It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas....

It has actually been looking a lot like Christmas for nearly two weeks at our house. We will have had our Christmas decorations up for two weeks as of tomorrow. Obviously I was a little excited about Christmas! Or maybe it was just the only time where all four of us would be home together and have time to put up our tree. =)

This is our third Christmas using the tree we have now. Every year I tell myself I'm going to buy a new one, but I never do. Our tree isn't too bad, but I would prefer something bigger and with fuller branches. Our tree is constantly a work in progress. From the day it goes up, till the day it goes down, I will be adding new ornaments, moving ornaments around, messing with the branches, etc. For some reason I am a little OCD when it comes to the Christmas tree.

Our tree is a pre-lit 7ft (I think), that we bought at Big Lots for somewhere around $30. When we bought it, I was pregnant with Aiden. I remember we put it up on Friday, November 28th and Aiden was born the next day. If we can ever get our schedules to coincide, I'd like to make it a tradition that we put up our tree every year on the 28th. It doesn't look like that is going to happen anytime soon though.

As much as I'd like a bigger tree, I'm a little glad we don't have one. Since we moved into an apartment this year, space is limited. As you can see, our tree fits perfectly in this spot. If it were any bigger, I'd have to move more furniture around. I also don't feel like we have enough ornaments. I try to buy a few new ones every year. I'm sure if I keep buying a few a year, in a few years our tree will be full.

When Aiden was born, I started buying him a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament from their Child's Age Collection. Every year he gets a new ornament in the set. His set features a bear who grows older each year. It also has the date on the back of the ornament. The number stands for his first Christmas, second Christmas, and now his third Christmas.

This year I have also added a "village" to our Christmas decorations. When I first put them up, I was not very impressed. Jaime really likes them though, and I am starting to like them more too.

We also have our stockings hung, but I haven't taken a picture of those yet. I also haven't taken a good picture of our Nativity scene. The picture I have of it is very blurry. I will take those pictures soon and post them here as well. I also have one more decoration that I am going to post about sometime this week. It is something that I grew up with at my parents house and now we have it at our house. That's the only clue you get for now, you'll just have to come back and read about it later! =)

Thanksgiving 2010

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving this year.

After our dinner, we went to see the Lighting of the Tree in Lawrenceville.

I'm considering this one for our Christmas card. Thoughts?

The clock on the Courthouse

I love, love, LOVE, this one!

The tree is lit. =)

Santa Claus came!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, we sure did!!

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Fall Pictures

A few weeks ago my mom and I decided to try and take a few fall pictures of the kids. Some of them turned out ok, others turned out pretty bad. Ha! Anyway, I thought I'd post them here for you all to see.

This one had a lot of potential. Thanks a lot Aiden! LOL.

Two Years Old!!

Dear Aiden,

Today you are two. We cannot believe you have been blessing our lives for the past two years! In some ways it seems like you have been here forever, and we can't remember our lives before you were in it. In other ways, it seems like you should still be a little baby but instead you are a big boy! Your Daddy and I are so proud of you. You amaze us everyday as you learn new things. We are blown away at the new things you learn, especially the things you learn without us teaching them to you. You are so smart! We love you more than you will ever know. The past two years have been so much fun!

Love,

Daddy and Mama

Facts About Aiden

• You wear a size 2T shirt, but lately I have been buying you 3T since you are growing so fast! You wear a 24 months in pants.
• You wear a size 7 shoe.
• You are still in diapers, a size 5. We are starting potty training VERY soon! =)
• Your favorite foods are spaghetti, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, Goldfish crackers, and fruit.
• You love chocolate.
• Your favorite drink is milk. We haven't tried chocolate milk yet, but I'm sure you'd like it even more!
• You LOVE to play outside.
• Your favorite shows are Thomas the Train, Sesame Street, Dinosour Train, and Super Why.
• Your favorite movies are Cars, Toy Story 3, and Frosty the Snowman.
• You love to look at pictures. You will point out who everyone is and sometimes explain what was going on when the picture was taken.
• You can sing your ABC's, the Happy Birthday song, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Patty Cake. Sometimes you even make up your own songs.
• When I can get you to sit still long enough you really enjoy reading. =)
• You are talking VERY well for your age, and have been talking in sentences for a while. Everytime someone sees you they always tell me what a great talker you are and how you talk so clearly.
• Your favorite things to do outside are swing, throw the ball for Buddy (Grandma's dog), and ride your motorcycle. Recently you really enjoy riding in your new wagon that Grandma bought you for your birthday, and the Jeep that Uncle Billy got you for your birthday.
• You absolutely love your big sister! You are always trying to do whatever she is doing and say whatever she is saying.
• You like to color. We really need to start working more seriously on teaching you your colors. So far you think everything is blue. Sometimes you'll point to a general area and say, "I want the blue one". Haha!
• You are loved by so many people!!

