Lots 'n Lots

My new favorite picture: Aiden and his cousin Austin peeing in the cornfield. If we had a cornfield at our house I don't think Aiden would ever have an accident again. He peed at least three times in the course of two hours just because he thought it was cool to do it in the cornfield. BTW, we are DONE with pull-ups during the day. Aiden was getting so lazy with them that we got rid of them.

Mmmmmmm, cupcakes! The deck is the best place for a messy eater!

Speaking of the deck - Bryan got it completely stained (you can see the color in the pic above) and is now working on the landscaping below it. He is adding some brick stairs off of the wooden stairs and extending the landscaping to match the bigger deck. Pics coming soon :)

We went to Art in the Park in Holland but didn't realize it was going to be so cold. I had a sweatshirt for Aiden but left it in our vehicle which was parked a long ways away. So, instead of walking all the way back, I had a sweatshirt along so I let Aiden wear it - unfortunately for him it was hot pink. It worked to our advantage as he was easy to spot from then on. He got some pretty strange looks from other people :)

Gavin was baptized a couple of weeks ago. When Aiden was baptized he screamed and hollered so much that he started snorting. He was kicking his legs and flailing his arms all over the place. Gavin, on the other hand, was as calm as could be and even smiled at the Pastor when he held him.

LOVE living by Lake Michigan. Even though it has been a rather cool summer and haven't been swimming in it yet, we still have enjoyed it. Aiden loves it because it is the biggest sandbox he has ever seen. :)

Gavin had his four month check up a couple of weeks ago. He weighed 14 pounds (Aiden weighed 17 pounds at 4 months old!!) and had dropped from the 50th percentile to the 25th percentile. His pediatrician said that we could start him on rice cereal but to take it really slow since he dropped down. She wasn't concerned with the drop but said that most of his nutrition and calories need to be coming from the breastmilk and to not let him get filled up with the cereal. So here's some pics from his first attempt...

It's funny because he gets this nasty look on his face when you first give it to him and then he starts "talking" as he is eating. He's getting better at it but he still pushes it out quite often with his tongue. I'm hoping that he has it mastered by the time I have to go back to work so that it isn't as much work for his daycare. He still loves his entertainment center but now also likes to jump around in his Jumperoo - of course, as you can see in the video, Aiden is trying to steal all of the attention :)

Aiden went to VBS for the first time this year. He had a really good time but was a little too mischevious one day. He pulled the fire alarm!!!! It scared the beegeebies out of the poor kid. I couldn't be mad at him because he didn't know what it was and we never talked to him about fire alarms. He now knows what they are and that he is to NEVER pull one again unless there is an emergency. (Isn't it ironic that a firefighter's kids would pull the alarm?!?! :) )

Bonus: VBS tired him out so much each day that he would come home and take a big nap. One day he was so tired he didn't even make it to his bed. He laid down on the floor (with his shoes still on) and fell right to sleep. Sparky enjoyed taking a nap with him.

My sister and I took the boys to the fair. Aiden had a ton of fun with all of the "boy toys" and petting the animals.

Future Entertainer

We went to see the Street Performers in downtown Holland Thursday evening. One of the performers asked Aiden to perform with him! He had a blast and drew quite the crowd! I don't know, we might have a future entertainer on our hands! (Sorry for the lack of focus at times in the video, I'm not sure why our camera did that.)

Gavin just chilled in his car seat/stroller combo and enjoyed the ride :)

Aiden liked the new water area. We met up with my brother Jeff and his wife Angie there and Angie gave Aiden a penny to throw into the water to make a wish. His wish was that Jeff would go in the water so...

Gavin's latest trick... (how many of you can do that?)

Last week I took the boys to the Outdoor Discover Center in Holland for a play session that was sponsored by the Intermediate School District. Aiden had lots of fun and we ended up seeing his cousins there too!

Brothers!

It is so fun to watch Aiden and Gavin interact! If I'm trying to get some things done and Gavin is fussy, I will sometimes send Aiden over to him to make him happy. They are a perfect match - Aiden loves making wierd noises and Gavin thinks it is funny! It is so fun to see them form a brotherly bond already - now let's just hope this lasts :)

Looking for some advice...

How in the world do you get out poop stains from a breastfed baby - you know, those fluorescent yellow stains that are left behind when he has a blowout? I would especially like to know how to get them out when you are out-and-about and have no choice but to put the outfit in a plastic bag and wait a few hours until you are home to deal with it. Any suggestions???? Either leave a comment or e-mail me PLEASE!!!! I'm tired of ruined outfits!

As you can tell, Gavin is just as distressed about this as I am! :)

4th of July and More

There's a small library about 4 miles down the street that offers some neat activities for kids during the summer. They had a pet show the other day where kids could bring in their pets and show them off to each other. Although we did not take Sparky, Aiden had fun seeing the other pets! Bonus: there is a park right next to the library!

My niece Alexa plays t-ball. We went to one of her games to watch her play. I take that back - Bryan and I watched her play, Aiden was more interested in the playground!

Three of my four boys (not pictured: Bryan)

The elk across the street finally had their babies. Aiden and I have been checking all the time and it finally happened! They have spots just like baby deer and are so adorable!

Unfortunately Bryan had to work on the 4th of July but Aiden, Gavin, and I went to a cookout with my family, did some small fireworks there, and then went to the "real" fireworks. I know some of you city-slickers think that us country folk are hillbillies but I tell you us hillbillies have better fireworks than you city-slickers! They had hayrides, FREE glow necklaces, FREE sparklers, and more! It was a ton of fun. The actual fireworks are about an hour long - it's amazing! Aiden liked it for about 20 minutes and then his short attention span kicked in. Gavin, surprisingly, just watched them for about 30 minutes and then fell asleep in my arms. I was worried that the loud noise would scare him but he didn't seem to care!

Silly string...

Gavin is getting so big and is able to do so much more. He is getting really good at grabbing toys and loves to watch what is going on around him. We just started putting him in the exersaucer. He doesn't really do much in it yet but loves to be able to sit up and see what's happening.