Kiddie Party Time!

The temperature has FINALLY dropped a few degrees! Just in time for a fun Kiddie Halloween Party at Addison's friend Brenden's house. Addison wore her angel costume and kept it on, wings and all, until it was time for lunch and I took it off! Okay, so there was a halo that made it all of two minutes. I know a picture exist of her in it and I will find it! Addison had a blast playing with Brenden, Noel, Devynn, and Madison on the swingset and decorating pumpkins. I ate way too many pumpkin rolls... mmm... cream cheese icing!
As a side note, Addison is on day 5 with NO diapers... except at nap and night time. She is doing great! I was pretty nervous about the day care at the gym because it's usually pretty crazy with everyone coming and going. But she has been three times and so far, so good. It's still early to be declaring victory but I'm feeling pretty good about my goal of having her out of diapers by the time Baby Irish makes his/her debut. Yeah, Addison!!


Addison on the swing


Pumpkin decorating


Addison loved the balls!

Darn Ol' Dog

This is a picture of Lexi after eating 2 boxes of raisins and 9 granola bars one day. Addie and I came home from the gym to find wrapper all over the living room floor and my bedroom floor. She got in the pantry and just helped herself. Can you believe, she never got sick!?

At the Pumpkin Patch

To continue our preparation for Halloween, Nana Jo, Aunt Kimmy, Uncle Chi-Chi, Haylee, and the three of us went to a pumpkin patch. My goal for the day was to take one good picture of Addison so that I could make a Halloween card to send out to family. While we did get some good looking pumpkins, the picture taking didn't go so well. Eighty shots later, I have a couple so-so shots and a whole lot of this...


Addison throwing her pumpkin, again... don't know why this was so fasinating for her?


When you ask Addison to smile or say "cheese!"... this is what you get.


Seriously, what am I going to do with this hair?


Speechless.


The poor defenseless scarecrow Addison kidnapped, threw down & tackled while Haylee tried to pull this eyes out. This is when we decided to go home.

Boo Bash at the Zoo!

We spent this weekend getting ready for Halloween! On Saturday we all went with Addison's friend Brenden and his mommy and daddy to 'Boo Bash' at the Sanford Zoo. Thankfully, Brenden is pretty stable on his feet now and hugs have replaced the shoves! While most kids were dressed in costume, I decided that a morning in the Florida sun at the zoo with a white velour angel costume wasn't such a good idea. We even convince lil' Noel and big Noel to join us a little later in the day. Lil' Noel was looking like quite the swashbuckler in his pirate costume and I don't think Addison even realized who he was until we told her!


Having a snack before we watch the elephant show.


Brenden and Addison... how cute!


The Family


The boys and the kids... Hey, this picture had potential to be good!


Welcome to the wonderful world of candy!

Windy Day at the Beach

Today, Addison and I took advantage of living in Florida and hopped in the car for a quick day trip to the beach! We went with Addison's friend Keeley from the gym and had a great time. Keeley is another little Shirley Temple so there were lots of curls blowing in the wind today! Here is a picture of my little princess in next year's bathing suit (it's a little big) getting ready to hit the waves.



While Addison is a little water baby, Keeley was a much bigger fan of playing in the sand. Her mom made her her very own little ocean with no scary waves. Addison plopped herself down in between trips to the surf and back.



I forsee us making quite a few more trips now that the weather is finally starting to get a little cooler. Works for me!

Grandmother's 80th Birthday!

This past weekend was Grandmother's 80th birthday! We all went up to Tennessee to celebrate. Addison had her first non-family member babysitter while all the adults had an amazing meal at the Melting Pot. I think I gained 5 lbs just that night. Bryan, Elizabeth and I managed to finish an entire pot of chocolate so we moved on to Grandma and Papa's table! Addison and Caleb survived just fine at home with a little help from a 'Max & Ruby' DVD and markers. Then Sunday we all went to church and Grandmother got to show off her adorable great grandbabies... I think that was her favorite part of the weekend! ;) Caleb and Addison got along so well together and welcomed with open arms the newest member of the Irish clan... little puppy Kelly. Kelly is Grandma and Papa's 10 week old Golden Retriever. He was such a good pup with the babies and with a face exactly like the Cottonelle dog, how could you not love him?

I can ride my bike!

Here is a video of Addison finally getting the hang of riding her bike. Although, the more she does it, the more she goes backwards rather than forwards!

Weekend at Grandma's and Papa's

Well, this weekend Addison decided that Nana Amy was no longer Nana... she is now Grandma. We were all confused, except for Addison, who corrected anyone who referred to Amy as Nana rather than Grandma! It was pretty cute! We all had a great time and Addison and Ella even got to spend some time together. We went to Ella's Aunt Lori's farm and got to pet the horses. Addison liked the baby horse but was a little nervous to be around the big boys! Meanwhile Daddy went to Chicago and had a sports lovers weekend. He went to the Cubs game on Saturday and a Bears game on Sunday. Not to mention arriving at Wrigleyville early to watch the start of the UCF game and of course catching the Cowboys game while eating a steak at Mike Ditkas restaurant! Poor Daddy was a tired boy on Monday!

