Daddy's Girl

Addison and John have been best buds lately...she sure loves her daddy!!!

Happy Birthday John!

We celebrated John's birthday on the 28th and spoiled him with all things a toddler would enjoy...lucky him! 

Addison knew exactly what she wanted to get her daddy for his birthday -- a teddy bear and balloon.  So a couple of weeks prior to the big day we went to the store and she ultimately settled on a stuff bunny for him as they are just more abundant at the stores these days and she promptly came home and told John exactly what she had bought him...sigh.  So I decided to hold off on the balloon and we made that purchase day-of and surprised daddy with it while we were still in the store!  Both the balloon and bunny hardly left Addison's side all day.  She went as far as requesting the balloons stay right outside her bedroom door as she napped so she could see them as soon as she woke up.

Instead of a traditional cake I opted to make a towering stack of cookies sandwiched together with super sweet brown sugar frosting.  It looked really pretty but it was a little too sweet for all of us except Addison...ha!

For dinner we went to the Catfish Hole...yes, I took my husband to a restaurant with the word 'hole' in it for his birthday dinner.  But it was his choice and since it was a Friday during Lent it seemed very appropriate and not somewhere we would normally go.

John's big birthday gift didn't arrive until Saturday afternoon and he spent most of the rest of the weekend enjoying it.  He is the proud new owner of The Big Green Egg and has already smoked us a yummy chicken and pork shoulder.  I must say the meat is pretty tasty!  Now I just have to start coming up with new recipes to use pulled pork in...ha!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!

Little Giggles & Friends

It's Spring Break this week.  What does that mean for a toddler...everything that normally keeps us busy (the library, classes at the gym,  MMO) is cancelled for the week.  So we met up with some friends at a local indoor activity/play place (Little Giggles) for some morning entertainment.   Problem was the place was packed and the kids didn't want to play on the same toys at the same time so the mommys couldn't catch-up and chat as planned.  We solved that problem by continuing the playdate and grabbed lunch together.  I think Addison enjoyed playing with all the different toys...even if she wasn't playing with her little friends.

Pictutes of my munchkin...

A Toddler's Imagination

Addison's little imagination continues to WOW us every single day...the things that girl comes up with in her head -- ha!  Like most toddler girls, she loves her dolls and stuffed animals...plays with them, talks to them, sings and dances with them.   Most days as we run errands or go to swim lessons or whatever a doll or stuff animal also has to accompany us and gets buckled into the backseat of the car.  And of course she plays house and/or kitchen but her favorite things to play lately are airplane, basketball game and restaurant.

AIRPLANE...
Airplane typically involves mom or dad and Addison and both need to also be carrying a baby doll.  We get our tickets (which is play money from her cash register) and then Addison proceeds to "beep them" with the scan gun from the cash register -- a la handing our tickets to the gate agent as we board the plane.  She then pulls her chairs out from her coloring table and sets them up one in front of the other.  Mom or dad usually sits up from and Addison and baby sit behind.  We buckle our seat belts and then have to put our arms out and act like we are flying.  Of course, Addison decides when the flight is finished and we are allowed to unbuckle and put the babies back in the strollers.  Sometimes we then need to take the babies to play at the airplane park, which is what she likes to do at O'Hare...ha!  Girl travels too much!

BASKETBALL GAME...
Basketball game starts very much like airplane, Addison hands out tickets and then "beeps them" but while we are at the cash register she also takes out a little money for popcorn.  We then get her keys and hop on her balance bikes and ride around the first floor, ultimately ending up in front of the TV or her little basketball hoop.  The chairs come out from her coloring table again and are lined up so we have front row seats for the game.  We sit court side and enjoy our pretend popcorn...

RESTAURANT...
Restaurant is a big production!  We have to sit around the dinning room table and each seat needs to be occupied by someone or something...there are eight chairs!  So baby and dolly and duckie and mickey and kitty and so on and so on all get placed around the table...she does leave a spot for her and me.  She then gets her stool from the bathroom and takes it into the kitchen so she can see inside the utensil drawer and selects and spoon, fork and knife for each one of her friends.  And I have to get napkins out so she can set a proper place for everyone.  Once everyone has what they need Addison requests paper and pen (she has to settle for a crayon) so she can take orders.  Sometimes she scribbles down orders and sometimes I am requested to write but most often the orders are the same -- I order soup and water and the toys either order soup and water like me or a kids milk and beans are rice like her.  Thankfully she is content with drawing the line there and I don't have to fill-up water cups for everyone but I'm sure we are just days away from that request :)

Made By M.E. Update

As busy as ever in the Made By M.E. kitchen...

Happy St Patrick's Day

We are dressing the part.
We have festive treats.
And our corn beef and cabbage dinner is cooking away in the slow cooker.

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!!!

Spring Fever

We had 2 days of 70+ degree weather this week and while I'm ready for Spring to come (and stay) Addison would rather play in the last tiny bit of snow that we still have...insisting on wearing her boots and playing with her shovel.  After a little convincing I did get her to ride her scooter and blow some bubbles.