Minnie's Barnyard Adventure

Warning:  this post is forever long! 


Addy LOVES the Barnyard - we have been for a few birthday parties and a couple of times this summer we went on the "open to the public" Fridays.  SO, what better place to have her birthday party, right?  She also loves Minnie Mouse and we (I) had decided several months ago on a Minnie theme and started making preparations to use Minnie so even though Minnie didn't go with the Barnyard quite as well, we were committed... and we turned it into Minnie's Barnyard Adventure!

I know Addy had a great time as evidenced by the dirt all over her clothes and face at the end of the day!  We had fun and are so appreciative of all the friends that were able to help us celebrate our two year old's big day!  Here are some pictures from the party.  (These are in backwards order... I had problems posting them and didn't want to have to start over!)



We saved presents for when we got home... which was a good idea, I think. The kids really just wanted to play while we were at the party and Courtney and Addy & I enjoyed taking our time and seeing her excitement over each one at our house that night!


I LOVE these heels that Riley gave Addy for her birthday.  The best is when she wants to wear them with her pj's in the morning :)

She loves decorating these cupcakes and blowing out the candles!  She has only decorated the carpet a few times!  Ha!

 Ok, here are the party pictures...

Gavin

Kurt

Marian & Addy were giving hugs!

Riley was modeling her Minnie ears

Julia had fun on the swings!

Maw Maw and JJ had fun chatting

I love that Addy actually wore her Minnie Mouse ears a little bit.  I think they looked so cute but I am partial!

John-Logan was ready to get busy with his juice box!

Cooper doesn't look so sure about the ears...

Addy looked like she might cry when everyone was singing Happy Birthday but she got excited about blowing out those candles!

Pony Ride!

Mason was giving this little goat a kiss!

Maggie looks like a natural!

Sweet Brooklyn

Garrett is always so happy!

Ella is concentrating on feeding this baby goat!

Matt held this duck for Marian to see!

Holding a baby chicken! 

Such a sweet picture!

These three look like they might get into some trouble... especially Tucker holding that chicken so tightly!

Everyone had fun feeding the ducks.  Addy wanted to pass out bread to all her friends!  Ha!!

Weston was getting ready to feed the ducks

Garrett had on his Mickey Mouse attire!

Cheese!

Not a great picture... but it was the best one of all three of us!

Birthday Week!

Courtney turned the big 3-0 yesterday and Addy is the big TWO today!  We have been busy, busy around here and I have neglected blogging about some of the things we've been up to lately.  Hopefully I can catch up after the birthday weekend. 

I wanted to post a couple of pictures of Addy today on her second birthday.  She took pumpkin cookies to share with her class yesterday and her teachers took some pictures of her during snack.  This is my favorite...

She has been telling everybody she is three!  It is amazing to think back to last year and see how much has changed since her first birthday!  She and her Daddy opened presents last night with our immediate family and she was WAY more into it this go round.  She kind of 'gets it' that it's her birthday and that on your birthday you get to blow out candles and eat cake... and let me say, she is all about the cake!  She has always had a sweet tooth but after this weekend, I hope we can get her to eat something besides cake and cookies and doughnuts for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

She is so precious and we love her so much!  Don't get me wrong, she definitely has plenty of two year old "moments" when she is not so precious but we are working on that... I'm sure we have a long way to go!

She loves to sing songs and when we ride in the car we have a Bible songs CD that she wants to listen to ALL the time :)  I won't lie, the music can be a little annoying but it is minimal when you compare to the sweetest sound of her little voice singing along or looking in the backseat to see her do the motions to Deep and Wide! 

She LOVES playing with her dolls and has moved on from "Julie" (Bitty Baby) to have several favorite dolls.  She likes to let them help with whatever we are doing... can Julie turn the light on?  can Baby brush Mama's teeth?  We have SO many helpers around here :)  She is more into pretending here lately and likes to "cook" for us in her kitchen.  She loves to help make (real) cookies because she likes to eat cookie dough!  She is not into books quite as much because she is too busy to sit down but thankfully she still loves to sit with us and read before naptime and bedtime.  She likes books that have more of a story to them and some of our newer favorites are The Runaway Bunny, Bunny My Honey, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and Where Did the Baby Go?  She often "reads" to her babies and it's funny to hear the parts of the story that she has memorized from reading the same books over and over.

She is starting to get used to going to school two mornings a week.  The last two weeks she has not cried when she gets out of the car in carpool line... which is huge!  When I picked her up yesterday her teacher said "she is so little but she talks so big."  She said the kids were waiting in the hall for moms to come pick up and Addy said "there isn't any breeze right here!"  I guess that was her way of saying, it's hot!  She is always tired when I pick her up from school but she likes to name the teachers that were there and tell me who she played with that day, who got in time out, what they had for snack and sometimes she will sing a song that they learned at school.  For the longest, whenever I would ask her what they did at school she said they learned about colors and they just "played and have fun."   I am always afraid she is going to tell me she got in time out at school... now that she is getting more used to it, I think they have seen her bossy side come out!  We have nicknamed her Miss Bossypants at home!

