Whirlwind Holiday Update

We have been busy!

Dec. 18-Seth and I go to his company Christmas party, finish packing, and spend the night at my parent's house for an early morning departure.

Dec. 19- 10 hour drive to my Grandmother's with my family and Aidan. Seth stayed home to get some work done.

Dec. 20-  Christmas celebration with Grandmother, Bob, and my uncle's family. Aidan got a Radio Flyer tricycle and loved trying to work the pedals all by himself.

Dec. 21-Drive to my Grandpa's house ( 2.5 hours) and then later drive (1 hr.) to my uncle's house for a family dinner. Nice time, very tiring day.

Dec. 22- Get up and leave for home (another 10 hour day). Aidan slept very erratically the whole trip and was up at 5:15 am the day of our departure. I was so tired! We arrived home to a clean house and a nice bouquet of roses for me. Seth was gone for Alumni Night at his high school in Topeka.

Dec. 23-Shop most of the day, do laundry, go to a Christmas light show.

Dec. 24- More shopping, bad weather, snow starts falling like crazy. Our Christmas Eve service was canceled, so we went to visit Seth's family for the night. We watched a movie and made it home close to midnight. It was still snowing. I put some cinnamon rolls in the oven for the next morning. Got to bed late.

Dec. 25- My parent's house for Christmas. Long drive on snowy roads. Lovely breakfast, fun presents, relaxing day. We left around 8:00 after Aidan had a ridiculous episode of major diaper rash issues. Long drive in the snow again. Come home and prepare for the next day's festivities.

Dec. 26-Christmas with Seth's family. Still snowing. Lovely time together. Kara and Cody (our friends home for the holidays from Ireland) arrive around dinner time and we all go back to our house. They decide to stay the night instead of just stopping in on the way to Iowa because the roads are so bad.

Dec. 27- Day with friends, playing cards, sledding with Aidan, laughing, talking, and enjoying each other's company. Kara and Cody stay another night on account of the weather.

Dec. 28- Kara and Cody leave for Iowa. We go to my parent's to visit my brother's family one last time. I am exhausted. Leave around lunch, take a nap, pick up the house, make dinner for my brother and his family. Nathan, Sarah, and Xan for dinner. Full house, lots of noise from two little boys. Clean up and go to bed.

Dec. 29- Early morning to Lawrence for breakfast with old friends. Yummy food, McDonald's playplace, Aidan konks out on drive home. Naps for all, then major clean up for our trip tomorrow.

Dec 30-Jan. 2- Going to Oklahoma for a family reunion with Seth's extended family.

Snow Day!

Last week, actually a week from this past Monday, we were blessed with a nice little snow shower. Unfortunately, both kids had the sniffles and really bad coughs and so going out in the 10 degree weather was out of the question.  It was nice and cold though and the snow stayed fresh and clean in our yard for days. Aidan loved just looking at the snow from inside and was always talking about it to me. I felt kinda bad that he didn't have a clue what it really was, so I was hoping he would have a chance to go out and play in it.

Friday came and the snow was still there. Oakley was at home and Aidan's sniffles were almost cleared up. We went to a consignment shop and found some great boots (and they were even Stride Rite) and got all bundled up to go outside.

Aidan had a BLAST.....and I did too.

We ran and stomped and hit snow off the bushes and I pulled him around and around in his sled. He loved it! He squealed and smiled and kept saying, "No (snow)"! I kept looking at Aidan and feeling in awe with how grown up he seemed. He was so sweet and having such a good time and we laughed and played together. I don't think I will ever forget how wonderful it was.

Ai-dee

Ai-dee is how my dear sweet boy refers to himself and it totally cracks me up.

He is always pointing to things that are his and saying, "Ai-dee, Ai-dee." Like, for instance, at 4:00 am when he was crying and needed a drink, he pointed to his cup and happily said his name. Yes, my dear, you are Aidan, and you need to go back to sleep so Mommy can get some rest.

Aidan was playing on the stage at church this weekend after service ( his Daddy was on the worship team and was supervising him). He picked up one of the microphones and started singing and dancing around. It was hilarious! That night, he found a piece of a weight machine that he thought looked like a microphone and proceeded to yell into it. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a performer.

