2 - 2 Cute!

We had Addy's 2 year photos done a few weeks ago - and oh my they turned out awesome.  They are 2 "too" cute :)  I am glad I had chosen to buy the CD so I have access to all the pics!  Had to share some of my favs!  Okay, so I couldn't narrow it down too well...so here are a lot of my favs (however not all of them!)





The Great Eight

Blaker's first year is FLYING BY! He's getting so big and is so interactive these days :)

He now army crawls EVERYWHERE...hasn't gotten up on all 4's yet though. He is going to be a handful...Addy never once had any interest in going towards the stairs, and Blake's already given me about 5 "mommy heart attacks" when I realize how quickly he's gotten into things he shouldn't be. AAAAH! Can we say BOY??!!

He now claps and will raise his arms up when we say "Soooo Big!". And he has got THE. BEST. LAUGH. EVER! I am going on vacation and won't be home until the 10th of July...but I HAVE to upload a video that Aaron took of him!!

He is starting to use more vowels too. He says Ba and Da very often. He absolutely loves his food and he is starting to eat more finger foods. When he wants to, he'll hold his own bottle now too. We have started to limit his pacifier to when it is time to sleep...but if he is extremely tired or something but not going to go to bed soon, we'll let him have it at other times too.



Daddy styled Blake's hair like his after a bath :) His hair is starting to grow in somewhat...

 Blake NEVER stops moving...sometimes he really gives me a workout with how squirmy he is when I'm holding him. And in his crib, he goes all over the place!

He's often in crazy positions in his crib. His head is supposed to be toward the top of the picture...not to the left :)



Daddy Shared His Ice Cream...he liked it! He sort've looks like he has a mustache in this pic...makes me laugh!!!

Addy and Blake are the best of buds. They really do love each other so much. I'm loving watching the sibling relationship grow as he gets older. He gets super smiley when she walks in...and she does the same. Always excited to talk to him. She's so funny...she'll go to him and say things like "Blaker, do you like my nails" after we just painted her toe nails. He usually just stares at her when she asks him things like that. Typical male/female interaction, LOL!

I can't believe we are rounding 9 months...CUH-RAZY! I don't want him to grow up!

Parade # 2!

Addalyn and I went to another parade this month with my sister Angela, and Rachel and Ella (Scheel).  We were all going to go as a family...but it was supposed to rain so Aaron and Blake stayed back and hung out with Rachel's hubby Jeff. 

Both parades we have gone to were a bit wet and rainy...but we weren't going to let that stop us from the fun!

This time around, Addy was into the parade from the first moment.  She was all about the candy and was dancing to the music, clapping...it was fun.  Parades really aren't that exciting overall I think.  For the most part they are all the same.  But, I love the innocent family fun they provide and entertainment.  :)



Loving the Parade!




Miss Ella!




Eating her candy...sporting her new necklace...and keeping her eyes on the sites of the parade! 

  The girl was extremely successful on the candy at this parade!  My sisters usually go to this parade, and they talk about how much candy their kids get...it held true :) 

Addy and I fell behind the group when we were walking back to Angela's house after the parade.  I grabbed this pictures 'cause she was acting so dang cute!  She was walking very "prideful" with her necklace and candy.  She would say hi to everyone we passed. 

The parade turned into a fun little mommy/daughter outing :)

It is safe to say that Addy loves parades.  The other night there was a parade in Rochester that was broadcasted on TV.  She was watching it and kept saying with excitement "Candy! Candy!".  Ha, we should've grabbed her candy she still has from the parades and started throwing it in her direction :)

"And when it rains on your parade...look up rather than down.  Without the rain, there would be now rainbow."

Cheese Festival

Pine Island's town festival was in early June.  We always go to the parade with my family.  This year it was Blake's first parade!  ...not long into the parade and he fell asleep.  My mom held him the entire time with her hands on his ears to cover from the loud noises of the sirens and bands!

Addy was pretty tired at the beginning of the parade...so she wasn't sure what to think.  She did NOT like the loud noises at first.  But, after a while Aaron had taught her to yell "I want Candy!" and she was excited to pick up the candy.  By the end, she was loving it!  She went through about 7 suckers during the parade...but that is because she would open one - taste the flavor for seriously maybe 2 licks, and then be done with it and move on to the next one.  So, she probably didn't even eat one entire sucker!!

