catching up - november

addison had her picture taken at school // i met keith bulluck before a titans game (and took shots with him. woo!) // addison saw santa at home depot // she then built something (what, i can't remember) // haley and i ran 5 miles on thanksgiving morning (and came in 2nd and 3rd in our age group!!) // addison and my mom ran a 5k that morning (addison got to lounge for part in her stroller but ran some too)

that was about all the excitement for november. well, not ALL. because addison turned 5!!!

sounds game

addison and i got free tickets {5th row on the third base line} thanks to some friends a little over a week ago {score!}. and a bunch of other friends came too. it was also "throwback thursday". aka thirsty thursday. so there were deals on beer and some food. and the weather was fabulous. so we all had a good time!

addison charmed one of my friend's boyfriend into getting her some dippin dots. she's got that affect on my friends. i also got her cotton candy. my dad always told me kids who get cotton candy aren't loved by their parents, which was his was of getting out of ever buying it for me. dad, you'll be happy to know she took about 2 bites and was done.

addison is slightly obsessed with the sounds mascot. she was determined to find him and ended up seeing him a couple times. he gave her a kiss and she wouldn't stop talking about it. i'm glad he wasn't stinky like he was when we went to a game last year.

one of my friends went to take addison to get more food {kid's an endless pit sometimes} and she ended up on getting picked up to get on top of the dugout to dance.

the game didn't end until well past addison's bedtime. but i promised her she could run around the bases, so we stayed until the very end. and addison flew around the bases {i don't think she touched any of them}. she also had a crowd cheering her on.

i'm planning on taking addison to a few more games this season. fun and cheap entertainment!

the color run // round 2

a little while ago addison and i did the color run. ya, i'm a little late blogging about it. oh well.

my mom, amy and i did it back in october and it was so much fun!

this time, my mom, addison and i were going to do it. one of my friends and her mom were going to do it too, so we were all going to meet up. my mom ended up not being able to do it, so amy did it again with us!

this was addison's first time to do the color run. i took the stroller because i figured she'd want to be in it for at least a little while.

the stroller was a waste. addison was in it for about 5 minutes and then she hopped out and ran the rest of the race.

i was really amazed/impressed that she ran so much.




we had a blast! addison especially. she wanted to get right in the middle of the party after the race and cried when it was time to leave.

since the race, she's done a couple 5ks. like ran the whole thing. it's pretty amazing.

we'll definitely be running the color run the next time it comes to town. without the stroller.

ariel birthday party

addison's birthday party was a blast!! she had so much fun. we had it at a local bouncy place that she loves. a bunch of kids from her class {10 to be exact} came. she was in heaven playing with all of her friends.

i ordered her invitations from poshberry parties and they were adorable! i was going to try and make the invitation, but i found these and fell in love. i also got the cupcake toppers from the shop as well.


i ordered her shirt from character designs. it was perfect!



we got the cupcakes from publix {which we will continue to do because they are delicious and cheap}. and i made cake pops {funfetti and strawberry}. i also made chocolate chip cookie dough pops {which were delicious but a HUGE pain to make}.

addison is not at all spoiled.




one of her dad's friends got addison a fish. like a real, live fish. needless to say, she was excited. and it's staying at her dad's :)

the party was a blast {although i am glad it's over}. i still can't believe my baby is 4!

our weekend

we started the weekend with addison's {cold} soccer game. it got cold towards the end of last week, and i don't think i'm ready for it. i love wearing warm clothes and boots, but i don't like being realllllllly cold. oh well.

i had to take snacks for the soccer game. nothing makes me feel more like a soccer mom than taking snacks. i got some little halloween bucket things from the $1 bin at target for each of the kids. i put some witch hat cookies, string cheese, grapes, and drinks for the kids in them. and some light up bracelets that my mom had. i thought it was cute for the game before halloween :)

after the game addison had a birthday party to go to. we went to 2 parties last weekend. is there a birthday season?? because if so, we're in it.

sunday we went to the titans game. it was addison's second game. amy, addison, and i sat in my dad's seats. my aunt and uncle gave me their seats, too, so maegen and haley sat in those. and maria went with her boyfriend. so we were all there! we tailgated for a little bit before.

we had a blast at the game. addison behaved {for the most part}. she made friends with the couple behind us and the girl that sat beside me. we even stayed for the whole game {and the few minutes of overtime}.

