Christmas in July at Jellystone

About a month and a half ago I was over at the Sweeney household and Jessica was telling me about this awesome place she found online to have a little mini vacation. After explaining all the details to me I went home that evening and checked it out and it looked awesome. Turns out I was SO RIGHT!!!!

We headed down to Jellystone on Friday stopping for lunch along the way. We got there around 2:00 and checked in to our cabins. The Sweeney's got one and we got our own. They were close to each other which made everything very convenient. For those of you who know nothing about this campground...it's really great! There is a fishing pond, putt putt, a huge waterslide, two pools, a big playground, laser tag, and these really cool bouncing pillows (Aiden's favorite thing). This particular weekend was also Christmas in July. Santa was there to hand out presents to all the good boys and girls. Of course Aiden began to cry the minute Santa stepped into the room. So much in fact that I had to remove him from the scene. Nat Nat (what Aiden calls Natalie) was very upset by Santa's presence as well. Needless to say, Santa was sort of a bust, but the kids got some cute gifts (compliments of mom and dad) and apart from this they all had a really great time. Most of our time was spent at the playground and the bouncing pillows. There was a sand pit around the pillows and that's where Aiden spent most of his time. He did bounce quite a bit too.

At night, we put all the kiddies down together in the Sweeney cabin and the adults sat around the camp fire, roasting marshmallows and enjoying some adult beverages!! We all truly had a great time. We only needed one more whole day to make the trip better. Next time we'll have to stay three nights!!

Enjoy the pics!

Grammy's Visit

October 2008.....this is the last time I saw my mom. That's WAY too long if you ask me, but due to circumstances beyond our control we couldn't make it happen any sooner. She came for a week. Last time she saw Aiden he was just crawling around and now he's walking, running, babbling, AND SAYING NO ;(

We had the best time with her. We did a lot of relaxing in the back yard and on Friday before the 4th, we had a little birthday party for Aiden and Teagahn. Mom missed Aiden's first birthday and she isn't going to be here for T's so we decided to have a little party for both of them while she was here. We had some friends over and cooked out and Aiden and T got to open some gifts and have some cake! We had a great time.

We did a lot of swimming and Danielle and T hung out almost everyday. Aiden LOVES his cousing T. They are so funny together and they are growing closer and closer everyday.

I miss mom tons already. Aiden loves his grammy and I can't wait until October when we will be able to see her again. Until then we will spend lots of time on Skype talking to Grammy & Grampy James!

Wonderful Weekends!

This weekend was another GREAT and BUSY one. Friday, my sis and I got together and walked in the park again. Then she came over and we took the kiddies to the pool. They had a great time splashing and playing together (they really do love each other so much).

Saturday morning was Aiden's show for the Winchester Little Gym. It's been a wonderful session with the WLG and we have thoroughly (and I streess WE) enjoyed each Saturday with Miss Laura. Aiden has learned so many things there and he's met so many friends. Aiden's grandparents came out to watch all the cool things that he learned. Saturday afternoon we headed over to celebrate another of my friends 30th birthday.

Sunday we went out to my dad's house for a BBQ. We don't get to see him THAT often so when we do it's so special. Aiden played on the slip n slide and my dad has this great playground! Aiden and I had such a great time!

The time is flying by so fast...before we know it, it will be Christmas again...YIKES!!

Here are some pics of us swimming!!

Show week at the WLG!! Way to go Aiden!

The Cheerios Book

Have you seen these books? They are really quite AWESOME. On each page there are items missing and your child can fill in the missing items with cheerios. For example...on the first page, similar to the cover, there are several cars and one of the cars is missing it's tires. You fill in the tires w/ the cheerios. It teaches sensory, fine motor, cognitive, and verbal skills, plus.

Plus it's a FUN and YUMMY time!

I originally bought this book for Aiden as a birthday present but being the forgetful mommy that I can sometimes be I totally forgot to give it to him. Yesterday, while cleaning out his closet, I found it and gave it to him. Once he spotted it his eyes lit up. As he turned the pages be would try to pull the picture of the cheerios on page. Frustration set in quickly as he continued to fail over and over again. I decided it best if I just give him his own real cheerios.

From that point on he sat on the ground, happy with his handful of cheerios and his cheerios book!

An Amused Aiden

So yesterday, Aiden kept himself amused in the most interesting ways. For example, first, I look over in the kitchen and he's taken several jars of baby food from his cabinet and he's rolling them around the floor all while cracking up every time one rolls away from him. It was just hysterical.

Then later on, I look over and he sitting at the baby gate pokinig his fingers through the holes and each time he does this, again, he cracks up at himself. What a goofball. It's definitely a better mood than he's been in lately. He's cutting two upper back teeth so he's been a little crabby.

He's not so crabby here....amusing himself some more with his cool shades!

A little later in the evening he continued to keep himself amused...what a silly boy.

The Jungle Floor

Ok, so back when Aiden was in the womb and I was running around trying to get his nursery put together I decided that it would be the GREATEST THING EVER to have a shag rug. I wanted to do this because his nursery looks like the jungle so I thought that a green shag rug could look like a grassy floor and that it would complete the look.

I searched and searched and finally found one at Penney's that I really liked. When it came in I unrolled it and LOVED the way it looked....exactly like grass! Well, little did I know that with good looks came an annoying shedding habit. OMG..this things sheds worse than a siberian husky in the desert. I have little green puffs of carpet all over the nursery room and when Kinsey comes into roll around, they get stuck to his paws and entire body for that matter and then he carries them all over the house. IT'S VERY ANNOYING.

