London 2012

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We are Olympic obsessed around here!  If we're home they are on.  If we are at my parents they are on.  If we aren't near a TV, we are talking about them.  We've been eating meals on the floor in front of the TV.  It's bad but we love it!  Aidan wants to be every athlete there is.  He has got it down to a science who the American athletes are.  He identifies them by the flag obviously.  He could tell you what lane an American swimmer was in and what country was currently on the uneven bars.   "American" or "some other country".  Ha Ha!

I cooked a huge meal for my parents and the boys Friday night so we could watch the Opening ceremonies.  I gotta tell you, with the exception of always being excited to see the athletes march in and Paul McCartney's performance and OK...maybe when the Queen "parachuted" with James Bond, I was kind of bored.  There was way to much film.  I was still so super excited for the games to begin. 

I was so disappointed when Jordan Wieber didn't make the all around for gymnastics.  I thought Aly and Gabby could have shown a little more compassion and I was feeling awful that Jordyn has to share a room with Aly.  Sometimes ya need your space and I think that night was one of them.

I could not stop crying when Missy Franklin won Gold.  She is the cutest thing.  And so soon after her qualifying race!  Go girl!

Has anyone watched weight lifting? I seriously had to cover my eyes watching those women.  It is so dangerous.  Holding twice your weight over your head?  Scary.

Adam is not thrilled with our men's gymnastics team and I don't want to loose the faith but they need to step it up.  I don't think a single one of them had a good landing off the vault! 

It really is so exciting to see anyone win a medal, American or not!  You know they have worked so hard and for it to pay off has to be the best feeling ever!

And I think hearing all the athletes stories and seeing their parents reaction are some of the best moments during these games!

I just love it all!!!! 

Hope your watching and staying off of Twitter if you don't want to hear the spoilers!

Some Etsy Favorites for The Little Man

Green Monster Hat

Crochet Baby Booties

Boy's Bubble Romper

Crochet Baby Fire Hat

Wet Bag

Baby Blanket

Onesies

I think the general population is under the assumption that little girls are more fun to shop for and while I thought for the longest time that was true, I've discovered if you just dig a little, finding stuff for boys is just as fun.  The hunt is part of it!

I am thinking about learning how to crochet here in the next couple of weeks so I can crochet some hat/bootie sets for the little guy.  Aidan was sitting with me on the sofa the night I clicked on the first hat at the top and I may just have to make one because he thinks it's hilarious. 

This baby is going to have such cute stuff!

Kitchen Make Over

In a couple weeks when we return from my girlfriends wedding in Boston, our kitchen is getting a little make over!  When we moved in to his house we had those old cupboards that were made out of plywood.  The drawers didn't even have glides on them!  Soon after Aidan was born, my parents decided the were going to do a remodel at their house and offered us their solid cherry cabinets if we wanted them. Heck yeah!  They were ten years old but excellent quality. The boxes are even cherry! So this is what our kitchen currently looks like:

Well I'm ready for a change!  Instead of spending the money for all new cabinets we found a guy through my Dad who is going to come and paint the cabinets WHITE!!!! The ceiling is also being painted, the tile replaced, walls painted, light fixtures and hardware switched out and we will possibly get a new back splash depending on how I think it looks when the cabinets are painted.

Here are some inspiration pics for the cabinet color:

Sherwin Williams Antique White

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Sherwin Williams Creamy
 
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Sherwin Williams Divine White

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I think painting them white is really going to brighten up the room!


We are planning on having our hardwoods in the rest of the house stained dark and to save a couple bucks just match it up to this tile that looks like wood in the kitchen.  You can get it at Lowe's for less than $2 a tile.

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I am thinking about attempting to turn the ugly pendants above our sink in to DIY Mason Jar Pendants. 

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Hardware: (Doors)

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Drawers:

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 I am clueless as to what I should hang above the island that we have.  I am thinking we probably need to have some can lights installed and then some sort of small chandelier.  We'll see. 

I've been all over Pinterest looking for some no sew roman shades to make for the windows!  I need a craft project in my life and this one will be right up my alley!

I'll be sure to update when it's all done!

Summer Days

I can't believe we are on the verge of it being August.  When the summer started I was anxious to put some weeks behind me in this pregnancy but I really wanted to soak up our last summer as a family of three.  And now that the summer is coming to a close and Aidan will be back in school in no time, I'm hoping and praying the days will slow down and we can stretch out the days of extra sunshine.

We've been spending them shuttling Aidan back and forth to camp everyday, at the pool, trying new restaurants in the city, catching all the latest animated movies at the Drive In, learning how to ride his bike without training wheels, staying up late and spoiling him day in and out because we just can't help ourselves.

Aidan is not currently super interested in talk about his brother and we're not pushing it.  This is his time and the whole family really believes when the new baby comes he will jump right in to "Worlds Greatest Big Brother" mode.  So we've dubbed the summer his summer and I'm loving every minute of it.  He has become a little needy but I've always been the mom that drops it all when he asks.  If there has ever been any advice I took from other moms, it was "soak it up, it flies by."

So that's what we're doing this summer.  Soaking it all up.

Turned around to make sure I was at his camp picnic. (Like I would ever miss it!)

 Hanging at the pool.

 My girlfriend Amanda bought Aidan this Batman hat and he could currently still be wearing it in his bed.

Drive in.

Sporting his pirate hat he made at camp. 





Stroller Decisions

We have gone back and forth with the decision on what to do about a stroller.

When we had Aidan my parents bought us a great Chicco travel system and we really got their money's worth out of it. It's so beat up from all the use.

