Blueberry Season!

I love summer. I think one of the main reasons I love it so much is all of the fresh produce that is suddenly available...all the fruits and veggies you can find at the Farmer's Market and local Pick-Your-Own farms. And yeah, the grocery store, too. I told Ryan the other day, I think the way to my heart is fresh, organic produce. After buying some cherries and wishing I had more, he bought some on the way home and even found (and purchased the next day) a cherry pitter that pits four cherries at once. I was beyond thrilled. Yes, it's definitely the way to this girl's heart...

I'm finally getting him on board with picking our own fruits from some of the local farms, too. Not that he loves doing it, but he's getting better at enjoying it. His biggest complaint is the heat, of course. And then there's the fact that it's "work." And then I have to mess up the kitchen washing the fruit, flash-freezing it in batches, and getting it into containers to freeze, etc, etc. But he's seen the payoff from the last couple years, especially with how cheap it is, so he's much more on board than he was when he first started this tradition I have...

I already wrote a post about what we do with all of our strawberries from the spring. In the summer..it's time for blueberries! We found a couple not-so-nearby places that have pesticide-free blueberries, the closest being about 25 minutes. Blueberries take longer to pick, being so small and on bushes. And with it being smack in the middle of summer, it gets hot, so we go as early as possible! I've discovered it's good to have two parents around when taking a toddler, mostly due to the time issue, the more open fields, and the fact that it's a bit more tedious than strawberry picking. Those berries are much smaller, so it takes longer to get enough! But oh man is it worth it! Fresh blueberries you've picked yourself are just so much better than store-bought (or even those from the Farmer's Market - they're just that much fresher!). Even after freezing and thawing, they're still yummy to just pop in your mouth. And you can't beat the price when you compare picking your own to buying them at the market or the store (esp if you're getting organic - and keep in mind, blueberries is on the Dirty Dozen list, so we get organic).

I freeze most of the berries to use throughout the year. We go through a LOT of frozen blueberries...for muffins, to toss into oatmeal or things like that, in smoothies (we make lots of smoothies!), etc. Aiden loves to eat them frozen when he gets the chance. I also like to make blueberry sauce. It's delicious over ice cream, pancakes and waffles, or in yogurt. And here is the recipe.... Actually, two. One is a sweeter version, and the other uses honey instead of sugar (and much less). Both are good, but I will be honest in that I prefer the first. Yes, it has more sugar, but I easily use less of it because it is sweeter.

Blueberry Sauce
From Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics
Makes 2 cups.
This recipe is for the whole 2 cups, but I always halve this recipe. And it still makes more than enough - and lasts us quite a while! A little goes a long way.

3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (or as we do, store-bought, because really...)
2/3 cup sugar (you can use a bit less)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
4 half-pints fresh blueberries (why doesn't she just say 2 pints??)
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (I never ever remember the lemon ingredients...)

Combine the orange juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When the mixture is translucent and thickened, stir in the blueberries and simmer for 4-5 minutes, just until a few berries have burst but most are still whole. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice and cool.

And the recipe with less sugar...

Blueberry Syrup
From cleaneatingmag.com
Makes 1/2 cup

3/4 cup fresh blueberries
2 Tbsp raw honey
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp arrowroot powder

In a small saucepan, bring blueberries, honey, lemon juice, and 1 Tbsp water to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small dish, combine arrowroot powder with 1 Tbsp water to form a slurry. Whisk or stir arrowroot mixture into blueberry mixture until incorporated. Simmer for 1 minute or until just thickened, carefully mashing blueberries with a fork to extract juice. Remove from heat and cool. 

Obviously the second one is a bit healthier for you, with less sugar. And really, both are good. When I use some to flavor Aiden's yogurt, I can use a very small amount (very) of the sauce made with sugar, but I need to use a larger amount to get a good flavor when using the honey-based version - and he doesn't need it to be very sweet, either..I just need more to get the blueberry flavor coming through well. Regardless, both are great! Try one, try both and see which you prefer. Or if you know you want the "clean" one, just make it and you won't know any better! ;)

Here are some pictures to get you motivated...

Homemade ice cream with homemade blueberry sauce. Hard to resist!

He didn't even try to resist. ;) In fact, he didn't think he would like it because he's used to plain ice cream. Once he got over the fact that it was on his ice cream anyway and he tried it, he was sold!

On top of gluten-free pancakes (finally found some that taste amazing - you would never guess they were gluten-free...from King Arthur Flour!)

Takes barely any sauce to give the yogurt a great flavor!

Of course, as mentioned above, we don't just serve blueberries via the sauce around here. That's just a special treat here and there. And honestly, our favorite way to eat them...is by the handful. Plain. There's not much better than ripe fruit on its own.

One more picture... While blueberry picking, Camden was playing with a roly-poly, and Aiden was quite interested!

And for more blueberry fun... Here are pictures from our blueberry picking trips this year.

Blueberry Picking

What is your favorite way to eat blueberries??

