In Loving Memory...

Of Tootsie 7/1/00-12/24/12 No matter how much we emotionally and mentally prepared ourselves for this day it does not make it easy. We have known for the last year that today was coming I guess we just did not expect it to be Christmas Eve. Tootsie was born on my 17th birthday. She has been a huge part of our lives for over 12. We could not have asked for a sweeter dog. She survived a car hitting her, a fight with a bulldog, the loss of a toe and getting her face stuck on barbed wire. We believe she had a stroke yesterday that she could not recover from. She was a tough dog who loved us and our girls so much. We know that she is now enjoying God's endless pastures and ponds and nestling down into the coziest cloud she can find. We loved Tootsie, she was a part of our family. (even if her pooping all over my house drove me borderline insane! :) ) Have fun in doggie Heaven Toots and give Bella a kiss for us!

Classic

I love this picture! It is such a classic Santa picture. Addison has never feared Santa so this is our first Santa picture with tears. Ansley tried so hard to be brave and to hold back her tears and the result is priceless! We took all the grandkids to get a group picture for Guy & Reva and since Ansley was not directly touching Santa she was fine. Put her on Santa'a lap and....let the tears flow!

Hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season. Hard to believe Christmas is only 3 days away. Sorry for the lack of updates...we have been busy with the hustle & bustle of the Christmas season! We are hosting Christmas dinner...our first...so I will let you know how that goes! Merry Merry!

Being Thankful

It is so easy to take things for granted. This Thanksgiving we have been reminded of that and have really taken a step back to look at everything in our lives we are so very grateful of. We have two beautiful daughters, we are surrounded by a loving family and great friends, we have a lovey home and Charles has a job he thoroughly enjoys. Monday, Charles received a call from his dear friend Danny who lives in Tampa. He informed Charles that his youngest daughter, Brittany was just diagnosed with stage 3 Hepatoblastoma (tumor in the liver). She is 15 months old and absolutely sweet as pie. This of course hit very close to home for Charles and I. We are so deeply saddened by this news and are praying with all of our being that Brittany fights with all she has to kick this cancer to the curb. Thinking of what they are going through and the long road ahead hurts my heart and brings tears to my eyes mutiple times a day. I am writing about this for two reasons. First, I am asking everyone I know to pray. Pray like crazy for this little bundle of love to fight! She can overcome this and she WILL. Second, is to make everyone stop and count your blessings. Brittany's mom, Vanessa, has started a "blog" that I am sharing so you remember to pray for them. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brittanybergin The Bergin's were a huge part of our support system in Tampa when Addison was sick. They visited often and Addison played with Brooke and Brianna multiple times a week. We wish were still in close proximity to them so we could do more to help. We hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We of course ate too much and enjoyed the company!

Fall Fun-Part 1

Can you believe Halloween has come and gone and Thanksgiving is already 3 weeks away? I recently got yelled at by the "blog police" (thanks Lynn) and rightfully so. Life in general has just kept us super busy. Charles continues to LOVE his job, his 1 yr anniversary was Oct 1st! I love that he loves his job but it takes him away from us girls a bit more than first anticipated but I feel we have finally adjusted to the new "norm" and are doing great. Addison has adjusted completely to going to school and I feel we have a done a good job making sure she realizes that this school thing is a priviledge for her to go so it makes her appreciate it and look forward to it. I am trying hard to avoid the negative school stigma in hopes that she will continue to look forward to school the older she gets. (wishful thinking I fear but I will ride this positive train as long as I can) The crafts she brings home make my heart swell with pride and love for that little sassy thing! Her biggest new accomplishment is she can write her own name, Addison not Addy, and count to 30! You go girl!!! Ansley is officially our climber. She is climbing up on anything and everything. She moves chairs halfway around the house just to see if she can make it on top of somthing. Here is a list of what I have found her on top of: kitchen counter, bathroom counters, kitchen table, coffee table, beds, her play kitchen and my all-time-favorite was her trying to climb the tower of Addison's princess castle. REALLY!? Her other new favorite thing is jumping off her play house to hang from a monkey bar. Needless to say there is no playing out back without an adult standing out there with my little acrobat. She is C-R-A-Z-Y!!! Who needs a boy when I have her? She loves catching lizards & frogs, picking her nose, tooting and climbing. Thank goodness she has beautiful blue eyes and a knock 'em dead smile or I would start to worry! Other than this fabulous climbing stage she is seriously the sweetest thing! We took the girls to SeaWorld a few weeks ago when Charles had a work thing in Orlando. The trip started off rocky so I should have been prepared for a disaster. Both girls had nasty runny noses, Ansley had begining stages of a stomach bug and they were cranky but we had our tickets purchased so no backing out. We get to SeaWorld at 11:45 not realizing Shamu was at 12 and if you didn't get there in time they locked the entrance once the show started...so we missed Shamu (OK blame mom for poor planning...I get it). We were not in the park more than 15 minutes when Ansley has a blow out. When I say blow out, I mean it! Poor thing couldn't even drink water without it going right through her. Her spirits were pretty good. Addison was perfectly happy petting and feeding the stingrays and walking through the aquarium. We did get to see one show. All in all, for the money, SeaWorld is not our favorite place. They did hit up the candy store on the way out for being very well behaved. We then go to dinner where Addison gets a Shirley-Temple with about a dozen cherries....candy, sugar, cherries, sprite, more sugar.....yes! she threw up all over her bed while sleeping. Gross I know, but she was a champ about it and that is only the 2nd time she has ever thrown up. So here we are in a hotel with one child with projectile diarrhea and the other puking. Nice!!! The rest of the weekend was enjoyable thanks to crackers and gatorade for both. My favorite line Addison said the whole weekend was on our drive home she was singing Carry Underwood "Blown Away" and she stops and says "Mommy, when am I going have a pretty voice like Carry's?" How sweet is that!!! Oh, and thank goodness she doesn't understand those lyrics! ....so much more to discuss like my amazingly beautiful perfect sweet niece Brooke, our Halloween party and trick or treating....this post long enough. Will continue later if that is OK with the "police"! :)

