A few of my recent favorites

sweeping the driveway....

uh oh Aiden...you got caught!

This is what happens when we rub bubbles in our hair:

Such a stud....just like my dad:

Kreg had an absolutely fabulous idea today. When we took him lunch he said to bring Aiden's portable booster seat with us. OK! We strapped him in and away they went! Aiden rode with Kreg probably close to 90 mins or so workin up the ground. Meanwhile, I had myself a nice long run on the country roads and because Aiden was being so good I also got to do my weekly CVS shopping.

Don't they look cute in this picture. The tractor has an extra seat and it fit Aiden's booster perfectly. I armed Kreg with a paci, sippy cup, ziploc of jelly beans, and a piece of string cheese. I think Aiden loved it!

It's hard to see Aiden but he's in there. It was so cute to see him waving at me when I pulled up to pick him back up. He was waving vigorously in the window. He looked like such a little man sitting in there with Kreg.

And one more picture because this was just a fabulous idea! Way to go honey!

The Life of a Farmer's Wife

I have only just begun to understand the life of being a farmer's wife. I know I have a long way to go to before I grasp all the hard work and dedication that goes into maintaining, working, and managing a good size farming operation. It takes lots of didication and hard work. I've decided you have to truly love your work in order to succeed at farming. Planting has officially begun and lets just say I wasn't quite prepared for the long hours without my husband! His average work day has turned into 13 to 15 hour days. Yikes! He's out the door by 6:00 or so and last night he didn't get home until almost 11 pm. I'm afraid tonight will probably be similar, as well as the weeks to come. I am blessed to have a hard working husband and I think farming is quite fascinating (being a city girl) but I must confess I do not like these long days (although I think I need to find a way to get use to it). I have come to realize how much I rely on Kreg, especially in helping me with Aiden. With Kreg's schedule right now about the only way he can see Aiden is if we go see him (sad!) so we went to visit daddy in the fields today. We took him lunch and went for a ride on the CAT. He was working up the ground before the planter goes through.
Sorry the picture is a bit blurry but that is Kreg and Aiden.


Aiden was loving his tractor ride. And of course he wanted to drive.....a few more years buddy.

Reminiscing

Just doing a little reminiscing back to the dating days......

Sonic Booms and Earthquakes

Yesterday a "sonic boom" that was loud enough to rattle our windows and scare us out of bed and today an earthquake! I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

The "sonic boom" turned out to be an F-16 breaking the sound barrier. Pretty cool now that we know what it was but at the time we were a bit concerned. My first thought was a bomb went off somewhere nearby. Kreg got up and walked around the house to make sure everything was ok and we didn't see anything strange outside.

And then this morning Kreg came into the bedroom at 5:40 am (he was eating breakfast and I had just gotten out of bed) and asked "Did you feel that? That was crazy." Sure enough an earthquake.

Now obviously the rapture did not happen this morning but in my heart I cannot help but feel we are getting closer to the day of the Lord. Jesus says in Matthew 24 when speaking of the sings of the End of the Age, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places." And then in Luke 21 Jesus says, "There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On the earth, nations will be inanguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea." I find these verses very fascinating in light of the earthquakes that have occurred in recent years all around the world, the string of hurricanes we have seen in the past several years (New Orleans), and the tsumani in 2004. And with all the turmoil in Iraq and the growing threat of Iran ("nation will raise against nation"). We cannot know for sure that these events were what the Lord was referring to and I think that is not the point. The point is the Lord has told us to always be on alert and ready because the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. So I ask you, are you ready? Do you have a relationship with Jesus and claim Him as your Lord and Savior? If not then think about and think about it quickly. You never know what tomorrow will bring. The Bible is truth and it is real. We will ALL stand before the Judgement seat of Christ and I am very thankful I will be counted on the Lord's side and my name will be found in the Book of Life. My goal is to hear Him say, "Well done my good and faithful servant." What's your goal? In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." It's not about how good you are. For no one is good enough and all have sinned. But it is about having a relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Backyard Vacationing

With the perfect 72 degree weather Kreg got our little piece of Jamaica (thanks to our fabulous friends Sherwin and Julie) hung in the backyard yesterday. Its quite nice.
I think a little "hammock time" may become a daily summer necessity.

My handsome husband relaxin.

My turn!