That Time of Year Again....

While I have at least ten other posts I need/want to write, I'm going with this one first. I get something out of it, so there's a little more motivation to find the time for this one. ;) But if you're a blogger, you can also join in and get something out of it, too... Stay tuned.

So, as you are well aware...if you're ever around me, on facebook, or if you visit our online photo albums...we (I) take plenty of pictures of the kids and just about anything we do as a family.

More than plenty.

And then some.


I would say that most people that use digital cameras don't print most of the pictures they actually take. Same goes for us. But we don't simply leave them on the computer and then do nothing with them. Every year, I make a large photo book of pictures from that year. It's cheaper than printing up tons of pictures and nicer than just putting them into a photo album (and I just don't have the time for all that scrapbooking). The pictures are printed on each page, fitting anywhere from 1 to 16 on each page and up to 1,000 per book. They are high quality and look it! We get lots of compliments on our photo books; a lot of people are quite impressed, but really...it's fairly easy! (Shhhh!) I make our books with pictures from December through November of the next year. That way we have it when we visit family over Christmas, family we don't see all year long. And it's kind of a Christmas gift for ourselves. The first year I did this, I used a different company, but then I got a coupon somehow for a free book from Shutterfly, and I was sold! I've only used them since. I've compared other prices, reviews, background choices, etc from various websites, but Shutterfly photo books fit us just right. We're getting quite the collection, as I've been doing this for four years now, plus a couple other small books. And this year, we're having to stuff everything into TWO books because one isn't enough! I joked that either we really do take a lot of pictures, or we have just done a lot of stuff this year! I think both are correct...

We've also used Shutterfly for a number of Christmas gifts. One year, we made a book for Aiden's first year (that first free book I got, I used to make Camden's first year book from photos I scanned, so I made another just like it for Aiden), and each set of grandparents received one for Christmas. We've also given photo calendars, which seemed to be another big hit. I love that you can even save dates on the website, and they will print them on the calendar for you...so we could give people calendars with everyone's birthdays/anniversaries/etc already on there! I know that if we ever need some new ideas for photo gifts, Shutterfly will provide some great ones.

Around Christmas, Shutterfly usually gets some BIG orders from us, as you can tell...photo books, photo gifts, etc. We also order our Christmas cards from there. This year, I can tell it's going to be hard to narrow down which card we will use. There are so many wonderful ones to choose from! I really like the ones that are actual cards, that open up, so I'm looking at those mostly, though I've also used just flat one-sided cards from them before, too. So far, I'm thinking about something like their With Love card. We just got our family photos taken, and I want a card that will showcase more than one picture...a family one, along with some of just the kids. Even though they have soooo many cards to choose from, it's easy to narrow down the style/type you want by clicking to look at flat cards or folded cards, cards with just 1, 2, 3+ photos (or none), color, size, etc! Be watching for our Shutterfly card, coming your way this Christmas! ;)


Now, bloggers...want some FREE Christmas cards? (Um, yes.) Get 50 free cards here!

Back from Vacation... Kind of.

Meaning it was kind of a vacation, not that we're kind of back...though I guess that could be true in a sense, as well. ;)

One of my closest friends just got married. In Florida. We've been friends longer than...well, any other friend I've had. We're those friends that were always inseparable up through high school and have been through a lot together, and even though we don't talk as regularly these days, when we do, it's like we just pick up where we left off. He still lives in KY, but they got married on the beach in FL, and there wasn't a question as to whether or not we would be there. We even pulled Camden out of school to go. I don't think he would have forgiven me if he hadn't gone. Mark is Camden's godfather, and Camden just has this connection with him. He looks up to Mark so much and thinks the world of him. (Me, too. His friendship means the world to me.) :)

So, anyway...off we went. And while we were at it, we figured we would take a few days to enjoy the beach.

The trip altogether actually wasn't the best "vacation" we've had. We drove through the night to get there, as it was 12 hours of driving not including stops. It took us 15 hours going there... We woke the boys to leave around 10:30pm Tuesday evening, and Aiden thought it was time to wake up and play once in the car, so he was up for another hour. We couldn't help but laugh, thinking it would be our luck that he would just stay awake, but he did eventually go to sleep. Then he woke at 2am throwing up all over the place...and thought he had to stay up for another hour to play once we finally had things cleaned up enough to get back on the road. I didn't sleep much in the car when Ryan drove, which is pretty typical for me. Once we arrived Wednesday afternoon, we realized that the memory card for the good camera was still at home in the computer. I was ready to freak out, but Ryan went and bought a new one after I explained that no, we couldn't just not take pictures. Hello...it was Mark's wedding! (Him buying a new one worked for me, since he's the one that told me he had gotten all of the camera things together...) Then when changing Aiden's diaper right after we arrived, that little kiddo kicked my hand just the right way and caused me to spill some melted coconut oil ALL over the place, including his body and my jeans (good thing that stuff isn't like regular oil and washes right out!). We found out the water was out in the room after unpacking EVERYthing, but luckily it was only for a couple of hours, so we didn't need to switch rooms. After a day and a half, we realized Ryan was having a bad reaction to being out in the sun...and finally put together it was because he was still on antibiotics and shouldn't have mixed the two. This meant he couldn't be in direct sunlight, so...some things weren't as fun for him (or the rest of us at times). I had a cold and woke up every morning with a sore throat that sometimes went away but most days didn't. We discovered that a restaurant with a sign claiming it is "Kid friendly" does not mean they have changing tables and other restaurants make all of their pasta and pizza dough with eggs, meaning you may just have to walk out if your child is allergic b/c there is nothing for him to eat.

