Beach Adventures

I have always loved the beach so much and have wanted my kids to have great memories of beach vacations as well, so we ventured off to Longboat Key, Florida.  After months of planning and searching for a house to rent it all fell into place last minute and away we went.  I was super excited about sharing this with Addy and couldn't wait to see her reaction to the sand and waves but was also nervous about how she would do on the plane, would she sleep good in a a pack-n-play all week, would she get use to her surroundings, etc.  We left July 2nd  in anticipation for her first plane ride! I couldn't have asked for anything better. We did activities in 20 minute increments, we read books, ate snacks, climbed from person to person, made a few trips up and down the isles and her favorite thing was playing peek-a-boo with the other passengers.

We made it successfully and the festivities began!  The first day we visited Lido Beach and watched the boat races, wow they went fast!  Addy wast sure about the sand at first she couldn't quite grasp the concept that it wasn't coming off.  After about an hour of trying to brush it off her feet and hands she quickly forgot about it and began digging and scooping sand with her toys! 

Luckily enough I even got her to nap on the beach!  

We did so many fun things like visited the aquarium, went to Siesta Key Beach, ate at Marina Jacks and saw the beautiful boats!

We enjoyed to Anna Maria Island Pier

 

Deep Sea Fishing

Watched all of the pretty rainbows, even double ones!

Swimming in the pool (or skinny dipping like Addy)

Happy 4th of July

Best of all we spent the majority of the time playing on the beach and watching the sunsets!

 Oh yea....we had a "house guest" Lizzy...

All good things have to come to an end. We were really sad to go but it was an amazing vacation that we will always treasure and cant wait to take our next vacation with 2 kids!  Yikes!

Good bye beach....until next time.....

First Haircut

Before going on vacation I thought it was time to cross off another milestone and get Addy's hair cut trimmed! Her mullet needed to go!  Thanks to great Aunt Rachel she did a great job cleaning up around the sides and make her look beautiful!  We had to distract her by feeding her cake!

Not to worry,  I was the typical mom and saved her hair clippings in an envelope to put in her baby book!  Such a big girl!

 

She sure thought she was hot stuff afterwards!

Dream Come True

Ever since I was a little girl I have always dreamed about going on a hot air balloon ride. Even though I am a little afraid of heights I always thought it would be amazing to fly up with the birds and see what they see.  Its something that I have mentioned here and there and never really thought anyone paid attention! Just when I thought that Mat belonged sleeping outside in a dog house for not getting me anything for my birthday or 5 year wedding anniversary I quickly ate my words.

On a random Thursday he called me at work to tell me not to pick Addy up from daycare and he will come to pick me up. I immediately panicked and though something had to be wrong so I worried for the next hour until he came and got me and assured me Addy was just fine.  We went to eat at Granite City and I was still confused as to what we were doing and why we were eating alone, that never happens?  I kept thinking to myself how nice it was that he actually planned time to spend together! I was loving every second of dinner until we had to swiftly leave after he looked at his watch and he whisked me away to Lees Summit.  We pulled into the Lowe's parking lot and I explained to him that we had a Lowe's by our house and we didn't need to drive 30 minutes away to go to one. I was really confused then! He made the excuse that he had to use the restroom so I wandered around Lowe's wondering what in the world was going on, was he going to buy me a new fan, a new chandelier for our kitchen? Once we walked out of the Lowe's building there was the balloon van coming to pick us up with the big basket on a trailer behind it. I was SHOCKED and couldn't believe that he actually payed attention to my ramblings about wanting to do this.  I started crying while all 6 crew members just stared at me, lol!  It was pretty funny! They drove us to a nearby field where they whisked us away for an hour an a half of pure amazement. It truly was a dream come true and I am so thankful and appreciative that he took the time to do this for me!  I am a very lucky girl!

Fathers Day

This year for Fathers Day Mat's mom, Eileen, came and visited and we ventured out to Deana Rose again!  Addy loved showing Grandma all of her favorite animals and adventures.

Addy and I made Daddy a picture frame with stamps of Addy's feet with a poem on it about how Addy is following in Daddy's footsteps, its so cute!  Daycare also made him this awesome t-shirt that he sported around all day!  So fun!

Addy sure is a Daddy's girl and we appreciate all he does for us! We love you!

My 30's Have Officially Begun....Ugh!

