Aidan's 1st birthday!

Yes, his 1st birthday happened in January. (January 6th to be exact)
Yes, I forgot my camera for the birthday party with Ryan's family.
Yes, I now have the pictures!!
Yes, I think it's really annoying when I forget to switch around the order of my pictures so the last is first. :)

He looks less than thrilled!

Aidan's Minivan cake... I mean RACECAR. :)

Race car or station wagon, you decide...

Not my finest cake work!! :)

Pottylicious

Once again it's been too long since I've updated! :)

I made a swift decision 2 weeks and 1 day ago. This potty training business has got to go...not stop it, but get in gear. I had put her in pull-ups for a couple of months, initially thinking that would a) be a motivator and b) be what you were supposed to do! In retrospect, I hate pull-ups and I won't use them with Aidan (except for sleeping). I had been getting so frustrated because even though Olivia was using the potty more, she was still peeing in her pull-ups all the time. After a great discussion at ECFE, I just decided no more pull-ups: panties only.

And you know what? I wish I would have done it 2 months ago! She's done soo awesome! Most days are 0-1 accident, and if there's more accidents it's usually because of the neglect of the adults! Pooping is another thing... any tips on getting this going???

Productive.

It's 9:06 AM as I start this post. My day started at 6:40. This is what I've done so far:
Fed 2 kids homemade pancakes.
Threw in a load of laundry.
Ate said pancakes.
Dressed 2 kids.
Washed the floor freaky-fast while Olivia watched a 20 min. signing video and tried to prevent Aidan from slipping on the floor. (He ended up in the high chair)
Got the kids set up playing downstairs.
Washed all the windows on the first floor of the house...inside and out. (only to find out that we are having our lawn mowed and leaves blown today....sigh...Jill, make sure your hubby keeps my windows clean!) Made faces and sang songs to Aidan through the open windows as I cleaned the outside.
Vaccummed the living room carpet.
Threw in another load of laundry.
Removed the spots from my living room carpet. (Oxyclean really is amazing.)
Put Aidan up in crib for a little quiet time.
Dusted with the help of Olivia.
12 min. of Clifford as a reward.
Facebook. Blog. Need to rescue Aidan.

What's next? Fold lots of laundry, vaccum the rest of the house, pick up the basement, get guest bedroom ready for company. Lunch, naps, doctor appt. for A, grocery shop, and the Twins game tonight!

Maybe at some point I'll get dressed.

It's now 9:12. Happy Friday!

Easter Weekend

Cuddling & reading books with Great Grammy Mac

Easter morning!

Reading books & eatin' cupcakes with Uncle Bill & Auntie Lynn

My Easter creations! :)

Send me your blogs...

I lost my favorites doing an update on my compter!! If I've commented on your blog or you know I follow it, please send me the link!
(If I'm a follower on your blog, I already have it...)

Thank you!

BBQ

We have been loving being able to eat dinner outside during this beautiful spring! Not only does being able to use the grill add some spice to our menu options, but the kids are happy and distracted during dinner and they eat great! I love this time of year!!

Oh, crazy eye boy!

Check out Aidan's grin in this picture! Classic!!

San Diego: Day #4

Me, Olivia, & Natalie (my cousin)

Wild Animal Park...

I shouldn't have done it on a rainy day.

If you live where I live (or somewhere like it) you probably look at commercials & TV shows about people going to the DMV with hours and hours of wait time with disbelief. Our DMV is tiny, and there is never a wait. Well, I take that back, sometimes I have to wait for 1 person.

Never-the-less, it still an undesirable errand. It is undesirable because taking small children in and out of the car for such a short errand is annoying. Similar errands include: the bank, the post office, and filling prescriptions (luckily we have a drive-thru now!). However undesirable it is, yearly it as to be done.

And so a few weeks ago I set out to renew my tabs, as well as Ryan's tabs. It was a gray day. I was a little crabby. The kids were behaving nicely. I renewed my tabs. Just as we were about to go back out to the car. It started thundering...and pouring. (Thunder, really, in March??) So we waited.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I renew my tabs, if I don't IMMEDIATELY put them on my car, they sit around for another month at least before they get put on. Well, when it's raining you can't put your tabs on. So I didn't. The rain let up and we ventured onward to the grocery store, then home. I left the tabs in the car so I would remember to put them on.

A couple of days later I had to drive someone someplace (who really remembers where), so I cleaned out my car. The next day, I went to put my tabs on my car. Aw, crap. In the garbage, in the dumpster... So I dug into the dumpster till I found my tabs (& Ryan's tabs). For who knows what reason (screaming kids, or something) I didn't put my tabs on the car. I brought them in the house and put them on the counter.

The next week we were having company so I had to clean my house. Guess what? I cleaned everything off of the counter. On Monday I had a sudden moment of freak-out realizing I once again had thrown my tabs away. I dug through the dumpster AGAIN. Seriously gross. But I found them!!

And they are now on my car. :) I shouldn't have done it on a rainy day!!

San Diego: Day #3

Day 3: Olivia and I packed up the car and headed to Lou & Linda Tamagni's (Delinda's parents) house for the morning. We had some good fun playing with Lola's new bristle blocks, listening to Raffi, and sipping coffee (NOT Olivia & Lola...). Then we ventured out the backyard...

Yes, an amazing giant tortoise! Delinda's Mom loves turtles/toroises and has quite the habitat for them in their backyard. Olivia wasn't so sure at first about touching the tortoise, but with Auntie D's help she was all about it!

Then we went for lunch and to a couple of parks... I'd say Lola wishes she had Olivia for a big sister. I don't think her Daddy allows too many brownies. :)

I'd say she liked them! :)

My ruffle girl, playing at the park!

San Diego: Mommy & Olivia