It seemed like our whole vacation was full of little things like this. But we still managed to have fun and enjoy the trip. We saw dolphins the first morning we were at the beach (at 8am since they are an hour behind, meaning Aiden woke up at 4:30am Destin-time!). We also saw rays swimming around Camden the next day... Those things were everywhere. The weather was wonderful, though a bit too hot the last couple days, and there was no rain. (It always seems to rain when we go to the beach.) Aiden was so well-behaved when eating out. That's normal, but we ate out a lot, so we were very impressed. (I think we need to detox now, as well. All that eating out...ugh.) The kids both were great in general, really. We hit the breakfast buffet at the hotel as soon as it opened every day, and the lady working just loved Aiden and would bring him (& Camden) oranges...which he LOVES. It was nice to be met with a friendly face each morning. We also got to have lunch with Mark & Kelly the day before their wedding. And I saw some friends at the wedding that I haven't seen in years!

And the most important part of the trip, the whole reason we were there...the wedding. It was beautiful, of course! It really was. It was more than we expected for a beach wedding, and we had a lot of fun, even if we spent a lot of the night chasing after Aiden, who was RUNNING everywhere he could. You could see how happy the newlyweds were and couldn't help grinning for them all night long.

We left last night at 9:30 our time (8:30 beach-time) and arrived home about 14 hours later... The trip home wasn't as involved as the trip there. No kids throwing up or trying to play all night long. Aiden did have one hour where he really struggled with sleeping, but we were in an area with a lot of stop lights instead of the interstate. Other than that, the kids slept really well. Ryan and I struggled sleeping when it was our turn, but we managed and made it home all in one piece. As much as driving through the night might not be the most pleasant for us, it certainly has its benefits, and we'll be doing it more often, I'm sure! Our road trips aren't usually too short, and this really helped Aiden deal with being in the car for such long periods.

Of course, I took a bunch of pictures on the trip. I tend to go everywhere with a camera, but I only uploaded a fraction of what I took. You can see the most post-worthy here:

2010 Destin, FL Beach Trip - Mark & Kelly's Wedding

Busy Few Days

We had a busy few days recently. Lots going on! Fun stuff...but busy. :)

I took the boys to one of Camden's favorite museums on Earth Day last week. We took it slow and didn't rush through anything - and didn't worry if we missed seeing something, either. It was a nice change. Don't you hate going to the zoo or somewhere that has SO much to see and then feeling like you rushed the entire time just so you could see it all?? What's the point? (If you really think about it...) We realized we would much rather miss some stuff and really get to enjoy what we DID see. We had a great time! Aiden loved just about everything, too. He didn't nap, which I was prepared for, but he did really well...and did fall asleep while walking in the parking lot to the car at the end of the day! Of course.

The only bad part of the day was the hives that mysteriously showed up on his cheek during lunch. I brought our lunches from home and we used a roll-up placemat that we take everywhere (love this thing!), so he didn't eat anything he shouldn't have. When he was out of the stroller walking, we made sure he didn't touch any plants, etc. (There's a huge outdoor component to the museum - it really is an awesome museum with TONS to do!) The hives were on his cheek close to his ear, and we couldn't figure out where they might have come from. We even talked to someone at the museum... Hives are kind of new to me still, so we wanted to check to make sure it wasn't a bug bite or something from a plant he may have touched. They confirmed it looked like hives and even went as far as to give the whole family a free pass another day (which I totally did not expect). We're still not sure what it's from, and they ended up spreading down to his chin over the next hour. They never seemed to bother him at all - just me and Camden! And then they went away... It's still a mystery!

Pictures...

Museum of Life & Science - Earth Day 2010

When I asked Camden what his most/least favorite parts of the day were... Favorite: Two butterflies landed on him in the conservatory. Least favorite: Aiden's hives. Aside from the hives, it was a GREAT day, though. Aiden slept in the car on the way home, and we stopped to say hi to Daddy, since we passed his office going home. We quickly realized that was a mistake. Ryan opened the car door, realized Aiden was asleep and we weren't getting out, and closed the door. It woke Aiden up, and he screamed the next 30 minutes it took to get home. That part wasn't so much fun for any of us.

