Wednesday, December 12, 2012

12-12-12

Helping Mommy With Work!
Christmas Tree Shopping
What a fun date and it is the last one I will see in my lifetime! I am so happy that it happened on a Wednesday, so I get to blog on it! As I predicted last week, Aiden has all four front teeth poking through his little gums. It has been a very trying week with many sleepless nights. I know that these moments are fleeting, so I try to enjoy all of them even when running on zero sleep. We tried to get a Christmas tree this past weekend, it was comical to say the least. We had an 8-foot tree strapped to the top of our Toyota Corolla, which ended up not fitting into our house. It was like we just stepped out of a National Lampoon movie. Our Christmas tree will just have to wait till the weekend to brighten up our home. Aiden has started to jump in his crib, reminding me of his Uncle Matthew. I hope that he has the same hops and athleticism. Speaking of Uncle Matthew, one week from today Aiden will get to meet him for the first time and I will get to see my brother for the first time  in almost a year.  I cannot begin to explain how excited I am for that. So, don't be surprised if you don't get an update next week. Aiden and I will be in Vegas welcoming Uncle Matthew home!


Date: December 12, 2012
Weight: 22.5 pounds
Height: 33 inches

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

I Love December

Date: December 6, 2012
Weight: 22.3 pounds
Height: 33 inches
Morning Cuddle
Last Day of One Tooth Wonder
It's the most wonderful time of the year! December means that I can finally start listening to Christmas music, decorate the house and enjoy the lights of the neighborhood. I have always found December to be a magical month, and I finally have a house of my own to express the holidays with my own style. It will take a few years to bulk up my decorations, but I look forward to transforming the house into a winter wonderland that will serve as wonderful memories for my darling son. Every day that kid becomes more and more of a character, and he cracks me up on an (minimum) hourly basis. Not only is his little personality developing, but also his sense of adventure; which unfortunately leads to bumps and bruises.  He got his first little bruise on his chin, and I am not even sure how it got there. It is just a tiny little spot, but it makes me really aware of the fact that I will never be able to protect this little one completely.  It is a fine line between protecting Aiden and letting him learn to stand (literally) on his own two feet. I know that life is full of bumps and bruises, it is just hard to watch your child go through any kind of pain. Speaking of pain, Aiden is cutting three teeth at once. By next week I am confident that he will be the proud owner of his four front teeth! I can't help but constantly take the opportunity to sing "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" to him! A few other new things with him this week include: holding a cup with straw and drinking it on his own, feeding himself with a spoon and completely getting the hang of picking up his food and eating it! There has been a lot more activity in our house, but I like to keep these posts short and sweet. Check in next week for more adorable Aiden updates!

  Scrunch and Sniff-My New Favorite Face

The Gate He Broke Out Of!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Weighed In

Date: November 24, 2012
Weight: 22 pounds
Height: 33 inches
I was hoping to have some pictures from Thanksgiving to post but unfortunately I did not take any pictures because my phone died.  I thought that by now people would have posted pictures via Facebook, but they have not. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Aiden was beyond excited to have a little playmate, Ian. Ian is my second cousin's  little boy, who just happens to be a couple months older than Aiden. It was so adorable to see how excited my little man got, flapping his arms and studying his new found friend. Aiden doesn't interact with other kids much, so this was a great treat for him. I hope that he can forge as strong of friendships with his cousins that I have been able to. I consider my cousins to be some of my closest friends, and I am so happy that he is going to have cousins close to his age that he can grow up with. Even though we had a great Thanksgiving, we were feeling a little under the weather. Aiden had his first cold which led to his first ear infection. It has been a hard couple weeks with him being sick, he HATES taking his medicine. It doesn't help that he is super smart, and almost every trick I try to get him to take his medicine ends up with both of us covered in sticky pink stuff. Not only has he been sick, but he is trying to cut three teeth right now. I am getting quite the test in patience right now, and I am hoping that I am handling it in the best manner I possibly could.  Since Aiden got sick he has lost interest in most of the foods he had been eating regularly, I am hoping that he will start to eat better again when he feels 100% better. Keep your fingers crossed that we all feel better soon!!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Pintested-Baked Spaghetti Bread

