The Williams Family

We Have a Houdini on Our Hands!

2012-02-12T15:34:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I took the kids to Kohls because they had major clearance sales! As I was looking at a rack of clothes I left the kids in the main isle. I came around the rack to find Ahnie's seat empty!! Ayden started saying "Come here Ahnie!" I quickly scanned the store and my little girl was in the middle of the main isle smiling back at me! And there was a woman laughing who had been watching the whole thing making sure she didn't get hurt! HAHA! Wow, did I feel like a great mom... Guess she needs to be buckled while shopping :)

9 Months

2012-02-04T15:48:00.003-06:00

Weight: 21.5 lbs (90th%)
Height: 29.5 inches (95th%)
Head 17 cm (25th%)

Our baby girl is growing up so fast!!! When I got out her stickers we were already on the last page (tear...). These past 9 months have been so fun to watch her grow and develop her own personality and to notice the differences between her and her brother! Ahnie and AJ's relationship is starting to develop and I just love how caring he is for her and how much she lights up and laughs at him! So sweet!!!

This past month Ahnie has been feeding herself mainly. I only feed her apple sauce and oatmeal. Everything else she wants to feed herself! This makes dinner time a lot easier. We can all eat at the same time! She is still a good eater! We have tried grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, chicken noodle soup, spaghetti, oranges, turkey sandwich, and corn.

Ahnie continues to sleep through the night. She is a great sleeper! She usually takes a nap for 1 1/2 to 2 hrs in the morning and again in the afternoon. Then she goes to sleep for the night around 7 and wakes up at 7 in the morning.

Ahnie is now standing by herself all the time! She likes to push herself up from my legs on the floor and just stand by herself! She has not taken any steps but is getting more and more balanced each day. She is also getting very quick while she is crawling! Nothing is off limits in our house anymore. She has started putting everything in her mouth and she is very quick at this too! She loves to look at you with a big grin, put something in her mouth and turns and crawl as fast as she can!

Ahnie loves to take baths now and if you are ever looking for her you can usually find her standing up at the bath tub! If the door is open she is wanting in there. Luckily she has not found the toilet yet. But she has found Jacoby's water dish the few times we have played in the kitchen while I try getting something done. She also has fun opening my cabinets and cleaning them out for me. :)

Ahnie has really started to babble a lot this month! She is always saying something. The only thing we have made out is dadada but not sure if she connects that to Brett. If you ask AJ what Ahnie is saying he just says "she talks about dada a lot!" She signs 'all done' and 'more'.

Our 2 1/2 Year Old!

2012-02-03T15:15:00.004-06:00

Ayden just turned 2 1/2 last week. Wow, these months and years are flying by! I had a friend from church with high school and college aged kids tell me "days are long but years are short". I am beginning to understand what she means!! Ayden is such a fun and active little two year old! He still loves sports! Right now he loves to wrestle and still play football. His favorite wrestling buddy is Jacoby! It is good because they wear each other out! He likes to play basketball, volleyball and soccer at times too.

Ayden is such a little charmer! He always knows what to say at just the right moment weather it is "I love you Mommy" or "Mommy you a pretty girl!" or "No, Daddy lets watch hawkeyes"...he knows how to get his parents wrapped around his little finger. :)

Lately he has been treading the line of what is ok and what is not. Wow, he has been pushing this a lot lately. He usually goes through a few days of pushing then he is back to his good natured, obedient self but this stretch feels like it is taking a long time! Some of the things he tries to get away with are climbing in the back of the van while I am buckling Ahnie in her seat, sneaking food out of the pantry when it is not time to eat, climbing on toys and our coffee table and running away when it is time to get ready to leave the house (I can't wait for days that we don't need hats and coats).

Ayden is a good eater and can use a big boy cup and all of his silver ware. He loves cereal or pancakes for breakfast. He like to eat Mac and Cheese, Quesadillas, and Hot Dogs for lunch and for dinner he loves Spaghetti, Chicken Noodle Soup or Pork Chops. He will eat veggis if I give them to him and he loves all fruit!!! He loves to help me bake and make baby food for Ahnie.

We spend most of our days playing sports or having dance parties. He loves his songs from Big House and a few rap songs from the radio. His current favorites are "Put a Smile On", "Like a Lion", "Pretty Girls", and "Moves Like Jegger". He can be caught playing an air guitar and jumping on the couch or floor quite often during the day!!!

Ayden loves to talk and has plenty to say!!! He has an amazing memory and tells us things that he remembers doing from this summer or even before! He is starting to pretend or make up stories and they are pretty funny! He likes to tell me what he is going to do when he is in Junior High and High School. He can sing his ABC's and can count to 10. He is still working on his colors. Green is his favorite and calls it the packer color.

Ayden has been working on potty training for a month now. He does pretty good with getting his pee in the potty only an accident here and there but we are getting much better at poopy in the potty. We are still having accidents but there are more days with out now! It is amazing what this little boy will do if a sticker is involved :) That has helped with our crazy mornings since he is at a different place each day.

Ayden you are such a blessing to our family! You can always make us laugh no matter if we are playing or you are in a time out! You are a sweet, gentle, active, caring, loving, silly little boy!

We love you soooo much!!!!

Accident

2012-01-19T14:30:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, while we were driving somewhere this was our conversation:

AJ: Mommy, you push those buttons?
Me: What buttons?
AJ: That one, No that one, Try that one...
Me: Hunny, I can't worry about those buttons right now I don't want to get into an accident.
AJ: Why mommy? You need to go poopy?

Can you tell what we have been talking about a lot at our house recently?!?

Colors

2012-01-09T21:13:00.001-06:00

For some reason Ayden has not caught on to colors... He knows what colors are and likes to guess what color something is but doesn't get it right to often. He is very good at matching colors and activities like that but if you ask him what color something is he often picks the wrong color.

Yet, when he is watching sports he can tell you what team is playing because of the team colors! On Christmas we were watching the Bulls and the Lakers playing and he kept saying it was the Tigers and the Vikings. (Wrong sport but right colors) When we started potty training I got a few of the candy cane m&m's on sale after christmas so all the m&m's are red and green. Now after he goes potty he tells you if he would like a packer or a tiger m&m. When I ask him what color the packer m&m he guesses green about 50% of the time and it can vary what other color he guesses. When you ask him what color the tiger m&m is he often says black...

Well we will still work on our colors but thankfully we know our teams!!! What would we do without sports?!?

Best Conversation Today!!

2012-01-05T20:33:00.000-06:00

This afternoon we had a GREAT day! When the kids woke up from their naps we meet some friends at the park (yes, on Jan. 5th) then headed to Brett's wrestling meet. Both kids did great both at the park and at the meet! I was so unsure about taking them to the meet by myself! They showed me that they could do great!!! After getting them buckled in the car and before we even made it out of our parking lot I hear this comment:

AJ: "Thank you Mommy for taking me to the wrestling meet today!"
ME: "Your welcome, thank you for obeying!"
AJ: "I LOVE YOU MOMMY!!!!"
ME: "I love you too Ayden!"
AJ: "I LOVE YOU MOMMY!!!!!"
and he kept repeating this for a few blocks!!!

What a sweetheart!!! My newest nick name from him is the little charmer! He always says the right things at the right time!

8 Months...A month of firsts!

2012-01-01T13:53:00.000-06:00

Ahnie turned 8 months old on Wednesday! Wow this month was full of firsts and so much fun watching her do all these new things! She started crawling soon after she turned 7 months. By the weekend before Christmas she was getting pretty good at it! By Christmas Eve she was pulling herself up to standing and could stay there for a long time! She now can pull herself up on everything, her table, any toys, the couch, her crib and the bathtub! She loves to babble and talks a lot!! When you say "So Big" she now lifts her arms up! Its so cute!! And her latest is she just started waving hi. When ever Brett comes home she stretches out her arm to him and does the cutest, girliest wave I have ever seen! I just love it!!! She also celebrated her first Christmas this past month. (a later post on this)

Ahnie is getting pretty big! She is wearing 12 month clothes and is in a convertible car seat because she grew out of her infant carrier. We are finishing our pack of diapers in size 3 but she is very ready to be in size 4 diapers!

Ahnie still likes to eat but would rather pick up her own food. It can be a struggle to feed her unless she has something to feed herself. She eats lots of puffs, we just tried toast and also bananas. The new foods she has tried is blueberries, peaches, cauliflower, cheese, toast, grapes and chicken.

This past month Ahnie has really started to be very aware of AJ. She loves to crawl over to him and try to 'play' with him. Usually he handles this pretty well except Christmas morning he was a little mad when she took his train track apart! Other than that we have not had any problems between them. I am sure this will change someday! Today AJ was coloring and Ahnie noticed him so she started crawling towards him. He noticed and started scooting backwards. By the time he got to the gate and was stuck they were both laughing! I just love watching things like that!

Enjoy her pictures...she is becoming increasingly harder to take the monthly pictures!!!

3 Day Potty Training: Take 2!

2011-12-30T21:57:00.000-06:00

So, this summer I had found this 3 day potty training approach that I thought looked great! We tried it out in mid July and Ayden was not ready! (check back in my blog posts if interested) We tried all three days and it was very intense but by the end we had to put the potty away and wait a little while...

So here we are 5 months later! We started potty training on Monday and here on Friday I can say we are mostly potty trained!!!! Monday we had 5 accidents (3 poops and 2 wet). Tuesday we had 2 accidents (1 poop and 1 wet but finished both times in the potty). Wednesday we only had 1 accident finishing in the potty. Thursday 1 accident. That night we went out for dinner and to the mall all night and he checked out every potty he could and did great! No accidents out in public and one successful trip to the potty!!! Friday 1 accident (poopy) and I ventured out to Kohl's by myself and no accident there! We were at a friends house and he ran in the other room and came running back out saying "I go potty! It a big one!" and it was but it was in his pants... Shoot!

So, we need to work on AJ telling us before he poops but as far as peeing I can say I am pretty sure we have it! He will either go sit down and try if we ask him or else he will tell us before he goes. I can see such a big difference from this summer!!! This summer he had 10 accidents before nap on day 1! We didn't even go potty 10 times on day 1 this time! I think he really has control of it and I can feel pretty confident that after he goes potty he will be good for atleast an hour!

There is no going back to diapers now! We do put him in a pull up for naps and bedtime but I will say he has woken up dry from his naps 3 of the 5 days! I am just so proud of him!!! This has really gone very smoothly! I would recommend this method to anyone that is looking for a quick approach to potty training that is centered around your child and is very positive! If you are check out www.3daypottytraining.com

I can testify to trying this when AJ was not ready and sticking it out for 3 long days then trying it again when he was! This is a great approach and I will use it again when it comes time for Ahnie to be potty trained! The only down fall is having to stay home for 3 day straight. To working mom's you would either have to take a day off or do it during a break from work. But it is so worth it!!!! I have never wanted potty training to take a long extended amount of time!

New Christmas Tradition!

2011-12-30T21:30:00.001-06:00

I just love Christmas time because it is time to do things again that we have not been able to do for a year and we also get to come up with new things we want to add to our Christmas memories! This year I will say I did feel like I was trying to add to much and got caught up in the little traditions and forgot to remember my kids are young and we don't always have the time I would like. Now, looking back I wish I would have taken a breath and enjoyed some quiet this Christmas season to take it all in!

But, our newest tradition that did help me to take a breath and remember what the Christmas season is all about and to enjoy it thought the eyes of little ones was to wrap up 24 Christmas books and let Ayden and Ahnie (mostly AJ) open one book a day. I was so amazed at what all this quick simple thing added to our lives in the month leading up to Christmas! At first Ayden was excited to see all these wrapped gift for him and his sister! He kept asking if he could open it now! This opened it up to talking about waiting and how advent was all about waiting for the birth of Jesus! Then as we opened each book, some being about Santa, some about gingerbread men and some being about the first christmas story we were able to talk about what Christmas really means. AJ started to realize that each gift was going to be another book but was still excited each day when I got home from work to see what the new one was going to be! Some he loved, some were board books for his sister and some were a little too long and might be better next year but every day before nap we took a little time to cuddle and read a new christmas story! And since Christmas AJ has found a book he wanted to read before nap! Something I always ment to do before naps and just seemed to forget more than I care to admit! After 24 days of this it is not a routine that needs to happen :)

My favorite memory from this christmas time was this....

AJ was quietly watching a commercial that had a little boy dressed up like Santa and giving a present to his mom. He looked at me when the commercial was over and this was our conversation...

AJ: "Mom, Santa come to my house and bring me presents?" (We had fun with Santa this year but really didn't go into the whole bringing AJ gifts thing...So this idea had never come up before...

Me: "Why do you think Santa brings presents?

AJ: After a long pause... "Umm because those guys go visit baby Jesus and bringed him presents?"

Me: Okay that sounds good!

I was blown away that he could make the connection between Santa bringing gifts to the 3 Wise Men bringing Jesus gifts! I know this was because of all the books we had read and talked about the gifts that Jesus received.

Lastly another funny comment by AJ. We had my family christmas the week before Christmas and I wrapped all the presents while he was asleep the night before we were going to be going out of town. When Ayden woke up that morning he came out and started yelling "Jesus Comed! Jesus Comed!!"

Dis My Christmas Present?!

2011-12-15T07:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning, while I was at work and Brett was home with the kids he was doing some laundry and came up to find Ayden holding on to his Christmas presents very excited! He looked at Brett and said "Dis my christmas present?!" Brett quickly said maybe and went and to re-hide them.

I guess like father like son...Brett used to always look for his presents (I did too here or there following my brothers but I think Brett might have most christmases). Fail by this mommy! I had them hid but not very well and I didn't think at 2 he would look for them... We have 2 weeks for him to forget what he saw :)

2011-12-13T21:11:00.002-06:00

This video is from the beginning of November. This night I was trying to get dinner made and it was one of the first days of wrestling practice so I was by myself with the kids. Ahnie was not happy so I told Ayden to play peek a boo with her. He did it a few times and she went from screaming to giggling for the first time ever! I told him to keep playing with her and I ran to get the camera. I think this may be the first actual 'first' I have gotten on video for either of my kids! Still to this day Ayden can get her to giggle at almost any time and he doesn't have to try very hard. I just love when he makes her giggle and now they are really starting to play together on their own! I just love it!!! I think I could listen to this video all day long! I just love the sound of first giggles!!

