3 Years Old

I didn't know I wanted a little girl until I met her. Since day one, she has made my heart happy. (I blogged about her birth story here if you want to read about it.) Sure she loves her daddy, but I know she loves me just as much. Addison has brought so much joy and spunk into our family in the last three years. Her brothers absolutely adore her. She can definitely hold her own with them and thinks they are pretty special, too. I'm sure we have some rough years ahead of us, but I know that she and I will have a special relationship. I know because I am going to make sure of it. I didn't have a very good relationship with my own mother and I don't want Addison and I to repeat that. I am determined to do things right.

Addison is funny and full of energy. She talks all day long unless someone is at our house. When we have people over it takes a while for her to warm up. She tells me she loves me about 20 times a day and gives lots of kisses. She loves to play dress-up, but can build a mean Lego tower, too. She loves to be around her brothers and will sneak in their rooms sometimes to sleep with them. She loves to look at herself in the mirror and likes to watch herself sing and dance. She has a wonderful deep belly laugh and can squeal like no other. She loves to wear dresses and can get down and dirty with the boys, as well. I have enjoyed watching her learn new things and love it when her eyes light up. Addison is a sweet girl with a lot of spunk and I couldn't have wished for a better addition to our family.

Happy birthday, sweet baby girl! We love you!

Week in Pictures

This week four of us from our school attended a conference in San Antonio. We HAD to get our picture taken with the presenter so we could prove that we really went! We also had him sign his book that we all had a copy of. I would have liked to know what was going through his mind when the four of us approached him with these requests. Crazy teachers!

MaryLou and Laura posed for me at the Riverwalk. We had to make room for some fun during the week, too. One night we went to the Riverwalk. We had a great time talking and eating. I am so thankful for co-workers who are also friends.

This is Kris and me. We had a great time laughing and joking around.

We made our way into one of the shops after dinner. We just had to stop and pose with these cute hats on. We laughed so much that night!

I had a great time learning and playing with these friends. They made the conference and time away from my family a lot of fun. I would definitely do it again if given the opportunity.

Drew had a conference at TCU, also. His mom watched the kids for four days while he was gone all day. He then had to fix dinner and get the boys to their baseball practice and games. This was not fun for him and I appreciate him letting me go to San Antonio.

We came home on Thursday and we (me, Drew and the kids) turned right back around the next morning and headed to Houston. I was home long enough to re-pack and sleep. We were in Houston at 9:30 Friday morning!

My dad and Pily took us to the Bayou Wildlife Park. It rained very hard for about 30-45 minutes as soon as we got there. We weren't sure we were going to be able to feed the animals, but thankfully it cleared up. You can just imagine how hot and steamy it got in Houston after a heavy rain~ hot, steamy and stinky! Addie kept saying, "I smell sumthin." I was worried about how she would react to the animals coming so close, but she did great. She didn't act like she was afraid at all. A LOT of pictures of our day will follow:

Pily and Dad feeding some of the animals in the petting area. Jackson and Addie were too afraid to go in. Bryson went in for a brief second then left. That was just a little too close for them.

Jackson getting ready to feed the animals. Isn't he so cute?

These things stunk so bad! They were really hungry, too!

Bryson and Jackson

Addison and Pily enjoying the ride.

Addison and my dad enjoying their time together.

Dad and Addison, again.

After the ride they offered free horse rides. Bryson was almost too heavy to ride. Luckily for the horse it was a short ride!

Jackson hopped right on.

Addison even went for a ride. She really surprised me by going. I didn't think she would do it when it was her turn, but she didn't even flinch.

That evening Drew and I went out to dinner by ourselves. The kids stayed with Dad, Espy and Pily. Our 13th anniversary is tomorrow and that was our way of celebrating. We don't do big celebrations for anniversaries. We couldn't decide where to eat so we decided to just drive around and see where we ended up. We ate at Churrasco's. It has South American food. It was yummy and I was stuffed.

