swim lessons - week 2

the place addison takes swim lessons only goes through july.

and since her first week of lessons this summer was the middle of july, i didn't really think she'd be able to do a second week.

but after her first week, she definitely would've benefited from doing a second week. she was doing so well, it needed to keep going.

i emailed about getting her into another class, and they had a class the last week of july in the afternoon.

so i signed her up.

we were going to be on our way home from the beach that monday, so she'd have to miss that class. i talked to them and they said she could come to two classes on tuesday to replace mondays class.

addison's dad and i took her on tuesday. she was AWESOME!!

so awesome that we got to sit by the pool and watch. normally, we hang out under the carport so she can't see us and get upset. she was doing really well the first week, but we didn't want to take any chances by sitting by the pool.

but we went for it that day, and she did great!!

she started getting tired during the second class and we could tell she was ready to leave. but she pushed through it and did fabulously.


my mom took her wednesday, and she wasn't bad luck!! addison did awesome that day too. there was a boy that's older than addison that didn't do too well. makes me glad addison is doing well now :)

my dad and i took her on thursday. my dad had taken me some when i was a kid {i went to the same lady}. he was really excited to go watch addison. he's been really into helping her practice at his pool. addison did great again that day.


friday was her last day for the week {and summer}.

my mom and i took her. and, like the whole week, she was awesome.

seriously.


my kid was swimming. yes, swimming. she was doing the backstroke. and bubbles and roll. it was so crazy!

she may not be doing it perfect, but she's 3. i'm amazed how well she did. she's probably better than me!

and for you're viewing pleasure, you can see her swimming for yourself!



we will definitely be working a lot in the pool the rest of this summer.

i'm so proud of her!

steppin out saturday {errr, sunday}

on addison: dress, target // shoes, old navy
on me: tank, loft // skirt, target // shoes, no idea {got them from a friend}

linking up with steppin out saturday at harper's happenings.

we didn't actually step out on saturday because addison was with her dad.

but we did step out yesterday!

my step-mom's dad turned 80, so they had a big get together. we went over for the get together and then we all went to dinner at the catfish house.

i made these s'more bars for the party. they were pretty damn good. just a tip, make sure to let them COMPLETELY cool before cutting them. i was in a hurry and cut them before they were completely cool, and let me just tell you. it was a mess. but the other batch cooled completely and wasn't as big of a mess.

i'm an extremely picky eater, and i don't eat meat or fish. so the catfish house probably wouldn't be some place that i would go.

but, i love me some country sides. fried okra & hush puppies are some of my favs. and they have them both there. and they're delicious.

addison ventured out and got catfish. i was kind of worried she wouldn't eat because she can be picky, but she ate it up!


someone has been very lovely recently. and all into giving kisses. which i'm totally ok with. except when she tries to hold the kiss for an awkwardly long amount of time. we're working on that. luckily, this was not one of those times. just a normal lovey kiss :)

the beach part 2

our second day at the beach was pretty much just like the first.

we mainly hung out by the pool. did a lot of jumping in and rolling over, and playing on the float.



we didn't really do much on the beach. we went for a bit, but we didn't take any of addison's toys. and of course she used a plastic cup as a toy and probably would've stayed there for hours. it was pretty funny.


i was taking addison up to the room so she could rest, and seriously, as soon as we started leaving the pool area, they announced that they were doing face paintings.

so, of course, we had to go get in line. luckily we were one of the first in line, but it still took quite a while. addison wanted a butterfly on her cheek, but they said her face looked kind of burnt so they put it on her hand instead. and it was promptly washed off in her bath right afterwards {not on purpose, of course}.


it stormed that afternoon. lucky for us, it was the only time it stormed while we were there. the storm didn't last long, but it did make the power in our hotel go out a couple of times.

we ordered pizza for dinner that night. my friend jenna suggested hungry howie's. i had passed one on my morning runs, and we tried it out. we thought it would be an easy dinner, and we knew we wanted to be back in time for the movie that night, so that's what we decided on. it was delicious! thanks jenna :)

and the reason we wanted to watch the movie was because...it was the little mermaid! seriously my favorite disney movie.

i don't have any pictures of them, but i was totally in love with the hotel's piña coladas. they were so yummy. i had at least 1 a day. i need to figure out how to make them at home.


we headed home early monday morning. we told the beach goodbye and hit up the waffle house across the street before we headed out.