Then Saturday, Ryan threw me a 30th Birthday cookout with some friends. He bought way too much food, and we didn't get many pictures b/c we were so busy talking with everyone. It was a lot of fun, though. :) We don't normally do much for our own birthdays, but he decided to do a little something extra since it was the big 3-0. The rain held off until just after the cookout, too, which was really nice.

Pictures... (Ok, this album has ALL the April pictures, not just ones from the cookout.)

2010 April

Sunday... Aiden went to the nursery at church for the very first time. He did really well. That's because Mommy stayed in there, though. ;) He's very attached right now and has a difficult time being away from me, so we're trying to transition him as easily as possible. I just signed up to be the extra helper for that service, and I tried to stay out of his way as much as possible. Every now and then, he would realize I wasn't right next to him and would start turning around, looking at all sides of himself, saying "Mommy...? Mommy...?" in the most pitiful voice possible - until I reassured him I was right there. But for the most part he was fine. We've put off doing this for a few reasons...mostly b/c of how easily he gets sick (and being around more kids in this kind of setting might increase some colds at first, especially if we did it during cold/flu season) and also b/c of his food allergies/intolerances. They sit very closely together when having snack, so we do worry about him getting the snacks served, even though we always bring his snack (wherever we go!). He can't have any of the things they have on the snack menu. So, next week, Ryan will go in with Aiden and stay as the volunteer. If that goes well, Ryan will attempt to drop Aiden off in there the week after...leaving him while we both try to sit through the service, sans baby. We'll see how it goes!

So, after church, Aiden ended up falling asleep on the way home (we went to the 9am service, and the drive home is about half an hour). We thought we would let him take a short nap and put him in bed...he miraculously slept a total of three hours! This is UNHEARD of (he did wake up extra early, as in around 4am or so, but even when that happens...a three-hour nap never happens!). After the long nap, we headed back to Cary (close to church, actually) to go strawberry picking!! They're in season here and they are soooo super sweet. There are also TONS, so it took us no time to get four full buckets. It was a lot of fun. I think even Ryan had to admit it wasn't so bad. ;) Aiden and I went back yesterday with some friends and got a bit more, too! I have a feeling we'll be back a couple more times before the season is over. Our freezer will be FULL of strawberries to last us until next season!

Pictures of the strawberry pickin'...

Strawberry Picking! Spring 2010

Enjoy all the pictures!

Home again, home again

...jiggety jig.

We're back home from having Christmas in Kentucky. It was a very hectic time, but, as always, it was worth it. It might not have been so hectic if we had those three days that were spent waiting in NC instead of relaxing in KY... Yeah, that big snowstorm that came through VA and WV kept us home three days longer than planned. Our route goes right through where snow made for some really bad snow conditions, especially through the WV Turnpike, which was closed the day we were supposed to be on the road. Some people were stranded for 26 hours... I'm glad we made the decision to be stranded at home and wait it out. So, instead of leaving on Saturday, me and the kiddos left the house Tuesday morning. Ryan had to stay back to work and fly in Wednesday evening. I was nervous about the long drive by myself because Aiden really is not a great car-rider, especially on those long trips. But someone must have been hearing my prayers because the trip went way better than expected. That little boy who never sleeps more than an hour on these trips (that can take over 12 hours....) slept for a full (exactly) THREE HOURS right in the middle of the drive. Wow. Camden and I kept things silent for fear of waking the little guy up. We managed to stop in WV to have lunch with Ryan's dad and then again in KY to drop some luggage off at my mom's before driving another couple hours to my dad's. We weren't sure if we would make it to his house or not (that's where we were supposed to stay during the time we were stuck at home), but we made such good time that we managed...Aiden started to get cranky shortly before arriving. We left the house at 7:30am and arrived at our final destination at 7:30pm. But we made it, at least!

During our five days of visiting (not including the two days of travel), we managed to be in five different cities and see all of our family and some of our friends (but not all we had hoped to see). I told you it was hectic! The boys got plenty of gifts, as did we. It seemed to be the year of books for me and Ryan. We both came home with a ton (that we had asked for, of course). Now...we just need to find the time to read them all!! ;) We also enjoyed seeing the grandparents open their gifts. Among other things, they all received copies of a photobook of Aiden's first year and some pottery item that the kids made for them (either with handprints or thumbprints included, of course). But mostly, it was just wonderful to be with everyone. It's also the only time I get to see my extended family, since we live so far away. While some might say they would just as well stay at home rather than be so rushed and drive so much (most places we visited were about two-hour drives), I wouldn't do it any other way. Family is too important, so we make the trip...and look forward to living closer and being able to relax a bit during the holidays one day. Driving all over Kentucky, I was also reminded of how beautiful that state is. I kept wanting to stop the car to take pictures... All of the fields with cows grazing, the horse farms, the sunsets we got to see, everything. Beautiful.