Bye Bye Binky

2011-12-13T20:45:00.001-06:00

On Friday, Ayden and I were talking about how we were going to have to throw away his binky soon because he was getting to be such a big boy! This is a conversation we have been having for atleast a month with no excitement about it! We were telling him that we were going to pick out a toy and when he threw it away then he could have that toy. This was exciting but he never really went through with it.

So, back to Friday. Well I was talking to him about it and then I said and after you give up your binky you can get your big boy bed! He has been in a toddler bed for a year and I just don't think it is very comfortable for him anymore. He looked at me and said "I want my big boy bed!" and I said well you need to throw away your binky first. He took out his binky and said "Ok, I throw it away". Being very surprised I was a little nervous but I thought we should go with it! I opened the gate to the kitchen and sure enough he threw it away! We looked at it and I told him it was yucky now and we couldn't use it again. He looked at me and said "yeah, yucky!" Then we went on with our afternoon.

When it started to get close to bed time and we were on our way home from our friends house this is our conversation:
AJ: "Mommy, I NEED my binky."
Me: "Remember we threw it in the garbage"
AJ: "My football binky yucky, I want my baseball binky"
Me: (In my head was thinking shoot!) "I don't know where you baseball binky is... (I really didn't at the time)

Then we had a melt down!!! And it continued as we got our jammies on and while we rested and finally for 45 minutes in bed! He would sit at the door and knock while yelling "MOM! I NEED MY BINKY!!"

He woke up on Saturday at 6:15 and wanted his binky. We didn't give in and he stayed awake then. Nap time came and asked again for it! I didn't give in and neither did he! He did not nap until brett got home at 3:30 and finally got him to calm down.

Sunday, he woke up at 5:30!!! I was not happy!! Still did not give in and he never went back to sleep. I decided to feed him lunch at 10:30 before church and I drove around after church until he fell asleep. This worked great and we finally took a nap! Then bed time was not bad. He went to sleep pretty quickly.

Monday he finally slept in till 7. But would not take a nap!! We decided to go to the store and pick out his new sheets for his big boy bed. Then went to bed pretty good for a sitter.

Tuesday he slept in till 7 again, but again would not nap!

This has been a long week for me! But it is getting better! I will say it is rather funny to hear him in his room while he is supposed to be taking a nap. He lays in his bed 'singing' (yelling) Welcome to Big House!! then sings either "No, No never going to keep me down" or many different lines from "Roaring like a lion". If nothing else he is teaching Ahnie to fall asleep and stay asleep during anything!!!

I hope he goes back to his old routine quickly. He has stopped asking for his binky we just need to get a new routine to get him to calm down and rest without his binky.

Christmas Cookies!!!

2011-12-13T20:24:00.002-06:00

I LOVE baking with little helpers!!! Ayden has really started to like to help me in the kitchen making baby food and now it is the season to bake cookies!!! We started a few weeks ago with my favorite cookie peanut butter blossoms! I wasn't sure how it was going to go but they were the best cookies to make with a 2 year old! He could help me with it all!!!

Of course he loves scooping, pouring, counting and stirring but that was only the start!!

Next we rolled balls, which I did but he then rolled them in the sugar and sprinkles!!

I put them on the pan and while we were waiting for them to finish cooking Ayden unwrapped ALL the hersey kisses for me! (this is my least favorite part) He didn't even try one! I told him he could either have one kiss or a cookie and a kiss!

Then I put the kisses on the cookies and we let them cool!

Finally we got to try our cookies! (before lunch I may add and he didn't eat his lunch...)

Sorry sweetheart! Ahnie you have a few more months before you can enjoy these yummy cookies!!! Maybe next Christmas!

3 Crazy Moms and 6 Kids 2 and Under

2011-12-07T14:48:00.001-06:00

Seriously look at our table!!

Last Thursday evening Emily, Alex and I decided to venture out to Jingle and Mingle on Main with all 6 kids! We started the night at Tony's pizza. Sorry for any family that was their that needed a booster seat because I think we had all of theirs! There were a few moments of craziness but looking back I think they all did very well!!!

Gotta love these 3!!!

Jordann and Ahnie entertained each other during dinner!

Then we headed to the library to wait in line for the horse drawn trolly ride down Main St. It was COLD and took FOREVER! Last year Emily and I took Ayden and Madi and the line waited in lobby of the library. This year the line was outside! After complaining for a while I decided to try to do something about it! I went to the front of the line and told them my great idea about swinging the line in through the lobby. Everyone agreed that that was a great idea but nobody would do it! I was so annoyed! Finally, Alex told us to take all the kids in the lobby and she would wait outside for us. It was much warmer and we spent quite a bit of time trying to keep the kids busy and help them understand why they had to wait in the lobby and couldn't go in and play at the library. Well, after a long wait it was finally our turn for the sleigh ride! The kids loved it! Santa was walking up and down Main St. and Ayden was so excited to see him. His face lit up and he started waving so fast as soon as he caught his eye.

Enjoying our ride!

The night was a success! A few bumps in the road but pretty good considering how big our crew was and how young they were!!! Gotta love Christmas traditions!

Our Kids Stats

2011-12-01T14:31:00.001-06:00

We just got home from getting the kids their flu shots and I had them weighed and measured...so this post is just so I can look back and see how big they are :)

Ahnie 7 months: 19lbs 10oz

Ayden 2.5 years: 34lbs; 39in

Wow, I have big kids! Now for the search for new carseats....

7 Months!!!

2011-11-28T20:16:00.001-06:00

7 months ago today I was laying in my hospital bed holding my daughter for the first time wondering what life would be like raising a girl and how we would juggle two kids. 7 months later I can honestly say we have had some stressful moments but they have also been the best 7 months! I know I said this in this the last month but I love this stage!!! I think Ayden and Ahnie are a great age difference and we all are having so much fun! They make us laugh daily!!

This month Ahnie is trying so hard to move!!! She is not there yet but I bet by her next monthly post we will have a crawler. She gets up on all 4's and rocks back and forth so fast I think she is going to fly forward! She can scoot backwards and turn herself around in a complete circle. She can roll by from back to belly and from belly to back. Basically she can get herself all around the living room just not the easy way.

We have tried lots more food this month! She has tried peas, green beans, broccoli, yogurt, bananas, puffs and Mum Mum's. Ahnie also tried her sippy cup for the first time this past month. She is really starting to like eating. If we put her in her high chair you better have food ready or puffs out! As soon as she sees the spoon her mouth is open and she will be mad if it's not in her mouth in about 5 seconds. She usually eats 2 cubes and sometimes 3.

Ahnie's personality is really starting to form!!! She is very happy and content almost always but she can get mad in about 3 seconds! She will show you if she is not happy about something! This month she giggled for the first time!! Ayden was the first to get her to giggle and the only one that can get her to giggle unless you are tickling her. She loves when Ayden does peek a boo with her in her high chair and when he wipes out on the floor when they are playing. Their newest game is after we put them to bed Ayden turns on the lights and talks to her and she moves all around her crib just watching and babbling... I love that sound but not at 9pm!!! She babbles all the time and even will say dadadada! She is a daddy's girl! :)

Ahnie is growing out of her 9 months clothes and I just washed up her 12 month things. She is quickly out growing her infant car seat and is still in size 3 diapers.

Again her schedule has stayed pretty consistent to what it was last year!!

Walking Tacos

2011-11-22T22:03:00.001-06:00

Today, while I was at work I got this text from Jess, Ayden's awesome sitter,

"I just told Ayden we are having walking tacos. He asked me where the walking tacos were going?"

I just love watching and hearing his language develop!!!

"I Run Out the Garage!"

2011-11-16T21:52:00.001-06:00

So, ever since Ayden went to his first CF Tiger game this year he has loved hiding in his bed room and we have to yell "Here come the tigers!" and he runs out with his football. At CF games they run out of a garage when they yell here come the tigers.

Well, today after our sitter left Ayden went outside. I didn't think anything of it because he usually comes right back in. I went to take care of the dog because he was barking out the back door. When I came back and looked for Ayden he was gone! I went outside and started calling his name. Starting to get a little worried I was walking up the drive way yelling "Ayden!" Then I hear a voice from the closed garage saying "Yell here come the tigers!" I went in through the side door to find Ayden in the back of the garage. He clearly was not coming out until I opened the big door and yelled for him. So I did... He started running a little to early and clipped the top of his head and fell backwards! I went over to see if he was ok and he said "I okay, I think it left a mark" but he could not have been happier that he got to run out of the actual garage!!!

Oh the joys of having BOYS!!!!

I Wish I Could Freeze Time!

2011-11-01T20:27:00.000-05:00

Wow, today I took Ayden and Ahnie to the park quick before dinner to enjoy this beautiful day! While Ayden was playing on the horses and Ahnie swinging for the very first time I could not help but think how blessed we are to have two great kids! I think I could freeze time for a little while! I love how Ahnie is so happy, content, loves to play and get so excited over the littlest things! She is such a sweet heart! And there is Ayden... so curious, loving to ask questions, ALL boy, our little football player, so sweet to his sister, starting to be independent yet still loves his mommy and daddy, pushing the boundaries yet knows when he does something wrong.

I love love love watching my kids grow and learn new things everyday! I am just loving their ages right now!!! I need to try to take in all these moments right now because they are both growing too fast!!

Trick Or Treat!

2011-10-31T20:55:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween from our little giraffe and lion!!!

Tonight was a crazy busy night but we had so much fun! We started out at Brett's parents house so they could see the kids all dressed up! Then we headed out to a friends house where they had a little Halloween party. Wow there were a lot of kids! So many of the families had added a new baby since last year! It was very fun!!!

Then we headed out to a friends house and went trick or treating with the families in our small group! This was sooo fun!!! Ayden was very excited and I might be biased but we had quite a cute bunch of kiddos! There were seven dressed up kids from the age of 4 to 9 months and Ahnie slept away in her carseat. They were dressed up as a spider, a pumpkin, giraffe, spiderman, batman, UNI's TC and a UNI Football player.

I think the best part of the night was the first house! We got up there and Ayden was so excited! When they opened the door he ran inside! I was so embarrassed! I had to go inside and get him. Usually when we go to someones house we go inside... We had to talk about this before the next one. He loved the whole night!!! While trick or treating he would run to every house and have to wait for his friends to get there! I think he will sleep good tonight!!!

My Baby Is 6 Months Old!!!

2011-10-28T22:22:00.001-05:00

Ahnie's 6 Month Stats:
Weight: 18lbs 3oz 90%
Height: 26 3/4in 75-90%
Head: 16 1/4in 25th%

Where has the last 6 months gone?!? Its official, Ahnie is growing up way too fast!!! As a mom I need to remember to enjoy the moments as they come. Not wish away my time. I LOVE this stage, it might be my favorite age in the 1st year but I find myself missing the newborn stage a lot quicker this time! It might be because after having the first baby I knew we would have more and now after the second I know we will have more kids but I know that our family will be complete at some point. I will miss that newborn stage so much when our family is complete! I need to enjoy each moment as they come! I hate missing stages or waiting for the next stage! I need to be satisfied with what we have right now and not want anything else!!!

Ayden felt left out!

Like I said, I LOVE this stage!!! Ahnie is just so fun right now! This month she learned how to sit up and now loves to just play and play! She loves when anyone talks to her, she loves her toys and her binky! She now grabs at everything around! It is funny, Ayden loves this but hates it and you never know what his reaction will be. She often grabs for his binky or blanket and a few times has grabbed for his toys! He loves his sister so much but some things do cross the line! I love sibling love! Today we were at the mall and Ayden chose to sit up front in the stroller and Ahnie started kicking the back of his seat. He kept yelling "Ahnie! Nice to you brother!" Then looking at me like aren't you going to do anything about this! To humor him I told her to be nice and she had to keep her feet to herself! :)

This month Ahnie also started eating baby food. She now has eaten carrots, sweet potato, squash, and apples. Sweet potatoes and apples are her favorite. Ayden loves to help me make baby food and has actually requested her food over his some days! She also started formula this month. ( check the earlier post). Both changes in her diet are going well!!

Ahnie loves her mommy! :) Usually if I am in the room and someone else is holding her she wants me! I like this but sometimes I feel bad! But, she also loves her daddy! She just stares at him and when they connect eyes she just lights up! I love seeing her smiles at him! The smiles I get don't even compare to the smiles she gives her daddy! She also just started showing her excitement! She kicks her feet so quickly, waves her arms and squeals! I love this! She does it when someone talks to her, when I get home from work, when we start the bath water and when she sees her bottle!

I love that I can finally say two months in a row that she is very predictable! She wakes up between 7 and 7:45 then naps around 9 wakes and eats at 11 goes down around 1 back up again around 2:30 or 3 then takes a quick 30 min nap anytime after 4 and before dinner. Then is up for dinner, bath and her bottle! I love when they get to a good schedule! I do so much better when I know what to expect and I also know if they are on a good schedule then we can go a way from it from time to time and she does pretty good!

Rejection

2011-10-26T22:05:00.002-05:00

I had to blog about this so I will remember it!!! And, for evidence so I can read it to Ayden and Madi someday :)

On Sunday afternoon we went to prairie lakes to take Ayden's 2 year pictures and Ahnie's 6 month pictures with the Hoffert's. A few days before we had planned on going to the bouncy park with Madi but it ended up getting to late and it was not going to work out. Ayden was still bummed 3 days later and talked about it the whole way to Prairie Lakes. I finally told him he could ask Madi when we got there.... After we had been there for quite awhile Ayden must had remembered. He walked right up to Madi put his face right up to hers and asked "Madi, you come to bouncy house with me?" (as he was doing this he was shaking his head yes and moving his face all over to keep it right in front of Madi's.) She ever so nicely said "Not today Ayden, maybe later." Ayden then just walked away. Madi already knows never to seem to eager and don't jump at the first time a boy asks you out! I guess Ayden will just have to keep asking!!!

