Saturday, April 26, 2008

Aiden and Brennan Day

As Nick and Brandy try to get their house ready to sell, we offered to take Brennan for the day so they didn't have any distractions or responsibilities.

Brandy and Grandpa Bev dropped Brennan off in the morning, Brennan hardly noticed that Mommy and Grandma left. Luckily the massive amount of toys was a good distraction.

After getting Brennan settled in, we got the boys ready to head to a play date next door at Daniel's house.

Brennan fit in at the play date perfectly, especially since he is the same age as Daniel and James.

With five VERY active and excited boys, it was an interesting morning.

After the play date, we headed back to our house to bake a cake with the boys as chefs. After getting the cake in the oven then it was time to go down for nap. That was a bit of a challenge, I'm not used to trying to manage two toddlers for naptime...my one is typically enough work as it is.

Brennan did a great job settling down, Aiden was a little hyped up and took longer to go down.

After nap, the boys got to decorate their cake AND eat it! Thank goodness most of the cake ended up ON them instead of IN them.

After cake time, the boys played with Aiden's massive amount of toys for a while then I decided it would be good to get them out of the house again. So we headed off to the mall to utilize the indoor play area. Not sure that was the best idea. The play area was a mad house! There were mostly big kids running around the play area and that was a bit intimating to my two little one's.

Brennan stuck closely to Aiden and when Aiden would run off, then Brennan would run back to Nate or myself and hung out standing between our legs watching for Aiden.

After exerting some energy it was time to eat something. Cake just doesn't "cut it" for a meal. The boys were wired now and getting them to sit down and eat was a challenge but they did eat quite a bit.

So our day came to an end with the two toddlers and it was time to bring Brennan back to his parents.

We had an excellent day and I'm so glad the boys had a chance to hang out, which doesn't happen often enough.


Side note: Even better...Auntie Caly came home to us! After three months in Mexico, it was not fun for her to show up on a cold day - but she'll survive as all we Minnesotan do somehow.



Sunday, April 20, 2008

Tahllia's Sweet Sixteen

I have to say...I use the word "Sweet" lightly with our precious T...just kidding babe!

I can't believe we celebrated two milestone birthdays in one week and they are father and daughter!

I think Mark was overjoyed at being around to celebrate his daughter's next phase in life...driving privileges. This is when we're glad she doesn't live close, less to fear when driving around town.

I do think Mark had a fun time putting together the party for his little girl and being their to shower her with gifts.

It was a great celebration!

Happy Birthday Tahllia!



Oak Hill Park

We spent a few hours with Nick, Brandy and Brennan this afternoon. It was nice to get the boys outdoors and fresh air.

I can't believe how brave the boys were...they climbed to the top of the tallest slide and went down with no worries.

They ran around the playground having a great time!

One of the few spring days we'll felt this year.


After a nice time outdoors, we went to grab something to eat...where the boys continued to be quite the entertainment.

What a great afternoon!



Wednesday, April 16, 2008

New Car...

But not for Mommy and Daddy...for Aiden.

Once again, Gramma is spoiling Aiden and showed up for dinner with a new toy...a car to ride around and it looks like a hybrid - go green! Really nice with better weather 'hopefully' around the corner, but for now it sits indoors so he can actually use it.

I love that it sits up against the wall nicely.

Biking Riding

Well...for Aiden it's more like trailer riding.

We bought a bike trailer last year and Aiden wasn't a fan of it. He seems to do better riding it in this year, we're still working on making helmet wearing a fun thing. He doesn't always love it. What he does love is that Daddy takes him to different parks to play on while riding around. The advantage of living in the city.

Maybe next summer Aiden will have his own bike.


Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Go fly a kite!

It was quite windy out, so we decided to try flying a kite.

Well, it was actually TOO windy out and one not-so-patient little boy wasn't focused enough to wait until Daddy could get the kite in the air. Aiden really just wanted to play on the playground and wasn't too interested in kite flying.

So after a while, Daddy decided to join Aiden at the playground and they had a great time swinging and climbing.

Daddy was successful in teaching Aiden to use the climbing wall, which Mommy has not been able to do in the several trips to the playground. Aiden loves to climb!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Doctor Visit

We had a check up with Dr. Anderson today. He wanted to make sure Aiden's RAD (Reactive Airway Disease) wasn't causing any problems and with Aiden's last lead test showing a bump higher on the scale, they wanted to make sure it didn't continue to go up.

First, the nurse tried to convince Aiden to stand on the scale - which didn't happen. So instead (since he's still not 30 lbs), he got to sit in the infant scale to be weighed. A whopping 28.7 lbs, I feel like we'll never see 30 lbs...but I'm ok with that since I still carry him quite a bit.

Then we met with Dr. Anderson to go over information on the RAD, which has not been a issue since January. Even with a few colds/flu since then, we haven't had to nebulize Aiden. Knowing I have a very active boy on my hands, I really don't want him to have difficulty breathing when he wants to play and have fun. And also because Aiden's gaggle of uncles want him to play hockey. Even volunteered to pay for the equipment, we'll see if that holds up :)

After our discussion on RAD and quick exam, we set off for the lab to get a blood test. I was dreading this part most because Nate ended up working and wasn't able to make the appointment. Nate is always best with Aiden for these kinds of things...and Aiden does best with Daddy too.

I have to say, Aiden did an absolutely amazing job! No crying, watched the nurse poke his finger and watched very curiously as she filled the tube with his blood. He was very proud of the big bandage the nurse had to put on his finger (he's a bleeder) and he couldn't wait to show daddy.

I'm so glad I specifically asked that they poke the finger versus doing an arm draw. The first time they did the arm and it took both Nate and I to hold him down. The second time they did the finger poke and it went so much better!

We hope the RAD doesn't cause problems this summer as Aiden gets to be more active and the lead test comes back at a safe level.

Aiden is doing good so far!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Uncle Mark's (40th) Birthday

We all came together to celebrate a milestone birthday for Uncle Mark... turning 29... again...

We won't mention how old in public. Nobody is allowed to say anything, especially his "almost" 16 year daughter :)

Aiden was happy to help Uncle Mark blow out his SEVERAL candles.


Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Family Time

There are some evenings that we all hop into mom and dad's bed to put Aiden to sleep for the night. It's so nice to cuddle together in the darkness and rest while Aiden drifts off to sleep sandwiched between his parents.

I know Aiden is going to grow up and not want anything to do with us for awhile...remembering these moments will carry me through those times.

And it helps that Aiden falls asleep the fastest this way :)