Little Helper

I have to document this because I know it won't last forever - Addison is really into helping wash dishes and wash clothes.  A while back when she was on her 3rd outfit change for the day I made a comment about her having to wash her own clothes if she was going to wear so many in one day.  Go figure she got excited about that idea and now she is always wanting to help with the laundry.  She likes to throw the clothes in the washing machine and dump the detergent in -- too bad she hasn't gotten excited about folding and putting away the clothes, that is the part I dislike the most! 

Washing dishes is another fun activity.  She actually got mad at me the other day because I was loading the dishwasher and didn't let her help.  She is getting pretty good at washing her dishes.  We are still working on rinsing, sometimes things go in the drying rack with bubbles still on them, but she is getting better. 

"Silverware goes here"

"Yippee, I love loading the dishwasher!"

Notice the concentration - very meticulous scrubber. 

Fashionista!

I am not sure where she gets it from, I am definitely no fashion plate, but since ever since Addison was able to dress herself she has been very opinionated about her outfit.  Last fall it took ages before she would wear weather appropriate clothes, combined with only wanting to wear pink from head to toe, and picking out things that didn't match.  She finally got use to wearing warm clothes and the pink obsession is gone (for the most part), but we still have discussions about matching - she has a much different opinion than Michael and me.  You'll notice in a number of pictures she also loves to pull her socks up to her knees.  Oh and she loves to put her shoes on the wrong feet - granted this is a legit 3 year old mistake, but even after you point it out to her she'd walk around with the shoes on the wrong feet all day and would just think it was funny.

And now that it has warmed up a bit and she has gotten a taste of dresses with no leggings and skirts, there is no going back.  At least she will still wear a jacket.

While I do like the bracelets on top of the pink socks, my favorite for the month was the pink and purple floral shirt combined with the red, black and while plaid skirt, Halloween socks and pink and purple plaid headband.  She just came out wearing this one day  and we argued for a while about whether it matched.  I finally gave up and she got to wear it.  Yep, we went out in public.  I use to look at those moms and think "wow, they have pretty bad taste when it comes to dressing their kids" and now that I am one of those moms I totally understand - they had no control.  I pick my battles.

Trike-A-Thon

This past weekend Addison participated in her first "race".  Actually it was not a race at all, but it was a trike-a-thon sponsored by the mom's group I'm a member of.  Proceeds from the trike-a-thon went to St. Jude's - if you watch Nick Jr. then you have probably seen a commercial about their trike-a-thon fundraisers.  It was precious, there were 3 heats, one for the big kids on bikes, one for the tricyclers and a final round for the little ones with push toys or little scoot along toys.  All Saturday Addison was jazzed about riding her bike.  The race didn't start until 3:00, so pretty much between 8:00 and 2:30 she was asking when it was time to go.

So 3:20 rolls around and it is her turn to ride.  And of course she didn't want to do anything.  I think it was due to lack of a nap, but nonetheless Michael and I got to go around the track with her.  She pedaled the whole time, just needed some encouragement to go now and again.  It was super cute to watch all the kiddos.  Here are some pics from the "race"!

It was very legit, she had a racing bib and all!

Safety first. Addison loves her bicycle helmet and thanks to a Berenstain Bear book about wearing safety gear, she won't let you forget her helmet! Note, this is pre-race and she is still excited.

And she finally gets warmed up...here she is coming around the last corner!

Here are all of the kiddos who rode their trikes (if you click on the picture and enlarge it, you can see the sleepiness in her face). 

After a great ride, nothing like a cupcake to celebrate.  We definitely should have had a cupcake before the race because she was one happy camper after a little sugar!

Big Sister

Addison is so excited about becoming a big sister.  She has been helping get the baby's room together and she frequently decides that she is done with one of her toys or done with a piece of clothing and she makes sure we keep it for "her baby".   In addition to commenting on how big my belly has grown, she likes to talk to my belly and talk to little sister which is the cutest thing ever.  She has even gone with me to the doctor so that she could hear the baby's heart beat.  As it starts to warm up we are talking a lot about swimming.  The other day Addison was talking about how she is going to teach the baby to swim -- had to be clear that the baby wouldn't be doing much swimming this summer, but that Addison needed to do a lot of practicing so she'd be all set to teach the baby how to swim next summer.  I'm just crossing my fingers that the excitement continues once the baby is actually here! 

We still have some work to do on the nursery before I'll post any official pics, but here is fairy Addison helping Michael set up the crib.  

Last weekend we went to a sibling class at the hospital.  It was a cute class where they showed a video about what it is like to be a sibling and then the instructor talked about how to hold a baby, how to help change a diaper and gave tips for sharing toys with babies. I think that Addison's favorite part of the class was changing the diaper on the doll.  She has mentioned multiple times how much she wants to help when the baby comes home and changing diapers seems like a really exciting activity to her now.  Can't wait to see her reaction to the first dirty diaper she sees!  After the class we got to take a tour of the hospital and see newborn babies in the nursery. 

Here is Addison practicing holding a baby

At the end of the class each of the kids walked up and told everyone whether they were having a baby sister or baby brother and then they got a t-shirt.  This is Addison sharing her news with the class! 

Rodeo is Here!

Last Saturday the weather was great so we headed to the livestock show.  Had a great time looking at all of the animals and walking through the Fun On the Farm exhibit.  Of course had to go to the petting zoo which was a favorite again this year.

Fun On The Farm

Feeding little goats.  Last year I don't think that Addison was too keen on actually feeding the animals herself, but it was a lot of fun this year.   Assuming the animal was cute and small and not about to knock her down! 

Visiting with Linda the llama (if you watch enough Diego you know all about Linda - she is a very helpful llama!)

Taking the tractor for a spin

So excited!

The princess game

For Christmas Addison got the Disney Princess game for the Wii.  She was obsessed with it at first and was not very good at doing it by herself, so Michael and I spent a lot of time playing as Addison watched.  It is much like a TV show or movie, so she loves it.  After we were done saving the kingdom she lost interest for a while (fortunately) but got excited about it again recently.  She is MUCH better at doing the game herself now, so that is good.  Michael and I still got to play a lot though.  Here is Addison celebrating the completion of a chapter of the game... 

My big girl

I haven't been making many trips to the park recently, between the cold weather and being pregnant I've had little motivation.  Now that it is warming up I am every excited to be able to get out of the house more, as is Addison.  Since it had been a while I had no clue how great she was at riding her bike.  She doesn't need any help at all and she can ride all the way to the park by herself.  Granted on this trip she claimed to get tired and I ended up carrying the bike some, but for the most part she did it all by herself, especially once I played the "mommy is too big and can't carry your bike for you" card. 

Spring is Coming!

Hopefully it will be here sooner than later!  In the spirit of spring coming we decided to plant some seeds to start a little vegetable garden when it warms up more.  Addison had a great time filling the cups up with soil and putting the seeds in.  And of course we had to break out the pink watering can to give them a good drink of water.  It has been a week since we actually planted them and we already have a number of little sprouts.  I showed Addison the sprouts today and next thing I know she is sitting by the cups kind of staring at them.  When I asked her what she was doing she said she was watching the plants grow!  Then we had to have a little chat about how you can't actually watch them grow, that it is a slow process that is going to take time.

Happy Birthday Grandma and Granddad

Grandma and Granddad's birthdays are just 3 days apart and it is always fun when we can get together as a group and celebrate!