I asked Ayden later that night if he asked Madi about the bouncy park:

Me: "Ayden did you ask Madi if she wanted to go to the bouncy park with you?"
AJ: "Yeah"
Me: "What did she say?"
AJ: "Maybe later..."

Oh Yeah...

2011-10-26T21:54:00.001-05:00

This is Ayden's latest phrase..."Oh Yeah..." I feel like I am talking to a 3rd grader! He will ask lots and lots of questions and his response is always "Oh Yeah..." For example:

AJ: "Mom, where Packers at?"
Me: "They live in Wisconsin"
AJ: "Oh yeah"

AJ: "Football on TV, mom?
Me: "No, this is their day to practice"
AJ: "Oh yeah"

AJ: "I go to school mom?"
Me: "No, you go on Tuesday and Thursdays"
AJ: "Oh yeah"

AJ: "Sean come to my house mom?"
Me: "Sean is at school"
AJ: "I go to school with sean"
Me: "Your not old enough to go to high school."
AJ: "Oh yeah..."

And you get the idea! I love that Ayden is starting to be able to communicate better and better every day but he does not stop talking!!! If we drive anywhere he is a non-stop chatter box!!! Sometimes I just turn up the radio to get some piece and quiet... He also asked the same question over and over and over again!!! Oh, how I love his inquisitive personality but sometimes I just need quiet!

Ahnie's New Diet

2011-10-14T14:57:00.000-05:00

This week has been a big week for Ahnie! She started eating baby food!! Ayden helped me make her first food: carrots. He kept saying he wanted to try it but I still have not gotten him to eat any. He does like carrots just not mashed up like his sister. She is doing okay with them. She seems to eat them a little better than her cereal but still doesn't finish a whole ice cube. We will work on that. I think we are going to try Sweet Potatoes next then maybe some green veggies like avocado, peas and green beans. Then the fun fruit!!

The other new thing in her diet is formula...tear... Again just like after having Ayden I was diagnosed with Postpartum Thyroiditis. In my case my thyroid is hyper and produces to much hormones and this causes me to loose weight. With Ayden I didn't know I had it until I had lost a lot of weight and finally when he was almost 6 months old I got it check and that is when I found out my levels were off. After a few months of medicine I was ok and able to maintain my weight and not loose anymore with out medicine. My levels stayed normal throughout my pregnancy with Ahnie and for her first 5 months. At my check up on Monday they said I was a little hyper again. Luckily I didn't loose very much weight yet and they said I needed to start my medicine again. While, with Ayden they told me I could not breastfeed so I had to quit quickly. This time I guess my dosage is less so they said it would be ok so I took a couple days and went back and forth and researched what could happen if I took it while breastfeeding. I really felt uneasy about taking medicine and breastfeeding so I decided we should switch to formula. Brett gave it to her for the first time yesterday and she did ok so I breastfed her for the last time before bed last night... Today she has had only formula and seems to not mind. I am a little sad that I have not fed her at all today I just have to keep telling myself that it is best for both of us!

Trading Places

2011-10-13T21:48:00.002-05:00

Ayden thought he was pretty funny climbing in Ahnie's highchair until I put Ahnie is his... This was the first time he wasn't so sure about sharing with her. I love this picture because I think she looks so big! Ayden also looks pretty funny in a pink high chair...

My First Race and How it Felt Like Labor...

2011-10-12T21:47:00.001-05:00

I ran my first race two weeks ago in Minneapolis. I have always wanted to run the 1/2 marathon in my home town Duluth. My bro and his wife ran this year and I told them next time I wanted to run it with them. After they finished this they decided no more 1/2 marathons but 10 miles would be better. Then they found that the Twin Cities Marathon had a 10 mile run instead of a 1/2 so they were in! They asked me to join their team and I agreed. About 6 weeks before the race my brother threw out his back and decided it wasn't worth messing up his back for ever to run a race. So, our team was down to Jen and I.

The morning was a beautiful day! We started at the Metro Dome and finished at the State Capital in Saint Paul. It was the most beautiful run! The leaves were just starting to change and we ran along a river for about half of the race then we heading through a gorgeous neighborhood then through St. Thomas' campus and finally over the last hill and down to the finish line. My parents, Brother and his son and Brett and the kids were waiting at the finish line!! It was great to see them as I was crossing the finish line.

While I was running I kept thinking how much this race felt like my first labor. You are anticipating the start but I really didn't know when we were going to get going...I was in the last corral so we started 15 minutes after the race officially started. The beginning of the race starts out slow and is a bit painful...I always have side ache through the first 2 miles. Then you get in the grove and start feeling good...just like after you get the epidural. During this point you think about how great this is and how its not very bad and you totally want to do more and more races...or have more and more kids! Then its time to push...you are in the last few miles of the race and you notice its starting to get a bit harder. I had to keep telling myself the faster I run the quicker I get to see my babies faces...just like while you are telling yourself to push harder so you can meet your baby! Then you come over the last hill and around the corner and you see the finish line...Just like seeing the babies head and you just need a few more pushes. Then I saw Ayden and Brett and gave Ayden a Hi-Five...just like seeing your baby for the first time. You cross the finish line and get the metal...just like when you are handed your baby for the very first time! Then you think this wasn't so bad but you don't want to think about your next race/baby for a little while!

Ok, so not as amazing as having a baby but there are some parallels and it did make me laugh a little during the hardest part of the race...The final 3 miles!

My goal was to run the race in just under 2 hours and I finished at 2 hours 6 minutes. It was a beautiful morning and I am so glad my brother asked me to run even though he didn't get to run with us!

Cuddle Buddies!

2011-10-10T14:33:00.001-05:00

This night we were laying in bed saying our prayers and I just couldn't help snapping a few pictures! Ayden loves when anyone cuddles in bed with him for a few minutes before bedtime but he always gets a kick out of cuddling with his sissy!

5 Months

2011-10-10T14:28:00.000-05:00

Ahnie turned 5 months on the 28th. These months are just flying by! The 2nd time around you realize how quickly they are growing up and I just want to say SLOW DOWN!

She is finally becoming more and more predictable!!! Ayden came home from the hospital and I felt like for the most part he was pretty by the book! Ahnie has been a little more work! Not that it has been very hard but I just feel like we have had to work through everything! This month I had to try to make herself cry it out. She was not taking great naps and would wake up after 30-45 minutes and you knew she was not ready to get up but if she feel back to sleep you would either have to hold her or she would wake up... Well one day she started crying after a 30 minute nap and it didn't seem to bother Ayden napping so I took out my Baby Wise book and told myself I was not going to pick her up until I read what I was supposed to do. While reading it and finally finding the right paragraph I realized she was quiet...She put herself back to sleep! Ever since I have laid her down awake and she might cry a bit and I might put her binky back in 1 or 2 times but then she is asleep! Now her naps are usually around 2 hours! Beautiful!!! And they are usually during 1 hour of Ayden's nap!! The other thing that I feel is finally the way it is supposed to be is breastfeeding. I don't remember when she really became very comfortable with it but I think it has been in the last 2 months. When we took her to her 2 month check up the Dr. noticed that she didn't move her head to the left. This I think made breastfeeding a little challenging. Then we got over that and she would not eat very well on the 2nd side...it did not matter which side it was but always the 2nd side. Knowing that she was gaining wight I would just told myself she didn't like 'desert' and kept praying that one day she would love nursing and just relax so I could relax. While I think we finally have it! I now can just sit and enjoy every feeding!!

Ahnie has been such a happy talkative baby!! Brett and I find ourselves saying 'do you remember Ayden smiling like this or talking this much?' She loves playing on her tummy with her toys and just talking! She always greets us in the morning or after her nap with a BIG smile and will just stare across the room at Brett and when he looks over at her she gives him the biggest smile! I just love it!

We started cereal this past month. She is not loving it but we are practicing for the real yummy stuff to come! I am planning on making my own baby food again and I am getting excited about do this! It was so rewarding knowing exactly what she is eating and also saving some money as I do it! Hopefully she will be just like her brother and be a great eater!!

This month Ahnie rolled from her back to tummy and has not laid on her back since! She loves to play on her tummy!!! We are also working on sitting up! She loves to sit up and look around but can't do it quite yet. If I am right there I will let you sit by herself but soon after she has tipped! She loves the bumbo most of time too!

Ahnie fits in so well to our family and we all love her! Ayden loves to say Good Morning Pretty Girl every morning! And still showers her with hugs and kisses often! I just love to see this side of Ayden since the rest of the time is spent tackling things!!! :)

You Know You Have a Boy When....

2011-09-29T14:44:00.000-05:00

All we do is play football, baseball, basketball etc (all depending on the season it is)
You hear a big long fart and all of a sudden burst of laughter followed by "I farted!!" Then trying to do it again. And his last comment "I think I ripped it!" What?!
There is a new scape, scar or cut somewhere on his face everyday!!! (we have been waiting over a month to take his 2 year pictures...)
We wear our football jerseys over our clothes everyday!!! These can be his jersey, Bretts Jersey or his jersey from last year....
When we eat grapes they are called footballs...
When your child refuses to eat you have to be Thomas and do train sounds...Then he covers his mouth and won't open up until you say "Move the rock Mr. Conductor!"
We play the 'drums' during all of our songs! And the drums can be his lap, the couch, the table...anything!
Instead of our days winding down my son gets busier and busier as we get closer to naptime and bed time.
The first thing we say in the morning is "Where's my football Mom?"
We have to do "Here come the Tigers/Hawkeyes/Packer" multiple times a day!
Instead of playing with stuffed animals we tackle them

I LOVE having a boy around the house but I am also so excited to see what fun things our little girl does as well!!! I can't wait to compare the list in a few years and see how much she picks up from her brother and what different interests she has!

Pretty Girls!

2011-09-28T15:29:00.001-05:00

One of Ayden's new favorite songs is Pretty Girls! If your not familiar with it it goes like this:

There's a lot of pretty girls in this city

There's a lot of pretty girls in this town

You gotta pick the right one

Gotta pick the right one

Any time you ask Ayden who the pretty girls are he will say either Mommy. Ahnie or Madi and every time you ask him who Ayden's right one is he says "Madi!" Brett made this video today while I was at work!

Ayden's Happy Day!

2011-09-20T22:36:00.003-05:00

Ayden's birthday year after year falls during Caravan so that means we have his party before Brett leaves and then I get to celebrate his actual birthday without Brett! Here is our day this year in pictures! Some things are quickly becoming yearly traditions and some things are new each year! We had a great time but would have loved to have Brett a little closer on his actual day!

This is our traditional birthday breakfast at Village Inn! This year we added two new kiddos to join us. This picture was taken while we were waiting for our check! Look how messy the table was! All the kids were ready to go so this was the best picture we could get of all 4 kids!

Then Ayden, Ahnie and I headed out to one of our favorite parks! It is in a new development off Greenhill. Ayden knows when we go to Walmart we usually stop at the park on the way. He now tells me when I should turn to get there! We had a blast! It was such a beautiful morning and had not gotten too hot yet!

We made a quick stop at Walmart before heading home and when I pulled into the driveway I look in the back and found Ayden alseep! We had already had a great day!!! Time for a nap then more fun to come!!

When naps were over we headed to the petting zoo in Waterloo with Madi, TT and Emily! The kids had so much fun watching all the animals. This was our first visit this summer and they had a great time!!!

Finally, we headed to the Hoffert's for a special birthday dinner Emily had planned just for Ayden!!! It was so sweet and she was really my livesaver while Brett was on Caravan this year!!! Ayden loves this picture because it shows his 'happy day!" and he thinks Chief is hiding!! Can you find him?

Playing Catch Up

2011-09-19T21:38:00.001-05:00

I have not been able to upload pictures in 2 months! We finally have them on our computer so get ready for some new posts! I put some pictures on previous blog posts! Thanks for checking in with our family! Happy reading!

Ayden's 2nd Birthday Party!

2011-09-19T21:31:00.000-05:00

We had Ayden's birthday party a few days before his birthday because Brett was on Caravan over his birthday. We celebrated Friday morning. It had been a very very warm couple weeks before but the morning was a little cooler which we were very thankful for! Ayden wanted a tractor theme with a Tractor Cake, playing in the sandbox and finding surprises in the sand. When the kids arrived we just let the kids play for a while then we grilled and had a yummy lunch! We had cake and finally presents!

I can say this was Ayden's first birthday party that he really knew what was going on! He was so excited for his cake! I did it the day before to make sure it was perfect so I would have time to adjust if needed and anytime anyone new came to our house he had to show them the cake!!

He was very excited to see all of his friends come to his house all at once and to see both grandparents! He was so excited he woke up really early that morning and kept saying "Ayden's Happy Day!" My dad was a life saver because he kept him busy while Brett, my mom and I got things ready for the party! My dad spent lots of time walking him around in his wagon and playing golf in the back yard. I think he was ready for his nap at 10 AM and the guests were coming at 10:30!

He got a second win to get through his party! He had a lot of fun running around and stealing chips out of the dump truck! He also loved blowing out the candles on his cake! I didn't realize this until a few weeks ago during my birthday he kept saying "Mom, happy day! Blow out your candles!!" He also had a lot of fun opening presents! He got lots of great toys! That is a plus doing a party before your husband leaves for 10 days! We had lots of new things to keep us busy!

Our new favorite toy!! Lightning McQueen Bike!!!

Ahnie is 4 Months Old!

