May pics

A New Home

As of May 29, 2010 we have moved into our new house that we are buying. Hooray. We are about 20 minutes away from where we used to live in Helendale. We now officially live in Victorville. I really like our new house. It is a one story, 4 bedrooms. It has 2300 square feet. The really cool part is that it was a model home, so it has nice upgrades. But, what's even better is that the house came with all the furniture. Really nice stuff, like out of a Bombay company or Pier 1 Import store.

We are settling in. Almost done with the kitchens, bath and master bedroom. Important thing is we all have a place to sleep. Which i might add that we took a great nap today. the house is quite peaceful. We only have a few hitches, the master shower only trickles water, and we have ants, yuk!!!! Shane bought bait things and spray for the perimeter of the house.

good thing is the boys are adjusting even amongst the chaotic mess. so tired, I will post some pics of the new place soon.

Trains, Trains and more Trains!

On the diesel train
Connor sportin' Daddy's hat
Connor going walking crazy. He is so independent now that he is walking, he won't allow you to hold his hand.

Connor petting a bulldog named Lulu. He was fascinated by her. She had medical issues and couldn't walk so she rode in the wagon.
The old-fashioned fire engine. Beautiful!


The guys who owns this car must love trains even more than Aedyn, if that's possible.

A bus turned into a train complete with whistle and bell.

Aedn could sit there and watch the trains for hours.

Daddy looking at the toys with his boys
Aedyn engineering one of the displays that not only had a train but, a helicopter, and a car. Really great hands on for kids!
Connor admiring the trains
more trains
Looking at one of the displays

As you may well know Aedyn loves, no, is obsessed, with trains! He lives and breathes trains. So to further fuel the fire we decided to attend a train festival called Railroad Days in downtown Brea,Ca. They had tons of model train displays all the way from Z to O to standard size. Completely awesome. I think Connor has caught the bug too, he loved looking at the choo choos.There was a little kid size train to ride on, and old-fashioned fire engine with a dalmation doggie to boot. Oh, and we rode a trolley bus around the corner to see and get on a real diesel engine! We bought some cute train material to turn into a blanket and maybe pillows or a valance for Aedyn's room. We are redoing it in, what else, TRAINS! It was quite a beautiful and entertaining day, ending with some good music and ice cream.

Just some new pics!

Aedyn & Daddy sitting on a train
Train ride

Connor loves his Unkey Jon
Full steam ahead

Easter 2010

So the last couple of weekends were filled with fun and enjoyment. On Sunday, March 28th we went down to Riverside to ride on the Riverside live steamers, where a family member owns an engine, and offered for us to hang out on the trains for a few hours. As expected Aedyn was really excited, so was Daddy! Connor enjoyed himself as well, just chillin' on the choo choo!

Easter weekend was fun too! On Saturday morning we went to a local park for an egg hunt, which was less like a hunt more like a free-for-all. Both boys had fun. When we got home we dyed some eggs, and painted some window hangings. On Sunday morning, it was apparent that the Easter Bunny had hopped by our house, and we had an actual indoor Easter egg hunt, Aedyn had to definitely search for the eggs. Later we headed up the mountain for a family Easter brunch and yet another egg hunt, which Aedyn went wild. Good weekend overall!

Walking Poetry

Life with children is absolutely amazing. I have worked with and cared for children a lot in my life and I love teaching children and seeing the light bulbs turn on, but it is so different so see your child evolve every minute of his life. It is miraculous, it truly is!

Aedyn is doing pretty well with potty training. He has his good days and bad days; bad days come usually when out of his element. Right now we are trying the timed effort, meaning we are trying to take him to the potty before he goes in his pants, by taking him about every 3o minutes, in which he goes every time we sit him on the pot. He is still learning how to recognize the feeling before actually going, but if he does go in his pants, he says something right away and starts heading to the bathroom, so we are progessing. This is why they call it potty "training", right?

Connor is walking! Not exclusively, but he can definitely toddle his way around the house quite easily now. I still haven't caught him on camera yet, he's a little unpredictable. But we are so proud, Shane and I both got to see his first 4 steps together. You should see the look on his face when he walks, it's as if he is flying! He is so pleased with himself.

Here comes a little pat on the back for Shane and I, tonight we dicussed poetry with our children during dinner. Yep, you heard me, Poetry! Aedyn can recite several poems. And Connor follows along with certain poems and acts them out with us by making noises and movements with the words. It blew us away when I started reciting a poem and Aedyn jumped right in and finished the lines. The poems I am talking about are not your average nursery rhymes. We are so proud.

