Happy 4th... Uh... Happy 3rd!!

I love when the 4th of July lands on a Sunday.  Because we live in Utah, some cities move the festivities to Saturday.  Others move it to Monday.  Three days of celebration!!

Our family celebrated today.

We went swimming at Aunt Lisa's house complete with barbecue.  Aiden loves his cousins.

Some of my cousins!  

Homemade ice cream.  Aiden is an ice cream junkie and he loved Mom's cherry, pineapple, coconut ice cream.

Brain freeze!!!  Just kidding!

Sparklers

Watching the fireworks!!  Woooooowwww!

Watching the grand finale.

Bravo, my family.  Bravo.  It was a lovely day.

I remember last year's barbecue, I was only one week from having Aiden and neither of us were in any sort of way to go to a barbecue.  

But check it out... Last year, Marshall and Aiden.

This year...

They have had the same outfit for 4th of July for two years in a row!  

Awesome!

Overwhelmed

Yesterday was Mister's birthday and I could not bring myself to blog about being anything but so happy - because I was happy, so happy that it was my little man's special day and that I was surrounded by my family.

But today I am overwhelmed.  Frustrated.

I was in a situation yesterday that is the one every woman dreads.  Car problems... rush hour traffic... Backed up freeway... 100 degree heat.  It was my son's birthday and I was having horrendous guilt about being away at something as trivial as work.

As my car began to stall and sputter, my brother, Chris, called to check in on my day.  He had no idea what a "tender mercy" it was for his call to come at the exact moment I needed him.  And he listened to me try to pull my broken car to the left side of the road and listened patiently as I lost control and cried.  And cried. And cried.

Then my sister called and I cried.  And while I talked to her, Chris called yet another sibling to come and rescue me.   And my sister listened to me cry more and listened as I had guilt for my son who couldn't even have his mother with him on his birthday.   They both called back and forth and listened to me, hot and frustrated, until Bret came.  Risking his own life in a very scary situation, he worked and magically got my car to a safe spot.  Siblings came to my rescue.  Chris lent me his car with not a second thought.

And in that moment, I realized that no matter how independent you think you are, you can not do it alone.  And when I cried and was not understandable through the tears, they listened.  They understood.

So, today, a $500 car repair later (taken from the savings I am trying so hard to build up), I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.  Financially, physically, emotionally.

I read an article somewhere that said that every working mother feels bad about leaving her family to work.  "Feeling bad" doesn't begin to describe how much I hate leaving my son.  Tonight we played with his new birthday toys until his eyes would not stay open any longer.  I mourned that a year in our life together is already gone.  We played hard.  We drove trucks up and down the carpet, we blew bubbles, and read stories.  He wanted kisses over and over.  It was a night that touched my heart.

So I am overwhelmed at times doing this alone (which I chose... knowingly), but I am also overwhelmed that I could love a little boy so much and, surprisingly, that he could love me back.  Because he does.   I am overwhelmed that I have a family that loves me so much - and loves Aiden.  I am overwhelmed that I have tears left to cry at the end of the day when I am on my knees with my Heavenly Father praying for and about my son and our little insignificant life together.

I am overwhelmed, but I know that it will pass and I will look into Aiden's eyes in the morning and wonder why I was ever sad or frustrated.  And I will give him kisses and all will be right with the world again.

Happy Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Aiden and Aunt Kari!

It has been a very great day for Mister.  He is one year old today and is so big.  So big.  I am very happy he is so big and healthy.  But this day is very sad as well.  He is getting so big so fast!!

Well we must recap the day.  Aiden at Smedleys, Mom at work, Mom car broke down on freeway, Aiden ate ice cream and had a MAJOR sugar rush, party at the park, tired little Monkey.

Here is the proof!

Kari's birthday today too!  Happy Birthday, Aunt Kari!

Tater at the park opening presents.  

We had the whole family there.  Teresa and Scott, Genette and the boys, Smedleys, Bret and his family, Lisa and the Raybots, Uncle Chris, Mikey and Amanda and Gracie, Mom... we were just missing the Goodwins.  Aiden was so lucky to have his cousins, aunts and uncles around him to celebrate!

Aunt Kari made the best cake for Nonkey!  It was DARLING!    So much work.  So tasty!!

Started innocently enough... First bite.

Pretty good...

More and more enjoyable...

Must.... shovel... more...

Addict...

Got the feet involved...

Sugar rush...

The look says it all...

Beyond wipes.  Beyond bath.  Just hose me down...

The traditional stomping of the birthday cake... wait....

And going to sleep in my new Thomas jammies... a new family tradition.   final present of the day.  New Jammies.

Crashed so hard.  

The birthday haul.

Happy Birthday to Kari as well.  She has been such a big part of Aiden's life and I know she loves Tater very much.  I am so glad that she is so good to Aiden and that he loves her back.   I hope this was a happy day for her.  Happy Birthday, Kari.  Thanks for sharing this day with Aiden.

