Playdates, Sunshine, and Easter Blessings

First of all hoping everyone had a wonderful Easter filled with blessings and celebrating that Christ has Risen.

So we have been taking advantage of the warm weather and sunshine (which I know it April hasn't been much) the past few weeks. We have spent so much time outside and Aiden is just loving it. In fact he constantly asked to go outside, which we just loving this year. We also have had a few busy weeks.

Last Sunday, Aiden and I got together with one of our great friends Tracy Perillo and her adorable little boy Sam for a playdate. We went to the Please Touch Museum and the boys just had so much fun. I personally think it's great and truly amazing to watch Sam and Aiden play together as they are a 3rd generation of friends. Being that Aiden's Poppi & Nonni (aka Keith's Parents) and Sam's grandparents (aka Dave's parents) have been friends for what seems like forever (I think it might be 35-40 yrs). So of course, Dave and Keith grew up and hanging out together on various occasions...Then the wives met- LOL. Tracy and I met right about the time we both got engage (we were engaged within a week or two) and became friends and experience a lot together. Now the boys are going through the occasional get togethers and seem to be very excited to see each other...both were calling the other's name throughout our date.

Then, Keith and I got to escape away over night the Inner Harbor, kid free. It was the first time, that we had some overnight Mommy and Daddy time since Aiden was born. We had a great time hanging out together and sightseeing. Of course, Friday was a messy and rainy day, so that was a bit of a downer, but didn't slow us down. As much as we loved our alone time, it was nice to come back home to our little boy who completes our family. It's funny how we both missed him.

Our Easter was great too, filled with a day of family and celebrating. We started the day with Aiden finding his Easter Basket...of course our kid was more excited to find toys and fruit in his basket, instead of chocolate. We then had an Easter Egg hunt and Aiden found the eggs that the Bunny hide and more exciting had money in them. We then met up with the Giosa's attending church and then having brunch. Aiden loved hanging out with his big cousins Natalie and Marc. He's just so excited and happy to be with them. We then moved on to my family and Aiden got to play with his Grammie and Aunt Stacey. Of course, Aiden also got spoiled by his grandparents and aunts and uncles.

Here are some pics over the last few days- Enjoy!

Here's some pics to enjoy!

Aiden Flintstone

Aiden's favorite outside toy this year is his cozy coupe, which Alison's college roommate, Amanda handed down to him when he was just 4 weeks old. Here's a video of him driving it that cracks us up. Enjoy!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Springtime!

I love this time of year, when you have some warm days that gives you the taste of what is coming, being able to sit outside and soak up sunshine without freezing, and opening the windows to get all those winter germs out.

We're been taking advantage of every nice day and enjoying the sunshine. We also find it's great for our little boy to work of some energy. Aiden has been enjoying chasing bubbles, riding in his cozy coupe, and riding his new tricycle. He also crashes afterwards. Here's some pics to enjoy!

Fun in the Warmer Weather

The last few days we've been enjoying weather in the 60's and 70's. It's so nice to get out of the house and enjoy the sunshine! Again we are realizing what a difference a year makes- Aiden is now no fear at the park, running up to go on the slide and going down without being coaxed. He also now uses his feet for his little tykes car (thanks Handfinger kids- we're getting a lot of use out of it) and we don't have to push him. He also loves his tricycle (which he refers to as a motorcycle), but hasn't figured it out quite yet. So hopefully by the end of summer he'll be a pro or else Mommy & Daddy will need a new back- LOL. Enjoy the pics!

Life continues to move quickly...

So I realize it's been forever since I did a blog and I really can't say I know where the last few months have gone, but things are moving very quickly and we've been going through some changes here.....

First of all January was just a snowy month. Aiden loved it as he got to play in the snow (and had Mommy home for some extra time thanks to snow days). We also gave the pacifier (or as it's know in this house the "binkie") up for good this month. I'm still amazed how easy it was....and a little shocked. We told Aiden one night before bed that we were going to give it to the Binkie fairy who would deliver it to little babies who needed binkies. So we put them in the jar and went to bed.....never a cry or anything...next morning the binkie fairy had come for them and Aiden got a new book. And that was it! I'm so happy it adjust so well to change.