I know that I have been seriously lacking in the Pinterest posting department. Life has just been a little crazy and I am learning to balance working full time, taking care of the house(and all that entails) and being a stay-at-home mommy. With Aiden becoming more and more mobile, my life is just getting more and more hectic and I do not see it slowing down anytime soon. This week I decided that I wanted to make something I had pinned months ago, Spaghetti baked into a loaf of garlic bread. How great does that sound? It sounded amazing and guess what, it was! I am not going to include a recipe for it, it seems pretty straightforward to me but if you click on the original pin you can see an example of a recipe someone else used.
This is definitely Pintested; Amber Approved!


Original Pin


Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Quite A Week

Date: November 14, 2012
Weight: 22.7 pounds
Height 33 inches
First time in car seat
This week has been full of new adventures with Aiden, and I realized that he is going to be more of a handful than I thought. He crawled from his room, to our room, all the way to the guest room and the kicker is, he opened the baby gate.  Yes, my baby is that smart and strong. He figured out how to use the baby gate, so now I have to figure out something else to use to barricade my little darling in. Aiden had his first ride in his new carseat (thanks to the generosity of Auntie Marilyn and our change jar). After a lot of thought and argument with myself, we decided to put Aiden forward facing. He meets the height and weight requirements for the seat and he seems much happier facing forward. I also find it a lot easier to see him and check on him with the carseat this way. If those little milestones were not enough, I had to take his mobile down because he can pull all the animals off of it and hang from it now. Thankfully, it turns into a projector so he still has something calming for when he goes to sleep. Every time I go to get him from his bed, he is bouncing up and down in his crib and happy to see me. That is just a small taste of the shenanigans in our house this week, hopefully we have many more to report Thanksgiving week!

Happy in Jeep



Mr. Mobile

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Hello November

Date: November 7, 2012
Weight: 22 pounds
Height 32.5 inches
Yesterday was one of the worst days I've experienced as a mother thus far.  Unfortunately, I fell victim to a pretty severe case of food poisoning that had me running to the bathroom every 20 minutes.  This is very inconvenient when you are trying to take care of a very curious, very mobile 8 month old.  Somehow I survived through the day, with all its disappointments(Obama) and challenges(Fed Ex delivering Aiden's new carseat to somebody else). Despite the horrible day we had yesterday, the rest of the week was really good. This past weekend we went to see Adam perform in the marching band on Saturday, we had such a fun time. Adam's band was so good, the show was Sesame Street themed! Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of our fun-filled weekend to share, but trust me it was picture worthy.  I went against some of my normal mommy guidelines and let Aiden have some "treats," including his first taste of a snow cone. Needless to say, he loved it! I don't have any pictures of this past weekend, I'll try to procure some from people who were using their cameras in the near future. However, last week I posted that Aiden has been pulling himself up and standing, I did capture that to share with all of you.  He has become so good at it, he is constantly pulling himself up. I cannot believe how strong that boy is! Well, I have to get back to my mommy duties, I am pretty sure that I hear Aiden up from his nap. Tune in next week!

P.S. SORRY, I thought this posted yesterday! I must have just saved it as a draft!




Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!


I waited to post today's weigh-in until we had completed our fun-filled day, so most of you will be reading this the day after Halloween. I'm sorry that I made you wait to experience the cuteness that is my son on his first Halloween. I know, I sound biased, but he was the talk of the town everywhere we went. So many people gushed over him, it was ridiculous. I think we really picked a winner of a costume. Dave and I both love Halloween, and we wanted to experience everything we could on Aiden's first one. We went downtown for a bit, but it wasn't really our scene(long lines). We trick-or-treated around our neighborhood, collecting a small bucket full of candy for our little one *cough*. He was such a little charmer, giving a huge smile as a thank you at every house we visited.  We wrapped things up and headed home to hand out candy to any trick-or-treaters that ventured to our house.  The number of trick-or-treaters we had disappointed Dave, but had me thrilled compared to the pitiful turnout we had last year in Memphis. Thus far we have had around 30-40 come to our door, I am sure next year our numbers will be higher because we are giving away handfuls of "the good stuff."Since you are now caught up with our Halloween, I want to quicky fill you in on the rest of the week. On Monday, I lowered Aiden's crib because he started sitting up in it and I knew that it would only get worse from there. Well, I think that I had some serious Mommy intuition because literally the next day I came into his room to find him standing up in his crib! I was shocked, but oh so thankful I decided to lower the crib the night before. He is getting stronger, faster and smarter everyday. He is practically running in his walker now, and can crawl forward if he really wants something in front of him. I do not know how I am going to keep up with this kid for the next 18 years, but I look forward to trying! I hope you all had a safe and wonderful Halloween! Tune in next week!