after the game, we went to ghouls at grassmere. i'll save that for another post, though :)

the color run

sunday i did the color run.

along with thousands of other people.

my mom's friend started a team, so her, my friend amy, and i all signed up.

we've been looking forward to it since we signed up this summer.

amy and i may have had a little fun the night before, but we were still up for the race. we had our white on and were ready to get colored!

i don't think i realized how many people were actually doing the race until we got there. we ended in the 11th group to go. so people were done before we even started.

amy and i ran most of the way. we just walked through the color places so we could get as much color as possible.

and i think we did pretty well!!

my mom and one of her friends ran and walked the whole thing, so we met up after.

we hung around to throw our color packets that we got {which resulted in us getting even more color all over us}. and then we headed out.

i don't really know what i expected the color stuff to be, but it was just dyed corn starch. so it wasn't wet and nasty. but if it did get wet {like sweaty wet}, it kind of got caked on. which was kind of gross.

we went to lunch after, unwashed. i'm sure we looked weird {and dirty}, but there were a lot of other people out from the race so we weren't the only ones.

it was honestly a blast. it didn't seem like a 5k at all. if they ever come back, i'll definitely do it again. and i'll take addison.

if it comes to where you live, do it!!!

first titans game

last night i took addison to her first titans game.

my dad has had season tickets since they came to nashville, and i've been going with him ever since. i remember the first game we went to, and it was kind of traumatic for me. i won't bore you with the whole story, but a drunk lady was sitting beside me and threw up everywhere. so ya.

i don't go to every game {and i haven't gone to many in the past years}, but i want to go to more games this year. so every time i'm given the opportunity, i'm going to try my best to go!

i really wanted to take addison to a game this year. i figured she was old enough. we had taken her to a sounds game this summer and she did pretty well, so i thought she would do fine at a titan's game.

my dad was out of town, so he gave me his tickets. it was a preseason game, so it wasn't as "serious" as regular season games {he would probably argue with me on that}. i figured it would be a good one to take addison to since we weren't obligated to stay there the whole time {mainly because we weren't with my dad. he likes to stay the entire time. no matter the score}

i'm kind of a last minute person, so i waited until yesterday to look for addison a shirt to wear to the game. and i had no such luck. luckily, she had an old jersey {size 2T, mind you} in her closet. and luckily again, it fit. barely.

i'm going to get her a cuter t-shirt/jersey/dress for her next game. i'll definitely plan that a little better.

if you're a titans fan {or really into football at all}, you can probably tell that my jersey is a little outdated. i've had it for probably 10 years. i think i may get a new jersey this year. but at least i'm supporting the titans by wearing a jersey :)

addison did great! my dad has 3 tickets, so i took my friend maegen to the game, too. addison loves maegen and was all about her the whole night. she really didn't want to have anything to do with me.

she danced and played most of the time. she didn't really watch any of the game. although it was pointed out to me that i didn't really watch any of the games when i would go when i was younger, and even then i was much older than addison.

when she did watch, she'd get so excited when everyone clapped. she would clap right along with everyone. she had no clue what was going on, but she figured it was good since they were clapping!

we left around the middle/end of the 3rd quarter. the titans were up by 10 {and they ended up winning}. even though we left early, it was still about 9:30 when we left. we had to take maegen home, which resulted in spending a few minutes there so addison could say hi. then we headed home.

addison didn't get in bed until around 11. i decided to go to bed at the same time. i was going to do a few things on my computer though, so i left my light on. no less than 2 minutes after i put addison to bed, she came walking into my room, asking what i was doing. she promptly climbed in bed with me and said she wanted to sleep with me.

i didn't feel like forcing her to go back to her bed, so i just let her sleep with me. we were both so tired that i don't think either one of us woke up at all in the night. titans games are tiring!

i'm really excited for this football season. i can't believe it's already here! i'm excited to go to more titans games, and hopefully i'll take addison to some more this season, too!

little bits of happiness

i thought i'd give little bits of happiness a try this week.

i took this little girl to 2 movies this week.


