Happy Halloween!

I made Aiden a Bamm Bamm costume, but my craftiness does not make the highest quality so I sent Aiden to daycare in his Batman shirt today, knowing the costume would not hold up all day. Aunt Brooke put a cape on his Batman shirt, and I knew her handiness could withstand an entire day. The Bamm Bamm costume had already survived 2 work parties, plus he wore if for awhile tonight while hanging out with his buddy Lucas and "helping" pass out candy. (by helping I mean that he stared at everyone who came to the door)

His gal Lylah was Pebbles so we will have to photoshop a picture of the kiddos together so it can pretty much be like their couples costume worked out.

Happy Halloween everyone!

It's really hard to take pictures of an 18 month old....

At home we went with the shirtless option...(I like it best!)

...but for the work gathering, we added a shirt in.

Did I mention it's really hard to get a good pic of an 18 month old?

For Better, For Worse

I think today is along the 'for worse' line of our vows. I mean, I'm not trying to be over dramatic....there are definitely people in much worse situations so I am grateful that our 'for worse' is what it is. But our 7th anniversary will definitely not go down in the books on the 'better' side.

Things started off well late last week when Ryan gave me my gift. We had a weekend wedding and cowboy boots were suggested attire. I had just been telling Ryan how cowboys boots had grown on me in the 7 years we've lived in Texas, and wouldn't you know it, that charmer dragged a couple of work guys boot shopping and picked out these bad boys:

Such a wonderful surprise! I love them, and I wore them every day this weekend. I will try to not wear them out, but I'm a huge fan.

Don't ask about what I got Ryan because I don't want to discuss the awesome unsigned card still sitting in the other room.....Wife of the year award right here.

So, now to get to the 'for worse' part. We took Aiden to the doc on Saturday....and it appears Ryan and I both picked up a stomach bug while there. Ick. Ryan really got the worst of it. I think this is the most sick I've seen him in 7 years. To celebrate, he stayed home from work feeling miserable.

I celebrated in an equally as fun way - by getting in a wreck with a semi on the way home. I was trying to make it home just a few minutes early to check on my sick hubby and instead I ended up hanging out in the chilly weather for an hour and a half taking care of the wreck. Everyone was fine and things could have been much worse....but you know...it's the hassle and frustration - of that moment and plenty of moments ahead I'm sure.

Things did end on a cute note though....with Aiden's first attempt at 'Schweizer.' It's hard to stay fixated on the 'for worse' when you have this reminder of the 'for better.'

Happy 7 years Ryan! I'll take you on the best of days and the worst of days. You are an incredible blessing to me.

Sleep Insanity

There are some things that books, people, webpages, (wherever you like to get your info) try to "tame" down. Sleep regression is one of them. I remember Aiden's previous sleep regressions when he was an infant. That was a fair enough name. His schedule shifted a little and it took a few days to adjust. Now that he must be officially classified as a toddler, I'm pretty sure he must also leave behind the word "regression." In our house, we will replace it with the word "insanity." Sleep insanity.

This is what we went through both Friday and Saturday night. Aiden was WIDE awake from 9:30pm to 1:30am on Friday. If we'd had the slightest clue what we happening we would have just let the kid run wild. That's basically how the night ended anyway....with poor Ryan laying on the the floor in Aiden's room while Aiden rearranged all of his stuffed animals, attempted to get piggy back rides from daddy and did laps around his room. 

Saturday wasn't much better. The awakeness was also accompanied by continual very sad cries for someone to join in Aiden's insane little world. We tried to tough it out for a little longer on Saturday, but these cries were literally non-stop and horrible to hear. At one point Aiden finally sat down to cry (he generally stood in the corner of his crib, waiting for his rescuer). He was so tired from this craziness that he fell asleep sitting up. Hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time.

