A Very Merry Christmas

As usual these pictures are going to be out of order. I hate Bloggers way of loading pics backwards. Especially since I write my posts at work and have to minimize the window so it doesn't look like I'm slacking off. Which of course I am :)

Every year we have a silly string war. One year we got John so badly he ended up having to shave his head because of all the silly string in the fro. This year was tame in comparison.

Opening presents on Christmas Eve

She got a play kitchen this year and TONS of accessories. The grocery cart was the real favorite though. We actually had trouble getting her to open anything else after that

Mimi and Grandpa

See what I mean about the grocery cart? Totally infatuated

Hiding in Mimi's napkin cabinet. She could almost close the door behind her and loved jumping out and startling people as they walked by.

Christmas Eve we headed out to the island for a little beach and Dirty Al's seafood. What is it about the beach that always makes people so tired?

Enjoying a lime at Dirty Al's. If we let her eat lime's as much as she begs for them she wouldn't have a bit of tooth enamel left

A really good family picture. We were going to have real ones taken too but the wind was 40 MPH that day and we had to cancel.

Seems like every time we go to the beach I get some variation of this picture.

Addy once again freaked out about the sand. This time though we didn't have time to let her get used to it. So some very accommodating grandparents and an uncle carted her around on the their shoulders the whole day. This is probably the only time her feet touched the ground.

Very accommodating

I can't really explain this one. I know Nate wasn't hungry. Mom cooked enough food for a small country. I'm still full!!

Making orange juice with Grandpa. One of many reasons I love the valley, fresh squeezed orange juice year round.

Addy fell head over heels for her Uncle John. Quite literally in this case

The first day we were there it was pretty cold (for valley standards). Again this picture has no explanation. I just love every one's reactions to Nate

Grandpa and Addy plugging up the hole in the fence so the neighbor dog couldn't come over to poop. It didn't work.

Addy comes from a long line of pyro's. I'm proud to say she was just as infatuated with the fire as both her parents and uncle. Hopefully she won't be as bad as John and I were as kids though. At 11 we burned down an entire clubhouse and at 14 John set himself on fire. Good memories :)

Okay I take it back. She may be as bad as John and I.

22 months and she's already set herself on fire :)

She LOVES hat's. If it's not Nate's beanie then she's sporting my Titans ball cap backwards or an old Togo army hat I have.

Nana (Nate's Mom) got Addy this table and chair set for Christmas. We've been having lots of tea parties. But if you don't slurp loudly and appreciatively you have to leave the table. She's very particular about tea drinking etiquette.

Christmas Parade

I'm going to have to do several Christmas posts just because there are so many cute pictures this year. I always marvel at how photogenic that child is.

This year we ventured out for the Mt Juliet Christmas parade. We had a blast but it was freezing!!

You know you live in Tennessee when the most popular "float" in the parade is a tricked out tractor

Addy was infatuated with the candy throwing aspect of parades. She ran out several times to grab some but only managed to grab one starlight mint. No worries though, she clutched that mint proudly all day and I found it in her pocket weeks later

Getting a better view. There were some crazy big kids who kept knocking her down and blocking her view.

Nate and I were both hysterical at the poor dog's expression on the "Spay Station" This same truck is frequently parked in front of our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. We're banking on there NOT being a connection there :)

Addy demonstrating her BRRRRR face. It was seriously freezing. About 20 degrees with a strong wind. Unfortunately about 4 days later she came down with pneumonia. Again, we're really hoping there wasn't a connection

These camels also cracked me up. They were on teeny little roller skate wheels. Probably fine for pulling a 40 pound wooden camel down the aisle at church. Not so much when battling it up our hills. The poor guys pulling them were just dying and you could hear them complaining from where we stood.


Addy and Aunt Kristen.

After the parade we had our annual "Gang Thanksgiving" Now that Kristen is back in school we rarely get to see her so Addy was thrilled.

Guilt

Yes I feel very guilty that I haven't posted since Dec 1. There isn't a single picture of Addy up from Christmas, her visit to Mimi and Grandpa's or anything else for that matter. They exist, I promise. And soon they'll make it to the interweb

This was an odd holiday season. Intense spurts on insane activity interspersed with incredible laziness. There didn't seem to be a happy medium. Depending on the day I either didn't have time to load, proof and edit or just didn't feel like it as I was so luxuriously relaxed.

Either way I have been shamed and my first resolution for 2009 is to get pictures loaded before the end of the week. I promise. Unless it gets really busy again :)

The above is pretty much the only picture I have right now, since my dad took it. It's cute though isn't it? Three generations enjoying the day after Christmas at the beach. More to come very soon. Nate is going to the Titan's playoff game this Saturday and not taking me so his payback may be picture duty :)

Monkey Joes and a Happy Thanksgiving

This is going to be a random and out of order post. Mainly because I have a horrible cold and I just don't have it in me to battle blogger getting these pictures in some sort of chronological order.

Fun times at the park. You know you live in Tennessee when your park is named Charlie Daniels

Addy has always hated swinging, it freaks her out. This day she ran right over to the swing, climbed in and swung blissfully for about 30 minutes.

I don't get this kid and her mood swings. One day we hate something, the next day it's the greatest thing ever. At least it keeps us on our toes!

Playing outside the church after Thanksgiving meal #1.

Nate has such a huge extended family (on both sides) that we have to rent out a church hall. We also have to eat two Thanksgiving meals that day which makes for a very long day and a very full belly. Let's just say Mary learned a few years ago to keep Tums in the car.

Addy playing with the extend-a-wall and wearing a fetching Indian headdress. Do all kids love these retractable walls? I remember being infatuated with them myself as a kid.

Uncle Lance showing Addy how to ride a trick properly.

I don't have an explanation for the crazy eyes. I think he just ate to many dumplings

Getting a lift from Cousin Emily who LOVED having her own real life baby to play with. Even though said real life baby is only a year and a half younger and a few inches shorter

Addy got a little possessive of the trike. When Aunt Christy tried to ride it Addy simply sat on the front wheel.

A rare picture of Mom and Addy. And we both have our eyes open!! Trust me this is as rare as spotting an elephant in the wild, in Tennessee

Messing around after a bath

Here's where the Monkey Joe portion of the title comes into play. Nashville finally got one! And we love it, we've been several times already and at $5 for all three of us to get in the price can't be beat.

The great thing about having a toddler? We didn't have any quarters and couldn't turn any of these rides on. No problem! Addy just turned the wheel, pushed the buttons and laughed away like it was the best toy ever.

When we took her back the second time we did have quarters so that's the last time we're going to get away with it. Now that she knows these things bounce and shake she's going to insist on the real deal.

Being bucked off by a killer whale. Literally, we both went flying. I almost torn my ACL again trying not to land on and crush Addy.

She's probably a bit to young for the bouncy part. She couldn't stand up at all and spent most of the time either flat on her back or scooting around on her butt. She loved it though. Everytime she fell down she would just roll around giggling.