Aiden at SIX months

Wow how time flies. My little man (or "baby dude" as my mom calls him) is six months old today. He is the happiest little dude I know and is laying beside me as I type this kicking his legs and flailing his arms and laughing at himself. He's so yummy.

Just a few days ago, he started getting up on his knees and rocking. Sometimes he rocks too hard an falls forward on his face. He's also sitting up like a champ. Unfortunately his sister thinks this is prime tackling time. He has a bruise on his left cheek from the latest scrimmage. Tal hopes it will help him be tough for when he's in a real football game. He also scoots himself backward across the hardwood floors and ends up getting caught under the furniture. I remember Kelsey doing the same.

He's also grabbing at everything around him. We went to a broki on Saturday (2nd hand store) and he was in heaven looking at all the fun things he could play with. Luckily, we made it out without breaking anything. Tonight, while I made dinner, I put him in his bumbo seat on the counter. He tried to pull out all my knives that I thought were far enough away and then proceeded to pull out all my cooking spoons, spatulas, wisks, etc. from the pitcher. It kept him busy for at least an hour.

Tal's watching a football game and Aiden is now in a trance watching along side Tally with his doughy brown eyes and pouty bottom lip. He likes his binky at bedtime but if he has it other times, he just plays around with it - studies it, throws it, picks it up spastically between fingers.

He's such a social baby and loves sitting up at the dinner table. We got Kelsey a new high chair and put him in her old one and he loves it. He hasn't liked cucumber or carrot baby food so much, but loves the little Gerber puffs and baby cookies. He also loved this random baby food that my friend gave me from Italy. The problem is, the name was in Italian and didn't have pictures so I'm not sure what was in it. Mom of the year right here! Ceci...which I just looked up...chickpeas? Random, but I'll have to try it.
The other day while feeding him, I looked down to realize I'd given him a pink bib, pink bowl & pink spoon. He likes the bright colors, right?

He's starting to sleep for longer stretches now, which is so nice. However, he still ends up in bed with me around 4am. He's SO sweaty and leaves a circle of sweat on our sheets. Seriously soaking. Tonight I tried putting him down in a onesie so we'll see how that goes.

He and Kelsey love each other so much. Sometimes I'll hold Aiden under his arms and let him "walk" to Kelsey....or chase her. Aiden has started pulling her hair when he can get it. Kels is usually a good sport about it. The other day, she wrapped her arms around his neck and picked him up off the ground a few inches. I was terrified. I just can't leave the room for long. She just wanted to hold him! When she's not beating up on him, she's really sweet to him. She goes and gets him toys to play with, brings him his binky, and helps him roll over.

It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt

Holding him nicely

And not-so-nicely

We're so glad you are in our family buddy! Sorry you're not feeling so great today. Here's to half a year!

Just for a fun comparison, here's what Kelsey looked like at 6 months

Kelsey's hair was falling out and growing back blonde. Aiden's hair is growing in blonde, but he doesn't seem to be losing much. I'll post his stats once we come back from the doctor.

Please Bless the People with Lots of Owwies...

We were just having family prayers and we asked Kelsey if she wanted to say it (usually no). She said, "bless the people with lots of owwies?" I smiled at Tal. She remembered that we told her about the people in Haiti and about our friends' baby London. She then went on to repeat my words as she prayed. I said, "We're thankful for Jesus." She said excitedly, "I LOVE Jesus!" Tal and I just chuckled. I love the innocence, purity and simpleness of children. I'm so glad we're able to pray together as a family.

She also can't wait for church tomorrow, and every week. Church = Nursery.

Praying for you Lulu...

Little London is getting her new liver as I write this. I'm going to bed now praying that all goes well and there is good news in the morning. Liz, James, & Jones...stay strong. Our hearts go out to you...

THANKFUL to be in Cali

This year, I am grateful to be able to spend Thanksgiving with my family. It's been at least 2 years since we've done that. What made it even better was that my grandma from Arkansas was there too. We arrived in the afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving. My Grandma "Nanoo" was waiting to meet her first great-grandbaby boy.

They became best buds

I love their HANDS

Aunt JuJu loved meeting Aiden too.

They had some good cuddle time, and Aiden enjoyed eating Julia's dress.

Kelsey was so excited to see PAPA. She recognized him easily because of Skype.

She hadn't seen him in person in a year.

Mimi got to hold both of her grand babies again...it had been 4 months since she last saw them

Can we say CENTER OF ATTENTION?

Julia was singing jazzy tunes to her

Kelsey playing with the old dollhouse Peach (Julia) and I used to play with.

She loves it. One of the people accidentally made it home with us and every time she sees it she says, "Mimi's house. Go to Mimi's? That's Mimi's...etc."

