Everyday Superheros

Late Monday night the stomach bug hit me.  I was up a good part of the night and when the morning came around and Trot started whining I woke Shaun up to go deal with him.  By the time he left for work at 9 all three kids were up.  He left strict orders for them to not bother Momma.  He also left Avery his phone number and a short list of instructions.

I appeared a couple times throughout the day, twice to put Aiden down for a nap, once to change a diaper and a couple times to deal with some necessary work stuff.  The rest of the day I was incapacitated.  Looking back on the day, I feel like I spent it in a coma...it is a complete blur and I'm still not sure it actually happened.  Before Shaun left he asked if he could get me anything so I asked for my laptop but I wasn't even able to read or work on the computer.  I just layed in the dark with my electric blanket....it was the sickest I've been in at least ten years.

Shaun came home for lunch to feed the kids and then he was back at 6.  He said within 30 seconds of walking in the dog pulled a bowl off the table and it broke and the house was more messy than its ever been since we've owned it.  Now that's saying something.  He said it'd been a day right out of Lord of the Flies.

When I walked downstairs this morning I would have never known anything had happened, he'd cleaned it all up.  He'd also stripped a peed-in bed and did a load of laundry.

It was such an awful day for me and Shaun handled the weight of it without a complaint and without me even knowing what was going on.  The girls said they watched five (yes five!) movies while Daddy was at work and Avery called him about 20 times but it all ended ok.

See this man right here?

This is my Mr. Wonderful, my favorite Super Hero.  Thanks for all you do, Shaun.  I love you.

Aiden is Seventeen Months

Aiden is turning into a little boy and we are losing sight of our baby.  This age is SUCH a blast.  They understand so much and still everything is so new and fascinating.

He requests to sing Up Above all the time, meaning he wants me to sing Twinkle, Twinkle.  He says, Mom, Up Above and then buries his head into my neck and snuggles in, completely melting me.  He gave up his bottle on his own.  Instead, when I lay him down he immediately shoves as much of his fluffy blanket into his mouth as will fit.

He is still such a picky eater, but we found that he will eat anything, as long as its on pizza.  Strange, but we are going with it.

Any drink is a ba-ba
He uses please and thank you generously and usually without prompting
He has a new word everyday, it seems
dog: dough-dough or do-do
basket (as in basketball): baket
He's got slight variations of how he says Trot, but he's got the inflection of his voice down, depending on why he is calling him, or scolding him, etc

The difference between boys and girls has fascinated me and its being played out so obviously in our house.  We are set up for girls.  Nearly every toy we have is pink and has a girl theme.  But despite that Aiden has still managed to seek out all things boy.  If Shaun leaves a tool out, Aiden scoops it up in no time.  He can spot a ball a mile away and already has a bit of a fetish with them.  Everyday he
spends an hour or two moving the firewood around.

He loves to read, sometimes by himself or sometimes he brings a book to one of us and wants to get up on our lap to read.  That always makes my (gladly) drop what I'm doing and oblige.

Here's Aiden in pictures over the last month...

Its such a fun treat to go get him in the morning.  He always wakes up happy and talkative.  He's got a special smile reserved just for his momma and to me, its just about as good as life gets

Christmas Time

For the last several years we have celebrated Christmas with Shaun's side of the family the weekend before Christmas.  Shaun's sister Sarah and her husband have hosted each year and do an amazing job.  This year was no exception.  The table was set to perfection and the food was festive and delicious.

 Tony is a good right-hand man, looking for ways to be of service.

 Sienna and Miss Alayna, who is already on her second Christmas.

Aiden was always close by when Uncle Tony was tending the fire, offering words of advice or a nod of approval.   I guess when your home is heated primarily with a woodstove you can consider yourself an expert. :)

 Yum!

 The kids waited so patiently and were finally able to open their presents.

 Trot did a lot of playing beforehand, so he slept through most of his first Christmas.

Shaun's Nana always sends up a package from Florida and we get to open them together.  Nana and Grandpa John travel extensively and its usually gifts from their adventures.  Last year was India, this year was Scotland.  Knowing that, we were hoping for kilts.  No kilts, but Scottish sweaters instead.  AND, the traditonal Christmas socks.  Its so special to know we are being thought of throughout the year as they are traveling.

Nana and Grandpa John, we missed having you there, but you were definitely with us in spirit.

 (Shaun, Tony, Nathan, Micah)

The girls also got sweaters and cups.

 (Sienna, Sarah, Laryssa, Me)


Avery was anticipating this Christmas gathering and insisted she "had nothing to wear".  Ay, caramba.  I took her to the children's second hand store and she found this gem of a dress within seconds.  It called her name.  She is a fashionista to the max.  While opening presents she added the headband, bracelet and socks to complete the outfit.

Mimi spending some time with Alyana.

 Uncle Nathan has a particularly bouncy knee. (Avery's Scotland sweater).

 Jared played a few tunes for us on his saxaphone.

 A feeble attempt to get the (very mobile, very tired) one-year olds together in their jams.

We are so blessed with family close by, on both sides.  Here's the lineup of Shaun's family.

Shaun's brother, Sienna and Alayna

Brother Nathan, Laryssa

 Sister Sarah, Tony and Jared

 Us!  A rare family photo.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, 

establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6,7