Weekend Recap

Jon had to go to Colorado last week for work. He was gone from Sunday through Thursday. Aedan and I were happy to have him back on Friday!

Jon's mom came down Friday afternoon so Jon and I could head to Fredericksburg for a little weekend getaway. We planned this a few months ago, before we knew that Jon would need to be traveling for work. I felt bad for Aedan because he really only got to spend Friday morning with Jon, since we left during his nap time. :(

Other than the one night Aedan spent with my parents, he hasn't been away from both of us at the same time ever. It was definitely time! He had a great weekend with Jon's mom and I don't think he even missed us!

Jon and I had a great time in Fredericksburg too. We stayed at a little bed and breakfast off Main Street and had a really relaxing weekend.

We came back after breakfast this morning so Jon could spend most of the day with Aedan because he is headed back to Colorado tomorrow. Unfortunately he will be gone all week again. :(

This week should go by pretty fast though, my parents are coming in town on Tuesday and then we have plans with them throughout the rest of the week. Then when Jon gets back, he will have 4 days off so that will be great!

Now I'm off to get caught up on laundry and spend some time with my favorite guys.

-Lauren-




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Best Buds

A few months ago, Aedan went through a pretty clingy phase with me. It was all mommy. He would cry when I left him at home with Jon. He would even try to run down the street after me, if Jon let him go outside. He would cry when I left him at his sitter’s house who he has been going to since he was 3 months old. As soon as we would pull up, he would tell me “no no, I want to go with you!”. It was a rough couple of weeks for him.

Thankfully, that phase seems to have passed. He doesn’t care when I leave him with Jon or at the sitter’s house. He even spent a night away from us and had a blast with my parents.

Now he has decided he is all about daddy. He has always loved Jon of course, but lately they have totally become best buds.

Jon works from home most of the time, so Aedan always wants to barge into the office and see what daddy is doing. We have been working on knocking on the door first and going in quietly to say a quick hi before leaving because usually daddy is on a conference call.

A couple of weeks ago, Jon had a day off in the middle of the week. We decided to take Aedan to open gym at a local place called Rolly Pollies. It is kind of like a Little Gym. Aedan loved it.

He especially loved hanging out with daddy.

Most mornings we move pretty slow around here. I see most of my clients in the afternoons so Aedan and I usually hang around the house in the mornings getting ready, and doing things around the house.

One morning last week, I had an early meeting and Jon had an eye doctor appointment, so we were all up and getting ready earlier that normal. Jon made his coffee and Aedan insisted on drinking some coffee (orange juice in Aedan’s case) with him.

Such a cute pair. I just love watching them together. It makes my heart smile. :)

-Lauren-

Show Us Your Life–Foyers

I skipped last week on Kelly’s Show Us Your Life link up. It was featuring mantles and since we don’t have a fireplace, we also don’t have a mantle. :) We didn’t have a fireplace in our last house either and honestly I think the only time I missed having one was when it was time to hang up stockings at Christmas. If we had built our house we may have put one in, but since we didn’t and got a great deal on ours, we decided it wasn’t a deal breaker.

Anyway, this week is foyers so here are a few pictures of ours…

The table goes with our living room furniture and eventually I would like to put it back in the living room, but for now it fits perfectly in the foyer until we find something else for the space. The rug is also just temporary. We needed something for the space and this is an old one we already had. I’ve been looking for a runner for the space, but haven’t found anything I like yet.

We have tall ceilings pretty much everywhere which I love. I also really like this light fixture.

The double doors lead into Jon’s office. Down the road we want to switch out the doors for some with glass. For now we are sticking with these because I have a feeling if we had glass ones, Aedan would be even more likely to want to barge in on Jon while he is working. :)

Here is our front door. I love it. It lets in a lot of light without being too open. Love the star too, very Texas.

The view looking out from Jon’s office.

And the view looking from the front door. The door on the right goes to the garage with the stairs directly next to it. . The hallway on the left goes to a closet and our laundry room. Past that it opens up to our kitchen and living room.

Go check out some more great foyers here.

-Lauren-

Blogger 411 Link Up

Today I’m linking up today over at From Mrs. to Mama. She is hosting a fun 411 blog link up so go check out some other great blogs here!

The 411 Questions:

1. How long have you been blogging? And what got you started on blogging? Has your blog changed?

I started blogging in June of 2008, so a little over 4  years ago! I started my blog mostly to make it easier for me to follow a few other blogs I liked to read. Then when we started trying to get pregnant with Aedan it took way longer than we thought it would. I found a lot of bloggers going through the same thing and it became a place for me to read about other’s experiences and for me to write about mine. Now my blog is what I use to document everything that goes on within our family. I think I opened Aedan’s baby book maybe twice in his first year, but I have tons of posts all about his first year and beyond on my blog. It has become our family scrapbook and I love it! I find myself reading my own archives from time to time and I love that I have a record of the big and small things that have happened in the past 4 years.

