{iPhone Rewind} :: January

#boymom

Researching his meats

These 2 LOVE their slippers from Grandma and Grandpa!

Pretty much 85% of my day...

Sweet boy

One day I will have a clean house again...right?

Already outgrowing his baby bath haha

Eli's first busted lip...he was a trooper!

Full belly, happy baby :)

Sometimes they can be sweet and play together while I cook dinner. Sometimes.

Trying to figure out his new activity seat :)

I got a promo code to try the new Quip toothbrush, and so far, I am really liking it!

I got to enjoy Mike's Christmas gift: he planned a surprise day away! I had to open my adventure envelopes at specific times, and got to enjoy a mani/pedi and dinner with Laura, and a day of shopping for new clothes!

Eli discovered BBQ sauce...

...and Maddie just loves her mac n cheese :)

Mondays got us like... {and yes. she's laying in the dog's bed...}

Sister love :)

Tummy time isn't so bad when you can play with Little People animals...

Reading buddies :)

Aiden LOVES his activity table!

She saw that Aiden was eating and ran to get her baby to feed :)

I literally snuck over to snap a photo of them playing nicely together...and then one threw a toy at the other's head. Such a fleeting sweet moment. Oh siblings.

He is SO over tummy time...

Start them early...

He has been wearing the sleep suit for awhile now, but I realized I didn't have a photo of our little man in his marshmallow suit :)

This is our reality now...we definitely bought extra locks to reinforce the doors...

Joining in on the hat fun :)   #maddiehasbeenhere

He LOVES his Pooh Bear :)

Rare moments of playing nicely together!

Having our morning cup of "coffee" together

Sitting in a high chair like a big boy!

They adore each other :)

The baby rolls are my FAVORITE :)

The hat is pretty cute too!

Love these two little fairies!

He sure loves his puppy :)

Aiden and I had a talk and he promised to not become a toddler and stay little forever :)

3 sizes of diapers. #thisisourlife

He just loves his books!

Aiden :: 5 Months

Aiden,

Little Man, you are my adorable little chunk-o-monk! :)  You probably won't appreciate this when you are older, but right now, your baby rolls are just about the cutest thing on the planet. You ROCK the double chin; and when we get you smiling and giggling, with that round little belly...Mama just can't handle so much cuteness in one {maybe not-so} tiny person!! I just want to hold and snuggle you all day long. You bury your face into my shoulder, grab on to my fingers, or trace your hands along my face, and my heart just melts. I am thankful the Lord is allowing me to have these small moments in the midst of the crazy, because I want to soak them all up and remember them forever. I love you so much, baby boy!

Love, 

Mama

AIDEN MICHAEL

Stats :: 20 pounds {yes, you read that right. two, zero. Maddie didn't even hit that until she was 7 months!}

Clothing/Diaper Size :: you are wearing size 9 months clothes {what?!?!} and size 3 diapers...I know a few 6 and 7 month olds who are wearing those sizes, little man; you are growing so fast! 

Loves :: your Pooh bear, your activity center, watching your brother and sister {you get so excited when you hear them coming!}

Dislikes :: your car seat, being hungry, tummy time {still}

Eat :: you definitely have an appetite! you are drinking about 35-40 ounces a day, and we switched you to the stage 2 bottles. you are a little more consistent with your feedings now, though you do still tend to snack throughout the day. we need to start you on solids soon, because you are drinking SO much haha! you have definitely started showing an interest in food, often grabbing for our plates and utensils as we eat, sticking out your tongue like you are wanting to try it. we have started sitting you at the table in your high chair with us, so maybe we'll start experimenting with some of the basics this month...

Sleep :: you are sleeping SO well, and you seem to have a more predictable schedule. you are still sleeping 11 hours at night {praise Jesus!}, and you are taking 3 naps a day. you will usually take a 1 to 1.5 hour nap in the morning, a 1 to 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon, then a short 30-45 minute catnap before dinner. that gets messed up on Sundays {because of church} and when we are out during the week, but I am really trying hard to hold tight to the schedule you seem to be setting. it might keep us home a bit more than I'd like, but I want to make sure you get your sleep and we stick to a good routine. no sense messing with a good thing, right?