2011-09-06T15:26:00.002-05:00

Ahnie turned 4 months old last week! She is getting to be more fun everyday! I just love how smiley she is and she loves to just lay on the floor and talk! She is sooo close to rolling over! She will get herself to her side and just hangs out there forever! I gave her a little nudge the other day and she rolled over and Ayden was so excited! He started jumping up and down and was yelling "You did it!" I can't wait for her to start rolling on her own! She loves to be up looking around! She loves the bumbo, her swing in the sitting up possition and her newest toy the Jumperoo! Wow, I think she likes that even more than Ayden did! Ahnie loves to grab at toys and always has her hands in her mouth or around a toy! She also is constantly trying to sit up. If you look at her laying on her back or in her carseat she picks her head up like she is doing crunches. We have been working on sitting up but she still is aways away. Maybe at next months posting! This month I went back to work. She has really done well being away from her mommy during the mornings. I sure miss her and her brother but it is so great knowing she is in good hands! I have never worried about them! I feel so blessed to have my kids spending time with great family and friends while I am at work. She has really done good and is becoming much more predictable!! We streached her feedings out to 3 1/2 hours and I think I waited to long to do that. Since I did she has been able to sleep all night and is much more content during her awake times. She now takes 2 long naps and 1 shorter nap right around dinner time which is very nice! Then is in bed between 7 and 8 and will sleep for close to 12 hours! Ayden continues to love his sister! Its so sweet anytime she starts crying he tries to calm her down with either a hug, a kiss or sweet words. The other day we were coming home from somewhere and Ahnie started to cry. All of a sudden we heard Ayden saying "Its okay Ahnie almost home! Almost home sweetheart!" I just love how sweet he is to her! We have also had to talk to him about how he can't play rough with her. He sometimes thinks she is a good wrestling buddy or wants to play football. This has not happened very much though. At her 4 month check up she weighed in at 17 lbs and is 26 inches long! Both at 95% and her head is at 20%. Still just like her brother! Big and long with a small head! :) We are growing quickly into all 9 month clothes. She still fits into her 6 month clothes that have pants but that is about it. You will have to wait for her 4 month pictures. We are between computers so I can't upload any pictures until we get that taken care of... I have over 150 pictures on my camera!!! I will be post much more frequently again!

Our First Ride in an Ambulance

2011-08-24T20:34:00.003-05:00

Today we had quite the adventure! We went to the park at Cedar Heights with Emily and her kiddos. We were playing and having a great time when Ayden was playing and lost his balance and fell. He was on this climbing thing to get up to the slide and was at the top. Luckily we were right there and Emily quick caught him before he fell, he just bumped his head or so we thought. He started crying right away so I scooped him up and flipped him over. Then it got a little more scary for this Mama! I saw lots of blood and just covered his forehead. Emily found a towel and I was able to hold that over his cut. I took a peek and quickly asked her to call 911. She went to the street to wait for the help to arrive and Madison stayed with us and would not leave Ayden's side. She was blowing him kisses and finally got close enough for a few sweet kisses on the cheek. We could hear the fire truck and that finally calmed Ayden down as we sat and listened for the fire truck and ambulance to arrive. When they got there his cut had stopped bleeding but they did confirm that he needed stitches. He had about a 1 inch cut on his forehead that was rather deep! We could not get a hold of Brett and we were at Cedar Heights school so we really were not close to our house or the car so we decided we better let the ambulance take us to the ER. By the time we got into the ambulance Ayden was very calm and started to warm up and was soon his normal chatty self! By the time we got to the ER he was done wanting to cuddle so that was a little bit of a struggle. We were at the ER for a little over an hour. All things considered Ayden did pretty good. Brett had not made it to the ER by the time I had to decide on either stitches or glue and I was having a hard time looking at his forehead I didn't think I could handle watching him get stitches by myself. Luckily Brett got there right after I talked with the doctor. I was so relieved Brett was there with me at that point! Ayden got the glue applied and we had to wait a few more minutes and we were able to go home! Ayden was a champ! I had a hard time but I am very thankful that he is ok and we had such wonderful EMT's, doctors and nurses. It made a difficult situation a little better! I am also very thankful for Emily! She quickly calmed me down after I saw Ayden's cut and got help there quickly and spent a long time trying to get a hold of Brett! She also took care of Ahnie till we were able to get home. I don't know what I would have done if I was there by myself...

3 Months Old!!

2011-08-03T15:03:00.004-05:00

Ahnie turned 3 months old on July 28th! This past month has been a very fun month!!! Ahnie is really starting to get a personality and is so smiley! I just love it! All I need to do is usually smile at her or say HI and you get a big toothless grin!! She talks a lot too! She loves to lay under her play gym and coo and look all around! She still loves to suck on her fists and she is even bringing toys to her month (just recently)! A few days before she turned 3 months she started to scoot on he back! She will kick her feet so much that she will either turn in a complete circle while playing on the floor or else you will find her up in the corner of the crib. I am not ready for a mover yet but it is fun to watch! Ahnie also loves to stand in your lap! I have a feeling she is going to love her bounceroo! She has not really tried rolling over yet but she will look to one side and arch her back so I'm sure she could if she really tried but there has not been to much interest. She love to play on her tummy and we tried her bumbo for the first time this month. She is getting better each day at sitting in it and now loves to sit in it at her play gym or in front of a toy I have that she will be able to use more once she is sitting by herself. She is not crazy about her bouncy seat but she will sit in it from time to time. I just started putting her in the swing to play. I put the seat sitting up and she loves to hold on to her toys and watch Ayden play in the living room! It keeps her busy for quite a while!

Our little girl is still growing like a weed! I love her chubby cheeks and thighs! Some of her 6 month clothes is starting to get tight and we moved up to size 3 diapers already! I am excited to see how much she weighs and her length at her next check up!

Ahnie is getting even better at her routine! She eats every 3 hours, she is awake for at least an hour but I try to get her to stay awake for 1 1/2 hours then sleeps. Her naps have been much better! She doesn't always wake up in the middle anymore and if she does she will put herself back to sleep sometimes! When she does wake up and I go in there she is a happy, talking, smiley baby!!!

We for sure have our bedtime routine. She usually eats around 6:30 or 7 plays or takes a bath then we get ready for bed. She is usually asleep around 8 and then every night at 9 I get her out of her bed and feed her as much as she will eat, then put her right back to bed. She will now (as of the week before her 3 month birthday) sleep till 6:15-6:30. Then she is awake for the day. I would love it if I could sleep in till 7 but with school starting in a few weeks 6:30 will probably have to be my wake up time anyway!

(I will add her 3 month pictures as soon as I up load them) :)

Our Early Morning Surprise

2011-08-03T14:55:00.002-05:00

This morning I lay in bed listening to Ayden yell my name...Me thinking usually he comes in here so maybe he is just talking in his sleep... Then I hear him talking to Ahnie and her start crying. I realized that my morning has begun I get slowly out of bed and before I got to Ayden's room I hear "Mommy change!" I found him laying on the changing table on his tummy. I rolled him over and his PJ's were ALL wet and I could see his diaper had ripped open so all the jell like beads where EVERYWHERE!!! I asked Ayden what happened and all of a sudden he started bawling! So, I called for Brett to get Ahnie and I started cleaning. We had those things everywhere! On his legs, tummy, cheeks, hair... I rolled him to his back and cleaned there and rolled him back over and he had them all over his tummy again! It was never ending SO at 6:30 AM I decided to throw this tired, crying little boy in the bath!

What a morning... Days like this make me wish I had a video monitor. Not for piece of mind when he was a baby like Ahnie but to get some of my questions answered!!!

Let Go Mommy!

2011-07-30T21:49:00.002-05:00

Tonight we went to a 1st birthday party for one of friends little boys. The family has an in ground pool and I forgot our swim suits. Bummer! Luckily they have three boys under the age of three so they were able to let us barrow a suit, life jacket and diaper for Ayden. He was very reluctant to wear the life jacket and then did not want to get into the water with out me. We spent a lot of time on the stairs! Finally, my friend Stacy was able to get him in the water with her. After that he was getting a little more comfortable! He was playing on the stairs and leaned back to far and found out he could float with the life jacket! He was very content playing there for a while and I would hold on to him so he didn't roll to his front. Finally he started yelling "let go mommy!" "Ayden float myself!" We have only been 2 for 3 days but we have learned a few new words... "myself", and "I do it". This could be a fun year!

We were very proud of Ayden tonight though! He did a great job in the big pool with out me! I was very proud of him for floating on this back (something he normally will not do) and he was practicing putting his face in the water! He did so great! Even though he is in the independent stage and it is not always easy for a mom to hear those words he is doing lots of first these days! I am so excited to watch him grow and grow!

Happy Birthday Ayden!!!

2011-07-27T14:38:00.002-05:00

Wow! Two years ago we welcomed such a perfect little baby boy into our family! We had no idea how he would change us and our family and I couldn't imagine life with out him!

I love this energetic, loveable, sweet, talkative, funny, little boy!!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the year!

Baking Birthday Cake!

2011-07-21T15:50:00.002-05:00

I LOVE. LOVE. LOVE baking with kids! It started when I used to babysit and now I have been having Ayden help me around the kitchen more and more this summer! It makes baking so much more fun! Ayden loves to "dunk" (dump) everything in. He gets so excited when we push the chair over to the counter.

Today he helped me bake his birthday cake and cupcakes! He was a great helper! I even showed him how to lick the beaters! Yum :) Then he put the cupcake liners on the pan! I always remember helping my dad do that! Here are some pictures from this morning! You have to wait till after his party to see the finished product: The Tractor Cake!!! :)

Do They Look Alike?!?

2011-07-21T14:49:00.005-05:00

When ever we go anywhere we always hear how much Ahnie looks like her brother. So, I decided to take a picture of Ahnie that is very close to one of my favorite pictures of Ayden. Both sporting the same hawkeye shirt!

So what do you think?!? Do they look alike?

Sunday Morning Photo Shoot

2011-07-20T21:05:00.003-05:00

I love Sunday mornings when I get to dress the kids up to go to church! I love the outfits the two kids wore today and had to take pictures! This might be the first time I got both of them looking and smiling at the same time! :) Ayden loves Ahnie's outfit too the few times I have put it on her he always comments and says "Ahnie cute!" So sweet!

I LOVE these two kiddos!!!

Sturgis Falls!

2011-07-15T10:21:00.003-05:00

Sturgis Falls is our town's summer celebration. It is always filled with lots of music, food venders, walking, seeing lots of people, parades, rides and just a fun weekend spent outside with family and friends. I used to always feel like it was the one weekend I was reminded I was not from Cedar Falls. I can say now it is a weekend I look forward to and get excited about seeing friends and spending the time with my family!

This year Brett had a baseball tournament so we was not able to join in the fun. We were bummed but I tried not to let it stop us going down for the fun! Thanks to our friends the Hoffert's I was able to pack up the two kids and get them to the parade. Ayden and Madi were in Ahh through the whole thing!! I don't think they moved except to ask for more snacks :) TT sat with Matt and loved to watch everything going on! Ahnie slept...surprise surprise! I can't wait for the days that she is up and alert for all these fun things too but for now I enjoyed cuddling her on my lap as the parade went by! Then we headed home for naps.

After naps Brett's sister, Kelly and her hubby Mike came to town and we headed down for more Sturgis fun! Mike had a blast running around with Ayden and Kelly enjoyed pushing Ahnie in the stroller and I enjoyed spending time with both of them! Mike was so great with Ayden and really made the afternoon fun! We got some pop corn and headed to the rides first. Mike got Ayden some tickets and he got to go on his first ride, the big fish! He was to little to ride on anything else so we got to ride twice! Ayden loved it! Then we headed up to the kids tent and Mike and Ayden checked out the chalk and legos while I waited in line for the balloon guy. Kelly got to spend some good cuddling time with Ahnie while we all waited. Once we got up to the balloon guy Ayden wanted a deer hat. When we ask for this we realized the guy making the balloons was deaf. So when he was done I told Ayden to say thank you with his hands and he did. It was so cool that the sign language he learned as a baby is still helping him communicate to people. I was very proud of him to remember how to do it!

3 Day Potty Training: Day 3

2011-07-13T20:04:00.003-05:00

We are at day 3! Wow it was an intense 3 days and I am sad to say that we are back in diapers... This morning started out just like every other morning. We tried when we got up and nothing came so we kept letting him know to let us know when he needed to go. About 1 1/2 hours after he woke up we had the first accident. Not a whole lot of warning and he didn't try to stop it or get to the potty. Then we had a poopy accident and this time he ran to the potty but didn't make it. By this point I was frustrated and I could tell Ayden was just not having it! At one point I was laying on the couch worn out and he was laying by the door saying he wanted to go to the office with Daddy. (We have not been out of the house in 3 days!!!) I wanted to get out too! But we sat down and decided we would try the rest of the day or at least till naps. After Brett left for work I decided we needed something fun so we made our first fort and he loved it! But all of a sudden another accident. I was bummed!! We went on with our morning and got to nap time. I thought for a while during naps and I decided that after naps we would put a diaper back on. When he woke up I sat him down and told him how proud I was of him and told him how well he did these last few days but told him we were going to put the potty away and try again another time. He said no! and that he wanted his Thomas pants on! So we decided to try one more time! We went outside to play for a while and then over to our neighbors house. We then had our final accident. After this I asked if we could go put a diaper on and he said ok! So we were finally back in diapers by 5 PM.

Ayden worked so hard and I am very proud of him! All week I have been looking at him and realizing how big he is getting! This approach has you spending so much one on one time with your child. I had so much fun with him! It showed me how much I can really include him in! He cooked with me, helped with laundry, took the dog out to go potty, color, build things, work on his colors and counting, play games, play baseball, pretend and just be silly! It has showed me how much time I loose by being on the computer or watching TV or getting things done around the house while he is awake. I have learned I need to be more intentional about spending time with my kids and involving them in things I need to get done.

I have spent a lot of today thinking about the last 3 days and how I did and how Ayden did. I have decided that this was a great approach to potty training but Ayden just was not ready. She recommends you wait 30 days before trying again....I don't know when we will try again but I can say we will try this 3 Day Potty Training when I feel that he is ready again. I loved that it was centered around my child and that it was so positive!! I also like that its all or nothing! I don't want to spend weeks/months working on potty training. I can honestly said we put our all in it for 3 days and now can walk away for a while and come back with our full energy again. I did not want to give out her website or recommend it until I had put in the 3 days and I would say that if you are looking for a potty training approach then check out her site. It obviously doesn't work for every child right away but I do really like all that I read from her and if I wanted I could have emailed her to get suggestions from the author herself.

