Pigtails

Little Miss, in her precious pigtails, watching daddy play softball.

It's too much for me to handle. My heart could burst from the cuteness of it all.

♥

Addison's First (Watermelon) Birthday Party!



Since the day I found out I was having a girl, I had visions of hair bows, shoes, and one GIRLY birthday party to celebrate year one. When Addison was a few months old (at most), I had an idea to do a watermelon party (mostly pink and green), and I ran with the idea...hard. :)

 

 



 

I made a five to six foot rag banner from various scraps of material from JoAnn Fabrics. I LOVED it, and fully intend to keep and reuse on her birthday morning each year (not for her party, just as a "happy birthday" decoration in our house). I added the "A" on a last minute whim. It was just hanging on the wall in her room, as perfect as could be!

 

 

I realize I'm biased, but she was just so stinking sweet and cute on her party day, I could have died. I absolutely could not even believe we were celebrating her first birthday. It was exciting and sad at the same time!  

 

 

The food table! We had funeral sandwiches (so good you'll die!), coleslaw, spaghetti salad, chips, buffalo chicken dip, fresh fruit, and veggies.

 

 

We got Rita's Italian ice (in watermelon, of course!!), and it was a big hit. So much better than ice cream for this party theme! :)

 

 

The "sweet treats" table - Italian ice, cupcakes, Addison's smash cake, and watermelon lollipops.

 

 

Funfetti cupcakes with pink vanilla buttercream icing. The liners were a bright lime green, and were meant to look like watermelon. Unfortunately, the liners looked more yellow after baking. Oh well...

 

All the decorations were homemade by mama! :)

 

 

I also made a mini "I am one" rag banner for Addison's high chair!

 

 

I made a little smash cake for her. I made a HUGE one for Carter and it was such a waste. This was so much better! :)

 

 

Hmmm, what's this??? She was SO timid getting started. Not sure if she doesn't like cake (HAHAHA) or if it was all the people staring at her. I think it was the latter.

 

 

She eventually dug in but never went CRAZY like I thought she would! Her shirt was a mess, so right in the trash it went!

 

Her month-by-month banner. Still can't believe it...

 

We made it through babyhood! WOOO HOOOO!

 

I found so many cute touches at Michael's and AC Moore. I got this "A" for $1, and got several really big clothespins in hot pink and lime green as well, which I used to hold various signs around the party.

 

More party details I've had for MONTHS. I found these plates at Walmart for $.97 around Easter. They matched her invitation perfectly!

 

One of my co-workers gave me these flowers she picked from her yard for FREE. How awesome?! I wrapped vases I already had with scraps of material and raffia, added some river rocks (I also already had), and voila! Centerpieces I loved!

The favors for the kids -- bubbles, beach ball, a pool toy, and Nutella and grahams to go!

 

All in all, it was SUCH a fun party and we got to celebrate with so many friends and family. The kids played in the pool, on the slip n' slide, and in the splash table. Addison was blessed with so many great gifts, and kisses all the live long day. She is one loved little girl!

Strawberry Picking

I turned 29 years old yesterday and, to the best of my knowledge, have never picked fresh strawberries. We have a pick-your-own patch nearby, so on Wednesday night, we decided to check it out!
 

A certain little peanut had NO problem jumping right in. Once she tasted a berry, she was ALL for strawberry picking! :)

 

Caught red-handed :)

Carter thought he was so cool because he got to hold the bin. He did a really great job finding dark red berries and snapping them off the stem just as he should!

 

It was a gorgeous--albeit, slightly humid--night and we had a great time. We will be eating strawberries for a very long time! :)

Addison: ONE YEAR OLD

Addison,

At ONE YEAR OLD, you:

