Getting in the Spirit

Seems like the moment Thanksgiving was over, it was time for Christmas! We rounded up the troops and made some cut out sugar cookies. Thankfully, we opted for one batch because that was about the extent of the attention span of 3 and 4 year olds. We had fun but I'm pretty sure Addison's favorite part was eating the final product. And if it wasn't for adult supervision, I don't think too many cookies would have made it to the final stages before she ate them!


Brianna was there for moral support. Next year she can join in the fun!


Yum, yum!

Haylee putting the finishing touches on the cookies

After the cookies were baked, decorated, and eaten (woops) we decided it was time to get the tree up. We researched going to a tree farm and cutting down our own tree but then thought better of it and loaded up the kids for a trip to Lowes! Addison had a great time decorating the tree with her daddy. She loved to hang out in the living room at night with only the lights from the Christmas Tree on. Since I'm doing this retrospectively I have a funny story to add... As some of you may know, Bryan likes to take our Christmas trees and sink them in the lake behind our house to make a place for fish to hang out. Addison was completely boggled by this idea and said, "Daddy, you are so silly... fish don't live in Christmas trees!"


And it's perfect!

Slacker Mom on Thanksgiving

Looks like my last posting was November 9th. It's going to take me a while to get caught up! Things have been quite busy around the Irish household over the holidays and posting pictures unfortunately dropped to the bottom of the 'to-do' list. So, we will start at the beginning,

THANKSGIVING!

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home with Nana Jo and Uncle Kurt. I finally broke the streak of serving an overcooked or undercooked turkey and cooked a perfect turkey this year! I'm taking a moment to congratulate myself.... ahhhh. When Addison woke up Thanksgiving morning she wanted to wear her cheerleading outfit which is odd because she never asks for it. Bryan just happened to be the one getting her dressed and he had no problems putting it on her!

Go Cowboys! Thanksgiving is Bryan's favorite holiday. He gets to eat all sorts of fattening food until he falls asleep and then watch the Cowboys play. What could be better?

Uncle Kurt and Addison spent lots of time coloring while Mommy and Nana were busy in the kitchen.

Our Trip to South Carolina

We just got back from a GREAT trip to Greenville to check out Aunt Elizabeth's and Uncle Tommy's fabulous new house. Not only is the house wonderful but the neighborhood is picture perfect and they have an awesome backyard. It's just the right size for getting the 'wiggles' out... for both the kids AND the dogs! Addison and Caleb had fun together and got along surprisingly well. Brianna was a happy little girl (for the most part) and played with lots of new toys since Caleb was such a good sharer. Addison also went to her first (but not last, I'm sure!) karate lesson taught by none other than Uncle Tommy. Yeah! They have a 3 and 4 year old class on Saturday mornings so Addison was their honorary student for the day. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so we took full advantage and took all the kids to the park. Here are a few pictures.


Bed time!


After class


Caleb at the park


Grandma and Brianna on the front porch


Hangin' out by the back fence

On a very happy note, we picked up Lexi from being boarded (all safe and sound thank goodness) and the doc said no bandage needed on her sore. Looks like she is finally on the mend! I am knocking on wood right now, trust me.
Our latest and definitely greatest round of pictures is available for viewing online. When you have lots of time to kill, check out all 218 of them! Click here and click on Kara and Bryan. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

First off, to continue on with the last post of 'Firsts', Brianna got her first tooth! I noticed it on Friday. This definately explains all the drool and waking up in the middle of the night the past few days! Addison was 11 months old when she got her first tooth so I wasn't expecting this so soon. Speaking of Addison, she reeled in her first fish today while fishing in the backyard with daddy! It was a cute little Blue Gill caught on the Barbie fishing pole from Alabama Gramma.

Halloween was a big success this year. Lots of good candy for Mommy and Daddy! Addison had a super fun Fall Festival at school on Thursday, Friday we went to Brenden's house for a 'Halloween Playdate', and Saturday we went to Kenley's house to have chili and Trick or Treat. Kenley is the daughter of a girl Bryan works with and her and Addison are just a few weeks apart in age. Addison finally got the hang of Trick or Treating this year. She and Kenley held hands the whole time and just walked right up to all the houses screaming 'Trick or Treat' and 'Happy Halloween'. It was very cute. Here are some pictures from all the events...

Brianna waiting to see her Big Sister in the St.Peters Fall Festival Halloween Parade

Our little Tinkerbell!

Baby Tinkerbell (as Addison liked to call her) hanging out watchin' the big kids at the Halloween Playdate at Brenden's house

Addison working very intently on decorating her Halloween cookie

Our attempt at a picture of both the girls on Halloween... not so good!

Addison and Kenley Trick or Treating

Firsts

Seems like we are plowing through all of Brianna's 'firsts' faster than I can keep track of. My big girl is rolling over and eating solid food and even sitting up! Brianna recently went to her 6 month check up where we found out she weighed 20 lbs 2 ozs. She is in the 97th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height! To put this in perspective, Addison weighed 20 lbs 3 ozs at her 12 month check up. I've been told she has 'Irish Genes'! We are counting down until Brianna is taller than Addison. Won't be long! Here are a couple classic First Meal photos that every Mommy takes...


Look at those adorable thighs!!


Yummy Rice Cereal!

