I'M BACK!
"Time flies, it's up to you to be the navigator" - Robert Orden
Unbelievably so, it's been exactly 2 years and 1 day since my last blog post. Every day (ok, let's be real... every month or so) I'd say to myself, "I really should post something", but always found something else to take up my time. Since the purpose of this blog was really to be the virtual baby book for my kids, I figured I could always catch up later... but now it's been 2 years!! A few close friends of mine have been recently bugging me about this blog and why haven't I been posting! I realized that this blog was not only an efficient way for me to document all things related to my kids, but it's actually rather therapeutic for me to write and take the time to reflect... regardless of whether or not anyone really reads it. :)
There is absolutely NO way I could fully recap what I've forgotten to post about in the last 2 years, but I'll try to give some sort of a synopsis (with pics of course)... I'll stick with the main highlights or else this post will be forever long.
The Rest of Summer 2015: (My last post was after our annual Myrtle Beach Trip in July)
* In August, we took the kids to the Montgomery County Fair and remember that year Aiden was on fire at the goldfish game? No luck this year, not a single fish. To save Daddy's wallet, we told Aiden and Mady that we would go to the pet store and get a couple fish for them. And so, Captain and Nemo (2 beta fish) joined our family.
* August was also the month that I finally hunkered down and set out to potty train Mady. What everyone says is absolutely correct, girls are so much easier than boys. It took Mady just a few days and she was good to go. No tears... from me or Mady!
Fall and Winter of 2015:
* Aiden began his last year of Pre-K in the Groundhogs classroom and Mady started her VERY first day of Preschool in the Bunnies classroom. This started the first (and last time- at least for a couple years) that I took both my kids to school at the same place! Mady was a champ on her first day, no tears.. but then she cried at drop off every day for about a week. I was thankful for her sweet teachers, lots of hugs and kisses later, she was was bouncing happily into her classroom each day. I may or may not have cried more than she did...
Mady
Aiden
* This is also about the time I got started decorating sugar cookies. I mainly decided to teach myself because I wanted to get some for an upcoming event (I have no idea now what that was) and I couldn't believe how pricey they could be! I figured that I was crafty enough to teach myself and hopefully turn out with something that was edible and beautiful. Turns out, I wasn't too bad at it!
* That Thanksgiving was the first we spent in Florida at Grandpa Gordon's house. It's now become an annual tradition. We love celebrating the start of the holiday season there, you can't beat the weather and Thanksgiving 2015 was also the kids' first trip to Disney World! I've always been obsessed with Disney (I definitely drank the Kool- aid), but taking the kids was a whole different experience. The kids loved meeting all of their favorite Disney characters, and meeting Santa in Epcot was an extra treat! Aiden, at 4, was tall enough to ride more attractions that Mady so he and Daddy spent lots of one on one time together while Mady and I hunted down princesses for their autographs and a photo. Uncle Brian and Grandpa Gordon also accompanied us on this trip, and I think they had a pretty good time as well! We visited all 4 parks in 4 days... exhaustion would have been an understatement!
* We celebrated a wonderful Christmas that December with our usual family gatherings, all as amazing as always. Christmas is always one of our favorite times of the year, and this year Chippy (our Elf on the Shelf) made his debut. He welcomed us when we returned home from Florida after Thanksgiving and, while I'm not sure if the kids actually behaved any better than they usually do, it was fun (and challenging) to figure out what he was up to each night.
* New Years was low key as always. I again did not make it until midnight...
January 2016
* We took a big family trip to San Diego with Vic's parents and both Aunties. We were there for about a week and had a whirlwind of a time. We visited the San Diego Zoo, little Vietnam in Santa Ana, Legoland, and some of Vic's relatives that live out there. The weather was amazing and I enjoyed my solo morning walks to the beach each day. And... we came home in the midst of Snow-maggedon 2016. Going from the warm California sun to over 2 feet of snow was a bit of an adjustment.
... and this is what we came home too...
* Aiden turned 5 on the 25th and we had a little celebration at home and a bigger celebration with friends and family at Chuck-E-Cheese. I'll admit, that place is like organized chaos. Aiden had a fantastic time, and I was ready for an Advil afterwards.
