Addison's First Birthday Party

Addison officially turned one on February 11, but we postponed her party for several reasons - not the least of which was my great uncle's 80th birthday party! So, this weekend we celebrated her birthday and had a great time!



At first, she wasn't too keen on the idea of *gasp* sitting by herself, as she's spoiled beyond rotten.


So, Daddy decided to hold her - at least initially - and let her check out her birthday cake.


Once it started getting really messy, Daddy gave up and put her back in her seat. By this time she was so involved in eating cake that she couldn't have cared less who was holding her!


Addison's cousins Chris and Clay gave her the Little People Farm. You can see that big sister Ainsley and cousin Sawyer were getting some play time out of it here before Addison took much notice.


Addison loves books and loves to be read to. Gram is taking advantage of some cuddle time with Addison - a rare commodity now that she's so mobile - and reading one of her new books to her.


Addison in the middle of wrapping paper and gift bag madness. Our very good family friend Dianne is always so sweet to the girls and gave Addison some great books that she already loves!


My sweet sister Lauren and her hubby Don have come to EVERY birthday party the girls have had so far. I'm still completely amazed that they come down from Dallas for this each time. It means so much to all of us that they make this effort, and it's great that the girls will get to know their aunt and uncle!

Uncle Boyette Turns 80!

My Uncle Boyette celebrated his 80th birthday on February 13. He's had some health issues this last year, and after his lung cancer diagnoses back in 2007 we feel SO blessed to have been able to celebrate this wonderful occasion with him. My Aunt Jane, his amazing wife and the sister of my sweet grandmother is one of my favorite people in the world, so I love this picture SO much. So, Happy 80th Birthday, Uncle Boyette! And here's to many, many more!

We Have a New Reader!

Ainsley officially read her first book today! I am so proud of her I cannot stand it. Her teacher is exceedingly proud of her, too, which is only ONE of the reasons I adore that woman. She e-mailed me this afternoon to tell me Ainsley had read her first book and that she would be bringing it home with her this evening to read to us. Ainsley was so excited she couldn't wait to get home and read, so she read to me in the car. I never realized how proud I would be of her when she hit this milestone, but I just cannot stop smiling! Most importantly, though, she's proud of herself!!

I'll post pictures this weekend of her reading, because I have no doubt I'll have PLENTY of chances.

Ainsley at School

Ainsley's teacher is really good about staying in touch with us and letting us know what's going on in the classroom since we don't get to see her "in action" as much as we'd like. On Friday she sent me some pictures of Ainsley doing some of her work in class, and I thought the pictures were really cute, so I'm sharing them. Enjoy!


The apple doesn't fall far from the tree on this one. Ainsley's teacher says she really enjoys (and is good at) math. It's apparently one of her favorite activities during the school day. Here, Ainsley is learning her numbers.


A similar shot of Ainsley doing math. Montessori theory teaches math to children in a very visual way so they can understand at an early age how 10 looks different from 100 and how 100 literally feels different from 1,000. I wish I had learned math this way!


One the week of Valentines Day Ainsley's teacher got creative with some activities using candy hearts, which Ainsley loves. She even got excited when she saw this picture!


This is Ainsley and her good buddy Rudy after they built a tower together. You can see that they're both very proud of their work.


Each year the school schedules Parent Participation Night, where the children actually show you around the room instead of the teachers. So, Ainsley was showing us some of her work, and Addison was really getting into it, too. Perhaps she'll enjoy Montessori as much as Ainsley does!

100 Days

Ainsley celebrated 100 days of school today. Each child was given instructions to count 100 of something that would be added to a large bowl for their snack later in the day. All I could think of was "Ewwwww. They're going to be eating things they've all had their grubby little hands on." So, I made Ainsley wash her hands EXTRA well before taking on this task.

Of course, this was after Mommy realized she hadn't bought the "rainbow marshmallows" Ainsley wanted to take for snack and Daddy had to make an emergency run to Target to buy them. Yea, Daddy! He saves the day again!

So, we get down to the task of counting marshmallows. Ainsley began by counting groups of 10, as her teacher had instructed. I watched closely and only saw a few sneak into her mouth instead of into the row she was counting. She finally completed her counting and had 100 little pink, yellow orange and green marshmallows to take for snack.

I wondered all day if she would try to pick through the "large bowl" and only eat her rainbow marshmallows. I didn't get a note home about snack pilfering, so I'm assuming she took her allotted scoop along with all the other children.

The school had all kinds of activities planned for the 100th day. They counted a lot of different things, measured things, etc., etc. She loved it!

Addison - 9 Months

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Addison's 9-month session.

Ainsley, aka The Next Ansel Adams

Ainsley received, among other things, a new Disney Princess Digital Camera for Christmas from my mother (aka Gram). This is probably Ainsley's absolute favorite gift for Christmas (although it runs a very tight race with the Barbie Sparkle Flying Horse she received from her cousin Clay).

Upon opening the camera on Christmas Day, Ainsley demanded that the camera immediately be removed from its packaging and the batteries put in so she could begin taking photos.

In addition to the typical functions of a digital camera, the Disney Princess camera has the ability to add in favorite Disney characters to your photos. This is a really neat feature. You can take a picture of a person and put a crown on her head (princesses ALWAYS wear crowns). Or, you can take a picture while standing next to your favorite Disney Princess.

I've pasted below some of Ainsley's first pictures (henceforth called her "early work") for you to see. Make sure you let me know quickly which work of art you want...I have no doubt they'll sell quickly. I can even have the artist autograph it for an additional fee. If you have to ask how much, you cannot afford it.


A picture of the refrigerator taken from the artist's perspective. Interestingly enough, the photo is of the artist's work in another medium. I call it "More about me."


A photo of the artist's Barbie Sparkle Flying Horse in repose. I call it "Wing Man Down."


A photo of the artist's childhood home at Christmastime. I call it "Yule Logs: A Study."


A photo of the artist's sister's toy balls. Alongside it the ever popular Disney squirrel has been added. I call it "Technicolor Joy."


A photo of the artist's childhood Christmas tree. The well-known Bambi has been added for dramatic effect. Notice the framing to incorporate the full body of the deer. I call it "I Wish I Were a Reindeer."