Big Boy Bed

We finally found Aden his big boy bed. At almost 3 yrs old, Aden was still sleeping in his crib and has never once tried to climb out. We started telling him that the baby needs his bed and that he's getting his big boy bed. He's been pretty excited about it and when we finally brought his new furniture home, he was ready for it. When we moved the crib and the baby dresser into the baby's new room (our other spare room/office), Aden was leaving all his stuff toys in the crib and even his favorite blanket. He said that it's all for the baby and that he has his big boy bed now. It almost made me tear up at how he's so big and ready for it. I did break down and still put all his friends back on his bed and his blanket and told him that he gets to sleep with them until the baby comes. He did so awesome, did not once try to get off the bed and slept good in it. We were glad the transition was pretty successful.

Train Ride

We took Aden on a train ride in Hood River last weekend and he was so excited, being such a train fanatic. It was so cool to see the happiness in his face and it was really eye-opening to know that he appreciates every experiences that he encounters. It just reminds me how fast he's growing and how important it is for us to continue to expose him to different things and places. He is such a great traveler and the 4-hour train ride was way too long for Darin and I but Aden could have rode the train all day and not complain about it. We'll definitely venture out and ride the train (Amtrak) somewhere more exciting than just going to Parkdale. I think we can only do that train route once in our lifetime....

Multnomah Falls

We stopped by at Multnomah Falls on our way home from the Gorge. We needed to get out of the truck and it was a fun surprise for Aden to see the waterfall.

DMB at the Gorge

This year is our 10th annual trip to the gorge to see my beloved band, Dave Matthews Band. It was a tough year for the band and for fans. They lost their amazing sax player, LeRoi and it was definitely the most emotional concert for the band (their first shows after the funeral) and I was crying on and off throughout the night. They've been a part of my life for a long time that it's like losing a very close friend, just a sad tragedy. Aden even asked me multiple times where LeRoi's at, since he knows every single one of the band member. Try explaining that to a 2-year old...

Every year, I keep telling myself that this is the last year we'll take Aden to the shows, but every time we're at the show, he does so well and EVERYONE around us just loves seeing Aden. This year was the craziest year, people wanted to touch Aden, high-five him and just talks to him. It's cool to see people try to protect Aden and would even call his name throughout the concert. People would take pictures of Aden, which was random. We've also gotten lots of offers to take our pictures, although it was hard since Aden was so mesmerized with seeing Dave upclose that he won't look in the camera. Maybe one of these years, we'll be able to get a backstage pass having Aden around....

Shots from Sunday night show:

My sad attempt to take a good shot of Dave...

Jack Johnson

We went and saw Jack Johnson at the St. Helen's Ampitheater and it was a blast. Aden was very happy that he played his favorite song "Upside Down" and we were glad to hang out with friends, enjoying great music. I think we're raising a little groupie...

Moments at the beach

Some great shots from the beach...

Summer Fun

We tried to be in the water as much as possible this summer. We hung out a lot in Wilsonville, thanks to the Carusos for letting us hang with them at their dock. Lots of surfing and jetskiing and hanging.



Jetskiing with dad:

My surfer boys:

Riding PeeWee

This summer, we met up with my good friends Beth & Laura (with Zach Wade of course) and we went to visit Laura's horse, PeeWee. Aden loved it and had a fun time feeding him carrots. I guess all the practice with the deer at the beach helped out since he didn't get intimidated by the size of PeeWee. He just went up to him and fed him carrots, like he does that sort of thing everyday. He surprised me more by being willing to ride PeeWee on his own. Since it was quite early on in my pregnancy, I didn't want to risk anything by riding the horse. Plus, I had a bad experience -- the only time I rode PeeWee, I thought I was going to get dumped. So, my trooper boy just rode on top of the horse with no protests and had a great time!

Una Mas

Where did the summer go??? I realized that I've been really bad about updating the blog, partly due to how busy our summer is and mostly due to the fact that I've been quite laid up this summer. For those of you who haven't heard yet, we're expecting our second child. I'm about 16 weeks along. Our official due date is end of February but I already told my awesome doctor that I'll have the baby 2 weeks early and she agreed. Thank goodness for C-section!!! It's been a tough 10 weeks for me, tougher than the first one. I've came to the realization that pregnancy just doesn't suit me well. Although I didn't have insomnia this time (well, it helps that we haven't travelled halfway around the world....yet), I have new symptoms to overcome. I'm hoping that I'll start feeling better soon so that I can get a lot more done and get ready for this new addition to our family. Darin is over the moon about it, he's been calling the baby "una mas". He's definitely more ready about having another kid than I will ever be. Aden has been amazing throughout this whole experience, I'm glad that we waited this long to have another one. He knows when I'm under the weather and just hangs with me on the tough days. He knows there's a baby in mommy's belly and have been telling the baby "Hi baby, I'm your brother Aden". It's so cute!!! If he can love the baby as much as he loves his Baa, we'll be set!

