Whirlwind Week in Illinois

This past week we drove to Illinois to celebrate Christmas with our family.  It was easier than previous years because we were able to split up the celebrations so there was one day per family (both our parents are divorced which equates to FOUR Christmases).  In the past, everyone wanted to celebrate ON Christmas Eve or ON Christmas Day.  That meant splitting up the visits into 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening on both days.  Crazy.  

It's been three years since we were in our hometown.  It was Alex' high school graduation.  Aiden wasn't even a year old yet.  It was strange to see the area.  It has changed so much since we were there last.  Tons of new construction.  It was sort of like playing an old video game.  I had some muscle memory about how to get around, but I couldn't lay out a map of the area in my head.

I spent a couple days with my friend Chrissie, who I miss dearly.  We have been best friends since I was in 3rd grade (she was in 1st).  We both live busy lives filled with work, family and a social life, so we don't spend a lot of time talking on the phone.  What I love about her is we can go months without talking, but when we do find a moment when we are both free to chat it's like no time has past.  Neither of us holds a grudge against the other for being out of touch because we are in the same chaotic boat of life.  It's the same way when we see each other.  We can immediately talk to each other about anything.  No limitations, no judgement.  It's liberating, really.  I hate that we don't get to do that every weekend. 

Thursday night Travis and I left the kids with my dad and went out for dinner and drinks with Alex, his girlfriend Laura, Chrissie and her husband Jordan.  We had SO much fun.  We went to a Mongolian barbeque place called 301 Mongolia in downtown Champaign.  Its a stir fry buffet where you physically pick out what you want (rice vs noodles, veggies, meat, sauce) then hand it to the cook.  The server brings it out to you when you're done.  After dinner we walked down the block to a bar where we drank more wine and played pool.  We skipped over to a pub at some point and tried a few fancy beers.  We finished the night at some greasy diner.  Despite both of us having a terrible cold, we were able to really enjoy ourselves.  It was fabulous.

I will have to post separately about our drive there and back.  For now, here's the rest of the week in photos:

Aiden, Travis, Alex and Callaway played in what little snow they could find.

Grandpa Ken and Mila really hit it off.

Aiden showed everyone his new LeapPad from Gpa.

Gaga and Mila meet.

"Christmas" dinner at Dad's

All bundled up with places to go.

Aiden and his Uncle Sean were best buds.

Damn smokers (Travis is just faking)

Christmas at Gpa's - his place is tiny, but it's homey.

Chistmas at Grandma Carol's - great food and tons of grandchild spoiling.

Happy Holidays!

I haven't had the mental energy to sit down and put my thoughts in any coherent order.  Instead, I will show you some photos from our Christmas break.  We got a new camera that I'm still trying to figure out.  It's not a big fancy Canon SLR like I want someday, but it's still nicer than the last camera we had.  So far I like it!

 

Mila, at 7 months old

 

Christmas Eve PJ pic

Stocking goodies!

Auntie Ariel bonding with Mila

There were LOTS of presents from Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Rich!

We spent a lot of time in front of the TV watching Christmas movies.  It was guiltless and wonderful.

  

Matching shirts on New Year's Eve with Zach, Linsey, the kids and Michelle.

From Aiden's Point of View

This morning on the drive into work, I asked Aiden if he had a good weekend.  We did a ton of Christmas related things so I was interested to see what the highlights of the weekend were to him.  From the mouth of babes:

Setting up our Christmas tree and decorations

Trimming the tree

Tree trimming audience

Aiden's favorite: St. Nicholas Square Coffee Shop

Aiden's first Advent calendar

Dickinson Festival of Lights

My co-workers' kids and Aiden thoroughly enjoyed the lights and cookie decorating.

Playing at the beach after taking our Christmas photos

Playing in the cold water.

Texas Snow Angels

Setting up the new Christmas train

Travis got a late-90's Lionel Train from his mom and Rich.

Mommy's favorite: Enjoying evening life in the warm glow of our Christmas tree

Bottle fed and ready for bed.

Here Comes Halloween

Aiden is LOVING Halloween this year.  He is going to be Captain America for trick or treating and he has his Spiderman bag from last year.  I remember when I was little this was probably my favorite holiday.  The older I got, the more it moved towards Christmas.  Ariel is still obsessed with Halloween.  It's pretty much HER holiday.  She goes all out with the decorations every year.  When I went to her house Tuesday, I decided I need to beef up my decor a little.  Mostly for Aiden.  Last night I made a new wreath while Aiden started working on a Halloween painting.  I think the wreath turned out pretty good.  I'm not sure how well it will hold up over time though (lots of glitter and feathers).

