Happy 3rd Birthday, Addison!

Happy 3^rd Birthday My Sweet Little Girl – My Sweet Little Poppy Addison!

I can hardly believe you are three. How time flies! As I look into your bright and beautiful blue eyes I am reminded of the wonder and beauty in the world. You are no longer my little baby but now are growing into a little girl (or big girl as you often remind your Daddy and I). 

You are kind, sweet, smart, and independent. You are nurturing and caring and when someone is sad or hurt, you are the first to ask her if she is okay and offer her hugs. You are inquisitive and ask questions about all that surrounds you. You still love to read and snuggling with your Daddy and I in the mornings is one of your favorite things to do.  Your favorite books change on a weekly basis, but you still want to read the I love you  book and ABCs of Clemson regularly. You still love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Your favorite color is blue and you have an imaginary friend named Leyla (after your bestie at school). Just last night you were worried because Daddy sat on her. Your imagination is quite boundless as we have flying dinosaurs and lions over often. Why just two days ago we had a dinosaur swimming with us! Speaking of the water…you love it! Swimming is one of your favorite things to do. You love to kick the soccer ball, throw any other type of ball, and hit the golf ball and tee-ball. You love to help water the plants and flowers and have been my handy helper in the kitchen. You do your best to not let us forget to feed Bubbles the fish and you help us take care of Dylan. You still enjoy painting and coloring and are beginning to learn to share although sometimes it is so hard for you. When your little cousin, Jocelyn is around, you like to help take care of her and you’ve learned how to feed your babies with your “booties” like Aunt Chelle and change their diapers. When I asked you what you wanted for your birthday...you said, chocolate cupcakes with blue icing. Your favorite type of cake and ice cream is...chocolate! 

Aside from the normal change one can expect as a toddler, you have had a lot of changes in the last year! You moved from Florida to South Carolina and you changed schools. You have made many new friends and acclimated well to all of the change around you. One of the greatest changes is that you get to spend more time with your grandparents, who adore you and love spending time with you. You are currently on a “Daddy-kick” at night, but sometimes you let me read with you before Daddy finishes putting you to bed. We pick out four books and read them together. Then we go potty, have some water, and say prayers. Our days include lots of hugs and kisses. Currently, your favorite songs include Ants go Marching, Unicorn, 5 fishes song, and the Monkey and alligator song. You love to sing!

In the last year you have learned so many new things. You can count well past 20, spell your first and last name (and the names of some of the kids in your class), throw a remarkable tantrum, read uppercase and lowercase letters, go head-to-head with me (we are so alike in our stubbornness when we want something J), use the potty, sleep in the big-girl bed, sound out several letters, and make up a great story!

You are full of energy and your Daddy and I have a hard time keeping up with you! Even when we are exhausted at the end of the day and you’ve pushed all of our limits, we look into your sweet face and those big and beautiful eyes and remember the joy in the world. You are such a good person. A smart person. A beautiful person. A kind person. Don’t forget that my sweet little girl.

Love, always and forever,

Mama

Pictures from our morning

(more to come after the weekend)

birthday dance - wearing the shirt Lindsey made us! Thanks, Lindsey!

Showing her pouty face

So excited that her birthday is finally here! She kept saying my birthday is July 6 to everyone she met

Homemade poptart...of course it didn't look like her regular poptart so she wasn't sure about it

She asked us to sing her happy birthday at breakfast

Our little girl sure is growing up!

Cooking, Father's Day, Lisa's Wrapping Party

Addi helps me in the kitchen and the other day we made blueberry lemon yogurt cake. It was so tasty and we can't wait to make it again!

She helped do everything except put it in the oven! She zested, whisked, dusted, etc :)

Our finished product made from blueberries Addi and Scott picked at PaPa's house

Dylan is finally home with us! She still gets out so she isn't allowed to stay outside by herself. We just purchased a wireless system and need to train her on it. These next pictures were taken on Father's Day. That morning we got up and made Scott breakfast (donuts, oranges, thick sliced bacon, and sweet cream with coffee). Later all of the parents came over for a pool party and cook out. The pool is finally ready! We are so happy especially considering that it looked like a stagnant dirty pond only weeks ago. We swam, played games, and just enjoyed our time together as a family.

Sunning in the sunroom

Painting Daddy a picture before he gets up (yes...it is 7:30 in the morning!)

Swimming in the pool! 

Since we couldn't be in Michigan to throw Lisa a baby shower we (Mom, Michelle, all of my aunts, and some of my cousins) had a party in SC! We had a wrapping party in which we all brought food and got together to wrap presents and celebrate Lisa and Chris' pregnancy! We Skyped with her briefly (while she was on a break from her birthing class) and all told her hello. We had dinner ready for them to pick up on the way home from their class. Then we made her a video of us and the presents telling her why we bought them. We each wrapped the presents we bought and then shipped everything later that day. She should get her presents later this week!  Afterward we swam and spent the day together. It was wonderful! We had a great time with all of the aunts and family.

"Flat Lisa" with her pregnant belly :)

Girls Weekend in Savannah

Addi and I rode down to Savannah with Erin and Eli to visit our dear friend Laura and her daughter Ashlyn. We had an amazing time and it was the first time we've gotten all the kids together. I can't wait to do it again! Eli is the youngest at 10 months and Ashlyn is 6 months younger than Addi. Oh what fun we had! I miss my girls!

