Big Brother

So I know this post is long over due but this time I have an excuse...morning sickness. That's right...we are due April 4th. I plan on another C-section so I would think it would be the end of March but who knows. I would just prefer not to have an April Fool's Day baby. I have been so much sicker than I was with Aiden. The doctor even gave me medicine to take so I can keep some food down. Hopefully another month or so and it'll pass but who knows. We have told Aiden he's going to be a big brother and that mama has a baby in her belly and he picks up my shirt and says let me see.  He's a little too young to get it but once that baby comes home, I'm sure he'll be a handful for a couple weeks. We have...scratch that...I have decided not to find out what this one is going to be either (Andy wants to find out). There is no reason to know.  All the stuff we have is neutral and we can get clothes after the baby is born. It's a fun surprise. Anyway, I figured I should put a little update out here for everyone and I'll try to put up some pics soon from this summer. We're off to the thumb this weekend for Octagon Barn Days in Gagetown. Until next time.

4th of July weekend in pictures

Playing in his little pool at Grandma's

Being silly with Grandma

Putting his shades on the back of his head

Corn on the cob...yummm

Doing some pop it's

More pop its

every time they popped he would get excited

taking a walk waiting for it to get dark enough to do sparklers

Sparklers

Fun fun fun

Happy Daddy's Day

We had a wonderful Father's Day yesterday! I made breakfast for us and Andy's mom. When we finished eating, we headed over to Potter Park Zoo for a few hours.

We all had a lot of fun looking at the animals and it was a beautiful day to be outside. Aiden loved watching any of the animals that were moving around, and wasn't too impressed by the lazy ones that were napping. He really enjoyed the goats because you were allowed to go into the pen with them and pet them. You could have fed them but none of us had a quarter to buy the food. He had to pet every goat before we could leave the pen.

He also loved watching the fish. Of course there were a couple "Nemo" fish that he was very excited about.

When we went last year, he really enjoyed the "Birds Down Under" exhibit.  You get to go into a big cage and there are sticks with bird seed on them you can buy and the birds will land on your stick and eat. This year was no different. We had to buy more sticks because he was enjoying himself so much.

We ended the day by walking over to DQ for ice cream and then hit the park on the way back so Aiden could play on the slide.

I missed seeing my dad but I called and talked to him and we'll see him on Friday at my brother's house for the St. Clair Shores fireworks. It sounds like him and mom had a fun day out in about in Port Huron.

And of course there were some tears shed because there was one dad we were all missing very much, but we knew he was there watching over us.

Fun, Sun & Not So Much Fun

So here's the jist of what's been going on with us in the last month or so:

We had Easter dinner at my mom and dad's Easter Sunday and Andy's mom came too...lots of good food and Aiden got tons of stuff from the Easter bunny. (will try to post pics soon)

The first week of May, Andy and I went to Aruba with his mom, sister and brother in law.  We had a wonderful time It was a beautiful island and we would definitely go back some day! We did leave Aiden with my parents and I of course had a hard time being away from him for so long, but he did really well. It was good for him to know we can go away and we will come back, and it was good for us to have the time away together. We got back in late on Sunday night/early Monday morning and mom and dad had come to our house so we wouldn't have to go pick him up.  So when Aiden woke up that morning, it was still not very light in the house.  I was sleeping on the chair and Andy slept on the couch in the living room because we both wanted to see him as soon as he got up. My mom got him and she carried him out and I said "hi Aiden" and he leaped out of moms arms into my lap and just snuggled me. He was a little clingy for a couple of days but not as bad as I thought he would be. (will post pics later)

Now Andy has shingles and has had them for almost 2 weeks now.  They are looking better but they still hurt. He had to miss out on my cousin Gary's wedding because he was so miserable. So of course, the day after Andy goes to Redi care for the shingles, Aiden wakes up from his nap with green goo coming out of his eye. Of course we are pretty sure we know what that means, so I take him to Redi Care.  Of course we were right...pink eye.  I get 2 days off of work until I can send the kid back to daycare. I enjoyed having 2 days off, but I had plans for those 2 days in August.  Oh well...life happens. (pretty sure you don't want pics)

Now you're thinking, that I came out the lucky one in all this sickness.  Not so much. Aiden and I went to Ubly for my cousin Gary's wedding this past weekend. I got Porter a haircut and I got my hair cut off as well. We had a fun time at the wedding but of course when I wake up on Sunday I have a sore throat and just feel drained. We had a family friends BBQ to go to at 1 so I decided to go back and take an hour nap. I cover up and just start shaking.  I can't warm up.  I took my temp and 99.5. I took a nap and when I got up mom had me and Aiden head back to Lansing. Good thing.  When I went to Redi care (keeping those people in business with getting sick on weekends)...what would it be??? of course strep throat. Aiden and Andy haven't had any symptoms yet so I hope we're in the clear.

