Happy 3 month birthday to our TURDUCKIN!!!

Miss Avery is 3 months old today!! I cannot believe how fast the last 3 months has flown by! Here she is sporting her new hat that Susan Palmer made her. These pictures were taken last night. Thanks to Momma Pea for the hat, and HAPPY 3 MONTH BIRTHDAY TURDUCKIN!! We love you!

A blog for you to follow....

I wanted to post a link to our friends blog. I am supposed to write about the 6 things that make me happy through being tagged by Tania, but I am not sure when I would have time to do it :( So I waned to make sure to give Tania a shout out. Here is the link to her blog, and I also posted it on the right hand side of my blog.

http://journeytotogether.blogspot.com/

Tania is married to Drew, who is one of Erik's best friends from Rockford, IL. This picture (taken off her blog ;) was from their wedding last October.

Enjoy!

A quick update on the rest of the family...

I just wanted to post a quick update on Avery, Erik & I since you now have an update on Addison.

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Erik is doing well, and still working for Scott Contracting, INC. He has been really busy which is a good thing given the state of the construction market these days. He plays on a Basketball league on Wednesday nights in Highlands Ranch. Two of his good friends; Jay & James are coming out in a couple weeks and I know Erik is looking forward to hanging out with them! His Mom, Dana is also coming out to spend time with us and see her grand kids :)

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Avery will be 3 months old on Tuesday!! I cannot believe it! She is still having some issues with her reflux disease, but the medications she is on make a WORLD of difference. She smiles all the time and is a very happy, easy going baby. Luckily it was pretty easy to get her on a schedule and she has been sleeping through the night since she was about 6 weeks old. She loves to watch Addison -I think mainly because its a moving target that doesn't slow down :) I honestly thank God daily for her. She is such a wonderful little girl.

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My maternity leave FLEW by and I am now back at work full time at Arrow Electronics. Last week was a little tough, but I know it will just take some time to get into a routine. Avery and I are flying to Savannah, GA in a month to spend a weekend with my Dad's family. My Pop-Pop is very sick and still battling cancer and so we are flying out there to see him. I am very happy that he will get to meet Avery. I also haven't been to Savannah in a long time - I miss it! I just wish Addison & Erik could join us, but it is a very short trip & the cost to fly from Denver to Savannah is pretty high. Hopefully we will have a Martell family reunion next year and the whole family can come.

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I hope this update finds everyone happy & healthy!! Have a great week!

Congrats to Erin & Brad!

Congratulations to my BFF Erin & her boyfriend Brad on their engagement! Brad asked Erin to marry him last week at the Garden of the Gods. They just bought a house in Parker & Brad has a seven year old daughter Kendal. We are beyond happy & excited for them!! Let the wedding planning begin!!!!

Addison's 2 year check up

Addison had her 2 year check up on July 15 and her stats were as follows:

Weight - 26.4lbs (45%)

Height - 34" (75%)

Addy is currently learning her colors (at the moment EVERYTHING is pink to her) and working on learning her ABC's. She can count to 20 with a little help from Erik and I, and knows all of her animals & animal sounds. Addison has turned out to be quite the singer and some of her favorites are "Mr. Sun" & "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". She is really a funny kid, and keeps Erik and I busy - that is for sure. I never knew so much energy could come out of one child! Addison is also a great big sister and always wants to help take care of her.

The new big "craze" in Miss Addy Shea's life is the Disney Princesses. I have no idea where she saw them, or how she started liking them - but she talks about the princesses all the time. It is amazing how fast she is growing up!

Addy's Birthday BBQ

We had a BBQ for Miss Addison on July 11 - to celebrate with our friends and have a little get together. Thanks to everyone who came!! Addison pretty much had an entire week of parties and celebrations - which has now lead to her asking for a "surprise" on a daily basis. Her BBQ was also a Dora & Diego theme - complete with a cupcake-cake.. which was delicious :)

Addison pretty much just wanted to lick the icing off -and put the cake part back :)

Aunt Erin, Uncle Brad & Kendal gave her dress up shoes & some jewelry to play with. It was a big hit!

Present time - she was MUCH more into opening presents this year.

We invited Ms. Kim & her family over for the BBQ as well. Ms. Kim watches the girls while I am at work. That is her 3 year old son Harrison - Addison adores him and refers to him as her Harrison :) Addy loves going to Kim's and I am thankful that she is so happy & well adjusted there.
Erik set up his bags and everyone was playing outside when Addison decided to run in the middle of the game :) Our friend Gabe scooped her up off the court :) I think he pretty much had to do this multiple times because Addison thought it was so funny to keep running back on the bag court.

My BIG 2 year old!! Where did the last 2 years go?!?!?

A new video of my girls :)

Time for an update - COMING SOON

I know I haven't posted in awhile. I still need to upload the pictures of Addy's BBQ.

I also need to update on Addison's 2 year doc appt.. we have been busy!!!

I am now back at work full time. Monday was pretty tough as far as dropping the girls off and getting back into the swing of things -but time to get back to reality I guess. I miss my ladies TERRIBLY, but I know I am just very lucky to have a good job.

Things at Arrow are good. Sad times for some. The current state of the economy has now made its way to my finance group here and 1/3 of my dept was laid off and told that they will no longer have jobs as of the end of August. VERY SCARY. I just pray that the lay offs are over for now, and I will come out of all this still employed.

