Pizza Time!

So, my little chef wanted to help me make a pizza the other night. This really comes as no surprise and isn't unusual at all since Aidan has always been a "doer". He loves to "help" do anything and everything you'll let him. It's just his little personality and I love to always encourage it because he gets a ton of satisfaction from knowing that he did something for you...and I love that. I've always let him help as much as I can at dinner for as long as he's been walking. The main reason is because, since Travis works nights, he sleeps during the day and I don't have another person around to keep Aidan occupied while trying to make dinner. So, it ended up that the best thing to do was to just let him be involved in the whole process! It allowed me to keep an eye on him and spend some quality time while keeping him happy:) Here are a few pics of my little man helping to make a pizza the other night!

First, we start with spreading the sauce.

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Yep, that looks good.

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Then, we sprinkle on the cheese.

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And then we pick a little bit of cheese off since it looks super yummy.

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So, then we stuff it in our mouth as fast we can before Mommy puts the camera down.

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Next, we notice that we dropped some on the counter and decide to eat that as well.

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And lastly, we bake the pizza, make a salad....and VOILA...Pizza via Aidan:)

Poor, poor kid!

Aidan SO has my butt. It's no secret that I have a considerable amount of junk in the trunk;) That has actually ALWAYS been the case....even when I was a baby. My Mom would often break out pictures of when I was little and talk about how I had the "cutest, little, round, poochy butt". Not so cute or little anymore, but definitely poochy...haha. And I think it's hilarious that Aidan has the very same booty. Please forgive me for the nakey pic, but I just had to share the fruit of my loins....or hiney;)

Nana & Pop's 50th. Anniversary Party

My grandparents celebrated their 50th. Wedding Anniversary on Sept. 27 and our family planned a big party for them on Sat., Oct. 18. Everyone had such a great time and it definitely made all of the planning worth it!

Nana & Pop (aka: Carole & Jimmy) were married on Sept. 27, 1958 in Clacton-On-Sea, England. They met at a town hall dance:) Pop was in the Air Force and was stationed there at the time. After moving all over the U.S. and even some time in Japan, they eventually landed at Pop's hometown of Fulton, KY where they finished raising all of their 5 kids and a few grandkids, too!

My grandparents mean the absolute world to me and celebrating their marriage with our family and some of their oldest and dearest friends was such a joy. There were several of Nana's girl friends who also married American soldiers and most of them are still married! It was so neat hearing stories and seeing several of them come and celebrate with them. They looked like little teenagers with the giggling and non-stop dancing:)

Here's a pic from their wedding day in 1958!

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Here are a few pics from their anniversary reception! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to ME!

So, yours truly turned a whopping 29 years old on Sept. 26! The boys and I tore up my most favorite cake in the whole world...a Dairy Queen ice cream cake! Aidan wouldn't stop saying "cake, cake, cake" whenever I asked him if he was hungry. And I mean, like, every meal! Of course, he didn't get cake for every meal, but for a split second, I did think the kid had a fantastic idea;)

My most fabulous friend, Erica, watched Aidan for us on Saturday night while Travis and I went out for dinner to Marina's on the Square. We love Italian food and it was soooo yummy! The bread was the best!

Speaking of Erica.... On my actual birthday (Friday) there was a Presidential Debate taking place, so that meant it was our Girls' Debate Night! We're both super involved and informed with this year's election and have made it a point to get together for the debates. If anything, we get to eat super yummy Jason's Deli and veg while the kiddos sleep...haha. Since it was my birthday, she surprised me with ANOTHER fantastic birthday cake from Baskin Robbins! Seriously...I have awesome friends (thanks again, Erica)!

My yummy cake from my two favorite men:)

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Me and Tooter Butt!
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He was ALL about it!
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Mmmmm!
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And here's the cake from Erica!

Tagged Schmagged!

I was tagged by Katy at http://justcallmemrstodd.blogspot.com for this. This is my first "tag", so woohoo to me:)

First add a family picture:

Second: Answer the questions.

1. How many children do you have? One!

2. What are their ages? Aidan turned 2 on July 4, 2008

3. What time of day do you start your day? He used to get up around 7am, but here lately it's around 6am. I'm still trying to convince him otherwise, though.

4. What do you eat for breakfast? I usually have cereal unless we all go out for breakfast when Travis comes home from work. Aidan will often have Cream of Wheat (bleck), a banana, scrambled eggs, etc.

