I'd forgotten what color it was.

Before:

After:

I'm not sure the pictures do it justice (and I think that there is a strange light shadow right in the spot where the couch goes- it doesn't look that way in person. And there are still indentations on the floor left by the furniture- those aren't stains). I'm not sure that a single picture can capture the glory, the beauty of a steam cleaned floor. But this is what Mike and I did today. Steam cleaned our carpet. With a steam cleaner that was given to us over a year ago. But I digress. Mike and I handed Addison off to GaGa (HUGE thanks to GaGa!) and plowed through our house. I am embarrassed that I let my house get to the point that I did. It was in desperate need of a major cleaning. SO. This is the result of 6.5 hours of cleaning, 7 full garbage bags, 2 large bags for Goodwill, and lots and lots of sweat (no blood or tears). And oh, it feels so good!

A Merry Christmas, Indeed

First thing's first. The pictures included in this post are, for lack of a better word, crap. No, no, I don't mean that. I mean- I wish some of them were better. I never really used to care. But now that this blog has kind of consumed my life, the quality of my pictures matters to me all of the sudden. This realization came during conversations with my Uncle Frank- more on that later.

Okay. Now that that's settled...

I have a much greater appreciation for the holidays now that I have a child's eyes to see them through. Little things... Christmas lights in the neighborhood, Christmas decorations everywhere you go, even Christmas music... it had all had become monotonous to me. It sort of felt like the same old, same old every year. Until this year. When Addison would "ooh" and "aah" at every house we drove by-every time we drove by- it was hard not to notice how truly cool it is that so many houses have so many beautiful lights! And when she would get excited about snowmen- at the mall, in restaurants, in yards, in our house, anywhere!, I found myself looking for them, to show to her, to see her face light up. And especially when Addison would dance to any Christmas song I played in the car, I totally danced with her. Her joy for all things Holiday was contagious!

I had high hopes for Christmas this year, and I certainly was not disappointed. Christmas Eve we celebrated with Mike's family. We went to his parent's house, and his NaNa and PaPa were there as well. Mike's mom made a traditional dinner (as she always does) and it was delicious (as it always is). After we stuffed ourselves with plates-full of yummies, it was present time!! Addison was so excited about all of her gifts, but I think the bike that was brought out last had to be her favorite. She was so upset when it was time to leave- she did not want to stop riding her new bike! Thank you Grammi and Grandpa for such a generous and special Christmas :)

Addison and Mommy at Grammi and Grandpa's



Mike, Grammi and Addison



Addy and Grandpa

NaNa, Addison, Mike and PaPa (Addison is enjoying a strawberry)


Addy and her new bike! (and a yummy strawberry)

Christmas morning, Addison woke up to presents from Santa! I want to rewind to the night before, because I had so much fun setting up her presents. Imagining her excitement as she would come down the stairs... seeing her new rocking horse, baby stroller and Dora Kitchen... I just got so wrapped up in the holiday spirit! I told you her joy was contagious! Well, Addison was indeed, very excited to come downstairs to her new toys. We practically had to pry her off of the horse to get her dressed for Christmas at GaGa's. And we had to hide the bike from the night before, because if she had seen it that morning, we would have definitely been an hour late to GaGa's. Smart parents, we are.

Don't tell Addison, but this horse isn't "new". I received it at a baby shower, and have been waiting to bring it out until she was old enough to enjoy it. We did get it out once a few months ago, but she wasn't quite ready. This was the perfect opportunity to give it to her!


She LOVES it!

My mom's brothers (two of them, anyway) flew in on Christmas Day. We decided to exchange gifts Christmas morning, before our out of town guests arrived, in an effort to keep things small and simple. So, off to GaGa's we went. Melissa and her family joined us, and one of Grandma's caregivers, Kristy, celebrated with us as well. There were elmos, nightgowns, shoes, comic books, dvds, wiis, dinosaurs, just to name a few. What a great morning! Mike took Addy home for a good nap, and I stayed and visited with the family. Uncle Frank and his wife Cheryl arrived later that afternoon, followed closely by Uncle John and his wife Oro. Uncle Frank is a great photographer, and he gave me some pointers for how to take sharper pictures. Bottom line: you need an expensive camera. But, apparently there are some things I can do to work with what I have. Thanks Uncle Frank, for the lesson.

