How about another update!?!

Gees, where does the time go? I keep meaning to get back on a schedule of updating this and then get too busy. This is the first day that I have had free time with the computer. Addyson now loves the PBSKIDS.ORG website and is always on the computer...it may be time to start limiting her computer and tv time. Her new favorite show is Phineaus and Ferb on the Disney Channel and even Tim enjoys that one, but watching it all morning isn't a good thing!

Fourth of July was fun....we started our weekend at Summerfest. We were lucky enough to be walking in with another family who had extra free tickets, so we took that as a good sign that we would have fun. We ended up having a blast! There were a lot of kids' activities during the day and Addyson and Morgan seemed to have a really good time. They got to play on the playgrounds, get balloon animals, free M&M ice cream treats, see water animals, play in a bounce house, listen to good music, and eat junk food to their hearts' content! Morgan fell asleep at around 4:30 but Addyson was going strong until that evening when we came home to see the first night of fireworks out of our upstairs' bedroom window!

July 4th took us to Pewaukee for the Independence Day Parade. The kids got a ton of candy and it helped that we were at the front of the parade route. We saw the Milwaukee Bucks mascot, Miss Wisconsin, fire engines, boats, another horse mascot, baton twirlers, karate kids, clowns, gosh, the list goes on! And each and every one of them threw candy! We still have a huge bagful and that was 4 days ago! I feel like it is Halloween here! Anyway, after the parade we went for a cookout at Shane and Lauren's....and the kids ( 7 total) all got to play and have a great time. My sister and I got to indulge in some Summer Shandy, our favorite beer of the summer, for sure, and the guys played the bags game and got stuck with the Miller Lite, haha! We came home for the second night of fireworks here and Addyson stayed up and watched them with Tim and I. We truly have the best spot in town for watching the Okauchee Lake Fireworks....we can sit in our upstairs room and watch out the window.....they are so close that you can smell the smoke that comes off of them and the best part about being in the window is NO Mosquitoes! They were horrible this year!

So now we are just slowly drifting through summer....well, I guess slightly cruising because it is already July 8th and school starts in less than 2 months. Addyson needs 4K right about now, as we are already hearing "I'm bored" at least once a day. Let's hope we can make without too many meltdowns!

An update after 5 months!

Okay, this is ridiculous! 5 months ago was my last post. I decided that I needed to start posting again and get my booty off facebook and emails!

This past February, we went to Cozumel, which was an amazing trip. The kids were great on the airplanes and had so much fun at the pool and beach at our resort. Addyson loved riding in the cabs without a carseat and she still talks about that! We had so much fun with all of our family. Both sets of grandparents got to enjoy the kids and Tim and I even got to go out on our own with the rest of the cousins to enjoy a few nights of partying at Senor Frog's. It was great, and I would love to go back sometime.

Addyson turned 4 in April and to celebrate, we had a party at a Cubs-Brewers game at Miller Park. The family celebrated at the tailgate with lots of food and cake. It was still pretty chilly here in Wisconsin, but we survived and got to see the Cubs win! We then had a little party for her with a few friends so that she could have her princess cake, since I made her get a Cubs cake for her birthday at the game. She really had a great 4th birthday and is already talking about her 5th birthday! When will she finally realize that getting older really isn't that much fun....LOL!

We have had some water issues again this Spring, but not to the extent of last year....yet! We have a lot of stagnant water sitting next to our house and we went ahead and sandbagged the east side of our home just as a precaution. Even though we haven't had the 7 inch rain we had last June, Mother Nature has her own plans and we certainly do not want to go through the stress of watching the water build next to our house again. We are hoping the sandbags can hold back that water if it gets to that point. We just didn't feel like we could rely on the Town to save us....they have made it pretty clear that we are all on our own in some aspects. They were helpful in giving us the sandbags and sand, but we had to fill them and place them ourselves. But hey, it was a great workout for Tim, Pat and me. :O)