We read that sleep regression insanity generally happens when a child is learning a new skill. Aiden's new skill appears to be his language development. He woke up Saturday morning saying words I'd never heard before - "sharkie," "picture" and "dog". (Up until now, it's been "gog"....No idea why because he says d's just fine in other words.....but Saturday morning it was gog no more!) He was enunciating, and I could understand a lot more of what he was trying to say. It really is insanity....not only the entire sleep situation but the fact that things literally change over night. These are crazy times.....

Since I didn't take any pics at 1am, here are a few from our weekend.

All the animals Aiden decided to play with Friday night.
Did I mention he's never played with these?

Aiden had a very busy Saturday...so busy we thought it
would exhaust him. Crazy us, what were we thinking?

Aiden's first motorcycle ride taught us one important
thing...we are pretty sure he has motion sickness. I think
he was trying to give me the warning look here...

First ride in the "cool" grocery cart during
Sunday's run to the store...

Family Bike Ride

We found a family friendly bike ride and decided to check it out on Saturday morning. Not only could we all get out and do one of our favorite activities, but it was for a great cause (Make A Wish) so we went for it. A few things:

One, there were only three route options - 12 miles, 42 miles, and 60 miles. Um, I haven't ridden my bike more than 12 miles since I've had Aiden. Ryan, the always athletic type, wanted the entire family to ride 42 miles.

Two, Hah. That's what I said about riding 42 miles. Both for my sake, and because Aiden hasn't ridden in the carrier for much more than an hour. The 42 mile option would mean about 3 hours at my pace. Pretty sure we would have no happy campers at the end of that ride.

Three, by family bike ride I mean we all showed up together. Aiden and I did the 12 mile route, and Ryan did the 42 52 mile route. What's that? I didn't mention there was a 52 mile option? There wasn't. The entire ride was poorly marked and Ryan added an extra 10 miles because he missed a turn. (And I'm even happier Aiden and I stuck with the wimpy 12 miles.....Ryan wasn't even a happy camper by the time he pulled in. At least Aiden or I...maybe both of us...would have been crying if we'd ridden 52 miles.)

It was a good time overall. I wasn't sure how little man would do but he was great. The weather took a turn for the nasty so the time (read 2 hours) we spent waiting at the finish line for Ryan was very chilly and misty and uncomfortable but we survived....and in good spirits. I think we'll do it again sometime.

Ready to roll out!

Aiden was a little confused about where he was riding....

I love my bike, but I wouldn't be opposed to someone towing me every now and again.

Baby Be Gone

The title. Not the kid. Don't worry, we still have our baby Aiden. But, per the state, Aiden will no longer be able to claim the title of 'baby' in the AM...he will officially be a toddler. Isn't that crazy? I'm pretty sure it's crazy. I can't believe it's been 18 months since this sweet, sweet boy became a part of our world. There has not been a day of his existence that I haven't smiled. He brings us so much joy, even when he's being crazy, destructive, take the house from spotless to disaster in zero to sixty. Even though he's making a mess, it's funny to watch his mannerisms when he does it.

I'm not much of a sap about his official toddler status because I feel like the change actually happened about two months ago. A few days before he turned 16 months, if you want to get specific. One day in the car on the way home from daycare, I looked at my little man in the rear view mirror and knew he was different, more grown up. He didn't act like a baby anymore, he was saying actual words, he understood things we were telling him. It was enough of a switch that I may have shed a few tears that night when I put him to sleep.

I've decided that parenting is the very definition of bittersweet. It is so fun and sweet to watch them grow up....so far every stage has been more fun than the last. But, it's sad for it to be the end of a stage because you never get to go back there and the stage you just left had things you loved about it too. It's also bitter because you know they are just working their way toward being a big person with every new stage, and I don't even want to think about the things that happen when big person happens (girlfriends, college, moving out). That's just a scary place to me right now so I'm going to end this post. Luckily, I get to keep him as a little person for awhile longer.....and enjoy him doing things like chilling in the lounge chair and cuddling in my lap.