Play/Development :: you have discovered your feet and hold them when you are on your back. you are holding toys with no problem, often shaking and examining them with both hands. you have a death grip now, so I have to watch my hair and earrings. you absolutely love your little activity center, playing with all the fun toys on it. you want so badly to roll from back to tummy and you often make it to your side and then stop. when you are on your tummy, you fuss until I encourage you to roll to get off your tummy haha. you love seeing yourself in the mirror, and you have started blowing raspberries. you are drooling all the time, but I haven't seen any teeth yet.

Unique to You :: your Daddy and I talk a lot about how simple and happy you are. meaning, you are pretty straightforward, we don't have to work super hard to figure out what you need. and you don't really need too much! you pretty much go with the flow, and overall are super happy. when we go get you in the morning, you are already smiling before you have even opened your eyes haha. you really only get upset when you are hungry, in your car seat {and the car is not moving}, or when tummy time has gone too long for your liking. you are just content to be where you are, and we wonder how much of that will be a part of your personality moving forward.

Wishing for Snow

There was talk that we would get some snow just after the start of the new year...but it was just that: talk. It got cold, and we had some drizzle, but no snow. Not even a little.

I don't usually love the snow, mostly because I don't love the cold. But I do think that Eli and Maddie would think it's pretty fun, so we have been wishing for a little bit of snow around here! We started filling the inside of our home with all things snow, and then this past weekend, we actually got a little bit of real snow! :)

Snowman Sticker Art

I found these cute snowmen stickers in the Dollar Spot at Target {Target for the win!}. Eli and Maddie are still too young to fully grasp the concept of building snowmen with stickers; they like sticking the stickers on the paper...and then ripping them off. So it at least distracted them for a few minutes. Every time I tried to show them how to "build" a snowman, they would have none of it. Oh well. Maybe they're going to be the next Picassos :)

Snow Day Book

I found this cute little Charlie Brown book {again} in the Dollar Spot at Target and Eli and Maddie LOVE it. Seriously. I had hoped to put it away with the Christmas things, but they ask for this {and a Christmas Mickey Mouse book} every day. So we read it ALL the time!

Snowflake Window Clings

Since Eli and Maddie like putting stickers on paper and then promptly taking them back off, I decided they might like some window clings. I bought them an "Under the Sea" set that they loved; it actually has kept them occupied way longer than I expected. And then I bought them some snowflakes...because they are my little snowflakes, and these are prettier than starfish and whales :)

Snowman Bowling

I saw this cute idea on Pinterest {where else?} and decided to give it a try. Eli and Maddie have started throwing their toys {because why not?}, so I am trying to re-direct that energy to appropriate tossing/throwing activities. We'll see if this helps or hurts :)

I made a super simple version: I just used Sharpie markers to draw snowman faces on styrofoam cups and rolled up a couple of pairs of socks for the "snowball." Limited effort and my kiddos LOVED it!

So the snowmen were cute and all...but next time I won't even spend the time drawing the snowman faces on the cups. Because when they were done "bowling," they just wanted to stack and then tear the cups apart. Oh well.

A Dusting of Snow

After all the wishing for snow, we actually got a tiny bit of real snow this weekend! It was cold enough to stick around for the day, but it wasn't a huge amount. But enough for Eli and Maddie to notice, for sure. We actually went out that day to pick up Eli's new glasses, see a model train exhibit, and go to lunch with Granny. But it was so cold and windy, Mama was our little ones were NOT interested in being outside for any length of time. So we just looked at it through the window haha. We'll have to actually play in the snow another time :)

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I have a few other snow related activities I'd like to do with them, so we'll see how those go and if we get some more snow this winter. Hopefully we can get a little more snow {and it not be so windy} so we can actually go out and play in it!