 Date: October 31, 2012
Weight: 21.8 pounds
Height: 32.5 inches








Friday, October 26, 2012

Make Up Day



Date: October 24, 2012
Weight: 21.6 pounds
Height: 32 inches
Sorry for missing weigh-ins yesterday, we had a pretty crazy day including driving to Vegas to drop of Dave's mom at the airport. Her flight left at 6 this morning, so we spent the night in Vegas (not as glamorous as it sounds) and dropped her off at the airport around 4:30am.  Needless to say, we are all exhausted! We have been having a blast this week with Aiden, he is making this funny clicking noise with his tongue and clapping a lot to show his happiness.  He also crawled forward today and pulled books for us to read off his bookshelf.
He got to hang out with both of his grandmas this week, which was pretty awesome. Dave and I enjoyed showing off Kingman to our house guests. We took them down town and explored all the really cool antique stores, the amazing visitor center and our new favorite diner(which features some really scrumptious root beer)! Aiden rode in a shopping cart for the first time (without being in his carseat). He seemed to really enjoy it, and it will make grocery shopping even more of an adventure than it already is.
Life is great here in Kingman, we are soaking in every minute of life out here and cannot wait to entertain more guests! So if you fancy a visit, you are always welcome! We shall update you next week on Aiden's growth and this wonderful life we are living. :)




Aiden Messing Up His Room


Aiden in the Shopping Cart for the First Time

Aiden and Daddy in Oatman

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

8-Months Old!!!





Today my little man turns 8-months-old! I cannot tell you how much he has blessed and added to my life, or how much he has subtracted from my sleep(haha)! We are going to the doctor on Friday to get shots, so keep Aiden in your prayers. He is like his mommy, he hates shots. I know that most little kids hate shots, but I still cry as an adult so I am afraid that his dislike is all my fault.
It has been a very crazy and full week since I last posted.  This past weekend we took Aiden to his first park and went on the swings and down the slide with him, he had a blast. This kid is a little daredevil, he just giggled with delight the higher Dave pushed him.
On Monday I started a new job, working from home so I can still take care of my special little guy. I love the job so far, and feel so blessed to be able to be a stay at home mom and make money. Everyone in the company has been so nice to me, and the work thus far has been pretty fun. Monday we also picked up Dave's mom in Vegas, she is staying with us for a visit. We have a lot planned for when she is here, I am hoping that we can fit it all in. It is going to be tough to blog every wednesday, but I know that some of you look forward to the posts so I promise to do my best to keep you updated weekly on Aiden's development. I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!




Date: October 17, 2012
Weight: 22 pounds
Height: 32 inches


First Time on the Swings!

His hair looks red!!!


Aiden's First Time on the Swings!


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Weekly Weigh-Ins!


Date: October 10, 2012
Weight: 21.4 pounds
Height: 32 inches
Every week I try my best to post about Aiden's new weight and height. This week I could barely wait, because he has been hitting new milestones that I am so excited to share. On Friday, for those of you who did not see on Facebook, he started to clap his hands intentionally for the first time. We were so excited, and I think Aiden enjoys the fact that we are so thoroughly entertained by it.
He is so silly! I love this kid!
If that was not enough, my little man started cutting his first tooth on Monday. It is just peeking through the gums and you can hear it click when he chews on his spoon. He does not like to show it off though. Whenever I try to get him to open his mouth, he sticks his tongue out over it! I wanted to include a picture in today's segment, but alas it was not to be. I can report that Aiden is pretty mobile, but he does not crawl forward. He can push himself up into a pushup but instead of going forward, he always moves backwards. It is quite funny to watch, I must admit. He can also spin around in circles while sitting up, which I find very impressive and he seems to find quite useful when trying to explore. 
I cannot believe that next week he will be 8-months-old already, time really flies when you have a kid. I look forward to sharing his updates next week!!


