Birthday Party #2 & #3

I said in an earlier post that there were three days of birthday celebrations. On Friday we had day 2 of my Dad's birthday. We pulled off another surprise by having my godparents Dave & Elaine come over, plus most of my cousins and some of my Dad's neighbors. We had a bonfire singalong without the bonfire! Then on Saturday it was both Sydney and Les's birthday so we all got together at my sister's. We got tons of great pics of the kids outside, the key is to just have 1 or 2 kids at a time!

Sad Day

Why is Addy so sad? She just found out the news that today was Oprah's last show. She's too young to really know how significant this is, but I will make sure she knows. I'll admit I'm more than a little sad myself. It's no secret I'm a huge Oprah fan so this week was hard for me. It's the end of an era, but maybe someday Addy and I will watch Oprah together on reruns.

Herding Fish

On Friday we decided to head up to the farm to see my Grandma Ruby. Before going we had the great idea of doing a photo shoot with all of the cousins. We even had matching outfits for all of the girls. We thought the timing would be perfect and with two photographers (Robin & my Dad) we were sure to get some good photos. We were wrong. Out of a combined 600 photos we only got a handful that were good. We could never get all of the kids to look at the camera at the same time, the youngest two had no interest in having their picture taken at all, and the older kids just wanted to go to the candy store. My Dad said it best when he said it was like herding fish. After what felt like forever we were exhausted & just wanted it to be done. Everything was better once we got to the farm. It was so great to see my Grandma and for Addy to see her. Addy was so happy with her and even said "Ruby." The kids got to see the cows and play outside and Robin managed to get the best photo of the day with the two girls and their beloved bellies.

Birthday Bash Extravaganza

Last Thursday was my Dad's 65th birthday and with the help of Kathy & a lot of secrets, we were able to pull off an incredible surprise. Addy and I flew in & he had no idea. When my brother walked over to my Dad's from his house we had him carry Addy and pretend it was Isabelle (the hat was key!). Even with her on his lap it still took my Dad a few seconds before he realized who he had and then he was just shocked. It was a perfect surprise. The rest of the evening was a ton of fun, we all agreed it might have been "the best birthday ever". Which is a strong statement considering we celebrated birthdays for the next three days...more to come.

All I've Got

I have been patiently waiting for Adelyn to grow hair for the last 18 months. Patiently waiting for the fuzz on her head to turn into real hair. I've listened to other mom's talk about brushing their daughter's hair in the morning, which is something I've never experienced. I see other little girls with cute ponytails and barrettes in their hair, things I've never been able to do with Addy. While I can acknowledge there are some benefits to our situation (no tangles, no bed-head, easy to dry) overall I still just really want her to have a full head of hair.
Slowly but surely it is coming in, but it is slow. However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to give something a try the other day. I took her baby mullet and I put it in a clip! So after all of these months, this is all I've got to show...it lasted all of about 3 minutes and looked ridiculous, but at least it's a start. Hopefully in another 18 months she'll have the real thing.

In the Yard

Yesterday Brian took on a huge task in our yard and pretty much worked non-stop for a good 8 hours. While I'd like to say Addy was a big help, I'm sure you all would know the truth. She did have fun watching Daddy use the shovel and build the big dirt pile. I'm happy to say Brian finished the job all in one day and it looks great. Just in time too, its supposed to rain for the next 7 days. Here's some pics of Addy enjoying her time outside.

Week in Review

It has been a busy week and clearly I have lost track of time. Last weekend was great, Addy and I got to spend some quality time together just the two of us on Friday and Saturday while Brian got some quality time out of the house. Sunday was a fabulous Mother's Day. Brian made Addy and I a wonderful breakfast and then I got to enjoy a relaxing facial & do some shopping. What could be better? Oh and Addy made me a beautiful card at daycare, glitter and all! Brian tried to explain to Addy that there is no crying allowed on Mother's Day, but she didn't cooperate. She actually had a few more tantrum's than usual. I've realized I'm a full-fledged mom now because she can be having a tantrum and I can still carry on a normal conversation as if nothing is happening. I know that she always gets over it eventually so generally it's best to just leave her alone and get it out of her system. She is repeating just about anything we say now & it's so fun to see her learning new words and phrases every day. She thinks that "stinky feet" are hilarious and loves to offer up her feet for you to smell and then laughs hysterically if you tell her they are stinky. Oh the things you do with your kids to get a laugh!

Zoo

Last weekend was all about the animals! Sunday was another beautiful day so we took Addy to the zoo. She loved seeing all of the animals and we enjoyed being outside in the sun! Too bad we haven't seen it since...

Uh-oh

This time I'm going to start with the pictures and then follow with the story.



This incident happened just the other day. Addy got into the cupboard and pulled out the pancake mix and spilled it all over the floor. Nothing out of the ordinary for an 18-month-old. What I thought was so funny about this is that it didn't happen while Brian and I were out of the room, or while Addy was out of sight. Nope, instead it happened while she was literally right under our feet. I was making some food and Addy was inches from me and Brian was just a few steps away and he and I were apparently in deep conversation because we didn't even notice that she was into anything until she already had it all over the floor.

Now for what might be unusual for a child. I think she had just as much fun helping Daddy clean it up. After this was taken she pushed it around everywhere she could.