all about aidan

happy new year!

2012-01-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

For New Year's Eve this year, we went to the NICU and spent time with Adalyn!

I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the night.. with my TWO kids!

Aidan was also excited to go see his sister, this was the first time that he held her..

he was kind of unsure about it!

I still can't believe that we have two kids now!

I can't wait for 2012, it is going to be a fun year watching Addie grow,
and watching Aidan with his little sister! :)

she's here!

2012-01-29T10:36:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures of Adalyn's birthday.. even though most of you have already seen them!

Adalyn Elizabeth, born December 26th at 8:34 pm!

She was a tiny little girl.. 5 lbs, 10 oz. 18 inches long!

Since Addie was a preemie, she was whisked away after birth to the NICU, where she was

put into an isolette to keep her body temp nice & cozy!

Aidan was very excited to meet his little sister!

My first time holding Adalyn, I couldn't believe how tiny she was!

She looked even smaller in her isolette!

I was in the hospital for 5 days, due to blood pressure problems..

Aidan made the most of my stay by playing doctor!

We'd also go visit Addie several times a day too.

He loves her SO much!

Addie was also hooked up to some machines & had a feeding tube for when I wasn't there to breastfeed her.. other than being awake for a few minutes to eat.. she slept all day long!

She still had a little ways to go as of yet.. she would be home before we knew it though! :)

Merry Christmas!

2012-01-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

(warning: this is a SUPER long picture heavy post!!!)

Our Christmas get-togethers always start in the middle of December,

which makes me excited.. we get to see so much family during the whole month of December!

Our first "Christmas" was at my mom's house, which is always a fun time!

Aidan doesn't get to see his cousins as often as he'd like,

so he loves it when we all get together! (me too!)

Here's the kids, patiently waiting until present time!

We tried something new this year & decorated Christmas cookies as a family!

I think there were almost 70 cookies!!!

Aidan had fun for about 10 minutes, then he (of course) got kinda bored with it..

I think the presents in the living room were kinda distracting him.. :)

Trent & Hayley stayed and decorated most of the cookies..

I had fun watching them & eating a few too!

Tony even got in on the fun!

..even though he doesn't like sugar cookies.. I know, he's weird! ;)

Not a very good pic, but here us girls are!

Love my step-sisters!

Present time, FINALLY!!!

It was so fun to watch Aidan rip open gifts this year..

he was very grateful & really appreciated all of the gifts he received too!

The one gift that Aidan kept asking for over & over again, Operation!

(thanks Grammie, I think we have played this 1000 times already!!!)

Our next Christmas get-together was at our home on Christmas Eve!

We had my Grandpa over and Aidan's Grammie & Grampie too!

Aidan loves his Great Grandpa, here he is helping to open his gift from us!

Great Grandpa also got Aidan another thing on Aidan's wish list.. Wall Tracks!

This has got to be the coolest toy ever, it keeps Aidan occupied for so long.. I love it too!

Grammie got Grampie a silly gift, a little leg lamp from A Christmas Story!

Grammie also brought over some gifts for the new baby!

.. and my Grandpa surprised me with a new stroller/car seat combo that I had been eyeing for the baby!

I was VERY surprised & excited, I loved that Aidan wheeled it in for me to see! :)

I have been so blessed by everything that has been given to our daughter already,

as I didn't expect anything since this is our second baby!

One of my other favorites from the night was this pillow.. we're decorating her room with owls!

Aidan woke up bright & early (2 am!!!) to see if Santa had come the next day!

He was so happy to see that he did come, and that he had a new dinosaur playset to play with!

Aidan checking out what Santa stuffed into his stocking!

Aidan always helps Mommy with her stocking too!

(please excuse my pajamas.. I couldn't fit into my mine anymore, had to steal some of Tony's pants!)

We all went back to bed after that & woke up again around 6 to open presents..

New Tigers hats for Daddy & Aidan!

A new winter hat for Mommy!

Aidan picked this out all by himself & I love it!

Later that afternoon, we went to my cousin Melanie's home for Christmas there!

Aidan always has fun with his cousin Ava, they opened all their presents together this year :)

Aidan got a Slinky & wasn't too impressed with it at first..

.. til he found out what it was & what it did!

LOVE this pic of him playing with it!

With Grandpa unwrapping gifts.. Aidan got SO much stuff this year!!!

Our last "Christmas" was at Tony's sister's home the day after Christmas!

I really slacked on taking pictures here,

I was on bedrest & couldn't really get up to get any good pics! :(

Aidan got to see his bestest friend Emily here,

he was SO excited to see her & spend time with her!

On the way home from Tony's sister's Christmas get-together,

I got a terrible headache & called my doctor about it when I got home.

He had me come to the hospital because of my preclampsia & we had a baby later that night!!!

Definitely a Christmas season to remember!!! :)

34 weeks!

2012-01-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

I LOVE this picture of Aidan & I..

he could barely get his hands around me!

I was feeling pretty good here & had NO idea that

this would be my last pregnancy photo!

..at least my last pic was a good one! :)

silly Hector!

2012-01-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

Our little elf Hector has REALLY entertained Aidan this year!

Tony & I absolutely LOVED the wonder in Aidan's eyes as he

woke up each morning to find Hector in a different & sometimes funny spot!

Here's some of Aidan's favorites from this year!

Hector vs. The Hulk in Connect Four..

I don't think Hulk was too thrilled to lose to an elf! :)

Aidan had been kinda naughty the night before this picture,

so Hector left him a note on our kitchen chalkboard!

Playing with the fridge magnets..

Getting stuck in a box of Aidan's cereal!

Aidan's favorite was waking up on Christmas Eve morning to find a special gift left for him from Hector.. a new nightlight!

Aidan had been really enjoying the little Christmas tree in his room this year & had been asking Hector for a new nightlight as bright as the tree, Aidan loves his new fish light!

Thanks for bringing so many smiles to our faces Hector,

see ya next Christmas!

Christmas fun!

2012-01-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

A new tradition that we started this year was an Advent calendar!

I searched & searched for the perfect one,

and found this cute felt one that was exactly what I was looking for!

Each day, Aidan would wake up & place a new figure onto his nativity scene,

and tucked inside each pocket was a piece of paper with a fun activity that we

could do together as a family that day.

Aidan loved his nativity scene, and changed it several times a day..

I love that he really understood the Christmas story this year!

Just a few of our activities were:

Making a gingerbread house!

He was so proud of his creation, with a little help from Daddy!!! ;)

Making birdseed ornaments to hang on the trees for our birds!

Play-doh Christmas cookies!

We used a couple of the days to make treats for Aidan's teachers!

These sock cupcakes were so much fun to make!

..and Aidan's Christmas cookie of choice this year was to make these

reindeer cookies.. I thought they turned out pretty cute, and pretty tasty!

I can't wait to use our Advent calendar every year,

and make family memories while counting down the REAL reason of Christmas! :)

Hector's back!

2011-12-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

Last year, we jumped on the "Elf on the Shelf" bandwagon,

..Aidan's elf, "Hector" is back to work putting a smile on Aidan's face this Christmas season!

The morning after Thanksgiving, Hector made his appearance!

The story says that he flies back to the North Pole every night to tell Santa how Aidan is doing..

and he hides in a different spot every morning for Aidan to find him!

I love the fun & wonder of it all.. the look on Aidan's face every morning is just priceless!

Hiding in Aidan's little Christmas tree in his room:

While Daddy was on a business trip in Texas last week, Hector took it upon himself to sleep in Aidan's bed for a bit.. since Aidan & Mommy were sleeping together while Daddy was gone!

Hector also loves to play with Aidan's toys..

..or hide out in the kitchen..

.. OR, play little jokes on Aidan!

Aidan woke up today to find this waiting for him..

Silly Hector!!!

Gotta love our little elf, he's so much fun!

5 Question Saturday!

2011-12-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

Haven't done this in awhile.. thought I'd try to start back up again!

1. What's your favorite Christmas cookie?

I LOVE the good 'ol Christmas sugar cookies, with lots of icing.. they are my favorite!