I have been dreading my 30th birthday, well, for about 10 years now and it quickly came and went, thankfully!  I honestly don't know why 30 is so hard for me but its just the fact that my life is at least 1/3 of the way over. Real optimistic huh? I think I need to realize that the glass isn't half full, its half empty!  I really didn't allow myself to have a very enjoyable day.  It rained most of the day so Addy and I spent the majority of the day laying around and then went out to dinner with my family to Buca Di Beppo.  The weekend of my birthday we participated in the community garage sale that ended up being a bust! I really hate doing garage sales and having to negotiate my belongings to strangers, its just annoying so I don't think I will be doing that again!  Oh well!

So here is to loving my 30's and NOT dreading my 40's!  (Half empty right?)

Addy in our new matching adirondack chairs

Summer Fun!

We have been having a great summer that has included visiting Deana Rose Farmstead multiple times, playing in the baby pool in the backyard, and having picnic's with friends.  Addy is in love with the baby goats at the petting zoo and gets so excited when they nibble on her clothes and "give her kisses."

Playing with her friend Katelyn at Deana Rose

She loves pool time and really enjoys putting little rocks and blades of grass in her pool with her.  She also spends the majority of pool time getting in and out, in and out!

My work had a company family picnic that was so much fun! Addy just loves being around other kids and learning what kinds of interesting things they can get into! 

Here We Go Again!!!

Tuesday, April 5th was a day of absolute shock! We found out I am pregnant again!  We were planning on waiting until Addy turned two but hey, I guess everything happens for a reason!  We have been so emotional this time wondering how Addy will handle our shared attention with the new baby, how are we going to afford it and I know that Farley will want nothing more than to run far away from another baby!  Poor kitty!  Mat of course has his fingers crossed for a boy but I secretly am hoping for another girl to save us some money but then again it would be special for Addy to be the only little girl too!  We had to kick all of our household projects into gear quick. Mat is starting to build a 3rd car garage so we can move all of our stuff from the basement to the garage so we can finish the basement. Of course in my dream land I would love for everything to be done by the time the baby gets here but I know its wishful thinking!

My due date is December 6th but will probably be induced again a week early so the baby doesn't get too big. The doctor said that I wont be able to deliver anything much over 6lbs so its likely this baby will be here in November instead.  Time will tell! I have been feeling terrible this time around.  About 3:00pm every day I feel like I could vomit but never do, I often think I would feel better if I did!  Also the tiredness is awful this time! I typically end up napping in my car during my lunch breaks and can barely make it home from daycare and need to lay down again!  Poor Addy just looks at me like "whats wrong with you, I got to nap today didn't you?"  Hopefully it will all subside in the next few weeks!

In other exciting news I am going to be the Matron of Honor in my best friends wedding in February! So thankful this baby will be here before then but hope I can shed the baby flab and fit into a dress!  I am so honored and so excited for her and cant wait to celebrate with her! 

Our Lil' Fishy

Whew,16 weeks of swimming lessons came to an end.  Addy enjoyed them so much and learned a lot! We are so happy and thankful we got to do them with our friends Michelle and Callie!  They both learned how to splash, kick, float on their back with a little help still of course, climb in and out of the pool all alone and go under!  We are going to take a break from lessons for the summer since I imagine we will be at the pool and lake quite a bit!  We are so happy that we did them and hope that if she were to ever get in a situation where she fell in water she wouldn't panic and would know how to get out!  That is the goal anyways!

Mothers Day

I had a fantastic Mothers Day!  It didn't start out too great when we had to take Addy to urgent care to be treated for her ear infection and sinus infection but thankful we got some antibiotics and lots of rest so she was ready for a fun filled day on Sunday!  Daddy Addy made me the cutest card with her hand prints on it and a few kisses too!  Its so special!  We spent most of the day at the Royals Game with my parents and sister and her boyfriend. The weather was so perfect and Addy was so great the entire time! When the crowd started cheering and clapping she got a big grin on her face and thought everyone was cheering just for her.  Priceless!  She loved playing in the kid area with the water and slides and carousel but most of all she loved all of the yummy treats like pizza, hot dogs, frozen lemonade, chocolate malt, she was wired all night long! 

It was an extra special Mothers Day this year since I recently found out I am pregnant again!  It makes me sad that it was my last Mothers Day being a mother of one but know that next year will be special too being a mommy of two!