This was one Mommy filled weekend. Daddy was working hard all weekend, like 10 hours each day! Goodness, so what did we do?
Saturday, we joined Gabby, Auntie Ciarra and Uncle Tyler, and all the kids at the zoo! I love our zoo! Such a great way to spend a gorgeous day. Don't get me wrong it was HOT but wasn't miserable. This was Aiden's 3rd trip (one at 5mo, Zoo Boo), so I was excited to see how he would react.
He LOVED the penguins...yup just like his mommy! Picked him up to look over the edge to watch them swim/feed and he got so excited and kept pointing and going "Ah" "Ah" "Ah" haha. So silly.
After the fun came the dread. Picture time. Oh lordy! Lining up two 3 year olds, two under 2, and one 8 year old. This should be interesting....especially since Aiden was having one of his "Mommy!" moments. As you can see from the pictures. 1. I put him in the line. 2. He is running towards me open arms. 3. He is crying his head off because I'm not near him. Yup! He is definitely a momma's boy.
His other favorite exhibit was not my fav. Reptiles! YUCK! He kept running to each window and pointing and showing everyone what's in there. But the best part of the day was rides! Oh how he loved them. The boat ride he was just relaxing with his arms up, then he started turning the wheels and ringing the bell. The airplane ride he got to be the captain and was just a smiling machine. Next came the scary fast ride. This one he rode with Gabby so I could take pictures. His mouth was wide open at first and then when it started going really fast he snuggled up with Gabby.
We had so much fun and I look forward to future trips with the little man. Love him! Best baby ever. No meltdowns and he just wanted to explore. I thought the heat would make him cranky, but as long as I kept his sippy cup stocked with water he was good to go.
We have been one busy household, but here is a little update about Aiden. OMG is he one busy talkative little man. I love it!
Every day he is trying to say more and more words, big sigh of relief. His favorite is "cah" car and "dah" door. When we walk out of daycare he points at every door saying "dah" "dah". Then we get outside at he points to the car and says "cah" and goes right to his side. Then the entire 5 minute ride home he's going crazy. "cah" "cah" "cah" as they zoom past us. Oh my goodness!
The other night when we were playing fetch with Murph I told him "Go hide, so Murph can't find you." (Murph LOVES Aiden and will look all over the house for him) And what does he do goes and hide under his highchair. Silly Murph can see you!
He is growing up too fast. :-( Really turning into a toddler now. A toddler that will soon be in a twin bed. Why? Because he is learning to climb out of things. AH! When we take our bath and I get up to get his towel ready he sticks on of his legs up on the side of the tub. I tell him "Put it down! No climbing out of the tub" and he looks at me all cute and innocent then puts his leg down only to put it right back up when I turn away. GEEZ son you are going to hurt yourself!
Gonna be a sad day when that crib goes down...
Currently, me and Wes have been having some serious conversations. About what you might say...Well when it's the right time to have baby #2. I really really want my kids close in age because that's how me and my siblings were, so I want the same. And as Aiden is starting to approach 2 we must start thinking about this soon. My max age separation is 3 years. I don't want Aiden to be 5 and us have a newborn. Plus I wouldn't be able to use my carseats if they are that far apart...and um hello even more money to dish out.
I don't want to start now by any means. I want us both to be settled in our new jobs and to enjoy some more "just Aiden" time. Because everyone knows I love me some Aiden time. After all he is a major momma's boy....and I have no earthly idea why :-) hehe. My plan is the beginning of the year for us to start trying again.
Aiden would be such an amazing brother, because he's a little helper, doesn't mind when his cousins steals his toys lol, and doesn't throw huge tantrums when he doesn't get his way (he knows mommy won't put up with that and will take away whatever he wants for the remainder of the day).
But then of course I have to bring this high exciting post back down to earth after I read one of my bloggers post. It was probably one of the most scary, real, earth shattering blogs I've read to date. Especially since this all happened to their baby #2. It made me scared and I literally balled reading it, because I can't imagine what those 7 months were like. Knowing your baby is dying and because they are so small they can't find a liver donor. And the baby was born healthy but about 2 months in find out the life changing news. Breaks my heart and kinda makes me want to hold off on trying for our baby #2 because you never know...But I highly recommend when you need a life check to read this family's blog from Jan-now and remember tissue. Never take life forgranted.
RUBY JANE'S LIFE
It has been one EXCITING week at the Lamberts! I had an amazing first week. I love my job. My stress level is WAAAAY down. Then today we found out Wes got a new job too! YAH for us! He starts next Friday! I'm so proud of him.
