It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I love this time of year- the days and weeks from Thanksgiving to New Year's.  I love that there is no other time during the year that makes you feel like Christmastime does.  I love our family traditions and the new traditions our little family has started.  I love watching Adelyn light up everytime we pass a house decorated with lights and shout, "Christmas!".  I love that she helped decorate the tree this year, and most of all that she is old enough to start learning why we really celebrate Christmas.

I decorated earlier than I usually do this year but it still didn't feel like Christmas until after Thanksgiving. 

We tried a new tree farm this year, picked out our tree, Kyle cut it down and we drove it home. 

Helping Daddy navigate

Of course Miss Independent had to push the wagon too

Yes, we really do cut it down  :)



Adelyn loved putting the gingerbread house together.  It's no surprise that some candies went missing during the construction.  I was surprised at how into the decorating she was... Why am I shocked?  She's 2 and there is candy involved!

I can't wait for all of the other fun things we have planned in the upcoming weeks!  And here's hoping I won't be a blog slacker and will post about it in a timely fashion.

Merry Christmas!

Back to reality

At the end of August we went to Myrtle Beach, SC for a week long vacation.  I'm not sure why it has taken me this long to post about it... maybe it has something to do with the fact that it was great and it always stinks coming back from vacation.  It was pretty great to spend the whole week together, lounging by the pool, playing with Adelyn at the beach, taking a morning walk on the beach, eating some fabulous seafood and treats... ok, I'm sure you get the point. 

Unfortunately we had to travel home a day early because of that crazy Irene but we didn't want to get stuck there and didn't want to be driving through it on the way home. 

We left on Saturday morning to drive down at about 3am to beat any traffic and we made great time!  I was pretty anxious about the 8+ hour car ride with a 2 year old but we had plenty of movies and toys and Adelyn even slept part of the way.  I stress part of the way since I thought she would sleep right through getting her up and putting her in the car at 3am but she stayed awake for a few hours.  Ms. Inquisitive had a lot of questions early on and I'm pretty sure before we had even left our street she was asking how far it was and if we were there yet. 

I didn't get as many pictures as I would've liked

but there are still a few that captured the fun we had!

Kyle showing Adelyn the big ocean

Lifeguard girl!

This was the biggest snowball ever and only $1! 

At this point she had already eaten about 2/3 of it, hence that face she is making.

1-2-3 JUMP!

Beach Baby

Worn out baby, and yes that is Cheetos stain on her face

We took one family picture and it turned out great!

Funny, right?! 

Windy + sun quickly setting + active 2 year old = 1 amusing photo shoot!

This is what it was really like!

Picture Post...

...because that's all I can do this week with preparing and packing for... VACATION!  Yay!

Adelyn's 2nd Birthday Party

 This is my favorite. 

Taking a rest to watch her new Tangled movie after friends and family had gone home. 

Can it be?

That this is my 3rd post this week?  That wasn't really the point of the title but it is hard to believe.

The real question - is it possible that my baby turned 2 this week?  No it can't be!  It seems like only a few months ago that she was born or only a few weeks ago that we celebrated her first birthday!

What a difference a year makes...

July 2009



 July 2010

July 2011

Adelyn was born on 7/8/09 at 10:13pm which I've always thought was kind of neat... would've been even better if one of the nurses had just written down 10:11pm, right?  She is growing up so fast and I am still amazed everyday at the new things she is learning or saying or concepts she understands.  She has such a sweet spirit and brings such joy and laughter to our little family.  Addie is such a good listener and fortunately we haven't seen much of the 'terrible twos' from her (I'm sure you're saying, "Yet!") 

We gave her a dollhouse on her birthday on Friday which she loves!  I was stressing about what to get her although I knew she would love any gift, but every morning she wakes up asking to play with her dollhouse so I guess we did alright this year! 

 

 

We went to my grandparent's house for a visit over the weekend where they had cupcakes, we lit candles and sang and Adelyn loved it!

 

I can't wait for her party on Saturday to see how happy she is too see her friends and play!  Stay tuned for that, and hopefully I won't take too long in posting about it :)

And one more...

Happy Birthday my little Addie Rooskie, Addie Roo, Pooskie, Peanut!

Happy 4th Hon!

The 4th of July is a big holiday around here.  The traditions have changed over the years but it's still a great day to spend with friends and family!  We went to the Dundalk parade every 4th of July, probably since I was born, up until a few years ago when my grandparents moved to Harford County. 

It's a great parade and even better people watching!  

Actually, the title of this post comes from one of my grandparent's neighbors that we used to sit next to at the parade.  She would clap through pretty much the whole parade and say,

"Happy 4th Hon!"  Maybe you had to be there but she really loved the parade and had some Dundalk pride!

We still visit the area around the 4th to go to the Dundalk Heritage Fair for some great music, food, and still... the people watching!

We went to see a Beatles band, The Mahoney Brothers

and they were really good!

 At the Heritage Fair - this was supposed to be daddy's ice cream to share with Addie...

I think he got a few bites

In all her ice cream glory

 Daddy/Uncle Kyle, Addie and Brin at the Bel Air parade

 Do you notice a theme with the ice cream?  Brin was so nice to share!

 Why do they listen to "make a silly face" but not "smile"?

We tried!

A few gems I didn't capture:

* more of the 'scenery' in Dundalk (seriously, if you haven't been, mark your calendar for the festivities next year) 
* Addie burned her finger touching a sparkler after it went out... poor girl!
* the boys setting off fireworks... fortunately no one lost any digits or limbs

Happy 4th!!