The chefs cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, Tally was a great help in the kitchen. You know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen...

It was so good to see my sister Jenna.

She didn't immediately take to me but soon she was just about knocking me over with her hugs.

A sweet moment between dad and daughter

Finally the family came over and Sadie and Kelsey were cute little friends/cousins.

It turns out my mom got Kelsey the same shirt Sadie had on, for Christmas. I bought the crocheted flower bows from Tiffany's friend Tyler (b/c I think they are SO darling). When Kelsey picked out this shirt today, I thought it would be fun to dress her up like Sadie was on Thanksgiving. They could definitely be fraternal twins with those blue eyes and blonde hair!

Jenna giving Grandpa Lang big hugs

FIVE GENERATIONS

Great Grandma Miller just lost her husband, Charles and she just recently had a stroke. She's feeling lonely now and her world has been turned upside down. She forgets a lot of things right now, which is probably somewhat of a blessing. She might not make it very long so I'm very grateful to have spent some time with her while we were there.

Saying Grace...well, thanks.

I know, I'm the irreverent one taking the picture.

I want my posterity to know how important prayer is to our family.

Kelsey chowing down

Aiden with the pretty girls, of course. These are my cousins Caitlin & Marissa.

Kelsey was in heaven running around with all these girls!

Ellie was chasing her around, which is her favorite game right now.

Ellie, Brooklyn & Madison performing a Hannah Montana song.

Kelsey was watching in awe.

The next day was extra special. We got to go through the temple and witness my cousin Ryan and his wife Amber be sealed to their children, James & Emily. Since Aiden has to eat often, I wasn't able to attend the first session. I was bummed, but then was able to have another cool experience. I took James and Emily into the temple and helped get them dressed in white. I can't explain it in words, but there was a special feeling there.

Grandpa with Aiden

Taking family pics in front of the undecorated Christmas tree

My parents with Kels & Aiden

Aunt Juju with the kids

Peek-a-Boo!

Isn't she beautiful?

Flight to California

Kelsey was so excited to fly on an airplane. This time she knew what to anticipate when we talked about going on our trip before hand. This was the first time we've had to pay for her seat. We got an amazing deal so we didn't feel it as much as we would have. Can you tell it's the beginning of the flight? Everyone is so happy!

Leaving Zurich...I never knew this was here!

Aiden is a good sport. He's also Super Swiss Baby under his jammies. ;)

The flight over is usually longer and harder for me. However, with the thought of seeing family that I haven't seen in a year, it wasn't so bad. On British Airways, we got our own screens and were able to select from several new releases. Since we don't see a lot of movies, I had a lot to choose from.

The kids were great. They played pretty well together in the bassinet and in Kelsey's seat. They both took good naps  - Kels in her chair for some of it, then on top of me (and somehow that's when I was able to sleep) and Aiden in his bassinet. We love getting bulkhead - especially Tally for his legs. It was noticeably tougher with two, and I never want to make that flight with three.

The poor family next to us had 3 kids, one of which was sick and one of which was a screaming baby. I felt lucky. The only time our kids cried was when we landed in LA and sat on the tarmac for 20 minutes. By then it was 4am their time and they were just DONE. So was I.

We were late for my mom...good thing she's sometimes late too. And an LAX circling champ.

Average Snowy Day

We woke up this morning to MORE SNOW! I'd rather have grey & cold WITH snow than grey & cold without snow. Unless the snow is so bad that it's scary. But this is good snow. I used photo booth (built in computer cam) to take these pics and MAN is it a whole lot easier than having to upload, convert, edit and post!

Here are the kids playing by the window right after waking up. Kelsey loves when it snows. Mind you, there was already snow on the ground - there's just more of it today! I heard there is even snow in Spain right now, which boggles my mind. Mike & Anna, you're missing out ;). Poor Aiden basically gets tackled when Kelsey finds him playing by himself.

I did a photoshoot this morning for Oscar, who I shot when he was one (he's now two). He and Kelsey got their snow suits on and sledded down the snowy sidewalk in our backyard. They thought it was great. Check. I took Kelsey out today and played with her in the snow. I'm a good mom today. Aiden happily slept upstairs while we played. I mention this shoot because it is my last photoshoot in Switzerland. This makes me painfully sad. There is so much potential here, such an untapped market.

We've had lunch, and I told Kelsey it was naptime. She freaked out. We've been having trouble with sleeping these days (she's waking up several times a night, wanting to sleep in our bed or the couch - we chose the couch. She's fallen off a couple times which wakes her up even though we have pillows on the floor. She's waking up early and going to bed late and sometimes not napping STILL. I hope it's just a phase that passes quickly). I told her she at least had to have quiet time and she could have it in her crib or on the couch. She protested even the couch quiet time. Only moments later...

