Aiden: 2 months old

Aiden is now 2 months old. He went to the doctor today and weighed 13 lbs and 12 oz and 23 3/4 in long. He's a BIG baby! He also had his shots today and didn't take it too well. But it didn't help that he was really tired and they had to wake him up to do it. I don't think any one would like to be woken up that way.

Thirty and Flirty

My awesome sister Charla sent me flowers for my birthday...aren't they pretty?!?!

Now I'm 30

Today I'm officially 30. Honestly, I feel like I just got out of high school, which I guess is good.
However the following is a list of some things that remind me of how old I really am...

• I've been married for 10 1/2 years and have 3 kids...really I should be older than 30!
• I was in Kindergarten when Michael Jackson's Thriller came out.
• I was in 2nd grade when the Challenger blew up. I thought we were on our way to music class and instead we went into the other 2nd grade class and watched the Challenger. I remember my teacher just quitely turning off the tv after it blew up...I don't remember if they tried to explain what happened.
• I remember fighting with my sister, Charla, about who got to tell my parents that Baby Jessica was free from the well. They had gone out the evening that she was freed. I lost. I had to sit quitely while she told my parents.
• I was 14 when my mom passed away, it will be 16 years this June.
• I remember sitting in 5th hour Art class and listening to the deathtoll of the Oklahoma City bombing.
• My senior year of high school they had tvs out in the library so we could watch the verdict of the OJ Simpson trial.
• My 10 year high school reunion was 2 years ago.

Memphis...WHY???

The past couple of months I have planned our little trip to Memphis. As I did my research on the City of Memphis and all the many things to do, I started to get really excited for our trip. But when ever I would tell people we were going to Memphis for Memorial Weekend it was always, "Why?" And never just a why out of curiosity, it was more of a why out of curiosity and disgust. I would always answer back with all the things to do.

What has been funny, as we have gone about our trip and met many people from Memphis, they have always asked where are we heading...like we are not staying in Memphis. So here is a list of reason to go to Memphis if you have never been, because we really did have a great time.

• VERY friendly people
• Memphis Temple (for the mormons out there)
• Ride down the Mississippi River on a riverboat
• World famous bar-be-que
• Beale Street and the Home of the Blues
• Memphis Zoo...Panda bears
• Graceland...of course!
• Trolleys through downtown
• Civil Rights Museum and the place where Martin Luther King was killed
• Many fantastic restaurants
• and mamy many more things

Our last day in Memphis

This morning we went to the Memphis Zoo. It was a really nice zoo that had a lot of animals you don't normally see at zoos like penguins, polar bears, and panda bears. It is actually only 1 of 4 zoos in the United States that has panda bears.

They also have sea lions. This little girl used a purple cup and had the sea lion doing circles, jumping, and swimming around. She had the sea lion following her every move. It was so cute.

It started to rain right when we were leaving...how perfect is that?

After the zoo Adam took the boys swimming while Aiden and I took a little nap. This evening we went to Corky's bar-be-que. It is known around the world for their bar-be-que. We of course had ribs and they were delicious!

Riding down the River

This morning we went to church and then back to the hotel for a little bit of rest. We decided to do some shopping...I had some birthday money to spend! Momma got a new pair of shoes...actually 2 pairs. I have my eye on a third but they didn't have my size. We are going to try at the other mall and see if we can find them there.

After shopping we went to eat at J Alexanders which is our favorite restuarant. We have only been to the one in K.C. so couldn't resist to go to this one.

After church we took a little drive up north to see the temple. We didn't realize Memphis had a temple so we wanted to check it out. It's pretty crazy because it is literally feet away from the Stake Center.

Next was the Riverboats. We had a great time on the Riverboats and learned a lot about the history of Memphis. It was really pretty. The boys had fun on the boat. Although Xavier was disappointed that we didn't see any alligators and Damon was just upset that we didn't buy him nachos. Aiden was a good baby and slept most of the ride.

Needing an Ark in Memphis

So yesterday we left for our trip. We drove to Springfield, Mo and stayed one night in a hotel. We made a little trip down to Branson to eat at our favorite restaurant, Danna's, and did a little shopping at Banana Republic outlet.

This morning we left for Memphis. It was raining when we left Springfield. There was only a 10% chance of rain in Memphis so we knew that we wouldn't be in the rain too long. We were wrong and so was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It rained the whole trip, 5 straight hours of hard rain. Shockingly Adam didn't go insane and he kept us from hydroplaning the whole way here.

We stopped in Hickville Arkansas for lunch at a quant place called Restaurant. It was one of those moments you see on TV or something, when you walk into a place and everyone turns and stares at you. Obviously this was a local only place. They had fried squash on the menu, I told Adam, "Hmm...I've never had fried squash." The waitress looked at me like I was crazy and said in the thickest southern accent, "You've never had fried squash? Where y'all from?" So with that I decided I needed to try fried squash. Which by the way, only in the south do they take something that is totally healthy for you and make it artery-clogging. When another waitress brought out the food she asked me if I eat my fried squash with ranch dressing. I told I had never had it before. Her response, "You've never had fried squash?" I have to say it was pretty good.

Once we got to Memphis, we first went to the Civil Rights Museum. It is the hotel that Martin Luther King was killed and turned into a museum. We walked through the hotel room and saw the balcony where he was killed. After that we checked into our hotel, which is way nice.

We went downtown and ate at the Big Foot Lodge. They have a 4 lb hamburger. We did not order that, it was ginormous. That is more meat our family eats in a month. The table next us, a group of 7, ordered it and shared it.

Field Day

Today was Damon's field day at school. So Xavier, Aiden and I went to watch Damon in all the races. They even did one race for the preschoolers so Xavier got to run too. After every race each kid got a ribbon for participating.