February/March 2016
* Mady started ballet in February at Bella Ballet. We did a Mommy and Me class with Aunt Jocelyn and Noelle. I think Mady did more standing around and asking me to pick her up than she did dancing, but she quickly adjusted and started to enjoy it. I'll admit that I was eager for her to take to it... mainly because she looked so darn cute in her ballet leotard. Luckily, I think she did.
* This is also about the time Vic and I came to the realization that our little Mady was the epitome of a girly-girl. As our happy daughter's personality started to shine more, so did her love for all things sparkly, makeup, clothes and shoes! She started to become more particular about what she wore (and surprisingly could pick outfits that actually matched!) and loved to put on (pretend) makeup. We definitely will have our hands full when she becomes a teenager!
* February also marked Mady's first trip to the dentist! We are so lucky to have found such an amazing pediatric dentist. Even though they are quite a bit of a drive away, it is so worth it. The kids actually look forward to going!
* In March we decided that it was time for our cautious son to learn to ride a bike. We'd tried a few times in the past to get Aiden to hop onto a bike, but he's always been less willing to do things that he wasn't familiar or (at the time) able to do. So we pretty much forced him onto it, and off he went. I can't say that he necessarily LOVED it, but at least we could get him to do it.
* March was also the month we took Mady for her first haircut ever. I was a bit sad to cut it, mostly because the ends of her hair had the most amazing curl from her full head of baby hair, and I knew that once I cut it she would suffer from the same stick straight hair that I have. But it was getting far too long (she was literally sitting on it) and it needed a good trim. She was pretty tolerant with the process and appeared happy with the result.
After
April/May 2016
* In April Mady turned 3. After the chaos of Chuck-E-Cheese for Aiden's birthday, I was looking to have something more calm and "chill" for Mady's. We decided to throw her a party at Black Hills Regional Park. We rented one of the large pavilions near the playground and had a picnic themed party. We totally lucked out with amazing weather and it was perfect!
* In May we attended Aiden's Kindergarten orientation!! He was so excited to see his "big kid" school and meet his teacher, Mrs. Smith, for the first time. We were thrilled that Aiden would be attending the same elementary school that Vic did!
* May was also the start of Aiden's private swim lessons with Ms. Sofie. Aiden had completed several swim classes, but we really felt that since he wasn't the "best" in the class or one of the ones that needed more help, he kind of just skated by. We're firm believers that kids need to learn how to swim, so we were happy that we stumbled upon Ms. Sofie who developed such an amazing relationship with Aiden. She really instilled in him a love for the water and we started seeing some amazing progress... her being pretty also helped. Aiden likes pretty girls. ;)
June/July 2016
* June started off with a trip to the emergency room with Aiden, an asthma attack that had gotten out of control quickly. Luckily, we were in and out within 7 hours (versus an overnight stay) and he was good as new for strawberry picking that weekend. We went to Butler's Orchard and picked the most sweet and delicious berries the kids had ever eaten... so yummy that the loads of berries we picked were eaten up within a few days!
* We celebrated Father's Day with the gang with a quiet lunch at Aunt Josie's and Uncle Mark's with Aunt Jen and Uncle Rez, topped off by a visit to the Nature Center near their house. The kids always have a great time when all our families hang out together, and it's fun watching them all grow up together.
* June 24th was the day of Aiden's graduation ceremony from Preschool. It was so hard for me to believe that this day had arrived. I was overwhelming proud of my baby boy, who cried for WEEKS at drop off and was always super shy, who had now blossomed into a full fledged kid who was now described as extremely social, smart and friendly by his preschool teachers.
* June was also the month that we started Mady in gymnastics with her friend Noelle... and it was love at first leap. Mady loved tumbling, jumping, and climbing over all the equipment at the gym (and no worries, she still loved ballet too- cute outfit intact!).
* Fourth of July weekend was the weekend we transitioned Mady into toddler bed. No more cribs at our house! This was also the start of my frequent nightly visits... soon to be called "visits from my little friend", which compelled me to go to bed soon after the kids went to bed because my friend ended up visiting 5-10 times per night.