February- again was a pretty snowy month from what I recall. But was also the month that Aiden went into a toddler bed. Something Mommy wasn't prepared for at all. We were given a free Toddler bed and mattress from one of Keith's friend (our crib turns into a toddler bed so I was fully prepared to use that) . So we set it up in a corner of Aiden's room (all the while keeping the crib up) to start talking about moving into a bed. We offered it to him during nap, which one day he did he choose the bed and the other day he wanted his crib. Then a week after the bed was set up, he asked to sleep in it at night. The wonderful Mom I am, tried to talk him out of it- LOL. I kept saying "are you sure you want to sleep in it even with the lights off?" He continue to request he sleep in the bed at night, so reluctantly I put him in and feared the worse for that night.....next thing I know it was 7:30 the next morning. He slept the whole night through in his big boy bed. Needless to say he hasn't looked back and transitioned well to that too. Sadly I fear potty training won't be so easy- LOL.

Aiden also received his first xrays in February. He has been diagnosed with trigger fingers in both hands. The joints in some of his fingers (mainly the thumbs and ring fingers) lock in place and his finger gets "locked in place". Luckily they release and he doesn't seem to be in pain. So right now, we're doing some PT and hoping he will "outgrow" it. Otherwise if he starts to have pain or they don't release or he doesn't outgrow it by 3 he would need a surgery to fix the tendons and remove the lumps he has on them. The surgery itself is very simple and easy- all of 20 minutes....but due to his age he would have to go under anesthesia something we're not happy about.

Other then Aiden's big milestone not much new here besides looking forward to Alison's cousin's wedding in May and our family vacation in July. We hope everything is well with everyone and we attached some recent pictures of Aiden for all to enjoy!

What a difference a year makes....

Well a few days after Christmas we had our first snow fall. It wasn't a lot, compared to the amounts we saw last year, but it was about 5 inches. We took Aiden out to play in the snow this year and he absolutely loved it! Last year he cried getting dressed and lasted all about 5 minutes. This year as we put on each article of clothing he'd get more excited, in fact he was getting upset on all long it took to dress because he wasn't in the snow yet. We got outside and he proudly starting jumping and walking right into the snow. Then he was picking it up and throwing the snow around even on Mommy. He didn't seem to mind the horrible wins. He stayed outside for about 20-25 minutes, although Mommy wanted to go in after 5 minutes!

Christmastime is here....and gone

First of all wishing everyone had a very Merry Christmas and enjoyed time with loved ones! December has been busy with parties and visiting people. Aiden had his 2 yr check out a week ago and he's growing up so quickly (my words not the doctors :) ), but is doing great and is healthy.

We had a great Christmas although Aiden was sick. He has had a nasty cold for a week now since he got his flu shot, this after having the stomach flu a few weeks back. December has been a bit cruel for him :(

Christmas Eve we spent with Keith's family- hanging out at Nonni and Poppi's house with them, Marc, June, Natalie and Marc. It was a nice time spent together and all the kids were itching to open presents from the minute we go there. It was amazing that it didn't seem to chaotic with 3 kids ripping into their gifts. But everyone enjoyed it! We also visited with Keith's cousins and their families at his Aunt & Uncle's house on his Mom side. We even managed to get a picture of all the cousins again (this seems to be an annual tradition).

On Christmas day, Aiden still hadn't seem to grasp the whole Santa thing, but was very enthusiastic to seem more presents. Ever since his birthday last month, he just assume all presents are for him....and most of the time they are :) Present opening was a bit of a marathon. In typical two year old fashion, Aiden would open a few, find one to play with and take a break from opening. It took us about 4 hours to get to the end, but he does seem to enjoy them all.

Christmas night, we went over Alison's Aunt & Uncle's house and spent time with my Mom, Dad, and sister, as well as my two cousins and their families/significant others. There Aiden got more presents....needs to say he's spoiled and doesn't need anything for a while :O)

Well hope everyone had a great holidays surrounded by love! Here are some pics from our time with our family- enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and spent the weekend sharing it with friends and family or shopping for loved ones. We had a great Thanksgiving. We had both the Giosa's and Donnelly's over (minus Alison's brother and sister in law) for dinner. It was also when Aiden got to celebrate his birthday with his extended family. As always, it was a great time and a fun night. Aiden, of course, loved following his cousins Natalie and Marc. He just loves them!

Then on Friday, we let the holiday season begin by decorating the house and putting up the tree. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!