May is here, along with a fresh confirmed case of Swine flu in Oconomowoc. haha! Last Friday, the high school and two middle schools closed due to the 18 year old who has the "dreaded" flu. The YMCA closed to prevent the spread of it and so that the kids don't congregate there and cause more spreading of it. Some people are really in a frenzy about it, but aren't there always new cases of the flu every year? 36,000 people die from the flu and its complications every year....the media has really turned some people into lunatics over it. One person claimed they were nervous that the swine flu was coming through the water pipes at the YMCA pool since the confirmed case was a lifeguard at the Y. Come on, people! Get a grip on reality! It is what it is. To keep yourself from getting it....wash your hands, stay away from people who are sick, use common sense, stressing over what is coming through the pipes at the Y really isn't going to keep you from getting sick! Gees! The last place I would worry about getting it from is the heavily chlorinated water at the YMCA pool. LOL! I have no problem with people taking precautions, to each their own, but to start creating ways that you may get it is kind of out of control in my opinion. Okay, I will get off my soapbox about this swine flu.

Mother's Day is only a few days away, and we have a fun weekend coming up....Friday night, Cubs-Brewers game at Miller Park with our neighbors, dinner with my DZ sisters in Algonquin on Saturday, and Sunday morning breakfast and church with Rose and the Thompson family. It should be a fun , fun weekend! Hope I am not too exhausted and hungover all weekend. I have to get my tolerance back....especially for this summer. :O)

January

This is how Morgan talks on the phone....she thinks it goes on top of her head! Not sure where she saw this!

I watched my two nieces this past week while my sister worked, and the girls played so well together...in this picture, they are all sitting on a mat that Addyson put out and just played for about 20 minutes.

We have a Ham in the family....Ashlyn made this face as soon as she saw the camera! Too Funny!

January has been one COLD month. Last week, we were dealing with temperatures below zero as the high. Brrrr! We got stuck staying home during all of it because who wants to try wrapping up your kids to take them out in it? Not worth it to me. I was ready to get out by Saturday and thankfully, Tim let me get out of here....granted, it was to the YMCA but it felt good to work out after not being able to do it much that week. We have only gotten 9 inches of snow this month, which is such a relief after the 35 inches we got in December. The average around here is 50 inches so we are really close to that and with 3 months more of snow possibly hitting us, we will probably go over the average again....which may lead to another flood this Spring, but I keep telling myself to take this one month at a time. I am trying to get myself to live in the moment and not worry about the future too much since there is no way of knowing what will happen. It has gotten so hard with all the economy, housing market, and job loss reports on the news every day. It is hard to block it all out, that is for sure.

Morgan is walking more than crawling now! Finally! Although she won't be 14 months until next week so I really should give her a break. I am just glad that she will be able to walk around the Mexican resort instead of crawling or being carried the entire time. We leave soon and it isn't coming soon enough! Let's just hope that it doesn't snow or rain (since weather around here is so unpredictable anymore) when we are trying to get out of Chicago. We need this vacation more than anything. A break with no cooking and cleaning......sounds like heaven to me! Oh, and I get to drink cervezas and fruity drinks all day...NICE! Addyson talks about it all the time and told me yesterday that she can't wait to go to Mexico. She tries to help me pack everyday but I keep getting distracted so we haven't gotten very far with that! We can't wait and will definitely post pictures after it!

Addyson registered for 4K today. I can't believe that my little girl will be going to elementary school next year and riding a bus too! Wow! She cannot wait. She sees the bus in the afternoon and says, "when do I get to ride it?" She was thinking after Christmas, she was going to be in Kindergarten, but I had to explain that she has to go to preschool for one whole year and after summer is when she will start at the new school. When we got there, two older girls were leaving and I think it intimidated Addyson a little because she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I think I still need to grow some before I can go to school here." We go to an open house in February so that will be exciting for her.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year.....we got to see family & friends during this time so that makes it wonderful for us. Our celebrations started the weekend before Christmas at Aunt Joy's and Uncle Daryl's for the Burchie Christmas. We got delayed a day because of bad weather throughout SE WI and most of IL. So we lost a day of visiting with the McClards, but we did still go on Saturday and had a safe trip down. The girls had a lot of fun and got some really nice clothes from Tim's aunts. Addyson was a big helper for Aunt Joy and talked about her for quite a while after that. While we were all downstairs playing the gift exchange game, she was helping her cook the meal for everyone and putting things away for her. It was so sweet...now if I can only get her to do that for me. :O) Morgan caused a stir that night and wouldn't sleep....so Tim, Addyson and I were up until about 2:30 AM and hoping that no one else heard her....but that wasn't the case. Tim's sister was up listening to her at the same time. Ugh! It was frustrating....almost like having a newborn again. I definitely don't miss that! We came home on Sunday in some nasty weather conditions....below zero temps and blowing snow....Tim says it wasn't that bad, but I have to give him credit because it looked pretty bad to me!

