Chase....aka Get ME

This is a common day occurance in our house...playing chase! She loves it these days!

Babies & Bath

I was wondering what she was up to and well, as you can see she was reading to her baby doll giving it a drink. Cute!

New bath sling....LOVE baby consignment shops! I paid only $7 for this as to were at wal-mart it would have cost $16! And it looked like new!!! No worries, bleach is an awesome thing!

I did not have this bath issue with Addison because she was in her infant tub forever until she started sitting up, but my boy here is too long for that tub and the sponge mat just was not working to my satisfaction! Luckily, I only paid $5 for the sponge! Now I can submerse him in more water and clean his backside better. He also likes it better sitting up.

Addison is TWO!

Little stinker!

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

You have NO idea how long I have been working with her on holding two fingers up like this! Who knew it is quite difficult for a 24 month old to hold these two fingers up?!

On the move, as always!

As I ALWAYS start off, I have to really express this time the disbelief that our baby Grace has been in this world for 24 months....AKA 2 years! She has grown and changed so much and is now a full fledged ...toddler...shall I dare say! :( A toddler who has full heartedly taken on the usual expression of "terrible two's"!!! I love that she knows what she wants when she wants, has great self determination already, and has great Independence.....and yes you can tell there is a but coming.....but, it is quite difficult to tame at times! Especially when I am held down nursing a good bit of the time still these days. Being a mother has taken me over full force with two babies these days....and I LOVE it! I won't deny that there are some days, with a toddler and a new infant, that I feel totally helpless, exhausted, and overwhelmed. I think the terrible two's is what really takes a toll on me. I am trying to embrace the "two's" and roll with the punches. Being a mother is the greatest thing that I will do in this lifetime and I certainly want to be the best that I can be. Addison and Mason deserve only the best.

Now, back to these last two years!!! It is amazing to see how much Addison has changed over these last two years. It still seems like yesterday that I was pregnant with her. I remember the exact day that I felt her move in my belly at 16 wks...March 17, 2008. I was driving home from work and was sitting in traffic. It felt like the flutter of a butterfly. I remember crying like a baby, literally, when we saw her on the ultrasound when we found out her gender. What a special day that Paul and I shared. We went and bought her her first outfit that day at Baby's R Us. I have to add, I was convinced that she was a boy until the morning of my ultrasound, I had a very vivid dream that our baby was a girl. I had her pictured exactly. She couldn't be anymore perfect. I remember giving birth to her and seeing her purple body for the first time. I said, "My baby, my baby!" That gives me the shivers even remembering all the joy that moment brought. All of that pain and exhaustion was so worth this gift of life. When we brought her home from the hospital I was so afraid to take my eyes off of her for a moment! From that moment on, she has always amazed us with something new! Even to this day she says something new or copy's us in a certain way or figures something else out.

Her first year of life, went by in a blink of an eye now that I look back at it. With your first child you are always anticipating "when will they...." or all of their "firsts"....I must add the second time around with Mason, I just want to embrace the moment and keep him a baby for awhile. :) Because I know this stage only lasts a minute...really! I still remember September 2008 when she first cooed for Paul and Cindy, November 2008 when we took her to IN for the first time, December 2008 when she rolled from her belly to back for first time, January 2009 when she had her first taste of green beans, March 2009 when she really started crawling and her first tooth broke through, April 2009 when Cindy gave her her first cupcake :-0, early June 2009 when she started running (yes at 9 months old and yes, she pretty much passed up the crawling and walking and took to running! she still can't get anywhere quick enough!), July 2009 when she had her first camping experience and went to TN for the first time, October 2009 when she had her bangs 'trimmed', December 2009 when she had her first scary high fever and I had to take her in to the doctor, January 2010 when we told her she was going to have a baby BROTHER, February 2010 when she really started noticing Mommy's belly is getting in my way :) , March 2010 when she touched the sand on the beach for the first time at PCB, FL, April 2010 when she really partook in dyeing Easter eggs and hunting them at the egg hunt, May 2010 when she became a BIG SISTER (WOW!), and August 2010 she picked out her birthday theme...YO GABBA GABBA...and we celebrated her birth!!!!!!!!! And trust, I could have went on and on and on with so many more details..... ;)

This little girl amazes us each and everyday! I kid you not! She is always saying something new and adding to her vocabulary. The doctor asked if she could say more than 50 words and laughed when she asked because Addison had already been conversing with her and she knew she was advanced. She also is very observant and picks up on everything!