I can't wait to have a relaxing weekend with the fam and celebrate. We started it off by coloring, "colo" as Aiden says, all night. Using the chalkboard wall then to using crayons on his coloring book. Just can't get enough of it. Maybe tomorrow we will go swim at the inlaws before our family dinner there.
Side news: The other day Aiden got bit at daycare. He was trying to be a good little boy and help the teacher by picking up the blankets after nap, and one little boy did not like that one bit. No blood was drawn but you can definitely see the teeth marks. Sorry little boy but 2 more times then you are out of daycare so hopefully that time out did you some good.
Also, I am doing pretty darn good on my business adventure too! :-) Items selling like hot cakes.
On Monday I started my new job and I LOVE it!!! Wish I would have done this awhile ago!! My coworkers are uber sweet and I'm already taking responsibilities on day 2! But I can tell my stress level is going to go down, which is a good thing for my sanity. But the other main plus, which might seem silly to most but when you practically live in a cubicle its VERY important, is my cube ROCKS! If you saw my last cube to this cube you think I bumped up to VP of the company. :-) I have a bookcase, tall filing cabinet, 3.5 walls, coat rack, an extra chair, white board. HOLY MOLY! My last cube I didn't have 1 full wall because of upper cabinets and my other wall was cut in half. So definitely no room to display pictures and the all important Bama flag. :-) I'm just really excited all around and VERY happy about my move and thankful to all my coworker friends who helped me get here. Couldn't have done it with out you! :-)
On a different note, this weekend I accomplished alot. Saturday during naptime Mommy put her creative hat on and did a little art project. I had mentioned before my large wall in my kitchen had been driving me CRAZY because it was so bare. So I moved an art piece from another side of the room to that side, which this art piece I love thanks to my sweet MIL. Next I made a burlap artpiece. I took a old picture frame and covered it with a piece of burlap. Got my handy dandy disappearing ink pen and went to town. After the 10th try I finally decided the "L" looked good enough and out came the black paint. I drew the bird's body on a white piece of paper and outlined it on the burlap, and back to painting. I think it turned out pretty good and my once bare wall is complete! Below is the link where I got the idea.
On Sunday my good friends Erica and Brittani came over to hangout and Brit's little boy Conner came to play with Aiden. They were precious together "talking" up a storm and sweet Conner kept stealing all of Aiden's toys saying "No!" and pointing his finger at him. Copying his mommy when she tells him "No". It was so cute and funny that me and Erica were dying. Eventually with some toys Aiden would start palming Conner and turning away so he couldn't steal them and a few times said "No" back. What a great Sunday! Check out the lunches I made for the boys. Dino Attack! Turkey sandwiches, strawberries, and Veggie Straws. Aiden looooved every bit of it and those strawberries were gone in no time. Conner didn't want to eat them, but definitely liked to squish them in his hands. Silly! I love those boys and future boy #2 for Brittani! Can't wait for December to come around!!
Oh yeah, we also had a surprise Sunday morning on our front steps. Our sweet neighbors, who donated their kid pinic table before, donated some other goodies to Aiden. I couldn't ask for better neighbors! The funny thing is what they gave us I was so going to get Aiden some for Christmas from "Santa". They gave us some tool toys, a step stool, and the Mega Blocks Wagon FULL and I mean FULL of blocks!! And as soon as Aiden saw it he attacked it and began stacking. So sweet of them to think of us when their grandson outgrows things. Guess they will be getting some EXTRA cookies from us this Christmas :-)
I leave with a cute picture of my Boo. Can't wait to go see him!
Stats:
Weight: 31.13 pounds
Height: 33.5 inches
Size 4 diapers
24mo-2T clothes
This post will be mostly milestones, because there are soo many!
We have WORDS!! Literally like the past two weeks they have been popping up all over the place. Shirt, Book, Shoe, All Done, Over Here, Ball, Murph, Dad, Mommy, Bub (Bubble) etc. But the funniest new word is "DARPH" he does this when Murphy is barking, so he repeats him by going "Darph Darph Darph". Aiden's version of barking. HILARIOUS!
He has always loved to put things away, but now he loves to STACK and use the toys with shape sorters. At first he would try to put the circle in the square but once shown he would get it right every time. Smart baby! But the funniest thing is when he is concentrating he sticks his tongue out. Check out the photo and you will see. SILLY BABY!
