Mom's Wedding, March 20, 2010

On March 20, 2010 my mom and Mr. David got married locally. It was a pretty crazy weekend since the wedding was taking place in my town and all my sisters and other family and friends would be traveling in with their families to stay for the weekend. It took every ounce of my energy to make it through that emotional weekend. It was the following handsome and beautiful faces that got me through it all.Trying to keep Aiden still for more then 2 seconds to take a family pictures was more then one could ask for that day. He was wanting to play with all his cousins that he rarely gets to see and especially wanted to get his hands on the drum set that was still set up in the corner of the stage. My sister Grace made all the floral arrangements for the wedding. She is such a talented person! She also made the arrangements for my wedding, which I if I could dig out the pictures I would show you her amazing work on mine as well.The kids were all lined up on the front pew just waiting for their marching orders. They were trying to be so patient, but there is only so much patience you can expect out of a 2 year old who has the energy level of the energizer bunny.

Lexi with her cousin Desiree, who is almost 4 months older then her.
All the boy grandkids! They range in age from 11 down to 2.

Dale had the pleasure of walking Grandma Leader down the aisle. I made sure to remind him to smile as he walked up the aisle so he wouldn't look like the pallbearers that walked me up the aisle on my wedding day. ;) *My Grandpa L. and Grandpa W., who had the most stern looks on their faces the whole walk down the aisle.*
The grankids were all matched up by similar heights to walk down the aisle. Lexi was matched up with Eric. They all looked so cute and took their job very serious.
Aiden was the ring bearer. The minute he entered the church he tried to pass the ring pillow off to the first person he saw. That of course solicited a laugh and after they handed it back to him he jetted down the aisle to deliver the pillow to the correct person.
Next down the aisle was my mom, who was being escorted by two very handsome young men. Her eldest grandsons, Jacob and Andrew, had the honor of walking her down the aisle.

The ceremony went off without a hitch and then Andrew had the privilege of playing the wedding march as the new couple exited the church. He did an awesome job!

Of course once the ceremony is over the true 'fun' begins with all the pictures. I was not looking forward to this part because I, for one, knew Aiden would not cooperate, and two, do not like my picture to be taken at all.

Mom with all 4 daughters. From left to right: Faith, me, Mom, Charity, and Grace.

Mom and I.

The story behind this picture is hilarious! The photographer wanted to get each family set of kids together for a picture. She couldn't for the life of her get Aiden to sit still for longer then 2 seconds. She finally made the statement, "Well, we really don't need him in the picture." Excuse me! He is part of the family! It wouldn't be my family if he wasn't in it. Well, moments later he came running over to get in the picture and he had a HUGE piece of bread in his hand. The poor child was STARVING! He had had enough with the pictures and just wanted something to eat.

Once he had a few bites in his stomach he was willing to cooperate, or at least ham it up for the camera.This is one of my favorite pictures of my Grandma. She is just so stunningly beautiful!

Once again, here is Grandma trying to hold Aiden down long enough for a picture of her to be taken with the three kiddos.And Lexi was still velcroed to Grandma on wedding day. Beautiful girls (minus one tired flower girl) all blowing bubbles at the reception.

So, now there are 16 grandchildren (only 2 could not make it, my brother's children in NC) who are all under 11 years old.

Though it was a stressful, emotional weekend, it was great to be able to see and spend time with my family, and for the kids to be able to spend time with their cousins that they rarely get to see.

Redlands Symphony - Family Concert

On April 18, 2010, Andrew, Lexi, Daddy-O and I had the opportunity to go to the University of Redlands to enjoy the Redlands Symphony. Each year they put together a family friendly concert that is geared directly toward children, which is interactive and shorter then a usual concert would be.The concert included 2 narrated musical interpretations of children's stories with a twist. The kids and adults in the audience enjoyed it immensely After the concert they had all the instruments out on the lawn and allowed the children the opportunity to "pet" the instruments.