5. Do they watch TV? Yep, we're all fans of it...ha.

6. What are their favorite activities? ANYTHING outside! He would stay outside all day if I'd let him. He also likes jumping from obscure places and playing with trains.

7. Do you get a break during the day from them? Starting a few weeks ago, YES! He goes to Mother's Day Out on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am-2pm. I also get a break whenever I have an Uppercase Living party!

8. How do you end your day? I either do UL work/follow-up stuff, watch TV, etc. Here lately it's been both at the same time so that I can keep up-to-date on politics...haha.

9. What is your best parenting advice or tip? Probably to follow-through with whatever you decide. If you're wishy washy and don't stick to a certain method...be it a sleep routine, discipline, etc....then you're teaching your little one that it's not important. My two cents:)

Pass it on to five people: Here goes!

Rachel at http://thebeasleyfamily.blogspot.com/

Roxy at http://roxysadventures.blogspot.com/

Deidre at http://lifeasanautismmom.blogspot.com/

Amber at http://pinkraider98.blogspot.com/

Misty at http://mistysmadnessx2.blogspot.com/

Monkey Man!

Since Aidan's Aunt Lacey (aka...my sister) moved to Nashville a couple of months ago, we haven't had the chance to see her near as much as we used to. We got to visit her yesterday and had lunch at Red Robin in Nashville. Since Aidan thinks he's a big boy now and doesn't have to use a measly little highchair anymore, he was able to sit with Aunt Lacey in our booth....and the shenanigans began;) Here he is making his Monkey face for all to enjoy. And I really mean "all"...the kid is a ham in public and was pretty amusing to the other Red Robinners!

Pop's Buddy

As most know, I was raised by my grandparents for the majority of my life. I have such respect and gratitude for them and there's no way I could ever let them know how much they mean to me. I do love living here, but not being near them is sometimes difficult, and that's especially true since we've had Aidan. Aidan ADORES his Pop and Nana. And it's so gratifying to watch them play with him and they enjoy their visits so much. I especially love the close relationship he has with my Pop. Every time they visit, Pop and Aidan will go out walking around our subdivision. It's kinda "their thing". They head out the door and will come back about a half hour later. And when Aidan comes back he just jibber jabbers nonstop...as if he's trying to tell me about the huge adventure he and his Pop just had. It's my favorite:) I'd love for Aidan to have him in his life forever....to have such a strong role model wrapped up in this empathetic, humbling, generous, loving Christian man. He will forever be my hero and I'm sure he'll be Aidan's, too.

Here are a few pics of Aidan and his Pop before "their walk" a couple of weeks ago.

Aidan's 1st. Day at Mother's Day Out

I know I'm late posting this, but, alas, I still have camera issues. The only reason I have these is because we bought a disposable camera and I had them put on a CD....so sad.

So, Aidan started King's Kids MDO on Sept. 2! He went in to the classroom and immediately started playing...of course, oblivious that Travis and I were "dropping" him off. When I picked him up that afternoon one of his teacher's said he was her "little helper" and she still calls him that, actually. You need to know, though, that Aidan will bring you things or throw away paper or do something that he thinks is nice JUST to get you to say "Thank you". I guess the kid needs some validation...ha. And I'm sure that's exactly what he was doing for her:)

The second time we took him he cried as soon as we hit the church door. So, we picked him up, took him in the classroom and my dear, sweet husband, Travis, wouldn't put him down and leave!!! I wish I had a camera with me, but he was holding onto Aidan for dear life! I had to drag him out of the classroom and he has vowed that he won't go back with me...haha. It's much harder on Travis than Aidan:) Last Thursday when I dropped Aidan off he did cry when I handed him to his teacher, but about a minute later, he had stopped. And the reason I know this is because I was hiding outside his classroom door....hehe.

His favorite part of the day (besides playing outside) is getting his hand stamped in his Bible class. Every day he talks about it...even on weekends...and can't wait to get another! And I just love the little crafts he brings home each day:) So, he seems to enjoy it and, I must say, Mommy enjoys having a little break during the week...even if it is just a few hours for only two days. Either way, I'll take it!

Here are some First Day pics!

The fam before heading out!

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Daddy & Aidan walking to "school"
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He was so excited he was running to his classroom! I must note that he "crashed and burned" after I took this picture...hehe. The guy you see staring at him in the pic actually said to me, "See, that's why there's no flash photography!"...HAHAHA!
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Aidan playing with his best buddy, Parker, and his classmate, Ryan.

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He didn't eat much at lunch, so he was pretty hungry when we got home!
Here he is busting out the lunchbox.

