Weekend Fun

Clinton and I both worked from home a lot this weekend, but here are some random pictures. We did manage to get to the park a few times and I took Aidan to the zoo yesterday. We went to the Childrens Zoo part of the zoo for the first time and it was really great. I wish I would have discovered it earlier. When Aidan gets a little older and stops putting his hands in his mouth every 5 seconds I will let him go to the petting zoo portion of the Childrens Zoo. We also took the bus tour of the zoo for the first time yesterday. The trip was only 35 minutes and Aidan wanted down the entire time. I think I am going to be in trouble when we fly to Tennessee in November! He is definitely a boy who likes to be on the go constantly! This is how I found Clinton and Aidan yesterday. Clinton was in his "Major Challenge" costume and he was showing Aidan the guitar. Aidan LOOOVES the guitar and also our piano. Too cute.

Playing at the zoo

What a beautiful sunset! I love this picture!

Aidan goes down the "big boy" slide!

Annabelle chases a rabbit ( her favorite past time)

Aidan meets Elmo and more fun at Seaworld

We had a long company meeting on Wednesday and Aidan was with Danuza for most of the day so I decided to take him to Seaworld yesterday. It was so much fun! There was not many people there so Aidan got to have a little more freedom. I decided that I am going to start going to Seaworld as often as possible becuase it is a GREAT place for a 1 year old to burn off some energy! They had things there for little babies that I didnt even see the previous times because it was always so crowded. Aidan finally got up close and personal with his favorite character Elmo. He ran over to him as soon as he saw him even though there was already a little girl visiting with him. Luckily, Aidan only wanted to give HER a hug and her father was very understanding. Too Cute. Also, one of Aidans favorite things is water so he really enjoyed the jumping water this time. Last time he shyed away from it.

family night , growing, and it's here!

We went to Seaport Village last night for family night. The sun was just setting and it was absolutely beautiful. Aidan enjoyed walking around. It is becoming more difficult every day to keep him in the stroller. If I stop for a second, he will flip himself over and attempt to get out through the bottom. He then gets stuck and cries. He just has so much to see in life the stroller just inhibits that curiosity and exploration. Shopping is also becoming more and more difficult but he is always a good boy. I just give him more breaks where I let him get out and walk around to stretch his legs. Aidan is still walking on his toes. This affects his balance so he falls a lot but he is becoming surprisingly fast on his toes! We always have to keep a close eye on him. Hopefully, he will outgrow this soon and will become more stable on his feet.

Aidan has been growing like a weed lately. It feels like his reach has expanded by 3 inches in the past month. We keep having to push things further and further back on desks and table tops so he can't reach them. Also, I took him to buy a new pair of shoes last week and his foot has grown 2 sizes since July! 2 sizes! I couldn't believe it. Needless to say he is sporting 2 new pair of shoes. We had a Play to Win in Los Angeles last weekend and there was a woman there with a 2 year old that Aidan had a great time playing with ( which was interesting because the baby only spoke Russian but they talked to each other in their baby talk and understood each other perfectly). The 2 year old and Aidan were the same size standing next to each other! I think I am going to have a very tall boy on my hands!

When we got home from LA on Sunday, I had a surprise waiting for me. Aidan's passport! Yipppeeee!!!! Let the traveling begin!

Clintons birthday and fun at the park

Last weekend was Clintons birthday and it just happened to fall on "Rock it to the Stars" night in one of his courses. This is a night where everyone dresses up like rock stars and perform on stage. I have never participated but decided to "go for it "since it was his birthday. I performed to Shania Twains "Man I feel like a Woman". I got my makeup done at the MAC counter and they nailed it. It looked just like hers in the video. I cant believe I am even posting these pictures, but it was a great experience and tons of fun. What can I say? my husband loves his job! Ricky and cupcake - rockstars extodinaire

Performing on stage. Everyone Loved it! Thank goodness for all those years of dance!

Ricky in all his glory!

Every rockstar needs a guitar shaped cake!

Ms. Paris in all her rockstar glory performing.

Now on to the rated G pictures. I took Aidan and Annabelle to the park today and I got some really cute shots. Here is where the real cuteness comes in..........

Sweet Angel Baby!

I love this picture. He looks like a little boy.

Aidan chasing Annabelle.

Look at those teeth!

Aidan's new favorite thing to do at the park is to go down the slide.

I finally received Aidans birth certificate in the mail and we had his passport appointment last Tuesday. Everything went well and we should have it in a couple of weeks! Australia here we come!

