Snipits from our California Vacation number 1

I know it's been far too long since I've update the blog. So in my attempts to catch everyone up we'll start with the vacation we took to California. While there we visited Nick and Crystal, managed to make it to our timeshare on the beach in Oceanshores, and made it to Seaworld. Aiden, once again, proved what a trooper he is on car trips and re-discovered his love of the beach. So I'm going to post mostly just photos for the next couple blogs, so we can keep these memories for years to come. This first part will be a beach fun!






















































































































And what happens when you have this much fun playing at the beach? Two words: sheer exhaustion.

Ways to relax

This week has been particularly stressful for me. The last week of school, finals on the horizon, let's just say my weekend dealt more with work and less with play than I would have liked. However, in the midst of it I did have a two year old egging me on to let go of school and just enjoy life. Here are Aiden's remedies to a stressful week.


1. Let go of all inhibitions and soar (it's exhilarating!)















2. Indulge in your inner child


















3. Surround yourself with people you love














4. When all else fails, relax, and enjoy a facial (stickers are optional).














It's all so clear to me now.

Conversations with a toddler

It's no secret that our little man has an (albeit healthy) obsession with dinosaurs. It is also no secret that we revel in it and in such keep the Natural History Museum and their gift shop in business. But in these last few weeks I've found myself saying some things I never imagined would come out of my mouth and I thought I'd share them in a post. Some have to do with his love of dinosaurs, others are just the interesting things that come out of his mouth throughout the day. The pictures throughout are from our Easter fun (including Aiden's hands after dying eggs), going to the Isotopes baseball game with Erik, and just random good times (like going on a carousel). Enjoy the post and I hope this spring season has found everyone as blessed as I feel.













1. Aiden: sobbing- "Oh no - oh no, that big truck ran over my dino"
Grandma: "Fix it mama, hurry he's so sad"
Me: - "Don't worry Aiden he is ok, he just flew away to the doctors and they put band aids on him."
Aiden: perfectly calm now : "Oh ok I'll take them off"



2. Me: "Aiden please don't pretend to eat the children at gymnastics, you're scaring them."
Aiden: "But I'm a T-Rex, I eat meat" (*How do you argue with that? Trust me it wasn't easy)

3. Dave: "Did the chair at mama's school spin like Daddy's office chair?"
Aiden: "Yessssss"
Me: "Ummm buddy no it didn't, remember that chair sat still"
Aiden: "You're confused" (When did he learn the word confused?)


4. Mama: "Whewee I'm pooped!"
Aiden: "GO TO THE POTTY NOW MAMA, HURRY HURRY!"
*1 week later after a conversation of what pooped means
Aiden: (Dave yawns) "You tired dada?"
Dave: "I sure am buddy"
Aiden: "You need to go to the potty now so you are pooped"
*He'll get it one of these days, it is a hard concept for a potty training boy

Aiden voted most likely to break hearts

You know it's funny, every time I sit down to write one of these blogs I can't help but feel as though months and months have passed simply because of the new milestones Aiden has reached. It is incredible to me how much he changes between each post and how more and more he has become a little boy. Yes, nostalgia has come over me, and every time I start writing a new blog I can't help but remember when I first started this website, sharing the joys of the little peanut that grew.

Now, beyond my sentimental state, Aiden has been an absolute riot this past month. Since my school schedule is so jammed packed (I pack all of my classes on Tuesday and Thursday) I worry about making sure our days together are full of fun and memorable activities. On top of it my mother has been so gracious as to meet me every Tuesday for lunch so that I may fill my two free hours in the day with my little man. Well a couple of weeks ago we went to Route 66 Diner for a normal Tuesday lunch. However, in Aiden's world it was anything from normal. That is because on this day he had his very first crush! After our waitress came up to take our drink orders Aiden looked at me wide eyed and asked me, "Mama is she a princess?" That sweet thought was followed by him trying to ask her, but becoming so shy that he would bury his blushing face into my arms anytime she'd come near. Then when he did get up the nerve to ask her she replied with, "Yes I'm a diner princess." To which he replied, "No you're a bluuuuueee princess (she was wearing blue)." After he become more comfortable with his princess he would yell anytime she would walk away "Come back princess, come back!" What was more was how genuinely sincere he was in his discovery of her. Her response to him was just as heart warming (I mean come on what woman doesn't want to be called a princess so sincerely by a little child?), she brought him a special Route 66 pin and was so kind to him.

This of course, is not the only run in Aiden has had with women in the past few weeks though. In fact, just yesterday, while at Target Aiden found his next love. This time she was slightly younger, probably about a year and half. Her family was in front of us in the check out line and Aiden kept telling her, "Hi baby, hi pretty baby." Frustrated with her lack of response to her (she had a binky in her mouth) he asked her "Hey are you a baby or are you a dinosaur?" What's more is he was seriously waiting for a response and finally looked to her father who laughingly replied "She's a dinosaur." Ok well you would have thought the kid just discovered gold, his look of amazement as his voice let out this "oooooh" was absolutely priceless. Thank you man in Target - you completely astonished my son and now holds the hope that other children are dinosaurs.


This month we've also made a strong effort to be staying really active. Aiden is still in gymnastics but we're also enjoying the nice weather, taking walks and riding bikes and scooters. Beyond that we're also keeping him occupied with going golfing, bowling (note the hilarious toddler bowling shoes), to Lobo games and trips to the playgrounds, museums, and zoo.



