5/30 - Eating with a spoon videos

This is the first post from my mac. We'll see if it will help in blogger letting me post videos. This is the pre and post video from yesterday. The first time Aiden has really tried to eat by himself. He did a pretty good job. He's a fast learner. He fed himself a little tonight. I'm really enjoying Aiden eating some real food ... not baby food. It will be nice (although a bit more expensive) to just give him real food or part of our meal.

5/29 - Aiden eating with a spoon

Today was a good day. We went to Annapolis and I got a new computer ... a Mac!! It does lots of really cool stuff with photos and videos so once I get the hang of it I think it will be great to make videos (picture books with some video) on DVD to give to people. It will also be good to keep Brad updated when he has to deploy. The kids can make him DVDs. I hate my computer keeps disconnecting. I'm not writing anymore right now. There is another video to this one and I'll explain them later.

5/28 - Pregnancy pics

Here are some pictures for all you who want to see fat Amy!! j/k The blue sports bra is the current pregnancy; the black sports bra is from Aiden's pregnancy. This week I've started to get uncomfortable sleeping on my belly. I can still do it but I have to shift my hips to a side since my belly is starting to get a little firm.

I actually weighed the same for both pregnancies at 20 weeks. That's crazy. I feel much better this pregnancy than the last and that's what I care about the most.

Tomorrow should be a fun day. Aiden and I are going to Annapolis to go to the mall which has an Apple (computer) store and then we are going to Whole Foods grocery store. Saturday morning I plan on doing personal training with my doctor and church on Sunday. That's my plans so far. Hopefully I can talk to Brad on Skype at some point.

5/27 - Pushing the cart

Yesterday Aiden got a package in the mail from his great grandma Hagan. She crocheted a beautiful alphabet collage. She had it framed and Aiden decided to put his little hands on it so I had to clean it right away. I can't believe he's gonna be 1 in a few days. Time really does fly and Brad and I both agree that he starting to get to a fun age. He plays on his own and loves to explore. He's learning concepts and is very mobile.

In fact, you can see from the picture above how mobile he can be. Someone reminded me the other day that Petco has baby shopping carts (we were sharing a story about how much Aiden loves to push shopping carts at Target). He had a blast pushing around this shopping cart today.

The video below isn't the best since it was taken with my phone, but you can see how happy he is to be pushing his own cart.

It was a great way to wear him out and we will definitely be going back there again just to use the baby carts!

While we were at the pet store, we got the kitties some new toys. Aiden thinks they are his new toys but he'll learn that they aren't. Below is right before bedtime tonight when Aiden had Pouncer's new toy.
I went to the dr today for my 20 week check up. All is well although I've put on some pounds this month!! I'm still at the same weight at 20 weeks that I was for Aiden but I started at a lower weight this pregnancy. I think it has to do with me being so sick for the past few weeks that I haven't been able to workout like I was last month. I'll post pictures on Friday or Saturday of my pregnancy so far.

5/25 - Memorial Day & videos of playing with trucks

We've had a good weekend together and got to visit with some friends. On Sunday after church we went to a friends house to celebrate his 30th birthday. Thankfully they had another guest with a 4 yr old and they traveled with lots of big trucks. Aiden thought it was great. The picture above and below are from yesterday at the birthday party.

Brad left pretty early this morning for the airport. He just called and did make it to San Diego just fine. Aiden and I got some groceries for the week and some diapers. We got home, he had lunch, and then I put him down for a pretty short nap (it was earlier than he normally goes down). When he got up we went to a friends house for a Memorial Day cookout. It was fun. We played wiffel ball (not sure if I spelled that right). I put Aiden in the backpack carrier and he helped me pitch. The game ended because of rain in a 7-7 tie!! I had to take Aiden off my back when I batted (I didn't feel safe swinging a bat with him on my back) and he didn't like that. He was getting really tired and that just put him over the edge. We left after we finished playing and game home to our normal nighttime rituals. The picture below if from tonight. That is Dave and Eli with Aiden.

I need to finish getting everything ready for tomorrow. If these videos work (they post), I wanted to show what a big difference 1-2 weeks can make. These are two videos of Aiden playing with his cars/trucks. At first, he would just throw them around because he didn't know what to do with them. We taught him how to "push" his automobiles and he became so much happier playing with his things that have wheels.

The above video is the pre learning to push. The video below is the post pushing. What a difference!!

5/23 - Photo session

These were taken a couple hours ago. We didn't get any of the Harley pictures and got some of the pictures below. These are low resolution pictures so if they look a little bad, that's why.

FYI for the parents/family: If we didn't get you something that you like, you can order any of these on-line. We have the password. Just ask us about it.

5/23 - Haircut video

I'm trying to load the video again from yesterday. If it works, you'll see Aiden doesn't really have a care in the world (as long as he has that lollipop). He was done with his haircut but getting the hair vacummed off him. He LOVES the vaccum at home and follows me everywhere. It's kinda annoying but very cute.

