Monday, February 11, 2013

Addy: 2 Year's Old!!

Dear Adilyn,

You are such a big girl now!  I can't believe that you are two already!  Walking, talking, playing, and discovering more and more every day.  It is such a joy to us to watch you get that intent look on your face as you are processing new information and learning about the world around you.  And that childhood innocence and excitement over what adults consider "everyday" things: priceless.  "Look Mama!  A squirrel running up a tree!!!!"  Nothing can make a person appreciate nature and the world around us like a child can.  I am grateful for you every day!!

You are at that age where you are beginning to mimic everything.  From words, to gestures, to actions.  You have started to nurse your animals via your belly button, which is quite hilarious to watch!  Your new favorite saying when we ask you if you are going to do something is: "I sure am!"  I guess we must say that more often than we realize.  It's so cute to hear it out of such a tiny person :)

One the other hand, we really need to watch what we do and say these days.  Because, as always, you don't miss a beat.  We can't get anything past you.  I sneak a cookie, you demand one too.  I push Daisy out of my way when she's underfoot, so do you.  I say words like "disgusting" regarding certain foods, so do you.  Because of all of this, being a parent is making me a better person.  Children learn by example.  So if I don't want you having lots of sweets in your diet, I need to limit them in mine.  If I want you to treat Daisy (and all people and animals) nicely, I need to model that behavior.  If I want you to be polite and not use words like "disgusting" to describe food you don't like, then I better not either.  It's a good thing.  For both of us.  You keep me honest and I love you for that.

You have started to say you're "scared" of any and all things you don't like or don't feel like doing.  Anything from, "I'm scared of car seat!"  to "I'm scared of eggs!"  I don't think you truly understand what scared means.  Now don't get me wrong, you are legitimately a scaredy cat (ha ha!), but you also just think if you say you're scared, then we won't make you do it.  I'm here to inform you that we're onto you little lady.  You can't get anything past us either ;)

Here are a couple recent pics of you:

Daddy bought this play set and made a little play area in our yard, which is perfect for you.  You love, love, love to go outside and play!


A few days after this picture was taken we lost that hat, and I'm pretty bummed out because it was by far your cutest one...and the one that fit your large noggin the best!



You love your "princess" jewels from Aunt Erin :)


You still won't let me put anything in your hair, but occasionally you'll rock your own style:




You got your first "real" haircut a few days before your birthday, and you loved it!  They gave out lolly pops, so what's not to love?!

(Creative shot courtesy of Aunt Tina of course!)


Before:

What is going on in the back?  Did I botch your haircut that badly the first time?


During:
"Lolly pop!"

"I'm scared of water!"

Loving the hairdryer!


 After:
How cute is that place, by the way?  They gave you a little certificate and a prize and everything!



You still love TV, but we have definitely limited it's presence in this house which is great.  You like Little Einsteins and Super Why.  Like Super Why, "To the rescue! " is your favorite saying, as you pump your fist high in the air.  It's pretty funny to watch :)

A few weeks before you turned two you said your first sentence.  "Sometimes, I go to church on Wednesdays."  Exact words.  When you first said that, Daddy and I couldn't stop laughing about it.  Then you kept repeating it and repeating it.  Always slowly, like you were still processing which words go where in the sentence.  I love it!  Wednesday is when you have your music class at church and that remains one of your favorite activities.



Your Two Year Stats:

Weight: 29 lbs (85th percentile)
Height: 35 3/4 inches (90th percentile)
HC: 48 1/2cm (85th percentile)

A few other things about you:

- You aren't an extremely picky eater, but you have your moments.

- You drink milk with breakfast, but other than that, you only drink water.  (I am determined to make you a better water drinker than I am.)

- You are hit or miss with using the potty.  You will pee and poop on it, but only when you feel like it.  Otherwise you scream and cry and refuse to even go near the thing.  We're taking it slowly and letting you set the pace for now.

- You like to have at least two blankets in your crib at all times.  You would have ten in there if we let you, but you will not tolerate less than two.

