Typical

Eyes closed for a picture and a bag of suckers in her hand. Yep, that's typical around here!

I bought the outfit she is wearing in this picture two years ago - just before her 1st birthday. It was dirt cheap and I knew she'd grow into eventually! At the time it seemed so huge - it doesn't seem possible that the huge outfit hanging in the back of her closet for the last two years fits just right now.
A lot of things in the life of a mom are just typical, but there will never be anything typical about how fast our babies grow!

One more

I forgot to add this picture to my previous post - we had to keep Addie from running around the parking lot while there were still cars getting lined up for Trunk or Treat, so we told her to stand by Daddy and hold onto his leg. She ended up sitting and holding a foot instead...close enough!

Tunk 'N Teat

Better known as Trunk and Treat!!

My little flower wasn't too sure about her costume at first...

She quickly warmed up to the idea of getting candy in her "punkin" though and ran around saying "Tunk n teat, Tunk n teat"!

Miss Mia was the cutest butterfly ever...

Flower and Punka (Addie's name for Ryan's mom)

Princess Olivia

The Monkey Man, Noah

Three stooges waiting for the candy collecting to begin...

One of the great loves of my life...

She didn't want the festivities to end - she insisted on wearing her "cottume" to eat her dinner tonight!

Ryan's 30th!

My wonderful husband(who is doing the dishes as I write this post)turned 30 on Saturday. We had a house full of family for the weekend - Ryan's sister Amy along with her husband and three children stayed with us Friday through Sunday and his parents were also here Saturday and Sunday. We had lots of fun being together and celebrating! The kids all decided to wake up daddy/unlce Rynie with a bit of birthday jumping...

Saturday evening we surprised Ryan with a party. He wasn't totally surprised...I'm not a very good liar, but he went along with it and we had a great time celebrating with friends and family. He can still blow the candles out in one breath...

My sweet friend, Tish, was a huge help to me in preparing for the party and she graciously opened her home to us for the evening. Her husband was in on it too, but he's not nearly as sweet as she is!

I don't know what was up with Addie for the day, but her eyes are closed in all the pictures I have of her. Guess she was too busy saying "cheese" to remember to keep her eyes open! Here she is with one of her favorite people - the famous TaTa aka Torie.


Miss Mia (Amy's youngest) enjoyed the party, too!

One little monkey

...with one big personality!

Who needs a nap?

This picture is from one day last week - a day that Addie decided she didn't need a nap! Around 7:30 that evening I noticed an awful lot of yawns sneaking out of her...so we decided to put pj's on and watch her favorite Tigger and Pooh dvd. This picture was taken 5 minutes into the movie!! It's pretty hard work to be two-almost-three!

The mind of a two year old

Mommy left the bag within reach while she went to the bathroom...

...and she was taking a really long time, so...

...why take just one sucker...

...when you can have seven?

Don't say I didn't warn you...

...she's just a pint-sized bundle of sweetness!

A little bit of sweetness...

...is my baby! My big girl, I guess I should say, but really Addie is still very much our baby. I don't think she'll be rushed into growing up when Jack arrives - we'll just have our two babies! She is such a sweet representation of God's great love for us. Whether it's the "thank you, mommy" "thank you, mommy" "thank you, mommy" repeated over and over until I respond with "Your Welcome" or the tearful "I'm sorry, Mommy" when she is responding to discipline or the wailing of "My boo-boo hurty, Mommy" when she needs a kiss, I am struck often by her tender character. Our baby girl is compassionate and sweet. She is a lot of other things, too - strong-willed comes to mind!- but we are so thankful for the tender spirit the Lord has given her. We pray that she will love Him early and fully and that He will use her for his glory in the lives of others.

Addie loves her friends and family very much! We had many conversations this week about the people she loves. Here are a few:

In the car, holding a book open to a page with lots of instruments on it:
"Papa play the tumpet."(trumpet) Yes. Papa plays the trumpet.
Quietly: "I miss papa."... "I miss Gamma"... "I miss Bum"...
I actually cried as she slowly listed the name of each family member,stating that she missed them.

Early one morning:
"My tummy HUNGY, Mommy". (She says this every morning as soon as she wakes up!)
A few seconds later a very concerned voice: "Punka tummy hungy?" (Punka is Ryan's mom)
After assuring her about five times that Punka had already had her breakfast and her tummy was full, Addie was satisfied enough to focus on her own breakfast.

As I was fixing lunch one day after she saw Ta Ta's picture on the fridge:
"Ta Ta come? Oh Ok. Ta Ta come pay pano." (play piano) No, honey. Ta Ta isn't coming today.
"Yeah, Ta Ta come. Pay pano. Pay Addie. Yeah! OK!!"
Apparently she thought it was a done deal because she wanted it!

This is a conversation we have almost daily:
"Daddy, where ARE you?" Daddy had to go to work today. He'll be home soon.
" Daddy go work?" Yes. Daddy is at work.
"Daddy come home?" Soon, honey.
Oh. I miss Daddy." So do I baby girl.
"Mommy, wanna pay?" (As she takes my hand and leads me to her toys to play!)

There are lots more that I could share, but those are a few of my favorites from the week!

Now if you'll excuse me, Miss Sweetness herself is loudly letting me know she needs my attention...