One, TWO, Four

Me: Hey Addison, How old are you?
Addison: Addison.

Me: No, I said how OLD are you?

Addison: One, Two ... Four.

So I guess this time next year she'll be four years old.. We'll work on numbers more later..

Today was Addison's SECOND birthday!

For those of you that know Addison, know that she gets cold VERY easily.  And when she's cold, she doesn't sleep.  SO, this morning Addison got up before 7am.  (She usually sleeps until 10:30)  Ken picked her up and we all went downstairs because AJ was itching to give her the birthday present she got her. 
 

Opening her present from her big sissy AJ!





"stashios!" (Pistachios are her favorite.)



She could finish that entire bag of pistachios in a day if I let her.  She loves them that much.  OR maybe she's just trying to keep Ken from eating them ;)  just kidding Ken.

snuggled up, eating pistachios, drinking juice and watching Pingu!
What could be better?



So last week we got in the new "One Step Up" catalogue and she's been carrying it around showing Ken and I the pictures and saying "want it" "get it" of the tricycle, sandbox, and any and all water toys...  So needless to say she liked her "big" present.

Addison's first tricycle

 

I got Wheels!!

  



Check me out! Zoom! Zoom!

"go AJ go!"

She rang that bell NONSTOP for ten minutes... at least. Her legs can't quite work the pedals yet but she likes to push it around or have AJ push her. 

For her special birthday dinner we had all her favorites:

see-weeal (cereal), pancakes, rice (my little chinese girl haha! No meal is complete with out rice), boiled shrimp, leftover chicken nuggets (from lunch). 

Then we waited around for Ken to get home from Tuscaloosa and we had CAKE!

Addison is quite obsessed with Pingu (a claymation penguin cartoon).  So I had this cake made at whole foods!

Then she got to open her last present of the day.

PINGU! PINGU!

Happy Birthday my funny girl.  You make my days brighter. Mommy loves you!

Bathtime Fun

Bathtime at our house is an all out fun fest.
Recently, Addison has come up with a new bath time game.  Its called "sticky Anna" She takes the bath foam letters and sticks them all over anna's body and if she happens to come across a toy that doesnt stick she either puts it on Anna's head or "hands" it to her so hard that Anna falls backwards. 

That Anna.  She's a tough girl.  Here's a video of her having fun with her sister until Addison head butts her and makes her cry.

Anna's Walking!

Things have been busy in the England house!  Ken broke his tailbone two weeks ago.  We've been busy fixing up the house (repainting, replacing eaves and replacing our crappy, single pane, leaky kitchen windows.)  I'll do a separate post with all the home improvement pics once we get finished.. Which if its actually on schedule will be done by May 7th.  (The girls' birthday party)

Anna took her first steps Friday night!  She's still a bit wobbly but she's taken up to 5 steps at a time.  I love it.  She has the cutest triumphant expression on her face when she makes it to where she wants to go.  Heres a little video we shot.  Sorry the lighting is dark, it was taken on our phone.

Love sweet love

Valentine's day. 

 A day where you bare your soul to the one you love.

A day to tell them how much they mean to you and how grateful you are to have them in your life. 

A day for romance... for all ages.

 Alexis has an admirer (we'll call him Mr. B).  I picked her up from school today and boy did she have a lot to say. :)  Today was her Valentine's Day party. They did the usual card exchange and her admirer gave her a present!  A chocolate bear (which she had already devoured) a handful of cards and lots of handmade "gifts".  It was so sweet! He even made a card that said "do you like me? yes or no?" The dillemma: She has a crush on another little boy in her class (Mr. J). So our dinner conversation tonight was filled with our little second grader's thoughts on how she should break it to Mr. B that she just wants to be friends.

Ken's solution, "tell him my dad says I can't have a boyfriend until I'm 30" haha!

Don't worry Ken, you're the only man in their life... for now anyway! :)

(the girls with their Valentine's present from daddy)

Houston we have liftoff!

We have a new crawler!! Anna has been crawling backwards for a couple of weeks now and we finally have forward progress! She gets up on her hand and knees now and rocks back and forth (I guess for momentum) and then she'll take a big lunge forward. Its hilarious. Addison has been working with her ;) She'll get on her hands and knees and crawl around the floor and say "come Anna". Its pretty comical. Toys don't seem to motivate her to crawl though, for now she only wants to crawl if there's food, electronics or jewelry to reach for. So she's got her basics covered.

Here's a video of her rocking.. This was taken a few days ago so it doesn't show her actually moving forward but its still pretty funny to see. I'll try to get a new video in the next day or so.

Dear people on Lakeshore Running Trail

Hi there.
Here in Birmingham we have a wonderful running trail that runs alongside Lakeshore. Unfortunately, there are people who run it that have no idea about trail etiquette. So this list was put together by Ken and myself to help inform/ educate. Feel free to add any of your "tips" in the comments section. I'd love to hear those too!

- If you are running on the trail with your dog and he doesn't want to take two steps off to the side to poop in the grass. Don't just leave it there for other runners to run around. CLEAN IT UP or at the very least knock it off to the side of the trail with a stick!
- If by chance you do let your dog go off to the grassy area to do his business, walk into the grass WITH him! DO NOT stand in the middle of the trail talking to your girlfriends blocking the path.
- If you are socializing while you walk- DO NOT walk 4 by 4- taking up both lanes of the trail. Go to the mall! Your designer outfits will be appreciated more there.
- If you have kids on the trail and they want to ride their bikes. Keep them on ONE side of the path. This may be a good time to explain rules of the road to them. The line is not something you swerve back and forth over.
- And if by chance, someone needs to pass you or your child. Do not yell "rapido" to get them to speed up. Tell him to stop or move him over to let others pass.
- Here's a key one. Run WITH traffic. If you are running in the lane and runners are coming TOWARD you, You are in the wrong lane. MOVE OVER. You are not special and the rules apply to you too.

I'm sure there are lots more but those were the first ones off the top of my head.
Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weekend!

Confessions of a Stay at Home Mom

Ok. Ashley this post is for you..


In response to my friend Ashley's blogpost requesting 11 Confessions for 2011 Here are mine.
Don't judge! ;)




1. I've become addicted to romantic comedies and watched 4 in one day... yesterday.

2. When the kids are fussy I turn on the radio and dance and sing around the house. You should see my running man. Its a crowd pleaser.

3. I have a system that tells me when I need to clean the floors.. When the kids look like they've begun to look like puppies because there's so much dog hair or hair or lint on their clothes from rolling around.

4. I look for all kinds of excuses to run errands alone. So I can sing really loud and off key without getting looks from Ken and AJ .. annnd Addison. She's at that age now where she knows bad singing.

5. Its impossible to feel sexy or attractive when your wearing a nursing bra.

6. I dislike vegetables most of the time and I only eat them because I make the kids eat them. And even then, I usually only have a spoonful of veggies on my plate.

7. Sometimes when a telemarketer calls, I talk to them just for a little adult conversation. It almost always has nothing to do with what they are trying to sell me and they usually hang up on me. I actually learned that from Ken. Its great entertainment!

8. I wish we lived in Jackson and still owned the restaurant for the sole reason that I would never have to cook.

9. I feel like the washing machines and the hampers have a plot against me and somehow something is ALWAYS in one of them.

10. My house is a mess

11. I've been avoiding cleaning it by making this list.