Both Lexi and Andrew both did an awesome job playing the French Horn. We were teasing Andrew that he actually made a better quality sound on the french horn then he did on the trumpet and that he might consider a change. Lexi seemed to be a natural, so maybe there is a french horn in our future.

Andrew and Lexi then tried out their skills on the violin. Andrew said it was awkward holding the instrument on his chin, but liked not having to blow into the instrument for once.Lexi was all over the place and couldn't understand the concept of keeping the bow lower on the neck. For the sake of mom's ears I am REALLY praying one of these is NOT in our future.

Lexi also attempted to play the flute (or a portion of the flute. The lady didn't have it all assembled since she felt it was too long for the small kids.) She did eventually get a sound out of it but it took A LOT of work. I do like the sound of the flute and wouldn't mind of she tried this one out in her future. :)

There were MANY more instruments to "pet," but the lines were long and the kids were getting pretty hot and tired. Overall they had a wonderful time and we really enjoyed the concert. I definitely think we will be adding this to our calendar again next year. Hopefully Aiden will be old enough and calm enough to join us then.

Week Long Birthday Celebration

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY,

AIDEN!!!

It is so hard for me to believe that just 2 short years ago you were born into your daddy and I's arms at home on March 3rd at 11:18 a.m., weighing 9lbs 7 oz and 21 in long. The whirlwind of activity surrounding your birth is still etched in my mind as if it happened yesterday.

And today you are this rowdy, loving, crazy at times, cuddly, life of the party 2 year old, who has taught me so much and continues to do the same each day.

A one day celebration for such a party guy would not do, so we had a week long celebration instead. It all started with an impromptu cake/party with Nana and Mr. David the Saturday before your birthday. You weren't quiet sure what to think while everyone sang to you but seemed to enjoy it by the time we finished the song. You tried really hard to blow out the candles by yourself, but in order to save the cake from the flying spit, Daddy decided to help you out a little.

On the actual day of your birthday you seemed a little melancholy, as was I, mourning the loss of my little baby, who was now a big boy. I know you haven't been a baby for a long time, but something about you turning 2 just sealed the deal.

You have really been into The Cars movie, anything that has to do with Lightening McQueen, or just cars in general. You would wear these socks EVERY day if I would let you (and I often do).

Whenever I pull out the camera now you have one of two responses; either a total cheesy smile or you try to act all shy and pull your shirt up to hide. Today was a shy day, but I couldn't resist a picture of your cute belly anyways.

You have also started wanting to help me in the kitchen. This is not something I like to encourage because each task then takes me four times longer to complete. If you hear me pulling out a pan, loading the dishwasher, or rifling through the silverware, you often come running from whatever room you are in to see if you can get your hands in there to help out. Here you are pulling out a new container of apple juice since you were all out of juice in the fridge. You have just become so independent at times.
Daddy and I just sit back and laugh at how you will help yourself when you want something bad enough. If you want a refill on your drink you will often bring us your cup, the container of juice, and start saying, "peas!" Hard to resist that big cheesy smile that comes along with the please.

On Wednesday, your actual birthday, we celebrated with a small cookie since we knew we would be having cake again on the weekend. You were actually able to blow out one of the candles this time by yourself, but Daddy helped you with the second one because you kept getting super close to them with your face in order to blow it out.
You are my little cookie monster and REALLY enjoyed every last crumb!
Other then The Cars movie, you are also a major Toy Story fan. Buzz Lightyear pjs and Buzz baseball hat (not pictured) were a major birthday present hit. You are so easy to please and I am cherishing these simple times because I know those days will not last forever.

On Saturday we had our third, and final, celebration for your birthday. I attempted to make you a Blue's Clues paw print cake since you are a HUGE fan of Blue's Clues. The biggest compliment came from you when you loudly exclaimed, "A COO A COO!!!" when you first saw it (Translation: A clue, a clue!) If you could tell what it was from looking at it then it was a success in my mind. To finish off the birthday week long celebration I took you to get your 2 year old portraits taken today. You did a great job! Were a ham as always!! Made everyone in the place stop and take notice of you! and then walked away with a look on your face as if to say, "Mission Accomplished!"

