2010 Vacation - Part 1

This is going to be a loooong post, but I want to write down the details of our family vacation. I want to be able to remember how much fun we had!

Day 1 - May 21

Monty got off work early so we were able to leave town about 2:00We drove as far as Council Bluffs, IA (right near Omaha, NE). Not a bad drive considering it was all interstate. After checking into the hotel we ate dinner at Cracker Barrel, went to Walmart to pick up a few forgotten items, and then crashed for the night.

Day 2 - Saturday, May 22

Aiden let us sleep in a little but we were on the road again by about 9:00. It was raining a little, but nothing too bad. In Sioux Falls we stopped to see the USS South Dakota Battleship Memorial. The visitor center wasn't open but we were able to let Aiden get out and run around for a while. We arrived in Mitchell, SD at about 2:00 and found a hotel that had an indoor pool! Aiden had a blast in the kiddie pool. That day we toured the Corn Palace and did some walking downtown.

Day 3 - Sunday, May 23

After church we headed to Keystone, SD, our home for the next week. We stopped in at Wall, SD and walked around Wall Drug. Aiden got to get out and run around and we enjoyed delicious ice cream! The visitor center in Wall had lots of "stuffed" animals and Aiden was in awe of them all. He kept walking around pointing to everything saying, "ooh, oooh!!". When we got to Keystone we set up the tent and then went to Mt. Rushmore to eat dinner and watch the lighting ceremony. Aiden fell asleep shortly after the show started.

The first night in the tent was a rough one as storms blew through all night. Monty kept checking the radar every hour to make sure there were no tornadoes. We stayed mostly dry, but every time the rain cover hit the tent, big drops of water would fall on us. Aiden ended up sleeping with us after a huge drop of water hit him in the face. Thankfully, in between storms we managed to get a little sleep.

Day 4 - Monday, May 24

We knew it was going to rain later in the day, so we decided to get up and head to Crazy Horse as soon as we finished breakfast. Aiden fell asleep as soon as we got in the car and slept for two hours! It was about a 20 minute drive to the Memorial. We parked and Monty got out and took pics while I stayed in the car to let Aiden sleep. I got a lot of reading done on the latest series, Above the Line, by Karen Kingsbury! After Aiden woke up we all toured the museum.

Storms looked like they were rolling in so we decided it would be best to head back to the campground. We got back just in time for a HUGE hailstorm!! The campground had covered picnic tables, so we moved a table out of the way and parked under the canopy. I think we played in the car for an hour while the storm continued. When it appeared to be dying down, we headed into town for lunch. Unfortunately we ran right back into rain and hail AGAIN! It continued all afternoon. It finally did end and after a run to Walmart to get groceries we headed back to camp. This is what we found:Not only was the tent blown down, but some of the poles were broken! That meant moving into a cabin for the next four nights. Fortunately there were vacant cabins and we only had to pay the difference between the price of the campsite and the price of the cabin. It ended up being a blessing for several reasons:

1. Aiden's allergies started acting up and it was better for him to sleep indoors.

2. The second night had WINDS that were worse than the first night. There is NO WAY any sizeable tent would have stood against them.

3. The second night was COLD! Way cooler than any of the forecasters thought it would be.

4. We had a fridge, TV, microwave, and private bathroom.

Day 5 - Tuesday, May 25

We drove to Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument. We had a fun time looking for wildlife at WC.

We chose not to do any cave tours b/c they were long you had to walk down 300+ steps. Not something I wanted to attempt while carrying a wiggly one year old. We did take a short tour at JC. It was about 20 minutes which was about all Aiden could take. I carried him in the front carrier, but he did not like being confined for that long! No more cave tours until the kids are older!

Day 6 - Wednesday, May 26

This was mostly a driving day as we went to Wyoming to see Devils Tower. While we were driving we saw Reed from the TV show "Storm Chasers". Thankfully he was taking a day off to hike and wasn't chasing any storms in our area.

We hiked the trail around the base of the tower but didn't make it all the way around as Aiden's allergies were getting worse. Here is a shot of the prairie dogs on the way in:

On our way back to camp we bought a travel humidifier and some baby vapo-rub hoping that would help make him more comfortable. Someone really needs to come up with an OTC allergy medicine that kids under 2 can take!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Look Who's Talking

Here is a short clip of Aiden talking. He knows more words, but this is all I could get him to say (and usually he says "mama" better than he does here!). Enjoy!

What It's Like to Be One

The following was inspired by an article in the most recent issue of American Baby magazine.

