About Time I Posted...

We haven't posted anything since Christmas! I can't believe it! So here it goes...

For an Aiden update here are things he can do now:

• army crawl REALLY well and make timid attempts at real crawling
• go from a sitting position to a crawling position and from a crawling position back into a sitting position.
  
• eat entire crackers all by himself
• drink out of a sippy cup all by himself and out of a real cup with my help
• talk using a large variety of sounds...I think he is going to be a early talker...he just loves to talk to himself and his toys.
• stand up using the edge of the couch
• loves to open and close drawers of any kind
• sleep through the night! yea!
• 

That is all I can think of at the moment, but all I know is that he is growing up so fast and it is so fun to watch. He has had kind of a rough month or two. First, he had hives everyday on his cheeks and arms and we had no idea what he was reacting to. We hadn't given him any new food and the only thing we could think of was some fluoride drops from the doctor, but we stopped giving him those and that was not it. So, after two weeks of hives every day we took him to the doctor and they did a blood test for food allergies, but he came back negative for everything. So, the doctor said it could be viral hives and that they would go away after another week or two if that were the case. Luckily, they did go away after another week or so. We were very relieved that it was just a virus. He was a happy, healthy baby again for a while, but now he has a bad cold. Poor kid, although it is probably good for him because he needs to build up his immune system. This is really only the second time he has gotten sick. He is such a good baby and is just happy all the time. He loves to be moving and playing and loves to go outside.

Alan and Sandy went to Hawaii for a week in February and so we had the house to ourselves for a while. We had fun going hiking as a family at Tubbs Hill and we went for a walk at Higgins Point to try and go see the bald eagles. During the winter months there are TONS of them around this part of Coeur d'Alene Lake. Unfortunately, we were a little late in the season to see them so we only saw one, but it was fun all the same.


We had a good Valentine's Day at home. Brad bought me some beautiful orange roses (my favorite kind of rose) and I cooked a yummy rasberry french toast breakfast and a scallop dinner. For dessert I made dark chocolate cups filled with a delicious custard with strawberries on top. I LOVE to cook! It is so fun to find new recipes and Valentine's Day is the perfect day to find romantic, creative things.

In other news, we have just been trying to find a place to live in Kentucky. I found a really cute townhouse that I like, but it is on the higher end of our price range and we are having Brent and Meagan go check it out for us to see if it is in a good area and if it is as nice as it looks. I can't wait to have a place of our own! I have gotten all excited from looking at places to live and so, naturally, I have also started brainstorming about decorating as well :) I just bought some really cute IKEA baby bedding for Aiden and this past weekend we bought ourselves a mattress for our bedroom and a black, square kitchen table that is really pretty.

In miscellaneous news...I started a family scrapbook starting from when Brad and I first met and it has been so much fun. I got lots of paper and tools I needed to start. I think my favorite part is not only getting to use my creativity to put together pages, but also to be able to go through the pictures and look back on all of the memories we have made together. I have really enjoyed doing it. My other project that is in the works is to watercolor some paintings for Aiden's room that he will have in Kentucky. I found these adorable paintings on the baby blog called oh deeh doh, but they were selling for 20 dollars a piece. I looked at the paintings and thought I could paint those myself and save some money! They are these adorable, bright pictures of a little kid and his little rabbit doing different things together like reading under a tree or looking up at clouds. So anyways, I did a trial drawing of one of the pictures and it turned out good so now I am working on getting the watercolors to paint it.
And finally, I have to give a plug for Brad. He has been getting up every morning at 4:30 to go work out with his dad, his cousin Brad, and his Uncle Doug. I am so proud of him for doing this and he is looking great! He is getting really muscular in his arms and shoulders. They are doing a work out regimen called crossfit hardcore and they all really like it. I am so proud of you Brad!

That is all the news for now and I will definitely try to be better about posting! Until next time...