Aidan's Recent Moves...

Claire's Nursery

Pictures from Claire's sweet little nursery....its completely done now! Ready for her arrival with itty bitty pink girly clothes all washed and waiting in the drawers. Occasionally a firetruck or dinosaur does make its way into the room, however.... ;)


I got my chandelier! I always said if I had a little girl I wanted a chandelier in her room...


Lavender was my color of choice, but all I saw was pink bedding everywhere! So my darling and talented cousin Julie made basically everything you see. The quilt, bumper, crib skirt, and letters.


We lined the drawer windows with extra fabric...


Up close of the sweet butterfly mobile. I actually took apart Aidan's old mobile and bought the butterflies and ribbon to make this since I couldn't find one I liked.


The curtain was my first attempt at sewing anything at all. Under the careful instruction of my sewing teacher, it turned out great! :)

Aidan at 17 months

At 17 months, Aidan has no idea what's in store for him with a little sister arriving next month. Yes, when we ask him where the baby is, he will run up and touch my belly, and he can point out a baby in a magazine or book....but as far as really understanding how life will change? He is in for some big (and good) surprises!! (As a side note...we are almost ready for little Claire to arrive. Nearly all of the Baby To Do list is complete, including all of those meals! )

Warning: the rest of this post contains some excessive parental bragging!

Our little guy is getting so big so fast! Just this month, we started "quizzing" him on household objects and toys, and were surprised that he really knew A LOT of them. Just from me naming things over and over as we go about our day, he's picked up on so much....just a few - wall, door, kitchen objects (such as...spoon, cup, plate, fork), food items (most fruits and vegetables and staples in his diet he knows), toys (barn, hockey stick, hockey puck, car, truck, bus, ballon, ambulance, dumptruck, firetruck, dinosaur, train), Baby Einstein (which is the tv), etc.

He knows nearly every animal in his animal books and can point to the correct one when asked (thanks to reading them 10 times each per sitting!)....pig, cow, dog, cat, elephant, bird, mouse, dolphin, fish, hippo, frog, turtle, tiger, bear, lamb, rooster, hen, butterfly, zebra, giraffe, duck, sheep, goat, donkey, seal, monkey, cheetah, parrot, deer, owl, bunny, and probably more that I can't think of!

He knows most body parts....hair, ears, and belly were learned long ago, but just last week I started asking him other parts and was surprised that...he just KNEW them. They're little sponges at this age! So, he knows hair, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, eyes (he blinks again and again when asked where his eyes are), hands, feet, legs, and neck.

Aidan can follow simple commands - like "Go get your shoes!" or "Get your juice (or milk) cup." He definitely understands "Go get a book," "Lets go outside," "Its bathtime," and "Time to eat" which means run to the highchair. Pretty much any object he knows he will go and get if we ask him. He sometimes struggles with "Come here, Aidan"....its selective hearing starting early so we're focused on obedience in this area right now.

Will taught him to do a somersault a few weeks ago, so when he hears "Do a somersault," he will immediately do one without regard for spacial dimensions around him. We have learned to be careful when we say the word after he tried to do one off the fireplace a few days ago and in the middle of the street.

Also, he's learned to do the sign for "please." So, instead of him fussing when he drops something or wants something, he's starting to point and then rub his little chubby fist across his chest. So cute. I want to eat him up. Every bit of him!! Love that little guy!!! He's such a happy little guy!

A glimpse of life with two?

Will found this picture somewhere on the internet, and we were laughing so hard...could things like this be a preview of things to come?

Tonight's Dinner

I'm quite sure this was the messiest dinner yet. The picture doesn't show the lasagna on the side of his face and in his hair. But it was there. And on the floor. And everywhere.

Week of Vacation

Last week Will took the week off, which is the first time off he's taken time in quite a few months. We had planned to go to the coast to visit family and the beach, but with Aidan getting a virus, we ended up with a last minute stay-cation. It ended up being some great family time, something that has been scarce in recent weeks with Will's current workload.

We spent lots of time relaxing and doing local things together as a family. We also spent some time getting the house ready for the baby, and I made several meals to freeze. Most of the week was spent just enjoying being together. Here are some pictures captured via our iphones, as our camera is broken and completely out of commission.

Post-pool mohawk after a quick dip



Will was finally able to make a trip with us to the Splashpad in Kannapolis to see our little guy in action. Aidan was terrified the first time he went here and wouldn't get near any of the water. Each time he has warmed more and more up. This trip he finally seemed completely acclimated.


Sweet little belly!




Whenever the train would come by, all the little kids would run up to the fence waving and pointing...

The conductor would wave back...

Family pic on the train ride



The Lazy Five Ranch was another day's activity. It was a hit, though I think Aidan will enjoy it more and more as he gets older. He didn't really understand what we were doing, but he definitely recognized some of the more well-known animals from his animal books.


Will feeding the emu. Can you tell he looks nervous?


Now check out this picture from our first visit to the Lazy 5 Ranch, in 2005. See any similarities?


Big animals...

Bison-type thing


5,000 pound vegetarian rhino


The giraffes were NOT going to take my bucket.



Me and my boy!


The nasty things that swung mud all over our little wagon load full of people when they swished their mud covered tails around. Eugh. Gross. I could never see them again and be happy.



Towards the end of the week, we went to visit Carl and Cynthia, and had such a nice visit with them after a scrumptious dinner. Aidan enjoyed the box for most of the evening.


The week ended with some yummy grenadas, handmade by Aletha, at the Arkley's. You can't beat good food with great friends!

The Last Month or So

Here is the last month or so, in pictures...

Aidan tried playdough for the first time. Notice the good the newspaper (visible if you squint really hard and look several feet behind Aidan) is doing to keep it off the hardwoods.



Uncle Eric reading to Aidan about dinosaurs in Raleigh.


Cereal with milk for the first time...


I love my trucks!!


Our ridiculous tomato plant. Look at it, its HUGE. Yet, its only yielded four measly tomatoes all year. Meanwhile, our neighbors have this little scrawny tomato plant that never has fewer than 10 tomatoes blooming at a time.


My parents brought back a huge bag of apples from the apple festival in the mountains. Aidan picked one up whole and started munching away. Its all he would eat for dinner.


He was quite pleased (see background) when I took it momentarily to photograph the intricate nibble pattern (see foreground).


Relaxing after a long, hard day.


On a ride to break up the shopping trip


Grocery shopping with sweet cousin Parker. Would you ever guess they are less than two months apart? Aidan is so tall...its the Bridenstine genes I suppose.


Courtesy of Firehouse Subs...