Addi June is ONE!

The day has come and gone. Our little Addi June turned one! I had a hard time knowing this was coming. My little girl isn't a baby anymore. When your birthday is on Sunday your birthday ends up being a 3 day coronation. We kicked it off on Friday by going to the Explore & More Museum in East Aurora. It was our first time going there and it was a hit. Addison is still took young for a lot of the activities, but she didn't seem to mind. She only nailed herself in the face with a few golf balls:) We topped off the night by eating custard at the little red caboose train on our way out. Addison sadly isn't a fan of sprinkles...she is turning more and more into Dave! We had planned to go and get our zoo passes on Saturday, but it was bad weather. Dave studied all day so we ran some errands. After dinner we had a birthday Build-a-Bear coupon so we headed there. Addison LOVED it! She "picked" a bright pink octopus. She got to pick out a happy birthday shirt to go on it. She of course named it "baby" and gives it hugs. Addison was a trooper through church and the nursery kids sang her happy birthday. She just kept saying, "wow" as they were singing. When we got home she fought her nap and ended up falling asleep in Dave's arms. He loved it and eventually fell asleep himself. For dinner we had her favorite meal of spaghetti. She slurped it right up! She is really into throwing her left over food onto the floor. We are working on this one so Daddy Dave doesn't leave during dinner time! For her birthday she got a free cupcake from The Cheesecake Factory. It was vanilla with vanilla frosting. Which also happens to be her dad's favorite as well. She dug right into the frosting, but wasn't really into the cake. I was videoing and Dave had me pause so he could take a bite out of it. She had some help finishing it and I think she might be a big cupcake fan by now. Addison was showered with love from her family. We gave her a red radio flyer wagon which she has been enjoying for the past couple of weeks. She also got an ice cream scoop set, a bowling set and a book from us. Grandma and Grandpa Micheal were thoughtful to send some new outfits and a gift card to pick out something special. Grandma and Grandpa Fajen sent a wheely bug in the mail that should arrive soon! Cousin Ella and Hannah sent an animal cd and some fun lacing beads. Addison was very excited to be able to rip the wrapping paper and started to bounce up and down. We ended the night by skyping both sets of grandparents. How lucky are we to be able to share this special day with our family who live so far away. 

Addison we love you and can't believe that we have already had  you in our home for a year! Getting you here was a little difficult and I cried today just thinking about it! I think your dad loves giving you kisses with his scruffy face just to see you squirm. I love how in the mornings when I come and get you your face lights up and you hold your arms up. We were trying to tell you our favorite memories tonight at dinner. I said I love how you pat my arm while I am rocking you to sleep. Dave said he loves when he can get you to wrap your arms around his neck for a big hug! We can't wait to see what you bring to our lives this next year!

Swimming

Addison had her boyfriend over today...I'm convinced they will love each other some day:) Addison was lucky enough to get her own little pink swimming pool. Little did we know that it was just the height for her to mimic the neighbor puppy and climb in and out over and over. She has a few battle wounds to prove it. She loved the water and has taken to a weird habit of drinking any water that she is sitting in. Hopefully she grows out of this...who knows what she is really drinking in there! They also enjoy a little yogurt pop as well. Here's to a fun Summer of lots of swimming!

Special Spot

Growing up I had a little table that my brother made me that I sat on in the kitchen. I think I pretty much lived at this table actually. Addison was lucky enough to receive her own "spot" from her Papa. I had to beg, but I know it is something that she will treasure for years to come. It fits perfectly in the corner by the big table. Dave and I found some perfect chairs at Ikea to go with it. She got an early birthday present from her Grammie of a doll house. Grammie has the same one at her house that Addison LOVES! It has a little too many nose buttons for my taste, but I will put up with it with a smile:) Addison will sit in her chair and play with the dollhouse and talk and talk to her self. When I see her sitting in the chair she looks so grown up! Thank you again Grammie and Papa for her special first birthday surprises. 