Summer Lovin....

Hi all. As you can see from the pictures we have had a super fun and busy summer. Our annual Keys trip was a HUGE success and Addison and Ansley both were little mermaids. We really felt comfortable this year letting her swim with us on the sidelines. She has gotten so good and strong she could even get her dive sticks off the bottom of the pool!!! Pretty impressive for a 3 year old (maybe the fact that she is the size of a 5/6 year old helps). I am happy to welcome Fall into our home and hopefully our weather very soon! Addison had her first day of school a few weeks ago and she did great. No tears on day 1...day 2 there were a few...day 3 we were all clear!!! We have a big girl who goes to school and LOVES it now! She is so cute with her book bag and sneakers on but the whole time (I mean WHOLE time) she is gone Ansley walks around the house saying "Sissy...Sissy...sissyyyyyy". It breaks my heart but also makes it sing that they are so close! The girls helped me decorate for Halloween and fall and it looks great! We are getting the itch for cool weather and will kick off the fall season with a camping trip this weekend and a trip to Sea World next weekend!!!! Will keep you posted on our first encounter with Shamu :)

Our little 1 year old

I don't think I posted about Ansley's first year photo shoots and if I did, I think they are so cute they are worth posting again! :) Everybody who knows me knows I LOVE photography! I love taking pictures but when it comes to the kids I want to make sure we get some professional ones of the girls, not just my amature shots. When Addison was born we bought a photo package where we got pics every 3 months for her 1st year. When Ansley came along, to make things "fair", we did the same for her. We absolutely LOVE our photographer here in Jax. It is such a small world that Charles and I actually went to college with her and she knew a bunch of Charles's friends and was in my best friend's sorority! Small World!!!

OK so back to Miss Ansley. We did a cake smashing session at home and she does not have the same sweet tooth as her sister. She did not love the cake at first but once Addison came in and helped her she was more into it. Ansley is our little dare devil. She climbs on anything she can find and when it comes to bicycles or 4 wheelers, she thinks she is a 6 year old!

We did our family pictures in St. Augustine and after multiple cancels and re-scheduling we finally got the pics done!

Ansley is talking up a storm. Everyday she says a new word. Her favorite thing in the world these days is her babydoll. She holds it, hugs it, feeds it and loves on it! It is cute as can be. She also is testing her limits (not so cute). She likes to hit, wait for a reaction, then hug on whoever it was she hit. It is very frustrating and cute all at the same time! We are so grateful to have such wonderful daughters. Everyday brings something new and we love every minute.

A Little Vacay...

