Sippy Cup Fun

In the book I've read, been reading, and constantly refer back to...Babywise...the authors mention that it's a good idea to start introducing a sippy cup around 6 months. Just like parents that struggle with their children that don't like transitioning from breastmilk to a bottle, the transition can be just as hard for children to start using the sippy cup. Well, so I've heard, haha.

The book suggests several ways to "start" the sippy cup such as placing a little formula in there, placing a little water with just a tiny bit of juice (for some inticing flavor), and a few others. The authors also go on about what a mess it can be in the beginning, just like when starting solids and spoon feeding. One of their suggestions was to start with the sippy cup during bath time.

Wow! I thought that was a GREAT idea! Then, if it does make a mess or leak everywhere, what does it matter? So that's what we did! I bought Aidyn a small 7oz Nubby sippy cup at the store the other day. The spout is made out of the same materials as a bottle nipple. Although it's shaped differently, the child still has to suck to get the liquid out.

Aidyn did suprisingly well, or atleast to us, for his first time. He managed to get the spout in his mouth the very first time. He would try to drink it just like he would a bottle, and then he'd chew on it a while. I let him "play" with his cup for about 5-10 minutes before putting it away and moving on with his bath.


I didn't want to put yummy juice in the cup since he would be eating his bedtime bottle afterwards. I also didn't want to put formula in the cup, because I if it did leak out (which was inevidable) I didn't want him sitting in a milk cloud for a bath. So...I just added about 4 oz of barely cool water. This way it didn't matter if it spilled or not.


You know me, I just HAD to get a video! I actually did two quick ones. The first is my favorite of him drinking, but since he's in the bathtub...some things are exposed that I probably shouldn't share with the world, haha. I know he'd thank me for that if he could. ;) So, I hope the second video is enough of a "glimpse" of how he did. He's mostly chewing on it during this one. Oh well.

It won't be long before he's holding his own bottle and maybe even using a sippy cup. There's no rush or need for the sippy cup now...but I'd like to have the skill down by the time basketball season rolls around so we can take it to the games with us. He'll be 10 months when the season starts, but 13 months when it's over (maybe 14mo if we're lucky!) :)

Ouch!

I had a parent once (from school) tell me that she never wore her engagement ring anymore because she always scratched her sons. She said she only wears her wedding band. I can't do that...and not because I just want to wear my diamond, although I do! My band is seperated into two "parts" and the engagement ring fits down into it. To wear just the band would like down right stupid. But anyhow...I finally understand her reasoning, though, behind her decision.

The other day I somehow accidently scratched the backside of Aidyn's leg. He didn't cry, or if he did I never remembered it, so we didn't even notice until later that afternoon. Man, did I feel terrible!!!!!

I am still wearing my ring, though. Why wouldn't I? Now, I just try to be extra careful.

Look at me!

Aidyn is getting bigger and doing more "new" things each day. To encourage him to sit up more, we bought a few toys that he can sit up and play with.

He does pretty well until he gets distracted and turns to look or reach for something else.

Swinging

Last week, my parents bought Aidyn a swing for their house. Here are just a few pictures of him trying it out for the first time. I wasn't there, but they said he seemed to enjoy it.

Church Movie Night

Our church has been talking about ways to "reach out" into the community. For a few years, Ben and I have discussed the possibility of hanging a large sheet or tarp from the side of the building, and then projecting a movie onto it.
We finally got our chance!

Sponsored by our church youth, we hosted a FREE community Movie Night 2 weeks ago. We sent out postcard invitations to all of our VBS attendees from the past 2 years. We were able to get the local (Erwin only...it's AM) radio station to advertise everyday for 2 weeks, for free! We also created extra postcards and fliers for church members to hand out, mail, or give to friends.

