My Little Tender Heart

Anyone that really knows Aidan, knows that he is extremely sensitive. I am constantly surprised by his ability to be so sympathetic and loving to other people when they are sad or hurt. But Friday night he surprised me again.
We were having our regular family movie night and I decided that we were going to watch Annie. I grew up watching this show and it has always been one of my favorites. Aidan loved it as well, and was sitting on my lap watching it. Towards the end, when Annie leaves with her "parents" and her and Daddy Warbucks are singing that song about how "She was almost my baby.....maybe", you know what I am talking about right? Anyway, Aidan turns to me and is bawling. Full on tears and he is really upset, and says "That's a sad song Mom!" I was in shock. Barry and I looked at eachother for a minute because we were so surprised that he had been that affected. So I paused it and asked him what made him so sad and he just said "I don't know it just makes me feel sad. Daddy Warbucks really loves her huh?" I got teary too because I couldn't believe that a four year old had the capacity to understand what was really going on and to be so affected by it. I told him we better watch the end because it's a happy ending. He was very relieved when they ended up together.
I just had to write this down because it's one of those things I don't ever want to forget. I am so proud of Aidan and his ability to be so loving and thoughtful. He is the sweetest little boy and I know he is always going to be that way. I think it's a great character trait, and I love that he is my little Tender Heart!

Mexican Rivierra Cruise!

Well.......back to reality for me after a week on a fabulous cruise. My mom, my sister Haley, and I went on a cruise to the Mexican Rivierra. I had never been on a cruise before so it was well beyond my expectations. It was also the first time I had been away from my kids for that long. My amazing husband took a week of vacation to stay home with them so that I could go. He took such great care of them, and the kids really enjoyed spending a whole week with their daddy! I am the luckiest girl in the world. We left last Saturday and spent three days cruising to Puerta Vallarta. Just spending time laying by the pool was a treat because I didn't have to worry about anyone but myself and could just lay their and do nothing, which is something I haven't done for a long time. The food was unbelievable and never ending. I had heard that the food was great but it was much better than i had expected. Let's just say my clothes weren't fitting the same towards the end of the week, ugh! The first stop we made was in Puerta Vallarta. My mom has a friend that has a vacation home there and invited us to come spend the day with him. His condo was amazing! I seroiusly felt like I was on Lifestyles of The Rich And Famous. Then the next day we were in Mazatlan, where we did the traditional shopping and beach day. We rode in a cool little buggy around town and got a reality check. The way people are living there is extremely humbling. We were hounded like crazy on the beach by vendors, but it is all part of the experience. On Thursday we wre in Cabo San Lucas, which was my favorite port. We went on a snorkeling excursion and had an amazing time! Our tour guides were a blast. It was my first time snorkeling and I loved it. Then on the way back we got a surprise treat and saw three whales playing for about 20 min. They literally gave us a show and it was incredible. We couldn't believe how long they stayed in one spot and entertained us. The last two days on the way back were hard. They were still a lot of fun, there is always plenty to do on the ship, but at that point I was defintely ready to get home to my family. I want to tell my mom thank you for such an amazing trip. I had an amazing time with her and my sister and will remember it forever! It was a much needed break, but also a good reminder of how lucky I am to be able to be a stay at home mom and spend so much time with my kids. I am so happy to be home, and appreciating all the little things a lot more.


Here Haley and I are on the flight to Long Beach to board the ship. In case any of you haven't flown into Long Beach before, let me just warn you that it is a tiny airport. The terminal is literally a double wide trailer.

Ready to go out the first night. I think we watched karaoke in one of the 7 clubs on the ship.

My sister Haley, me, and my mom enjoying the view from the ship.

This wasn't the best thing I ate but for some reason it's the only picture we took of the food. lol It was delicious though, and very pretty!

This was the big outdoor pool area. I think there was 7 pools total on the ship. Insane.

Haley and I messing around in one of the clubs one night.

This is the view from my mom's friend's condo. It's one of the biggest infinity pools in the world. It is literally a couple blocks long. It was huge and those circular things are lounge beds and I could have spent all day laying on them. Oh wait........I did. lol

This was a cute little restraunt we walked to on the beach in Puerta Vallarta. They had the best shrimp tacos, and guacomole I have ever had. I think I may have eaten my weight in guacomole on this trip. sheesh!

This was in Puerta Vallarta. Our cab driver took us to the mall so we could get a good shot of our cruise ship. I am still in shock over how huge the thing is.

My mom, Haley, and I at Senor Frogs in Mazatlan. It's a really fun little souvenir shop.

That white building on the cliff is an amazing mall in Mazatlan.

At one of the 7 restraunts in the ship about to have dinner.

This is on the tender boat that took us to the dock in Cabo San Lucas.

