Christmas Part 1

This is a quick post to show off Addison's photography skills. She received a Discovery Kids Camera from her Great Granny and Grandpa for Christmas. She LOVES it. We were surprised as to how well she understood how to operate the camera. There are a few things she doesn't understand, like looking through the eye viewer or the screen to aim your shots. But Oh Well...she is only 2. Here are a few pictures.







We will post more about the girls Christmas a little later when we get a chance.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Pink Hat

My mom bought Addison a pink hat to keep her head and ears warm now that it is a little colder here. She absolutely loves it and likes to wear it around the house. Here are some quick pictures of her with it on:

Mickey Mouse Yard Decoration

Addison is a huge fan of Mickey Mouse, so we bought one of the inflatable yard decorations for Christmas seen below. She did not want to sit in front of Mickey with me, so I get to pose solo.

Here is a movie of our attempt to surprise Addison with the new Mickey Mouse in the front yard:

Addison Mickey Mouse Yard Decoration

Thanksgiving in Dallas

We made a quick jaunt up to Dallas for Thanksgiving and stayed with Kelly's mom and her remodeled house. The place looked great with the new carpet and painted walls. We went to lunch with Kelly's Dad's side of the family and then returned to her mother's for dinner. Addison had a great time in the back yard and also slept in her own fold-up chair that turns into a bed. She fell out of it one night, since it is a lot more narrow than her bed at home. Below we have a few shots of the gathering at Kelly's Mom's house:





Afterward everyone had left the girls relaxed together all snuggled up with their blankets:

Sweet Tarts

After Halloween, Kelly gave Addison a Sweet Tart candy to see how she would like them. We made sure she chewed them up so she would not choke. She made a sour face when the taste hit her, but would then ask for more. Below are some videos of this for your enjoyment:

Addison Eating Sweet Tart

Addison Eating Sweet Tart2

Addison Eating Sweet Tart3

Football, Sunglasses, and Relaxation

Both our girls like to watch football. Kara seems to really enjoy it and like to "talk" to the players, especially when she is in her swing. Below are some pictures of Kara and a short video where Kelly is trying to get her to talk to them:




Kara Swinging Watching Football


Here are some shots of Addison messing with her sunglasses and watch up in the playroom:






I also had some fun with Addison and her building blocks. She would build these tall structures and then knock them over. I can't wait to get her involved in my Legos one of these days.


The girls also have their relaxing setups in the living room. Addison usually dictates where all the blankets and pillows go, then tells us where everyone is going to sit. The scene below is where we had Kara spending some tummy time on one of the blankets and Addison decided to join her.


Here are some other shots of Kara sleeping in her crib:

Halloween

Yes, thanks to the craziness of moving I am just now posting about Halloween! Kelly's Dad and Stepmom were over this weekend for all of the fun. Below is Kara in one of her footie outfits with Stella:
Addison had a witch costume but declared she was a princess instead. It also came with a wand that was frequently turned into a weapon until I told her to give me a princess high-five that involved lightly tapping it on my hand. She was a lot better about nailing people(or things) with it after that. Here she is below in the costume. She would leave it on all day if we let her. We compromised by just giving her the wand.
Unfortunately, Addison was running a fever Halloween night and was not able to go out and about for candy. We did have a lot of kids come over for treak-or-treating, and she would jump up to go see who was at the door. Below are two videos of her doing just that:

Addison Halloween - The kid here is dressed like a pimp and his dad(near the street) was as well.

Addison Halloween2

New House!!!!!!!

As the title states, we just closed on our new home here in Kingwood this past Wednesday. We were waiting to mention it until we closed and the house was truly ours. House specs: built in 1989, lot size is 13,000 square feet, house is 2656 square feet, two story, detached garage with covered walkway leading from the house to the garage, 4 bedrooms (master is down), 2.5 baths, kitchen with double ovens, new range and refrigerator (which we just bought), family room, dining room, formal living room and a gameroom upstairs with three bedroom and a full bath. Did I mention there was a pool in the backyard?!! Yes!! With a waterfall. The house is truly perfect and exactly what we were looking for. The previous owner put in 20k of upgrades which include new carpet throughout the house, new paint inside and outside, new granite countertops, new sinks, mirrors and light fixtures in the kitchen, upgraded master bath and half bath, new tile surround shower in the master bathroom, new ceramic tile in the entryway and half bath, new roof, new pool heater....that is all I can think of right now. It is basically a new house with everything he did. Along with the new refrigerator that we just bought that will arrive tomorrow, which I am completely excited about. It is a 25 cubic feet GE french door bottom freezer. Oh...can't wait. We have placed an order for 2" wood blinds for most of the windows in the house. The house has a lot of BIG windows. Below are some pictures of the house shortly after we put in an offer, therefore, it was still under "construction". Ignore the mess you see in the pictures and the green pool - it is now blue. And the kid in the picture does not come with the house!! It is the oldest kid (one of the 5 or 7 kids) of the previous owner.

Addison Catches Us Filming Her Dancing

The movies below are some of the funniest we have ever posted on here. We tried to catch Addison dancing to one of her shows on tv, but she caught Kelly using the camera to record her. She goes so nuts when she finds out she is being recorded that we can't help laughing.

Addison Sees Camera While Dancing - This is the one where she sees the camera.

Addison Sees Camera While Dancing 2 - In this one Kelly hides the camera better, but cracks up when Addison almost discovers it.

Addison Sees Camera While Dancing 3 - Addison stops dancing to draw with a pen, then dances, and asks for cheese.

Been A While...

I know it has been a while since we updated. Things have been a bit nuts, but we have some updates on the girls. Kara has been sleeping for three to four hour periods, but still has some trouble at night on occasion. I know I'm in for a rough night when she only drinks two ounces or less on her first post-midnight feeding. She has started eating a little bit of rice cereal in her bottle to help thicken her food and take that first step toward the real thing. She will smile and make noises when you mess with her feet and her cheeks, but it has been hard to catch this on camera so far. She has inherited my trait of being able to sleep through just about anything, which is wonderful considering how crazy Addison gets when she is excited.

Addison has been enjoying school a lot more and will even let my Dad drop her off without crying on occasion. She absolutely loves to be outside, which has been posing a problem lately due to the rain. In addition to WALL-E, Addison has now added Finding Nemo to her list of must-watch movies. She has both of these memorized(as do Kelly and I) and will speak some of the lines during the movie when they happen. She also likes to have the lights off in the hallway so she can turn on the light-up turtle my Aunt Mickey and Uncle Hector got her. It will display an array of star shaped lights all over the wall or ceiling, depending on where she points it. She can also change the colors of the lights by pressing the buttons. Addison is saying more and more sentences and can still count very well. It really is amazing how much they can pick up at this age.

Here are two shots of Kara asleep on the living room chair while her sister is undoubtedly running around screaming.


Speaking of sleeping, here is a rare shot of the two girls taking up the couch when Addison wanted to go "night-night" like Kara. Addison also wanted a close up where she could smile for the camera.
Here is a shot of mommy and her two little darlings snuggling:

Dance Studio

Addison has been on a dance craze lately. She will dance around the house wanting Kelly or myself to join her in the fun. Below are some pictures and movies of Kelly and Addison dancing to the XM stations on Directv.


Movies:

Dancing Part 1

Dancing Part 2