Saturday we went to Galveston. Bryson said he wasn't going to get in the water~ he is afraid of sharks. Jackson said he just wanted to play in the sand~ he was stung by a jellyfish when we were there last year. I didn't think Addison would enjoy the water much, but she LOVED it. All three of them ended up having such a great time jumping in the waves. Addison wanted to be held the whole time, but she didn't mind when the water would hit her in the face. They all really surprised me. We stayed about 5 hours and had a great time. Drew was a good sport, too. He doesn't really enjoy the beach, but he endured just for us. Thanks, Sweetie! Pictures from that day will follow:

Jackson, Espy and Addie feeding the birds.

Addison walking on the beach.

Doesn't someone always have to get buried in the sand? This year I was elected to be the one. Let me just tell you that that is pretty uncomfortable. Bryson kept dumping more and more sand on me and it was getting hard to breathe. I didn't think they would ever finish! Finally, they did and this was the end result...

A MERMAID! As soon as this picture was taken, I was out of there! I don't think I ever want to be buried in sand again.

We played some paddle ball. Drew and I had 61 consecutive hits! Jackson and I got 5 and Pily and I got around 15. I can't remember the exact number, but it wasn't very high!

That evening after dinner, they had a birthday cake for Addison. Her birthday is this coming Wednesday and they won't be with us to celebrate. She loved being the center of attention! Who doesn't, right?

So, we had an eventful and enjoyable week. I am glad we are home and ready to relax for a few weeks before we go any place else.

Our Happenings This Week

Last Friday Addison wasn't feeling too well. She would fall asleep for a little while, wake up then fall asleep again. She did this five or six times. The evening I took her temperature and it was 101.5. She kept complaining about her throat and head hurting. We gave her some Motrin and she perked up.

The next morning she seemed better. We took her to Jackson's baseball game (He had an AWESOME hit!) and then to Bryson's practice. After that we had a birthday party to attend. She seemed okay, so we went. It was at the Ballpark in Arlington and it was a great party! While there, she was very clingy and cranky. She got too hot, also. She wouldn't talk to anyone and just wasn't too fun to be around. That evening she said her mouth hurt. I tried to look in there, but she wasn't very cooperative.

Sunday morning I kept her home from church while Drew and the boys went. I haven't been all summer and really miss it, but I didn't want to take her if she wasn't feeling well. She continued to be cranky and cried very easily. I decided to leave her alone. Nothing I did was making her feel any better, so maybe she just needed some alone time. I know I do sometimes! I went to check on her and she was on her bed reading. Of course, when she saw me she stopped. I grabbed my camera and tried to record her reading, but she wouldn't do it. I took a couple of pictures instead. She seemed to feel better during the day and now she is just fine. It must have just been a little virus.

Monday I took the kids to NRH2O for a couple of hours. The boys love to go down the water slides and I get to hang out with Addison. We ran into some friends while there and that is always fun.

Tuesday was our second No Technology Tuesday. The kids didn't complain at all and even reminded me of what day it was. We went all day without using the TV, computer and video games. The kids played with Lego's and with the dogs. We did turn on the TV to watch the NBA final game, but that wasn't until 8:00. I am out of town next week and Bryson has informed me that they aren't going to participate in No Technology Tuesday while I am gone! That's okay, we will pick it back up when I get back!

The rest of this week has been spent ironing, cleaning and throwing stuff away. I have kept myself busy with things around the house. The kids have played together okay, so that has helped. I do think Bryson and Addison have had a bit too much of each other, so I am going to take the boys to the water park tomorrow and let Addison and Drew hang out together. Hopefully, absence will make their hearts grow fonder!

So, our summer is moving right along. We are having fun with each other and enjoying time at the pool and water park. I love these summer months!

Check this out

I don't know if you read Kelly's Korner Blog or not, but you should. I don't know this person personally, but I feel like I "know" her through her blog. She has such a sweet spirit and is refreshing to read. Please take the time to read her post entitled "Jesus." This post is wonderful. I hope it speaks to you like it spoke to me.

