Up in the Mountains

This past weekend, we enjoyed a short vacation up to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee with Jeff's family. It was so nice to get away and relax. We did some shopping, played some games and ate lots of good food. We stayed in a beautiful 3 story cabin.
At the chocolate factory, Aiden enjoyed a milk chocolate bear. He ate it in less than 5 min and had it all over his face. We didn't get a picture, but it was funny.

Aiden loved climbing the stairs.
This was our view from the porch!

Aiden and Daddy hanging out on the porch.

This and That

I'm sorry its been so long since I've posted. I have no excuse, except life. It gets busy and lately I've wanted to spend my free time (the 1-2 hours Aiden is sleeping) cleaning or napping. But today you are lucky- most of my cleaning is done and I actually have some energy to update you on our lives! We did have some Internet problems too. I know . . . enough excuses.

We had an ultrasound of baby X on Tuesday. I know this isn't the greatest pic, but I had to share. The baby was very active and we got to see everything from toes, to an ear. We saw lots of bones- nice and straight. The baby weighs 8 oz- so tiny! It was tempting, but we stuck to our decision and did NOT find out the sex. I'm so glad Jeff got to come with me to see the baby- we we're both in awe.
Dad is finally home from Afghanistan! The homecoming was emotional and wonderful. We are so glad he is home safely. Our family is whole again.

Aiden remembered him, he was just confused as to how he got out of the computer screen (from all the skype we did). As Aiden got bigger (and so did I), Dad got smaller. He lost 35 lbs over there, but he looks great!

If you'd like to see all the pictures from the homecoming, click here.

It's been so long since I've posted, Aiden actually started driving! They really do grow up fast! Ha Ha! Because it's difficult to lift him, I let him get in the car himself, but he wants to go straight to the driver seat where all the buttons are. I thought it was too funny! :-)

Last but not least, today is Jeff's birthday and he has been sure to tell everyone that he is NOT 30 (Nana)! Today he turns 29. Aiden picked up a present for his Dad yesterday at the grocery store- chocolate covered pretzels- Dad's favorite! Hope you have a great day honey!

It's working!

Notice the sleeping toddler (with no shorts on) and the passy on the floor next to the crib. I'm not sure if he threw it (out of frustration) or dropped it (accidentally) but somehow it got out of the crib and he fell asleep on his own! Yay!

New Do

Mom had some fun "styling" Aiden's hair in the tub last night! He thought it was funny too!

Passy Update

Weaning the passy is taking longer than I expected. I have held strong and I have not given him the "real" passy, but nap time and bed time are more difficult with this "broken" passy. He fusses a little before he goes to sleep, but it is getting better. He doesn't use it while he's sleeping, but he just wants it when he initially lays down. I thought by now that he wouldn't be interested in the passy since it is "broken", but he still wants it. He often holds it with one hand to keep it in his mouth. I guess it's a security thing, because it doesn't even work! So the plan is to cut it a little more, so its even more difficult for him to hold in his mouth and hopefully he will soon give it up. I didn't want to just take it from him, I want him to get rid of it on his own. I know it probably sounds silly, but I've heard from other mom's that they will eventually lose interest. Wish me luck!

Doc Update

We went to the doc on Friday and Aiden loved it. He was such a flirt with all the girls up front. Doc said everything looks good, but we need to loose that passy (knew that was coming) since it will start affecting his teeth. Here are his stats:

Height: 33 inches (70%)
Weight: 29.6 lbs (85%)

Aiden got 2 shots, but handled them like a champ! We don't go back until he's 2, and we'll probably be bringing this new baby along with us! Hopefully it won't be raining like it was friday. Of course I don't have a hand for an umbrella, so with Aiden in one arm and the bag in the other we ran across the parking lot, although he wanted to play in the rain. He loves the water in his face. :-)

Over the weekend we have been trying to wean the passy; The first night, we try to take it cold turkey from him and he got mad- really mad. It took me 15 minutes to calm him down, we had real tears and gasping for air. So we gave in and gave the real passy to him that night. The next day we gave him the "broken" passy, one that is cut and he is unable to suck on. It seems to be working. After I gave it to him, he was confused by it- he would take it out of his mouth and had this look like "what is wrong with this thing", he still chews on it a bit, but I'm hoping after a couple days of the broken one, he won't want it all. Jeff and I were trying not to laugh because he was so funny looking at it. His confused face was priceless. I'll keep you posted, hopefully we'll be done with the passy later this week!

18 months!

Can you believe it? Aiden is 18 months old today! I heard it a million times from family and friends and they were all right, kids really do grow up fast. My once little baby boy is such a kid now. He is so big-30 lbs! which BTW is getting really heavy to lift up and down. I have enjoyed this first year and a half so much. There have been many firsts! And I'm looking forward to all the new things to come. Here's a couple pictures to look back;

He was 5 days old in this picture, taking a "sun bath" to heal the jaundice. It really doesn't look much like him now, but look how little!
This picture was taken about a year ago, when Aiden was just 6 months! What a chunky boy!