Happy Birthday Addison!

We celebrated Addison's 1st birthday this past weekend. We had a small party at our house with family. We planned the party around her normal nap times so she wouldn't be tired or fussy. We could never do that with Connor because he never napped on a regular schedule for us. We've been thankful for that this go around :) She must have known she had a busy day ahead of her as she napped for almost 2 hours before the party! She woke up to a house full of people and couldn't have been in a better mood. She showed off her big girl eating over lunch, then with her walking afterwards. She was a little weary when we all gathered around her and started singing Happy Birthday though. Connor helped her blow out her candle and slowly but surely she tasted her first cupcake :) After cake she opened her presents, again with the help of her big brother. He couldn't wait to help her rip into her gifts. She was funny about it, she had to be sitting in her rocking chair for the whole thing. If I got her out she climbed right back in. Shortly after gifts we said our goodbyes. It was so good to have both sets of grandparents here. Connor and Addison were both in hog heaven.

 

 

Grandma and Papa stayed the night and in the morning we all went out for breakfast. They left shortly after and the kids took their naps. It was such a beautiful day out that we didn't want to be cooped up indoors. So after naps we headed to Busch Gardens! I love having season passes plus the time change worked in our favor. We mixed it up a bit this time and instead of heading straight to the Sesame Street kids area we took the train ride that goes around the park. It was a little long but worth doing once. John or Connor would point to something and seconds later Addie would point. She didn't know what she was pointing at but it was cute nonetheless. Connor tried out another big boy ride and then hit up some of his favs including the bounce house and sandbox. Before leaving we let him splash through the kid water zone. He loved that, we'll have to leave more time for that next time.

 

Overall a very fun weekend. I still can't believe my Addie is already one year old though. She and Connor both have their well visits next week so I'll report back with their stats. Click here to view a million more pictures of our weekend with the birthday girl. Well, maybe not a million but there are a lot. They were all too cute not to share (in my opinion).

♥♥♥ Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet, little princess, Addison! ♥♥♥



Happy St. Patty's Day!

We celebrated St. Patty's Day and Cate's 3rd birthday on Saturday. Bobbie and Carrie spared no expense. In addition to all the traditional Irish foods and drinks, they also had a bounce house, cotton candy, snow cone and popcorn machines! It is safe to say the kids were in heaven. Connor had so much fun on the bounce house and thoroughly enjoyed his huge cotton candy stick. We have never allowed him to have more than a bite or two at a time, usually as a reward for going potty, so he took full advantage of the situation :)

 

We attempted to go to the beach on Sunday. Our plans were to head to Pass-a-grille but apparently everyone else had the same idea. We searched and searched for a parking spot to no avail. We finally decided to head elsewhere but just found ourselves stuck in more traffic. After 2 hours in the car, yes 2 hours, we finally had enough and just pulled over and setup shop near the road. There was no way we were going home without getting some time in the sun! We still had fun and the kids didn't know the difference. The scenery just wasn't as nice :p We'll try again another time, just not during spring break. We have plenty more summer ahead....

 

 

You can view more pictures from our weekend here.

Videos

These are all pretty old at this point but I'm just now getting them off of my phone. Enjoy!

Connor giving Chelsea goodbye hugs

Connor playing T-ball on our back porch

Addison's first steps (or around there :p)

Addie playing with trucks. We've given her dolls! She just wants anything her brother has :)

More steps...

Addie doing 'the Indian'

Not sure why I can't seem to capture a good walking video but it just hasn't happened. Addie doesn't like to perform for the camera :p

Have a great weekend!

Surprise!

Grandma hit the big 6-0 on Sunday and to help her celebrate this huge milestone we decided to throw her a surprise birthday party! It was a success as she was very much surprised. You can tell by the look on her face :) Nancy planned it with the help of her siblings. She invited a lot of friends and family, near and far. Even though many could not make it, everyone sent in pictures, yearbooks and letters that Nancy collected and turned into a scrapbook. Everything turned out perfect and Carolyn had a fun, memorable birthday :)

I had my camera that night but didn't use it much :( H Wetzel, a friend (and photographer) of Carolyn's, took the ones below. I couldn't resit sharing as they captured a few great moments. The link to my pictures from the rest of our weekend in Cape Haze is here.

Happy 60th Birthday Carolyn! We ♥ you!!

For more of H's work, please visit http://hwetzel.zenfolio.com/ and click on 'Carol's 60th.' The password is Sneakers :) Enjoy!

 

Happy Birthday Connor!

