HOLD ON, Wait a minute.. Lets back it up now.

These first couple of months of stay at home mommy-dom have been a blur. Don't get me wrong- its been awesome to be able to spend so much time with all my girls but the days tend to run together. And well, you just dont notice them growing up as much as they are. Well, I got a wakeup call this morning. AJ is signed up for her first season of REAL Cheerleading. She will be cheering for the Hoover Raiders and today is cheer camp. As I lay in bed, i'm half asleep trying to mumble what Ken needs to remember to pack for her and I realize I need to do her hair. So I roll out of bed and stumble into her room. Then I help her tie her sparkling white new cheer shoes with my eyes half shut, then we go into the bathroom where I put her hair into a pony tail (I'm still half asleep). Well she turns around and I dont know where it came from but she grew up. Right then and there! She looks so grown up and mature!

Addison is growing up fast too. She wants to be JUST like AJ. When all the big girls are over here playing- Addi is right behind them trying to keep up. She's started to communicate more, she says dada, daw (dog), aday (AJ)- she usually screams this one she gets so excited to see her sister, anna (she says this one pretty clearly), mum mum (food), ah-ma (grandma), neh-neh (milk), wah (water), zus (juice) and Amn (amen)-she says that one when she's ready to eat. :) She's also taken after AJ and has developed a maternal side. She tries to rock, pick up, hug and bounce Anna whenever she's around her. Its really sweet to see. She still gets overly excited and smacks her on the head every now and then but she's learned to be a little more gentle.

Now Annalise, Anna is an AMAZING baby! So laid back and she smiles ALL THE TIME. Its amazing to see her grow as much as she has. She is a little over 2 months old now and she is 12 pounds. She's turned into a cute little chunk if I do say so myself. We're just enjoying watching her grow.

Five is the Magic number

Growing up in the restaurant biz, the majority of our tables were tables set for four.. when we had families of five or more come in, it was kind of a big deal because we would have to put together 2 tables for them.. The number 5 has always stuck out to me for this reason.. Five was the magic number. It put things on a different level in a way.

So I'm proud to announce that the England clan has grown to a family of five!


Annalise Kinsley "Anna" was born on May 12, 2010 at 10:48 am. She weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs 2 oz. (my smallest baby!) Its been a little over 2 weeks now and Anna has been wonderful so far! Sleeps well, eats well. And even though I was just here last year, I forget how much they sleep! My mom has been staying with us and helping out with the girls which has been a Godsend! And the girls have adapted pretty well to having another sister. AJ of course, is a doting big sister and Addison.. well she hasn't quite made up her mind about Anna. She ignores her for the most part but there are times when she gets curious and pokes and prods her. :)

Life as a stay at home mom to 3 girls has been wonderful so far! Here are a few pics from the past 2 weeks and if you want to see more, go to our shutterfly page at www.englandfamily.shutterfly.com

Ruffles and Lobster Tails

After dinner tonight we decided to let Addison have another try at getting messy with her cake.

We figured- maybe she was just shy and didn't want to be in the spotlight on Sunday so this would be great! It was just Ken, Addison and me in the kitchen (AJ was in the shower). So I put the cake in front of her expecting total obliteration... She stuck her finger in it and whined. So I thought "OK! maybe it would work better if I cut a big piece to put on her high chair... So i cut off a big piece and cut it into pieces to entice her to pick it up and eat.. Still nothing. She sat there with a look of horror on her face. As if to say... "what am I supposed to do with that?!" I turn to Ken "what the heck?! What child doesn't want cake and icing?!" He said, "I bet you she'd eat ruffles.. The girl likes salty stuff" So we grab the bag of ruffles and what do you know?! She ate a TON! hah!

I hated to let all that yummy cake go to waste so I asked Ken, "Can AJ have this small corner piece with the flower?" He proceeds to shoot me a look and said "THE GIRL HAD LOBSTER TAIL FOR DINNER! THAT WAS HER DESSERT! Not to mention a half rack of baby back ribs and mashed potatoes! .. Do you know when I first had lobster!? It was after I married you! And we ate crab when we went down to the beach and CAUGHT IT OURSELVES!!!"

bahahahah!

