Magic Moments

I had to count to 10 today. I had to lay on the floor and cry. I had to take deep breaths. I had to call my mom and complain and get some advice. I had to set Aiden in his crib for a few minutes while I pulled myself together. I had to get on my knees and pray! My Mommy grade for the day? A big, fat "F!" Aiden didn't do anything terrible...goodness, he's only 1! But I'm tired, so my patience ran thin when he was throwing his food on the floor. I know that today I gained several gray hairs. I probably aged at least 3 months and shortened my lifespan. As I'm reflecting on today, I finally figured out what is bothering me. It's Aiden's weight. It stresses my out that he's only in the 10th percentile. I wish I didn't even know what percentile he's in! I'm trying my hardest to hide calories, but he is such a picky eater! Today he ate a fairly decent lunch, but ate only a little for breakfast and dinner! How is he going to ga...

My mom found this guitar for Aiden at an antique store for $10 and it's by far his favorite toy. He carries it all over the house! Tom was playing his guitar the other day, and Aiden went straight to get his own guitar and sat down by Tom. Tom has been playing guitar for Aiden since he was in the womb, so of course Aiden was born to Rock and Roll! In this video you will see that Aiden can even say guitar ....it comes out as "tar" but it's so cute!

We just returned from our trip to see Aiden's pediatrician for his 1 year check up. Aiden clocked in at 19 pounds 14 ounces which puts him in the 10 th percentile for weight. What a peanut! The doctor said she wasn't worried, but that he could plump up a bit. If only she knew how active he was ! That kid burns calories, calories, calories! Nonetheless, I'm going to be hiding calories in Aiden's food wherever I can. Although he doesn't weigh much, he grew a lot in height! He is 30 1/4 inches tall which puts him in the 65 th percentile for height. My theory is that he's been so busy growing up that he didn't grow out! I think in the next month or so he'll fill out. His head is still huge. It's in the 93rd percentile. We talked about Aiden's development, what he can do, etc. She asked if he could wave "bye" and I said yeah he can, but he doesn't always. When she left Aiden said "bye" to her! She laughed! ...

I never really posted pictures of Ashley's wedding..mostly b/c I was too busy that day to take pictures. We got the professional photos back and they are amazing. This is my favorite picture. It doesn't look that great on the computer b/c I had to scan it in (as well as the rest of the photos posted here), but it's the best picture of Aiden and Tom and I that I have. My mom has this picture (the same pose) with her and her sister at her wedding. I love this picture. Mostly it makes me miss my brother. Erik, why do you live so far away? Most importantly, the happy couple! Someday I'll get around to posting Aiden's party pictures. The camera is still in the car. We had a VERY busy, but VERY fun weekend!

I'll post pictures of Aiden's party later...I'm too tired right now but I have a funny story to tell. :) As Tom was getting into bed last night he said, "Jenny, he's 1!" Right at that moment Aiden dramatically rolled over in his sleep and pretty much took over the place where Tom was going to lay. Tom said "...and apparently he is king of his domain!" Maybe it's not so funny telling the story...maybe you had to be there...but I laughed.

Happy Birthday to my baby boy! I can't believe he is 1! Where did the year go? I was thinking about what to write on this very special day. Many women I know post their birth story, but although Aiden's birth is something I never want to forget, I don't really want to think about every painful detail. Hehe. So, I'm going to tell you all how Aiden is my angel of happiness. Aiden is the perfect example of how God knows what we need better than we know what we need or even want. According to the Tom and Jenny plan we weren't going to begin our family until right about now. I wanted to finish grad school and have a year of working under my belt before we became a family of three. I wanted a chuck of my student loans paid and I wanted to be well on my way to being fully licensed. Obviously, God thought differently. So, if you didn't know it yet, Aiden was our surprise. According to the calendar, Aiden shouldn't be here. He is an act of God. Probably...

My mama says that I'm still a baby, but I'm not! I'll be 1 year old when I wake up and that means I'm a big boy and I've got the pictures to prove it! Girls, eat your heart out!

3 things are on my mind: 1. Today was Earth Day and while I usually reflect about the good things I'm doing for Mother Earth, today I held my head in shame. I have regressed in my tree hugger status. Since Aiden has been born I've been struggling to do even the little things that take no time at all but help the environment. I have resolved to be a more diligent recycler, to once again use my canvas grocery bags, and to go back to cloth napkins and stop using paper. My secret sins are paper towels (we don't use that many, but I do love them) and once a week I do bleach my bathroom. How terrible is that? I use natural cleaners mid week and in the kitchen, but nothing cleans my tub better than Soft Scrub...but I'm going to give baking soda another go. That said, I do cloth diaper and that counts for something. Plus, potty learning or Elimination Communication is going to be in full swing at our house next week and that will hopefully save on loads of laundry. I h...