We began the evening at 7:00pm with "games" for everyone to play. There was basketball, crochet, ladder ball, badmitten (sp?), a football, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, hoola hoops, bingo, and a cake walk. Members of the church baked or purchased items for our cake walk - yum! We also had an icee maker and a popcorn maker donated for our use on Friday evening, and we provided bottled water and kool-aid. At 7:30pm, our worship band also played several songs for some extra "entertainment".

At 8:30pm, we began cleaning up the games. Ben had prepared a short message to give. Unfortunately, many of the younger kids were running around and people continued talking and "mingling" amongst themselves. I felt bad for Ben because he ended up cutting his message short. People weren't listening and he said he couldn't concentrate for all of the little kids running around. We've decided that next time, on August 15th, we'll corral everyone inside the church for the message. This will also allow the sound "crew" to get the movie set up and ready.

At 9:00pm, we started the movie, Bedtime Stories by Disney (featuring Adam Sandler). It was a great success! We used a large painter's canvas (9x12) that we drapped from the side of the church building. We used our regular morning projector and speakers for the video and sound. We can't wait to do our next one, "Back 2 School", the week after school starts. Instead of giving away cakes, cookies, and other yummy treats...we'll be giving away school supplies.

We realize that doing the "Back 2 School" night AFTER school starts is a little different, but we weren't able to schedule it before...unless we did the weekend before. The reason we decided against that is because almost half of our congregation (seriously!) are either teachers, asssitants, or principals...(including Ben and me)...it's crazy, I know! We figured we'd all be in panic mode trying to prepare for school, haha, so we're doing the weekend AFTER.

Here are a few pictures that my dad took for us throughout the evening.

People brought blankets and chairs to sit on (in the parking lot) during the movie. We are currently trying to come up with a good family movie to show. Feel free to leave any suggestions in the comment section. We had almost 100 people total throughout the evening...we hope to have even more in August.

Changes

There are a lot of changes taking place in our household right now...or a lot on their way.

*WARNING* - This is a very long post, sorry.

Aidyn's changes:
Aidyn will be 6 months old in 10 days! Wow...that means sitting up, crawling, teeth, and more solid food are quickly approaching!

Aidyn will be changing his first tire in the next day or two. He isn't even driving yet, and already he has a flat tire! Ben repumped all of the tires 2 days ago and the air leaked right back out of his back tire. Oh no! This means no more strolls around the block, around town, or down the street.

Aidyn may have a new babysitter for when I go back to work. Originally, we had registered Aidyn for CCLC (Cherokee Christian Learning Center). It was the only place with openings for 6 month olds exactly when we'd need it, and the only place we felt really comfortable with. In his class, there would be no more than 8 students (ages 6-12mo) and 2 adults. My only concern is that due to state regulations, they are not allowed to have any sort of "restrictive" pieces such as bouncy seats, jumpers, swings, walkers, etc. All of the children sit in the floor on rugs and mats all day playing with toys. If Aidyn isn't sitting up by himself by July 27th, what will he do....lay in the floor all day?

So, 2 weeks ago, Ben found out about a girl in our town that recently got laid off and has decided to keep kids instead of looking for another job right now. After paying for childcare for her own daughter, she and her husband have "added up" the benefits of her staying at home and then keeping 1 or 2 other children. She has a 3yr old daughter, Riley, and keeps another 3yr old little boy, also named Riley. hahaha...I bet that can get confusing!

She said that Riley and Riley (ha) pretty much entertain each other and play all day. This means that Aidyn would get the attention he needs and not have to share that time with 3-8 other babies his age. He won't have to be sitting up in order to play, either. She has a Bumbo and a jumper. I may even try locating a cheap walker (yardsale) to leave at her house if all goes well. AND...she is only going to charge us $20/day! That will end up saving us $150/month. My only concern about his situation is if she or her daughter are sick. We will still need to talk to her about that. That was one of my biggest concerns about the first girl I met with. Not to mention, she was MORE EXPENSIVE than daycare and already knew of 2-3 wks that they'd be gone on vacation by October!

