Enjoying some time outside...

It has been beautiful out these past few days, and with the stressful week I have been having, it was great to get out and enjoy some fresh air!  This time next week we will be getting ready to leave for our little get-away.  I am SO ready!

Yesterday I took Addie out in her rain boots to enjoy some puddles and some time with daddy outside.  She rode with Dan in the skid loader for a bit, then we played.  She fell in a puddle while we were outside and when we were in the barn she fell in poo not once, but TWICE!  She didn't care at all!  She loves the cows and it is so funny to watch her talk to them like they are one of us!  I don't think the cows know what to think of her!

Addie just loves these boots, she has been putting them on around the house for months (along with all her other shoes she takes on and off about a million times a day)!  Mom loves them because I bought them on clearance around Christmas time for $5.  I love finding deals!!

As you can see...Addie was quite the messy little girl!  It was all over her butt and down her pant legs!

After I convinced Addie to come in the house, we made supper, and then decided to paint our toenails.  It was much easier to do this with her last summer, but we managed!  She keeps walking around and making you look at her toes!

On other random notes...

Addison's room is painted!  WOOHOO!  The trim and walls are done!  Now I have some creative ideas on what how I am going to decorate and make it a fun room for Addie to play in.  I hope it all comes together.  I will definitely post pictures when it is completed!

We are having such a hard time adjusting to the time change in this house.  Well, minus Dan who really doesn't have a choice!  I find it hard to get out of bed before 8am because I normally get up around 7.  Addie is sleeping from 8pm-9-9:30am!  I think it is her teeth, or maybe a growth spurt.  Not really sure, but I am liking it!  I find my day going by SO fast, especially when I don't get out of bed until 8!!  I have a crazy schedule this week with work, making up missed visits when the weather was cruddy, and next week we are leaving.  So I think I am just going to tackle this after we get back from Grand Harbor.  We will have to fall into another routine!  Seems like just as we find one, we have to find another!

Anyway, better get a few things done before Addie gets out of bed!  Hope everyone has a great day and a Happy St. Patty's Day!!

For Aunt Shelly...Proof of the Coloring Monster!!

I spent much of my morning yesterday on the phone with two of my aunts.  One that lives in California and one that lives in Honolulu, HI.  Watching the footage of the earthquake on the news seemed almost unreal.  I was so thankful to hear that my family is safe and sound.  Prayers go out to all those people who do not get to make that same statement today.

When I was on the phone with my Aunt Shelly I was telling her about how Addie managed to color a pretty picture ALL the way down the hall to her room!  My "color ONLY at the table" plan failed!  She took a chair, got the colors down as I was putting clothes away in her room.  I didn't think anything of it when she brought the green crayon to me.  About an hour later we were walking down the hall and that is when I noticed her lovely artwork!  UGH!  Thank goodness we hadn't painted the hall when we moved in and it is needing a fresh coat of pain anyway!  So, I had to show Shelly the proof of our little color monster!!

We just recently got a new table with a bench and Addie really likes the bench.  She is able to get up and down on her own and thinks she is just the biggest girl!

Reading in her room.  She loves reading to us, and although most of the time we have no idea what she is saying, we love to listen to her!

Goofy girl...

Today we also had an eventful day!  We took a trip for household improvements!!  I ordered all the things for my new kitchen...YAY!  We are keeping our existing cabinets, but the rest is getting re-done.  I am so excited because I miss my wonderful kitchen in our old house!  We also bought the paint for Addie's new room.  We are re-decorating, painting the walls a nice color of pink, and painting the trim white.  Time for the baby room to leave, because as much as I hate to admit it, we now have a toddler!

So, it was a fun day!  It will be 3-4 weeks for my kitchen stuff to come in, so for now we will get started on Miss Addison's room! Hope everyone has a great weekend and spring break!!  My parents leave for Honolulu on Monday and my brother left for California today...and here we are stuck in Iowa!  Oh, well.  At least we are going to have decent weather here too, and we get to take our little get-away next week!  I can't wait! :)

The Face...

Our little Addie is a hoot!  She loves to make a person laugh, and has found a face that makes us laugh every time!  All we have to say is "Addie, make your face!" and she does this...

...yep, that's our Addie!  Her eyes are usually squinting, but I think the flash got the best of her!

On the other hand, I did get some cute ones of her too.  Minus her crazy hair from taking a nap!

One of Mommy and Addie...

I think we could both use some sun!! :)

Some much needed family time...

We finally did it!  We booked a weekend away to spend some much needed family time together.  Dan has been so busy with the dairy farm and it is so hard to get away, but we are going to do it!  I am so thrilled to spend time with my family that is not interrupted by the farm.

Addie is all ready to go the the Grand Harbor Resort for a few days!  We are also going to visit the aquarium while we are there.  I think Addie is going to have a blast!  We tried on her suite tonight and it fits perfectly!  She loved the way it felt and didn't want to take it off!

Little Miss at 17 months...

We are officially one month away from being a year and a half!  Seems unreal!  Addie is a growing girl and learns so much from month to month.  It is so unreal how much they take in, and how much of it you do not realize they are watching!!

One of the things I have noticed lately with Addie is that she is humming and singing all the time.  Something my mom does a lot!  She picked up on it, and while she is playing she hums a song to herself.  It is the most adorable thing and I love to listen to her little voice.

We continue to go to story hour each week, and each week I see improvement with the way she interacts with other children and just her mannerism in general.  She loves going and really does not like to leave!  We check out a few books every week to add to our reading stack!  She also reads all the time to us at home.  This morning she was reading to Elmo!  Dan and I get a kick out of her when she reads I Love You Stinky Face and Is You Mama a Llama, because every page she turns the page the says "Mama, Mama" and then some gibberish!  Both books have the word mama on most of their pages.

Bug.  That is one of her favorite new words.  She loves bugs and tries to find them around the house all the time.  She gets right down to the floor to look at them, and starts talking to them!  I am excited to take her outside this summer to see all the bugs!

We have been teaching her sign language and she picks up on it really fast.  She uses please and thank you all the time.  Her vocabulary also grows so much from month to month, it is truly amazing!  I don't think that there is anything I tell her that she does not understand.  When I ask her to do things she goes and does them!  She loves when I ask her to help around the house!

Being goofy is one of Addie's favorite way to entertain mom! 

Going down the slide head first!!

Addie in her new shoes!  Grandma got her some shoes that squeak every step she takes!  She loves running around in them!  I always know where she is!

Addie in her new chair!  We are getting ready to make over Addie's room, getting rid of the baby stuff and transforming it into a toddler room!  I am excited, but we have a lot of work to do!  

Addie with Monk.  A clean Monk!  We also purchased another one to have on back-up!  I was so happy when I found out the Pier One still carried them.  Addie got this from my friend Megan before she was even born.  They must be some pretty popular monkeys!

So happy before bed!

We are so ready for spring to get here so we can spend some time outside.  Oh, just the thought of not having to bundle Addie up makes me giddy!!  Come on spring!!