Busy Girl

I have a few random pictures of Addison from this past month. She is such a busy lady. Climbing up the stairs is a mastered art. We are working on learning to climb down them now. Actually I am working on blocking them altogether...Dave on the other hand finds it fascinating. Addison I think is developing a small knack for the arts. She has experienced play dough and coloring with crayons and pens. I will put her in her chair while I am doing dishes and she will pretend to color all over a notebook. She loves it and I love to hear her talk to herself while she does it. She still loves reading books or more like taking them all off the self and then looking at them. The girl has turned into an entertainer. She laughs at just about anything that she does and thinks she is pretty funny. I love seeing this side of her. She says, " Hi" to any child that we pass. I think it sometimes surprises people that it is her saying it. I have given up trying to keep her out of the one cupboard that I can't put a lock on. She pulls out all of the tupperware and and is entertained by all the different sizes of things. Putting everything away 3 times a day is a small price to pay for the happiness that it truly brings her. I think she might be getting her own set here soon.

Dave is settling into starting clinicals and having to get up early and be gone long hours. It is weird not seeing him very much during the day and having him go to bed really early. I just need to kick myself into going to bed early too! 

Addison is gearing up for her big number one this Sunday. We plan to do a little family celebration and then a party for her in a few weeks. She has changed so much even in the past few weeks I can hardly stand it. She is turning into a toddler more and more. She is starting to take a really good afternoon nap that is lasting longer than her usual 45 min power morning ones. We love all the changes and are enjoying her, but still trying to figure out what she is going to do next!

 Pink eye 

Dallas or Bust

As if being in the car for 30+ hours wasn't enough I got on a plane 3 days later to Dallas! Auntie Katie needed an Addison fix to celebrate her soon to be 1st birthday. Yes, I said 1st birthday!! It makes me cry even thinking it is in 4 days. Addison went to bed the night before our flight with a goopy eye and I got a little worried. We had a full 7 hour flying day ahead of us. I got up the next morning and ran her to the early walk in at the pediatrician. We were lucky enough to get in a out and prescription picked up before needing to be at the airport at 11. The diagnosis was the lovey pink eye! I am now paranoid about washing my hands and Addison touching things. She handled her drops really well and it was cleared up in 2 days. Addison did really well on the flight out. She slept on both flights and even tolerated being stuck on the run way for an hour before we began our 3.5 hour flight. I had bought her a tiny baby doll and it was a HIT. It was the best 9 dollars I think I have ever spent on her. 

We packed in so much over the few days that we were there that I still can't believe how busy we were! Addison was on cloud nine with all the love and attention she got. Auntie Katie let me sleep in ever day i was there so I was on cloud nine as well. I got my Jersey Mikes fix twice! We went to an amazing three level mall that had just about any store you could imagine. I am now converted to TexMex food. We ate at a delicious place called Gloria's. At night we caught up on some good t.v. that I now find to be a luxury. If you don't have to fight with an antenna to get a signal for five minutes I am happy. The next day I got a full tour of downtown Dallas. I got to experience "brunch" at its finest. Addison enjoyed her first fresh squeezed oj and lets just say I don't think she will be settling for the canned stuff anymore. Dallas seems like a really fun city full of unique shopping and unbelievable restaurants. My pallet was pleased after every meal! That evening we enjoyed some of the best fried chicken I have ever had! I am still dreaming about it. Auntie Katie picked up some sprinkles cupcakes for Addison's pre-birthday celebration. We went over to Maria's dad's place and went swimming and had a little grillout. Afterwards we put Addi on a garbage bag and let her got at it. It was a strawberry banana cupcake that she loved! She used her pointer finger to get started and then figured out what to do shortly after. She got a good hose down after. I had an evening flight so we were able to get up early catch some breakfast and got to the Dallas World Aquarium. It was a really interesting layout that had a lot packed in to a small space. Addison loved all the birds and fish. Her new thing when she sees animals is to go , "OOOOO" and get really excited. She performed her tricks all weekend long and loved playing with her dollies. She was such a happy girl to be with her Aunt. It was really sad to leave, but I think Addison is looking forward to her next trip to Dallas!!! 

Oh and don't worry I did sneak in one Whataburger meal...just one I promise!

Traveling

The Michael family has been traveling a whole heck of a lot this past month! The month of May has completely slipped by and I am having a hard time even getting anything written down. Addison keeps me so busy during the day that by the time the evening comes I am too tired to blog. I am going to try to recap the highlights...

