Christmas 2010: The best Christmas EVER! :)

We spent Christmas Eve at Eric's parents. It started snowing before we left, and I ended up having to drive both there and home verrrrry slowly! We had a wonderful time with them and got so many nice things. Westen's most favorite gift was a Lego airplane, which he & Eric put together the next day. Westen also got a bed tent that he loves, dinosaurs that hatch in water, a how-to draw book, and a whole bunch of other things. I got a mat that I've been REALLY wanting for right inside our door and a whole bunch of other nice things. I can't really remember everything off the top of my head, but basically we all got LOTS of VERY nice things! We went to church with them that evening, and Westen wanted to hold the candle when it came time for that. He repeated the end of the prayer after the pastor, which I thought was too cute! He didn't want the candle to blow out, so he carried it very carefully until we were about halfway to the car & then it blew out. We went back to open stockings after that, and we just had a wonderful time with everyone!

I had to drive back by myself, because Eric had had to work that day & had just met us at his parent's. I was so nervous! I hate driving in weather like that, and it feels like it takes FORever to get home. I got a bit tearful on my way home too, thinking of how thankful I am for the life I have now. I'm so, so, so very blessed.

Christmas morning, we woke up early & opened gifts! Aeson was really into opening this year. He even helped everyone else open theirs! We got the kids a swingset for their big present together. Westen got a T Rex, a hex bug, a zhu zhu pet, a new Magna Doodle, and several other things. Aeson got a Power Wheel (that he loves!), a tent with a tunnel, a dancing Elmo, and lots more. We also got them bathtub crayons that they REALLY love. I got Eric a Patriots zip-up, a couple pairs of lounge pants, the Harry Potter video game, a really nice hot/cold Cubs cup with a lid, and an ornament- plus little things in his stocking. Eric bought me a Kindle! I LOVE it! I've already read a couple of the free books. It is so much better than reading an actual book! He also got me a candle and some other little things like that for my stocking.

My sister and I prepared lunch this year, and we had it at my house. Mom bought Westen a new bike, Aeson a wagon with all terrain wheels, and got them several smaller toys. I can't remember what all Aunt Chels got them! They got WAAAAY too much from everyone, that's for sure! I'm struggling with how to teach them not to be greedy and to be very thankful for what they get. Lunch was very, very, very good and it was nice to relax with the family afterwards. It's nice being here too, because Aeson was able to take a nap & so was Bentley. Bentley sleeps in Aeson's crib since Aeson never does!

Late that afternoon, we headed to my dad's house. They got Westen a Steelers jersey, a book, and I can't remember what else! Aeson got an outfit, a book or two, and again I can't remember what other thing. Eric got a couple gift cards, and I got a hurricane and photo album. We went to my grandparent's for dinner and got a few more gifts there. The country roads were covered in drifting snow! Thankfully, they only live about a mile outside of town. Everything was sooo pretty both nights.. I wanted to get out and take pictures!

We were absolutely exhausted by the time we got home that night. Sunday, we spent most of the day taking things out of their packages, playing with the kids, cleaning, and organizing.

This week has been pretty typical. Westen stayed all night with Eric's parents a couple nights ago. We had my Aunt Gina's birthday party on Monday night. I started watching my nephew Bentley on Tuesday & that went a little rough! Hopefully he'll get better!

So anyway, overall, it was an absolutely wonderful Christmas. It was so fun with the boys. I loved how 'into' it Aeson was this year, and Westen kept saying "This is the best Christmas ever!" We had such a wonderful time with ALL the family, and got more things than we should have! We're so very, very thankful for every single person and for all the things we got. We are very, very blessed!

December Daily 23: Preparation

What a day! The days have seemed so long this week. Eric had to work on his day off (Monday), he's gotten off late almost every night, and he's been so busy during the day that we haven't been able to talk much.

I baked LOTS today! Finally got rid of ALL the monster cookie dough. It took forever, though! We ran last minute errands tonight. (I lied. We weren't done Christmas shopping!) We got all of our gifts ready to go for tomorrow. Eric has to work AGAIN, so he's meeting us at his parents. I'm hoping for good weather, since there's supposed to be a snowstorm coming. :(

I remembered the things I was going to write about Aeson.. He's figured out how to turn the water on on the bathroom sink. He's always loved to brush his teeth but now he especially likes turning the water off and on! He's also able to open the bathroom door now (groan!) AND the refrigerator. Oh, and the front door! I have to keep the front door locked most of the time, so he can't run outside! He's just too big for his britches!

December Daily 22: Last minute stuff!

My kids are just amazing! They make me so happy every day. I don't know how anyone could not love their child! Mine both make me laugh every day, and it makes me so happy I'm home with them.

Today, Westen's friend Calla came over to play. That actually made the day super easy for me, because even Aeson wanted to hang out with them! She brought Westen some little gifts she'd made.. some Valentines (lol) and a Batman cape picture. He went in his room and found a dinosaur for her to take home. He still tells me they're going to get married when they're older!

Aeson said "mouth" this morning, and I think there was one other word/noise he made but I can't remember now! He's been signing "please" after "milk" lately too.

I FINALLY finished up the gift buying, including stockings, today! This evening, we went out for dinner for my cousin's birthday. Aeson was really well-behaved (and Westen too, as always!). Afterwards, we ran to the store to get everything left to get for our Christmas meal and goodies. Aeson fell asleep on the way home, so Eric and I speed wrapped all of their gifts! I'm so glad that's done! Man, this Christmas stuff gets hard as they get older! We had a hard time finding time TO wrap.. and now we're going to have to figure out how we're going to put the presents out! We usually all go to bed at the same time.. hopefully they'll fall asleep early that night. I'm sure it will get harder as they get older and we have even more kids too... Who knew our parents went through this same stuff?!

December Daily 21

Westen has been sooo anxious for Christmas! He "just can't believe!" it's almost here! A day or so ago, he got so worried because he thinks Santa might not bring him presents since he's been bad "every day." While he does get time-outs for his behavior some days, I told him he's still not a bad child & I was sure Santa agreed! Today, he was so very, very good, even opening my van door for me! He ran around there & said he was going to open it because he wanted to be good for Santa! :) He's too funny. He also told Uncle Eddie "you're my life" tonight!

Aeson's age is just AMAZING to me. Every day, he learns/does/says something new. It's crazy! He's been going to the changing table when I ask him if he wants his diaper changed.. Well this morning, Addy had just gotten here when I asked him, so he shook his head no & pointed to the living room, wanting to go out there! He said Addy's name so clearly all morning too. Then he got up to nurse and when he was finished, he said (and signed) "all done" & got down! He's done this with 'real' food at mealtimes for a long time but never done it after nursing. :) He's been so good all day long today.. and he only napped a HALF HOUR! Usually that would mean grouchiness, but not today! He pointed out where his nose, mouth, tongue, ears, eyes, and hair were tonight. He's also started asking(!) to go "ni night" & going in our bedroom when he's tired.

We figured out the Christmas meal today (finally), re-wrapped some presents (Aeson's unwrapped two!), did even more shopping, continued our countdowns, and ate dinner with Chelsea & Eddie. We're all tired tonight, I think, so we're headed to bed now!

December Daily 20

Less than 5 days until Christmas! We didn't do too much today.. I got all the presents wrapped, except those for the boys. I'm not sure when we'll get those wrapped! I suppose one of us will have to go down in the basement and do it some evening.. but we have plans the next two evenings. We'll figure it out. Last year we did it all on Christmas Eve, staying up late after the boys had gone to sleep and it was NOT fun. We didn't do much else, other than some cleaning, and we made Chex mix tonight... waiting on it to finish baking now! Oh- and Aeson said "eat" and "yes" today!