Here are a few pictures:


Addison & Ella





Cheetos Party!

Lazy Weekend

Bryan had his Annual Sales meeting this past weekend so it was up to tired little me to keep Addison occupied and happy. We did pretty good! Friday we took a quick trip to the zoo and I'm starting to realize that the real attraction is the splash pad I let her play in at the end of the day even though she tells me she wants to see the monkeys! She's good!! Saturday we had some girl time and went shopping with Nana Jo and Sunday we played with Haylee. All and all it was a great weekend and Addison and I are looking forward to just as much fun next weekend at Nana and Papa's pool! Here are a few snapshots of the weekend.


Watching the monkeys


At the splash pad




Haylee's new jeep

Now I Know My ABC's....

Yeah Addison!

Making the Best of Cabin Fever

Addison and I have been trapped inside since Tuesday morning while tropical storm Fay hangs out on top of us. So, this afternoon we decided to make the best of it and go outside anyway between the rain bands. Fortunately, we haven't been getting too much rain although as I type this the wind is stronger and the rain is heavier than its been! She looked so cute with her rain jacket on, I had to snap a picture. The picture with all her jewelry on was another attempt to kill some time her although that only lasted 5 minutes!! I didn't realize how much we went outside...

Aren't I pretty?

The Itsy Bitsy Spider....

Mom is 30!

I had my 30th birthday this weekend and had a great time! Bryan got tons of friends together for a crazy dinner at Taverna Opa on International Drive. There were napkins flying in the air, techno music blaring and dancing on the tables with belly dancers! I never knew dinner could be like that! Nichole and Fred even drove all the way up from south Florida to celebrate with me. Here are a few pictures from the night and of course some of Addison because I can't post without a picture or two of her.

Bryan & I...

I came back from the bathroom and this is what I saw... my husband dancing on the table with a belly dancer!

Some of the girls dancing on the table...

I was forced on the table while the waiter blew this really loud horn and the entire restaurant sang "Happy Birthday" to me!

This was Addisons present to mommy... a few minutes alone with a marker and look what happens!

Irish Family Reunion

We all headed up to Alabama for a trip to see most of the Irish family at Gramma and Papa's lake house. All 19 of us snuggled up together and had a great time! There was lots of swimming, boating, fishing, and relaxing. We celebrated Addison's birthday, Aunt Laura and Uncle Carl's anniversary, and Papa's birthday. It was quite a celebration! Addison got to meet some new cousins... Mattie, Jonah, and Preston as well as see an old familar face... Caleb. Papa got the Biggest Fishie award with a 22 lb Striped Bass.


Papa's Fishie


Aunt Elizabeth with Addison and Caleb


Addison opening presents


Big smiles from Caleb


Yummy! Chocolate!

Addison's 2nd Birthday Fiesta

Addison had quite a weekend and celebrated her 2nd birthday on Saturday with a bang. Her guest list included the usual suspects... lil' Noel and cousin Haylee. It actually made the party enjoyable by adult standards with such a small group of kids! Noel's mommy and daddy were SO gracious to let Addison have her party at their house so that all the tikes (and pups, Lexi was invited too!) could enjoy the pool. Which was perfect because it was hot as could be! Addison had been asking for weeks for her Dora the Explorer party until the morning of.... Daddy asked Addison if she was ready for her Dora party and she announced that she wanted a Diego party, not a Dora party! But in typical toddler fashion changed her mind again and was happy to have Dora celebrate with her. The kids swam and played and finally Addison and Noel (and their Daddy's) drifted off for a long afternoon nap while the Mommy's enjoyed some relaxing time in the pool. All in all, a great day for everyone!!

I hope to gradually add more pictures since there were a few activites that I wasn't able to snap shots with on my camera. Enjoy!

Addison LOVES to swim with Daddy.


Mommy's 7 layer dip is always a crowd pleaser!


"Happy Birthday to me!"

My Little Fishie

What can I say?

American Idol 2025?

Addison finally got to play with Haylee this weekend! She has been waking up from her naps saying, "I wanna play with Laylee". Those girls are just two peas in a pod! I have a video here that's a little bit long. My apologies for the beginning, Haylee has quite a set of pipes on her! The girls also took a trip to the playground so I've included a few pictures of them there. Enjoy!

Fishing Lesson

Happy Fourth! We had a pretty relaxed holiday weekend but still managed to have a little fun. After a "big kids only" night for Jordana's fabulous surprise 30th birthday, the family headed over to Isaacs for a BBQ and some swimming. Addison is a born swimmer and just loves the water. She could stay in the pool all day if we would let her! Unfortunately, I left my camera at the party so it might be a few days before I can get some more pictures up. Since I know I couldn't go another week without an entry, I found this picture that I had download and I thought was sweet. Bryan was out back fishing and of course Addison wanted to join him with her little pink Barbie fishing pole. When I went out to check on them I saw this fishing lesson taking place. I wish I could have gotten closer to take a better picture but I didn't want to interrupt. Enjoy!