2. What's your favorite holiday movie & why?

Definitely Elf!!!

I absolutely love this movie & how silly it is.. if you haven't watched it, you must! It will definitely put a smile on your face.

3. Is there a gift that you have bought your kids that you wished you hadn't after you opened it? Not yet, but this year.. I got an awesome deal on this for Cyber Monday..

$20 for a box of 1600 Legos!!!

I KNOW that I am going to regret getting it for Aidan, as I KNOW that I am going to step on one of them in the middle of the night or something.. plus, it will probably start a new love for Legos & I HATE how expensive those little pieces of plastic can be!

4. What is the messiest room in your house at the moment?

Right this moment, I would have to say our living room. Aidan is playing with his toys, and they seem to get everywhere lately!

5. What is the furthest you have driven for the holidays?

Not very far, we have always stayed in town. I'm so thankful that both of our families live close by!

30 weeks!

2011-11-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile..

I think that it is true that you DEFINITELY don't take as many pictures

with your second child as you do your first.. oops!

Anyways, I made it to 30 weeks on Tuesday!

I can't believe that I am in my third trimester already.. it's going so fast!

Here's my lovely belly!

Our little girl hasn't been moving very much lately,

so while at the doctor last week they had me take a non-stress test,

which we failed miserably!

Poor little girl just doesn't want to move for Mommy!

So.. we got to take a peek inside & see what she is up to in there!

She was just fine, the ultrasound tech said that she may just be a sleepy/lazy baby..

wouldn't that be wonderful??!!

(compared to Aidan lately, that would be GREAT!)

Here she is!

I wasn't expecting another ultrasound,

so it was nice to see how much she has grown since our last peek!

The only other concern is that I have developed gestational diabetes...

I am checking my blood sugar 4 times a day & Aidan loves helping & reminding me..

it's just SO hard to stay away from the sweets this time of year! :(

I go see my nutritionist this week to find out if I need to go on insulin,

as my numbers are higher than she wants them to be.. wish me luck!

One more thing that I am struggling with is insomnia.. NOT fun!

As I type this, it's 4 am & I have been up since 1.. very frustrated that
I can't sleep & dreading the duties of the morning when Aidan wakes up..
hopefully I'll grow tired soon!

..I would like to thank my mom for being so wonderful over the weekend by
watching Aidan for me while I got some rest during the day.. LOVE YOU MOM! :)

glow stick bath!

2011-11-16T14:07:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have been completely addicted to Pinterest.. I am embarrassed to say that I have wasted WAY too much time exploring all the goodness of that website!

Anyways.. I stumbled upon one of my friend's pins.. glow stick baths!

Once I saw it, I KNEW that we had to do it with Aidan..

he LOVED it!

My pictures are terrible, he wouldn't sit still very long.. he was having so much fun!

Aidan was in the tub for a good hour that night! :)

..better late than never!

2011-11-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so it's been awhile since I have posted anything..
I have no excuse, except complete laziness!

We haven't been up to very much around here, Aidan is really enjoying preschool, and I am counting down the days til we have our new baby!
I have been VERY tired lately, and not very ambitious! :(

We celebrated Aidan's 4th birthday at Gull Meadow Farms this year, can't believe he's 4 already!

He had fun running around Pumpkin Lane with everyone, and of course.. the presents!

We also had a bunch of fun carving pumpkins this year..
Aidan wanted NOTHING to do with the insides of the pumpkins!

I LOVE this pic of Tony showing Aidan the pumpkin guts.. he looks like he is terrified! ;)

We still had fun carving though, Aidan told us what he wanted & we went to work!

For Halloween this year, Aidan wanted to be Wolverine! He had fun chasing people around with his fake claws, and loved trying to keep up with all the kids while he was trick or treating.

We went trick or treating in my Dad's neighborhood, I love it because it's where I went as a kid! Plus, the houses are spread out a bit, so Aidan gets tired before he gets too much candy! ;)

first day of preschool!

2011-10-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

Aidan started preschool last week!

I still can't believe that our little guy is in school..

it sure is quiet at home without him here in the afternoon!

Here's some pics from his first day!

Posing at home for Mommy:

Waiting for the doors to open to his classroom!

Aidan's preschool teacher, Ms. Kline LOVES the Cat in the Hat & Dr. Seuss,

so it is EVERYWHERE in the classroom!

I love how it is painted outside on the windows too!

Once we got in, Ms. Kline gets a hug from each child &
squirts their hands with anti-bacterial lotion..

it took me forever to figure out why Aidan looked like he was praying in this picture..

he was rubbing his hands together!

(Tony had fun teasing me that Aidan was praying for Mommy to stop taking his picture!!)

Once he was settled, it was hard for me to leave him!

I was kinda lost at home without him the first day, but am slowly starting

to enjoy my little bit of freedom.. gonna have to enjoy it while it lasts,

the baby is coming in January! :)

At 4:00, I make my way outside and wait for the bus..

..he's home!

Aidan is growing up SO fast, and he loves school!

it's a GIRL!

2011-09-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

Well, we had the big ultrasound yesterday..

we found out that we are having a little girl!

I was a bit surprised at first, as I was expecting another boy..

but now that it has set in, I am so excited for our little family!

Here's a picture of her!

I found out that I have an anterior placenta..

so she is cuddled right up next to it & it was very hard to get a decent photo of her!

After our appointment, we went shopping for Aidan's little sister!

Aidan picked out this cute puppy for her, and we got her a couple outfits..

Aidan is so excited!

We have her name all picked out, but Tony & I decided not to share until she is born!

We have found that it is offending quite a few people, but we wanted to have some sort of surprise.. because we definitely couldn't wait to find out the sex! ;)

more swimming!

2011-09-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

Aidan's swim instructor offered one last swim class for the summer,

and I am so glad that we signed Aidan up!

The class was only a week, but each session was an hour long..

he learned so much & came SO far in a week!

Finally kicking those legs hard!

..and finally reaching in front of him to swim!

The most important milestone this week was conquering Aidan's fear of going underwater..

Here the kids are singing "Ring Around the Rosie"..

LOVED that when they got to.. "and they all fall down.." they all went completely underwater!

I was SO proud of Aidan!!!

Can't wait til next summer!

week 19.

2011-08-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

Going into my 19th week already & I am feeling MUCH better,

and can even go through the day without a nap now!

There's really nothing exciting to report.. I am still patiently waiting to feel the first baby movements, I am such a worrier, and hope things are okay for baby in there!

Cravings: Spaghetti-O's!!! I eat them almost everyday for lunch.. Aidan thinks they are gross & makes fun of Mommy for eating them all of the time.

Patiently awaiting: September 12th! We *hopefully* will find out the sex of the baby!

Aidan is very excited about the new baby!

He will talk to my belly & kiss it, it melts my heart :)

We had the opportunity to watch my friend Amanda's newborn baby Brendan yesterday,

Aidan was over the moon in awe of him!

It was great practice for me,

and fun to see how Aidan reacted to a baby in the house for a few hours!

Aidan did great, and loved Brendan..

..except when he started to cry he asked, "when does Brendan go home Mommy?" :)

I think Aidan will make a great big brother!

little fish!

2011-08-26T08:17:00.001-07:00

For the past two weeks, Aidan has been taking swimming lessons!

Today was the parent's day.. where we could stay and watch what the kids have learned..

I was so excited & proud of Aidan with how far he had come in just two weeks!

Aidan was the only boy in his little class, here's the kids getting wet to start!

A big accomplishment of Aidan's this week was finally putting his head underwater,

here's a cute video of the kids going under..

.. LOVE how Aidan barely puts his head in, but so proud that he actually tried..

he has been so stubborn about it!

Next, we got to see Aidan's swimming progress!

First time around with his instructor Pam & a noodle,

..second time around with floaties & Pam's son..

he loved that no one was holding onto him!

They finished up with a few more laps of the shallow end,

Aidan was so happy to show me how he could swim, I loved watching him today! :)

I'm such a proud Mommy!

surprise!

