Kailyn & Aubrey

Shelley is one of my very good friends. We have been friends since childhood! I say it often on this blog; but, it is so wonderful to have friends such as her! I am honored that she asked me to take Kailyn's 18 month pictures while they were in town visiting her parents. Shelley and her family live in Athens. It was great getting to visit on Sunday too.....Shell - sorry that Addison got sick on Saturday & we couldn't go out Saturday night!

Here is a sneak peak of a few of the pictures that I took of Kailyn and her new little sister Aubrey. I mainly focused on Kailyn; but, snap just a few of Aubrey.

Shelley - I hope to have all the pictures posted by the end of this weekend! Love you...thanks again for trusting me to do Kailyn's 18 month pictures!

White t-shirt and a pair of jeans....

It's so funny, I took Addison to the park on Sunday to do some pictures of her in a pretty dress. While I got some cute shots, I took her outside tonight and took some pictures in a pair of jeans & white t-shirt that she wore to school today and got great smiles out of her. She smiled and was so relaxed for these pictures that I may like them even better than the ones that I took on Sunday. Don't get me wrong, I love the formal pictures; but, I really think when you place a child in their normal every day clothes it allows their true personalities to come out. I have another example of this from a photo session that I had with a friends child on Sunday too. I took pictures of Kailyn and we did one set with a pretty dress and another set with a cute little carpi outfit. Guess which outfit we got the best smiles out of....you guess it....the comfortable outfit. So I say this to anyone that is scheduling me for a photo session, let's do the more formal ones in the fancy outfits....but let's do the comfortable outfits too so we can really capture your child's true colors (smiles and happy faces).

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2009

St. Patrick's Day 2009 turned out to be a wonderful celebration. While it was not Addison's 1st St. Patrick's Day, it was her 1st parade. Last year she was only 5 weeks old so Mommy and Addison stayed home while Daddy attended the festivities alone! This year was so nice. We had 70 degree weather which it really felt warmer than that around mid-day! Which I loved....I always love a warm St. Patty's Day. Last year the guys made a decision to move spots since many of us now have kids; well the guys did a great job at picking a spot!!! It's so nice because there is a great mix of shade & sunshine!! We have enough room to put up a tent with all of our food and coolers and still enough room for the chairs & everyone to stand around to enjoy each others company!! Job well done, guys!!! Here are a few pictures from today....

The Spot....

Father Patrick O'Brien was the Grand Marshal for the 2009 St Patrick's Day parade. Father O'Brien is very special to our family. He was the priest at the church where Nick's family and we attend church. He baptised Nick, married Nick and I, and baptised Addison.

We are so excited for Father O'Brien!!!! Congrats!!!

Addison basically lasted long enough to greet Father O'Brien! She then crashed for the first 30-45 minutes of the parade. She slept while the bands were playing and all the noise from the loud Daddies in attendance. She needed the nap....she was a little fussy that morning; but, after her nap she was a new little girl!! She enjoyed her 1st St. Patrick's Day parade.

13 Months

Addison turns 13 months.....where is the time going?

Just a few things from this past month....

Addison is adding a few new words to her vocabulary. She can say hi and that. When she wants something she points and says "that". She also started saying "oh yeah"! It's very cute when she says Oh Yeah! As in previous months, I am sure that I have missed a new word or two.

Addison continues to be a good eater. We still have not found a food that she dislikes! Which Mommy and Daddy love having a good eater! Addison is down to just a night time bottle. She drinks all her milk during the day out a either a sippy cup or a cup with a straw!!

Addison started playing "make believe" this month. I'll give her a bottle of lotion and ask for some, she pretends that she is giving me some. I didn't really think much of it as her "pretending" until she started to play with a toy that Aunt Kami and Mrs. Shaw gave her for her birthday. It was a tea pot and tea cups. I showed her that she can pretend to pour me tea & drink. Well ever since, she gives me the cup or herself and then "pours tea" into the cup! It is so cute. It is amazing how children just know and start pretending!!! I love watching Addison play!

Speaking of play time, Addison loves being outside. We now will just say the word outside and she runs towards the door. Nick said the other day that we are going to have to start spelling outside! She cries then we have to come back inside. I was talking to one of her teachers at school about Addison loving the outdoors and she asked if Addison starts to cry when we take her inside. I told her yes, then Ms. Josephine said that she did the same at school too! I love the fact that Addison loves playing outside!!

GG got Addison the chair which has a table and another chair for Christmas. We are just now getting a chance to use it!

Addison 1st Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Addison 1st birthday with a big party for her (I know that we did it a month late). We did it because we were thinking it would be much nicer weather for the party. Well we could not have asked for a better day! It was sunny & beautiful!!! I can go on and on about how nice it was. I believe that everyone in attendance really enjoyed it. We were able to sit outside & just enjoy each others company while letting the children play. It was a nice change from the beginning of the week's weather! I'm so thankful that we held off on the party!!

Thanks.....Thank you Aunt Kerri for taking many of the pictures. I asked if Kerri would take pictures so I could enjoy the party & make sure food & all was out. Of course, I had to take a few pictures. It's not possible for me to not have a camera in hand at all; but, for the most part I just let Kerri do pics.....so thank you Kerri!! Also, thank you to Aunt Jodi for doing the WONDERFUL ladybug smash cake!!! It turned out soooo cute and I know that Addison thought it was super yummy!! You can tell my how much she enjoyed it!!! Pat & Anne Marie - thank you for picking up the chicken fingers for us and waiting since they did not have them ready when they were suppose to either!! Another thank you to my parents....Grandma and Grandpa, Nick and I could not have gotten everything ready without your help! Thank you for helping to set up the tables, chairs, tents, preparing all the fruit that everyone LOVED! And a finally thank you to all friends and family that helped to make Addison's 1st birthday party so much fun!!! It meant so much to us that you were there to help us celebrate!! Nick and I truly do have the best friends and family in the world!!!

This was my best attempt to get a pictures of the kids.

While taking this family picture, Addison decided to tell us that she was finished with her cake.....in her own way! She tossed the cake off and onto Nick. Very funny.....

I do not think it ended up getting on him too much....but it was still funny!!!