His daycare teacher has been so impressed with his development lately. He follows directions and encourages the other kids to do the same. Drinks only out of a cup now. No more sippy cup. Uses his spoon great when eating apple sauce and yogurt. They also teach them basic spanish words (colors, numbers, etc) and he gets so excited and bounces up and down while they say them....haha well he definitely doesn't get that at home, so I'm glad he's getting it somewhere.
He has 2 new favorite snacks. Veggie Sticks and frozen strawberries. Since strawberries are so cheap now, I have been stocking up and freezing for our smoothies. So of course Aiden wants one and there's been no turning back since. Perfect cold snack for him.
He is growing up so fast but I love watching him grow and develop into a independent little boy. Love him!
Who doesn't love extra income?!?! I do! So as of yesterday I opened up a little business of my own. Selling gently used kid's clothes. Boys and Girls. I am going to be VERY picky on what I buy, because I want to ensure a return on investment.
I was able to get the gmail address I wanted. Setup a new facebook account and paypal. And Houston, we have lift off! I'm selling only on Facebook because there are no fees to post on consignment pages meaning more profit!
Below are a few of my starter items: (excuse the bad pic quality. I would enlarge to look at them better.)
It kind of came to me the other day while I was hitting up my favorite consignment shops looking for Aiden some new books. I always find the best deals so why share the wealth. And to let you know how I scored on my book deals yesterday check out the picture for the total price saved.
Side note: I will hold up a book now and only say "Aiden do you want to read?" and he will reply "Book" and grab it from me! So precious. He loves when there are babies in books squealing for joy. Also, when we get him dressed now he says "shirt" "shoes" etc. My little guy is growing up!
Halloween:We don't decorate too much for Halloween, but I at least want to do a centerpiece and something for the front door. I don't think I want to carve pumpkins this year, because Aiden still can't do it and I hate how fast they go bad once you cut them.
Luminaries. You can either use acrylic paint or mod podge tissue paper. but This would look cute up and down the steps with those battery tea lights.
Since we have those sliding glass doors in the front what's better than candy corn garland?!
LOVE this table decoration! How simple, festive, and inexpensive! Just have to keep hands from eating them/
Thanksgiving:
I saw this idea on Parents.com and fell in love! This is a must for our table centerpiece. It's cute and a good way for each one of us to express what we are thankful for. Perfect!
How to make it:
1. Cut a 1-inch sliver off the bottom of a 9-inch polystyrene ball. Wrap sphere neatly in thick dark-brown yarn, covering surface completely; knot on bottom.
2. Make a 4-inch ball from light-brown yarn and attach to body with a wooden craft stick. Create simple facial features using felt: white circles (approximately the size of a quarter, with 1/8-inch pom-poms for pupils) for eyes, yellow triangles for the beak, and long red felt teardrops as the wattle.
3. Cut feather shapes from colored craft paper and bend in half lengthwise to create seam. Glue wooden craft stick to the bottom third of the feather and insert in a fan shape on turkey body.
This would be cute decor. A "Be Thankful" banner.
I will have to post about Christmas later because it's ALOT. I think I want to have a small adult Christmas party for our friends, so I've got lots of food ideas.
Last weekend I racked up on the deals! YAH! Friday, I hit up the 50 cent sale at a local consignment store. Yes you heard me right everything was 50 cents! OMG! They do this every month for 1 weekend to help move their stock. Saturday was my fav KIDSTOWN consignment sale! I love Kidstown because it's name brand clothes at a major discount. OshKosh, Children's Place, Gap, Janie and Jack, Kelly Kids, Genuine Kids, Carters, Circo, Gymboree, DwellStudio, etc. They do this sale twice a year, Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. I got Aiden some great cold weather clothes along with Christmas presents and a Halloween outfit!!!
So thankful of sales like this because Aiden definitely outgrew ALL his pants. 18months won't cut it this year. He can still wear some of his sweaters and shirts, but definitely weren't prepared for cold weather approaching....whenever that is as its in the 90s here. :-)
KIDSTOWN KIDS
Aiden's Halloween outfit this year is YODA!!! With the help of the other women shopping it beat out the Frog. The frog was cute...but how can you turn down Yoda! And for only 5 dollars! We are going to have so much fun at Zoo Boo this year.
Christmas Presents bought! I got some BRAND new Melissa and Doug items at a great discount. Aiden a new puzzle, Harlee a baby doll and crib. All for 30 dollars. If I went to Walmart and just bought the doll the cheapest I could get it for would be 20, so just to give you a hint how awesome I did!