The biggest difference in the two is that our new person, Kelly, lives about 5 minutes from our house. Ben will be the one to take Aidyn in the mornings on his way to school. This makes it so much easier, since I won't have to worry about dropping him off on my way and worrying about traffic. It will take away my "worries" of leaving him with someone I don't really know, and I don't have to worry about their family being gone on different vacations (especially since she just got laid off). And...Ben will be able to pick Aidyn up after he gets out of school around 2:45-3pm. If he were at daycare, he would not be picked up until about 4:30pm, unless Ben or his mom drove to Johnson City to pick him up.

Regardless of how well we like Kelly, or anyone else down the road, Ben and I have agreed that by the time Aidyn is 2yrs old, we definately want him in a preschool structured program.

Ben's changes:

This Saturday will be Ben's very last EDs (Educational Specialists Degree) class. This is the degree inbetween Master's and Doctorate. He is already talking about doing the doctorate program, but he knows he HAS to wait. Now it's my turn! It will be great to have my husband back! (ha) This will mean that Ben's salary will have increased almost $5-6,000 in just 2 years thanks to his Ma and EDs. Yay!

Ben is now the Offensive Coordinator for the varisty football team in Erwin. He has always helped with the football program, but never really had a specific title. Under new coaching, great spring practices, summer practices, new (strict yet respected) expectations, I am very excited to see how this season goes!

Yesterday, as Ben was trying to leave practice, his car would not start. He's had this car for almost 9 years. It's been a WONDERFUL car! But it's a 2-door which almost makes it impossible to get Aidyn into the backseat. So, if I am going out of town or just out for the day and Ben keeps Aidyn, we have to trade cars. Ben's been wanting to look at new cars for a while (or new to him), but we've been trying to wait until I go back to work. After yesterday's adventures, it looks like we may be car shopping sooner than expected. Although, I guess 2-3 wks earlier isn't too much sooner than we planned.

My (Whitney's) changes:

Next week, Monday-Wednesday, I begin teacher inservice for this coming school year. Ben's mom will be keeping Aidyn on Monday and Wednesday. We will be leaving Aidyn at Kelly's on Tuesday to see how it goes. Even though most teaches are REALLY dreading July coming to an end, I'm excited.

This year, I'll be teaching 3rd grade. For the past 2 years, I've been doing a "split" team-teaching. I had a 4th grade homeroom class and Linda, my teaching partner, had a 3rd grade homeroom class. I taught both groups reading and grammar while she taught both groups math. Then, in the afternoons...we taught our own groups either science or social studies. Whew! Did you follow that? That's A LOT of planning! I am VERY excited to be a strictly 3rd only team this year with Linda! This means we will have half the planning since we'll only be teaching one grade. I can't wait to get started!

I will be "giving up" my days with Aidyn. As much as I TOTALLY LOVE Aidyn, I also have missed teaching and working. Being off and at home for 6 months with Aidyn has been priceless and well worth the cut in pay. However, being off and away from work for 6 months has also left me "chomping at the bit" to get back to work. It's weird. I don't want to have to leave Aidyn...but I cannot wait to go back to work. Weird, huh?

Also, in August, I'll be starting my Master's degree program. This why I said Ben has to wait on his doctorate because it's now MY turn. I have wanted to get my master's in reading for a long time. I know that going back to work August 3rd and having a new baby at home will be an adjustment. Hopefully, it won't take us too long to get adjusted and into a pretty set schedule. My master's will start the week of August 24th...and then things will get even more crazy. But once again, I can't wait! (I do realize however all of this excitement over teaching school and attending school will probably fade QUICKLY when all the work starts piling up, hahaha).

Homemade Butternut Squash

The first two foods I attempted to make for Aidyn were sweet potatoes and butternut squash.

