Travel

About an hour and a half into our beach trip car ride.

I ♥ travel.

No Shoe Left Behind...

My beloved baby girl has developed a habit.

If you happen to leave something lying around the house (i.e. phone, shoes, purse, drink, etc;)  she'll pick it up and hand it to you with a loud "gum!" (welcome in Addison speak).

When you say thank you and set the item back down, she picks it right back up and hands it back to you.  Once again "gum"ing you in the process.

Case in point,  a week and a half ago we packed the family up and headed to the beach for a camping trip with some close friends.  We all made it down to the beach around the same time and left all our stuff in a pile away from the water.

We weren't planning on wandering far so there was no need to be worried about our pile.

Addison however felt differently.

Uncle Stephen happened to leave his flip flops a ways away from the mass pile.

Addison could have none of that.

Poor unsuspecting Aunt Dani just happened to be the closest person.

"Um, excuse me... I think you may have possibly left this too far away from your person.  I've brought it back to you. You are welcome."

"What do you mean these shoes are Uncle Stephens? Oh dear."

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience... I'll take those from you."

"Here Uncle Stephen."

"GUM!"

(i.e. Welcome!)

Family Photo! #4

We didn't have Lily last week so we weren't able to take a family photo, and this last week has been so hectic that I haven't been able to blog.

MASSIVE post coming up soon though.

We took the family to the beach for camping this weekend and were joined by lots of wonderful friends :)

For now though, here's our 4th family photo!

Duh Duh Duh DUH DUH!

The Star Wars theme might as well be played at full volume in our house at all times.

Her new favorite toy.

We own two of them and she's been demanding duels from the parentals all day.

She's out to conquer the world :)

Blogging Adventures

This is what I look like while "blogging"...

Notice the small growth stuck to the back of me.

Never a break.

Olive Fingers ♥

It's the simple pleasures in life <3

Pool, BBQ and Arm Wrestling!

Yesterday we spent the evening at Paul's parents house playing in the pool and enjoying good company and delicious food!

We attempted putting a baby life jacket on her.

She did pretty well in it, she's kinda top heavy though and it was difficult for her to keep her face out of the water!  That and it made it hard to do this with her...

And she enjoys this too much to hinder it with a life jacket :)

She also tried to figure out how to blow bubbles!

She pretty much just swallowed water the whole time.  It's that whole inhale v. exhale thing.

She didn't quite get the concept.

She's so precious :)

We jumped out of the pool in time for games and dinner.  Addison was loving rolling the dice!

Uncle Randy had to go and show off his muscle strength and challenge neighbor George to an arm wrestling match.

Now here's the thing...

Randy can dead lift 250lbs.

George on the other hand is one of the strongest guys I know.

Man will crush your hand in a hand shake just to see you squirm.

Randy has officially cheated at this point to get that competitive edge.

George was giving him a run for his money.

Besides... he's gotta keep his guns healthy for his next meet :)

Water Baby ♥

More from today in a later post!

Just had to share my water baby with you tonight :)

Happy Saturday!

5 Years of Greatness!

Today is the 5 year anniversary of when Paul and I became Paul and I!

Yes, we did get married 3 years ago, but today is the day that Paul asked me to be his and only his.

I hadn't had a REAL boyfriend since Junior year in highschool.

I've always been a very committed person, which meant in my mind that there wasn't any point in calling someone my "boyfriend" until I knew I wanted to spend more than a couple of months with them.

Paul had definitely put in his dues by this time 5 years ago and finally convinced me that I should give him a bit more time :)

I've gathered a few of my favorite photos from over the years of the two of us together.  Sorry for the small size, but we're still working on getting our hard drive fixed and until then I have to pillage photos off the internet forums.

This is the very first photo of Paul and I together as a couple.

Unaware of the journey we were about to embark on together.

Just happy to have someone to lean on through thick and thin!

In our first apartment together.

Paul and I had just gone ring shopping together, he wanted to propose properly.

Right before this photo he asked me if I was sure that I wanted to marry him.

I told him I was positively sure.

He then attempted to lick my face.

Oh the romance :)

Our 1 year anniversary on top of Larch Mountain!

He bought me my very first camera that day and then we hiked up to the top of the mountain where I continued to have a massive panic attack.

I'm pretty sure I told him I hated him and that he was not to touch me.

I don't do well with heights.

