The Year of the "Bug"

The Chinese called 2006 "The Year of the Dog". For James and me, it will always be "The Year of the Bug"!

It is difficult for me to believe that 2006 has passed us by, and 2007 is rolling on in! Here are some highlights from "The Year of the Bug":

January

January 14-Aaron celebrated his first birthday! He had a big party at the fire station with many family and friends in attendance. His Paw Paw Mark even flew in from Wisconsin for the big day!

February

February 14-We celebrated our 2nd Valentine's Day with the Bug by going out to dinner. He was more interested in flirting with the little girl at the next table than hanging out with Mommy and Daddy!

March

On March 9, Aaron received his first haircut! He sat in the chair with Daddy and let Ms. Kim cut his hair. He did not enjoy it at all.

Aaron also traveled to Texas in March. He and I took a trip out to visit his my sister and her kids while her husband was in Iraq.

April

In April we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, at the Easter services at our church. Both sets of Aaron's grandparents and his Uncle Kevin and Aunt Alicia made trips down to visit him and share Easter with us.

May

In May, I celebrated my 2nd Mother's Day and thanked God for the precious gift he had given me in Aaron! We went to visit my grandmother for Mother's Day.

May also brought a trip to Myrtle Beach to enjoy "Harley Week" with James' parents. Aaron did not actually get to ride one, but he had a good time anyway!

June

In June, we took a "mini-vacation" down to Myrtle Beach! Aaron would not go swimming, but he enjoyed throwing sand!

Aaron also got his first ride on a lawnmower!

July

The Bug spent a week at Myrtle Beach with his grandparents and Daddy while I went on a mission trip to Arkansas. Can you tell that our family likes Myrtle Beach?!!

August

The "Moms Rock!" blog is born! Now, I can share all the Aaron stories that I want to!

Aaron's Uncle Perry got married. He slept through the ceremony, but partied hard at the reception!

September

Aaron spent Labor Day swimming with his Aunt Alicia!

James and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary with a trip to Jamaica. Aaron stayed and played at his Maw Maw and Paw Paw's house.

October

Aaron in a dragon suit yelling "CANDY!!!" Need I say more?

November

Aunt Leslie came for a visit from England. Aaron got to have Thanksgiving dinner a couple of times as we traveled to different places throughout the month!

December

Aaron celebrated the birth of Jesus with a joy and innocence that can only be matched by another toddler. He made me sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus about a hundred times. We talked about Bethlehem and the manger and Mary and Joseph! What a great Christmas!

It's hard to sum up a whole year in one little blog, but I'll just say it was a GREAT one!!!

A Very Merry Christmas!

Aaron on Christmas Morning!

Well, another Christmas has come and gone...we had a very nice one.

On the Saturday before Christmas, "Bug" and I drove down to visit my mother and step-father. I had told her ahead of time that we just wanted to hang out at her house. I told her I did not want to be out shopping. So, what does she do? She calls us and tells us to meet her at her favorite shopping center!!! We spent 2 hours in the grocery store! Oh well...I guess it was bonding time ;)

Christmas Eve was nice. We went to my mother's church and then my brother, his wife, and my step-dad's parents met us at Mom's house. We had a yummy lunch and then exchanged some presents. Soon after that, Aaron and I headed on home.

We spent a quiet evening at home with James. We read the Christmas Story, put Aaron to bed early, then "waited" for Santa to arrive. Actually, I waited on "Santa" to quit running calls with the fire department! Finally, he came home and "Santa" came to visit. Aaron woke up Christmas morning and said "Ho Ho here?" We had to explain that Santa had come and gone while he was sleeping.

It rained all day on Christmas Day. We had "family time" at the house. We just enjoyed being with each other and playing with Aaron's new toys. The highlight of my day was watching the boys play in the big box that we still have from Aaron's train!

On the day after Christmas, we all drove down to visit James' family. His mom was in England with his sister, but we had a very nice visit with his dad, his brother & wife, and Aaron's great-grandparents. They loaded Aaron up with so many presents that we were not able to fit them all in the car! They are going to have to bring them when they come for his birthday.

We were also able to have lunch with a friend on the way back home. All in all, it was a very Merry Christmas!

"No Deal!"

One night, Aaron was in his bed singing, talking to "Ar" Brown and generally showing no signs of going to sleep! So, I went into his room and told him that he could come and watch t.v. with me if he promised to sit quietly. We ended up watching "Deal, or No Deal" and he loved it when the people would shout "No Deal!"

On Christmas morning, after all the presents had been unwrapped, James asked Aaron if he wanted change out of his jammies and put on his "big boy clothes". Aaron looked at him and shouted "No Deal!!!" I had to laugh!

Merry "Misthmus!"

Merry Christmas!

Or, Merry "Misthmus" as Aaron says it!

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus!

Bathtime!

Last night I asked Aaron if he wanted to take a bath. He yelled "tubby!" and ran into his bathroom. I followed, only to find him fully dressed, sitting in the tub playing with his bath toys! Luckily, I had not run the water yet!