Even though I started with the squash, I had some issues getting it to cook, so I posted about the sweet potatoes first. I finished up the squash yesterday morning. Since I only had 4 ice cube trays, which were all full of sweet potatoes, I had to wait for those to completely freeze so that I can dump them into my labeled freezer bag. After emptying the trays and rinsing them out, I filled them back up with the squash.

Cooking squash:
I followed the instructions given to me by Jeannie. I cut the squash in half lengthwise, scooped out the seeds, placed them "meat" down into a casserole dish, poured about 1/2 an inch of water in the pan, and placed in the microwave for 7.5 minutes. I think this may have been where I "messed up". The directions said to make sure the skin was soft before turning over. Part of the skin was soft, but not entirely, and I turned it squash over anyways.

Now, with the skin side down, I cooked the squash for 5 additional minutes. When I went to scoop out the "meat" of the squash, only the bottom, round portion would scoop out. The rest of the squash was not tender and fully cooked. To help the squash finish cooking, I cut it into 1.5 inch slices, put it back into the casserole dish (without water), and placed in the oven on 400' degrees for about 30 extra minutes.


After the extra cooking, the squash was tender and ready. Just like the potatoes, I scooped it into the blender, added water until it reached the right consistency, and then poured into the ice cube trays. The butternut squash did not yeild as much as the 3 sweet potatoes.

Instead of getting around 60 1oz servings, I ended up with 25 1oz servings. Even still, if you consider a Gerber package of $2.oo = $0.50 per serving and then my $2 squash = $0.08 per serving. It may not be $0.03 like the potatoes, but it's MUCH better than $0.50.

Aidyn's next food will be carrots. Now, that's a vegetable I actually eat!

*Side Note...I told Ben that we're going to have to start eating these other veggies ourselves. :( I do not want Aidyn to be a picky eater, like us, and so we're going to have to move beyond potatoes, corn, yellow squash, green beans, peas, and carrots.

Homemade Sweet Potatoes

I told you on a post a few days ago that I was planning on making Aidyn's baby food. Ben's uncles' sister (haha...can you follow that) emailed me with tips and advice on how she made her son, Will's, babyfood when he was little.

Today, I started with sweet potatoes and butternut squash. These are the two veggies that we have already introduced to Aidyn through the Gerber babyfoods. I started with the butternut squash. I've never eaten this myself, so I really have no idea how it tastes. I had some trouble getting it to cook, so I'll tell you about it later.

Next, onto the sweet potatoes. Before I started the squash or cooking dinner, I washed 3 large sweet potatoes and put them in a baking dish. I placed them in the oven on 450' for about an hour. Aidyn and I went for a walk, so it may have been just a little longer. Once the potatoes were good and soft, I took them out of the oven. Since the "meat" of the potato pulls away from the skin, it was VERY EASY to scoop that out with a spoon, even while hot. I scooped it straight into our blender. Forgetting about the amount of water I would need to add in a few minutes, I "accidently" added ALL of the potatoes.


*Side Note: Here is a picture of a set of containers I bought (Gerber squash) last week. I washed and saved these containers to use for when I made Aidyn's food. Thanks for the helpful tip, Jeannie! This 2-pack of squash, or any Gerber food, costs about $2. For Aidyn, that'd be 4 servings...about 1 day depending on how/when he eats. That comes to roughly $0.50 per serving. In this picture, they are filled with the sweet potatoes I made today.

Needless to say, as the blending and mixing went on, I eventually had to pour some into a bowl and then finish it during a 2nd round. I kept adding a little warm water at a time and just blending or pulsing the blender until the sweet potatoes were as close to the same consistency of the Stage 1 Gerber foods. I DID NOT add salt, pepper, sugars, etc...nothing to "change" the taste of the food. I don't even add salt, pepper, or other things to my food when I eat.

When all was said and done, and mixed to the right consistency, I poured the food into ice cube trays...and a few other things, haha. I told you I went a little over board. :) I had no idea how much 3 potatoes would make. Once the cubes are nice and hard, I'll pop them out and into a ziplock freezer bag that I've already labeled Sweet Potatoes 7/09.

