Happy Birthday Aidan!

Silly Kid

 Loves to play ball

First day of his preschool

 Needs his sleep or he is a grouchy monster

 Loves to read

 Attitude...

 Marches to the beat of his own drum... does not like olives, but loves raspberries on his fingers, lol!

One year old

18 Months

 After his 2nd birthday party, he smacked his head on the fireplace and had to get stitches

3 mos

 Aidan loved to chew on the corn cob lol! Hanging out with Jenni, camping.

 6 Mos

Staycation January 2013

I am just learning how to do Picasa collages... this may save my scrappy bacon... I am YEARS... Y.E.A.R.S. behind!!! 

We had a fun little family staycation back in January. It was after Jody had been on the road A LOT, it was *much needed*. We cashed in some Marriott rewards (love those) and stayed downtown in a Residence Inn.  We got lucky and ended up being upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite ... funny story. Rather than eat out, we chose to get Papa Murphy pizzas to bake. Residence Inns have games to take to play, so we decided to make it a pizza and game night "in". We ordered online, sent Jody to pick it up, and he called and said to turn the oven on. I went to do just that, and... no oven! LOL!!! Stove, microwave, fridge, uhh whole kitchen... but NO OVEN! So I called the front desk to see if maybe they had one in their break room or something lol. Jody walked in about then and talked to the lady at the front desk. They said there was a two bedroom with an oven available, but if we used the oven they would have to clean the whole suite and it would be unavailable the rest of the night, so she said what the heck.. you can move. So I had totally unpacked and set stuff up... but I was happy to move. 

It was fun, hope the people on all sides of us felt that way :)

We checked in on Friday, went to a Jazz game (we had AWESOME seats!!!) THAT was a really fun game. I had been worried about baby and crowd and everything, but Jack slept the whole game in his baby carrier. I fed him a bottle when he woke up, which was after the place had cleared out. We did not have room on out row for a giant baby carrier, but the people behind us had no shows next to them, so Jack sat behind Jody's head, with this nice family.  

We had a really fun game, a nice dinner before (ice cream sundae bar included!). After the game, Jody had to stick around to get some quotes for something he was doing, so we all ended up going down in the tunnel. I had Hannah, Jazz PR girl, telling me who was who (LOL). Gordon Hayward came out and I shook his hand, and I think I shook a few others. Then Al Jefferson came out-- he is my biggest advocate hahaha, so I shook his hand and he rubbed Jack's head. He asked Jody something like, "Is this the wife you are always taking advantage of?" He gives Jody a hard time for leaving me alone with 4 kids, one being an new baby. He cracks me up. Anyway, we had a blast and it is fun to sorta feel like a part of the Jazz family. 

We stayed over Friday and Saturday nights, came home Sunday, then went to the Pass of all Passes Grizzlies game. Here is a collage from that. I have decided to go to bed mid-post, so you get more pics some other day when I sit down and do this again! :)

A Note to Self

*RSV
*Off Track
*St George
*Cold.
*Update on kids' happenings
*My Heaven-sent funeral experience
*Coco
*Staycation/Jazz/Grizz/City Creek
*Single Mom
*Reflection on past post when Aidan was born

Neutralized

I picked up my computer with the intent of writing a great blog. Heartfelt, progression, etc. Then I got sidetracked, saw a few (eek) bills and remembered my whole FSA debacle, and man that neutralized my feel good feelings. LOL. So, I decided I would rather go watch Jack with Jack (ie nurse and watch 24) and hopefully that "runaway" tactic will work and I will be good to go later :). I had a really pivotal day yesterday and I plan to share it. I realize I say that a lot, whether it is here or in my journal. And then never write about it. I need to go back through both and write about all the things I said I would write about later haha! Anyway, I took notes, so hopefully that will help me. It is something I want to come back and read in the future to remind me what I learned, how I felt. Keep me on track, ya know.

Anywho, adios, Jacks time.
PS I really wish my Instagram and my Eyeem photos would upload to g+ and dropbox. I wish I knew how to make them do that!

Second Last Chances

I may be laughing at myself in a couple years if this is not "the end" or we have a little mistake, lol, but here goes. I am so grateful I get to do this baby thing this last time. I had such an interesting time with Aidan, I really did not focus on the wonder or love and savor him as a tiny baby. I remember feeling, later, that I really need one more baby so I can make sure I treasure as much of it as possible, as I may (hopefully lol) never have that opportunity again.
I really did love the middle of the night feedings I had with Ethan. I would write in my journal (not sure its legible lol) and just treasure it. Life was SO different then! IN some ways, this time, I am wishing my bedroom was next to Jack's so I could feed him in there, keep him in there, and not worry about Jody being loud and waking him up or Jack and I waking Jody up etc.
I don't love the night feedings like I did with numero uno, and I lose patience spending so dang much time in a chair, bed, or on sofa feeding a baby. But then I look at him and rub his head and marvel at his little fingers and ears and love it. I have to balance out my ginormous list of things that need to be done, other people I need to take care of etc, with nursing. I read somewhere that nursing is nature's way of forcing someone (ie a mom who just had a baby) to relax and recover by making them sit and feed a baby all the time.
No truer words!

So, for now, Jack is my caboose and I am trying to treasure all my moments I spend with him, loving that he wants me more than anyone else in the world (I am not going to lie, it brings me satisfaction when he is crying in dad's arms and I take him and he stops).  We all know mom is mortal enemy eventually, so it is nice to be fully loved and appreciated for a year or so :).

Comparison

All the kids, about 6 wks old.

Just a Little Nothing

Snug as a bug. Jack likes his arms out, but he does still like a little true swaddle.

Jack loves his big brother, Ethan.

 Sydney is holding Scarlett, her new cousin. My sister, Erica's first baby & only other cousin on my side of the family.

 Map of what veins need treatment in my legs. I had my appointment just after Christmas. I have to wear stockings for 6 wks straight as a "hoop" for insurance purposes, then we can get started.

I was so worried that they would tell me they are not bad enough to need treatment (they are so ugly to look at but whatevs).  Since I had Jack, they are not nearly as bad, but I guess the pictures inside do not change with the appearance outside, so they need to be worked on. Is it weird to be happy about that? 

 Ethan thinks that since Aidan dresses up and I take pics that he needs to do so as well... 

 We dog sat for a few days just before Christmas. This is my neighbor, Lola. She was a sweet little friend!

I am so excited to have my phone linked up to a couple places to make easy use of all my pictures! These pics were all taken there and loaded to google plus. Sweet. Anywho, it is a goal of mine to update my blog more often in 2013, so thank you google for making that much easier to accomplish, with less time commitment!