Aiden is such a busy body! I can't seem to keep up with him. I think that he is going to give Curious George a run for his money! Pretty soon people will be reading about Curious Aiden. I was trying to gather up the garbage today so the cupboard (which is normally locked) was open for about 1 minute or less while I ran to the other room. When I came back to the kitchen I found Aiden helping himself to a potato that he found stored under the sink. Yum!? A potato! This morning I had Aiden's diaper bag all packed and ready to go waiting by the door. I had packed him a snack of goldfish crackers and a banana. I ran to my room to get my coat and while I was gone (less than 30 seconds) Aiden had helped himself to his "nana." He was digging in...peel and all! The weird thing is that this week Aiden has decided he doesn't like bananas anymore so I don't know why this one was so "appeeling" (pun intended:)). Curious little Monkey Aiden has also been...

Saturday: After hitting a few garage sales that proved to be unproductive, we went on an impromptu trip to the cabin. We were planning on raking leaves but Joe and Amber had it all raked by the time we got there. Tom and his brothers put in the dock which required they get in the water...which was ice cold since it was still frozen just a couple weeks ago. Aiden LOVED being outside. He only ate a couple spoonfuls of sand while playing on the beach and took just one tumble into the water...which he didn't mind at all. I was laughing b/c you know you have Minnesota babies when they are in their swimsuit and playing on the beach when the temp is only 65 degrees. That is exactly what my nieces did all day Saturday! Those crazy kids! Sunday: Church, grocery shopping, Mexican for lunch, naps, rental house hunting, and ice cream cones at Mcdonalds where we rented a movie for when Aiden goes to bed. And of course, what would an evening be without our nightly game of chase? (Don...

I'm glad it's Friday! I hope we can have a restful, yet fun weekend. I worked today (like every Friday...YUCK!) and Aiden must have totally worn himself out while playing with Emery. He fell asleep while eating his dinner! That is unheard of for my little boy. We skipped bath and he was out for the count by 7:18 pm! I really hope that doesn't meant he's awake by 5 AM! Note to self: Don't watch Dateline Investigation ever again! I get totally drawn in by the police investigation work, but I get totally freaked out. I officially do NOT watch Law and Order or Dateline or any other murder investigation show. I can't wait til Tom gets home and I hope I don't have any bad dreams. Lastly, there is a (slight) chance we may be able to move out of our apartment and rent a house. This would be amazing as the house has a basement and as you all know I HATE storms. Plus, it has more room which is an added bonus! We are trying to reach an agreement with the own...

I just love how much kids learn at this age. Aiden is almost 1 and he learns new things EVERYDAY! It's been very fun to watch. Sometimes he'll do something and Tom and I won't even remember teaching him that. For instance, he is really into nodding his head and saying "yeah!" I guess Tom and I must do that a lot. And, believe it or not, a couple times I've caught Aiden calling his Dada "Tom." Hehe . I have to admit that I did teach him that just to ruffle Tom's feathers (it worked too.. hehe ). He has recently learned to fold his hands to pray and it's SO CUTE but I don't have it on video yet. Today I was trying to teach him how to play with his Cobbler's Bench and use the hammer. He caught on pretty quick and now he just needs his fine motor skills to mature a tad. In other news, Tom's schedule is really weird right now and probably will be for quite sometime. He doesn't get home til midnight so that means I...

We had a great Easter at Tom's sister's house. They live in the country and so the setting was perfect for an Easter Egg hunt! For starters, Aiden dyed his first Easter eggs. He said "dunk" as he threw the eggs in the dye. He only colored 2 eggs as he was a little over zealous with the dye. I think he would have preferred to dye himself. "Ohhh! My very own egg!" These are the finished product! After we dyed eggs we made Resurrection Cookies. You can visit Julie's blog to see a detailed process of this. The cookies and ingredients are symbolic and represent that WE SERVE A LIVING GOD! On Sunday morning the kids found out that the Easter bunny did not disappoint. There was evidence that he had been there in more ways than one. Bunny tracks! And....the goods that he left! After a great church service we played outside for a little bit (before it got too cold!) Aiden enjoyed his first experience with grass! My handsome little boy! Walking with Ma...

I was thinking back to the "home remedies" that I had to endure as a child all b/c my mother or one of my grandmothers believed they were a miracle worker. As children we dared not cough or even clear our throats while at Grandma Jorgensen's house b/c before you knew what was happening she'd have you lying on your couch on your back with vick's vapor rub slathered on your chest with a hot, wet towel on it. I HATED that feeling as a child and never could quite figure out how cream applied to the outside of my body could cure the inside of my body. Looking back, there was probably merit to what she did, but it still felt yucky. At the first sign of a stuffy nose my grandma Arentson would have you lying on the floor and she would give you "nose drops." Goodness knows what was in those drops but you could feel them drain down your nasal passages while Grandma insisted that you lay on the floor for awhile to "let them work." I still remember the...