Here are some little known facts about our baby girl (she will always be a baby in my eyes!)-

-loves to drink bath water...yucky!

-hides socks behind her crib

-loves to snuggle

-hates a wet diaper

-tells us when she goes poo poo and wants to be changed ASAP (potty training in the works!)

-knows what nursing pads are and where they go ;)

-has "nursed" Elmo, her babies and her bear

-absolutely LOVES her baby brother

-loves to go tell her baby brother "Good Mornin' Bro-der!" first thing!

-is obsessed with her "blankey" and "pill-whoa" and must take these out of her crib and carry around for the first hour every morning

-must also know where these are at at all times of the day (this began at the end of my pregnancy...maybe just a coincidence, not sure)

-will go find and snatch "blankey" out of the dryer even when he is wet

-just wore her first size 5 diaper YESTERDAY (Mason is already in size 3's!)

-loves shoes and clothes and lip gloss and having her nails painted

-notices when Mommy has painted her toes and not hers...she will ask me "Mommy, toes!"

-knows that she is TWO and that her name is Addison

-can count for the most part from 1-10....she skips 4 and 8

-can say parts of her ABC's

-knows and sings daily "Spin, Spin Sugar Baby", "Eetsy Bitsy Spider", "Wheels on the Bus" and "The Crocodile Song"....she misses some parts

-loves to put her brother's paci in his mouth

-hates when her brother is upset

-is needing a 7 in shoes for the fall

-started wearing 24 months clothing

-likes pretties in her hair

-loves watching Toy Story and Alice in Wonderland

-likes to sing and dance

-loves the butterfly color song on youtube

-thinks it is fun to run and hide from us

-likes when Mommy "pretends" to put underarm deodorant on her

-puts her shoes on the right feet about 80% of the time

-has learned how to unlock the dead bolt locks... YIKES!

-loves to go to the toy department in Wal-Mart

-has a ton of hair for Mommy to fix

-doesn't mind getting her teeth brushed

-learns very quickly

-loves raw cauliflower...she gets this honest! ;)

-loves cake...yes, she has Paul's sweet tooth I do believe and loves chips...my salty tooth!

-will rub our face and say "W-ove you"...so sweet!

-loves loves loves "Mommy and Daddy sandwiches"...when we both hug her tight at the same time

Again, I could go on and on about our smart, sweet baby girl, but I am getting tired now and know I better get some sleep before the waking hours because it is go, go, go once our morning starts it doesn't stop all day. I love it! I enjoy being busy, but most of all I enjoy these babies. Happy 2nd year to our baby girl! We are looking forward to see what you do each and everyday and watching you learn more and more.

With All My Love,

Mommy

Her 2 yr stats:

Height: 34 1/8 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs (10th percentile)

Curious Boy

Trying to see if Mason will take a bottle...he messed around with it, but he really just wanted his paci. Definitely a pacifier baby! I am ok with that. :)

Bright eyed and checking things out.

Growing Fast

She has just realized that this puppy will follow the bone.

He likes to check things out.

I am in love. :)

Sister/Brother

Addison reading to Mason...he was looking at the book.

She will say " Can I hold you?" to Mason. So funny!

Grasping Things

Mason will hold on to things now...and has been for a few weeks.....not sure if I mentioned that earlier or not. He is growing tooooooo fast!

September 2

She likes her pinwheels I make in her hair. She also asks to have "Pretties" in her hair meaning bows, etc.

I must add as I am posting these she see this and says "Mommy, I see Addison!" She is always making me smile!

September 1

Rainy Day

Sweet face! Love them eyelashes and that pretty blonde hair.

Cheeseeeeee!!!!! She had been asking to go "Pway" meaning, go to playgroup, for awhile. Now that their colds are getting better we headed out even though it was POURING rain!

Major Cutie

Was snuggling Mommy on the couch.

Very strong head and neck....and very curious these days.