Helping mommy in the classroom

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@ the library after story time

Really...

where did the summer go? It's the last Sunday in August and I can't believe school starts in a week. The summer went by in the blink of an eye. I really thought that last year would have been the hardest end of summer/go back to school feeling, but this summer seems to be so much harder to come to realization with. I really, really don't want to go back to teaching yet. I'm just not ready to give up my time with Aidan yet. Monday mornings are OUR mornings to get up, get breakfast, showered and dressed and usually rush to the library to get there on time for Baby's Way to Books. That 45 minute session is one of my favorite times of the week, and now I've got to wait until my next Monday off to enjoy that again. Even though taking Aidan on errands has become quite a chore lately because he wants to get down and walk or be more entertained, I LOVE taking him places. I get to show and teach him all kinds of new things and I've got to admit, it's nice to hear compliments on how cute or great he is. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to go out without him sometimes, but I really love spending time with him. Saturday Sean and I went to an open house at a local preschool to check out their music and movement program and decided that it's something we think Aidan would really enjoy and benefit from. Unfortunately it's offered at 9:30am on Wednesdays. Since I'll be at work I can't take him, but we're all lucky enough that Aidan will get to go with his mom-mom since she watches him for us. I hope I've got a Wednesday off during the 8 weeks that the program runs. Really, I wish we would have hit the lottery or something so I wouldn't have to work, or maybe even work just a couple of days a week.

Enough of my whining.........we got our carpet for our living room installed on Friday. It looks so much nicer than the old, crappy stuff that was in. However, due to poor warehouse lighting and lack of memory on my part, it's practically the same color that the old stuff was. It looks much better though and even gets vacuum lines-that Sean said look like pennants-when I vacuum it (I know, big geek). We also put some Sure-Fit slipcovers on the hand-me-down couches that were in great shape but not our style. They look fabulous now and totally changed the look of the room. We even hung a picture of Aidan from his one year shoot. We also moved the tv stand from the family room into the living room and assembled the new tv stand for the family room and set up the new, got a great deal, TV. Wow, we were productive. However, the dining room is a total mess still since all the junk from the living room is on my dining room table. The garage is filling up with furniture we don't want any longer and I'd rather give it to someone we know who could use it or sell it in a yard sale before just putting it to the curb. Ugh. Our yard looks like a jungle again thanks to the crazy rain storms we've been getting and the poor drainage in the back yard. A few things that are like storm clouds over my head.

Saturday we went to the Phillies game with Sean's parents and Aidan. It was a great time even though they were losing until the skies opened up and started pouring. It was crazy because we looked out and could see it raining in left field and then move over to cover the whole area. It was so weird. Luckily we chose to go eat and were just finishing up at Harry the K's so we weren't sitting in our seats to get soaked when it started. We stuck around for an hour while it still poured and then Sean ran out to get the car while we waited. Nothing like curbside service.

Today flew by sort of like the summer. Aidan wasn't willing to nap at home today so we drove and made a few returns while he napped and then a very unsuccessful trip to Target. It was a good family day though.

My thoughts on life right now:
I'm in a mood and need to get out of it.
I don't want summer to end but am looking forward to fun fall and winter times ahead.
Aidan is the best.
Aidan's smile lights up my world.

Still pouring @ CBP...ridiculous. We'll need a boat to get home.

And yet another rain delayed game!

Rainbow @ Phillies game

Watching bird show at the philly zoo

Ocean City

Tuesday morning Aidan and I headed down to Ocean City. Since my mom and Mike were down there on vacation this week and we love the beach we took the invitation with much happiness. After unloaded way too much stuff for one night's stay, we got ready for the beach and headed down. Mike's daughter Danielle and her husband Mike were down as well. They have a son that was born the same day as Aidan just five or so hours later...the ironic thing is that they share the same name. So, Aidan and Aiden got to spend some time together. It's amazing how different two kids born on the same day can be. We had a beautiful day at the beach and then spent a little time on the boardwalk getting dinner and ice cream. We all had a great time.