Her website is 3daypottytraining.com! Good luck!

3 Day Potty Training: Day 2

2011-07-12T21:56:00.002-05:00

Today started off much better than yesterday! Brett got up with Ayden and he tried to go potty right away. Nothing happened so I laid in bed listening to Brett say every couple of minutes "Ayden tell Daddy when you have to go potty." About 1 1/2 hours after this Ayden said "potty" and they ran to the bathroom, and there was his first sticker/M&M! I decided to get up after all the cheering coming from the bathroom :) We went on with our morning and after breakfast I looked over at Ayden and I could tell he was working on something... I rushed him to the bathroom but it was too late. Bummer! Then we were playing in the kitchen and Ayden asked for an M&M and I said you have to go potty first...he started to make his potty noise and ran to the bathroom! Sticker #2/M&M!! And that was our morning! We spent the rest of the morning outside and playing inside and nothing happened. Finally it was nap time.

After nap time I tired to get Ayden to go potty and he was not very interested. I could tell he went in his pull up before I could get him in the bathroom... So we cuddled a little and let him wake up. Our friend Madi came over to play and we tried a few times to go potty and we got nothing. So I decided we needed to start drinking something to get him going. He had some water then a juice box. While we were making dinner Ayden was playing under the kitchen table and all of a sudden we hear "Potty!" We rushed him to the potty but it was too late... Then we had another poop accident. I was getting a little frustrated after having such a great morning. We decided it was bath time and as I was filling the bath another accident... I was determined to get him to go on the potty again before bed! We tried a few more times and finally we got it!

So Day 2 ended with 3 stickers and 4 accidents (2 being poops). We have not gotten a poop in the potty so we are shooting for that tomorrow! It is a 3 day training so we will see what Day 3 brings!

I will say that I really like that I feel like he is really learning about going potty. On day 1 he was having accidents right and left! I think that happened because in a diaper you can go potty anytime anywhere. Today he was able to hold it longer and when he went he really went! I do think we are making progress and I am so proud of my BIG BOY!!! We went from 12 accidents to 4 today! Thats a huge improvement! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!

3 Day Potty Training: Day 1

2011-07-11T21:43:00.003-05:00

Today we started potty training with Ayden! Potty training was always the part of kids that I never looked forward to. I always have thought it ment many weeks/months of accidents and making progress and then regressing. To say the least, I was not looking forward to potty training Ayden... A few months ago I was reading a friend from college's blog and she blogged about this 3 day potty training. It sounded like it worked pretty well for them so I checked out the website. I really like that it was only 3 days (who doesn't have 3 days to commit to potty training) and it was also a very positive approach that centered around your child and teaching them how it feels when you have to go potty though accidents. So we decided this was going to be what we do but I needed to wait till after we had Ahnie and give Ayden time to adjust to our new family of four. Then he started getting really bad diaper rashes and every time he would poop it would burn his bottom and he would scream and cry when I needed to change him. I finally decided that we have to try potty training and if it is too soon we would stop and try again later but we had to try something! So here we are! :)

We spent the last two weeks talking about going potty in the big potty! We went and bought a potty seat and some big boy under ware. After he went to bed I made a sticker chart for him and had a few surprises ready for him when he got up. We got up like normal and during breakfast we talked about our big first day of potty training. We spent most of the morning in our under ware in the kitchen (easier to clean the accidents)! We spend time having snacks and juice boxes (a new treat) and lot of time coloring! We also made some jello and he helped me do little chores around the house. Brett took the day off to take care of Ahnie so I could focus my attention to Ayden. This is one big part of her potty training process. It was so great to spend some quality time with just Ayden, that hasn't happened very often since Ahnie has been born.

Well, this morning was a good morning but long! Until nap he had 10 accidents and had not gone potty on the potty yet. The main thing that you do is constantly ask your child if their under ware is dry and praise them when it is and tell them constantly to tell you when you have to go potty. The idea is they don't know what it feels like yet so they have to learn. When they start to go you scoup them up and try to get them to the potty. He went though phases of having big accidents then he started telling me a lot he had to go but barely sit down then his accidents would only get his under ware a little wet. Then nap time. For naps and bed we decided we would use pull ups.

After naps I was a little unsure if this was really going to work. We had a few more accidents and then after dinner at 7:00 he started to have an accident and looked at us and said potty! I scooped him up and ran him to the potty and we sat and sat and he finally went! Brett and I were so exited! I wish I had a camera going to see our reactions. Ayden finally got to put a sticker on his chart after 12 X's and got an M&M. Brett was so excited he went to get everyone 4 queens. We stayed home and called both "MeMa's" (Grandma) to tell them the exciting news!

Then it was bed time... We put the pull ups back on and put him to bed. He kept coming out and would tell us he had to go potty. Finally he went again!!! So we had 12 accidents and 2 stickers on day one! I can honestly said I was up and down all day about how it was going but at the end of the day he seems to have learned a little. I am excited to see what day 2 has in store for us!

Funny Quotes From Today...

2011-07-07T20:17:00.002-05:00

This morning Emily, Madi and Elliot came to play. Ayden and Madi were sliding (as in Baseball slides). Ayden does this constantly and always yells "SAFE". Well Madi told Emily to slide and she did. Ayden quickly yelled "OUT!" He has never called anyone out before...I guess Emily needs to work on her slides a little bit.

After naps we went to the waterpark. As we were pulling in Ayden yelled from the back seat. "Watch out daddy, cars!"

When we got into the water Ayden was not very excited. We kept trying to take him to different spots that he might like to play. We went to the hippos and as he was hanging on very tight he was saying "Other kids turn, Other kids turn!"

Gone Fishing....

2011-07-07T14:11:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago we went fishing with our good friends the Hofferts! Once we got all of our stuff to the fishing site at George Wyth the dad's showed the kids how to bait a hook. After the first few catches were made the kids were more excited by the golf clubs and the water. By the end of the night we had retrieved both the golf clubs and balls from the water and both Ayden and Madison were soaking wet! We then enjoyed some yummy burgers and hotdogs on the grill and headed home. It was a great night!!!! I love summer nights where we do something as a family outside with good friends!!

Best Buddies!!!

Eating our yummy dinner!!

Touching Daddy's BIG catch! Look at Madison in the corner cheering Ayden on!

Learning how to bait a hook.

Ahnie enjoying sitting outside...poor girl sleeps though all the fun!

2 Months!

2011-06-30T15:37:00.006-05:00

Ahnie turned two months old on Tuesday! This past month has gone so quickly and she has really fit into our family so well! It's hard to imagine our family with out her! It's even hard to remember back to when it was just 3 of us! I love that feeling of your family changing and it feeling so perfect!

This past month Ahnie has become more predictable! She eats every 3 hours, then we try to keep her up to play for atleast an hour and then she sleeps. She is a good sleeper until about 30 mins before her next feeding then she needs her binky every so often. We moved her into Ayden's room a few weeks ago. I was a little nervous about this but it has been great! She started sleeping longer stretches and she has only woken up Ayden a few times but I am usually in there to put him right back to bed. He has been amazing with the transition as well! Since we moved her to the crib she only wakes up once a night to eat. She gets her last feeding at 9pm and put right to bed then will wake up only once anytime between 2:30 and 6 am. This has been wonderful!!!

Ahnie started growing out of her 3 month clothes at about 6 weeks and now is only wearing 6 month clothes! I always get so sad to see how quick my kids grow out of their clothes!

She had her doctors appointment on Tuesday and she weighted in at 13lbs 14oz (90th%) and her length was 23 1/2inches (95th) her head is 15 inches (25th %). Just like Ayden big and long but a small head! She loved being on the table at the doctors office and just coo'ed, and kicked so much! Ahnie got her first round of shots and she did not like them! She cried a lot quicker than Ayden ever did and was very fussy the rest of the day/night. We had to keep giving her tylonal and you could tell her legs were very sore. I felt so bad for her but the next morning she was a different baby! So happy and content!

Ahnie had a few firsts this month! She started smiling at 5 weeks. She found her hands and loves to suck on her fists. She now really likes to play under her play gym and sit in her bouncy seat. She loves her crib and her piano toy in her crib. She is really starting to get to be more fun because she is more alert and responds to us more and more each day!

"Water" Park!

2011-06-23T09:51:00.002-05:00

Last night we went to the park with the Hofferts. As soon as we got there Ayden ran up to the slide and went down. All of a sudden you saw a big splash come from the slide and he looked over at all of us and yelled out "WATER PARK". It was so funny! We have been talking about the water park but have not made it there yet this year... Now when we talk about it Ayden will probably think of Cedar Heights park instead...

Big Boy Underware

2011-06-15T08:23:00.004-05:00

Tuesday morning during breakfast I showed Ayden his new big boy underware that I picked up at the store the day before. We talked about going potty on the big potty and when we do that how he can wear his big boy underware. Then we went on with our day. Since we have VBS this week we had to take a bath after breakfast. When we got out of the bath he was running around naked. Next thing I know he comes running to me and says "potty". I asked him if he needed to go potty and he said no. Then he said it again. So I said show me! He grabbed my hand and took me into the kitchen and opened the fridge. I about died when I thought he peed in the fridge but then I realized he had only peed on the floor! I cleaned it up and cleaned the bottom of the fridge just in case... He then took my hand and walked me over to where his underware was and wanted a pair on. So we put them on and he was pretty proud of himself for a little while as he ran around the house in big boy underware! But after about 10 minutes he was "all done!" and wanted a diaper on...

Also, today we were going to get milk and he yelled from the back seat "potty comin, potty comin!" I asked him if he was going to the bathroom and he said yes... hmmm....

Is it time to start potty training this little boy?!? Oh I don't know if I am ready for it but I feel like he is going to be ready before I am..

Baseball Season

2011-06-14T14:27:00.002-05:00

So, we are in the middle of baseball season and its always a crazy time of year for our family. Brett now coaches the Freshman team so he would not have any night games but that has left his nights open to go watch the Soph and Varsity games. This has really been such a great opportunity for Ayden and Brett to have some time together! Ayden loves going out to the ball diamonds with his dad and 'play baseball' I am amazed some days at his attention span as he actually sits and watches the game. He also gets to play in the hitting nets, ride the tractor with his daddy, go find balls, and eat more junk food than he has ever had in his life! :) There have even been a few nights that Ayden asks to pray for Daddy Coaching. So sweet and it reminds me that Brett's love for coaching is something that blesses our family even if it takes him away from our family a little more than normal!

Well, since baseball games have started Ayden is often found "playing baseball" at home. He loves to slide like Sean and hit like Andrew and Terry on the TV. (Brett LOVES watching NU and CF on channel 15...me not so much...)

This morning Ayden came running out of his room saying "hurt" and holding his forehead. I gave him a kiss and he was back running around. A few minutes later I realized that he actually had a big bump and red mark were I had just kissed. Here is our conversation about his ouchie...

"Ayden what happned to your head?"
"Slide, Sean"
"You slid like Sean. What did you hit?"
"The field"
"Did you hit your head on something in your room?"
"The baseball field"

So, I still do not know what happened to his head but he was pretending to be on the baseball field and slide like Sean... How I love having a little boy!!!!

Counting

2011-06-08T09:02:00.001-05:00

We have been working on counting and learning our colors a lot lately. Well, today Ayden threw all the Tuesday adds on the floor so I asked him to pick them up before we could go outside. While he picked them up I told him we should count them...

So he goes "one, two, one two, three, orange!" And was so proud of himself! :)

Sandbox!!

2011-06-03T13:55:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I was watching the news and heard about a sandbox drive. I have been wanting a sandbox for Ayden but didn't want to buy a plastic one and wasn't sure how to go about building one. So, I was very excited when I saw the clip. The Waterloo Jaycee's Group does it every year. All you do is sign up and they bring a sandbox and two wheelbarrows of sand to your house and set it up for you. All the proceeds go to help children in the area buy gifts for their families around the holidays.

Ayden was so excited when a dump truck pulled up to our house with sand in it and a pick up truck with the sandbox. (This kid loves trucks!!!) Too bad it was a very rainy saturday but we ran from the front window to the back porch to watch them set it up! Since it was rainy we had to wait for the next day to get out all our sand toys and play in it for the first time! Here are some pictures of Ayden loving his sandbox!!! Mom loves it too! He spends hours in it!!!

I Stuck

2011-06-02T15:27:00.001-05:00

The other day Ayden was playing with some toys in the porch while Brett mowed and I was doing something with Ahnie. I heard him yell "Mommy, I stuck!"

I came out to the porch to find this....

And yes, I ran and got the camera before helping him out :)

One Month Old!

2011-06-01T21:27:00.003-05:00

Ahnie turned one month on Saturday! It is amazing how much newborns change in that first month! And how quickly our life went from being normal as a family of 3 to normal as a family of 4. Now, I couldn't imagine life without two kids!

This past month Ahnie has gone from eating every 3 hours, even at night, to eating every 3 hours during the day and now going 4-5 hour stretches at night. She also had a hard time getting back to sleep at night after her feeding. She never had her days and nights confused but she really liked being held. We did spend some nights with her in our bed and she would go 6 hours between feedings but both Brett and I really did not feel comfortable with her in our bed. So we spent her first 2-3 weeks working on getting her back to sleep and in her bed. We started out using our pack and play, then tried using a wedge thing for her to help her feel cozy, then switched to a bassinet. We also have been using a sleep sack with a swaddle wrap. Ayden loved his swaddle me blankets but I think they are too confining for Ahnie. Now she is doing great and we both have a rhythm going at night and we are both back to sleep within a half hour usually.

She is now starting to stay awake more. She usually will be awake for about an hour from the start of her feeding then we play for about 30-45 minutes. She likes to lay under her play gym or on the floor but all her toys are much more exciting when Ayden is playing with her. Ayden loves to play with her and has been great! I will say there have been a few bumps with a rattle or toy but he never tried to do it and feels very bad after. I'm sure she will be one tough cookie growing up with her brother! Ayden loves to shower her with kisses and hugs! He loves to try to giver her a binky, toys or blankets. He has been such a great big brother to her already!!!

