Loss and Life

My Grandfather has been ill for a while. Knowing that I have tried to make sure that I get up there with the boys at LEAST twice a year to see him. I even gave Noah his middle name of Oliver.

This is a picture of my Grandpa and My Nana (grandmother)

Saturday I got the call that I knew was coming but I didn't want to receive. I have not yet dealt with the loss but I know that once I get to Minnesota tomorrow night it will become real to me and the grieving will begin. He lived life to the fullest with, what I assume, are very few regrets. He even got married this past January to the woman that he has been with for 40 years. I was able to make it up for the wedding reception (after the worst traveling experience of my life) and was SO happy that I did.

Me and my sisters with my Grandfather at the wedding reception (IDK what I am looking at! lol)

Going to Minnesota will be bittersweet. In addition to my Grandfather passing away Saturday my BFF Natalia gave birth to her second son yesterday!!!! One year and exactly 2 months after Noah was born!!! I am so happy for her...now I just wish that she would name him already!!! And of course he is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!

So in addition to getting to sending my Grandfather home...I will get to spend time with Baby Trent!!!!

Big Boy Bed!!!!

I have wanted to get Aiden his first big boy bed for a few months now. I had found the one that I like the most and Aiden even liked it. Sunday after Paul and I went to get the boys we went to Ikea to look at the bed one last time. THEN Paul was like...okay lets go buy it!!! I was excited like it was my bed!!! lol.

When we got home Paul instantly went to putting it together and Aiden was SOOOOO excited. He was helping Daddy put together his 'big boy bed'. He even slept all night in there!!!

I have to say it is a pretty durn cool bed...and comfortable too!!! I slept in there with him for a few hours this morning...lol.

To check it out, head over to Aiden's Blog.

Enjoy!!!

POTTY CHAMP

So...a year or so ago we started the potty journey with Aiden. There was some reluctance in the beginning...well hell who am I fooling...some resistance during the entire process. But I am happy to say that since we returned from Nassau Aiden is potty trained!!!! woo hoo!!! (insert happy dance WITH pelvic thrusts)

For months...no matter how much we bribed him with candy (lol), he resisted the potty. He just did not want to go when he had to go. We tried the "let him walk around naked and he will be potty trained at the end of a couple days" strategy. What did that teach us? That as long as he was naked he would go to the potty. But since he could not be naked ALL DAY, EVERY DA.Y...that didn't work.

We tried the "put the potty in the middle of the room" strategy, and that only worked a couple times.

We tried the "let him feel the wet and he wont do it anymore" strategy, and frankly...Aiden did not give a crap if he was went nor dirty. He never had, so I don't know why we thought that he would all of a sudden care.

We listened to the teachers say that he would get motivated to be potty trained because he would see the other kids in his class going. Well...that didn't work either. Everyday that we went to pick him up there was a check by the wet mark on his report card.

Interesting enough...I think it was my dad that got Aiden potty trained in less than 3 days!!! We went to the Bahamas and he did not ONCE wear a pull up outside the room. Every time he had to go potty he either went himself or he told me he had to go!!! I was shocked!! Ever since he has been ON IT!!! It is hilarious when he says, "I have to go boo boo" then as he is running to the bathroom he is saying "hold it...hold it" lol.

Needless to say I am happy that I have one kid in undies. There are days where Aiden will tell me that he does not want to wear undies but that he wants to wear a pull up. And those are the days that I know he is in a lazy kind of mood. He only gets the pull up luxury at night.

My BFF's...feeling sentimental

Most people go their entire lives not being able to say that they have ONE great girlfriend. Well I am blessed to be able to say that I have TWO!!!!

Natalia and I have been friends our entire lives...and our mothers have been friends for a long time as well. We grew up going everywhere together...including to the Bahamas regularly. True we did loose touch when I went to college, but once we reconnected we have been inseparable. She is gorgeous, HILARIOUS, smart, a great mom, and the list goes on. The ironic thing is that we now both have 3 year olds (born 6 months apart) and she is about to have (ON MONDAY!!!) her second son that will be one year younger than Noah!!! How cool is that? They will grow up as best friends just as we did. I am SUPER excited to meet my new nephew and have booked my flight to go up next month already!!!

Jewel (my Jewel) and I have been best friends since our sophomore year in high school. She is a very special person to me. She is my sounding board. She is the person I know will tell me the truth and give me a unbiased opinion no matter what the subject. She is the most intelligent person I know and deserves all of the life rewards that she is receiving...and did I mention she is pretty easy on the eyes as well. She is Aiden's Godmother and the first person I thought of to take on that role when I became pregnant.

I am not sure what I would do without these ladies. I love them as if they were my sisters and in my mind they are. It is true that I have a couple other girlfriends...but they do not know me like Jewel and Natalia do. I know that I could ask them for anything and they would be there for me no questions asked and with no reservations or judgements.