Friday, October 5, 2012

The Rolodoodle

One of my all-time favorite cookies are Snickerdoodles. I feel that they are already at the pinnacle of perfection, but I always like to strive to make something wonderful even better. Recently, I was experimenting and decided to bake a special surprise into the middle of this already incredible cookie. A rolo took this cookie to new heights and my tastebuds on a tantalizing thrill-ride. I baked a rollo into the middle of my normal snickerdoodles, to create a pocket of chocolate caramel magic. They received pretty rave reviews from my test subjects (aka my family), so I decided to share the idea and recipe for them on my blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Rolodoodles

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 bag of rolos
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Teaspoons cinnamon

Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix on high for 1-2 minutes.
In another bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Take the dough from the refrigerator and scoop out one tablespoon(or whatever size you want your cookie to be) of dough, flatten it into a disk and place the rollo in the center. Then, roll the dough into a ball so that the rolo is completely covered. After it is in a ball roll it in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until evenly coated, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 10-16 minutes(depending on the size of the cookie), or until the edges get a slight golden brown.

My little baking helper!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Weekly Update


Date: October 3, 2012
Weight: 21.6 pounds
Height: 31.5 inches
Well it is that time again, when we gather around the Wii fit board to see how much our little man has gained in the past week. Honestly, I never know what to expect. Sometimes he has lost a little weight, gained a little or gained over a pound. Lately, he has been slowly gaining a little each week and I am thankful. If he grows any faster, we will be out of clothes for him before the year is out. I have also recently discovered that Aiden is a little bit of a "mama's boy." What I mean when I say that, is that is if I give him to someone else to hold and I am still in sight, he wants to be with me. If I leave and make sure to stay out of his line of sight, he is totally fine. This happened multiple times at the party the past weekend. He would be completely content in the arms of anyone else, till the moment I happened to walk by, then he would move toward me or give a little whimper. I know it stems from so much one-on-one time, and I am thankful that it is not so severe that he has to be with me all the time. I guess he is  at an "out of sight, out of mind" stage, where I am concerned. 
It was fun to see my family over the past weekend and I look forward to the visits that the month of October will bring. I am hoping to get Aiden a new car seat this month, he has completely outgrown his old one! Keep your fingers crossed that we find one for a reasonable price with good safety ratings. While I am asking you to cross your fingers, keep Aiden's teething in your thoughts and prayers. Those little pearly whites are giving us both trouble, and many sleepless nights. Thanks for tuning in to see how big the little one is, see you next week!
Aiden Quacks Up! :) Love this laugh!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Pintested...Amber Approved!


I love how you can see what every T-shirt is! (Dave's Drawer)
I, like so many others, have become completely swept up in the latest internet craze Pinterest. I love all of the creative ideas laid out in front of me, but sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed. The constant bombardment of "pins" that I want to attempt and accomplish just continues to pile up on my boards and shoulders. There are so many different things that I want to try, it is hard to find a place to start but I've decided that I want to accomplish at least one pin a week.  I will use my blog to test pins to see if they are worth all the hype, or if they are just too good to be true. Every pin will get a positive or negative rating at the end; it will be either "Pintested, Amber Approved" or "Pintested, Amber Rejected." I have actually tried out a couple of the pins, and have been pleasantly surprised. Since I just recently moved into a new house, I am happy to get organization tips and ideas to keep my house in order. One of my very favorite pins that I have tried and applied, deals with organizing T-Shirts. I have never been so happy to open a dresser drawer! If you want detailed instructions on how to make your drawers look like this one, check out the original pin or leave a comment and I will let you know how I did my folding. :) Happy Pinning!

Pintested, Amber Approved.