Sorry for the shakey camera, I was taking video, shooting pictures, holding Aiden, and yelling at Xavier all at the same time...I can only do so much!

Also, I haven't quite figured out why it is putting up the split screen, I'm not clicking that button when I make the video but it keeps doing it. So if someone knows how not to get that, send me the how-tos. Hopefully I figure it out soon because it is ticking me off!

J and A

Thought this was a cute picture of Jim holding Aiden. I love Aiden's little outfit and even though the hat is too big, I love it! Plus, we needed something to protect his little bald head out at the soccer fields!

I'm Not 30...yet...

A couple years ago I thought it would be funny to celebrate not turning 30.

So Adam decided to throw me a surprise Not 30 yet party, 10 days before my 30th birthday. He did everything (with a little help from family and friends). I was totally fooled and had no idea.

We had it at the train depot in Manhattan. Cake and snacks were served. And Adam put together a little video of my baby pictures as well.

I'm completely shocked that not only did everyone keep it a secret but that my sisters and my friend Jim kept it from me as well...these are the people that are supposed to tell me everything...I don't know what to think now!

Last Game

The boys had their last soccer game on Saturday. We had a little brunch/party afterwards for everyone at the Wamego park. We had a great team and made lots of new friends.

Happy Mother's Day

Well there was no breakfast in bed but it was still a good day. Actually, I got something better than breakfast...SLEEP! The boys made me cards (some at school, some at home) and Adam got me a Willow Tree figure. Damon also gave me a plant.

At church they made a really cute flower picture using their thumb prints. They also filled out a info sheet about me. Some of their answers were too cute I thought I would share them...

Xavier's...

1. I love when my Mother...makes cookies
2. I love my Mother because...she gives me hugs and kisses
3. My Mother like's to...feed my baby brother (more like, have to feed)
4. My Mother is happy when...we are good
5. The funniest thing I ever did with my Mother was...play with my toys
6. My Mother is sad when...is never sad
7. The funniest thing I ever saw my Mother do was...mow the lawn (funny thing, I have never mowed the lawn in my life!)
8. The color my Mom likes best is...orange (true)
9. If I could give my Mother anything I'd give her...fishbowl (huh?)
10. The first thing my Mother does when she wakes up is...make breakfast for me and my brother (actually Adam does this)
11. I like when my Mother...makes my favorite food...for me (he is a picky eater so I know this to be true, I've never seen a kid so excited for spaghetti)
12. I like to...buy some stuff like lip gloss...for my mother (he knows me well)
13. My Mother's favorite food is...cake (I do enjoy cake, don't know if its my favorite but you can't go wrong with cake)
14. My Mother does not like to eat...worms (VERY TRUE)
15. My Mother works at...home
16. The color of my Mother's hair is...the same color as mine
17. My Mother is...nice and beautiful (very VERY true)
18. My Mother's shoe size is...16 (now my feet are big but not that big.)

Damon's...

1. My Mother likes to...play games
2. My Mother is happy when...its one o'clock (just had lunch, probably just hanging out at home, I probably am happy at 1:00)
3. The funniest thing I ever did with my Mother was...when she made Aiden talk (I did this one time, Damon thought it was hilarious)
4. My Mother is sad when...me and my brother don't listen (hit the nail on the head)
5. The funniest thing I ever saw my Mother do was...let Aiden sing (back to #3)
6. The color my Mom likes best is...orange (my boys know me)
7. If I could give my Mother anything, I'd give her...makeup (Damon tried to get Adam to buy me makeup for Mother's day)
8. The first thing my Mother does when she wakes up is...eat breakfast
9. I like when my Mother...makes a cake...for me
10. I like to...get a present for mother's day...for my mother
11. My Mother's favorite food is...honey nut cheerios (I do eat them everyday for breakfast)
12. My Mother does not like to eat...broccoli (I actually really enjoybroccoli)
13. The color of my Mother's hair is...blonde
14. My Mother is...white
15. My Mother's shoe size is...10 or 1

Xavier Trusts His Dad

An Eventful Weekend

We had a busy weekend! We had a lot of family come into town and a lot of special events took place as well.

On Friday we went to Chilis for dinner and then back to the Little's house for the unveiling of Karen's books. Karen has always had a dream of writing a children's book and this year we all as a family helped that dream become a reality. To read more about the details of the book, check out Ben's blog.

Not only did Ben and Kelly come into town for Aiden's blessing on Sunday but so did Adam's other brother, Marty and some members of his family. Janna is showing her granddaughter, Shawnee, our little Aiden. Janna is also the first to babysit our new guy. Saturday morning the boys had a soccer game so Janna stayed with Aiden so he wouldn't be out in the cold. It was the coldest soccer game ever...there are no words for it.

Saturday night we celebrated Ben's 30th birthday. The best part was the cake...Kelly knows how to make a cake!

Aiden was ready to party!

Sunday, Adam blessed Aiden at church. In the circle was, Adam, Bishop Hancock, Grandpa Little, Uncles Matt, Ben, and Marty, and our friend Patrick Lewis. We had many friends and family there...Ben and Kelly Dolezal, Marty and Janna Little plus Hunter and Alicia, Jessica and Shawnee Shepherd, Jim and Jan Sipes, Grandpa and Grandma Prewit, Grandpa and Grandma Little, Great Grandma Keith, Ashley Warner, Charla Dawson, Matt and Carrie Craft plus Christopher and Jordan. Yeah we squeezed into 3 pews at church! After, everyone came to our house for lunch. My sister Carrie is playing momma to 4 kittens so we got to see, play, hold, love, and feed them as well.

Here is Damon bottle feeding one of the kittens...I think this one was Donald.