2011-08-17T06:02:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that our son is obsessed with all things John Deere.. and we have been looking for a good 6 months on Craigslist for a ride on Gator for Aidan.. with no luck!

That was until earlier this week, when I found a promising lead for a Gator for Aidan!

Grammie & Grampie wanted to get it for him for an early birthday present, and last night.. it was delivered to him!

We had Daddy take Aidan for a walk so we could get the Gator out of the truck.. when Aidan walked back up to the house, there it was waiting for him!

SURPRISE!!

I absolutely loved the look on his face, he was so happy!

Here he is, checking everything out :)

He was off before we could even get any good pictures of him in it!

.. I think he LOVES it!

He even had to go inside to get his John Deere hat.. love this boy!

And here is the final product, all stickered up & ready to go!

Thank you Grampie & Grammie, I know that Aidan will enjoy this "toy" for many years!

Aidan loves you!!! :)

week 15.

2011-07-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

I am finally out of my first trimester!

I was feeling very nauseous, but that has now subsided..

I am still struggling with fatigue & could sleep all day long if I didn't have any Mommy duties!

Aidan has been wonderful, he lets me rest if I need to &

is very curious about the "baby in Mommy's belly"..

he also has nicknamed the baby "Puddin"..

and we have told him several times that we are NOT going to name

his little brother or sister Puddin!!! :)

(Thank you to the toddler show Bubble Guppies for the lovely name idea!)

Other than being extremely tired, I am doing great!

I'm starting to get a belly & already wearing maternity pants..

I can't even button my regular ones anymore!

big trucks!

2011-07-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Last week, Aidan & I went with our playgroup to see the big trucks at the library..

there were so many trucks to explore,

Aidan was in heaven!

Out of all the huge vehicles, the Gator was his fav!

Later that night after dinner, Aidan had more fun..

Tony's cousin Art had the combine out in the field behind our home,

and he got to take a ride!

Our son LOVES combines, so he was beyond excited!

We've got one spoiled kid!!! :)

summer list update!

2011-07-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Here's 2 more things we crossed off of our list recently!

Cherry Picking!

Our cherry picking adventure didn't turn out so great..

most of the cherries were too high up in the trees for Aidan to reach,

and it was SO hot outside!

We had fun anyways.. Aidan helped my spot the cherries..

..and he would grab what he could!

After 20 or so minutes,

Aidan complained about the heat & asked if me if they had cherries that were already picked..

he was definitely ready to go!

We made our way back to weigh our pickings..

he picked a whole whopping 20 cents worth of cherries!!! LOL!

We ended up buying "already picked cherries" and ate them all the way home!

Chuck E. Cheese!

We have been having a horrible time getting Aidan to stay in his bed all night,

so we told him that if he stayed in bed for 2 weeks, we'd go to CEC!

That was plenty of incentive, and now he sleeps in his room all night!

We brought Grammie with us too,

love this picture of them on a roller coaster ride!

family vacation

2011-07-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

Earlier in July, we took a family vacation!

We went to Leech Lake, Minnesota for a family reunion of my step-dad's family.

It was so much fun & great to see so many family members that we don't regularly see.

I have WAY too many pictures to share them all.. so here are some of my favorites!

We had a LONG ride to Minnesota, about 14 hours!

I was so happy that Grammie decided to sit in back with Aidan & Daddy..

she did a great job of keeping Aidan entertained!

Our cabin was right next to a boat harbor, where tons of crayfish were..

Aidan loved looking for these guys every chance he got!

The crayfish hunter!!!!!

So glad that Tony & I got a chance to go on vacation, we had a great time!

Our Aidan Anthony with his Minnesota cousin.. Aiden Anthony!!

Aidan had a blast trying to keep up with all of the kids, especially the older ones!

..he also LOVED hanging on (& annoying!) Uncle Nick.

It was hard to keep him out of the water,

I think that one of us was always down at the lake with him!

Posing for a picture for a quick second for Mommy:

Searching for & trying to catch minnows..

.. he finally wore himself out & fell asleep on Mommy..

who was directly in the sun & got a nice tan from being lazy while Aidan napped!

Aidan LOVED the boat rides & I love this picture Aunt Lisa got of him! :)

Here's the whole group.. what a great week!

summer list!

2011-06-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

I have seen this idea on many blogs & have loved the idea/couldn't wait to get our list going..

I have my new huge chalkboard up in the kitchen & it's the perfect spot for our list!

(I absolutely love my new chalkboard, thanks for your help honey! ..except for the fact that I got a bit eager with the paint & got outside the lines a bit.. oops.. to be fixed later!)

Here's our to-do list for this summer!

(can you tell which ideas were Aidan's? ..Chuck E. Cheese, ice cream, hot dogs, s'mores..

I think our boy has an obsession with food!)

So far, we only have two things completed from our list..

but Aidan is constantly asking me to read him the list every morning to see what we can do for the day!

This fun sprinkler kept Aidan entertained for hours.. money well spent!

Catching fireflies is pretty much an every night activity here!

Love that Aidan talks to them & then lets them back outside before he goes to bed :)

What fun things are you planning for summer?

happening lately..

2011-06-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

We had fun visiting with my nephews while they were in town a few weekends ago, we met them almost everyday they were here to do something fun together.. Aidan's favorite was the Air Zoo!

Left to right: Jackson, Sammy & Aidan :)

While we were checking out the helicopters, Aidan was being filmed for an upcoming commercial..

he LOVED all of the attention!

The majority of the afternoon was spent riding all of the rides!

He rode this ride about a dozen times..

didn't need Mommy to go with him anymore, he's growing up too fast!

Riding the balloons..

We wrapped up our time with the boys at a Father's Day party at my cousins lake home..

Aidan also had his first boat ride!

He was so tired from running around with all the kids that afternoon, he didn't last long on the boat!

We had a great Father's Day celebrating the best Daddy!

Love my boys!

tiny talk tuesday

2011-06-28T05:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't been keeping up with all of the things Aidan says very well lately.. but just this week he has been entertaining us with his silliness!

______________________________________________________________________________

Aidan: "Mommy! There's a squirrel in our neighbors yard right now!"

(our neighbors are kinda far across the street..)

Mommy: "Really? How can you see it way over there?"

Aidan: "With my eyeballs!"

______________________________________________________________________________

I have been VERY tired & feeling yucky lately, kinda like all day morning sickness.. Aidan was so sweet the other day saying:

"You need to rest Mommy, that baby in your belly isn't being very nice to you today!"

news!

2011-06-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

After trying for what seems like forever.. we're expecting!

I am only 2 months along, but couldn't wait to share the news..

..Aidan is SO excited as well!

5QF

2011-06-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

Hey! I'm actually completing this linky party on the right day! ;)

1. If you had to choose, how would you prefer to spend money.. on a pool or on landscaping? DEFINITELY landscaping!!! I wouldn't want to clean said pool, and I know that I would be too lazy to keep up with the chemical routine for it, so bring on the pretty yard! I would love to have a perennial garden, and pretty sculpted beds around our home.. right now it's just mulch & hostas, which pretty much take care of themselves :)

2. Death penalty, yay or nay? You know.. I don't know. I think that there are some horrible crimes being committed out there, and sometimes don't feel it is punishment enough to have the criminal just sit in jail the rest of their lives.. you know?

3. What is the worst thing you child has gotten into when you turned your back/blogged/showered/blinked? I think Aidan was 2 or so, and I was not feeling well that day..

I got up to go to the bathroom, accidentally leaving a bottle of Pepto-Bismol on the table.. Aidan opened the bottle & completely dumped out the contents all over the floor..

even after stem cleaning, there's still a pink hue to the carpet!

4. How often do you REALLY go to the dentist? I go once a year.. & only after my mom bugs me ;)

5. What is your favorite animal? Donkeys!!! I have no idea why I love donkeys so much..

look at them, aren't they adorable???

dumb cat.

2011-05-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Aidan: "Mommy.. Abby's up in the tree again!"

