13 months

Ayden is 13 months today! My baby is no longer just 1 but we are already a month past his birthday! Wow its amazing what that month brings!

Ayden has started to climb on everything! He climbs on toys to get to the ottoman to the bay window. He climbs up on rubbermaid tubs and tries to climb on the couch but has not got that yet. I no longer can leave him in a room for very long by himself. He also enjoys splashing in the toilet. I know its gross but I want to remember this and more important have it in writing so he will know its not just a story I am making up when I tell him about it in lets say 10 years! Today we had two experience in the bathroom that were rather funny! Earlier this afternoon I heard him in there and by the time I got to the bathroom her had taken his binky out and was splashing it in the toilet. Then while I was making dinner I heard cups banging so I thought he was in the living room banging his measure up cups but when I came around the corner I realized he was in the bathroom. I found him in there with a drinking cup and he was pouring the water out of the toilet. I am very ready for this phase to pass!!! This story leads into the next new thing...crying to get what he wants. This is quickly turning into tantrums. When I took him out of the bathroom the second time today he went limp and sat at the door crying! Lets hope this passes quickly and does not get any worse than a few tears for a few seconds. Usually if I walk away he stops and finds something else to play with.

This past month Ayden has found a new friend, our dog Jacoby! He loves him!!!! He loves to pet him on walks, throw balls and sticks to him and loves to talk to him. Ayden has also learned how to throw his toys over the gate to Jacoby. Luckly Jacoby has not ruined any of these toys...yet... When we are outside his new favorite toy is the popper. Its the toy that has been around forever and the balls pop when you push it. I found one at a garage sale for $0.75 and it was the best $0.75 I have ever spent!!! He spends all his time outside with that thing! The best part is it makes noise so I always know where he is at. He also has learned what the words "stop" and "turn around" mean. Living on a corner these words are very important if we want to be outside. He loves to walk towards the street and almost always when I tell him to stop, and turn around he does it. That has made me a little more at ease while we are playing.

Ayden is starting to talk a lot more! Most of the time we don't know what he is saying but he does have a lot to say! The words we do hear a lot are Daddy, Mom, Ball, Dog, and he has been saying what sounds like 'What'! He also tries to repeat what we say often but those are the only words he uses on his own.

The last new thing for Ayden this week is getting used to me going back to work part time. He has done great! The first few days he was clingy when I would get home and now I don't even think he knows I am gone. When I get home he is excited to see me but I think he has really enjoyed his one on one time with his grandparents, his dad and with Natalie and Cadia! I feel so blessed to be able to have Ayden spend his days with Brett's parents and Natalie! It makes it easy to go to work everyday when I know who he is with and how great of a morning he will have!

Ayden, you bring us joy and laughter each day that we could not experience with out you! We love you and love learning more about your personality each day!

Mr. Mom!

I have the best hubby!! This week was my first week back to school. Brett has been helping out so much this week and it has really made it go by much easier!

I just felt like I needed to blog today about all he has done for Ayden and I this week! He has gotten up with him every morning because I am usually getting ready. We both share that time together and I really enjoy mornings now! Then usually while Ayden is still eating breakfast I have to leave. So Brett will get him dressed and this week he either got him where he needed to be or stayed home with him.

Today Brett had the whole morning with Ayden so before I left for school he had made us all french toast then cleaned up the kitchen and took Ayden for a walk. He also found time to vacuum and when I got home I had lunch waiting for me on the table!

He has been so great this week! I hope I can get into the swing of things quickly so I can stay awake longer than 9 pm!

Our Vacation to Duluth!

This year we decided to take our vacation to my hometown, Duluth! The summer after I met Brett my parents moved to Iowa and I was not able to make it back to Duluth as often as I would like. So, this year was exciting for me to be able to take our vacation to the place I grew up and take Ayden and Brett to the places I loved to be when I was little!