* July was also our annual trip to Myrtle Beach with Vic's family. Fun as always!! We had our first professional pictures taken there (I had always wanted to take pics of our family on the beach), and they turned out great! We ended up coming home early because Aiden developed his horrible, horrible rash all over his face and body. We thought it was heat rash, but ended up being an allergic reaction to something in the sunscreen we were using. My poor guy, it was so itchy and painful... I felt so horrible that it took us so long to figure out what it was. Thankfully, Uncle David was able to take one look at it and fix him right up. Thank goodness for doctor friends (and ones that don't mind random pics of their rash covered children sent to their phones off hours).
August/September/October 2016
* August pretty much flew by with trips to the mud hut and the park, waiting for school to begin.
*August 29 was the kids' first day of school, Mady's second year at Preschool and Aiden's first day of KINDERGARTEN. WHAT?! He was so excited and exuded this confidence that I had never seen before, but was so incredible proud of. He was a "car rider", in that I dropped him off and picked him up in the carpool lane, and on that first day, Vic and I told him we'd park and walk him to the door. My little man said "no, I want to do it like I'm suppose to", and off he went... like a champ... walking into the school for his first day. He looked so small walking by himself, with a backpack that was almost bigger than he was... but he stood tall and walked confidently... and I cried. Aiden had a great first day, which was the start of what ended up being an amazing first year.
* Mady started her school year in the Terrapin class looking so much more like a big girl, rather than the baby that she was in my eyes. No tears this year! She loved her classroom and instantly loved her teachers.
* Labor Day weekend we moved Mady out of her toddler bed and into a full fledged big girl bed. Mady's room has always been my favorite room in our house (probably because it was the kind of room I always wanted when I was younger) and it was even more so now with the pretty duvet and accessories she picked out. My daughter has some pretty good taste! :)
* The rest of September and October passed in a blur. Filled with trips to go apple picking, Halloween (Aiden was a ninja and Mady was Elsa- same costumes as last year if I forgot to mention before), and enjoying the start of Fall.
November/December 2016
* November began with a trip to the cardiologist for Mady. An undetected heart murmur made itself known and she needed to get checked out. Luckily, it turned out to be completely benign. Phew! With all of Mady's severe allergies, I was grateful that we were able to bypass this one.
* November 19, Aunt Jocelyn and Noelle invited Mady to her very first show at a theater. We saw 'Beauty and the Beast' at Imagination Stage in Bethesda. I was so impressed by both of the girls, they sat there like perfect little ladies!!! The show was amazing and Mady loved it! 'Beauty and the Beast' was also Mady's favorite Disney movie.
* We went to Florida again for Thanksgiving, we had a great time celebrating with Grandpa Gordon, Uncle Brian, Grandpa Ray and Grandma Carrie. The weather was on point, dresses and t shirts every day! We also made our 2nd trip to Disney World, which was even better than the first since the kids were a little bigger and more attractions could be enjoyed. Mady's favorite park is the Magic Kingdom (mainly because she LOVED the Little Mermaid ride... we rode it 5 times in one day) and Aiden's was Epcot (favorite rides are Test Track and Soarin). Another whirlwind 4 days, spent at the park and at the Wilderness Lodge (decided to splurge on a Disney resort), which made the trip that much better. We also made a little side trip to Legoland Orlando, and decided that it was the last year for it since the kids seemed less interested and getting too old for it. We had a great trip, so much to be thankful for.
* After another wonderful Christmas and New Years (no, I didn't make it to midnight... again), we couldn't wait for 2017.
January/February/March 2017
* In January we celebrated Aiden's 6th birthday at Monkey Joe's. This party was different than years past because this time Aiden invited HIS friends from school! We have always been so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful friends, who in turn have had wonderful children! So our parties have always been filled with those friends. This year was even more special because Aiden was able to have some of his classmates join us. These friends were different than the ones that he made in Preschool in that they actually had a friendship... versus just kids that played together in class. It was nice for me as well, I made some new friends too! (his wonderful friends had wonderful parents!)
* For Aiden's birthday, we added to the generous gift from his grandparents and purchased Aiden is very first tablet. We were pretty amazing at how fast Aiden taught himself to navigate through it and Vic was able to get some pretty great apps for it!
