My Mommy

I don't know why this is such a big deal to me. But tonight I asked Aid to go ask Bob to get me some water while I was nursing Grant. Bob came upstairs later and told me that Aid had come downstairs and asked if Bob would get "my mommy water."

My mommy. I don't know why, but I like that I belong to him....

Aid Takes on the Tire Swing

He loved it. He loved it even more that he got to swing with his beloved cousin, Libby. Whom he loves more then anyone.

Grant Goes to the Movies

We wanted to treat Aid to a movie. He got his blood drawn (to recheck his lead. Yes we will let you know what it is when we get the results) and we thought it would be a big deal and it would be fun to treat him.

Well, he did fabulous at the blood draw. They had to lay him down and have one nurse hold his arm so he didn't move it and the other drew the blood with an IV looking thing. I sat cringing. I hate IV's. More then anything. The nurse took one look at his little arm and said..."You have great veins." If I had a dime for every time someone a nurse made that comment with me....It was funny to hear someone say it to my son. Anyway, he did great. He did not cry at all. He sat there almost smiling, relishing all of the positive praise and attention he was getting. The kid eats up being praised. He'll do anything you want him to do if you tell him how great he is.

So then we were off to the movie. It was fun. For the first 30 minutes. Grant sat staring in awe and then wanted to nurse and go to sleep. Aid, however, was wired. He had skipped his nap for the Dr. appointment so he was in overtired crazy mode. We went to see Earth. $17 to watch the exact same thing that we had at home. Planet Earth. I thought it would be a little different. And while it was even cooler on the big screen there was nothing different. And I had a baby I had to nurse and walk to sleep as well as a 2 1/2 year old who was too antsy to sit still and watch something he has seen a million times. Sigh. Bob looked like he was enjoying it.

But we did it. And even though it was work. We were all in it together. And had a good time anyway.

But don't let these happy pictures fool you....

Oregon Rules

This is my uncle's idea of a funny joke. Get the new baby Oregon gear. Followed by lots and lots of comments about moving back.

Very funny everyone.

Bob is convinced that since these are also the Packers colors little Grant is going to get run out of town anyway...if that happens we'll run back to Oregon.

Until then...




See? Even Grant gets the joke!

Boys

I have a feeling this is going to be the title of many posts to come.

I was cleaning a couple of days ago and saw them. One of the things I hate the most....ANTS! NO!!!! Where the hell do they come from? Why can I never get rid of them? I spent all last summer sweeping and vacuuming, sprayed ant spray outside AND inside and still could never rid our house of them. I hate them. They are the bain of my existence.

But here they are again. Aid does not share my hatred. In fact he is fascinated with them. Tonight he picked one up and brought it to the table very excited about it. He squished it in his finger and talked about what the ant was doing. At some point I said that ants were yucky. So what does my darling little boy do?

He eats it.

Then smiled.

Great. First dirt. Then sand. Now ants.

Boys are gross.

The Stoller of My Dreams

So I got a double jogging stroller thanks the my in laws. I don't think they have any idea how much I really wanted one. I am in love. I know it makes me sound incredibly old and domesticated. But I love it! It is lightweight, easier to fold up then my single, and super convenient. My little chunker is too heavy to carry in the Bjorn for any significant distance or length of time. My back is toast at the end of every day as it is. And now that it isn't snowing I need to start walking to get this baby weight off!

It came 2 days ago and Bob fixed it up for me. We took it on a walk to the park last night and I was so happy casually walking my two little boys!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa B. We LOVE it! Ok, I love it.

If Looks Could Kill

You crack me up Grant.

To My Two Babies,

Oh how I love you both.

Aid. You were my first baby. I really learned what unconditional love was. From the moment I saw you and held you I needed you as much as you needed me. I know I am not a perfect mother and you have not gotten as much attention since Grant has joined the family. And yet you are still so gentle and caring and loving with all of us. You are such a great kid Aidee. You are funny, and smart, and adorable. You give us a run for our money, but in a good way. You are a wonderful big brother. And you made us a family.

Grant. You are still a baby; so you have no idea how much you have added to our family. I honestly cannot imagine just being a family of 3 anymore. You entered into this world in your own way at your own time. You are my easy baby. You have a tricky tummy but I think we have it all figured out. I'm sorry it took me so long. I can already tell how smart you are. You are alert, and engaging, and curious and so enamored with your big brother. I have not taken a moment with you for granted and can't wait to see who you become.


Aid, you ask me every day that we go to get Grant when he wakes up if you can hold him. Every day. You are so concerned with him and help me take care of him.


Grant you are getting used to being "carried" by Aid. He loves you so very much and it is so fun to watch you smile at him and watch his every move.

I love you both, my babies, with every fiber of my being. I am so proud to be your mama. I hope that you always love each other and take care of one another like you do now.

Drum Roll Please..

He sees it...


And then we have the grab folks!!


I'm so proud of you Grant! You worked really hard to get that stupid thing!

Just some Cute pictures....

Aid eating his mini Easter Bunny from my mom! He wouldn't give it back to me to save. I had to pry it from his hands. I'm positive I was way more cooperative about mine!


God these two are one in the same....


I love this face.


And this one...


My two boys. Aid is harassing Josie. Poor Josie.

Regression?

Oh good grief Aid...