"Story Hour?"

Today I took Aaron to "Toddler Story Hour" at the library. What a disaster! There were all these "angelic" little girls sitting there listening prettily with their little halos... Then, there was Aaron! He kept trying to get the yellow "shaker egg" from the librarian's box. When I wouldn't let him have that, he went after the "Ho Ho Book" as he called it. He wanted to stand right in front of the librarian (then no one else could see!) Then, he ran around the library yelling "running!" Just in case we did not know what he was doing! We ended up leaving early because he was causing such a disruption. Story hour? More like "story 20 minutes!"

"Noah" Goes to Our Church!

Aaron loves the story of Noah's Ark. He has several books about it and his room is even decorated in a Noah's Ark theme. Last night at church he was sitting with James at dinner. He looked over and saw an elderly man. He said "Daddy! Noah!" and pointed to the man! James said "Sweetie, that's not Noah". Aaron repeated "Daddy! NOAH!" Nothing James could say would convince him that Noah does not attend our church!

Christmas Through Aaron's Eyes

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. This year it seems even more special because I get to see it through Aaron's eyes, and for him, everything is so exciting! With Aaron I have an excuse to go down the Wal-Mart aisle with all the singing stuffed animals and push all the buttons! I also have to bake (and eat) Christmas goodies, because what kind of mother would I be if I didn't? I notice all my neighbors holiday displays as we walk up and down our street (although I still do not see the penguin that he insists is in our friends' Nativity Scene!)

The church activities take on extra meaning, too. At each one I hope that Aaron is learning that Christmas is more than just greed! I know he is still little, but I want him to see that the joy of Christmas comes from celebrating Christ's birth, not celebrating Mommy's credit card! That is why we pull out his "Little People" Nativity playset and talk about why there are angels, and wise men and a little baby in a manger.

He took "Mary" for a ride on the fire truck the other day. Does that mean the REAL Christmas story is sinking in???

Merry Christmas to You!

Christmas Cookies and Charlie Brown!

The other night while I was making dinner, I had my boys make some Christmas cookies. It gave them an activity to do together and kept them out from under my feet! Aaron mostly just ate the dough! We were worried that he would get a tummy ache, but he seemed to be alright.

Later that evening, we watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Actually, we watched about the first 10 minutes of "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Then, Aaron started to get restless and wanted to throw Charlie Brown instead of sit quietly with him! Family bonding at it's finest!

A Hitting Problem

Aaron is going through a hitting phase. While it is annoying and sometimes embarassing, it is a very common thing that many toddlers go through. Imagine living in a world where everyone is bigger than you and you have no control over what you eat, where you go, what time you go to bed, etc. You would probably hit too!

But, while we understand why this behavior happens, it is not something we want to encourage.

The other day, James was getting ready to leave the house. I heard him in the other room talking to Aaron. He was telling him that he had to leave and that he would miss him. Then he told him to be good for Mommy and to not hit. He asked him very seriously "Are you going to hit Mommy?" And Aaron answered just as seriously, "Yes". I had to laugh! James told him that it was wrong to hit Mommy and Aaron should act like a big boy and not hit. Then, he asked him again, "Are you going to hit Mommy?" Aaron replied (still very seriously) "Yes". I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard!

Hey, he may hit, but at least the kid is honest!

"Meadow Lights!"

Tonight we took Aaron to see Christmas lights. We went to a place near our house called "The Meadow Lights". They have thousands and thousands of lights. They had lights shaped like Santa, snowmen and giant candles. There were also lights of toy soldiers, penguins, igloos and many other things. They also have a train, a carousel and a big "old country store" with rows and rows of candy! We rode the train and walked around and looked at the different lights. Then, we went in the store and Aaron ran up and down the aisles (we think he might have been on a high from just the smell of the sugar!) We bought some candy and James got a peach "Nehi". I got a Coke in a bottle! All in all, it was a wonderful evening out with our family!

A Special Dedication

It is a tradition in our church to dedicate babies to the Lord. Today, at a very special dedication service, Robin and Seth dedicated their "babies". All 5 of the girls were dedicated in a beautiful ceremony that I got to see about half of before Aaron started to make a fuss and I had to take him out. Please continue to pray for this awesome family!

Aaron Drive?

I really don't know where my son gets these ideas...

Lately, whenever we get in the car, Aaron says "Aaron drive?" Yeah right. Like I am really going to let him drive! He doesn't even have a license!

The Joy of Raising a Boy!

Aaron has discovered that he is a boy! And, in true male fashion, he is VERY proud of what it is that makes him a boy! Every time I change his diaper I get to hear all about it.

Last night his aunt and uncle were visiting. As I was trying to get him to take a bath, he got away from me and strutted into the living room naked. There, he proceeded in making sure that they also knew that he was a boy by showing them his "maleness". Then, he ran into the kitchen giggling!

Sometimes I think I have a LONG road ahead of me! :)