What a Year!

The last time I blogged, I wrote about my baby shower which was celebrated just a little over a year ago. I always have the best intentions of blogging, writing in my One Line A Day journal, keeping up with baby books, taking pictures, etc. but life is hectic and busy. Most of the time it just seems easier and more convenient to snap a picture on my phone and post it on Instagram with a small caption included. I guess that's better than nothing, but I really do enjoy blogging. Just tonight, as I enjoy some quiet in this house while everyone is sleeping, I read some of my blog posts and I'm so happy that I have written about the special little moments we've experienced. My posts take me back to a time when life seemed just a little bit simpler and easier.

It's been a year since I've posted and what a year it's been. Last time I wrote, we were eagerly anticipating the arrival of our baby girl. At the time, she was lovingly referred to as Star Peanut, a name that Aiden was so proud to have picked for his baby sister. And now, our sweet girl is almost ten months old. And when people ask Aiden what his sister's name is he now says, Star Peanut Claire Judith Loudenburg. He's still so proud.

It's hard to even know where to begin in regards to Claire. But perhaps the best way to put it can be summed up by the song lyrics by Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Claire, the moment I met you, I swear.." I swear, that moment we met our Claire was like time stood still. It was so lovely, so beautiful, so sweet. Holding that soft baby in my arms, staring down at her, and when I would speak, she would look at me with this knowing look in her eyes- she knew my voice.

Then, after having the opportunity to hold and nurse her, Aaron was able to hold her for the first time. I saw such raw emotion on his face that I hadn't seen in such a long time. Honestly, those moments were just so perfect. Everything just felt right. And then again, we experienced those overwhelming emotions when my Mom brought Aiden to the hospital to meet Claire. Aiden suddenly looked so grown-up but when I look at the pictures of him holding his baby sister for the first time, he still seems so small. My precious precious babies. The good Lord has truly blessed me.

Fast forward, ten months. Claire is crawling, she has one tooth, she loves eating blueberries, Cheerios, and sweet peas, she adores her brother, she has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger, she's beautiful, petite, happy and loud, she's a little character, we call her our "Diva", she has the brightest little eyes that I've ever seen. I could go on and on about that sweet girl.

I could go on and on about Aiden as well. He's handsome (he's told me not to call him cute anymore), smart, active, artistic, has a huge vocabulary, never stops talking, loves to sing, loves cars, Legos and books, he likes to talk about his future family and career aspirations, he likes to help take care of Claire, he's very sweet and thoughtful. He will be starting a Pre-K program at a highly accredited Catholic preschool this next week and I'm so excited for him to have the opportunity to learn and to make friends.

As I continue to update my blog, I'll write more about Aiden and Claire and I will post pictures from this past year. I will also talk about all of the changes this family has experienced. Aaron is no longer in the Air Force and we no longer live in South Dakota. But for now, I better go check on my sleeping babe. I also better get some sleep. Glad to have had a few spare minutes though to check in and post.

Until next time..

  

Baby Shower

Mom, I think you've been wanting to see pictures from my baby shower. Here they are, finally! I keep thinking back to what a lovely afternoon it was with some very lovely friends. I am truly blessed to have made such great friends while living in South Dakota. I felt so special to be surrounded by these women, such a great way to celebrate our baby girl.

 

I love the invitations that Miranda sent to my guests, I still have one hanging on my fridge because it's just so pretty!

 



Some delicious sweet treats (yes those are real flowers)

 

 

The ladies wrote blessings and advice for me on notecards, words that I'll treasure always

Steph and Bri, distance and time has not changed the friendships I have with these two. And how special to have Bri, all the way from Italy, help plan and throw my shower.

 

Miranda and Rebecca, gorgeous sisters who are so kind to me!

 



Liz, Teresa, Charlie and Lilli, concentrating..

 



Showered with so many amazing gifts

 



Cute bib from Liz

 



Gorgeous quilt made by Teresa

Baby girl stuff is so much fun!

 



I'm not sure why we were all grinning here

 



Bennett and Logan, Miranda and Bri's handsome baby boys

Strider

Aiden participated in the Strider World Championships a few weeks ago.  I heard that over 200 kids participated from over 13 different countries. It was so amazing to see so many families, from so many countries, here in South Dakota of all places. Aiden really enjoyed himself. Whenever I watch him ride, I cannot believe how fast those little legs of his can go! He's a pretty awesome little Strider Rider.

 

Final soccer game

 

Soccer ended last month and we are so proud of Aiden. He really gained a lot of confidence over the year and had a great season. These pictures are from his final game. He scored a goal and had a lot of fun!

 

 
 

Loving big bro

Our little girl is pretty darn lucky to have a big brother who loves her so much already.

Isn't she lovely?

Only eight more weeks to go! We are getting so excited to meet this little lady!

 

Golf

Aaron has been golfing quite a bit this summer. Granny Tami bought A a set of plastic clubs and he's been trying to play too. Last weekend, Aaron took him out to the course and Aiden enjoyed putting, cheering Aaron on, and riding around in the golf cart.

Great form, guys!

 



I met up with the guys a little later and really enjoyed the time spent with them

 

This sunset was a great way to end the evening

 

After a sewing night last week, I came home and Aaron excitedly told me about how they worked on their putting while I was away and Aiden made his first hole in one! The next day we went to Scheels and bough Aiden his first real putter. Aiden seems really excited to play. I think GG will be proud to hear that Aiden is taking an interest in one of her favorite past times!

A nice visit

"Friends are connected heart to heart. Distance and time cannot break them apart."