At her 2 week apt Ahnie weighed in at 8lbs 11oz and still 21 inches long. On Saturday I tried to weigh her with me on our scale and it said close to 12 lbs. I don't know how accurate that is but her size 1 diapers are getting tight and her 3 month clothes fit perfectly and I will be guessing we will be getting out 6 month clothes in the near future.

Some of Ahnie's likes are her swing, crib, bouncy seat, Ayden, tummy time, laying with daddy, eating, rocking with mommy and being held.

Some things she does not like are diaper changes, her binky sometimes, changing her clothes.

She also had her first bottle on Saturday. She did great and even let me give her a little bit of it!

Ahnie has been a pretty good baby! Ayden was a very easy, go with the flow baby. I feel bad because when anyone asks us how Ahnie has been we always say not as good as her brother was but really she is pretty easy going as well. She really only cries when something is wrong and you usually can quickly figure out what that is and then she quiets down. She has become such a wonderful addition to our family! I am so excited to see Ayden and her continue to play together more and more as the months and years go on! I have also really enjoyed having a girl!! I loved all that came with Ayden being a boy but having a girl has also been just as much fun!!!

Coloring Easter Eggs

2011-05-11T13:45:00.003-05:00

This is a few weeks late but the past few weeks have been a little busy at our house! :)

Good Friday was a busy day for Brett since he points the Student Led Good Friday Service at Naz every year so Ayden and I decided we would color easter eggs before we brought lunch to Daddy at the Church. This was the first year we colored easter eggs and Ayden had a lot of fun! Here are a few of our pictures!

When he saw the egg holder he thought we were blowing bubbles!

When we dropped it in the first color he didn't know where the egg went!

Cheese!

All our colored eggs!

We had to make one for Baby Ahnie!!

Announcing Ahnie Ione Williams

2011-04-29T13:08:00.004-05:00

We are proud to announce that Ahnie Ione arrived yesterday on April 28th at 1:24 in the afternoon. She was 7lbs 14oz and 21 inches long.

We were very blessed with a quick labor! They broke my water at 10:35 and in just under 3 hours we were holding our daughter. I only pushed for 16 minutes! Her blood sugar was a little low right away but after a few feedings and having to suppliment once with formula she has been able to keep that up! We are all doing well! Ayden has come to visit his baby sissy twice and loves saying her name (which he has been saying for a while now but since its a little different nobody picked up on it). He also loves if you ask him if he is a Big Brother!

We have had a lot of questions about where her name came from and how to pronounce it. You say it like 'ah knee'. Brett had a student named Ahnie and he always really liked it. Her middle name is my middle name and I was named after my dad's aunt. It is also Brett's grandma's name. Once I found out we both had an Ione in the family I knew that name would have to be passed on.

We have so much to be thankful for! We love our new family of four!!!

Why I love being 9 months Pregnant!

2011-04-10T13:34:00.002-05:00

There is just something that happens when you are 9 months pregnant....you have extra energy!! But, at our house we always seem to take nesting to the next level! We always end up doing something big around our house.

When I was 9 months pregnant with Ayden we completely gutted our bathroom. We did not have a toilet for weeks and we had to sleep at Brett's parents every night. Luckily by the time Ayden came our bathroom had all the major pluming pieces in place. :)

Now for this time around I have just felt like we have been going non stop! I must say it usually ends up being Brett that is putting in the extra time but I am helping :) We got a dresser painted and ready for the kids. When I asked Brett to carry it in for me he said well shouldn't we get the carpet taken care of first? So we headed out to Flooring Gallery and found a remnant the perfect size for their room (we have been looking for over a month!). So, the kids got new carpet on Friday. Not only did everything need to get moved out of their room but the carpet needed to be torn up. Brett was very busy with work Thursday and got home around 9 and we started working. He was up until 1 AM taking up the carpet and laying our new pad down. Then our garbage disposal stopped working... We have been fighting with our garbage disposal since we moved in over 3 years ago! It has a mind of its own! So, yesterday we decided that its time had come! Brett did lots of researching and after a few trips over to waterloo we got a new garbage disposal! Again, Brett did not get to bed till after 1 AM!

I am so excited to have all these things taken care of, but more excited to have my house in one piece and for Brett to relax a little before our baby comes. This is a busy time of year for him so I am very thankful that he has worked so hard around the house lately along with all the work he does everyday!!

Elmo Takes a Bath

2011-03-27T15:24:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I was making dinner and Brett and Ayden were playing. Then Brett calls for me to go into the bathroom with a laugh in his voice. Ayden has been pretty interested in going "poppy" (potty) so I was unsure what I was going to find. While when I went in there I saw Elmo standing in the toilet. Ayden at this point was in our room and came running over to me. I asked him what "bobo" was doing and all he said with a big smile is "Bobo bath..." :)

One More!

2011-03-11T15:19:00.002-06:00

One of Ayden's newest phrases lately is "one more" and with this he holds up one finger right in front of his nose. It is too cute and he usually gets what he askes for when he does this...I just can't say no to that cute little face!! :) He usually uses this line the most right before bed time. He loves to say "one more hoop" which means he wants to shoot a basket or when we are cuddling on the couch and I tell him its time to go to bed he says "one more"!

What a sweet little boy we have! :)

Balls, Balls, Balls

2011-03-10T14:12:00.003-06:00

Ayden LOVES sports!

I find myself playing, watching, and talking about some type of sport everyday with him. He can point out and say all the names for balls. He spends lots of time with his new basketball hoop! It is usually the first thing he plays with when he gets up and often he asked to do "one more hoop" before he goes to bed. He also loves to have people watch him do this and cheer for him. If you are not watching he will often come up to you and say "watch" then clap or yell until someone else does after he makes it. If he misses he usually yell 'oh man' or 'ahhh'. He has just started to run up to the hoop, bend down and "dribble" the ball then shoot. I think its so cute!!

He also loves to play baseball. He was given a baseball glove when he was born and now puts that around his wrist and then gets his ball and little bat and tries to hit the ball on his own. He used to want help with hitting the ball but it has been fun to watch him start to try things on his own. He also likes to throw it to you and to catch the ball too. He does much better catching the basketball but he does catch little balls sometimes.

When he plays football he now bends over to hike the ball between his legs then runs down the hall. He then turns around for a catch and yells "touchdown"!

He has started to notice when we get on the computer when he is awake and will come and close it so we will play with him. But, sometimes when I am on the computer he will start singing a song he wants me to play and when Brett is on the computer he will tell him the sport he wants to watch. Its usually football (he knows how to get his dad's attentions) and they watch different Hawkeye plays over and over! It is so cute to see them get excited and spend this time together!

What a little sporty toddler we have! I have always said I want active kids but I didn't realize what I was hoping for! Ayden is very busy these days but it is so fun to watch him run around and play so hard! Brett and I both grew up around sports and have enjoyed watching sports together while we dated and now into our marriage. I get excited that Ayden enjoys these things too but I understand that his interests will change over the years. He has such a passion for sports of all kinds now and I just pray that he keeps that passion his whole life no matter what he does!

32 Weeks

2011-03-10T13:57:00.002-06:00

Wow, I can't believe I am at 32 weeks! I must say the second pregnancy has gone pretty slow for me up until this point! The first time around everything is new! You get to register, have baby showers, decorate the room and so on. The second time around I feel pretty prepared as far as all the baby items and the few new things I need or need to replace.

But, here we are 8 weeks away from our due date! Every week that goes by I get more excited to meet our baby girl! With the new week has come lots of the common discomforts. My back all of a sudden started hurting, I am starting to get tired again, its harder to get around and my clothes are starting to get tight... Even the clothes I wore at the very end of my pregnancy with Ayden!! I had expected this to happen but it is never fun when it does!

This next week Ayden and I are tagging along with Brett on his mission trip to God's Mountain in MO. I went along two years ago when I was preggo with Ayden and now back again this year. I pray for safe travels, the relationships we strengthen and the new ones we build with people on the trip, good sleeping conditions, spring weather, and a all around good trip! I am excited to slow down and just enjoy being outside, playing with Ayden and watching Ayden play with some new friends! It will be a great trip! But, when we get home I have told myself its will be time to get everything ready for the baby!! Get everything washed! The crib set up for a newborn again! Rearrange the kids room and ours to make sure everything is ready to go!

We are excited to enjoy the last weeks of a family of 3 but also excited to meet our baby girl and become a family of four!!!

Daydreaming About Our Baby Girl!

2011-02-23T13:41:00.003-06:00

I find myself sitting here feeling our little girl move around (all the time!) and it I am starting to feel her different body parts, her arms/legs, her little feet! I can't help but daydream of what she will look like and the first time I get to hold her! I remember looking at Ayden after he was born and thinking, wow, how did I make such a perfect little baby. Now, I am making another perfect baby! This is truly one of God's amazing miracles! I can't wait to meet her and see what her personality is like! I can't wait to see how Brett is with his daughter! And, I can't wait for Ayden to come to the hospital and meet his baby "sissy" for the first time!

The first time around I was so excited about getting his room ready, and making sure I had all the clothes I needed and making sure my house was clean and ready for life to stop when we brought home our little boy. Now, since the kids will be sharing a room we aren't changing to much and I realize I don't NEED a lot of things for a new baby and I am just focusing on the nacessities till she arrives. Now, I have more time to be excited about this little girl still growing inside me! And, how our life will change when she comes. I know the first child is a major change because life is so different when you have to start thinking about naptime and feedings and where we can go that I can get a stroller around. But, I can't help to wonder how life will be with two kids! How will Brett's and my relationship change again? How will Ayden react to this baby coming into his world? Will he be able to share his Mommy? Will I be able to enjoy the summer with Ayden at the pool and park between feedings?

So many exciting changes to come in about 2 months! I can't wait to see how our family changes and grows in the months to come!

Such A Sweet Boy

2011-02-20T20:39:00.002-06:00

Tonight, while I was getting Ayden ready for bed he kept talking about the baby! When looking at him you could tell he was thinking and all of a sudden he came over and lifted up my shirt and was pointing to the "baby". Then he proceeded to take his binky out and try to stick it in my belly button then he went and got his blanket and covered most of my belly. Then he gave my tummy a hug and a kiss. He is very excited about his baby sissy and I am so excited to see his reaction when he meets her!!

A 1 Year Old's Perfect Weekend!

2011-02-03T13:26:00.004-06:00

A couple weeks ago Ayden and I had a special weekend planned! We headed to the cities when I got off work on Friday. When we got to the cities we met up with my best friend growing up, Ali. It was so great to see her and for her to see Ayden again! I don't think she has seen him for almost a year! She was surprised to see how much he has grown and loved hearing him talk!

We went shopping for a bit at Ikea then headed to the Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America! What a cool place to eat! Ayden loved looking at everything around. We sat in the Elephant area and our table was right next to a big fish tank! Ayden loved it except during the thunderstorms. We spent a lot of time finding the monkeys, birds, elephants, fish and many other animals! He sat so well and let his mommy and her friend sit and catch up! Ali kept saying, wow I can't believe how good he is! I took the complement but reminded her that he had a lot to take in. He isn't always that good when we are out to eat.

Ali, Ayden and Mommy

We then got back in the car and drove to my brother and sister-in-laws house. We got there at about 8 and let the kids stay up and play! This was the first time I really saw Jake and Ayden play together! They were all over and had so much fun! At one point Jake ran upstairs to get some water and Adyen went half way up and started yelling "Madison" (Madi and him like to yell at eachother to come play) I reminded him it was Jake so then he started yelling "Jake!" and Jake ran down stairs. They spent lots of time putting the balls back on the pool table for Bobby and running around the furniture playing tag! What a fun night!

The next morning was the morning I was waiting for for a long time! Sesame Street Live!!! Ayden was going to see the big "Bobo" (Elmo)! We went with Jake and Jen. Both boys really didn't understand what we were going to do but I think they both really enjoyed the show! Ayden loved pointing out each character and Jake liked dancing! The show was about 1.5 hours and Ayden made it a little over an hour. At that point we had lost his binky so we had to go out for the last 10 minutes. Other than that he did great!! I was so happy I was able to take him and we had such a good time together! We also happened to sit a few rows behind my 2nd cousin's family so we were able to catch up with them a little after the show! Small world!

Jake, Ayden and Mommy

Jake Dancing

The show!

Ayden watching the show in his Elmo shirt!!

Well, after all that fun we got back in the car and headed home! Ayden was asleep as soon as we backed out of our parking spot so I decided we would wait to get out of the cities before we ate lunch. I let him sleep for 1.5 hours and had to stop so then we got to eat at McDonalds! (We rarely go there so this was a treat!) After lunch Ayden stayed awake the whole trip! I was so thankful for our new DVD player for the van from Brett's parents! We watched lots of Barney and Bobo!

When we got home we had just enough time to change and back in the car but this time we were with daddy. We went to Luke and Katie's Patterson's Wedding! It was so beautiful and I loved being able to sit back and enjoy the ceremony. Ayden on the other hand did not want to sit. Thankfully Brett took him out and let his run around a bit. When we got to the reception we sat with our good friends the Hoffert's and the Oakland's. We were right by the dance floor so the kids had so much fun running and dancing out there before dinner! I couldn't get any pictures of all the kids so here they all are perfecting their own dance moves :)

Ayden running then falling down!

Jordann spinning!

Madison's One Legged Bear Crawl!

Ayden's splits!
What an awesome weekend Ayden and I had! I was very tired by the end but I could not have asked for a more well behaved boy!!! I know I will remember this weekend for a long time!

What happens when I don't want to nap!

2011-01-31T17:12:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago Ayden and I ran to Walmart before lunch. On our way home he fell asleep so I decided to lay him on the couch so I could make lunch. Well he napped for about 20 minutes and I was for sure he would go back to sleep after lunch! We ate and I laid him down. I knew it might take him a few extra minutes to fall asleep but I knew he was tired. When I went back in to check on him this is what I found!