Any way, I have managed to stay on top of keeping most of the green fuzz up, but it seems that recently Aiden has found out the rugs little secret as well. Now that he's mobile, we play in his room for a little while before bed time and as he was walking across the room last night, he noticed a piece of fuzz that had attached itself to his pajamas. Being the smart cookie that he is, he realized where the fuzz had come from and preceeded to start pulling more fuzz out of the carpet (I really don't know how there is still a rug left... that's how much this thing sheds). After asking him about 10 times to stop pulling on the rug, I decided that it was bed time. Down he went.

I guess I'm going to have to pull the rug up until he's bigger. That way when he can realize and enjoy the fact that mommy got him what looks like a grassy floor for his jungle room, there will still be a rug left!

Here are some pics of the nursery before Aiden arrived. I have done a pretty good job at keeping it this way since! Can you see the awesome rug?

Aiden this is fork...fork, this is Aiden

It has been some time now since Aiden has had baby food. The day he realized that Luke and I were eating somthing different, he has no interest in being fed. I have been introducing different things to him for several months now. He is very good at eating but recently I have been finding it hard to find things that he can eat with his fingers without making a HUGE mess. He has been working with a spoon for a while now but just yesterday I introduced the fork. I cooked up a little toddler meal and decided to give him the entire thing with the fork and just let him go to town. WOW...HE MADE A MESS. I can't say he and the fork got a long all that well but it was fun watching him!

Happy and Hectic Holidays

I LOVE this time of year...it comes and goes so fast though. This was our first holiday with a child so it made things very interesting.


Because both Luke's and my parents are divorced, we have what feels like 100 different Christmases to attend. Having a baby can make this a little hectic.


Saturday the 21st was the first of many. We enjoyed the evening with my mom's side of the family. It was the first time many of them met Aiden for the first time so it was a very good time. Christmas eve was spent with my dad. Unfortunatley Luke had to work again this year but we did get to spend Christmas morning together with the baby and Luke's dad. Aiden was not too interested in opening presents which was to be expected. It was funny watching him with the bows though. I think at one point he had like 10 stuck to him all over.


Our last Christmas was spent with Luke's mom's side of the family. We had that at our house on the Saturday after Christmas. Again...it was a very hectic, BUT FUN time. Aiden was a trooper as always. I got a video camera this year but unfortunately I haven't figured out how to get the videos online but as soon as I do I will post them. Until then enjoy these photos from the last two weeks!!!

Aiden and Teagahn hanging out while the mommies get ready for Christmas

Daddy and Aiden playing!

The Ladies (and Aid) on Christmas Eve!!

Me and Nana in her new Skins Jersey!! YAY!

My Dad looking at his Callas Family Holiday Book!

A very happy Aiden

Me and Aiden being silly

Aiden and the Christmas bow fighting...hehe

Christmas presents...what christmas presents...this box will do just fine!

Me and Aiden being silly....AGAIN!

Our First Illness

We made it 8 and a half months. Aiden has finally gotten his first illness. He was diagnosed wtih Bronchitis yesterday. Poor little guy has the WORST cough and a little fever. He's hangin in there. We leave for Alabama next week so I'm hoping he gets better before we leave. Hopefully the amoxicillin will kick some butt! Despite being sick, he's still the BEST BABY EVER and happy as can be!

Grammy's Visit

Well mom has come and gone but we thoroughly enjoyed every second we had with her and we already miss her very much (especially Kenzie, who will now no longer get people food) . We will be heading down in October to visit her again and I'm sure it will be here before we know it.

Aiden's 6 month check up was today. He's been a bear the last 4 nights. I think it's a combination of teething, growing and anxiety. He is usually such a great sleeper and he goes down without trouble but lately it's been horrible. He just sits in his crib and screams. I can't stand it so I end up picking him up and rocking him to sleep (I hope I don't regret it later). Poor little guy. On a happy note, physically, he's doing great. He's healthy as can be and in the 50th percentile for everything. He's also about to start crawling. He's so close. He will bend over and get up on his knees but then plop onto his belly. He's growing SO fast..YIKES!

Here are some pics from Grammy's visit!

Aiden is happy as can be while playing with Grammy!

Aiden and Daddy at the fair Mommy and Aiden at the fair

Aiden and Grammy at the Demolition Derby
Mommy and Aiden at the Derby
Aiden after a long day of playing!

Time with Grammy

My mom is in town to visit and Aiden has been having a blast with his Grammy. She got into town on Thursday and went to pick him up from daycare . When Aiden got his first glimpse of her, she said his eyes lit up and he got this huge smile on his face. Keep in mind, he hasn't seen her since he was a month old so he is either recognizing her from the photo I show him everyday or he thought she was me. Either way, he was ecstatic to see her!! I have been splitting the days with Danielle so that we both get some good mom time but man I do miss her. For those of you that don't know, she moved to Alabama about 7 years ago. She loves it there, but I wish she was closer. I want Aiden to know what a wonderful person his Grammy is. She did a hell of a job raising us and I can only hope that I raise him half that good. It has been wonderful seeing the interaction between the two of them. They spent some time on Saturday reading together and I got some good pictures.

Sunday we took Aid to the pool for his first real swim. It was a BEAUTIFUL weekend but not the greatest for a little itty bitty in the swimming pool. He cried for most of it so we are going to try again this weekend.

Mom, Luke and I are going to take Aiden to the CC fair this evening. I'm sure he'll love the animals and all the bright lights and loud sounds! I may even ride a ride or two..we'll see.