Bedtime

Aiden all ready for bed. Its really funny to see him walk around in his little sleep sac. The bedtime necessities are of course: pj's, paci, blanky, and sleep sac. He is such a good sleeper. Hardly ever does he cry when we put him down. We sing Jesus Loves Me, play a little game of "pass the paci," rock and cuddle with blanky for a few minutes, and then he lays down with a smile, without a fuss (he fusses every once in a while but it is quite rare), and puts himself to sleep. Yes I am counting my blessings for his good sleeping habits.

Kreg and I have always tried to be consistent with bedtime and we never let Aiden "control" his bedtime. When we said it was bedtime we meant it and thus Aiden doesn't argue and bedtime is a peaceful time in our house. If he does cry then we know somethings wrong....teething, tummy, lost his paci, etc. Anyone that has little ones or will have a little one soon then I highly recommend the book "Baby Wise" It helps teach parents how to get your babies on a routine and has kept Kreg and I from a lot of frustration many parents experience when their little one can't convey what they need and the parents aren't sure why their baby is crying. If you already have kids and experience these frustrations then its not too late to get your kid/kids on a good routine. I recommend "The Baby Whisperer" if you're in the toddler or older ages. I don't agree with everything the book says but the basic principals make sense and work. Aiden was sleeping through the night at 9 weeks and has done so ever since. Aiden is not on a schedule (times vary some each day) but he is on a routine, there is a difference. And having a routine each day makes our days much more peaceful and enjoyable.

Can any parents back me up on this? Has anyone else read these books and with consistency had success?

A couple more pics of Aiden and Lucy

I never got around to posting my last couple pictures of Aiden and Lucy last week, so here ya go.

Such a cutie! Look at that smile! Luke and Kelly you better keep this girl under lock and key when she gets older.

Notice the matching sweaters. I had to do it...I just couldn't resist. One of Aiden's favorite places to play is at the dishwasher. I have lots of pictures of family (many were already on the floor when I took this picture). Aiden likes to put the picutres on the floor and back up again. He also likes to point at each person. Right now everyone's name is "Da." He methodically goes through, pointing at each person saying "Da, Da, Da, Da, Da." So he was showing Lucy the ropes of his little game.

The Adventures of Aiden and Lucy Part 2

The day started off slow for us today. Aiden was still asleep when Lucy arrived this morning. But once he got up it wasn't much time and we were off and runnin.

Lucy knew her way around better today so we did some exploring this morning. And we ended up in the family room for a while.

But the day really got going when Kreg came home for lunch and had a hand in things for a bit. Aiden knows daddy is always up for some fun so Aiden enjoyed teasing Lucy by hanging upside down over her booster seat. I couldn't quite capture the delight on both their faces.

After lunch we went outside for a walk and ended up at the playground in the apartment complex, attached to our neighborhood. They both thought this was pretty fun. The swings sort of made them fly like superman.
And on our walk back home I looked down and this is what I see:


Yes they were holding hands! (I'm glad I had my camera) I have a feeling my son may have started this. haha....he is never leaving the house once he reaches the teenage years. It was very cute. I think they are becoming friends. This morning every time Lucy crawled/walked away from her sippy cup Aiden took it to her (and didn't try drinking it himself...thank you Aiden) and then he would go get his sippy cup and we would have little milk breaks. more to come tomorrow.....

The Adventures of Aiden and Lucy

Our little friend Miss Lucy Lightfoot came to play with Aiden and I today. I have the privilege of babysitting Lucy this week while her grandparents and regular babysitter are out of town. Lucy is just about 6 weeks younger than Aiden so you can imagine what a busy day it was around here! The two of them got along quite well I am please to say. Aiden only sat on Lucy once....oops. And they shared the toys very well...accept for when it came to the sharing the toy phones. They both had people they really NEEDED to call. I took a few pictures for your enjoyment. I will try and take a few more tomorrow.

Lunch time. Everyone was happy as long as we kept everything equal. A slice of apple for Aiden, a slice of apple for Lucy, a green bean for Lucy, a green bean for Aiden, etc...and you get the idea. It was a bit of a challenge feeding two hungry hippos at one time! I have new respect for mothers with twins.

After lunch we decided to go for a walk. Well I decided to go for a walk, therefore they were coming with me. It was beautiful today. I love Indiana in the spring time! Both had their paci's so I thought we were good to go. but....