He had emptied the top bookshelf and half of the bottom shelf along with his whole dresser and some of his blankets! I was not happy!! I snapped this picture from my phone and laid him in his crib while I cleaned it up. It took me almost 30 minutes to pick it all up! Needless to say we did not take a nap that day!

Big Boy Bed

2011-01-28T15:03:00.003-06:00

Ayden is in his new Big Boy Bed!!! I knew I wanted to start the transition before his baby sister arrives but I was thinking a little closer to March before we would actually make the move. Well, Ayden was ready before that (like most things!). Starting in December he started climbing out of his crib. We lowered it to the final height and he still got out! I had friends tell me that kids could break their legs doing this so I decided to make the move to a big boy bed a little sooner.

Right around the time Ayden first climbed out of his bed a family from church had asked us if we were in need of a toddler bed and so we were able to get a used one from them. They also had the sheets that Ayden loved from Target! They have balls all over them!! Ayden and I went to pick up the bed and bedding. When we got home I showed him the sheets and comforter and he would not let me take them off the floor. I laid them out for him to see and every time I tried folding them up or picking them up to wash them he would say "no" or "more"! He loved his bedding and always wanted to play on them!!!

After a few days of him just playing with the sheets we moved in the bed. We put it in the living room for an evening so he could just play on it while Brett moved one last thing in his room. Ayden loved jumping on the bed and kept trying to walk off the bed. I figured we should probably wait a few more days before we attempted to actually put him to sleep in it. We spent those days showing everyone that came over his new big boy bed in his room and talking about his football blanket and reading in his bed.

New Years Eve came and Brett and I were going to be home for the night so we decided that tonight was the night! We let him fall asleep in his crib and when we knew he was asleep we put him in his bed. He did great!!! He woke up once and we put him back in the toddler bed and he went back to sleep. There have been a few nights where we put him back in his crib but for the most part he is totally in his toddler bed! On average he comes and wakes us up once a night but when we take him back to bed he goes right to sleep and we don't hear from him again until morning. Morning has started to get a little earlier this week and he has learned how to come in the living room and turn on the tv!

We are still having some trouble falling asleep at night. Naps are great but at night he has a harder time going to sleep in his bed. Sometimes he sits by the door until he falls asleep and then we carry him to bed!

Ayden loves his bed! His favorite things to do in it is read books and jump on the bed! When Madi comes over they can usually be found at some point jumping on the bed!

Williams Christmas

2011-01-28T14:54:00.002-06:00

We usually spend Christmas Day with Brett's family and this year was no different. We woke up and had a yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast and play with Ayden's new things. After we were all ready we headed over to Brett's parents house. Brett's sister, Kelly and her hubby Mike were already there waiting for us. Right away we opened presents.

Ayden was excited and knew exactly what to do with presents by now since it was his 3rd opportunity to open some, but quickly lots interest. He would open one then run around and we would have to bring him back to open his next present but he was always excited to open more! Some of his favorite things he got was his Hokey Pokey Elmo, his Elmo books and a ride on fire truck!

We spent the rest of the day playing, watching football and eating a great meal of cornish game hens! It was a great and relaxing day! If you ask me its the best way to spend Christmas day!!! (I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures to share)

Christmas Eve

2011-01-25T20:41:00.003-06:00

Over the past few years Brett and I have started some Christmas traditions that we hope to continue through the years as well as add new traditions with our growing family! Christmas Eve is a day that we have together as a family at our house. So every year we have gone to the children's Christmas service and Brett's parents join us. Then they come back to our house for dinner.

After Brett's parents leave for the night we then let Ayden open one gift. Every year we buy him a book about the first christmas. This year we bought Ayden a book called The Christmas Prayer. I really liked it because the little girl goes through and thanks God for the gifts of the first christmas and the gifts are the people involved in the Christmas Story. I think it is great because it helps children understand who and why each person is important in the story. It also has wonderful pictures and is a board book.

We then read the christmas story out of the bible and also Ayden's new book. This year we decided to open all of our presents before bed as well. I was really excited for Ayden to open his choo-choo train because he had been pushing around the wrapped choo choo all week! I was curious if he would still play with it as much once he knew what was in it!

Higgins Christmas

2011-01-18T14:29:00.008-06:00

This year our Christmas celebrations stretched from the weekend before Christmas (celebrating with the Higgins side) until Christmas day (with the Williams) It was nice to get to spend a full day with each family a week apart from each other so we didn't feel pulled to thin.

We started our Christmases off with the Higgins. Due to some car issues we did not get to see my two younger brothers this year and we also didn't get to spend as much time with our nephew or my sister in law as we hoped but we still had a great time when we could be together. Brett had a wrestling tournament so Ayden and I went alone to my parents on Friday night. When we got up Saturday we headed uptown to see Santa! Ayden had seen Santa one other time at the tree farm and was not to sure about him. Still not very excited we tried to get him to sit with Santa. One of my dad's friends said if we could get a picture he would put it in the paper. (I have not heard anything yet...I don't think our pictures were the best). Ayden did give him a fist pound and a high 5 but that is all Santa was going to get.

After Santa we went to go visit my two great aunts. My Aunt Lenore is 98 and living in a nursing home. She had fun giving Ayden cookies and watching him explore her room. She loves cardinals so he always like to find the birds in her room. My other Great Aunt, Johanna, is 100 and still lives on her own. Ayden loves going over there but I always have to be on my toes! She has lots of breakables right at his level and he is getting much quicker! Luckily Aunt Joey has lots of great grandkids and is very understanding!!!

That night my brother and his family finally were able to get down to my parents. They got there at about 7:30 or 8ish. Brett also arrived around the same time. If you know Ayden well this is usually his bed time but he was a trooper! After everyone got dinner we started opening presents! It was fun to see Jacob pass out all the presents again...its always fun to see him try to maneuver the bigger gifts.

This was Ayden's first time opening presents since his birthday. I would say he really has it down now! He was pretty tired so he stayed in one spot and opened each gift! Then, the next morning he was able to play with his new stuff! Brett finally took him up to go to bed at about 10:30 or 11ish. Brett laid him down to put his PJ's on and by the time they were on Ayden was asleep!!!

The following day we went to church together and had a yummy turkey dinner. We were able to let the kids play, let the dad's nap and just relax in the afternoon. We headed home around 3ish.

It was a great time together! It is hard to get my family together especially on holidays since we are so spread out! We missed my two brothers but we are hoping they can come down here soon!

Our Christmas Tree!

2010-12-28T09:32:00.003-06:00

One of my favorite traditions at Christmas time has always been going to pick out the best tree! Up in Duluth we would drive way out in the country and pick trees at a farm that were already cut down. I loved this, I don't know if it was more about the tree or the long drive to the tree farm with my family!

Since Brett and I have been married we have modified the tradition a little for our family. Now we drive to Kris Kringle and cut down our own tree!! I love walking around trying to find the 'perfect' tree. I don't know if you will ever find a perfect real tree but I love looking :) Once you cut it down you throw it on the back of a small tractor and they take it and get it ready for you. While they are doing that we get to go back to the cabin and get some warm apple cider and cookies and sit by the bondfire and even take pictures with Santa.

We did not get a tree last year because the time got away from us so this was the first year we did this with Ayden. He had so much fun running around (without a shoe..we left it at home) and watching/helping Brett cut it down. But, I think his favorite part was watching the tractors drive around!

Ayden helped me decorate the christmas tree and he loved looking at all his ornaments! His ornament from his first christmas had animals on it and a baby picture of himself. All his favorite things! He would make all the sounds and constantly say Baby! He also loved the balls on the tree! He was convinced they should be thrown to Jacoby instead of be on the tree. Needless to say the ornaments and balls quickly were moved to the top of the tree! I am still finding them all around his room as well!

On our way to get our tree! Look at Ayden's feet :)

Watching Daddy!

Look at the TRACTOR!!!

Ayden is not so sure about all the fuss with Santa...

Its Official!

2010-12-13T21:01:00.003-06:00

Its a GIRL!!! Bring on the pink!!

We had a great day today! It started with a late start so I got to spend some extra time with Ayden then only had to go to school for 1 1/2 hours and only have one group. When school was over I came home and had a quite lunch. Normally I pick up Ayden right after work but Brett's parents kept him all afternoon so we could go to our appointment without him. It was nice to come home to a quite house! Then we were off to our appointment!

When we got there we went right in to the ultrasound and it was so fun! I think the second time around was even better! I didn't know what to expect when we had Ayden's ultrasound I knew what we were looking at a little more and it was just neat to see her for the first time! I also feel like we got a few better 3D shots of her face. Then we had our appointment! Quick and easy and everything looked good! Still no idea what we were having :)

When I picked up Ayden we went to Kohl's to buy the boy and girl outfit! I couldn't decided on take home outfits so we went with the little brother/little sister onesies. Then we came home and wrapped both gifts. When Brett got home we bundled up and headed out for a family dinner. And it was time to open the envelope :) I got to do it this time because Brett did it last time. Then Brett opened the present to find a onesie that said "Little Sister"! We are all very excited!!!

I really love the way we find out! I really feel like I was able to enjoy the ultrasound and focus on seeing the baby and watching them make sure she was healthy. Then I felt like we were able to celebrate that our baby was a girl and now in May we will be able to celebrate her when she is born!!! I have always said once I have one of each maybe I would not find out ...we will see...

Boy or Girl?!?!

2010-12-12T20:29:00.002-06:00

Will Ayden have a little Brother or Sister?!?!

We have our ultrasound tomorrow!!! I am so excited to see our baby for the first time and to find out if it will be another boy or if we get to venture into the world of PINK!

We did this a little different with Ayden and we will continue the tradition! We will go to the ultrasound but not have them show us...instead we will have them write it down and we will wait till dinner! Then we are going to go out as a family and find out together.

If you would like I have a poll on the right side of my blog...make your prediction and we will let you know if you are correct tomorrow night!! :)

Indoor Park

2010-12-07T14:32:00.002-06:00

Today, I had a doctors appointment so I had to take the morning off. My appointment went very quickly so I had a chance to take Ayden to the Indoor Park at the Rec! Wow! This was so fun!!! I can't believe how much fun he had! The 'park' is set up in the gym and has lots of slides, climbing toys, Little Tikes Playhouse and castle and a blow up jumping castle. The other side has tons of riding toys!!! Its a toddlers dream place in the winter!!! We went with Emily, Madison and Eliott and our friend Ashleigh was there with Denver! They all had so much fun playing together!

The best part was this blow up castle! Ayden and Madi LOVE jumping in their cribs and singing 'No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed". They played this for at least 20 mins. Then they found out there was a slide attached and then did the slide for at least another 10 minutes! At one point Madi would find a toy that she was having fun with and yell "Ayden"! I just felt like they were big kids playing together! I can't believe how big my little boy is getting and I love every minute of it!

I wish I had every Tuesday and Thursday morning off so I could take Ayden! After being sick for 2 weeks it was so much fun to be out with friends and watching Ayden play so hard and have so much fun!!!

So, if you have not checked out the Indoor Park at the Rec you NEED to! Its $2.50(for babies 9 month and up) a time and it is every Tuesday and Thursday from 9am to 2pm. What a FUN morning!!!!

Shutterfly

2010-12-07T12:46:00.003-06:00

Have you ever used Shutterfly? I love their site especially this time of year! I always use their site to make our Christmas Cards!

The more and more I use the site I love it even more. I just recently started making a photo book for Ayden's first year and it was so easy to get my pictures because you can get pictures from your Facebook account! I know I always put my best pictures up on facebook! Doesn't get any easier than that!!! I am also looking forward to making my first family calendar from our last year!

My plan for this afternoon is to make my Christmas Card and I love that I can pick it up at a local store in no time!!

Here are a few of my favorite Christmas Cards they have this year!!!

Pretty Poinsettia

To See Pretty Poinsettia Click Here

Family Wall Red

To see Family Wall Red Click Here

Peppermint Gift Wrap

To see Peppermint Gift Wrap Click Here

You might have read this on other blogs already, but in case not: Shutterfly is giving bloggers 50 FREE Christmas Cards from Shutterfly-learn more here...click here.

I hope you are enjoying this Christmas Season!!

Update on Ayden

2010-12-06T13:46:00.003-06:00

Ayden is getting so big and his personality comes out more and more each day! He brings us so much joy and laughter every day! Just yesterday after his bath he played in the bathroom in front of the mirror for 1/2 an hour. He was 'singing' and dancing and trying to jump! I just sat back and laughed!!!

Ayden has really started talking up a storm! Some of the words you hear often are
"nack" for snack
"dr" for drink
"ea" for eat along with the sign language
"elp" for help with sign language
ball
"fball" for football
"baball" for basketball
"Tadown" for touchdown with actions
Boo
"Hi" for Hide
"Bobo" for Elmo
"Wa er" for water
What
What's that!
Mom
"Dada" or "Dadee" for Dad
"Bebe" for Binky and once he has his binky it also means blanket
Baby and either points to my tummy or his
"Ti Ti" for tickle

Ayden also is very active! He can run rather quickly now. We went to the Tiger Basketball game on Friday night and during half time I thought I would let him run around well there was a basketball under the hoop and he quickly said ball and was off...by the time I got him he was right under the hoop and it was shoot around for the team... He also loves to climb on the couch. We got him a step stool so he would stop climbing on his toys. This has given him just enough height to get on the couch. We just moved the couch in front of the bay window (I thought he would like to watch the school bus and garbage truck) I didn't think he would like to climb over the couch and make the bay window a stage where he could dance :) He learned this while I was at work while Brett was home getting lunch. I am trying to teach him we don't do that but sometimes its just to funny to say no :)

He loves to play hide and seek. If you run into another room he will run after you to find you. He loves to yell boo! Its so fun for to watch him play hide and seek with his friends! I would say this is his first really game he plays!