Hanging out on the water with friends

Surfin'

We hung out in Wilsonville for the weekend and stayed at our friend Sam's house on Friday night. We had a fun party for Dan's 40th birthday, filled with lots of fun on the river and hanging out with friends. We all had our fill of wake surfing and I was very happy that I was still able to do it, one year later. The best part is Darin taking Aden for a surf ride. I couldn't believe that a 2-1/2 year old was able to stay on the board. Big credits to my amazing husband who just has the best balance ever and the determination to get his kid on the board this early!!!

Aden & Darin riding the waves...

Aden trying out barefoot skiing...

Equipment Operator

The boy loves riding any big rig toys...

Waterpark

Some fun shots of Aden & Darin hanging out at the waterpark...

Aden's new ride

With all the bike riding we've been doing, Darin came home one day with a new toy for Aden. He was so psyched about it, it was fun to see him ride around in the house.

Good old George

Haircuts has been quite a challenge for us..it involves a lot of tears, holding Aden down while Darin cuts his hair. This time, we tried a different method. Put on a Curious George video and used scissors instead of clippers. It was the best haircut ever and it was even pleasurable for me to do it! Aden loved the treat of seeing his favorite monkey and got a great haircut too!

Quad ridin'

Since we took Aden to Idaho and he got the taste of riding the dirt bike, he's been eyeing our other toys in the garage. A few weeks ago, he talked dad into changing the sand tires out of my quad and they put the dirt tires on and did some mowing in our backyard. He was so happy to ride the quad with dad and he even made a special request for mom to ride with him. We had quite a blast and I did miss riding my quad. I think I talked Darin into getting us a rhino so we can start riding & camping at Florence like we used to pre-kid.

Fun bike ride

We were finally able to hook up my $10 bargain bike seat for Aden. After lots of zip ties & a couple of carabiners (safety first!), we met up with Denise, Brent & baby Jace for a nice bike ride on Saturday. Aden was so happy to be up close and right behind his daddy, he had a perma-grin the entire bike ride. On our way home, he kept talking about how he's behind daddy and that baby Jace was behind Brent. We were just cracking up.

Sunday was a bit more challenging for us. I had pretty bad allergies all day and halfway through the day, Aden started showing signs of allergies too. I don't know if it's really allergies for him or just signs of exhaustion since we've been on the go the entire weekend. After meeting the Johnsons for a late lunch, we asked Aden if he wanted to go home or go for a bike ride. Of course he picked the bike ride. We parked by OMSI and rode the Springwater Corridor trail to Sellwood, which is 3.5 miles (7 miles total). We were glad that we did the bike ride even though it was a bit cold & cloudy. It was still nice to be out and enjoying the outdoors with Aden. He didn't want to quit riding the bikes, even though he was tired from no-nap that day. He did succumb to sleep on the way home.

Yo Baby

When Aden started feeding himself using utensils, giving him his favorite yogurt, yo baby, was such a bear for me that I quit buying it. I was just not a nice enough mom to cleanup the yo baby mess. So when we were at Trader Joe's last week, Aden asked for yo baby when we passed by the dairy section. I thought that enough time has passed (over a year) and that he might be capable of eating yo baby with minimal mess.

After explaining and showing Aden how to scoop up little bites of yo baby, he ate the entire thing with very little mess. It's definitely a big realization for me of how much he's grown and learning each day. I am amazed everyday and feel very blessed that I'm able to witness all the wonderful things that he can do now. How fast it goes by...

Aden's beach friends

I think Aden will grow up thinking this is normal...

It's amazing to see the deer just wait for Aden to feed him the apple. Aden dropped pieces of apples multiple times, and each time, the deer just looked at it and waited for Aden to feed him the dropped piece. It's amazing to see a deer behave like a begging dog. It is so cool to hear Aden giggling while he's feeding the deer.