December Daily 16-19

Uh oh, I got way behind! We've been so, SO busy! Aeson ended up finally getting better by Friday. Thursday was the cookie exchange I was participating in, so I had lots of baking to do Wednesday night. One of my friends stopped by to get the cookies I made (monster cookies) and she also took Westen with, so he could play with his "best friend" at the friend's house they were meeting at. It was a nice day with just Aeson here, but I think he gets bored without other kids around (his brother especially) and he still wasn't acting back to his usual self that day. We got all sorts of cookies brought back to us.. lemon drop sugar cookies, peanut butter chocolate pinwheels, cream de mint squares, double chocolate cranberry cookies, and cherry snowballs. I also made up a couple of containers of the same goodies I'd made Westen's teacher for the couple of friends I meet with weekly.

Friday was Westen's Advent program at school. He had lots of family there! Grandma Martha, Grandpa Dave, Grandpa Jim, Grandma Christy, Uncle Eddie, cousin Bentley, Great-Grandma Jalane, cousin Kasey, and the 3 of us of course! It was really cute and afterwards they had cookies in the gym and Santa came to visit. Westen loved running around with his classmates! Aeson tried to too. :)

Saturday, we had Uncle Eddie's college graduation in the morning and then went to lunch with everyone. I had both kids by myself, since Eric had to work, and it actually wasn't too bad. Aeson was really well behaved at the graduation and ended up falling asleep toward the end of it. Westen went with Grandpa Jim afterwards to get a happy meal but then met us at Aurelio's. He had a blast playing in the kids room, and Aeson was even well-behaved in his highchair-- which is a rarity! We came home for naps and then had cousin Addy's first birthday party. We had a good time there too. Doesn't seem possible she could be a year old already! We had soup and cake and she got lots of girly gifts. We only have one other child in the family that's female and that's on my side. I didn't realize how used to boy things I am! We got Addy a cute pink outfit, a musical vacuum, and a wooden peg/hammer set. We have one of the peg sets at our house & she's always loved it.

Today, we spent most of the day cleaning house, wrapping presents, and finishing up shopping. We finally picked up the boys' big gift. Our cable isn't working on one tv (HATE Comcast!), so we ended up giving Westen one of his gifts early.. It's all four Home Alone's on dvd. :) He was pretty excited. Aeson actually went to bed early tonight on Daddy, so I've had some free time! I can't believe Christmas is less than a week away... I'm going to be sad when it's over! But.. then we'll have a birthday party to plan!

December Daily 13, 14, & 15: Baking & Illness

I don't know if I can even remember the past few days! I'm so sleep deprived! Aeson's sleep has continued to be HORRIBLE, actually getting worse each night. The antibiotic he was on caused a horrible diaper rash, and he was in so much pain I ended up calling the doctor last night. She said not to give him his nightly dose (thank GOODNESS) & to bring him in in the morning. Thankfully, I had my sister to come over to watch the daycare kids this morning so I could take him. His fever has pretty much been between 101 & 103, but last night it even got up to 104.1. Yikes. We'd tried everything too.. giving him probiotics in the cup, all sorts of ointments and creams on his butt, warm baths like they said (even THAT hurt), elevating his head, etc, etc. Anyway, his ears were clear this morning, so we're not even sure he had an ear infection. :-/ He looked good overall, but she was concerned about the ongoing fever & it not getting better.. So she sent us over for a CBC & blood culture. I was so nervous & hated going by myself! :( Thankfully once again, we got the same girl we got last time and she is awesome. They did have to actually take his blood from a vein, rather than a finger stick like usual. It took them a while to find one, but once they did, they got it the first stick & got plenty of blood. I hate that he's had to go through so much so young! The doctor called this afternoon & the bloodwork looked good so far. She's pretty sure it's a viral infection, but she just doesn't know what it is.

Aeson did say "doctor" and "uh oh" for the first time today. He's picking up words like crazy. Some of the others I forgot the other day were... Batman, backpack, brother, nose, kiss, ball, and I'm sure there's still others. He copies all the animal noises & knows what all ours are. He signs everything I know now.. hungry, all done, milk, bath, please, thank you, more. I need to learn help and again. We've been watching The Sing Off on tv & he immediately starts dancing to the music. It is too cute! I need to get it on video. :)

I forgot to write that on Sunday we cleaned out ALL our toys! We threw away sooo much and put two totes of toys downstairs.

I can't remember Monday at all. Tuesday, I did a bunch of baking for Westen's teachers. We gave them a container full of goodies & Westen made them each a card. He drew a spider on one and a turtle dove on the other. I wish I'd taken pictures now, because the drawings were so good. I did a bunch more baking tonight. There's a cookie exchange tomorrow.. I'm going to have to miss it now since Acey's contagious, but one of my friends is going to stop by to get mine. I also made each of those friends a container of goodies tonight. I made the monster cookies, of course, turtles, peanut butter fudge, and almond bark pretzels. I've eaten way too many sweets the past couple days!

December Daily: 10,11,&12 Busy Weekend!

We've been so busy this weekend I haven't had time to write each night! So let's see how much I can remember...

On Friday, Westen took his last angel gift to school and received his last one, which was a giant colored picture of Spiderman. It was gorgeous weather out.. almost 50 degrees! We went to Quincy that night and went to the Avenue of Lights. We let Aeson ride around it on Daddy's lap & he was actually much more interested than we thought he'd be. I think the tunnels of lights made him a little nervous, though! Westen loved the dinosaurs and everything really. It was pretty cool!

Saturday, we made Christmas (sugar) cookies. We made all sorts of different shapes, put green icing on them, and decorated some. We finally, finally, finally got two more stockings and now have all four up! Westen hadn't wanted to choose one when Eric and I did, so we just chose ours & decided to wait on theirs. We never found any better that we liked and this time when we went, Westen really liked one of them- thank goodness! We watched the first Narnia that night, which we'd never seen before. I thought it was pretty good, but it was too long for us! We all fell asleep before it was over.

We had a pretty rough night last night and ended up taking Aeson in today to see the doctor. He has lots of fluid in both ears and was prescribed an antibiotic. :( I'm just thankful we got the antibiotic started today.. I think the infection's been a long time coming. He's had some congestion for weeks now and has been pretty fussy most of the week and holding his ear in the morning.. and then last night brought the fever.

Aeson wore his new Patriots shirt for the football game today, and we watched it with my sister and her family. Tonight, we made monster cookies. Holy cow, I didn't realize the recipe made SO much! We'll have dough for a year! We froze a whole bunch of it, rolled the ones up for the cookie exchange later this week, and baked some.

Now it's late, and we need to get to bed!

December Daily 9: Playdough

Timmy found a good hiding spot today.. He was up on one of our wall hangings. Our house is not that big, and I feel like we're running out of spots for him already! We're going to have to get more creative! We had a play date this morning with my friends Sasha & Courtney and their kids. The house was completely full of boys (6 of them!), with the exception of Addy, so it was pretty crazy! It was nice being with old friends! Sasha had a cookie idea for the cookie exchange I'm participating in next week, so I can't wait to try them! They're called Monster Cookies, and they sound so good! (But HORRIBLE for you!) I got some more Christmas shopping done this evening. I was able to get Westen finished, because he went with Grandma Sandy again. I think now all I have to do is gift certificates and stocking stuffers! We all made gingerbread playdough tonight. We made double, so Westen could have some and still have some for his angel tomorrow.