I can hardly believe it but by sweet baby boy turned 3 last week. He is no baby though, that's for sure! He woke up so happy and proud to be a "BIG BOY." He had been saying that for weeks now. "I'm going to be a big boy when I turn 3." Sure enough, he refused to wear a pull-up Friday. John shook his head. No way could it be that easy. I said there is only one way to find out! I put underwear on him and just put a pull-up over them for the car ride to school. Gave him a big birthday kiss and told him we would see him later. We started his birthday celebration by bringing in cupcakes to his school during their afternoon snack. It was so much fun to watch him interact with his classmates. They were so cute together! They all have nicknames for one another, they laugh together, play together and even share their snacks. And they were all super stoked to have cupcakes! :) At one point Connor told me to look at his mouth (which was covered in frosting) so I did and then naturally took a picture. Then each of the kids took turns telling me to look at their mouths. Then it was their hands. I couldn't stop smiling at such a great group of kids. After cupcakes we brought Connor and Addie home early to enjoy the rest of the afternoon together.

 

Shortly after getting home Grandma and Papa arrived. We had told Connor he couldn't open presents until they got there. So he was excited to say the least! He ripped through his gifts and then played for a bit. Then it was time to eat! We decided to go out to Beef O'Brady's for dinner. We had a good dinner and even ran into John's Aunt Connie and Uncle Gary! After dinner Connor indulged in one more cupcake which he thoroughly enjoyed. It was his birthday after all! ;)

We were up and at 'em early Saturday morning! Connor's birthday party was at the park at 10 am. We weren't risking him being tired this year. His party last year was at 2 pm and he hadn't napped and slept through most of it! It was a non issue this year as he and all the other kids seemed to be full of energy, running and playing all over the park. It was a great park, lots of shade and not too many people. We had muffins, fruit and cake of course. Connor loved his special Monster Truck cake we had made for him. He is still obsessed with any and all Monster trucks. Connor and his buddy Finn played with them all over the park. Connor did have a small potty incident while we were there, luckily at the end of his party, but he did have to end it with no pants. I didn't think I needed to bring an extra set of clothes for a 2 hour party! Note to self for next time :p Connor was filthy nonetheless which required a hose down when we got home. Literally. He loved every second of it.

 

 

 

The rest of the day was pretty chill. Connor opened all his birthday gifts after his nap which gave him plenty to do the rest of the afternoon. John and I took full advantage of Grandma and Papa staying with us and went out that evening. We had a yummy dinner at Datz and then met up with our friends, Chris and Marti, for drinks afterwards.

We said goodbye to Grandma and Papa Sunday and then just enjoyed some family time together. Connor and Daddy went to the park for a bit to test out his new remote control Monster Truck. They also practiced hitting/playing T-ball. Daddy said Connor did great and had a lot of fun. Connor was pull-up free ALL DAY Sunday and only had one accident. He has been wearing underwear ever since (except for bedtime) and has only had one other accident at school. We can't believe it. He has been telling us that when he is 3 he will be a big boy and will wear underwear, but we hardly believed it would be that easy. Well, I guess he told us! It's like he flipped a switch the day he turned 3. No complaints here!

The link to all of his birthday weekend pictures is here. Sorry there are so many but I know my family that couldn't be there will enjoy them. They'll almost feel like they were there ;)



Weekend Recap

Where does the time go these days? Seems to be flying by in our household! Before I get too behind I just wanted to share our pictures from last weekend. We mostly hung out around the house. Connor and Daddy bought sand to fill our kiddie pool with, so the kids had fun playing in their new sand box. Saturday we went to Chelsea's 3rd birthday party held at Gymboree. We knew Connor would have fun but so did Addison!



Connor climbing our grapefruit tree

Ready for the party!

Addie also hit the 11 month mark on Sunday. She is still just taking steps here and there but her confidence is growing. It won't be long now! I'm still working on a video. She thinks it is hilarious though to take a few steps and then lung herself forward. It's really cute and funny but definitely causing some delay :p

No new teeth this past month but we can see one up top about to pop through. That will make 6 total. She only weighs about 17 lbs - petite little thing! And she has tiny little feet too! I had to buy her shoes for school and I couldn't believe she was only a size 2. I'm pretty sure Connor was at least a 4 by this age. I shouldn't be too surprised I guess as I have small feet. Maybe one day we can share shoes ;)



Busted!

 You can view many many more pictures here. Connor turns 3 tomorrow!!!! Stay tuned for an upcoming birthday post!

Busy Busy Bees

It feels like it has been forever since I've updated this and I apologize to my dedicated readers. We have been super busy lately and the blog had to be put on hold. So to back it up a couple of weekends ago, we took the kids to Busch Gardens for the first time. Connor had a blast! We headed straight to their Sesame Street area and never left :) Connor rode all the rids he could...even the ones he had to go on all by himself! Addie had fun cheering him on....and it wore her out :)

We also took Connor to Toys R Us to get some birthday ideas. He got so excited over EVERYTHING! It was so cute, but he didn't get excited over the one thing we thought we wanted to get him. A bike. It was a good thing we brought him in to check it out or we would have wasted our money. He just isn't interested...not yet anyway. All he wanted to buy were Monster trucks!