Today we took Aiden for his one-year pictures at Target. Things went well and we got some cute pictures. We get them back in 2 weeks and then I'll mail them out. We also purchased the thumbnails which I can post on the blog as soon as I get them (24-48 hrs). Besides some family shots and individual 1 year shots for Aiden, we also took a couple Harley themed shots. It was fun and Aiden was cute as usual.

The picture above and below were taken almost 2 weeks ago at a hail and farewell (a military function). Aiden was able to hold himself up on the wall. So strong!!!!

5/22 - 1st haircut

Today was a fun day. Aiden got his hair cut for the first time and did great. The picture above was taken while we were waiting for the haircut. The picture below is the before picture.We had it done on base. They guy was great with Aiden. He gave us some of Aiden's hair for his baby book and they gave him a lollipop. He's had a lollipop before but I've never taken the wrapper off. You could tell at the beginning he wasn't going to just sit there so I took the paper off.
Aiden loves lollipops!!! He soaked the smock thing they put on him. He was drooling everywhere.

I thought he was about to eat the stick. He would let the guy pretty much do anything as long as he had the lollipop. I have a video I'm trying to post but blogger.com won't let me. I'll keep trying.

The picture above is the 'after' picture. He looked like such a little gentlman. The picture below was taken during lunch. I tried to get a picture of Aiden's new bottom tooth. He's about to get another bottom tooth. He's gotten 5 teeth in one month ... what a busy month.

We found out today that Aiden will have a little brother to play with soon. We are excited because I think they should get along well being so close in age and we get to re-use clothes and toys. The clothes for the first year will be different because they will be born in opposite seasons but then hopefully they can use some of the same stuff. I'm very thankful I don't have to learn how to do girls hair or try and explain makeup. We are all excited it being a boy. I'm sure I'll be sad when they are teenagers and eating me out of the house though.
The picture above is standard profile picture. The picture below is a 3D picture but little Eli didn't want to participate in any type of profile picture. The one above they got after they tried to push my uterus out of my body. The one below he is curled up with his hands in front of him. He was very active throughout the scan which made it a little difficult. The good news is that he is healthy!!!

5/21 - Dr appt tomorrow

I've continued to be sick and went to the doctor on Tuesday morning. She said I have a sinus infection (antibiotics), severe allergies (that they gave me Claritin, Flonase, and some other kind of inhaler that I take every couple hours). I've been able to blow my nose and wait 15-20 min before it's stuffed up again which is amazing. It's been 2-3 minutes that I've been able to go for the past 4 weeks so this feels amazing. Hopefully it will continue to get better. The picture below is Aiden being upset that he has to wear his sandals when he went with me to get my shot on Wednesday.Today was a pretty good day. My dental implant fell out again (it happened Sunday night too and they fixed it Monday afternoon) on Wednesday morning. They fit me in today so I left work early and got my tooth put back in. I picked up Aiden early and took him home. I then went roller blading with Aiden and Bronco for a couple miles. It was such a nice day out. We came home and did dinner and bath time and then Brad came home.

Notice in the picture above, which was taken tonight, that Aiden is standing up by himself. He can totally stand up (which he kinda knows) and walk a few steps by himself. He's starting to trust himself more but he's a tad cautious which I am okay with. He can climb up a few steps now (not good because he can't get down) but thankfully he doesn't dart off the bed or down the steps if we turn our back for .5 of a second. In the picture below I was trying to get a shot of all his teeth. He's all teeth and had another break through today ... it's his bottom right. So many teeth in such a short time.

Tomorrow at 2:00pm we have the sonogram to determine Baby Hoyt #2 gender. We are very excited. We'll update you tomorrow.

5/17 - Brad's home for the week

Brad came home on Friday night and has been home all weekend and gets to stay home all week (he was supposed to be gone until Wed.). Aiden has started to learn that the higher he can be the bettr. As you can see in the picture above, he's standing on one of his toys and tempting himself to play with the Wii wheel (and then get in trouble).

I was excited Brad finished up their project in Norfolk and could come home on Friday night. We went to a friends house for dinner which was fun. In the picure above, I've put some books out to help make him a little taller so he can see outside. This weekend we hung around and had family time. Brad and Aiden had some bonding time while I went to a babyshower for a girl from church. On Sunday, we took a Wal-Mart trip to stock up on some stuff for Aiden.

The animals got lots of loving since I had more hands and Brad was here to love on them too. This weekend will be busy. On Friday we find out the gender of the baby (assuming the baby will cooperate). We have Aiden's 1 year pictures on Saturday late morning and I have a good-bye dinner for one of the spouses in the squadron. After church on Sunday, we have our friends 30th birthday to celebrate and then Brad leaves on Monday for 2 weeks.

