Daddy's Clone at 5 Months

Aidan is 5 months old and there may not be another picture where he will so closely resemble his Daddy. That is because Aidan is wearing one of Kyle's shirts from when Kyle was a baby. Grandma Finn saved a box full of baby clothes that were in great shape and gave them to us when Aidan was born. He is just starting to fit into some of them and I couldn't help but fall in love with this Oscar the Grouch t-shirt. We even got compliments at the YMCA on how cute it was. I'm sure we will have many more cute retro-baby pics as Aidan gets bigger and starts fitting into more of Kyle's old baby clothes.

Another Day At The Beach

For Grandpa and Nana's final day in Minnesota we went to the beach here in town. It was pretty chilly in the morning, so we didn't end up going until late in the afternoon. There weren't many people there and we had our choice of spots to sit. Aidan sat right down in the water, scooped up a handful of wet sand and tried to shove it in his mouth. Oh joy, the days of constantly watching him have begun.

Aidan and Nana enjoying the beach

After the beach we quick cleaned up and headed out to dinner with Grandpa and Grandma Finn. Aidan was a model baby and the waitstaff kept coming over to see him and tell us about their kids. He'd had his fill of being good about the time we were boxing up dinner, so I took him outside to watch the fountain. That soothed him and we got to take grandparent pictures.

Nana, Grandpa, and Aidan

Little Sailor Boy

Aidan's Grandparents

MN State Fair

On Monday we packed up and took Grandpa and Nana to experience the Minnesota State Fair. We had been prepping them that it really was all about food, but somehow I don't think they understood. Until we got there. For anyone who has never been, the streets are literally lined one right after another with food vendors. My mom said it's not like any state fair she's been to before. (where the focus is agriculture, animals, and the exhibit buildings) Nope, the Minnesotans love their fried food, and every year there is something new and wacky to try on a stick. This year's new items were chocolate covered bacon on a stick and homemade tater-tots on a stick. We didn't get to the bacon stand, but we did try the homemade tater-tots. Delicious! They were filled with ooey-gooey cheese, onions, and bacon, with a side of seasoned sour cream for dipping. I highly recommend them. Other than that we only had ice cream from the dairy barn and bought chocolate chip cookies to take home. None of us felt sick after leaving the fair, which means we controlled ourselves and didn't eat too much. I think that may be a first for us.

We spent the whole afternoon at the fair, and Aidan was delightful. He took a long nap in his stroller, watched people walk around, and chewed on his toys. I think this may be the best age ever. He's staying awake long enough to take him places and he's happy, but he can't talk back or run around. Perfection.

Wedding Bells

Kali and Kyle
(with Aidan)

Congratulations to my sister, Kali. She got engaged on Saturday night to Kyle #2 (as I like to call him). That's right, we will both be married to Kyle's. It's funny how life works out sometimes. She asked me to be her matron of honor and I am SO excited!!! I look forward to dress shopping and all the other stuff that comes with planning a wedding. I can't wait!

It's A Zoo Out There

Sunday was zoo day. We went with Grandpa and Nana to the Como Zoo is St. Paul. I had never been there, and Kyle hadn't gone since elementary school. The park areas were beautiful, the animal enclosures made my stomach turn. How can those poor animals be kept in tiny, tiny areas with only dirt and weeds on the ground? Maybe it shouldn't be free admission. I would certainly pay more money to get in if it meant the zoo would have more money for upkeep.

One of the neat things about the zoo was the Butterfly Exhibit. It's a long tent-like structure that you walk through, and the butterflies are flying all around you. They landed on me and my dad, and were flying around Aidan's head. He was trying to watch all of them at once, so his head was literally turning in circles. Very cute and hilarious.

Up next, the State Fair.

Nana carting Aidan around the zoo in the Bjorn

The deplorable conditions of the animal enclosures

Up close

Butterfly on Grandpa---He must be sweet

Vroom Vroom

Saturday night Kyle and I got to go out with friends while Grandpa and Nana stayed at home with Aidan. We won tickets to Elko Speedway at a golf tournament back in June and have been saving them so we could see the CBO band play after the races. Neither of us had ever watched stock car races before, so we didn't know what to expect. It turned out to be really fun! The actual stock car race was okay, but they also raced regular street cars, school buses, and drove minivans with campers off of ramps. Very amusing.

It was by far the latest we have stayed out since Aidan was born. 12:30am!!! Crazy, I know. I didn't feel too guilty since Aidan was fast asleep in his own bed and his schedule hadn't been disrupted.

