Magic Moments

We are moved in. Nothing is pretty yet, but our stuff is in and most of the boxes are empty. I'll post more about moving later, but first I must tell you the important things. Aiden said and signed his first 2 word sentence today!!! I told my mom last week that my goal for him this week was to start two words sentences. He DID it! I don't care if he signs...it isn't necessary since he is so verbal, but he likes to so I teach him sign language. Tonight while I was nursing him he said and signed "more milk!" I should have know that would be his first sentence. That boy loves his milk! The next sentence we are working on is "ok, mama!" I'm so proud of my boy! I'll post pictures once my house is painted and decorated. You'll have to be patient.

Aiden is fast asleep and I'm sitting here surrounded by boxes (which have proved to be VERY hard to get ahold of...I'm practically begging places for boxes). I'm so excited to move but I really hate the process of moving. Each time I move I get so frustrated with myself and my stuff. I'm tempted to pitch everything that isn't essential....keep only 1 weeks worth of outfits, and live like a simpleton. But, I suppose that would get boring. I love knick knacks and I know that deep down Tom is really excited to load my antique cast iron stove onto the moving truck and into our new house. :) In all seriousness...moving is completely overwhelming. I HATE living in an unorganized mess. I HATE unfinished projects. If I had my way we wouldn't stop until we were completely organized and decorated in our new home. The second time Tom and I moved we packed, loaded the truck, and unpacked completely (right down to hanging up wall hangings) in 24 hours. Granted, I a...

0 The number of posts I thought I was going to write this week 1 Tom is the world's #1 dad and the best husband might I add 2 The number of days that Aiden has been running a fever 3 The number of licks it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop (or so Mr. Owl says) 4 The number of fish Tom caught this weekend at the cabin 5 The number of people it took to get the NEW jet-ski into the boathouse 6 The number of days we move in 7 The number of weeks I wish I would have spent packing in order for us to move 8 The number of empty boxes I have left 9 The time of Aiden's doctor visit tomorrow 10 The number of boxes that I (mostly Tom) have packed 11 x 10 The number of boxes that I think I still need 12 The number of people helping us move in....thank goodness!

I'm thinking that this is the last post I will write from our little apartment....our first Minnesota home. Saturday is moving day and so I will be consumed all week with moving preparations. So far, I have done nothing. I have a total of 2 boxes so far, so gathering boxes needs to be the first thing I do. I keep thinking we don't have that much to pack, but I know for sure that I am wrong. If I am MIA for a week or more, now you know why. I hope that sooner that soon I am able to post pictures of our new and cozy homestead!

I was trying to do three things at once 1) Put groceries away 2) Make dinner (homemade alfredo, bread, and spinach salad with spinach FRESH from our neighbors garden.. YUM!) and 3) Watch Aiden. I thought that Aiden was unpacking and "organizing" the condiments in our fridge. That is his favorite thing to do...that and take one bite out of each slice of cheese in the fridge :(... however, my sister was here and she pointed out that Aiden had found the bowl of blueberries in the fridge and was shoveling them in. Aiden LOVES berries, so I wasn't surprised to find him hording all the berries for himself. He didn't even leave any for me. He is such a little berry monster!

I can now say that in my life I have stood before a judge. Yeah, that's right. I went to court. Haha! Really, I did, but only for a speeding ticket. The story goes that I got a speeding ticket a couple months ago. I was speeding when I got pulled over, but had I not been very confused as to what road I was exiting onto I would not have been speeding. I thought a warning would have sufficed. But, I was too flustered to explain this to the police man. After coming home and crying about it, Tom and I decided that I should go to the court appearance that was scheduled for me to explain myself and try to get my ticket reduced to a warning. So, I did. My time was 1 o'clock on Wed. I got there at 12:30 just to make sure. I went through the security check point and checked in. I was told to sit in the courtroom on the left side by the windows. I followed the instructions which happened to be the same instructions given to probably 30 people. Apparently I was not the only...