Here are our pictures from all the Christmas celebrations (and some other events that happened to take place in December). I didn't take as many as I normally do, and somehow I missed pictures of some of the people we saw (sorry about that!). You'll notice Camden is missing from quite a few. He WAS with us for Christmas, but everywhere we went...he quickly disappeared to play outside or in another room with other kids. Aiden's always stuck with us, so there is no shortage of pictures of him. It was a lot of fun with him this year, especially because he really figured out the whole gift-opening concept. Hopefully next time we travel, he'll also figure out that he doesn't need to wake up at 4am every morning...

Now...next year...we are definitely getting started earlier. I'm putting it on my calendar. We still have yet to get the boys' tree ornaments (!!!I feel so terrible!!!), a tradition we have where they each get an ornament every year, symbolizing something that was important from that year. We have one picked out finally for Aiden on etsy (it should not be so hard to find a star ornament...), and we had one to get for Camden, but Hallmark sold out long before we knew about it. Christmas totally snuck up on us this year! We barely got our family photo album ordered in time... Camden's Christmas pjs had to be shipped to Mammaw's house, so he didn't get them until we were there (just in time to wear them on Christmas Eve, at least). Cards barely made it out in time. And we were just behind on so much. Next year, right? Seriously, it's going on the calendar in August or something. Once I get around to getting the new calendar out and writing in it...

Ok, enough talk. Here are the pics.

2009 December

I hope everyone else had a very, very Merry Christmas!!

A Year in Review

Since I took Aiden's picture each month in the same chair, I thought it would be fun to show a picture from each month in order. See how much he changes!

One month old

Two months old


Three months old


Four months old


Five months old


Six months old


Seven months old


Eight months old


Nine months old


Ten months old


Eleven months old


Twelve months old

Twelve months post to come soon. I know this stuff is really late...remember I warned about this, though. August is a super busy month this year! Lots of family in town and other things going on. But I'll get it all up soon! :)

Photos from KY Visit

I'm just today getting to even put one of the memory cards in the computer to view some of these pics myself.... (If you know me, you know that means I am SUPER busy b/c that's always the FIRST thing I do!!) Anyway, here are the pics from our visit to KY last week/weekend. We were in town for three days (and two days on the road with lots of stops here and there). We fit a LOT in - got to see a lot of family members and friends.

Enjoy the pics!

Visit to KY - Visiting friends & the boys' birthday party!

PS - For those of you that use gmail...You can subscribe to our pics. Whenever we upload new albums, you'll get an email. When you view the album, look near the top of the column on the right - just click "Add to favorites." We don't upload all that often, so you won't be overwhelmed with tons of emails, so go ahead and subscribe already! ;)

Snapfish Steal

If you're like me and barely ever print up your digital pics....go over to snapfish.com to get in on their promotion they just extended. It was supposed to end tonight and is now going on until the 13th. 50 4x6 prints for just 50 cents (plus tax and s&h, of course). Use coupon code PENNY to get the savings. Pretty good deal!

May Photos?

Apparently I forgot to post the May photo album.... This past month has been pretty crazy with the move, family & friends in town, and vacation - on top of everyday life. So, here it is!

2009 May

June Photos

Here's our June photo album online. Enjoy!

2009 June

I'll be posting Aiden's 11-month update soon. I think I have to finally admit that he is almost a year old now...especially after taking photos for his birthday invitations! I hope this month goes by reeaaaaalllllyyyyyy slowly, but something tells me it won't.

I suppose the boy's gotta drink, too

After yesterday's post about Aiden grabbing the tomato and digging in while I was fixing his breakfast, I remembered about this other thing I meant to post about. One night last week, we were cleaning up from dinner. Ryan rinsed out an empty milk jug and put it by the door to set it out in the recycling bin after we were done cleaning. This is what happened next....

At one point, he actually had the jug held straight up, trying to drink from it. Guess his arm got tired - once the camera was out, he didn't go quite that high.

This kid never ceases to entertain us!

SOCCER!

This season was Camden's last season with the Stars, since we're moving a couple cities over, and he'll be joining the soccer league in Holly Springs. The Stars had a good season this time around; they usually do fairly well. We've been blessed with good (fair) coaches who focus on learning the game, playing well, and having fun - winning games are a plus but not what it's ALL about. They made it to the finals this time around in the tournament, losing to their arch enemy (can't think of the name of the team now...). This other team is rough, has a rough-acting coach, and they don't always play all that fair (ok, that's a bit of an understatement). It is the team to beat, and we just didn't make it this time around. But making it to the finals was still really great and something to be proud of. It also meant three games in a row - with a little time in between but not enough to go home. Long day. But worth it. (I did overhear a parent from the other team comment that the Stars were a good team, and that these two teams seem to take turns winning against each other. I can think of more times that they beat us, but it was nice to hear a compliment from a parent from the team we don't really like.)

