It's raining, it's pouring...

The old man is snoring. :)

We have had some crazy rain storms here these last few weeks. The harder the rain poured down the more I became aware that I needed new shoes... a pair that would protect my feet, and socks, from the puddles all around me.

I ventured out to a nearby thrift store, with ten bucks in my pocket and the hope that I would find at least one decent pair.

Of course, I found about 20 pairs of cute shoes that day. Isn't that the way it goes when you're broke? :) So, I had to narrow it down. There were strappy ones, slip-ons, and shoes with beads and jewels on them, but I kept my eye on the prize, reminding myself that I came for water proof. water proof. water proof.

Finally, I settled on this pair of boots... cute, good condition, extremely comfy, solid with a strong grip underneath and rain friendly. They had all the right features with some extra perks, but the best part?!? Only $2! I was sold.

So, I wore them, once, on a perfectly sunny day and enjoyed them. Then the rain came, again. We were stuck indoors and Ashton was driving me crazy. He started begging me for chocolate. I'll admit. I wanted some too, plus the thought of getting out of the house for a minute sounded nice, so a quick trip out for a candy bar was worth a little rain. Before I loaded Ashton into the car, I quickly changed out of my warm knitted house slippers and into these...

My ten year old, worn out, beach sandals.

I was at the grocery store within 3 mins. I unloaded Ashton from our car, flung him on to my hip, covered our heads with my sweater and headed straight to the candy aisle. I picked a butterfinger and he picked a kitkat bar, we paid our $2. and headed back out to the rainy parking lot.

I immediately stepped off the curb and into a puddle. I felt my foamy shoe absorb a gallon or so of water, but with Ashton on my hip and the rain pouring, I ignored it and kept heading toward our car. I saw the big puddle coming up so and I tried avoiding it with great care, only to step on the outer edge and somehow lose my balance! I blame the torn up bottoms of those slippery sandals, but I don't exactly know what happened, I was trying to figure it out when I was a few inches in the air and heading toward the ground. :) I protected Ashton, as best as I could, and landed somewhere on my butt and my hip. While laying on the wet ground, I heard a few nice people ask if we were okay, I looked around to see where they were, but I was so disoriented I couldn't see anyone. Maybe I made them up... I don't know. Ashton was confused too and worried, "awwww...mommy!!?" he said as I pulled us off the floor... when you're two, "awwww... mommy" means "what the heck just happened, mommy?!" trust me, I heard it in his voice.

Yes, It was a high price to pay for a bite or two of chocolate that day, but I learned a very important life lesson:
Being a born and raised California girl does not mean that I should wear sandals... especially now that I'm a clumsy mom with a pair of sturdy boots in my closet.:)

What is wrong with Ashton's leg?

I've been trying to match this picture of Ashton's leg to other pictures on the internet of rashes or outbreaks. I can't figure out what it is or why he has it.
He's had it for over a month. It doesn't itch or bother him in any way and it never looks like its getting any better or any worse. I am confused.
Any ideas?

Boy Wonder

Aiden has been so cute lately.

This is one of my favorite pictures of him.

He's gained 5.2pounds and 3 inches since he was born 2 months ago.

He just out grew his newborn sized clothes.

Aiden is a very smiley baby and Andrew and I both swear he says "hi" already. :)

Can you tell his eyes are definitely staying blue?!! I love it.♥

He hardly ever cries and he did so good when he got 5 shots last week.

The Doctor said he is in the 75th percentile on the growth chart and that he's going to be a big boy! :)

I love that he and Ashton are both so cute and already so different.

His 1st Sentence...

"No, I don't want to, mommy".

-Ashton

Two Peas

I wanted to see Ashton and Aiden's resemblance to each other and thought no better way than to put them side by side!

(Little Aiden was very cooperative. I got his shot on the second take!)

(oh,and Andrew was very cooperative too.)♥

Christmas through the years...

Hello TWO THOUSAND AND TEN!!

I welcome you.

I'm amazed at how quickly time flys by and that a whole decade just flashed before my eyes.

Andrew and I just celebrated our FOURTH Christmas together!!! ( ...wait, what?! Doesn't it seem like we JUST got married?!)

Let us recap...

2006

Our first Christmas together.

We were newlyweds, about two months along, and excited to start our life together. This was our first Christmas tree, we decorated it in about 40 seconds. Still, I loved it.♥

We were living in Redlands and both working long days. It was fun to come home to each other and dream about the years ahead...

2007

Our second Christmas together.

This was my first REAL Christmas tree! It smelt so good. :)

We were expecting our 1st (VERY overdue) baby any day! Between being pregnant and having gallbladder surgery, I spent almost that whole year being sick, and Andrew spent it taking care of me. We grew closer together and learned that life wasn't always going to be as blissful as we imagined...

2008

Our third Christmas.

We were living in our second place in Victorville with our little boy, Ashton. He just turned one and was walking all over the place! We loved being parents and Ashton was the cutest thing that ever happened to us. Ashton made everything in our life extra fun.

2009

Our fourth Christmas! Our family has doubled. ♥

(and getting a GOOD family picture has become EXTRA hard)

We're now living in our 5th place together...yes, thats alot of packing and un-packing together. :) We loved being able to bring little Aiden home and put him under our Christmas tree, so to speak. :) Our two boys mean the world to us and we feel so lucky to have them.

We have learned that life is unpredictable, but that we are blessed and have everything that we need.

2010, we are excited about you and the new surprises and opportunities that you will bring!

Happy New Year!