Me: "Okay Aidan, I'll be right there!"

(I was figuring that she was up in our cherry tree again,

and I always have to help her out of it..)

Uh, no.. she was halfway up our pine tree in the front yard!

Love this picture of Aidan looking up at her..

he was saying, "Mommy, aren't you going to get her down?"

Took her forever, but she finally got down, dumb cat! :)

new swing set!

2011-05-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

It's Aidan's new swingset!

Tony & I had SO much fun putting this together for him (NOT)

..and we really bonded over the horribly confusing instructions.. it was SO fun!

Once we finally had it together though, we were so happy that it looked like the

picture & that Aidan LOVED it!!!

It took him about 1 second after we told him it was ready for him to hop on :)

He LOVES the double swing thingy!

Checking out his little fort area..

..and loving his new (longer) slide!

I'd say that it was definitely worth every penny..

and I can't wait til Aidan gets the hang of "pumping" his own legs on the swings..

Mommy's arms hurt from pushing him so much! ;)

happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

Being Aidan's Mommy is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me..

even through all of the tears, tantrums & whining that coincide with being 3 years old..

it's all such a blessing to me and I LOVE my munchkin!

Just being your Mommy is the best Mother's Day gift to me!

..and to my Mom:

I love you & have NO idea what I would do without you in my life,

you're not only my Mom, but my best friend!

I love you very much & ..

Happy Mother's Day!

5QF.. Saturday night!

2011-05-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

So.. I haven't participated in this for awhile!

Tony is busy watching basketball & I am here bored..
so here's some random questions that I will answer just for you ;)

1. Have you ever had roommates? Just while I was in college. I roomed with my step-sister Lisa for 2 years while I was up at Central Michigan University. We also had other girls in the dorm room with us, 4 of us altogether my freshman year, and 5 of us my sophomore year. It was definitely a learning experience for me.. I was used to living with Lisa.. but when you throw a bunch of girls in a room together.. with ONE bathroom.. and ONE phone.. things get kinda interesting!

(I think I used to hog the phone & bathroom too, sorry!)

2. How many names do you/your children have? Just the standard first, middle & last.

3. Did you watch the Royal Wedding? Nope! But, I have to admit, once I got up the next day & was bombarded by pictures & footage on the internet.. I was sucked in! I had to check out all of the details, watch the footage of the ceremony & I even printed out a recipe of Prince William's groom's cake.. it looks like it would be delicious!

4. What is the messiest room in your house? Ugh.. I would have to say the bathroom. Aidan uses the toilet now, and well.. he doesn't always have the best aim! Although I am constantly cleaning up the floor in there.. it seems like it never stays clean! :(

5. What is your ideal Mother's Day? Honestly? I just want to sleep in, read the Sunday paper, go to church & come home to more time to myself! I would love to throw a nap in there somewhere too!

happening lately..

2011-05-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

Aidan is FINALLY sleeping in his own bed again!

It took a few sleepless nights & lots of crying,

but he is doing great.. and loving his new book light too!

Love that he was reading to our cat Puff here..

Last weekend, we went to the campground to help Grammie open things up for the year.

Aidan was beyond excited to be out there again &

he is constantly asking us when we are going back out there!

It's that time of year again.. time to mow the lawn!!

Our boy is in love with anything John Deere,

so he was really excited to ride the mower with Daddy :)

Our kitty Abby likes to climb trees, and she sits in them forever..

so I took advantage of it & got some cute pictures the other day..

she's a weird but loveable cat!

Earlier this week, we FINALLY had a nice day for our playgroup's Easter egg hunt!

It had been rescheduled twice, so I think we were all happy that it was finally a nice day.

Loved watching the kids race for the eggs..

I had Micah that day, so he got in on the fun too..

loved how the boys were helping each other find the eggs!

Jackpot!

Definitely a fun day at the park,

the boys got a TON of goodies!

We've also been admiring & picking all the pretty daffodils around the house.

Last but not least, Tony spotted an oriole across the street last night! I have been trying to lure these birds into my yard for a few years.. anyone got any tips for me to get them in my yard?

They're SO bright & beautiful!

wordless Wednesday..

2011-05-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

happy Easter!

2011-04-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

We hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Aidan woke up bright & early this morning to see what the

Easter Bunny brought him!

After checking out all of his goodies in his basket, we made Resurrection rolls for breakfast!

What's a Resurrection roll you ask?

While the Easter Bunny is okay & all the candy & eggs are fun..

we want Aidan to know the real meaning of Easter, which is Jesus' Resurrection!

So.. we took a marshmallow, which represents Jesus' body.. dipped it in oil, cinnamon & sugar, which represents the oil & spices used to anoint Jesus' body after he died.. then we wrapped the marshmallow in a crescent roll, which represents the tomb that Jesus was put in after his death.

When the rolls are done baking.. take a bite.. Jesus is gone! He is risen!

Aidan was so fascinated with this..
love the picture below.. "where are you Jesus?" he was saying :)

After church, we went to my Dad's for a nice Easter dinner.

Aidan & Ava were patiently waiting all afternoon to start their annual egg hunt..

here they are scoping out all the eggs in the backyard!

GO!

I actually got to hide the eggs this year, it was fun to watch Aidan try to find them all!

Mommy's favorite picture:

Helping each other find all of the eggs..

CANDY time!!!

After the hunt, we had dessert..

creme brulee cupcakes,

& banana split cupcakes!

They were SOOOO good & so pretty I had to take a picture!

By the time we left at 7:30, Aidan was completely passed out!

I'd say it was a great Easter! :)

egg hunt!

2011-04-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we met up with family to go to an Easter egg hunt!

We had lunch together & played at a park before heading to the hunt..

Aidan is a climber now, and he makes me nervous when he wants to try to

get up in high places by himself.. "I do it!"

It was *finally* a nice day & Aidan & Hayley had fun playing.

Getting a push from Uncle Rob!

Making me nervous again! :)

Time for the Easter egg hunt!

The sign there said there were 11,000 eggs & I believe it.. they were everywhere!

The poor kids had to wait awhile as more people kept coming to join..

here's Hayley making the best of her boredom!

FINALLY get to start!

It was so fun to watch all of the kids racing for the eggs :)

Kinda busy, huh?

Aidan showing off his eggs!

We had so much fun at the egg hunt!

NOT happy.

2011-04-24T19:09:00.000-07:00

So..I planned a trip to the fire station for our playgroup last Friday..

Aidan was SO excited all week when we talked about it..

..but it was a different story once we actually got there!

I had to practically beg Aidan to stand on the step of the firetruck to get a picture!

Isn't it hilarious?

Looks like he was being tortured or something.. POOR Aidan! ;)

decorating eggs!

2011-04-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

Time to dye Easter eggs!

Aidan was so excited all day for this :)

He was bugging me all day to get the "egg stuff" out, I loved seeing the excitement on his face.

I noticed that Aidan was much more independent with it this year, he is growing up so fast!

I found these new swab colorers that were a hit, Aidan loved them!

Ta-da!

Notice the tears?

Yeah.. Mommy accidentally dropped a decorated egg on the floor.. man, I felt like a jerk..
Sooo, Aidan had to make that egg all over again.. sheesh Mommy! ;)

Aidan picked out a dinosaur themed egg kit this year..

.. it was fun, but I still like the plain 'ol regular eggs..

..so pretty!

happy birthday to me!

2011-04-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was my birthday & it was a beautiful day!

I enjoyed spending most of it outdoors with Aidan!

We had lunch outdoors, watching Tony's cousin Art get the fields by us ready for planting..

Aidan was VERY happy to see the tractors out again!

After lunch, we had a nature scavenger hunt.. I found the idea for this online & changed some of the items to match what we have available in our yard.. Aidan loved it!

.. and he loved dumping it all out & playing with the items too :)

Later that night, we went to my Dad's for dinner, and birthday cake!

Aidan helped me blow out the candles..

..and enjoyed eating it too, yummy carrot cake!

We had a good time visiting, Aidan especially loved seeing Grandpa!

