Pump It Up!

Addie Kate's babysitter took her and her friends to Pump It Up today. Pump It Up is an indoor playplace with lots of blow-up things. All of this newfangled kid stuff is new for Tommy and me, but we cannot wait to take her there and see her excitement for ourselves. I am, however, very happy that her babysitter has been able to take her to numerous fun and educational places this year! About today though, her babysitter just emailed me the pictures and said that Addie Kate loved it. To quote her exactly, "She got really mad when we had to leave!" That's my girl! Here are some pictures of our girl and her fun day!

So sweet! My BIG girl!

Addie and her friend Thomas

I can just see and hear her laughing now!

Addie and her books

Since I have no pictures from Christmas, I thought I'd share a picture of Addie opening a late Christmas gift. I have a sweet student and parent this year that always thinks of Addie. She gave her three precious books for her 1st birthday, books that I've never heard of (which in itself is unheard of for me to not know about a certain book - for those of you who've seen my library, you know what I'm talking about!) and books that are absolutely pricless. They are Beryl's Box (Apparently this book is out of print - you either have to buy a 1st edition - expensive - or a used one - which is what we have. And, you can't find a picture of it anywhere! I cannot imagine why this fabulous book - which teaches a lesson more to parents than children - would be out of print! I think it should be a book that they give you in the hospital after you give birth!), Jesse Bear, Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear, and The Library. (FYI - this parent used to be a teacher!) Then, for Christmas they gave Addie another great book, A Squirrel's Tale. This book is precious, with a little squirrel that goes through openings in the pages so you can physically take him on his journey. Although I must say, Addie's favorite part was the wrapping paper - because it had PUPPIES on it!

I know I've mentioned before that my Addie Kate likes books more than any other toy, which thrills me to no end! But, I'm not sure that my writing has expressed the sheer passion that this child has for books! Just yesterday morning Tommy brought her to me, book in hand. She immediately though found three other books (in our bathroom!). I, while getting dressed, asked her to read the books to Mommy, which she did. She sat her cute little tail down in the middle of our bathroom floor and babbled away. Every now and then I heard "no, no" and "moo" (all from the Sandra Boynton book Moo, Baa, La, La, La). As Tommy heard me ask her to read to me, he told me that he had already read a book to hear that morning too! We're talking 6 AM here!

Then this morning I walked in her room, where Tommy already was, and saw her standing in her crib holding Pat the Bunny! I asked her if she was already reading this morning and Tommy said that as soon as he walked in she was standing up saying, "read, read, read" (which I had heard all the way in our bathroom, but I thought she was saying "eat, eat."), no doubt after waking up and finding the many books just lying there on her floor, unreachable! So, she was reading Pat the Bunny to him as he got her clothes out, and she continued to read it during her diaper change, and while getting dressed. She got a little peeved when Daddy had to take her hands out of her sleeper and put them into her clothes, because it meant she had to let go of the book!

Since I mentioned Moo, Baa, La, La, La (by Sandra Boynton), I need to share how fabulous this book is! My Addie girl, at 14 months old, knows so many of her animal sounds! She knows what the dog/puppy, cat/kitty, horse, sheep, and turkey say! Tommy and I are blown away! She thinks a duck says duck right now, but we are working on that one! She pretty much has that book memorized - even the parts that aren't just animal sounds. Me, even being a teacher, did not know children at that young of an age were capable of this! Also, if you tell her to go get Moo, Baa - she knows exactly which book you are talking about and goes to get it! We have another book, a golden book, that is nothing but animal sounds, and she knows her animal sounds in that one, as well as if we just ask her without reading a book. Ahhh, I'm so proud! We have video of some of the sounds, but not all of them. I will try to get that up soon!

Lastly, I wanted to show her other favorite books for the time being. She LOVES a flap book, which is where the next three come in:

And these two are also her favorites:

This was my favorite book as a child, but I haven't pushed it on her or anything. I think she likes the repetition and the natural excitement that comes with the inflection in Tommy's and my voices as we read it.

I think she likes the changes from black and white pictures to color pictures in this book. I think she also likes few words on a page, which all of these books have. Anytime she brings us a book that it takes us a little while to read each page, she gets frustrated, shuts the book, and wants to get up! It's so funny!

