He's Five!

Captian Aidan that is! Each year I am in awe of how fast time goes by. Five years ago I became a mom, five years ago God entrusted this little baby to me (and Nick :0), five years ago my life began to mean something and five years ago I fell in love in a way that I never thought possible.
Aidan is wonderful kid, he is full of life, he is a clown, he likes to make people laugh, but he is not made of steel, he melts with a mean-look, he loves to snuggle, he love to hug, kiss and take care of his littler brothers and sister. He loves to pretend, one day he is Captain Jack, then the Red Power Ranger, a tiger (which according to him could never be related to a cat!), a T-Rex dinosaur...and the best part is, we all get to play along in his pretending.
We let Aidan pick where we are going to go to dinner tonight and I was shocked (NOT) when he said McDonald's! The Close's are joining us for our gourmet meal at the Crescent City McDonald's.
On Saturday we had a HUGE party for Aidan (which my camera broke 1/4 of the way through)! We all had a blast, Nick built a "pirate ship" in the front yard, the kids all had eye patches, they ran around with plastic swords and pirate bubbles. We opened presents, ate our "treasure chest" cake and demolished the pinata. All in all it was an awesome day, pictures to come!

*Aidan's shirt was painted by a WAHM (work at home mom), she is amazingly talented, if you want her info let me know!

Drama "cough".

Baby Dedication

On Sunday, July 15th, Dillon was dedicated Dillon. For those of you who do not know what a Baby Dedication is, I found this description:
Christian parents who dedicate a child are making a promise to the Lord to do everything within their power to raise the child in a godly way, prayerfully until he or she can make a decision on his or her own to follow God. Parents who make this vow of commitment are instructed to raise the child in the ways of God, and not according to their own ways. Some of the responsibilities include teaching and training the child in God's Word, demonstrating an example of godliness, disciplining according to God's ways, and praying earnestly for the child.
-taken from About.com

The dedication was bittersweet. Dillon is the first of our children to not be dedicated in the Eureka Nazarene Church and the first to have only his parents and Church family present for his dedication. However we are so blessed to have found such a wonderful Church family, we honestly feel like family. God has truly blessed us through this past year...moving to a new place, removed from friends and family has not been near as hard as we thought it was going to be.

Dillon, I will take this time to share how much of a blessing you are in our lives. I cannot imagine my days without you. You are growing so fast, already you are rolling over, sitting up like a monkey, and your trademark is your smile. Everywhere we go, everyone we see comments on your smile. It is truly amazing, it spans from ear to ear. You are a happy, calm, lovable little man.

Relate?

"Sometimes I secrectly let the milk run out so that I have to make late-night grocery run -- all by myself.  I drive slowly, put the windows down, and enjoy a tin ypiece of solitude."

-------from I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids: Reinventing Modern Motherhood, by Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile

Family Camp

I love that my kids are growing up camping. Aidan went camping for the first time when he was 4 weeks old, how cool! Each of the kids has gone camping before they were six months old and then yearly after that. I am so excited to start this tradition, well actually I am continuing my mommy's tradition.

The past weekend we went to Blue Slide Camp, which is about 40 miles East-ish of Eureka. Eureka Nazarene Church owns the camp and holds Family Camp there every year. I love family camp. What's not to like about someone else cooking, warm weather, tons of kids to occupy my kids, tons of parents to watch everyones kids, campfires, smores, fireworks and always a good message by whomever is the speaker. Also, this year Nick was the Worship leader, he did a great job! I can't wait for more camping adventures, I think we have atleast one more planned for this summer!

Three things.

#1 Aidan had a consultation with a surgeon for the repair of his hernia. We had been praying for healing and as of now, it looks like it is on its way to being healed. Please continue to pray for continued healing. We will go back in a few weeks to check the status.

#2 My sister is in Ghana, having a good time. She is half way through her study abroad. Yesterday I missed her so much, I actually called her cell phone (her US one) just to listen to her voice. Then I stayed up until 12:30am to call her on her African cell phone. It was good to laugh with her.

#3 We had a great time at Blue Slide Family Camp. Nick was the worship leader. We ate food cooked by someone else, swam in the river, basked in the sun, roasted marshmallows, watched fireworks and had a great time with friends from our Church in Eureka. (pictures to come)