Brandt and I celebrate our 4th Anniversary today!
Happy Anniversary, babe!
I love you so much!!

Addie's favorite room is the bathroom. Usually I remember to put the toilet seat down, but I forgot the other day... hence, the picture above. Had to catch it on camera :) The second picture, well... she's just a happy child these days! Couldn't get any better than this.

A little life update... This week has been good. I've been helping a friend out with a Performing Arts camp this week. We've put together a mini-musical in 3 days with 21 kids, the majority being 2nd graders! It's been nice to work with the little ones, rather than my 7th/8th graders, for a change. Brandt started a new client this week. He's working in Roseville now and has made it home by 5:30Pm this entire week! That is amazing!!! Addison is so fun! Walking around has given her so much energy and confidence in herself. Our new favorite game is hide-and-seek. I hide, she seeks (and giggles). It's a blast :)

Well, Brandt and I are heading up to Trout Lake Camp for the weekend! We are celebrating our anniversary a bit early at the place where it all began :) We will have his parents' boat up there, so we are looking forward to a relaxing weekend on the lake. Addie's battling a cold this week, so she's been kinda cranky. Let's just say, I'm ready to let someone else take care of her for the weekend! I'm allowed to say that, right!? :)

We spent last week in Tennessee for my family reunion. It was a LONG drive, but we had a great time while we were there. It was fun spending time with family. Addie was very good, considering it was a week in an unfamiliar place surrounded by 20 unfamiliar faces. After a week away, though, it feels good to be home :)

We leave this evening for my annual family reunion on my dad's side. Usually it's Arkansas... but this year we're trying out Tennessee! Looking forward to the trip and spending time with relatives we see only once a year. We'd appreciate your prayers tonight as we drive 16 hours through the night. Pray that the drivers stay awake and Addie stays asleep :) I'll update in a week...

Well... we have a walker! Yes, Addie is officially walking! Baby steps, of course... I can't put her down in the middle of Walmart and have her walk, but at home, with one of us across the room, she'll walk. Now we have to work on what to do when she falls. Since we worked backward here (walking before crawling), she needs to learn how to pull herself up once she's down. Needless to say, Mom and Dad are very proud :)
PS- Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the kitchen set. She loves it!

We had a nice weekend with Brandt's parents at the cabin. Nice to be away and relax! Our first night with Addie was rough, but after that, she slept like normal. Here are a few pictures. In a bit, we will be heading out to stay with Brandt's cousins for the week! Looking forward to it :) Again, I'd appreciate prayers that Addie adjusts to the new place quickly!

Addison and I have had a great week! We've stayed busy, but definitely got in some "just us" time too. Today we played in the pool. The sun warmed it up nicely, so she enjoyed being in it. We leave tonight for Hayward, WI... Brandt's dad won a weekend at a cabin, so we're heading there to enjoy it with them! Looking forward to relaxing on the boat :) Hopefully Addie will sleep ok in a new place...

I'm officially adjusted to this stay-at-home-mom business :) It has taken about two weeks, to be honest, but I'm happy to be at home now. I didn't know it would be so hard to not do anything at all! I'm just so used to working, leaving Addie at grandma's, having my "out"... so being at home with no agenda is very different. But we've gotten into a routine now, Addie and I. She's enjoying being at home (definitely a momma's girl these days!), and I'm enjoying every moment spent with her. Still no walking... working hard on it though!

We had Ana and Adam over last night and they bought Addie that toy you see in the first picture. She loves it! My mom took her today for a few hours, so I could have some free time.... it was nice :) She is soooo close to walking! Today she took 2 steps on her own walking toward me, and she later used the couch to walk alongside it. She's never done that before. And she just wants to be walking all the time, so I'm looking forward to the next week or two... she should be figuring it out! Then she won't be so bored and frustrated :)

A few pictures from Addie's birthday party with all the family today. She was very good, and I think everyone had a good time! She got some great gifts as well :) Thanks to everyone who joined us!!
A note to Kylee... this was one of the dresses you bought her... a perfect party dress! She looked adorable, so thank you!

Addie's 1st Birthday

Happy Birthday, baby girl! We love you so much -
Mom & Dad

Our day at the zoo was not all that I hoped it would be :) There were so many people there, we could barely get up to the animals. Many of the animals were sleeping, and Addie just wasn't interested. Maybe when she's older... She loved looking at the ducks, though! She was smiling and pointing... Funny thing, since she can see ducks every day in Grandma's back yard ;) So here is the one pic I managed to take from our outing. Fun times!! He he!
PS... We are really close to walking!! She stands on her own for a long time and can walk with only a couple of my fingers under her arms for support. And yesterday she lifted up her feet on her own while standing, but would just place them back down where they were before. This is progress!!!

B bought Addison a froggy pool, so we tried it out yesterday. Even after being filled for a day, the water was freezing, so Addie wasn't too thrilled. There is a sprinkler on the pool, so we turned that on and ran through it with her. She loved that!! She was ready to come inside though, put her p.j.'s on, and snuggle with her blankie. Today we're heading to Como Zoo... more pictures to come! Hope everyone's having a fabulous holiday :)

Just hanging out... Addie's almost a one-year-old!

To Phylee...



Love,
Addie

B and I had a date night last night for Mother's Day... kind-of ironic, I know... going out without the girl, but we spent today with her! For our date we went to Mall of America, ate, walked around, and shopped. Then we headed over to an old memorable place of ours- Pot O' Gold Bingo Hall :) We haven't been there in years, but it was one of our favorite things to do in college, so we went back to experience it again! Not much had changed... same Bingo caller, same people playing that did years ago (not kidding)... But no smoking, so that was nice! We felt out of place, but had a great time! AND my hubby won the very first game we played! A big $25.00! But it paid for our Bingo experience. He was very proud :) We had a fabulous evening.
Oh- Addie says, "Hi." She does... she says it ALL the time! It's real cute :)

An afternoon at the park :)