Original Pin.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Wacky Wednesday

Playing on the floor and making his funny noises.
My little man has been hit with a dose of the silliness. He has always cracked me up, but lately he has been playing around with the different sounds he can make. Every couple of days he discovers a new one that make us both break into smiles. One in particular tends to spray me with his constant stream of drool, I have his Daddy to thank for that one. He started doing it to Aiden, now Aiden does it constantly. 
We have been spending a lot of time in Aiden's room lately, he loves playing on the floor with his toys. We didn't need a vacuum in the old house because we did not have carpet, now that we have carpet a vacuum is definitely on the list of house needs; especially since we spend so much time on the floor. 
Big smiles for the camera!
The house is starting to really come together, it should be done by the time Dave's mom comes out to visit in October.  We stumbled across this amazing antique/furniture store this past weekend and picked up a dresser for Aiden. I'm excited to go back there and see what other little gems we can discover together. I am sure that when we get visitors, it will be one of the stops we show them because of how cool a place it is. This weekend we are headed to Apple Valley for a big birthday party, we are really looking forward to seeing the family. Tune in next week to see how it went! :)



Date: September 26, 2012
Weight: 21.2 pounds
Height: 31.25 inches

Aiden playing and singing...La La La


Saturday, September 22, 2012

Another page, another chapter.