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Here are a few of his crafts and pages he colored at his first day of "school" :)

Cameras & Oreos....oh my!

So, my camera kinda died. I say "kinda" only because I'm not totally sure what happened to it, but the screen isn't working. With that said, I haven't been able to take any pictures other than using my cell phone, which is why I haven't posted anything lately. Me likely posts with pics:)

So, anyway, here are a couple I took yesterday with my cell phone. I let Aidan have a couple of Oreo cookies early yesterday afternoon and, while his favorite part is the white filling, he did end up eating the cookie as well. Now, fast forward to a few hours later. Mommy (that would be me) was so smart that she left the Oreo cookies out on the counter....apparently just within a certain toddler's reach (that would be Aidan). At the time, I had run upstairs to get my cell phone to check my messages. I come back down to this...

Oh yes...the little snot went through the entire middle sleeve of cookies, devouring the white filling on each one. The first two he actually put back together (as if I wouldn't notice), but then decided time was against him so he tore up as much filling as he could until I got back downstairs. :)
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And this was him earlier in the day when Mommy made him eat the cookie as well as the filling. Mean ol' Mommy....hehe.

Newborn Nostalgia

I came across this video today of Aidan when he was just six weeks old. It's hard to believe that he was this small! The past two years have flown by and now I have a big boy. I remember each month that he was getting older always telling myself that this month was so much more fun than last month because he can do "such and such" now. And then the next month would come, and THAT month would be so much more fun than the previous month for the same reason. And now I sit here wishing I could just hold his little bitty newborn baby body again:(

I love this video because it shows my most memorable Aidan-ism from when he was a newborn. For some reason, he didn't mind the "nose-sucker" thing AT ALL. In fact, he would always give a tiny giggle each time we would stick it in his nose. What a precious, weird, sideburn-pimpin' little newborn...whom I miss so much:)

Fun with Blackmail...Errr, Makeup:)

Aidan definitely digs my makeup. He gets so pumped whenever I get all "dolled" up because he kinda likes to act like he's putting some on him, but my favorite part is that he "helps" me:) And he actually puts the right stuff on the right places....blush on cheeks, eyeshadow on eyes, etc. This is gonna be so advantageous to me years from now;)

So, here he is putting on my powder. His new thing now is to make the most dramatic "cheese" face you can make when he poses for a picture. I'm talking, you can't even see the kid's eyes, but you sure as heck can see those pearly whites...hehe. Oh...and make sure you notice the ponytail holder on his wrist. If my hair's not up, then I always wear one on my wrist just in case. He's noticed this and whenever he sees one he automatically puts it on his wrist...I love that:)

Multi-talented...watching cartoons AND putting on makeup

Team Toddler Racing, Inc.

So, we've been super-dee-duper busy here at Mangold headquarters. We've just had a lot on our minds and always seem to have a lot more company during the summer. Who am I kidding....we always have company;) Regardless, these are the reasons I choose to explain my lack of blogging here lately. Apology given. Hopefully accepted. Carrying on...

I met my friends Erica & Melissa for lunch last week at Red Robin with our THREE toddler boys...who happen to all be just a few months apart in age. Wow....it was definitely interesting and probably a quick round of birth control for everyone else at the restaurant...haha. I'm teasing. The boys really weren't bad. They were definitely trying to out-do eachother on who was the coolest and loudest toddler in the land, though;) And just as any typical male, all was pretty much peaceful once the food came. I personally think we Moms were the super smart ones....for taking our kids out to lunch during naptime....yeah, so NOT cool. I blame Erica...she was the one craving a "big, juicy burger":)

Here are a few pics I snapped as we were about to head out.....

Notice Aidan's "cheese" face
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Two race car seats...3 toddlers...
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...totally didn't last long;)

Mangold Family Reunion

We were so thrilled that Travis' family decided to all come in this year for a family reunion at our house! Travis is the youngest of four brothers....Davis & his family live in New Hampshire, Ricky & his family live in West TN, and Ron & his family live in Arkansas. He also has cousins that live in Alabama. We've actually never had a reunion where so many of his family were able to come in at once, so it was soooo nice to be able to have them all here. Here are a few pics of their Mom, the Mangold brothers and their families.

Families from L to R:
Ashley, Aidan, Travis...Taylor, Deana, Ricky, Seth...Tara, Rylie, Ron...Catherine...Sofia, Davis, Olivia, Tina
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Mangold brothers & their children

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Catherine with her children & grandchildren