The video below is pretty funny. It's from last night when Aiden decided he didn't like carrots anymore. He normally loves carrots and wouldn't eat them. He not only wouldn't eat them though, he insisted on throwing them on the ground. I am happy to report that Brad finally stuffed one in his mouth and he realized they were carrots (and not sweet potatoes like last night) and then ate all of them.

The video below is daddy and Aiden playing ball. It's Aiden's version of ball right now. He's learning how to do so much and it's so fun to watch. I can't believe he is almost a year old. Time flies.

5/13 - Bitten at daycare

Yesterday Aiden got bitten at daycare. He has a bruise on his arm where the other little boy bit him but thankfully it didn't break the skin. You can see the mouth outline of part of his arm in the above picture.

The picture above was during bath time tonight. He was having lots of fun playing with his bubbles and the shampoo bottle. We've had a few rough nights and mornings so I was very excited that Aiden went down right away tonight. I'm praying he stays down for the night and may even sleep until 6:15 (that would be a treat). Playing on the bed is one of Aiden's favorite things to do. He loves standing up at the window. Also, the older he gets, the harder it is to get clothes and a diaper on him. I feel like it's a wrestling match with him just to get his diaper and clothes on. He's at least dried off in the picture above!! I feel like I should get a point for the diaper and each snap on his outfit. He should get a point for each minute he delays me by escaping. Unfortunately, he'd win a lot probaby.Getting ahold of Bronco always makes Aiden laugh. He's pretty excited he is getting to pet Bronco even though Bronco is growling at him in the picture. Aiden had a huge smile on his face while petting (aka hitting) Bronco.In this last picture, Aiden was about 10 min from going to bed. Since he's learned how to push cars on Monday, that's all he wants to play with. He uses any surface, including boxes, to push his trucks on. He is so cute and so excited he learned something new.

I got shot #3 today and Arin came over and watched Aiden for a bit. We enjoyed the afternoon once I got home and even got a walk in the beautiful weather. It was a nice day.

5/12 - Playing with trucks

Here is a quick video of Aiden playing with his truck. I'm exhausted and am going to bed. There is another video which wouldn't load that followed this one. I'll have to see if it will load tomorrow.

5/11 - Brad is gone

Brad left this morning for Norfolk for the week. We already miss him just knowing he won't be home tonight. Yesterday we blew up Aiden's pool. We put it on the deck but haven't put water in it yet. It's still a bit cold for that. Today it's gotten up to 60 degrees but it's not warm here yet.

The above picture is from last night when I made sweet potatoes. They turned out pretty good. We are going to try butternut squash next.

The picture above is from Aiden's daycare. The purple things are the outline of his fingers and the butterfly on the left are his feet outline. Too cute. They are magnets to put on the fridge (except ours is stainless steel and won't stay up).

Aiden decided to get up extra early for us today (5:30am). I didn't appreciate it. He's been really whiney this afternoon and didn't really want to nap. He's been protesting sleeping a bit lately which I'm not impressed with. We are going to go to Target now to get a few things.

Aiden learned how to open the garbage can today. It's pretty full so he got ahold of his yogurt container. I was wondering why he was so quite. I took a picture of his face in the yogurt container. It was even funnier when he put the container down (see picture below).

5/9 - Calvert Cliff hike

Yesterday we went to a Hail and Farewell for Brad's work. It was nice to be able to feed Aiden a little regular food. He got some chicken from a Chick Fil A chicken nugget which was great because we stayed there until 6:15 which is a half hour past Aiden's dinner time. We then had a half hour drive home so we got home, feed him, and put him to bed. I wish Aiden would sleep longer than 6:15am. He went to bed at 8pm last night, an hour later than normal, and still woke up at his normal time.
This morning I picked up sticks in the yard for a while and then Brad mowed the litte bit of grass that we have. Today we hiked at Calvert Cliffs. That is where all the pictures but the last one were taken. The picture above cracks me up because I handed Aiden is blankie and he just put his head down and had this smirk on his face. He did eventually fall alseep about 25 min into the hike (see pic below).

Bronco enjoyed the hike. Aiden woke up on the way back and we took him to the tire playground that is at Calvert Cliffs. They had some baby swings so that was fun for Aiden and Brad!! We bought Aiden a kiddie pool tonight. I can't wait to blow it up and let him try it. Our neighbor down the street has a pool and we plan on going over there once the weather gets a little warmer. We also bought him a little baby float. I can't wait for him to try it in the water. Until then, we put him in it tonight. He liked it until he tried to get out and couldn't. He just got done brushing his teeth. He's getting so many teeth that we have added to our nighttime rituals. Brad brushes his teeth and then we let Aiden try to brush his own teeth. Chewing on the toothbrush feels good for him so he's actually pretty good at it.