Addy Just Being Addy

 Working in her "field journal"

 Kicking back with a catalog waiting for me to get things together so she can go to Aunt Jean's.

Always excited to use the rain boots and umbrella.  In fact, we felt about 2 drops of rain when we were outside not too long ago and next thing I know she is inside getting her umbrella. 

Little Gardeners

Lots of playing outside these days and Addy is really into digging.  Here are the girls playing in the garden.  Ella did some digging too, and turns out she prefers to try and eat rocks over dirt.  Never noticed her going to her mouth with just dirt in her hand, but a couple little rocks almost made it in.  She keeps us on our toes!

 Addy (a.k.a. Cousin It)

Just Like Elida

The other night Addy decided she wanted to make her bed just like Elida does.  Elida is the housekeeper and poor lady has to deal with the 500 stuffed animals on Addy's bed when changing the sheets and she always puts the stuffed animals back in a cute way, different every time, and Addy loves to come home and see what her bed looks like after Elida has been here. 

 The big pile in front of this pic is the stuffed animals, dolls and pillows.

Here it is when Addy was done.  Not quite like the way Elida does it, but 4 year old style I guess.  We were just happy everything made it back on before bedtime. 

Tupperware

We introduced Ella to the tupperware drawer the other day.  As expected, it was a big hit!

Tree Trimmin'

As Michael is trimming limbs on the tree..."Dad, don't forget that you have to say timber"

 Addy was very helpful when it came to moving the branches out of the way and piling them up! 

Zoo Time

It has been ages since I've been to the zoo, so now that the weather is nice, I'm on a mission to make it out there more often.  Before it gets blistering hot and unbearable.  Although, turns out that pushing 2 kiddos all over the zoo in our bus of a stroller is a major workout, even when it is only in the 80's and overcast.  

 Ella outside a hut in the Africa exhibit.  Tried to get a pic of both of them in the hut together, but that was just not going to happen.

Baby Ella, baby rhino.  Don't you love Ella's hair blowing in the wind!

 Addy in the groundhog exhibit and I was actually able to get a groundhog in the pic with her.  They are hardly ever out it seems. 

Playin' around at the children's zoo

Livestock Show 2011

Another great year at the livestock show.  This was Ella's first time to see the farm animals.  And this was Addy's first time to go on carnival rides. 

As always we had "Fun On The Farm"

Addy planting a tomato seed

Farm girl Ella.  Ella seemed to have a fun time, but we went during her normal nap time, so she spent most of the time sitting in her stroller just looking around. 

 Farm girl Addy

 Another required activity - pony ride.  She even chose a pony ride over going to the petting zoo. 

 She'd seen the ferris wheel from the freeway for weeks and talked about riding it every time we drove by.  Turns out there are about 4 ferris wheels and she ended up choosing this one.  Had a great time and didn't seem to be scared at all. 

As they were going around on the ferris wheel they were checking out the other ride options.  Flying pink elephants won!  One thing I think we learned was that you should do the rides 1st thing because the lines started getting long.  We only did 2 rides, but imagine there will be many more next year. 

Ella Update

Ella is full of energy and full of personality!  Ever since she started crawling she has been non-stop.  Getting into everything, pulling up on everything.  She still knows her name is Ella, but may soon start thinking her name is "no" since she hears that a lot.  I've been trying to mix it up with other words, but she still hears "no" more often than not.  Granted it does no good, she just continues on.  So her favorite mischievous acts these days include splashing in Star's water bowl, crawling into the bathroom and grabbing the shampoo bottle off the ledge and sucking on it, playing with her nightlight when it is plugged into the wall, plugs in general, grabbing Addy's markers or anything from Addy's craft table that she shouldn't have.  That is all I can remember off the top of my head, but there is more!  But then she looks at you with one of her super big smiles and you forget what she just did.

Here is one of those cute grins and this photo is capturing the first time she drank her milk out of a sippy cup and held the cup herself, no mom help at all.  We were both very proud!  Prior to this we'd put milk in a sippy and she'd scream, because milk came from a bottle.  Or we'd try to get her to hold her own bottle and she'd scream, because she's a baby and supposed to be fed her bottle.  Not anymore, she is drinking out of sippys, holding her own bottle.  Such a big girl! 