Playing with their Mommies' iPads

Reading together

Playing with Eli

Getting ready for a golf cart ride with Erin and Eli (Laura and Ashlyn had a birthday party that came up at the last minute)

Just hanging out

Derrick & Sally's Wedding

On Sunday June 3rd we headed down to Derrick and Sally's house in Charleston for their wedding. It was an intimate ceremony on the water outside of the home of one of their neighbors. We were so grateful to have been invited to be a part of it. Everything was so beautiful and the food and drink were delicious! The weather cooperated and it was such a lovely day.

Waiting for Aunt Sally and the girls to arrive at the ceremony

Handsome men!

Daddy and daughter - one of my favorite pictures

beautiful flower girls

Our lovely bride and groom

The greatest inlaws!

A sweet moment caught

May Updates

Sorry for such a long blog post, but I haven't had time to get on and post. Busy with work and fun. We've traveled to Charleston a couple of times and to NC for the weekend. I came home from NC with the start of a nasty cough and turns out I have bronchitis. Taking lots of meds including steroids, antibiotic, cough syrup, and mucinex d. On day three and hoping things start to clear up soon although I don't feel so hot right now.

We celebrated Michelle's birthday a couple of weeks after her actual birthday and headed down to Charleston the weekend of May 12th. Mom and Dad kept the girls, and we all stayed at Michelle's house. It has been a long time since we've been able to celebrate Michelle's birthday with her. We met up with some of Michelle's friends and had a really fun time. We went to Tabbuli's for dinner (and great live music!) and then to the bar with all the slushy drinks (I don't recall the name, but I've been to the one in Savannah) and then to Wasabi's. Although it was cool out it was really humid! That is one thing we can't seem to get away from :)

The next day was Mother's Day so we grilled out at Michelle's house. It was a lovely day of being pampered and just spending time with the family. I love being a mother. Scott and Addison got me a bird feeder and two small citrus trees that can stay in pots on the sun porch (when the time comes I will bring them in - key lime and meyer lemon). The lemon has two lemons on it but they aren't ready yet. Addi and I planted some herbs in small pots and daisies in a pot she made me for mother's day.

Just hanging out.

lemon

lime

My new bird feeder

The next Saturday (May 19th) was the March Madness dinner with the family. We had 18 people over and cooked a huge meal. It was the first time that Scott and I participated and the first time we have had people over. As the losers of the March Madness bracket (Missouri!!!???!!) we were in charge of hosting and cooking the entree, which included fried flounder and fried shrimp (Uncle Donald's choice as the winner). YUM! We also got to keep Jocelyn overnight, which was a wonderful treat. Michelle worked a double and it was Mom and Dad's Saturday to watch her so they brought her to our house. Michelle had to take Charles to the airport really early on Sunday so it was easier for us to watch her overnight since we were going to be in Charleston the next morning.

The next day (May 20th) we headed to Charleston to meet Michelle and for Elise's christening. After the christening we all headed to Derrick and Sally's for lunch. We had a great time and love that we get to spend more time with them now that we are closer.

My attempt to get them to take a picture after church...

The bubbles were a hit!

Another attempt at getting them to take a picture together

Just playin'

Sisterly love!

Cooking up some food and just having some fun cousin time

This past weekend we went to NC to visit Carrie and her family and to meet her new little one, Dalton (May 25th). Addison had a great time with Mary Elizabeth and is excited for them to come visit. Of course she wanted to kiss on Dalton. M.E. has grown so much since we last saw her in December! How time flies. We went to the Townhouse for lunch and everyone was excited to see Scott. He hasn't been able to go to NC with us in a while.

Dalton - around 1 month 

Then we headed to Belmont to have dinner with my Aunt Sr. Michel and Sr. Mary Andrew (or Sr. Boo as she is known to all of us). Mom and dad met us in NC that evening and we had adjoining hotel rooms so we were able to put Addison to bed and hang out with mom and dad in the next room. The next morning we got up and went to Sr. Mary Andrew's 60th Jubilee (May 26th). This was to celebrate her 60th year of being a Sister. of Mercy. It was a beautiful mass and Addison behaved so well. I was worried since it was almost a 2 hour mass and celebration. I am still thinking of some of the things said during mass and was greatly impacted by it. The music was breathtaking, and Addison really enjoyed sitting right next to all of the musicians. After the mass there was a reception. The food was fantastic! The trip was short but nice. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the family and only saw Sr. Soledad and Aunt Libby briefly on Saturday, but it was still nice to see them all. Dad, Scott, and Addison headed back to SC and Mom and I headed to Ikea. Oh what fun we had!

St. Gabriel Catholic Church, Charlotte, NC

She is so excited she can't handle it!

A toast!

It was so great getting to spend the last several weekends with friends and family. I love being close to home for this very reason. Here are a few pictures of the house. We are still in the process of getting things organized so I will take pictures as we go.

Sun room - once we get everything in for it I will take more pictures.

Addison's playroom - in the office space downstairs

The playroom is attached to the living room - I love the french door.s

living room