Addisyn- 18 months!!!

How in the world can Addisyn be 1 1/2?????? Today was her well check-up, so I waited to post this until I had her updated stats.
* She weighs 26.8 lbs, and is 31 in. tall. (At her 15 month visit, she was 24 lbs. 1.5 oz. and 29 1/2 in.)
*She is currently in the 80th percentile for weight, and the 26th percentile for height
*She currently wears a size 4 diaper and is wearing 12-18 month clothes and size 5 shoes. She is showing a bit of interest in potty training- mostly by saying "peepee" or "potty" and grabbing her diaper. Occasionally she will run to the bathroom and want to sit on the potty for a few minutes. She has yet to actually go.
*She eats just about everything, and I can't think of 1 thing that she really dislikes
*She sleeps through the night but every now and then, on a rare occasion, will wake up screaming. She goes to bed around 8, and wakes up between 7:30-8. (even if she goes to bed late :/ )
*She runs everywhere, climbs everywhere, and is in.to.every.thing.
*She plays nice most of the time, but has been biting her friends at daycare... and on occasion Mommy and PJ. This is a new thing for me, because PJ didn't bite. I am hoping this phase will end quicker than it came. She also swats at PJ (and probably her daycare friends, too) if she wants something, or if someone tries to take something she has.
*She is definitely in a Mommy stage, although she still goes to Daddy (as long as I'm not around). She does not like men, and tends to run the other way and wrap herself around my legs if a man is approaching.
*She loves her pow pow (pacifier) in the car and at bed time. She also loves when I rock her and sing the "Rocky Do" song. I sometimes catch her singing it to her baby dolls.
*She says all kinds of things, and can put words together. Some things I hear the most lately are: have it, stroll (stroller), happened? (what happened), saw-wee (sorry), Milt (milk), water, snack, more please, PJ, are you? (where are you?), No (gotta love that), Betsy, her daycare friends' names:  Toby (Koby), Lijah (Elijah), Addey (Adley), Rachel, (I have heard her say Madison before, too, although I can't remember how she says it) no bite (insert name here), play outside, shoesies, Up-e-down (when she wants to be picked up or put down), hold you, peep-eye (peekaboo), when she sees a baby, she says- "Hiiiiii baby", Reesey (our dog), get down
I know there are a ton more, but those are the ones that stick out right now.
*She adores her big brother. She wants to do everything he does, and be everywhere he is. It is so cute!

Here are some more recent pictures of her:

Before I know it, she will be 2! Slow down, baby girl!

Addisyn's 1st Birthday Party

It has been over 6 months since we had Addisyn's 1st Birthday party, but I HAD to create a separate post for her special day! Betsy got some great pictures at the party, and so I will let the pictures do the talking... It was a beautiful day for a beautiful girl...

Back to Blogging...

With a full time job teaching, and 2 very active kids, sometimes I forget don't get to do things that I LOVE to do. Posting about our daily life is definitely one of those things that falls by the wayside when life just gets too busy. So, I have decided that I need to get back to blogging. I am one of those people that feels like if I do something, I need to do it all... post everything, including every picture, all while giving lots of description. I have realized that it isn't about that... These memories I choose to capture and write about should be just that. A way to keep memories and remember the day to day things. Something for my kids to look back on when they are older. So here I go... Bare with me as I update everything that has been going on from June- now.

PJ- He is almost 4 years old! I cannot believe how fast time is flying! He LOVES going to school everyday, but if he had a choice, he would stay with me. He loves all thing boy- and is in a Transformer stage. He adores his sister (most of the time). Sometimes he talks in such a grown up way, that I forget he is a little boy. Our conversations on the ride home from school now include questions from him like, "Mommy, how was your day? What did you do?" Also, when we talk about something that we are going to do in a few days, he always has to go through all of the steps until he gets to that day... "So, Mommy, we are going to go to sleep, wake up, go to school, come home, and then leave to go to Brady's house???" So bittersweet that he is growing up so fast!

Addisyn- She is 18 months and W-I-L-D!!! She gets into EVERYTHING... And I mean Ev.eRy.Thing! She does silly little things that make us all laugh. She adores her big brother, and is definitely in a "Mommy" phase. Lately, she will just say, "MA! MOM! MOM! MA!!" until I answer her. She talks very well for her age... most often times giving complete sentences. She is sassy, too. If she doesn't want to do something, she will say "Nope!" A word we hear often around here is "WATER!" You would think that she lived in the desert, and was dying of thirst! She tells us that she loves us, can say her cousins names, loves talking about her friends at day care (especially "Li-jah") She has recently started to climb out of her pack n play, and also has received her first stitches. (more on that in another post) There is a song that my family used to sing to me when I was little, that I sing to my kids while rocking them... "Rocky Do, I love you, Rocky Do, my baby." At night, she will ask me to "Rocky Do", and just the other night I caught her in the glider with her "baby doll" singing the song. LOVE IT!

As siblings, PJ and Addisyn continue to melt my heart! Every once in a while I will catch them holding hands in the car, laying down on the carpet to watch a cartoon together, or sneaking in little hugs and kisses. I know that this will be short lived, and eventually they will fight and argue, but for now, I am enjoying every sweet little moment of it!

As for James and I- we have both been on a weight loss journey together since the end of summer. James started in June and has lost 50 lbs. He looks like a totally different person! I started at the end of July (after Addisyn completely weaned herself from nursing) and have lost just under 40 lbs. I ran my 1st 5k on Veteran's Day- 11/11/11- in honor of my Dad and my 2 brothers. It has always been a lifelong dream of mine to be able to run... and now I can! I am getting healthy for my family, I have more energy than I have ever had before, and am becoming someone that my daughter can look up to in terms of her body/eating habits. Now when they see me put my iPod on, they both run towards the treadmill! My next goal is to run the 10k at Springtime Tallahassee.

Right before Thanksgiving break I was also given the honor of being chosen Campus Teacher of the Year! What a humbling experience that has been... I have no words to describe how it feels other than to say I am truly honored...

So my life is crazy busy, but it is definitely a life I love to live!

Now here are some pictures to get you caught up on how much we ALL have changed since June...

Pictures from Addisyn's 1st birthday photo shoot, taken by my dear friend Betsy:

I turned 30 and we celebrated with a Hibachi dinner....

The rest of the summer we spent having some fun in the sun. PJ continued swimming lessons, and by the last one, he could jump in, turn around and swim to the wall unassisted!

 We played in the backyard....

 Went to Daytona to watch Savannah compete in her Dance Nationals...

And in the Fall, PJ played his first season of soccer...

In September, we went to Panama City Beach to cash in the trip James won on the radio...

Had a super fun Halloween, complete with visits to the Pumpkin Patch, our first time going to a Trunk or Treat, and trick or treating in our neighborhood with friends... (Thank you, again, to Betsy for the Pumpkin Patch pictures, and the pictures from Trick-or-treating!)

Everything else is pretty recent, so I will post separately about each of them! Hope you enjoyed catching up, and that you will continue to read future posts! :-)