- You are an amazing big sister and you light up like a firefly when you make Emmy smile :)

- You remain 100% Daddy's girl.  And I 100% love it.  I joke around that I'm hurt and sad about it, but deep down I think there is nothing cuter than a little girl who adores her Daddy :)  I hope you always stay a Daddy's girl.

- You suck your thumb, but usually only when you are tired... or when you are around Emmy.  You immediately stick your thumb in your mouth when you are near her, like you are trying to soothe her with your thumb.  It's adorable!

- You can manipulate the Ipad like no other.  Turn it on, swipe the screen, swipe through to find your apps, start your apps, etc.  You do it all with no help from us.  Why do I have a feeling that you'll be teaching me things by the time you're three?

- It is soooo hard to get good pictures of you these days.  You often downright refuse to look at the camera.  I love this pic because it totally looks like you are saying, "If I say cheese, will you get off my back?"  Ha ha!


- You talk about Skyping with people, but then you rarely stay in the room and interact when we do.

- You are getting really good with your manners and you usually say please and thank you without any prompting.  (Or "Thank you your welcome."  You often jumble those together.)


I could go on and on.  There are so many fun, quirky things about you as an individual that I am learning on a daily basis.  You are realizing your independence and that is both fun and difficult for us as parents.  You try our patience every single day, but you also make us laugh (many, many times!) every single day.  I think that's what keeps parents of toddlers sane!

You are a smart, funny, kind, and beautiful little girl, and I can't wait I'm excited to see who you'll grow up to be.  I don't like to say "I can't wait", because I can wait.  I do not, under any circumstances want to rush your childhood.  It's going too fast already!

This is the last of your monthly letters from Mommy, as you are a big girl now and no longer a baby.  But I want to continue to write you letters as you grow up so that you and I can look at them together one day and remember all of these fun, crazy, funny times "back when you were a kid".  Ugh, it brings tears to my eyes to even type that.  Stay little and innocent forever Addy.  OK?






Happy 2nd Birthday Adilyn Marie!  We love you to the moon.... and back!

Love,

Mommy


Friday, February 8, 2013

January Self Portrait: Cupcake Queen

With all of Addy's birthday celebrations, combined with baking for other parties, and for friends, I'm surprised that I haven't gotten sick from the amount of batter I've eaten over the past month.  Not to mention that Christmas was just a few weeks ago, and I don't remember how many types of Christmas cookies I made.  Six?  Maybe eight?  I have been a baking fool.... and loving it!

All that know me know about my sweet tooth.  My sweet tooth is one of many reasons that I would never, ever survive on a diet.  I need my daily dose.  My "fix" if you will.  If I can't have a little something sweet after dinner I feel deprived ... and borderline depressed.  (And we wonder who Addy gets her dramatics from??)

There are two food things in life that I need:  breakfast and dessert (or both at the same time!!).

Don't deprive me of breakfast, and don't make me go a whole day without so much as a Hershey's Kiss.  Trust me on this one.  Just ask Mike if you are unsure ;)

Anyway, I digress.  January was a month of baking yummy, delicious sweets, of which there were always plenty left over for me to devour!

Everyone knows that you aren't supposed to eat the batter, but we all do it....right?  So what if I purposely leave an absurdly large amount on the bowl for myself to enjoy.  I'm taking that chance with salmonella at every opportunity.  That's right.  I live on the edge ;)

Thursday, February 7, 2013

2012 Self Portrait Review

I hopped on the monthly self portrait bandwagon last year, and I have to admit, I'm glad that I did.  It's cool getting a small glimpse of what I've been up to for the past 12 months with 12 little pictures.  I wasn't going to do it again this year, but after talking to Tina and looking back at last years pics, I decided I'll try to keep up with it again.  Sometimes I feel like my life is too boring for this, but I suppose everyone has at least one thing going on per month, huh?

Here is a compilation of last years self portraits: (courtesy of Tina of course!  There is no way I would have known how to make this little compilation of pictures.)