April/May/June 2017
* In April, we celebrated our little Mady-Moo's 4th birthday. At this point, I'll admit, I'm pretty done with birthday parties. So we ended up just going out with some of our friends to Monkey Joe's. Low key... it was great! I could get used to throwing parties like this!
* April was also Aiden's Spring Break. In preschool, Spring Break is one or two days, so it was fun for me to figure out what to do with him for a week! We ended up taking lots of little mini trips (Mady got to play hooky from school to join us) and visited the aquarium, the Air and Space Museum (Aiden saw his first IMAX film), went to see a movie, visited the library, and spent time at Rio riding bikes. Successful Spring Break... and Mommy was exhausted.
* In April, Aiden also started piano lessons. He had expressed some interest in learning piano after watching the movie 'Sing' (he wanted to be like Johnny), and I told him that I would be happy to start him in lessons. But I did give a caveat... I played piano when I was younger and quickly gave it up simply because I didn't want to practice. My parents let me quit far too easily and while I did end up playing the flute for many years, I always regretted not learning to play piano. So I told Aiden that he could start lessons, but that I would not let him quit for at least 2 years... so he could really get a feel of whether or not he liked it. So once he started, he was in. (typing this now... this sounds awfully Tiger Mom of me, doesn't it?... I'm not actually looking for anyone's opinion on this ;) ). Aiden, who Vic and I have always felt is like an old man in a little kid's body, took this to heart and thought about it for about a week. Then he came back and told me he wanted to try. So piano lessons began and I have to say, he practices every single day without complaint and has not once told me he wanted to stop... and to top it off... he's actually pretty good!
* April also brought Aiden's first trip to the emergency room after a mishap at school. He was running at recess and collided with another kid running perpendicular to him. The other kid was much bigger than he, so Aiden went flying and pretty much landed on his face. He had a rather large gash on his forehead and off to the ER for some glue. When I talked to him on the phone (I was on the tram at Dulles having just landed from my trip to London), he was proud to tell me "Mommy, I didn't cry. I was brave". Boy, that glue took forever to fall off! Amazingly he didn't get a scar from it... however, he does have a scar from a bug bite that he got right next to the gash. :\
* In May, Aiden started Spring soccer after school. Small world, Vic's friend from years past was the soccer coach! Aiden loves to run, so he had fun running across the field to the ball... but what to do when he reached the ball was another story. Aiden was pretty neutral about the whole experience... didn't hate soccer and didn't love it. So... we'll probably keep going at it.
* In June, Aiden had his first piano recital. He was so nervous (so was I), but he did great. The whole family came out to support him, which made him so happy and proud.
* In June, Mady also had her very first ballet recital! She did a wonderful job, I was worried that she would just stand there for the whole number, but she actually performed the entire dance! There was once instance when all the girls run to a basket to get a maraca (that's the final portion of the dance) and the girl next to Mady fell. I was a bit terrified thinking that Mady pushed her, but luckily Daddy got the whole performance on tape and I'm happy to report that the girl just slipped and fell.
* We also got Mady her first bike in June, a princess one (of course), and Vic and I were so impressed with how well she did! It took her a few minutes to get the pedaling down, but then she was off! The other great part of it was that this instilled a new found love for Aiden and his bike! I think seeing his little sister pedaling along was enough for Aiden to want to do the same. So we spent most of the remainder of June outside riding bikes!
* On June 20th, Aiden lost his first tooth! It was pretty interesting... when I was a kid, I was always terrified of having a loose tooth because my dad would always say "let me see how loose it is" and when I would show him he would yank it out (I'm getting anxious just thinking about it). That night, Aiden was telling me that his tooth was "really, really" loose, so I asked him to show me. He then proceeded to pull it out himself and show me the tooth! He put it under his pillow and that night the tooth fairy visited our house. Aiden got a dollar for his tooth and he was pretty excited about it... until he found out that most of his friends got $5 for their first tooth (I guess our tooth fairy forgot about inflation). Aiden was then pretty bummed, so I said to him that if he wanted to put the dollar back under his pillow, I'm sure the tooth fairy wouldn't mind giving his tooth back. Aiden suddenly became very excited about his dollar. :)
* June also brought the last day of school for both Aiden and Mady, and the start of Mady's Preschool Summer program. Let the summer begin!!
