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

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

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!

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!!

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!

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!

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.

Source: darkroomanddearly.com via Amber on Pinterest
If you do not have Pinterest, click here to go straight to the site I used.