Life has always fascinated me in many different ways. If you were to simply take a step back and look at your life, you would see the direction you were heading. However, if you just took a couple steps in either direction, you could see some of the obstacles along your way. In the simplest forms of living, we almost instinctively divide our life into chapters. Actually, we divide our life into separate books, with multiple chapters, all within the same series. I often look at my life as a book of things I could, should, or would do. At one point in my life, I would have told you that no matter what choices we made in life we would inevitably end up where we were suppose to be one way or another. At another point in my life, I would have told you that our choices are the only road to take in order to reach the point we are striving for. And yet, at another point in my life, I would tell you that life is full of change and adaptation for which you must always be ready to make. However, at this point in my life, I am realizing that I was right on all accounts except they were all combined. I could never allow myself to admit that I belong somewhere or that I am fully happy somewhere because of my own superstitions. I have longed believed that I had a bit of a curse that has clung to me throughout most of my life. I know what the optimistic people would tell me, and I know what the pessimistic people would tell me. I can even gather what I would tell myself if I was reading this from a different person. If I was overly optimistic in my life, I would have already been turned completely bitter. If I was overly pessimistic, I would have barely even attempted to do half of the things I have done. Even though I am realistic, I still would have questioned most of the things I have tried to do. Yet, I am again a combination platter at different times. In my life, I have dealt with backstabbing, betrayal, heartbreak, life threatening injury or illness, bad options, lucky breaks, monumental occasions, miniscule moments, conflicting choices, loss, gain, coincidence, and much more. Reading that last statement just make me think- sounds like life. I have now lived in 6 states in less than 10 years. I have taught every grade possible in secondary education (6-12). I have worked in homogeneous school of particular races. I have coached 6 various sports at different levels. I have been indulged with the likes of admin who crossed the spectrum when it comes to that positions. My classrooms have ranged from overly crowded, below par, no windows, broken doors, so cold the desks would form condensation and then freeze, stagnant air, violence, illiterate, untrained, and disrespectful to underpopulated, multiple resources, supported, determined, charismatic, personable, and respectful. The schools themselves barely differ. Both of these were in extreme settings. They were both in poor, under privileged area. They are night and day as far as the educator to teacher ratio, but I think that has a lot to do with the kids. When I say educator versus teacher, I mean the people who are doing the job versus the people who are just at the job. Everywhere I have taught I have had to live by the numbers. Data, data, and more data is what has determined what a good teacher was. After six years in a data driven world, I realized that I was fighting a lonely battle. Data and Mr. Sanders never mix well. It should come with a warning label and 1-800 number to call when it happens. Since I have been a teacher, I have believed that the classroom is about discovery and learning. It is not meant to be a piece of paper telling me that a student can not learn or that a student needs to be given special attention while the rest of class struggles normally. I know I am always on a soapbox when it comes to teaching and perhaps that is why I have taken this new page in my life more seriously. Throughout my wanderings in my life, I have always paid attention to people and how they act or react towards various things. From my first serious job at the recreation center to my current position, I have always tried to learn as much as I could about people. I use that knowledge when working with kids almost daily. Middle school kids are a lost, confused breed of scholarly possibilities. Each student is going through life altering situation; as well as, they are trying to deal with self imposed drama and development. Students at this age are a brief explanation at humanity. They are trying to figure out who they are, where they belong, and what the word "future" really means to them. This process takes them down many unadvised roads, but they have to take them in order to learn. Junior high represents life in a much grander scale. 6 grade can be compared to the late teens and early 20's when you have to start making bigger choices, you have more responsibility than you asked for, and you are expected to know what to do in almost every situation. Of course, this carries over through the next 2 parts of life (7th and 8th grade). When you arrive to school that 7th grade year you have already made it through the transitional phase (6th grade). You know what to expect. The teachers are pretty much the same even the subjects are about the same. 7th grade is like mid-20's to early 30's. You think life is just coasting, and you become complacent and content to the point of irresponsible and lazy. Yet, you are still thought to know that your choices will greatly affect your future. The next step can go 1 of 2 ways. The first way is becoming more and more common. Because of that complacent attitude development you have now fallen behind in school, lost the trust of your parents, and run the risk of not being able to go to 8th grade. This would then mentally throw you back to 6th grade because you were not being responsible and making the right choices. Or, The second option, you will pass on to the 8th grade thinking everything will be as it was when you left the 7th grade. Upon entering the school that first day, life has drastically changed. You run into people who look vaguely familiar but have drastically changed. The classes you once thought were just the same old material rudely shakes up the expectations and holds you to even more responsibility. Teachers are less forgiving and more strict. They are constantly trying to tell you what to expect in your future. They will even go as far as to "try" to fail you. This part of middle school conflicts with 6th and 7th grade because they were trying to get you to learn responsibility, but now you are expected to know it. 8th grade can find its start as early as right after high school to as late as your mid 30's. In this part of life you can compare it to having a real job, paying bills, possibly married or with kids, money has become the only thing that can bring "happiness" because it keeps life moving forward. Sadly, a pessimist would say that life is always this way; a optimist would say that life isn't always about money and that you can be happy as long as you are doing what makes you happy, but a realist would say that this is how life will be, so plan for the future, work hard, and play hard. This chapter in my life has taken me many pages of turning, rereading, and analyzing to get to. I have looked at my life many times over with a fine tooth comb and a powerful microscope, but all I found was work= happiness because it pays the bills and keeps the stress down. After I discovered the "secret" to happiness, I was working too many hours and not really enjoying the fruits of my labor. I realized years later that happiness is a combination platter. It is best served with your family. I has taken me many years to find even a sliver of happiness in life. Up until recently, my happiness was hard to find. Teaching is part of my happiness because I am being responsible, having an impact on students during a very important part of their lives, and coming home to my family every day getting smiles and warmth as soon as I walk in the door. I hope in this chapter happiness can stay around for a while!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Seven Months Old!!

It has been 7-months and two days since Aiden has entered the world, and it has been quite a ride. I never knew that someone so small could make such a big impact on your life. Even though I haven't slept through the night in weeks, I wouldn't change a single moment of this motherhood journey. We are still settling into Kingman, and trying to get the house ready for any guests who decide to stop by. Good news, Dave's mom is coming for a visit next month! Finally someone from Dave's side of the family gets to meet Aiden and my guilt about them not seeing him can be slightly assuaged. Despite our recent spider incident, we are loving our new home and Dave is really happy with his new job. Aiden hasn't made any huge changes since last week, he does love playing with the toy his daddy picked up for him though. (Pictured below) He laughs and giggles every time he sees it or touches it. I hope that you are all having a great week, we will check in again soon!
Date: September 19, 2012
Weight: 20.5 pounds
Height: 31 inches

Monday, September 17, 2012

Creepy Crawlers

I hate spiders.

I truly hate spiders.