Then I decided we all needed hats. It was sunny outside. They look so enthused don't they.

Well time for me to rest! Aiden is in bed and I must get reenergized so we can play hard again tomorrow.

Aiden Mania

Here are some random pictures of Aiden we've taken over the past few weeks...

Such a charmer

He loves to talk on the phone, especially cell phones. Where he gets this from I'm not really sure because Kreg and I aren't really phone people. Please take note of his nose in this picture and the following too. We were outside playing and he saw a dog and took off after it. His body moved but his feet weren't sure what was going on and somehow he landed on his nose. No other scratches just a nice sidewalk burn on his nose. I picked him up to soothe him and he got mad at me because the dogie got away.


Aiden got to visit his cousin Luke a couple weeks ago. They are starting to "play" a little bit together and its rather cute.

Aiden finally ate some meat! He decided a couple months ago he was a vegetarian but that's not going to fly in this hog farming family. A couple weeks ago I made a ham in the crock pot and I cooked it in a can of coke. It was delicious and Aiden actually loved it! He couldn't get enough. We were so proud of him (thus Kreg giving the thumbs up) but what I didn't think about was the caffeine that's in coke. Yep you guessed it. At 10 pm when Aiden was still awake it finally dawned on me why. I'm not really sure how much he slept that night. We heard him talking on and off almost all night long. oops....sorry buddy. No more coke for you!

Washington and Home Again

Well since my last post Aiden and I have traveled the country and back. We returned yesterday from a week long trip to Washington State to visit much of my extended family. It was great to see my cousins, Aunts and Uncles, and grandparents. Aiden was a wonderful traveler but the trip out and back got a bit long for him. Going out there was just about the longest day of my life. There were a few moments I wasn't sure how we were going to make it but we did. Our flight out of Indy got delayed because of bad weather in Chicago so we ended up flying to Denver and we didn't get into Seattle until late. by the time we rented the car and arrived at my cousin Shelly's house it was almost midnight or 3 am Indiana time! My baby boy was up for seventeen hours with just two small catnaps. He just couldn't get comfortable on mom or I so the last hour and a half of the trip were miserable for him. Once he finally hit his car seat he conked out for the night. He didn't even wake up when we arrived at my cousins and I carried him upstairs and put him to bed.

But once we got to see family the next day we were definitely glad we made the trip. I hadn't been out to Washington in over 4 years and it was definitely time. We spend Wednesday near Seattle with my cousins and Aunt Janice. Then Wednesday evening mom and I drove over the pass to get to my grandparents house in Ellensburg. They live just over the mountains in a little college town (home of Central Washington University). We had a lot of fun relaxing with grandma and grandpa and are very thankful to them for hosting us for the week. Aiden definitely entertained everyone.



Mom had the brilliant idea of putting Aiden in a paper bag and then filling the bag with Lego's and blocks. I think he quite enjoyed it and we did just about anything to keep him entertained and happy on this trip.


Aiden copying mom. He liked to lay on the floor and do anything she did. i.e. wiggle their feet, tap their hands on the floor.



Aiden thought it would be lots of fun to put mommy's shoes on. Whatever makes you happy buddy.

Saturday was supposed to be the big 80th birthday party for my grandparents but the party got postponed because of bad weather. The pass was requiring snow tires or chains and most of the family needed to drive the pass to get to Ellensburg. We were sad to have the party canceled but we still had our own little party with my Uncle Doug, Aunt Linda, and my cousins Alyssa and Emily. It was so nice to see them again.

Mom and I headed back over the pass to stay with Chuck and Shelly again on Monday. Here are a couple pictures I took of the pass.




Aiden stayed busy while traveling as you can tell:

HE's a genius.....Sudoku at 15 months! Amazing!

And I think Sudoku tuckered him out. Isn't he cute. Why is it we always think they're cute when they're sleeping?? Maybe because they're quiet!

It was a great trip and we certainly wish we could see everyone more often. Next time I will have to make sure Kreg can go so he can meet everyone. But without Kreg with us Aiden and I were definitely ready to get home yesterday. Aiden sure missed daddy....or maybe mommy missed daddy....maybe more the latter. On the way home we flew right over the mountains. Beautiful!