Quick Trip to Utah

I was so excited to have the chance to visit Utah in April for my sister Rebecca's wedding.  I took Ethan with me (since he is free to fly and still needs me for nursing), but Aidan stayed with Mike.  Since I didn't want Mike to have to take too many days off work, it was a super fast trip, but I loved every minute of it. 

I loved getting pedicures with my sisters.

The temple ceremony was absolutely beautiful.

Jacob CREAMED Rebecca at the reception.

And of course, I had to get a picture with the blushing bride. 

Yes, Spencer, we all see your photobomb in the background.  Thanks for that.

Another great part of the trip was getting to meet new members of the family.  I had never met Jacob before the wedding, but he seems like a great guy.  Of course, no one but my mom had met Ethan, so they all got to see him.

I got to meet my new nephew Mason, who was born only weeks before the wedding.

I got to meet another new nephew, Jared, who was born about a month before the wedding.

After the wedding festivities were over, I had half a day before I needed to go back home.  Did we relax?  Of course not!  Instead, we threw a baby shower for Spencer, Whitney, and Mason!

Whitney with Natalie (Mason's birth mother), and of course little Mason, too.

This shows the three newest grandkids in the coordinating blankets, all made with love by Grandma. 
L to R is Mason, Jared, and Ethan.
There is another coordinating blanket just awaiting my nephew that should be coming any day now!

What a wonderful trip!  Congratulations again, Rebecca and Jacob!

Easter 2012

I'm only a LITTLE behind, right?!  I've been meaning to update for a while (translation: lots to come now that I finally found some time to sit down and do it!), and these were too cute not to share.  We did a community hunt again.

Aidan got a lot better at this year's hunt than last year's!

Little Ethan slept through everything.

 We also did a little hunt in our backyard.



Aidan's favorite were the eggs that had loose change inside.  And I love this picture - it really captured his running stride!



So triumphant - I got one!

Aidan at 3

My Men of Steele

Aidan made this birthday hat himself.

For the record, here are some things about Aidan as he turns 3.

Weight: 35.9 lbs
Height: 40.2 inches

Loves:

• All things Toy Story
• Searching for anything with a flashlight, especially his plastic bugs that he will hide all over the house and then find
• having Ethan lay on his (Aidan's) stomach
• being outside, especially if he can play in sand
• playing with our neighbors, especially their 5-year-old, David
• playing in the bathtub
• reading stories

Aidan with Mr. Potato Head, one of his treasured birthday gifts because it is a Toy Story friend

Aidan wanted to make a Mr. Potato Head on a tortilla like they do on Toy Story 3.  He actually did pretty well!

Dislikes:

• tomatoes
• being interrupted in the middle of something

Skills he has mastered:

• daytime potty training
• saying that his birthday is on June 2nd
• showing his age with fingers (although he can't say the matching numbers)
• talking a mile a minute about everything
• clearing his own plate and silverware
• memorizing favorite stories and "reading" them back to us
• coloring on the actual picture instead of all over the page (although still not staying in the lines)
• is just beginning to buckle himself into his car seat
• conjugating verbs in an overly-applied manner (I "gotted" something, I "ateded" it, etc.) 

Skills he is still working on:

•  nighttime potty training
• dressing himself
• saying all his ABCs (he likes to sing the song using only the letters that he hears me say during piano lessons!)
• counting correctly (we often get 1, 2, 3, 11, 16, 17)
• saying certain sounds, such as ch, v, and r-controlled sounds (squirrel is "skull-uh," church is "totes," shovel is "shuzzel," David is "Da-did")
• pedaling his trike
• pumping his legs on the swings

Personality:

• generally very loving
• currently going through a very Mom-oriented stage
• perfectionist tendencies - wants things to be in certain places or done certain ways
• getting more rambunctious every day
• is developing such a cute sense of humor
• occasional temper tantrums - he must be three!

We sure love our little guy!

Aidan got mad at Buzz one day and put him in the time out chair.  Cracked me up!

Why yes, Mom, I DO fit in Ethan's excersaucer!

More Fun at Macy's

Yes, we have an adventure every time we go there.

Tonight we went to the mall to browse and see if anything caught Mike's fancy for his upcoming birthday.  Midway through shopping, Aidan suddenly needs to go to the bathroom.  Mike takes him in while I wait with Ethan.  When they are done, Aidan comes RUNNING out, so excited.  As soon as he sees me, he YELLS at the top of his lungs,

"MOM, there was CORN in my POOP!"

Oh, the joys of being two! :)

Guess the Boy

All right, folks. Some of these are Ethan, and some of these are Aidan. Can you guess which boy is which?

Growing Up

So (despite what you probably thought when you read the title), this post is about Aidan. Maybe it's just because I have a baby again to compare to Aidan, or maybe just because Aidan's getting older, but over the last month Aidan has really seemed to grow up. Suddenly, he can play independently (which is new and VERY exciting for me!). In fact, his favorite toys right now are these Toy Story toys that we are borrowing from some friends. He takes one with him EVERYWHERE, and he talks to them like they are real people - super cute.

He is completely potty trained except for night time (only because he can't get his clothes back on by himself and I don't want to be waking up for both boys instead of just one. Aidan is begging to wear underwear at night, too.). He doesn't even ask me or tell me if he needs to go potty - he just goes! (This makes for some humorous situations when he runs out of the bathroom naked from the waist down in the middle of piano lessons!)

All of the sudden, he stopped wanting naps. While he will occasionally fall asleep during his quiet time (see below), for the most part he can go all day without a nap and be fine. (Sad for momma!)

His sense of humor is growing and developing - he understands teasing more and even tries to tease us.

And he suddenly understands playing games way better than he used to. This video shows how he plays hide and seek with the Jessie doll. Notice that he hides her himself, then "counts" while peeking. When he's running around the house, he's saying, "Is she over here? No. Is she over here? No." And then he finds her! So cute!

I sure love my not-so-little boy!

Ethan

I've been meaning to post more pictures, but life tends to catch up with me! Here's some more shots of my little boy.

This is my favorite one, and the most recent. I LOVE his grin!

This shows how his little thighs are filling out. They're getting so pinchable!

Mom, this one's for you. Isn't is so cute to see him peeking out in the little hat?!

He's getting so big! He smiles now (a LOT!), and he will coo at you in conversations now. We had to bump him up to 3-6 month clothes around 6 weeks old, and now at 10 1/2 weeks old, I'm already thinking that the 6-9 month clothes won't be too far away!

At his 2 month appointment, the stats were:

12 pounds 14 ounces

23 3/4 inches

(I have to write it down here because it interests me... sorry if it's boring for you!)

Here we have brother bonding time:

And this one is new on the sidebar, but in 3 years it won't be there, so here's an updated family shot. We took this on Ethan's blessing day.

We sure love our boys!