Oh, our girl makes us smile and laugh so much in such a short amount of time. She can turn the most rotten day around in an instant. We love you Addie girl!

7 AM Block Party

Doesn't everyone play with blocks at 7 AM on a Sunday morning? By golly we do in the Sweatman house! Tommy and I were cooking breakfast one Sunday morning when Addie came hauling tail into the kitchen with her nesting blocks. So, what does he do? Drop what he's doing and sit in the floor and play with her! She LOVED watching them fall over, as you can see! Please note her touch of ADHD - stopping in the middle of playing with the blocks to check the cabinets to see if there was something better in there to play with. She cracks us up!

Happy 2nd Birthday Lawson!

Two weeks ago, Lawson celebrated his 2nd birthday at Teddy Bear Mountain! This is ridiculously hard for me to believe, because Lawson is only 9 months older than Addie Kate! Scary!

Addie Kate had a great time at Teddy Bear Mountain with her friends. She, of course, chose to make/build (whatever you say) a puppy. He barks and she loves that! When we sat down to have the birth certificate made, the little man that works there asked what she wanted to name him, and I said," Puppy!" Tommy said, "You want to name him puppy?" and I replied yes, because that, of course, is what she calls him!

I did find one thing to be crazy though, and it just reaffirmed my belief that Addie is WILD (no surprise there, I know!) - she was around 3 other girls, within months of her age, and she was the ONLY one that was constantly talking and running around all over the place! I chased her for so long that I truly thought my feet were going to bust out of my shoes (true, I probably shouldn't have worn heels, but that's what matched!), then Tommy chased her, and finally I think Elliott and Laurie just felt bad for us and they chased her! Whew, she wears us out, but she is FABULOUS!!!

Here are some pictures from our fun day. Happy Birthday Sweet Lawson! We love you!

Here she is, running around all over the place!

Addie with her new puppy, holding it by the tag!

Addie Kate, Lawson, and Aiden enjoying some pizza!

Addie and Aunt LuLu!

Elliott and Aidie

My precious girl!

Lawson watching his elephant get "stuffed." I find this a little disturbing, but that's just me!

Lawson checking things out - he was a little amazed out by all the activity surrounding him!

That's my girl!

Tommy and I talk all the time about how we think Addie is a nut! We really do think she's crazy! Certainly crazy in a good way - we think she's smart as a whip and we love her jibber jabber and daily new tricks - but some of the things she does just cracks us up!

The other day she and I were playing in her playroom and one of her toy baskets was on the floor. She pitched a fit until I figured out that she wanted in the basket! So, I helped her in (with toys still in there!) and she proceeded to play there for some time! Apparently I can thank my parents for this - while Tommy and I were in NYC, Addie enjoyed several "clothes basket rides" all over their house. I guess it's a pretty good idea of containment for someone who is not easily contained. I hear even Aunt Sue used this little trick while she was keeping her!

Ahhh, one day I'll look back on these and look at my big girl and wonder how she ever fit in this basket!

2nd Big Boo Boo!

Addie Kate had her 2nd big boo boo last weekend. On Friday she fell into our kitchen table. She reached for the tablecloth and just kept going! I didn't see exactly what she hit, but she immediately had a big, blue goose-egg right below her right eye. I felt so bad for her, but she handled it just fine after some cuddle time with Mommy! I was worried that she would have a huge black eye for weeks, but it's pretty much stayed one bump, however in technicolor, nonetheless!

(Addie, when you are reading this one day, forgive Mommy for putting up this not-so- cute picture of you, with my hand there holding you in the chair - this was the one that showed off your shiner the best, and that was the point of the post!)

Rockin' it Out

Over New Years, Addie Kate and Aiden had a blast rockin' it out on the drums, while Tommy and Elliott played Guitar Hero! It's probably the most still Addie's sat in I don't know how long!

Sweet Aidie giving my girl a hug!

I love this one with the drumstick up in the air! She means business!

And I love this one with her teeny tiny foot propped up!

Blog Award!

My sweet friend from "the good ole days" (Clemson), Margaret, gave me this sweet blog award! And apparently, just like her, I was feeling as if I had neglected the blog in the past week or two! It's so nice to know that people enjoy reading about our little "pink and orange" world. Thanks Margaret for my award! It made my day!

