All or Nothing

So I'm an all or nothing type of person. This is probably the reason I haven't been blogging. I sure as heck could carve out 10 or 15 minutes a day!! I am just such a type-A person and want to put pictures in, etc. etc. I did finally get Photoshop Elements for Christmas from my dear dad and have been playing with it a little bit. Most of my time has been spent (other than playing with Addison) helping my sister with her wedding plans. I almost have the shower invites done. They are super cute.

Had a good Christmas and New Year's with family--Traveled to Michigan AND Indianapolis for family Christmas'. AND got Addison potty trained!

I keep thinking I need to start writing stuff down Addison says or does either in a journal or this blog because it is just hilarious. Today she woke up and told me her baby was sleeping in her belly. Then she went on to say that Grandma Jackie works with babies (which is true). She will make a good mom-she lines all of her babies up (like 14 or 15 of them) and "teaches" them school. She also lines up her shoes, lol! Do you think she takes after me at all?

On Wednesdays at her daycare/preschool she attends does bible study since it is a Christian daycare. She has been talking a lot about Jesus and his mom, Mary. She also says our dinner prayer--"ABC and 123, Thank you God for feeding me." It is so adorable. This Sunday we are going to St. Louis Parish in Owensville to attend mass and attend their school's open house. We're hoping to send Addison there for K-8...not sure where she'll go after that, but I have some time to plan!

Addison also knows what day of the week it is and who is picking her up at school. On Tuesday and Thursday daddy picks her up and she loves that. She also gets to go to Grandma and Grandpa's on Thursday night and that's another thing she reminded us this morning.

I better stop before I make this post way longer than I had planned (all or nothing)

Jan 2010

I got a new cast iron sink and this is our old one.  Dec. 2009

December 2009

December 2009 in Michigan

November 2009

Halloween pics, etc.

I hate blogger and this is why: maybe it is my new computer, but I can't move the pictures around like I used to be able to do! UGH! The first picture is from the other night and the second picture is Halloween-out of order.

This year Addison went as Cinderella. Grandma Jackie made her gorgeous dress and it was being taken in at the last minute! She will be able to wear it again next year.

Today is Veteran's Day and poor Jack has to work like usual. Next year I think he should take a personal day! I already went to the gym and Addison and I have plans for a little bit of Christmas shopping and then to the grocery. Angie and Tony are coming tomorrow night and then stay to babysit on Friday, so we are excited about that! I am making Angie's favorite cabbage roll casserole with mashed potatoes. It is so yummy!

Oh and by the way, I still hate blogger because it only allows me to upload one picture at a time. I would have put more on here, but it takes so damn long.

Some pictures...

Here are some pictures from our trip to Shaw Farms for Brady Campbell's first birthday.

This one's for Audrey

Since I recently got a new laptop I have no more good excuses not to blog. I do not have to spend hours in the den at night twiddling my thumbs while pages and pictures load on my ancient desktop computer (it made it 6 1/2 years!) I am a tad bit upset though...I was so excited to load Photoshop Elements on the laptop, but since the laptop has Windows 7.0 it is not compatible! UGH! So dad, I guess that's what you'll be getting me for Christmas, lol! The newest version of Elements!

I can't believe it is November already. 2009 has gone by so fast! Addison is becoming a "mini-me" and she is also at the stage that I couldn't wait for--the "why" stage. Anything you say to her is followed by "why" x 7. It is absolutely hilarious. Seems like she's learning a lot by asking so many whys. I have been trying to take some pictures...I slacked a little during the summer. I am excited to take a class on how to use my camera in the spring with two girls I work with! I am including some recent pics...from Pattison Park in Owensville and Trick or Treat (Cinderella!)

Jack is FINALLY done with the football season, thank goodness! Addison is now a daddy's girl and was very upset on Friday nights when daddy didn't come home. I endured 8 weeks (1 week I went to my parent's and 1 week she went to the Wessel's) of 3-hour tantrums, crying so hard she was gagging and throwing up. Not fun. Most people look forward to Friday...I dreaded it for 10 weeks. Last Friday was the last game, so I am actually looking forward to this Friday and the weekend. I have been super busy at work, so it will be nice to spend a Friday night at home with family.

We are all really looking forward to the holiday season. I'm going to get all of my Thanksgiving decorations out this weekend. Addison really enjoyed the Halloween decorations and pumpkin carving. She cried when we threw away the shriveled up carved pumpkin tonight. :(

Well...when I went to download the pictures, after 15 minutes of waiting I got an Internet Explorer error message and nothing downloaded! I need Elements to make the picture files smaller. I use Picasa right now and if anyone reading this knows how to make the files smaller with this software, please let me know! For now, there will be no pictures...I'll work on it tomorrow night.

Where did I go??