Besides clothes and costumes and presents I found shoes for my baby boy! To fit those wide feet of his. For only $7 ahhhh! 2 pair of Crocs and Stride Rites for nothing! Love the half off day. They are in great shape too!
So what was the damage for all this?!??!??!?! Try 85 dollars! You are dying right?! See reading all my Memphis blogs helps my pocket book BIG time!
I have one really bare wall in my kitchen....and it's of course the first thing you see when you walk in. And it's been driving me crazy for MONTHS what to put there. So as I'm reading my blogs and pinterest pins I came across an idea after merging two.
The centerpiece is a DIY burlap picture just using paint. It's so simple and right up my taste alley. This project is a go, because I have everything I need. I already have a picture wall in my house...but most people don't see it unless they use the bathroom. And I have slowly but shortly been removing the frames from all end tables from the living room. I'm trying to be clutter free...pay attention to the trying! So my main living space are pretty bare of family photos. Sad face. Well around the centerpiece I want to put 8x10 pictures of the ones I love that make up that initial! My family!
The picture kind of explains the layout, but one side will be of Aiden then the other side of Baby #2. Eventually there will be a Baby #2 but for now it will just hold a picture of me and Wes and the other of a Aiden newborn pic. The individual pictures I will rotate yearly but I'll keep up the 1st portrait with Mommy and Daddy always.
2 posts in one day! Dang...oh wait I'm staring at the clock waiting for 4 to roll around.......1 more week! ahhhhhhhh boooooooooorrrrrrrreeeeeeeeddddddddd I'm not allowed to work on any issues anymore...so lots of down time.
On Aiden's 18month celebration what better to post about than updates about his big boy room.
I'm not sure if I have posted about his finished collage wall, but I have found all the the main pieces for it. I look forward to the day when it's out of the linen closet and on the wall! :-)
Since I couldn't ever find online my inspiration for his paint job, so I had to scan it. I just hope I can do it......I'm not an expert painter that's for sure. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it's like a distressed navy, which goes PERFECT with the bedding.
I still don't know what I want to do for curtains, and I probably won't till the room is together. I have been trying to work on the layout of the room for when a twin bed arrives in it. Things will be definitely shifting around.
First Mood Board:
Future Projects: One more picture for his picture wall. Grab some map scrapbook paper or an actual map. Use my friend, Erica's Silhouette SD machine to cute out the alphabet. So cute. Now for his name above his bed I have two ideas. I really want to do the paddle one, but inexpensive paddles are IMPOSSIBLE to find. So if all else fails white letters and two starfish will be work too.
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Christmas Updates: With the help of my SIL we figured out what to give the in-laws. Some secret operations will be involved to accomplish the goal, but I think and hope we can do it. I can't spoil it just in case they see this post! Sneaky Sneaky! It's actually something they need. We all know its impossible to think of gifts for the parents.
I narrowed it down to 2 dollhouses for my neice, Lily that I will purchase next month. Both are girly and has the moms approval :-) I like how they already come with the furniture and can easily be tucked away.
So as I was hunting for a dollhouse. I came along gift #4 idea for Aiden! Now I just have to decide....Wood Guitar or Treehouse. UGH the decisions!! What do you think? Both will teach him to be creative by playing music or playing with the animals using his imagination. So hard because they are so cute. Once I decide that the planning is done. I have my 4 gifts. :-)
Other news: 8 more days till I start my new job!!!!!! See the excitement? I can already tell I love my Lead Team Manager. Uber sweet and easy to talk to just like my direct Manager. More pay, less stress, great coworkers...who wouldn't love that.
Also, NO more 2-4am phone calls. OMG can't wait for that day!!!! However, it is getting sad to be leaving my current group, they keep saying "Are you suuuure you want to leave" "See now what are we going to do without you". They are awesome.
I just got notice about my move with my new cube #. I'm switching buildings too! YAH no more working in the ghetto! Leaving Hickory Hood! So I ask my dear friend Erica to do a drive-by to scope it out. Hey, who knows how long I will be in this cube, so I DEFINITELY want it to be better than the reject cube I'm in now. No more people directly behind me hearing every word I'm saying or even worse seeing my screen perfectly. And the best part is....I have enough space to put up picture frames instead of having to post them on the cube wall. Weird to be excited about that but kinda important when most my time is spent in a 4x4 space. I just hope the neighbors I do have are the loud ones or I will be moving locations. I can't stand when people shout on the phone instead of talking normal, complete disregard of others. Well off my soapbox. :-)
Aiden news: He is truly a ladies man. I swear EVERY little girl at daycare loves him. Small and little. Sometimes I have to sit and think "What does he do to make them love him so much?!?! He can't talk yet." Then I think it must be like the movie, "Look who's talking to". Baby talk that we don't know about. They come running up to him when we drop him off or say hey/bye to him. Some even make a point when I come pick him up to run up to him and give him a big hug. How precious is that! He now turns around as we walk out and gives them waves. Could eat him up!