What can I say- the girl has expensive tastes!
She loves lobster, crab legs and shrimp!

I JUST had a baby!

Well not really.. but this time last year I was in that state of shock, bliss and happiness because Miss Addison Salee England was just born! 12:21 pm to be exact. Its insane to think that a whole year has passed so quickly. Addison is a toddler now. She still prefers crawling as it allows her to escape from whomever is chasing her faster. But we work on walking at night and she is doing sooo well! My mom has been such an angel and helping her practice so she can take a good 6 - 8 steps or so!

She is a girl on the go! Most of the time her body moves faster than her feet and she face plants but she's a tough girl and is ready to get up and try it again. Oh did I mention she's completely fearless? The child scrambles up and down the stairs and she LOVES to climb.
I caught her trying to scale the drawer handles in the kitchen.. I've heard of moms finding their climber kids on top of the fridge.. I'm hoping i'm not one of them! :) Thankfully, I think the top of my fridge is just too cluttered for anything else to fit up there! Her favorite toy at the moment.. This big box.

She is such a loving girl and absolutely ADORES her big sissy AJ. Its funny to watch them play and see how different their personalities are.
Lately she's been infatuated with Ken too. Always banging at the window or screen door squealing DaDa!!!! He'll turn and wave back at her then she'll look at me with her little squished up smile like "did you see that? he waved at me!"





Life has been hectic this year but very good nonetheless. Here are some pics from her party we had on Sunday. AJ did a great job putting together the paper flowers for the centerpieces/ favors, we made a banner, and decorated some water bottles. It was a lot of fun and Addison almost lasted the entire party!

So here's to you our sweet Addison...

The youngest of our household for one whole year...
We love you and Happy 1st Birthday!!!!

A Fresh Start

OK, its time for us to start over. I admit, I've done a horrible job keeping this blog updated but times they are a changin'... This spring is my renewal.. I'm starting fresh! So get ready guys because I'm back and i'm bigger than ever... no really.. i am!

Here are a few maternity pics to prove it! (Courtesy of Amy Carson - http://www.acpgallery.com/) And yes you can say it.. "Didn't you JUST have a baby this time last year?!" Yes, Yes I did. What can I say- "Oops I did it again!" Addison turns ONE next week and her birthday party is this Sunday. I'm still working on all the little details but will post pics soon! My little baby is going to be a big sister! And soon you will get to hear all the fun details of what life is like for me as a stay at home mom with 2 under two and a 6 year old who's going on 16! EEK! Fun times though right?! right?!!!

Meet Miss Addison Salee England

Meet Miss Addison Salee England!
Born April 29, 2009

She's 3 Months Old today! And is such a good baby girl now!

When you have one child and you have a second- you think you know how to do everything and what to expect. So not true! From the beginning Addison showed us that she's different. Temperament, Reflux, etc.

And Alexis couldn't be more of a doting sister! Its absolutely beautiful to see how motherly and loving she is with Addison.

Addison is cooing, recognizing people and starting to sit up! Such a big girl!

Has it been 9 months already?!

Wow, so its been a long time since we've updated this.


Life is going good. And as Ken likes to say "happy to have a job, happy to be here"
AJ is finishing up Kindergarten and is reading EVERYTHING in sight. She's at the top of her class and is liking school much better. She has a new little boyfriend/ crush named Conner and apparently EVERYONE in the class adores him. She's also discovered the wonders of Star wars and has been enjoying watching EVERY Star Wars movie with Ken. Which is so nice.


Its hard to believe that our second child will be here so soon ( I'm 38 weeks now). Bulging and soo ready. With 2 trips to the hospital (1 with early labor - which they stopped and the second with contractions that stopped on their own) I am just ready to hold Addison in my arms!


I think Ken and AJ are ready too. AJ is being such a big girl about it all and helping get things ready and picking things out for Addison. Ken is a little preoccupied with a big event at work this week... And is praying that Addison doesn't decide to make her debut on Saturday during the big event. But I think we're ready.. Monica and Kaylee are still living with us and Kaylee has just started crawling so its definitely going to be a tight fit in the house!