Apple Picking

Aria's excited to pick some apples!

Look at her go...

Snack Time (before)

Snack Time (after)

The Apple Pickin' Gang

Aria thought this was so fun, I was pretty scared, and Goofydaddy got a work out...

The next day we made enough applesauce to fill half my freezer! YAY, thanks Mom. My mom fills her freezer up every year with homemade applesauce. She usually shares with us through out the year. I have over the years helped out, but I really looked forward to doing it in my own home. I was a little pre occupied with Aria, so I didn't help as much as I would have like too. Maybe a couple more years and then we'll have another hand not only picking, but helping in the kitchen too. My Mom is an applesauce machine! Thanks again!!!

Aria's pick for President

16 more years until she can vote...

That's Aunt Jennine's voice in the background. She's a great role model for Aria. She always stands up for what she believes in and is not afraid to voice her (educated) opinion. She has encouraged me, countless times, to get out and vote. I'm embarrassed to say that this is the first year I've actually done it. I made it out to the Primaries and I will be out there again in November. I know it's important; I'm just indecisive.
I obviously didn't get the same genes as my sister :-)

School Pictures

We got the proofs from Aria's 1st school picture...

Aria's 2nd B-day

Aria is 2!

She had a fun party over the weekend. My mom's cousin's family came over and Aria met her 3rd cousin, Leah!

She got to spend quality time with Grandmas and Pop Pops!

We worked all last week to get her to blow out her candle. It took like 2 minutes, but she did it! Here's the end of the VERY long video...

Of course there were presents. She loved them all, especially the little kitchen and baby doll from her grandparents. (We got her a wood train set and blocks to balance it out, haha.)

Doogan catches a ride in the baby carrier.

Birthday hat fun!

Aria built "castles" with all the leftover hats.

On the actual day of her B-day we took her to a moon bounce place with Austin! She loved it, but it tired her out.

Happy Anniversary!

Four years today!

Many many more will come. We have excellent marriage role models in our parents (over 70 years combined), as well as countless others in our families and friends.

I look forward to all the joys we will share over the years, and know that when times are not so joyful, we will be able to weather them and survive because of the incredibly strong foundation we have built and are building with every day we are together.

Where does the pee-pee go? In the Potty!

every day after Aria's bath, we let her have some naked time. We've been talking to her about using the potty, and she's sat on it, but nothing ever came out.*

well, tonight after her bath, she came into our room and watched me vacuum. she grabbed herself, said "ooh! in the potty!" and ran back to the bathroom, and sat down for a bit. Then she proclaimed "all done!" and stood up. there was pee in the potty—a lot of pee! we were so proud of her and I gave her high-fives and 3 stickers. she usually gets one sticker just for sitting down, so 3 is a BIG deal. Aria was so happy, and couldn't wait to flush the toilet.

we know that it'll be a long time before she's completely potty trained, but tonight was an excellent step in the right direction!

*soon after we got the potty, Aria got the urge to poop immediately before her bath. she wouldn't sit down on it, so Dana caught the poop in the potty while Aria stood up. She got scared of it when she saw it after!

...and she ate it

We cook dinner the majority of the time. We like to cook together. With our schedules now during the week, I mostly get dinner started early after picking Aria up from school and then Goofydaddy gets home shortly after. I'm not the best cook, but Goofydaddy and I are not picky eaters. So, if it's the least bit eatable, we eat it. Now with a toddler that judges the way things taste by sight, it gets a little tricky. Sometimes when I know Aria needs to eat a good meal, I will make her an egg separate because I just don't think it's worth the battle. Last night I made an eggplant/spinach bake with pasta on the side which can look a little weird, but is VERY tasty. Usually the color and texture of the eggplant and then the mixed in spinach would totally turn her off. (She does eat and love spinach plain though.) I didn't feel like making anything else so I just mixed it all up and made sure the eggplant was really small. I put the plate down and she immediately turned her nose up at it. She then asked for waffles. I asked her to try it and I got a "NO!" So, I told goofydaddy to not give in with me. She was definitely hungry and I had a feeling she would give in. So we just kind of ignored her a little while we got our plates together. I showed her I was eating the same thing and daddy too. I put some on her fork and asked if she would like to try it. She opened her mouth and in it went! I handed her fork and she ended up eating 2/3 of it. GOOD little girl! It made me happy.