i don't think i mentioned it, but when we left friday, addison did awesome. we were planning on leaving around 6, so i was going to get her up a little after 5. i was getting dressed and finishing some packing that morning, and i heard a thud. followed by a little cry. addison had fallen out of bed. and she woke up in the best mood ever. it was perfect timing! and on the way to the beach, she took one nap. and it was 45 minutes. and she still did awesome on the trip and all that day.

on the way home, she was still awesome. but the girl was worn out. she passed out 5 minutes into the trip home, and seriously slept 75% of the way.

i'm so glad we got to take a little trip to the beach. it was a much needed getaway, and i had really been wanting to take addison to the beach. thanks gigi for taking us!!!

i can't wait to take another beach trip! hopefully the ocean will be more cooperating so we can actually get in and play. but even if it isn't, we'll still have tons of fun!

the beach part 1

so, as you know, we took a little trip to the beach last weekend.

gigi {my mom}, addison, and i went.

we headed out early friday morning {after a stormy thursday night which resulted in a little girl not going to sleep until late, which resulted in me going to bed even later since i still had to pack}. i digress.

the weather forecast at the beach was iffy. it said there was a 40-50% chance of rain for the days we'd be there. but we were optimistic!

when we finally arrived {traffic getting to the beach was pretty bad}, it was raining. not bad, but definitely not sunny beach weather.

lucky for us, our hotel had an AWESOME kid pool area. we hit that up right after we got there.



addison even made a little friend. we ended up seeing her both days we were there, so addison got to play with her a lot.


we ate dinner at a restaurant that the hotel recommended the first night. it was right across the street, and since we didn't really feel like going to explore, we just walked right over. it was pretty good. nothing too special. but i did get a bloody mary {which i had been craving for forever} and it was delicious.

the hotel also had a ton of kid activities, including a movie by the pool every night. we made it back from dinner in time to catch the end of the movie that night, but only after we took a walk on the beach with a flashlight looking for crabs. addison wasn't very interested, so we watched the movie {it was alvin and the chipmunks}.


the next day we went out to play on the beach. unfortunately there was seaweed/seagrass stuff everywhere. it lined the shore and was in the ocean. it was pretty gross.

the rip tides were also really bad, and they ended up closing the ocean to the public. we heard that the lifeguards had gotten 16 calls and had to give 2 people CPR that morning. scary!

needless to say, we didn't get in the ocean. but we did have lots of fun things to play with in the sand, so we did that most of the first morning. i also realized that i'm not the greatest sand castle builder. oh well. at least we had fun!


after addison got bored in the sand, we went back up to the pool. she had a lot of fun playing in the big pool too, so we rotated between that and the kid pool area.


the hotel had a character breakfast. a character {splash the dolphin} would come in to the restaurant during breakfast. it was pretty hokey, but addison liked it.

she also loved her float. she would get in it in the pool and swim all over. and swim in circles. she loved it when i swam under her and came up on the other side. and she also loved playing in it even when we weren't at the pool.

obviously all this playing wore a girl out, because she passed out that afternoon. had to get her energy up for the rest of the day!


we had dinner that night at the back porch. i had been to the one in destin, and gigi really wanted to go. i called to see what the wait was, and there was none {which i thought was very odd because 1. it was a saturday night, and 2. we had to wait FOREVER at the one in destin}. so we promptly hopped in the car and headed that way.

it took us almost an hour to drive 3.5 miles. it was a little insane. so much traffic.

turns out, the back porch is by the pier and also a TON of other shops/restaurants/places that everyone wants to go. so i dropped gigi off at the door to put our name on the list {i figured that, by then, the wait was going to be forever} and addison and i headed to find a parking spot.

and it took us forever to do that. i honestly think that if i hadn't seen a car leaving, we wouldn't have found a spot. there were 2 large parking lots, and they were both totally full. crazy.

so we walked a mile {or at least it felt like it} to the restaurant from our parking spot. my mom had already gotten a table {the wait wasn't long} and we sat down for a yummy dinner!


love this little girl! she did so awesome the whole trip. she stayed up late and woke up early, and was great {most of the time}.

part 2 coming up tomorrow :)

adios

by the time you read this, we are {hopefully} well on our way to the beach!

i'm so excited to take addison to the beach. she's been with her dad a couple of times, but never with me.

i foresee a lot of sandcastles in our future. and probably a lot of sand in general.

be back next week!

movie day - ice age

leading up to addison's swim lessons, we gave her some incentives to do well.

one of the incentives was getting to go see ice age. she loves the ice age movies, and was so excited about the new one coming out.

even though she had 2 not so great days, she ended the week awesomely. so she got to have her movie day.

before we went, addison took some time to get ready. she had to look her best for the movie. you never know who you're going to see!


