Little Chickens

Having sick parents on Halloween doesn't make for a very eventful day. Both girls were feeling well, but Andrew and I were both sick, so we didn't do much. We let the girls dress up and play and then we took them for a little candy walk at Hy-Vee. Pretty lame! They're too young to know what they missed though.
Here are a two sweet little chickens. I found this cute little costume for Ella at a garage sale and Addison decided she wanted to be a chicken too. So we found a matching one.
It's hard to get Addison to stand still for pictures, so I bribed her with a little candy.

It's not hard to catch Ella smiling, because she's always smiling. She's just hard to catch because she doesn't stay still.She loved picking up this little pumpkin. Her face shows how heavy it was. She had so much fun picking it up and rolling it around.
Ella doesn't look very happy about being stuffed into this costume.

On Thursday evening, we carved our pumpkins. The girls were anxiously waiting for Andrew to get home so we could get started.

Daddy decided he wanted to make a special one for his girls.
The girls had fun playing with their bowls full of the gooey stuff.
They got a little bored so we gave them some M&Ms. This was Ella's first time to have candy. She had the biggest smile on her face the entire time.

The final masterpiece - Tinkerbell. I was pretty impressed for Andrew's first attempt at doing something different.

On Friday, Addison got to dress up for her gymnastics class. She decided she wanted to wear a dog costume instead of her chicken.

It's been a while since I last updated our blog. We've been really busy, but have been having a lot of fun.
Ella is now climbing EVERYTHING. Today, I was cleaning the kitchen and Addison yelled, "Mommy, she's on the table." I thought, there's no way. But when I ran in, Ella was on her belly on top of the table. She has learned to pull the drawers out and climb up those. I put her on the floor and the next thing I knew she was back up there again.


She is always so proud of herself when she gets to the top of something.

This past Sunday, our church had their Fall Fest. Both girls had a lot of fun and loved the smores, the hayride, and the bounce house the best.
They had fun playing with their good friend, Charlotte. Charlotte and Addison walked hand in hand when they were going to all the different activities. So sweet!

Addison sat so still while getting her face painted. I haven't seen her sit this still in a long time.Last week we went to the Parents as Teachers Fall Fest. Here the girls were scooping seeds out of the pumpkin. Ella thought this was pretty fun.


They also both loved the cereal necklaces. Maybe that's why they didn't last very long.
Addison asked me if I could braid her hair like her cousin Noel. So, here's my first attempt at braids. Addison loved it.

So, I decided Ella needed her first pigtails also.We love playing with Harrison. He's such a sweetie!

Here are some random pictures of the girls. They are finally both sitting still long enough for me to get a picture.

Here's what happens though after I make them sit too long for pictures. Daddy has taught them how to wrestle quite well and they both love it.

Our Little Walker

Ella is now walking everywhere these days. She just started walking really well last week. This video is of one of the days that she started walking a lot. I'm still surprised when I look up and my baby girl is walking over to me. I love it! It's also more fun to be outside because she is able to walk around as opposed to crawling.
You'll notice her little temper when she gets close to the camera. That's when I backed up and she was wanting to get the camera.



Ella also got to walk around on the farm this weekend. She LOVED the cows. Whenever we were inside, she kept pointing out the windows because she wanted to see the cows. Both the girls had fun going outside with Poppy and Grandma to see the cows.

Ella loved getting close to the cows with Poppy.

Grandma made all these adorable hair bows for Addison and Ella. Addison decided to put them all in her hair at once.

Busy Weekend

On Friday, Addison had her first gymnastics class at The Little Gym. She LOVED it and is already excited about going back to her next class. There are only five kids in her class and she jumped right in with them. I was afraid she might be a little shy, but she wasn't at all. Ella and I had fun watching her through the glass windows. Ella kept waving at her.
Here is a picture of her right before we left. She was too excited to stand still for a picture. She has also started this cheesy smile when I ask her to smile for pictures. Andrew says it's like the Chandler smile on the Friends episode when him and Monica are getting engagement pictures.


Friday afternoon we went to Magic House in St. Louis. I used to go there a lot as a child, so I have really been wanting to take the girls. Addison absolutely loved it and it brought back a lot of wonderful memories for me. Friday evening was the perfect time to go. There weren't very many people there at all, so we didn't have to wait to do anything.
Both the girls loved playing at the water table.

Addison the mechanic. I was so amazed at all the fun things they had for kids to do.
Addison's favorite part was the grocery store. She loved shopping and then checking herself out. It must be in her genes or something. :)

Ella was a pretty good little checker also.

Here we are at the static ball. Neither girl was very excited about doing it at the time, but Addison thought the pictures were pretty funny afterward. Their hair is so fine that it just stood straight out.

I think Daddy had as much fun as the girls playing with everything.
Here is Addison coming out of the three story slide.

After a rough night of very little sleep in a hotel, we headed for the zoo. Andrew decided to stay in the car with Ella while she slept (which she slept for a little over 2 hours) and I took Addie into the zoo.

