Life With The Link's

Thursday, March 19, 2009

St. Patty's Day

We didn't do much to celebrate St. Patrick's day, except Addysen wore a green shirt and we had a fun day at the farm. Addysen got to feed one of the calves with a bottle! Then she got to ride in the tractor with Daddy. Plus the whole time we were there, Rocko - the dog was following us around and jumping on us. Addysen would classify this as a one lucky day!

(to hear the video, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and press pause on the music player.)

Is she talking??

Addysen is talking more and more these days and it is so fun to listen to her, and all the new words she is picking up. Then there are times when she is saying something, but we have no idea what that something is. Aaron and I will just sit and laugh at her because she sounds like a little Chinese woman.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

MS Carnivale 2009

On Friday night we attended a fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The party was a Carnivale/Mardi Gras theme that was held at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria We had a great time. This was something that we've never been to and it was unlike anything Aaron and I have ever done. The party consisted of a French Quarter style menu, complimentary wine, New Orleans Jazz Band, a palm reader, juggler, mime, stilt walker, fortune teller, a balloon guy, face painter, caricature artist and to top it all off....drag queens! (Aaron, Brandon and Jared's favorite - he he he!) This was such a fun night! And to make it even better, the 700 plus crowd was all there to help support and raise money for the MS Society.

Brandon was our leader of the night, he volunteered his services at the party. He and Tammy are becoming more involved within this group and hope to volunteer at more events in the future. For all those who are reading this, I would like you to know that we will be walking again in the MS walk on September 13, 2009. Soon we will be updating our MS homepage, so we can start collecting donations for our team. I'll keep you all updated, if anyone is interested in donating.
Here are some pictures of our evening. Enjoy!

As the festivities were getting started.

Tammy getting her palm read....

Someone found the complimentary wine! he he he!

"the cat women"

See, I told you there were drag queens! Weird! Never seen this before!

**********************************************************

WHILE WE WERE AT THE MS CARNIVALE...

ADDY WAS AT GRANDMA SHARON AND PAPA'S HOUSE!

Baking cookies with Grandma Sharon.

Are they done yet?

Who is telling the silly story, Papa or Addy??

(pictures courtesy of Grandma Sharon)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Valentine's Day

Daddy got his two favorite girls some roses!

practicing for Miss USA.

Addysen got some play-doh because she is so loved this Valentines Day.

We're not too creative yet...

but she likes it when mommy rolls the dough to make "b-balls."

The new calves!

The calving season has begun! This year is going to be so exciting for Addysen to watch all the new calves. She LOVES to go to the farm to see the moos and rocko (the farm dog). She quietly whimpers every time we leave. I guess she is going to be a farm girl, but with a city girl wardrobe! - check out her (farmin) boots!

This is Dan. Isn't he cute.

( I have taken on a big responsibility at the farm, I am naming all the new calves. As you can guess Aaron, Jared and Nate all use these name when referring to the calf, he he he!!)

Daddy trying to get Addysen to touch the calf for the first time.

Well look at that... looks like she's a pro!
(just for you Uncle Nate!)

Where's Waldo? I mean, Where's Addy?

My 2 favorite people and Dan.

Checkin out all the other moos.

(Addy is such a farm girl already - if you can tell, she already has cow poo stuck to her boot!)

and this one weighs in at about 22 lbs.

(daddy's idea)

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

NEWS FLASH!

Addysen is on her way to being potty trained! As you may remember, we tried potty training this past summer, but we ended up quitting as she became less interested in it. So we decided that we'd try again after we got moved in and after all the holiday stuff. So last Friday, she started at daycare. She did AWESOME! 1 accident and dry the rest of the day, until she got home. Then on Saturday, I started with her. We put on her new big girl underpants that Santa brought her, but I didn't quite have the success the babysitter did. 5 accidents right in a row (man this kid pees a lot!) Then Daddy came home to try with her. He didn't have much luck either. Needless to say, we were a little frustrated. When I got home in the evening, I tried with her again, and.... we've pretty much been dry ever since! We just set a timer for 30 minutes and we made her try. Now we are to the point where she is saying potty when she has to go. I think our reward system may have a little do with her success as well. First she gets to do "ABC's" which is washing her hands, then she gets a sticker and then she gets M&M's. This is so exciting! I am so proud of her, she is such a big girl now. So we'll see how it goes these next couple of weeks, but we're getting there. HOPEFULLY - potty trained before 2!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Go Illini!

This past Saturday, we took Addysen to see her first Illini Basketball Game. She loved it!! She was excited to wear a shirt like Daddy. She would point at her shirt and say "Daddy shirt." It was too cute! She was AWESOME throughout the entire game, only got a little restless the last couple of minutes of the game and wanted to walk around. Now if you ask her if she wants to go watch basketball, she says, "YEAH!!" So I guess we'll have to do it again.