Frank and Cheryl

Soon enough, Mike and Addy were back, we were all accounted for, and it was time for DINNER! Mom did a fabulous job of setting a lovely table in the living room, and we had a perfect Christmas dinner.

Addison and cousins at the "kids" table


clockwise from left: Addy, Mike, Mom, Jane, John, Oro, Les, Abbie, Kristi, Grandma, Frank, Cheryl, Adam and Melissa. A full house!

I think it goes without saying, this was my best Christmas yet. From start to finish, I wouldn't have changed a thing! I know it's a little late, but Happy Holidays, everyone!

And HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's that time of year!

Ugh, I'm sick. Like, stay in bed under the covers, shiver then sweat then shiver again, achy body, chest cough, can't even muster the energy to pee sick. It's like my body knew that today was the first day of my "vacation" and held on through my last week at the studio. Which I guess is a good thing. It's just that I keep hearing Mike and Addison downstairs and I feel like I am missing out on the fun. Addison's laugh is echoing through the whole house. I'll hear Addy say "baby" or "oooohhhhhhhhhhh!" or Mike say "I got you!" or "woo hoo!" and I SO want to be down there with them. Then again, I have heard a lot of "no" and my favorite, "no no no no nononononononono!" and I'm not gonna lie, I'm not too upset to be upstairs for those episodes.

Here's the real problem with my being sick. I'm not done working. Tomorrow my girls are dancing at the mall (4:00, Lakeline, in front of JC Penny) and Monday night we will be at the Trail of Lights (8:15). I am laying here hoping that all my body needs is constant rest today and tonight. That I will be able to muster up the energy to finish out the year at work. Otherwise I will show up tomorrow wrapped in a blanket, feet in slippers, tissues stuffed in the pockets of my robe, hair sticking straight up. Cause there aint no way I'll do any better than that if I don't get to feeling better soon.

Nap time. Night.

You only turn 30 once.

So why not celebrate for 3 days? That's the way I see it anyway. Friday night Mike's parents took us out to dinner at Mimi's cafe. Their good friend Jim was in town, so he joined us, and we had a very nice time. Addison had run a fever all day, but was acting okay, so we decided to go ahead and take her with us. Mimi's wasn't bad. I'd probably try something different next time. Perhaps I'll try the cobb salad. Because apparently the cobb salad is DELICIOUS, what with Addison eating all of her Grammi's. Sorry, Grammi. Poor thing left dinner still hungry because Addison ate all of her salad!! I regret that I didn't get many pictures. This was mainly because Addy wasn't feeling well and was either in Grammi's lap or my lap. So, here she is in Grammi's lap.

Saturday night we went out with a few friends to Fonda San Miguel. If you've never been, I highly recommend it. From the second you walk in the door, it is an experience. A very good experience. yummy drinks, yummy food, good times. Here are just a few pics from dinner. (Bobby, I am sorry you're not in any. You had the stupid yellow glasses on!!)

Holly and Don

Haila and Brandon

Mark and Kristine

After dinner, Brandon and Haila had to get home to their baby, but Holly and Kristine were down for dancing! Our husbands must have loved it when we listened to Britney's new cd in the car. "Boy don't try to front I I I know just just what you are are are... Womanizer, woman-womanizer You're a womanizer Oh, womanizer, oh You're a womanizer, baby You, you, you are You, you, you are Womanizer, womanizer Womanizer" Anyyouknowit'sinyourheadnow... excuse me, I got distracted... oh, yes, dancing. Well we all know I love to dance. So, all I will say is we had fun :)

Then came Sunday. Dinner with my crazy family. Seriously, I have SO many good pics from this evening. Let's see... Melissa and her family got all dressed up and good-lookin'. Addison was feeling much better and playing along for photos (sort of). Melissa drank a few and got really um, spirited. And mom made me an outfit (yes, she MADE me an OUTFIT) that is socute I just have to share a few pictures...