Addison wanted to see the penguins the entire time. As we were trying to get there we would stop and look at other animals, but she just kept saying she wanted to go see the penguins. As soon as we got into see the penguins one of the penguins was making a really loud squawking noise and she was ready to leave. That's a three year old for sure.

We also took a ride on the carousel.

We had a wonderful time with our girls. It has been so much fun having Andrew around more during his research year.
*Note the black eye in all the pictures. I was playing chase with Addison the other night and she ran straight into our desk and hit her eye. I felt so badly for her.

Ella's First Birthday

Ella turned one this past Sunday! I can't believe my little baby is already one. This year has gone so quickly. Several of my friends have recently had babies and it's hard to realize that Ella was that little a year ago. She has been such a blessing to our lives. We have soaked up every minute with her and have enjoyed all her little phases she has gone through in this first year. It has been fun watching Addison and Ella develop a loving, (most of the time) sisterly bond. I hope they grow to be the best of friends. Addison already tells us that Ella is her best friend.
On Saturday, we had a birthday party with Andrew's family.
She didn't really seem very interested in opening presents so Addison and Matt helped her out. At one point we found them opening her presents on the side. They are quite the pair.

Ella loved riding her horsey from Grandma and Poppy.

Ella was very close to taking her first steps at her party. However, she waited until just a few hours after everyone left.
Ella spotted her birthday cake and got very excited. I don't know how she knew what it was or that she was really going to like it. I guess maybe she has seen Addison get really excited about cake.

Ella really enjoyed her cake. She tried to put her face into it but couldn't reach it, so she just dug in with two hands.
She amazingly didn't get very messy. She got most of it in her mouth.

Grandma made her a cake that looked like a ball. Ella is very into balls these days. She will chase them all around the house and actually plays catch with Daddy. It's so cute how she throws the ball to him.


Ella and her sweet cousin Noel.
On Sunday, we went to the Lake to celebrate with my parents.
Ella was very excited to get to eat cake again. This time she knew what was coming and again loved every minute.
Addison was pretty happy to get cake two days in a row also, especially pink cake.


Addison helped her open presents again and was definitely more interested in all the new toys.

Ella just loved playing with the paper. Ella eats everything, so of course she had to try out the wrapping paper.

Ella loves riding in her car from Nana and Papa.

Thanks to all our family for making Ella's first birthday so special.

Cinderella

I took Addison and Noel to see the play Cinderella at TRYPS yesterday. The girls got to wear their princess dresses, dance at the ball during the play with the actresses, get autographs and pictures, and go to a tea party after the show. They were pretty cute little princesses. It was such a great little musical. I was really impressed with all the talent from the young actors and actresses. Addison was very shy when it came time to dance. At first, she wouldn't look at or talk to her partner. She was just in awe the whole time and stared at everyone around her instead of dancing much.

Addison and Noel truly enjoyed the afternoon. Addison couldn't stop talking about it because she was so excited. She has never gotten to any thing like this before.
I should have real tea parties with her and her friends more often. She loved this part the best.


It was a lot of fun taking these girls to see Cinderella.

Happy 3rd Birthday Addison

Last Saturday was Addison's 3rd birthday. I can't believe she is already three. Addison is such a sweet little girl and we are enjoying every little minute with her. She keeps us laughing with her imagination, the things she remembers, and her multiple purses and bags filled with random things.
On Saturday morning, we opened presents first thing. She most loved her back-pack that she immediately filled with many things.

Then we had mickey mouse pancakes with candles for breakfast. She burned her hair on the candles. Daddy had it out so quickly that we really didn't even know what had happened. We were lucky. You can see the ends on fire in this picture.

Then we had a family birthday party. It's always fun having family around. Addison loved all her new presents and is having so much fun playing with all of them.
Matt and Noel are helping her open presents.

On Sunday we had a birthday party with Addison's friends. It was so much fun having everyone here to play. We have been blessed with such wonderful friends.


Grandma was going to make Addison a castle cake for her birthday. However, she ended up being sick. We were so sad that she couldn't be with us to celebrate. So, we went to Hy-Vee and got a princess cake. It was no where near as cute as the one grandma was going to make, but Addison loved the princesses.

What a fun weekend for our sweet little princess!!

My Little Princesses

Addison loves dressing up in her princess/fairy dresses. She is such a girly girl. She usually puts a dress on with a tutu over it. The other night she wanted to dress up Ella too. Ella just laughed. She loved playing with the fairy wand and following Addison around.

We got Ella a new walking toy. It's a really cute little stroller but is low enough for her to push around. She stands up behind it and just smiles and laughs. She has only taken a few steps behind it.
Addison loves pushing it all around too, but is really sweet about sharing it with Ella. Sometimes, she'll even go get it just for Ella. She is such a great big sister and has started having a lot of fun playing with Ella.