we went to see madagascar 3 on sunday. we met one of addison's friends from school and her mom there. they ware SO funny together. it makes me so happy to see addison with her little friends. the movie was really cute, and the girls had a blast! i liked the movie, but i think i had more fun watching them play together {until the end when it was nap time and they both fed off of each others fussiness and it just wasn't pretty. but i'll just forget about that part.}


addison and her baby.

we also saw happy feet 2 on tuesday. there are $1 movies on tuesdays and wednesdays for a few weeks this summer, so i thought we'd try that out. we met up with one of my friends and her little boy. addison says he's her baby and tells people all about him. but he really isn't a baby anymore. they play 2 movies both days at 10 am. i think they're doing it all over, not just in tennessee. so you should check out the theaters and movies and see if there's one near you! i had to select the state because it wouldn't work with my zip code. we will definitely be taking advantage of the movies this summer!

linking up with stephanie for little bits of happiness.

steppin out saturday - birthday party and mexican

yesterday we stepped out to a birthday party.

i didn't get any pictures from the party {oops}, but addison had a blast.

i think addison was the youngest kid there {or at least the youngest girl}. it was a water party, so addison got to wear her bathing suit. woo hoo!

all of the older kids did so well with addison. they were all going with her down the water slide and holding her hand on the trampoline.

we were there most of the afternoon {and through nap time}. when it was time to go, oh goodness. she said she wanted my mom and i to leave, and she wanted to stay there forever. and when i eventually just picked her up to make her leave, it was like carrying a screaming, flailing sack of potatoes.

guess who passed out pretty much as soon as we got in the car {after a few more tears about leaving}??


we ended up going to mexican for dinner. i haven't been in what feels like forever {really just a few weeks, if that}. but since we had been going once a week after gymnastics, i was so used to it. now that i have class at night, i haven't been able to go to our weekly mexican.


on addison: dress, h&m // shoes, crocs
on me: sweater, loft // tank, old navy // shorts, j crew // shoes, no idea {got them from a friend}

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




my mom has a love for flamingos. she got a ton at a yard sale yesterday, so when we got home she decided to put some in the yard. and then addison wanted to kiss one.

i'm not ready for the week to start back. if it's been anything like the past few weeks, it will be packed with work and school, and then seem to just fly by after the fact.

hope everyone has a good week!!

weekend getaway // chicago

last week, addison and i took a little mini vacation.

i started back at work this week and i start school next week, so i wanted to go somewhere with addison before i got super busy again.

so we headed to chicago last thursday! my friend maria lives up there, so we went and stayed with her.

i've been to chicago once before and loved it. i wasn't really wanting to go up to do anything in particular {besides shop}, but more of just to relax and get away. although a trip with addison isn't really all that relaxing. it was fun and completely worth it though!



we headed out thursday morning. my mom and i took addison to florida a few years ago, but i've never taken her anywhere by myself. so this 8 hour trip was definitely a first for me.

my friend amy was headed up to indianapolis that day, so we met up at a rest area and played a bit.

then, we met up again to do some shopping. maria had to work that day, so we weren't in any hurry to get there. shopping definitely helped us kill some time :)

addison did great on the trip there. she watched some movies, napped, and we jammed. and she ate lots of snacks. the girl likes to snack.

we made it to chicago around dinner time and ended up just staying in for dinner. we were both pretty exhausted.



friday we got up and headed out to get some breakfast. we hit up a bagel place and i had a bagel with some delicious sun dried tomato cream cheese. addison got a blueberry muffin, and we went over to starbucks to get coffee and eat.

after that, we went to millennium park to play in the fountains and see the bean. addison was really excited about it. it was kind of chilly, so i didn't know how long she would last. we took a bathing suit just in case. there were lots of other kids playing, and addison just ran around splashing. she got her clothes pretty soaked, so we whipped out the bathing suit. it's such a grown up looking bathing suit for such a little girl. when we were done with the fountains, we went to see the bean. addison was pretty funny looking at herself. she tried to lick it too. i can't imagine how disgusting that would have been.

we went back to maria's and relaxed for a bit. addison watched beauty and the beast and was apparently a little shocked at one part. after the movie, we played a little and then we headed out to pick haley up at the airport.

addison was apparently a little tired because she passed out on the way to pick up haley. but right when we got to the airport, she woke up and was all smiles.

we headed to dinner at burger bar after that. it was delicious. we had fried pickles {yum!} and maria and i split the veggie burger {amazing!}.