SO... I think that's a good place to stop this post and start my Summer 2017 post. Thanks for sticking with me on this one, I know it was a LOOONG one.
I'm definitely not going to wait this long to post again.... I'll admit, though, it was fun for me to look back over the past 2 years and remember all the milestones and fun memories. But it also makes me a bit sad about all the things that I don't remember and can't document. The kids are growing so fast and changing every day, I wish I could pause time every now and then and reflect. I think over the past couple of years I have changed as well, trying to change and improve certain aspects of myself.
Let's see where all of this goes.
There is absolutely NO way I could fully recap what I've forgotten to post about in the last 2 years, but I'll try to give some sort of a synopsis (with pics of course)... I'll stick with the main highlights or else this post will be forever long.
The Rest of Summer 2015: (My last post was after our annual Myrtle Beach Trip in July)
* In August, we took the kids to the Montgomery County Fair and remember that year Aiden was on fire at the goldfish game? No luck this year, not a single fish. To save Daddy's wallet, we told Aiden and Mady that we would go to the pet store and get a couple fish for them. And so, Captain and Nemo (2 beta fish) joined our family.
** Update: Captain and Nemo only made it for about a year before perishing to fish heaven
* August was also the month that I finally hunkered down and set out to potty train Mady. What everyone says is absolutely correct, girls are so much easier than boys. It took Mady just a few days and she was good to go. No tears... from me or Mady!
Fall and Winter of 2015:
* Aiden began his last year of Pre-K in the Groundhogs classroom and Mady started her VERY first day of Preschool in the Bunnies classroom. This started the first (and last time- at least for a couple years) that I took both my kids to school at the same place! Mady was a champ on her first day, no tears.. but then she cried at drop off every day for about a week. I was thankful for her sweet teachers, lots of hugs and kisses later, she was was bouncing happily into her classroom each day. I may or may not have cried more than she did...
Mady
Aiden
Mady's classroom
Yes, obviously this isn't a picture of my cookies... but seriously, how cute is this pic of Mady eating a drumstick?! And who doesn't like fried chicken?!
* That Thanksgiving was the first we spent in Florida at Grandpa Gordon's house. It's now become an annual tradition. We love celebrating the start of the holiday season there, you can't beat the weather and Thanksgiving 2015 was also the kids' first trip to Disney World! I've always been obsessed with Disney (I definitely drank the Kool- aid), but taking the kids was a whole different experience. The kids loved meeting all of their favorite Disney characters, and meeting Santa in Epcot was an extra treat! Aiden, at 4, was tall enough to ride more attractions that Mady so he and Daddy spent lots of one on one time together while Mady and I hunted down princesses for their autographs and a photo. Uncle Brian and Grandpa Gordon also accompanied us on this trip, and I think they had a pretty good time as well! We visited all 4 parks in 4 days... exhaustion would have been an understatement!
* We celebrated a wonderful Christmas that December with our usual family gatherings, all as amazing as always. Christmas is always one of our favorite times of the year, and this year Chippy (our Elf on the Shelf) made his debut. He welcomed us when we returned home from Florida after Thanksgiving and, while I'm not sure if the kids actually behaved any better than they usually do, it was fun (and challenging) to figure out what he was up to each night.
January 2016
* We took a big family trip to San Diego with Vic's parents and both Aunties. We were there for about a week and had a whirlwind of a time. We visited the San Diego Zoo, little Vietnam in Santa Ana, Legoland, and some of Vic's relatives that live out there. The weather was amazing and I enjoyed my solo morning walks to the beach each day. And... we came home in the midst of Snow-maggedon 2016. Going from the warm California sun to over 2 feet of snow was a bit of an adjustment.
* Aiden turned 5 on the 25th and we had a little celebration at home and a bigger celebration with friends and family at Chuck-E-Cheese. I'll admit, that place is like organized chaos. Aiden had a fantastic time, and I was ready for an Advil afterwards.
