Thu, Oct 6, 2005 12:00 PM
This week has been crazy! Nicole and I worked the Deerfield Fair last week. I am so impressed with her; she worked Fri,Sat and Sun from dawn till dusk and didn't complain one time. Nicole was the cashier at the small sausage stand about 100 feet from where Casey and I work and we never saw her. She never deserted her post to whine about the rides or get some crazy snack.. Christopher and Tyler were in charge of the Fried Dough and Pizza stand next to her so I think they kept each other well fed. Dan brought Aiden and Emily to the fair twice to come visit me. Actually, to be honest Dan came to the fair to eat corndogs and pork sandwiches, Emily came to see the cows and Aiden just wanted to laugh at everything.. I would like to think that coming to visit me was at the top of the list, but I'm pretty sure I was an afterthought. Aiden can now sit by himself for minutes at a time before he gets distracted and tips himself over. (I think his rather large belly provides him with some stability) He also has mastered the art of flipping himself onto his back, not really loving "tummy time" (again, the rather large belly may have something to do with this...) Emily is learning sign language, at this time she's got about a 20 word signing vocab. She has speech therapy on Monday's for an hour and her teacher Sarah is great. Emily made a friend at the Pizza Place last night, he was a really cute 4 year old boy and him and Emily were having a blast coloring and talking. About halfway thru dinner I noticed that his mom kept saying something to him in Spanish, it turns out that he is bilingual and was talking to Emily in both English and Spanish.. She was telling him that it was rude to do, since Emily didn't know Spanish. I told her not to worry; Emily had been using Sign Language to him all night Nicole had been trying to translate! On the Dan front: Dan's Basketball team is one game out of the playoffs. Maybe if they win Nike will offer him a big endorsement contract?

Fri, Sep 23, 2005 9:00 PM

Aiden.. My Handsome Little Man! At the time of this entry you are 5 Months old and have worked your charm on all of us. Even Emily! You are about 18 Pounds and over 27 inches long. You have about 1 inch of blonde/white baby fuzz/hair. God you’re cute.. You have rolls that start at your toes and end near the top of your head. All you do is smile. (and try and chew on the nearest person!) Every time I look into the bassinet you greet me with that huge smile where I can see all your gums. We just started baby fruit and cereal; you sit there with your mouth open like a baby bird just waiting for me to shovel in the food. The thing I love about you the most is that you will NOT be forgotten. If we get too caught up in our things, you "gently" remind us that you haven't been cuddled for awhile. And as soon as you hear a heartbeat you break out in that toothless grin that just kills us..

Fri, Sep 23, 2005 8:30 PM

Emily: You silly Baby Girl.. At the time of this entry you still won't say MAMA! You will however call me "No Daddy" or better yet, push your thumb down on your nose as a sign for my name.. Lucky for you your cute. Thank you for all the laughter you bring into this house. Daddy,Nicole and I all wonder what the hell we did before you were born. Who made picking up the living room fun? Who runs past us like she has hornets in her diaper to say good morning to the Cat? Who will yell at passing cars "Don't hit Daddy's Car" (or that's what it sounds like..) The funny things we need to remember about you: The way you can be sitting in the living room with us for 3 hours an suddenly look at us like we just got there and fling your body into our arms screaming your hello! The way you walk by and grab us by the inner thigh and lead us to what you want. How if anything is even remotely connected to dirty you will determine it PLAH and refuse to go near it till it has been clean. You keep us laughing baby girl. We love you.

Fri, Sep 23, 2005 8:30 PM

Nicole: at the time of this entry you are not in trouble at all! YEAH! Dan's Parents stayed with us for the week and you were a great help. 5th grade can be tough, but you seem to be adjusting very well to the added workload. Emily has been a little crazy this week but you have taken all her tantrums at you like a trooper. It's sometimes hard to be the oldest, and I am proud of you! Remember when Emily was as small as Aiden is now? You should do an entry so we can make sure we remember all our crazy moments..

Fri, Sep 23, 2005 8:00 PM

Today I have decided to become more organized with sharing our memories of Nicole, Emily and Aiden.. Dan and I have VERY short memories and have realized how much we have forgotten about our great kids. Hopefully this site will help us remember the silly moments... they go by so fast.