Calling Pappa

Addison will sometimes pick up one of the many fake phones we have and pretend to call "Pappa", which is what she calls my dad. She will also do this with one of the radios we have. Below are two short movies where we attempted to capture this on film:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAQxOCjtZkc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jDgq6f2d-Q

Brushing Teeth

We have been getting Addison in the habit of brushing her teeth every night before bedtime. She even gets excited about doing it! Below is a short movie showing one of her nightly brushing sessions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfDQX0SkE1U

Big Girl Bed

Addison made the move to a big girl bed this past weekend. We had a day bed that we brought down from Dallas that we added one of the safety bars to. It has worked out great and she has not had any problems sleeping in it yet.

Retirement Dinner in Dallas

The weekend before this, we took Kelly's Dad and Stepmom out to III Forks in Dallas celebrate their retirement. Addison loved to run around the lobby and also look at the fountain they had near some of the patio tables. The food was wonderful as usual, and it was great to see John, Kelly's brother, actually eat a steak without some A1 sauce.

Addison Meets Connor

We met up with Casey, Stella, and Connor West this weekend at P.F. Chang's in Arlington for lunch. Casey and Stella's parents were also there. We hadn't seen Connor since he was a little bitty guy, and boy has he grown! He had a good time reading his book and especially playing with Addision's Sesame Street placemat. Addison didn't say his name but pointed at him and called him "baby". Before we left, I picked up Connor, who happens to way about the same as Addison. Addison didn't like this and also wanted to be held. I was not able to hold both of them for very long and had to give Connor back to his parents.
Above is Connor reading his book and smiling.
Connor always got a serious look on his face whenever the camera was on him as you can see in the above and below pictures.

Above you can see Connor messing with the Sesame Street placemat. This kept him entertained for quite a while at dinner and he didn't like it when you pulled him away from it.
Here is as close as I could get to a group picture with Connor and Addison at the table. Addison didn't want to sit down for very long at lunch, so she decided to stand up at the end of the table.

First Haircut and Backyard Pool

This weekend we decided to get Addison's hair cut for the first time since it was getting a bit long in the back. We knew she was probably not going to like it, so we went to a more kid friendly place in Kingwood called the Grandstand. It was a sports-themed place where Addison enjoyed hearing her voice echo. She has become a pretty solid daddy's girl as of late, and didn't want to sit by herself in the barber's chair. So, I sat there with her while she got her hair cut. She only fussed a little bit, and didn't outright go nuts. We also ran around outside in the nearby park area afterwards for fun.




On Sunday we filled up the small pool in the back yard since the temperature was nice out. Addison was sporting a new swim suit for the occasion. She rarely wanted to sit anywhere in the pool besides in my lap. It was a little cool out when the breeze got going, so we had to call it quits after a while. I can't wait for summer when we can go back to the big pool and have a fun time like last year!

We tried to get her to smile in the above picture, but she really just wanted to go outside!

Fireman's Hat

We swung by the dollar store in Humble after running some errands this past weekend. Addison really liked this fireman's hat at the store, so we splurged the one dollar to get it for her. She normally doesn't wear hats, but she really liked this one. She also got upset when she broke part of it on the tile floor from dropping it. It is still wearable and will now reside in just the front room where there is carpet.

Addison's 2nd Birthday Party

Our little cutie is two years old! I can hardly believe she is two already. Addison has changed so much in the past two years. I like to look at the past posts on here and see just how much she has grown. We had family from Kingwood and Dallas swing by for Addison's birthday party on Saturday. She had a great time and really warmed up after being a little shy and wanting to stay near me. She seemed to have an endless amount of energy that day, even though we know she was tired after her party. I'm glad everyone had a good time seeing her so happy.
Above and below are pictures of her Mickey Mouse cake and all the party food.
In the shot below, I had just picked up Addison after her nap. She was being cute and clingy.
These next two are where she was still reluctant to go to anyone else. We tried to get the presents going, but Kelly ended up taking over at that point.Above is the mound of presents we opened at the party. Addison still isn't into opening them up. I'm sure this will change soon.As you can see in the above and below pictures, Addison also wanted to be with my Dad. Below is the backpack that my sister got for Addison. It is very colorful and should be a big hit at Mother's Day Out.
Addison received two baby doll strollers(and dolls to put in them) which were an immediate hit. She loves to push them around the whole house.Below is a lamb that makes nature sounds(rain, etc.) that my Aunt Mickey got for Addison.

My Aunt Mickey also got her the turtle you can see below that lights up and changes color if you hit one of it's buttons.
Above is Addison once again pushing the baby doll stroller around for all to see.Above is Addison eating some of her Mickey Mouse cake. She wasn't nearly as messy as last year.
Above is a small bean bag that my sister got for Addison. It has also come in very handy as resting spot for Daddy when hanging out up front in the playroom.


Birthday Movies:

This first one is Addison pushing her doll around in the stroller:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3468080801639302297

This next one is everyone singing Happy Birthday to her and trying to get her to blow out her candle:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5198074504981621884

Queso and Ketchup

Addison has discovered(from her mother mainly) that she can dip food in other things like queso and ketchup and then eat them. She would try this before by accident by slamming food into other things, however, she is learning how to really dip and eat now. This started recently at Pappasitos this past weekend where she would dip her chips into the queso and then just lick off the queso. She would not finish off the chip every time, and she would usually just re-dip it into the queso for more. We also went to McDonald's the other day, and this was the result with the fries and ketchup.

Shannon's Wedding

Kelly's best friend from college was married last weekend at Briscoe Manor (http://www.briscoemanor.com/) to Isaeus Hernandez. The ceremony was in both spanish and english, and had a lot of participation from relatives. Some of this was inpromtu and surprised the parents! Kelly was able to survive in her heels, despite the 45 minutes of standing involved. Shannon's red pattern on the wedding gown(see below) was great and very unique. My parents watched Addison that weekend since Kelly had a lot of activities she had to do for the wedding. After seeing how crazy it would have been with her there, it was nice to have a break to relax.
The above photo shows a good layout of the chapel when there was still enough light for me to get a good picture from far away.This litle girl was having fun and making faces at everyone during the ceremony.Above are Shannon's parents entering the the chapel. The pictures may be a bit crooked of these since I was having to take them without turning completely toward the doors.
Here is Kelly strolling toward the front.Everyone could see Kelly's tatoo, especially the kids. They all pointed at it and asked what it was to their parents. I'm sure they all want one now.Here is Shannon and her father. He is a great guy and has always cooked some wonderful meals for us out at their house in Gauss.
Above is a shot showing off the red pattern on Shannon's dress. It was a neat look on a wedding dress.
Here is a shot of everyone after they made it to the altar. It was darker now, so my flash didn't quite make it as bright as earlier.
Above is the portion of the wedding where the surprise happened. Both parents were told to come up to the stage to participate.
Here is the happy couple!Above is a great shot of Kelly showing off her sophisticated look in her nice dress.
I manage to sneak in for a quick shot of the two of us.
Above and below are the bride's and groom's cakes. Those strawberries were gone in a flash.
Finally, we have the first dance of the newlyweds to kick off the evening's festivities.