So I took a little time off from blogging but after so much nagging from my mother and husband I am back! We have had a busy few months. We took a road trip to TN to visit our Bond family up there. We all had a wonderful time! Pics are in the slideshow. We then headed to Vero for a long weekend to say good bye to the dirt road lined with trees. :( Addison is NOT going to be happy when we go back and the trees are all gone and the dirt road is paved but my car will! :) Dance kicked into high gear as we prepared for Addison's recital. Addison started telling everyone in the family...and strangers in Publix that she was cancelling her recital because she didn't want to do it. When I told her Bonds don't quit she looked at me and said "I am NOT quitting, I am cancelling it". What do I say to that? So I changed the name from recital to dance party and she was back on board! I was so worried about the recital not because she was cancelling it but because the girls were required to wear their hair in a tight slicked back bun. We have all seen Addison's hair and we all know she does not wear it up, she won't even let me touch it. I started thinking about how I could get this accomplished so the night before dress rehearsal I told Addison when she woke up we were going to play beauty parlor and have a mommy daughter date morning. SO we woke up at 6:30, took showers and I spoke in an English accent the whole morning (don't judge!), I painted her finger nails, did her hair while the nails dried and finished with the make-up. She looked glamorous!!! It was so fun and I got teary eyed realizing how grown up she is getting! Addison ended up loving being on stage and all the girls in her class did great! We have been going to dance once a week since August and we do a playdate after class so the girls have all gotten really close which helps with performances! We were all very proud of how great Addison and her friends did! Ansley gave us quite a scare a few weeks ago. During one of our playdates with dance Ansley disappeared while I was getting lunch ready for the girls (8 of them). I went to look for her and she was in her bathroom with the door shut. She is fascinated by closing doors. Well that is not a big deal but she managed to open all three drawers of her cabinet AND climb into the botton drawer preventing me from being able to open the door to get her out. I was most concerned of her falling out of the drawer and hitting her head on the nearby stool. I tried everything to get her out of the drawer but I could barely fit my hand through the door. I threw cheese puffs and lolipops on the floor to entice her to step out. NO luck! I went and got my fireman neighbor to save the day. His solution was to saw the door in half. I was fine with that since 40 minutes had passed and Ansley was now hysterical BUT Addison was NOT OK with it. She flipped out! Screaming, crying, hyperventilating not to saw the door...not one bit of concern for her sister. Luckily right as Chad walked in the door with the saw she fell out and thankfully did not hit her head. Needless to say that was not an ideal playdate and I passed up mother of the year award! :) Addison is in vacation bible school this week and loving it. I am loving the one on one time with Ansley! Will try to be better with updates! Enjoy!

Accomplishment

After 27 long months we are proud and excited to say Charles has graduated with his MBA from the University of Florida! We are so incredibly proud of him. We have not had the easiest 27 months with 3 moves, Addy's illness, 2 new jobs, buying a house and having a beautiful new baby BUT Charles managed to stay focused and push through with his MBA! WAY TO GO CHARLES! CHarles graduated on Ansley's 1st birthday, APril 15th. Since Ansley got the shaft on her actual birthday we had a big family bash the following weekend. We did a "Sweet as Pie" theme which turned out SUPER CUTE! I made her Sweetie Pie dress (very proud!). We had a cake shaped like a pie, mini strawberry and coconut custard pies and pizza pie! Mimi brought her a blow up pool full of balls which was a big hit! Rule of Life number 123....if we need rain or a sick child just throw a birthday party. You are sure to get one or both! It rained on Addy's birthday and Ansley's birthday. Both got sick for both parties too! Ansley has a double ear infection now. YUCK! For those of you who don't know Charlotte & I started an Etsy business embroidering. Our shop is Cotton Candy Cottage on etsy.com. It is keeping us very busy! Hope all is well! We are off to TN tomorrow for a nice vacation with the Great Grandparents and cousins!!! YAY!

What a Happy Easter!

A Fairy Good time!

We had a spectacular March. We went to Disney, MOSH (museum of science & hirstory), the zoo, a few beach trips, we had lots of visitors and had a fabulous Fairy Birthday Party.

It is hard to believe Addison is already 3 years old! How time flies. She started her big day with a trip to the nail salon with Titi & Mimi to get her nails done which included flowers on a few of them! Then she came home and ate cake, cupcakes, candy and maybe a chicken nugget or PBJ or two! She had 20 friends come over to help her celebrate her birthday. The kids got to dress up as fairies, wings and all. Then after bouncing they "made their own mud" which consisted of a clay pot filled with chocolate pudding "mud", sprinkled rocks on top (oreos) and finished off with worms! The kids took the pots home along with seeds and "Fairy dust" (soil) to plant their own gardens! The weather was not exactly what we hoped for but even with the rain it was a great day. Enjoy the pics!

In the land of fairies where pixies fly and roam, sits a little fairy friend who calls this garden home. Her birthday was here and she's thankful to say that you all shared in the magic of her very special day!!!

Our Not So Little Girl...

This week as I watched Ansley walking around the house I noticed that my little baby is not such a little baby anymore. Her infancy stage is long gone and her baby face is starting to mature into a toddler. My little girls are growing too fast and I don't like it one bit! :) But isn't she beautiful? She fills our lives with such joy & love.

Where the Magic begins...

We finally took Addison to Disney and Epcot for pooping on the potty! It was amazing! Addison could care less about the rides...she just wanted to meet her princesses who she did tell she pooped on the potty! Needless to say they very pleased with her big girl accomplishment!