Grandpa and Nana are in town until Wednesday, so I'll update with pictures of our adventures after they have headed home.

Grandpa and Nana Come to Visit

My parents are on their way to stay with us for a few days. That has meant lots of cleaning. I don't particularly like cleaning, so I don't deep clean very often. It always amazes me how dirty the house is when I do deep clean. It doesn't look dirty. We pick up, sweep, dust, clean the bathrooms and do the dishes on a regular basis...where does all this dirt come from? It will forever remain a mystery.

On tap for the next few days : the beach, the zoo, and the state fair. I'm sure Aidan will be worn out every night with our busy schedule, as will Roxie. My mom loves playing with Roxie and she makes it her mission every time she sees Roxie to make her as tired as possible. Roxie sleeps for days after they leave. I love it.

The Night From Hell

Okay, maybe the title is a little dramatic, but after two hours of a screaming baby in the middle of the night, it sure felt like the night from hell. Aidan woke up at 12:30am. Not overly unusual. It happens a couple times a week. I just pop his pacifier into his mouth and he's back asleep before I close the door to his room.

Not last night. He was wide awake and sort of crying, refusing to keep the pacifier in his mouth. I changed his diaper and nursed him, which has always done the trick in the past. Again, not last night. By this point he was full fledged screaming. I rocked him, I swayed him, I turned on his mobile, I tried nursing him again...nothing worked. Kyle took over after an hour of screaming. It seemed to work for a little bit. There was blessed silence for about 5 minutes. Then Kyle set him down in his crib and we were back to full-out screaming within 2 seconds. I'd run out of options so I made him a bottle. He sucked down the 4 oz. and was still crying. What was the matter with my poor baby?!?!?! I still have no idea. He finally went back to sleep around 2:30am while I was rocking him. I was hoping maybe he'd worn himself out to the point that he would sleep in a little later. It didn't alter his schedule in the slightest. He was up at 6am like usual, nursed, and went back down until 8:30am. No rest for the weary. At least he's happy today.

Say Cheese

We have our family portraits for the church directory this afternoon and I'm praying for a happy baby. It could go splendidly and we could come away with a great 8x10 or Aidan could scream the entire time. Afternoons are such an unpredictable time for Aidan.

Picking outfits for all of us was not an easy task. They tell you coordinating long sleeves and dark colors. Sounds simple, right? WRONG! First of all, I haven't taken out my winter clothing since having Aidan and some of it obviously does not fit anymore. Trying to find a top that fits, that coordinates with Aidan's clothes (which are summery b/c that's what he wears right now), that also goes with a shirt Kyle owns was tough work. I ended up buying a brown 3/4 length button down sweater from Kohl's. Kyle is wearing a light blue dress shirt and Aidan's outfit has both brown and light blue in it.

Ughh, who knew taking a picture would be so difficult???

All That Jazz

We walked up to the Jazz Festival on Saturday and had a great time. The first band we saw was fantastic! They're called Davina and the Vagabonds and you can listen to some of their stuff by clicking on the link. My favorite songs were Finally Home, 5 foot 2, and Hey Good Lookin'. After they finished their 90 minute set we walked across the street to a wine bar and had a light supper while the next act was getting ready to perform. The whole afternoon had the feel of urban living, without actually having to live in downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul. It was really cool. After dinner we walked back over to the festival, but unfortunately the second act was not as good as the first. (in my opinion) They were more techno jazz with lots of synthesized music. Not my style. The sky was getting black so we decided to head home in case it started pouring. It never did rain, but it was after 7pm by the time we got home and Aidan was ready to take a bath and go to bed.

Sunday brought the start of fall slow-pitch softball for Kyle. He will have double-headers every Sunday night now through the first weekend in October. Aidan and I went up to watch after he woke up from his late afternoon nap. Kyle wasn't kidding when he said they wouldn't win any games this season. Yikes. Their team got placed in the upper bracket because the lowest one was full. They are definitely out of their league. Kyle has played with most of these guys before, but it was always in the lowest bracket, more for fun and drinking beer than winning. Nothing can be done about it, so they'll just have to do their best and hope that next year they can move down again. Even though they may not win any games, I'm still looking forward to it because it gets Aidan and I out of the house. The games are between 5:30pm-8:30pm so we should always be able to make at least one of them based on Aidan's sleep schedule.