Friends, travels, and growing up

After the holiday madness we settled home for a few weeks, Ty and Aidan are really becoming such close siblings. Often times without prompting Aidan will simply exclaim "I love you Twer" in which Ty will respond with reaching over and hugging her. They cause each other to have the biggest belly laughs, often when they are at the table for meals. They both of course still like to own the rights to their own toys and when and if the other may play with them, but they are getting better and solving their disputes calmly. About a week and a half into January I got up the nerve to embark on a trip with just me and the kids to travel four states, stopping three times to visit friends. We had a great journey up to our first stop, when we soon got a lesson in who is in control. We had been there one day and then proceeded to have one of the worst snow and ice storms Atlanta had seen. We were staying with dear friends, so Ty and Aidan had a blast playing with their friends and I enjoyed visiting with mine. However, we were snowed in, with the ice so bad I couldn't drive anywhere for 4 days. We were sad we didn't get to visit with all our other close friends who live there, except for Sunday at services. We also had to let down all our other friends in the other states we were supposed to travel to, making the decision that getting home and out of the dangerous weather was the best idea. Poor Ty cried, it's heartbreaking to let down your babies even when it's best for them. The next stop we were intended to travel was even further north and they had planned a party for us, Ty was so crushed we would not make it. We have promised to try to make the trip again. Ty is constantly talking about his 4th birthday, and Chad and I can't believe our baby turns 4. He has changed his birthday theme about 12 times so we will see what actually sticks come March. They are both growing up too quickly.

Christmas Fun with family and friends

The month of December has been a busy one. Right after Thanksgiving we got a visit from Chad's younger brother and his family. Ty and Aidan loved having their cousin Warner. We took a trip out to St. Augustine to take a ride on Santa's big red train and see all the Christmas lights. The night was a cold one but so much enjoyed listening to the Christmas music while seeing all the festive lights in the town. Being true to Florida the next day after a cold night in St. Augustine it was warm enough to enjoy the beach so we headed down there so Ty, Aidan, and Warner could build some sand castles and play near the water. The next weekend we got another visit, my sister and her grandson came over. We took all the kids over to winder wonderland where they got to see Santa's village, take a little train ride and see people ice skating. The next weekend we had more friends come through, Ty and Aidan got to spend some time with some very special friends. We made cinnamon ornaments that weekend and enjoyed painting them with friends. Aidan thought they smelled so good she continually tried to eat them, paint and all. We are enjoying all the holiday fun, and Ty puts another ornament on our Christmas tree we colored to count down the days until Santa comes. I think Chad and I might be more excited than the kids this year.

Holidays and such

Halloween weekend was a blast, we enjoyed good friends in town, a trip out to the beach, a fall festival, and trick or treating. Aidan had it down pat, she would walk behind Ty up to the door and yell "trick or treat". One of Ty's favorite parts was after we got back home he sat with daddy at the end of the drive way giving out more candy and talking to all the kids. Last week we drove over to my mom and dad's where Ty had a meeting with a former colleague of my fathers who has her doctorate in speech pathology. Ty has been having some trouble with stammering so we wanted to have him see her and get her opinion. She asked my father if he would talk with her or if he would be shy. My dad just chuckled and replied, I think he will be fine talking. We went into her office and he immediately began sharing with her his list he has made for Santa (which is so cute, he cut out pictures from a cataloge and pasted on a sheet of paper). We were relieved when, after their meeting, she is very positive that some excercises, some of which we have already been applying, should take him out of his stammering. He doesn't enjoy being slowed down when he is talking but is doing better already. He always has a lot to say, so we are assuring him that no matter how much he has to say we are listening to everything and he can slow down. Aidan and Ty are getting to spend a few days now with Nana and Papa until Thanksgiving. They are both having a blast. When we skype at night Aidan sits still and seems that she could talk to us all night while Ty talks as he is running back and forth. Chad and I have been using this time to do our Christmas shopping. It's amazing how a 3 year old knows to ask for the hot toy of 2010. Luckly we found a few on the shelf at the store. Maybe we will actually get all the xmas shopping done before December, that would be amazing.