she used the little nail polish thing on her vanity as deodorant. seriously hilarious. i was dying watching her rub it on her armpits.


the movie was really cute! i love ice age, too, so i was pretty excited to go see it. of course addison loved it. she ate some popcorn, and i may have snuck some other snacks in for her.


we had a lovely movie day. i love being able to do things like going to the movies with addison. it's one of the many things i love about her growing up. even though i'm sad she's not my baby anymore.

i signed addison up for another week of swim lessons, which will be next week. and i have a feeling addison with rock! i'm sure we'll be able to think of another incentive for her to do well :)

puddle jumping

last weekend {and really most of last week}, it rained. a lot.

we were in desperate need of some rain. and we certainly got it.

so, naturally, addison wanted to jump in some puddles.


we ventured out to granny's when it was pouring. in our rain gear, of course.

after we got there, it stopped raining. so we walked outside and helped her get her mail. when we were walking back addison found {really i pointed out} a small, but deep, puddle.

and the jumping began...


i may or may not have participated.

not gonna lie. jumping in puddles is kinda fun. no, really fun.

i'm glad addison's put her adorable rain boots to use. i may need to get a pink pair to match.

cow appreciation day

i'm sure some of you know, but last friday was cow appreciation day at chickfila.

last year or the year before, we coincidentally ate at chickfila on cow appreciation day. and we were very confused as to why lots of people were dressed up as cows.

this year, my mom decided to take addison and go all out on their cow outfits.

i wasn't able to participate because i had class {boo!!}.

my mom made cute little cow masks for her and addison. and then got addison dressed up.


cutest cow ever!!

anyone else participate in cow appreciation day??

swim lessons part 2

it has been decided that my mom is bad luck.

at least when it comes to swim lessons.

addison did horrible the 2 days that my mom took her {monday & wednesday}.

but on the days that chris and i took her {tuesday & thursday}, she did great! tuesday was a little rough at first, but she got much better. and thursday she was awesome.

she floated on her back for 15 minutes thursday. she was asking to quit and to go potty, but she never stopped floating. it was funny listening to her try to get out of floating. she didn't whine, though. just politely asking. she tried to use potting as an excuse a lot. but the teachers {and us} were no fools.


friday i took addison to lessons. all by myself.

my mom was going to go, but since we figured out that she's bad luck {and it was friday the 13th}, i decided it would be best for her not to go. sorry mom!! :)

addison did awesome!! it's so crazy how she can just do a total 360. from screaming and crying to having so much fun and doing so well.

it rained during all of the lessons i went to. and friday was no exception. it actually rained more friday than any of the other days i went. which made it a little difficult to take pictures/videos. but i still managed.

here's a video of addison doing some things in the pool. it was taken on my phone, so the quality isn't great. but it'll do.



saturday i took addison over to my dad's and she did some swimming. and i kept my promise and made sure she jumped in and rolled over to her back a few times. i only got to watch her do it twice {and she did it with no complaints. she was actually excited to do it and jumped in all by herself}. my dad said that after i left, she continued to jump in and roll over to her back, and she also worked on kicking while she was on her back.

i'm SO glad that addison ended up doing better at swim lessons. more importantly, that she did what i knew she could do all along and had fun doing it.

and it's pretty awesome that she's excited to show everyone what she can do in the pool.

i'm excited to take addison to the pool and work with her. we'll definitely be going as much as we can the rest of the summer.

swim lessons

addison started swim lessons yesterday.

she's going back to the same place she went last year.

her first week last year wasn't great. but she went for a second week and improved a lot. and then she went back a few weeks after that for another week, and was even better!!

her last day of swim lessons last year was amazing. she had gone from screaming the entire time to actually having fun.

so yesterday, i was hoping that she would do pretty well.

not so much.

i had been trying to work with her some in the pool {the few times we've been this summer}, but i didn't do a very good job. she would resist and it was just easier to let her play than to make her practice.

no more.

my mom took her yesterday and said she was horrible. she said that i need to start making her jump in 10 times and roll to her back before she can play. so i have vowed to make her do just that every time we go to the pool.

today, addison's dad and i took her to lessons.

ms. carolyn had told my mom to have us bring something that addison loves as an incentive to do better today {really for her to hold hostage}. so we took the thing that she loves the most right now - princess dresses.

ms. carolyn also said that if addison didn't do well again today, she was going to have her stay for the class after. so she would be there for 2 hours.

i really had no hopes of only being there for 1 class. i had talked to addison and tried to reason with her to calm down and just do what i knew she could do. and she was excited and acted said she would do it. but when it came down to it, she didn't.

