Special Vacation in Omaha

The girls spent a great few days in Omaha on their "special vacation" with Grammy and Aunt Cassie. They did a lot of things, and had a ton of fun. I am told both the girls were well behaved and slept great and did good for being away from Mommy and Daddy for the first time for more than 2 nights. We missed them like crazy and talked about them ALL the time, but Kristin and Brian and Tyler and Latisha talked about their kids too; so we did not feel too bad.

Sounds like the girls did a lot of swimming, running in the sprinklers and taking walks and going to the park! Addison enjoyed some time with Max, a grandson of Grammy's friend. Olivia enjoyed the pool more than the sprinklers. The water needs to be somewhat similar to bath water for Olivia to enjoy it! If you look real close at the picture of Addison with the sprinkler, you will notice she is trying to get a drink of water, what a nut!



Walking in style!


Addison and Olivia spent a lot of time at the Henry Doorly Zoo and the Omaha Children's Museum as well. Olivia had a blast showing off her cuter than cute voice...at least that is what the picture tells me! They spent about 3 hours there, and Addison did NOT want to leave; she convinced Grammy to spend the big bucks and buy a membership...SUCKER!!! Kidding mom!!








The girls also went to a 4th of July party, and had some bonding time with Lou! We heard you paid for a toy Lou!




All in all the girls had a great vacation! We were sure glad to have them home though!! Oh, by the way...we had a great time in Branson also. Not many picutres to prove it, the girls weren't there to take pictures of!! We went to some great shows, ate at some great places, and had a lot of fun with Kristin and Brian and Tyler and Latisha!



Sisters bonded by their love for their sippy cups!

Lazy Days of Summer

Our days have been anything but lazy. Here is just a brief synaposis in pictures (lack of time to write much). We built a swingset for Addison and Olivia, finally and took on the task of covering up the purple walls in out living room. Which then went on to include updating the kitchen, and now we are anticipating the hall and steps leading to the basement. We have spent much time outside, playing at the park, in the pool and going to the water park. Enjoy the pictures and know that when we return from our vacation we will spend some tie updating this site and adding some pictures.






The next few pictures are really for Kevin and Jenny who want to see the living room with no purple walls!! These were the best I could get! Notice the light fixture in the kitchen, that is new as well. Kevin you would be proud of Tony, and I with the awesome help of mom putting that darn thing up!




We are headed to Branson this week for Kristin and Brian and Tyler and Latish, all childless!! Addison and Olivia will be enjoying some time with Grammy and Bubba (Aunt Cassie) on their "special vacation".

Shriners Circus

We have so many pictures of the girls lately that we would like to share, but I know some of you are patiently waiting for the circus pictures!! So I will post those today and the others soon. Tony and I took Addison out for a "date". We went out to dinner; let her pick where, and then went to the circus. She loved it all, and did not want to go home. She actually started crying when the circus was over and we told her it was time to go home. Addison enjoyed her 2nd circus much more than her 1st, she got to ride a pony, took an elephant ride and enjoyed watching the animals perform.

The look on her face when she climbed up on the pony was priceless. She wasn't even a tiny bit scared. We thought for sure she would want to get off right away, but not our fearless little one!!

After the pony ride, she saw people on the elephant and asked if she could ride the elephant too. We were much more hesitant about this, knowing that we did not want to have to pay for us to ride it with her; thinking she would never go up there without us. Well, she proved us wrong again. Addison climbed right up those steps, never looking back and climbed right on to the elephant. (You know as I type this, it appears a little scary to me. What else would she do without hesitating.....)

We tried VERY hard to get a picture of her with either Tony or I actually looking at the camera and smiling, but she wanted nothing to do with looking at us when trying to take a picture. So we have no pictures of us with her at the circus. We had a grea time and are looking forward to many more "dates" with Addison. It was fun for her to go out with just us and not Olivia. She just could not believe that Olivia was not going to come; she had to go to bed!

The rest of the pictures from the circus are ones we caught of the circus acts. Mom, the hula hoop one was for you. Addison remembered the story you told her about you doing the hula hoops. Enjoy!!

Check back soon for some more pictures of the lazy days of summer!!

The Life of a 2 year old...well almost 3 year old

Addison has been full of spunk lately. We thought we would share with
you all the many adventures she has taken us on in the last week.

Tony got a brave bone and took her out to the golf course with him to hit some range balls. She thought it was pretty fun! Tony claims it was a bit windy and Addison was trying to run all over the place. So perhaps golfing is not her fortay yet. She does like to swing the golf club all around, and practically hit everything and everyone in site. It is amazing none of us have been hit yet!

