New Look!

How do you like my new look? Nikki from Blogs for a Cause did it for me. I highly recommend her! She is soooo great to work with and all of the money she receives goes to fund her mission trips or to charity. Quite a young lady! Her link is on the side.

I have been watching the inauguration all day and I have to say I am really impressed. I am not a huge Obama fan but I am willing to give him a chance and see what he can do! I love how he wants to move the country forward and END the war! Is it possible there may be peace at last? I really enjoyed his speech. Oh and I looved the fact that Rick Warren did the opening prayer! I used to attend his church when we lived in Orange County. I had a few problems with the church because they would not allow babies in the sanctuary but I have to say that just about everytime Rick taught I was moved to tears. He is a man with a HUGE vision of peace throughout the world! He teaches that Peace begins in the home. Speaking of which I have also been on facebook today and some of the hatred that is spewing from some peoples mouths ( although it as been mostly VERY supportive) is just so pitiful and sad. The racist comments are just the worst and something that I dont tolerate very well. I dont understand racism at all! Sure you may have your beef with individual people and groups but to hate an entire race just because they have different colored skin than you is just wrong! How can a person that has so much hate have peace in their heart? All I have to say is that Obama has a h*** of a job ahead of him and I would not want to be in his shoes in a million years! I will judge Obama not on the color of his skin but what he can do as President. Like I said I am not a huge Obama supporter and kind of skeptical but lets see what he can do. Now.... this is Aidans blog about him so this will be the last of my 2 cents on the subject, so those of you that are gritting your teeth right now can just relax.

My camera died in Australia and I haven't gotten it fixed or replaced yet so I am having picture taking withdrawal. I have used Clintons a couple of times. Above is the picture of our "Cookie Monster" Aidans newest trick is to get food out of the pantry. As you can tell he found the cookies and my doesn't he look proud of himself! He has had a cold since Saturday so he was having a pajama day that day. Thankfully he is feeling much better now!

Baby #2?

Lately Clinton has been talking a lot about adopting again. I surprisingly have mixed emotions about this. We always talked about having 4 children ( mind you this was before our first). I LOVE kids and LOVE being a mama, but wonder what it would really be like having 2 children. I have a tough time imagining what it would be like as I am an only child. I know this may sound terrible, but I cant imagine loving another child as much as Aidan. I am afraid the second baby would be like second best ( ok- now I sound really bad). I also think about things like the fact that Clinton travels a lot and a lot of the time it is like I'm a single mom. I also like to travel and sometimes I do it solo when I am flying to the east coast. This means they would outnumber me! Now I know some of you may be laughing your butts of right now - especially those people with multiple kids. I read other peoples blogs who have 2, 3, 4, 5+ kids and I am just amazed! I really admire and respect these people.

As I think about all the negative aspects I also think about the positives... Kids are just amazing creatures and especially babies. I KNOW I have it in my heart to love another child as much as Aidan and that my love would only double. I also personally think that Aidan would make a great big brother. I watch him play with other kids at places like the park and wish that he had more opportunities to play with others. Now I am not totally naive and I know there are LOTS of siblings out there that don't get along even as adults! Hopefully, this would not be the case. The thought of another child warms my heart.

Just the fact that I am thinking about this so much probably means that we will eventually end up adopting again ( especially since I just saved our homestudy agency under "my favorites" yesterday). I am not sure of the time frame. I would like to start the process after Aidans second birthday ( there is just something about a 2 year old that I think they need their mama more than ever at that age) and so hopefully we would bring home another bundle of joy closer to his third birthday. The only thing I can do is leave it in Gods hands and see what happens!