Happy Birthday, Aiden Monkey!!

Thankful

One of the things I am most thankful for right now, is the blessing of being able to stay home with Aiden and Jenny.

Each day is a treasure, an adventure, a gift from God.


Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Busy Week

For the last week, I have been balancing on the line of too busy and slightly bored. I have SO much to do before Aiden's birthday party which is less than a week away! When did preparing for a two year old's birthday party become so difficult? If planning a two year old party is this hard, I don't wanna plan them for him when he's older! I can't even begin to imagine a sweet 16 party or even an 18 or 21st! Of course by then he won't want anything to do with me, so I surely won't be on his party planning commitee. Which means, I have to make each little moment count, even when they are so frustrating I could pull my hair out!

By the way, have I mentioned how much I hate the terrible two's?? In the past month Aiden has changed from a baby into a little boy. It makes me sad, and happy all at the same time. I am sad that he isn't my little baby anymore, but happy and excited about all the new fun things he can do. I will say though that a lot of attitude, free will, temper tantrums, and complete breakdowns have also been on our daily schedule lately. I don't like them, but whenever I start complaining, I always try to think of the women out there who so desperately want to be a mother, or the women out there who have babies with cancer or some other terminal disease. There are women out there who would LOVE to deal with a two year old temper tantrum, and that makes me want to reconsider what I take for granted so often.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is this Thursday?!? I am in shock. I still can't believe Jenny is in Kindergarten, let alone it's almost Thanksgiving! What are y'all doing for Thanksgiving? This year we are eating dinner at my parents house. Jenny is out of school all week so we have a lot I am hoping to be able to do with her. This is my most favorite time of year, and I love all the things that I can involve the kids in. I'm already thinking of ideas for homemade ornaments, Christmas cookies, and all kinds of other things.

We put our Christmas tree up tonight. With the busy week I have ahead I figured there was really no other time I'd be free to sit and do it. Between Jaime's busy work schedule and Jenny only being here every other week, it's hard to find time to do anything as a complete family. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet, but I'll post some when I do. 90% of our ornaments are from the Dollar Tree. Since we have two young kids living here, I don't want to spend a lot on ornaments that will just get broken. A lot of the ones from Dollar Tree are plastic anyway, so they don't break as easily. That's a HUGE plus when you have a two year old! I went to Dollar Tree today to pick up a few more things and I came home with the cutest little ceramic houses and buildings! They aren't as nice as I'd like, but hey, they were only a dollar! I'll post pictures of it too, but it's not quite done. I am also thinking of updating our stockings this year. I bought the stockings at Big Lots a few years back and I put the names on them myself with some glitter and glue. I did an ok job, but now the glitter is starting to wear off and they are starting to look pretty rough. I'm thinking we need some monnogrammed ones!

Well, I think that's about all we've been up to lately. Girl Scouts tomorrow, dentist for me Tuesday, the party decorations should be here Wednesday, Thursday is Thanksgiving, Friday I have to clean my mom's house and get ready for the party, Saturday is my great Uncle's 80th birthday party, and Sunday is Aiden's party. As you can see, I have a very busy week ahead. I love being busy, but I don't like it all at the same time. It can be a lot of fun, but it can also be very stressful.

I hope you all have a great week, and if I don't post again this week, Happy Thanksgiving!!