I also have a couple male friends that are pretty high on my list of important people in my life...but that is a whole different post. For some reason people have this belief that women and men can not have a non sexual genuine friendship...and I do not agree.

Anywho...I guess the fact that I spoke with Jewel last night and think about Natalia and her upcoming birth daily made me want to share with everyone the love I have for my "sisters". I miss them dearly and wish that we could get together more often. BUT I do get to see both of them next month so I am excited about that.

I hope that some of you are as lucky as I am. And I am VERY lucky...love you girls!!!

The Boys!!!

Here are some pictures of my AMAZING boys!!! Aiden will be 3 in August and Noah turned 1 in May. Aiden reminds us everyday that his birthday is August 29th, that he will be 3 and that we will have to sing happy birthday to him. He is VERY talkitive...and we LOVE it!!! Noah is the little athlete. He loves any kind of ball...lol...and he is on the move at all times.

I have to say that we are super lucky. Aiden is the BEST big brother. He looks out for Noah, hugs and kisses him, plays well with him, etc. It is a beautiful thing to witness and I can not wait to see their relationship and bond grow stronger as they get older.

Enjoy!!!

We took the boys to pick strawberries since Aiden loves them so much. Needlessto say it was hard not to eat them!! They even landed in the AJC!!!

We partied like ROCK STARS for Noah's first birthday!!! It was a great party (patting myself on the back)

This is Noah at the beach for the first time...and of course he ate some sand...lol. Hilton Head 2011!!!

The boys at the pool at the house in Hilton Head. Aiden LOVES the water...and LOVES Hilton Head. He calls the house the "Pool House" lol.

The week before Hilton Head Aiden and I went to the Bahamas to celebrate my little brothers 21st birthday. It was Aiden's first stamp in his passport and he LOVED the Bahamas. I plan to have the boys there every other year so it can be like home to them as it is to me!!

Aiden and his free spirited self...

LOOK AT THAT FACE!!!! (making kissy noises) lol

As you can see...I have some pretty awesome kids!!!!

Surgery for my baby-Tubes in the ears

Ever since December Noah has had reoccuring ear infections. As a matter of fact...from February until May he had the SAME ear infection. No matter what antibiotic they gave him it woul just not go away.

So at the beginning of May we went to an ENT who told me what I had not really wanted to hear...that he was going to require surgery to put tubes in his ears. I was freaking out...but it was necessary. His speach was pretty much non existant and he was not sleeping well. I knew that no matter how scared I was he would feel so much better.

He had the surgery a week after his birthday...his birthday party was AWESOME by the way, we partiedlike ROCK STARS (that was the theme). Unfortunately I was not able to be at the hospital with him because of a work obligation (tear) but Paul sent me pictures and let me know that everything went well. They even came and visited me at work on the way from the hospital.

Noah in the pre op room before surgery

Another pre op pictuer that Paul sent me to make me feel better...it worked.

Since that day Noah's speach has progressed RAPIDLY!!! He is a new baby!!! He dances to music like never before and his balance is great!!! They said that if he had not had that fluid in his ears that he probably would have walked a couple months sooner. I am so happy that we went ahead with it.

You can go to this link to get information on the different types of ear infections. And here to learn about getting tubes in the ears. They say that if your child has 3 ear infection within a 6 month period that they should see an ENT.

School Update...

So...I have been a blog slacker. And not just on this one but on the boys too. But I am gonna TRY and do better!!!

Well, the last post covered that I was back to work and that we had found a in home day care that we liked. Well that did not pan out. The caregiver had te NERVE to take my infant out of the house and NOT inform myself or Paul. Not to mention the fact that she was not back home by the time we went to pick Noah up. Needless to say I was LIVID and had called the police on her. The boys did not go back there...lol.

So after the holidays and the MASSIVE amount of snow that hit Atlanta in January Aiden started going to a school that I had my eyes on before...Kids R Kids. Besides the fact that it was an awesome facility that had a curriculum...I could watch him ONLINE!!! What mother of a child new to child care would not love that!!!

We decided to put Noah in another facility (what I later dubbed the "Ninja Daycare") down the street with the expectation of moving him to Kids R Kids once he was a year old. He has sinc emoved to Kids R Kids and he loves it just as much as Aiden.

It was an adjustment for Aiden at first but after a few weeks he was better when I dropped him off. NOW he is excited about going to school and just as excited when Paul picks them up. Now tha Noah goes there he loves to visit Noah during the day and likes to go with us when we drop/pick Noah up out of his class.

So other than the fact that we pay an arm, leg and a kidney for them to go there...it is worth every penny. Aiden even knows some spanish!!!