4:45 a.m.

This is the time of day, every day, that AJ likes to bless me with his presence.  I am not exaggerating... he has been like clock work (no pun intended) for months now.  It's not all bad though, because he goes to bed at 7:30 - that's over 9 hours of sleep a night!  You might ask, "Why not put him to bed later?"  Good thinking, but this little man has an internal clock that says to get up at 4:45 no matter what time you put him down.  During the week, it's definitely manageable.  I would normally get up at 5:30 to get ready for work, so waking up at 4:45 isn't much different, and it allows me some cuddle time with my little guy.  But 4:45 comes WAY too early on the weekends! 

So as I walk my groggy self to his crib every morning at 4:45, cursing the sleep gods ( I can't blame him, so I have to blame something), and pick up my snuggly little man, he shows me his huge grin and I forget what time it is...

The hike

Aaron and I tackled Badger Mountain this last weekend for some much needed exercise on my part.  Little did we know that we'd face the cold and wind gusts up to nearly 40 mph, but we made it!  I needed some coaxing from Aaron throughout because I am what they call - OUT OF SHAPE!  Aaron, of course, did great.  Overall it was a nice adventure with great views from the top of the mountain.

 I can barely manage this smile, because I was SO out of breath!

Tummy Time

Birthday Festivities

Addison celebrated three birthday parties this year:  one in Wenatchee with family and friends, one in Richland with Aaron, AJ and I, and then another one in Richland with her "friends" and their parents.  It seemed like every other day we were singing Happy Birthday and she was loving every minute of it!  She received so many neat clothes and toys.  Thank you to everyone who joined us in the celebrations - they are getting more and more precious as she gets older.

 Wenatchee "Princess" Party

 Her actual Birthday - notice the McDonald's (she loves cheeseburgers)

 Decorating sugar cookies with her friends

Woo Woo

I promised a picture of good ol' Woo Woo.  Read about him by clicking here.

A clean bill of health...

Addison had her 3-year check up this morning and she passed with flying colors!  She weighed in at 35 pounds (80th percentile) and 37 inches tall (50th percentile).  She passed her hearing exam and her ears were squeaky clean!  I also had him tell her to stop biting her dang nails - it's a crazy habit she some how picked up!!

We're happy to have a healthy child and now we're gearing up for AJ's 4 month check up in just a few weeks!

Oh, the pink blanket

Otherwise known as the pink "bwaintit."  Addison is in love with her pink blanket.  In the picture below, she has just grabbed it after being without it ALL day at daycare.  This blanket reminds Aaron and I of  the good ol' days with "Woo Woo."  Woo Woo was Addi's extremely large stuffed dog - larger than her, in fact.  She couldn't say the word dog when she started becoming obsessed with it, so instead she called it Woo Woo because dogs say woof woof.  This dog traveled everywhere with us... car, daycare, bathroom, high chair, etc.  But one day big ol' Woo Woo went bye-bye - Addi puked on him and I wasn't about to spend time washing it all out (it hadn't been the first time).  I plan on going through some older pictures soon and when I find one of Woo Woo, I'll be sure and post it!

So now it's the pink blanket... I wonder what will be next?

Flash vs. No Flash

I've been trying for weeks to get a decent picture of AJ smiling.  Finally I realized that I needed to simply turn off the flash... I'll blame it on my "mom brain."

 Flash...

No Flash!