Aeson's learning so much these days.. He knows how to smell, and he knows where his eyes and hair are now. The words that he can say (that I can understand) include... yeah, no, all done, oh my, dada and mama of course, cracker, cookie, hat, hot, thank you, kitty, ni night, and Addy. I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of them! I've been meaning to write them down as I heard them and keep forgetting. He's known where his nose and tongue are for a long time. He's just growing up too fast!

December Daily 8: Laid back

Today was a pretty laid back day here. Timmy was found in the spice rack. We got the gingerbread puzzle ready for Westen to take to school. He got an ornament with his name on it for his gift today. Christmas presents came in the mail. I had some yummy peppermint mocha creamer in my coffee. Oh, and we got lots of Christmas cards in the mail today! I wish it was like this all year round. It's such a nice time of the year. Westen brought home a homemade invitation for the advent program and he (of course!) drew a bat in it! He's been writing in block letters too for some reason. Aeson's saying several two word phrases now. Today's new one was "all done" (while signing). I actually got all excited about it but then realized he's been saying "oh my" and "thank you" too.. I don't know why I hadn't realized it before! Our poor Christmas tree is in shambles. The bottom half of the lights are out (probably from Aeson messing with it...) and all of the ornaments have been moved up to the top half (from the babies messing with them). I'm not even going to ATTEMPT putting gifts under it this year! Not until Christmas Eve anyway. :)

December Daily 7: Gingerbread

Mr. Timmy was sitting on top of our cupboards this morning. Westen actually found him right away this morning. As soon as he stirs, Westen gets RIGHT up and says "Dad, will you help me find that little guy?" The first couple days I think it was actually causing him to get less sleep because he got up earlier than usual! Our day today was all about gingerbread. We made the dough this morning. I'd never made it and I was a little worried because it seemed kind of dry, but after letting it sit for a few hours, it was perfect. We rolled it out and cut different shapes. Westen didn't want to do only gingerbread men. We made a puzzle out of the dough too, for Westen's advent gift tomorrow. We shaped the dough into a rectangle, then cut it after it was cooked into different puzzle pieces, then put it all back together and decorated it with icing. Westen wanted to make a snowman on there, so we did.. Then I thought to make clouds and Westen thought to make snow on the bottom and snow falling! He's so creative. Earlier today, he woke Aeson up from his nap accidentally and as Aeson was very, very tired, I told Westen I wasn't very happy that he woke him up... So he went in his bedroom and came out a little later with a butterfly he had made for me. He told me he made it because he didn't want me to not be happy! :) He's so sweet. Poor Aeson's been exhausted all day! Anyway, we decorated our cookies tonight and tried to make a gingerbread house, but nobody ever told me how hard that was! I haven't made one since I was a kid, and this one was a total failure! At least everything else turned out! Tonight, we've been watching Home Alone 2. Westen thinks it is hilarious! It's so strange to have your kids watching movies you watched as a kid!

December Daily 6: Snowglobes

Timmy made it into the bathroom today. Eric said that was creepy lol! We finished our snowglobes this morning, and Westen loved them. Saint Nicholas visited him at school and he came home with a cute little snowman he'd gotten for a gift. He said his angel LOVED his snowglobe and said "Oh thank you so much, Westen!" :) Westen drew lots of pictures today, as he always does.. but he drew one of a beautiful Christmas tree. Tonight, we had our last music class. It is SO cold out here! ...not below zero yet, though!

December Daily 5: Christmas Countdowns

Our Internet connection was down last night, so I'm just posting yesterday's now. We spent the day with my sister and her family, watching football at lunchtime and then eating at our house again for dinner. Grandma called and had gotten us each an ornament for our tree. We went to the store and got all the supplies we need for our crafts and Christmas goodies we're going to make. I'm trying some new stuff this year, so I hope it turns out! Chelsea got Westen a Christmas calendar, so we started counting down on that as well.. We now have 3 countdowns going! :) We started the snow globes, which is our first gift for Westen's angel at school, and ended the night with Harry Potter and "flizzards." (homemade blizzards Mommy makes.. for some reason, that's what Westen calls them! :))

December Daily 4: Santa & Xmas Party

Timmy was on the refrigerator this morning. :) Sneaky little guy! Westen loves telling about how he fell down from the tree when he was in there and then when "nobody was home" he got back up! :) In case you aren't familiar, nobody's allowed to touch the elves or their magic disappears.

We decided to drive to Rushville with my sister and her baby to visit Santa. Westen all of a sudden couldn't remember what he wanted when we got there, but he still had a little chat with him-- even discussing Timmy. :) Aeson had fallen asleep on the way there, so he was pretty uncertain! Sitting on his lap only lasted a second. (I'm planning on adding all pictures tomorrow!) He did enjoy the cookie and candy cane he got, though.. and they both got to pick out a bell to bring home.

Tonight, we went to Eric's Christmas party for work. His parents watched the kids. It was a good time and delicious food!

December Daily 3: Polar Express

Westen woke up to find Timmy perched on the fish tank today. We spent the morning coming up with our grocery list for holiday baking and coming up with the crafts we're going to do.. both for ourselves and for Westen's angel at school. Aeson found the elf hat from last year and wore it around the house. :) I'm planning on adding pictures to all these entries this weekend! Westen came home from school singing "Let Kevin and nature sing." haha, I thought it was cute, but I told him it's Heaven. :) I cannot WAIT for his Advent program at school! That's one thing I love about his preschool. They don't have to dance around all the holidays like public schools do. I think it makes things so much more enjoyable and fun. This whole month, he'll be bringing home books about Christmas. We read the story of Jesus being born today. It was so cute to hear him talk about Mary and Joseph. Westen also came home today with a candy cane ornament he'd made at school. My sister and her family came over for dinner and we all watched The Polar Express together. Santa may be up for tomorrow!

December Daily 2

It flurried here this morning. Westen woke up to find Timmy perched above our big picture window in the living room. It was a pretty busy day, as we had our regular Thursday "mommy playgroup." We decided on one of the gifts for Westen's "angel" next week. He has to make homemade gifts all three of the days for his angel. I was having a hard time coming up with things for another boy, but I think we have it now! The boys each got to pick a toy out tonight. My mom saves all her change and when she cashes it in, she splits it up among the grandchildren and they can use it as they wish. Westen bought two Star Wars figurines and another Transformer. Aeson chose an Elmo jack-in-the-box. He's loved Elmo lately! Also, for a child who hates socks and hats, he LOVES his mittens! So far, anyway. :) Westen also spent time with Grandma Sandy today. We didn't do anything Christmas-y, but I'm definitely getting in the mood for it. I need to come up with a grocery list so I can start baking!

December Daily : The First of December

Well, I should first mention that it snowed for the first time this year yesterday. Almost always, the first snow (well, flurries) is around my birthday (November 5), but this year it was later. Westen went outside to see if he could make a snowball, but he couldn't. :) It had just flu.rried and a tiny bit stuck to the ground. It was pretty much gone by today. Looks like more is coming, though, and Westen is VERY excited about that.

We started Elf on the Shelf after Thanksgiving for the first time this year too. Today, our elf (Timmy) is perched in above the window in the bathroom. His hiding places so far have been a shelf in the living room, the Christmas tree, our living room lamp, a fake tree we have, and a curtain. Aeson was waving and blowing kisses at Timmy tonight, so Westen had to blow him a kiss too. :)

Westen's enjoyed plugging the Christmas tree in every day. The excitement of helping us put it up wore quickly, and it ended up being Eric and me doing mostly everything! Aeson tried to stick a couple of branches in.

I'm so excited for this month.. I love all the Christmas activities.