Here are ALLLLLLL my sweet potato servings...out of 3 potatoes! Who would've ever thought, haha. Jeannie said to count one "cube" as 1oz, roughly. Sometimes Aidyn will eat about 2-3 oz of cereal. So, I'm counting 1oz as 1 serving (for now) so that we can compare this to the Gerber containers I just showed you up above.

In this picture, with 3 sweet potatoes for a total cost of $1.87...I made 63 servings! That averages out to $0.03 per serving. Do the math...I got all of this for less than $2.00 and if I bought it all by Gerber, I would've spent $31.00. Wow. Now, I am SO THANKFUL for the helpful advice from Ben's uncle's sister, haha. (I think that sounds funnier than just saying Jeannie, ha).

So, next time that Aidyn needs some sweet potatoes, I'll pull a few cubes out of the bag from the freezer and either let them thaw in the fridge or place them in the microwave until they are thawed and at room temperature. Something else that Jeannie suggested was that once her son, Will, was eating several veggies, she sometimes would thaw 1 peas, 1 squash, 1 carrots, etc.

I LOVE this idea because now I don't have to worry about Aidyn not eating the Gerber food within 2-3 days and having to throw it out. Now, I can thaw 1-2 cubes at a time and if he doesn't eat that...well, it's definately better than throwing away $1.

Yardsale Find #2

A couple weeks ago, my friend texted me about a walker her mom had found at a yardsale...for $6. $6!!!!!! She asked if I'd like for her to get it and ofcourse I said, "Yes!"

When she came over for dinner last week, she brought Aidyn the walker. He hasn't learned to walk in it yet, but is beginning to try to scoot backwards. We needed something to keep upstairs in the office and/or bathroom while I shower. These are both rooms that I can shut the door when Aidyn eventually learns to use the walker. I DO NOT want him trying to walk around upstairs. Downstairs isn't an issue since he clearly can't "walk" up stairs in it.

Today, while I worked on the computer in the office, I put Aidyn in his new walker.


I had a blanket down under him that I forgot to get up when we were playing, so he clearly wasn't going anywhere today, haha.

Thanks Brenda and Kayla...he loves it!

Camera Hog

Aidyn has decided he likes the camera (probably because I've always got it out trying to take his picture, haha). Either that, or he's beginning to learn that when the camera is picked up, he's supposed to smile.

After getting his picture today during his sweet potatoes testing, he kept reaching for the camera. I was trying to get him to smile at me but he kept trying to grab the camera out of my hands. I cracked up when I looked at the pictures I ended up with...

"I know I can reach it!"

"Almost got it..."

"Yes! I got it!!!"

"Oh, shoot...bright flahes in my eye!"

Sweet Potatoes

To try and help with Aidyn's bathroom "issues", I've decided to keep on with the vegetables. I didn't have any green veggies in the pantry (baby food types) today, so I went with sweet potatoes. We've already introduced avocado and squash for several days. Since potatoes was all I had, I figured that was better than more cereal...which only makes constipation worse.

My "uncle-in-law" (I guess that's what you'd call him, hahaha...Ben's uncle) - anyhow. His sister emailed me some GREAT ideas on how to make your own baby food. I REALLY want to try it, soon. I bought carrots and butternut squash at the store the other day to try, so I'll let you know how it goes. I plan on posting her "advice" as well later on. It's quite lengthy but so incredibly helpful!

But that's just a side note. So since I only had sweet potatoes today, that's what Aidyn ate.

