Addy saw an old photo of Daron and I and asked Dad "Where was I?"  Daddy told her she wasn't born yet. She said "No Where WAS I?"  So Daddy said you were still in Heaven.  "Oh I was with the dead dogs." Addy replied. 

Yesterday Addy and I were at the park.  There were a ton of kids there and a lot of distracted parents. I pushed Addy on the swing and played one of our favorite games.  I push her high and then stand in front of her at just the right distance so her feet hit me.  I say "I am just standing her minding my own business looking at the birds"  and then WHACK Addy kicks me and I pretend to stumble and fall and yelp.  She laughs SO hard that I can't help but laugh to the point of tears.  Then I say "What the heck? A big bird just flew by and knocked me in the head."  Well while we were doing this we got quite an audience and Addy was thrilled that all the kids were watching and laughing too.  After 30 minutes I told her she needed to give another kid a chance to swing on the kiddie swing and we went to the slide.  There were a bunch of boys throwing rubber at each other. Where were the parents?  The playground is covered with rubber pieces from a local stamping company.  Addy wanted to pretend she was driving the boat - they have a steering wheel on top of one of the  jungle gym.  A little boy saw Addy going for the steering wheel and ran to it and said "No, I am steering it."  I threw him off the play set - no kidding that was just my mommy fantasy.  I ACTUALLY said "Oh I thought you were going to go down the slide and protect the ship from sharks.  We needed someone with big muscles to take on the sharks."  The kid looked at me like I was from outerspace and then said "No I have a knife." (He was pretending he had a fake knife on his hip) If I was still in Houston I might have had to pat him down to make sure. So the kid left and slayed the sharks periodically coming back for more encouraging words and a handful of "fish."  Where were the parents? In the meantime this little girl about 3 or 4 hurt her bottom on the slide (not bad but where were her parents). This was Daron and my conversation later that night.


Jen: "Addy and I had fun at the park today but where are all the parents (then told him about our games)"
Daron: "Addy and I play that game too.  I don't know how the parents can't watch their kids closer"
Jen: "Is it our age"
Daron: "I don't know.  You don't think we are smothering her?"
Jen: "I was the only adult on the jungle gym today......"

Mimi and Papa from Florida sent Addy a cute little hat from their cruise.  Addy loved it but DID NOT want me to take a photo of her. 

Daddy turns 38!  Addy made a chocolate cake for Daddy and really wanted to decorate it with balls.  Footballs, golf balls, basketballs etc.  Mommy however wasn't on the ball enough to get that done (no pun intended!)  Addy put three candles in the cake representing that Dad was still in his thirties ( unlike her old mom).

singing happy birthday to Dad

Addy and the Butterfly

"I have Braxton"


Yesterday Addy made a new friend. Her name is Cedar and she is turning four next month. We met her and her Mom at the library and they invited us over to their house. On the way over Addy kept asking "What was her name Mom?" and I would say "Cedar" and she would say "I am so excited to go to Cedars house!". We literally had this same conversation at least 6 times. It was pretty cute.

Cedar asked Addy if she had any brothers or sisters {Cedar has two older brothers}. Addy said "I have Braxton". Braxton is Addy's neighbor friend. He is 5 and can come over all the time and they play like brother and sister. The benefit for me is I can send him home when they start to bicker.

Addy had her first "Satan" episode in front of Daddy the other night. In her defense I let her have too much sugar and didn't make her eat enough good food. It was her Dad's birthday so we had cake and ice cream and then during the bath the meltdown began. Ironically, I had just mentioned to Daron that most of my friends had started a time out for their little ones. His response was "I can't see why we would ever have to give Addy a time out" and then something about her being perfect ;) Not that I blame him. Most of the time he can turn a grumpy situation into a funny situation. He has an amazing knack for getting her to do what we need her to do. He also makes voices and persona's for all of her plastic animals - the anteater for example calls her "kid" and talks like a mobster. But I digress.
Somehow she got stuck on "I want bubbles" as we pulled her out of her bubble bath after she had been in there an hour, the water cold and her skin pruned up. 45 minutes of yelling "I want bubbles" while crying, pulling Daddy by his shirt to the bathroom, making Mommy look at her as I tried to ignore her. We tried every trick in our book and nothing worked. She didn't even know what she wanted or how to calm herself down. When I felt myself losing my temper Daron took over and vice versa. I don't think either one of us would have been surprised if her head spun all the way around and smoke came out of her ears. Finally Daron and I were exhausted and defeated and we just flopped down in our bed. She crawled up on the bed still crying, still saying "I want bubbles" and kicking or hitting to get our attention. We ignored and protected our vulnerable parts :) Eventually, she tired herself out and Daron started reading a kids book. We acted like we didn't want her to read with us so of course she wanted to read with us. A few little whimpers throughout the book but it worked. Daron left Addy and I to fall asleep and I am sure he went outside and smoked a pack of cigarettes.

The next morning Addy and I were sitting in the living room and out of the blue she said "I want bubbles" I froze. I think I have post traumatic stress syndrome...

Congrats to my Uncle Bill and Addy's Great Uncle Bill!
 William ["Bill"] Corbett (or Uncle Bill) is now the Senior Vice President, Sales. He works for Rémy Cointreau USA, Inc., the wholly owned subsidiary of Rémy Cointreau S.A., France.

Kirsten, Addy and I after lunch at Best Friends. 

Addy enjoyed the sand and water at Zion.

Fairy Addy contemplates flying over the canyon.

Addy loved the lip couch at a little store.

Kirsten and Addy at Zion

Observation Point hike on Sunday - Addy stayed home with Daron.

6508 Feet

Slot Canyons are my Favorite.  So is hiking without many people!

Kirsten and I hiked the 8 mile round trip to Observation Point in Zion National Park.  It took two and a half hours to hike up there and two hours to come down.  The first thirty minutes about killed me - it is a 1.5 mile ascend and I thought I would die.  After that it was all good.