We'd planned on watching the Grinch tonight on tv, but it was also my sister's birthday, so we had dinner with them instead!-

Thankfulness Challenge

This year is the second year I've participated in the 30 days of thankfulness challenge. I posted all of mine on facebook, but I want to copy them for here too.

1 & 2 - Yesterday, I was thankful for a brother in law who can fix anything! Today, I'm thankful for the cuddles my baby boy loves to give & being able to be home with them!

3 - Today, I am thankful for my sister. She's the best person ever & I honestly have no idea what I'd do without her!

4 - is thankful for friends

5 - Today I'm thankful for a gift from a daycare kiddo, my momma coming in to help me with them so I could get things ready for tomorrow night, my grandma for the use of her car & getting Aeson to sleep, beautiful flowers, a Sullivan Taylor gift card, visits from multiple people, a short nap, warm tea for my sore throat, a... short break from my kids, dinner & help from my sister & brother-in-law, and most of all hearing from all of YOU! It's definitely made me feel special :)

6 - is thankful for wine! And good friends.. and relaxation! And birthdays :)

7 - is thankful for naps, the extra hour, & lazy days!

8 - Today, I am thankful that our doctor is open to reading things that go against her recommendations and that she still continues to see us and treat us well despite not following her recommendations. She's a nice person, even if we don't agree on everything!

9 - Today, I'm thankful for 70+ degree weather in November!

10 - Today, I'm thankful for my baby nephew & getting to cuddle with him today! I'm so happy they live close & our boys will be able to grow up together! ♥

11 - Today, I'm thankful for our safety thus far.

12 - Today, I'm thankful my husband is such a good Daddy & I don't have to worry about my kids at all with him!

13 - And today, I'm thankful for my warm home! Aeson keeps saying "brrr brrr!" :)

14 - Today, I'm thankful for a vehicle to drive! It's good to get out of the house!

15 - It's the start of an extremely busy week, beginning with Aeson's sono & bloodwork :( ...which today makes me extremely thankful for the Internet-without it, I'm not sure we would have discovered BWS & definitely not as quickly as we did.

16 - Today, I am OH so thankful to Shannon & La Leche League! Without both of them, there is no way I would have the amazing nursing relationship I have with my baby & he would not have gotten the AMAZING benefits he has from being only on momma's milk! Plus, I've learned SO much & met some awesome people!

17 - Today, I'm thankful for things that make me laugh! We elfed ourselves tonight & it was pretty hilarious :)

18 - Today, I am SOOOOOOOO thankful that all of Aeson's results came back normal AGAIN! I was so nervous this time!

19 - Every time I put something I'm thankful for, it makes me feel bad because that means someone else doesn't have that.. So today, I'm thankful for the ability to help others. We cleaned our pantry out for Loaves & Fishes today, and I hope to do even more.

20 - Today, I'm thankful for wonderful in-law's! I couldn't ask for better!

21 - Today, I'm thankful for jobs that provide the money we need!

22 - Today, I'm thankful for both my parents! My mom gives without needing to be asked & my dad is the kind of person I've always looked up to. I love them both VERY much! Both are wonderful grandparents too!

23 - Today, I'm thankful for MUSIC!

24 - Today, I'm super thankful for safe travel, kids who were absolutely wonderful on a 5+ hr drive, & for being able to buy more g dipes in an actual store

25 - Today, I am so so so SO thankful I live where I do! I honestly don't know how people live in big cities... No thank you!

26 & 27 - Yesterday, I was (and always am) thankful I have somebody to talk to regularly... And today, I'm thankful for time with my side of the family & all my favorite foods! Thanksgiving at Mom's tonight & celebrating my sister & brother-in-law's birthdays.

28 & 29 - For yesterday, I'm thankful for compliments from my 4 year old... He told me I'm "hot" LOL! And today, I'm thankful for caffeine!

30 -

I failed! I didn't write anything the last day. I have so, so much to be thankful for, but some days it was hard coming up with something. It's been a pretty rough month. Eric totaled his car. I'm so thankful he was perfectly okay and not hurt at all... but it has created a lot of stress, dealing with insurance and trying to find a car-- more particularly, a car we agree on. Eric's job also continues to be stressful. I do pretty much everything around the house and with the kids, and it's impossible to keep up with it all. Our yard is full of leaves, summer things are still out, cleaning the basement was never finished, our bathroom floor remains half done, the list goes on and on! Plus, it is SO stressful for me each day knowing we have no health insurance, no chance of vacation, no retirement... My job adds into this, because I have none of this either. Taking care of multiple babies is much more stressful than I ever thought it would be too, yet I just feel so strongly that I cannot leave my kids in daycare all day every day. There has to be some solution.

We also spent Thanksgiving in Chicago this year, at Eric's uncle and aunt's house. It was an enjoyable time, with the exception of Thanksgiving Day. Eric and I spent almost all our time following Aeson around so he wouldn't fall down the stairs and trying to keep him from knocking things over, spilling the dog's water, etc. He was pretty fussy and didn't really eat either. I know it was a big change from his day to day life, but it was exhausting for both of us. I worry about my parenting skills as well and of course blame myself for when they behave badly. Anyway, that's a whole other post! We both felt bad later for not spending much time on Westen too, because we spent so much on Aeson.

Moving on, there's a thing that goes around called December Daily. It's basically scrapbooking each day of December, if I understand it correctly. I totally do not have the time for that, but I've always wanted to participate... So I've decided to do my own version! I'm going to try to blog each day.. hopefully with pictures but probably not always. Or maybe I'll add the pictures later or something. It takes too long to connect the camera & upload everything!

Parent Teacher Conference & 15 Month Appt

Wow, it's been almost an entire month since I last wrote!

We had our first parent/teacher conference for Westen in October. I was actually nervous beforehand! Westen's pretty well behaved, but you never know how your child is when they're away from you! Anyway, it went very well! Some comments from the report we were given include...

"plays cooperatively with anyone. More connected to activity than person."
"Westen is kind and a good playmate"
"Westen is eager to please his teachers and well-liked by his classmates. Enjoy!"

She said she has never heard a bad thing about him from any of the other students. She did say he prefers to play on his own more than with the others and then will sometimes be upset that he didn't get to play with whatever the other small groups were doing. He's always played on his own, even as a baby in daycare. I think it's good that he can entertain himself but still get along well with the 'group' too. His teacher was very impressed by his artwork. She gave me a couple of samples and the name of another teacher who gives art lessons. He is amazing. He draws way better than I can!

Mrs. Carlson also said Westen hadn't sung before the Halloween program, but he did that day. She was surprised when he did! I wonder if the music classes we've been taking have helped with that. We started them just a week or two before the Halloween program. He sings the songs around our house but apparently was too shy to try during circle time at school. He would say he had a "broken tongue." :) So creative! He's doing well on all the pre-reading things and will definitely be ready for Kindergarten.

She said he's hesitant to get messy during art activities. She also said she can tell he could be easily bothered by something and could dwell on it, so if he EVER mentions being upset about anything at school to call her right away & she'll reassure him.

Overall, I think he's going to be a lot like his momma! I was very proud of him after the conference. He's such a good, sweet boy.

I love both my boys ages right now. Westen's been telling us to have sweet dreams before bed, and he's an amazing big brother and cousin. He's so caring and helpful towards the babies. Last night, he helped me make vegetable soup and I even let him cut some. We've been singing a "chop chop chippity chop" song in music class, so he was really excited to help out. Until it came to the onion! He was so confused when his eyes started to water. It was pretty humorous. :) He quickly decided he'd let me finish the onion! After I'd finished helping Addy out the door, I came back into the kitchen to find Westen talking out loud. He told me he'd been talking to God. :) He also swears that yesterday during school, when they'd gone over to the church, he heard Jesus talk.

