Half way through the second year!

I am a digital scrapbook addict for Aiden! I try and document most of his events so he has something to look back on as he grows up, plus I love making them! I am half way done with the second year book and I thought I would share some pages with everyone!  Here ya go! (Pay no attention to the error messages, these are just screen shots!)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

The spirit of Christmas in our house with a little boy is undeniable. He loves his toys! Unfortunately we had to wake him up this morning (at 9:30 I should add), and he opened his presents, played for a short time, and then we had to leave to go to my husband's parents house, then my parents house. Well, taking an eighteen month old boy away from his new toys is not a good idea. Pretty much 'ruining his life' type of cry! He got over it once he opened more presents at 'Abui's' house, and then more presents and Ya Ya and G's house! We had some awesome B's and G's that my brother made, and got spoiled rotten by our parents! I can't decide what my favorite gift is, but I think it is my new wireless printer, the perfect gift for a grad school student! You know those commercials of the little boy in the car cruising across the country, and you can print from anywhere? I am lucky to have gotten that great printer! Hell ya!

But, the best present of all was seeing the glow in Aiden's face when he got to see his new presents. That is truly a priceless look. And, he is so cute and thankful for his gifts. He really loves everything and loves to play with his new things. We are even letting him stay up late today to play some more because we were not home all day!

This Christmas was truly something out of a story book. Sometimes I think my life is also a piece of a story book, maybe that is just a good outlook to have. This Christmas was so different than last, and I can only imagine how it will change year to year as Aiden gets older. I certainly am looking forward to using the Santa bribe in return for good behavior... is that bad?

Merry Christmas blog world!

Winter wonderland

Today we got around 13" of snow! Woo hoo! Aiden also successfully kept on his mittens and enjoyed playing in the snow! While I did not get much of this on camera because I did not want to ruin my camera, it was super cute!

My husband was in Washington, DC for work all week last week and came back with an adorable present for Aiden, a WWII Bomber jacket! These are all the wonderful things you get to do when you have a son! I don't think he would be as good at picking out dresses.

Even our dog was trying to keep warm in this cold weather! 

Just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! This is Aiden's second christmas, and I am so very excited! He actually understands how to open presents, although he does not quite get the concept of Santa Claus coming to our house. I cannot wait to say "you better be good, or Santa won't come!" Next year... 

Here was Aiden last year at Christmas time - 

Merry Christmas! 

Laundry Detergent DIY

I have been trying to become more efficient when using things around the house, so when I stumbled upon another blog describing how to make your own detergent for a whopping $20 dollars, I jumped right on that! After having a kiddo, Berto and I do laundry every day, at least a couple loads!

So, we went to the store and bought Borax, Baking Soda Washing Soda, 3 bars of Fels-naptha soap, and two containers of Oxyclean (all found in the detergent isle), regular baking soda (cooking isle), and some lavender vanilla essential oil (found by candles). You can choose whatever oil you like, or go without it if you are looking for more of a scent free wash.

Get your husband to shred the Fels naptha (or Ivory) so you don't have too! This also works in HE machines as well! 

Cheesy-looking Fels-Naptha....

Mix all ingredients together, except the lavender oil! I used a big trash can with a trash bag in it! Then I pulled out the bag (flex bag) and swished it around until all ingredients were mixed together well! I started to poor the amount into jars for our family, added some drops of lavender oil as I added more, then shook the jar!

The beautiful new home of my 8 dollar Wal Mart glass container with some vinyl letters I had laying around the house! 

To use, just add one tablespoon to your load of laundry! :) Enjoy!

For the love of the name

Last year I fell in love with Pottery Barn stockings for our son! We plan on ordering one for every kid we have! They are so classic, yet still whimsical for a child. The best part is, the images change every year in the catalog, yet the same basic concept stays the same.

Here is Aiden's stocking!

Since my husband and I were so blessed to be able to have a baby right away, we are going to carefully plan the next baby, and hopefully we will be able to do this! Note: See, everyone thinks Pottery Barn stockings are amaze-balls! 

So, on to the name thing. We have told many people are future children's names. But, no more. I find it funny, when someone knows what you were going to name your child, and they name them 'your name!' Although, I know you cannot possibly claim stake to a name of an unborn/unmade child. it is a bit ridiculous. I guess that means we will look like the copy cat's when our next child is named after someone else we know! But hey, it is not like there are no other Aiden's in the world! :) 

And, that console table, it is coming together, but needs a few more things. I am not a big fan of my handle holders that I have on there at the moment, they are black, on an ebony table. I have not decided if I want to replace them, or paint them. So, we shall see! Happy stocking day!