Dancing Queen

Well, my little girl is finally following in Mommy's footsteps. While we do not always have the same interests - for instance she will not stop watching Elmo to come watch American Idol with me - we do share a love of music and DANCING. Since I saw that Addie was a girl in her 16 week ultrasound, I have been waiting for her to start dance class. Dancing was my outlet as a child . And, let's face it, I always danced it out in College too, maybe just a little differently. So, I want to introduce my little girl to this past time.

Addie is now really into singing and dancing. She loves songs with moves - "Wheels on the Bus" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" particularly. And, I have to brag, my little girl got Rhythm! Yay! Here is a pic of her dancing it out at Caitlin's birthday party. Notice she is dressed for the part in a tutu and with some accessories. Also notice yet another appearance of the pink New Balances, SHEESH!

Shoes

Addie is recently obsessed with shoes. Not all shoes, just her pink New Balance tennis shoes that Gramms and Pops gave her for Christmas. She wears them all of the time with everything. In fact, I have to bribe her to wear other shoes for Church. She really believes that they go with everything: shorts, jeans, smocked dresses, pajamas . . . etc.

This morning I tried to get her to change shoes. She has on a precious outfit that has matching pink glitter Mary Janes. Yes, I said it, PINK GLITTER MARY JANES. These shoes are precious. Addie flat out refuses to wear these precious girly shoes. Instead, she opts for the pink New Balances, again!

Oh well, at least they are pink . . .

Happy Mardi Gras!

The past week as been Carnival time in Louisiana. And, boy did I put the "fat" in Fat Tuesday. I mean, full on gluttony on fried catfish poboys and king cake. But, man was it worth it! Of course, now that it is Ash Wednesday, I am in full fast mode. Bring on the Lenten fasting and then the Easter gorging on candy. I am ready!

I have no pictures of my shame, but, how about instead a cute of pic of Addie in her Mardi Gras outfit. We didn't make the parades this year. But, she would have been ready!

Addie is 2!

Yes, I know, I've already exclaimed this milstone, but, this time I have pictures! I know, can you believe, I am actually posting and I have pictures. YAY!

I think that 2 is a pretty signifncant milestone. Kids change so much from one to two. And, two = officially a toddler. So, in honor of that big milestone we had to celebrate three times. Once on her actual birthday at school, then again at home, and then again that weekend.

Her party on the big day was dinner at home (Ryan's spaghetti and meatballs which is her favorite home cooked meal) and a cake from Oak Point Grocery. Quick aside ~ this grocery store in Watson, LA makes the BEST grocery store cakes. The white on white cake I bought for her birthday tasted like wedding cake. YUM! I was presently surprised at the quality, the decorating and the overall taste of the cake. It was wonderful! I mean, look at this thing . . .

And, of course, we took cupcakes to school for a party with her friends.

Her big birthday party was an Elmo-themed extravaganza. Well, maybe not an extravaganza, but we had fun! We had a tunnel for the kids (modeled below by Addie and Ryan) and an Elmo ball pit (courtsey of Uncle Victor). I also had a cake from Oak Point for this party. It depicted Elmo's World. And, while cute, could not top that precious Tinker Bell cake!

Christmas: McLin Style

Christmas this year, like every year, is a crazy time in my family. We spend our days trekking back and forth between Baton Rouge and Rayville and visit all of our family, extended family and friends that we claim as family. It is a great time, full of food, fun, presents and, well, family.

Addie was just about 2 at Christmas time, and that is a great age to be a kid at Christmas. Here is a breakdown of our Crazy Christmas complete with pictures:

1. We started Christmas a little early this year. The weekend before Christmas we spend with the Jordan family in Rayville. We had "Rayville Santa" at Leenie and Dooda's house. Addie was very excited because Leenie and Dooda (aka Rayvile Santa) brought her a kitchen and a few (ok lots) of other toys.

2. We came back from Rayvile and immediately attended the Baton Rouge Ballet Company's performance of the Nutcracker: A Tale from the Bayou. The Nutcracker is my all time favorite Christmas ballet. I used to love to perform this as a member of Twin City back in the day. Now, I am so excited to take my daughter to see it! The little girls were all dressed in their Chritsmas finery and had a ball:

3. This year we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the McLins in Baton Rouge. Per tradition, we all attended Christmas Eve service and had gumbo at Gramms and Pops' house after. Per Jordan tradition, Ryan and I had to take family pictures in front of the tree when were dressed up to go to church. This was not Addie's favorite Christmas tradition this year, as you can see. But, we had fun trying to get a good shot. For some reason, she always poses better wtih Daddy. Hmmmmmm . . . Also per tradition, I awaited my bi-yearly call from the Yancey party where the Rayville crew is having an "adult Christmas Eve" while I am home putting together "Santa." The call this year did not disappoint and I got to be at the yearly throw down, if only via phone . . .

4. On Christmas morning, Santa visited our house for the first time since Addie has been born. She was not quite sure how that hot pink kitchen got in our house, but she was loving it!


5. Finally, we spent the rest of Christmas day at Gramms and Pops house with the whole McLin bunch. Addie spent the day playing with her cousins. And we spent the day eating. hahaha.

Cousins

Now that I am FINALLY uploading pics to order from the past oh, I don't know 6 months or so, I am finding the cutest shots that I had forgotten that I took. This set is of Addie and her cousins during our annual cousin Christmas party. My sisters-in-law, Beth and Erin, started this party when their kids were Addie's age. This year the kids decorated a train cake and got to see Santa Claus riding a fire engine through the neighborhood.

Looking at these pictures highlights to me how hilarious all of us must look when we go anywhere. The kids, at this exact moment, are 5 (Caitlin), 4 (Cole), 3 (Amelia Kate) and 2 (Addie). Needless to say, it is INSANITY when we all get together. These pics kind of say it all:

Thanksgiving

Yes, yes, I know, I know, it is February and the title of this post is "Thanksgiving." I realize that I am very behind. But, I'm just now uploading these pictures because, well, life has just now slowed down long enough for me to do it. And, I'm keeping my New Years resolution to blog more.

At Thanksgiving, Addie's school - First Baptist Child Development Center - has a program. The kids dress as various Thanksgiving characters - Pilgrims, Turkeys, Native Americans - and perform some Thanksgiving tunes. This year Addie's class were Indians and sang "One little, two little, three little Indians." As I said, Addie's class sang the song. Addie stood there with her thumb in her mouth and looked at the other children like they were nuts. I, of course, found this to be hilarious and laughed the entire time. Our whole video is of me laughing in the background. Oh well, I thought she was super cute in her Indian headress and shirt.

Here are a couple of pics from the performance. Notice Addie's complete lack of participation:

In fact, in this next shot, she became so enthralled with the performance that she turned around to watch the other kids sing:

Well, she may not be Shirely Temple, but she is sure entertaining to me!