- Weigh about 25 pounds (official appointment on 6/21).
- Are in size 4 daytime diapers and a size 5 nighttime diaper.
- Wear 18 month clothes (and some 24, if it’s a legging or super-tight thing)
- Nap once at daycare (in preparation for your move to the toddler class next week where they nap only after lunch) for about 2 hours, sometimes less.
- Are sleeping like a champ (except the few times a month you wake for no apparent reason)…usually about 11-12 hours a night. You go down around 7:30, or 8 if you are happy (though that’s rare once we pass 7:30…you are like clockwork!).
- Have five teeth!
- Are so daring! You climb up the slide, jump on the hammock, climb on furniture, you name it. You wrestle with Carter, the dog, mommy, and daddy, and will fight for toys like you are three years old. I feel like we might see the ER with you before Carter.
- Have taken up to six steps in a row, but aren’t walking consistently yet. SOON!
- Are about two bottles away from being out of formula, but you love cow’s milk already, which is awesome. We began introducing that a few weeks ago to make the transition easier and you handled it like a champ.
- Still love all food and will sign “more” like crazy to get our attention to keep feeding you! We have officially introduced all the "allergens" to you now, with no reaction. Perfect. :)
- HATE, HATE, HATE getting a bath right now. I have NO idea what happened, but you scream the entire time. Not a little fuss. Bloody murder screaming.
- Love to play outside and splash in the water (and go down the slip n’ slide!). You also love the slide, swing, and Carter’s red and blue cars (the crazy coupes).
- [KNOCK ON WOOD] Have had NO ear issues this month. No drainage, no infections. Let’s keep this up!
- Wave, clap, and do “so big!” on command, and say ma-ma, da-da, ba-by, uh-oh (occasionally), hi (also occasionally), and other babbling noises!
- Love to carry around a Crayola color wonder marker like a little security object. It’s funny. That stinkin’ marker is in your hands more than any other toy!
- Are still so sweet. You love to be held and kissed when you have your separation issues, but don’t want any of that when you want to be on the go with your brother!
- Nicknames this month: pretty girl, peanut girl, peanut, princess, sheebs (From many months ago, Carter pronounced she’s like sheebs, and I still find myself calling her that sometimes. Ha!)

Addison, you made our family complete (hopefully. Ha!) one year ago today, and we love you more and more every single day. You are loved more than you could ever fathom. You have brought more joy, taught more patience, and made us realize how full a heart can get in one year of your little life, and you are hands-down the best birthday present ever. We love you to the moon and back, peanut. Happy birthday. We can't wait to celebrate you at your party on Saturday.

Only funny in hindsight

On Thursday, I left work about twenty minutes early, which was nice. It was Seth's last day of school and I had talked to him at 3:15 or so, while he was still at school. I tried calling him once or twice while I was at work but he didn't answer. Shocker. (He is notorious for this).

I called again a few times when I left work so that I could tell him what to get out for dinner, but he didn't answer...again. By this time, it was 5:10, and that's odd to not talk to him until that point. Usually the kids are freaking for dinner. I was getting increasingly annoyed, mostly because he wasn't picking up and that is a PET PEEVE in our marriage. :)

But then, I had a little chat with the kids' daycare in which I learned that Seth had not gotten them yet (our contracted pick-up time is 4:45, so this was DEFINITELY odd).

Cue panic.

I tend to freak out that something will happen to him often, so this reallllly freaked me out. It's not unlike him to not answer his phone, but it's definitely out of character for him to not pick up the kids. I called my sister to talk me off the ledge of panic while I drove. No lie, I was about to throw up because all I could think of was that he was in a car accident. In my panic, I got off the wrong exit (well, it's the correct exit, but the road to daycare is closed that way right now for construction). So, I ended up detouring all over the place, which sucks when you're worried/nervous/about to barf.

I hung up with my sister and called two ERs in our area. No husband. Well, that's good.

Called a third. No husband.

I got to daycare and got the kids. The center was closed but someone was sitting there waiting with them. Awful feeling, for sure. (And $1/minute when you're late. Super. 45 minutes.)

Then I called my mother-in-law (probably freaking her out) and asked if she had talked to him. She hadn't, so now the panic has kicked up a notch. At this point, I was literally shaking so bad and literally praying non-stop that he was fine and just had a flat tire or something.

I come flying down the street, thinking I'll be heading back out to backtrack his drive from work soon, when I see our garage door open. His car was in the garage, and I was literally scared to go inside because I feared that he'd had a heart attack or something (Do you know me? I'm a chronic over-reactor, thanks.)

I carefully walk in the door and...

HE WAS ASLEEP ON THE COUCH. (He set his alarm for a little cat-nap and obviously missed the alarm).

ThankyouJesus, he's alive. (Though I wasn't sure he would be for long, once I got to him.)

I was so relieved/annoyed/happy/mad, it took me awhile to get out of my funk, but thankfully it's funny looking back now.