Family night and Aidan, Aiden, and Aiden

We have had a lot going on here in the past 2 weeks so I havent had time to post. However, we did have "family night" tonight and I remembered to bring my camera and take some pictures. The whole evening started out like we were in the twilight zone. We decided to eat at a restuarant we like by the beach. We had just parked the car and were on the way to the restuarant when a homeless man approached me ( who obviously was schizophrenic). He pointed his hand at me like he was holding a laser and he was obviously "zapping me"- okey dokey. After all this is California and we do see all kinds here. It wouldnt have been that bad if we literally hadnt taken 3 steps and another man approaches us. This time it appeared to be a man in his 60's escorting two elderly woman ( perhaps his mother and aunt?). I was holding Aidan and he walked up to us and said " what am I going to do with you?" "I just finished dealing with 200 just like you and what are we going to do with you?" He was talking to Aidan and said it in a laughing voice. O.k. say what? Clinton and I just kind of laughed and quickly walked away. We then looked at each other and I said "Do you feel like you are in the twilight zone?" and he was thinking the same thing. We had a great time at dinner and Aidan was being a hoot as always. During dinner he kept looking at someone inside the restuarant ( we were sitting outside) and doing his head tilt smiley thing he does and laughing. I really didnt pay attention to who it was becuase he does this all the time. On the way out of the restuarant I saw that it was the gentleman with the 2 elderly ladies. He said something to Aidan as we were leaving but we just got out of there ASAP. We then walked down the beach and I got some really cute pics of Aidan. There was a man wearing just shorts with tattoos all over his body wearing a headset. He was doing some kind of funky dance where he looked like he was running in place and flapping his arms while doing some kind of funky robot moves. I will have to say the evening was definitely entertaining!

The other day I found a park really close to our house. We went there the other day and there were 2 other moms there with 2 kids each. We began talking to each other and we found out that each of us had an Aidan! That was a total of 5 kids and 3 Aidans! It makes me wonder what it will be like when Aidan starts school! Maybe we will have him go by Aidan Kai.

I am pleased to announce that I have Aidans birth certificate in my hot little hands! I am so excited to finally get my hands on it. We have an appointment next Tuesday to get his passport. Now we just have to get some form notarized saying that Clinton gives his permission to get Aidan a passport since he cant be at the appointment.

So Frustrating! WARNING ranting post!

The saga continues to get Aidan's passport. Why can't ANYTHING in the adoption world just be simple? I have been attempting to get Aidans original birth certificate for 3 weeks now. I began by getting on the website of the Nevada birth and death registry. Of course there is no phone number to actually talk to someone LIVE only a recorded message on how to obtain the certificate. I followed the instructions and mailed off my request. After 2 weeks I checked our bank account and saw that they had yet to cash my check. After this I decided to use a company called VITAL STATISTICS. What a nightmare. I thought this would be better because you actually submit your request over the web. Simple Right? Not so much. Again, there is no phone number to actually talk to a LIVE person. On the website you can track your order. I noticed my order had been cancelled so I emailed customer service ( of course they say they will get back to you in 3 working days- what bull!). I have emailed with them back and forth and they tell me that I am not entitled to Aidans original birth certificate because the adoption is not complete and that only the birth mother is entitled to it and I am entitled to his new birth certificate with his new name. Say what? In every email I have stated that the adoption is complete and I have even faxed them our documents stating the fact. If I HAD the new certificate I wouldnt need the original ( Dumb ass California for not submitting the new BC for 1 year!)So, in my last email I let them know that we are Aidans legal parents and we have every right to his birth certificate. I also asked that a supervisor call me. I doubt I will get this resolved with the company. So after this final attempt I will just contact our attorney and see if he can help us. I mean I feel I have pretty good negotiating skills but it is difficult to negotiate when you can't actually TALK to someone! Dumb Ass Vital Statistics!

Rough Weekend

Poor little Aidan had a rough weekend. It started with him falling off of the stage on Thursday. Clinton had an event this weekend and we were at the venue during set up. He was playing with our assistant trainers little 7 year old girl and the next thing I know he had crawled off the stage. He didnt get hurt. I think it just scared him.

On Friday Aidan got put in time out for the first time. He is becoming more of a toddler every day and starting to test me a little. He decided he wanted to play with the dogs food in the morning. We talked about it and I kept telling him to put the food back in the dish ( which he did). While I was fixing his lunch he once again got into the dogs food. I asked him to put it in the bowl. He looked at me and then proceeded to put it in his mouth. YUCK! He had to sit in the living room floor for one minute. He did not enjoy it but he has not touched the food since then.

We wrapped up the weekend in the ER Sunday night. It was time for dinner and I was getting Aidan to come into the kitchen. so he could eat. I was standing two feet from him and he turned to run away from me ( I think because he had a very mischevious smile on his face) He fell on our Travertine floor and fell head first.He was crying inconsolably and at first I couldnt tell what was wrong with him because I thought he hurt his leg. I then saw the huge golf ball sized knot on his forehead. Not good. I drove him to the ER just to make sure he didnt have a concussion ( he didnt). They made us hang out there for awhile becuase the bump was so big they couldnt feel to see if the skull was cracked. They were looking for signs of brain damage ( vomiting, crankiness, etc...) to determine if they needed to do a CAT scan. He ended up being his happy content self after he got some food in his belly so they let us go. The swelling had gone down considerbly by the time they let us go. This morning it looked a thousand times better. It is still a little swollen and he has a huge bruise but he is fine. He has been happy and content all day. I am still a nervous wreck so I stayed on his heels all day today. It is hard to imagine that he did that much damage just walking! I really wish we had wall to wall carpet instead of the Travertine downstairs. I think I am just going to keep him upstairs ( where it is carpeted) as much as I can and put his big playpen in the living room off of the kitchen ( where we have a rug) This should keep him contained. The playpen is big enough that he can walk around without feeling confined. I wish I could just put him in a helmet and wrap him in bubble wrap! I hope our week goes better than our weekend!