Okay, so the picture is cheese and not great. But, Mom MADE me this outfit. And bought the heels. A win-win!

Adam and the President's wife

This picture just makes me laugh.

We ALL got a good laugh out of this one. Abigail was so jovial and friendly, and the second we asked her to pose for a picture with Melissa, this is what we got. This was after Melissa had been enjoying the spirits, and we teased her, asking "now, which one is drunk???" Maybe it was only funny there. Hmmm, I don't know...

"Mama, why are you so giggly? Can't you see this is a time for reflection?"

Oh, just so sweet!

And my birthday weekend came to a close with a few games of Dance Dance Revolution. Thanks, Melissa and Adam! It is SO much fun!!

So, yeah. There you have it. My actual birthday is today, but I was too spent from all the weekend fun to do anything special today! (Besides the normal Monday routine, of course) Thank you everybody for your birthday messages, and to those of you who helped me celebrate this weekend.

Here's to getting better with age!!

Dance. I need to work on coming up with clever titles. For now this one is still just Dance.

Okay, I'm not gonna lie. I want Addison to be a dancer. There. I said it. Yes, I really want her to LOVE dancing as much as I do. Having said that, I always say I will not "push" her, and that is totally true. I am almost hyper-sensitive to the situation. I really want to see her find out what she likes on her own. And if that happens to be dance, then I will be one happy mama.

Anyway, I was eager and apprehensive at the same time when I had to take Addison to work with me this morning. She does go to work with me every afternoon until Mike picks her up, so she is definitely used to the studio. She actually really likes going. But in the afternoons I teach "big girls", so if she is not in my arms, she is usually playing in the waiting room with siblings of dancers, or hanging out with me in my office. This morning I was anxious to see how she would react being in the classroom with me encouraging her to participate with girls very close to her age. Of course I was completely prepared to "try" to teach with her, my assistant was ready to take over for me when I had to leave with her. But oh, my. I never would have expected... I was able to teach the entire morning (two classes) without any problem. She TOTALLY participated. She didn't always do what we were doing- she didn't "march", she just followed us around, etc. But she never clinged to me, she never got bored, she watched me and the girls and she LOVED every second.

I really can't articulate how amazing this was for me. As a mother and as a dance teacher. To see your daughter enjoying something that is your passion, your gift... it is really incredible. Sounds so very cheese. I know. I do apologize.

So here are some pictures. Here she is playing freeze dance with the two year old class and my assistant, Miss Sarah. Addy is in the blue pants and top. Aren't these little girls precious?

This is Addison singing a song at the beginning of the four year old class.

And get this. She sat on her number. She sat on her number and participated in a clapping game. I'm not sure if people will understand how amazing this is. We have a hard time getting our two year olds to sit still on their numbers. The only thing we need to teach her is how to "sit like a dancer"- legs crossed. This totally amazed me.

The girl who watches Addison on Wednesdays (Miss Brittany) actually can't watch her anymore, so until I find someone else, she will be joining me. I'm actually really excited! Is that psycho?

Meeting Santa

Every year our neighborhood has a big Holiday celebration, and Mike and I were excited to take Addison on Sunday morning. There were train rides, 2 bouncy houses, AND... the playground that Addison plays on all the time. Wouldn't you know it? Addison wanted to play on her old faithful, the playground. Not the awesome train that was so perfect for kids her age. Or one of the bouncy houses, totally designed for kids her age. But I digress. While Mike played with Addison, I waited in line for an hour and a half so we could get a picture with Santa. They joined me when things started looking hopeful, and we were in line for another 30 minutes. Addison was so patient and well-behaved. She could see Santa the whole time and was really getting excited to meet him. Everytime the line moved, she would open her mouth and eyes really wide in her new form of exclamation. Sadly, we still haven't captured that expression on camera yet...

But we were able to get a picture of Addison while she was saying "Ho Ho Ho". She was very proud of her new accomplishment. This was very entertaining to all of the parents in line around us!

It was finally our turn, and Addison was so excited! First, she met Mrs. Clause...