'Tis the season...

...of taking cute christmas pictures.♥

Rub a dub dub

Aiden loved his first bath! Not even a peep came out of his sweet little baby mouth. I was amazed.

I thought all babies hated their first baths! The cold air and the strange new feeling of being half immersed into water. Andrew reminded me that all babies are different and it is quite possible that nothing was wrong with our child.

ANYWAY...

That makes it a family tie: Andrew and Aiden love a good bath... Ashton and I avoid them at all costs! :)

Twice as nice...

Waking up everyday at the crack of sunlight, he immediately jumps out of bed and asks for soda... He loves Eggo waffles for breakfast and cheez-whiz for everyother meal.

He hates wearing pants, but loves wearing shoes and socks.

Some new words this week are: Alpaca, arm, Coral, broken, Santa and why?

He loves to be outside.

He loves helping Grandpa in his garden.

He falls asleep with a leg tickle and a verse or two of our special song.

The best part of his day is going "bye-bye" in the car with his daddy.

He loves pirates, carousels, guitars, trucks and balls.

He NEVER leaves home without a stuffed animal, preferably a tiger.

Affectionately known as "doot", "bunny", "buddy", "honey", "dootch", or "bubba",

he's our Ashton...

...and yesterday he turned two years old!

Happy 2nd birthday, Ashton!!!
He blew out 1 of his two birthday candles and he was thrilled to open his gifts! Squeals and jumps made it very clear that he loved all of his presents.
Of course my favorite gift was from his Grandma (Andrew's mom and artist extraordinaire)...

She picks a favorite photograph of each grandchild and draws their portrait for their birthdays!! Amazing, huh?!? :)


It was fun celebrating the birth of my adorable little boy...
I wish he could stay small forever.
BUT, since he can't, I just hope that the two's aren't too terrible!

TWO little monkeys jumping on the bed...

I've been learning how to be a mommy of TWO these days...

It's very different than being a mommy to ONE.

The adjustments have been tricky little things...

• Loading two babers in and out of the car
• Going somewhere, like the grocery store, with the two little rascals...where do you put them??
• Taking a shower
• Making sure I have enough diapers (of both sizes) in my diaper bag at all times
• Keeping the big baby off of the little baby
• Having no control of what one boy is doing while I'm taking care of the other boy
• Feeding Aiden and Ashton all day long :)
• Sleeping, well trying to sleep...
  

Luckily, I have two sweet little boys who are patient with me, kinda.... PLUS I've learned that somethings aren't worth going crazy over...

FOr instance...

Ashton would never have gotten away with this back when I was a mother of one...

Of course he always makes up for his gross-ness by being adorable...

Anyway, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it...

Hey, Video Posters....

How long should it take to upload video on here? It's taking FOREVER and I wonder if it's blogger or just my computer?

Our special little delivery...

Aiden Lorenzo Terry

November 16, 2009

8:24pm

7.6 pounds

20 inches

Aiden's birth day story...

It was 29 degrees that morning and we had a list of things to check off before we left the house. We had been waiting nine very long months for this day and we wanted everything to go smoothly. After checking off our check list and one last pregnancy throw up, we were out the door and loading in to our freezing car.

We got to the hospital right at 6am. We "checked in" only to find we weren't actually on the hospital's schedule. Our Dr.'s office never quite finished following through with the whole scheduling thing, so although they confirmed us, the hospital (and Doctor) had no idea we were coming in that day.

The hospital couldn't do anything with me until my Doctor's office opened at 11am. They decided to let us wait there, which was frustrating---but I was glad they didn't send us home! We hung out for a few hours and the hospital ordered me a breakfast (yum, french toast and oranges) while we waited.

Once the hospital got a hold of my doctor's office staff, they discovered my file was lost. So, we waited some more...Until finally, the file was found in someones car. :)


We finally got started around noon. I got all dressed down into the hospital gown they gave me and my Dr. approved the decision to skip the IV since they could still use my piccline! Awesome. They gave me a cervix softener. The dosage was good for 4 hours and during that 4 hours I had 4 or 5 good contractions and then absolutely nothing happened. At the end of the dose, my nurse decided not to start the pitocin yet, but to give me another round of the 4 hour dose.

Arggghh. By now, I had already had the longest day of my life so I wasn't happy about another boring 4 hours of nothing...

BUT... within 10 mins after that 2nd dose, I started contracting (on my own---no pitocin needed)!! They were coming every two mins! Strong and steady. I was so excited that something was happening that the pain didn't bother me at all.

Well, until the back labor began about an hour later...

Luckily, by then it was 5pm and they were ready to move me into my official room, where I was able to, supposedly, get more comfortable.

My water broke soon after that. Around 6pm I decided to go ahead and get that epidural. I got it right before 7pm. Then within a half an hour I was 10 cm and ready to push!!

BUT...they made me hold him in.

What the?!

I felt like he was spilling out of me and I had to keep him in. So hard. I did my best. The Doctor got there after 8pm. I pushed three good rounds, and out came the most beautiful little person.

They put him on me right away. All white and filthy. It was amazing.

I cried uncontrollably for a good few minutes.

They checked his little body to make sure he was perfection, which he was.
All 10 fingers and all 10 toes. Then they wrapped him up all clean and warm and gave him back to Andrew and I. Everybody left the room so the three of us could be alone and just stare at each other.

It was precious time.

Aiden and I were able to come home the next evening and we are both enjoying being happy, well fed and feeling fresh and new.
LIFE IS TRULY A MIRACLE.