The things they say!

It seems that Aidan has been talking forever. It's hard to remember a time when he wasn't speaking. Lately though, the things he says amaze me. I can have complex conversations with him. He is such a little person. Some of the things he says are hilarious. I wonder how he comes up with it, what his little mind is thinking at the time. The newest thing he has been saying is " B why?" I'll tell him to do something and instead of saying " because why?" or just "why?" he says " B why mommy?" The first time it came out of his mouth I could not stop laughing. It took me a minute to realize what it meant. Now that is his regular response whenever he wants to know why. They say "kids say the darnedest things" and that is absolutely true.

Making music

So, do I have future drummer's, or what?

25 random things

So a couple of people have asked me to write down 25 random things about myself. Ever since I was asked a while back I have been trying to think of things. This was not an easy thing for me do do, but tonight I finally sat down and came up with some things to write. So here goes:

1. My dream job? I do it every day. I am lucky enough to stay home with my two kids and watch them play, laugh, and learn new things. I get to teach them, guide and assist them, and even argue with them.

2. That said, being home with Aidan and Peyton every day tending to their needs, is one of the hardest and most selfless things I've had the pleasure of doing.

3. I really, really need a bigger house.

4. My favorite sound by far is hearing Aidan and Peyton laugh.

5. I love to read, but haven't read a grown-up book in 2 1/2 years, but that's O.K for now.

6. The fact that we are not having any more kids is very depressing for me.

7. I hated high school and never wish I could go back.

8. I love photos. Right now I have 200 photos waiting for me to put them in an album.

9. I feel guilty that I don't have time to pay attention to my animals.

10. I've been told I'm crazy because I don't like chocolate. I like white chocolate.

11. I am not artistic at all, but I really wish I was.

12. I love red wine.

13. I met Jon in college while I was dating someone else. I was blessed with in-laws that I love.

14. Other than something happening to my kids, my two biggest fears are public speaking and death.

15. I wish my grandparents taught me how to speak Italian.

16. I really miss snow around Christmas time.

17. I hate, hate, hate the summers here in NC.

18. I want to learn how to play the guitar and piano.

19. At first I resisted the blog thing. Now I'm a blogaholic.

20. My family is the most important thing to me. I guess that's why they all live in my house right now, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

21. At one point I had 13 piercings.

22. I have 3 tattoos.

23. My favorite TV shows are Fringe, Grey's Anatomy, House, and Lost.

24. I've watched General Hospital ever since middle school.

25. Jon is the person who has made me the happiest as well as the angriest.

O.K. There you go, I did it. (Kara) It was really hard, but I'm glad I finally did it.

Showing off!

I just wanted to post some recent, favorite pictures of our adorable kids.





Here is Aidan wearing his sunglasses, in the house, with his PJ's still on.



Aidan working on a masterpiece.


Peyton modeling pigtails.
Peyton sporting the Pebbles look, with a snap pea crisp hanging from her mouth. (By the way, Jon did this to her hair.)



Aidan and Peyton playing with their new barn together.

Sledding on snow day #2

Since there was still snow on the ground today, Emily and I decided to search for some sleds to take the boys sledding for the first time. After many calls to various stores, Emily finally found some.

We headed out to the golf course to find a good sledding hill. After two failed hills with no snow left on them, we found the perfect one. Just big enough for them to go a little fast, but small enough for them to pull their own sleds back up.




Here is Aidan and Blake getting ready to sled down the hill together.






After going down, Aidan actually loved pulling his sled back up.

Peyton was back home napping with Nana, but Elliot ventured out to look in on all the fun. He had a nice cozy seat on Emily's back.
Here everyone is walking back to the car after having a ton of fun.
Aidan loved sledding. I was very happy he found something he liked doing in the snow. The whole ride home he kept saying he wanted to sled some more. I wish the snow would last a little longer, but it looks like it will all be melted soon. Oh, another plus was he was so exhausted that he was asleep by 6:30.

SNOW

Last night we were put under a winter storm warning. They said to expect 2-4 inches of snow. I was hoping it would happen , but didn't quite believe it. It never snows when they say it is going to, at least not "real" snow like back home. To my surprise, this is what we woke up to this morning:



So I went digging through closets, found our gear, and bundled up to go play in the snow. I was a little disappointed that Aidan did not really like the snow. He pretty much whined the whole time and didn't want to kneel or sit in the snow. He didn't want to go back inside though. He did like making snowballs and he had fun riding his bike on the snowy road.
Of course when we came back inside we had to make a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate.

Peyton's 9 month well baby check

On the day of Peyton's 9 month check, I was expecting a non-eventful trip to the doctors. Weigh in, measure length and head, and a couple shots. No biggy. We have done this plenty of times. Instead I came out feeling like I was doing something wrong. I was told that Peyton was not gaining enough weight. At her 6 month she was 15lbs. 10oz. She is now 16lbs. 2oz. Meaning that she only gained about half an ounce in three months. The doctor asked how much she was nursing and when I gave my answer she told me that it was not enough. I knew that was not true, but it still upset me to hear the doctor tell me that. Apparently, she fell off her 25 percentile curve and is now in the 10th percentile. I know these curves are based on formula fed babies. I know I am nursing her enough and often. I see how much food she eats on top of nursing, but it still bothered me. I keep telling myself she is fine, she is meeting all her milestones, she is just a little peanut. Peyton is a healthy, active, happy little girl. I still hear the doctors voice in the back of my head every once in while though.


I wonder if it upset me so much because Aidan was the total opposite. I never had anyone tell me he wasn't gaining enough. They were all amazed at how much and how fast he was gaining. Aidan weighed 16lbs. (what Peyton weighs now) at 4 months. That's crazy!

Avocado's...yum!

I have been giving Peyton avocado's for a while now. They were one of her first foods. I usually dice it up and give it to her to eat. Today I was using a spoon to scoop it out and feeding it to her. She did not like that idea. She wanted to feed herself. So I just handed her the half of avocado. This is what she did with it.



Here she is scooping out the avocado with her hand.
She was having so much fun with it. She loved it and could not get it in her mouth fast enough.
When the avocado was gone she tried moving on to the skin. She actually bit off a piece and was chewing on it. At that point I thought it necessary to take it away.
Well, needless to say, Peyton was not very happy about that. I guess I will be heading to the store tomorrow to buy more!