Look at that pout...not into the loud Fire Trucks!

CANDY!

After the parade we went to my moms for naps and supper...and then headed down for the rides.  I am in LOVE with this picture of Blake and Brynne :)

Addy was finally old enough but I wasn't sure if she was going to like it or not.  She LOVED the rides!  Her first ride was a fish that went in circles, and at first she had a hesitent look on her face, but all of a sudden a smile cracked and then she couldn't wipe it off :)

Her favorite were the kiddy version of the swing right - GRIN FROM EAR TO EAR!  She also went on the Ferris Wheel with Aaron, which he said that she wasn't so sure of until he showed her they were "with the birdies" which she thought was neat.  She was doing so well on the rides we also let her go on the Hustler with me.  This is similar to the Scrambler ride that I remember from when I was little...except we were in a circle that held about 8 people (we went with my sisters and their girls!) and it also spinned while we were getting tossed around.  I was nervous because of her car sickness.  She had a serious look on her face...but seemed to like it :) 



Swings are SUUUUPER FUN!



The last ride we put her on was a little horse/buggy thing that went in circles.  She actually seemed pretty bored with it (I mean, she had upgraded to the Hustler and all...!).  But, the worker was extremely nice.  It was the last night of the festival and Addy was the only one on the ride, so when it was over, he asked if we wanted to put Blake in there for a picture.  He legally couldn't move it with Blake being so little...but I wouldn't have wanted him too anyway. 

Blake smiled instantly when we set him down...although the picture doesn't exactly capture the moment!

Another fun Cheese Festival weekend came and went.  Gotta love small town festivals and fun family times :)

Our Little Sunshine

The party theme for Addalyn's birthday was Sunshines and Rainbows.  It was sooo much fun!  Complete with her rainbow dress and sunshine cake :)

 

Lots of colorful balloons that were not only for decorations, but entertained the kids throughout the night!



And of course a yummy spread of food :)



Dancing with the balloons while waiting for guests to arrive!

Once the guests arrived, we had dinner - grilled out burgers and brats with fresh fruit, chips, and all of that good summer food that is perfect for a June birthday party!  After that the kiddos played inside with the balloons and outside on the deck with our water table for a bit before we settled in for her gift opening. 

She got wonderful toys like a sprinkler, puzzles and books, movies, toys for her sandbox and water table, a new baby doll, and some dishes and food for her play kitchen!



Concentrating hard on opening presents!



Thank you everyone for the wonderful gifts.  She's getting good use out of all of them!

After gifts, it was time for the cake!  I'm EXTREMELY excited about how the cake turned out.  I made it myself :)



Her Sunshine Cake!!
The cake was chocolate, and we also had some rainbow cupcakes in white as an option too!



The birthday girl was singing Happy Birthday along with all of us!



One attempt and her candle was blown out!

She was MUCH more lady-like with her cake eating this year!  We did not have as messy of a girl to clean up :)

2 year birthday party!

One year birthday party!

(Still apparently makes the same lip puckers when she's eating though!)

Blake thought his sister's birthday party was a blast!

Addalyn had so much fun at her birthday party. This was a fun age because she "gets it" this year. It helped that she had celebrated her grandma Jean and daddy's birthday within the 2 weeks prior, so she recently saw others blowing out the candles and such. She LOVED it! She sings the song all the time and serves us cake a lot when she is playing in her kitchen!

She wanted to sleep with the balloons that night...this picture looks like it is almost daylight in the room, but it is because of the flash, it's actually REALLY late at night. She slept with balloons above her bed for a few days until the helium was gone.

 Addy: You have brought more light and "bright sunshiny days" into our lives and our hearts than you will ever know. I love seeing the little girl you are becoming. Keep being you...it's the best!

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away.

Handsome Man :)

We did Blake's "6 month" photos in late May (more like 7 months).  I was initially waiting because he was SO CLOSE to sitting up at 6 months that I wanted to be able to get photos when he was officially sitting up...then I just got busy so a month ended up passing :)

We went to Portrait Innovations again, and they did awesome!  These pics aren't even some of my favorites.  For some reason I cannot get my pictures to rotate if it should be "landscape" when I'm uploading from a CD.  So, I'm just posting ones the "portrait" way.  However, there are some SUPER CUTE close up ones the other way, so I wish I could share!