The Past Few Months

Time flies with two active little girls. At the end of the day, I often think I should add pictures to our blog but am too tired. So, here are a few pictures of the girls just playing and being silly.
Addison is sitting in the refrigerator having a "grape party", while picking/eating grapes out of the bowl. Both girls love to sit right on that ledge of the refrigerator. Ella also likes to pull all the things out of the door.Both girls are loving playing in the play kitchen. This is one of Ella's favorite things to do. When I put her on the floor, this is one of the first things she crawls too. Addison is finally learning to share her things with Ella. At first, she didn't know what to do about Ella getting into all her things. Now she puts all her "prize possessions" up high so Ella doesn't get them. She is constantly asking "Where's Ella?"/"Is Ella on the floor?" because she doesn't want her crawling around getting into her things.

The girls are enjoying so much of each other lately. They love to play on this slide together and hide behind the curtains together. They both just laugh and laugh.

Here is Addison and all her random things. She has become quite the collector lately. She puts all kinds of things into anything that she can carry around like a purse. We have found it quite amazing the number of things she can fit in her purses. And she knows everything she puts in there. If we ask her where something is, she can go find the purse and get it out.
Ella thinks it's so funny jumping in her jumperoo.
Addison and Charlotte, one of her best buddies, are actually sharing a toy instead of fighting over the toy. They had a lot of fun driving this car together.
Our friend Liz borrowed a bounce house from another friend and she got it out one morning for our Music Time friends. Both girls really enjoyed it. Addison had even more fun in it at Charlotte's birthday party. Thanks for such a fun party Liz and Jon.

In May, we went to Down and the Farm night at one of the parks here in Columbia. We went with Charlotte and her mommy, Liz. They got to see real farm animals and play different games.
Here the girls are getting fish out of a pond.

Addison is milking a cow.Playing with Papa is always fun. They love to play outside at my parents house and they loved playing in the wagon.

Addison is wearing Papa's hard hat. She thought this was so funny.
Look at these cute dresses Grandma Wheeler made for the girls.
We have spent a lot of time playing inside because of all the rain. Addison has been very creative with all her playing.

Easter

We had a great Easter. The girls each got a basket of goodies from Nana and Papa. Addison loved the little bunnies and of course she has claimed Ella's too. My parents and grandpa came to spend the day with us.

We couldn't get Addison to look at the camera very often, but we captured a few pictures against her will.

Sweet little Ella - always smiling.

It's so hard to get a picture with both of them smiling.

Ella loved playing with my grandpa. He let her play with his watch and she loved it.

The week before Easter, Andrew's mom was here for a week. Addison had so much fun spending time with her and her cousins, Noel and Matt. They had many Easter egg hunts and played together a lot. Addison just loves being with her cousins so much.

The kids are waiting to go through the door to find all the eggs.


Even Ella was trying to get some eggs. She is very close to crawling.

Acapulco

We went to Acapulco a few weeks ago with my parents and had a wonderful time. It was very relaxing and so much fun. Addison spent so much time in the pool and playing in the sand on the beach. Ella was pretty laid back and we just toted her along everywhere. Both the girls were fantastic.

We had a lot of fun flying kites with Papa. He even got a princess kite for Addison. She was so excited when she saw the kite. She only lasted a few minutes flying the kite though. Thanks Papa for such a great kite.

We spent most of the day at the pool everyday. Addison loved playing in the castle and spent most of her time running across the bridge with her bucket.

Ella even took a few naps at the pool.Addison loved playing in the biggest sandbox ever. We played on the beach most mornings and evenings. She would play while we flew kites. Ella loved being outside watching Addison.


Always playing!




Thanks to Papa and Nana for such a wonderful vacation.

Addison in Papa's Store

Addison's Papa Woods is remodeling one of his grocery stores in Stockton, MO. Addison is the little girl in the middle of the mural.

No More Paci

We finally got rid of Addison's paci a couple of weeks ago. We had been telling her that when we got back from New York City we were getting rid of paci. So when we got home, we were talking about it one evening and she decided to go throw it away and get something at Toys R Us to sleep with instead. This was so hard for all of us. Andrew and I realized that she is growing up too quickly, especially with this and potty training. She is still having a few sleep issues with no paci, but is doing a lot better than we ever imagined.
At Toys R Us, Addison decided to get twin baby dolls to sleep with. She also saw this baby bathtub that she really wanted and since Andrew and I were feeling so bad about taking her paci away, we let her get it too. She loves it and hasn't stopped playing with it since we got it.

The girls have been having so much fun playing together lately. Ella just adores Addison. Addison can make Ella laugh and smile when no one else can. I can already tell they are going to be great friends.

Woods Supermarket Girls

The girls are wearing their Woods Supermarket shirts and Ella is sitting in Papa's cart. I really wanted a good picture of the girls in these shirts before they outgrew them. That was definitely more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I don't think I ever did get both of them smiling. I even had Andrew helping me.

The Wheeler Kids

We tried to get a good picture of all the grandkids together for Christmas. This was not an easy task, especially with a 4 year old, two 2 year olds, and a baby. We used to try to take them to JC Penney's and it was very difficult last time. This year we just decided to do it on our own. We never could get everyone looking at the camera and smiling.


Finally, a good one!