Happy Halloween!

I'll post pictures of each kid tomorrow or sometime when I can get to it, but I wanted to show off our boys tonight.

Cool With Flying

Aiden's first flying experience came right as he was turning one month old. He's just too cool to ride in a car and insists on flying as his preferred method of transportation.

Yes, that would mean that he's still screaming the entire time he's in a car.

Trading Babes

Amanda with Aiden

Kerum with Emma

I'm just glad we were able to meet Emma! I told Amanda she wasn't allowed to wait to have Emma. She had to have her before we got to Missouri since I knew we wouldn't be back until Austin's summer vacation. Emma is so sweet!

Nana

Papa

Tying the Knot

I would like to preface this post by saying that I have NO pictures of the ceremony. I committed probably the biggest sin when it comes to taking pictures...I didn't check my battery! Yup, my battery died just as the ceremony was starting. ARGH! So, I'm hoping I can get a picture of my handsome ring bearer coming down the aisle when the professional pictures come back.

(or if anyone reading this has a good picture of him coming down the aisle, please e-mail me that picture!) Anyway, I charged my battery (since I DID remember to bring the charger in my diaper bag) and managed to take some pictures during the reception.

Here's Austin in his suit and fedora hat that he wore during the wedding. He is just SO handsome! I love pinstripe!

Austin and Colten before the ceremony.

After dinner, they cleared away some tables for a dance floor. At the beginning, it was all kids out there. I managed to get a couple of pictures of Austin dancing. This kid can boogey!

Colten was also out there dancing, but the pictures just look like he's standing there since he just bobs his head and spins around. :-) There was someone there (one of Eryn's many grandparents maybe?) that was handing out glow necklaces to the kids and this was a HIT! Austin helped put Colten's on him...what a sweet brother!

Daddy wearing Austin's hat. That hat was passed around to so many people, even the groom was wearing it at some point.

The newlyweds' first dance. Jimmy usually hates pictures and dancing, but I think he truly is happy with Eryn and this picture shows that.

Congrats to my brother and new sister-in-law. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was fun. Marriage may be work, but it's totally worth it when you're with the right person.

Meeting Cousin Emma

Austin and Colten got to meet their newest cousin, Emma. Before she was even born, Austin asked if I thought Aunt Amanda would let him hold his cousin. I told him that I was pretty sure she would.

He was pretty excited to hold her and I think you can tell in this picture!

Colten loved his little cousin as well and treated her just like he treats his little brother, maybe even a little better! He kept staring at her and kissing her and hugging her. The boy loves his babies!

Aiden and Emma are only about 4 weeks apart, so I know they'll have a lot of fun together as they grow up and see each other during visits.

After getting back from our trip to Missouri, we got the great news that there will be another cousin added to our family! Jimmy and Eryn are expecting their first child in June. It's going to be fun times when all the cousins get together! I'm so glad my kids are going to have memories of all the fun times they have with their cousins that I was able to have growing up!

Fun at the Frede's

The trip to Missouri was a quick one, but we just had to show off Aiden to his Grandpa Frede.

My Grandma with Aiden.

Grandpa with his 3rd grandson.

Grandpa with 3 out of 4 of his grandchildren. Amanda hadn't gotten out of the hospital with Emma yet, so we couldn't get a picture with all of them. Next time we are in town it will be done. :-)

The boys always love going to visit their Grandpa. There are horses and ducks to feed, a pond, and lots of area to run around. Oh, and we almost always get Jello Poke Cake fed to us! After leaving one time, Austin said, "Grandpa is a pretty good guy! I like him!" I know my Dad would have loved to hear that!

We didn't get to spend as much time there as we wanted, but with the wedding and everyone else to visit, we had to go. I later learned we had just missed one of my uncles and cousins. Oh, and I was a tad disappointed to learn that we missed the big apple butter weekend by one week. This is when a lot of the family comes over and makes a HUGE thing of apple butter. In case you think it's just a pot you put on the stove or something, this is a picture that I stole from my cousin of the jars and jars of apple butter they made. You can see in the background that there are even more jars on another table (the white stuff is wax that they put on top). I'm not even completely sure how much they made since I wasn't there! :-( Maybe next time!

Sweet and Beautiful

I know I'm a little biased, but I don't think anyone can argue that my brand new niece isn't sweet or beautiful!

I mean, just LOOK at these pictures!

Emma Leigh Frede

Born October 6th at 11:55pm

8lbs 7oz and 22 inches long

Amanda, you did good. Seriously.

A Whole Month

I'm late, I know, but I have a good reason!

Since we were in Missouri when Aiden actually turned a month old, I took his picture the day we left. I knew I wouldn't be able to post it until we got back since it was going to be a crazy busy weekend. I also didn't have internet access, so posting would have been a little hard without that!

He definitely looks bigger and just keeps looking cuter in those FuzziBunz!