2. Did you go to college? If so where, and what did you study?

I started off at Baylor, but I finished my bachelors degree at the University of Texas at Dallas. My degree is in speech and language pathology and audiology. I went back and got my masters in special education with a specialization in autism/ABA at Texas State University. A few months after I graduated, I was able to sit for my board certification exam and am now a BCBA.

3. Where have you traveled?

I have done a lot of traveling throughout the US. Mostly with my family growing up. We took a trip just about every summer. I have been to Mexico a few times, but other than that I haven’t been out of the country. I’d like to go overseas someday, but I think it will be awhile before Jon and I have a chance to do that (although this past year, Jon has been to Amsterdam twice and Malaysia for work).

4. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy?

Probably a new car for Jon. His is on it’s way out and as soon as we pay off my car (which we are on track to do a year early!), that will be our next big purchase. Next on the list for me would probably be all the furniture/accessories I’d like to get for our new house.

5. What are your 3 biggest pet peeves?

I can not stand when people chew their food loudly. I hate watching movie scenes where you can hear people chewing, I mean come on, can’t they just turn down the mics at that part?

I hate when people will hold up a line cars in a parking lot waiting for someone to pull out of a specific parking space. Sure, I like parking close to the entrance and now that I have Aedan, the next best place is next to the cart return, but sometimes I think it would just be faster to find a spot a little further away and walk rather than wait forever for someone to pull out.

My last pet peeve would probably be a cluttered house. I’m a little OCD when it comes to house cleaning and with a toddler and a dog my house is far from perfect, but I have to pick up everything every night. I can’t stand waking up to stuff out everywhere or a dirty kitchen.

6. What is your favorite movie?

I love watching movies, but I am a person that tends to only watch a movie once. However, I love Life as a House. I don’t watch it often, but it is one I can watch again and again.

7. What is your drink of choice; wine, beer, or liquor. Or Water, Soda, Tea?

When I am not pregnant, I think I am more of a beer person. Jon and I like trying out all different kinds but my all time favorite is Duvel – so good! On the non-alcohol side, I love sweet tea.

8. What is something you enjoy to do when you have me time?

Probably blogging and reading blogs or reading a good book.

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be?

Target, hands down. I could decorate my entire house and pretty much buy all of our clothes there if I wanted to. Target is totally my weakness. :)

10. Share with us an embarrassing moment of your past? Or present.

I’m sure there are many others, but in high school I was on the swim team. At the first meet of the season, I was on the diving block about to dive in. My toes started slipping and I remember thinking “come on just blow the start whistle already”. Unfortunately, they didn’t blow the whistle fast enough and I slipped down into the water. Nothing like a false start to start of the season.

11. What day would you love to relive again?

I’d have to say our wedding day. I loved everything about our wedding and would not change a thing (even though we had an outdoor wedding and it rained). It was such a fun day with the prospect of the beginning of a great life together. Loved every minute. You can see some pictures and read more about it here.

12. If your life was turned into a movie... what actor would play you?

I have no idea. My life is not interesting enough to be turned into a movie. :)

13. What are the jobs you had in high school/college/the early years?

I was a lifeguard all through high school and college. It was the best job ever. I got paid really well and got to hang out outside all summer. I got to work with all my friends and we always had a fun…probably too much fun, but I have some great stories and memories from the pool.

14. Show us a picture from high school or college.

I don’t have many scanned from high school or college but here is an early one of Jon and I. We were celebrating my 22nd birthday.

And here is one with a few of my good friends from college…

15. If you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go?

This is tough, part of me would want to pick a beach or tropically location and the other would want to pick a most sight seeing historic location.

16. Show us the most current picture of you or you and your family.

I just realized we don’t have any recent pictures of all three of us. I need to change this soon. We didn’t even have family pictures taken at Christmas this year because we were so busy with the move. Here is one with the three of us and my parents, sister and grandmothers.

7. Where do you see your life 5 years from now?

We will have a 7 year old and a 4.5 year old so I am guessing my life will be driving to and from school and play dates, running errands and taking care of our house. Hopefully I will still be working for myself part time or be a stay at home mom. All in all it is right where I have always wanted to be. :)

Our 4th of July

We had two 4th of July celebrations and I thought it was about time I got around to posting about them.

Usually we go up to Plano to celebrate the 4th with my family and some family friends. Since the 4th was during the week this year, we celebrated up there over the weekend which meant we were home on the actual 4th.

Since Jon and I both had the day off, we decided to have some friends over for dinner. I of course took zero pictures, but we all had a lot of fun! We got to enjoy some live music from our backyard (we live pretty close to a restaurant/outdoor music venue and can hear their concerts from the backyard). Aedan had a blast with his friends

We let Aedan stay up late and we sat outside and watched the fireworks from two bigger neighborhoods near us as well as the restaurant. Aedan loved them and kept asking for “more fire”. It was even the first thing he asked about when he woke up the next morning.

Last Friday, Aedan and I headed up to Plano to celebrate the 4th again. Jon is still having to work Friday and Saturday nights so he had to stay home.