10:30am - Bottle + Sweet Potatoes

1:30pm - Bottles + Cereal

4:30pm - Bottles + Sweet Potatoes

9:00pm - Bottle

I knew we'd be at the mall during Aidyn's lunch time bottle today, and cereal isn't quite as messy as potatoes. So, I switched those first two feedings. Normally, we do cereal for breakfast and then in the evening. For some reason, Aidyn WOULD NOT eat at 7:30pm tonight. All he did was fuss, chew on the nipple, and spit it out. I tried making very "milky" cereal, but he didn't want that either. After an hour of trying, I poured the bottle out. Finally, at 9:00pm I made a 2nd bottle, and after getting his pjs on...he gave in and at the whole thing.

Since he went so long, he'll "miss" his 10:30pm feeding because once he goes to bed around 9:30-10pm, he's done for the night. Luckily, he ate just about 5.5oz at every feeding plus the additional food, so I think he'll be ok.

Magic Prunes

Well, as many of you know, poor Aidyn has been constipated lately. I think the biggest reason is because of the cereal we put in his bottles (to help with reflux) and the cereal that he is also eating now in addition to his bottles. Both "steps" have been recommended and suggested by his doctors, but it doesn't help with his BMs.

TONS of people have given us different suggestions on Facebook about how to help. After trying juice and the q-tip with vaseline...and no luck...I decided to try some prunes.

Now, I know you are supposed to start with veggies and try them all before introducing fruits. However, due to our "circumstances", I didn't think just a few bites would hurt. So, after Aidyn's lunchtime bottle and cereal today, I fed him about 3-4 small bites of Gerber Stage 1 prunes. As you'll see in the video below, he was NOT liking them, haha. Who would? hehe

Nonetheless, they helped and by this afternoon and was feeling better already. I'll let you figure out why. ;) I don't think we're totally in the clear yet to being back to "normal", but I think we're on our way.

Silly Boy

Aidyn is so silly!

Because of Aidyn's dry skin, the dr asked us to cut his baths down to once every 3 days or so. Since we go to church on Sundays, we've decided that his "bath nights" will be on Saturday and then Wednesday nights. This makes it easier than every 3 days and trying to keep up with it.

Tonight after finishing his bath, I wrapped him in his towel and then laid him on another towel in the floor so I could fix his bedtime bottle. I knew he was trying to roll over, but he was too close to the tub. He didn't like that! So, I scooted him over and went back to fixing his bottle.

I heard him chuckling and when I turned around...

He constantly makes me laugh (except when he's fussy, haha). I had to take his picture. What a priceless face! He LOVES bath time...unfortunately, by the time we got the bottle fixed, diaper on, lotion on for dry skin, cream on his dry spots, and finally pjs on...his face was making the COMPLETELY OPPOSITE expression. I'll let you use your imagination because I definately didn't take a picture then, haha. If you look closely (or click on the picture to enlarge it) you'll see one of the dry spots on his left shoulder.

Giggles

Aidyn has started laughing anytime Ben and I laugh. Nothing has to be going on either. All we have to do is just start "fake" laughing and Aidyn gets so tickled. It's halarious, so ofcourse I had to share.

Please disregard my high-pitched "witch" laugh...the point of the video is Aidyn's cute laughing, ha. Keep that in mind...

Isn't he just precious?

Mmm...icees!

Aidyn and I went to lunch with a friend of mine today. Thanks Jennifer for the invite! We both had coupons for a FREE Italian Icee at Rita's in Johnson City. So...we ate lunch at Jason's Deli (yum!) and then went around the corner of the building, literally, for some dessert.

I got a strawberry and shared it with Aidyn. He "only" got probably 10 small bites, but as you can see most of it ended up on his face and his bib. Either way, he totally loved it!

After we were done with dessert, it was time for Aidyn to eat. Yea...I realized you should never eat dessert first. ;) So we stopped by my parent's house to feed Aidyn before heading home. I tried getting another picture of him (not in his carseat) but he always stops and stares at the flash, haha. Oh well.

We also had Movie Night at our church lastnight. We had blueberry snowcones. Aidyn wouldn't eat but it was so hot outside that my mom offered him some of the ice. All of the blueberry sank to the bottom so he didn't get any of it. He loved it also! My dad took lots of pictures and videos for me lastnight, so hopefully I'll get to post about that soon!