Aiden is wearing 0-3 month clothes and when he's in disposable diapers, he wears a size 1. He's about 9 1/2 pounds right now as well. We'll know his exact measurements at his 2 month appointment. He is a strong boy and lifts his head really well, however, he doesn't really like tummy time at this point. He really wants to smile and I think he's kind of smiled once, but it was only for a second and he hasn't done it since. I'm thinking maybe this week or next he'll really start smiling. He still sleeps a lot, but has a lot more alert time than in the past couple of weeks.

Aiden is really particular about his temperature. He likes it really warm and prefers to be swaddled at all times. This also means that he doesn't really like baths so much. Lately, he's been really needy and wants to be in someone's arms as much as possible. It's hard to believe how much my back hurts after carrying around a 9 pound kid all day!

Aiden has been a great addition to our family and we all love him so much. He's a special little boy and we can't imagine life without him!

Transitions

This morning wasn't a great one. It wasn't as bad as some people have it and I have to remember that sometimes. My family is healthy, we don't have any major problems in our lives and we are together. This morning just happened to be a little stressful and it caused a little bit of inconvienence. Writing this post will help me though, as I'm sure there are people out there feeling about the same way and knowing there is someone else out there helps (so, if you're out there, please comment so I can know I'm not alone!!!)

Before kids, things ran smoothly. While not the best at remembering things all the time, I still felt like things were organized and in control. When we added Austin to our family, there was a little bit of time when it was harder, but I still feel like I was in control and was semi-organized. After Colten, if it wasn't completely together, I could at least fake it. Adding Aiden into this chaos has completely thrown me for a loop. Faking it isn't even an option as I'm just not that good of an actress!

Getting Austin ready for school on a normal day isn't that bad. I don't normally have to be out of the house and all I have to do is get us dressed and Austin completely ready and then we head to the bus stop. However, if I have to go anywhere in the morning, that's when things spin out of control. It's almost impossible for things to run smoothly. Things get spilled, Aiden decides he's hungry way before he "should" be, and a diaper (along with the entire outfit) almost always has to be changed right as we are heading out the door. Colten is off doing what almost-two-year-olds do and that usually means something else to do before we run out the door. Throw in the dogs and there is just too much to take care of to get out of the house in time.

Of course, there's also the 3 trips back into the house, dis-alarming and re-alarming the security system each time, for things that didn't make it into the diaper bag.

Can I also add that I absolutely, positively hate to be late? I try to allow time for the unexpected, but it seems like it adds up to be more everytime!

This morning, I ended up way too late to Colten's ENT appointment and they decided that they just couldn't allow that and rescheduled us. For November 2. I about lost it. Well, actually I headed for the bathroom for a little "emotional time" for this post partum mom. I know it's not the end of the world, but with the stress of getting out of the house and then having to wait another month for his appointment, I just needed to let it out.

I think the reason it seemed so bad to me at the time is that I realized that things will be even more stressful when "duty calls." Brian won't be around to help or even to be there to let me vent. I feel the need to be super mom right now so that I'm more at ease when the time comes for him to leave. My mind can't even imagine how much harder all of this is in a few months. If I can't handle it now, how in the world will I handle it then? He won't be here to remind me, like he did today, that this is all a transition. That I'll figure it out soon and everything will be fine. (Can I just say how much I love this man???)

Ok, I think I feel better now. I know I won't have it together right away, but I'm hoping that it comes soon. If not, I guess I'll just be known as that mom. :-)

Sneak Preview

My brother, Jimmy, and his fiancee, Eryn, are getting married this weekend! When they got engaged, they asked if Austin wanted to be in the wedding. Brian and I have both been in weddings as kids, so we thought it would be a good memory for Austin to have as well. Plus, we knew he'd love to be apart of his uncle's special day!

Eryn said that if we wanted, we could just buy him a suit instead of renting a tux and that black and white would be good. I have looked all over for a basic black suit and have found them only in bigger sizes. All of the suits in Austin's size have either been navy blue or pin stripe. After checking with Eryn, she said that if a black suit wasn't to be found, that a pin stripe would be fine. I think she might think it's more than fine after she see this picture of our handsome little boy!

Since JcPenny's was having a BOGO sale, we went ahead and got a shirt/tie combo. It's not white and black, but we already have a white shirt in the closet and can find a basic black tie if Eryn doesn't like the gray shirt and black/gray/blue tie. (Eryn, just let me know...)

Even more important is that Austin LOVES this suit. We got home from the store and he couldn't wait to get it back on again. He wanted to wear it the rest of the day, but we told him he could try it all on at the same time and I'll take some pictures, but that he couldn't play in it. We just need some new black shoes to go with it (he has already outgrown his other ones) and then he'll be set.

Oh, and a haircut. The boy needs a haircut!

Moments like this...

Oh, Baby Boy! I feel ya! There are just day when that's how I feel as well!

Then I remember that in no time, you and your brothers will be all grown up. That's when I try to enjoy the moments I have with you guys while you're small.

Yes, even moments like this!