Aiden's Being Promoted...

...to big brother!!

We are pregnant with baby #2 and due May 7th, 2014, a day before my mom's birthday ;)  So let me tell you a little about this journey.

We started trying for baby #2 at the beginning of May, and later that month my period was a week late, which never happens.  I was convinced I must be pregnant, but 3 negative pregnancy tests later my period finally came.  I'm pretty sure I had a very early miscarriage and I was a little bummed because we would have been able to announce to my family while we were in Ireland.  But all was well and we just got back to trying.

A few months later we actually got pregnant in August and I had my missed period while we were in San Francisco.  I took a pregnancy test a week later, actually on the same day (September 6th) after we went to the Children's Museum with Tanis, and it came back positive!  I had gotten pink and blue balloons back in May when I originally thought I was pregnant, but hid them when that turned out negative.  So I pulled those out again and starting blowing them up.  I think Aiden was wondering why I was blowing up so many, but he loves balloons so it was fun for him, even though he was completely oblivious as to what they represented!

Waiting for Dad to get home.

We can always see Trent from the window walking up when he gets home, so I got the video camera all cued just like when I announced our first pregnancy (HERE).  Thing is, I was using our "new" camera and I started to record just before he walked in, but it would only record a few seconds at a time.  I was SO annoyed!!  Turns out DSLRs need a higher class memory card (I didn't even realize there were different classes before this).  So I have little tiny snippets of Trent's reaction, but it's not even worth it to put them up.

Basically Trent walked in and asked "What's the celebration for?" and I was all annoyed with our camera and just said, "Honey, they're blue and pink..." and then he caught on..haha.  Oh my husband.

Didn't realize I was throwing up 2 pink ones.  That doesn't mean anything.  Although my mom and Trent think I'm having a girl.

As for announcing to my family, I kind of wanted at least one other member of my family to be around besides just the regulars - Mom, Dad, and Amber.  We knew Amy was coming down for Conference weekend so we decided to wait until then when I was 9 1/2 weeks. We decided to customize some M&M's because I thought it would be a perfect little "treat" while we were watching Conference.

We were pretty shocked that this tiny little bag (7 oz.) cost us almost 30 bucks.  It was 10 bucks just to have them shipped b/c they ship them with a cooling bag so they won't melt.

We had some of them say "Baby #2" and others say "Due early May."

We headed over for the Saturday morning session, but here in AZ it starts at 9.  My family takes Conference pretty seriously, and I didn't want to disrupt it, so we wanted to make the announcement before it started.  We got there a little early and everyone was finishing up breakfast.  I casually told them we brought a little treat and set this little bowl on the table along with a bag of regular M&M's, but no one seemed to care since it was pretty early in the morning.  Like 15 minutes later my mom finally said, "Now what are those other M&M's" and I just started to laugh.  I couldn't believe they weren't catching on since they were blue and pink!!  So Amy grabbed the bowl and finally read them.  Apparently that whole time she was thinking, "Why would they bring their old Easter M&M's"..haha.  Fail.

Aiden was loving the M&M's and obviously didn't know there was anything special about them ;)

We FaceTimed Jen and Jill to tell them.  Amy whipped up this little sign since they wouldn't be able to tell what the M&M's said.

We went over to Tanis and Kent's for the Sunday morning session to announce to them.  For them, Trent waited for Conference to start and later poured the M&M's in a bowl.  Neither of them seemed very interested in having any either, but Trent handed the bowl directly to his mom, so she caught on within a few seconds.  I think Kent regretted not taking any to begin with ;)

I was so happy to finally have that off our chests.  There were so many times where we accidentally spilled the beans, just because with the second pregnancy it seems so much more normal and not like we have this HUGE surprise, like with the first, if that makes sense.

As for how I'm feeling, I have been completely exhausted - like I have no energy.  Pretty much everyday, I nap while Aiden naps.  Because of this, our house has been a complete disaster a lot of the time :/  I have also been quite nauseous.  I haven't thrown up at all, which I'm grateful for, but I'm definitely tired of being sick to my stomach.  I am about 13 weeks along so I'm hoping to feel more myself again as we enter the second trimester.

Everyone keeps asking if we're hoping for a boy or a girl.  I would honestly be totally happy to have another boy because, honestly, how cute would it be for Aiden to have a little brother?!  Of course, though, it would be so fun to have a girl too.  We shall see!

I had had a dream or two that we were having a girl so at first I was thinking girl.  But then I checked the Chinese Calendar and it said boy.  It was right for my cousin with all 3 of her kids, so now I'm just confused.  I have no idea!!  We should be finding out the gender in December.  Can't wait!