*Mother's Day- My first official one! We decided to take a week and go to Washington D.C. to celebrate while Dave had time off between semesters. We drove on the actual Mother's Day...all 9 hours to D.C. Addison did great in the car, but it was just a long drive for all of us. My dreams came true as we found a Jersey Mikes on the way! I was on cloud nine and I even shared a little with Addison. Our luck with technology lately has been jinxed. Our webcam broke as well as our desktop crashing. Since skype is a must in this family something had to be done. Dave surprised me with a sony tablet! It is really nice and I still have no idea what I am doing on it. Dave knows more than I do and will most likely have to teach me everything, but I love it! It also was a life saver on the almost 4 hour airplane ride that we just took to Dallas.

*Washington D.C.- This was a historical sight-seeing overload. We didn't even get to see a fourth of D.C. and I feel like we power walked to a million places! To keep with tradition I got sick on the first night in the hotel and tried to only complain to Dave every 15 minutes. We were able to stay at the Navy lodging hotel on base for an awesome price.Addison wasn't allowed to crawl on the floor so she got to roll around in her stroller and watch Mickey Mouse Club house for far too long. If our hotel hadn't been surrounded with an armed guard and barb wire I wouldn't have slept at night. We were on the wrong side of town to say the least. We rode the bus in and then caught the subway into the city. It was an adventure! We only got lost a handful of times riding an hour in the wrong direction late at night. Lucky for us it was National Police Week so there were buff police officers all over town. We braved a street hot dog vendor before getting started walking the Smithsonian the first day.We started off by going to the Air and Space Museum and then the Museum of Natural History. The Museum of Natural History was by far both of our favorites. It rained on and off the whole time we were there so we sported our raincoats and poor Addi had to have a rain flap over her stroller. She was a little confused why we kept her trapped inside a bubble for the majority of the trip. We had some good Chinese take out, chili cheese hot dogs and fries, pizza and Dave's favorite mac & cheese. I had a moment of fame at a place called Ben's Chili Bowl. We ran into Sarah Jessica Parker! I was a little star struck and Dave wanted nothing to do with it. I had to ask the dish boy to take the picture for me. I wasn't feeling very good the next morning so we made the drive to the temple and visitor's center. It is a beautiful temple and it was a perfect day to walk around. After the temple we went and toured Arlington National Cemetery. This was a really neat experience. We got to see where JFK was buried then Dave made his way up to the tomb of the unknown solider. Our last day we walked around to all the monuments and memorials. The WWII memorial was awesome. Addi got to eat(more like devour) her first popsicle by the fountain.We let her dip her toes in the water and she was pretty mad that she wasn't allowed to completely sit down in the water. Our last event was to hit up Georgetown Cupcakes from the tv show D.C. cupcakes. It was the longest bus ride considering we hopped on going the wrong direction. After almost two hours we made it to the shop. Dave feel in love with the cookies and cream cupcake. It literally tasted like a milkshake! If the line hadn't been half a mile I think we would have gotten 6 more. It was worth the trek to get there. We had a really good trip and Addison made a million friends waving "hi" and "bye, bye" to everyone she saw.   

* BU Graduation- We then got in our car and drove another 9 hours to Boston for Jonathan's BU MBA graduation. Addison is truly a good road tripper. She reaches her limits just about the same time that I do, but does a pretty good job holding down the back seat. We were glad to see family after such a long drive. Addi loved seeing her cousins and Aunt Eliza and Uncle Jonathan. Papa Fajen worked VERY hard to teach Addi to say Papa. She now calls every white/grey older man PAPA! I am not exaggerating in the least bit. Walking through grocery stores, airports, restaurants, target...you name it she yells it. He now needs to teach her to only call him that. We enjoyed the graduation festivities of Chuck E Cheese and pizza. Dave got a little more into it I think that anyone thought he would. He scored 80 tickets on one game and got really excited and then his face turned red. He was proud of his 300+ tickets that won Addison a blow up crayon that I am pretty sure we already lost. We were really proud of Jonathan and felt very special to be able to be  there to see him walk across the stage with honors. Sadly my camera got lost during the ceremony along with 600 pictures! This has been really devastating for me. I had backed up a good majority of the pictures, but all of our D.C. pictures were on there. I was mostly sad about the SJP celebrity picture. After getting over the loss of my camera we went on with the celebration. Grammie and Papa took the kids and we all went out to a really good Thai restaurant. We ended the weekend with honoring Jonathan at a Greek restaurant. It was a great way to end our touring vacation.