Fall is here

Ty is getting so excited for Halloween. Even though we live among the palm trees now we are still enjoying all things fall, even though we are still enjoying our beach trips often. Aidan loves pointing out all the pumpkins she sees and Ty wears all his costumes on a daily basis. We are enjoying all our Halloween crafts, Ty and Aidan especially loved making our ghost and skeleton cupcakes. We are all looking forward to Halloween weekend with good friends, a fall festival, pumpkin patch, and the long awaited trick-or-treating. Last week Granny and Grandad came to visit for a few days and Ty and Aidan got to fly home with them and spend a week on the farm. We are missing our babies but we know how much fun they are having. On another note Chad and I had to make a hard decision of what to do for Ty. He has been in school for 2 months now and seperation anxiety has gotten hard for Ty. He is an extremely social child and loves play dates with friends, but he is going through a difficult time to be away from mommy. We decided that he just needs to be home with mommy right now and we may try again next fall. It was riping my heart out and I was crying as much (or more) than he was. The teachers loved him, and said he loved school once he got over the terror of me leaving. There were some mornings I would hide and watch him through the windows until he settled down and began to enjoy his activities. The directors got to know me well and had toys in their office for Aidan to play with. We got his evaluations and he excelled in everything, the teachers were extremely impressed with the fact that he knew all his shapes, colors, letters, numbers (they were especially impressed when he pointed out he knew what an octagon was) I know how much he will enjoy a class setting once he is able to overcome the fear of mommy leaving. I'm sad for him he had so much trouble but I'm alright keeping my baby home for just a little longer. It goes by so quickly, before I blink they will be grown and no longer sitting in my lap wanting me to read them stories.

Finally settled

We know it's been so long since we have been able to update the web site, it has been a busy couple of months. Chad is finally done with the small jobs around different states and cities and we are finally all back together and permanetly making our home right along side the amazing beach. The kids are thinking they are on constant vacation right now. Our neighborhood pool has an awesome slide which Ty lives for. He spends hours sliding down, climbing back up and sliding down again. Poor Aidan wants to go too but isn't tall enough for it yet. Ty and Aidan love getting out to the beach, Ty gets so excited about how close it is. Aidan cracks us up, she scolds the waves when they hit her by saying "no, no, water". Ty is getting so big, he has started preschool and goes Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30-1:00. He was so excited for his first day. He went and picked out his lunch box (which was of course Buzz lightyear). The week before school he carried his lunchbox around with him everywhere. On his first day he was ready to go, I was a wreck. We got into his classroom and he put his lunchbox and backpack in his cubby hole, washed his hands, kissed me goodbye and was quick to head to his circle. Every morning when we drop Ty off at school Aidan cries when we leave. I'm not sure if she is upset that we are leaving Ty or that she can't stay. We go and have mommy/daughter time for those mornings. Ty is loving school, loves his teacher, and has made so many friends. We have a little princess on our hands, Aidan is starting to love wearing all her little jewlery and her dress up dresses. She puts on her dresses and stands there and twirls her dresses. Our babies are getting too big, too quickly. Ty doesn't understand my eyes getting teary when we talk about how how big he and Aidan are getting. We are blessed beyond measures with our family.

World travlers

The whole family travled to Chad's parents to spend a week and half playing on the farm, and spending the 4th of July with them. We had a blast. They have 3 tractors, cows, so much land, motorcycle, garden, pond, etc. Ty loves getting on Grandad's motorcycle with Grandad or daddy. They ride it all over the farm, mommy is hoping his interest fades and doesn't want one when he gets older. Aidan LOVES the tractors. She would wake up in the morning saying tractor. She would ride them all day if we let her. Ty gets excited to help Granny get cucumbers and tomatoes out of the garden. He lives on fresh veggies while we are there. One of his favorite times is the evening when we go out with Grandad to feed the fish. He did a little fishing with Daddy, and this year was a bit different than last year, it kept his attention for about 10 minutes this time verses the 2 minutes last year. We went with the whole family, along with Chad's little brother's family, to see the fireworks. It was Ty and Aidan's first year to see them. All the years before Ty has fallen asleep before they started. We went out on Grandad's boat on the river, the kids kept yelling "go fast Grandad" After our trip to Ky we went to see family in Ga then on to Fl. We have little fish on our hands. Aidan has no fear and loves to stand on the steps, she takes my hand then jumps off the step into the water and dunks herself. She is too funny. Ty is such a little swimmer too. He gets better every day. He now loves to take the diving sticks out and dives for them. Ty would live in my parents pool if he could. He wakes up so early (between 5:30-6:00) and is ready to get in the pool by 8:00. Aidan has really enjoyed the beach this trip. She loves walking out into the water and lets the waves hit her. Love to watch our babies enjoying the summer.

Summer continues

Ty and Aidan loved Disney, Ty asks every day when we can go back. They got to see Buzz, Woody, and Jessie from Toy Story. They both loved seeing Mickey and Minnie Mouse so much, we struggled to get a good picture since they both just wanted to hug and kiss them instead of looking at the camera. Watching them on the rides and their faces during the parades were priceless. Chad and I loved every minute of it, and can't wait to go again next year. We enjoyed some beach time and took our little fishes to the pool every day. We are getting ready to spend a summer of travles. We get to spend a long visit with Chad's parents (Granny and Grandad) at the farm then on to a long visit with my parents (Nana and Papa) enjoying the pool and beach. My parents are actually enjoying a week with us this week and having a blast taking Ty and Aidan to story time at the Library and playing at the park and their pool in the back yard. I'm not sure who is more tired at the end of the day - the kids or Nana and Papa :) Summer is just so much fun.