Happy Birthday (to me)!

Well, first Happy 1 Month Birthday to Addy!  Our birthdays are exactly one month apart!

Had to show the picture of her as big as one of her teddy bears.  For the boys I always photographed with a little sign I would make for them each month.  Which often meant because I didn't get the sign made some of their "month" birthday pictures were a bit off.  On a shopping outing in Council Bluffs last week I found these stickers at Hobby Lobby.  Made the decision to go the easy route on baby number three.  Although each month is a different color scheme so this may mean finding outfits to match.  Yeah, like I'll find that a hardship each month :)

Her big brothers like to get in on the photo fun!  Actually, their favorite thing to do with baby Addy right now is give her kisses on the forehead which they are doing in tandem in the photo.

Addy hasn't quite grasped the whole grabbing things yet.  However, she loves to grab and hold onto my hair and she has taken to grabbing her Little Red Riding Hood dolly's pigtails too during floor time.

Now on to my birthday.  It was a great birthday weekend!  I love my family so much!  The best part was that if my husband had his old job he would have spent Saturday at a board meeting ALL DAY!  But instead he had Friday off due to Parent/Teacher conferences earlier in the week so we had a 3-day family weekend! We went up to Grandma and Grandpa Clark's.  Mom and dad watched the kiddos on Saturday (thanks so much - that was an awesome gift in itself) while Alan and I did lunch and some shopping in Mason City.  Then we went to a beautiful wedding reception that evening in Hampton.  I do believe that is the longest amount of time I have spent away from Addy.

Sunday we ate mom's awesome chocolate birthday cake.  On our way home we stopped by the apple orchard south of Ames and had a lot of fun running around (gave the boys a good chance to stretch their legs).  The photo above is one I managed to get of both boys sitting in the old school house.  Which they thought was neat since we started preschool and tot school at home earlier this month.  On our way out we stopped to purchase some apples and some apple cider donuts for the ride home - yum!

And when we returned home this beautiful gift was waiting for us!  Finally, I have a full sized refrigerator!  Alan and I purchased a new stove and fridge for our home before Addy was born.  The stove arrived the week Addy was born and the refrigerator ended up being back ordered.  The store said it would be another 2 weeks.  That came and went.  Finally, the store called last week and said they were frustrated too.  The model we ordered had been discontinued and the manufacturer didn't know if they could get us the fridge we ordered or when it would be available for delivery.  So - thank you Nebraska Furniture Mart for upgrading us and getting us a fridge.  Seriously, there is only so long you can live with a family of 5 out of a dorm fridge!  We were sent one of the latest models that was bigger than we had originally ordered (and about $700 more expensive).  So that was a great birthday gift!  A true case of patience being rewarded.

Since we were up at my parents' house the neighbors we rent the house from came over to let them bring the fridge in.  I find it somewhat funny that our landlady sent Alan a text to tell him she was a bit jealous.

This morning the boys and I filled the fridge - it seems so empty.  They love it!  Although it is not quite so easy for the little guys to grab things out of the fridge now.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing!