I LOVE Christmas!

That is all...

Trick-or-Treat!

We had a great time tonight. After going trunk-or-treating at my grandma's church (and playing TONS of games there) we came home and surveyed the loot.

The Biggest Pumpkin in the WORLD...

...according to Adara.

We finally (I'm such a slacker sometimes) got a pumpkin today and Adara helped clean the "yucky slimy guts" out, put the pattern for the "Trick or Treat" (I did not want to free-hand that!), and she helped carve the pumpkin! We had so much fun.

Adara has decided to be a pirate (cause pirates are way cool) for Halloween this year. I'll be a good mommy/daughter-in-law/sister-in-law/cousin/friend/I'm sure I'm forgetting something,oh yeah sister and get Halloween pictures up on Sunday.

Pups

Our sweet new puppies (and mom Cassie), these pictures are a little old. About 3ish days after they were born. They are now 2 weeks old and have opened their eyes all the way as of today. They are all girls but ours is named Agamemnon (thanks Ollie). I jokingly said that if ours was a girl we would have to call her Agathamemnon...I am NOT calling her that :)

By the way Agamemnon is the one that I took single shots of she's so cute with white collar and the stripe between her eyes.

My Silly Girl

I just love this kiddo! She makes me laugh-so-hard-all-the-time.

Lil Miss Smarty Pants

The rotten child that is absolutely adorable has learned how to read such basic things as "Isopropyl alcohol" and "hydrocortisone ." Apparently while shopping for shampoo and stuff for the dog that decided to make its home in the backyard, Adara grabbed the hydrocortisone spray and when asked about it explained that "the dog has itchies like I do." (By the way she uses hydrocortisone when her excema breaks out real bad, or used to until we got the miracle cream). As far as the Isopropyl alcohol goes, Nicole felt it was necessary for the child to learn it. The only downfall of this is, with knowledge comes great power (and with great power comes great responsibility) and should a three year old really have this much power?

Edit: Ok so this is why I don't allow Ollie to update Adara's blog...He left out part of the story. Like he said we were shopping for doggy supplies for the cute pup that picked us for it's owners. When I got to the checkout I noticed the lady scan something that I hadn't picked out, so I asked her what it was (the hydrocortisone spray). I know I didn't put it in the cart so I asked Adara if she had put the bottle in there, her reply was "the dog has itchies like I do" (which is true, the pup has hot spots). My only guess is that she read the word hydrocortisone (yes she knows that word, from having to use it for excema). Also in the same shopping trip we walked by the aisle with the alcohol and peroxide stuff when Adara informed me that she had found Isopropyl Alcohol (she pointed out the bottle to me and was correct). Little back story; she knows what Isopropyl Alcohol is because we used it to remove her temporary tattoos (that she's obsessed with). Back to what Ollie said...should a three-year-old have this much power?

Florida

Adara and I went on vacation to Florida (without Ollie, it was sad) and we had a great time. We stayed with Grandma and Papaw in their condo (Kissimmee) while Aunt Lee Ann, Uncle Glen, Joseph, Trevor, Evan, and Iliana stayed in the other condo. Other than seriously missing Ollie it was great fun.

We went to the beach and to Busch Gardens among many other things. Silly me forgot my camera when we went to Busch Gardens but I did manage to remember my brain...I mean my camera when we went to Cocoa Beach.

From At the Beach

From At the Beach

From At the Beach

At the Beach

Reading!!

Adara read her first full book today, all by herself! (video to come) I can't begin to explain how proud of her we are. After reading she went around telling all her aunts and uncles that they could not read. Then to prove her point later (about 3 or so hours later) she had Uncle Chris "try" to read, when he couldn't she took the book from him and read it again. To top that, I was telling her what a big girl she is when she looked at me very seriously and said; "I'm a little girl but I can read like a big girl 'cause I'm smarter than big girls." All I could say (after I stopped laughing) was, yes you are sweetie.

She makes me so proud to be her mom.

Another sorta allergy

So I say "sorta" because like pineapple Adara is now allergic to the juice of watermelon. I'll start with pineapple: wherever the juice touches her she breaks out in hives; itchy, red, whelps. She can eat it with a fork and nothing happens, it's only when there is contact with her skin.