After celebrating with the team at Dunkin' Donuts, our family headed on over to a gelato party in town, where Camden and I discovered our favorite flavor ever, and we've tried quite a few! Henry's Gelato in Cary hosted the U.S.'s first ever HAPPY GELATO party, something that is more common in Europe but is apparently on it's way to the US. The best flavor ever... Well, I thought the "Berries of the Forest" was great and was about to get that (and be able to share with Aiden since it was fruit-based), but then we tried the Classic Swirl - velvet vanilla, bananas, strawberries, and chocolate chips...a lot like a banana split. It was heaven!! Oh my... And I did give in and let Aiden have a taste (with no chocolate, of course!). His reaction to the cold taste was funny, but he soon got over that! Pictures of him tasting it is in our June album online.

Back to the soccer part of the post....

If you remember, I mentioned before that I missed the final game in the tournament... Short story - When getting ready to leave that morning for the first game (and possibly for the entire day), we were all doing our part to get out the door on time. I ask Ryan, "Did you check the diaper bag for diapers?" Yep, he told me, there are three in there; we're set! And out the door we went. After game 1, Aiden had a number 2.... I go to change his diaper and guess what I find in the bag? One diaper ready to be worn and one outer gpant (with no insert in it, so we can't use it). No third pant whatsoever. *BIG SIGH* But we might be on our way home after this next game, so...might be no big deal. Right? Except we don't go home then b/c the Stars win. And Aiden is in need of another change very soon - too soon to wait until after the game to make the 25 minute drive home. Ryan can't make the drive while I stay behind b/c Aiden needs the change and can't stay with me, but he'll also need to eat during that time frame. So, you guessed it - I get to drive home to get the diapers. Without breaking any laws, I rush to do diaper duty and a quick nursing session. (Aiden is typically done in 5 minutes when he's nursing to EAT.) I make it back, get out of the car, and we're on our way to the field when I hear....the long whistle blowing, indicating the END of the game. My heart sunk. I missed the entire final game. I never told Ryan how much it really bothered me that I missed that game.

Anyway - I take a bunch of pictures throughout the season. No surprise there! Here are some of the shots of my baby and his team.

Camden Soccer Spring 2009

Back from Vacation

Sorry about the lack of posts lately.... Becky commented yesterday that I must be busy b/c it's not like me to go 10 days without a post. ;) Very true!! After the move, we immediately had family in, and the day after they left, friends arrived and then we left for vacation! I've had very little computer time and absolutely no time to blog. As fun as all of this was, I think the next time we move, we will put a little more time between all the different activities!! We still have plenty to unpack, and it seems endless since we have had so much other stuff happening.

Anyway...Vacation! This was Aiden's first vacation, first time camping. We went with one of my best friends, Sonia, and her two boys - who happen to be similar ages to my boys. Camden and Justin are the same age, and Aiden and Christian are almost a year apart. To me, the older boys are almost like brothers with the way they act.... When they get together, it's like they've never been apart. They pick up right where they left off - usually arguing over every little thing. It's all a competition, nothing is off limits. But they still manage to have a lot of fun together! I think they'll grow up to remain good friends. (They almost have no choice since their moms are so close!) They had a lot of fun camping - getting to just be boys and do what boys do! They played with toads (they are all over the campground!), play soccer/volleyball/basketball, there was a huge chess game nearby, and they just got to run around a lot!

Aiden and Christian will soon follow and become great friends, too, I'm sure. They couldn't do a whole lot together right now b/c of their ages and where they are developmentally, but they will soon outgrow that and be good friends. (Once again, they pretty much have no choice.....) Sonia and I had wanted to have some great girlfriend time, and I don't think we got nearly as much as we wanted! I know I didn't. It's a lot of work camping with a toddler and an infant!! We all knew it would be, but it pretty much takes all of your time, energy, attention... And the little boys are on different schedules with naps and all, so it was difficult to get some one-on-one time with just us mamas. That was probably my least favorite part of the trip. (Next time, right, Sonia?!)

My favorite part.... When Aiden went down for his naps. I would nurse him and then let him play on his own in the pack & play in the tent. I would lie on our bed and read and watch him...he would do his little version of gymnastics until it tired him out. Then after he was asleep, I would lie there and read, usually dozing off right before he woke. He wakes sometimes after about 30 or so minutes and will go right back to sleep if someone is there and lays him back down - then he would sleep for a good while longer. But it was so nice to have that quiet time for me, too. I never get to read for fun much (I started rereading Fast Food Nation - good reminder of why not to eat fast food.....), and I certainly never get to lie down and relax any during the day. It was wonderful being somewhat lazy for an hour or so. (This would have been a good time for girlfriend time if it weren't for the fact that I knew Aiden would wake early and need to be put back down; he needs his naps, too! And Christian was on a different schedule usually, so it was hard to coordinate and have time for us ladies.)

