busy start to November = blog slacker!

Addison entering the dark cave at the Minnesota Zoo....she loved it!
Snuggling with Opa!
Wagon rides at Opa and Jojo's house!
One of our last times at the playground this year.....playing in the leaves!!
(This picture was taken fter grandma/great-grandma Betty's funeral in Cincinnatti.....Addison meeting mommy's cousins! Addie is the first great-grandchild on that side of the family!)
(Bath time at Opa and Jojo's house....always a highlight!!!)

It's already November 18....where has this month gone???!!!!! Other than the colder weather starting to kick in, it's amazing that it is already almost another Thanksgiving.

We have had a busy month (hence my blog slacking!)..........including the following:

-Noah and I both turned the big 3-1; we decided this birthday is "blah!"-hope they aren't all like this!-honestly there is nothing really exciting about 31....you aren't the big 3-0 anymore, and you are slowly approaching "over the hill," wow!

-Addison and I traveled to Indy from November 3 to November 8; we said our goodbyes to grandma/great grandma Betty at her beautiful funeral in Cincinnatti, Addison got to meet many "new" relatives, we celebrated grandma/great grandma Nanny's 90th birthday (she is as gorgeous as ever!) with a big family dinner celebration, we spent time hanging out at home with Opa, Jojo, Uncle Nick and Aunt Jen! Addison loved playing outside with some old outside toys that date back to when I was a kid! Addison also said, "papa" and "jojo" for the first time, and Uncle Nick taught her "cheers!" (Addie lifts her sippy cup to toast!)

-Addison continues to attend her music class on McPhail on Monday mornings-she is still loving the instruments, playtime with other kids and music! She now continually wants to play dada's guitar at home. Maybe more music toys are a must for Christmas!

-We have tried to spend lots of time outdoors at the playground and on "Wally walks," as we know the cold, cold weather is right around the corner! We have had fun in the leaves, and climbing on all of the equipment at the 4th street playground.

-Addison and daddy had a great weekend together last week-attending a make-up music class at McPhail on Saturday, and a 1st birthday party for Addison's friend Levi on Sunday. Addie brought home a blue balloon and a gold truck as party favors-how exciting!

-Addison has been busy making art projects at "school" on Wednesday and Thursdays.....and the most recent one is an adorable sand turkey decorated with hand print feathers (hard to explain, but cute nonetheless!)

-We went to the zoo with our friend Levi and his mom today! We were mostly inside in the tropics area checking out the turtles (seemed to be Addie's favorite), flamingos, monkeys, lemurs, fish, etc.....Addison and Levi loved pointing to things, walking through the dark caves and watching the animals play. A great morning!

On the development front, Addison is changing and growing constantly! She is attempting to communicate much more lately....including a couple new words and starting to learn some animal sounds (so far, we are only consistent with the dog "woof, woof"). She is also has been pointing to things she wants and to objects when asked to look for something..... Such a big girl!

We are busy packing for our trip to North Carolina........we are leaving early tomorrow morning for a 9 day trip to visit daddy's family! We are so excited for the warmer weather, a little UNC/Duke football, a couple visits with friends, and relaxing with family!

A rough start to a fun week....

We love and miss our grandma Betty! (taken Christmas 2010)
Not so sure about the talking skeleton outside a neighbor's door! :-)
Addie and her trick or treating friends in the neighborhood!
So excited about Halloween! Our little ballerina!
Enjoying the other children at mommy's work Halloween party!

MacPhail music class on Halloween morning.....such cute costumes, and so much fun!
Posing for the camera...our little dancer!
Colts players!
Tearing apart the pumpkin!
Addison's first pumpkin......!

We were greatly saddened to hear about the passing of mommy's grandma "Betty" and Addie's great-grandma "Betty" last Wednesday. She was such a special woman, and sure understood the value of good friends/family and living each day to its fullest! My dad told me that one of the last days he visited her, when she was very ill, she asked "What's going on tonight?" Grandma Betty was always looking for a good time! I loved that about her, and look forward to passing my wonderful memories of her on to Addie in the years ahead!

We were also, of course, disappointed that Opa and Jojo had to cancel their visit due to this unfortunate event back home.

In order to get through these difficult times, I tried to follow the old saying that I look forward to teaching Addison someday, "After every storm, look for the rainbow"............we planned an exciting end of the week celebrating Halloween!!!

On Friday we had a group play date with Addison's friends and their mommies where we enjoyed Halloween treats and attempted to have the kids explore pumpkin carving. I say attempted, because as much as we thought they would jump right in and love the "goop," not so much! Addie put her hands in for a few minutes, then off she went to play!

Friday night, we carved Addison's pumpkin here at home! We designed it with her initials, "A-M-P"....she did put her hands in a little more than she had that morning, but was more interested in trying to get away with putting a pumpkin seed or piece of pumpkin in her mouth than anything else! After the pumpkin was carved, I tried to get her picture with it, and instantly she grabbed the small area separating each initial and pulled them right out! So much for A-M-P....it looked more like a big hole in the front! :-( We baked the yummy pumpkin seeds on Saturday and enjoyed a few before daddy accidentally knocked the bowl off the table and the pumpkin seeds were interspersed with pieces of broken clay....no longer edible! Well, so much for the pumpkin experience this year! :-) Maybe more success to come in the years ahead!

Saturday was a fun neighborhood event at Corner Coffee. It was baby/dog dress-up day! It ended up being quite chilly that morning, so I decided the ballerina outfit was not going to happen. I ended up dressing Addie in her way-to0-big Colts jersey over a fleece, and Wally in his way-too-tight Colts jersey for the event! They were adorable dressed as twins!

On Monday, actual Halloween, we had an entire day full of celebrations! Addison was dressed as a ballerina from 8am-8pm! We attended our music class at MacPhail in the morning and all of the toddlers were dressed in costume! It was a blast! We danced to monster mash, played on the parachute and sang lots of Halloween songs! We also got lots of cute pictures! For lunch, we went to mommy's work and had "babypalooza"-an annual Halloween party for rehab staff! There were about 8-9 little ones all dressed up for the big day! We had lunch together, visited with friends and took pics of all of the adorable costumes! This event has become a great tradition! In the evening, we went trick or treating in our condo building! There were many families who participated in handing out candy to the little ones, and we had a blast joining a few other couples/toddler friends for the door to door treking! Addison seemed to enjoy running up and down the hallways with her friends and getting presents at each door!

Needless to say, it was an exhausting week! We are planning to spend the first day of November, today, resting at home and preparing for our trek to Indy on Thursday. As much as we are saddened by the reason for this travel (to attend grandma Betty's funeral on Saturday), we are looking forward to seeing family and spending quality time with Opa, Jojo, Uncle Nick and Aunt Jen!

Enjoy our Halloween pics!!!-and a memorable picture of grandma "Betty" from last Christmas.