Aidan refers to feta and parmesan cheese as "baa", like what he calls a sheep. I have no idea what put this into his head other than the resemblance of white fluffiness, but it absolutely cracked me up when he came up with the word all on his own and now happily exclaims it when I open the fridge.

Aidan thinks his Grandpa is a chicken, or so it seems. Grandpa has this special little noise that he does with Aidan that is supposed to be a duck, but to Aidan it sounds like a chicken. So, when we ask him all the animal noises and add in "What does Grandpa say?" he does his best impression of chicken. Actually, it has gotten to the point that when he wants his Grandpa he just makes that noise all the time.

My sweet little Ai-dee, you make me laugh.

The sun will come out tomorrow

Yesterday....

Seth had his tooth pulled early in the a.m. and then stayed late at work

Aidan broke a glass ornament by throwing it down our stairs

My dinner was a flop and we went to get Taco Bell as a substitute

My  nose started running

Aidan woke up early from his nap (1 hour 20 min.) because of the doorbell ringing

I opened my Christmas present from my husband by accident

Aidan watched way too much television

I went to bed early with this song in my head..." the sun will come out tomorrow..."

Brain, why do you fail me sometimes?

Yesterday I left Aidan's light on during his nap. He woke up early.

Last Friday, I tried to buy some chicken at Hen House, but the words escaped me.

I am often not sure if it was a cone fall or a phone call, or if I knit my hee or hit my knee.

Thank the Lord for grace.

The babies are coughing while they nap. One is squealing.

Once again, thank the Lord for grace.

MOPS, food, and trying...

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) is an amazing thing that I discovered this fall. I wish they had a meeting every week, but sadly it is only twice a month. We had our Christmas party today and it was lovely. I gorged myself on all the food and chatted nonsensically with all the moms until it was time to go. It was the best kind of therapy for a Monday.

Speaking of food, I have been in a baking mood lately. I made two batches of bread dough this weekend, but had the worst time with it. I have made bread in the past and although I followed the same recipe, my dough would not rise....twice. It was ridiculous. I ended up making an abundance of pizza with the dough and managed to bake two loaves that turned out halfway decent, but it was all quite frustrating.

Random: I am starting to understand the whole "trying for a baby" thing and it is somewhat emotionally exhausting. I think I like surprises much better.

20 months

Dear Aidan,

Today you are 20 months old! You are only 4 months away from turning 2 which is so hard for me to believe.

I won't lie, this last month with you has been a trying one for me, but there have also been some great moments. You were sick for 6 weeks straight (the whole of last month) and topped if all off with a lovely ear infection. You finished your round of antibiotics yesterday and it seems to have already made you feel much better.

Your tantrums have gotten more extreme this month and also more frequent. Most things feel like a fight with you. Even today, you started doing something you know your not supposed to and asked for a spanking for doing it. You are quite the smart little stinkerpants and you really know how to get a rise out of me.

You are saying more and more words everyday and it is hard to keep track of all that you know. You talk in long paragraphs of gibberish to everybody and seem to expect that we understand you perfectly. My favorite thing is when you end a long string of nonsense with "ma-ma" as if you are telling me something. You do that all the time and I try to be attentive to everything you say. Your frustration with being unable to communicate seems to be fueling the fire for your tantrums and I greatly anticipate the day that you can really talk to me even though I know you won't stop.

You have been learning your letters this month and know "a, b, and sometimes c." You love to find letters you know and you are always noticing letters on everything. You have learned what a star is too and you are getting much better at figuring out the shape sorter on your own.

You continue to love music and have started "singing" a lot. You copy sounds that we make and you sing along when we are listening to music or singing to you. Your favorite song (besides the Elmo's World theme) is "My God is so Big." You are learning the motions and you are so cute to watch. Just last night, Daddy played the Elmo's World theme song on the piano and you perked up and said "la-la" (your affectionate name for Elmo and all things Sesame Street).

Your favorite things this month are: blankie, Elmo, singing, reading books, keys, climbing, baths, bubbles, cookies, and cuddling.

You are fun to watch as you grow and mature. We are thankful for you and hope that you soon grow out of this rather frustrating phase you are in right now, but until you do, we will love you through it.

Love,

Mom

Mascara Incident

Left ear



Right ear

Need I say more?