From left to right, top to bottom:
January: Getting ready for Addy's First Birthday Party
February: Ireland
March: Florida
April: Second Shooting my first wedding with Tina
May: Zac Brown Band concert
June: Vegas for Erin's wedding
July: Maternity photo shoot
August: Getting ready for Emma's arrival
September: Emma is here!
October: The breastfeeding journey
November: Back into running again
December: Back to work



So there you have it!  My 2012 in review.  Can't wait to see what 2013 will bring!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Addy's Birthday Palooza!

January was a big birthday month for Addy...she turned TWO!!

And boy did we celebrate!  We had a party for her with all of her little friends from the mom group.  The next week we had a party for her with our family and a few other friends.  And the next week she had a party at her school.  Not to mention that none of the above events occurred on her actual birthday, so of course, we celebrated on that day as well :)

A Birthday Palooza it was!  It got to the point where Addy thought we should be singing Happy Birthday to her every morning, and multiple other times throughout the day.  And now whenever we talk about someone else's birthday she looks confused and says, "Happy Birthday to Addy!"

So we started off the festivities with a bang.  18 children ranging from 7 weeks to 5 years, and 10 mothers came to our house for party number one.  That's right, 28 people, including 18 children.... in our house... at one time.  It was a zoo to say the least!  And of course the night before the party we had freezing rain/snow and our power went out for over an hour when I was literally right in the middle of baking cupcakes for the party.  And it was 10PM the night before the party.  (With me being the procrastinator that I am, would you expect anything different??).  So that batch of cupcakes was ruined, and Mike and I were left scrambling around trying to hang decorations and get food together by candlelight! 

By the next morning the roads were fine, but everything was melting and it was still cold, so my sliver of hope that the kids could play outside was dashed. 


All of them were inside, downstairs.  And I have never been so thankful for hardwood floors in my life.  There was icing streaked down the hallway, crushed grapes, raisins, and goldfish crackers everywhere, and random spots of spilled juice wherever I turned.  But as chaotic as it was, we all had a lot of fun!  Addy may have been slightly overwhelmed (as she was VERY clingy to me), but she really enjoyed herself too.  And she did very well with sharing her toys, which I was nervous about.

Here are some pics from the day!

Before:







The Birthday Girl!!!

All ready to party!


Let the festivities begin!






Actually these pictures don't really do the party justice.  It was A LOT more chaotic than it appears!

We had Addy bawling during the Happy Birthday song...


...until she got her cupcake.  Then she was fine....


...until she realized that I had my camera.  I was promptly told to "turn it off Mama!"


We had kids climbing on the counter to get the last cupcakes...


And of course afterwards, we had a mixture of toys and food all over the place...


All in all the party was a complete success!  We even had a plate of cupcakes left over :)


Two things I wish I had from this party: a group picture and a video.  But in the chaos, neither of those things ever even crossed my mind.

The Birthday Girl signing out.  It's nap time folks :)


Party Number Two for Addy occurred the day before her birthday, and it was definitely a lot more low key... thanks to the fact that a large majority of the guests were adults.  

Bring out the birthday outfit and we're ready for Round Two!...

Waiting for her guests to arrive...

Addy and Carley


Store bought cupcakes this time


No crying for the Happy Birthday Song this time...perhaps because Daddy was the one bringing her the cupcake ;)







Addy with Carley's baby bro, Chris


A few of Addy's favorite gifts...

A new hat!  
(Daddy ended up opening the birthday gifts because Addy was much more interested in watching the pictures of herself scroll through on the TV.)


Rockin' Mickey

The Aqua Doodle (coolest toddler toy ever!!)


Tub Tunes (which included these xylophones, a drum, and three flutes)


And last, but not least, a camo tent, tunnel, and sleeping bag!  

And a week later, out came the birthday outfit for the third and final time for Addy's school celebration!  Mike and Emma went to the party, and he even took a few pictures for me so that I could see what I was missing :)

No tutu this time.  She has to be ready to play!



Cupcakes with friends :)

And that folks, was Addy's Birthday Palooza!  I think our family has had more cupcakes in the past month than we have had in our whole lives!  There were literally cupcakes at our house for weeks... and it wasn't because we weren't eating them!  But it was a really fun month, and we all know that our little sweet tooth was loving life!

Happy Birthday Addy Marie!!!  We love you so very, very much!