After we were done with our crafts, we set up some decorations around the house.  Aiden is so into it that I let him put a spiderweb up and some other spooky items in his room.  I didn't do much when compared to Ariel, but I took a few photos that I sent to the family:

Every time we go to Target (which is at least once a week), Aiden wants to walk through the Halloween section.  I couldn't believe it when he wanted to push the buttons for the spooky animatronics. 

When I was little, I grew up in an old Victorian home.  Our house was the place to go for Halloween.  My dad put up a giant spiderweb and spider on the side of the house.  Our front porch was decked out in spiderwebs and the candy bowl sat between a papier-mache clown and my dad.   My dad took some of my brother's old baby clothes and stuffed them so it looked real.  Then he stuck his head and hands through styrofoam so his face and hands completed the stuffed clothes.  I hope that makes sense.  It was creepy.  I don't think I'll ever go that far for Halloween.  I absolutely despise scaring people (let alone small children) because I know how much I hate to be scared.

I went to Google maps to get a photo of our old house.  The yard looks totally different and the house has been painted a peachy-pink color, but you get the gist of what we had going for us on Halloween.

I need to buy Nightmare Before Christmas.  That's a good Halloween movie that I could watch with Aiden.

39 Weeks, 3 days



39 Weeks, 2 days

 My due date is this Friday, so this is my last week at work.  Wahoo!  It's going to be a hard week.  I totally have senioritis.  I actually have work to be doing, which is going to be hard to keep up with.  My dad is getting in Thursday evening.  So IF we get to strip the membranes on Thursday, he should be here if anything happens.  Otherwise, he'll be around a week early to help out with Aiden while I am gigantically pregnant. 

This weekend was super nice.  Travis ended up working all day Saturday.  He was originally just supposed to work in the office for the morning, but he decided to help out the on-call guy and go out to do a few jobs in the afternoon.  That evening, we went to the Yeager's for dinner.  Turns out it was their 6-year anniversary.  So THEY made US dinner for their special day.  Ha!  I guess the special day caught up with them and they were unable to make plans in advance.  They're going to celebrate this week instead. 

Yesterday was Mother's Day and it was very laid back for me.  Travis made an extra special effort to take care of Aiden and do things around the house.  He made french toast, bacon and eggs for breakfast.  Then, he and Aiden washed the car for me.  I almost forgot my car had a pearl finish!  During Aiden's nap, I relaxed in front of the TV while he mowed the lawn. 

When Aiden woke up, we went to Walmart for a few things.  I had the sudden urge to stock the freezer so my dad has easy meals to feed them while we are in the hospital.  We also grabbed a few things for dinner. On our way home, we stopped at a pet shop to find a couple more fish for my tank.  I only had two fish that swam in the water column, so I've been wanting to add to the tank for a while.  I wanted to get another cichlid or an oscar, but the fish expert recommended Red Tailed Sharks (catfish family) for now.  Since I have a tank of aggressive, territorial fish, he suggested finding some limestone to stack in the tank before we add more cichlids.  If these sharks survive, they can get up to four inches long.  They were still alive this morning, so I have hope!

I am so afraid to eat at a restaurant on Mother's Day.  I absolutely despise waiting for a meal.  I get hungry and then cranky really fast.  If I have to sit in a waiting area, smelling all the delicious foods from the kitchen, the crankiness will only get worse.  This year Travis grilled steaks and asparagus, and made scalloped potatoes.  I did get off my ass to make a salad for dinner.  We ate outside and were a little late getting Aiden to bed, but it was a nice evening.  I went straight to bed after Aiden did and watched Game of Thrones on my phone.  I stayed up too late again, but I wasn't quite ready to fall asleep yet. 

Now it's Monday and the countdown begins.  Five work days to go...

Alexa - Thanks for the photo tip!  It worked!  I've had so much trouble getting photos to rotate properly in Blogger and Alexa found the solution!  If anyone else is having a similar problem, check out this site.

Cookies, Eggs, Candy, Ham...

