Memorial Day Parade - Jericho

Apparently Scott has been letting Addison 'drive' his car in the morning before dropping her off at daycare. Imagine my surprise when I came out of the house today and saw this action in my driver's seat.


Once we got Addison safely buckled in her own seat, we headed off to Jericho for another parade. This one was much different than the one on Saturday as it was much, much smaller and also had a family member marching.


Addison sharing her cookies with Aunt Sandy.

My uncle (holding the blue VT flag).

Addison loving this whole parade = lollipop deal.

One of the biggest differences (other than the length of parade) between this one and the one on Saturday? Candy volume! Addison was hauling it in as evidenced by the candy filled seat next to her.

Wait until she figures out that a baby is actually supposed to go in that extra spot, not her lollipop stash.

Purple People Eater

Addison got another new pair of shoes this weekend. What can I say? She takes after her mother and since I can only wear one pair of shoes (ratty black flip flops) at this point, I am living vicariously through my girl and I have no shame in admitting it. I love me some metallic sandals. And so does Bugs based on this picture.


How could I deny this face? And those little capri hot pants.

My sweet little purple girl.

Addison and I actually had our first cookie making session together this morning and it was everything I thought it would be...messy, entertaining and a little chaotic. At one point I was measuring out something for her to pour and when I looked up she unknowingly had a ring of chocolate evidence around her little mouth. Busted!

Memorial Day Parade - Essex

Today Bugs, Scott and I went to our old stomping grounds to see the Memorial Day parade. I forgot exactly how big this parade is and also how long (almost two hours!).

Addison loved the parade. She was a flag waving, imaginary drum banging, saluting (yes, Scott taught her to salute, much to the delight of the man next to us) fool.

She also found her first lollipop to be much to her liking.

Some of the drummers that Addison liked in particular.

It was a wonderful parade and even though I was not anticipating being there as I was hoping to be having a baby, it was a fun way to spend the morning!

Baby Murray's...Room

Nope. Still no baby. Trust me, I'll be the first to let you know when something changes. In the meantime, I thought I would share some pics of Baby Murray's room. As some are aware, we moved Addison into a new big girl room and wanted to keep the fun bright green that was in her old room. I decided to go with purple and green and I am relatively happy with the end result although we clearly need a lot more wall decoration! See for yourself.

Some fun blocks a friend gave to us.

Our new rocking corner...we'll need to add some books at some point.

Now all we really need is the baby to enjoy this lovely green and purple coziness. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

Maple Wind Farm

Yesterday Addison, Daddy and I went to Maple Wind Farm (www.maplewindfarm.com) in Huntington, VT (40 minutes from our house) for their open house day. I read about it in the local kids paper and figured it would be a good chance for Bugs to get out and visit with the new spring lambs, calves and chickens.

Addison & Mama in one of the fields waiting for our hayride.Daddy & Addison on the wagon.

This little ride turned out to be quite interesting as it was horse drawn by two big beautiful draft horses. However, as the driver noted, horses don't have an emergency brake and it was a bumpy, jerky ride that I am certain some of us were wondering how we ended up on. I honestly was thinking perhaps that would jump start my labor at one point.

In the end it was worth it as we ended up in places like this, the free range chicken area (it's a free range/open type farm so everything is running wild in the fields grouped by animal type).

Much to Addison's delight, they even let us inside the electric fence to be right with the chickens. This is Addison's game face as she determines which chickens to stalk.

On the hunt.

It was a truly beautiful day and since we were up in the hills, the wind kept us relatively cool as it was rather warm out. We saw horses, cows, calves, dogs, baby chickens, lambs, sheep and all sorts of other cool farm stuff. Bugs was in heaven.

How do we know for sure that the little lady enjoyed her day on the farm? When we spontaneously hear a little singsongy 'e-i-e-i-o' over and over again from the back seat on the way home. Addison's tribute to farm life.

Twenty Months

Dear Bugs,

Could you look any sweeter? A strange cross between prepster and tennis prodigy and all things sweet and serene. These pictures are from the morning of your picture day at school and you looked so cute. You were especially enamored with your new sneakers. They had real laces!

So let's see, twenty months. Right. What an interesting time it has been over the last two months. You get smarter and funnier every day, communicating in ways that I sometimes take for granted. I have lost track of all your words and phrases and often have to ask you to repeat yourself while I struggle to keep up with your growing vocabulary. You are a little director, everything is 'Mama, here! Daddy, sit! Mama, come!'. I suppose it is a little bossy but mainly it is very cute and certainly makes Mama and Daddy feel wanted.

You have fully entered toddlerhood and keep exploring and testing those wonderful toddler boundaries much more. It can be challenging for all of us! I tell myself that this is just part of you learning and growing but sometimes it is tough to watch your frustration and not be able to find a quick solution (other than to always let you have your way which is not a good solution). You are a hit at daycare talking all the time about your little friends and great teachers but still shy at first around anyone new. This can be a little awkward (especially with family) but if they let you have your space it doesn't take long for you to come around.