Aiden
Weight: 21 lbs, 9.5 oz.
One word to describe him: Busy
Tell us more: Aiden loves to be on the go! He is constantly crawling and playing. He loves to climb and has trouble sitting still for long periods of time.
How many teeth: Six
Drinks from a cup? Yes
Walking yet? Yes, but he loves to crawl because he can get where he wants to go faster. He can walk across a room if he wants something bad enough.
First words: "Daddy" (not "Dada"), "Mama", and "Kitty" (sounds like "Tid")
Favorite thing in the world: Mommy
Favorite food: Yogurt and Goldfish
What makes him laugh? Being tickled and playing Peek-a-boo
Favorite book: The Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider
Favorite song: "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"
First reaction to new people: He'll usually smile but then he'll turn away and act shy.
It drives me crazy when: I'm trying to do something and he pulls on my leg and whines to be picked up.
Cutest thing he does: Scrunches his nose and smiles showing all of his teeth

He's One!

Our precious Aiden turned one on Sunday! So hard to believe. We celebrated with a big birthday weekend full of family and friends. My mom came on Friday morning to help with Aiden while I finished up all the last minute cleaning and cooking. She brought him a red rocker for his birthday. Her and my dad bought it for me when I was 18 months old. Dad refinished it so it was as good as new for Aiden. He loves it and has already learned how to crawl in and out of it.

We went to Tulsa Friday afternoon to pick up my brother, Andy, from the airport. He flew in from Seattle to help us celebrate. We were so glad he got to come. Monty's mom, dad, and sister came in to town Friday afternoon. They were able to watch Aiden while we went to the airport. They enjoyed getting to spend so much time with him! Monty's grandparents also made the trip from Alabama for this special occasion. Aiden's party went great! My brother, Alex, his wife, Amber, and my grandparents came from Hot Springs. Aiden is such a happy kid. He had a great time visiting and playing with everyone!

Amber made his first birthday cake! She did a great job!!

He had a great time opening all his presents. On a side note, it's time for me to clean out his toys in order to make room for all his new cool stuff. Addyson and Hallie were a great help opening his new toys! They'll be two soon so they know what presents are all about!

Aiden was very particular about his cake. He took the snake off and ate that first. Then he carefully picked up handfuls of cake and ate it. He did not smash it or play in it. The green icing still made a mess so we got some good pics. (That's the purpose of cakes, right?!?)

My dad and brother, Austin were able to come up Saturday evening when Austin was done with his track meet in Hot Springs. It was good to have the whole family together. That doesn't happen too often. Did I get a picture? Of course not! We were too busy having fun for that I guess!

Here are some things I want to remember about Aiden as a one year old:

* He has started taking some steps - as many as six or seven at a time!

* His vocabulary is increasing. He can say mama, daddy, kitty, bye, out, and balloon (pronounced "ba-yoo"). Last week at church he saw his friend Addyson sitting behind us and he yelled out, "Addy!".

* He is OBSESSED with helium filled ballons. He will point them out at stores and get soooo excited. It's hilarious!

* We were very blessed during his first year of life. He only got sick (enough to go to the doctor) with allergies once and he had NO ear infections or other sicknesses!! I was also able to breast feed for the whole year! That was a prayer answered.

It's Tuesday now and everyone is back at home. Time for us to get back to life as we know it!

First Haircut

The day finally came for my baby to have his first haircut. I was not dreading the day and I didn't put it off like some moms will. I knew he needed a haircut!! We just had to find a time when my sister-in-law could cut it. Saturday was the day! As you can see, the hair over his ears was ridiculously long. It looked like he had wings sprouting from the side of his head. lol

The hair in the back was long too and needed a good trim.

He did really well for the most part! We sang and looked at books to keep his mind off the lady with the scissors. A few times he tried to reach back and grab the comb and scissors our of her hand.
Now he looks MUCH better!! So handsome! Thanks Amber for doing such a great job!

11 Months

It's hard to believe that a month from now we'll be celebrating Aiden's first birthday! It doesn't seem like he's been here that long. We have been blessed with such a wonderful little boy. Every day is a joy and I am thankful that I get to stay at home and enjoy every minute of it! Monty is such a great husband! He works so hard to provide us with what we need and realizes how important it is for me to be at home with Aiden. Kids only grow up once and I am glad that I am able to experience all the new things that Aiden is learning to do each day.

He is into EVERYTHING these days. His favorite places are in the cabinets and climbing onto the dishwasher door when I am trying to unload it.