Sunday was just as hectic, although I did find a total of 45 minutes to sit down.  As soon as I woke up, I started in the kitchen.  I wanted to make decorated cookies from scratch, but the dough is supposed to be refrigerated for at least two hours before using.  So the first thing I did was get that going and get the rolls out to start rising.  Then I baked an apple crisp for that afternoon.  After that was done, Aiden and I used Easter cookie cutters to cut out the dough.  I learned it is very important to follow the recommended 1/8" thickness.  Any thicker than that and the cookie looses it's precut shape.  We had an incident and had to throw away half of them.  Thankfully they were the blob ones.

By the time Aiden went down for his nap, the cookies were cool enough to decorate.  I did all but a few of them, which I left for Aiden to decorate after he woke up.  I got the ham in by 12:30 and worked on tidying up the house a bit and getting table settings out.  Travis spent the morning doing the yard and running to the convenience store.  I think Ariel and Robert showed up around 2:30 and they brought appetizers.  Soon after they arrived, our friend Mike got to our house.  We snacked for a bit and I got the casseroles in the oven.

After Aiden woke, he decorated those cookies and then went outside to play with a Crayola Color Explosion kit Ariel and Robert brought for him. 

When I was done in the kitchen, I came out with the kit for dying eggs.

The guys enjoyed some whiskey.  My dad got Travis on this kick when he was here last month.  Thanks DAD for that expensive venture.

Right before dinner at 5 another friend showed up.  As we were sitting down for the meal, I was worried there wouldn't be enough food.  I feel like there are usually way more platters set out.  I think I made just the right amount though.  There were leftovers, but not so much that I will be throwing anything out at the end of the week.  There was a lot of ham leftover, but I made my dad's ham and bean soup out of that last night.

After dinner we ate a few of the Easter cookies (which I didn't get a picture of), then went back out to the patio for Aiden's Easter egg hunt.  He was so cute.  Every time he saw a new egg he would gasp and say, "Another one!"  Every time.  He even found another one Monday night when I was out watering the plants.



Spiderman eggs, courtesy of Gpa



After the egg hunt, we sat for a bit while Aiden went through his goodies.  Then Travis brought out the Spiderman pinata that Ariel and Robert got him for Christmas this past year.  Aiden has had a good time beating the crap out of that thing over the months, but I was ready for it to go.  It's bigger than Aiden, which means it was a little daunting standing in our living room all this time. 



That pinata was so hardcore that it took 15 good hits from Travis to break open a hole.  We were hoping Aiden would hit the rest out, but the second a toy hit the ground he was focused only on collecting the goodies.  He now has two Easter baskets full of candy and toys.  There is no way he will ever be able to eat all that before it goes bad.  I guess I better help him out with that dilemma.

Aiden spent a good portion of the day high on candy.  Even though we withheld candy after the egg hunt, he still had trouble falling asleep.  Not a surprise since he has trouble on a normal day.  After the sun went down and Aiden was in bed, we enjoyed the apple crisp with vanilla ice cream.  At this point, I had to call the quits on the patio because the mosquitoes were out full blast.  It was just as well because I had a kitchen to clean and was ready to pass out by that point.  Overall, I think it was a good day.  But next year I need to split up the fun over two days!!

Belated Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone had a good day of love.  Or as the radio DJ called it, Singles Awareness Day.  Mine was a little more stressful than I would have liked, but there's nothing I can complain about.  I had enough time at work to take a coffee break (I actually got decaf).  When I picked Aiden up from daycare, he had a Valentine's goodie bag.  We sat in the car and went through all his fun stuff.  His favorite "candy" was the Valentine's fruit snacks, shaped like hearts, and his favorite card was from his best friend with Captain America on the front.

When we got home, I spoiled Aiden and let him watch TV until dinner was ready. I knew it would be later than normal and I didn't want him to badger me constantly. He watched an hour and a half of Kung Fu Panda, which has quickly become his new favorite show. The last couple minutes are usually the beginning of Spongebob Squarepants and he has started to show interest in that series. I set it to record a few shows last night, so it looks like Spongebob may be in my near future. I'm so not looking forward to that. I feel like that character has the most grating laugh EVER. Yaaaayyyy.

Travis came home with a dozen white roses mixed with lilies and chocolate covered strawberries for me and a Transformer for Aiden. I got Travis a heart-shaped box of Reese's chocolates and two cards - one from Aiden and one from me. We cooked dinner together while Aiden sat glued to the TV. I made a baked potato casserole that I just found the recipe for. Potatoes have been simply amazing since I've been pregnant, so I thought it was delicious. Travis cooked fillet Mignon under the broiler since he didn't feel like messing with the grill. We also had a side of asparagus and Caesar salad. Aiden only ate steak and salad. He flat out refused to try the potatoes. Such a weird kid. What kid doesn't like potatoes?! Well, unless it's the fried kind, of course.