Camden says his favorite part of the trip was....toads, s'mores, swimming (beach or pool). His least favorite...sunburn and then the saltwater on top of his burn (he burned around his eyes, so he couldn't wear his goggles, and the skin around his eyes were really sensitive, esp when he was in the ocean). Camden's a natural at camping (except for the work involved in taking things down to leave - but who likes that, right?). I think Ryan disliked the humidity and the heat that set in the last day and night (it was in the upper nineties, at least). He doesn't do well in the heat. And we left late and some of our "schedule" got messed up - he doesn't like that either. He says his favorite part of the trip was playing in the pool with both of the boys. Least favorite - sunburn. He got it bad! We think the rays must have been especially strong or something b/c just about everyone got burned. I even was a tiny bit burned for a day or so...and I NEVER burn! AND we all had on sunscreen - liberally applied and often. Our motto is - better too much than not enough. We use it VERY liberally - we're not stingy with sunscreen in the least! Poor Ryan, though...he got it the worst, I think. :( Aiden's favorite would probably be getting to be carried around everywhere (not many places he could crawl around on...). Least fave - probably having the ocean forced on him. Surely it will grow on him and he'll quickly become a beach baby. Surely.

With all the work it was, though, we still had a good time. Honestly, it wasn't the best vacation ever, but it wasn't the worst, either! ;) And although we had to constantly be on-call with Aiden, he did REALLY well as a camper! He napped well, he ate well, he did fine being in a new place around new people. He really was pretty easy-going about it all. Well, except for the ocean... Not a fan just yet. We'll have to work on that. We might go back for a day in August to get in some more time to help him like it....whether we want to or not (right...........)

We did our camping at Wilmington, next to Wrightsville Beach, here in NC. (Not my very favorite beach or place to camp - we were spoiled last time we went to where Sonia usually goes in VA Beach - but it was still decent. Nothing major to complain about.) We cooked almost all of our meals over the campfire - burgers, chicken, veggies, fried potatoes (I forgot how much I love fried potatoes), a big breakfast, etc, etc, etc... The boys helped a lot and got to learn how to do a bunch of the fire-making and cooking on their own. They also were on dish-duty for the week - whoever volunteered first at each meal got to choose: rinser or washer. Great way to get them to volunteer quickly, and without complaining a whole lot (good idea, Sonia!). No s'mores until dishes were done, too (which also helped them get to work!). ;) And of course, we had s'mores every night. No other way to do it!

We went out to eat at Dockside Restaurant one evening - I got a fish sandwich....and it must have actually had a lot of sand IN it. I had to send it back b/c no way was I eating that (which I hate doing...makes me nervous!). The next one was good, though - and they gave us free desserts. I guess sometimes messing up the order pays off..... ;) The food was decent other than that, but it takes FOREVER to get the food! The chocolate pecan pie, though...so yummy! Don't think I would go back, though.

It rained the first day and in the middle of the night the first couple nights, but that's not always a bad thing... Rained on night one the last time we went camping, too. It helps cool the weather down a bit. It didn't really get to feeling too hot until the last full day, and we just stayed in the shade that day.

Went to the beach a couple times. The older boys loved it, of course, and could have stayed all day, even if they were already sunburned from time at the pool. It was Christian's first time to the beach, and he seemed to really love it! Playing in the sand, splashing in the water, even sitting on the boogie board on the edge of the water. Aiden, however, did not. Check out the pictures to see his reaction... Poor guy. The second trip to the ocean, he did finally decide he could deal with the sand and was crawling all over it (before, he was happy to stay on his blanket under the shade). Right before that happened, though, the camera battery died. (I keep telling Ryan we need a backup battery b/c it always dies right when I want to take an important picture and it doesn't show when the battery is going down, like it should. He says, no...we just need to be aware but don't need another one. Umm...yes, we do. I told him it would die on the trip, and it did. Right before something really big happened. He knew I wasn't too happy when it did. Aiden even smiled once while in the water - b/c Camden was making him laugh - and no pictures of that, either. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..........) We did get some video of Aiden at the beach and will try to get that up soon (along with the other million videos we have yet to share.... It just takes so much time that I don't have, but I hope to get to it soon!)

Anyway, enjoy the pictures we DO have.

2009 June Camping Trip

Our Model Baby

Aiden's a celebrity!

(I almost typed "ya'll" at the end of that...but I caught myself. Yikes! I may live in a southern state where many people say that, and I may even be from KY - which some people consider to also be southern....but I am not one of those people that has "ya'll" in my vocab, no offense to those of you that do say it. Thanks but no thanks.) ;)

Click HERE to see what I mean! How awesome is that?!

Sharni, the lady that owns this website, The Nappy Shoppe, is now selling gdiapers from her store. She makes the most wonderful cloth liners for gdiapers - called gflappers. My favorites are the ones made with organic bamboo velour. Oh my, what softness!

And she is now making these blankies out of that organic bamboo velour!! I am dying to get one (or two or...) for Aiden. This material is the softest stuff ever! Plus, it's ecofriendly. And organic.

If anyone is itching to get me, I mean AIDEN, a gift for whatever reason....this would suffice. Maybe a light blue on one side and brown on the other or the light blue and medium blue or light blue with light blue? She's even looking into getting some satin edging to put around the edges... As you can tell, I haven't put much thought into what kind of blankie would be perfect for Aiden. Clearly.