This is called "Los Arcos" I believe right next to Lover's Beach in Cabo. So pretty, and right next to this is a little area where we saw a whole bunch of Sea Lions. So cute!

My sister and I on the catamaran sporting some awesome snorkieling gear. We were listening intently to the safety instructions.

I AM

I AM!
I got this from Danyette, it looked like fun so here you go.

I AM...so excited about my cruise. I leave in five days!
I WANT....to get a nice tan and get out of this snow!
I HAVE...everything I ever wanted and more.
I KEEP...clothes for ever. Even when they don't fit and are way out of style . Mostly I hate to go through them and get rid of things.
I WISH I COULD...hire someone to clean my house once a week.
I HATE...the smell of belly buttons and earing gunk. lol Nasty I know.
I FEAR...loosing someone I love.
I HEAR...Barry watching House.
I DON'T THINK...I will ever get caught up with laundry.
I REGRET...nothing, honestly.
I LOVE...spending time with my family.
I AM NOT...excited to see the snow when I wake up in the morning.
I DANCE...with Baylee to Barney on a regular basis.
I SING...along to every song I am listening to, whether I know it well or not. I can't help it.
I NEVER...get tired of listening to my kids laugh.
I RARELY...get tired of ice cream.
I CRY WHEN I WATCH...Extreme Home Makeover, oh okay pretty much anything, lol.
I AM NOT ALWAYS...in my p.j's, I promise. lol.
I HATE THAT...it's not spring yet.
I'M CONFUSED ABOUT...the state of our economy.
I NEED...to get a crap load of stuff done this week before I leave.
I SHOULD...quit blogging and start working on that crapload, lol.

Everyone who wants to should try it!! Write down the 1st thing that comes to your mind.

A Bunch of Randomness

Well February has come and gone, and I am officially declaring myself a blogging slacker. I don't know what I have been so busy with but I couldn't even bring myself to upload the 168 pictures that have been sitting on my digital camera. After I finally did that tonight I realized I would have to do about 15 different posts to cover all the different things we had done. So.....I am just going to post a whole BUNCH of pictures from the last month or so. Get ready for an onslaught of pictures. lol Anyway, we have been having a great time. The kids are doing awesome. Aidan is staying busy with karate and preschool, will be starting baseball in about a month, and was just officially enrolled in kindergarten which is killing me. Baylee continues to be my daily challenge, and my daily sunshine at the same time. She is absolutely hilarious. She has a new found love of Barney and insists on watching it daily much to my disliking. She sings and dances with all the songs though which makes it not only tolerable but adorable. Well enjoy the pictures, and I hope I don't overwhelm you.

This is Aidan and his "girlfriend" Eri at their Preschool Valentine party.I had no idea that little crushes developed so early. It's been a little scary, but adorable at the same time.

Aidan was such a sweet brother and let Baylee come into the party and even shared his cupcake with her.

These are the cupcakes that Aidan and I made for his class. The ones with ridiculous amounts of candy are the Aidan's works of art. lol

I just thought this was an adorable picture of Baylee and her pretty eyes. Not the best smile but cute all the same!

My brother Scott and Aidan. This was when we went to breakfast for Scott's birthday. Aidan loves his uncle Scott.

Barry and I at Scott's birthday breakfast. Not the greatest picture but we don't get them of us together very often because I am usually behind the camera.

Again....just a cute picture!

I think she was probably saying something sassy when I took this picture. Those are her sassy lips. lol

Bath time is a favorite for the kids. When they aren't fighting for the front of the bath or over who gets what toy it's actually really cute to watch them.

Baylee's first pony ride. She loved it although she kept getting the sound that a pony makes a little confused. She kept saying "moo" while she was going around in the circles. I think she had a good time though.

Aidan got to go on an elephant ride and was SOOO excited. We went to a mini circus with my friend Shea and her boys. The two in front of Aidan are hers, Jaxon and Jayden. They all thought it was amazing. I thought so too....I've never been on an elephant.

This was Baylee's method of decorating Valentine cookies at my moms house. She wasn't too interested in decorating, but she sure thought the frosting was awesome. She dipped that same cookie in about 30 times. Makes double dipping sound good huh?

Then she just gave up with the cookie and decided a spoon was a much easier way to chow the frosting. True Baylee form.

Baylee and Kobree (my friend Chansey's daughter) playing dress ups. They are so cute together which is good because Chansey and I decided while we were pregnant that they would be Bff's.

My little cheeser! I just realized that I posted a ton more pictures of Baylee. Not because I don't like pictures of Aidan.....just because he never seems to be around when I am taking pictures. He's a little to cool to pose for my pictures these days!

Busy, Busy, Busy....