adventures in showering and Aidan uses a fork

I have been really lucky in that Aidan is a great napper. Up until the past week he would always take a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. It has always been my routine to shower and get ready during his morning nap. Yesterday when I still had my pajamas on at noon I realized I would have to figure something else out. I needed to get out of the house fairly early today so I had to get ready early. I think Aidan might be a little busier than most babies ( at least that is how it feels to me) You literally can not turn your head without him getting into some type of mischief. His favorite place to get into mischief is the bathroom. I decided to bite the bullet today and experiment with showering while locking him in the bathroom with me. I childproofed our very large bathroom the best I could and put out a clothes basket of "non toys" that I knew would peak his interest ( think fly swatter, brush, little box of costume jewelry, etc...) . Our shower is a glass stall so I could watch him the entire time. He immediately took the bate and proceeded to examine all the "stuff" I put out for him to explore. This took an entire 2.3 minutes and he was offf... to see what he could find. What I forgot to do is block the toilet with the seat to my make up table so this was his first target. He ran over to the toilet and proceeded to unroll the entire roll of toilet paper and put it into the toilet. His next target was my glasses that I mistakenly laid on my makeup table just before I got into the shower ( I made sure daddies glasses were protected but forgot about my own). I ran out of the shower and grabbed them just before they were getting ready to go snap. I got back in the shower and hurried up and got back out just as he was opening the drawer to my makeup table and was getting out my makeup. That little boy can destroy a room in no time flat! After I got dressed we had a serious conversation about "NO NO things" and " YES YES things" ( the title of one of his books). He protested a little but at least he played with the basket of stuff I put out for him while I dried my hair and finished getting ready. Yikes!!! There are millions of moms in the world and I am SURE they are able to shower while they have toddlers. I just need to find out their secrets. Ha Ha... Any suggestions?

Now on to some pics. Yesterday Aidan used a fork for the very first time. He ate some sgetti ( as he calls it) and was very proud of himself....

Open wide....
Tee Hee... I just managed to get some sgetti in my mouth!

Did you see me use that fork mom?

Now let me see how my Chargers are doing! oh not to good!

What am I modeling?

Back in the day when I was teaching special needs students I realized what a powerful tool modeling can be. I havent really given this much thought lately until the past couple of days. Aidan is modeling everything he sees Clinton and I do. Yesterday he decided to get out Annabelles dog food and feed her. He got the patty out of the package and attempted to tear it into little pieces like I do ( but because she eats freeze dried raw meat I had to immediately take it away from him). This morning Clinton got a soda out of the cabinet and opened it. Aidan followed right behind him and got one out too. He attempted to open it ( the correct way mind you) but his fingers are just to little. All this monkey see monkey do business has really got me thinking about exactly what am I modeling for Aidan? I want him to grow up an intelligent and compassionate young man. Before Aidan was born I was really into making a difference for others and making a difference in the world ( mainly through teaching and work). Since he has been born I have been the all consumed mommy. It has been so much fun being a stay at home mama and just having him to worry about. It is time to think about what I am actually teaching him. I want him to grow up thinking about others and how he and his actions impacts the world.
I think it is about time that I start modeling that for him! I'm not sure what that is "going to look like" but I see volunteer work in my future. I have always felt drawn towards orphans and individuals with special needs, so it may be something along those lines. I am going to start being very conscious of everything I do and how I treat others on a daily basis. That means giving a hand to people I see in need, supporting others when I can, and yes maybe even giving money to those individuals begging for money ( although I have mixed feelings about this because why exactly are those individuals begging for money and not looking for a job?- ok maybe I get to stop being judgemental as well).

It is really hitting home what an awesome responsibility it is to be a parent. I intend on doing the very best I can!

Pictures from Oz Part 2

Today I have finally managed to get Aidan on his regular schedule. He has been sleeping in really late and going to bed really late. He is back to his 7:45 bed time and 7:00 wake up time. We have been busy since we have been home. Jemma is still here visiting from the UK. We went to Seaworld on Sunday and whale watching yesterday. We saw some really beautiful whales and dolphins. Yesterday afternoon Aidan had a well baby doctors appointment and got stuck 3 times ( poor baby). I am happy to report that the doctor says he is doing well. He is in the 90% for height and 50% for weight. I got a little worried about him in Australia because he went through a " no eating" phase for a couple of days. I figured it was due to the 6 teeth he got while we were there. Aidan is still walking on his toes at times so I talked to the doctor about my concerns. She said we would keep an eye on him until he turns 2. At that time we will discuss a referral to a neurologist. She thinks that it will work itself out. The fact that most of the time he walks on his entire foot is a good sign and so Cerebal Palsy is not a concern.

Tomorrow I hope to get the rest of my Christmas decorations taken down and stored. I also have another project I am working on. The back room of our house is a mess. It is a multi purpose room. It is where we have our big screen, a play area for Aidan, tons of DVD's and anything else that hasnt managed to be unpacked since May. It is also where we have our company meetings and where people sleep when we have guests and the other 2 guest bedrooms are occupied. It is my goal to get everything organized and stored. I want the area to be functional and for us to have a system for the DVD's so our employees can check them out. I will take some before and after pictures for you. I am sure it will take some time.