Today when sleepyhead Aidan finally woke up around 10am we got ready for the beach after breakfast and went to enjoy some more sunshine. The greenheads and biting flies were bothersome and it was a bit windy but it was gorgeous out. The sun was shining and the boys actually played near each other today. Aiden Michael decided that the sand toys could be fun enough to sit with for more than a few seconds and my Aidan played as well. He also found a few holes to sit in that filled with water. Unfortunately his teeth are really bothering him and he was a little whiny and clingy the past couple of days. Plus, the beach is always better when Daddy's around, and he was stuck working at home.

I got some great pictures and will post them to the Snapfish group room and facebook eventually... :-)

I really, REALLY wish we had a shore house to go to more often. It would be so much fun. However, no matter how little traffic, the drive still sucks. It's so exhausting.

My thoughts on life right now:
I am blessed to be able to do the things I do with my son.
Aidan is the best.
Things are easier when Sean's around.
I love the beach.
I'm EXHAUSTED!

Good old 14th Street beach. Ahhhhh...the memories.

Ocean City

weekend recap

I love that picture of Aidan. It's him enjoying his very first Oreo cookie. He's just so darn cute. This was taken at Jaime & Todd's wedding reception on Saturday at The Concordville Inn. It was a great day!

This weekend we had a great time at the wedding and the festivities afterward. We managed to get some yard work done on Sunday and Sean mowed our jungle. This rain is good, but the weeds and grass are growing too fast to keep up with. Poor Aidan came down with a fever on Sunday night. We gave him some Tylenol before bed hoping it would go away. It got quite high and he woke up a few hours later and I put him in a cool bath. He was not happy about this at all but I had hoped it would cool him a little. We hung out for a while downstairs watching tv, what little tv is on at 2:30am. Then we went upstairs and slept in the spare bedroom for a bit with hopes that if he could cuddle he'd feel better and get some sleep. It worked off and on but he still wasn't feeling great. Finally at 6:45 I had to wake Sean and ask him if I could just get a couple of hours of straight sleep. It's amazing how 2 straight hours of sleep will make you feel. I got him to go down for a nap about two hours ago which is great. I'm really hoping he wakes up feeling better.

We were supposed to go to Ocean City to visit with my mom and Mike since they're down there on vacation, but those plans got scratched, for today at least. I'd love to get down to the beach at least once more before the summer is over...which is happening all too fast!

My thoughts on life right now:

Fevers SUCK!!!

End of summer is approaching way too rapidly.

I wish we would hit the lottery!

Jaime and Todd

FWD:the guys at work got this for our birthday

the guys at work got this for my dad and brother for their birthdays. Pretty cool. Happy birthday guys! :-)

It's time for this to go! Now how do I convince Sean the garage is the place? It's already been a fixture in my dining then living room. It's my own fault.

Surprise!!!

Tonight after dinner during our usual play time and just before getting ready for bed, I was holding Aidan and laid him down on my outstretched legs for a tickle session. He opened his mouth really wide to let out a silly giggle and I thought I saw a tooth. Really? Another tooth? So I checked the other gummy spot on the uppers and there was another little tooth poking through. He's getting/got both of his cuspids (eye teeth/canines). Both are through just a tiny bit, but I guess that explains him being up in the middle of the night for a few hours as well as a night last week. Poor guy had teeth coming in and we didn't even realize it because he didn't have his usual symptoms of swollen gums, slobber, or even wanting to chew on things more. Odd. Hopefully he does as well with the bottoms as he did with these. My little guy now has 14 teeth!!! Crazy! I'm sure glad he enjoys me brushing his teeth.

My thoughts on life right now:
Must stay productive.
Must enjoy the rest of summer.
Love my guys.
The Big Brother house females are slowly going losing their minds (except for Jordan).
Happy 20th Birthday Darren!

weekend recap

This weekend was lots of fun. Thank God for all of the beautiful sunshine! Friday night we headed over to Steph's to go with a rather large group to the St. Michael's celebration. The pork sandwiches were delicious. We walked around a bit and watched a Polynesian dance which Aidan loved of course. Then we hung out at her house for a bit while Sean, Colby and Brian played some Tiger Woods.

Saturday Sean was busy mowing our jungle of a yard so Aidan and I took advantage of the weather and an invite to Brian's mom's pool. My mom and sister were over as well. It was wonderful. We put the swimmies on Aidan and although he didn't let me let him go, he did enjoy them and being in the pool. He also enjoyed his popsicle! He slept the entire ride home and continued to nap after I left for Jaime's bachelorette bbq. That was a good time as well.