I seriously despise this computer - can't get the photo upright.

I was stuffed by the time we got done eating. For dessert, even though it was really late, we gave Aiden a cupcake. Actually, I only gave him half because I was concerned he would have trouble falling asleep. We didn't get him to bed until 9 pm. Needless to say, this morning was a little rough. But we had a good time gorging ourselves on delicious food.

Teasing Daddy with his icing.

 

Half a cupcake, strawberries and his Valentine's cup from daycare.



After Aiden was in bed (we let him go to sleep with his new Transformer), Travis and I ate a little dessert.  I bought turtle brownies with ice cream.  I had a serving and a strawberry, but Travis didn't have room for all that.  He found room for a strawberry and a Reese's. 

My sweet tooth this pregnancy is OUT OF CONTROL.  All I want is sugar.  I can't get enough cookies.  I go through an insane amount of Monster Trail Mix from Target.  It comes with chocolate in it, but I add MORE dark chocolate chips because it's not enough for me.  I constantly crave sweet coffee, so I've started drinking some decaf so I can have more than one cup a day.  The coffee is not so good for my constant Braxton-Hicks contractions.  It's a diuretic, plus drinking coffee means I'm not drinking water in it's place. 

I can't wait for a contraction-less day.  Travis asked if I thought that was possible.  I said, "Yes, when I'm done being pregnant."  Even then it will be a while because there's that week after you have the baby where the uterus contracts back to normal size.  Plus, I'm thinking about getting Mirena after I have Mila which is known to cause serious cramping.  Sorry if that's too much information for some of you.

If there were uterus strength contests, I bet I'd win. 

Mardi Gras 2012

I'm sure it's probably a combination of things, but I can tell this pregnancy is really draining me.  I have little desire to get on here regular and word-vomit my thoughts like I usually do.  I know there are other factors, like being busy at work and taking care of Aiden at the end of the day (which I did not have last pregnancy).  I guess it all adds up. 

In addition to blogging, I've also failed on the photo front.  I bring my camera along to events with the intention of snapping some shots, but then never get it out.  This weekend was the start of Mardi Gras.  Travis and I celebrated with his old boss in Galveston.  They have a large family that sort of took us in when Travis started working for them.  I really like all those people.  They are so friendly and absolutely great with Aiden.  Part of the appeal to being with them is there's usually someone else playing with Aiden, even if there aren't other kids around. 

We headed down to the island at 10 in the morning so we could hang out a bit before the noon parade.  We brought some sides and enjoyed all the grilled food.  Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't eat any of the grilled food.  HA!  One of the girls made some fabulous gumbo (chicken, sausage AND shrimp) from scratch and Travis' ex-boss made chili.  Ugh, it was awesome.  Aiden partook in a hot dog or two. 

The parade itself was really fun.  I felt like I spent more time protecting Aiden from flying objects than I did catching them, but it was still enjoyable.  The worse part of the day was how cold it was.  When I woke up Saturday it was 39 degrees at our house.  It was in the 40's by the time the parade started, but coupled with the wind off the Gulf that is SUPER cold for us (we were right on the Seawall).  I think I was more exhausted by all the shivering I did.  



Bead man



Aiden got tons of beads and hung out with a girl that he used to go to daycare with.  She is such a cutie.  I don't think they recognized each other though.  After the parade we ate lunch and then left for Ariel's.  I didn't get Aiden down for his nap until 3 pm, which is really late for him.  He was out immediately.  I thought about taking a nap myself, but ended up resting on the couch and chatting with Ariel the entire time.  It was the least I could do after she gave me a pint of cookie dough ice cream.  Amazing stuff, ice cream. 

The down side to hanging out with lots of people who love Aiden are all the opportunities to eat chocolate and various goodies.  Aiden spent a good portion of the afternoon complaining about his tummy hurting.  I force-fed him some rice and crackers, hoping it would help placate his belly.  Thankfully there was no diarrhea or vomiting. 



Travis' old boss and Aiden



After the evening parade, my co-worker and her boyfriend came over and sat with us by the fire.  Travis had met them already a couple weeks ago when we went out for dinner together.  That was a funny night because we ended up runing into our boss and his wife (also our co-worker) at the same restaurant.  Ha.  All in all, we had a good time.  Aiden and I were exhausted by the end of the night and Travis had perhaps one drink too many.  Thankfully we had zero plans for Sunday, so that turned into a recovery day!