We also took Connor bowling for the first time. That was a lot of fun! We went with the Fussell's and Peper's. It was perfect as it was freezing outside and we didn't want to be cooped up in the house all day.

Addie also got her first shiner....or so we thought. She woke up Sunday morning with a big red bump over her eye. We thought she banged her head against her crib as the swelling worsened throughout the day. Monday morning was even worse but by the end of the day the swelling had subsided and there was a noticeable red dot. It was completely gone by Tuesday morning so it must have been a bite of some sort. Either way, poor baby. It didn't seem to bother her one bit though! She's one tough cookie :)

Last weekend John took care of the kids while I went to Orlando. Kudos to John. It's a tough job flying solo! A lot of work anyway. I was there for some wedding festivities for Erin, one of my best friends. First was her bridal shower brunch. We went with a Parisian chic theme and it turned out fabulous! All our hard work planning paid off :) And Erin looked amazing. I've never seen her so happy. Then we whisked her away for spa day and ended the night with her bachelorette party which was tons of fun. A very fun weekend, but very tiring. I was so ready to get home to relax and unwind but by the time I got back from Orlando Addie had developed a fever and was in need of lots of TLC. And I was ready to give some! I missed my babies!

You can view more pictures of the kids here. You can also view pictures from the shower and bachelorette party here.

Weekend Recap

Addison took her first steps last week! At most she takes 3 steps before lunging for support, but she is close! I don't have it on video yet but trust me, I'm working on it! I'm so excited! I did snap a picture of the infamous pink pig that she likes to keep in her mouth. I think I wrote about that last week or so....

 

On Saturday we rode our bikes to the park for a bit. This was the first time Addison rode in the bike trailer and she loved it! She would wave to me when I biked by and I could hear her laughing the whole way there. I personally think she just likes sitting so close to Connor. It was a beautiful day out and the kids had fun.

 

We biked back for nap time then later met up with Grandma and Papa for dinner. They were utilizing some reward points at the Embassy Suites before they expired. We've gotten to see them three weekends in a row now! :)

The next morning we met them again at the hotel for breakfast before they headed back home. Later that afternoon we headed to our friends Sara and Mikey's house to celebrate their daughter Madeline's baptism. Connor had fun playing with all his friends: Ava, Andrew, Courtney and Cate! Addie got to babble a little with Chloe :)

Here is a link to some additional pictures taken over the weekend. I would say 95% of them were taken with my new phone. It has amazing shutter speed so I'm having fun taking pictures when I normally wouldn't have our nice camera out or with me.

Growing

Addison hit the 10 month mark late last week. I have no doubt in my mind that she will be walking before she turns one. She has incredible balance, she just needs the right motivation to move forward. She has taken "a" step here and there but then lunges forward to grab on to something (or someone). Any day now. I just hope I can get it on camera! She also popped out her two top front teeth...and has been sleeping through the night ever since! Woo hoo! She may not be teething as much at the moment but everything still goes into her mouth. She has this one toy, a pink pig, that she loves to carry around in her mouth. It's just as cute as can be. She just pops it in and then carries on with herself, crawling around the house with it in her mouth. I really need to get a picture of this!



She tries to repeat a lot of what we say. In addition to waving she also says bye bye and now also waves hello (hi). I walked into daycare one afternoon and as soon as she saw me she waved, then speed crawled across the room with a huge smile on her face. We've notice she loves to dance but even her daycare teachers tell us how much she moves throughout the day. They say she even bops to the beat when they put on music! We had started "real" finger foods/solids here at home but now even daycare has requested it. They say she is ready and ready she is! Her pincer grasp amazes me. She loves having pancakes or waffles with us on the weekends.  I don't remember Connor eating foods like this until he was closer to one. But then again I used to be terrified he would choke so I probably held him back a bit :p On one hand I want her to grow and hit all of these fun and important milestones, but on the other I don't want to lose my baby girl. It's a little bittersweet.

Connor will be three in just one more month. I can't believe it. He continues to amaze me on a daily basis. Sometimes I wonder when my (first) baby grew up on me! He has grown out of his "Why?" stage and has moved onto doing everything "by MY self!" Everything. Or you will hear about it! It's great, really, but it can also be trying at times. Mostly because he doesn't tell us he wants to do it until after it is done. So we do things multiple times around here for now. The only thing that keeps him from being a true big boy is his diaper. Yes. He is still wearing a pull up. He has good days and bad days but the truth of the matter is he just isn't ready. I think the last several busy, hectic and eventful months have been a huge contributing factor. One step forward....two steps back. Can you blame him? In the last 6 months he moved 3 times, has had 3 different teachers and surgery! Oh, and not to mention having to adjust to sharing Mommy and Daddy....and his toys! We couldn't be more proud. He is one smart, incredible kid. And he can make us laugh like no other. He definitely has a sense of humor on him. Not sure where he gets that from actually. I know I'm not funny!

So in less than 2 months I'll have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Wow! And we're loving every second of it...