Sunday we had another beautiful day and this time Sean joined us, as well as Brian and Phil, at the pool. The water was 84 degrees! Perfect! Aidan floated in a float for a while and then put those swimmies on and had a little fun. I was able to let go of him just for less than a minute or so, but it's something. He had a lot of fun playing with the toys and floating around. He fell asleep on the ride home but didn't go down so well when we got to the crib. My dad, Rachel and brother came over as well as Brian and Steph for dinner. Monday is Darren's birthday and Wednesday is my dad's. We had some bbq'd chicken and ice cream cake. It was nice and although Aidan didn't take a nap and was a little sad at times, he was pretty funny. He did really well eating dinner tonight. He had some chicken and corn on the cob. It was adorable! I'm excited he's finally wanting to eat something other than baby food. He got a pool after devouring a piece of ice cream cake and was ready for bed right after his milk. Sean and I keep talking about how tired we are and how late it feels yet we're both hooked onto our laptops. Yup, that's right, we're sitting in the same room, Sean in the chair and me on the couch with the dog cuddled close, watching the Phillies while sitting on our laptops. What was the world like without so much technology? Can you imagine life without wireless? Sheesh. I'd be in bed by 9pm! :-)

My thoughts on life right now:
Life is good.
I love my family, all of them.
I wish we had a inground pool in our backyard.
Is it bad that I'm already trying to come up with a Halloween costume idea for Aidan? I'm thinking a family theme set of costumes would be fun this year.
I can't wait for storytime at the library tomorrow!

Toys R Us - He loved this thing!!!

update

Well, it's been a little while for a post that wasn't just a picture but hopefully you've enjoyed the various shots I've taken with my phone while we're out and about. Let's see...

Today Aidan & I went to All Fired Up to pick up the pottery that was done being fired. It turned out so cute. I can't wait to use the pencil holder and flower pot on my desk at school. Actually I can wait, but at least it'll be something to remind me of the good times I had this summer. The pot has Aidan's handprints on it if you don't remember reading that from a previous post.

Now, the Poconos recap...

Friday evening we (Sean, Aidan & I) arrived at the Byrwa house and unpacked our stuff. We were so excited to be there. We took a little walk to the slopes and took a few pics (to come later!). Then we walked back to the house, got a few things together and drove over to the Stilwell house which is about a half hour scenic mountain drive. It seriously feels like a rollercoaster ride at some points. I can't imagine the drive when the roads are icy! We hung out around the chimnea and inside enjoying drinks and food and good times. Aidan had such a good time that he wore himself out and fell asleep and rested on the floor for a while before we left to go back "home".

Saturday most of the group was going white water rafting. Sean, Brian, and Colby were golfing at Jack Frost National. Since it was a beautiful 72 degrees and too cool for the pool or lake, Aidan and I took a trip to the outlets. We enjoyed at least 5 hours of shopping with a break for lunch. Aidan even napped there! We made out with a lot of good deals on some clothes for fall and even next spring. I can't believe I bought some 2t stuff for him. My little baby has grown so fast! After we were done shopping everyone had already gotten back from rafting and a few of the guys went out for a round of 9 holes of golf. Aidan and I went back "home" and he ate and then we got some warmer clothes together for our journey back to the Stilwell's. Once there we enjoyed another night of fun, food, drinks, and good times. Aidan had a blast dancing with everyone and for the attention. I got some great video and will post it once I get my pictures on the computer. (They've fallen into that black hole on my camera and will eventually surface after about a month!) Once back "home" and Aidan in bed, Sean and I enjoyed some relaxing time in the hot tub. Boy I'd love to have one of those in my back yard. Heck, I'd even take a whirlpool tub in my bathroom. It felt so nice after a long day of shopping!

When we woke up on Sunday it was raining out and we figured we'd take our time getting packed up and cleaning the house and then head to the outlets so Sean could take a look around and just go home from there. We were there for most of the afternoon and around dinner we started heading home. Unfortunately for us we drove through terrible rain storms and then when we were about an hour from home we got stuck in traffic where we moved 1 mile in 30 minutes. We just wanted to be home at that point. We finally got there and Toby was so excited to see us and Aidan was so happy to see him that I think he let Toby like just about every square inch of his arms and legs.

