First Word

It's sort of funny.... Aaron knows a lot of words when we say them (like if we say shoes or ball, he'll go get them) but he never has seemed very interested in repeating them back. Oddly enough, the one word he seems to enjoy saying quite often over the past two weeks is........... (drum roll please).........

HOT

??????? Really. Not mama or dada, or ice cream or dog - just the constant temperature around here: hot. He likes to say it everytime we put him in his carseat, cook something in the microwave, or when he watches Grandma Debbe use the deep fat fryer. He seems to understand the concept of it too - though sometimes he'll say it when he doesn't want to eat something I put on his tray. (Clever huh? "Maybe Mom won't make me eat this if I claim it's hot.") Or he'll say it if he doesn't like the feel of something - like he has had the flu all weekend and after an "episode" of filling his pants, he looked at us and whined "Hot." =) Poor kid! Anyway, I don't know that I have ever heard of this being a little boy's first word, but I guess when you live in Arizona, you do hear it a lot. He's such a funny kid!
(p.s. The only other word/phrase that he repeats after we say it is "Papa Bob." I think that makes my dad quite proud =) )

New Shoes

Grandma Debbe took Aaron to Stride Rite to get him some new shoes to help him walk better. They have made a big difference!  He seems less wobbly and more confident and comfortable, as they help reign in those loose ankles.... =)  

Morning Runs and Jogging Strollers

Since my baby likes to get up between 5:45 and 6:15 every morning (sigh....), I've had to look on the bright side that we've been able to beat the 100 degree temperatures Phoenix is still having and go out for morning runs. Aaron loves to be outside now and is very content as we run along. My generous friend Suzy gave me her old jogging stroller that she no longer used and I love it. If you like to run or walk outside regularly with your little one, they are totally worth the investment (which because I am so cheap, I don't know that I would have realized it without someone giving me one =) ). A regular stroller is much more awkward and they just can't handle the same wear and tear....
We have all kinds of sights and adventures when we are out. (Last week we got to call 911 for a man's car that caught on fire while he was driving!) Most recently we've been trying to time our outings to meet up with our cousins, Julie, Noah, and Caleb at a nearby park and fishing pond.

Noah does not like to stop and dilly-dally for silly pictures. =) It is fun to rest and walk with them for a few laps and chit chat before moving on with our busy days.

24 hour race

Lee was in a 24 hour mountain bike race this past weekend that took place in Payson. It is some crazy stuff - they have a team of 4 that alternates taking laps around a marked trail and they race for 24 hours straight. In other words, no sleep and a LOT of biking....

Aaron and I went up for the last few hours of the race Sunday morning. He was very happy to see his Daddy and toddle around in the dirt at the campsite.
Anyway, they did awesome - between the 4 guys, they did 24 laps in 22 hours. They finished 5th overall in the team racing and 1st in their single-speed division ("single speed" means they ride in one gear the whole time - they don't have any gears even on the bike to switch to in order to make the pedaling harder or easier). I was so proud and impressed! Lee said that he had a lot of fun competing and it was a great time with the guys. Now, lots of laundry for me and hopefully he will be able to catch up on his sleep the next few days!

Family Gatherings

Even as our extended family grows with new marriages and kids, we still continue to all get together for certain holidays and celebrating birthdays of the current month. Last night, we celebrated September birthdays, which included my cousin Kaelyn (12 years) and my Grandpa (81 years).
We each bring a pre-assigned dish so no one has too much work. Aaron seems to enjoy having a change of scenery and so many people around to give him lots of attention....

Generally, the kids get tired pretty fast after playing so hard together.... Come about 7:30 or so, there tends to be more tears than smiles - that's usually a sign that cribs and toddler beds are calling....
(I thought this picture was so funny because Tanya is trying to smile while both Aaron and Brynn are screaming and coming apart.)

I finally got a picture of Aaron's new cousin Caleb wide awake - he will be two months next week!
Noah was giving Aaron such nice loves and Aaron wasn't even appreciating it... Sorry Noah - Aaron will realize soon how much fun you are to play with.
Honestly, these family gatherings get a little crazy and loud, but I love it. The chaos of it all is fun and I am so glad for our family and how God has blessed us.

Fiances and Vacuums

This weekend was fun - Tanya and Cousin Brynn were back from a month-long visit to her parents in Wisconsin, and "the fiances" also came in from Biola (California) to show off the ring.



I have to explain something now in order to understand the rest of the pictures. Aaron has been quite obsessed with vacuums - my only explanation for this is possibly the fact that he's around them a lot due to the fact that I clean a few houses a week to earn extra money? Anyway, I had this novel idea on Saturday to give him one of the attachments from my vacuum that has its own little roller - it's like a mini-vacuum without the noise. He LOVED it....



The only problem was that he didn't want to let it out of his hands, much less, his sight. So it had to come everywhere with us....


Grandma Debbe got out her bubbles after Saturday night burgers - Brynn and Aaron had lots of fun with that.

Notice the vacuum still being clutched in Aaron's hand. In the excitement of the bubble rampage, Brynn's headband fell out and we all had a good laugh at her hair.

Brynn wanted to try Aaron's vacuum....

That didn't go over so well...

Anyway, it was fun to have everyone around! By the way, we did put our foot down and didn't let the vacuum go in Aaron's crib with him when it came to bedtime. =)

Oh yeah....

Just a short clip of some of the many steps Aaron has taken this past week....   It's not quite his PRIMARY mode of transportation just yet, but suddenly, he seems to really like to perform it.

Ketchup for breakfast?

Hey, I guess whatever gets him to eat his eggs.... It's so funny because I have tried this with several things that he doesn't really seem to want to eat, and it works - he loves ketchup! He gets all excited when I say "Ketchup?" and get the bottle out. But don't worry, I don't put it on anything TOO weird =)

More climbing

From MY understanding of the directions, this is not how a baby is supposed to sit in these things.... I guess that's why it said to not leave him unattended....

The Weekend

Our weekend in review.... =)

Friday and Saturday, we went to Palm Springs to visit my cousin and his wife, Jeff and Ashley. They are lots of fun and we really enjoyed our time with them....

It was also Aaron's first time meeting them.
We came back for church on Sunday though we ended up going to two different services as Aaron has had a super snotty nose for a few days and can't go in the nursery... Then later that afternoon, I had a KID-FREE girls' night out (HALLELUJAH! =) ) with my cousins, Kristin and Julie, and friend, Teri. We went to a Diamondbacks game (thanks Kristin!) and then Cold Stone, and laughed A LOT. We of course love our kids, but we all admitted that it was nice to be free of the distractions they bring when we are usually together - And I think we only talked about them every 5 minutes or so.... =) Monday brought a church plant team meeting and then dinner with my family (of which there are no exciting or great pictures). Lee has a nasty cold now so we have a lot of snot to take care of around here - hopefully the week will bring some quiet and rest! =)