Aeson is also getting so, so big and so smart! He understands so much of what we say now. He'll start the motions to songs I start to sing from music class, and he can do more and more motions all the time. He's using more sign language, saying more words, and making more animal sounds. He had his 15 month checkup on Monday and could do every single one of the milestones on the checklist. He weighed 29lbs, 4oz and was 33 1/4 inches long. In the 94th percentile for both. His growth did slow down over this last 3 month period. He's definitely more active now! He really never stops moving unless it's to nurse. We have to get his usual sonogram and bloodwork done next Monday. I dread that every time. They'll re-check his iron as well, and I'm hoping that's better so we can do without the supplements.

Aeson's also always so happy these days. He thinks everything is funny and has a wide-mouthed fake-sounding little laugh that's absolutely adorable. I can't even express how much I love being home with both my boys & being blessed enough to not miss out on a minute of their lives!

Alligator Hunter

Westen has said some very funny things this week! First, he told me that I'm the "bestest and cutest momma." :) Then last night, he told me my belly button looks "old" LOL.. and that my tummy is "squishy." He said it's not fat but then asked if having a baby made me fat! Oh kids. :) How honest they are! Today, he said he's going to be an "alligator hunter" when he's big. He also said he was going to marry his friend Calla, then asked me if that was ok. I told him if it was okay with her, so he asked her and she shook her shoulders.. Westen then said, "I think that means yes!" He says the funniest & sweetest things.

I think I've forgotten to write that for some time now Aeson says "What's that?" to EVERYTHING. Lately, especially when he's nursing, he'll go back and forth among all the parts that make up the face and "milk." He's also been signing "all done" after every meal! Acey's also been pointing to everything and everywhere. He'll even point to the bedroom and have us follow him when he's tired! And he knows what I mean when I say "potty" or "bath" and will go to the bathroom door.

I love both their ages right now!

It's been a really good week here. I love being busy and being OUT of the home. We were gone all day Monday. Tuesday got a little boring, especially since it rained some and we were unable to get outside. Wednesday, I did some baking in the morning and then we had Calla in the afternoon, so I also got to talk to her mom. Thursday was our usual "Mommy" playgroup. I'm so glad I've made a couple of new friends and we continue to get together every week. It's SO nice to have company. Today has been very busy.. I got Westen ready for school & then he went outside to play.. I told him to stay out of the dirt, but of course he didn't, so he had to change completely & I had to get him cleaned up. I made a new recipe for lunch & then we went to pick Calla up before preschool, the babies napped, and then we played outside. This time while we were outside, Aeson was the one to get in the dirt, so after letting him play for a while, I had to completely change HIM and clean him up!

We've got lots of plans this weekend. I think we're going to go pick out our pumpkins and we have a birthday party on Sunday. Monday, we're taking a trip to the fire house with Westen's class & our music classes start. We signed both the boys up for family music classes at the local college. I'm sure it will be fun!

Co-sleeping

My little Ace is getting SO big! He's really turning into a little boy. And Westen's really turning into an older child!

Two nights ago, we decided to try Aeson in his crib. He gets so restless in the early mornings and ends up kicking us and waking us up off and on, so we thought he might like having more room to himself. I rocked (and nursed) him to sleep the first night.. It took over a half hour to get him to go to sleep! He was definitely tired, but I think it was the different surroundings that kept him from going to sleep. He ended up sleeping from 8:30-10:30 and when he woke up fussing, we brought him to bed with us. We both missed having him there! Last night, he was VERY tired well before any of us were, so I once again rocked him to sleep. This time, it only took about 10 minutes or so & he ended up sleeping from 8-midnight in there! I thought that was really good. He nurses a lot at night, so I think he's used to waking up to eat. He slept with us the rest of the night, but I think he'd be easy to get back to sleep if we tried that too. Such a big boy!

Westen, on the other hand, has NOT been wanting to sleep in his bed! Ever since we got our kitten, he's been too scared to sleep in there. I think the cat playing in the dark would scare him. Now, our cat is missing (and I doubt will be coming back at this point..) so we need to start working on that too.

I think next time, we'll want to try transitioning to the crib earlier. Who knows, though.. I'm not in any hurry for them to grow up! I co-slept with Westen in the first couple of months but soon had him in his own bed. He took a bottle, was easy to put to sleep, and slept all night by the time I even went back to work. I, however, did not have a successful nursing relationship with him, so I think that had a big impact on things. Aeson has always nursed (and had no bottles since I began staying home), so co-sleeping makes that MUCH easier. Neither of us mind him sleeping with us, and he's NEVER slept through the night, so once again- much easier! However, with trying to rock him and lift him over his crib, I realize it would've been much easier when he was smaller. I still don't mind, though. I know I will miss these times! I barely remember Westen being that young. I also hope to pump and use more bottles next time, because Aeson's pretty much reliant on me for everything. I love him tons, though, and LOVE the closeness we share!

Fall

I love fall! I can't believe I forgot to write about us going to Tanner's Orchard a few weeks ago. It was quite a drive, but it was a lot of fun. We went apple picking for the first time and everyone loved that. We brought home LOTS of apples and everybody ate some along the way. Even Aeson, who had never had a whole apple before, started biting into one and did just fine with it! They had a little shop where you could taste all sorts of yummy things. We brought home some apple cider, cider doughnuts, and fudge. The kids got to feed farm animals, ride on ponies, and play on the playground.

We've had our house decorated for quite some time already. Westen was very anxious to do it (and as I said, I love fall & Halloween), so we let him. He's painted a pumpkin, but we haven't picked out any to carve yet. I think we may do that this coming weekend. Yesterday, we had to go to Quincy, so we stopped at an orchard there and got some more cider & apples. I also let Westen pick out a craft project at the store yesterday, so last night we all sat down & made a spiderweb and spider to go on it. Westen says he wants to go to the haunted corn maze this year, so I think we'll try but we'll see how he does!

Both kids have been able to ride on the combine with Dad this year. Both love it! Westen asks lots of questions and Aeson just lays back on me and takes it all in! I figured he'd be into everything but it was actually the opposite.. He was very relaxed.

Pottying Aeson has been going pretty well. It makes me very happy when he goes in the potty! We're not pushing him or doing it full-time or anything, but this way, he can get used to it and he seems to like it. He'd only gone pee until last night. This is the first time I've done it this early, so it's a learning process for both of us!

I went through Aeson's drawers this morning.. It seems like I have to do that monthly. He grows so fast. He's really turning into quite the little boy. He LOVES music too. Anytime he hears any type of music, he'll instantly stop what he's doing and either watch or start dancing and/or singing himself. I think he's going to be musical!

Finally, we got some good news a couple weeks ago.. My sister & her family are moving back! We're beyond thrilled & I can't WAIT to have them back.

Climber & EC

There's my little climber! He will not stay away from the oven! So far, he does seem to notice when it's on and warm & he hasn't really tried to mess with it then.. But I'm always right there too & telling him no, hot! Otherwise, he likes climbing on it several times a day. One day I was holding it closed and so he angrily opened the drawer there next to it and attempted to pull himself up.. He did a full pull up! He's one strong little man. We tried to find an oven lock but haven't yet. He also sees his brother use his step stool all the time, so he thinks he has to as well! He actually uses it very well!

