Snow Bunnies

8 Months Old!!!

Aidan refuses to take a nice picture anymore.

Look at that sibling love.

The holiday season is here, which means we (I) have been busy decorating and filling the house with Christmas cheer. Aidan's enthusiasm is contagious. He turns on the Christmas music and lights at every opportunity. Energy conservation is not in Aidan's vocabulary.

Today we made our annual trek to the tree lot to buy a cut Christmas tree. One of these years we'll get back to cutting our own. If it had been warmer, I would have insisted on it this year. However, carrying an 8 month old around in freezing temps didn't seem like the best idea. Pre-cut won.

We spent Thanksgiving here in the Twin Cities. Aunt Marsha was kind enough to host again, and as always, her food was delicious. Aidan enjoyed playing a dice game with "the big boys" aka: the adult males. Aubrey ate, napped, and played on the floor. Her usual day, just at a different house. Uncle BJ is in town for the weekend, much to Aidan's delight. I'm sure Aidan will insist we head up to Grandpa's house as soon as he wakes up from his nap today so he can see BJ.

Ice Time

Hockey is back in full-swing and I find myself short on patience lately. I thanked God every night this past week that I'm not a single mom, even though I felt like it during hockey try-outs. By Saturday morning I told Kyle that I needed two hours to myself and he was in charge. He graciously offered to take Aubrey to a JV hockey game with him, and Grandpa Finn took Aidan to run errands. Not two hours, but it was a nice, quiet 40 minutes. Hoping I can get out of the house today and buy some new work-out shoes. It's not looking good at the moment due to the freezing rain we got overnight. All the roads are covered in a sheet of ice. Maybe I'll just have to lock myself in the bathroom and turn my iPod up really loud. That counts as "me" time, right?

SNOW!

The first sign of winter dropped almost a foot snow on the Twin Cities. No light dusting or gradual cooling for us. It was 68 degrees on Wednesday and we got a foot of snow on Saturday. Only in Minnesota. Aidan could not have been more excited. Ever since we bought his snow boots back in early October, he has been asking, "Winter here yet?" I could finally answer YES! It was snowing before I went to bed on Friday night, so I knew what I would be waking up to. As soon as I heard Aidan rustling around I went into his room and asked him if he was ready to be excited. He was a little confused until I opened his curtains. The look of amazement on his face was priceless. "Winter coming down, Mommy! Get to wear my boots!" (yes, he calls the snow "winter") We played outside, built a snowman, dusted off the sled, and even walked up to Grandpa's house for some hot chocolate. It was the perfect first snow of the season.

Smiley

Aubrey has a lot of nicknames. I call her "Peanut", my dad is now calling her "Little Miss Puddle-Duck" (b/c of her Halloween costume) and Aidan and Kyle call her "Smiley".

Aidan is entering the phase where just about everything that comes out of his mouth is funny.
Case-in-point: Aidan wanted to watch Kyle's hockey video and he asked "Does Smiley want to watch hockey with me?"

Another funny question *because everything is a question with Aidan* "Where are Aubrey's teeth coming in? In the living room?" When I tried to explain that her teeth are coming in her mouth, he proceeded to ask if they were coming in her mouth while she was in the kitchen, in the living room, in the bathtub...he couldn't quite grasp the concept of teeth coming in. Even today in the car, randomly, "Is Aubrey getting new teeth today?" No. "Tomorrow?" Maybe. The questions never end. I think God made two-year-olds funny so you don't go crazy with all of their questions.