So, I will leave you with a poem the boys practice reciting that is appropriate for today's weather:

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor You.
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither You nor I.
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.

by Christina Georgina Rossetti

New Happenings in Our World

Jelly Boys!

Talk to the hand!
Drinking from big boy cup
Mr. Dimples


The boys are growing up so quick, they both have hit some milestones. Let's start with Aedyn: his biggest milestone is potty training. I finally bought big boy undies for him ( Thomas the train and Mickey Mouse) and we just casually started one afternoon. I suggested he put the undies on, of course he chose Thomas, and that was it. We started giving him a pez candy for #1,but have moved onto candy corn, this seems to be the key motivation. He gets a hershey kiss for #2, we've only given 1 of these out so far. We are really proud of him, but what is better is he is really proud of himself, every time he goes potty he comes running out of the bathroom saying"Look at me, look at me"!
He is also drinking out of a regular cup. He has the most impeccable memory and is such a sponge when it comes to retaining knowledge. He's learning to count his numbers in order, and can recognize numbers 1-5. He knows all his shapes, even the hard ones; like octagon, pentagon, trapezoid. He is a really big help around the house, he loves to help with the dishwasher, give food to the dogs, vacuum, help with the laundry. For most of the time Aedyn is a joyous, happy, child, who continuously makes us laugh! He amazes us everyday!

Connor is developing very fast too. He is 33" tall, and weighs 27 lbs. He is really lanky, and although 18 months fit around his waist, all pants and sleeves on his shirts are too short. He wears mostly a size 2T. Boy he is a good eater, we call him our carnivore. He loves to eat meat, whereas Aedyn shies away and goes for the sweets and bread, and Connor doesn't really like sweet. Yesterday, I put a cookie in front of him and he didn't eat it. Just over the last few days he has learned to use his fork and spoon when eating. Before, he would just hold the spoon in his one hand and pick up his food in the other hand. Connor is really starting to talk more. He is at the mimicking stage, but has a nice long list of words that he uses at his discretion. He is so funny, he loves to make animals noises; pig, cow and elephant are his favorite. He can also use signs to communicate what he wants, like please, more and thank you.

We are convinced that Connor will be a lefty, like his Aunty Kathy. He loves to give out kisses and hugs. He is buliding his patience and attention span. He loves now to sit and actually read the books with us, not just look at the pics. Many a time I wouldn't hear him and go to find him sitting in the book corner reading books. And he actually helps build towers with blocks not just knocks them down. He is probably the world's fastest crawler, meaning he has decided not to walk yet. I mean that, he has all the muscle coordination and mental capacity, he cruises everywhere and will walk if he's holding onto us, even is it is the edge of our shirt or the very tip of our pinky finger, but when we let go he plops to the floor. He'll stand up on his own and just stand anywhere from15- 30 seconds but won't take a step. He did try to take a step yesterday though.This is our biggest frustration with him. In his own time; he was a late crawler too. My bet is when he's ready he won't walk, he'll run! Connor is a very curious child and will probably always be. He is very silly and loves to dance. Actually both boys LOVE to dance, they love music (actually recognize classical pieces of art and music, when heard and seen in random places). They love to hear Mommy and Daddy sing to them!

Both Aedyn and Connor surprise us everyday with their intelligence, sense of humor, and talents. We are so blessed! We are IN LOVE with our children. Life is beautiful!

Hocus Pocus - Aedyn trying a bit of Magic

Aedyn was trying out some magic, he seemed a bit frustrated that it wasn't working.

The elephant herd

February 2010 - Trip to Disney with Nina and Brian

Aedyn calls this ride the Hungry Caterpillar, after the book
Looks like Connor was having fun

Boys hoping the balloon ride will open again
waiting for brother to finish riding the bumper bugs

Aedyn riding the bumper bugs with Brian
Horsies!

This picture was taken on the Pinnochio ride, after it broke down. We still don't know whether or not it stopped because we all tried to cram into one buggy, or something else happened. IT was extremely funny. We laughed so hard, so we had to capture the moment.
I know this is blurry but fun, Aedyn riding on the teacups with Nina. Shane and Brian were in another teacup spinning out of control, it almost made me dizzy.