Time With Auntie

This is the email that I get from my Mom, "Erin, I know you are sick, but it has been 10 days since you have put a post on the blog, Addie could have braces by now." Oh please lady, I talk to you every day, so I am pretty sure that you get the highlights!

Dear Tiddles, I know you are feeling sad, so this posting is for you, hopefully will make you smile!This picture is from the last time that both Katie and I were home visiting with my mom a couple of weeks ago. Addie was enjoying some cuddle time with her "Aunnie." Don't even try to pry Addie's snacks out of her hands, it isn't going to happen, especially at Nana's house where she gets to load her snack cup up with cookies, and this generally happens before Mom even gets out of bed to find the evidence.

Umm, Dad I hate the MN Vikings, why did you put me in this dumb sweatshirt? Mike has now brainwashed Addie to say "Go Vikes" and pump her fist in the air. So sad.

Addie talking to herself about something that is apparently quite hilarious!

The Lacek Girls Visit

Long before I became a Mommy, I was a nanny! I started when Emmy was just 6 months old, and it is wonderful that we have stayed in touch with the family since then (Emmy is now 8 and Ali is 6.) They came to stay at our house for a night and it was so much fun to have a sleepover! In fact, the next morning as the girls were having a little snack, they said to me "cookies and water, doesn't get any better than this, today is the best day of my life." Pure hilarity. It really is the simple things in life!It will be great when Addie gets to the point where she is willing to pose for pictures. Ali was trying so hard to get Addie to sit on her lap and smile, but as you can see, she just wasn't having it, and started to throw one of her "fake" temper tantrums.

Addie cuddled up next to Ali on the couch, handing her a book to read to her, but I think Ali was more interested in the cartoon on T.V.

These two are total hams! I tried to get Addie to pose in the picture with her matching pink flower headband, but of course, she had her own agenda!

This is a small glimpse into what pretty much every room in the house looked like, it is amazing the messes that 3 little girls can create!

Night, night. The girls all ready for bed, Addie is her comfy feet pajamas and the girls in their cute matching sets. I don't think they ended up actually going to bed for about another hour, but I tried! They were just having too much fun showing off their gymnastic skills, and Addie was having a great time trying to keep up! Thanks girls, come again soon!

State Fair

So the state fair was a little overwhelming for Addie this year. We started the morning off by meeting Nana and Eileen in a rather huge parking lot, walking across a dust field, and taking a coach bus over to the state fair grounds. Which would have been fine, but it was standing room only and I had to put Addie's stroller in the cargo department. Luckily, a lady was nice enough to put her child in her lap so that Addie and I could sit down, which was a really good thing as Addie still bawled her head off because she was scared. Kind of ironic, as she gets so excited every time a bus goes by, especially a "school bus Mommy!"

So we finally arrived at the fair and started off at the Miracle of Birth Center and saw a few baby animals, which is always entertaining. The rest of the time we spent scoping out the food stands and Mike sent us on a mission for a particular cheese curd stand. Addie tried a fresh squeezed lemonade and thought it was probably the best drink she has ever had!

Addie caught sight of the carousel and thought that it looked like great fun, so Nana bought her a ticket and off they went on Addie's first carousel ride. She started out fairly confident, just sitting on the horse was fine, but when the carousel started up, her face became more and more distraught with each circle around until finally she was again in full force tears. Sad trip on the carousel, we might skip that next year. Actually, we might skip the State Fair altogether and stick with the small town fairs!

Horse Races

Just when people were starting to compliment me on being impressed with how I was keeping up with Addie's blog, (apparently no one thought I had it in me) I go and ruin my good standing by letting almost two weeks go by without a post! However, I can't take all the blame for the delay, it is Mike's job to upload the photos to the computer, and he was getting a little behind on that project.

Well here it is, and not only is it late, but it is also a little old. In August we met Sarah, Jeff, Emilia and Susan and Andy at Canterbury Horse Races, they were having a family event sponsored by the Carlson School for alumni.So while the rest of us were enjoying our buffet dinner of sloppy joes and hot dogs, Addie was showing off a bit by running over to the bench next to our picnic table climbing up and jumping up and down with her tongue sticking out. The kid is not a good eater to start with and then add horses, tons of people, and kids running rampant and playing in the jungle gym, it is almost impossible to get her to focus on eating.

We took a quick pic of the family in front of the track, it was so entertaining to watch Addie see the horses race. You could just see her face light up with excitement when the horse rounded the bend and were close in view. Lots of finger pointing, squeals of delight, and "OOHS" and "WOWS." It is so fun to see how excited she gets about the simple things in life.

The girls were lucky enough to find a spot where the horses were standing around waiting to race. They spent quite a bit of time at the fence just observing, Addie is even on her tippy toes trying to get a closer look! They would turn around every once in awhile to make sure Sarah and I were still there and to say, "Horses Mommy." So cute.

On our way out of the stadium, we had Addie stop to put her face in the cute little Jockey cutout. I tried to get her to look at the camera, but by that point, she had about all the excitment she could take for one night, and was no longer interested in entertaining us!

Again with the Watering.......

Every single time that Mike or I water (mainly Mike) Addie runs right over to take advantage of the "water" time. She gets right in the middle of the action with her watering can or at at the very least makes sure she gets to hold the hose. In the below picture she is struggling to pick up the water can which probably weighs more than she does, while repeating over and over the word "heavy" which actually comes out sounding more like "heby". She is quite the little helper!"Heby Mommy. Mommy, heby." Repeat. Repeat.

"Are these the flowers you want me to water?"

"Oh wow, look at my garden, I must say that I have quite the green thumb! I must get that from my Mommy."

Lovin Strawberry Shortcake

Addie is super hyped up and all smiles to show off for the camera and Mom and Dad who keep laughing at her and encouraging her wild behavior! It amazes me how messy one little meal can be, but she sure loved her Strawberry Shortcake dessert! A little tough to see out of these awesome looking butterfly sunglasses with the pink tint and whipped cream smeared all over the lenses.

Little Miss Hollywood!

Addie at about 6 months, just lovin her butternut squash (I am pretty sure this is the last time that she touched a vegetable!) I can't believe how much she has changed, although her eating style has not improved much!

Addie at 21 months all giggles and laughs - so much fun!

Nappy Hair

So my main objective in taking this picture was to show the complete crustiness that had encased the whole side of Addie's head after a fun day at daycare. I just can't believe how filthy she is when she comes home some days, and am left to wonder what really is caked in her hair that is making it so crispy?!?! Even though the whole left side of her head is crusted to the side of her face, Addie doesn't seem to notice or care at all! She is much more concerned about pulling the bark off of the tree - one piece at a time!

Addie has now mastered climbing up the side of the mini jungle gym, which is very fun, but she has outgrown the slide. She now like the really dangerous ones at the park that she can fly down at mock speed and then take her shoes off and climb back up (over and over again). It makes me very nervous.........

A quick time out from playing to examine her feet. She is very interested in her feet and toes, and especially likes to closely check out other people's toes as well - especially if they are painted! Oh the joy of being a child exploring all the simple things that are just so darn interesting!