Dress to Impress

This little princess wants to be dressed in her finest...even at 5:00 am.  No matter what the plan is for the day, Allie insists on wearing a DRESS each and every day...to the park, to the mall, to just lay around the house all day.  Allie also LOVES to have her hair done and she is very particular about which style she wants with each dress (the Elsa braid has been quite popular with Allie this summer).  My little stylist is going to be one expensive gal.

 

Photo taken at 5:00 am...no sleeping in this day

 

 

Bye Bye

Well...daycare is getting a little better with this guy.  The report I received today was that he cried less...yeah, good news...and that he was very serious.  Not too, too bad.  When I pulled up to get my little man, he was all smiles?  When Debbie started to walk away, Ayden gave a little wave and said, "Bu-bye."  I can't believe he is already understanding so much!

The Monster I Created

The top three reasons I became a teacher...June, July and August...I cherish and LOVE summer because I get to spend sooooo much time with my OWN children.  We eat every meal together, we work together, we play together.  I get to be with two of my favorite people ALL DAY LONG! 

Unfortunately with all these positives come the big fat negative of Ayden totally forgetting who his caregivers were for the past 5 months.  When school ended Ayden left daycare.  We went on vacation and took a week to ourselves when we returned.  Ayden was away from Lynnie's for about a month.

I decided to give up my precious baby boy for a whole FOUR hours a week so he could stay accustomed to his daycare lifestyle and not be a crying, stressful mess when I return to work...because I will probably be a crying stressful mess when I have to report for the new school year.  I was hoping that when Ayden saw Lynnie and Debbie's beautiful faces...he would smile his gummy smile and all would be fine in his world.  That was not so much the case. He cried...and cried and cried and cried until I darted for the door...and then he continued to cry some more, for pretty much the entire time he was there :(  My poor little man. I can't believe that only after four weeks, he completely forgot his "other family." 

Ayden went back the following week and was a little better...and is getting better with each visit.  Today I got the best text photo of my love...calm, content and NOT crying.  Thank you Debbie for sending me reassuring updates of Ayden.  It makes my morning to know he's ok without his momma.

Girls Just Wanna...

While Ayden was spending some quality time with the ladies at day care, Allie and I got some much deserved girl time. After I drug her to Meijer (she was super excited to ride Sandy) and the mall (quick pit stop at the play area), we headed home and straight to our pantry.  Allie's new favorite hobby is BAKING!  She asks me just about every other day if we can bake cookies...even if we just did so the day before.  Whenever we do some baking, I find myself making twelve trips to the pantry to get everything we need on the ingredient list.  Well...NOT ANYMORE!  Whaaa-laaa!  Problem solved! 

This play shopping cart used be an outside toy...until Allie decided to run with it on too many times and hit the crack in the sidewalk....which did not end so well.  I decided to bring this toy inside but then we were afraid it was going to crash into our walls and we'd have missing paint everywhere.  Sooooo...one day I put it in our pantry and it officially became our "pantry cart." This is one of the main reasons Allie likes to bake...just so she can go "shopping" in our pantry.

Ayden is 10 Months

Ayden is officially crawling, pulling up to stand, and standing for a few seconds on his own.  He learned how to clap and does it all the time.  Clapping also means "more" in sign language and he will clap when prompted to do so.  Ayden is getting better at feeding himself, but will still need help with some foods.  He loves to eat pasta, mac 'n cheese, muffins, pancakes, blueberries, kiwi, watermelon and strawberries.  He also had his first bite of ice cream and LOVED it!  If someone around him is eating ice cream, he will complain until he gets some.  Ayden started taking swimming lessons at Aqua Tots.  He loves to splash the water.  Ayden loves his baths too.  Ayden took his very first vacation on a cruise to Bermuda.  He did very well traveling and enjoyed the ship and beach.  Ayden enjoys taking walks to the park to swing, playing with his toys, and getting tickled by Todd and I.  Ayden can turn the pages in a book now when I read to him.  Ayden is nursing 4 times a day and continues to sleep all night long.  He will usually only take one nap a day.

On the Move

Yep...it's all over now.  Gone are the days where my sweet angelic baby just lays or sits and is in the same exact place I left him when I decide to come back around 15 minutes later.  He is officially crawling and cruising...and at top speed too!  The cabinet locks are back on and the bathroom doors are always shut.  This little mover will find a way to where he wants to go.

Ayden climbed in the ottoman

Happy Birthday, America!



Our two little firecrackers were all excited for the 4th of July parade!  We left them a little something special on the kitchen table this morning to get them in the celebration spirit. A new red and blue sippy cup and blueberry pouch for Ayden and red, white and blue fun hair ties and sun glasses for Allie...and a GIANT HERSHEY KISS too!

 

 

 

Allie was more than willing to pose for some photos in her Americana dress (she has been all about dresses lately).

 

Ayden was all ready to celebrate his very first INDEPENDANCE DAY!  He was dressed in his red, white, and blue too!

 

We made our traditional stop at Dunkin Doughnuts for some 4th of July doughnuts for Allie and coffee for Todd and I to eat at the parade while we wait for it to start. 

Allie LOVED the parade once again.  She loved collecting all the candy...I'm pretty sure she got more candy at the parade then she did at Halloween last year. Ayden was very content in his Go-Pod watching all the people walk by.

After the parade we went to Nana and Papa's for lunch and spent the afternoon playing at their beach.  Allie, Nana and Todd took a ride in the paddle boat around the lake.

Back at home it was time for ice cream with blue and red sprinkles (Allie's request) before the fireworks show in our driveway. 

Allie loved the sparklers and other SUPER small fireworks Todd set off.  Allie's buddy Ainsley came over to watch too.  The girls clapped and giggled after every one.  Even Ayden enjoyed watching them go off from his GoPod!

This year I tried to explain to Allie that we celebrate America's birthday on the 4th of July.  She asked me a couple times if America was going to wear a birthday hat, lol.  We took a moment to sing "Happy Birthday" to America today.

Our day was perfect...UNTIL about 10:30 pm...when our lovely new neighbors decided to set off really cool but really LOUD fireworks right over our house when the kids were fast asleep.  So glad they each have a sound machine in their rooms...and so thankful they slept through it all.  Ayden tossed and turned, but fortunately didn't wake up.  I'm sure we will LOVE the show our neighbors put on in the future when we DON'T have a BABY trying to sleep...in about 7+ years.