Aedan and I had a great visit. He is obsessed with Pop (my dad). My sister, mom and I tried to take him to the pool Saturday morning and he had fun for about 5 minutes and then he realized Pop wasn’t there and just sat at the gate crying and saying he wanted to go home to see Pop. So he spent the afternoon helping Pop out with yard work.

Saturday afternoon, my mom and I went shopping for fabric. I have been looking at bedding for the new nursery and could not find anything I liked. So I decided to make my own. I am going to make the dust ruffle and curtains and maybe a pillow or two. I am going to have someone make a crib bumper (way above my sewing capability). We found some cute fabric and I can’t wait to see it all come together!

Saturday evening, my parent’s good friends all came over. This group has been getting together for the 4th of July for 32 years now! It started off with just my parents and their friends and now the group includes their kids and grandkids. So fun! Aedan was thrilled to have tons of people over…he is truly and extrovert. He was all about hanging out with my sister’s boyfriend. It was hilarious, he would ask Dugan to sit next to him and he would just listen to everything he said. Cracked us all up since this is only the second time he has met him.

Here they are watching a hilarious game of charades. I may have video taped one round, but I don’t think I am allowed to post it. Trust me…hilarious puts it mildly.

One of the guys drives a Porsche so of course all the guys had to check it out. Aedan didn’t want to miss out so he insisted on going out with the guys. Such a big boy already.

Each year a pair of pink flamingos gets put out in front of the house that is hosting the get together. I have no idea why/when that started, but this year they decided to give Jon and I are own set of pink flamingos. We can’t wait to put them out next year. Haha! ;)

All in all, we had a lot of fun! It’s hard to believe next year on the 4th, we will have an almost 3.5 year old and an 8 month old!

-Lauren-

23 Weeks

I was going to try to get this up last week, but I never got around to it.

Getting bigger…

How Far Along: 23 weeks
Size of Baby: Grapefruit
Total Weight Gain/Loss: At my last appointment I was up 8 lbs. so I am guessing it is more like 10 lbs. now.
Genders: It’s a girl and we are so excited!
Movement: Lots of movement. I notice it more and more throughout the day.
Sleep: Sleeping okay. I’ve been waking up around 4 am and I am wide awake for what feels like forever!
Maternity Clothes: I’m still pretty much living in my maternity tanks from Old Navy. I wear a couple pairs of maternity shorts and a couple pairs of my regular shorts still. 
Symptoms: I’ve been feeling pretty good lately. I get a little heartburn from time to time but I’ll take that over feeling sick any day! I do still get nauseous if I don’t go too long between meals/snacks or if I get really tired but nothing horrible.
Aversions: There are still a few things that remind me of being sick but other than that no aversions.
Cravings: Fruit and ice water.
What I miss: Nothing this week!
Worst Moment of the week: Can’t really think of anything.
Best Moment this week: We spent the weekend in Plano to celebrate the 4th of July. We had a lot of fun!

-Lauren-

Show Us Your Life-Bathrooms

I’m linking up again over at Kelly’s Korner. This week she is featuring bathrooms.

We have three full baths in our new house. I haven’t done much decorating in any of them yet, but just like every other room in the house I have some plans. :)

First, our master bath…it is so much bigger than our master bathroom in our old house. We love love love it!

We have a big tub…I eventually want to hang some kind of art work or framed mirror on the wall above the tub.

A big shower…

Counter height double sinks.

A few weeks after we moved in, Jon and I were getting ready for bed and Jon commented that he wasn’t sure how we dealt with our super small master bath before. Haha. Me neither! You can check out that one here.

I try to keep the counter top a little more cleaned off than this, but you get the idea.

We also has a separate closet for the toilet.

Next we have Aedan’s bathroom/the other downstairs bath. It is off the hallway right next to Aedan’s room.

Aedan’s bath toys. :)

I am loving these reed diffusers from Target. I have one in the master bath and in this bathroom. I just need to pick one up for upstairs. They give off a light clean sent which is perfect.

Our third bathroom is upstairs off the bonus room. It is perfect for guests when they stay overnight. Plus having a bathroom upstairs just makes the bonus room that much more perfect.

I eventually want to get some sort of tray tower and lamp for this counter since there is a lot of room.

So there you have our bathrooms. Now who wants to come clean them for me. :)

-Lauren-

Evenings Outside

It has been pretty hot here. Not as hot as last summer…yet anyway, but still we don’t do too much outside during the day except go to the pool.

But in the evenings it has been really nice outside. Our neighborhood is kind of up on a hill so there is always a breeze. Once the sun starts to go down it is pretty comfortable outside so we have been taking full advantage of it.

After dinner we have been walking to the park for a little play time. Aedan loves walking Hiro. I need to get some pictures because it is the cutest thing ever. Hiro does really well and walks right next to him.

On our way back we usually see a few deer running through some of the empty lots

After we put Aedan to bed last night, Jon and I decided to spend some time in the back yard. Jon kicked his soccer ball around.

And I caught up on some blogs/blogging.

We had music going and it was such a nice evening. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have a glass of wine or a beer. Oh well, I had some cherry sours to hold me over. :)

-Lauren-