Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Aiden :: 2 Years


My Sweet Boy,

You are 2 years old today! I feel like this last year has just flown by, and I can hardly believe that you are not my tiny baby anymore. You adore your brother and sister, and you are now able to do a pretty good job of keeping up with them. The noise level in our house has doubled, with just you alone, cutie boy. And we thought twins were loud... haha! You are just so full of life and fun and hugs and opinions and joy. And we just cannot imagine our lives without you in it. We are loving the chance to see more and more of your little personality, and you are more than living up to your name {"little fire"}. As wild and crazy and seemingly all BOY that you are, you have the most tender of hearts, and your little snuggles melt our hearts every. single. time. You are by far our most physically affectionate child, and I love nothing more than to wrap your cutie boy body in my arms and hold you tight. Your squeeze hugs make me want to give you everything you want all the time, no questions asked. So good job rocking that "baby" status, because it's going to be tough to say no to your big pleading eyes, your adorable "pease?" voice, and that adorable impish grin of yours :)

Aiden, we love you so very much, and we are so excited to celebrate you today!

Love,
Mama


Stats :: 35 pounds, 36 inches tall

Clothing/Diaper Size :: you are wearing size 6 diapers and size 3T clothes, but you are really transitioning into size 4T {I'm trying to hold you off until the next season so you can wear Eli's clothes, since he is currently wearing the 4T clothes haha!} 

Loves :: your stuffed Pooh bear {he goes everywhere with you}, music {singing, listening/dancing to it}, anything orange, hugs and snuggles; you love both your siblings, but I think you and Maddie are kindred spirits

Dislikes :: waiting for anything. seriously, you are starting to show a pretty expansive lack of patience these days, little one. you want what you want, and you want it 5 seconds ago. 

Eat :: you love food, and you are our good little eater. you love oranges and watermelon and bread. you have started to get frustrated when we make you finish something on your plate before you ask for more of your favorite thing on the plate, and you have also started throwing your food when you're done. so we're working on our table manners. you use your spoon about 60% of the time, and you're actually pretty good at it. but you often ditch it since it's just quicker to shovel food into your mouth with your hands :)

Sleep :: bless you, sweet child- you are my good sleeper. you like taking naps, and you go right to sleep at night. you are taking an afternoon nap, easily sleeping 2.5-3 hours, and then you sleep 11-12 hours at night. I keep reminding you of our agreement that you will always be this way about sleep, and you readily agree. don't forget that: you readily agree.  :)

Play/Development :: you are running and playing and loud and rough and tumble and basically all over the place all the time. you have a crazy amount of energy, and you play hard. you love reading books, building with LEGOS, playing with trucks, throwing balls, and if it involves running, you're all in. you are starting to use more words, even putting together 2-3 word sentences. you have pretty much sad "no" to everything for months, but just recently have started using "yes" {and in the right context} a little more. it's still a work in progress. our favorite Aiden-ism is "I do," which you say in your cute little man voice, and somehow say with your whole face. whenever we ask if you like something, or we bring out something that you like, you say "I do!" with such emphasis and confidence. "Aiden, do you like oranges?" "I do!" :)  you also use "I did" when we ask you if you pooped in your diaper, running to your room screaming about a diaper. your toddler tantrums are on full display these days, and you mostly show your frustration through screaming loudly. you usually can be calmed with some snuggles, we just have to make it through some pretty dramatic screaming first. 

Unique to You :: sweet boy, you are wild and fun and full of life! you are on the go, all day long, and then you crash hard at nap and bed time. you are by far our loudest child haha. you seem to only have one volume, whether you are happy or upset. because you are so active all the time, you are HOT, all the time. and you constantly want to take your clothes off to be a "naked baby." and you often want others to join you, so we're working on letting you know that it's better if mommy keeps her clothes on haha. you are also still our little snuggle bug. you love hugs and you give the BEST ones. you snuggle in tight and squeeze so hard. and you absolutely love family hugs, when we all squeeze in tight together.  



Monday, August 24, 2020

National Waffle Day!

Next up on the list of silly holidays that we like to celebrate around here: National Waffle Day! :)

Apparently, we really enjoy the food ones haha! But honestly, they're the easiest ones to catch. We have to eat anyway, so we might as well have a day to "celebrate" the things we like to eat, right?

Because of some scheduling stuff today, it worked out best for us to enjoy our waffles for lunch. I prepared the waffle mix and the kids were so excited to watch their waffles cook in the waffle iron. There was so much anticipation for the cook light to change to green and the beep to sound.