Now here are the final pics from Oz.....

Every evening we would take Aidan somewhere like the park to blow off some energy. While we were in Cowes the fair was in town, so one night we went there after dinner. Mamas sweet boy

Riding the teacups with Aidan

Clinton blowing off some energy doing some flips at the fair.

Clinton and Josh ( his god son and nephew)

Me and Melissa

Me and Lynette

Blowing bubbles with Bec

Playing in the sand with Auntie Lynette and Bec

The Nobbies at Philip Island

Eating at a Chinese restaurant for Malcolms birthday.

The surprised birthday boy

New Years eve we had sparklers, glo sticks, played rummy, and watched the fireworks from Sydney on tv ( we are getting old)

A sand castle display in Frankston. There were lots of dinosaurs there all made from sand.

Wow this is a big cucumber! From Grandma Helens garden.

Feeding the Wallabys at the wild animal park.

Look closely and you can see the Koalas asleep in the tree behind us.

Pictures from Oz Part 1

Here are some pictures from Australia. They are in no particular order. The Nobbies.

A penguin we saw preening itself as we were walking on the boardwalk at the nobbies.

Christmas day at the beach on Philip Island

Aidans sweet little footprints

These are the birds that came to feed out of Helen and Malcolms birdfeeder at their house in Cowes. I could watch these birds all day they were so beautiful! I wish we had these birds in California!

Happy boy Christmas day at Cowes

Enjoying a book with Auntie Dee and Molly Christmas day

Aidans cousins Rebecca ( wearing her Christmas hat - I was so excited to wear a christmas hat for the first time!) and Molly. See my muscles!

Aidan and all his cousins minus Melissa.

Aidan and Melissa

Playing with Abbey on Christmas day

Happy Boy on Christmas morning!

Waiting to see Santa

We rode the train Puffing Billy ( which had amazing views). The sound and the movement of the train knocked out this sweet baby.

Playing with a friend at the beach

Hanging out with dad while mama shopped at Sorrento Beach

Standing in front of Puffing Billy

Having our picture made with Santa. Aidan was not about to do it solo. He was not a fan of Santa this year.

Aidan with Clinton's best friend Chris. Sorry Chris this is not actually what Aidan thinks of you- he was just teething. Tee hee

We are home and some videos

We made it home safe and sound. The plane ride home was pretty grueling but Aidan did really well and deserves the good traveller award ( other than pushing the "ding" button multiple times)! His favorite thing to do on the plane was to push the "ding" button ( the flight attendant call button). He would push it and say "ding"- over and over and over again. I finally wised up and realized if I pushed the cancel button at the same time he was pushing the call button it would actually not call the attendant.

I made the mistake of giving Aidan benadryl on the way over - which had the OPPOSITE effect on him and made him hyper and NOT sleepy ( thanks Sabrina- LOL-just kidding- I consulted his doctor before we left and she suggested we give him benadryl). While Aidan was teething in Oz, I gave him Tylenol and realized that it wipes him out. I gave him Tylenol on the plane when it was time for bed and that did the trick. We did not have the luxury of having an empty seat between Clinton and I like the trip over, but we did get to sit in the bulkhead. Aidan just played at our feet for awhile and slept. I had to hold him the entire time since I could not lay him down to sleep. This meant that Clinton and Aidan got to sleep for awhile but mama got no rest. By the time we arrived home yesterday I was up for more than 24 hours. I let Aidan take a nap when we arrived home, but woke him up at 5:00 to eat dinner and so he would sleep through the night. He went to bed at his usual time but was up from 11:00 to 12:00 last night ( he thought it was play time!). It is now almost 10:00 in the morning and the little guy is STILL asleep! ( this is a first - Aidan is always up at the crack of dawn).

It is really good to be home! Annabelle was more than happy to see us and Aidan had a great time playing with all of his new toys from Christmas. We had a great time, but Clinton and I have decided to stay at home next Christmas. It will just be a lot easier and Aidan can spend the day at home playing with his new toys.

Aidan playing on the beach at Frankston

Aidan riding "his grandpas train"

Aidan opening gifts at his Uncle Jarrod and Auntie Lynettes house on Christmas day.