We started our vacation at 5:45 am on Saturday and headed to Armstrong Iowa to Brett's family reunion on his Mom's side. Ayden did not sleep the whole 3 hours! I was glad we had the DVD player and Elmo! :)



After the reunion we headed to the cities. So 2.5 more hours in the car! Luckily Ayden did nap during that drive! After we checked into our hotel and Brett found an indoor park close by. We really wanted to find a place where Ayden could play. This was sooo cool! They had a really cool area for big kids to play. Brett wishes he was young enough to play :) There was also a part for kids 3 and under. This was PERFECT for Ayden! For the most part Brett and I were able to sit and watch him as he played. Everything was made for his age! It was great!!!



On Sunday, we woke up found a church to go to and headed north!





When we got to Duluth we checked into our hotel and again wanted a place to let Ayden play. I suggested that we go to a park that was built when I was young. It is called Play Front Park! I remembered a HUGE wooden play ground with lots of places to run and play. The picture above is what we found. They rebuilt Play Front in the past year. Ayden still enjoyed the park. After playing we went out to eat with two of my friends from high school. It was great to see Ali and Tammy again and I was so excited for Tammy to meet Ayden!



On Monday, we went to the zoo! I used to love the Duluth Zoo! Its not a huge Zoo but it does have some fun animals to see. We also were able to go with my friend Tammy, her mom and her niece Elsa! Elsa is about 7 months older than Ayden and it was fun for him to have a friend! We did pick the hottest day so we all were wore out after!

That night we had dinner with the family I used to babysit for. I started babysitting for them just before Josh's first birthday and now the boys are 17, almost 15 and 10. It was really fun to see them again and for them to get to see Ayden again! It was really funny. Ayden was sitting on the youngest boy, Tate's lap and Ayden farted and Tate jumped up as fast as he could and ran across the room! :)



On Tuesday morning we went down to the canal and hung out. We walked on the lake walk. We threw rocks and walked on the lighthouse. Ayden loved throwing rocks (he loves throwing anything) but fell asleep as soon as he got to the stroller. Then we went out to lunch with one of my brothers, Uncle Tom!



After lunch, we headed back to the cities. We decided to stay in the cities to break up the trip for Ayden. When we got back to the cities we went over to my oldest brother, Uncle Bobby and Aunt Jen's house. Ayden then was able to play with his cousin Jacob who just turned 2! The next day we stopped on the way out of town at a really cool city park. Brett was able to play disc golf and Ayden and I went for a walk, played at the playground and hung out at the beach!

This was a great vacation! There was LOTS of great family time and some time where I was able to see family and some old friends! Brett was so sweet and let me go out both night to see friends after Ayden was in bed. The first night Tammy and I just walked on the lake walk. One of our favorite things to do! It was so great to catch up!!! I love that we can catch up right where we left off! The next night I just went over to a friends house and about 6 of us got together and just chatted. It would have been even better if Brett could have joined us but maybe next time I will find one of the kids I used to baby sit and see if they will come watch Ayden :)

Monkeys Jumping On The Bed!

A few weeks ago Madi was over playing while Emily was out for a little bit. We were playing in Ayden's room and Madi kept wanting to get in his crib. So we put her and Ayden in the crib and this is what they did!!!

Packing For Duluth!

Today, I am getting ready for our mini vacation to Duluth! Duluth is where I grew up! The year Brett and I started dating my parents moved from Duluth to Roland, Iowa. Soooo we don't find much time to get up to Duluth any more. Brett and I used to go up every Christmas to snowboard but have not been able to do that the past few years. But this year we decided it would be a great way to end the summer!

I am so excited to show Brett and Ayden my hometown in the summer! Brett has been up to Duluth in the winter a few times and he came on the junior high trip a while ago! I think I was in High School at the time...and he was a leader! Did any one know we were 5 years apart :) So I want to show them the town I grew up in and show them all the places I remember going when I was young and the places I would take the kids I babysat!

Here is one of our engagement pictures that my friend Ashley took. Right after we got engaged we drove up for one day to get our pictures taken. It was a way for me to have Duluth be part of the wedding since we got married in Cedar Falls. I can't wait to come up over the hill again and see the bridge and the lake! Its amazing how I took these little things for granted when I live there!