Getting Ready for Halloween

On the first (and only) cold morning so far this season, we decided to head out to Sea World to go to Spooktacular. The kids get to dress up and go trick or treating around the park. Addison wore her Tinkerbell outfit but I didn't bring Brianna's tutu. I was worried we would be pushing it just taking her there but she ended up being such a good girl! She is quite the trooper. Here are a few pictures.

Trying to keep warm courtesy of Great Grandma Bea's warm blankie.

It warmed up! Time for Tinkerbell to pop bubbles!

This guy didn't care either way... he was giving Addison quite a show!

Also, special thanks to my poor family and friends who endured email after email of Lexi updates. She is feeling so much better since the surgery and getting in trouble just like she always did. For those of you who don't know what happened, she dislocated her hip by jumping off a couch at a doggie daycare. After numerous (stressful) unsucessful attempts to get the hip to stay in and heal naturally, we opted for surgery... Femoral Head Ostectomy. Here is a picture post op... poor thing!

Happy Baby!

Brianna was hanging out in her exersaucer the other night and all Addison did was walk up to her and she just started cracking up. Since Addison was very encouraged by this, she kept doing it... over and over! Turn up your speakers and enjoy!

Max the Monkey

Addison had the cutest project in school so I just have to share it... I think I had more fun than she did! Max the Monkey is a cute stuffed monkey that gets passed around to a new family each week. While Max is with you, you get to document your activities in a notebook that gets shared with the class at the end of the week. We had our first 'cold front' the week that we had Max so we just had to go to the park! Here are the pictures we took with Max.



Max can't wait to get out and play!



On the slide with Max.



We couldn't get Max off the Monkey Bars! They were his favorite.



Max had to take a little break with Brianna... he was getting tired.



Max getting ready to climb the rock wall.



We all came home for a snack. Max loved his banana!

Go Knights!

We headed out to our first UCF Knights game this year as a family this past weekend. Brianna stayed home with Nana thankfully because it was still ridiculously hot. We didn't make it for the whole game but we got home in time to watch the Knights win on TV in the air conditioning!


Coloring Tinkerbell while Tailgating


Brenden & Addison

Poor Lexi

Our poor ol' girl Lexi has had quite a week! She got dropped off at a fun doggie daycare a little early last Thursday so I could get all ready to head out to Texas to visit Amy really early on Friday. A few short hours later, I got the call that she had jumped off a couch about and hasn't put any weight on her leg since. We took her to the vet and found out she had dislocated her hip. Sadly, I had to cancel my trip and take care of a three legged dog instead. It's been a crazy week, in and out of the vets office and LOTS of stress and worry on my part trying to keep her still. She ultimately has been put on 'kennel rest' and isn't allowed out except a couple times a day to go potty. To top it all off, she had to get stitches on her good foot because she stepped on something and sliced it open! It's looking like she will ultimately need surgery but I will keep you posted as we learn more. Addison has been quite the helper and likes to occassionally check Lexi's heartbeat on her forehead to make sure she is okay.

Weekend at Home

We have been busy, busy, busy and I've been bad about posting pictures! Addison is doing great in school and seems to be settling in just fine. She likes her teacher and talks about some of the other little girls in the class. Brianna is growing like a weed on Miracle Gro. She is 5 months old and easily fits into 12 month clothing. She is very close to growing out of her infant car seat which is good because I can barely carry her in that thing anymore! She is working on sitting up but still needs a helping hand to get stable and stay up. This weekend, Haylee, Aunt Kim and Nana came over and the girls played. Here are a few pictures...

Okay, so this wasn't from the weekend but I had to post it. Addison got left alone with a marker for a few minutes. I started to yell at her (why she's crying) but then couldn't quite finish because the Charlie Chaplin mustache just cracked me up!

Both girls just HAD to hold Brianna as soon as she woke up so we stuck her in the middle.

How cute is this?

Haylee and Addison

My adorable Chunky Monkey!!

First Week of School

We did it! We survived our first week of school! Addison did a great job. Monday was an Open House and Addison, Brianna and I met Mrs. Pepe and checked out the classroom. Tuesday was Visiting Day and Bryan came along as well. On this day, the kids were in class a little less than 2 hours while the parents went to a meeting. Then, Thursday was the BIG day. Brianna and I dropped Addison off at 9 and waited in our first car line at noon. Addison was all smiles when she got back in the car and told me she wanted to go back. That's when I shed my first tears through all this... I am so happy she likes it. Although, the tears could be from reality setting in that I am a room mother!? Either way, here are a few pictures of my big girl on her big day.

Mommy & Daddy have Fun too!

On occassion, Bryan and I like to have a little fun too and this past Friday was our chance! A good friend of ours who shares a birthday with Bryan and Papa McGee had a big 40th Birthday Bash and we all had to dress like 80's Rockers. While it was super stressful to come up with a costume, we ended up having a blast! Bryan dressed as Kid Rock and I naturally attempted to dress as Pamela Anderson. I was told I looked like one of the playmates from 'The Girls Next Door'. Close, right? I'll just let the pictures explain...

Kid Rock and Pamela... sort of.

Full length!

Another Kid Rock. This guy had the same tattoos and even gave the finger just like Kid Rock does. He had him down perfect.

Costume prize winner. Impressive, huh?

Our Visit to Smith Lake

Okay, so truth be told that we hopped on a flight almost a month ago to head up to Smith Lake to visit Grandma and Papa Irish and I'm just now getting to post a few pictures. We had a great time as always though. Addison just loves the water and the boys had good luck this year fishing. Here are some pictures from the long weekend.