On Christmas Eve, after Addsyon left out cookies and sprinkled Reindeer Food on the sidewalk, we went to Spring Grove, IL to spend it with the Davis side of the family. The girls got to open a few gifts before church and Addyson got the neatest Dora and Pegasus....the horse actually walks! That was the hit of the day for her. She got some dress up stuff from the Thompsons....Snow White! She loved it and had to put it on immediately! She is a girl through and through! We all got some wonderful gifts and had an amazing meal of Prime Rib, yum! But of course it had to end too early and we were on our way through MORE bad road conditions....this time the snow that had come earlier on our way down had frozen and we encountered many icy roads, but after about 30 extra minutes on the road...we made it! It was important for us to get home so that Santa could come. (oh, by the way..I am SICK of snow and ice...and WINTER!)

I woke up before anyone on Christmas day (I think now my excitement has transferred to my seeing the kids' expressions once they realize Santa has come....) and just waited for Addyson to get up (of course, she slept in.) And yes, despite her being a monster for most of December, Santa found it in his heart to come! :O) Once she was up though, she could not wait for Morgan and started finding her gifts that had her name on them. Preschool has taught her that. No more fooling her about it not being for her. She got Barbies, Littlest Pet Shop stuff, My Little Ponies, and a LOT more Dress up clothes....Fancy Nancy, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. She was thrilled. Morgan got a Dora truck and a lot of bath toys. After breakfast, the Mooney side of the family came and the girls got a ton more presents from the Mooneys and Antholines. Addyson got MORE dress up stuff...this time an entire trunk of Fairy clothes...she should be set for awhile. (Audra - no more sexy clothes for the girls. You don't have to worry about Maggie showing so much skin. haha!) Tim and I also got more wonderful gifts from our family....I can't wait to wear my new Cubs shirt and running shoes. Plus, with all the books I got, I should be reading right now instead of doing this. Overall, it was once again a wonderful Christmas, but it all seems to go so fast.

Through all this, Morgan started taking steps. She is pretty stable but since she gets around so much faster with crawling, she refuses to do it unless you force her. She loves walking to Addyson though, so we try to get Addyson to work with her as much as possible. She finally has 4 teeth. The 2nd top one seemed to take forever to come in, and she looked like snaggletooth for so long! In some pictures she even looks like Sloth from the movie "The Goonies." Silly! Hopefully she will get more teeth soon, since she is already 13 months old. She says Dad-deeeee all the time and knows what a nose is...although she would rather pinch mine than touch her own when I ask where her nose is....now I need to teach her where hers is and let her know that it isn't on my face! She still hasn't really tried to climb stairs (thank god!) but certainly wants to be wherever everyone else is. She has been off the bottle since November and actually can drink from a straw really well, so at restaurants she wants a cup with straw like Addyson gets. I guess watching her big sister has grown her up quickly in some ways. She likes to color and play with all her musical instruments including the piano in the den....you always know where she is, because she is always pushing the keys.

Our New Year's Eve was spent with our good friends and neighbors, the Charlsons and Briggers...and of course, our first friends up here, Diana and Bob! Everyone came over here for a few hours before the kids had to go to bed. It was definitely an early night but it was nice to just get together and talk and let the kids play a little. I am thinking we probably won't have a late NYE for awhile, but sometimes waking up on New Year's Day without a hangover is a good thing! Especially when you can go work out and start off 2009 the right way.....Happy New Year to all and here's to hoping this is your best year yet!