All by himself!

Aidyn has been trying to sit up for a long time, but always seems to fall over one direction or the other. We've been "practicing" everyday in the floor with some toys infront of him. He finally sat up the other day all by himself! He lasted about 30 seconds, haha.

Here's a picture of one of his attempts. He looks like such a big boy! But...keep in mind that he tumbled over seconds later, hehe.

Not a dog this time!

We caught opossum #2 this morning (and luckily, not the neighbor's dog again)!

It is much bigger than the last one. Ben swears this is the one he saw the other night, but we'll be setting the trap AGAIN tonight just incase.

We put the trap in the upper yard this time (not by the back door and trash) where Lilo (the neighbor's dog) likes to play. I'm glad we didn't catch her again!

Squash...yummy!

Today we began Aidyn on vegetables. The sheet the dr gave us at Aidyn's 4 month check-up said to start with yellow and orange vegetables. Since I couldn't find carrots the other day, I bought a pack of squash.

I only gave him a few bites at lunch and a few more at his 3:30pm feeding. He isn't crazy about it, and I want to start out with just a little to watch for allergies or any other reactions. If I don't see anything by Tuesday, then I'll try feeding him more.

Since introducing spoon-fed ceral 2 weeks ago, we've been having more problems recently with Aidyn not wanting his bottles. He normally eats 5-6oz of formula with 2-3tsp of cereal mixed in. We do this to thicken his formula which helps with his reflux. But, in addition to this, we've also been feeding him 2-3 tbsp of cereal aftewards. About 1/4 cup, sometimes more.


When we were at the dr 2 wks ago for Aidyn's skin, Dr.Taylor said he would like for Aidyn to eat 1/4 cup ceral 3 times a day before starting vegetables. Well, he's DEFINATELY doing that! He just doesn't want as much milk. This worries me. He's gotten to where he'll eat 2-4oz of his bottle and so we just take what's left and mix that to make his cereal. This way he's still getting the vitamins and nutrients from the milk, just in a different way.

I know his formula intake will gradually begin to decrease...but that much? He used to eat about 25-30 oz a day. He has been eating 18oz since Wednesday. I'm trying to keep in mind that he's also eating 1/4 cup cereal with EVERY feeding also.

But anyhow...here he is eating squash today. We got on video at Ben's parents' house today but there's tons of background noise and it's hard to see Aidyn's face because it isn't real close. I ended up recording him again this afternoon so I could zoom in. He made some priceless faces while eating his squash. He's a big fan of it yet. ;)

Good Morning

I know that "the books" say not to put soft blankets or toys in a baby's crib...but Aidyn sleeps best when he is held tight. Since I don't swaddle him anymore, I roll up two soft blankets and put one on each side of him. Since he can roll over and move around, I'm not worried about him sleeping this way.

However, when he goes to bed at night, his head is at "the top". We've had to elevate his mattress to help with his reflux. This keeps his head above the rest of his body. The other morning I heard him in his bed "talking" to himself. He was happy and content, and I wasn't ready to get up yet, so I just laid there a few minutes (in my bed) listening to him play with himself.

When I finally got up, about 15 minutes later, here is how he was laying.


Not only did he manage to scoot to the bottom of his bed, but he also managed to roll over onto his stomach, AND turn himself sideways. What a silly boy! When he looked up and saw me, he jsut laughed at himself, ha.

Oh no!

Ben and I have been trying to catch the groundhog(s) and opposums that are living in the brush and weeds in our backyard. We successfully caught a opossum a few days ago. The other night I put a plate of leftovers (hamburger and french fries) on a plate in the trap to try and catch the other opossum. I'm beginning to think the groundhog(s) have moved or already been trapped by our neighbors. They have a garden, so I'm sure they've been more concerned than we have.

