn't very fond of the chocolate cupcake, but the yellow cake a whipped icing were super.

Here are some pictures of just how yummy it was...

Now that's a fun day!