Last but certainly not least, my boys wanted to make me a birthday cake too!

Here's my super-delicious homemade cake, Aidan even helped put the frosting on.. can you tell? ;)

Easter cookies!

2011-04-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

I am so slow at posting new pictures, sorry Mom!

2 weeks ago, we got together at my Mom's with my step-sister

& her daughter Hayley to decorate Easter cookies!

Aidan was very excited all week waiting for that Saturday to come around..

here he is patiently waiting to get started!

LOVE the concentration on Hayley's face!

Aidan did a good job smearing the icing around..

Mommy did pretty good eating the icing too..

it was soooo good ;)

Time for a taste test!

A few cookies in & the kids were ready to make a mess,

it was fun to watch them & even more fun that it wasn't a mess at our house!

(Thanks Grammie!)

My mom pitched in to help..

..here's their colorful cookies!

I think my Mom made the prettiest cookie.. way to go Mom! :)

After cookies, Aidan & Hayley played while we all talked to eachother..

..and ate cookies!

Don'tcha just love that my boy has his fingers up his nose?

He does this when he knows I'm about to take his picture.. stinker!

After awhile, we took the kids outside & chased some bubbles!

I loved watching Aidan chase the bubbles all over..

..and I LOVE this last picture I got of him!

We had such a nice time & it was fun to watch the kids have so much fun! :)

The Movers!

2011-03-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun yesterday, we took Aidan to Detroit to see the Imagination Movers!

We've had these tickets since Christmas, and have been so eager to take Aidan to see his favorite guys since then! He thought we were going to see a "movie" of the Imagination Movers..

he was in for a surprise!

I also had no idea if they would allow cameras in the show..

so I was super excited when I saw all of the cameras flashing when we got inside!

Waiting for the show to begin!

Aidan HAD to have a Warehouse Mouse!

(Mommy couldn't believe how expensive all of the merchandise was.. yikes!)

Lights were getting dim.. the show's about to start!

(I think he's excited?)

Choo Choo Soul opened up for the Movers.. they were great!

Loving it so far..

Time for the Movers!

Here is Mover Dave's entrance.. he's one of Aidan's favorites:

Our seats were really good actually, I was glad to get a few good pictures..

as everyone was jumping & dancing all around us!

The Movers went into the audience a lot,

and here is Aidan & Mommy before he got a high-five from Mover Dave! :)

Nina was there too!

Warehouse Mouse.. and the Movers in silly cheese hats..

He was still pretty into it!

Eddie the monster made an appearance,
he was featured on a Halloween episode that Aidan loved..

Aidan was waving to him & getting into the song..

After that, Aidan kinda fizzled out. He was ready to go & DID NOT want to sing or dance anymore, or have Mommy or Daddy sing or dance either! :(

We sat in our seats the rest of the show & dealt with our cranky boy.. they played a few more of Aidan's favorite songs & came back on stage for an encore in silly moustaches!

Overall, I think Aidan had a good time..

The Imagination Movers definitely know how to put on a great show!

I only wish I would have packed my longer camera lens, as I could have gotten better pictures.. I am so glad I decided to bring my camera 'just in case', as Tony almost had me convinced to leave it at home.. "they're not gonna let you take a camera in there honey..." (love you Tony!)

I think seeing the Movers in person made for one happy boy!

(Mommy & Daddy even had fun too!)

current craftiness..

2011-03-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been trying to devote some of my time to being crafty.. I love the sense of accomplishment that I get from it, and it’s free time for Mommy too!

Here’s what I have been up to:

I have been wanting to make a birthday plate for a few years now, and am so happy that I finally got around to it & can’t wait to use it!

Once a month, I have been go to “stamp camp”,

which is held at my Stampin’ Up! demonstrator Carol’s home.

I LOVE to make cards, and getting away to stamp while all of the cardstock & embellishments are all cut & ready for you is my kind of crafting!

Here's the cards we made for March:

A couple of friends of mine have been trying to get me into jewelry making, and although I haven't quite caught on yet.. I love to hang out & chat with them!

I myself don't wear much jewelry.. but I did make a little necklace & earring set!

The first of March, a daughter of a friend of ours got married & Aidan got to attend his first wedding! (he wasn't too impressed, but LOVED the cake!)

Anyways.. for wedding gifts, we usually go the gift card route for presents..
but I wanted to give them a gift "from the heart" ..
so I made this cute little marriage rules gift for them (to go along with the gift card!)

I love how it turned out, and want to make a family rules one for us!

I got away for an all day craft day with my best friend Michelle..
and I FINALLY finished Aidan's baby book!

What a relief it was to finally cross this off of my "to-do" list!

Last, but certainly not least, I have learned how to knit!

I am making a scarf, and it has tons of imperfections.. and I love them!

I have mastered the art of casting on, as one of my cats AND Aidan have each pulled my almost complete scarf from my knitting needles TWICE.. frustrating, but I've gotten in lots of practice!

Now to finish it up & learn how to cast off!

What have you all been working on? I'd love to see! :)

spring!

2011-03-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

yep.. spring is almost here,

and we were SO excited to finally be able to go outdoors to play yesterday & not freeze anymore!

had to get some pictures of my little cheeseball..

he was actually letting me take his picture!

goofy grin!

we had fun hunting around the yard for signs of spring,

Aidan loved the crocus popping up in our yard.

while Mommy was (still) trying to test out her new camera,

Aidan said, "be back Mommy!" and ran (very goofily) to the front yard..

my boy was bringing me some flowers!

"for you Mommy"

Puff was outside with us too, he has been dying to get out & roam!

our last task for the day was to get Aidan's Jeep out of hibernation..

..nothing makes me happier than seeing him smile!

it's amazing what a beautiful day can do.. we are so happy that

spring is almost here & the winter blahs are GONE! :)

ice!

2011-02-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

Monday morning, we woke up to the remains of the ice storm the night before.. it was so pretty!

My pictures definitely don't do the beauty of all the ice justice, especially when the sun was shining..

it was gorgeous!

Aidan & I had fun checking out the frozen trees..

We also lost power on Monday, and had to stay at Hotel Mom for two nights,

it was FREEZING in our little house!

Thanks for the great accommodations Mom! :)

Even though we were away from home for a few days,

Aidan still made the best of it & loved all the ice from the ice storm!

snow fun!

2011-02-20T17:49:00.000-08:00

The snow here was all gone, until late this morning when we got showered with more!

I was actually kind of happy about the snow, I'm not quite ready to give it all up yet!

So, we had to go out & play in it! Aidan was happy to throw snowballs at Daddy..

..and at Mommy!

Making snow angels..

We had a great time just being around outside with Aidan.

I thought the snow looked pretty, especially on our old barn.

I love that barn, it's going to be a sad day when it finally falls down! :(

Once the snow stopped, in came the freezing rain & it was time to go inside!

The ice on the trees was so cool though,

if it keeps up through the night, it'll be gorgeous outside tomorrow!

best valentine's day gift EVER!

2011-02-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

Tony & I normally don't get each other much for Valentine's Day.. usually a box of chocolates (that I definitely don't need.. but oh, so good!) or I get him a little something silly.. nothing fancy, that's for sure!

This year, Tony got me the one thing that I have been wanting for years..

now I just need to learn how to use it!

Aidan hasn't been very thrilled about Mommy following him around trying to take his picture all of the time.. love this pic of him trying to "shoot" me & get rid of me!

Oh well.. at least I have the kitties to take pictures of when Aidan isn't cooperating!

Thanks for the new camera honey,

I LOVE YOU!!!

5QF

2011-02-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

1. Would you rather be on ABC's Extreme Home Makeover or TLC's What Not To Wear? I'd definitely have to say Extreme Home Makeover. I rarely watch that show, but the ones I have seen are amazing.. turning the home into something absolutely different than before..

yep, they can come to my house ANYTIME they want! :)

2. Do you have any tattoos? Yep, I have two. And I HATE them! If I could go back & change things, I would have never gotten them. I think that I was trying to be cool or something, and since I was finally old enough,

it seemed like a bright idea to get them.. ugh.

