and number 4

Ty's bottom left tooth came through today.  Now he has 2 on top and 2 on the bottom!

Turkey Day

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Aunt Susan and Uncle Mike's house in Douglasville, GA.  It was great to spend time with family.  When we first arrived, we were greeted by their 2 yorkies who were very intimidated by Aiden.  Their noisy barking got Ty upset, so I took him for a little drive- a small tour of Douglasville and he calmed down.  The dogs were so funny- very friendly with adults, but barked intently at Aiden.  He wasn't fearful of them, he just told them to "hush" and "quit barking".  Eventually we separated the dogs and the toddler and they were fine. :-) 

We had a feast, all the traditional foods and it all tasted great!  Lots of yummy desserts too.  After lunch we went outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.  Aiden was amazed by their large Koi pond in the backyard, which was very impressive. He wanted to feed them constantly; they ate cheerios and fish food- they also ate very well because Aiden didn't want to stop feeding them, he could have done it all day.  Later, we took a walk to a cultural center just a few blocks from the house.  Ty took a little nap in the stroller and Aiden rode in the radio flyer.  The cultural center had Christmas trees that were decorated by some local children.  Aiden liked looking at the different homemade ornaments; they were really creative.  When we got back, Aiden played in the leaves that had just fallen in the front yard.  He was adorable throwing them up in the air with Aunt Susan.  It was a great Thanksgiving- one to remember!

number 2 . . . and 3

Ty now has his second and third teeth!  His first (that one on the bottom right) has really came through and now his top two front teeth have just broke the skin.  I'm going to account the one night he was up 5 times last week to teething.  I got some pics for you this time.  It was pretty comical trying to make my baby laugh and look up at the same time- while taking a picture. 

Prayer

Recently, Aiden has been saying prayers by himself.  He has watched Jeff and I pray before meals and at bedtime for a while now.  He would exclaim "Amen" afterword, and we thought that was cute.  Then we taught him to repeat simple prayers, and he liked doing that as well.  Now, he (in his own 2 year old mind) thinks of people to thank God for.  His prayers always start with "Thank you God", then a short pause and then he says, "for _____"  he lists names from there (his family, friends, usually the people we interact with throughout the day, and sometimes himself).  Often times, if we're in a hurry to sit down and we forget, Aiden will remind us- he shouts "gotta pray!".  He is anxious for his opportunity to pray (as we should be).
It is so pure and sweet to listen to him talk to God.  Aiden's prayers are casual, they are thoughtful, they are simple, and they are honest (just the way prayer should be).  I just think of the delight it brings to God- it certainly brings joy to my heart.  Of all the things we have taught him thus far, this might just be the one thing I am most proud of. :-) And in watching Aiden pray, he is teaching me just as much as I am teaching him.  

Birthday Party x 2

This past Saturday we celebrated two of our friend's birthdays!  Bailey who turned 3 had a Princess and Pirate party at Chick-fil-A!  Aiden felt so special because he got to sit next to the b-day girl and help her open her presents! 
Here he is greeting the birthday girl- I don't think she's too happy about the hug.

 Ty even dressed up like a pirate too, but he kinda looks more like Rambo than a pirate. :-)

 Aiden devoured his chocolate cupcake.  notice the chocolate frosting on his arm from wiping his face- no need for napkins.

Kollin who turned 4, had a Buzz Lightyear party at Woody's- the "jumpy house".  There were kids everywhere jumping all over the place.  Aiden had a lot of fun climbing through tunnels and going down slides.  He was extremely tired after leaving the party.

Here is Aiden and Kollin saying goodbye after the party . . .

It was a busy day with all our party hopping, but we are so happy we are able to celebrate these birthdays with our friends!

Dressed Up

The boys before church this morning. :-)

Dairy Queen

If you know me, you know that I love ice cream- yes even in the winter, (there is no bad time for ice cream in my opinion).  Every now and then, after dinner Jeff and I treat ourselves to a blizzard for dessert.

  The first time we went to Dairy Queen, we ordered our 2 blizzards and we also ordered a small kids cup for Aiden.  I believe his small scoop of vanilla ice cream was $3!!  You also know that I am a saver and I cut back wherever I can (we only go to DQ with a BOGO coupon), so that was the last time we were going to spend $3 for a kids cup! 

I had the idea to grab a scoop out of the ice cream carton in the freezer and put it in one of our cups.  I hid it in the diaper bag and pulled it out just as we went through the drive through.  Aiden is completely satisfied with his "dairy queen" ice cream and he eats it in the car on the way home just like Mom and Dad!  (we even give him a dairy queen spoon)

 We finished our treats on the couch at home!  Yum Yum!

How long do you think we will be able to fool him with this money saving trick?

Army Crawl

Ty is on the move!  He's not "technically" crawling (because his belly is still dragging on the floor), but he gets around pretty well doing what I call the army crawl.  He uses his arms to scoot/drag his body around on the floor.  Along with rolling and spinning, this technique gets him pretty much anywhere he needs to go.  :-)

Step 1: Get on the floor on your tummy and tuck your elbows in

 Step 2: Pull forward using just your arms and let your body drag behind

Two things have motivated Ty to perform the "army crawl". First, this train (shown in picture).  The train moves and Ty will follow it.  It has a blinking green light on the front that he likes and it also sings.  Secondly is the vacuum- Ty will go after it whenever I stop using it.  He keeps an eye on it while I have it running and as soon as I put it upright, he comes crawling.  It also has a light on the front near the bottom(right at his eye level), so maybe he likes the lights.  He tries to get on top of it, hitting the light.  He will be all over the house soon!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween weekend!  We went out to Athens to visit my brother and his family.  The kids went trick-or-treating and stopped by a not-so-festive Halloween festival.  On Sunday we celebrated my niece, Marley's 2nd birthday (which is actually today), and then we went trick-or-treating for a second time last night.  

Jeff and I hid the candy last night and pulled it out tonight after we put the kids to bed to munch on.  I think Aiden has forgotten about it because he didn't mention it today.  All parent's eat their kid's Halloween candy, right?