He now can eat with a spoon with quite a bit of accuracy and is starting to understand how to use a fork. But when he is done he still picks up either his bowl or plate to slurp the rest. :) Oh he makes me laugh! He also has learned how to follow directions. I sometimes give him a snack in the living room and when he is almost done he will dump out his bowl. I ask him to pick it up and put it in the bowl and he will. It might take 5 minutes but he is following directions he is just not the quickest. I try to make him do it rather than pick it up quickly for him so he will learn. He also has to pick up his plate and cup after dinner if he throws it on the floor.

We all just had a round of the flu. This was the first time he threw up. I had been rather sick and poor Brett was taking care of me and all of a sudden at 11 Ayden wakes up and was screaming then Brett heard a funny noise and more crying. Yep he had what I had. But after he was so hyper Brett had to put him in my room so I could keep an eye on him while I was laying down so Brett could clean the floor. I wish it could go through adults as quickly as it did Ayden. Although he was over the throwing up he was sick for about 2 weeks off and on. I think he is finally feeling better and gets to have some friends over tonight and we are all excited to play with friends again!!

Well I think that is some of Ayden's newest things! He amazes me with what he knows everyday! He is like a sponge and will show me so many new things all the time! I just love watching him learn!!! We are so proud of our little boy!!

Now on for the baby! We are 19 weeks today! I have my ultrasound next Monday! We are very excited to find out what we are having! What do you think? Boy or Girl? Also, today I was at my desk at work and felt the baby moving. I felt my stomach and I could actually feel it from the outside! I don't remember this happening so early with Ayden. I forgot how cool that feeling is!!! I just wish Brett could have felt it. I remember how excited he was when he felt Ayden for the first time!

Just Like Daddy!

2010-11-06T09:35:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago Ayden and I were outside playing while Brett was taking care of all the leaves. After a little while of playing with his toys Ayden went over and found this plastic rod that goes to a yard game and started walking around running one end through all the leaves... He loves to walk around with anything that looks like a stick or bat so didn't think anything of it until he was right next to Brett doing this. Brett uses a leaf vac to suck up all the leaves and holds it under his arm just like Ayden was holding this rod thing... I stopped Brett and was like do you think he is trying to do what you are doing? While we were talking he continued to walk from leaf pile to leaf pile.

It was so cute seeing him act like his dad! I was surprised to see it come out so early but it shows he is watching what we are doing! So cute and I wish I would have gotten a picture of my two boys cleaning up the yard!

"Bobo"

2010-10-25T21:32:00.003-05:00

Ayden has really started talking a lot more these days. One of his latest words is "Bobo" (Elmo). He learned this word on our way to Chicago in the beginning of Oct. We borrowed our friends DVD player to help with Ayden on the long car ride and he LOVES to watch Elmo. For a while after our trip every time we got into the van he would say "bobo"

We recently have been hearing bobo a lot again! I have been using target brand diapers for awhile now but I felt they were getting a little tight but not quite small enough for the bigger size... So I bought a box of pampers diapers to see if they would fit better while we were between sizes. While, Ayden does not like to get his diaper changed so we started showing him that Elmo was on his diapers...NOW we are back to target diapers and every time we go to change his diaper he yells "bobo" "bobo"!! I should have saved just one diaper for him to look at while I change him with the other ones! :) Is it worth the extra 5 cents a diaper so Ayden will sit quitely and find Elmo while I change him? It is pretty cute to watch him lift his belly so he can find Elmo on his diaper!!! :)

Ayden's Pumpkin!

2010-10-19T19:34:00.003-05:00

We are very excited to announce Ayden is going to be a Big Brother sometime around May 2nd!!!

A Prayer Request

2010-10-03T09:46:00.002-05:00

I am posting this for my cousin Julia's Family! She has always been someone I look up to as a woman, wife, mother, teacher and Christ follower. Every doll I owned was name Julie after her! I believe I became a teacher because Julia was a teacher. I was in her wedding and her oldest daughter was our flower girl. With all that said, she is now in a time of need and I am here in Iowa and she lives in North Carolina. It has been very hard to be so far away from her and I keep racking my brain on what I can do for her. All I can think of is PRAY! And, what is better than one person praying...Lots of people praying! So I am asking you to pray for her family. Here is what has been going on...

On September 1st she was blessed with her 3rd child, Zachary. He was born healthy and everything went great! On October 1st in the middle of the night they took him to the hospital because he was having a hard time breathing. When they got there his heart was racing and they admitted him to the PICU. He has been there ever since. They have run every test and have not been able to figure out what is wrong. They are treating him for infection. Here is what Julia posted yesterday morning.

"Zachary is still in critical but stable condition in picu. Heart, liver, spinal tests but nothing conclusive yet to explain his system shut down. Treating for infection. Our precious baby is a gift from God and we are praying for healing so we can keep our little boy. Please continue to pray_ we are so grateful for your prayers and offers to help. Expect to be here a long time so will reach out when we can"

We ask for prayers for healing of Zachary, Peace and Strength for Julia, Brian and their daughters Ava and Hannah. And wisdom for the doctors.

THANK YOU!

Just Blame the Dog :)

2010-09-21T21:58:00.002-05:00

Tonight I went into the other room to get different clothes for Ayden to change into. Before I left the room I looked around to make sure there wasn't anything he could get into since I usually don't leave him in the kitchen/porch alone very often. While, it looked like everything would be fine until I came back... When I came back Ayden was standing on the futon on the porch and was looking out the window jumping. I said "Hey how did you get up there?!" He quickly turned around and pointed at Jacoby! HAHA!!

Tiger Football

2010-09-10T20:33:00.003-05:00

Tonight was Ayden's first experience at the Dome for a Cedar Falls Football game. We went a few times last year but he was still pretty little. I was a little nervous taking him and was prepared to only stay for 15 minutes since he is usually ALL over the place!

I WAS SO WRONG!!! We ended up staying for the whole sophomore game! (my hubby loves Tiger football and goes to the soph and varsity game every week!) Ayden was so cute! I wish I had my camera! As soon as we walked in the dome he started clapping! He LOVES watching sports. He would just stand between Brett and I and yell "go, go, go!" and clap! Every once in a while he will yell "T Down" (touch down).

It was so fun to see Ayden enjoying something that Brett enjoys so much! Maybe I will go back to having my Friday nights free and the boys at the football game again. :) Well we might be a few years away from that I am excited to go to another tiger football game with Ayden and Brett!

Disc Golf

2010-09-07T14:36:00.002-05:00

For Father's Day this past June Ayden and I got Brett some disc's for disc golf. Brett likes to go out and play with high school kids and once you have the disc's it is free to play! Brett has really started to enjoy playing this summer!

Ayden and I have been able to go with him a few times this summer. It is a fun date night and Ayden loves to just ride a long! We went a few weeks ago and I got some pretty cute pictures of Ayden! He loves to hold on to the disc's for us and ride in his wagon. This time we went out he was a little restless by the end of the 9 holes so we let him walk with us! I love nights like this when we can hang out as a family!!!

13 months

2010-08-27T21:37:00.003-05:00

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!

2010-08-20T14:03:00.002-05:00

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!

2010-08-19T15:16:00.003-05:00

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!

2010-08-17T13:36:00.002-05:00

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!

2010-08-06T14:29:00.003-05:00

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!!!

2010-08-05T15:28:00.003-05:00

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 :)

2010-08-02T09:37:00.002-05:00

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! :)

Ayden's First Year in Pictures!!

2010-07-27T20:32:00.007-05:00

One year ago today we welcomed Ayden into our lives!!! It was such an amazing day for both Brett and I. I can't believe that it was a year ago but I also feel like Ayden has always been a part of our lives. We have loved watching him grow and see his personality develop! He has taught us a lot about becoming parents as well as how to be a family! He brings so much joy, love and laughter to our lives! I couldn't imagine our life without him! Here are some of my favorite pictures from our last year at the Williams house!!!

Ayden's First Birthday Party!

2010-07-25T10:00:00.005-05:00

Saturday we celebrated Ayden's First Birthday! We had great weather and the party went awesome!!! We did it at 11 because he usually wakes up from his morning nap then and I knew it would be a good time for him. Also, Brett left on Caravan Saturday night so we needed to do it early enough that he would have time to get himself ready to go after the party! We will miss Brett on Ayden's actual birthday but we had a great time celebrating yesterday and we know how important Caravan is for the kids going on it!

We started the day out just play. Brett and I got Ayden a water table for his birthday. I put it together earlier in the week and it was sitting in our garage...the first few times Ayden saw it he would get a big smile on his face and try to get down to play with it. We never let him play until his party. He loved it until he used one of the cups to pour it on his own head. He did this twice and both times he screamed! It was so funny!!! He warmed back up to the water table at the end of the party.

Then we ate. Ayden loves to eat but Brett was getting nervous that Ayden wouldn't be hungry for his cake if we let him eat everything on his plate so he took his fruit away so he would save some room. I don't think we will be making that a habit!

After lunch we open presents. He did better at opening presents yesterday than he did at Christmas but still didn't get to excited. He would have been happy with one present. On our way to drop Brett off we were talking and I asked Ayden if he wanted daddy to bring home a present for him and Ayden put his arms up and signed 'Hurray!' So maybe now he knows what the word present means! :)

Once we opened all the presents we did cake! I really wanted to make a fun cake for his birthday so after I found the invitations that said '1st Birthday All Star' I decided to do a baseball theme since we have been to watch Daddy coach baseball so much this summer! I found the recipe on the Kraft website and went with it. I was very impressed with myself when I finished it! I decided I will hopefully be able to make fun cakes each year for Ayden's birthday! So by Brett request Ayden got to eat the glove and everyone else got a baseball cupcake! Ayden wasn't to sure about what to do with a big cake in front of him but with a little help from Daddy he figured out that he could eat it and it was pretty good and messy!!!

What a great first birthday! I hope Ayden had a great day! I know we did as parents (they say the first birthday is more for the parents than the kids so if that is the case I would say it was a success!!) This past year has really been a learning year for Brett and I as parents but also we have learned a lot more about each other as well! Ayden has brought us so much joy this past year and I cant wait to see what else we have in store in the years to come :)

Bye Bye Bottle

2010-07-22T15:39:00.002-05:00

Today I packed up all Ayden's bottles. He has really been ready to be done with bottles since he was about 10 months old. I never knew some baby's would stop liking their bottles that early. But we have a boy that does not like to stop moving long enough to drink his bottle so sippy cups have been the way to go. We kept the morning bottle and the evening bottle and now that we are offically done with formula I decided that it was a good time to put the bottles away! I will not miss washing bottles everyday but I will miss that little time that I get to hold my baby!! I think this will be a bigger thing for me to get used to than for Ayden... I guess I will just have to start reading lots of books before bedtime so I can get my cuddle time :)

My baby is growing up and I am not completely ready for it....

Daddy is So Fun!

2010-07-21T10:18:00.003-05:00

Here is a video of Brett's newest trick with Ayden. It made me nervous the first few times he did it. But Ayden gets so excited when Brett picks him up and starts counting! Ayden also loves watching it on the computer! He keeps signing 'please' when it is over!

Big Splash!

2010-06-30T10:41:00.002-05:00

This is Ayden in the bath the other night! He was cracking me up! The bathroom was wet everywhere when we were done! He loves the bath and loves to splash!! When you ask him if he wants to take a bath he gets a big smile on his face and starts to wave his hands like he is splashing! (ignore my voice :))

Ayden's First Steps

2010-06-29T08:34:00.004-05:00

Just yesterday Ayden started to take steps on his own around the house. His record is 5 steps. I decided to try to get it on video this morning. Brett is at baseball so I was on my own so they are not the best.

11 Months Old!!!

2010-06-28T21:09:00.003-05:00

One year ago I looked like this...

It is so amazing how much difference a year can make!!!

This past month has been a fun one! In the past month we had to adjust to not having two great girls over everyday! Cedar Falls school got out in early June so we had to say good bye to our friends Ellie and Jordann who spent every day with us. I miss how Ayden would get so excited when we would hear them at our door! He would light up and crawl quickly to the door! We really miss our friends!

We were able to take a mini vacation with our friends the Hoffert's to Omaha! I would recommend this trip to anyone with small kids! Emily and I took the kiddos to the Children's Museum and it was amazing! The boys went to the College World Series. The kids had sooo much fun! I have never been in such a cool place and even Ayden, who was only crawling, could enjoy!! The next day, which was fathers day, we went to the Omaha Zoo! What a great day to spend with Brett!!! It lightly rained the whole day but this zoo was great! Most of their exhibits were inside and outside so we were able to see all the animals we were hoping to see! Ayden's favorite were the loud monkeys and the sharks and fish. Again, this was an amazing trip that I would do again any day!!!

Ayden has been working on his balance this month. Last week at Brett's softball game he kept letting go of the fence or bleachers and would clap for the longest time. It was so cute and I was so impressed by his balance! He is getting so close to walking! I am not sure if I am ready for a walker but I think he is pretty close! His record is 5 steps by himself!

This month he also stopped taking his daytime bottles. He will drink his morning bottle and his bedtime bottle but will not take one during the day. We have been trying to put his formula in his sippy cup but that is hit or miss. Any advice on this one mamas?

Lastly, this month he has really loved when we sing to him! His favorite songs are "If Your Happy and You Know It" and "Baby Bumblebee". We sing these while we change his diaper and it has really helped him lay still and not roll over! He likes these two songs because he loves to clap and sign hurray! He has also learned how to sign 'all done', 'more' and, 'please! I would recommend baby sign language to any one! It has really cut down on the yells while he is in his high chair! He loves to yell when he wants more and now when he does that we just ask him 'What would you like Ayden' and usually he can tell us.

Boys Play with Make Up Too!

2010-06-22T08:33:00.002-05:00

This morning Brett let me sleep in a little but when Brett brought Ayden in to see me he had purple eye shadow all around his mouth! Yesterday he dumped out my make up bag while I was unpacking and I guess I didn't get it all picked up. Oh what fun it is to have a little boy who gets into everything! I will be cleaning up the purple spots on our carpet during his nap :)

Sorry no pictures Brett washed him up before I thought of it!