I just love him!

Terribly Terrific Two's!

Little Miss Addalyn turned 2 earlier this month!  I can't believe that she is already 2, and I actually was pretty sad about it!  To me, 2 means she's officially not a baby, which of course she isn't, even though she will always be my sweet baby! 

Addalyn is full of life!  She has so many interests that I want to make sure to document.  She LOVES Dora and Barney.  She loves to color, play outside with chalk and bubbles, sing, and dance, play with her kitchen, read books, do puzzles, help in the kitchen, play with Blake and so much more.

She has a long list of vocabulary words and speaks in small sentences.  She knows her A, B, C's and several other songs.  Barney really peaks her interest because of all the songs they sing.  She'll randomly sing songs from there when we aren't watching and sometimes the only thing you can pick up on is the tune...not the words!

She knows her colors, however I'm not really sure how we taught them!  Other than saying things like "your plate is pink" or things of the like, we didn't do anything else...but she picked up on them.  She also counts to 10...this she definitely got from the Barney Numbers video!  They play hide and seek in it and she loves to count to 10 and say "ready or not, here I come"...but then she doesn't come find you.  She goes and hides herself, and eventually runs out yelling "Barney" and then you have to pretend she found you!  So fun...you get to play with her but go about whatever you are doing at the same time, LOL!

Addalyn LOVES her "Blaker" as she calls Blake.  She says good morning to him every day, giggles at him, tickles him, tells him to say things, and just this morning she was saying "Go Go Go Blaker, like a doggy!!" in which she was trying to show him and encourage him to crawl.  Way too cute for words.  I never get my video camera out until the moment is over, but I hope to document her love for him soon!   

She's starting to do the Imaginative Play where she is a mommy, or cooking us food, or acting things out like being a doggy.  This is so fun!  Her bear is typically the baby.  She'll spend a long time playing mommy and telling us all that she is doing.  Like: "bears hungry...tired...crying...need a paci...taking a nap...going to go to the store (and then puts him in Blake's car seat)...going in the stroller...etc" and doing all the "mommy" things that go along with these descriptions. 

The other day she had to take her purse and her baby doll to the store with us, and that is when it hit me...she's a little girl/toddler and not a baby.  It is so sweet to watch her grow up, but I sure do want her to stay little.  Those little toes and fingers and her sweet little words and giggle...they get me everytime!  Ugh - this girl has so much to love!

She definitely has her own little attitude.  She wants to do almost everything by herself and when she can't, she gets frustrated, and we have some crying times.  It goes with the age, of course!  She is still really good at going to time-outs, which is nice.  She is sad when she has to do them, so she definitely knows it's a punishment - but she'll stay there and usually when it is time to take her off of them, she's calmed on her own within the minute or less that her timeouts currently last. 

I can't really put into words how much this sweet girl means to me!  I try all the time to think of the right descriptions, but I can't...I get super emotional and really do sound like a "cheesy mom".  But, I guess that's what I am!!  I've been meaning to write in her baby book a letter from me on a page reserved for it...but I have always struggled with being able to share how much my love for her is without sounding overly "cheesy! 

I don't know if that even makes sense...but basically, as all of you parents know - Addalyn and her little brother mean the world to me, as their mommy.  As soon as I get in my car after work and start driving to their house, I often find myself smiling and getting excited to see them and give them big hugs and kisses.  They make the stresses of the day go all away.  Of course, they also add to stresses sometimes when I have some tired kids or something...but I'd take those days ANY day of the week over anything!
Here are her 2 year stats: 

Height: 34.8 inches (81st %)
Weight: 26.5 pounds (46th %)
Total BMI: 22nd %

I'll do her birthday party in another post - it deserves a post in itself!  Here are some pictures of my little Addalyn in May and early June!

Loving that Sweet Bear of hers!



Feeding her "baby"



Let the Terrible Two's begin...our eyes were off of her for about 2 minutes and this is what she did!  She didn't draw anywhere else, and it came off in one bath with no trace of red, thank goodness!



Bringing her baby on her walk :)



Helping mama plant!



Helping daddy with our backyard landscaping project!

Addalyn Jane on her 2nd Birthday!!