Around the World...or at Least Texas

Brad's brother and sister-in-law had their third baby, Noah, mid-March. He wasn't due until the end of April, when I would no longer have been able to travel. So, we were so excited that he came early and we jumped on the chance to go see him. Brad was already headed to Dallas for one of his Corps buddies weddings, so we decided to turn it into a week long ordeal, ummm, I mean vacation. ;) (WARNING: this is a very long post, to just get the gist you can scroll through the pictures and skip all the words... :) )

Our first stop was Dallas on Friday night. We got into town in time to make it to the last few innings of Ben's teams baseball game. It was so hot, but Addison had so much fun running around and playing. She was the dirtiest little girl by the team we left the baseball field and went to the Cheesecake Factory (yum!!). I've never been to the Cheesecake Factory when we have all been so hot and sweaty, but I'm glad that that didn't make us change our dinner destination, because it was soooo good! Ben and Jen were such great hosts and even babysat Addison for us on Saturday afternoon/evening while Brad and I went to his buddies wedding. Addison had so much fun that she actually woke up on Sunday morning at 6a.m. saying, "Ben, ben, ben". Haha, she loves her Uncle Ben, and Aunt Jen, too! :)

Addison with Uncle Ben and Aunt Jen at the baseball field.

Checking out the field with Uncle Ben.
Brad with all of his buddies at the wedding.

On our way out of town on Sunday we stopped and had breakfast with Katie (my college roommate) and her husband Jarrod, and got to see their new beautiful home. It was sooo good to see her and get to catch up, and Addison loved the blueberry pancake balls that she served and getting to run around their house.

We then headed to Austin, but stopped and had a late lunch with some of our Waco friends, the Mitchells. They had a little boy just a few weeks before Addison was born, and it was fun to get to see these two together. We wish we still lived close so that they could grow up together! But, hopefully we can keep getting together with them at least once a year...especially since

they let us know they are going to have a little playmate for our newest little girl by this fall! :)

Hunter giving Addison a sweet hug, how cute is this face?!The best picture of the two of them actually looking at the camera.

High five!

We finally made it to Austin on Sunday evening and got to spend the night with Janelle and Tim and get to see their new beautiful home. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Janelle and Tim with Addison...but in my defense I was getting a little tired at this point...not to mention the size of my ankles... We had such a fun time for the few hours we were there. Tim cooked wonderful hamburgers and we spent most of the evening in their backyard which Addison loved because she could run around and explore while we ate and talked and laughed.

Daddy giving Addison a "ride" as we once again loaded up the car to head to our next destination.

Before we left Austin, we met one of Brad's college roommates, Robert, for lunch. Addison immediately took to him, calling him "Robbie," and wanting him to hold her. We ate some yummy Freebirds burritos and got to catch up for just a bit. Then, it was back in the car for the drive to San Antonio.

We arrived in San Antonio early Monday evening and spent that evening, Tuesday and half of the day Wednesday playing with the big kids and loving on little Noah. It was so much fun to get to meet little Noah. Addison adored her cousin Ben and would just laugh and laugh at pretty much anything he did. And if Ben was dancing, she wanted to be dancing. If Ben was running, she wanted to be running. It was so cute to see her in that kind of a dynamic. And, she was completely fine with baby Noah. I have been a bit concerned about how Addison was going to handle mommy holding a new baby all the time. And while I still think there will be hard moments, I don't think it will be as bad as I thought. Addison was so interested in Noah, wanting to touch his little bitty toes, and kiss his forehead, and hold him...she just might like her baby sister after all. :) On Wednesday, Brad and I took all three kids to the park, and then to lunch at Chick-fil-a. Whew! It was quite the adventure. Getting three kids ready to go pretty much took all morning, and then keeping three kids happy and together while we were out and about, not to mention getting three kids into carseats, was an all new experience. I'm glad we are going from one to two, and not from one to three...I would feel a bit overwhelmed! Here are some pictures from the park. I could never get all three of them together and looking at the camera at the same time...oh well.

Addison loving being in the swing.

Addison and Grace cheesing in the swings.

This is one of the attempts to get all three together. Addison was VERY upset that we stopped her swing to take this picture...as you can see. ;)

I added up the hours, and we spent a grand total of eighteen hours traveling in the car. Needless to say, between the hours in the car, sleeping in a pack-n-play, in three different houses, seeing an overload of people all wanting her attention, and late nights, Addison was a trooper! We were all very glad to finally make it home, and for my ankles to return to normal size!! But, we were also so glad we got to see so many people we loved in such a short amount of time. We truly are so blessed!!

The Big Three-O

Here is my baby bump picture at thirty weeks. This was three and a half weeks ago, though, so I'm just posting for comparison purposes.

Yeah for thirty weeks, on the downhill side now!! :)

Piggie-Tails

I gave Addison her first set of pig-tails right after she turned 18 months old. I didn't know she had enough hair for them, so I was actually surprised that it worked. I couldn't believe how grown up they made her look!

But, oh so cute!! :)

One and a Half

Trying to get a decent picture of this little eighteen month old is sometimes the most difficult part of being her mommy. I squat to take her picture, and she squats to be just like mommy...

I finally convince her to stand up, but when she realizes I'm about to take her picture she immediately walks towards me saying, "see? see?" wanting to see the picture of herself that I have not yet been able to take...

I then think, maybe going outside will help. But all that does is make this very active toddler, run...

...and run, and try to go as far as she can before mommy tells her to stop and turn around.

But, she sure is a fun little girl to play with and chase after, and now that she is eighteen months old (as of Feb.), here are some of my favorite things about Addison...

• Addison is our little parrot. She like to stand like us, sit like us, and say what we say. This usually just makes us laugh, but sometimes it makes us think, 'hmmm...don't think I want an eighteen month old doing/saying that.'


• Loves, loves her stuffed puppy. She loves on him, and tries to give him a snack, and share her water. She will even put him in her bed and cover him with her blankie so he can go night night. He is essentially the more texture friendly version of a baby doll for her. :)


• Loves to throw and kick balls.


• Wants to see the "choo choo" every time we go outside, and can recognize any train we see while we are driving.


• Talks to me all the time. We have conversation all day long...usually the same conversations over and over, haha.


• Says "hi" to nearly every person we see in the grocery store.


• Is extremely high energy and active.


• Would rather be outside ("side"), than anywhere else.


• Looooooooooooooves to swing!


• Gets very excited about going to church.


• Is very good at remembering people's names and somehow knows which people in her life are family and which are not...it kind of blows my mind seeing as how we don't get to see our brothers and sisters all that often.


• She remembers things that happened from weeks ago, ex: "Lesa, luch, chikn" - Alexe had brought chicken express to my mom's house for their lunch, a week ago. Ex. 2: As she looked through my dad's scrubs shirt pocket she said, "sushur? sushur?" Two weeks ago she had gone through my dad's pocket and pulled out a package that my dad told her was sutures. She was looking for those sutures again.


• Can identify the colors red and yellow and pink.

Pretty much, I think eighteen month olds are amazing. What Addison and all of her little friends are able to do at this stage just blows my mind. She is just learning so much and absorbing everything around her. She amazes us and makes us laugh daily. She is obedient, and tender hearted, opinionated, and silly. We are loving watching her little personality develop! What an incredible blessing she is!