Life-that's where I went. Life is busy! Especially during the summer. We have been so busy having fun I haven't gotten around to posting any pictures or blogging! I have posted pictures on Facebook, which is tons easier than blogger.

So let's see...Jackie finally did have baby Alexis on Tuesday June 16th. She's already over a month old and just adorable!! Here she is... (I took this picture on 8/3/09, so she's about 7 weeks here...)

Amy came home from Korea in June so we were very happy to have her back after a long year away! Steve is still overseas, but will be back within the next couple of weeks.

At then end of June we took a vacation up north, hoping to go boating and jet skiing on Lake Erie. Weather did not cooperate and it was freezing cold--jeans and sweatshirt weather! Addison did have a great time at the Wessel's cottage in Marblehead.

On July 3rd, we drove from Marblehead to Marysville, MI to spend time with Jack's side of the family. The weather was absolutely gorgeous on the Fourth of July, so we spent the day on his cousin Rick and Tara's boat with their kids. I was a little weary of how Addison would do on the boat, but she loved it, especially since Grace and RJ were there to play with.

On June 26th, my friend Tina who was pregnant with twins went into labor at 26 weeks and stayed at University Hospital. Jackie D. and I went down to see her on Thursday July 16th and took her and her husband Brian dinner. We got to hear the babies heartbeats. Little did we know the next morning Tina would actually have the babies! Everyone is doing fine-She had Jack and Maggie on the 17th. This is her blog: http://adventuresofmightymouse.blogspot.com.

This past weekend was a busy one as well. Saturday was nasty and rainy so I helped my mom clean out her "den" (which consisted of a storage unit full of crafting supplies, avon, and, well...lots and lots of other stuff). We wanted to have a nursery/kids room for Addison and my sister's kids when she has some. We ended up throwing away at least 7 bags of trash and probably 7 more went to Good Will. There is still one more cabinet that we will work on in the near future and move it to the garage. Addison was staying in their guest room, but it was cramped, so now when we all stay in Centerville we will have our own rooms! I am so happy it is finally cleaned out and so proud of my mom for giving so much up. It was so fun to look at old pictures and stuff from growing up. We found coupons from the early 90's and books Angie and I wrote in elementary school. I unfortunately did not take a before picture, but let me just say you could not see the carpet. The 20 year old carpet actually looks new because no one walked on it!!

Sunday was gorgeous and we finally got up to Katie and Mike's house in Columbus for a little party for Amy. It was great to see everyone and Katie and Mike asked Addison to be their flower girl in their wedding next May! They made cupcakes for her--so adorable!

Other than that, I've been slaving away at work trying to keep my job. Yeah, that sounds kinda bad but if anyone works in the public sector in Ohio, you know what crazy budget issues we are having. The Ohio budget is $3.2 billion in the hole. The Gov. is allowing slot machines at race tracks to help boost revenue while cutting state agency funding. Human services was hit the hardest. We are awaiting news about how many hours we will be furloughed this year (July-July). It will most likely be 80 hrs total of unpaid leave (not all at once). I'm actually looking forward to it because I don't have much vacation saved up due to maternity leave and back surgery. I'll get to be off at Christmas, etc.

Jack and I are coming up on our 5th wedding anniversary. Since he is coaching high school football this year we can't go out of town around August 14th. Instead, we are going back to Michigan this Friday-Sunday, sans Addison. She is going to Mom's!! We are very excited!! We will of course go to Montgomery Inn on the actual day, but we're just looking to get away for a couple of days.

As for Addison...potty training is going ok. Some days are better than others. She talks and talks and talks and doesn't stop. We love it! She can finally tell us what she wants and how she is feeling. It is so funny to hear her say "I am excited" when we are driving to Centerville or saying "I want to go to Pa'ma's house" all of the time. Now that she's in her toddler bed she can get out. In the morning she knocks on her door to come out. Kinda funny, but not really when it is 6 am. A friend at work gave me a bike kid trailer. We've had a lot of fun with that at Miami Meadows. We also take a lot of walks over at the park and visit the ducks and the playground. Favorite food is ice cream. I give her vegetables every single night for dinner and she refuses to eat them. I thought she was close to eating asparagus last week but then ended up giving it to Zippy. Darn!

Summer has gone by way too fast and I can't believe this Saturday will be August. Jack starts football practice full time on August 3rd, so he won't be around too much until November. I can't wait to take Addison to one of his games!

Ok so this post probably took me at least 2 hours and it is really not worth it. Please get a facebook account if you read my blog so you can see pictures!!! I could be doing so many other important things like playing with my child instead of putting pictures on here! LOL!

Uncle Steve

Addison's Uncle Steve (my brother in law) is traveling in Tajikistan (studying Persian, etc). He has a really cool blog to check out: Click here

Other random things...my friend Jackie is STILL in labor and it is 9:15 at night. She was induced this morning at 5 am....Can't wait for an update and to see a picture of baby Alexis-hurry up!

