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 :/