February/March 2016
* Mady started ballet in February at Bella Ballet. We did a Mommy and Me class with Aunt Jocelyn and Noelle. I think Mady did more standing around and asking me to pick her up than she did dancing, but she quickly adjusted and started to enjoy it. I'll admit that I was eager for her to take to it... mainly because she looked so darn cute in her ballet leotard. Luckily, I think she did.
* February also marked Mady's first trip to the dentist! We are so lucky to have found such an amazing pediatric dentist. Even though they are quite a bit of a drive away, it is so worth it. The kids actually look forward to going!
* In March we decided that it was time for our cautious son to learn to ride a bike. We'd tried a few times in the past to get Aiden to hop onto a bike, but he's always been less willing to do things that he wasn't familiar or (at the time) able to do. So we pretty much forced him onto it, and off he went. I can't say that he necessarily LOVED it, but at least we could get him to do it.
* March was also the month we took Mady for her first haircut ever. I was a bit sad to cut it, mostly because the ends of her hair had the most amazing curl from her full head of baby hair, and I knew that once I cut it she would suffer from the same stick straight hair that I have. But it was getting far too long (she was literally sitting on it) and it needed a good trim. She was pretty tolerant with the process and appeared happy with the result.
Before
April/May 2016
* In April Mady turned 3. After the chaos of Chuck-E-Cheese for Aiden's birthday, I was looking to have something more calm and "chill" for Mady's. We decided to throw her a party at Black Hills Regional Park. We rented one of the large pavilions near the playground and had a picnic themed party. We totally lucked out with amazing weather and it was perfect!
* In May we attended Aiden's Kindergarten orientation!! He was so excited to see his "big kid" school and meet his teacher, Mrs. Smith, for the first time. We were thrilled that Aiden would be attending the same elementary school that Vic did!
* May was also the start of Aiden's private swim lessons with Ms. Sofie. Aiden had completed several swim classes, but we really felt that since he wasn't the "best" in the class or one of the ones that needed more help, he kind of just skated by. We're firm believers that kids need to learn how to swim, so we were happy that we stumbled upon Ms. Sofie who developed such an amazing relationship with Aiden. She really instilled in him a love for the water and we started seeing some amazing progress... her being pretty also helped. Aiden likes pretty girls. ;)
June/July 2016
* June started off with a trip to the emergency room with Aiden, an asthma attack that had gotten out of control quickly. Luckily, we were in and out within 7 hours (versus an overnight stay) and he was good as new for strawberry picking that weekend. We went to Butler's Orchard and picked the most sweet and delicious berries the kids had ever eaten... so yummy that the loads of berries we picked were eaten up within a few days!
* We celebrated Father's Day with the gang with a quiet lunch at Aunt Josie's and Uncle Mark's with Aunt Jen and Uncle Rez, topped off by a visit to the Nature Center near their house. The kids always have a great time when all our families hang out together, and it's fun watching them all grow up together.
* June 24th was the day of Aiden's graduation ceremony from Preschool. It was so hard for me to believe that this day had arrived. I was overwhelming proud of my baby boy, who cried for WEEKS at drop off and was always super shy, who had now blossomed into a full fledged kid who was now described as extremely social, smart and friendly by his preschool teachers.
* Fourth of July weekend was the weekend we transitioned Mady into toddler bed. No more cribs at our house! This was also the start of my frequent nightly visits... soon to be called "visits from my little friend", which compelled me to go to bed soon after the kids went to bed because my friend ended up visiting 5-10 times per night.
* July was also our annual trip to Myrtle Beach with Vic's family. Fun as always!! We had our first professional pictures taken there (I had always wanted to take pics of our family on the beach), and they turned out great! We ended up coming home early because Aiden developed his horrible, horrible rash all over his face and body. We thought it was heat rash, but ended up being an allergic reaction to something in the sunscreen we were using. My poor guy, it was so itchy and painful... I felt so horrible that it took us so long to figure out what it was. Thankfully, Uncle David was able to take one look at it and fix him right up. Thank goodness for doctor friends (and ones that don't mind random pics of their rash covered children sent to their phones off hours).
August/September/October 2016
* August pretty much flew by with trips to the mud hut and the park, waiting for school to begin.