She's almost out of brown, though, so you might want to step on it......you know, if you really wanted to make me, I mean AIDEN, smile. ;)

If those of you with little ones are interested in getting a blankie for YOUR little one - she has pictures of the material, along with some of the blankets she's already made and sold, on facebook on her business page and on her website. She just started doing the blankies to sell, and those babies are selling like hotcakes!! She's already running out of some of the blues and the brown.

She's also selling these really adorable diaper bags on her site. She and another lady are making them. I would also LOVE to get my hands on one of these. (Hint, hint...) For Aiden, you know, and all his stuff we have to lug around. ;)

April Photos

Just click on the album to view them!

2009 April

If you go to the gallery, you can see all our latest pics, too. We have some great ones from swimming this past week since Daddy was able to come see us! We'll be posting videos soon!!

Six-Month Pictures! (Part TWO)

Now that Aiden is eight months old, we finally found a day that there was no rain, the right type of sunshine, and where our schedules were open to fit in the rest of Aiden's "six-month" photo shoot. ;) Laura came out to our place to get some nice shots, including some really adorable Easter pictures. They are my favorites! Too cute. Here they are.... These are with the older set you already saw - the newer pics are the second half of the album.

2009 Feb Aiden 6-month Pictures and Easter Pictures (8 Months)

Enjoy!

Six-Month Pictures! (Part ONE)

Yes, Aiden is almost 8 months, and I'm just posting these... We actually were going to get more taken because it was raining the day we took some of the indoor shots. And then the weekend we had scheduled to do the outdoor shots...it rained again! So, we'll still be doing those soon, maybe in the next couple weeks. But I had been waiting to show all pictures together. Anyway, here are the ones we have! My friend Laura took these. She's getting into photography (like I want to do - and plan on doing!!), and I think she's doing a great job! :)

2009 Feb Aiden 6-month Pictures PART ONE

Click on the photo here to view the album.

There are also some nursing pictures of just me and Aiden. If you would like to see those, either email or comment and let me know. I have them saved as private and am only going to share them individually with some people. I do not want these floating around cyberspace. But I must say, they are, by far, my favorite pictures from the shoot. Definitely. They are very tasteful and well-done.

Thanks Laura!!

Part TWO coming some time in the hopefully-near future! :)

Hero of the Year

is Gene Strode!!

So - here's the short version of our drama... (I promise I will try to keep it short!)

Fall 2005, Ryan and I pick out our wedding photographer. His photos are amazing, he's got a great personality, everything seems just perfect. This is TOP on my list of "must have the best" for our wedding - I mean at the very top. Anybody that knows anything about me knows that I love photography, so it's not a big surprise this was #1 (oh the irony.....you'll see!).

July 15, 2006. Ryan and I get married. And our photographer does a wonderful job! Well, except for the fact that the majority of our pictures were supposed to be OUTside and were taking INside. But others thought it was too "hot" for that. I've since gotten over that. Ok...not really. (We did get some amazing shots of me and Ryan outside before the reception, though.)

TODAY... We still have NO pictures from our wedding day. You walk into our home - no photographs of me in my wedding gown, Ryan in his tux, Camden in his... Nothing. (No engagement photos, either.) For the past year, our photographer has not answered any phone calls, emails, anything. And we've been quite insistent and then some. We can't just show up at his home/office, though, because we kinda live in a different state. (We have since found out that he has a record of not getting photos to people in a timely manner...)

My step-dad, Gene, and my mom were in to visit recently, and we were discussing the photos. Well, long story short (if you call all of this short)...Gene pays Mr. Photographer a visit. He got our wedding guest book (filled with engagement shots - we had to have it "fixed" after some of the pages came loose), our wedding album, our large wedding portrait, and the cd of printable photos (and he got him to add our engagement session photos to the cd!!). We still have yet to get some other prints made, but we're hoping that he will now respond to us after this visit from Gene-O.

Anyway, Gene is officially the hero of the year! Of the last three years! Because, yes, folks - it has been almost THREE years since our wedding. And we will finally be getting some photos to show for it!

By the way...this guy had the nerve to use one of our wedding shots on his wedding page online!! Here it is - we're at the bottom (and this isn't even the best shot he took of us). http://www.kcphoto.com/wedding%20photography.htm It's a picture of me smootching my new hubby. What nerve this guy has, though, huh?!

And if you want to check out our wedding album (that Mom emailed and told me was beautiful! Can't wait to see it in person!!), here is the link to that: http://www.kcphoto.com/Sample%20Albums/DesignerPreview/ShroutDesignerPreview/AlbumlFrame.htm

I guess you all know this guy's name now, too, huh? ;) Spread the word to those living/getting married in/around Richmond, KY. Do not use this guy. Sure, his photos are really great. He has a great presentation and says all the right things. But...obviously has a very poor follow-through.