For Me??

As you know, my mom sends the Grandma box and it's always filled with things for both of the boys. Up until now, the additions for Grant were really clothes he needed. This time Grant got a present. And he loves it.

Dinosaur Dude

We had Bob's family reunion tonight. It was a success! The most successful part of the whole evening?? Aid's new found idol in his cousin Charlie. Aid came to find me very distraught because he wanted to sit by "Dinosaur Dude." Huh? I don't know who that is. I thought maybe he needed some down time and wanted to watch his new dinosaur movie. Nope.

He brought me to the door where his older cousin Charlie was sitting with his mom. "Aidee sit next to Dino Dude." How did Charlie become Dino Dude? Not sure. But it's sticking. Seriously, Charlie and his little sister Grace were the flower girl and ring bearer at our wedding. They were adorable then and they are such great kids now. They take care and play with all of the younger cousins running around.

You're a great kid Dino Dude!

Aid's Best Friend

His name is Sam and he now lives in Rochester. I know I have talked about Sam and Emily often about how they basically saved me and Aid from complete loneliness when we first moved here. Somehow, my darling little boy has never forgotten Sam...even though they only see each other once a month....maybe. He LOVES LOVES LOVES Sam. It's crazy. He shares ALL of his toys, even his beloved animals and dinosaurs. They play chase and seem to read each other's cues well. And he suddenly knows the exact words to ask Sam to play something specific with him.

Sam and Emilie (and now Matilda!) came for a visit to bring Aid's birthday present. They were planning on coming to the party, but Em in her mommy wisdom realized that we would all enjoy the visit more just one on one. Sam and Aid could play and we could talk. And once again she was right.

She brought this ridiculous ridiculous present for Aid. I can't even believe it. I won't reveal the price, but she did find it for a steal. But it's still ridiculous. It's a V-Tech toy art pad camera desk contraption and we had fun putting it together and letting the boys play with it.


Ok. So you sit at the desk that has a camera attached to it.


It then puts your picture on the tv screen where you have a variety of things you can do to it. They didn't really get past putting the pictures up, but it was hilarious! Do you see Sam pointing in the background??




Shocking. The animals had their pictures taken....


Grant and Matilda meet.


"Uh....I don't know if anyone told you this, but that's mine....it's ok. You're cute though...."

As always it was great to see you guys. We will be coming to Rochester when we get back from Portland!

Liar Liar Pants On Fire

That whole half a day away from the computer was very refreshing and rejuvenating and I'm ready to start again! Kidding. For my birthday Bob fixed the computer so....

I'm back. Whatever did you do without me??

Computer Hiatus

Well, kind of. I dropped our good computer into Grant's bath. Needless to say it doesn't work. He gets a new one again but not until school time. In the mean time, I am sharing our old broken down one with Bob. So I will not be on it as much. And I also will not be able to do blogs (at least any with pictures) until I get to Portland.

I am trying to look at this like a positive. While I have a few blogs and tons of pictures I want to download....it can only make me a better wife and mother to not have the computer up and running all the time. And I may just make it to bed earlier.

So hold your horses (Ok, in my head you are all anxiously awaiting my blog updates so don't spoil that fantasy with reality ok?LOL) Eventually we will get a new computer and I will once again be a blogging crazy person.

But what am I going to do with all my free time???

Limit Pushing Can Be So Fun

This morning I went to the neck doctor. I left kind of happy to be doing something that was taking care of myself. Something I don't always do well. I think Aid picked up on my attitude because when we got back and suggested that we go on a walk around the dog park, he was insistent, yelling...."No, Aidee not go to the dog park. I go to the doctor!"

It was a slippery slope. Because when he has to go to the doctor he is usually getting blood drawn intravenously for his lead check and hates it. So I didn't want to be too down on doctors, but couldn't convince him that it was no where near as fun as walking around a park.

We started trying to persuade him, then we started arguing with him out of frustration. At some point Bob said, "Aid, stop saying it, we are going to the park and it will be fun," in his stern Dad voice. Very quietly Aid whispered..."No, Aidee not to go to the dog park."

I couldn't help myself and busted out laughing. Little stinker. It ended up being great. We walked down to the Mississippi, got naked (Aid) and waded around in the water. He climbed, he ran....it was fun.

But I had to chuckle at my little limit pusher...

Aidee Turns 3!

It was a fantastic day! This is the first year that he really really got what was happening. He could tell you how old he is (free yeiesh: 3 years), he understood that he had a dinosaur themed party that he picked out, and that he had presents coming his way. To say he has been excited is an understatement.


My friend Rena made this shirt for him. The back story: I told her about how I had seen a t-shirt that just had the number 3 on it at Babies R Us. When I went back to get it, it was gone. She stored this little story away and made this shirt for him. Thanks Rena!

Fun was had by all!! Amelia is big stuff on the slide and so pretty in her party dress.


I am not sure how long the boys played chase with their super huge dump trucks. But it was quite awhile.


Now you think this is a dog door, but it's really a little person door!


They did really well with watering my flowers instead of squirting people. Much better then Bob's oldest brother Frank did, who was attacking family members throughout the night.