The Christmas that never ended

I had all last week off, along with yesterday.  I had a lot of time with Aiden since I only brought him to daycare one day last week.  It was a nice day.  I dropped Aiden off and then headed to Ariel's where Alex had stayed the night.  We dropped Ariel off at work and then headed out for lunch.  He wanted Vietnamese food since we've got a few good Pho places on the island.  We went to one I hadn't been too before, so it was an experience for me as well.  He was a gentlemen and bought my lunch!  Unexpected, but appreciated. 

After lunch we went for a walk on the beach.  Alex really wanted to make it to the ocean before he left for Illinois again.  When we couldn't bear the wind anymore, we headed up to Ariel's bar.  She took a break and walked the Strand.  We got coffee, walked over to the harbor for a bit and went in a few stores.  We picked out our dad's Christmas gifts together.  We got him some Texas gear since he wasn't able to make it here for the holidays this year.  I really missed having him around, but hopefully that means it will be easier for him to visit in May when Mila is due.

Aiden got some Christmas cards in the mail that included money (thank you Grandpa Curt, Grandma Brenda and Great Grandparents Richard and Jan!!), so we decided to put it all together to get an outdoor playset for Aiden.  It's good up to 6 years old, so we have many years ahead of us with that toy (assuming it holds up).  Little Tikes is good about putting a pamphlet inside all their toys to advertise other stuff they make.  Sells me everytime.  Now I want to get him the water play pirate ship this summer.  Perhaps as a birthday present?

We went outside to show Aiden his new gift for the first time New Year's day.  Travis attempted to get our Christmas present to ourselves working, but it was too windy.  I look forward to a few evenings sitting at that fire with a beer.  Of course, that won't happen until this summer, but the time is near!

I think Aiden likes his new very own playground.  It's pirate themed - Aiden's favorite!

I got a little nervous a few times because MAN that kid is ballsy. 

Aiden just would not go down that slide on his own, so Travis got on to show him how it's done.  Aiden thought it was a hoot racing Travis around to the steps over and over.  It will be GREAT whenever he has buddies over to play with him. 

Christmas Break

Christmas came and went in a whirlwind!  I can't even remember everything we did while my family was here.  Here's what I can recall:

Saturday morning (Christmas Eve), Travis, Aiden and I went over to Ariel and Robert's house for lunch.  We went a little early so Aiden could nap there and I could cook.  We ate a lot and then hung out for a few hours.  That evening, Ariel and Robert had to go into work.  Bummer, but they gotta make that paycheck.

That night I made roast beef sandwiches for dinner, then let Aiden open up one gift - his first of the season!

He went to bed right after that and we stayed up for a while.  It was nice to have time to talk to Alex and my mom spent a lot of time outside bonding with Sagira.

The next morning, Aiden woke up to a couple gifts from Santa and a full stocking.  Santa got him a camera and a Dinosaur Train car and dino-shark.  He played with that for a while and we helped him go through his stocking gifts.  He also got to eat some candy before lunch.  Around 10, we let him open some more gifts to play with that day.  He opened the Dinosaur Train tracks from Grandma Brenda and a Tag Junior from us.  We wanted to wait to open his gifts when everyone was around, so we kept postponing opening up the remaining gifts.

When Uncle Alex woke up, Aiden opened a few more gifts, including those from him.

His Great Grandma Margie sent some gifts that he really enjoyed.

He loves the Dinosaur Train tracks, but I they fall apart too easily.  They are recommended for 3 years old and above, so he's not that good at putting the track together himself.  I may have to hide the tracks and keep the cars out for a while so I don't lose my sanity.  It's frustrating when he needs it put back together every 10 minutes.

That evening, Ariel and Robert came over for dinner.  My mom and I made a beef tenderloin.  It was my first time to ever make one, so it was interesting.  We overcooked it a little bit, but it was a learning experience.  Dinner was great, and as you can see, we were not able to get those Spiderman PJ's off Aiden the entire day.

After dinner we let Aiden open his remaining gifts.  We put together his new grill right before bed, which in hindsight, was not the best idea.  Getting him down for nap that day and for bed that evening was a trying experience.  He just wanted to play with all his new toys!

I also tried a new idea for displaying Christmas cards this year.  Linsey saw the idea online and I thought it was really cute.  My bow was a little sad though.  Next year I'll have to look harder for a better ribbon since this one was a bit droopy.