Courtesy of wikipedia: Elimination communication (EC) is a toilet training practice in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's need to eliminate waste. Caregivers try to recognize and respond to babies' bodily needs and enable them to urinate and defecate in an appropriate place (e.g. a toilet). Caregivers either use diapers as a back-up in case of misses, avoid the use of them altogether, or do a mixture of the two. EC emphasizes communication between the caregiver and child, helping them both become more attuned to the child's innate rhythms and control of urination and defecation. The practice can be done full time, part time, or just occasionally. The term "elimination communication" was inspired by traditional practices of diaper-less baby care in less industrialized countries and hunter-gatherer cultures.^[1] Some practitioners of EC begin soon after birth, although it can be started with babies of any age.

This week, I began semi using elimination communication. Aeson hates to have diapers on & will take them off any chance he gets. I also figure since I'm home, I may as well be working on it with him! And, I see this as the more natural thing.. Diapers don't seem that way for me. Plus, I get tired of washing diapers all the time & I don't want him to get used to always going in them, which will in turn make potty training harder! I'm not trying it all the time yet or anything like that.. It's too hard with other children here or when we go out places.. but I say it's still a start! I thought it was rather fun too. I haven't picked up on any signal or cue that he's going to go potty but once he started, I stuck the bucket under him and he LOVED peeing in it! He actually stopped himself pretty much every time (when I gasped, realizing he was going!) and then started again once the bowl was under him. Once, he's even pointed to the bowl & when I got it, he went! He was pretty proud of himself for pottying in there. He also LOVES to sit on the toilet.. but the problem is, he just wants to sit there! And sit there & sit there & sit there! :) He's made a few messes but luckily we have hardwood floors & it's an easy cleanup. I hope I continue to find time to work on it with him. I think it's a pretty amazing practice!

Well, I hear my little bundle up right now, so I better go cuddle him & give him some milk!

Westen's first 'girlfriend'

Starting a few weeks ago, a couple of girls I met through LLL and I have been meeting every Thursday, just to hang out and get to know each other better. One of them has a 4 year old daughter and she attends the same preschool as Westen. They play together the entire time without any problems whatsoever. This past week, when Calla's mommy came to get her, Westen & Calla both started protesting, asking for Calla to please be able to stay here or for Westen to be able to go to her house. Shannon (Calla's mom) said something about not needing to see each other EVERY day, to which they both protested with Westen saying "We're boyfriend and girlfriend now!" and Calla shaking her head yes.

The next day, Calla came with us after school to stay for a bit. Once again, we went through neither of them wanting to leave each other when it was time to go (and Westen even crying because he said he would miss her!). While she was here, I also overheard him telling her he loves her! I think he was actually trying to get her to come do something with him and he was like "But I like you.. I love you!"

Later that night, Westen told us that he'd kissed Calla! I thought he was joking, but he swore up and down that he was not fibbing. He said that she'd said "Let's kiss!" while they were playing house in the playpen they'd made into a 'tent.' He kissed her right on the lips and even showed me how he did! I didn't know how to respond! I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with my FOUR year old!! He obviously picked up on this, telling me that it was "okay because I love her." Oh boy!!!

I still don't know quite what to think about it! I thought it was cute and funny, but I also don't want him to grow up too fast! Parenting is so much harder than you think it will be!!

WALKING!!!

Let's see how much I can write while all 3 babies are sleeping!

First.. the most important thing!.. Aeson is WALKING!! A couple weeks ago, he'd gotten up to about 8 steps and then hadn't even tried for about a week and then two nights ago, he just started walking all over the place! It is too cute! He isn't even really wobbly & if he starts to lose his balance, he just squats down. He also was drinking VERY well out of the sippy cup yesterday (finally!).

My sister and her family were here this last weekend and they brought along a new picture of their baby, Bentley. After they left on Sunday, I put it in a frame we had next to our tv and as soon as Aeson noticed it, he went up to the picture and kept pointing to it squealing and talking. He then carried it over to me (walking!) and did the same thing. THEN, he started giving it kisses! I've never seen him give ANYTHING kisses. He's continued doing this same thing since then! We have other pictures up but he doesn't do anything to those except knock them down. He must love his little cousin bunches! :) Last night, Eric & I both swear he said 'Bentley' while doing all of this too.

Westen is loving school. He said yesterday that he wishes he could stay there all night because he loves it that much! He also said that the teacher said again how much she loves when people say please, because he'd said it again when asking for more milk.. So he said he's going to keep saying it so she'll keep saying that! :)

This past weekend, we also went shopping in Springfield for a few things. While we were there, Westen & Aeson got to ride on the carousel (picture below) and we took Westen to the Build A Bear store. He had never done it before, but he LOVED it. He chose a Cubs outfit and named the bear Cubby.

And then, the last picture below is one day when Aeson & Cohen dumped an entire box of cereal out!

First Day of Preschool!

Westen started preschool this week! We decided to go with the local Catholic preschool, so he only goes three days a week for a little over 2 hours each time. The preschool is actually in a little house that's behind the church/school, which I think makes it kind of nice. There are 11 kids in his class, with only 4 of them being boys (Westen included). The teacher is awesome and she has an aid as well. Westen was completely ready to go.. I, on the other hand, had weird feelings! I was nervous and sad and excited all at the same time! When I picked him up, the first thing he said to me was "I missed you, Mom!".. followed a few seconds later by "I was good!" :) He told me after his second day that he asked for more milk "please" at snack time and his teacher said she just LOVES when people say please. :) He's really enjoying it so far. He's come home with pictures he colored or made and tells me about the snack they had and how much they played. I'm glad he gets to be around other kids his age.

One day last week, I think it was, Westen used "speaking of" and "impressed" correctly while he was talking! He's such a big boy now. He also asked me the other day if God put a baby in my tummy yet. I said "you mean, besides Aeson?" and he said yes.. I said nope, and he goes "awww.. Mom!" in a disappointed tone. :) I asked if he wanted another baby and he said yes and I said "besides Aeson??" & he said "yes!"

Aeson has continued getting into anything & everything! Last week, he pulled many, many Kleenex's out of the box and then later that week, he dumped almost an entire box of cereal out onto the floor. He's so funny at this age. He dances and loves to give high fives. He'll go get a snack out of the kitchen (if the pantry's open) and bring it all the way into the living room and throw it on my lap! He LOVES cheese. He also LOVES to be outside. If he could be outside or in the bathtub, I'm pretty sure he'd be happy 24/7!

We're going to the Balloon Glow tonight, so I'm excited for the boys.. I'm sure they'll both love it.

Oh, and one of my best friends Sasha had her third baby boy yesterday (well, in the middle of the night). She named him Oliver Nicholas!

Steps!

Aeson has had quite the week this week! Earlier in the week, he figured out how to climb up on the couch by putting his leg up and pulling himself. The same day, he figured out how to climb onto his brother's recliner in his bedroom and get from there up on to the bed! We now have a gate blocking that doorway, and so far he hasn't fallen off the couch (thank goodness!). Then yesterday, he stood up and took FOUR steps! Very wobbly, but still four! And TODAY, he stood up and took between 6 and 8! I say between because he was pretty wobbly and I'm not sure a couple of them counted! Such a big boy!

Westen's been especially helpful this week too. With the start of the school year, I keep thinking about how next year he'll be starting kindergarten! It's hard to believe. I'll definitely miss him when that time comes! Yesterday, we walked up to the ice cream store and since I have 3 babies under 1.5 years, I strolled the older two in the double stroller and Westen strolled the baby in the umbrella stroller. So helpful!

