Visitors from Oklahoma

My dear friends the French's came to visit. I wish I could say just us, but the Mouse had something to do with it as well. They arrived Saturday and spent two nights with us. We had a blast we made homemade pizza pockets and salad master chicken (my favorite) Donovan, Keith and Reagan went to the beach. There was Wii played, football watched and great conversations. 3 squared the fun! Then they left and Addison and I met them and then spent the night at Disney with them. It was a blast! 3 adults and 3 kids in 2 full beds and an air mattress. Great times! Addison and I left only to return a few days later to stay with Keith's parents. We met them for a great pool evening (thanks to Jan and Ken) and fireworks and then they came home with us for more fun. Taryn and I enjoyed a morning kid-free at the scrapbook store and wal-mart. Yeah us! Keith wanted to attempt to make wings in the "salad master" pan. So we got the wings and "Hooters" wing sauce and Donovan got to cooking! They turned out really well! Addison was in heaven! Not for the wings but for the friends! Hudson and Reagan were adorable with her. They played with her, loved her and helped her. We were so sad to see them leave. We hope one day we will live close enough to each other to make this a weekly occurrence!! Thanks to the French family for "3squared" the entertainment! (more pictures to come...)

and so she said...

Addison has begun talking!! We figured since everyone around Addison is always talking she would wait until she knew exactly what she wanted to say before she spoke. She comprehends everything and know exactly what she wants or what you say. She has gotten good at pointing and grabbing your finger to take you to what she wants. She has always mumbled and I think talked Chinese. She now speaks some English which is lovely!! I know I make it sound as if she is speaking sentences already but....baby steps people. She says Bye Bye and waves it's too cute, she also says Momma which is much appreciated, and she has always said Dada. She will say Ball on a good day and Dat (like "that" with a d) is mickey mouse. She says "ut-o" when she drops something.We think it's great! Turn up your speakers to hear her in the video.

Addison's Summer Adventure

This August Addison and I took a trip home to Tulsa. We had a blast and unfortunately had to cut it a day short due to TS Fay. We flew on Southwest and had a layover in Kansas City. During the 2 hour layover Addison was anxious to get out of the stroller so I let her. We walked all around running to the window and back to the chairs, on our third round Addison stopped and let the A/C vent blow in her face. She loved it. We did it a fourth time but this time she didn't stop and ran into the window and fell hitting her face on the A/C vent. So that should explain the marks on her precious face. We were greeted at the Airport by Grandad and Mammie. We had so much fun. Addison got to hang out with all her Aunts and Uncles from my side and Grammie and Grandad Maus, on the first day we were there. She was a little overwhelmed but did just great! At Grammie and Grandad's she walked all around. What a precious sight to see my 91 year old grandad keeping up with her, following her every move. He said they went into the bed room and Addison felt the soft blanket on the bed and then in the TV room she had to feel everything on the table. She loved having Grammie hold her and really loved their handheld massager. She took it everywhere. She meet their "pretty bird" after he flew around the room. It didn't even scare her! We went to eat at Mexico Joe's (a stillwater favorite) and she had a quesadilla (eat your stinkin food, Tina!) and even ate the lemon. She had a blast and we thought we would get to come back on Monday, or we would have stayed much longer. My grandparents are the greatest people I know and for my daughter to know and love them is so important to me. I promise we won't wait as long between visits! That night we ordered one of my favorites Mazzio's Pizza! Since the whole family was home it was a fun night of Olympic watching, cookie making, pizza eating fun. My dad had ordered a veggie pizza, now I had already feed Addison turkey and cheese and given her a bath but she was eyeing the veggie pizza. So after many attempts to grab a piece I thought "what the heck, it's vacation" so i gave in and was trying to help her. She didn't want help and my sister was quick to grab the camera to capture these darling moments. Sunday we enjoyed church with my parents and then came home to a famous Dad dinner of Turkey and Stuffing which Addison had her fair share of and for the first time ate mashed potato's. Now I know you are thinking what kid hasn't had Mashed Potato's but she had only known the sweet potato to this point. After getting cleaned up we went to visit my Nana. Addison walked right in like she owned the place. Walking everywhere to check out everything including the toilet. My Nana wasn't feeling great so she wasn't able to move around but Addison sat on the bed and explored her arms and face and then was off to explore the neat things around her room. We had a nice visit and wish her better soon. Addison got to spend time with Malyke. He was such a big helper to us when Addison was born and he was such a big helper to me on this trip. He was not afraid to take things out of her mouth that didn't belong, protect her from bill (Uncle Cullen's Dog) or the cats, follow her up the stairs so she wouldn't fall, feed her, help change her and run many more errands for me. He is such a great kid and a handsome one at that. He is always welcome at our house. The trip seemed way to short but was filled with many memories. It is hard to live so far from so many people that I love. I wish we could visit each week or month, but I will just have to make the most of the time we do share. Thanks to everyone who helped or jumped through hoops to make our trip great. I'm sooner born and sooner breed and when I die I'll be sooner dead!