We have already shared with you some of Addison's interesting eating habits. What we have not told you is that she actually really LOVES to eat, but on he terms and only what she asks for. On this particular day, it was a peanut butter sandwhich and corn for dinner. She thought it was funny to examine her food and then show us. Enjoy her 2 year oldisms...

She has found her nitch, gymnastics or "nastics" as she foundly calls it! Admit it, you have all used bribery sometime in your life to get your child/children to do something, well if it is Tuesday and Addison is acting up or not listening, we can threaten no gymnastics and she is the sweetest thing you have ever met!! She had a gymnastics show for family last weekend and loved having us all there to see her tricks that she has been learning. I am not sure it is new tricks as it learning to listen to someone other than mom, dad, Aranea (our babysitter) or her grandparents. She has learned how to take turns, wait in line and follow directions. Please do mistake me, she still needs LOTS of practice on listening, waiting in line and taking turns. In a room full of 4 or 5 two year olds, things can get quite frustrating for the gymnastics teacher. Enjoy the overdue pictures of Addison at 'nastics!!

Thanks for stopping by!!! Leaving with one last picture of Olivia, who is now enjoying having some tummy time in the middle of the night! Yes, she is rolling only in her crib and gets stuck on her tummy. So she is on her own time line and will do things when she wants to!

Addison Meets the Wall

The 1st of probably many trips to the doctors for stiches occured yesterday!! We ended up with no stitches, but a pretty big goose egg and some steri strips to keep the cut closed. Addison and her friend Schuyler from daycare love to play and laugh and giggle all day long. Well, they also love to chase one another, and on this particular day, Addison was not watching where she was running and smacked into the corner of the wall!

What we have been up to

Just some random pictures to brighten your day! Addison has a knack for not wanting to eat "new" foods. Please keep in mind, these are not new foods, she just thinks it looks yucky! She is a picky eater. We try not to make a big deal about her trying new foods, but she always has to at least try it. Addison will pull out every stall tatic she can think of, you can count on her having to go potty when she has something on her plate she does not want to eat!

We have enjoyed the nice warm weather, although a bit windy, but we love to be outside and try to take advantage of it whenever we can. Olivia enjoys swinging and Addison, well she just enjoys being outside, running around and laughing!

Tony and I would also like you all to know that even though Olivia is not crawling it is not because we do not put her on her tummy. She gets more and more "tummy time" all the time, but really just enjoys playing with and watching Addison. See, she does not ALWAYS cry when she is on her tummy.

Hoping to post a few more pictures by the end of the week. Addison had her gymnastics show and we had a bar-b-que and played outside with Kristin and Keyara. Still no swingset. Oh well. Leaving you with these 2 precious pictures of my completely and totally in love with her mommy pictures.

Happy Mothers Day

The girls provided me with an excellent Mother's Day. Despite Addison's naughtiness over the weekend, it was a fun day! I got lay in bed, not quite asleep for an extra hour; all the while listening to "I want Mommy to do it", "Mommy, Happy Mother's Day"!! Daddy and the girls took me out to breakfast and then we shopped for a swingset. All sold out, Addison was one unhappy little girl. She was convinced we were bringing her home a playset that day. After much consoling and debate about when we would get one, she finally gave in and stopped crying about it. Boy, I sure hope we can find one SOON!!!

This Mother's Day, I was able to thank God for the blessings in my life. The doctors always told Tony and I that having children was going to be extremly hard if not impossible after the surgery I had and the things they found and had to remove at that time. Well, we prayed and prayed and yes it was difficult, Addison proved to be our miracle baby. When we found out I was pregnant again with Olivia, we were just in awe, not one miracle, but 2; how could this possibly be? I love being a mom, and love being with the girls. They are so different from one another, and it has been so much fun watching Addison with Olivia (although, I would not say watching her in the beginning was all that much fun - lots of poking, hitting and figuring out what this tiny little baby was doing to her world). They are grwoing to be the best of friends. Olivia absolutly loves to watch Addison and always lights up when she sees her. Olivia laughs at about anything Addison does; from dancing for her, making silly noises and even throwing a tantrum! Addison has a knack for making Olivia laugh in the middle of crying spell as well. And only Olivia gets kisses ALL day long. If mommy or daddy ask for a kiss, she simply says "no, I wanna give Livi a kiss".

Thank you mom for molding me into the mom I am today and the mom I hope to be someday. I strive to do my best for the girls and my family and you instilled that in me. Thank you for being my example, my rock, and my best friend. Thank you to mom for all you do for the girls, I appreciate it more than you will eve know.

Thank you to my mother-in-law for always being there to help with the girls; to come over on short notice and helping with gymnastics. Most importantly thank you for Tony. He is an amazing father and I really enjoy just sitting back and watching him with the girls. He loves being a dad, and brings so much enthusiasm to parenting!