On the food topic, the  girl is the best eater ever.  She still loves her baby food, even the stage 3 stuff which is a weird mixture of mush and chunky foods.  But in ten and a half months I think that she has tried more foods than her 4 year old sister.  And that is with only 2 teeth!  We do have a new one on top, but it is a newbie and just barely showing.  She'll literally eat anything you give her, but just some examples - guacamole, mexican rice, refried beans, kiwi, tortilla chips, tortillas, a variety of crackers and cookies, peas, carrots, mango, chicken salad, chicken, french fries, tiny bit of cupcake (have to save the first official cupcake experience for her birthday!), strawberries, grapes, ham, cheese.  OK, you get the picture.  #1 finger food is still Cheerios. 

 Ella is starting to have fun playing in some of the bigger kid toys.  She LOVES to be pushed around the house in the little car.  In the pic below she is honking the horn. 

I think that we can say she is walking now.  She only really gets about 4 steps in before she plops down and crawling is still the preferred method to get around, but she is working on it and I imagine she will be really walking super soon.  She likes to stand at the back windows and look out. 

In this pic I think that Ella and Star were checking out a squirrel or bird or something in the back yard.

Hard to believe that a month from now we'll really be gearing up for the big 1st birthday!

Addy Update

Addy is getting older and wiser each day.  She is a super big sister and now that Ella is moving around, she is a huge help when my hands are full and Ella is getting into trouble (more details on my mischievous monkey in the Ella update!)   She is also super cooperative now that Ella is getting into all of her stuff.  She'll start screaming for Ella to stop, but she doesn't have melt-downs when Ella starts chewing on her art or something.  The other day I walked down the hall and realized Addy's bedroom door was closed and when I peeked in and asked what she was doing she said she was playing with her little legos and closed the door so that Ella wouldn't get them because she knows Ella can't play with little toys she can put in her mouth.  Ella is also attracted to the nightlight in her room, so if we are playing in Ella's room, Addy will just go unplug it and set it on the cabinet without me even asking her to.  She isn't changing diapers yet, but if she was a bit bigger I think that she would! 

Addy is always offering to feed Ella 

It is scary, but I'm starting to see a lot of me in Addy.  For one, she is always working on craft projects, mainly drawing pics and her favorite things to draw right now are fairies and Clifford.  We have mountains of her drawings around.  Our neighbor gave her an old diary that her daughter had never used and Addy fell in love with it, and it quickly became her "field journal" (if you watch the Tinkerbell movie, The Great Fairy Rescue you'll know where she picked up this term).  Realized it was great because it kept everything together in a nice little book.  It was great until she locked the lock and then lost the key that is.  Here are a couple of her recent masterpieces.  

Another recognizable trait she seems to have inherited from me is the need to clean/organize things but make a huge mess in the process.  Here she is reorganizing her craft supplies.  Seriously every drawer was emptied, paper and stuff everywhere, but she did end up cleaning it all up somehow. 

Addy still likes to make her own lunch now and again and is quite creative in her menu selection.  The other day she had cashews, an orange and grated cheese - all things that she could locate and do herself.  My favorite new chore she likes is cleaning up the dog poop in the backyard.  She just got the scooper one day and went at it.  I was expecting chaos, but she does a really good job.  I imagine she'll be completely mortified by this picture when she is in high school! 

She also likes to decorate the house for the holidays.  Christmas really kicked it off and we've been going holiday to holiday ever since.  Recently when she found out that Easter was the next holiday coming up, there was a very pressing need to get the house decorate as soon as possible.   I was able to get her to wait until I was done hosting a wedding shower here at the house, but the next day the Easter decorations came out.  Never mind it was still a month and a half until Easter!  There were lots of bunny ears and egg hunts for a while.  Think she's over it now, so hopefully egg dying will get her back in the holiday spirit when Easter actually gets here. 

Other big activities at the house are picking weed-flowers in the yard and generally just enjoying being outside again. 

I'm back!

Went on a bit of a blog hiatus, keeping super busy with projects that kept me away from the computer!  I'm back and hopefully it won't be another month before I have time to post something.  Starting with an update of the girls...

Go Texan Day!

We had a fun afternoon at the rodeo cook-off to celebrate Go Texan Day.  Hot, but fun.  Didn't get many pics at the actual cook-off so we had a mini photo shoot in the front yard when we got home! 

 Photo taken by master photographer Addy!

