Our Little Two Year Old

So, it's official. As much as I wished to stop time and keep my little girly little for longer - it didn't happen. She finally turned two! (Yes, it was a couple of weeks ago but we've been busy and I've been waiting for all the pictures to arrive). It was so fun to celebrate it with her and to have so many family and friends support us by showing up and helping soooo much! I think each year will just get more and more fun watching her grow up and ooze out her cute little personality.

Unfortunately, out of all the family/friends that attended.....Addison's Daddy wasn't amongst them. He was needed elsewhere and spent the weekend working long days helping the victims that were affected from the tornado that hit Joplin. When our church was organizing the effort and seeking volunteers, He knew all along he should go, even though we had the party planned and ready. It was Mommy who took a little while to come to terms with all of it. However, I got there eventually and agreed in the end that it was more important he help those less fortunate than us. Of course all of this gave us more reason to have a little "family party" with Addison the Friday night before he left. Here are a few pictures of BOTH of our birthday parties:

Daddy & Addison showing off her loot from our family party. She had NO problems opening presents!

Her Mickey Mouse themed cupcakes. I was relieved when she correctly identified them in my practice run as I did NOT have a back-up plan.

Blowing out her candles. Mommy had to help since her version of "blowing" was through her teeth.

She also got to spend some quality time with Grandpa Bell over her birthday weekend. Here they are waiting for the Froggy ride at Silver Dollar City. It was her favorite and Grandpa promised he'd ride it with her.

Opening some of her birthday presents.

Posing with her baby doll after the festivities. She's such a good little Mommy!

A few things about Addison:

-Addison is a very loving and sensitive girly. Most of the time this means she gives LOTS of good hugs and cuddles just for no reason. Usually, when I'm dressing her in the morning, she'll lean over and put her head on my shoulder and say "Awe, Mommy". I love her hugs and cuddles. Sometimes the sensitivity is difficult since she can usually get her feelings hurt pretty easily when we just talk to her. She takes a lot of hard hits/falls/bumps without being phased but her feelings are definitely more sensitive. I'm betting she gets this from her Mommy since I remember always being very sensitive in school - never wanting to disappoint anyone or get in trouble. I'll take the "sensitive tears" any day as long as I get to enjoy her cuddles and hugs!

-She LOVES to talk! Uh...lot! Mostly I love hearing the words she learns just by repeating us. And yes, we've had to be extra careful of what words we say along the way! She has even started helping say prayers which is extra adorable. Mostly it's either Mommy or Daddy saying them and then she repeats the last word of each sentence and it's always in a question like form such as: Safe? People? Jesus? Sleeps? Amen! She started using a word that neither John nor I could decipher so I finally just started guessing randomly and learned she was trying to say "Heavenly Father" but it comes out "Hev Fahr?" Very impressive eh?

-She LOVES to point out "Tempo's" (temples) anywhere we go. And yes, these temples range anywhere from the actual temple, to church buildings (any with a steeple), to the princess castle on her Disney movies. Hey I'm at least grateful she thinks everything is a temple instead of everything being a princess castle! She loves to go to nursery. After the prayer in sacrament she shouts "Amen!" and looks at me and says "Nursee, Cass, Nursee?"

-She is dabbling in the world of Pirates. We learned this one day when she started running around in circles across the room shouting "Pyte, Pyte!" with her hand on her forehead. I'm assuming she gets it from watching the Jake pirate show in the mornings but I have yet to figure out what the hand on the head means? Maybe it's a telescope?

-She has always loved to dance and anytime she hears music it's like her body just starts moving and can't stop. It's hilarious watching the moves she does and how she gets into the music. She LOVES to copy Daddy's every move. She watches and observes him constantly so she can duplicate exactly what he is doing. Just recently she saw him doing push-ups and joined him on the floor. Her push-ups consist of sticking her bottom in the air and bending her legs while her hands are on the floor. I think her method is much quicker than Daddy's version!

-She is learning her colors and is very close to mastering them...at least red, green, yellow, and blue that is. And amazingly she can count a little here and there. I usually have to start her off with "1" and she will follow with "3, 4, 5, 6" and then gets tripped up a bit. But still pretty amazing for never really having practiced with her! John and I always are surprised when she does it.

-Her latest favorites are Monkeys, Minnie/Mickey Mouse, any/all books, swimming, and just recently "Pin-cesses". She has yet to learn each princess' name but they are all called Pin-cesses. She even tells me as we wait/watch for Daddy to come home from work everyday that she's "Daddy's Pin-cess". And yes she LOVES to repeat - just in case I didn't catch it the first time. And I usually have to repeat it back to her so she can nod/confirm I am right or keep telling me the word while I try to guess it.

-Most of all she is SUCH a good little girly. Always so sweet and soft and sensitive but so full of personality and loves to laugh and fake laugh and say "Silly Mommy, Silly Asson, Silly Daddy, etc" She is such a fun girl to watch grow everyday and I seriously couldn't have asked for a more perfect daughter. I can't wait to see how she is as a big sister when her little brother comes along. Yes, this "brudder" is both in my belly button AND her belly button by the way. ;-)

Happy Birthday Addison!!