Aid is so sad he can't figure out how to stand in the swing like his cousin, who is even more of a monkey then he is if you can possibly believe it.


Auntie Bridgit and cousin Josie, who shares a birthday with Aid. (We celebrated her earlier in the day)

Don't these two (Lexa and Vinny) look like they are on a date??


I just love this picture. They were such a little troop running around the yard.


The madness begins...


Bob is pretty excited!


You can't really go wrong with books and Aid.


See?


Yep, that's our boy!


This one is from us....


Yep! Dinosaurs! This is the moment of realization that even though he didn't get the dinosaurs the moment he saw them and wanted them, dad went back to get them!


The perfect place for the dinos to hang out? A custom made tent from Cairo, Egypt courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa B who traveled there not too long ago!


Grandma and Granda Mac got Aid this water table that he LOVES. He has full stories going on with these animals. It was a hit!


Aid's cake he picked out himself. It was your basic super sugary too thick of frosting dino cake. Every kid needs one!


Look at these sweet peas....Aid sang Happy Birthday to himself! He loves singing Happy Birthday!


Grant was a great little brother....he slept through the present time so Aid had mom and dad's complete attention! Good little brother...


Look how nice and relaxed I look? It's cause I bought the food and cake and Grant took a nap! Now that's how you have a party!

We love you Aidee. 3 years ago you changed the whole world. You are the sweetest, funniest, most head strong little 3 year old I have ever run across. Of course I'm completely biased...but you are the best. You single handedly made us a family. I cannot possibly tell you how much you are loved. I hope you can feel it...

Happy 6 Month Birthday Grant!

You are 6 months today. Your smile lights up the whole room and we love you.

Transitions....

I love my little family. But transitions always have been hard for us. All of us. When me and Bob went from a twosome to a threesome with Aid, it was hard. We both had to adjust and learn how to be parents. We had to figure out how to hold onto ourselves and each other and focus on Aid. It was tough. Aid also had his own adjustments along the way. But we were a family and eventually we figured it out and found our groove.

Now we have Grant and we are in another transitional phase. We are not a threesome, we are a foursome and have one more person's needs to consider. Aid is 3 and testing his own limits all over the place. We have all had to adjust to different roles and different ways of doing things. It has once again proven to be tough. But we are a family and despite our rough patches we will get through it and find our groove.

Every time I feel like it's all too much I look at my two boys. And I realize that what I am teaching them is that we don't give up. We fight for one another and with one another. We learn how to be a family together. We love each other even when it is hard to do so. We support each other . We listen to each other even when we feel like we are not being listened to. And when changes come, as they will, that throw us off and shake up our routines....we remember that we are here because we are a family and we love each other more then anything.

Bob told me when he was younger that his dad used to always say, "We are the Bures boys, we need to stick together." He remembers that and now we have our own little clan of Bures boys. (And a girl)

And we have to stick together...

The Aiden Show

We have the perfect combination going...at least for the moment. Grant adores Aid. He cannot even function when he is around he is so enamored. This is perfect for Aid who LOVES to be the center of attention. Aid will jump and Grant will squeal. Aid will sing and Grant howls. It's awesome. There have even been moments where Aid is having a melt down and Grant will catch his eye and give him one of his knock out smiles. And Aid can't even help himself. He realizes he has his audience and the show begins again.

I don't know if or when Grant's adoration will annoy Aid. But right now they both eat each other up with a spoon.

Birthday Party Play Date

We hosted a play date today in honor of all of the kids with summer birthdays in my new mommy group. I let Aid pick out his birthday cake last week for our family birthday party this coming weekend. He picked a dinosaur cake. So when I was trying to explain to him why all of our friends were coming over he kept saying "Aidee get his dino cake?" No...."Aidee get presents?" No....Crap. My friend Kelly though saved the day and brought presents and balloons!! There were cupcakes galore. Balloons. Bubbles. Naked Swimming. And more cupcakes. Now that's a birthday party!


Aid and the boys playing chase with the trains.



Grant hung out and LOVED all the kids!


Aid, Lexa, and Ryan!





Bliss!

Two Peas In A Pod

They push each other's buttons, they power struggle, they rough house, they love music, they love reading together, and they are both terribly kind hearted.

They are so very much alike.



Daddy and Aidee....

My Baby Keeps Growing Up

We can stand assisted for quite some time now.


And he can pick up the puffs and put them into his mouth.



This is all going so fast. I love watching Grant conquer milestones, but every once in awhile I just want to yell, "STOP GROWING!" "Sleep, but STOP GROWING!"

Mommy Time

Every mommy needs some!


This is Kelly in her party pants starting off the evening with her famous Daiquiris! YUM!


Sara and Kelly hanging in the garage. I haven't done that since college! LOL.


Me and Rena!


This is not everyone....but I love these ladies! I can vent with them, seek honest opinions, trade parenting tips...and blunders....and every once in awhile we get dressed up, meet for drinks and giggle like school girls.

Keep Getting Cuter

Just shamelessly want to show off my two babies....