Funny Boys

Westen has continued to say funny things almost every day. I wish I could remember them all! He's started his Christmas list, and it's quite funny. Actually, I'll just copy & paste it for you!

gi joe toy story lego
big buzz lightyear
toy story store lego set
toy story rocketship lego
lego airplane yellow
green lego car
blue motorcycle lego
huge airplane that you build forever lego set
buzz lightyear with wings
jets at Walmart & helicopter & airplane
moonsand that you put in the roof on the farm & it turns into an animal
transformers freedom fighters

Today, he was looking at wedding pictures & he said "Mommy, you married Grandpa Jim??" He's also asked several times lately why people were called whatever they were when they were born. He finds Aeson's name strange. He asks a million questions, a lot of which I can't really explain! (like things about the moon, sun, storms, etc) He's already very excited about Halloween and Christmas. He's decided he wants to be Batman, Aeson to be a bat, Daddy to be a gorilla, P-nut to be SuperDog, and I don't think he's decided for me.

As funny and darling as he is sometimes, he's also been quite challenging lately! I don't know how to teach him respect and politeness... without just being that way toward him. I also don't know how to teach him the value of money and possessions. Last week, he was on a kick where he just did not understand why he couldn't have McDonalds for every meal and watch tv all day and night. He's been in time out often lately and gotten tv taken away several times. I hope things start to go a little better once he's in school and out of the house for short times.. Hopefully it doesn't go the other way and he learns even more bad behavior there! He doesn't start until after Labor Day, and he's going in the afternoon, which I'm happy with. Hopefully it won't be too hard getting the daycare kiddos in and out.

Aeson's learning more and more each day. He started taking one step just around his first birthday and yesterday he took two. He just doesn't quite have his balance. We have a couple of train/truck toys that you can push around and instead of pushing them from behind like you're supposed to, he pushes them sideways! I think he needs the extra leverage. He recently started saying "ni ni" for night night. He signs "milk" constantly and others like "more," "bath," and "all done" less frequently. Today, he climbed up on the couch all by himself for the first time. He's enjoyed climbing stairs for some time but he hasn't figured out how to get down from places.. and he also hasn't quite realized when there's NOTHING there to sit back on! Scares Mommy to death! His last round of bloodwork and sonogram came back normal, so thank goodness there. His lead screen came back fine, but he was slightly anemic. I think his score was 9.7 and they like it above 10.5. His doctor started him on iron supplements two times a day. He actually likes taking it! The baby that's three months older than Aeson (more of a toddler then, huh? :)) returned to our daycare with the start of the school year, and it's so fun to watch the two of them. They play together pretty well & entertain each other. Aeson's really good about sharing and was sharing his cereal yesterday, even putting it in the other little boy's mouth for him!

One word that definitely describes life with a 1 year old is repetitive! Everything that I like DONE, Aeson likes UNDONE. He'll pull all the towels off the shelf, push freshly folded laundry down, throw all the diapers off his changing table shelf, take picture frames down, etc... I fix it, and he does it again!

I'm really enjoying have a one year old, though. :) He's so funny. He repeats things that we find funny, or if he hurts himself, he'll gently do it again, like he's showing us what happened.

Aeson's First Birthday!

Aeson's first birthday was August 3rd! The weekend before, we went to St. Louis and stayed one night. We went to the zoo the first day and even though it was very hot, we all had a wonderful time. We saw all the animals, went on a train ride, got to pet stingrays, rode the carosel, and watched the sea lion show. We went swimming at the hotel that evening. Maybe the week before, Aeson started putting his face in the bathwater & he did that at the pool too! I think he's trying to copy his brother. Aeson also decided to unroll the roll of toilet paper while Mommy was showering. :) The rest of the evening, we watched Shark Week on Discovery, which Westen LOVED. He was asking questions about sharks the rest of the weekend! The next day, we went to the Magic House there, which is like a huge toyhouse. I think Westen's favorite part was the vine with huge leaves that you could climb up to go between the floors. There were a ton of different settings for kids to play in, lots of slides, and just all around cool things for kids to do. They even had a baby area that Aeson loved. We weighed him there, and he weighed in at 28lbs. Aeson did fairly well on the drive to and from St. Louis, but he was a little fussy the last half hour to hour each way.

Which reminds me, I got a van! I traded my car in the Friday before for a minivan. I had a lot of trouble deciding between a 3 row SUV and the minivan, but in the end I thought this would be easier for our family (and daycare kids). It has a built-in DVD player, so that definitely helped for the trip. There's so much room too! It makes me feel very old and I still can't quite wrap my head around the fact that I drive a VAN.. but I'm happy we got it, and it is so much easier than my car. I also found out when trading in that my tire was about to separate, which would have caused a blow out. It was one of my back tires, so it could have been very dangerous. I'm so thankful I decided to trade it in when I did! While debating trading in, I also realized I'm getting older because the excitement of getting a new vehicle was definitely overcome by the realization of having more debt! I used to trade in yearly and never gave a thought to that part of it.

The weekend after Aeson's actual birthday, we had a party at our house for him. We had a photographer come here to do pictures, and I'm anxious to see how they turned out. The sneak peeks I've seen are awesome! We provided dinner for everybody (and had LOTS of people here!), opened some very cool presents, and then did the cake.. Aeson really wasn't too interested in it and barely ate any. He's never had any sugary items, other than ice cream (which he LOVES!), so I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not. A few of my family members stayed after and we had a good time. My sister and her hubby were down for the weekend, so they stayed with us & we were very happy to have them!

So now I'm a mother of a one year old! I can't believe it. :) I'm excited for this next year, though, and I know he'll get more independent and verbal. He had his 1 year checkup yesterday. I'm not sure how much she marked for weight, because it was fluctuating between 28lbs, 3oz.. 28lbs, 8oz.. etc.. and he was moving lots! Regardless, he's over 28 lbs and he was 32 inches long.

Westen told me the other day that he wants another baby in my tummy, because it's "empty" now. :) He also asked how the baby gets there! :) He asks LOTS of questions lately! One other funny thing Westen said last night.. We went to DQ to get ice cream and he said he wanted a "lizard." :)

The boys, Starscream, Goodbye Cookout

A couple of weeks ago, Eric's aunt told us about burying a St. Joseph statue to assist in helping sell your house.. I hurried up to the local Catholic store and bought a small one, burying him first like this & then re-reading what she had written & re-burying him the way she had.. but still nothing. We had a lady we thought was interested, but we haven't heard anything. I need to get my daycare income back soon, so I think we'll be taking it off the market in a couple of weeks.

Last weekend, we went swimming at my Dad's for the first time this summer. This is a picture of Aeson's teeth while we were there. They're out far enough that you can clearly see them now. The two on the sides of the front two are starting to come through as well. My poor teething boy.. getting them all at once! Anyway, Aeson was scared of the pool at first but quickly warmed up to it & really did well!

Westen's been especially funny lately. He's been calling the movie theater the "movie peter." He also got a strawberry kiwi slushie at DQ the other night and said it tasted like strawberry & seaweed! Chelsea asked him if he meant kiwi, and that is in fact what he meant. :) I may have written about his knock knock jokes before, but just in case I didn't, this is how they go... "Knock Knock," "Who's there?" "Westen," "Westen who?" "Westen Behymer!" He doesn't quite get the concept... :) He gets so angry when we say them to him and try to be food.. He says we CAN'T be food! He continues to draw all the time and lately has started drawing angels and Toy Story characters. His drawings are so unbelievably good for a 4 year old! I would love to get him started in some art classes or something.

This past week, Westen said out of nowhere that he's ugly. I continually told him he wasn't (that he is, in fact, beautiful! :)) but he remained persistent that he is ugly. I have no idea where he even got this from. When I tried asking him, he said he just looked in the mirror and he is. :( I told him good things about all his features, but he remained certain. He said it for several days, so I finally asked him who else is ugly. (I'm not sure that he even knows really what it means) He said nobody, so I asked who he thought was pretty & he said me.. I told him that he looks like me, so he must be pretty too then! Since then, he hasn't said anything again. I'm hoping that no one said this to him, but it also makes me much more careful about what I may be saying about myself or other adults may be saying around him.