So since this blog was started when Aiden was three weeks old, I thought I would write about when Aiden was born.  Aiden was due on July 4th.  On the morning of June 27th, my blood pressure was so high, the doctor decided to induce labor.  We waited...and waited... and waited.  I was not progressing at all.  So, they gave more medication.  Nothing happened.  On the 28th, I went the whole day with contractions, but no progress.  It was a very long, very difficult labor.  We kept losing his heartbeat and I had been doing this for over 36 hours.  Finally, they gave me an epidural which crashed by blood pressure and just about killed both me and Aiden.  They adjusted everything, but the epidural was never successful.  Finally, at about 9pm, we decided that Kari's birthday couldn't end without cake and a song.  After singing Happy Birthday, something changed and Aiden decided it was time.  With no warning, things changed and 5 minutes later he was born at 9:53pm.  Aunt Kari, the Smedley girls, and Charlee were there to see little man into this world with Mommy.  

He was tiny, but perfect.  Throughout my pregnancy, I was told that he would have so many problems, but he was very very healthy with just a little cosmetic issue that was fixed in April.  

So - Aiden was 5 lbs 13 oz when he was born.  He is now 20.5 pounds and growing bigger and more independent every day.  He has been through three surgeries (appendix, hernia, and hypospadius) and is still a happy, healthy, loving baby.

Happy Birthday, my little man.

A Camping we will go!

Aiden went on his first camping trip yesterday!

We found a campground that was not full up Monte Cristo and started unpacking.  The managing couple told us to go take the spot in back of them, so we repacked and went to a gorgeous spot!!!

Our little pop-up tent.  It is a 4-man tent that was very cozy.

The first injury - was loading the car before we even left the house!!

It took Mom about 2 hours to get the campsite put up because Mister didn't like to be left out.  So Mom would do a little something, come play with Mister, do another little something, come cuddle, etc....

Got the fire going.  Sheesh.  It has been 14 years since I was at Girl's Camp and worried I wouldn't be able to start it by myself.  TAKE THAT, HATERS!!!  I still have it...

Then Hobo dinners cooked in the fire!  - Mom even remembered the BBQ sauce.  Reminded me of old times!

We are both gross and hot.  But dinner was yummy and we were ready for...

SMORES!!

Slightly addicted...

Then the best part of the night! 

Okay, so I had a stock pot and put it in the fire with water.  Then, added cold water until we had a perfect bath.  The bucket is the best $5 purchase from WalMart EVER!

Look at the Smores face...  Awesome!!!

Aiden did great.  He slept like a rock and Mom finally woke him up at 7am because she had to go potty.  He was a wonderful camping buddy.  We were going home, but there was a head-on collision at the bottom of Monte Cristo canyon, so we had to go up to Evanston and home - a 3 hour detour, but it was lovely scenery.

This was truly one of the best experiences that I have ever had with Mister.  He slept really well and I just stayed up thinking.  It was a beautiful night and we slept warm and well.  I am glad that I can do these things with Mister because we are starting a lifetime of great, great memories.  

Aiden's favorite part?  Going into the biffy while Mom went potty because his voice echoed when he screamed.  

Awesome.

Busy baby

I hate working.  Don't get me wrong.  I love what I do.  I love the people I work with.  I just hate working because I miss so much of Tater's life.  I love being with him, even when he is "Senor Grumpy Shorts" like tonight.

When I picked him up from Aunt Kari's, they were at Aunt Lisa's swimming (Happy Birthday, Kelle) for Kelle's birthday party.  Lisa has 5 boys and was gracious enough to lend me a swimming outfit and swim diaper.  I had the hat.

Cousins Tyler and Jessica.  Both so good with the baby.

Has it really been 14 years since Kelle was born?  Just yesterday, it seems, we were calling her Peach Fuzz due to the unruly hair.  Yeesh.  It goes by so fast.  

Then, Aunt Lisa volunteered to help me buzz Aiden's hair.  It helps that she has 5 boys and is a pro at this.  He didn't move.  She even knew how to trim the cowlicks in the back.  *sigh*  I have a lot to learn.

We went to dinner with Uncle Chris and relaxed and talked, but Tater blew through a diaper and outfit - and I didn't have a spare.  Bad mother.  Sorry, Uncle Chris.  

Aiden has started doing this sound... 'Lllllllll ut.......llllllll ut"  and I could figure out what he was saying until I started singing our "clean up, clean up"  song.  He is saying "Clean UP.  Clean Up."  Then he puts toys in the bucket.  So funny!!!

Then bath, books, bottle, brush (teeth) and bed.

Love little baby bums!!!

Cheap Fun

Our day was full of cheap fun.  I made bread for what I figure is about 60 cents a loaf.  Then, we had dinner (shephards pie on the cheap) and enjoyed homemade popsicles (see above) that consisted of water and a dash of apple juice.  Tater loved it!!!  Then we played with his 44 cent Walmart matchbox cars and finished off with a game of "Mom puts the letter magnets, Tater takes them off and throws them".

Good day.  

And Happy Fathers Day to all the men who have made an impact on my life and all those men who will make an impact on Aiden's life.  I thank you.