we hit up the grocery store on our way back to maria's. i left haley and maria with addison while i ran to get addison some juice. i heard a lot of laughter coming from their direction, and i found them using addison to get something on one of the top shelves. they were quite resourceful. haley held addison up and addison reached to in and grabbed it. i believe they were getting some quaker rice cake things. who knows.



saturday we woke up and ran to breakfast. i took the jogging stroller in case we wanted to go for a run. i'm glad we did, because i definitely pigged out the whole weekend.

we went to orange, and it was great! we sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather. addison had a good time chatting with maria's dog, james, before lunch. she got quite close to him.

we had some champagne flights with our breakfast. it was 3 mini drinks, with fresh squeezed strawberry, pear, and pineapple juice. they were fabulous.

addison had chocolate chip pancakes, and i definitely stole some. so good.

we walked along the river on the way back to maria's.

we got ready for the day and then headed out to uncle julio's for lunch. um, yum. such good mexican food. delicious chips {thin like chili's. i love their chips}. oh, and the margaritas? amazing. they have skinny margaritas that are "healthier". we gave them a try. and i like being healthier.

after lunch, we started our shopping expedition. i really just wanted to go to h&m, so i didn't do much shopping at other stores. we ended up going back to maria's and then walking down to michigan avenue.

and h&m was packed. so i didn't get myself anything. and i was extremely sad about it. but seriously, there was no way i could have gotten any shopping done. maria was great and walked addison through the store while i tried to shop, but so. many. people. addison got 3 adorable dresses though. lucky girl.

i may plan a weekday trip to atlanta soon and go shopping there. ya, that sounds good.

after we were done shopping, we took a cab back to maria's and addison passed out. when she woke up, we headed out to get maria's dog from doggy daycare. then we hit up target. and i finally did some shopping for myself. at target, which we have at home. but i scored 2 maxi skirts and 2 super cute tank tops.

we ended up just getting panera for dinner because it was getting late. and then we made brownies {my recipe is so yummy}. but really, we just made the batter and ate that. because who really wants to bake brownies?? not us.



sunday, we went and had breakfast at the same bagel place as friday and ate at starbucks again. then we headed home.

i wish we could have stayed longer and hung out more. and done more shopping {when it wasn't so crowded}. but alas, we had to come home.

like the ride there, addison watched a bunch of movies and ate lots of snacks. we both ended up not being hungry for lunch {hint, the snacks}, so when we stopped for a potty break, we went to panera and she got a smoothie and i got some iced coffee {my new favorite thing}.

we had so much fun on our trip! thanks maria for letting us stay with you and putting up with us! and thanks haley for letting us crash on your weekend!!

addison is now gearing up for yet another trip with her daddy. the girl is a traveler!

i'm going to gear up for some serious pool time.

have a good memorial weekend!

graduation

i graduated from belmont on saturday.

no big deal.

i honestly can't believe it. not that i didn't think i'd graduate. i just didn't think it would happen so fast. i feel like i was just starting my time at belmont, and now it's over.

well, it's not really over because i'm in graduate school. but it's hard to believe i'm done with undergrad.



it's official! i snuck my phone in with me during graduation, so i took pictures during the ceremony :)






and even better, it was on cinco de mayo!! so even more reason for celebration!

it was an awesome day. long, but awesome.

we had prepped addison for the day. we told her that it was my graduation and that she would have to be quiet for a while.

she was really excited and kept saying "it's your graduation day, mommy!".

well, someone got some stage freight when it came time to yell when i walked across the stage. all of my family and friends (all 7 of them. students only got 7 tickets for family and friends) were quiet because they were waiting for addison to cheer. she got a little scared, and finally said something. but instead of yelling "congrats!" or "yay mommy!", she said "happy birthday mommy!". unfortunately, i didn't hear exactly what she said. but i heard it was hilarious!

addison did great during the whole ceremony. probably better than me. i was one of the first to graduate. they did it alphabetically by college, and the college of business was the first, so i got to walk early.

all of the family went out of lunch after. then that night i went to a derby party and celebrated with friends.

i still can't believe i'm done. it's crazy. no more undergrad. woo hoo!! now i just have to finish up this graduate school stuff. and then it will be on to the CPA exam. will it ever end?? hopefully some day!