Chattin' with Nana

Addison loves to chat on the phone and regularly asks to speak to whomever I'm talking to.  I regularly call my mom, my sister, and my husband and so these are Addison's most talked to people.  However, she's not particular...she asked the other day to talk to the solicitor who was calling and cried when I hung up without giving her a chance.  

This is Addison walking around the house with the phone pressed to her ear and talking to my mom (2/28).  She puts the phone on speaker, which is good because I can run translation services from the sidelines.  Oliver says that you can only understand every second or third sentence but she loves it...she is her mother's daughter! 

Cousins on a Saturday

My sister and her family moved on March 16th and I volunteered to take the four kids on an adventure and let everyone else do the heavy lifting/moving.  I'm not sure who get the better deal :)  The weather was wonderful and so we started at the park, went to the library, and ended riding toys in the driveway, having a snack on the blanket and throwing dirt at each other.  Ahhh - to be little!

Apparently Aunt Heidi is a better swing pusher than his parents :)

Claire carefully guarded monkey and blanky while my nephews played.  They take their special toys everywhere and I love that Aiden grew up calling his blanky "monkey" in imitation of his big brother!

The kids loved the handicap swing and since we were the only ones at the park I let them all have several turns.

Our cousins have decided to stay in Utah for at least another year (well their parents made the choice) and we are so happy that our best friends aren't moving away just yet...

First Picnic of the Season - March 7th

The weather was perfect and it is easier to feed kids in the yard than it is to feed them in the house - plus no cleaning is required for patio feeding.  I went in and collected enough food for 3 adults and 5 kids and I was impressed with being able to pack it all with two hands and a hoodie pocket.

Just a few days after our maiden picnic I went and purchased a child sized picnic table because small children are practically incapable of balancing their plates on their laps!  It is a great addition to our patio.

March 7th - Mom and the Girls

A rare shot indeed...

More for Aunt Kel - Getting Ready for Church

Mom: "Addison, come and let me take your picture for Aunt Kel before church.  She will love to see you in the jacket she got you for your birthday!"

Addison: promptly turned her back to me

Mom: Addison, you love to see yourself in the camera - turn around please.

Addison: "cheese, cheese, let me see!"

 

Lego Exhibit

On February 26th my sister and I took our kids to the Kimball Arts Center in Park City to see "The Art of the Brick" exhibit.  It's free to get in and runs until April 21st - you can get more info here.  It was great!  The exhibit isn't that big - but I still thought it was worth the drive.

Outside the exhibit there are small buckets of LEGOs for the kids to play with.

These pictures are from the exhibit - everything is entirely made from LEGOs.  The yellow facial portrait on the wall was my favorite LEGO piece of the exhibit.  

Keeping Claire Happy

Claire was lying in her pack-n-play while my mom was making dinner one evening and I was laying in bed recovering from surgery (Nov 16).  Claire was having her evening fussy time and Addison wanted to make her feel better so she went and got her storybook and read to her and handed her foam pieces. 

My mom is not great with a camera and doesn't think to take pictures very often.  She spent three weeks in our home during the time Claire was born and then another 2 months from election day to just past New Years.  She helped take care of our kids while I was on bedrest, when I had surgery in November, and then when I spent 6 days in the hospital in December.  I did a lot of recovering and laid in bed quite a bit and I started to feel like my mom was raising Claire more than I was.  I'm finally feeling better and I am glad that my mom snapped these pictures to record some of the things I missed. 

Train to the Temple

Addison loves to ride the train.  I took her downtown on November 5th from the Sandy park and ride.  We rode to temple square - walked around for less than 10 minutes - and then re-boarded the train to come home.  We took a picnic for the ride and Claire was with us - but slept most of the time.

I love her sporting her glasses on her head.  Whenever she wears them like this she says that she looks like Aunt Ellie.

My mom knit this sweater when I was a child and now Addison wears it.  She probably made it for my brothers.

Addison went running up the temple steps and then lounged on the stairs and watched the people.  

Then she went to the doorway and told me that she was going inside.  She was really sad to learn that it was locked and that she couldn't go to see Jesus.

A nice man offered to take our picture together and I think he did a great job.  Claire was there too - at the bottom of the steps happily sleeping in her stroller.

Here is the only evidence of Claire's attendance - when Addison got tired she'd sit up on the handle of our clip-it.  She can't ride like that anymore because Claire's feet actually reach the end of her car seat and Addison steps on her but Claire was only 6 weeks old when we went on our adventure.

Cousins Play

Aiden and Kyle came over to play last week and I wanted them to all sit together and take a picture.  3 our of 4 cousins is pretty good right?

This is the rocking chair that my parents bought when they had Cory, my oldest brother, and I inherited it when my dad died last June.  My mom really wants it back - but we're loving it and my mom rocks our kids in it when she comes to visit.   Aiden loves Claire more than just about anything...he loves to hold her and play with her and touch her and shake her and be all boy towards her - but it is darling!

Kyle was too busy playing to be bothered by a photo shoot - but he was present too.

Holding Her Own

Claire has shown interest on holding her own bottle.  Addison never held a bottle EVER - even when she could have - she just wanted someone else to feed her.  Come to think of it, she still is a baby bird and would prefer that we spoon her food into her mouth.  Oliver and I just made a pact that neither of us will feed her this week - she isn't going to starve - and I really need her to be more independent because I don't have time to spoon feed two kids for every meal.  

Back to Claire - this is her on her four month birthday - Jan 24th - holding her own bottle. 

As you can see it isn't a flawless event and I won't let her hold her own bottle until her feeding is over because I like to feed her but she's getting big really fast!

Matching...It Never Gets Old

Thank goodness for Christmas!  We have several matching outfits and I routinely bribe Addison to take a picture with sister - yes I'm shameless. 

 

I love how this picture shows just how much Addison loves Claire and loves to be with her!

 

(taken January 20, 2013)

Claire loves her tongue - everyone says she has her Great-Grandpa Lyon's tongue - but she sticks it out all the time and it even looks like she can lick her chin.  She also is enthralled that she can suck it in and make it click - she does it repeatedly and is quite amused with herself.  She had just woken up from her nap and gotten dressed and eaten - and you can see she puked all over her clean clothes.  But I took the picture anyway because they were so cute!  

(taken January 21, 2013)