March Madness

I've decided that updating once a month may be the right speed for me. So, here's a hodge-podge for March. A belated Happy St. Patrick's day! We like to get into the holidays around here, and St. Patty's day was no exception. The boys were even good sports about me taking their pics (thanks for the shirt - AnnaLee!). Aidan's pic was a little trickier to get - he will usually only smile long enough for the camera to focus, and then he's done before I've even taken the picture. I lucked out with this one.
With a little bit of the nice weather, we've gone outside to enjoy the fresh air. I thought it was cute that Aidan wanted to swing with a little friend.

Aidan's nickname is Monkey - and he's become quite the climber lately - starting the microwave on his own, pushing the stools so that he can turn the lights on and off, turning on the water dispenser on the fridge, and he loves to fit in the little space between the microwave and the sink and play with the water. He's got a little bit of a "you caught me" look on his face, but it doesn't stop him.

Now here is a serious case of bed-head!

I got to take Aidan and go with Alex's class to see the sheep down the street. It was so fun!

Alex got to hang with his friends and feed the sheep some bread bits.

Aren't the lambs so cute?

Aidan LOVES animals and he was so excited to see the sheep, as well as a few other animals that also live there - like a dog, some ducks, a donkey, and a rabbit. Poor little Aidan may have gotten petted by the first graders as much as the sheep. It was a fun outing, though!

Aidan is 1 year old!

Look who's 1! We recently celebrated Aidan's first birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to him several times because he enjoyed it so much. He was interested in his cake and especially the lit candle on top. We had to hold his hands down so he didn't burn himself trying to touch the flame.Alex helped Aidan celebrate - they love each other and get along so well. They are so funny to watch, and mutually tolerant of each other: Aidan is patient when Alex carries him around the house, and Alex is patient when Aidan hits him on the head (which happens quite often since Aidan thinks it's so fun - I think he's playing with his hair, but it does come across as a bit of a pat).Aidan got a special birthday dinner that included his first capri sun and some yummy BBQ chicken pizza. His peas and carrots even matched his outfit.Aidan enjoyed playing in his cake - of course we stripped him down to a diaper first so he could get as messy as he wanted.
This is one of the new toys he got for his birthday. Even though it's meant for 1 year-olds, I have found it also entertains 6 year-olds. :)

Aidan loves pancakes and always insists on eating the big piece I leave instead of the little bite-sized pieces I have broken off for him. He is always a big helper in the kitchen.

He is walking and clapping and waves hello to Alex every morning.He loves to play with the remote control and really thinks he's getting away with something if he gets a hold of it.Lately, he is loving sleeping with a knitted blanket. I can always tell if he's ready to go down if he grabs the blanket and cuddles it against his face. Aidan is definitely one of the happiest babies around, with a smile for everyone. He's been such a joy and blessing to our family.

We love you, baby A! Happy Birthday!

Aidan is 11 months old!

My sweet little baby is 11 months old. Some of his more recent accomplishments include:

standing on his own,
enjoying his first time in a swing,

getting his first 2 teeth (not the front center ones, so he looks like a little vampire), sticking his tongue out, and all around cuteness.When I feed him before bedtime, he covers his eyes with his arm to block out the light.

And when he's really upset and crying, he will cover both his ears like he's just had enough.

He is so cute we just love cuddling with him. I mean, really, could you resist these big blue eyes?

He's a grownin'!

I can't believe my sweet little Aidan is 9 months old! Right around Christmas time, he started sitting up by himself. This was a great time - he would sit on a blanket and play with toys - keeping himself busy, but staying in one place - heaven for me. I had to include both of these pictures because his smile is so cute and playful in the first, but he looks like a 12 year-old posing in the second.

About a month or 6 weeks later, he started scooting himself backwards. Getting around a little bit, but also finding himself stuck in a few situations - like between these 2 foot rests.

Not long after that, a new scene greeted me when I went to get Aidan up from his crib. He started standing up by himself!

Now he can pull himself up on everything he finds around the house: the footrests, boxes, and even the wall.
The day before we went to the Draper open house with the Gus's, he started crawling forward! He's really getting around now - and thinks it's especially funny to make a dash for the stairs. Luckily, I'm still faster than he is (but I do need to get a gate). He also sticks his tongue out quite a bit - often curling it so much it resembles the shape of a Tostidos Scoop.

I sure love my little Aidan and I can't believe he's growing up so fast. He's even able to rock the spikey harido!

The Festival of Trees

This year we went to the Festival of Trees. It was my first time and it was really neat. There were small trees, big trees, gingerbread houses, and centerpieces on display for sale. All of the pieces are donated and all the proceeds go to Primary Children's Hospital. The big trees go for several hundred dollars. Almost all of the big trees also have decorations or other additional items that go with them. It was quite impressive, but also sad as many of the trees are in memory of those (many of whom are children) who have passed away. Alex quite liked this big Grinch. Aidan was, of course, quite happy during the event.
This Mickey Mouse tree was really cool - with lots of Mickey Mouses on the tree, and tons of Disney movies, books, and toys underneath.

We ate dinner at the Mayan afterwards, and Alex enjoyed watching the cliff divers.

Breakfast with Santa

Last Saturday, the nearby Community Center did a Breakfast with Santa. It was very reasonably priced (especially compared to the other ones I've seen), and I thought it was quite good. We had a nice breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, OJ, and an orange slice - as modelled here by Alex. There was a children's choir who sang Christmas carols, and they read The Polar Express. One of Aidan's latest tricks is sticking his tongue out - I think this pic is so cute of him.
Of course a special guest came at the end. Alex was really excited to see Santa.

Santa was kind enough to have all 3 of us sit on his lap! He even gave Alex a bell (just like in The Polar Express ).

Christmas Time

Christmas is my favorite time of year. Last year, after Christmas, I bought several Christmas outfits for my (not so) soon-to-come baby. This year I've had fun dressing little Aidan in all the little outfits I bought. Alex is also a trooper and proudly wears his Christmas gear, too. I don't know how much longer I will get away with this for Alex - probably not very long - but I'm happy they're game for now. I'm making sure to take lots of pictures to remember them in their Christmas cuteness.I even have Christmas church clothes for them - how fun is that?
I was telling someone today that when winter starts I don't mind it because we know Christmas is coming and there's the decorations and lights and feeling of unity celebrating the birth of our Savior. Then after Christmas, all the decorations are taken down and we are left in the cold and dark until Spring. I can't believe Christmas is in less than 2 weeks! Until then, I'm going to enjoy every minute.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Friday after Thanksgiving, we took to the task of decorating for Christmas. It's been a long wait, but I was so excited to be in a house for Christmas. We actually had room to put up the Christmas tree I bought 5 years ago, but didn't have room for in our condo. In fact, we had enough room to put up a tree just for Alex to decorate. Aunt Sherrine spent the night on Thanksgiving to help us with our Christmas festivities.A little before Thanksgiving, I took Alex to the dollar store and let him pick out 5 decorations for his tree. This ball-garland was one of his choices.

Doesn't his tree look great?
That night we took a picture of us in front of our big tree (which wasn't finished here because nobody wanted to help me decorate). We all wore our Christmas apparel.
To finish our fun-filled day, we took Alex to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time. I thought it was a good idea, until we got there, and then all I could think was "germ fest!" and I feared for the cleanliness of my sweet little baby (Aidan). How could I take him there? I snuggled him the whole time we were there to minimize his exposure. Alex had a great time, and I'm sure we'll go again. Everyone was properly sanitzed when we got home. :)