One of her many faces...

We are having a fun birthday today!  Happy 2nd Birthday Addison Anne!  We love you!

Let's not waste any time on this cookie! 

1st Football Game!

On Saturday, we took Addy to her first football game!  Since it was supposed to be an easy win, we figured this would be a game where we could afford to leave early and wouldn't have to be glued to the field or the TV the whole time.  We made it until the end of halftime which was great!  Poor Addy was so tired out, she couldn't wait til we got to the car to start her nap (see below!). 

We met some friends at chick-fil-a that morning before the game to get a good breakfast, then we headed out to find a park and hike to the stadium.  Addy rode on Courtney's shoulders a good part of the time!  Once we got inside, we got to see Big Al and the cheerleaders and walk around.  During the 2nd quarter, we ate a hot dog and a McAlister's cookie!  After we watched the band at half time we were (all!) ready to go :)

On our way to see the Tide play :)

Addy took her Alabama cheerleader doll into the stadium.  (Thanks Lynne & Bob!)

Watching the team run out on the field... Addy clapped her hands!

Worn out!

Mia's Birthday

We celebrated Mia's birthday one night at Cypress Inn.  We took some pictures outside by the river because we always take pictures outside by the river!  (Mainly because Addy has almost always taken someone outside by the river before we finish eating dinner!  Ha ha!)  While I am taking pictures, Courtney makes funny faces and always gets Addy to smile for the camera so there were some cute ones!

Addy &  Mia

Pop, Addy & Mia

Courtney, Addy & Me

School Days

Addy started preschool this month.  She is going two mornings a week.  So far, she has cried every day... not the whole time but still... her teachers say that she will be okay for a little bit and then when she starts thinking about it, she will get upset.  We thought it would be good for her to learn how to play around other kids and learn to be away from home/me/MawMaw a little bit each week but it's hard to send her when I know she's going to cry!  I am praying that she will adjust to it soon.  She always wants to go back to school and today when I was taking her, she told me "I don't have to cry," but she still did :(  Bless her heart!  And bless those teachers' hearts!  I don't see how they do it!

First Day!

Splish Splash

At the beginning of August, Addy & I drove to Birmingham one day to visit my aunt Lisa and cousins Erin (& Nico), Mackenzie & Slate.  We had so much fun visiting and I'm so glad Lisa emailed me these pictures!  While we were there, Addy and Slate were playing hide and seek.  (Mostly Slate would hide and Addy would try to find him.)  He pretended to be in the air vent that was in the floor (but he was really under the bed).  Addy still goes up to the air vents and says "Slate in there?"

Erin & I are the same age and we were thick as thieves growing up. We have been known to do some silly things like taking our own glamour shots pictures when those were in style but the thing I remember most vividly was making Care Bear "costumes" out of poster board for our very own musical! We made our parents and grandparents pay to come watch us! We used to stay for a week at my grandparents house in the summer (and I'm sure we drove them crazy!) but the highlight of the week was going to Noccalula Falls (and getting ice cream at Jack's!). We loved swimming in the lake at my grandparents' and we made up new words to that song, Splish Splash I Was Taking a Bath. I told Erin, so many times when I am giving Addy a bath I start singing our old version of that song! Ha ha!

Addy loved Mackenzie's bear and she loved playing with Slate!

Mackenzie and Addy

It was so hot!!  Erin, Addy and I (and I think that's Slate at the end?)

McWane Center

I am playing catch up!  Sometime in July (I think!) we went to the McWane Center with our friends Rachel & Riley.  We got to ride together which was fun for us all, except on the way home when we thought they would nap but they kept each other awake!  We heard lots of giggles coming from the back seat!  We might not go back to the McWane Center for a little while because most of the stuff was for older kids but we still found several fun things to do! 

Granddaddy's Birthday

I missed posting these pictures from July and just found them.  Courtney's granddaddy celebrated his 89th birthday and we drove to Brent for cake and ice cream one Sunday afternoon.  His granddaddy fought in World War II and although his memory may not be as sharp as it once was, he has a host of stories he could tell.  He and Courtney's grandmother wrote letters back and forth all during the war.  I can't imagine living in a time like that! 

Addy & Mia

Addy was curious about Baby Sophie

I have tried to take a picture of Addy with Granddaddy every time we have visited them.  These aren't all of them but I think it's fun to see how she has grown!

First meeting, November, 2011

Father's Day, June 2010

Thanksgiving, November 2010

January, 2011

Granddaddy's Birthday, July, 2011