*August 29 was the kids' first day of school, Mady's second year at Preschool and Aiden's first day of KINDERGARTEN. WHAT?! He was so excited and exuded this confidence that I had never seen before, but was so incredible proud of. He was a "car rider", in that I dropped him off and picked him up in the carpool lane, and on that first day, Vic and I told him we'd park and walk him to the door. My little man said "no, I want to do it like I'm suppose to", and off he went... like a champ... walking into the school for his first day. He looked so small walking by himself, with a backpack that was almost bigger than he was... but he stood tall and walked confidently... and I cried. Aiden had a great first day, which was the start of what ended up being an amazing first year.
* Mady started her school year in the Terrapin class looking so much more like a big girl, rather than the baby that she was in my eyes. No tears this year! She loved her classroom and instantly loved her teachers.
* Labor Day weekend we moved Mady out of her toddler bed and into a full fledged big girl bed. Mady's room has always been my favorite room in our house (probably because it was the kind of room I always wanted when I was younger) and it was even more so now with the pretty duvet and accessories she picked out. My daughter has some pretty good taste! :)
* The rest of September and October passed in a blur. Filled with trips to go apple picking, Halloween (Aiden was a ninja and Mady was Elsa- same costumes as last year if I forgot to mention before), and enjoying the start of Fall.
* November began with a trip to the cardiologist for Mady. An undetected heart murmur made itself known and she needed to get checked out. Luckily, it turned out to be completely benign. Phew! With all of Mady's severe allergies, I was grateful that we were able to bypass this one.
* November 19, Aunt Jocelyn and Noelle invited Mady to her very first show at a theater. We saw 'Beauty and the Beast' at Imagination Stage in Bethesda. I was so impressed by both of the girls, they sat there like perfect little ladies!!! The show was amazing and Mady loved it! 'Beauty and the Beast' was also Mady's favorite Disney movie.
* We went to Florida again for Thanksgiving, we had a great time celebrating with Grandpa Gordon, Uncle Brian, Grandpa Ray and Grandma Carrie. The weather was on point, dresses and t shirts every day! We also made our 2nd trip to Disney World, which was even better than the first since the kids were a little bigger and more attractions could be enjoyed. Mady's favorite park is the Magic Kingdom (mainly because she LOVED the Little Mermaid ride... we rode it 5 times in one day) and Aiden's was Epcot (favorite rides are Test Track and Soarin). Another whirlwind 4 days, spent at the park and at the Wilderness Lodge (decided to splurge on a Disney resort), which made the trip that much better. We also made a little side trip to Legoland Orlando, and decided that it was the last year for it since the kids seemed less interested and getting too old for it. We had a great trip, so much to be thankful for.
* After another wonderful Christmas and New Years (no, I didn't make it to midnight... again), we couldn't wait for 2017.
* In January we celebrated Aiden's 6th birthday at Monkey Joe's. This party was different than years past because this time Aiden invited HIS friends from school! We have always been so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful friends, who in turn have had wonderful children! So our parties have always been filled with those friends. This year was even more special because Aiden was able to have some of his classmates join us. These friends were different than the ones that he made in Preschool in that they actually had a friendship... versus just kids that played together in class. It was nice for me as well, I made some new friends too! (his wonderful friends had wonderful parents!)
* For Aiden's birthday, we added to the generous gift from his grandparents and purchased Aiden is very first tablet. We were pretty amazing at how fast Aiden taught himself to navigate through it and Vic was able to get some pretty great apps for it!
April/May/June 2017
* In April, we celebrated our little Mady-Moo's 4th birthday. At this point, I'll admit, I'm pretty done with birthday parties. So we ended up just going out with some of our friends to Monkey Joe's. Low key... it was great! I could get used to throwing parties like this!
* April was also Aiden's Spring Break. In preschool, Spring Break is one or two days, so it was fun for me to figure out what to do with him for a week! We ended up taking lots of little mini trips (Mady got to play hooky from school to join us) and visited the aquarium, the Air and Space Museum (Aiden saw his first IMAX film), went to see a movie, visited the library, and spent time at Rio riding bikes. Successful Spring Break... and Mommy was exhausted.