 

Words cannot express how much I enjoyed a recent visit from one of my best friends, Bri. We hadn't seen each other in two years but picked up right where we left off. 

 

 

And Aiden got some good big brother practice in with Bri's little guy, Logan.

Snow?!

It's not even fall yet and we got our first snow fall on Thursday. I'm not ready for this! Summer went by way too fast.

Preschool

Now that Aiden is four, we will be doing daily structured preschool here at home. I've had a lot of people ask me why he's not enrolled in a traditional preschool. This past February we toured a private Catholic school and really liked it. During the car ride home, however, Aaron and I had an overwhelming sense that it's just not the right time to enroll A in preschool. He has a late summer birthday so he would have been one of the youngest in his class. Although I know that he would do just fine, I have talked to several educators who have stressed the importance of waiting a year and allowing the child (especially if it's a boy) to be the oldest in their class rather than the youngest. Not only that, it seems as if kids are growing up so quickly these days. I don't want to rush through these precious, innocent years of Aiden's life. I want him to be able to spend most of his day here at home playing, because as many parents are forgetting, play (PLAY) is such a vital part of a young child's life. In addition, with a new baby on the way, I know there are some definite adjustments our family will be making and again, sending Aiden to school this year just isn't the right choice. So the plan is to do some preschool here at home this year, perhaps a Pre-K program at St. Elizabeth Seton next fall, then kindergarten when he's six.

At the beginning of the month we started our "home preschool" and it's been going really well so far. I feel so fulfilled providing this education for my sweet boy. We start our day talking about the weather. Thanks to a catchy little tune, he now knows the days of the week, and we discuss today, tomorrow and yesterday. We play games and sing songs to assist him in spelling his name. He told me last week that he dreamed about his name song, and now can spell it easily. We play a number recognition game. Utilizing flash cards and colorful block manipulatives, we do more work with numbers. I found some great workbooks at Hobby Lobby and we use those for various exercises. Starting this week we will be working on identifying letters, their sounds and handwriting. We will be placing a letter on our coconut tree (a theme based on the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) and discussing and working on that letter for the entire week. We end by talking about the Presidents. Sometime soon I'll begin to incorporate character development, but that's something that we worked on quite a bit last year. As we have for his entire life, we continue to read on a daily basis. Aiden has been expressing a strong interest in learning Spanish so I've requested through inter-library loan some of his favorite books, written in Spanish, just to expose him to something familiar but in an unfamiliar language. I hope to find some Spanish flash cards that we can post on objects around the house.

I'm finding my biggest challenge is organization and the development of a daily plan. It also seems like we have a lot of appointments in town these days, so it's been hard to devote a specific time of the day for preschool. I know that after the baby is born, it will probably be even more challenging but I keep reminding myself that at his age, it's more about making things fun, playing, reading, and allowing the focus to be on what he's interested in.

In addition to our "home preschool", we are meeting once a week with a preschool co-op group. The group consists of eight other boys, Aiden's age. Us Momma's have developed monthly themes and will teach weekly lessons based on those themes. We also have field trips and holiday parties planned.

If the last few weeks are any indication of how our year will go, I think that it will be very successful! I'm so happy to be directly involved in what Aiden is learning.     

 First day and a glimpse of our classroom

 

Handprint coconut tree, we later added sticker letters to the tree

 

 A sticks out his tongue a lot when coloring and cutting

Awesome back pack that Grandma and Poppy gave A for his birthday. We take it to co-op each week.

 

The co-op boys

Loving big brother

Someone sure loves talking to his baby sister and feeling her when she moves! We have recently discovered that she moves around a lot when I'm reading Aiden his naptime or bedtime stories.

Soccer time!

Aiden is playing soccer again this year. We've been so pleased with how he's been doing at practice each week. He definitely has more confidence than he did last year and is kicking much harder, too!

 

Soccer star

 

Look at that high powered kick!

 

Trapping the ball

 

Aiden's Grandma and Aunt Jess were in town a few weeks ago and we asked Aunt Jess to practice with him. He had such a fun time with her! I think she had a good time, too. Pretty sure the stretches were her favorite part followed by the practice game they played. I do however think she needs to continue practicing with the First Step's team because she kept kicking the ball toward the wrong goal.

Stretching

 

Another high powered kick

 



Aiden and his BFF

Sweet sweet boy

When I find a moment to sit down on the couch and relax, it is becoming much more difficult for me to get back up. Recently my sweet boy saw me taking a moment on the couch and offered to let me cuddle with his most precious stuffed animals: Rocket, Char and Ty, as well as his favorite blanket in the whole world, lankey.

Summer reading

As you all know, Aiden and I do a lot of reading. To help encourage him, we signed up for the summer reading program at the library downtown. We will do the same at the library on base later this month. Anything to encourage this little guy to continue to be a book worm makes me one happy Momma.

Glasses!

Another change in this family that is important to note: Our Aiden now wears glasses! He looks absolutely adorable and loves wearing them!

Our new home

After finding out that I am pregnant, we were able to qualify for base housing. So after exactly six years, we said goodbye to our little two bedroom townhouse and moved into the home pictured below. It looks different now that the grass is green and the trees have leaves on them. One of these days, I'll get around to posting pictures of the both the inside and outside.

We love it here. We have windows! Natural light! Plenty of extra space! Aiden plays with the next door neighbor kids! Back when I was struggling with where we were living and the lack of space and windows in our two bedroom home, I kept telling myself, "Good things come to those who wait." We waited, and we definitely now have a good thing.