Oh Happy Days!

Aiden got his first birthday present in the mail yesterday! Well, actually, his grandma Patti came home with a $20 bill in an envelope for him from family in Florida, but he got his first real gift yesterday.

Up until about a week ago he was still riding in his infant carrier when traveling with daddy. Was he way above the height and weight restrictions? Yes. Did I feel like a horrible mother for allowing him to go in anywhere in that car? Pretty much.

But Grandpa Alan to the rescue!! We received a much needed Combi Coccoro on our front step yesterday. It was chosen due to it's extreme compact-ness, which was a must with Tom's itty bitty Pontiac. We learned our lesson with buying clunker car seats - Tom and I have to ride with our knees up to our chests in my car because Aiden's seat takes up the whole car.

It hasn't been installed in the car yet, but so far I give it rave reviews, especially for a 2nd "backup" carseat. It's so lightweight and small, yet Aiden still fits in it perfectly. The shoulder straps were extremely easy to re-thread for adjustment (the part I dreaded the most), and there's even a pocket in the back to keep the instruction manual. It doesn't seem like Combi skipped on any details with this one.
Oh, and did I mention it's super-cute?

In fact, I like it so much, it may even get used in my car, too!

(This is Aiden's goofy "I'm waiting for that stupid light to blind me" face)


So from a happy mommy and happy baby, Thank You Grandpa!!

No dog. For now, at least. Not because we don't want one. In fact, we were pretty much all set to drive to Oshkosh to pick up our new member of the family. Then we took a look-see at our fnances, and, well, that pretty much ended it all. If I want to have any hope of getting engaged sometime soon, a dog isn't really going to fit into our budget at the moment. Especially because our landlord wants a second security deposit on top of what we already paid them. I can assure you that if I had an extra $1000 it wouldn't be going towards that. ::sigh::

We sold a bunch of Aiden's baby paraphernalia. I'll admit it, I got a little emotional about his Jumperoo leaving and I'm having sellers remorse because of it. He was 3 months old when we first put him in that thing - we stacked a pile of books underneath his feet because they didn't touch the floor yet. Eventually he ended up spending hours a day in it. It was probably the only thing we bought that I actually feel was worth the money (in case you didnt know, baby stuff is WAY overpriced). I probably should have kept it for our next baby, but I just figured that by the time we have another one, I'll want the newest thing anyway. In 3 or 4 years that Jumperoo is going to be considered antique. Hopefully baby Sophia is enjoying it just as much as Aiden did.

In other news....er....wait....I have no other news! We're living pretty boring lives lately.

Dog Wars

There is no denying that Aiden loves dogs. He likes animals in general, but dogs have made his face light up since the day he was born (I'm serious!)

Now that we're relatively settled into our humble abode, we've begun to ask the question: Should we get a dog?

Up until...well...a few days ago maybe, I've been pretty anti-dog. Not because I don't like them, but because I'm not sure I want the responsibility right now. As seen with my parents, a dog can tie you down quite a bit. Paying for boarding when a vacation comes up, only being able to leave the house for a little bit because the dog needs to get let out, standing out in the freezing cold to let it do business, etc. I have my hands full with my troublemaker son, so a dog would be an interesting addition.

On the flip side, Tom and I are both dog people and we'd love to get one for Aiden to run around and play with. Plus, I freaked out about having a baby because I feared the responsibility, and now I would do anything for him. Maybe I'm just freaking out for no reason again.

We still have to get this approved with our landlords. I know they'll allow people to move in with dogs under 20 lbs, but will they be very thrilled if we purchase one while we're living here? Tom thinks our rent would increase, too.

Regardless, we have an appointment tomorrow to see some Bichon/Terrier mix puppies. I'm hoping they look like these cute little guys:

We went to a pet store today and fell in love with a Bichon/Yorkie mix that was a golden color, but they're trying to get $620 for her. Ouch!

Color is a basic human need…Like fire and water, A raw material, Indispensable to life.

This week is a big week. Why? Well, it's all because my grandmother decided to get married on Saturday, and she chose my parents house as the venue. What originally started as a casual fall wedding, has now evolved into a huge shindig that everybody (and then some...) is attending. Yes, even my brother and his girlfriend are flying in from Nowhere, Kansas tomorrow so they can delight in the party.

