December 2012

We decorated our tree the first weekend in December. I wasn't really looking forward to all the mess this year and had a hard time getting into the decorating. Addy absolutely loved it! I let her be in charge of the tree and she did such a great job. She would show her daddy where she wanted the ornaments that were up high and he would lift her up. Benson liked putting on a few ornaments this year. Of course he still threw the "balls" at the tree and couldn't figure out why they wouldn't stay put. He lost interest after about 10 min and we left the rest of the decorating up to Addy. We only got out about a 1/4 of the ornaments but the tree still looked good to me. 

Addy had her first Christmas performance for Singer's Company the next week. It was such a cute show and Addy did great! She had a solo in " Not That Far From Bethlehem" and her lines were the very beginning of the song.  Her little voice is so sweet and I tear up watching her every single time. Her second performance was at a hotel where they had a breakfast with Santa and the girls were the entertainment.  Her solo was the first lines of "When Christmas Comes to Town." She did awesome on that solo as well. She had a fever the night of the final show so we had to miss it. Chris and I really loved the show this season and Addy enjoys singing with the girls. Such a fun singing group and definitely one of her favorite parts of the week!

I was lucky to celebrate my Birthday this year with a few of our close friends. Christian reserved a private room for us at The Sushi House in downtown Naperville. It was such a fun night! The food was delicious and Christian picked up some cupcakes from Sugar Monkey's for dessert. I had a fabulous birthday! Chelsea also threw a girls night for Mary and I the following night. So much fun to catch up with the girls! 

Christmas Eve we had dinner with the Ogden's this year. Trishia cooked yummy food and we just visited and relaxed while the kids played. It was great to spend the evening with friends and also have our own family time. We came home and opened up Christmas jammies, set out food for Santa, read a few stories, and the kids went to bed. Well at least Addy did.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun with the kids. It took forever to get everything unwrapped! They wanted to play with everything they opened right then. Addy's big present this year was a doll house and Benson's was a train set and a scooter.  We skyped our families and played and watched movies the rest of the day. I started not feeling good and slept a lot of the day. That evening we went over to a friends house for dinner. It was a very fun and relaxed evening. The food was delicious and the company was great. My kids loved playing over there and I am not sure they even ate dinner. 

I ended up getting really sick and I had to cancel all my hair appointments and plans for the rest of the year and the following week. The kids and I stayed home and didn't leave the house for a week which was hard but luckily for me they had a lot of new fun things to play with to keep them occupied. 

May 2012

We had a last minute visit from my family the first part of May. Christian found some really cheap tickets and a week later nanny Elaine, Allyson, and Brooke were here for a fun weekend. We stayed up way to late every single night chatting, ate lots of yummy food, shopped, went to a cubs game, and of course had a hair party.

The Cubs game was a lot of fun. It started to rain while we were waiting for the game to start. Of course it postponed the game, so we headed to Portillo's for lunch. There were some intense plays in the game and the Cubs ended up winning in the 11 inning. Nanny Elaine purchased Benson his very first baseball. He sure loves that ball! Christian took the kids down to run the bases after the game. It was seriously such a fun opportunity for my kids. They were so brave and ran all the bases alone. Benson was hilarious! He fell and got right back up and started running again. He made it to home plate and turned back around to find his sister. Of course I just had my little point and shoot for this event so I wasn't able to get very good pictures. It was dark and the kids were in motion. The pictures are blurry but I was still able to capture the moment

Addy's first performance for the spring show of Singer's Company was at an assisted living in Naperville. The people there loved the girls! It is so sweet to watch them enjoy the music and our cute girls. Addy did great and sang a solo in "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Here are some pictures of after the show with most of the girls in our ward that are in the group.

Addy had her 2nd performance at the Morton Arboretum in the children's gardens. It was a very hot day, but the girls did great! I was so excited for Christian to hear all the new songs she has been working on.

We stayed after the performance and played in the children's area. It was our first time ever at the Arboretum. They had several playgrounds, fountains, ponds for the kids to explore, and lots more. Addy was very brave and wanted to try and catch a tadpole. This is definitely something she would normally be afraid of.  Both Addy and Benson loved it! Addy could catch them all by herself! It was so hard to get them out of the water because it was very refreshing to cool off from the heat.

Later that night, we got our 2nd babysitter for the year and went out and celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. We ate at McCormick & Schmick's for dinner. It was so yummy! We both got mahi mahi, but the way Christian's was prepared was the best. After dinner we walked the river walk in downtown Naperville and just talked. It was amazing to actually hear what each other was saying and not have our kids screaming over us. I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband! We have definitely been through a lot in the past 6 years. We have lived in 5 different homes in 2 different states. It has definitely been an adventure but one I would not change!

Addy's last performance was at the library. She had a second solo also in "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Daddy brought her flowers which made her night! This has been such a fun group for Addy to be in. She has definitely built more self confidence and loves to sing. We are very excited to sign up for the Fall semester.

Addy had her last day of preschool the 3rd week in May. Christian surprised her and took the day off of work. The class put on a little program for the parents. They sang all the songs they had learned through out the year. Mrs. Linda gave them their certificate and a treat for completing the class. 

Addy chose to eat at Olive Garden afterwards for her special lunch. She is so much like her mom! We decided to let her pick what she wanted to do for the rest of the day, and she chose the zoo. We had a great day together as a family celebrating Addy.

Memorial Day we went to Nike Park and played for the day. Christian and Addy made us a picnic lunch. The kids played for hours on the playground and Benson got to fly a kite for the first time. 

The wind was blowing like crazy so it was perfect for our kites. Addy did great and loved running all over the soccer field with her kite.

After the park we came home and grilled for dinner. The kids enjoyed a sprite and sherbet float for dessert. They were being so silly and I couldn't resist more pictures of them! Shocking, I know! 

Singer's Company...... Dec 2011

Addy joined my friends singing group this Fall and really enjoyed it! She learned some fun new songs and dances and loved being with the girls. After a few months of classes they performed three different times. They performed at an assisted living, the mall, and at an acting/ music theater. All of the girls had little solo parts. Addy's solo was " All of the other reindeer use to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games."  She did such a great job! Her little voice was so cute and she was so proud of herself. We were so proud of her too!

We are so excited for the Spring show and to hear all the new songs!