To say I am excited for our trip is an understatement! I can't wait to blog about our trip when we get back!!!! But until then here is a picture of what we will be seeing in the next few days to come!! :)

Water Park!!!

This summer we have really enjoyed going to the water park here in town! I was so excited to bring Ayden to the pool and so ready to get our passes! On one of the first nice days we went and got our pass and headed to the water park! Well...Ayden was not a fan! He clung to me so tight I couldn't put him down. I was really bummed and was not excited that I just spend that much money for a family pass. After a few more trips and Brett making him get used to the water he started to enjoy it a little. NOW when we drive in the parking lot he starts to wave his hands like he is splashing! He loves to run around and walk as far as he can into the water! His other favorite parts of the water park is the fountains that come up from the cement, the hippos, the lazy river and just this week we explored the thing in the middle that holds to bucket! He loved it!!! It is so much more fun now that he enjoys himself and I don't have to try to make him like it!

Here are some pictures of Ayden and his buddy Kyler at the water park! They both had a blast and Kyler did great with this being the first time he came to the water park!



Yay!!!



The Boys!



Splash, Splash!!

Back to being Mrs. Williams :)

I have been thinking about writing this post since May. As some of you may know I accepted a part time job at Edison Elementary in Waterloo for this coming school year. I will be a part time Title 1 Math Teacher. If I had to work this would be my 'dream job'!

I have always been excited about working with kids on math. I love math and I love helping student feel more confident in their abilities to do math. So many people hate math and its because at one point in their education a teacher who probably didn't like math herself gave them a negative feeling to math. My goal is to give students the skills and strategies they need to help them better understand what is being asked of them in a way that makes sense to them. My favorite thing about math is that there is always only one answer but many different ways to come to the answer!

As you can probably tell I love math and I love kids! I have been praying for this position since I graduated from UNI. A lot of my friends from the math department went to Des Moines and were hired in this position, so that was when I first heard of it. At the time I was not ready to move away from CF because my boyfriend was here and was teaching. And now I am soooo happy I stayed!!! I was hired in Waterloo and right after the school year started Brett and I got engaged! Once I was pregnant I talked with my principal about the opportunity to go part time and there just wasn't a position available. We talked about the title 1 option (still not any of these positions in elementary in Waterloo). She was very interested in having a title 1 math but was not able to do it at the time. So I took a year leave and kept praying. Then when jobs started to be posted Brett and I talked about me getting a part time position and we felt that would be the best for our family. At that time there were 2 part time reading positions open. One at my old school and one at Edison with a principal I worked with my first year. I emailed both and they both were interested if I went back to school this summer. I went to an interview at Edison and when we sat down Melissa said "I haven't talked to either of you about this but what if we change it to a math position".(meaning I wouldn't have to go back to school) Well I was very excited and pretty sure you could read that all over my face :). I was not sure if I wanted to go back to school but went to the interview to see how I felt, well by the end of the interview I had accepted the job. Luckily Brett and I had talked a lot about me going back part time as a math teacher! After I had accepted the job my old school called and offered me the reading position. I truely feel that God opened this door for me and my family!

Now, being 2 weeks away from starting a new school year how am I feeling? Well, this summer has flown by but I am starting to get excited! I will be working from 8:15-11:45 every morning and while I am working Ayden will be with Brett's parents one day, our neighbor Natalie who is in college will have Ayden and our another neighbor Cadia two days a week and Brett will be with him two days a week. I love that Ayden will be home for most of it and will also be able to play with another child his age. We have really missed having Jordann here everyday so that will give him his time with a buddy to play with! I also love that I will be home by noon everyday! I will have the rest of the day with only Ayden. At that time I can play with him getting groceries and other things done around the house and anything else we need or want to do! I am a little sad to not to be at home full time. You hear a lot of people say I would love to do that but I just couldn't for any number or reasons. Well, I could! I loved staying home! I do feel that this is a okay balance and like I said before this is my dream job! So after a year I can re evaluate what works for our family. I just will continue to pray that the Lord will help me to balance part time work and full time mom and wife. So I will let you know how it all is going! :)