Now she's had watermelon lots before (and even gotten it on her skin) and never had a hive problem. Yesterday, we were eating watermelon and all of a sudden she's freaking out because she's itching ALL over. We ran upstairs, took her clothes off, and put her in the shower. I didn't take pictures so you'll have to use your imagination while I describe what it looked like.

If you "draw" a line with your finger from your left ear lobe, across and under your nose, and then on to the right ear lobe that will be the starting point of the hives. Now they were all the way down her cheeks, chin, neck and stopped just at her collar bone. Her hands and arms were covered from her elbows down. And where some juice had dripped down her leg and onto her foot, she had a line of hives.

All it took was 15min., a little children's benadryl, and her hydrocortisone (that we use for eczema) to clear it up.

So it looks like, as with pineapple, the only way she can eat watermelon is with a fork. So keep in mind she's not prissy (well maybe a little) she has a juice allergy! :)

The best place to watch Dad...

...play video games. Seriously, it's like THE best spot in the room.

Camptastic

Adara and I went to Bear Creek to camp with Grandma and Papaw the last couple days (we left Ollie at home so he could do some home work..hahaha). We had a blast! The weather was amazing, although out there on the lake it did get a little chilly at night. We explored, fished, and roasted marshmallows. It was perfect.

From Catching up from Nic's phone

From Camping with Grandma and Papaw

From Camping with Grandma and Papaw

One fish, Two fish...

I'm so proud of our little fisher-girl! Yesterday, while we were camping with Grandma and Papaw, we went out on the boat. Adara had asked Papaw if he would teach her how to fish. So we bought some crickets and dug up some worms so she could try brim fishing (they're small and plentiful and as soon as you drop a worm or cricket in the water you usually get a bite). We ended up missing the brim by about a week, they've already left their beds, but Adara was able to catch two! Papaw hooked them and then Adara reeled them in. I only have a photo of her first fish but I managed to get a video of her second. The quality isn't that good (it was done on my phone, didn't want to drop our nice camera in the lake) but it'll do.

From Catching up from Nic's phone

From Catching up from Nic's phone

Wow

So it's been a long time, I know...hopefully now though (since we're not dealing with house issues for the moment) I can do a better job of keeping pictures updated.

This first album is just a totally random pile up of photos I had on my phone. They go from Feb. to May (yesterday to be exact) and are really in no certain order.

Happy Easter

We had a great Easter! There was so much food at Grandma and Papaw's and Adara loved hiding and hunting eggs. If you go to the album link at the end there's a video of Adara dancing. She break dances and then does the Stanky Leg (yes I said the Stanky Leg). Let me warn you that the link is to the original video of the song/dance, I'm putting it here just as a reference to what the dance actually is. It's hip hop and it's very stupid but watching Adara do the dance is hilarious, unfortunately she only does it for a second. I'll try to get a better video of her dancing soon.

From Easter 2009

Easter 2009

Picture Day

We had a great day, the weather was nice and it was definitely time to pull out the bubbles again. Since I've been slacking on updating with photos I thought it might be the perfect time to take a few snap shots.

From Bubble Day

Sometimes when I look at Adara I can see exactly what she's going to look like when she's older.

From Bubble Day

Bubble Day

I'm Really Shree!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Adara!

From Adara's 3rd Birthday

From Adara's 3rd Birthday

From Adara's 3rd Birthday

From Adara's 3rd Birthday

I have a riddle for you...

Where can you see a New Yorker married to a Californian that lives in California, visiting their son who lives in Alabama but is from California, their daughter-in-law that's from Alabama but met their son while living in Hawaii and got married in California, and their granddaughter that was born in California, talks with a British/Southern/Northern accent, and thinks she lives in a lion, but truly lives in Alabama? Right here of course! Enjoy.

From Park and Birmingham Zoo

From Park and Birmingham Zoo

From Park and Birmingham Zoo

From Park and Birmingham Zoo

From Park and Birmingham Zoo

From Park and Birmingham Zoo

And here's the full Album!

Snow...in Alabama...in March...

Crazy huh? Well maybe not too crazy I still remember the "Blizzard of '93" where we got 20 inches of snow in a day. This time we ended up with about 3 inches by the time it was over.

From Snow

From Snow

From Snow

Snow

This is the full album with 3 videos at the end.