Having said all that, you are still the most fun, funny, sweet and lovable little lady and it is incredible to watch you grow and really develop the ability to express your own thoughts and personality. You have mastered the art of hiding (well, maybe that's being a little generous but you certainly love it) and you also now love running around naked right before bath. It is so funny to see you go streaking by the bathroom door laughing your little head off as you run and hide in one of the bedrooms. I smile just thinking about it! You are fixated on all things to do with water, being outside and most recently, the computer. You are a little YouTube junkie(marching bands, elephants, tigers, airplanes and most recently skydiving...thanks, Daddy!). In the morning you like to tell me all about your 'dreams' while I get you dressed which mainly involves imitating elephants, lions, monkeys, dogs, bunnies and whatever other animals cross your mind. I doubt very much you know what a dream even is but you love answering the question when I ask!

I cannot believe this is the last letter I will write to you before you become a big sister. Change is coming so quickly and I know it will mean big things for you but I also know that you will be a great big sister. In the meantime, know that you are so special to Mama and Daddy that I am not sure we will ever have the words to describe it but you are our sunshine and we love you more than ever.

xoxo,

Mama

Funny Face

Addison has recently become fascinated with our digital camera as she realizes she can see pictures of herself and others pretty much instantly. On Wednesday morning she saw the camera on our kitchen table and kept asking over and over to look at it. Scott was happy to oblige.

Addison's version of 'cheese'...the over exaggerated smile.

Daddy & Addison (so sweet even with her crazy hair)

We may regret this but we also proceeded to teach her the concept of making a 'funny face' at the camera which she took to readily. (you should see some of the outtakes)

Another nice shot.

And she just can't help herself...the funny faces are just so much more well, fun.

Right after we finished this impromptu photo session, we agreed that it was good we taught her the 'funny face' concept the day after school pictures. That could have been interesting timing on our part otherwise.

The Great Swingset of 2010 - The Grand Finale

Scott is a superhero. He made some serious progress on the swingset all by himself (minus some 'help' from Addison of course). Using an hour or two after work a few nights during the week, he got the climbing wall, ladder and roof all set up. I don't even want to think about how that roof happened as it was already up by the time I put Addison to bed one night and I don't know how. I am sure the neighbors can tell me someday.

On Sunday, while Addison was napping I came outside and he had the crossbar piece for the swings out on the ground. I told him that if he waited 30 minutes or so my sister was coming by and she was strong and handy and could help him get it set up. He agreed and in the time it took me to turn my back and walk 20 feet to our deck, he had lifted the whole piece up himself. So much for needing help.

Once my sister, mother and one of my nephews arrived, he did accept some support from my nephew Tyler.

After some fine tuning and a nice walk for Addison, Grammy and Aunt Amy, the swingset was officially ready for its maiden voyage.

Addison at the top of the slide. Have you ever seen so many 'helpers' to get one kid down a slide? She was probably thinking, 'Hello, people, I've done this like 200 other times at the playground all by myself!'.

There she goes! (again note the multiple sets of hands just to make sure she doesn't fly off into oblivion)

Whee!

She promptly moved on to the swing. Which required her shades naturally.

The almost whole shooting match. We still need to hang one swing and some bar thing in the middle but the hooks for those were missing until earlier this week. There is also a separate picnic table that needs to be put together and sand to purchase for the sandbox area (under the climbing wall/slide piece).

Overall, we are very happy with our purchase and I am so proud of Scott for making this happen. Thanks babe, you are the best!

Now please send advice for how to keep her mind occupied with other thoughts than playing on the swingset at 6am and I'll be in your debt forever.

Kids Day

Last Saturday Burlington had Kids Day on the waterfront in town. It was basically a giant kid festival with arts, crafts, rides, entertainment, a parade...the full works.

We skipped the parade and headed right to the waterfront for some entertainment action. Addison immediately asked for a 'choo choo' ride. Daddy joined her. Lucky guy.

Knowing how much our little lady loves a good slide, Daddy got Addison on this doozy.

Her little face was pulled tight the whole way down (the facelift or gritted teeth tight) but as soon as they popped off the end, she stood right up and said loudly, 'WWWHHHEEEE!!!' much to the delight of everyone standing at the bottom.

Addison kept asking to ride another ladybug ride but it was deemed to fast for her and to small for Daddy to go on so it was not an option. She was more than happy to take the choo choo for another spin....this time all by herself.

I am such a sappy woman these days that of course I was all warm and fuzzy and sentimental watching her ride the train all by herself. Awww.

Her 'Mama, get it together' face.

Playing in the noodle park. This was quite a hit for some reason that I don't understand.

We never actually really did any of the zillions of arts and crafts they had available as it was nap time for Addison and Mama by the time we watched some gymnasts, listened to some fiddlers and did the rides. A good time was had by all and even better, a very long nap after!