The award states: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I am passing the award off to blogs I love to read. Most of these are blogs I've just run across from other people's blog rolls, are friends of friends, or are just truly good people that have somehow come into my life. These are people that give me inspiration, make me smile, and help me to enjoy the truly wonderful things in our lives! All of you check them out for a laugh, smile, or tear. Remember what Dolly Parton says in Steel Magnolias: "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion!"

1. 4tunate

2. Baby Annabelle

3. The Wright Girls

4. The Penningtons

5. Sippycups are for Chardonnay

6. Clemson Girl and the Coach

7. Puttin on the Grits

8. I Love Pink

Happy New Year!

We enjoyed New Years in Summerville with Elliott, Laurie, and Aiden! We haven't been apart for a New Years in so many years that Laurie and I couldn't even remember how long it's been! Now that's friendship!

This year, Elliott and Laurie and Tommy and I decided to just hang out at the house. Tommy and I are still (ok, mostly it's me!) not wild about babysitters, plus, babysitters are few and far between on New Years, so it was nice to have the kids with us, and then put them to bed! Elliott wanted to do an oyster roast and lowcountry boil and man, was it good! They had some friends and their kids over that live near them, plus we had Jenny and Jason over and I was super excited about that!!! (Jenny's got 3 boys, all under 2, so I don't get to see her much!!)
Addie Kate LOVED the people and excitement. That girl takes after her mommy and daddy for SURE with her amount of socializing! She was the last kid to go to sleep and got some kind of crazy 2nd wind about 10:00. But when she crashed, she crashed!

New Year's Eve celebrations certainly have changed over the years, but they are still every bit as special and enjoyable!


Crazy girl with her 2nd wind - she was scooting around on her back on the floor. Nice!

Ahhh, my girl with her blue eyes and rosy cheeks! (Oh, and super cute new coat from Aunt Sharon and my mom! Good thing we had it - it was COLD outside!) And yes, she had a bow in her hair, but heaven knows where it ended up!

Elliott and Laurie
Us!

Jenny and Jason

I Love New York!

Posting has been a little out of order lately! Regardless, I wanted to add some pictures about Tommy's and my trip to New York for his 30th birthday. We had a fabulous time, as we always do. It had been two years since we've been, and we were both missing it! It's always cold up there when we go, but this time it was freezing, with tons of snow and ice. The snow was beautiful, but I can truly say now that I know why snowshoes and Uggs were invented. Not that I saw anyone wearing snowshoes, but I can totally see where they'd be easier to walk with. Uggs, yes, I saw plenty of people wearing them. I was tempted to buy them there, but we never saw them for sale in any of the stores we went in, and I typically forgot that I wanted them until I lost feeling in my toes, then I'd remember.

New things we did in NY this time included:

• Seeing Phantom of the Opera on Broadway (one of Tommy's birthday presents from me - this was his #1 reason for going this time) - it was fabulous. It was in the old Majestic Theater in which I've seen Rent there also, but the theater was completely transformed from Rent to Phantom. Beautiful. Phantom is not my favorite of Broadway shows, but it does probably have my favorite music. Tommy loved it and that's all that matters since it was his birthday! And, we got the tickets at the TKTS booth for 50% off - still $130 - but that was 50% off! I guess they think they can just get it because it's Phantom, because I have never, even when spending full price, paid that much for a Broadway show.
Not my favorite picture of me, but it does show the unreal wind that was going on!


• Have dessert (at 4:00 in the afternoon nonetheless) at Serendipity III. Yum, yum, yum! Was still a 2 1/2 hour wait, but WORTH IT!!! Even Tommy, who is not the dessert eater in this family, said it was phenomenal! He actually had to tell the waiter to take his dessert from him because he had no self control. (Let me insert here that Tommy has just dropped 30 lbs. from being sensible - cutting out desserts, exercising, etc. - then we ate our way through NY!)
My dessert - Frozen Hot Chocolate (Heaven. On. This. Earth. I drank the whole thing, minus one sip from Tommy, by myself, and loved it!), and Tommy's dessert - I can't remember the name, but it was amazing. That is hot fudge (that tastest like a chocolate icing of sorts) dripping down the sides. The whipped cream had an almond flavor. The bottom was a chocolate blackout cake with ice cream. Yes, I bought a cookbook, and No, I have no idea how to even begin something like this! And, the pictures do these deserts NO justice!