We had a pretty typical Thursday. We woke up and took a family trip to the library where we all got books. Then we had pizza for lunch and Tom left for work and Aiden and I both laid down for a much needed nap. After nap we hit up a couple garage sales that were marginally successful stops and then visited the goats on the farm and picked up our milk. After that it was dinner time, play time, bath time, and bed time. We've been reading "No More Monkeys Jumping On The Bed" which makes Aiden laugh and laugh and he also shakes his finger and says, "no-no!" to the Monkeys. It's very cute. Of course, when the Monkey falls off the bed Aiden says "bonk!"...he has first hand experience with falling off the bed and bonking:). Making silly faces and eating his jelly (corn syrup) toast. He was really into giving Pooh hugs today He's gonna be a drummer just like his Pappy

Aiden is somewhat of a picky eater. Of course, he eats fruit, any fruit, like candy and he doesn't do too bad eating veggies. If he could he'd only eat broccoli and peas, but he'll also eat carrots and I hide cauliflower and sometimes squash and spinach in his food. Our struggle is getting protein in that kid. He won't eat meat unless it's pureed and hidden in food. If he wants to be a vegetarian that is fine with me, but our protein is limited to eggs, cheese, and beans. I feel like he eats too much cheese and we are stuck in a rut. I really need more recipes in my bank that are toddler friendly. Any ideas? PLEASE share any recipe that your toddler really likes.

Does it make me a bad mom if I let Aiden eat jelly toast for breakfast? Or should I say toast with corn syrup on top? I have got to start making my own jelly. :(

Tom was able to stay home with Aiden a couple of days ago while I worked for a couple hours. I came home and strangely I walked through the door into a very quite house. Instead of being greeted by happy (and releaved) cheers of "Mama!" I found this. It was quite funny so I documented it. As you can see, the house looked like a tornado went through it. I made my way through surveying the damage and in the last room I found this: Dada and Aiden fast asleep. They played so hard they both got all tuckered out! It was pretty cute so I couldn't be mad. I got the house cleaned up in 1 hour flat. :)

1. We are gearing up for another weekend at the cabin. Thankfully, we're on the down hill slide of much of the work. 2. I had a cavity filled today. I haven't had a cavity since I was 5 or so, so the whole experience was new to me. Did you know that they first put some numbing gel on a little stick and have you bite on it so you don't feel the shot that really numbs you up? I didn't know this. After 2 minutes of having the gel in my mouth I began to panic. I realized that I had swallowed some. I started to worry that my whole esophagus would be numb and the inside of my stomach would be numb. I was working up a sweat. I asked the hygienist if I could swallow it, and she said it wouldn't be harmful (yeah, right) but not to swallow lots. She finally sucked that gross stuff out of my mouth. However, (sorry if this is TMI) but the gel mixed with all of the saliva in my mouth and then I was worried my ENTIRE mouth would be numb. AH! Anyway, I ended up bei...

This morning greeted me with a very awkward situation. I worked at 9 AM today so that Tom could stay home with Aiden while I worked. I arrived at my clients house 7 minutes early and I didn't think that was a big deal, so I went ahead and rang the doorbell. Just to note, my clients have said that I'm welcome to come early, but just to call if I'll be more than 1/2 an hour early. Anyway, I rang the bell and it took awhile for them to answer. I got very nervous that perhaps I was too early and they were still in bed or getting ready for the day. Finally, the dad answered the door.....IN HIS UNDERWEAR!!! AHHH! Aside from being super embarassed, I felt so bad b/c I thought it was my fault for coming a little early. I was worried that I had embarrassed him. However, any guilt I felt quickly diminished when the dad spent quite awhile lounging on the couch in his underwear. WIERD! In his defense, he wasn't wearing tighty whities, he was wearing boxers, but still! ...

For 2 weeks I've been meaning to write about our new "homestead" for the summer....the cabin. We've been working non-stop for the last 2 weekends to get the cabin "up-to-par" so to speak. We have big plans and so far we've made a pretty good dent. Here's the summary: -2 weekends ago Tom, Will, and my dad made a beach...which proved to be back breaking work which is why I didn't do much more than stand and watch using the excuse that I had to watch Aiden. Thank goodness for boys with strong muscles that can run a tiller for 2 days straights and move earth with their bare hands. Aiden and Pappy eating breakfast while looking out onto the lake. - Mom, Ashley, and I thought that we accomplished quite a bit by washing all the dishes in the cabin and scrubing out the cupboards. We also washed and organzied all towels and sheets. This was a tough job...believe me. :) -Mom and I also raked out the front flower bed, had the boys chop down the "...