A trip to my house is first on the agenda for the week. Naturally this means that I need to kick it into high gear and get it "show-worthy." There was no way people would be coming to our house before I had the living room painted, so off we ran to Home Depot. After much deliberation (and about $25 spent purely on paint samples), we finally chose a color and embarked on our mission (see above the fireplace for a partial tasting of the samples).

9 hours later, and voila!



The 'before' shot (Aiden is an added bonus)



Our finished product, minus any decor



This project was only made possible with the ridiculously tall ladder and a trooper for a boyfriend. He stood on that ladder for hours in order to tape, paint the edges, and the roll the walls. (And no, he doesn't usually wear those ridiculous socks with shorts but apparently he thought he was being funny)



Now, I'd REALLY love to get the kitchen painted too, but I think Tom might have a heart attack if I bring that up. I guess we'll see....

Spoiler Alert!

To anybody who is being invited to Aiden's party...don't look at these pictures!

To all others: Enjoy! Here's a sneak peek at what's been ordered so far....


The invites (hopefully being printed and shipped very soon)


Table decorations


Favor tags


Banner


Door sign


Photo banner


I can't believe the date is creeping up on us so quickly!

Whirlwind

I hardly have time to think lately.

Cleaning. Midterms. Fall festivities. Decorating the new house. Cleaning. Aiden's 4 day (and counting!) diarrhea. Outfits for Boston. Cleaning. Laundry. Buy this. Return that. Freaking out about career directions. Groceries. Eyebrow wax. Cleaning.

That's my life. One thing to the next. No looking back, no looking too far ahead - it's just one moment at a time.

We leave for Boston in...oh...39-ish hours. Surreal? Yes. Luckily it's only an overnight stay that doesn't require an enormous amount of effort because we have zero ability to focus on something so minute right now. I was able to steal a half an hour at the mall last night to pick out an outfit, but I've already decided it's being returned for something a bit more...me. Trying to fit a second trip to Express in will be entertaining.

Aiden has blessed us with four smelly days of diarrhea and shows no signs of stopping. Take the smell of rotten hard-boiled eggs about 50 times and that's how bad his diapers smell from across the room. His poor little bottom is bright-red from it all. His pediatrician finally gave some ideas on how to put a kabosh to this whole ordeal so I'm hoping this is over by the time we leave. Apparently he has to stop producing tears before they really care about this diarrhea business. A bit extreme I think.

Most of the midterms for my classes have been posted. I'm ignoring them until I get back from our overnight rendezvous, which I will most likely regret. Why can't these professors just realize that there's no time for exams?! ::sigh::

Home Sweet Home

Yes, I am still alive. It's a miracle but we made it through the moving process sans any major catastrophes.

I love my new home. Maybe love isn't even the right word....I ADORE my new home!

Tom and I are probably in the "honeymoon phase" of living here still, but we constantly comment about the little things that make this place so freakin awesome. Our favorite thing so far? It's so QUIET! Nobody above us, nobody below us, and for the moment, nobody next to us! The only noise we hear is the noise we create. What a concept!!

Everything has fallen into place so perfectly and I don't think I could be any happier. I see us living here until we're able to buy a house and that's a nice feeling. It's going to take some time and some work to make it feel like ours but that's half the fun.

The majority of our boxes are unpacked, so I decided to get after painting Aiden's room right away. He's having some difficulty adjusting to his new house so I'm hoping that making his room nice and cozy will help him settle in better. It took me 4 hours yesterday to tape everything off, paint around the trim and cieling, and roll the walls and another hour today to slap a 2nd coat on. When Tom got home we put everything back together and even got the curtains up. I am SO HAPPY with it! The color turned out to be perfect.

We're hoping to tackle the living room next weekend which will be a huge undertaking. The cielings in part of the room are about 16 ft high so I'm really not looking forward to painting them. Color on the walls is necessary though.

Here's a little peak at Aiden's room. It looks so much better in person - the flash is throwing everything off
.




Boston in 10 days!!!!