The Rolling Stones said it well in this song ! I've been singing it to Aiden today and it's been a good reminder for myself as well. "You can't always get what you wa-ant!" but "you'll get what you need !" ...like a NAP!! HAHA! I think the challenging 2's are starting a year early. :) He's still cute as ever, though! Messy face, Spaghetti face! Today we have storytime and that is enough! Quote of the day: "If it were possible to raise children to perfection, then God would have sent a parenting method, not Jesus."

Where's Aiden? Peek-a-boo!!! I've been doing mock Easter egg hunts with Aiden so that come Sunday he'll know what to do. So far all he is interested in doing is "dunking" the eggs in the bucket. Since Dada taught him how to dunk his ball in the basket, that's all he wants to do. I'm finding myself doing all the work in our Easter egg hunts. I find the eggs while Aiden stands by the basket and then I give them to him. Once he has them he throws the egg in the basket and says "dunk!" I thin he has me doing his dirty work. :) We're gonna keep workin' on hunting the eggs. I don't have the egg hunts on video, but this is a video of Aiden's first encounter with Easter eggs. Tom and I get a chuckle out of it.

I seriously hate the transition from baby food to people food! Aiden is super picky about textures and it's hard to always come up with something different for him to eat. I REFUSE to let him live on "kid food" and have a steady diet of mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. So, I'm trying SO hard to be creative. Anyway, tonight I made chicken quesadillas and I didn't think that Aiden would like chicken and cheese with tomatoes and onions and salsa. So I just made him chicken and cheese and spinach. He refused to eat it (and I know he likes cheese and spinach!). Grrr! But the funny thing was he wanted what we were eating. So I pureed up some of the quesadilla meat (he HATES the texture of chicken. HE doesn't like the "stringiness" and he has a hard time chewing it so I put it in the magic bullet for a few seconds) and he loved it....or at least he loved the sauce. He would put a big handful in his mouth, suck all the salsa and cheese off, and ...

I'm going to bore you all with a small cloth diaper post! I haven't written about cloth dipes for awhile and I'm so excited right now! I'm actually doing a bit of cloth diaper trouble shooting. I'm not going to write out all the details, but the long and short of it is that I needed new diaper covers. I ordered a couple of my trusty thirsties covers (in melon and periwinkle!) and for the first time I am trying out a wool diaper cover! Here's the deal: I'm afraid that this summer Aiden is going to get hot in cloth dipes....especially when the cover is plasticy! I've heard wonderful things about wool covers! For one, they are breathable....more than plastic that is for sure! Plus, wool has antimicrobial properties, so a wool cover can last up to 2 weeks without being washed. My plasticy covers were retaining a bit of odor (granted they have been used and USED) but I wanted to try something new. Thanks to trusty ebay I found a brand new wool cover ...

Yesterday I was at Border's and I bought the Deceptively Delicious Cookbook. Aiden started eating "people food" about a month ago, and I honestly get stumped as to what to feed him. He's a little bit picky...mostly I think that it takes him a long time to get used to new textures. And, I'm a little bit picky about what he eats. I REFUSE to have my child grow up on "kid food." There is a time and a place for Mac and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets, but he's not getting a steady diet of that. I still don't quite know how I feel about Deceptively Delicious but the recipes seemed reasonable so I'm giving a few of them a-go. Even though there are pureed veggies in every dish in this cookbook, Aiden will still be getting a side of green and orange veggies, cause you just have to eat them. More than anything, the recipes seemed user and kid friendly and with a few tweeks here and there I think the recipes stay true to my mostly traditional foods ...

I'm not exactly sure who reads this blog. However, I would guess that more people read it than is reflected in the comments...which is fine. This is not a complaint about getting few comments...I blog for myself (and maybe for my mom and my grandma) but not necessarily for an audience...although it's fun to stay connected this way with others. That said, I thought I would try something just b/c I wanted to gain thoughts from others. So, if you don't normally comment, consider sharing your thoughts..I'm interested in them. And....this isn't meant to step on anyone's toes. Although I am deeply convicted in how I parent, I firmly believe that others have the God given right and responsibility to choose how to parent without judgment from me. That said, I suppose I should preface this discussion by saying (in case you didn't already know) that Tom and I probably aren't what some would consider "mainstream" parents. We believe in and practice...

Emery is Aiden's cousin that he plays with while I go to work and I think that those two are going to be BFF! Or should I say those 4? In the pictures it looks like Aiden and puppy and Emery and his lovie are inseparable. I miss Aiden so much while I work, but I don't worry about him...all thanks to Mikelene who I know takes such good care of Aiden. The added bonus is that not only does Aiden get to play with Emery, but they also have a great big lovable dog named Toothbrush and a Kitty. Aiden is in heaven on Earth. "Emery is so cool!" Four Friends! I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that I loved! It said this: "Get rich quick! Count your blessings!" So I did... It doesn't get any better than this!