Anyways, I have a sun on my lower back & a ring of stars/stardust

around my right ankle bone.

3. Do you tell your kids about things you did growing up? We haven't gotten that far on our parenting journey yet.. but I think that I would like to be as honest as possible with Aidan if he asks!

4. If the traffic signal turns yellow, do you stop or speed up? If I'm in a hurry, I would definitely speed up!

5. What's your preference: chocolate or chips? 100% Chocolate.. how about chocolate chips? Yummmm :)

what the...? Wednesday

2011-02-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

Is this normal for our 3 year old?

..Aidan is constantly wanting his clothes off to play,

and lately he has been pretending to be a knight..

..but I have NO idea what the socks on his arms are for.

Oh, Aidan.. you are such a goof! :)

new addition

2011-02-09T17:47:00.000-08:00

Remember that stray cat that wouldn't go away?

After a week of trying to get the word out about her being lost & having no response..

..we decided to keep her.

She is quite possibly the sweetest, most well behaved cat. EVER.

We are convinced that she was dropped off or abandoned, there's just no way that she could be a stray & be as loving as she is..

..we decided to name her Abby.

She's a keeper! :)

blizzard!

2011-02-03T10:25:00.000-08:00

The howling winds, dropping temperature & buzz on the news was getting all of us here excited for the HUGE blizzard that was hours away from us the other day.. Aidan was looking out the window about every 10 minutes Tuesday night!

He was ready to go outside Wednesday morning to check out the snow,
although we waited til afternoon.. it was cold out there!

Loved how he could barely walk in the snow, he was trying to get to his slide.. it took him forever!

We have a bunch of drifts here, Aidan loved that his playset was drifted, he played in this little opening & had fun throwing snow at Mommy!

We had fun outside, but didn't stay out too long.. the wind was making our cheeks freeze!

After dinner last night, we had more fun with all the snow by making snow ice cream!

My little kitchen helper was so excited :)

Here's Aidan's snow ice cream:

(gotta have sprinkles!)

He loved it!

thoughts going around in my head:

2011-01-27T12:45:00.000-08:00

- I REALLY need to finish cleaning & getting rid of/donating things in the rest of the rooms in our home, so far Aidan's room & the living room are done.. but the snowy, dreary days are making me feel VERY unmotivated!

- a stray kitty has made it's way into our home.. it is so cold & I couldn't stand to keep her outside! I have posted a lost & found ad for her on Craigslist, but am secretly hoping that no one will claim her.. she is SO adorable & lovey-dovey!

- I can't wait to go to my friend Carol's tonight, she hosts monthly stamping events & we are making a photo album tonight!

- I love the fact that Aidan is potty-trained now.. but does he have to keep his poo in the toilet to show me everytime before he flushes???

- Is it bad that I still have a Christmas wreath on our front door? Ugh.. I need to take it down!

- I'm finally making Aidan's baby book, something that should have been completed a LONG time ago, and I am happy & sad doing it. I cannot believe that my baby is growing up so fast! :(

better late than never!

2011-01-25T08:52:00.001-08:00

I am so frustrated with my blog right now.. it seems that every time I try to change something, it messes the WHOLE thing up! Grr..

SO.. I just don’t have the time right now to play around with it.. maybe it will magically fix itself!

Anyways, here is Christmas morning.. I KNOW.. I am so horribly behind!! :)

Here’s Aidan waking up to find that Santa came!

All this boy asked for for Christmas was a big tractor, and Santa sure delivered!

He was so excited about his new John Deere.

Here’s my favorite part.. the stockings! I love, I mean, uh... Santa loves to fill up the stockings every year! :)

Our cat Puff, was up with us early that morning too!

Doesn’t’ he look SO excited?

Now, no Christmas morning is complete without a half awake/still in your pajamas photo!

After all of the present opening excitement, I went off to make breakfast while Daddy & Aidan played with all the new stuff!

Grammie & Grampie came over to eat with us & check out Aidan’s gifts, and Aidan made Grammie play Cootie with him!

He went to Grampie next & had him read some Christmas books to him :)

It was a nice morning at home, I think we stayed in our pajamas all day!

tiny talk tuesday

2011-01-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

Things around here at lunchtime have been less than interesting lately..

here's Aidan, asking for his favorite.. for the 4th time in a row!!!

(LOVE his super goofy mispronunciation!!!)

Yay for peanut butter & jelly!!! :)

5 Question Sunday!

2011-01-09T19:05:00.001-08:00

It’s been a lazy kinda Sunday around here today.. Tony & I are starting to feel yucky again, hoping that our colds don’t make a reappearance! Ugh.. we hate getting sick!

Anyways, I have had enough energy to sit around & check out my favorite blogs!

Here’s my answers from 5QF.. on Sunday!

1. What is your current favorite book, and why? I am reading 1984 right now, and struggling through it.. so it is definitely NOT a current favorite.. but I do have a favorite that I can read & re-read, it’s White Oleander by Janet Fitch.

I LOVE this book.

So.. if you ever have the chance to read it, do so! I couldn’t put the thing down!

2. Do you go to the dentist regularly? Well, no. I go once a year. I know,, I am supposed to go every 6 months.. but I feel that I don’t need to, and I will tell you why!.. I brush twice a day, sometimes three, I floss AND I have never had any cavities.. so, I go once a year.

Now, for our son, he will go twice a year! :)

3. What is your worst memory from High School? Ugh.. the constant pressure to fit in, and I have NO idea why I cared so much what people thought of me.. yep, I would have to say the need for acceptance & to fit in with everyone.

4. What do you hope to be remembered for in your life? I want to be remembered as a loving wife, mother.. and grandmother! I try to go out of my way to be helpful to people, and I hope that it has left an impact on someone!

5. Are you superstitious or do you have any superstitions? This is kind of embarrassing, and Tony LOVES to tease me about it, but I HATE odd numbers. For instance, the TV volume is always on an even number, the car radio volume is on an even number.. if it can be set on an even number around here, it always is.. and Tony likes to ‘change’ it on me periodically!

I don’t think that I need therapy yet.. I seem to be functioning alright so far!!!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-03T21:18:00.001-08:00

For Christmas Eve, we made a trip downtown to check out all of the lights!

Aidan was in awe of all of the Christmas decorations & lights.. it was well worth walking around in the cold to see him so happy!

My favorite, Candy Cane Lane!

Aidan also loved the nativity scene & spent quite awhile admiring it.. he also had to “pet” each one of the sheep!

Had to take more family pics too..

Our little family, my stepdad Gary & my mom.

Love my Mom! :)

When we got home, we changed into our PJ’s & let Aidan open a gift from under the tree.. our new tradition!

Each year, we are going to open one gift on Christmas Eve, a new family game that we can all play together before bedtime. this year it was Cootie! :)

Aidan was so excited about this game, and he won too!

After a few rounds of Cootie, we got Aidan settled down for bed..

but not without leaving a treat out for Santa first!

Up next.. Christmas morning! :)

Christmas cookies!

2011-01-03T20:56:00.001-08:00

I was excited to have my friend Michelle come over to decorate cookies this year, I knew Aidan would love it.. and who doesn’t love Christmas cookies???

We got up early that morning to make the cut-out cookies, Aidan was very eager to help!

I was so proud of our little guy.. he was really getting into the baking!

When it came time to decorate the cookies, I realized that I made the glaze a bit runny.. oops. The cookies still tasted great though!

Here’s Aidan, decorating his first cookie of the day.. it was quite a MESS!

Doesn’t his finished cookie look delicious??

Oh man, I was dying of laughter.. I think it needed more sprinkles, don’t you?? :)

Once the kids got bored & wanted to play, Michelle & I took our turn at decorating (and eating!)..

Yum!

family Christmas

2011-01-03T20:26:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of our Christmas gathering at my mom’s house, it is always fun every year & so nice to see everyone too!

All the kids in front of the Christmas tree, patiently waiting to open presents!

Here’s me with my step-sisters & our hubbies, and then with our kiddos!

