Crazy Aiden

Our child is a wild child to say the least. He is full of energy and rarely sits still for more than a minute. I captured some videos of him the other day that will give you a small glimpse into our daily lives! Anyone up for babysitting?

Job Update

To make a long story short, the prospect of me having the exact same teaching position is not looking very good at all. As a matter of fact, me having a job in the same school district is not looking promising either. Due to budget restraints, they have cut a lot of positions and therefore teachers are getting shifted. Because I just got hired this school year, I do not have enough seniority to keep my job or to have any of the other ones that were open. There is, however, a small chance that a middle school math teacher will retire and I could have that position. Please keep praying that I will be able to have that position if it opens! I have started looking and applying for other jobs but so far haven't found much.

Memorial Day

Bryan and I took Aiden to the Memorial Day parade Monday (or as my sister calls it "The Candy Parade"). He had lots of fun and got a LOT of candy (for his mommy and daddy that is :) ).

Aiden and his Grandpa watching the parade...

Aiden picking up some candy that was thrown...

Aiden enjoying the band...

Why my sister nicknamed it the "Candy Parade"...

That evening we decided to give Sparky a bath outside since it was so warm. Aiden decided he needed a bath too so he joined in on the action! It was kind of nice to get two baths done at once! A two for one deal :)

Wedding!

My sister got married Friday! I was her Matron-of-Honor, Bryan was an usher, and Aiden was part of the Junior Bridal Party. I was able to sneak in a few pictures here and there in between all of the fun!




Aiden and his cousins had SO MUCH fun dancing - they all danced until about 10:45pm! Aiden actually slept in until 8:00 the next morning (he usually wakes up around 6:00).

Aiden is a Monkey

This past Halloween we dressed Aiden up as a Monkey because that is totally him.

He LOVES to climb on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Every time we turn around he is climbing on something else. At 10 months old he was scaling the gate by the stairs and we had to go out and buy a brand new one that was "climb proof". Here's some past proof of his climbing abilities...

So, anyway, last night I put him into his crib, gave him a kiss, tucked him in and told him goodnight. I shut his door, went down the hallway and started going down the stairs when I hear this LOUD thump and Aiden crying. I run back up the stairs and Bryan and I both race to his room. He is on the floor crying. He has now officially learned how to climb out of his crib - let the fun begin! YIKES! I knew this day was coming (and am actually surprised it took this long) but I was NOT looking forward to this. Gone are the days of putting him in his crib and knowing that he will stay there. Gone are the days of being able to leave the gate by the stairs open at night so the dog can go downstairs and get his water. Gone are the days of putting him to bed and being able to get things done because you know he will stay there. Oh dear, and so a new chapter of our lives begin.

Speaking of cribs, here's a cute pic from two weeks ago when he was taking a nap (notice his feet sticking out of the crib - by the way, the bumper got removed last night, although we found that it really didn't matter because he lifts his leg up over the top and pulls himself up)...

In case you haven't heard...

On Friday my principal came to see me after school with some not so good news. She told me that I had to be pink slipped (laid off, displaced, whatever you want to call it) because a teacher from the elementary school who had been given the same notice earlier that day was certified in middle school math and she had more seniority than me so she is able to bump me. I am SO bummed. I absolutely LOVE teaching here. I LOVE the students, I LOVE the staff, I LOVE the curriculum, I LOVE everything about it. It is not 100% that I will not have this position (or any other one in the district) - I won't know more until probably some time next week. I will keep you posted but until then please pray that I can keep the exact same position that I have now. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to keep it.

Dutch Cousins

Here are some more pics from Tulip Time. On Tuesday, Aiden's Aunt Traci had to dance for Tulip Time so we went to watch her. Aiden's cousins also had their Dutch costumes on so I took lots of pictures. They were all so adorable!

Aiden and his cousin Austin were fascinated with this tree for some reason. They kept hugging it and playing around it.

Every time Aiden and Austin see each other, the first thing they do is hug. It is so cute to see how much they love each other.

Here's a picture of Traci dancing with her group.

All the cousins together... Alexa, Trenten, baby Kelsey, and Austin... so cute!

It's not easy to try to get all five kids to sit together and look at the camera while we are trying to capture the "perfect" shot so my sister bribed Aiden and Austin with some cotton candy as you can see in this picture. Don't worry, we brushed Aiden's teeth extra well that night!

Oh, so cute... (and we didn't even ask them to do that... they just naturally did it)

You can hear the Dutch Dancers performing in the background. Aiden and Austin loved watching and tried to mimic them. It was precious!

Tulip Time

We went to the Arts and Crafts Fair today in Holland. It is part of the Tulip Time Festival. We didn't get to see a whole lot because everyone wanted to take a picture of Aiden in his costume. Of course he was loving the attention and would clomp around in his little wooden shoes which made even more people stop and look. He was adorable and he knew it!

Belly Laugh

For some reason Aiden hates it when my hair covers my face. So, as he was trying to move my hair, I blew it out of my face and he started cracking up! He laughed so hard we had to get it on video.

Little Dutch Boy

Tulip Time officially kicks off tomorrow. We have a little Dutch costume for Aiden. Tonight we let him try on the wooden shoes and hat. Here's a video of him dancing with his new wooden shoes!