Disconnected

Our family has become way too involved with our electronic devices. We spend so much time with them that we don't spend quality time with each other. We may be in the same room, but we are not relating to each other. SO, I decided that yesterday would be a no TV, computer, video game day. I almost threw in the phone, too, but I'm not crazy~ yet! The boys seemed fine with the plan. It was more difficult than I imagined it would be. We did okay, but hopefully next Tuesday will be better. Yeah, I'm thinking that every Tuesday this summer will be No Electronics Day. We'll see. I'm great at making bold statements then have to back down because it's too hard. (No desserts all summer~ I'll blog about that another day!)

This is how our first No Electronics Day went:

We went to the gym for a while so they could play and I could get a workout in. When we came home I washed my car the the boys played catch. Addison rode her scooter and "helped" me with my car. Then the boys decided they wanted to read. We had just bought some books at Half-Priced Books, so they were excited to read. Bryson read to Addie and Jack and he alternated a girl book then a boy book. They read in the garage while I was finishing my car. It was pretty cute and I wish I would have taken a picture, but I was focused on my car. When we went inside Addie wanted to play dress up. The boys played along and got her dressed in one of her dressed. Then they had a tea party with her. I got my camera this time, but they were already cleaning up. This is the picture at the top. They colored, read books and actually talked to each other. All this before 11:00! We ate lunch and then I told them they had to read or rest. We read for a while and Addison took a nap. Drew came home and I told him about my plan. No, I didn't discuss this with him first and I should have! He played along nicely. I did tell him he could veto the plan at any time. Really, any time would be fine and I'm sure the boys would understand. I asked him a couple more times if he thought he needed to use his veto powers. He said no it was fine. I was kind of disappointed. The boys both had baseball practice that evening, so that kept us busy for a few hours. When we got home and took baths we decided that it would be okay to watch part of the NBA play-offs and let the kids watch 30 minutes of TV. So, we ALMOST made it an entire day. Oh, yeah, I just remembered that I posted a video of Addison on Facebook after dinner, so I guess I screwed it up before that! Well, next Tuesday I will try to do better, but don't blame me if Drew stamps a big VETO on it!

The Pond

We just got home from my grandparents' house in Oklahoma. I absolutely love it there. I spent many summer there when I was a kid. We would fish, swim in the creek and just hang out with my grandparents. We spent most of the day outside playing and exploring. I am so thankful that my kids get to experience some of the same things I did as a kid. Drew loves it up there, also, and makes our time up there that much more special.

When I am there I usually take some time to run or walk. This time was no different. When I run, my route takes me right past the cemetery where my sister and mom are buried. I always think about them when I am out running and it makes me happy to be at a place that made all of us happy. I know they are not at the cemetery, but, for some reason, I am comforted when I see the name "McKay" as I run by.

I really feel at home at my grandparents. I spent some time thinking about that, also. I think I know why. We moved a lot when I was younger, but we always visited "the pond" (as we call it). No matter what turmoil was going on in our lives, the pond always offered comfort and a place to go to forget about all the craziness. It was the one constant in my childhood and it still is. I hate to think about a time in my life that I won't be able to go up there. That time may come, but until then I am going to enjoy as much time there as I can.

This time we were there we went swimming in the creek. Addison is at a fun age right now and is learning to enjoy the creek as much as the boys do. We also spent time fishing at the pond. Drew and I got up at 5 this morning and went out for a few hours together. He took the boys out earlier in the week and did the same thing with them. This is something they will always remember doing with their dad.

We rode the four-wheeler around, also. My granddad has made trails and has named a trail for each of his great grandchildren. He has put up signs with the kids' names on them, too. My kids love to go on their trail and think it's pretty cool to see their sign nailed to a tree!

No matter what we do there, we have fun. Sometimes we play cards, sometimes we don't, but we always have a good time visiting with my grandparents and playing outside. I can't wait until we can go back later in the summer.