The poor kids were still waiting to open gifts..

I absolutely LOVE this pic of Aidan & Hayley.. looks like she’s wanting to tell Aidan to get his own spot to wait!!! :)

Yay! We finally have some presents!

Present opening goes kinda fast here.. with paper flying everywhere!

Aidan got so many cool gifts, and had such a great time with his cousins too! :)

5QF

2010-12-31T23:26:00.001-08:00

1. How long does your Christmas tree stay up? Well, it’s New Year’s Eve.. and it’s still up! Actually, I plan on packing up all of our Christmas things up this weekend!

2. Do you have plans for New Year’s Eve? Yep, I am making this for dinner.. renting a few movies from Redbox & staying home with my little family! Grammie & Grampie are coming over for dinner & a movie too! :)

3. Do you have any New Year’s resolutions? Why yes, I do! I would like to try to eat healthier, as I have eaten a bunch of junk over the past few months, and it has made me feel quite crappy.. as well as gain quite a bit of weight! I would also like to continue to get organized. I have been cleaning out & getting rid of a bunch of stuff this past month, and it has felt wonderful.. especially since it was all just taking up extra space!

4. How did you spend New Year’s Eve when you were younger? I had to think a long time about this one. when I was a teenager, I have NO idea what I did. I am guessing that it wasn’t that exciting, since I don’t remember! When I was younger, I used to stay up & watch the ball drop on TV, or fall asleep attempting to!

5. What was the best way you‘ve ever spent New Year’s Eve? Well, we usually go out for New Year’s with a bunch of friends.. but we are staying home this year & I am going to say that tonight is going to be my favorite New Year’s Eve.. being with my family, staying home sounds perfect to me!

Hope that everyone has a great night, can’t wait to see what 2011 brings! :)

handmade holiday

2010-12-23T21:34:00.000-08:00

I follow a bunch of wonderful blogs, and have gotten a TON of inspiration from blogland about homemade Christmas gifts..

I knew that I wanted to make Aidan something from the heart from Mommy this year for Christmas & here's what I came up with!

Aidan loves to color, so I made a family coloring book for him & tried my hand at making my own crayons too! (which was super easy!!!)

I used a silicone baking mold to make the crayons,

they popped right out & turned out so cute!

I used Photoshop to make the coloring pages,

his book is full of our family & a bunch of pictures of Aidan too! :)

Aidan's second gift is a snowman kit!

I had fun picking out all of the snowman materials & painting the box to hold everything in, I made sure to get enough for TWO snowmen.. don't want just one to get lonely! :)

I got my ideas from several different bloggers & am so happy that I made the time to put some heart into a couple of Aidan's presents!

I hope to keep doing this for several more years.. well, until my son is staring at me, rolling his eyes in digust.. saying "geez Mom!!!" :)

o Christmas tree!

2010-12-20T21:09:00.000-08:00

Every year, I love to decorate our Christmas tree.. I love our ornaments and the significance of each of them, I also love that we now have cute homemade ones from our son, they make me smile every time I look at them!

Inspired by Lindsay (again!) here is a look at some of my favorite ornaments, some new ones this year and some old ones too!

After the tree is up, we give Aidan a wrapped ornament, that represents something that he is really "into" that year, and he is super excited to hang the first ornament on the tree.. this year it was Iron Man! :)

Grammie also gets in on this tradition & gets Aidan a new ornament too.. she chose a tractor this year!

My absolute favorite ornament is this glass one of the Three Wise Men.

It was on our family tree when I was little & my mom gave it to me when I first moved into my new home, it's still my favorite!

I also love my Strawberry Shortcake ball from 1981 too :)

My recent favorite are these little snowmen, I just think they're cute!

I also love this star, that Aidan painted at a pottery shop on our first family vacation up north in Glen Arbor last summer :)

One thing I love about having a toddler now, is that he loves to make crafts with Mommy!

I definitely took advantage of that this year, as we made a few ornaments together:

I told Aidan how to make this reindeer & he did the rest!

He got a bit excited with the glue.. but he was so proud of his Rudolph!

I tried to make this snowman handprint ornament last year with Aidan, and it was a mess.. he had a lot more hand control this year,

and didn't mind the paint on his hands either! (that definitely helps!)

I have seen a bunch of variations of this one online, and they are all adorable!

We went with a tinsel filled ball & I painted on the finishing touches when Aidan's handprint dried.. I LOVE how it turned out!

I hope you all have as much fun looking at your beautiful, memory-filled trees as I do! :)

Tot School- Letters N, O and P!

2010-12-20T20:42:00.000-08:00

Oh goodness, I am such a Tot-School drop-out!!! :(

We have been finished with these letters for awhile now, and took a lengthy break before them.. I am hoping to get back on track after the holidays, because right now, our schedule is CRAZY!

Numbers on his letter N..

Pasting N words on his Letter N worksheet..

Noodle counting!

Play-doh faces.. making silly noses!

Letter O octopus!

Octo-dogs for lunch.. Aidan LOVED these!

(& making it talk...!)

We learned about putting things in order (sequencing) & had fun with these Blue's Clues cards.

I had both boys that I babysit over the beginning of December, so we had fun with an ornament craft!

We didn't have any ornaments on the tree yet, so it was fun to watch the boys decorate it together! :)

Paint on letter P..

We did a TON of puzzles, and Aidan has mastered all of them!

This is Aidan's current favorite puzzle:

Making pizza!

(please excuse the hair, we just came in from playing in the snow outside!)

Being such a big helper.. and sneaking bites of cheese!

Not bad for his first pizza! :)

Christmas past..

2010-12-17T00:58:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Lindsay, I decided to take a look back at our little guy!

2007- 2 months old!!

2008

2009

2010- out little stinker! :)

5 Question Friday!

2010-12-17T00:38:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that I am posting this on the correct day.. isn't it amazing??? :)

Here we go!

1. Do you regift? And if so.. do you have a re-gifting horror story? Nope, never have re-gifted.. so, no bad stories from me!

2. Do you know what you are getting for Christmas this year? Nope, I have no clue! Tony usually asks for a list from me, but he waits until the last minute to go shopping!

3. Who brings the most gifts in your family, you or Santa? I would have to say Santa. Usually, we limit the amount spent on eachother & Santa goes a bit overboard sometimes!

4. What store do you love to buy jeans from? Kohl's. I have absolutely NO time to go to the mall to browse around for jeans, and Kohl's has the Levi's that I love, and I can get in & out of there without crying! .. because jean shopping is just SO much fun!.. yeah right!

5. Christmas meal: Big, All Out Meal, or Snacks & Apps? Well, it depends.. at my Dad's we always have a big sit-down meal. At my Mom's, we have a more casual dinner, usually something simple & lots of snacky foods. At Tony's sister's get-together, we have a big meal, that also has snacks.. and I feel like a big fat pig after I leave there, but I LOVE the food!!! :)

early Christmas

2010-12-17T00:24:00.000-08:00

My nephews were in town last week, so we had an early Christmas get-together at my Dad's last weekend!

After dinner, the kids were DYING to open their presents,

here's Sammy & Jackson waiting patiently...!

Love this picture of Aidan's gift pileup on Daddy!

.. and, GO!

These boys didn't waste any time unwrapping!

After everything was opened, the most popular gift of the night was definitely the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots!

I had to play too!

(Jackson totally beat me..!)

Another favorite was Jackson's Storm Trooper helmet.. which was a little bit large for Aidan! :)

It was so nice to spend time with my family, I LOVE this time of year!

Chicago!

2010-12-17T00:11:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile, but the first weekend of December I went to Chicago with my good friend Amanda. We go along with a bus shopping trip, but we choose not to shop & instead go to some of the museums around town!

This year we went to the Museum of Science & Industry, which has changed so much since I was there last when I was a kid..

Here's some random photos, as I took WAY too many pictures that day :)

The big attraction there right now is the Jim Henson exhibit, this was a huge gingerbread house of the museum with some of his Muppets..