Somewhere in the midst of our crazy schedules Aiden has become very vocal, in a good way, about things he does and doesn't want. What is more is the maturity of the words he is saying just cracks me up. For instance, while pouring his morning glass of milk I was told, ever so kindly "That's enough mama, thank you." Mr. Manners has made his way into this house and I couldn't be more pleased. Of course on the flip side of that, his two year old moments have also become much more rational in a way. Though his first reaction is usually an irate sense of "WHY" he is quick to calm down to use his words to explain what it is he wants. I just hope we can keep this up!

Alright well it is Monday, which means it's time to decide what fun adventure we're going to partake in today. Hope everyone is well!

A proud mama

So I just thought I'd take a moment and share the joyous moments that are my morning. Today upon hearing Aiden wake up, I went into his room and did our normal cuddle bug time. He soon crawled out of his bed only to grab two of his favorite books: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See (thanks Lindsay!) and The Tiny Tadpole (thanks Brooke!). He then opened Brown Bear and started to read it to me (from memorization of course) and something about the whole thing just made me swell up with pride. The fact that he loves and enjoys books so much, makes this English Major's heart jump with pride and joy. Watching the pure excitement he gets on his face every time that tiny tadpole turns into a frog is completely priceless. I just hope as he grows he continues to love the excitement that good books can bring.

I'll see a dragon there?

Hello everyone and welcome back to everyday exciting life! So this time we'll start with the title of the blog. Yesterday as we were getting ready for church, Aiden so noncholantly asked, "I'll see a dragon there?" Our first reaction was a burst of laughter, but when we saw those oh-so-serious eyes awaiting our answer, well we had to break the news that no, there are no dragons at our church.
As you can see we aren't completely blameless in the dragon thing, his new kite has caused quite a bit of excitement around here.
Beyond that things around here have been a lot of fun. Aiden is loving his gymnastics and does it constantly at home. With the constant question looming "Mama you do a foreward roll?" Well the only problem is mommy is getting dizzy, but enjoying that awesome smile after each one is worth this almost constant feeling of nausea.


On another note this past weekend has been full of firsts. We took Aiden to go see his first big movie (Madagascar 2) and we also took a little crew up and enjoyed Aiden's first time sledding in the mountains. He, of course, had a blast! I have to say it was the perfect day, the sun was shinging, the roads were pretty much clear, and we found the nicest cross-country ski pass for our sledding extravaganza.





Well I know this was a short one, just thought I'd share our fun adventures. Hope everyone is well, God Bless!

Gymnastics fun!

So this year we've enrolled Aiden in gymnastics (because really all the other sports start at age three)and he has loved it! Not only does he get to play with a bunch of kiddos his own age, but can you think of a place that has more of a variety of fun, running, and tumbling activities? Well after each semester they do a special graduation day and here are the pictures from ours. Enjoy everyone!

"I made yellows!"

Hello everyone, welcome back to our crazy world! I know the last two posts were rather rushed and focused more on the holidays, so now back to our normal, everyday, crazy, life. After this post I'm going to post a specific gymnastics blog because there are so many pictures!

Well let's first start with the title of this blog. For many of you, you know what a challenge potty training has been for us. However, these past weeks we seem to have a giant breakthrough (knock on wood). Aiden has really started to assert himself in peeing in the potty! He not only does it at our urging rather is really starting to recognize when he himself needs to go, which is a huge step for him. What is perhaps most amusing about each time is his enthusiasm for his treat afterwards and his declaration of "I made yellows!" which just cracks this mama up! Yet, while this has been an awesome development we are still waiting for that little ticker to go off in his head when it comes to going number two. For some reason the thought of making poopies really is hard/scary for him. So while we are basking in one accomplishment we aren't completely out of the woods yet. So if anyone has any good suggestions for this dilemma, please I'd love to hear them!

The past couple weeks have also allotted us with a lot of opportunities to enjoy some outside time. Yes, it's sunny and we are taking full advantage. For example, a trip to the zoo was something Aiden had been begging for, but it was far to cold. However, last week we managed to squeeze a trip into one unseasonably warm afternoon and lemme say it was wonderful! The kiddos even got a chance to play on the play structure there, something that is usually far to crowded for this mama's comfort.

We also got the chance to try something new with Aiden, we went to a game center. We tried golf cart racing, which surprisingly he didn't seem to enjoy but it was quickly rectified with minature golfing! Let me tell ya, he's awesome at it, he actually managed to walk away with two holes in one. I am still so surprised at how easily any kind of sport comes to him, he really does have a natural raw ability that is just so fun to watch.


This weekend we also got to do a family fun night at the natural history museum here and see a planetarium show, which was exciting for Aiden. Since we've never really taken him to a movie this was kind of like his first big theatre experience and we were so proud of how well he did.
This really has been such a fun-filled month with him, getting to go out and do these activities has made the fact that school has started back up again less of an pang for me. Watching him have as much fun as he has makes me realize how much I enjoy this age. The things he comes up with on his own, his enthusiasm for everything he does, and just how happy he always is warms this mama's heart. Well I hope everyone is doing good and enjoyed the pictures and the soon to come gymnastics pictures!God Bless!