In case you weren't sure, I am a GIRL

So Addie was playing in her room today while I putzed around in the bathroom and my bedroom...

I couldn't believe what I found when I peeked in on her.

My little girl had taken the rings from her stacking toy, put her feet through them, and turned them into high heel shoes.
I always thought little girls did this to emulate their mothers, but I don't wear high heels! Where she got this idea from, I'll never know. Yet there she was, tromping around the room with toes on the floor and heels on the rings.


So I added some necklaces for her and then she added the bracelets.
Who needs "Dress-Up" clothes when you can just use plastic rings?

Ah, the creativity of kids. Amazing.

Just Cute

No reason for these pictures, just because I think she's cute.
Here is Addie showing off her new dance moves while Greg plays the guitar. The new move is: turn yourself around in circles over and over, then stagger around the livingroom while your parents laugh.

Artichokes

We tried artichokes for the first time a few days ago.

We decided they were kinda symbolic of our whole day.
If you like these things, can you please explain to us WHY? What a bunch of work for something so... blah. Why? When you can enjoy a nice bunch of asparagus instead with so much less work? The darn things stuck me when I was buying them at the store with their horrid pointy little tips. I should've known then and put them back. Instead I spent way to much time preparing them, preparing the butter sauce, only to spend HOURS trying to eat the darn thing and getting butter stains on my shirt in the meantime. It wasn't even that good!


Yes, the artichokes came on a bad day. We have been trying to switch Addie from two naps to one, but she still won't sleep long enough at the the one nap so she is really tired and whiny by dinner time. And so is mommy.

On that particular day, Addie also didn't have a fast enough reaction time when one of the neighborhood kids came cruising along on his bike. So down she went. I watched it all in slow motion, to far away to get there in time. Of course. Isn't that how it always happens?
She got a little bit of a fat lip and a scrape on her chin. Not bad actually.


We decided this was an Alexander day.
This is a phrase my mom and I have used for years, taken from the children's book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day".

Even in Australia.

Playing like a Big Girl

Here are some shots of Addie playing today.

Please notice that she is playing with a ball, but playing with a ball like a GIRL. She put it in the stroller and pushed it around.

By the way, she DOES throw and kick the ball, but this is way cuter to me!
Addie likes to get up on the bike, but her feet can't both touch the ground yet, so she just sits there. It seems to be enough for her for now.
Here she is watching a video and saying "horse." I tried to catch her screaming and giggling with excitement about the horse, but all I got was this. Sorry!

I finally got Daddy to myself

Hi everyone! Addie here.
I wanted to tell you all about the great day I had on Saturday. Mommy went away to our church women's retreat and I FINALLY got Daddy to myself for the WHOLE DAY!

Daddy took care of me all day. He got me dressed. He fed me breakfast. We had pancakes.
Then I said "See Ya!" to mommy
I couldn't get her out of the house fast enough. Geesh! That woman really thinks I need her or something!
Daddy and I had so much fun! We played with all my same old toys, but Daddy plays with them in new and interesting ways. We had a tea party during blanket time.

Then we went to the store and to the park. Daddy let me ride on the slide and it was SOOO fun! Mommy never puts me on the slide...

We had hot dogs and chips for lunch. Mommy never gives me chips!

Then we got to have dinner with the Kropfs. I heard the grown-ups saying something about feeling sorry for Daddy, but I don't know why! He had ME with him all day!

I got to look at cute boys during dinner...

Then I got to play in Grant's room with new toys!

Daddy took me to my neighbor Hannah's birthday party after dinner, but we had to leave 'cuz I got real tired. Daddy says that was because I didn't take my afternoon nap. How could I sleep when I was so excited to have Daddy to myself!

Anyway, it was such a great day! I hope Mommy goes away again soon!

So Cool

Addie thinks that the greatest thing in the whole world right now is leaning back. She likes to lean back against the stairs, against the couch, and in her parent's arms. She will even lean back while sitting on the ground and roll on her back and crack herself up. She is so laid back.

She also has taken to saying "coo", and since we're not sure what she's trying to say, we've decided she's saying "cool."

So she must be a Californian! Laid back and cool- that's our girl.

Mugshot

Detained by the cuteness police for looking too grown up:
ADDIE SPANGLER

I've started putting pigtales in Addie's hair and all of a sudden she looks more like a kid than a baby!
When did this happen?!?

Peek-A-Boo!

While playing outside yesterday, Addie realized that going onto our patio and looking out through the fence at me was a hilarious game. Then he realized that she could hold onto the fence boards and pull herself up on the little ledge. Well, was she ever proud of herself! She practiced getting up on the ledge and standing over and over.
Here she peeks out at me.
Here she and Grant play- they cracked each other up!

A New Relationship

We had an exciting new event take place at our house on Monday. Gracie the cat let Addie come near and touch him.

This cat has always been a little bit of a crank (probably because he's a boy with a girl's name). He has always kept a safe distance from Addie. Well, maybe Addie's suffering after surgery made him feel bad for her, because not only did he not run away from her, but he let her pet and hug him. You can see that Addie had been wanting this moment for a long time.
I know he looks unhappy here, but if he isn't running away, then he's pretty OK with the situation. Trust me- I watched carefully!

Happy Easter!

Here we are! All dressed up for Easter Sunday! This Easter seemed to somehow be the best we've had in years. After such a hard week, to be well slept and have Addie feeling good was so refreshing! We had thought that we might be celebrating Easter holed up at home, trying to survive another day, so to be with our church family in the morning and afternoon was very exciting. What a great day to celebrate! We really had a spirit of celebration in our hearts. We are appreciating each day as a gift from God.

(As a side note, it is now Monday and Addie is still feeling great. She is the happiest version of herself we've seen in a loooooong time).

Addie's First Jelly Bean Hunt

On Easter, Addie had her first jelly bean hunt. "What happened to Easter egg hunts?" you're asking. Let me explain.

When Greg was a kid, and he and his brothers had gotten a bit older and egg hunts became too easy, his parents started hiding jelly beans. And if you found a black jelly bean, you got money for it! We thought it was such a cute idea, and when Niki found plastic jelly beans at the drugstore this week, we realized we could start the tradition early. Hence, Addie's jelly bean hunt.


We made it pretty easy- just some beans in the middle of the livingroom...

It was more like a game of Clean Up, but Addie liked it.

Here is Addie with the black jelly bean- asking hom much she gets for it.

This is fun! See daddy?

This is How I Roll

Here is Grant Kropf in his fantastic new Easter outfit. What a little stud.
Notice the Saddle Shoes.
The cuteness was unbearable.
Greg couldn't help but notice the resemblence to Snoop Dogg's outfit in this Chrysler commercial. We had to point it out!

Posing Your Kids

If you want a great exercise in futility, try posing your kids for pictures.


Here are Brooke and I trying to get a picture of Addie and Grant holding hands together.

This was the best we got.

The moments you don't pose are always MUCH better! Like this one, for instance.

OK, maybe I should explain this a little. Is Grant dropping pants as a joke and Addie running away? Not quite.
Grant's skinny little behind couldn't quite hold up his new Easter pants and they finally headed south. He barely noticed- just thought it was funny that all the adults were cracking up. Addie meanwhile had decided that inside seemed like a much more exciting place. This was one of my favorite moments of the whole day.