I couldn't ask for a better son. A son that LOOOVES bananas! When I make my protein shake in the AM he see me put in a banana, he runs up to me hands in the air and grunts. I'm desparately trying to get him to tell me he wants some by constantly repeating "You want SOME?" "What do you want, BANANA?" "You want MORE?" It's not clicking yet but I know with time he will be able to do it. He is talking alot more, and potentially saying more words than I know but my baby talk decoding is not 100 percent yet. lol I hear boys take longer than girls...so I will just stick with that and keep practicing.
On a high note, I know he understands us now because we can tell him to do something and he will do it. Here are a few examples:
*Shut the fridge door. (Or any door for that matter)
*Pick up the ball (and proceeds to throw it to Murph)
*Pick up the ___ letter. (replace blank with color. He does get green and blue mixed up though)
*Where's Murphy? (He will go search for him and try to pet him)
*No! Put it down! (As he grabs the remote. He's got the increase volume and input button down pat)
*Get down! (As he is trying to stand in his chair or on the couch)
Me update: Aug 1 both myself and Wes started P90x. Both the diet and workout plans. After 3 days I can say we are doing great. The meals are yummy but I'm having trouble eating all that I'm suppose to and always end up with leftovers. The other trouble is meal preparing! OMG! Last night I had to cook dinner (thankfully Wes did all the prep work), get our lunches ready for today, and do some prep work for this mornings breakfast. That's the only part that sucks about it. But I can honestly say I'm not starving and feel constantly full. I know I'm at only day 3 but I can say I'm not burned out from the workouts either and I'm obviously not a workout nut yet. Hopefully, this will jumpstart that. Gotta do it for the little man and I want to be in better shape before we think about having baby #2 and that takes time my dear.
I was a little curious how I was doing since I knew my food intake was more than it ever was before so I decided to weigh this morning...to give a little result preview....after 2 days I've lost 3 pounds! With the weight I've lost the previous 2 weeks on just changing up my diet (aka. lots of salads, fish,) but with no hardcore workouts thats a grand total of 8 pounds!!!!!!!!! Getting closer to my goal. But for the future I'm only giving weekly updates that's all we are recording. Also, if anyone wants the videos or meal plans I've got them all, so no need wasting the money :-) We got our copies from a mutual friend.
So the planning for Christmas begins. I'd like to have it ALL done by Thanksgiving. This year we are spending Xmas in Memphis, so for my family gifts for the times apart we are going to donate to a charity. This year we decided to donate to cancer research in honor of my SIL's sweet mother! She just found out she has lung cancer, and I don't really have much to share but we are constantly praying and thinking of her and everyone during this time of unknown. Heartbreaking, since we just saw her over our vacation to Destin. :-(
After much thought we finally came to a decision on budget. 1 large gift, new pjs, and a few small items. So what are those items?!
1. Fisher-Price Power Wheels Lil' Quad. The theme doesn't matter, just one for the best price, but there is Spiderman, Toy Story, or solid no theme ones.
2. Melissa and Doug puzzle I purchased at the sale last weekend. I might even get the puzzle organizer too, because they make one now for the big knob puzzles.
3. Play rug with roads and 2 new cars. Doesn't every little boy need this?!
If I could find a inexpensive pair of cowboy boots that fit my little man's feet I would say that would definitely be gift #4. So I will try to find that if not....then....that small gift is still up in the air. But how cute would cowboy boots be! I just picture him just in a diaper and them on. Precious!! Ugh I hope I can find some to fit those chunky feet.
My niece, Harlee, I got her a baby doll and crib. What girl doesn't need that??!! The crib was natural wood, but I know her and sis' room has white furniture, so I painted it to match. Debating if I want to paint some decorative detail on the end...I even made the precious bedding for the crib with some fabric I had laying around. She's gonna LOVE it! :-) I love it!
My niece, Lily, I'm thinking of getting her a dollhouse....but I still have another month I can plan :-) So many ideas still running through my head.
For Wes' parents and Wes I'm still thinking....they are the hard ones...
But I did tell Wes what I want for Xmas! A new laptop bag! I desperately need one with more pockets. So I will be on the hunt for one.
