My sister set an example...

One of my older sisters does a neat thing, she sends out updates about what is going on in her life to her family and close friends to keep them posted. Anyone remember why I started this blog? Yea...so, I'm going to try and get back into updating a little more regularly.

In June we had a great family trip to Virginia. We stayed at my sister Karen's beautiful, HUGE, new townhouse in Haymarket and were able to visit lots of friends. I think the highlight of our trip was going to the Dulles Air & Space Center. It was soooo much fun to take Aiden to see the Enterprise and all of the airplanes. He thought it was pretty cool, and because Baris and I are terrible dorks, we also loved it.

In July the boys and I left Baris at home and spent 2 weeks in Minnesota with our friends. It was a very busy trip. We pretty much had two months of fun in just 2 weeks. One of the highlights (there were many) was the Boobs n Brinner event hosted by the breastfeeding advocacy blog my good friends and I run. We were so excited to have many new mothers come out to have photographs done with their nurslings. We felt just a LITTLE bit famous during the event and really enjoyed the fruits of our labor.

Things have been relatively slow and quiet since the move here in Columbus. I've been taking the boys to different fun locations where we have been racking up memberships. We go weekly to Kids Commons, which is a community children's museum, it's pretty neat. We also have memberships at the Indianapolis Zoo and the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Baris and I BOTH just LOVE the zoo and the children's museum at least as much as Aiden does. On our first trip we decided to let Aiden feed a Giraffe, fairly certain he would be too timid to do it...but he did! He asks to feed the giraffe every time we go now.

Aiden and his new buddy, the Giraffe

Chase seems to enjoy our outings, there is so much to see for a curious little baby like him. He's so easy going and engaged, definitely a delightful little boy. He is growing so fast and is nearly ready to start walking. We think by the middle of next month he will have his feet in motion and that's the last we will see of him and the little sanity we have left. He is madly in love with his brother and spends his day following Aiden around the house, playing with his toys, and jabbering up a storm. He even imitates Aiden's roars.

Right now Aiden is taking a toddler gymnastics class at a local gymnastics place and he really really loves it. It's so awesome to see him learning and focusing more each week. It's as much a workout for us as it is for him because he wants to run off as soon as he finishes a round of an activity and we have to chase after him. It doesn't matter though, he still loves it and is learning. In addition to the gymnastics we go weekly to the library for story time. This is an endless challenge in terms of his behavior, but he's geting the idea of participating in group activities slowly but surely.

We don't generally swim in the lake behind our house...I'm totally skeeved out by ponds, personally, but we have taken Aiden out in the canoe we bought from the previous owners a couple of times and he just loves it. He's surprisingly well-behaved and doesn't tip the boat, so that's good! We spend most of our outdoor time either coloring in the driveway with chalk or playing on the slide and swings off the back deck/patio. We also set up the kid pool every now and then and Aiden will play there for hours.

We really enjoy the new house. It's wonderful to have a playroom for the boys and to have so much more space. At least once a week I still say "I just love our house." There are lots of things we want to do, but nothing very pressing. My next project is to paint the playroom for the boys, it's going to be super cute and fun. I'll post pictures once we finish it.

I don't have many pictures to upload right now, but I will get them off the camera and upload a few later. Ta ta for now!

The boys wrestling on the bed...adorable.

Trying to get back in the swing

OK, here's what's up! I'm now 39 weeks pregnant with our little boy Chase (pardon my appearance...long weekend):

Our guess date is next Saturday. I'm prepared but NOT patient about possibly going another 2 or 3 weeks. Really it's not that long! 

Everything is ready for his arrival at this point. I think he'll be taller than Aiden, maybe a little heavier...I like my babies chunky, so he better come fat or fatten up fast! :) 

Aiden is sick with some mystery fever-bug thing, so I imagine my body will hold off on labor until the family is healthy...kind of crazy how the body works. I have the most amazing midwife, and everytime I see her I'm reminded of that. Aiden's birth was pretty awesome, but this one is going to be even more amazing. I've been spending a lot of time taking Aiden to playgrounds, especially the indoor ones as my body prefers that I just kind of take it easy right now. He also has ECFE every Friday morning, and we're going to try to keep him going to that as much as possible after Chase is born, depending on timing, hopefully we won't miss any classes due to the birth. 

Baris will be home for 2 weeks after Chase is born to help us all get settled and started on a routine. I anticipate a big adjustment, and I think we're in for it when B goes back to work. Between work and school it's already a challenge with just one. I've seen a lot of friends with kids Aiden's age suddenly become "big kids" when baby comes home though, so hopefully he'll not take it all too hard. 

The big news this week (well, so far) is that we're getting the carpets cleaned by ZEROREZ! I'm so excited about this it's kind of stupid...lol I've been waiting to have it done for FOREVER! Timing is super awesome for having it done, right before the baby comes and following this icky bug that Aiden has. 

IN other news, here's some blogs for you to follow. My girlfriends and I (otherwise known as the Cool Girls' Club or CGC) started a blog about breastfeeding:

thegoodletdown.blogspot.com

One of the CGC girls has a preemie baby she regularly blogs about:

bedrestnbeyond.blogspot.com

the other CGC girl just gave birth to her SECOND baby with bilateral club feet (this is INSANELY rare...)

adventureswithtriangles.blogspot.com

and right now, that's it! Hopefully some other big news will arrive SOON! In the meantime, I guess I'm taking Aiden trick-or-treating this weekend!