I loved going to this, as I basically grew up with Sesame Street, etc.. it was awesome to see the real puppets!

These guys were my favorite.. it's Gobo & Cantus from Fraggle Rock! :)

HAD to take pictures of the big tractor for Aidan.. he would have loved this farm exhibit!

Especially the combine, which showed the inner workings of the equipment.. SO wish that Aidan was there with me!

In honor of Aidan, Amanda & I jumped in the drivers seat & had a simulated combine ride harvesting corn.. so cool! :)

We had a little bit too much fun playing with our shadows here.. :)

HUGE toy train exhibit!

Life cycle exhibit & the cute little chicks!

I have NO idea what this thing is called, but we liked it!

They also had a TON of Christmas decorations, a beautiful HUGE tree, and a small tree representing every country in the world, decorated according to their customs.. but I won't bore you with the pictures!

747 Exhibit, taking a break!

We had such a great time!

I especially loved having the day to spend with my friend, and having some time to myself! :)

wordless Wednesday..

2010-12-14T21:13:00.001-08:00

5 Question ..Saturday!

2010-12-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

Oops, here's 5QF on Saturday for ya!

1. Do you open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Well, we are starting a NEW tradition for our little family this year.. we going to start opening one gift on Christmas Eve, and it is going to be an age appropriate game for Aidan, that we can all play together that night as a family. (We picked Cootie as our game this year!)

Other than that, we tear all the presents open first thing Christmas morning! :)

2. What is your favorite Christmas cookie or candy? How about all of it?? If I'd have to choose, it would be these..

..it is called Kifli, and it is a Hungarian recipe that Tony's grandmother used to make, which his sister Linda makes for the family every year during Christmastime.. it is delicious!

I LOVE the walnut (dios) and prune (lekvar) flavored ones!

3. What is the worst Christmas present you have ever received? Hmm, I have NO idea. I am sure that I got some things that I didn't want when I was younger, and less thankful for stuff!

4. Christmas song that you love? I LOVE the song "Silent Night, so this year, it's this one:

5. How many trees do you put up? If you've ever been to our home, you'd know that there's only room for one tree, and it's a skinny space-saving one! ..and I'm perfectly happy with that! :)

Wassailing

2010-12-06T23:10:00.000-08:00

This year, instead of going to our own town's Christmas event,

we decided to go to my old school town's wassailing night.

Yay Parchment! :)

What's wassailing, you ask?

I had NO idea!

I have heard that it's a holiday drink,

a type of song and a gathering of people..

here's what it really is:

was·sail- noun

1. a salutation wishing health to a person, used in England in early times when presenting a cup of drink or when drinking to the person.

2. a festivity or revel with drinking of healths.

3. liquor for drinking and wishing health to others on festive occasions, esp. spiced ale, as on Christmas Eve and Twelfth-night.

...uh, okay?.. what we experienced that evening didn't seem like any of that,

but we still had fun!

Our first stop was at the middle school, to listen to my "niece" Mackenzie play in her first holiday band concert, it was so great to watch & hear her play!

We then took a trolley through town to see Santa.. which is the only thing that Aidan was interested in doing at that time..

it was FREEZING outside & most of the activities were outdoors.

So, off to the bank to see Santa..

..doesn't he look thrilled?

He wasn't too sure about the "old lady" (as Aidan called her) sitting next to Santa, he'd never heard of Mrs. Claus before & didn't care for her too much!

Kenzie got her picture taken with Santa too!

Our next stop was sponsored by the local church & was very interesting..

a live nativity!

Aidan was very captivated by this display, and the camel!

His favorite holiday book has been this one,

and he was POSITIVE that this camel was the star of his favorite book! :)

Here he is checking out & talking to the camel..

Okay, so I got very lazy about taking anymore pictures.. it was SO cold outside!

We had a TON of hot chocolate, made some crafts, and ate an embarrassing amount of Christmas cookies before we came to our last stop..

a local car shop that had a live reindeer outside, a campfire & hot dog roasting! :)

It was fun to try something different this year :)

Thanksgiving!

2010-12-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

I am so late at posting this, but I know my mom wants to see the pictures..

so here you go mom!!! :)

It was so nice to go to my mom's house for Thanksgiving dinner this year, we usually have to run from place to place, and it was nice to stay at one home!

My mom & my step-dad:

My Uncle Dave & Aunt Cathy were visiting from Georgia,

so my mom invited her cousins to dinner that they all hadn't seen in quite awhile..

it was fun to listen to them reminisce over dinner.

Aidan actually sat down for awhile to eat, he is always up & down at the table..

he must have been hungry!

(look at all of those olives!)

My Grandpa & all of his kids!

Tony & I after dinner & feeling like I just ate a whale!

I had a nice time visiting with my cousin Tanya, who I don't get to see very often!

Aidan was pooped after dinner,

and spent the rest of the day relaxing with Grampie!

Since Aidan really didn't want to play,

my Aunt Trudy had entirely way too much fun with Aidan's toys by herself! :)

Any time spent with my Grandpa is time well spent!

It was a great Thanksgiving, I'm so thankful for my wonderful family!

tiny talk tuesday

2010-11-22T21:58:00.000-08:00

The other day as Aidan was having a snack of cherry tomatoes.. he suddenly got up out of his chair & ran to get his play goggles...

I asked him what in the world he was doing.. his response was:

"Taytoes keep quirting me in my eye, need my goggles!"

Silly tomatoes, stop squirting Aidan in the eyes! :)

sunflowers!

2010-11-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

We "harvested" Aidan's sunflowers a couple weeks ago, but I had to share this picture!

Aren't they huge???

Aidan was SO proud of his flowers, and so excited to set them out for the birds!

I was amazed at how many different types of birds that came to feed from Aidan's flowers, some that we have never even seen in our yard before! It was also fun for us to watch the birds fight over who could hang from the sunflower heads & peck at the seeds..

it kept us entertained & we can't wait to grow more next year! :)

5 Question Friday!

2010-11-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been quite a long time since I have participated in this! Here's for those of you that need some "Theresa-knowledge!"

1. What is the most physically painful thing that has ever happened to you? I'd have to say recovering from my c-section. I am a horrible baby when it comes to pain.

2. How much sleep do you get at night? I usually get about 6-7 hours of sleep,

but I am trying to train myself to get to bed earlier!

3. How long did you believe in Santa Claus? How did you find out that he does not exist? I believed in Santa for quite awhile.. maybe til I was 8? I found out that Santa was make-believe when my friend Michelle & I were rummaging through her mom's desk for something & found all of the letters that she wrote to Santa over the years.. along with her baby teeth!!! ...no Tooth Fairy either! It was a bad day for the both of us kids! :)

4. What was the last movie you saw in a theater? Saw this on a whim with the other mommies from my MOPS steering team, it was actually pretty cute! :)

5. What do you wear to bed? I wear a t-shirt & comfy pants or capris..

nothing fancy here!

Halloween

2010-11-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

It was hard for us to decide what to do for Halloween this year, most of our friends have children that are much older than Aidan, and Aidan does NOT need an overabundance of candy in the house.. so we were looking for something fun & family friendly to do...

I saw that Verhage Farms had a trunk or treat/fall festival going on the night before Halloween, and we decided to try it out!

Getting ready to get some candy!!!

Isn't that the cutest shark you have ever seen??? :)

I was SO happy that he didn't end up with gobs of candy,

just enough for little Aidan to be happy!

He was even happier when he saw that there were pony rides & games to play!

We also went on a hay ride together,

it was so fun to go out just the 3 of us, and enjoy our little family!

On Halloween, we surprised Grandma by going to her house to visit & Aidan wanted to do some "real" trick or treating.. I wasn't expecting to walk around the neighborhood.. but was so glad that he was having a great time. It was so fun to walk around with my son in the same neighborhood I used to trick or treat in as a kid! :)

When we got home, he HAD to check out all of his candy.. not too bad for a 3 year old!

(..yes, that is a lemon in his candy pile.. Aidan took it from Grandma's, he LOVES lemons!)