Easy DIY Halloween Decor

I pinned this first idea a few months back and couldn't pass it up because it's just so easy.  I was very happy (and surprised) to find out our front door is magnetic.  All you have to do is buy those cheap plastic spider rings, simply cut off the ring part, and hot glue some magnet to the back.  I was able to get a pack of 50 spider rings from the dollar store and I got magnetic strips from Walmart (for like $3) that you can cut to any size you want. And I have a ton left over for a different project.  So easy!  And I love how it looks!

We wanted the spiders to look somewhat realistic, but you could totally add lots more or do any design you want with them on the door.  So fun!

My second project was a redo of the ghost I made last year.  It turned out so much better this year!  This time it's sturdy enough that I should be able to save it. I think the key is that this time I used fabric stiffener (called Stiffy from Joann's).  I did everything just the same as last year, but just used the stiffener instead of the cornstarch mixture (HERE'S the tutorial from last year).  I also had more cheesecloth this year (3 feet instead of 2), so I did 3 layers.

I stuck the ghost on the couch so that it had a dark background.  It doesn't normally sit here ;)

I told Aiden it was a ghost and every once in a while he'll randomly point at it and say "dhost" :)  My little buddy!

Now we just need to get working on Aiden's costume ;)

Aiden Lately

It was been way too long since I've posted about what Aiden's been up to and the things he's saying.  He is talking so much and has even starting saying little sentences.  Sometimes we wonder where he's learned/heard some of the things he says!  He must just really listen to us and everyone around him.

• A few weeks ago Aiden officially started the whole yelling "MAMA!" or "MOM!" over and over until I say "What?!", even if I'm sitting/standing right next to him..haha.  It kind of cracks me up, but I'm sure it will get old. I was telling Trent that I had the realization, "It's begun - we will hear our kids screaming for us for the next like 30 years".  I mean think about it, even when we were in high school and downstairs and Mom was upstairs we'd yell "Mom."  Do you all see where I'm coming from?  I guess really we still do it, but we aren't so annoying about it.  Going along with that, Aiden used to just wait quietly for me in the morning to come get him out of bed, but in the last week he's started calling for me.

• Similarly, he loves to look through books and point everything out in them, but he repeats whatever he's pointing at over and over until we repeat it back.  For instance, if it's a truck, he'll say "truck" over and over until I say it back.  I think he wants the affirmation that he's right!

• Aiden is really good about saying "tank you", but almost every time he thanks Trent for something he says, "Tank you Mama, eh, Dada."  It totally cracks me up!  He realizes right away that he called him the wrong name and quickly (and quietly - like he's kind of embarrassed) corrects himself.  I don't know if Trent finds it as funny as I do ;)

• If I've left the room for a minute and come back in he'll just casually say "Hi Mama."  I love it!  He also says it when he comes and finds me if I'm back in the bathroom getting ready. And I was noticing this last weekend that he would do it with my Mom too when we were over.  It sounds more like, "Hi Randma" :)

• Some sentences he's started saying include, "I wanna det down" (usually when he's in his crib and doesn't want to nap) - he says it all mumbled together so it almost sounds like it's one word :)  He also came up to me last week while I was eating cereal and said, "I want some."  He has since added words to the end of that like,  "I want some grapes."  He is totally impressing us lately!

• He loves to sing.  His favorites are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus, and songs from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Road Rally on Netflix.

• Often when we have family prayer in the evening, and I'm praying, Aiden will help me.  He only ever says the last word of a statement I say.  I try to say really easy phrases.  For instance, if I say, "We thank thee for Jesus", Aiden will just say "Jesus."  He is getting better at folding his arms and closing his eyes.  It's pretty funny because he squeezes his eyes closed so tight, but of course, will open them thinking no one sees him.  I can't help but peek at him while we're praying - he's just so cute :)

• Aiden has really gotten his animals down.  I recently posted this video to Facebook, but wanted to have it here for me.  We are anxious to get him back to the zoo since he really knows what everything is now!

I'll try to be better about blogging if I think of something else or as he develops new talents :)

Here are a few random pictures.

Wearing Daddy's baseball cap.  Love that he can't see me, but still smiled because he knew I was a taking a photo ;)

That stain behind him is from when he spilled like half a bottle of olive oil :/

Selfie!

Totally kidding!  He was just trying to get the camera from me ;)

I posted this one on Facebook last week, but Trent made Aiden a fort while I was at the Relief Society Broadcast.  You can see it all over his face - he thinks Dad is the absolute coolest!