I did get a resounding "I love waffle day!" so I think that would count as a success. That, and the fact that they each ate about 9 pounds worth of waffles haha.





I had also picked up a few books about waffles at the library, which was another fun {and silly} way to celebrate the day. Making waffles {something we would eat anyway} and reading books {something we would do anyway} was such a simple way to make an ordinary day more fun. 



I truly love watching the kids enjoy the little things, and I pray that these can be the sweet memories of childhood that stick with them for a lifetime. At the very least, Mommy has the photo memories of it :)


Thursday, August 13, 2020

1000 Books Before Kindergarten :: 1100!

We hit our goal of reading 1000 books before Kindergarten...and we still have some time before school, so we decided to keep going and see how far we get!

You can find the books we have already read here:



  1. Wheels! by Annie Cobb
  2. The Diggers by Margaret Wise Brown*
  3. A Day at the Police Station by Richard Scarry
  4. Squirrel's Family Tree by Beth Ferry
  5. Duck & Cat's Rainy Day by Carin Bramsen*
  6. Ranger Rick: I Wish I Was a Bison by Jennifer Bove
  7. Love From the Crayons by Drew Daywalt
  8. Big Tree Down! by Laurie Lawlor*
  9. Pete the Cat's Groovy Guide to Kindness by James Dean
  10. Minnie's Bow-Toons: Trouble Times Two by William Scollon*
  11. Daniel's Potty Time by Alexandra Cassel Schwartz*
  12. Daniel Goes to the Dentist by Alexandra Cassel*
  13. Bears on Wheels by Stan & Jan Berenstain
  14. Shampoodle by Joan Holub*
  15. The Helpers in Your Neighborhood by Alexandra Cassel*
  16. Thumpy Feet by Betsy Lewin
  17. There's a Pest in the Garden! by Jan Thomas
  18. Sleep Little Angel by Margaret Wise Brown
  19. Vote for Minnie by Disney Book Group*
  20. Mickey's Perfecto Day by Sherri Stoner
  21. Pups on a Mission by Lori Froeb
  22. If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss
  23. What is Inside the Box? by Drew Daywalt*
  24. The Fish with the Deep Sea Smile by Margaret Wise Brown*
  25. Big Shark, Little Shark by Anna Membrino
  26. Little Puppy and the Big Green Monster by Mike Wohnoutka
  27. The Noon Balloon by Margaret Wise Brown*
  28. Wild Baby Animals by Karen Wallace
  29. Cowboy Roy by Cathy East Dubowski
  30. Owl Babies by Martin Waddell*
  31. Mr. Putter and Tabby Smell the Roses by Cynthia Rylant*
  32. Flat Stanley on Ice by Lori Haskins Houran
  33. Pete the Cat: Play Ball! by James Dean*
  34. Frozen Worlds by Caryn Jenner
  35. Red is a Dragon by Roseanne Thong*
  36. Hello, My Name is Octicorn by Kevin Diller and Justin Lowe
  37. Racing for Good by Ruth Homberg
  38. Wish Upon a Dream by Margaret Wise Brown*
  39. Sunshine and Snowballs by Margaret Wise Brown
  40. Green Animals by Teddy Borth
  41. Ponies by Pan Pollack
  42. Puppy Parade by Jill Abramson and Jane O'Connor
  43. Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan London
  44. Mr. Putter and Tabby Stir the Soup by Cynthia Rylant*
  45. Nina, Nina Ballerina by Jane O'Connor
  46. I Am So Brave! by Stephen Krensky
  47. Mr. Putter and Tabby Catch the Cold by Cynthia Rylant*
  48. When Tiny Was Tiny by Cari Meister
  49. Little Owl's Day by Divya Srinivasan*
  50. Penguins, Penguins Everywhere by Bob Barner
  51. Monster Machines on the Go! by Nickelodeon Publishing
  52. Meet the Dinotrux by Chris Gall*
  53. Barkus by Patricia MacLachlan*
  54. Soup for One by Ethan Long
  55. Penny and Her Doll by Kevin Henkes
  56. Now One Foot, Now the Other by Tomie dePaola*
  57. Go Baby Go! by Marilyn Janovitz
  58. Crunch, the Shy Dinosaur by Cirocco Dunlap*
  59. Too Many Dogs! by Lori Haskins
  60. I See a Cat by Paul Meisel
  61. Hide 'n' Sheep by Jennifer Sattler
  62. Baby Max and Ruby: Shopping by Rosemary Wells
  63. Hooray for You! by Marianne Richmond
  64. How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills
  65. The Giant Hug by Sandra Horning*
  66. I'm Grumpy (My First Comics) by Jennifer L. Holm
  67. Trains! (Big Busy Machines) by Charles Reasoner*
  68. Bob and Flo Play Hide-and-Seek by Rebecca Ashdown
  69. Cowy Cow by Chris Raschka
  70. Crabby Crab by Chris Raschka
  71. Buggy Bug by Chris Raschka
  72. Clammy Clam by Chris Raschka
  73. T-Rex is Missing by Tomie dePaola
  74. Curious George and the Bunny by H.A. and Margaret Rey
  75. Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel by Adam Rubin
  76. I'm Sunny! (My First Comics) by Jennifer L. Holm
  77. Baby Ruby and Max: Clean-Up Time by Rosemary Wells
  78. Thomas and the Jet Engine by R. Schuyler Hooke*
  79. Ninja, Ninja, Never Stop! by Todd Tuell
  80. Trucks! (Big Busy Machines) by Charles Reasoner*
  81. Telephone by Mac Barnett
  82. Going to the Zoo with Lily and Milo by Pauline Oud*
  83. It's an Orange Aardvark! by Michael Hall*
  84. A Fish Named Glub by Dan Bar-el
  85. Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now! by Dr. Seuss*
  86. What This Story Needs is a Hush and a Shush by Emma J. Virjan
  87. Whose Hat is It? by Valeri Gorbachev
  88. Mittens, Where is Max? by Lola M. Schaefer
  89. The Bravest of the Brave by Shutta Crum
  90. Show Me the Honey by Tish Rabe
  91. Axel the Truck: Beach Race by J.D. Riley*
  92. Fred and Ted's Road Trip by Peter Eastman
  93. Go to Sheep by Jennifer Sattler
  94. Big Bird's Copycat Day by Sharon Lerner and Joe Mathieu
  95. Peter Spit a Seed at Sue by Jackie French Koller
  96. Perfect Soup by Lisa Moser*
  97. The Good Egg by Jory John
  98. The Good Egg Presents: The Great Eggscape! by Jory John
  99. Max Counts His Chickens by Rosemary Wells
  100. I'll Teach My Dog 100 Words by Michael K. Frith

