Saturday Market

Portland scares me ... not because of what it is, but because driving through it and trying to find parking is horrendous. As a result, Eric and I don't go into the city very often.

However, when we found out that the MAX Train will drop you right off at the Saturday Market which is on the water front, we knew we had to take Aaron! Now that we've been once, I know we'll go again and have even more fun!

 When we first got on, it was pretty crowded so we started out standing. Aaron thought this was pretty cool.

We had a blast walking around the market. Aaron pointed at everything saying, "I have it" or "Want one, please." Everyone around us got quite a kick out of it!

We expected it to rain so we dressed warmer and I even wore my rain boots. About half-way through, the sun came out! It wasn't super warm, but warm enough that when we saw the fountains were going, we let Aaron have some fun.

Most of the time, the water just gushed out and made a huge puddle, so since I had rain boots, I got in with him!

After playing in the water, Aaron was pretty soaked so we hopped back on the train to head home.

Aaron was sooooooooo excited to be back on the train!

He was attracting a lot of attention so I asked him to sit down - this was his response:

 Then he realized he could still see out the window and so he changed back to this:

Once the train cleared out, we let him stand again.

He totally crashed in the car on the way to Gramma's (He woke at 5 so I'm not surprised) where we went to build a trampoline! Aaron hunted down a chair and dragged it clear across the yard to be able to sit by Jon. Aaron loves his uncles and I think he feels cool when he gets to "hang out" with them.

He crashed again on the way home and then when we got home, he walked in and laid on the floor for a while.

A Hair Cut, A Baby, And A Bug

I've been talking about cutting Aaron's hair for about a month now (no joke) and I finally did it this morning. Next time, I'll wait till Eric is home because a squirmy kid is hard to work with when you're using scissors...

Anyway, because I cut his hair, I followed him around this morning with my camera and caught a few gems.

 He wanted to watch the rain so he pushed a chair up to the back window.

 Aaron and Baby have become inseparable. He even had her in the chair beside him at the breakfast table.

 And lastly ... Aaron loves bugs. When we are outside, he follows the ants or chases the butterflies...

Today, he found a fly trapped in his room.

Getting Ready For Baby

Aaron is a boy. 100% through and through. He loves his cars and trucks and dinosaurs...

But he is a very tender boy. He has a way of coming up to me and smiling, stroking my hair and kissing my forehead as he says so softly, "Mama, I love you." ... I melt every time.

This tender little boy is SO excited about having his baby sister.
With the due date less than 2 months away, we've started getting ready!

Yesterday, we built the crib and the changing table. Aaron had a blast helping (and running off with the pieces).

Aaron also learned that if he climbs up on the baby's dresser, he can get in the crib. (I rearranged the room several times today looking for a different place to put it; sadly, this is really the best place... but he hasn't climbed in the crib today at all)

He also learned that if he climbs in, he can't get out on his own (we don't have a mattress yet so if he gets in, he has to climb out from the ground). I think this is what has encouraged him to not climb in anymore because I refused to help him for a bit so he would learn. 

Today, Aaron again showed his tender side as he wanted to show Baby his toys, and rock Baby, and feed Baby, and burp Baby, and sing to Baby, and read her stories... (He loves to share his toys with my tummy, read stories to my tummy, and sing songs as well - he loves to sing Aaron's Song [Elmo's song adapted])

 First we rocked Baby, then he wanted to show her his playroom. He was very adamant about this and he carried her very gently to let her play with him.

In the picture on the left, he is reading to my tummy - his "bister" and in the picture on the right, he is reading to Baby.

He loves to put Baby nuh-nye. He keeps giving her kisses and sharing his cars though - he doesn't just let her sleep.

After putting her down, he will periodically rush over saying Baby is "sad" and that she is "crying!" He will then scoop her out and rock her or give her hugs or lay her down. He will then put her back nuh-nye. I'm guessing he learned this from watching babies cry in Sacrament Meeting because this is not something I have showed him... (I encouraged him in the video so the video wasn't too long...)

He is going to be such a great big brother. 

I'm excited to watch him grow as he learns how to takes care of her :)

Date Night!

I have to start this post with a photo of Aaron from this morning.

Whenever Aaron gets soap or lotion on his hands, he rubs it into his hair. I didn't consider this to be a problem until today when he got his green bean dip on his hands and rubbed it in his hair.
He certainly seems happy about it though! Haha, what a cute kid!

Today was a crazy day, and it was so great that we were able to go out on a date tonight!

We went to Progress Ridge and walked around the lake and checked out the shops. 

Then we went and walked around Big Al's which has a bowling alley, arcade, sports bar ... it's pretty epic.

We played one game of Air Hockey - Eric won ... of course. Then we bowled a game.

I've never bowled with only 2 people, but it was so fun just bowling with Eric! 

It made the game exciting the whole time! There was no sitting and waiting for the next person, we were standing beside each other the whole time. 

Yes, the picture on the right is of my shoe inside Eric's shoe... :) 

 I'm definitely lucky Eric didn't find his stride till the middle of the game, otherwise he would have won!
It was a close match!!! Eric is a TURKEY! 

 Here I am with my *ahem* bowling balls at 31 weeks.
One ball is 8lbs and the other ... well, I don't think I'll tell you how much weight I've gained :)
p.s. she was totally kicking the ball the whole time we were taking the picture

I seriously am so lucky to have Eric. It was great to just walk around with no worries or cares.