Playing at the Park...

Addison is only 16 months old but you would never think that by the way she plays.  She plays HARD.  She is a tough little girl and very coordinated at such a young age.  She thinks that she can and should be able to do everything that the older kids can do.

Take the park for instance, some of those slides are pretty big and I would think that a little girl her size should be sitting in a parent’s lap when going down the slide.  Not Addi—she can do it by herself!  She may end up at the bottom upside down, but she doesn’t care!  She loves it!  She also loves to swing!

The expression of pure joy on her face and the squeal she makes when she realizes that we are going to the park is truly priceless. 

A milkshake BEFORE the park is a must, right? 

Fell asleep in the car on the 10-minute ride home!  TIRED little girl!

Randoms....

Here are a few random pictures taken from around the house—everything from playing in her hot pink sequin dress-up skirt (compliments of Aunt Lisa) to eating blueberry muffins for breakfast to riding the horsey that Grandma brought over (she was happy to get it out of her living room and I was not so happy to have it in mine) and many more randoms!

Eating Grapes

That looks comfortable...

Cuddling with daddy..

All dressed up for church...

Cheetos before bed!

Helping to fold daddy's boxers!

Cracking daddy up!

Innocent face!

Drama face!

Expressive face!

Our Nightly Routine...

I never thought that I would be one of those moms who would keep a rigid routine.  That just doesn’t fit my personality I don’t think…  (And I wouldn’t say that our routine is strict or rigid because we definitely have our nights where we get home late or play outside too long and mess up our normal routine.)  But let me just say that with a little one, A ROUTINE IS NECESSARY and quite frankly, I believe that children NEED that consistency and stability.  They NEED to know what is coming next and what to expect.  Having said all of that, I just wanted to document our nightly routine because it is absolutely precious to me and something that I look forward to every night.

I always try to have some play time with Addi every night—whether it be outside or in the living room inside.  Tonight, we played inside because even at 7 PM, it was just REALLY HOT outside.  I had gone through a box of toys that Lyndi had passed down from Katie and came across this really cute doll that looked brand new (side note:  Katie has never been a big fan of baby dolls).  She loved it and we named her Baby (so original).   We rocked Baby and wrapped her in a blanket and gave her kisses and hugs.

After play time, it is bath time.  She always loves bath time and loves to play in the water.  She is a little fish!  She doesn’t mind water in her eyes which makes it easier to get her hair washed.

After I get her out of the bath tub, I dry her off, put lotion on and get her pajamas on and then it is time to READ!  I truly think this is one of her favorite times of the day.  I sit in the rocking chair in her bedroom and she brings me a book to read.  After we finish, she gets down and goes and gets another.  This goes on and on and on until I finally tell her that it’s time for bed.  It’s funny though—she goes through phases where she is stuck on the same books and every night, she brings me the same books to read.  Honestly, I would love to have some variety but these are the books that she is stuck on right now: 

While I do love these books, I am ready for her to get “stuck” on some different ones.  I guess she is a creature of habit and is stuck in a routine!

After story time, we brush our teeth and she snuggles in bed with mommy (yes, she still sleeps with us) where she gives me night time hugs and kisses and we say our prayer. 

Good night, all!