• New for Tommy - eating at Tavern on the Green. Absolutely beautiful. Here, I believe you pay for the place and the view, not necessarily the food. I mean, the food is good, but not $200 good. Take me to Little Italy any day over Tavern on the Green! However, the beauty of that place is amazing, especially at Christmas.
Central Park and the TONS of snow. The sidewalk was so icy, we slipped several times. We didn't get any pictures in Tavern on the Green, why I don't know!


• Saw the crystal snowflake outside Cartier and Tiffany's - I don't know how I've missed this!

• Saw St. Patrick's Cathedral decorated for Christmas.


• Spent less than an hour in Chinatown - I know, unbelievable - but it was dark and SKETCHY. I got my bags and sunglasses and we booked it.


• Ate at a new restaurant in Little Italy (we try to eat at a different one every time, but I have possibly found my favorite!!!!) - Ristorante Da Gennaro - fabulous, fabulous!
Doesn't Big T look hot with the purple bookbag on his back? We hate carrying it all over the city, but it does make life easier!


• We did NOT eat at the Roxy - my least favorite place in Times Square yet somehow on every trip I've ended up eating there. The wait staff is rude, the cheesecake is sub-par, and the place is ridiculously crowded (I guess because people see it all lit up in the middle of Times Square and don't know better than to walk about 8 blocks down Broadway to go eat 10x better cheesecake at Carnegie or Stage Delis, which we did, mmmmm!)


• Bought our first (of many I'm sure) doll at American Girl Place. Addie Kate got a Bitty Baby for Christmas with blonde hair and blue eyes just like her! She loves it. And the look on her daddy's face surrounded by those pink on pink walls AND tea parties AND dolls having tea in high chairs with the families in the tea room AND the fact that he couldn't find a men's bathroom - PRICELESS! He has informed me that any tea parties at that place will be a Mommy/Daughter outing! He looked in the room and in one swoop turned around to me and said, "There are dudes in there!" He was in shock!
This is Tommy looking into the Tea Room at American Girl Place - I love the look on his face - shock mixed with "there's no way I'm going in there!" And yes, it was that pink and I loved it. I cannot wait to take Addie Kate!


• Was able to see the old and new Yankee Stadium, tons of snow. I've been [drug] to a game there in the summer, but the new Yankee Stadium wasn't even under construction. It really is a pretty stadium!


• Found our favorite pizza place in the city. We have tried out TONS of pizza in NY, but I think we have now landed our favorite, and it was just by chance! Patsy's on Park, diagonally across from Serendipity. Amazing pizza.

Here are some random pictures of my favorite things in NY, especially at Christmas time, and some new things I've never seen before:

Love, love, love the windows decorated for Christmas. Tommy and I are always on the hunt for the prettiest ones. This one is probably my favorite of all time - not because I'm a big Atlanta fan, but because it's the South, y'all!

Love to see these ornaments on 5th every year. Honestly, there's nothing special about them except the fact that they are in water and I can't imagine how they (or what poor soul has to) get them out there!

There is an Ann Taylor Loft in Times Square now. We didn't go in (Hello - the clothes are the same in SC too! I don't go to NY to buy things I can buy here!), but I thought the sign was so funny - it's so NOT ATL and SO Times Square! They just don't fit!

I thought this was hilarious. It is Shrek, The Musical, and their marketing slogan is "Bringing Ugly Back!" That makes me want to see it, so I guess the marketing worked.

The Saks snowflakes! They are beautiful and are synchronized to move/dance to music!

I love Rockefeller Center. I don't know what it is about it, I just love it. It is always on our list to see!

Same with Radio City Music Hall - I just love it. It is truly beautiful inside. I think I like it just because it's been around for so long. I love to think of all that it has seen and been to people!

We, of course, did more than this on our trip, but these were my favorites and were our "new" things. Mostly, we loved not doing most of the tourist-y things (I don't know - to locals, they may think what we did was tourist-y?) and just walked around the city and loved being together. It was a GREAT trip!