Night-Night

Ayden's new bedtime ritual is lining up his stuffed animals in front of his bed so they can go night-night too. Then he lays down next to them and pretends to go to sleep too, and makes snoring sounds. Sometimes he even gives them kisses goodnight or lays down with them and reads a book. One night before bed we asked Ayden where the baby was and he lifted up my shirt and patted my belly. He then went over to Joel and lifted up Joel's shirt and patted his belly too. It was hilarious. Joel thought it was funny the first time it happened, but when Ayden did it again Joel said he needed to go on a diet:) Ayden will sometimes even say "night-night" to the baby or give it a kiss. He's going to be such a good big brother.

 

 

 

I took Ayden to the park one morning last week and it was one we have never been to. He got bored with the little kid slides quickly and went on the big kid slides instead. He climbed up into this fort-like thing and went down all by himself. I was slightly nervous because he had to climb up so high and I wasn't able to help him, but he has no fear at all. He had fun and it was nice to get to the park while the weather is still nice.

 

 

 

 

I felt Baby F move for the first time yesterday (I think). It felt a lot like when Ayden first started to move. It was exciting! Hard to believe I still have 25 weeks to go! I'm not feeling sick all the time like I did the first 6-12 weeks. I'm not as hungry as I was when I was pregnant with Ayden though. I seriously ate everything in site. I still don't have much of an appetite at times, but it's better than it was. This weekend I had cravings for mashed potatoes and gravy and Chili's Skillet queso with chips. It was sooo good. I also am still more tired than normal, but I don't require a nap every day anymore. Looking forward to my next dr. appt. a week from Friday.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a really fun weekend last weekend. We haven't gotten to do a whole lot this summer with working on the house all the time. We decided to take Ayden to Adventureland on Saturday after discovering he was now 36 inches tall and he would be able to ride quite a few rides with us. Ayden has never been on rides other than the train at the zoo or taking rides with grandpa on the gator or in the tractor. Well, he LOVED the rides. He went on a lot by himself and loved the merry-go-round, train, and any truck ride they had. We even rook him on the log ride and got pretty wet. The only ride he didn't look like he was a fan of was the tilt-a-whirl. I really wanted to take him on the raging river, but that was one of the rides I couldn't go on since I am pregnant. There were actually very few rides I could go on, but after taking Ayden on the teacups I didn't feel too well and let Joel go on the rest with him while I took pictures, :)





On Sunday morning we drove to may parent's house in Independence and they watched Ayden while we went to see a movie in the afternoon. We saw District 9 which was horrible, and I slept through part of the last half. Then that evening Joel and I drove to Cedar Rapids and had a nice dinner at Biaggi's. The food was great and it was nice to not have to hurry and eat with an antsy toddler.

Monday morning we left at 6:30 am and drove 4 hours to Shakopee, Minnesota to meet my brother and his family at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I haven't been there since I was in middle school and remembered it being a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun and we are already planning to go back next year. There are all kinds of food, rides, and attractions and everyone that works there gets into character with costumes, accents, and act like they are from that time period. There are lots of shops for those that like to go shopping. Tons of food, beer, drinks, turkey legs, etc. There were some rides for the kids, a petting zoo, elephants and camels to ride, and also ponies. Ayden was up for more rides after the day before at Adventureland. He took a ride on a huge rocking horse, and then rode on a butterfly ride that went in a circle. He loved them both. When we saw the elephants I told Joel he should take Ayden. I really wanted to go, but it was ride at your own risk and thought I would stay safe and just take pictures of Joel and Ayden. I think Ayden liked it, but he looks so serious on all the rides he goes on it is hard to tell what he is thinking. He wanted to do it again though. Maybe we can all ride on the elephant next year :) Around 2:30 Ayden started to get cranky with no nap, and was mad that we couldn't find any milk for him so we decided to call it a day and make our way back home. It was a lot of driving in one day, but a lot of fun. I think next year we will stay at my brother's house or get a hotel.

Exciting News!!

The latest news (well it's not really new news for my husband and me) is that I am pregnant! I'm due March 19, 2010. We are really excited, and I know Ayden will be a great big brother. It was a rough first trimester because I was pretty exhausted and had "all day" sickness. I even lost weight, what a great diet plan :) I'm feeling better now, but am still tired more than usual. I had a doctors appointment last week and got to hear the heartbeat for a few seconds. Baby kept moving around so didn't get to hear it for long. I'm counting down the weeks until we find out whether we are having a boy or girl. I didn't think I had a preference either way, but early into my pregnancy I had a dream that I had a boy and in my dream I started to cry. Does that mean I really want a girl? It doesn't matter as long as it is healthy. I'm hoping I can get Ayden pretty much potty-trained by the time he/she arrives. It would also be nice if we could sell our house and be moved to Ames by then, but that is asking a lot. We are going to go shopping for a big boy bed for Ayden in a few weeks. I already got him some sheets and a quilt with trucks and tractors on them. Hopefully that will make the transition easier.

We shared the news with my family by having Ayden wear a "I'm going to be a big brother shirt." Everyone noticed within seconds of seeing Ayden and his shirt what our news was. It was a fun way to tell people though :)