He got me through it though and once I was all the way up it wasn't horribly bad :)

This was our first family outing with Lily.

We took her to a large bbq that a member from our church was throwing.

I remember Lily demanding so much string cheese that she wasn't hungry for dinner that night!

This is Paul and I at the rehearsal dinner for Lacey and Brandon's wedding.

He was so helpful throughout the whole wedding.

He helped set up, take everything down, photograph the actual ceremony ( I couldn't, I was in it!) and make sure everyone had what they needed on the day of.

I knew that I'd picked the right man.

On our honeymoon in Vegas :)

Our first "vacation" together!

A photo from one of our many get togethers with close friends.

We hardly spend any time together at our own parties.

The only time we really get is to take random photos together and I love it :)

Our very first Halloween party!

It's also special because it's the night we announced to all of our friends that we were making Lily a sibling!

After a bumpy road with conceiving it was so wonderful to be able to celebrate my birthday and our great news with everyone!

I was 9 weeks pregnant and feeling fantastic!

One of the only pictures of Paul and my huge belly.

We had decided to pack up Lily and her friend Olivia and go to the zoo!

We gave my poor feet a rest and snacked on some grapes while the girls played.

I have a thing for aviators :)

This picture was taken in the elevator at one of my first destination weddings.

Addison was only 2 months old and I wasn't ready to leave her for an entire weekend.

Paul packed us up and drove down with me and the baby to help out for the day.

He was absolutely wonderful and so supportive!

Addison's very first Halloween :)

Halloween is kind of a huge deal around our house.

So much so that Paul grew a grody mustache so that his Lt. Dangle costume could be complete!

One of the very few photos someone else has taken of us!

For a long time I took the firm stance that I wasn't IN photos I just TOOK photos.

Recently that's changed and I think I'm enjoying actually being in photos.

It's nice to have proof that I was at family events :)

Our first decent family photo together.

The girls did so well together.

Lily did drop Addison on her face right before this photo so I was honestly surprised when they both weren't super fussy!

This photo, is easily my favorite photo of Paul and I together.

Not because it's positioned wonderfully or because the lighting is fantastic.

Lily took this photo of Paul and I when we weren't paying attention.

It makes me happy inside to know that my girls are going to grow up knowing what love should look like.

To know that Paul is going to be the best example of a husband and father that he could possibly be makes me so happy that 5 years ago today I said yes to being his.

I love you so much Paul!

Here's to the next 5 years <3

Lunch Time Shenanigans

Every Tuesday the most important women in my life get together for some food, fun and gossip.

It's been something that's been going on for well over a year now!

My Mom and Sister were getting together for a long time before this because they both had hour long lunches.

Once I was no longer working at the law firm I was able to join them, and then eventually Addison started joining us as well!

In the beginning the Chunk Monster wasn't much of a distraction.  She mostly just laid there, drooled, slept or stared.

Nowadays, I'm lucky if I get to stay at the table for the whole meal.  She needs changing, cleaning up after, chasing, and wrestling.  She's a VERY active 14 month old.

I took along my camera for the last meal.  I would love for you to see a quarter of the lunch debacle I have to deal with.

First of all, notice the booster.  That's right.  She hates highchairs.  So much so that at 13 months old her Dad and I decided to pack away her highchair at home and give her a stool to sit on.  She wants to be a big kid just like her sister.  She sits better on the stool than she EVER did in the highchair.

She's so happy in her booster :)

No, I was wrong on the booster front... something else was making her happy...

She'd realized that utensils were sitting infront of her.  Just waiting to be slammed against the glass table top repeatedly!

And this is the look I get when I tell her no.

WHO taught her this look?!

We need to have a discussion.

Grandma tried to take the pressure off by throwing her around and showering her with kisses.

Then promptly attempting to catch her after she threw herself backwards.

Apparently Aunt Lacey was absolutely necessary to get to immediately :)

After attempting her death defying drop we attempted the booster seat again. Grandma only had to shower her with kisses to get her to sit still!

Oh, and be force fed juice from a sippy cup.

I think I'll end with the photo of her screaming "goal".

There's just too many photos to share all of them.

Between force feeding grandma bread, spitting out turkey on her plate, throwing her fork on the floor (multiple times) and squealing as loud as possible, I lost count of the photos.

I miss when she was tiny.

I miss when she just slept all the time.

I do LOVE the never ending entertainment though.

Life's never boring around her :)