He is eating almost everything we're eating and we haven't found anything that he doesn't like. This week his fourth tooth on the top finally broke through. So far I see no more teeth on the bottom or any sign of one year molars starting to come in. He is very proficient at using his front teeth to take bites of food. He still won't pick up anything that is too squishy.

Every day he stands alone and more and more but still hasn't taken any steps. Maybe he'll be walking soon!

We are so glad that the weather has warmed up because Aiden loves to go outside! The back patio is the perfect place to crawl and he actually stays on the concrete! The boy cannot stand to crawl in the grass. He'll sit in it all day long, but will not crawl in the yard. He'd rather be on the rough concrete. Go figure! Hopefully we'll be able to take lots of trips to the park this summer.

Aiden and I went to Alabama about 2 weeks ago to visit my grandmother. He got to meet another one of his second cousins, Bryce.

It's about to get real busy around here. Next week we are going on a mini vacation to St. Louis for two days with our good friends, Josh and Tracie. The next weekend we will be busy having a garage sale and building a fence (thanks in advance to my brothers, Alex and Austin). The first weekend in May we'll be partying with all our family to celebrate Aiden's birthday. Then we'll wrap up May with a week long camping trip to Mt. Rushmore. Can't wait!!

Here is Aiden and his Uncle Austin sporting their almost matching shirts before church on Sunday. And yes, Aiden does have a bruise on his head in almost every picture. It seems like each time he falls it's on the EXACT same spot. We joke that he's a little top heavy!

The Latest

Aiden went to his 9 month check-up on Monday. He weighed 21 pounds, 1 ounce (51st percentile) and was 30 inches long (89th percentile). Tall and skinny! I tried some of his summer clothes on him and his shorts are too big around the waist! Hopefully he'll fill in a little in the next few months. Goodness knows we won't need shorts for while! Some of his 18 month one piece summer outfits are almost too short already! I'll be doing a lot of bargain hunting at the JBF consignment sale this week and the Rhea Lana sale next week.

His head circumference was in the 95th percentile! He has always had a big head, but he comes by it honestly. Monty and my dad have always had trouble finding ball caps that fit! A fifth tooth made its appearance last week. I think there's another one coming in on the top. Maybe it will be through soon.

On the Go

Aiden is on the go! He has figured out how to walk behind his push toys and he does it all day. I guess that means we're one step closer to a walking toddler.

January

January has been a quiet month and for that I am thankful. The holidays were so busy that it was nice to just spend some time at home not worrying about getting ready for the next big event. Monty's mom and dad came at the beginning of the month to share New Years with us. Aiden had a great time and even crawled for the first time while they were here. What a treat! It snowed the Sunday morning they left - not just a small snow, but a huge, cover everything kind of snow! Driving to church that morning the roads were completely covered and we could see NO asphalt, just WHITE! That snow caused school to be out for a week. For that (and so many other reasons) I am glad that I am not working this year!

Aiden and I went to Hot Springs in the middle of the month to celebrate my great aunt's 80th birthday. Monty had to stay home and work on an install at work :(. But, he did get Associate of the Month for December, so all the hard work he did getting ready for the install paid off!

Aiden is growing and changing every day. He is so fun to play with and is such a happy boy! His favorite toys right now are books, stuffed animals, and balls. He is really into chasing the cats around and they have quickly figured out that they need to stay off the floor as much as possible. Whenever he spots one he lights up and tries to get to it and touch it. It is too funny! Notice the HUGE grin on his face - he has just spotted a cat sitting on a dining room chair.

My favorite time of the day is right after bath time. I read a few stories to him and then rock him for a few minutes before laying him in his bed. It's one of the few times during the day that he is actually still and I just love it. He is growing up, but is still such a baby in so many ways.

He has gotten four teeth this month.

Aiden is pulling up on anything he can and is starting to "cruise" along the furniture. He has already had a couple bruises on his forhead, a knot on the back of his head, a busted top lip, and a busted bottom lip. Oh, the joys of being mobile!

He is crawling EVERYWHERE! He ends up all kinds of fun places. He can crawl up stairs and over small obstacles. He crawled through the bottom shelves at the library last week, from one aisle to the next.
We have entered the world of self-feeding. He really does a good job most of the time. Of course, there is always a mess at the end of each meal!
We ended the month as we began it - covered in snow. This time we got about 8 inches and it was really pretty. Aiden enjoyed playing outside in it. This time he could crawl through it and he thought that was great. There are more snow pics on our Flickr site. School was out for another two days with this storm. I do not envy my teacher friends!