Seen and Heard

Audrey- (while getting up from the floor) "ooohhhh! Uh! (grunt, sigh). Whew!"


Me- "What's wrong?"


Audrey- "Goodness, I'm getting OLD! My back hurts."


Me- thinking- Yes, dear 4-year-old. I'm sure you know EXACTLY what "old" feels like!



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Addison escapes from EVERYTHING! (diaper, clothes, carseat, etc). And while Corey and I were talking about her latest trick....

Corey- "Addison is a little Houdini"

Audrey- "Yes, she is a little HO-DANNY"

Addison- 20 months

I'm running a little behind with this post...but I just want to be able to remember...


Addison, you:

• weigh 23 lbs


• are 32 inches tall


• wear size 4 diapers


• wear size 4 shoe


• have overcome your fear of animals and LOVE all animals now


• will NOT leave your pants and diaper on


• always escape out of your carseat straps. I constantly have to pull over to strap you back in


• love to sing and dance


• have an ever growing vocabulary, you say almost anything and are starting to speak in short sentences


• can count from 1-10 in English AND Spanish


• love to watch Barney, Blues Clues, and Elmo


• like for me to sing the Barney song and "Rock-a-bye-Baby" to you


• like for your belly to be rubbed when you are being rocked for bedtime

• can throw a HUGE temper tantrum :(


• still love your yellow taggie blankie and paci ("pa-pa")


• enjoy eating all fruit- especially bananas and strawberries


• have starting using the potty at times


• climb on everything


• can open all the doors and love to go into the bathroom and Audrey's room to find trouble


• like to "hide" from us- usually behind a door or in the pantry


• love playing with your friends at preschool


• are full of energy and mischief


• are loved and adored
  

Little Bit- you are such a blessing to us. Thank you for keeping us laughing and on our toes.

Audrey- 4 1/2 years old

Time is passing so quickly and I don't want to forget these special things:


Audrey, you:

• weigh 33 lbs



• are 41 inches tall



• don't like cheese (except Mexican cheese dip...which you LOVE)



• say your favorite restaurant is one that serves mexican food



• are growing out of your obesession with Dora and growing very fond of the Disney Princesses



• wear a size 8 shoe



• LOVE taking dance and love dancing all over the house



• have learned to whistle and do it often



• make up songs all the time



• don't like taking naps



• love dressing up with jewelry

• are a big helper with Addison



• are a lover of hot chocolate



• enjoy helping me shop for groceries



• love going to school



• say pink is your favorite color



• are still my tender hearted child



• love playing outside



• would swing on your swingset ALL DAY LONG, if we'd let you



• have found your sweet tooth and love candy/cookies/etc.



• can write your first name without help



• can write all the letters of the alphabet by yourself



• like to watch Bubble Guppies and Olivia



• love to wear dresses all the time



• pick out socks that hardly ever match your outfits, but I let you wear them anyway :)

I love you, sweet girl! You will always have my heart. I am proud to be your mommy.

Heather's 33rd Birthday

Yesterday, I celebrated my 33rd birthday. I love celebrating birthdays, anyone's birthday, not just my own. The "getting older" aspect of it isn't all that appealing. My squeaky, aching joints remind me of that daily. But I love celebrating life...especially with the ones I love.

I woke up that morning and enjoyed at nice cup of coffee while snuggling with my 2 favorite little girls. Then Audrey reminded me that I needed birthday muffins (a family tradition) and asked me to help her make them. I offered minimal assistance and she did a wonderful job.



Typically, the birthday girl is the only one who gets a candle on the muffin, but Audrey and Addison decided that they needed one too. So all 3 of us enjoyed blowing out our candles and making birthday wishes together.


Corey had a super busy day scheduled, but he stopped by the house briefly after getting off from the fire station to bring me these beautiful roses and a birthday card. Also, my brand new Kindle Fire will be here soon!!!! Yipee!!!! (insert high-pitched squeal here). That is my other birthday gift.


Audrey and Addison created this beautiful Play-doh birthday cake, complete with "lit" candles. We decided not to eat it, we would just take a photo :)

Finally, after Audrey's dance class, Corey and the girls took me out to eat for supper.

It was a lovely birthday. Getting to spend it with my 3 favorite people made it the best!

Halloween 2011

This Halloween I had an adorable Ariel (Audrey)....

...And a BUSY little bumble bee (Addison).

I do think they were the most adorable Ariel and bumblebee in this neck of the woods.

We don't usually take them door-to-door knocking on strange people's houses for candy. There is just all kind of crazies out there and I'm not all that fond of finding them. So we usually limit their trick-or-treating to a few family members.

This year we started our trick-or-treating adventure at Aunt Carol and Uncle Jim McGriff's house.

I was a HAPPY mommy because they had fruit for the girls instead of candy! :)

Then we visited Aunt Carolyn. Every year we have gone to her house. She always has something special and wonderful for the girls. Not just regular ol Halloween candy.

The girls love visiting with and loving on her.

Next, we made a stop by the nursing home so Nana could see the girls all dressed up. Audrey and Addison had balloons to give to Nana to brighten her room.

Here is Nana with her two special trick-or-treaters.

Last, we went to the church for their Fall Festival/Trunk-or-Treat. They both enjoyed playing the games and getting LOTS of candy.

I'm fairly certain that the pony ride was the favorite.

Carving Jack-O-Lanterns

During our visit to the pumpkin patch, we picked two perfect pumpkins for us to carve.

The other night we decided it would be a great time to carve them. I took the pumpkins outside for the "cleaning of the guts" because it is just so messy.

Audrey got busy scraping and pulling out the guts. Addison started out with her spoon and dug in...then she felt those guts on her hand. She was NOT happy. She started fussing, threw her spoon down and said "no, no, no". Addison chose not to touch those pumpkins again.



Audrey instructed me on what the faces should look like and I drew the designs on each pumpkin. Corey did the carving since I'm not all that safe with knives. I tend to cut myself often. :/

The pumpkins turned out pretty cute and the kids loved them especially once we got the super-cool lights put inside.

Audrey was so proud of her work. Addison was grumpy because she didn't want any part of taking this photo.

Fall Festival at the Nursing Home

This year we have attended several Fall Festivals. The girls have had a wonderful time.

We went to one at the school where I used to teach. I didn't really take any photos there :/. I was too busy keeping up with the kids and talking to my friends that I haven't seen in ages.

Grammy and I took Audrey and Addison to the Fall Festival that was hosted by the nursing home where Nana is right now. It was such a beautiful day and we were thrilled because Nana felt good enough to join us outside and watch the girls have fun.



We even persuaded Nana to participate in some of the games, too.


Nana and Audrey competed in the ring toss.

Addison tried to catch a few "fish".

Audrey and Nana had matching hats made.

Addison loved the "Pick-up Ducks" game. The only problem was she wanted to keep the ducks. She didn't care about the candy.

Audrey had a beautiful butterfly painted on her face.

Nana, Audrey, Me, and an irritable Addison

Uncle Keith even came and enjoyed some of the fun with us.

Jack-O-Lantern Craft

Audrey and Addison love making crafts. I used to do this craft with my students when I taught 2nd grade and they always enjoyed it.

I thought I would give it a try with my girls. It was a big hit with them, too. Addison enjoyed tearing all the paper and Audrey glued it down and cut out the pieces for the face.



They did a wonderful job.

We made a couple extra Jack-O-Lanterns and gave them to Grammy and Nana.