The girls are wonderful! Addison talks up a storm, and Avery melts my heart on a daily basis. I will try to find time soon to update the blog with pictures and details of the BBQ & Addy's 2 year appt.

Addison's 2nd Birthday

I cannot believe my little Addy Shea is now 2!! Her 2nd Birthday was last Thursday (July 9). We had a party for her at the house that included my family to celebrate. It was a Dora/Diego party and Addison had a really great time! She was spoiled rotten by her grand-parents and ended up with a whole loot of stuff :) Thank you to everyone for the wonderful gifts!!

Here are the cupcakes I made for her actual Birthday. They were fun-fetti, and they were delicious ;)

My Mother in Law Dana bought Addison her first bike, complete with helmet & elbow pads. Addison insisted on wearing the helmet & pads to open most of her gifts :)

Here she is trying to shove Boots & Dora into the front basket.And now some random pictures of Miss Avery...

The Happy Turduckin!

Sporting her party dress for Addison's family dinner.

Here is Miss Avery @ 10 weeks old.

Twinsies :) I plan on dressing them alike once in awhile, until they fight me on it. I think they look so cute!!

This was taken the morning after her birthday. I went upstairs to get Avery, and came down to see that Addy took her pants off & put her helmet on :) What can I say?!?! She is Erik's kid ;)

We also had a BBQ on Saturday. It was a great time, and I will post pictures of that once I upload them to the computer. Thanks to all my great friends who came and made it a special day for Addison. ;)

First video of Miss Avery in action

Jessica had asked that I post a video of Avery.. so I took this last Friday night. She is starting to coo, and make all kinds of cute sounds. She is also one smiley little lady. So without further adieu here is Miss Avery's blog video debut. (She is 10 1/2 weeks old in this video).

Madeline Elizabeth Barrett

I meant to give a shout out to the newest member of our group once I got my computer back... Miss Maddie Barrett. Sarah & Russ had little Madeline on June 16, 2009. She was 8lbs 4oz, 20 inches long and is SUPER cute!! Maddie & Avery are exactly 7 weeks apart. It will be fun seeing them grow up together! I wish Sarah & Russ lived a little closer so we could see them more often then we do now.

I would also like to give a shout out to Sarah's Mom Susan on the birth of her first Grand-daughter :) Congrats!

Here are some pictures of total Maddie cuteness.

**Congrats Sarah & Russ - Maddie is precious! **

Addy's Birthday Party #1

My Step-Mom Lorie made Addison strawberry short-cake and we had a little party for her on the 4th of July for Addison's 2nd Birthday. Here is the video of us singing to her! Thanks again to Lorie for thinking of her and for the gifts they gave Addy. The only thing missing was my Dad :( Miss you Dad!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. We had a great relaxing day. July 4th has always been my favorite holiday. Even with the rainy weather we had today - it still proved to be a great day!

We started the day with Erik making us french toast & eggs. Erik and I decided to take the girls down to the Stonegate parade & party. Addison got to jump around in the bounce house and we went to the park for a bit. Once the girls got up from their naps, we went over to Lorie & my Dad's house and had a GREAT time hanging out with family. Craig even came over and it was great to see him. Addison has grown super attached to her Uncle Craig, and calls him "My Craig". Lorie even had a little party for Addy and we had strawberry shortcake & Addison got to open up some gifts. She got a cute outfit, pj's and a Diego & Baby Jaguar doll. Needless to say I had to pry Diego out of her hands before she went to sleep tonight. It was a really nice time. We originally planned to go down to the Lone Tree festivities - but it POURED rain most of the afternoon.

I miss going out to see the fireworks, but I know when the girls are a little older we will be able to do that again. As I am blogging - I can hear the fireworks outside (and if they wake up the girls.. the hoodlums that live next door are going to get it!) Hoodlums = the 15 year old neighbor kid & his friends who have stolen beer out of our garage on 2 separate occasions now. He is setting off some kind of smoke bomb - super loud firecracker right outside Addison's window. I know its the 4th of July.. but its almost 11pm for Pete's sake!!! (Wow - I guess I sound boring & old.. huh?!?!)

Here are some pictures from our great day:

Daddy & the ladies sporting their festive outfits.

Thanks to Aunt Jessica & Uncle Mike for this cute outfit.. I LOVE it!

My sweet, happy turduckin! Honestly she is such a sweetheart!

Heading down to the Stonegate parade. My Mom bought us this Sit N' Stand stroller - its WONDERFUL!! I use it daily!

We only want to go on the "big girl" swings these days.

Eating some fruit with Uncle Jack

Tim (Lorie's Brother), Addison & Lorie

Miss Avery hanging with her Aunt Tate (who was wearing her Celtic Woman dress) & Uncle Jack.

Below is the family hanging out before dinner. Craig & Leah convinced Jack they made his socks dissapear and he spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out what they did with them ;)

Saturday Morning Dancing

We were trying to get Addy ready for swimming a couple Saturdays ago.. and she wanted to dance instead. Obviously more proof of her raw dancing talent & abilty ;) Check out her move once she is done dancing - 1 leg into the air. It has become her trade-mark move ;).