I just wanted to set you up for our live horror show last night, dealing with...you guessed it, SPIDERS! I walked to the back door to let the dogs in from being outside when I felt something crawling on my legs. I had a mini freak out and brushed off a bunch of little spiders, then I saw them in a web in the bottom of my ponytail. Now, I had more of a major freak out, practically ripping the hair out of my head. When I turned to look where the little creepers had come from, I saw hundreds of tiny spiders spinning webs across my dining room chairs. After I made sure all of the spiders were off me, I grabbed Aiden and ran to the back of the house. To make matters worse, Dave was not picking up the phone which almost had me to the point of tears. Thankfully, Dave got home a few minutes later and to make a long story short. We (mostly Dave) spent the next two hours, killing and cleaning up black widow spider babies. Dave found out it was a black widow when he came across the mama spider with it's egg sac in one of our newly acquired dining room chairs. Needless to say, it was a long night and now today I am still constantly looking around for any spiders that may have gotten away. I still feel like they are crawling all over me, I can't stand that feeling. Keep us in your prayers that our spider encounters are now over, and that this crawling sensation passes soon before it drives me completely insane!


To help ease the horror of this story, I thought that I would end the post with my little bundle of cuteness. We took him to the county fair yesterday, we had a blast! 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Home Sweet Home



Once again I have fallen behind on my Weigh-In Wednesday duties, the past two weeks have been a little crazy though. The first week I was in Orange County preparing for my cousin's wedding, which left little time to blog and measure my little man. However, we had a blast at the wedding and Aiden was a perfect little angel, the most behaved little kid in attendance, in my opinion. Plus, I was a bridesmaid in the wedding, so I get to check something off my bucket list! Hooray! The second week, I was working on unpacking my new home in Arizona and I had not gotten to unpacking the Wii and Wii fit to enable me to weigh my little one. Now, I have made a huge dent in putting the house together, including setting up the Wii! Hip-hip hooray, weigh-ins are back today!  Aiden seems to really be enjoying life in our new house. His new bedroom is coming along nicely, and I think he enjoys having his own space. Despite it being a lot of work, I am loving putting our new house together. It is so spacious and quaint, I hope that many of you get to see it eventually. When I am finished unpacking, I will post pictures of our new home. Aiden is enjoying some new solid foods, he prefers whatever we are eating though. I pureed some cilantro-lime chicken that I prepared, and he loved it! I guess he has a more sophisticated palate than other babies. ;) Aiden is starting to teethe pretty badly, I am expecting the appearance of a tooth any day now. He is drooling like a faucet and is more fussy than he had been in the past. I'm hoping the tooth breaks through soon to give him a little relief. If you are not my friend on facebook, you may not know that voting has started for the next Gerber baby. Aiden has the chance to win anywhere from $10-50,000 in scholarship money for college. We would really appreciate your vote, you can vote once-a-day every day until the 24th of this month.
 Gerber Baby Facebook Search
Have a wonderful wednesday!!!!!
Date: September 12, 2012
Weight: 20.5 pounds
Height: 31 inches

Aiden in His Walker :)

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Birthday Week


Date: August 22, 2012
Weight: 20.3 pounds
Height: 30.5 inches
Everyone in my family is growing up way too fast! This week is birthday week, both of my brothers became a year older. Matthew is now 21, and spending this momentous occasion without us. I cannot wait till he gets leave and we can celebrate his birthday in Vegas! Adam just turned 15, my mom's youngest will soon find himself behind the wheel of a car. 
Where did that time go? When did my brothers go and grow up on me? If it happens that fast with my siblings, I know that it will be even worse when it comes to my son.
Aiden has hit another growth spurt and has been putting on about a pound a week for the past three weeks. Everyday I see his giggly personality developing and it seems to always bring my life into perspective. When everything else is trying to bring me down, he can turn it all around with his big, toothless grin. The sound of the rain used to be my favorite thing to hear but it has been replaced by the magical laugh that my little boy emits. I find it impossible not to smile when that pure expression of joy is shown, it truly warms my heart. 

 Aiden Enjoying His Water :)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Wake Up, It's Wednesday!

Kicked back with the remote. Hilarious!