And then, it was finally time. She smiled a huge grin toward Santa, Mike put her in Santa's lap, and...

Poor Baby. Mike and I were afraid this would be her reaction, but were encouraged by her behavior in line. Bummer. She WAS excited about Santa. Silly Mommy and Daddy just didn't understand that her excitement had nothing to do with sitting in his lap!!

Busy, Busy Season!

This was the first of many busy, busy weekends for the Adairs. Friday night and Saturday morning have already been documented, so now it's on to Saturday night and Sunday! (actually, upon completion of this post, I have now decided that Sunday is a whole other post of it's own. Anyway...)

Well, I should actually go back to Friday night, because we took Addison to the Cedar Park Tree Lighting after dinner. There are no pictures of this, because I really doubt you want to see pictures of fuss-Y Addison, trying to get as far away from us as possible. This was quite stressful for us, what with the fire pit, Horse drawn carraiges, Carolers, and a ginormous Oak Tree COVERED in lights. It really is a shame that we were too busy trying to keep up with her, we weren't able to get any good pictures! So, sorry about that, parents. We will try to get pictures next year. It really was lots of fun.

Okay. Now on to Chloe and Bella Robertson's birthday party. Chloe and Bella are 2 of 4 daughters of my friend Ginger. We just love Ginger and her whole family. All of the girls take dance at the studio, and the older 2 are on our dance teams. We see LOTS of the Robertsons :) Anyway, their birthday party was at the studio, and Addison had a BALL! Her favorite part was the mini trampoline. I don't think she was ever more than a few feet away from it. She's started jumping around the house- it started on the bed, and she is very strong, so jumps all over the place now!

At one point or another, all of the "big kids" helped Addison jump. This was cousin Abigail's turn.

This is just a good shot of one of the dance rooms, for those of you who haven't gotten to see the studio yet. Notice Addison is climbing on the trampoline :)

Pretty Princesses Chloe and Bella. I love this picture because the expression on each of their faces are so indicative of their little personalities!

Super Happy Melissa and Adam!

Super Happy Addison, Mike and Sarah! :)

Playdate

This morning an old college friend came over for a playdate. Sunny and I are friends from Southwest, 1997-1998. We were practically roommates, and the best of friends. I have so many great memories from Sterry Hall, and all of them include Sunny. We don't get to see eachother often enough, but we definitely keep up with eachother's growing families. Sunny has two year old twin boys, Chase and Brody. This was my first time meeting them, and they are ADORABLE! They each have very strong personalities, yet they don't seem to be anything alike. Brody is super laid back and quiet, and Chase is a little talker, and more "into" everything. It took Addison a little bit of time to warm up to them, but she did eventually come around. They were stealing each others toys and getting into trouble together in no time! It was so good to see them, hopefully we can do it again soon!

Adam's homecoming

Adam is finally home after 18 months serving our country in Iraq. We are all so happy to have him back, safe and sound. Of course, no one is more elated than Melissa. She was quite the trooper while he was gone, and she had the grace and strength to raise their three beautiful children as close to flawlessly as I think you can get. Anyway, we had dinner together, and celebrated Adam and Jude's birthday as well.

One of Jude's gifts. He makes a very cool Power Ranger.

Melissa and Adam got a Wii!

Dinner at Red Robin

Mom, Micah and Adam

Grandma and Mom

Me and Abigail

Now that Adam is back, he and Melissa are doing everything they can to be back in Austin permanantly. He is interviewing to be a member of the APD, so far it has been a very encouraging process. They will stay in Austin through the holidays and then head back to Kansas, where he is stationed until he has completed his commitment to the army. They plan to move back in March. I can't wait!!

I'm giving in...

Yes. It's true. I am officially over-extending myself just this much more. But, I love to read my friend's blogs, so why can't I enjoy the flip-side, too? Just don't expect too much. I am, after all, the one who didn't update our shutterfly page for EIGHT months.

Having said that, I really am going to make a serious effort to take more pictures and document more of our family's fun. Because it really is fun over here. It's my turn to share.

So, here's to the beginning of a new project, one that will exhaust me and keep me sane all at the same time.