 Now that Ella is on the move, getting a pic of the two of them posed is nearly impossible.  Addy was trying to get her to sit next to her! 

 Happy cowgirl!

 Addy checking out one of the super elaborate tents at the cook-off.  There was a waterfall - is that really necessary?!

Addy and James playing at the cook-off. 

Ms. Ella

We went to Ella's 9 month checkup on Monday and the doctor said she is doing great.  She is 19lbs which is the 60th percentile, 27.5" long which is the 40th percentile and her head circumference is in the 80th percentile.  She is a great eater and some of her shirts are hard to get over her head, so those numbers seem right! 

Wow, things are busier now that she is moving around.  It is nearly impossible to get her to sit and just play, she is always on the go, pulling up on everything.  She officially has her first bruise on her forehead from hitting her head on a door frame when she was trying to pull up on it. 

One of her favorite spots to hit her head is on the end tables. 

Turns out the dishwasher is perfect for pulling up on.  

Poor little girl had to give blood and got a cute little bandage on her arm.  I was really surprised that she didn't mess with it at all.  

Thanks for the cute Valentines card Granny!  Ella used it for a place mat for a while.  Another great pic with a puff stuck to her face - she is puff obsessed!  We need to start trying finger foods, I think that she'll really enjoy it.  Oh, Ella had her first guacamole the other night at the Mexican food restaurant.  We don't know what to do with such a great eater!! 

Super Helper

Addy has turned into one super helper around the house.  Not necessarily when it comes to picking up her toys all the time, although sometimes.  It started in full force this weekend with her deciding to start by making Michael and my bed, then she moved into her room and made her bed.  Then she helped set the table for dinner Saturday night by setting out all of the silverware and napkins.  And then on Sunday and Monday she made her own lunch.  We may have maxed out for the week though because there is a HUGE pile of stuffed animals in the living room right now that she has zero interest in picking up!  I'm just leaving it there for now in hopes that the clean up bug strikes again soon. 

Here is the lunch she made on Sunday

Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Grandma and Granddad!  A super fun family celebration on Saturday night.  We are so lucky to live so close to be able to celebrate all together.  Addy and Ella love having their grandparents over! 

 We were especially excited to have Ella here to celebrate with us this year!  Seems hard to believe that this time last year we were counting down the days until she made her debut.  

Grandma and one super excited 4 year old who was dyin' to dig into her brownie and ice cream! 

Baby It's Been Cold Outside

Thank goodness, as I write this blog, the highs are in the 70s instead of the 30s.  Seriously can't remember a time in Houston when it has been in the 20s multiple days, or even one day really - I live in the South for a reason and let's just hope that this nonsense is over with!  Bring on the humidity and 90 degree weather (I'll be cursing this statement come August - I know!)

But to make the cold more bearable, we did a little science experiment that Addy had fun with - the old trick of putting a dish of water out at night and seeing it a frozen block of ice in the morning.  We even put a rock in our water, mainly to keep the dish from blowing away in the artic wind, but also because it is fun.  It was early in the morning before school, hence the "I just woke up and I'm holding a freezing block of ice and really want to put it down" look on Addy's face! 

9 Months

3 months from now we'll be celebrating Ella's 1st birthday!  How quickly time has gone by.  This time last year we were gearing up big time to have a new baby in the house, wondering how in the world we'd handle 2 kids and look how far we've come!  Think the adventure is really just beginning...Ella is officially crawling.  Going forward and everything.  This morning we were playing in the front room and she crawled around to the back of the couch and discovered Star's bed by the front windows for the first time.  Later in the afternoon she was up front by herself for a bit and Michael walked up and found she had crawled over and helped herself to some of Addy's construction paper.  We are so not baby proofed!  And trying to get Addy to pick up after herself is going to be a challenge, especially with her art projects!

Here are some pics from this past weekend.  We haven't done too much since with the freezing cold weather and all.  Was really hoping to have some snow pics to post, but all we got was ice which was not photoworthy!

 Last Saturday the weather was nice enough we could play outside.  If you look close this is a good pic of Ella's 2 bottom teeth.  Haven't seen any new ones, but know they are on their way!

I'm not a fan of headbands on bald babies, but Addy put this on and it looked pretty cute.  Hair is coming, slowly but surely.  

 I'm not sure what was wrong in this picture, but her facial expression is super cute and pitiful at the same time.