As I am looking for what pictures to post I am asking Addison "where's mammie" "where's grandad" "where's Aunty Em" "where's grammie" and she has gotten everyone right so far so, it seems you all made an impression on my little girl!

Yearbook Yourself!

our Nephew Malyke in the 50's

I think I have a picture like this! Like mother Like Daughter, I guess...

So I saw this website and Keith and I have never laughed so hard! It's the coolest thing if you ever wanted to see what you would've looked like if you were in High School in the 50's, 60's, 70's etc.....These were some of our favorites from the 60's and 70's and 80's and we encourage you to check out http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ for yourself! (Michelle you will die laughing)

Faye comes to visit

Tropical Storm Faye came to visit and she wouldn't leave! We got 30 inches of rain in 2 days and the water behind our house began to rise. At first it wasn't a big deal, and I wasn't too worried but then it kept raining and raining and did I say raining....the water as you will see, got to the bottom of the dock and then some. Then finally the rain stopped and the waters receeded. I have never been so grateful to see the sun! We are grateful that we were spared the worst and hope everyone that wasn't is doing better now!

Weekend Adventures

We are so lucky to have so many fun things just a short drive away. Many adventures we have done many times but there was one we had never done. It was the Merritt Island Wildlife Reserve. We had been stuck in the house all week with Faye and needed to find something to do. So I had heard about the Drives you could take all the cool things that you could see so I called our friends and neighbors, Mike and Kari and invited them to come along. We started out with Slurpee's like all good trips do and headed north! We arrived to find many of the drives closed due to TS Faye's Flooding but we still trekked along. We had driven maybe 20 minutes when a bobcat crossed the road in front of our car and then took a HUGE leap into the bushes!! It was crazy. We saw many turtles, and not so many of anything else. We went to the Manatee (sea cow) lookout and there was nothing there. The highlight for me was after my massive Slurpee and an hour and a half of driving I had to pee. Note: There are no bathrooms or port a potties on the reserve! So We notice there is a visitors center 2 miles up the road so we head there. Upon arrival we noticed that it was closed. So I had to take matters into my own hands. I headed off into the bushes except everything kept making noises and the picture of the bobcat kept poping in my head so I stayed close to the road, and tried to hurry. I knew I kept wet wipes in the car for a reason! Anyway I am hoping that my butt doesn't end up on posters of what not to do!

Mealtime with Addison

Now that Addison is getting older she is getting really independent!! She wants to do everything herself. She brushes her own teeth, helps to get dressed, wants to walk everywhere, feeds herself and now licks her own plate clean! She is so funny, her personality is coming out and I think we have a real joker on our hands!

Addie and Her Daddy

Addison is by far a daddy's girl. She loves playing with him. They have a little thing called "noses with daddy" Keith says "noses with daddy" and Addison rubs her nose on Keith's nose. It sounda weird now that I have written it down, but it's really cute. They have done this from the first week we brought her home. She lights up when he opens the door from work, it doesn't matter what we are doing she wants her daddy. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who loves spending time with Addison as much as she loves spending time with him.