Grant Goes Cloth

Ok. So we have officially made the switch from disposable diapers to cloth diapers. We used cloth with Aid as well but this time we have these snazzy ones called Bum Genius! And they are genius. While we were very committed to the cloth when Aid was a baby, it was also a pain in the ass. They leaked and smelled and I never left the house without 3 changes of clothing. But we stuck with them firm in our conviction that this was better for Aid and better for the environment. Of coarse someone washed them for me so aside from multiple wardrobe changes it required no extra work out of me.

But these are fantastic!!! They look exactly like a diaper. They are super absorbent and will probably be much better for Grant's sensitive skin. I do have to wash them this time around, and wish I had some more of them, but you can't have everything can you?

I guess no one wants a picture taken of them in their undies do they??

Uh....

You take your eyes off of them for a minute...
He is actually pretending to talk to Grandma Mac...

Funny kid this one isn't he?

My How Things Have Changed

There was a time where the only thing important to me was the party on Friday night. Was it at my house? What cute boy would be there? How many drinks could I have and still make it home.

Then I met Bob. And Bob was not a night owl, but I still was. I still went out. Still partied. Still flirted. Still tried to decide how many drinks I could have and still make it home.

But now I have Aiden and Grant and the world will never be the same again. I am sitting here watching tv after putting Grant down. Bob is in with Aiden putting him to sleep. Then he will come to bed and we will wake up in the morning and both get into our routines for the week.

Now I look forward to the weekend not because I am going out to any party. But because I will be at home with the people that I love the most. My little family will all be together at home which is my favorite place to be. I get such weird satisfaction out of organizing the diaper bin or planting flowers in the garden. Double strollers (thank you thank you thank you) have replaced trips to the spa and my wardrobe has been reduced to jeans and/or sweats and t-shirts because I can run around a park in them.

I can't believe how things have changed and I can't believe how important all those things once were to me.

Bob strikes again

This evening we were at the dinner table and I made a joke about Bob. Ok, I slammed him and it was a good one. He proceeded to throw a rubber duck at my head. Then Aid proceeded to throw a rubber duck at my head.

Now how in the world do I convince my nearing 3 year old that it is not funny to throw toys at other kids' heads when his father is throwing things at his mother and then laughing hysterically??

True Love

Everything in this world that is most important to me.

Happy Easter

Good times were had by all. However, I learned one very valuable lesson. I realized that I had such a hard time letting go with the coloring of the Easter eggs. I wanted them to look nice and kept stressing when Aid did things I thought would ruin them or got too messy. Bob pointed out that my attempt to make the moment perfect was adding too much pressure and wasn't making it fun at all. Once I let Aid take out the eggs and put them in as many colors as he wanted to we all loosened up and enjoyed the moment. I learned it wasn't about it being perfect. The perfection came in the imperfection of it all...

Our learning of colors is coming along. Aid knew which was the green dye!


Ahh!!! I tried so hard not to let it drive me crazy he looked like a dyed Easter Egg himself. He still has pink fingers!!


Grandma and Grandpa B and Bob hid the eggs!








Libby was an Easter Egg hunter pro!


Aid worked really hard at it!


But he looked damn cute doing it!!!


Josie is just the most darling little thing you have ever seen!


Grant let Auntie Anna rock him to sleep. So now there are 3 other people who have this secret ability. Bob, my dad, and Anna. We're making progress. You just have to have the touch I guess!


Aid hangs with Uncle Joe.


Grant looked like an Easter Egg himself!



This is the face of a little boy who had a good day.

Two Peas In A Pod

We went to visit our friends Emilie and Sam. They moved to Rochester which is about an hour and a half away. We have started alternating visits once a month and I look forward to those visits. Not only is Em fabulous and a great friend, Sam and Aid just love each other. It's really cuter then I can explain. They gave each other several hugs and were so happy to be reunited. Sam is not significantly older then Aid. So they play games on a more even basis. And they have similar temperments so when there are snags in their play (which honestly are rare) they are both able to problem solve pretty well. I hope Matilda and Grant get along just as well....because I'm planning their wedding.


Wow, Sam has really grown!


Both Matilda and Grant slept for an hour (!) so we were able to go outside and play t-ball with the boys! Aid, as I suspected is a little too young to really grasp what's supposed to happen; but Em made it so fun for him!


They have some good hills to run down. Aid found the mud spot at the bottom of one. He had to borrow some clothes of Sam's and I could not get him to take them off for 2 days!


This is the best one I could get. At one point they were holding hands but I missed the shot. Stupid slow camera!


They are also a good match because Sam is fascinated with Aid's collecting!


This is my favorite picture ever. They sat and talked about the cars driving by and the birds in the trees for several minutes.

See what I mean? Freaking adorable.
Em, I would travel any distance so that we could see you guys! Thank you both for being such good friends to us. We love you!

Getting Cuter....

He's growing up...and taking cuter pictures!

Donald GRANT McLaughlin

This is who you were named after Grant. My grandfather. Who, in my opinion, is the sweetest little man you will ever know. He is very funny. Forgets everything. Never has his hearing aids turned up. Tells the same stories over and over and over again. If you were a girl I had planned on naming you after my beloved Grandmother June whom we lost two years ago. She was very special to me, and I miss her more then I could ever put into words.

But you were a beautiful boy. So I did the second best thing. I named you after the original Grandpa Mac.