Girl Time

My mom and niece, Adyson were here for a couple of days. We surprised Adyson with a trip to the American Girl store where we shopped and had lunch.

Happy grandma at American Girl Cafe. 

I think Adyson was pleased with her surprise. 

Claudia didn't know what American Girl was so we're off the hook...for now. 

Cousins! 

Adyson feeding the ducks at the petting zoo. 

Lunch at Two Toots watching the trains. 

Reading the Elmo puppet book from grandma. 

Thanksgiving 2010

Joe and I got home last night after celebrating Thanksgiving/Christmas with my family for a couple days. Here are some of the highlights.

A 2010 family picture

Adyson couldn't get enough of Amyjoe (yes, we're just one word around her)

Brylea and Adyson in matching pjs from Aunt Amy & Uncle Joe

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We only had a few trick-or-treaters tonight and finally I turned our light out when I had two sets of kids come to the door back-to-back who were clearly too old to be going door-to-door for candy and they were NOT wearing costumes. I gave them the candy (hey, I didn't want them to come back and egg my house later) but it made me feel like a grinch so I turned the light out. Two of the kids were so old that Joe actually thought I was at the door talking to parents! Anyway, my mom sent pictures tonight so I wouldn't miss out on what was happening in Missouri.



Amber (one of my BFFs) with Baby Jacob and my sister, Cathy and Baby Brylea.

Adyson the little devil! ;)

Three!

Today Miss Adyson turned three years old and my mom sent me this picture from her Hello Kitty party. She looks so excited to be three and celebrating!

Nieces

Joe and I traveled to Missouri on Friday to meet our new niece and visit my family. It was a short trip as we left Sunday morning to come back but we had a nice time. Saturday we were able to go visit my grandma and took her to the "Old Settlers" parade which turned out to be a lot more fun than I had anticipated. (To clarify, I thought spending time with my grandma would be fun but had doubts about the parade.) While at the parade, Joe had his first ever deep fried Twinkie - it was love at first bite.

Soon-to-be big sister

My niece Adyson will have a new baby sister next month so last night she went to the hospital for a siblings class. She got to visit the hospital and had her very own "baby" to take care of while she was there. Apparently, she was more interested in the doll than the real babies.

The Kitty Express

Over the weekend my niece thought it would be a good idea to push my parents' cat around in an old baby stroller. Fortunately, the cat seemed to be a good sport.

Happy Halloween!

Two

Friday I made the trek to Missouri to see my family. It was a particularly long ride because the day before I fell down my stairs. You read that correctly - I fell down my stairs. I wish I could tell you that I had an excuse. But, no, I do not have a neurological disorder that causes me to trip, fall and hurt myself. My only excuse? I am clumsy. So I made the five hour drive with every muscle in my body hurting. I'm sure it will go a long ways to helping my neck improve. Anyway, back to the real story, the main reason for the trip was Adyson's second birthday bash.

Adyson is trying out her new tricycle. Last year the weather for her party was down right hot and everyone was inside wanting to be outside. This year? Freezing.

Adyson was particularly taken with the quilted puppy purse from Aunt Amy and Uncle Joe.

Me and my niece. Next time I will wise up and be prepared with a coat!

A day at the zoo

Cathy, Bryon and Adyson came to visit this weekend and we spent the day yesterday (along with Uncle Joe) at the Brookfield Zoo.

Also, on Friday I got stung (by a bee or a yellowjacket...I didn't see it) and my right hand has been swollen, itchy and painful to the touch ever since. I've been taking Benedryl, ibuprofen and using hydrocortisone cream on my hand but this sting has really done a number on me. I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering how violently my body reacts to a regular mosquito or bug bite. Yuck!

She squealed and giggled! Adyson had fun petting and feeding goats at the zoo.

The zoo was featuring its Dinosaurs Alive exhibit which showcased an array of dinosaurs to scale which also moved and made noises. Pretty neat!

Cathy and Adyson taking a break on one of the many animal statues.

So big!

Adyson is getting so big! Here is a picture of her on St. Patrick's Day.

The Christmas Angel

I did a bad job at documenting Christmas but here's one of Adyson opening one of her gifts. She did a pretty good job but by the time we opened our gifts that evening she'd already had a long, full day. When she started sleepily, stumbling around we had to put her down for a nap and we all resumed with our gift opening. I think some of her favorite gifts were Little People. She's also really into "tricks" and doing what she can (when she's not sleepy) to make people laugh. One of her tricks is to shake her head, grimace and curl her arms under like a muscle man. I have no idea where she came up with this but it had us rolling.

Adyson the bee

Adyson was a bumblebee for Halloween. Here are a couple pictures of the cutie.

Adyson's first birthday

The birthday girl

I will be on the road tomorrow so I won't have blog access but I didn't want the day to pass without mentioning that tomorrow Miss Adyson will turn one! Can you believe it's been an entire year? Next weekend, I'll hit the road again for her big birthday bash. It's guaranteed to be a star-studded event. Until then, happy birthday Big Girl!

Adyson then

Adyson now

Adyson is nine months old

My Little Easter Bunny

My mom, dad, sister and niece are here this weekend visiting. Today we went out to lunch and did a small amount of shopping but have mostly just been hanging out. I suspect tomorrow we will do a little more of the same.

Meagan got in on the bunny action, too.

Big girl

Adyson will soon be four months old and is just getting so big. Cathy passed on some new pictures today. Below are a few of my favorites.

First visit with Santa

Thanks for all the offers of help, tips and suggestions about how to get my car uncovered. After working on my car for another 45 minutes later in the day (and using a bit of warm water) I was able to free my front windshield from some massive ice. It seems as though I'm now good-to-go until the next ice storm hits which should be later tonight!

Cathy, Bryon and Adyson were here today for a visit. Adyson had to see a pediatric gastroenterologist for her acid reflux and with some more Prevacid I think she'll be a happy baby. I took the day off and we took the opportunity to go to lunch, go shopping and take Adyson to her very first visit with Santa.

Adyson never even woke up to see jolly Saint Nick but that may have been all for the best.

Two months and so big