Happy Family!

I love our little family. Yesterday when all the snow was coming down, Mark and I went outside with Aaron to play. Aaron hasn't ridden a horse since trail ride last summer, so we decided to ride together. He loved it! I'm so glad. Aunt Rachel was a really good photographer! We really have had a winter wonderland here.

We're mobile!

So Aaron is walking! Not by himself mind you....but still...WALKING! Last Sunday Mark was standing him up and holding onto his overalls. He has been standing with help for a while now, but hasn't actually tried to move his feet. Aaron just all of a sudden took 4 steps. Ever since then, he has been walking (with help) all over the place. Crawling you ask?.....nope. He will stay on all 4's nw when I put him there, but only rocks back and forth. A few times he has figured out how to move his back end, but his hands are still in cement. Face plants are a regular. Aunt Rachel came to visit today for the weekend.....Yay! Matt and Lori are trying to get here, but the weather is not looking good (as it is snowing right now and ice is in the future). So...we are hoping they can get here...we want to see our little Eli! And Matt and Lori too of course.

Short Visit to Nashville

Last night we went to Nashville. Jenny was visiting with Barbara and we wanted to visit with Lori (cousin) before she has her 2nd child due in 2 weeks! Lori looks so good...she's one of those pregnant people that is so cute because she really doesn't swell at all and just has a tiny little bump where little Taylor is squished in like a sardine. She is to be born 2 weeks from yesterday. We are so excited for them! Josh and Weston had taken a little trip so Lori was the only one home. We got to see Rachel Leigh, Barbara, Jenny, and Kelly and Felicity....all family. It was really fun. We stayed WAY too late, but of course as usual my child reminded me that he is the BEST baby on the planet. He did great. We even got to go through some more of cousin Weston's clothes for Aaron. He is growing so fast! Rachel Leigh was able to work in a PT session and give us some pointers on helping Aaron to crawl. Here are some pictures of my angel child trying to crawl. Oh yea, guess who got Dado overalls.....?

Cousin Weston is letting us borrow a new toy...

Aaron already tries to walk

This is seriously what he did with his tongue almost the whole visit

Trying to crawl

Steady....

When I grow up...

I wanna be just like daddy!

Mark plays basketball on Thursdays during lunch time with some other guys. Today we decided to go visit and watch for a while. Aaron watched for the entire hour. He would follow the ball where ever it went...I loved watching him. Several times he squealed at the guys. I took some pictures. I know it's still early, but he's definitely a natural!

The best part of wakin' up....

Coffee. Coffee is pretty much the best beverage I have had the privilege to consume. This particular beverage is so high on my list of important things in my life that I have set aside special time every day when I can sit down and just enjoy time drinking my coffee. This morning was particularly enjoyable because I realized right when I was on my way to make my coffee that I was going to open a brand new package/box/bucket. Oh joy! There is nothing better than opening this brand new package and smelling that freshness. Sure the rest of the time it takes me to drink all the coffee you see here will smell great as it is brewing, HOWEVER it smells its best, freshest, most glorious the very first time it is opened and drunk.

The only bad part about my coffee experience is the fact that I cannot share it with the one person that is most important to me...my husband. I do forgive him for his weaknesses most of the time, but I am really having a hard time with this one. He often refers anything other than water as poison. So as much as it hurts me husband, I will continue to poison my body with this delicious beverage.

Demo begins

So this weekend we started the demolition of our guest bathroom. Raich helped all day Saturday, she's so handy. She was great. We basically owe her A LOT! I'm gonna think of something really great to repay her for all she does. All we have left to tear up is the floor (which is going to be a pretty big chore) and then we will be able to start the new stuff. I have to give a big shout out to our friends Curtis and Michael who came over and helped us take out the bathtub and VERY ancient hot water heater. I have to say that they are VERY buff men.

The good news...we are awesome at demolishing things!

This is where the bathtub used to be.

A picture of the bathroom from the door - all the tile is off the wall now

The boys taking a break after moving everything out!

The bad news....we have no idea how to build things.

It will be interesting to say the least. But we have a lot of friends and family that know more than we do and can help us through this first bathroom. Then we will be professionals.

Snow Angel

Today it snowed in Tullahoma...again. Not much, but at least we got some hint that it still is part of winter weather. I LOVE snow. It's beautiful and reminds me of my childhood in Illinois. A great day for homemade hot chocolate,vegging on the couch, AND going out and playing in the snow! Aaron really liked it. He just kept looking at it and trying to touch it. I captured our adventures on film...see Jenny I do take pictures!

trying to touch the snow

I think he liked it

Pretty snow on the back porche

not quite covering the field

Pretty horses

Don't bother me mom

So while I was making dinner tonite I put Aaron in his new walker he got for Christmas. I gave him his favorite book and set him in the kitchen with me. After a while I realized I hadn't heard from him in a few minutes so I turned around from stirring my apples and saw this....

Peek-a-boo

Well, we are home. We had a great Christmas. It was great that we were able to stay so long and spend time with our families, but I was definitely ready to get back home to normalcy. He did a little cold that has lasted pretty much the whole time we were there. It got worse yesterday morning and we decided to just leave in the morning instead of the afternoon and get home. It was a good decision because Aaron got to sleep the entire way home and seems to feel some better after a good nights rest. I LOVED that Aaron is starting to recognize different individuals in each of our families. He gets the sweetest smile on his face when he seems them. Come to think of it he will smile at just about anything. Seriously, my child is a people person. He seems to thrive off of being with people, which is weird because neither of his parents are really that way. I am more than Mark, but nothing like Aaron seems to be. I also found out that Aaron LOVES animals. Maybe this is normal for kids this age, but I LOVE it. Jenny and Jerry have a new cat (which was supposed to be mine but didn't work out that way - thank you husband). It was so sweet with Aaron. He seriously pulled a whisker out at one point and the cat just purred and squinted his eyes at Aaron. He also tormented Lucy and Jasper which also seemed to go fine. I will put other pictures up on facebook cuz there are so many, but here's Aaron and Ebony - minus one whisker.

Aaron's new favorite game is peek-a-boo. I almost can't handle the smile that comes after he pulls down the rag/blanket or whatever from his face. He anticipates so much that I can hardly get the words out before he pulls the rag down. Hilarious! I took a video last night during his bath.