I thought we would just be able to buy an attachment for our Chicco infant car seat for our Bob jogging stroller but it turns out, those aren't compatible with the 2010 model. Go figure.

Then I thought about just doing a snap and go but then we had the dilemma of a stroller after the infant car seat. Why spend money on more strollers than need be?

We also talked about the fact that we want to have another baby in the next couple of years so maybe we should purchase something we can turn into a double.

I did my research and we've decided on the Baby Jogger City Select stroller. It offers the Chicco car seat converter., the option to buy another seat and we just love all the different configurations you can do with the seat(s).

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Our biggest discussion was color. I kind of liked the red but leave it to Adam to sell me on the black because it will show less dirt. Amen mister.
I can't wait to get it!

I Forgot to Tell You...

It's a BOY!!!!

I left that out of my 18 week post because I wanted a few days to tell our
 family and friends face to face.

We found out last Thursday.  Initially we didn't think we were going to
 find out but we changed our minds. 

Aidan came to the appointment with us and he is so, so excited.

Adam was in a bit of shock because he was so sure it was a girl. 

Thursday afternoon I took some time to digest just how outnumbered I am going to be around here.

I found myself daydreaming about the day of Aidan's birth and how thrilled we were and how much he changed our lives in those first few minutes of his life and I was
 bursting with joy about this new little man.

We've watched his ultrasound video over and over and we just think he is the cutest little thing. 
Just 8 oz!

I mean we aren't biased. Have you seen how cute Aidan is? We've got cute boys in the bag people. : )

Now I just want December to hurry up and get here so I can have him in my arms!  Having experienced giving birth, I feel like I'm a lot less patient and a whole lot more anxious for it to just be time.  I know, chill Ape, you've got a while to go. 

Decorating a nursery should pass some of the time!

I think we have his name 99.9% decided on but I'm going to wait to post it in case Adam changes his mind in the next couple of weeks.   But seriously, it's time to monogram. 

A boy!

 

18 Weeks!

How far along: 18 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: I lost two lbs so I've officially gained no weight.

Baby's size: The size of a sweet potato

Sleep: Sleep is fine.  I toss and turn but that's nothing new.

Maternity Clothes: Still none.  I do wear the Liz Lange maternity tanks from Target but I was wearing those before I was pregnant because they are long and so soft!

 

Best Moment This Week: I love when Aidan asks about the baby.

 

Food cravings: Salsa and chips, bagels. 

Food aversions: None that I can think of.  

Movement: Yes and I love it! Can't wait for the boys to feel it!

What I’m looking forward to: A friend's baby shower this weekend! I love all things baby!  

What I miss: Totally random because I am not a big drinker but I would have loved a margarita or two this summer in this heat. 

A Visit From Friends

Our friends Bobby and Christin moved to Utah about 2 years ago now and we have really missed them terribly.  They of course moved and decided to have a baby!  Bobby had to stay home and work but we've been enjoying the company of Christin and her girls!

Here are a few pics of Aidan and their newest addition Avery.  She's 8 months old and so, so precious!  Here's some proof Aidan is ready for some big brother duties!

A Day At Discovery Place

Aidan has been begging to take a trip over to Discovery Place so we finally took him at the end of last week. Adam was able to join us for the first half of our trip but then he had to jet to get to work.  I needed to renew my museum membership so it was the perfect opportunity.  We opted to renew and buy a new membership they are offering for Discovery Place Uptown and the new Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville. You also get membership to The Nature Museum so you can't go wrong! It's worth the money! Plus you save on parking and get discounts to the Imax. This is starting to sound like an infomercial, I apologize!!! =)

Back to our visit...as usual we had a great time.  Discovery Place never gets old for Aidan.  He is always discovering something new! It's nuts to remember the days when I was just a few years older than him, seeing it all for the first time.  The rain forest, the aquarium, all the fun stuff to touch and see!! While we were there I thought it would be fun to take Aidan to his first Imax show...currently showing..."To The Artic".  A great 45 minute film exploring the lives of a family of Polar Bears and some of their friends trying to survive in the Artic.  We're a Discovery Place family for sure!



Happy 4th of July!!!

We had a great 4th yesterday. It was so low key.  We thought about doing the pool but settled on laying around on the sofa and vegging out until around dinner time.  We packed a picnic and headed uptown to catch the fireworks at Memorial Stadium. It's been unseasonably hot in Charlotte the past couple of days but it wasn't too bad tonight.  Aidan could not stop talking about seeing fireworks but when they actually started, he was way too occupied with the little girls next to us to pay too much attention. I'm sure he will ask if we can go again tonight.  If only.  Adam is working pretty much all the time in prep for the DNC coming up so it was nice for him to have the day off in the middle of the week. 

We had to sit in the A/C for a few minutes and Aidan entertained himself by squishing Adam's face.

Mr. and Mrs. 

I just think it's hilarious to see him sit in his chair.

Fourth of July tickle attack.

 

In other news I'm 17 weeks pregnant today! If I am being honest (and I always am) it's really all I can think about.  Baby, baby, baby. We are super excited.  The 4th of July is probably my favorite holiday but this year it was just another one to cross off the list of holidays that come before the baby does! I don't ever remember being this impatient when I was pregnant with Aidan.  We can't wait to meet you baby!!!

5 Looks Good on Him

Aidan has been taking it upon himself to tell everyone he is FIVE now! 

He is pretty proud to be moving up in age. 

He is as always so enjoyable to be around. So well behaved.

We took him to dinner a few weeks ago at Village Tavern and we snapped these pictures after dinner on the terrace.  He is really starting to look more like a little boy to me. 

Shirt: Lands End /Shorts: Gap Kids /Shoes: Belk