* In April, Aiden also started piano lessons. He had expressed some interest in learning piano after watching the movie 'Sing' (he wanted to be like Johnny), and I told him that I would be happy to start him in lessons. But I did give a caveat... I played piano when I was younger and quickly gave it up simply because I didn't want to practice. My parents let me quit far too easily and while I did end up playing the flute for many years, I always regretted not learning to play piano. So I told Aiden that he could start lessons, but that I would not let him quit for at least 2 years... so he could really get a feel of whether or not he liked it. So once he started, he was in. (typing this now... this sounds awfully Tiger Mom of me, doesn't it?... I'm not actually looking for anyone's opinion on this ;) ). Aiden, who Vic and I have always felt is like an old man in a little kid's body, took this to heart and thought about it for about a week. Then he came back and told me he wanted to try. So piano lessons began and I have to say, he practices every single day without complaint and has not once told me he wanted to stop... and to top it off... he's actually pretty good!
* April also brought Aiden's first trip to the emergency room after a mishap at school. He was running at recess and collided with another kid running perpendicular to him. The other kid was much bigger than he, so Aiden went flying and pretty much landed on his face. He had a rather large gash on his forehead and off to the ER for some glue. When I talked to him on the phone (I was on the tram at Dulles having just landed from my trip to London), he was proud to tell me "Mommy, I didn't cry. I was brave". Boy, that glue took forever to fall off! Amazingly he didn't get a scar from it... however, he does have a scar from a bug bite that he got right next to the gash. :\
* In May, Aiden started Spring soccer after school. Small world, Vic's friend from years past was the soccer coach! Aiden loves to run, so he had fun running across the field to the ball... but what to do when he reached the ball was another story. Aiden was pretty neutral about the whole experience... didn't hate soccer and didn't love it. So... we'll probably keep going at it.
* In June, Aiden had his first piano recital. He was so nervous (so was I), but he did great. The whole family came out to support him, which made him so happy and proud.
* In June, Mady also had her very first ballet recital! She did a wonderful job, I was worried that she would just stand there for the whole number, but she actually performed the entire dance! There was once instance when all the girls run to a basket to get a maraca (that's the final portion of the dance) and the girl next to Mady fell. I was a bit terrified thinking that Mady pushed her, but luckily Daddy got the whole performance on tape and I'm happy to report that the girl just slipped and fell.
* We also got Mady her first bike in June, a princess one (of course), and Vic and I were so impressed with how well she did! It took her a few minutes to get the pedaling down, but then she was off! The other great part of it was that this instilled a new found love for Aiden and his bike! I think seeing his little sister pedaling along was enough for Aiden to want to do the same. So we spent most of the remainder of June outside riding bikes!
* On June 20th, Aiden lost his first tooth! It was pretty interesting... when I was a kid, I was always terrified of having a loose tooth because my dad would always say "let me see how loose it is" and when I would show him he would yank it out (I'm getting anxious just thinking about it). That night, Aiden was telling me that his tooth was "really, really" loose, so I asked him to show me. He then proceeded to pull it out himself and show me the tooth! He put it under his pillow and that night the tooth fairy visited our house. Aiden got a dollar for his tooth and he was pretty excited about it... until he found out that most of his friends got $5 for their first tooth (I guess our tooth fairy forgot about inflation). Aiden was then pretty bummed, so I said to him that if he wanted to put the dollar back under his pillow, I'm sure the tooth fairy wouldn't mind giving his tooth back. Aiden suddenly became very excited about his dollar. :)
* June also brought the last day of school for both Aiden and Mady, and the start of Mady's Preschool Summer program. Let the summer begin!!
SO... I think that's a good place to stop this post and start my Summer 2017 post. Thanks for sticking with me on this one, I know it was a LOOONG one.
I'm definitely not going to wait this long to post again.... I'll admit, though, it was fun for me to look back over the past 2 years and remember all the milestones and fun memories. But it also makes me a bit sad about all the things that I don't remember and can't document. The kids are growing so fast and changing every day, I wish I could pause time every now and then and reflect. I think over the past couple of years I have changed as well, trying to change and improve certain aspects of myself.
Let's see where all of this goes.