Addison weighed only 24.4 lbs and was 33" tall at her 24 month check up. Some of her clothes are still 18 months and even a couple 12 months! Crazy! The phase she's in now is opening and closing every single door she sees. At first it was funny, now it is just annoying because she'll slam the door and try to shut you in the room. I have gotten my fingers smushed. She also talks a mile a minute and sings songs. She knows how to count to 10 and almost the whole alphabet. Potty training is going much better. We use stickers on the back of the bathroom door on a poster and she loves it. Getting rid of the paci is going well too. She only takes it when she is sleeping and she keeps it in her bed.

Looking forward to the weekend already...it is hopefully going to be nice so that we can take Addy to the pool. Baby Cohen's first birthday party is Saturday evening so that will be fun as well. Then Sunday is Father's Day. Not sure what is going on--probably Centerville.

Two Years Old!! Happy Birthday!

Addison is two years old today! I honestly can't believe two years have flown by this quickly. We have had a busy and wonderful past two weeks (and two years). I was off work last Friday and today, which was great! Addison and I were together last Friday in Centerville (getting hair done and swimming). Yesterday was Jack's last day of school-YAY!

The last two years have kinda been a blur. Addison has begun the terrible twos, sometimes crying from the second I pick her up at daycare at 4 to her bedtime at 7:30. It is all worth it in the end though. The good days are wonderful with her singing to and from school and talking a mile a minute when we get home. She's up to 5-word sentences. Favorite is "What's that?" or "I want to..." She knows exactly what she likes and doesn't like and is slowly potty training. Some days are great and others she is very stubborn. She has her 24 month check up on Tuesday morning, so I'll report her stats in another post.

As for favorites: noodles, noodles, and more noodles. I think she is taking after her uncle Steve. Speaking of uncle Steve, whenever you try and tickle or poke her (or try and do something she doesn't want you to do) says "Buzz Off"...Steve taught her that...the good side-she asks for salad when she comes home from school (with cucumbers and tomatoes!)

Other favorites include her dog Zippy. Every single morning she asks where Zippy is (usually she is not far behind) and when she goes to sleep Zippy has to be in the room right next to Addison's bed. The best is her wanting to "drive"....she LOVES to sit in the front seat of my car and Jack's truck and pretend she is driving. She'll sit in there for 20 minutes if we let her. Ice cream with sprinkles. That is what I bribe her with to get her to take a bath (major dislike). She refuses to sit down in the bathtub. Not sure why...

Also LOVES to wash her hands. It is actually a little on the OCD side. The second those fingers get a spec of anything on them she's running to the closest sink to wash them 10 times. And the list goes on (more in the baby book!)

So about today....I got up early and hit the gym at 5 am, went to Walmart to get the last odds and ends and was home by 7:30 to get Addison and Jack ready for the zoo! I know for sure Addison did not know it was her birthday. She thought it was pretty cool there was a Disney Princess balloon on her highchair though! I think she got up too early because by 9 am she was asleep in the car on the way to the zoo. We got downtown (Clifton area) around 9:30 or so and it was the absolute PERFECT day--75 degrees and no clouds in the sky. The zoo was not busy-at some of the exhibits we were the only stroller. Addison was not as excited as we thought she would have been. I think she was a little overwhelmed. We stayed about 2 hours and it was nap time. She fell asleep right when we got back in the car and Jack and I drove by UC and my old house on Wheeler St. Oh old times! The college traffic was nuts and we sat in it forever. UC is still in session, so I think that was the reason.

After a 3 hour nap, Addison and I iced cupcakes to go along with the traditional angel food cake and fluffy white icing (tinted pink). Jim and Steve, Jackie and Mike, Jen, Chad, Carson, and Cohen all came over for a little party. Jack and I got her a mini four wheeler. We both agreed that next year we'll definitely have to move up to a gas-powered one. A 6v battery doesn't go very fast! She loved it though! She had a great time with everyone and got some really cool gifts--thanks guys!! Not to mention a fun time playing with Carson and Cohen.


Bedtime was too late, so cross your fingers she sleeps past 7! Tomorrow we'll go to the pool in the morning like we have been doing. Jack's golfing in the afternoon and I'll probably take Addison back to the pool after her nap. Sunday we're having a slightly bigger birthday party at Aunt Julie's pool with everyone from Centerville. Should be a great time!


Here are some pictures of today at the zoo and this evening....

Actually here is a link to my Picasa page because I have just about had it with Blogger and how long it takes to upload pictures. I seriously could spend like 5 hours on here and put 20 pictures up. Plus, my desktop computer SUCKS!! Christmas could not come any quicker-lol!

Addison's Second Birthday Weekend