Girl's Night in the company of...

...well... wieners. That's right, wieners. I could rope not a single gal pal into sipping sparkling non-alcoholic drinks, munching delightful things, painting toes and watching Julie and Julia with me tonight so it was just me, my sparkly juices and my movie. Oh..and my ever-in-toe wiener-wielding terrorist to be, Chase.

My husband wandered upstairs at one point to eat too much ice cream while I was in the middle of the movie and I shoo'd him away. I smacked his cheek and stated, in no uncertain terms, that wieners were not welcome tonight. It has occurred to me, as I told B, that I never spend a moment without a male present, especially now that I am toting one around in my belly, bless his little heart (and wiener). I was even willing to stay up past my bedtime BY MY SELF to just enjoy some MOSTLY male free time...even after my sour and pitiful afternoon during which I spent most of my time feeling whiny and sorry for myself for no other reason than I feel like an "academic widow (tm)," the day was lovely and I had NOTHING to do and NO ONE to do it with. As much as I adore Aiden and enjoy his personality and company...I was really needing an adult today. So I mostly was feeling lonely, homesick (yes, this still happens even after 6 long years), and bored.

Whatever, the movie was wonderful and made me laugh and feel less like a robot for a little bit. I'm going to bed...an hour late. I'm up with Aiden in the morning because B is up late studying...again.

Aren't I awful?

I just don't know what to blog anymore! B and I found out yesterday that baby number 2 is another bouncing baby boy and we've decided to name him Chase.

There is baby Chase in profile. He's big, healthy and happy. This pregnancy has been so different from Aiden's. I feel great now, but for 16 weeks I had all-day sickness. I've lost over 30 pounds since I found out I was pregnant...it's crazy!

Aiden has been sure to keep me guessing and keep me on my toes. His personality continues to amaze me, he's a little hot head but still the sweetest, snuggliest thing you have ever met. He's 34 inches tall now (almost 3 feet...wow!) and 27 pounds. He doesn't speak a lot, but he communicates with us more and more each day through gestures and vocal inflection...he's kinda funny about it. One day he's just going to say, very academically, "actually mom, that dinosaur doesn't exist" or something like that and I'll probably just wet myself. He fills my days with tantrums and smiles and I think it must be very frustrating to be one-and-a-half sometimes. Grown-ups just don't get it.

Our next big adventure is a trip to Turkey in August. I'm sure it will be a whirlwind of fun and challenges. I think B will need a few very stiff drinks after traveling with a toddler and a pregnant woman! B is traveling to Indiana for work/school July 25th through July 30th, then we'll be gone from August 4th until the 24th. We get to settle in for just a couple days and then B will be in the UK for work for a week. So much for the back end of summer! LOL!

Anyway, that's all you get for now...I hear The Terrorist/Toddlerzilla stirring from a much needed long nap. I better go get him snuggled up and feed him lunch. :)

Going on Record

on September 13th, I posted a long, detailed update. Then the crap crashed and I was too busy to repost. BUT, on September 13th Aiden got his third tooth! Today, I noticed the fourth!

Here's what's up:

At his 9 month check up, he was 21.5 pounds, 29.5 inches. He's currently wearing 18 month clothes, I think he has had a growth spurt since then.

He says three things now! Ball (Bah!) and he signs that as well, he said this first one on September 16th, 1 day before turning 10 months old. He also says Dog (dah!) and "ABOO!" When he's playing peek aboo! LOL

He stands solo a lot now, and on Saturday, he took his very first step. just one, and he can step, then stand before sitting or plopping on his butt. BUT, it's a first, and he's done it several times. He's getting quite brave.

Yesterday he started clapping...probably the cutest thing EVER!

That's all I have time for now. Baby is crabbing, and I'm considering taking him for a walk to get some fresh air, even though I'm JUST starting to recover from a cold. I'm posting a picture here until I can get on here and tell you all about our great camping trip at Jay Cooke!


This is Aiden and daddy, hiking at St. Croix STate Park.

International Babywearing Week

yep!

Growing So fast

So...he grows so fast that I'm going to be updating every other day at this rate! I was recording him playing the other day, he was cruising across me and the front of the loveseat...he let go...and stood. Only for a second or two, but he balanced, and as he started to lose it he just reached forward and went on about playing. We saw him do this last week, but now I have it on video.

We also got him this walking toy that he can push around while walking, or it can be converted and he can sit on it and scoot around (he doesn't know how to do that yet). Well, he walked all the way across the floor from the kitchen to the sliding doors day before yesterday. It was so cute!!!!

Aiden spends a lot of time with Emily, who is 6 months older than he is, so we see him do things once in a while that we KNOW that he has learned from him. Well, he just did one of those again. He assumed the "downward baby" stance...head on the floor...butt in the air, legs straight, feet on the floor. And he was just hanging out and wiggling his booty. Just like Emily! HAHA!

Anyway, Aiden's 9 month appointment is yesterday. Details to come!