*Some of our favorites


Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Crohn's Chronicles :: Oh, Flares

The last 10 days have been rough. I have not been feeling my best, and I have quickly been reminded of the realities of my disease. I have been flaring {which means that I have had active symptoms}, and have been pretty miserable. Poor Mike has had to step in a lot to help with the kids, and I have pushed off all of my to do's because I basically just collapse in bed at every opportunity I get. If I'm not in the bathroom. Did I mention that I really dislike being back in this place where my disease is active again? Sigh.

I am in that hard in-between time, where my disease is active and I'm waiting for my new medicine to start working. And unfortunately, the steroids I took before only helped while I was on them; I started flaring almost immediately after my regimen was done. So my doctor put me on another prednisone taper. I will do another 4 weeks of steroids to get the inflammation in my intestines to calm down, and hopefully allow my Entyvio infusions a chance to work. There were some side effects to the prednisone, but I'll take those over a flare any day. 

I had my second infusion last Friday. Thankfully, again, I didn't have any reactions, and it was an easy, in and out appointment. I got a window seat this time, which was nice, though I did have to listen to the person in the infusion station next to me snore the whole time. No judgment here...I'd sleep too, if my infusion time wasn't so short :)




One of the sweet girls in my community group sent me a text that she had dropped something on my front porch. She left me an incredibly thoughtful gift, filled with items for someone with Crohn's. She had read a blog and learned about some helpful items, thinking they would be helpful for me. How sweet is that?? It was just the encouragement that I needed, and I am so thankful for all the prayers and encouragement that the Lord has brought through sweet friends and family. It makes it easier to face the harder days.

The card was my favorite haha


Monday, August 3, 2020

National Watermelon Day!

We love the silly holidays around here, and we definitely love watermelon! :)

To me, watermelon = summer. As soon as they come out in the grocery store, we add it to our normal shopping list so we can enjoy as much of it as we can for as long as they are available. So we couldn't let the day go by without enjoying some! We {by "we," I mean my children} eat an entire watermelon every couple of weeks. And that's because I limit them haha.

Today, we enjoyed some watermelon chunks with our morning snack, and then we also had some watermelon popsicles for our afternoon snack. I also got some fun books about watermelon at the library to read...because we might as well celebrate big, right?












We have smiles all around, so I think that makes our celebration a success!