One last highlight from this past weekend that I unfortunately missed because I was sick but Aiden was super excited about: Andy and Aiden met his mom at the cemetary in Alma Memorial Day. Of course Aiden drank a lot on the way and when they got there, he had to go potty.  Since there are no potty's there he got to pee on a tree. He told me about this later and was so excited.  Lets hope he doesn't make this a regular habit.

We're hoping now that it's June we can have a healthy, fun and enjoyable summer! We'll see....

Dinosaur eggs

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.  We bought an Easter egg kit that turned your eggs into dinosaurs and Aiden was so excited all week to get to grandma's and make donosaur eggs.

Monkeying around...putting his underwearon over his jammies.

Now he'e excited for the Easter bunny to come.  Those pics to come next week (hopefully if we can fit it in while we are trying to pack for Aruba).

Potty Training

So we are a few weeks into potty traing. Aiden is doing very well with it. We started trying on a Thursday when I picked him up from daycare and they told me he went in the potty a few times that day. Of course we get him home and he has the biggest fit when we put him on his puppy potty. I pick him up that Friday and he had a whole day of no accidents at daycare.  Again we try at home and he throws a fit. I tried on the weekend and he wanted nothing to do with the potty or pull ups. So on Monday he goes back to daycare and he even poops in the potty there and for whatever reason, that was all it took.  We got him home and he went on his puppy potty without an issue and wore his pull ups without screaming. Why one day he fights us with everything he has and then all of a sudden he wants to go, I don't know but I am thankful the process has begun. We did have an issue in the mornings with him not wanting to wear his pull up but we were still putting him in an overnight diaper when we put him to bed which I think confused him. He would scream "I want a diaper on" first thing in the morning when we tried to put his pull up on. So we went out and bought the night time pullups.Now there are no more diapers or issues. He started by using the puppy potty and they also have a little potty at daycare that they use. It really is a huge mess to deal with and next time I will try to avoid the little potty and just use the seat that goes on a normal toilet. We went to my parents house the weekend after he started and it's about a 2 1/2 hour ride. I knew he wasn't going to make it so we stopped about 1 1/2 hours into the ride and I was concerned he would be scared to sit on a big toilet and not go.  I was just the opposite.  He got on there with no issues, did his business (and his pull up was still dry) and was so excited that he used the big potty. He ened up using the big potty all weekend and that is what he currently uses (Thank Goodness!)  He gets M&M's for going and at first everytime he went he would get up and say I want my M&M's now. So there were days at 6:30 in the morning when I was feeding my child candy but what can you do when you told him he gets M&M's everytime he goes on the potty.  He doesn't ask everytime now, but still quite a bit. (Ok so I started this post awhile ago so now I will update you on his progress). Last Thursday, he comes home wearing big boy undies from daycare. He had one accident that day in which he learned if you pee while wearing normal underwear, not only do your underwear get wet, but your pants and your socks. He didn't like this at all. Now he wears his big boy undies all the time exccept at night (which he is staying pretty dry at night too but not enough to get rid of the pull ups). We have an occasional accident but all in all he is doing great! And now he rarely even asks for M&M's. Here are a few recent pics:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are the pictures I promised for ever ago.

So proud of his snowman

Making a snowball to throw for Porter

We celebrated Valentine's day yesterday. I made breakfast (french toast casserole) for us yesterday morning and Andy made dinner (BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes and corn) for us last night.  Nothing beats hanging out with my boys all day. Since it was so nice out, we took Aiden outside to play for awhile.  We built a snowman, threw snowballs and tried to take him sledding.  The sledding part didn't last long because he fell off face first into the snow after just a couple minutes of riding and he was done. Porter enjoyed being outside with us too. He loves chasing the snowballs. We all had a lot of fun playing in the snow. After dinner we realized we didn't have anything for dessert so we decided to take a trip to Coldstone. It had been way too long since had been there.  It hit the spot! YUM! Aiden had a few bites of ours and then was wound up from the sugar. I really wish I could have the amount of energy he has.  He didn't even take a nap yesterday and he just kept on going all day. He didn't want to stop playing at bed time either.  I have pictures from yesterday that I will try to post later.

As for the rest of the weekend, I went to Saginaw on Friday night and stayed with my cousin Erica. We had some shopping we needed to get done, and I had to go to the funeral home in Freeland on Saturday. One of our friends mom's passed away. Aiden stayed home with Andy and had a "No mama party". I guess they had fun and I enjoyed my night away.  When I got home Saturday evening, Aiden was excited to see me and I was excited to see him.  I can't imagine how excited we are both going to be in May when we pick him up from my parents after being gone to Aruba for a week.

I will try to post some pictures later.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day! TTFN