i sat in the car most of the first class and did homework. i could hear her screaming every now and then.

pretty much as soon as the princess dresses came out, addison hushed up. she was still going to have to stay for another class, but she stopped crying about halfway through her class and did what she was supposed to.


this was towards the end of her first class. she was finally floating on her back with all the other kids. you probably can't tell which one she is, but she's in there!

during the second class, she was the "teacher" and showed all the other kids what to do. i think she liked doing that because she's all about being the teacher at home.

hopefully tomorrow {and the rest of the week} will go as well as her second class today. my mom is taking her, but i'm sure that won't make a difference.

we shall see...

grumpy mornings

ever had those mornings when everything seems to be off?

no?

me neither.


ok, i lied.

the other morning was just like that. addison had a late night {because of the fireworks}. so someone wasn't too fond of waking up for school.

as in, she wanted to just sleep all day. i finally got her out of bed, but she continued to sleep on me.

so i let her cuddle on me for a few minutes, hoping that she would gradually wake up.

no such luck.

i finally just said she needed to get up, and that was apparently not the right thing to say.

i made her go to the potty, and i honestly thought my child had turned into some demon. she screamed the worst scream possible and flailed.

lo and behold, she did need to go potty. who would've thought?

after that, she became a different child.


i would definitely prefer this happy girl that likes to twirl her dresses over the grumpy pants that i'm sometimes faced with.

mornings are rough sometimes, especially for this momma that isn't really a morning person to begin with.

fireworks + food + fun = the fourth

holidays always throw me off. what day is it again?

trust me, i'm not complaining. we had a fabulous holiday. filled with all things summer.

we got to watch fireworks 2 nights in a row. on the 3rd, we watched and ate ice cream.

on the 4th, we took a ride in the jeep to get everything we needed for a delicious lunch. addison helped in the kitchen. she was especially good helping with the fruit pizza. we had veggie burgers, corn {which we found out addison LOVES}, black bean salad, and deviled eggs.

ok, about this black bean salad. it is my new favorite. so delicious. i added a little more avocado than it calls for because i love me some avocado. seriously, make it. yum.

after lunch, we went to papa and mimi's {my dad and step-mom} to swim. we were able to get in some quality pool time before having to head home.

as soon as we got home, we went to the park for the firetruck foam. they were spraying foam from the firetruck {if you didn't get that from the description}. dude, holy foam. in most places, it was higher than addison. luckily for me, i was still in my bathing suit, so i got in there with her {i was a little scared she would fall down and be lost in a sea of foam}. needless to say, she loved it.

we headed back home to hang out until the fireworks. we continued the festivities and had some fruit pizza as a snack. then addison had a hotdog for dinner. what's more american than that??

we headed back over to the park a little before the fireworks were supposed to start. turns out, they started almost 20 minutes late. and 20 minutes is a lot when it's already an hour past bedtime.

the fireworks finally started {they weren't near as good as the night before, though}. we didn't stay for the whole show, but we could see the finale pretty well from our house.

addison promptly passed out. holidays are pretty exhausting, if i do say so myself.

our fourth was fab, and i hope everyone else's was the same!!

no cavity club

addison had her 3rd dentist appointment last week.

she loves the dentist. i guess she's at the age that it's not something to dread. wonder how long that will last.

i told her that if she did well, she could have whatever she wanted for breakfast.

and of course she was perfect!


she was really into mickey mouse clubhouse while we waited.


she rocked her sunglasses and watched tv while she had her teeth cleaned. she didn't even flinch the whole time.

her teeth looked great! apparently i brush her teeth well. if only i got that praise when i went to the dentist...

she got to pick out a toy since she didn't have any cavities. after she picked out her toy, she wanted to go give the lady who cleaned her teeth a hug. she always says she wants to give a "big hug". so she went and gave the lady a big hug, and the lady told addison to go pick out another toy. i bet she'll be giving lots of big hugs next time!


addison picked shipley's for breakfast {despite me trying to convince her to go to waffle house. i love waffle house}. but, i love shipley's too. they have the best donuts. i'm a fan of the donut holes though.

the people at shipley's know addison because her dad takes her in there about once a week. addison was so excited picking out what she wanted. she got some chocolate, powered, and cinnamon donut holes. we shared :)


she actually eats them in two bites {usually}. which is surprising because girl can take some big bites.


proud girl holding her no cavity club certificate.

and just for fun, here is addison after her first dentist appointment.


it was just over a year ago. gosh, my baby has grown up so much. i seriously just got teary eyed.