Easter Sweets & Treats

I'm partly embarrassed to even post these pictures they are SO OLD! But, here are the rest of our pictures from Easter. Basically Addy had a little Easter egg hunt in our basement and LOVED it. She opened them all with great anticipation... but not before shaking each one of them and saying "MONEY!!" The girl has a small obsession with money... and comically, my sister taught her how to say, "Show me the money Bampa!!" I think my dad purposefully fills his pockets with change before he sees her. She may have a small fortune by the age of 5!

The Easter baskets are from my mom. They were filled with all sorts of fun things.... most of which Adeline loved and John Michael was indifferent about. Its funny to see how different he is now than he was just a few months ago. He's very interested in exploring things now whereas before he would look at everything with equal disinterest.

Addy wanted this bunny costume when we were at Target. It was one of the first things she's ever really asked for at a store! So, of course, I bought it for her... However, she did NOT want to wear it. I got it on her long enough to snap a picture of our moody little girl and she refused to wear it again.

The unhappy bunny.



Check out my Easter Basket!




My mom bought her Happy Feet for her basket. Addy watched it immediately following the basket opening.... she has a special place in her heart for Mumble!





"Oh Wow!"



Man, I love Easter eggs!


And I LOVE money!



Happy Easeter Lucy!






What is this thing anyway?



Oral Fixation Boy strikes again.



Oh, guess that wasn't a new teether after all....




My mom also made a bunny cake. Addy just loved it. She may eat a lot of McDonalds but she doesn't get sweets that often so it was quite the treat for her.




mmmm tasty!



I love this cake stuff!

Future Fish - Get in Gear!!

I need to get in gear and start posting these pictures that are OLD!!

I'm determinded to do everything I can to help my kids love swimming. I was never crazy about being in the water all the time but the moms that I know whose kids love the water say that summertime is always a blast and the kids get tons of exercise. So, thanks to Tia Tara who bought Addy swim lessons for her birthday, Addy is learning!

At first she seemed like a natural. She's been swimming before but this was the first time this year (other than swim lessons) and she's at the age where you never know just how they will respond.

The place we stayed at had an awesome kids pool that she could run around in. It had multiple levels (due to underwater hills) and fountains that the kids loved.



John Michael didn't need any lessons. He LOVED the water from the start.





He liked to just sit in the water and splash and watch the other kids for as long as we'd let him... or until he got hungry or sleepy.

zzzzzzzzz




He never really tried to get on his belly and crawl... which looking back is surprising. He's such a good baby!!


"Its bright out here mommy!"



"Good thing I have these cool sunglasses and matching hat to help me see. Thanks GG!"




"Don't forget about my cool sunglasses and matching hat Mom!"





In our passionate pursuit to make sure the kids loved the water we encountered one major setback. Addy fell into the deep end of the pool. She was a bit traumatized for a while and almost refused to get back in... but we made sure she stayed in and fought her fear and by the end of the day she was jumping right back into Daddy's arms.

We brought a little innertube thing for John Michael to play in but he couldn't seem to stay sitting up in it. Addy, who is at the stage where she wants everything that is John Michael's (including his high chair!), surprised us by getting in the innertube and LOVING it! She swam this way quite a bit.



Both kids had a blast but I don't know how we would've done it without my mom being there! She would take one kid while both of us manned the other... It was so nice having her with us! At the end of each day she would stay in with the kids while Johnny & I went out to the hot tub or just got a break away from the condo. Thanks Mom!

.... but to be honest I don't think it was all sacrifice. She absolutely enjoyed the kids and they loved having their GG there! After all, she spoils them rotten!!











Here are some other shots of the kids that I love.

This series is entitled "Sunblock slobber"

Part I



Part II




Daddy is a water toy. (notice how addy isn't thrilled about John Michael joining her!)







Now Daddy is a horsey!



I love my mommy!!




I love my daddy!!

Pool kisses.



This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip:

My little diva.



After long days in the sun we were all WORN OUT! The kids did a great job throughout the day but they didn't sleep so well at night. At one point I almost laughed out loud... but I was too tired to! One would fall asleep just as the other started crying... and consequenly wake up the other one. It was like trying to pound the gopher's heads down at Celebration Station (though a bit less violent!). But Adeline, the stinker, found a way to sneak herself into GG's bed a couple of times.



It was one of the best vacations we've been on. Its more and more surprising to experience the joy of watching your children have fun. We're looking forward to a lifetime of it!

Addicted

I'm completely addicted to this newfound photo effect. That might explain why I'm up so late. Tomorrow is going to hurt!

Last week we got a chance to see Ajai play soccer! He was so into the game (and so was Shannon ;)) Here are some pictures of him running hard and playing great!

Playing Hard.

Kicking Hard.

Running Hard.


He almost scored a goal at the game we were at! I bet next year we'll see him score several.