We had lunch with the princesses at Epcot and that was great. The food was delicious and every princess came to each table for a meet and great. Epcot had a fabulous Nemo section where we spent an entire morning. Ansley was a trooper. She rode in the stroller with a smile on her face both days. We never had any melt downs (except on the carousel, which Addison got kicked off of for not staying on her horse). I would say our first trip to Disney was a huge success but we need about 3 days to just make it through the Magic Kingdom.

FYI..Ansley is officially WALKING!!!!

Creative Imagination

Addison's imagination is evolving at rapid speed and it is extremely entertaining to watch. Some of my favorites include: her "ice skating" on the wood floors, her imaginary friend Casper, randomly screaming and running because a dragon is chasing her or that her closet is now the "dungeon". Oh yea and her waking up EVERYDAY telling me she does not want her human legs, she wants a beautiful pink mermaid tail...thanks Disney!

With this evolving imagination comes the pressure for Charles's and my imagination to grow as well because we are expected, multiple times a day, to think up new stories and songs. Every night when we put her to bed she wants a song about an item in her room. One night it is the fan song, next night the window song, door song, or the monitor song....uh really? They get pretty hard. One night she asked for a "mommy song". So this is what I came up with:

I am a mom, who is the bomb :)
and I have two daughters
Their names are Addison and Ansley
I love them more than candy
I am a mom....

I have two girls
Who love to twirl
and Addy has curls
Ansley loves to wiggle
They both make me giggle
I am a mom....

I love them so
Especially in bows
From their heads down to to their toes
They love to ask why
I kiss them when they cry
I am a mom!

Not horrible right? Anyways...if you have any creative ideas for songs, lay 'em on me! I need all the help I can get (as seen above)!

Addison had a CBC this week, numbers looking good. They recovered from their little January vacation. Platelets 107,000, WBC 8.08, ANC 4201, HGB11.5. Wohoo!!!!

Ansley's 9 month pictures

The last few times we have had pictures scheduled for Ansley the weather has not cooperated and it did not this day either. The sun was shining but the temperature was low and the wind was blowing. Poor Ansley was still getting over her ear infection and did not like cold...I will say she was still cute as pie!







Um...HOLY HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spring has Sprung

Spring has Sprung in the Bond house and so have Ansley's teeth! On Friday Ansley took her first two steps! She is not even 10 months old! She is developing quite a sassy attitude as well. She has this God awful screech she does when she wants something or if something does not go her way. It is so bad I stop and wonder if she is part pterodactyl. :) I am now working diligently on getting her to use her signs for "please", "more" and "all done" instead lieu of screaming. She is using the "more" sign but looks away sheepishly when I tell her to use the "please" one...little booger.



Besides Ansley taking her 1st steps we had another HUGE milestone in our house. Addison FINALLY pooped on the potty. Charles told her when her diapers ran out she was done. No more! Not for pooping or for sleeping in. We cute her off cold turkey...and let me tell you it worked! She has pooped on the potty and has slept in big girl panties ever since. She has only wet the bed once which was totally my fault because I let her have a sip of water before bed. Ding dong, I know! She is getting her big girl bed this week. I will post pics when have it all set up! We did do a tiny weeny bribe to go along with the no more buying diapers thing...we are taking her to Disney World! We have been telling her for months that the princesses don't let little girls in diapers visit the castle. Whatever...it worked! We have our trip planned for March!!! We cannot wait! Most expensive poo EVER but totally worth it!



Addison and I planted some seeds a few weeks ago and after about 4 days they sprouted! I think I was more excited then she was but she makes sure to tell everyone that comes over to check out her Zinnias that she is growing.

Girlie Girl Goes Camping!

Lucky for daddy as you can see from the pictures our Addison was born to camp...not so lucky for mommy! :) I do have to admit it was much more enjoyable than I expected.



Daddy had been promising Addison to take her camping for months. The first time Charles tried to take her it was horrible weather so they put the tent up in her bedroom. There is something magical about a tent to a child. Everytime we drove past trees that looked remotely like a forest she would beg to go camp there.



We finally nailed down a weekend that our friends could go with us and the 4 families set out into the woods for a fun wholesome family camping trip! It was great fun, the kids explored, searched for bugs and of course roasted marshmallows to make smores with! I think Addy ate at least 3 smores while mommy and daddy endulged in just as many if not more.




Addison kept her girlie-ness with her by the way she sat in her campin chair! Fancy Nancy would be so proud of her! Other than Addison waking up at 4:30 ready to play outside it was a very successful camping trip and I did enjoy snuggling in our bed with her! We cant wait till we can take both girls with us, mommy wasn't brave enough to take Ansley too so she had fun with Mimi & Grandaddy!