Aeson's been standing for longer and longer periods of time. The other day, he stood in the living room looking at a book for at least 30 seconds. He's started pushing his play table around the room, walking behind it. I'm pretty sure he will be walking in no time! It makes me sad! He's getting so big! We're busy planning his first birthday party and I can hardly believe it.
Yesterday, we had a very, very busy day. After Farmer's Market, we went to the pet store to get our fish some feeder fish and while we were there, we saw a couple of cute kittens. Westen begged me for one, so when we got out to the car, I called Daddy to see what he thought. We ended up going out to the shelter to look, and I'm glad we did. They now have TWO rooms FULL of cats and kittens. There were a couple of older cats whose time was about up, and it just broke my heart not to take them! We really wanted a kitten, though.. One whose habits aren't already formed and one who could grow up with the kids. We already have outdoor cats, and I had considered bringing one of them inside.. but they're so used to being outside now and show no interest in being inside. So, we got this little black and white one you see. Westen named him Starscream (a Transformer). He LOVES him. He's been really good with him too. Aeson even has as well. He giggles at him and touches him with his fingertip. Last night, he was curling his fist around some fur but the kitten didn't seem to mind. Our dog doesn't care less about him.. and while he was afraid of the dog at first, he now couldn't care less either!
After all the errands of the morning, we had Amber's baby shower to go to. She was one of my bridesmaids, and she's expecting her baby girl the first part of October. Another of my bridesmaids is also pregnant now (with her third boy!) and due in September. I got to go visit her last week too.
And finally, last night we had a cookout at our house for my mom's side of the family. My sister and her family (above) are moving to Chicago next weekend. We had a good time with everyone, and the food was delicious! We spent most of our time indoors, because it was SO hot and humid.. but we did go outside for a while, and the kiddos got to play with water balloons. We're going to miss all three of them so very, very much!

4th of July Getaway

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Burlington, IA with my sister, her hubby, and their baby. We left Saturday afternoon. We realized we'd made a BIG mistake when we got to the hotel we'd booked. It was close to Fun City, where we were going to be spending most of our time, and much cheaper, so we'd booked it online. The whole place looked rather shady and when we got in the room, there were dead bugs ALL over the carpet. Every little thing was definitely less than clean! It had sounded nice online and there were even photos, but it definitely was not what we thought! They offered to change our room but then the lady was being less than friendly and even the 'nicer' area looked iffy, so we ended up getting a refund and checking into the hotel across the street! Thank goodness they had a room available. The extra money was definitely worth it!!!

After that whole ordeal, we finally went to dinner, where I realized I had forgotten my ID! No gambling for me! :( We went to Fun City that evening. Westen LOVED it all. Laser tag was probably one of his favorite things. He wouldn't ride the go-carts with Eric, but they had little kiddy ones that he drove himself! It was so funny to watch him. He went sooo slow! :) He was quite concerned about wrecking too, after seeing the adults do it!

When we got back to the hotel, we tried to take the kids swimming. Westen's stayed in lots of hotels when I've had to travel for work, and he LOVES the pool and hot tub. The pool was really too cool for the babies, though, and Aeson was a little bit scared! He started shaking and then clung to me the entire time we were in the pool area.. and we only put his toes in!

On the 4th, we started out swimming again and then went to Big Muddy's for lunch. It was yummy! We headed to their fair afterwards. Westen got to climb up in a fire truck, he won some silly prizes, and he got to ride on a pony! It was rainy, but we braved it! We headed back to Fun City that evening for more games and watched the fireworks at night. While we were waiting for them to begin, Aeson pulled himself up using me to hold onto and then really wasn't putting any weight on me at all... Then he took his hand off completely and stood for several seconds! After he plopped down, he even joined in in clapping for himself and then he did it again a few minutes later! He doesn't seem nervous or scared at all. I think he's going to be walking before we know it! I am SO not ready for that yet! I can't believe his birthday is in less than a month too.

Oh! One more thing I forgot to write about was that on our first night there, my camera died and I had forgotten to check it or bring the charger before we left. I still had my phone to take some pictures, but I was disappointed! It's charging now, so I'll add some photos when I have the time!

Oh, and as for the fireworks.. Aeson watched them but wasn't bothered at all! It was a fun little getaway, and Westen had a blast the whole time. It was good spending the time with my sister and her family too, since they'll be leaving us soon!

Heritage Days 2010 (and lots of pictures!!)

Last week, Aeson discovered light switches. He can't go past one now without turning it off and on, off and on!


This is Acey's new scrunchy face. He does it all the time! I'm glad I captured it on camera, lol :)
We spent most of this past weekend at Heritage Days. Here, Westen is being the conductor on the train ride they had. We made the mistake of going on the spinning dragons (my favorite!) first and then he was scared to ride any more! We ate some carnival food and watched the other kids ride and then he finally decided he'd go. He loved the little kiddy rides and then convinced me to go down the super slide with him. There will be pictures below of him sliding with his Uncle Eddie, so you can see how big the slide was! I'm scared to death of heights, so as I was climbing the million stairs, I kept imagining falling from that high! I took deep breaths and told myself I could do it for my baby! Once we were at the top, though, I'm pretty sure I'd have turned around if there had been a way to! I lived but afterwards I said never again!! It didn't even scare Westen at all. As we went to leave that night, I realized I'd given Aeson my keys earlier in the night to play with and wasn't sure if I had gotten them back. As we were searching, they came over the speaker saying there was a set found. Thank goodness someone found them and returned them! It was dark by then and it would not have been fun searching for them! I'll be much more careful now when giving them to Ace. :)
The parade was on Saturday. Down below, you'll see that Aeson slept through almost all of it! The noise didn't phase him. This man above was a very nice, older Veteran who helped Westen most of the time with collecting candy and even opening some for him. He was so nice!

That evening, Westen got a Batman tattoo and was quite proud of it. :) Here is the slide that scared me to death!



On Sunday, we went to the local Lion's pancake breakfast and airplane fly-in. It was rainy, so there were only a few planes but Westen LOVED watching them fly in and out. Next year, Eric's thinking about riding one with him. :)

On Monday, I discovered (from sneaking my finger in while he was sleeping!) that Aeson's top two teeth are now through! He's going to have a mouthful before long. He's now pulling himself up very easily and walking along the furniture. A couple of times the past couple days, he's turned himself around and seemingly tried to walk! I don't know what he's thinking! :) He's not quite able to do that yet, but it hasn't stopped him from trying.

Busy summer activities

Yesterday, Westen was signed up for the Kooky Kreatures activity at the library. Luckily, Aunt Chelsea was over and able to take him because Aeson fell asleep for the first time that day just before we were supposed to leave. I hated to miss it! :( He made a monster he named "Ghost." It's actually a little money bank too, which he loves. As part of the summer reading program, he also got to spin the wheel for a prize since he's at the halfway point (15 books). He got a little finger puppet and a fake tattoo. Here he is with his monster.
Last night, we had the LLL meeting. Last month Aeson hadn't been able to crawl. This month he was all over the place! The meetings are at Early Beginnings, which is nice because there are LOTS of toys. I got to see one of the kids I babysat and he's walking now!

We've had lots of storms here this week and Aunt Chelsea & Bentley have stayed the night a couple of nights. I'm thankful for the time together, but it will make me miss them even more once they move!

Today, we made a picnic lunch (Westen's suggestion!) and went up to the Brown Bag concert. The babies were tired but even they enjoyed it!