The next morning, all of the food was gone, but no animal. So...lastnight I refilled the plate with the rest of the hamburger, fries, and some orange slices.

Ben and I overslept this morning. As he went downstairs to fix his coffee to take to church, he came back up saying, "You aren't going to believe what we caught!" I was almost afraid to ask because I had this feeling that it wasn't good...

When I asked what, he said, "Corey's dog!"

I couldn't help but laugh. The first thing I said was, "Where is my camera?!"

Ben didn't want anyone knowing because he's afraid they'll get mad. Corey is our neighbor. He just graduated high school and actually used to attend our church and our youth group. I honestly don't think they'd be mad.

When Lilo, the dog, goes out in the mornings, she just runs around. She comes into our yard, plays, sometimes uses the bathroom, gets in our trash, etc. I felt horrible for her though! They usually let her our early to use the bathroom and it was 9:45am when we found her. It had been raining. She is a small dog and just got her hair cut last week. She is teeny tiny and looked so helpless and cold in the trap.

Luckily, I ran to get my raincoat (and camera) to let her out. Ofcourse, I had to get a picture first, haha. I think we're going to start putting the trap in the upper part of our yard...I don't think Lilo ever goes up the stairs into that part. Poor Lilo!

Hey Baby...

My mom always prints pictures of Aidyn and posts them outside her office door with a creative quote or saying that she comes up with. Even though I've already posted this picture, I thought I'd repost it with the comment she put on her door. (She was telling me about this today when she and my dad came to pick up Aidyn...and I thought it was halarious).

"Hey baby, you wanna come over and check out my crib?"

I couldn't help but laugh, so I hope you did too!

Happy July 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

Since I couldn't find Aidyn a "masculine" outfit for today, I found these gym shorts at BabysRus a few weeks ago. We just put a white shirt on with them. I tried getting his picture this morning before he left with my parents (while Ben and I worked on the yard and cleaning house). I didn't really like the laying down picture, so we tried taking one of him sitting on the couch. But, then you couldn't see the stars on his shorts.

My mom insisted on sitting him on the arm of the couch and just holding him, haha. So here are our two pictures.

Aidyn spent the day with my parents while Ben and I worked around the house. I LOVE a clean house! It just makes me feel sooo much better! This evening we'll be going to Ben's parents for dinner and then back home.

This will be the first year I haven't viewed a fireworks show and/or played with them myself at my parents' house. But since Aidyn is usually in bed around 9:30pm and the fireworks start at 10pm, we will be at home this year. Hopefully next year he'll enjoy them...we'll see.

Got One!

After setting our live trap out for 4 days, I finally caught a baby opossum. I guess it wasn't big on fresh food, so instead it ate the old, shriveled up onion, lettuce, orange, and carrots.

That night, Ben put the trap in the back of his dad's truck and I followed him out to an older road next to the river where he released the opossum. At first it would NOT come out of the cage. Aidyn was in the backseat asleep and it took all I had not to burst out laughing! Ben tried everything you could think of, including tipping the cage up on its end so that the opossum would just fall out. But nope! Ofcourse it hung on to the cage with it's "fingers and toes" so it wouldn't fall. Here is a picture of it asleep at the house earlier in the afternoon.

Finally, I dimmed the lights on my car and it took off out of the cage. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard (quietly) in my life!

That night I put a plate of leftovers in the cage...hamburger, cheese fries, and orange pieces. We were hoping to catch the bigger opossum that Ben originally saw, or our groundhog. Which, by the way, I haven't seen in over a week. I can't decide if our neighbors have caught or killed it, or if it just moved, ha.

The next morning, ALL of the hamburger and fries were gone. My friend, Brenda, and I decided that whatever it was must not be a healthy eater since it left the orange. ;) No animal though! Lastnight, I refilled the plate and put the trap back outside, AGAIN, in the same spot.

This morning there was no animal, and all the food. :( I guess we'll try AGAIN tonight.