YES! Now for this one...he's almost there. Uh-oh, he heard me come in!

Now here I am blogging. I showered today AND dried my hair. No make-up, but oh well. I'm making a stupid face - but I'm not going to sit here and waste time taking pictures of myself on my computer.

I'm trying to enjoy every bit of Switzerland I can before it's time to go. I'm fighting off the daily pangs of sadness in my heart. It breaks my heart to be leaving right now, in Winter, when Switzerland's finest seasons are ahead. There are so many more trips I want to take, so many friendships still in the blooming stages.

A lot of my friends will also be moving this year, so I guess it wouldn't be the same anyway. And don't get me wrong, I'm stokt to be around family and friends again in Utah. It will be such a blessing. We'll just have to get out and DO in the US. Off to bake my favorite chocolate chip cookies (thanks Erin). Ciao!

Thoughts from the Treadmill

We're back from our month-long states stay and things have been crazy. Some big changes are coming our way so January isn't going to be slow like I'd hoped. It was a great trip, and it feels like one big blur. It also feels like a big burden to blog about. But it will come, slowly but surely.

I went to the gym today, exactly one week after having come home from our trip. It felt good to be there, and to have my kids being baby sat one wall away. Having forgotten to charge my iPod, I had 45 minutes of just me, my thoughts and I. So, I wrote a post while exercising.

First I started to watch the tennis match. I really liked the one chick's outfit. 'Maybe I should start playing tennis...' And then it hit me. I'm already 26, too old to be a professional athlete. Not that I was planning to become one, just the fact that it's wiped off my white board of possibilities caused me to ponder. I could do a triathlon someday. It may not be professional, but it's more my style. That's still on my possibilities list. Whew.

'How long has that girl been on the machine? It must be more than 12 minutes...ahhh...30 minutes, you go girl. I wish I was already 30 minutes into this. No I don't. I can go through this, it's good for me.'

Kelsey is doing so far with potty-training. We started on Friday or Saturday and we've had 5 accidents total (2 were the first 2 times with underwear on, 1 was in the shoe store). She really seems to like it and she's good at telling us when she needs to go. We have also been home a lot the past week so I wonder how she'll do when we're out. My friend Jenna gave me the idea to bring the portable kid potty with me in the car, which has been used several times. At home, it's been nice to have the stack of diapers stay stacked. We've gone through a lot more toilet paper though. It takes a lot more time right now though. She's waking up some mornings with dry diapers and even though it's annoying to have her call for me at 11 or 12pm to go pee or poop, it's progress. At least she's not using it as an excuse. She loves her sticker and lollipop rewards. When she fills up her sticker wall, she gets a mermaid doll head and a wooden beauty set. I can't wait to give it to her.

'I hope this machine was wiped off well before I got here. I hope I don't get sick from it. I hope the kids don't get sick from the day care today. We need to get used to all the Swiss germs again.'

Aiden's being a good boy, he's been a bit fussy the past few days. Poor guy had an ear infection earlier this week - fever and everything. He's better now, just a bit fussier than usual. I hope he's not going through a "mommy only" phase. He's sitting up on his own now and he loves the freedom. He reaches for everything and is pretty good with his hands. It's bad at the dinner table. I guess I'm not used to him being able to pull over cups and grab plates. He's also talking a lot..."dadadada...." is his favorite.

'So if I keep going this fast for this long...that's 8x5...which is...35! No, crap. It's 40. Why am I still so bad at my multiplication table? Just because I had kidney surgery and was in the hospital for much of my 3rd grade, doesn't mean I can still have that excuse for not knowing them. Gosh, that's embarrassing. I need to re-memorize them for when Kelsey starts learning them otherwise I'll lose all credibility. So let's practice...' I proceeded to go through several multiples, but then I got bored.

'Why does that guy keep looking back at me? I'm looking at the TV, not at him!

I'm glad I didn't have an iPod today! Are iPods making us all stupid because we no longer think while we do things, we just mindlessly listen to music?' I love doing that, especially while working out.

Anyway, I know this is a random post, but this is the closest thing to a post you may get for awhile. Why you ask? Because we're moving back to the states in February or March. I have mixed emotions about this. I'll write more on that later. As for now, LOTS to do!

To the Tune of Patty Cake

Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye Kelsey Marie
Sleeping without your binky is hard as can be
You toss, you turn, you cry "mommy, daddy!"
No binky and jet lag means no sleep for Kelsey and me!

(written at 5am, you took a cat nap from 10-1, but haven't so much as yawned since)