5 months!?!? Already!?!?

HOLY CATS! Life has been busy! I have not blogged in quite a while...

So Aidan is 5 months old, and in my opinion, the CUTEST kid in the world! So here's some pictures to prove it:

Eating some peas--yum yum! Mom's a good cook :)

Laughing at Dad
Really? Another picture, Mom?
Loves the exersaucer!
Notice his feet--he loves to lay on his tummy and kick his little feet. He's trying to figure out how to get the toy :) Still hasn't figured it out yet....
LOVES the kitties--he smiles SO big when he sees them. The kitties, not so much.
With Grandma.
Loves the sweet potatoes!
Sucks his toes all the time--here he is "double footing" it.
First bandaid--Mom got him with the fingernail clippers :(
Loves rice!
Again with the toes--this time he is watching his planet mobile.
At the pumpkin patch with the Gries family.

Laughing

Aidan just started laughing out loud last weekend, and I finally got it on video this morning. He thinks clapping his feet and pretending his feet are eating him is hilarious! The things we do for a laugh :)

Busy, Busy, Busy

Oh, boy--I have been a neglectful blogger... but I think I'm doing an ok job at being a mom, wife, and teacher :)

So, we have been busy! I started back to school in August, and I have a wonderful group of kids this year! I love my class--now that I am a mom, I think I appreciate kids in a whole different way--the way they grow and learn amazes me even more than it did before!

Now that I am back to work, it seems like our evenings go so fast! In past years I have always stayed late at school (several times getting home even later than Mike), but now that I have Aidan, I just want to leave right at 4 to go get my baby :) I think this has really forced me to learn how to manage my time more effectively and to do things more efficiently. Aidan has a pretty good bedtime routine going, and he is usually asleep by 8-8:30... I then try to get some stuff done around the house and bottles ready for daycare, and at the end of all that, I am really ready for bed!

Our weekends have been packed full as well! We had Mike's 10 year class reunion at the beginning of August, we cut down some trees one weekend, we had a weekend when my mom and dad came to visit for a day, we had Jeremy and Mikala's wedding last weekend, and this weekend Mike is heading to KC to watch a football game with Nate, Kevin, and Justin--I am happy to have a Sunday at home to cuddle and play with Aidan :)

Aidan has grown so much! At his 2 month appointment (waaaaaay back on August 10th--holy cow, I am really behind on my blogging...) Aidan was 10lbs, 10oz, and 22 inches long--and he feels much heavier now. He goes to daycare in State Center, and I LOVE our daycare provider, Andria. The best part though, is that Aidan loves her! He smiles so big at her when I drop him off, and that gives me so much peace of mind.

Here are some photos from the last month... they are in reverse order, starting with the most recent at the top and getting older as you go down...

Aidan went to his first tailgate at the Iowa/Iowa State game. He did a great job while we walked around, and only cried when the marching band walked by and then again when the jets flew over. After all that, he was one tired boy!



Using the exersaucer at Grandma and Grandpa's
Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Mikala's Wedding last weekend.
He tries so hard to hold his own bottle--he has done it a few times for a few seconds... he'll get it soon :)
Our first of many landscape projects at the new house--cutting down the ugly trees

Tried out the sunglasses, he seemed pretty confused about the things on his face

He has become pretty interested in toys and putting things in his mouth
Napping with Daddy
Bedtime bottle after a bath
Big boy in his Bumbo. I love the shirt--it is from Megan Barber--it makes him look so grown up, like he has important meetings to go to and business to take care of.
Aidan on his first day of daycare
So tired!
2 months old--with his bandaids from his shots :(
Such a strong neck--his face looks like he is trying so hard!
Learning to suck his thumb
His feet are SOOOO interesting--he seriously could stare at them for 10 minutes
And lastly, a video of Aidan sleeping because I think it's cute

6 weeks old

Aidan is growing and changing quickly--it seems like he suddenly became more active in just the last week. He has taken an interest in the swing all of a sudden--I think he can finally see the mirror on the mobile, and he loves to sit and look at himself.
We went on our first long car ride to Harlan this past weekend to visit Grandma Gries, Crystal, Nate, Ashton, Brayson, Kevin, and Allyson. He did great in the car because he slept the whole way :). When we got to Grandma's, he met his Aunt Crystal, Uncle Kevin, Allyson, and cousins Ashton and Brayson. Brayson is 7 weeks older than Aidan, and Ashton is 2 1/2 now.... and being a typical 2 1/2 year old, he loves to run and scream, and he got a little excited to see Uncle Mike, so there was lots of running and screaming--which was a little overwhelming for Aidan. He finally calmed down after his crazy cousins left, and he slept 6 hours straight--that's his longest stretch ever!

On Saturday, we went to the Amazing Pizza Machine in Omaha (the original plan had been to go to the zoo, but it was WAY too hot and humid for that, so Crystal organized an indoor activity for us). The Amazing Pizza Machine was fun--they have a large buffet, games, go carts, mini golf, and such... I spent most of my day eating because I'm not really into arcade games :)

Here are some pics from Harlan:

Aidan's 1st exciting trip to Harlan
Grandma with all her boys--Ashton was being, well, Ashton... so this is the only picture I got with him in it.
Mike and Aidan at the Amazing Pizza Machine--they both made faces for the camera.
Aidan and Brayson hanging out for the first time--Aidan doesn't quite have control of his arms yet, so he kept hitting Brayson in the face :/ Brayson handled it pretty well.