I can't believe I have gone so long without posting! Things have been a little crazy for some reason, and I just haven't taken the time. We have all been passing around a yucky cold so it has been a neverending battle. Hopefully, we will get rid of it for good soon! I am heading to Vegas for the weekend, tomorrow morning. I am going for my friend Genell's Bachellorette party. There is 15 of us going and it is going to be a blast. I can't wait! I have a ton of new pictures to upload but that will probably have to wait until I get back.
Aidan said somehting the other day that had us laughing so hard and I keep meaning to write it down so I don't forget. Barry and I were sitting in the family room when he got home for work. I was tired and not in the mood to do much for dinner. Aidan came down and asked me what I what going to cook. I said "Nothing, I don't want to cook tonight." A few minutes later I realized he was in the kitchen and getting into the fridge. I asked what he was doing and he said "Looking for cheese to make quesadillas because you don't want to cook so I will make us dinner." Meanwhile Baylee was climbing into the fridge with him and pulling things out, so I kept saying Aidan close the fridge. I asked him over and over, and he wasn't listening. Barry finally said, "Aidan if you don't listen to your mom you are going to have to go to your room!" Aidan came stomping over to me completely frustrated and said..."Mom! Can you help me with this conversation? It didn't start out very good!" It was all I could do not to laugh. I just thought it was so funny becasue he was clearly upset that he was gettting in trouble when he was just trying to be helpful and had such good intentions. He cracks me up all the time.

Lil' Dragon

Well Aidan has been in karate for about six months now and finally got to test for his next belt. At his age they go from white to the Little Dragon belt which is a camo belt. His next belt will be the yellow. He absolutely loves karate and it has been so much fun watching him grow and improve. For those of you that have little boys, I strongly recommend karate. He has learned so much abot repect, dedication, motivation, and discipline. His teacher, Mr. Hatch, is amazing. He is so patient with them, yet firm so they take him seriously. Aidan has gotten so good over the last 6 months I am amazed. His belt testing was so awesome. Right before he took the test we were all sitting in the room waiting and I asked him if he was excited, and he said..."yeah, but I'm a little nervous." It was so cute, but I was worried about how he would do because there were so many people there watching for the next few classes after theirs. They did so good, and he was so excited to get his new belt! I am so proud of him for working so hard, and reaching this first goal. I just love this little boy! Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest. I was sitting in the back and the mirror didn't really help my flash.
This is Aidan and his best friend Riley and all their supporters. Rileys family lives two houses down from us and we have all gotten so close. They are such good buddies.

This is them doing their inward blocks. Aidan is the one in the middle.

Roundhouse kicks!

This is Aidan receiving his new belt.

Cute, cute, cute. They just look so little to me!

This is one of my favorite pictures. They "meditate" for a minute at the end of each session. Doesn't Aidan look so relaxed? lol

Aidan with his teacher, Mr. Hatch. I think he is only 19 but he is sooo amazing!

Best Little Dragon Buddies. Love you guys!

From Little Birds to Little Beasts

Well...Baylee jsut completed her first semester of Little Gym. That's right she graduated. She is no longer a Little Bird. She is now a Little Beast (they couldn't have named the age group better). I have been taking my kids to the Little Gym since Aidan turned one. When he turned four he decided he wasn't interested anymore which worked out great because Baylee was ready to start so I only had to pay for one at a time. Baylee was a lttle star right away. She is so active and strong that she did great from the very beginning. She loves to hang on the bar. She could stay up there for ever. Her teacher uses her to demonstrate all the skills in her class. She gets so excited when I tell her we get to the Little Gym. She knows the sign for play, so she will start signing it and chanting " I pay, I pay!" She has been so much fun to watch in this class and I can't wait to see her in the next class. She will get to do some slightly more advanced skills, but most importantly she will have a blast again! Good job Baylee and congrats on graduating from your first semester of Little Gym! Love you!!!
This is one of the warm ups we do at the beginning of class with the parachute. They get to sit on it while we do ring around the rosy.

This is her doing her part to pull the parachute. She is such a good helper.

Our little gymnast on the balance beam. She has no fear! I have to warch her really close or she will climb up the steps and try to go across it on her own.

This is her doing a backroll on the foam roll. This is to get them prepared to learn backhandsprings.

Aidan usually has to watch from the lobby so he had a great time spotting and playing with her in the gym. This is him trying to help her do a flip around the bar. Yikes!

Playing on the uneven bars.

This is her hanging on the really high bar that most of the kids wont even try. She will hold onto this bar for about 30 seconds. I am always worried her little arms are gonna pop out of the sockets.

Aidan being a good big helper again. He is such a good big brother, and adores his baby sister.

Making a basket. She always gets really excited when she makes it and says "2 points!"

Baylee with her little acheivement certificate, ribbon, and bubbles that her teacher gave her.