Play Date and Birthday Fun

We had such a fun play group today. We celebrated our little friend Ella's fifth birthday. Ella is Alex's favorite friend from play group. He talks about her all the time and truth be told, he might have a little crush on her. To celebrate her birthday, we all went to the park and had an art party. So the kids painted, colored with markers, and wrote on the sidewalks with chalk. Then we all had lunch followed by birthday cake. It was just a lot of fun, and all the kids seemed to be having a really good time. I think one of the best things about the party was the simplicity of it. It wasn't anything too fancy or too over the top. Just a good ol' fashioned birthday party. It was a good reminder for me, again, that sometimes the simpler things are the most fun. So far, Alex's summer vacation is getting off to a great start!

This was the first time I let Addison paint..I was a little nervous. Notice I gave her the yellow paint. It made me a little less OCD about her getting paint all over herself!

Alex, he painted with blue of course!

Addison and Lacey eating their lunch

Addison and Lacey being silly with each other. Funny girls!

Second Child Syndrome

Addison suffers terribly from second child syndrome. If you're a mom with more than one kiddo, you know this ailment. Your second child has a fraction of the professional pictures that your first one has, your second child has little written in their baby book while your first one actually has a completed baby book, and your second child doesn't get the birthday parties like your first one. And this is the case with Addison. I haven't really had a birthday party for her yet. And this year her birthday fell on Mother's Day, so I figured we could all celebrate her birthday while we were celebrating Mother's Day. Honestly though, is she going to know the difference? When you look at these pictures, she is surrounded by those who love her and celebrated her special day with her. That's all that really matters! Or at least that's what I tell myself!

These two have always had a special bond!

And her name sake, Tamara Kathleen with Addison Kathleen

She loves her cousin, Cadence!

I did buy her a birthday cake! She loves Elmo!

Her cake with the candles lit...

Addison didn't want anything to do with blowing out the candles.

Luckily, she has a brother and cousin who helped her out!

Opening her gifts...a new baby doll!

And a new stroller...she loves pushing her babies in the stroller

And her first lap top! She LOVES it!

And finally, what's a girl's birthday without a new bag? This is actually the second bag...her cousin Caitlin saw the first one and couldn't live without it! Happy second birthday, Addison!

Two Years Ago

Two years ago, this little one came into my life!

Except she's not so little any more! When did that happen? Addison celebrated her second birthday last Sunday, which also happened to be Mother's Day. I guess every few years or so her birthday and Mother's Day will fall on the same day. Which I don't mind really. Celebrating her birthday is in a way celebrating motherhood for me.

When I think back over the past year, so much has happened with Addison. A year ago at her one year "well" check, her pediatrician diagnosed her "failure to thrive" because she just wasn't growing or gaining weight. And she had missed some major growth milestones. Since then, she has had two MRIs of her brain, an impedance Ph probe, upper GI scope, and tubes put in her ears. She has seen an ENT, GI, neurologist, allergist, and physical therapist. She started walking, eating better, gaining weight, reaching her milestones and turned into a pretty typical two year old!

I wouldn't say life with Addison is 100 percent better yet. Recently her weight gain has slowed down. I still struggle with getting her to eat well. But she doesn't see her physical therapist anymore. And at her last appointment with her GI, he wanted to start weaning her off some of her medications. I have a feeling we might have to go back on them if her weight doesn't improve within the next few weeks. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there!

As far as Addison's personality goes, she is extremely playful. She loves to be the center of my attention! She loves to listen to songs with her daddy and loves to dance. She even enjoys playing with Alex more and more each day. She also loves to terrorize him, but what younger sibling doesn't love to pick on their older sibling? She loves to play with her baby dolls and currently has about three that she plays with consistently. She enjoys her Baby Einstein videos and often asks us for "blah," which is Baby Mozart. She loves animals, especially dogs. For her birthday, she even picked out a little stuffed dog that came with its own little carrying case.

I'm so happy that Addison is part of our family. She makes us laugh daily. And it's a joy to watch her grow and learn every day. I'm looking forward to the next year with hopefully less doctors and more continued growth!

T-Ball!

One thing keeping us busy this spring is T-Ball. We enrolled Alex to play t-ball this spring with the YMCA. So he has practice every Thursday night and a game every Saturday for the month of May. He is so naturally talented in sports, and he loves to hit and throw balls in the back yard. I thought this might be the perfect sport for him. He seems to enjoy it, but I don't think he's developed a love for it. I keep waiting for an Ah Ha! moment with Alex and sports...one of these days I'm going to see him thrilled to be doing some sport...I just haven't seen it yet. But maybe it will come in due time. In the meantime, t-ball has been a good exercise in learning the basics of baseball, learning some teamwork, and what it means to commit to playing a season of sports. For Roger and I, we've enjoyed seeing Alex participate in an extracurricular activity and make some new friends. And his games are pretty entertaining too!


The dynamic duo: Cadence and Alex at Alex's first t-ball game


Cadence, Roger and Alex practicing running the bases.


Alex's first time at bat..and getting a few pointers from the coach.

Alex coming home and a high-five from Coach Eric.

The Michelan Man

Alex has a thing for the Michelin Man...you know, the tire guy? One day he saw a commercial for Michelin Tires. You might have seen it. It's the Michelin Man, saving a town from the evil gas pump, by throwing "fuel efficient" tires on the cars. Thanks to technology, we actually have a copy of this commercial recorded on our DVR. So he often asks to watch the Michelin Man. Then he told me he wanted a Michelin Man cake for his birthday. And I feel like I can usually hold my own in the kitchen. But the request for a Michelin Man cake was a little out of my league. So my sweet friend Lindsey referred me to her friend who makes cakes. Wouldn't you know it? She came through with a fabulous Michelin Man cake for Alex's birthday! It was really an amazing cake. He loved it! And one of the even more amazing things is that Amy, who made the cake, just does cakes on the side. She's not even a full-time cake boss or ace of cakes! You would never have known it though. What we won't do as parents to make every dream a reality for our children!

Part E with Chuck E

It's pretty sad when I haven't finished blogging about one birthday before another one is here! It's been a busy past few weeks! But I did want to share a few photos from Alex's party at Chuck E Cheese. I decided to have his party on a Thursday afternoon for several reasons...I didn't want to have it on the weekend when Chuck E Cheese would be crazy busy, I didn't want to have it on a day when Alex goes to school because I knew he'd be too tired, and I wanted to have it on a day when Roger could attend. So that left Thursday as the day. It was WONDERFUL! The place was nearly vacant that afternoon, which allowed Alex and all his friends to pretty much have the place to themselves. I think they all had a great time! I thought the party at Chuck E Cheese was pretty easy, though I wasn't crazy about the service we had. Despite our poor service, I would definitely do it again and I'm sure I will for Addison...she loves the place too!

All in all, I would say it was a success. Just a side note, the other day I was looking through an album that has pictures from many of my past birthdays. I had my 5th birthday at Chuck E Cheese too. I laughed when I saw those pictures! Maybe it's a right of passage...you're 5th birthday at Chuck E Cheese. Alex is already talking about his 6th birthday and where he wants to have it. At least that gives me plenty of time to plan!