Here we are, it is Wednesday once more. I would like to say that I am awake and as fresh as a spring chicken but alas, that is just not the case. For reason unbeknownst to me, Aiden has decided that it will be fun to wake up repeatedly during the night the past few days. He has been eating solids pretty regularly now for about two weeks, everyone told me that this would make him sleep better. Well they are all liars. (Liars whom I still love, I am just speaking from sleep deprivation.) The funny thing is that when he gets up in the morning, he seems wide awake, refreshed and happy; while I look like death just slightly warmed over. I have been a little stressed out the past few days, so perhaps he is feeding off of my anxiety. By 9 I have usually shaken my death warmed over look off and can embrace the day with the same exuberance that I normally do. I am becoming increasingly able to function off less and less sleep, yay me for learning a new life skill!
Despite being completely sleep deprived, I am completely thankful for every moment of the day. Aiden is happy, healthy and a bundle of fun. We have been having more and more play sessions on the floor together. Sometimes he sits up all by himself for over a minute, I'm sure he will have that skill mastered before I know it. He is turning six months old on Friday, and I just cannot believe it. This has been the most challenging, but definitely most rewarding six months of my life. I cannot wait to see what the next six months will bring, I just hope that it goes by a little slower. :) 
Date: August 15, 2012
Weight: 19.2 pounds
Height: 30.5 inches

Friday, August 10, 2012

Tantalizing Tortillas


I love flour tortillas. I enjoy them as a snack; just heat it up, lather it in butter and I am in my own kind of heaven. I love the versatility of a tortilla, how it can become a vessel for so many scrumptious concoctions: burritos, tacos, chips, quesadillas, enchiladas, flautas or wherever your imagination will take you. The other day I had quite the hankering for a tortilla, but alas; there was not a tortilla to be found in the house. After accepting my bitter disappointment, I decided to do something about it instead of just wallowing in my tortillaless state. My solution? Make my own! They turned out pretty fantastic, even if they weren't the perfect circles we get in the packages. I am sure if I had a tortilla press, they would have turned out a little more uniform; considering I did it by hand, I think they turned out pretty dang good. :) Next time you need tortillas don't buy them, make them!!!





A little misshapen but I think it looks good!
Flour Tortillas
4 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon salt 
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons shortening
1 1/2 cups water

 Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. 
Mix in the shortening with your fingers until mix resembles cornmeal. 
Add the water and mix until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead a few minutes until smooth and elastic. 
Divide the dough into 8-12(Depends on the size you want) equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. 
Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a thin, round tortilla. Or a tortilla press if you have one! I also tried flattening it with a heavy cast iron pan.
Place into the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly and golden; flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side. 
Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; while you finish making the rest of them. 
I stuffed my tortilla with shredded pork, cheddar cheese and dipped it in sour cream. Delicious!


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Hello Wednesday!

Aiden and his Grandpa!

   Despite the craziness of this day, I am finding the time to weigh-in and blog. Today, is my youngest brother's first day of his Sophomore year, and I have to take both of my parents to the airport. They are flying to Georgia to see my other brother graduate from the Army. I am more than just a smidge jealous, I haven't seen my little brother since January. I miss him! 
   Aiden has been growing leaps and bounds, but not so much in pounds. He has been sitting comfortably around the 18 mark. This is probably due to the fact that he has become so much more active as of late. Every time I put this little munchkin down, he rolls right over. He is constantly scooting, rolling, squirming, trying to stand and making it darn near impossible to hold his wiggly self! We have just recently added some solids to his diet: avocado, prunes, pears and cereal. He is enjoying it and eating it all up, literally! :) I cannot believe how fast his first year is going, it is incredible to watch a little one develop right before your eyes. Aiden loves to laugh and I hope he keeps that lightheartedness all his life! I entered him in the new face of Gerber contest, voting begins September 4th and I am counting on all of you to help my little munchkin win! I will be posting his number and way to vote when the day is closer. Thanks in advance! :)
Happy Wednesday all, see you next week or earlier if I get a chance!
Date: August 8, 2012
Weight: 18.3 pounds
Height: 30.25 inches