Back home in Nevada, I took some pictures of one of Aidan's favorite activities--raising his arms up in the air. Yep, he LOVES to do this and will do it for long periods of time.
I went into my classroom earlier this week to arrange the furniture, and I took Aidan with me--and it was pretty difficult to get much done. He did a great job laying on the floor for about 20 minutes (and he was cooing, kicking, and smiling the whole time, so I spent about half that 20 minutes taking pictures and talking to him)... then he was pretty fussy the rest of the time--I think my poor diet of sugar and fried foods from the weekend caused some tummy aches for him :(... I was there for 3 hours and worked for maybe an hour total out of that whole time...so I didn't get nearly as much done as I was hoping to. We went back today, and I did a little more, but I still feel like there is so much to do :/ I officially go back the 15th, and kids start the 18th.

I took this picture while he was laying on the floor--I think it looks like he is skipping and doing a happy dance :)

Aidan has also begun to grasp things, so I ordered him 2 rattles off Amazon, and they arrived today! We helped him get the rattle grasped in his hand, and he started waving it around. I don't think he quite gets that he is making it make noise, but we had a lot fun watching him learn and do something new :)


And in news that not all about Aidan, I had my 6 week appointment yesterday, and my body has healed pretty well! I feel great, and as soon as I can make some free time for myself, I plan to start exercising again :)

Charles has lost more weight--he is down from 18lbs to 15lbs, and he's looking trim and healthy.

Mike and I are pretty well unpacked from the move. Mike is really excited to get going on the landscape--he has designers working on a plan for our house. We hope to get in the planting beds this year--which would be a huge improvement on the landscape of 1 bush that we have right now :/

A baby, a house, and 6 weeks of updating...

It has been about 6 weeks since my last real blog update, and it has probably been the busiest and most eventful 6 weeks of my life, so a lot of updating will be done in this post. Last I blogged, I was 41 weeks pregnant...

Aidan Michael Entner was born on Thursday June 9th, 2011 at 6:00 PM at Mary Greeley in Ames. He was 7 pounds 3 ounces, and he was 19 1/2 inches long. My contractions began that morning at about 2:30, but I had an ultrasound and nonstress test scheduled for 7:50 that morning, so I just waited until my appointment to see what I should do. When we got to the appointment, Dr. Leeds told me that I was 3cm and 80% effaced, so he gave me the option of going home or having him break my water to speed up my labor... so I chose to have him break my water. And, being a naive first-timer, I honestly thought that I wanted to do labor naturally--that plan went completely out the window when Dr. Leeds told me that the contractions I was feeling, which by the way was the most horrific pain of my life, were only mild contractions... so I said yes, please to the nice medication. The epidural was one of my biggest fears going into the labor process, and it turned out to be nothing to worry about. I did, however, end up throwing up for an hour after getting the epidural because of the medication they gave me during the epidural insertion. Once the vomiting stopped, I took a nice 3-4 hour nap, and woke up at 4:30 feeling a lot of pain in my hips. Dr. Leeds came in at 5:15 (...and Mike was out of the room getting a cell phone charger...), and he let me know that I was at 10 cm and ready to have the baby! When Mike got back to the room, our nurse, Abby, was getting me ready to push, much to his surprise! Pushing was much easier than I thought it would be--the whole delivery was completely different from what I expected--the room was quiet and dim, it was just me, Mike, and Abby, and I didn't feel a thing! Aidan finally made it to the edge, so to say..., so Abby went to get Dr. Leeds, but he took a little longer than expected, so while he was getting all his gear on, Aidan's head and arm came out--but he caught him with his hand--and he still managed to continue to get dressed with his other hand! Aidan had a meconium poop in the uterus, so he was taken over to the peds nurses right away, and he didn't cry! I was really worried when he wasn't crying, but it turns out he was completely healthy, breathing, and awake--he just was content and not crying :) Finally they gave him to us, and it was love at first sight :)

He has some crazy swirl colics :)


Getting to go home was quite an ordeal--we were cleared to leave at about noon, but we didn't actually get to leave until about 8:30 PM because we had to wait until Aidan peed to leave :)
Finally home, meeting the kitties


First bath...
Cuddling...

Sleepy smiles...
In his bassinet...

I can't get it flipped the right way...


In his big boy crib...
Tummy Time...
First bottle with Dad...

4th of July in Clear Lake...
Avery was very interested in the baby :)

Holding onto his pacifier...



The bjorn puts him to sleep, so we can be seen pacing the house in the bjorn when he won't go to sleep
Upsidedown again, sorry :)

AND we moved in the middle of this baby adventure!!

Mike peeling off the wall stickers the previous owners left--he loves those things!

Aidan hanging out in the new house while Mom and Dad clean...
Painting, Painting, and more Painting

And we did some cleaning too...

And some unpacking (and building...)
Saying goodbye to our duplex :(

And THAT is what we have been up to the last 6 weeks... now that we finally have the internet, I promise to blog more often :)