Here are two of Ajai's cousins. Aren't they adorable?


And how could I post an entire entry without a picture of at least one my adorable kids? Here is my little guy (who isn't so little.) He got so much attention at New Attitude! I think I could ignore him for a week and we still wouldn't be caught up! haha.. jk

we're back again!

This summer seems like its one thing after another! I don't mind it at all - its fun seeing people all the time... but its hard on the blogging!

Well this time we're back from New Attitude. It was awesome. We heard PHENOMENAL teaching, especially from Dr. John Piper. I came back freshly committed to being indebted to God's grace and allowing him to rid me of sin on a daily basis!

I would be remiss if I didn't thank our dear friend Adam for GRACIOUSLY serving us all weekend. While we were in the sessions he cared for John Michael faithfully, not complaining one time! Without him we could not have enjoyed it half as much. So THANKS ADAM (even though I don't think he reads our blog... hehe).

I ALSO came home envisioned to do some more creative things with my love of photography. So here's a sampling of what's to come!

my big girl

Well, this past week Adeline had two major milestones... She used the toilet for the first time and threw away all of her pacifiers! She's been without one now for a week and has only asked for one a handful of times... However, we've noticed that she is not sleeping as long. I'm hoping that changes soon! I'm used to her two hour naps!

As far as the potty training goes she went number two twice and number one once over the course of three days. However, the last couple of days she hasn't done anything noteworthy. As a matter of fact she is showing a strong aversion to anything potty related. I think we're going to try to "potty train" in a week or so. I'm pretty sure it isn't going to work but I thought it was worth a try!

My friends Thern & Trillia are here vacationing with their son, Weston. Its been fun spending time with them. So far we've gone to the Cubs Sox game #2 where Johnny & I saw the Cubs win for the first time (in person) EVER!! Thern & Trillia were so generous to take us with them! Thanks guys - it was a BLAST!

More pictures soon!

Crawling, Clapping, Waving, Spitting

Well, GaGa/John Michael/Buddy is all over the place. As soon as I leave the room he takes off after me. He isn't up on all fours and I'm not sure if he'll get there anytime soon. He's an amazingly fast army crawler and even though I see him rocking on his hands and knees at times he hasn't shown much interest in crawling that way.... unless we're outside! He isn't quite sure what to think of the grass so he tries to crawl on his hands and toes. I'll post pictures of that soon.

I'm still trying to play catch up with blogging so some of these pictures are a bit old... but I'd like to get them posted for posterity's sake.

John Michael has pulled up a couple of times but hasn't mastered it yet. I put him up one day and he was giggling he loved it so much - so of course I snapped a picture.




Which, not surprisingly, led to a small photo shoot. hehe..

"Mom, you're so silly!"






Army crawling



He's also waving like crazy and clapping more and more.... You'd think with all these new developments he'd quit spitting up. But, alas, he's still going strong in that area. I never did mess with my diet to see if there was something causing him to spit up. Does that make me a bad mom? I hope not. He never has seemed like he's in pain or uncomfortable. As a matter of fact he thinks spitting up is kind of funny.... how masculine of him. :)

Stay tuned: More Florida pictures coming up!

Disney

Disclaimer: I wrote this a while ago.

For those of you who don't know, we just got back from our vacation to Florida. We went to Disney one day and the pool two days. It was a blast! My mom was able to come with us which made it feel more like a vacation since she cared for the kids so much. I know we would have returned much more harried and exhausted had she not come. PLUS, we love her company and the kids adore her. So, thanks for coming Mom!

Addy was so excited to go to Mickey Mouse's house (she called it "M-Mouse house") When the day finally came for us to go she was ready. Equipped with an armload of souveniers from the front entrance we proceeded to Cinderella's castle to watch the character show (songs, dance, etc.) that they have to welcome you into the park. When Addy saw Mickey & Minnie Mouse for the first time she was grinning and giggling... and believe it or not I think it was more fun for us to watch her enjoying the "magic" of Disney more than it was for her!

In awe



Our family in front of the famous castle.







Immediately after the show (and our photo shoot) we ran into pluto and daisy duck. Because you had to wait in line for quite a while to say hi we only choose Pluto and held our breath to see how she would respond....

and she did great! She gave him a hug and a kiss and then posed for a picture in the bright sun.




Afterwards she inisted we go to Mickey's house. We stood in line for quite a while to see the little critter... but it was worth it to Adeline. She ran right up to him with a grin on her face and snuggled with him for quite a while.



Getting her to stand next to him for a picture was comical. She wanted to plop down and camp out right next to Mickey.



Next was Minnie's house! This line was much longer but Addy was a trooper and waited joyfully.

Here she is at Minnie's house.





Anxiously anticipating Minnie's meeting.




And finally, greeting Minnie with a sweet kiss!



And LONG snuggles. We actually had to pry her away.



More to come!