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY,

AIDEN!!!!

***Current updated weight/height stats and list of can-dos to follow later this week after his doctor's appointment on Thurs.***

*****To view his 1 year old picture and the video I made about his birth, go here.*****

Ken Aiden and Barbie; Single Mom Tuesdays

Aiden has a thing for Alexis' Barbie cars. It has gotten to the point that Alexis doesn't even try to claim them as her's anymore and has just resigned to the fact that they live in his room now. He loves to race them up and down the hall and crash them into each other. But his favorite thing to do is..... climb in and try to 'drive' the car around, of course all while looking so cool with his sunglasses on upside down.

And then there is this look when he finally realizes that I am taking his picture.... "CHEESE!"

Of course Andrew plays so nicely with his brother and was only doing this because it was keeping Aiden happy to have a playmate, not because he too is a silly guy.

When Andrew's not trying to fit all 65lbs of his 10 1/2 yr old body into a Barbie car he can usually be found curled up on the couch or in his bed reading a book. Oh the good 'ol days of being able to sit around and read for hours on end and finish novel after novel. To be young again.

Of course no post would be complete without a cute picture of my Little Miss. Recently whenever I get the camera she wants to pose for the camera. I keep asking her if her neck is broken because this is what she comes up with: neck totally cocked to the left practically touching her shoulder. I shouldn't complain, at least she is looking at the camera and not some shifty eyes off to the side somewhere.

And my boys, minus their Barbie cars, are sharing a moment on the couch. Only Aiden can steal Andrew's hat without serious consequences. Anyone else would have their hand chopped off if they tried to touch his hat. That $1.00 Christmas gift has not left his head longer then one laundry cycle when I couldn't handle looking at it on his head anymore. Sometimes I question whether Andrew has blue hair or black hair anymore.

He does take it off to shower, and when he did take it off Sunday night to take a shower, he left it laying on the counter. I had specifically warned him about picking up after himself (something we have been working on), so I was not pleased to find his things still litering the bathroom floor an hour later. I promptly cleaned the place up and found a "home" for the hat. He was lost without his hat come Monday morning and didn't know what to do. Dale and I agreed that it would be returned to him later that afternoon. I think the message hit home because there has been no more liter left laying around. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to shower with his hat on tonight so I couldn't get my hands on it.

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Tuesdays are tough for me. That is the day that Dale normally has to work late duty, which means he goes into work from 10-7, leaving at 8:45 and doesn't get home til 8. I feel like a single mom on those days. I still get up at the normal time (6:15) to get the kids ready for school, all the while letting Dale sleep in as long as possible since I know he only gets this day and one other day to do so each week. He usually gets up 15 mins. before the kids head out to school to spend some time with them and then him and I (and Aiden) get about 45 mins. together before he is out the door for his late duty. The morning goes as normal with Aiden, pick up of Alexis at 11:15 is normal, but then it all falls apart from there. Normally Andrew comes home at 2, but on Tuesdays he also has 'late duty,' or after-school band, so he doesn't get home till after 4:00. Having Andrew's extra two entertaining/helping hands at 2:00 are greatly missed when he is not there those two hours. So, to add that to Daddy' late duty day just sends me into a tailspin of tears by the end of the night. Dale usually gets home at 4 and can spend time with the kids while I start/finish up dinner. He is also there to help with after dinner clean-up, bathtime, bedtime routine and everything else that makes a household tick. On Tuesdays he usually pulls into the driveway in just enough time to kiss the kids goodnight before they close their eyes. I know this one late duty a week is unavoidable, and Tuesdays is the only time it works for his department, and I need to stop whining because at least he has a job! blah blah blah... but it sucks feeling like a single mom and I just needed to lovingly close slam some cupboard doors closed as I put away dishes and cry it all out last night when he got home (which I am sure he loved coming home to after a long day at work). He and I work so well together with our routine that this one day a week just throws such a monkey wrench in it all. Anyone have any coping strategies on what I can do when I am going it alone? It gets so overwhelming at times and I don't handle it very well.