It was a great weekend!

pottery is done!

Are we home yet?

Driving home from the Poconos makes me sleepy

Torrential downpour on our ride home. Not cool.

FWD:

Asleep on the couch after the dance party. . . Fun times!

Napping while mommy shops

Poconos

Driving to the Poconos makes me sleepy!

Library Party

Today was the end of summer library reading party. We got there and Aidan did his usual routine of walking right over to the busy box and playing with that and then some puzzles. He fought me a bit when I tried to get him to walk around the rest of the library with me but I wanted him to see all the activities they had set up for the party. After a few more puzzles we walked over to watch Joe-Joe the clown make some balloon animals and then we needed to get up and move so Aidan gave the ring toss a try. It was quite cute. He wanted to place them all on the same peg until he got to the last ring and put it on a different peg. His prize was a coupon for a free apple dipper at McDonalds. Then we made a windsock which is now hanging in our kitchen. Around that time the clown was about to start his magic show so we went and found a carpet square to sit on and Aidan's friend Kiera from storytime and her mom sat next to us. We enjoyed a few magic tricks and then it was time to pick out a couple of books as our prize for reading all summer. We got some great ones: Click, Clack, Moo; Where the Wild Things Are; a discovery book about Dogs; and Silly Sally. As we finished picking out a few books Aidan's name was called for the raffle. He won an echo microphone. Fun. We picked up our snack (juice box and bag of animal crackers) and headed home. It was a great time! Check out the pictures below. We can't wait for story time on Monday!

Goodies from party

Watching the clown @ library party

Melting Pot mmmmm....

Happy 3rd Anniversary to us!

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary! I can't believe we've been married that long. My how things have changed in three years. Our house looks much better, but could still use improvements. We've both lost weight. We have a 15 month old wonderful fabulous awesome baby boy! But one thing that hasn't changed is just how much we love each other.

Aidan I spent a little time at the pool today with his mom-mom and Aunt Cait. It was a great time. He loved being able to walk and play in the baby pool and only took a couple of spills. He also loved "jumping" into the big pool and "swimming" in there. We came home and had some lunch and now he's down for a nap. He was exhausted! Oh yeah, when we got back Sean had gotten me flowers. They are my favorite-daisies! There are three roses too, one for each year. I didn't do such a great job of arranging them, but they're beautiful! Now it's time for me to get some lunch and get some things done around here.

My thoughts on life right now:
3 years go quickly.
I love Sean so much.
I have a great husband.
Where are we going for dinner???

Snack time

Pool day

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August 3rd, already?

So let me start off this post with a recap of the morning... I had an IEP meeting at school to go to and Cait came over to watch Aidan. The meeting ended a little early and I had time to get back home and pick up Aidan and still only be a couple of minutes late to story time at the library. Cait wanted to join us which made it even better. We got to the library and got right into singing. Then we listened to a couple of stories, tore and glued white paper to make a cloud on a blue piece of paper, and then Aidan wanted to get down off my lap as soon as he realized the instruments were out. He was so excited to get down and play with them! He had no problem about leaving mommy or Aunt Cait either. He was so excited when the cymbals made a loud noise! He had such a great time! He put away his instruments and mat so nicely today too. He even wanted to help with the other kid's mats. Too cute!

Now, back to the fact that it's August 3rd already. I can't believe how fast this summer has gone. I'm not happy about it at all and I'm kinda sad that I've only got a month left before having to go back to work. I really have a great time with Aidan, especially doing things like storytime. However, that's not why I'm wishing today wasn't the 3rd already. The reason is that tomorrow is our 3rd wedding anniversary and unlike any good wife I have not gotten Sean anything. I got him a card, but nothing else. For some couples this is normal (what year can you stop getting each other gifts?), for others this is unheard of. I was hoping Sean would agree that the re-do of the living room would be our gift, unfortunately he didn't. Even worse, he took Aidan shopping on Saturday. This means I'll be the bad spouse come tomorrow. We don't even have dinner plans or anything. Sheesh. You would think we've been married for years and years. I guess once a baby comes the romance goes. Well, at least we had a very wonderful and memorable first anniversary, right?

Danielle's Shower