Why May...

...was a happy month.

1.  Aaron Christopher the Second had his first hair cut, his first birthday party and cut his two front teeth (teeth that are, in fact, HUGE, and will be sure to cost us thousands of dollars in braces)

2.  Aaron and I got to spend the night at a hotel by ourselves for the night to celebrate mother's day and my birthday.  We are one of THOSE couples that are committed to getting away at least one night at least once a year....and I really dig that we do that.  Thank God for parents who watch children!  In addition to bonding, we ate a delicious Italian meal (Caprese Salad?  Yes please), watched 'What to Expect When Expecting (pass on it) and slept in- It was pretty much awesome.

3.  The family had the opportunity to go to a Tiger's game together with some of our dearest friends.  We enjoyed the game, each other, and lil' Aaron was a rockstar (however, sitting in the last row of Tiger Stadium, at 7 months pregnant, with my bladder- was NOT a highlight).

4.  The month flew by.  Which, sometimes would seem depressing, but because the month flying by has brought me five weeks closer to holding my new baby boy, I am kind of into it.  As many of you know, pregnancy and I don't do well together (though it is a blessing) and I, in generally, am pretty sick.  However, I have been feeling REALLY great in this trimester, and everyday I feel great, I am thankful for!

5.  Lil' Aaron is a JOY.  He is working passed the 'I must only be in the arms of my mother' stage, which makes him much more enjoyable around other people.  He has learned to build towers with blocks, which of course, makes this mom feel like her son is a genius.  Fear not, I am confident he is not a genius, because he has yet to say his first word :(  Though he talks like he expects us to understand.  He is a goofball that loves to fake laugh loudly and does the best 'brutus face' (basically a scrunched up nose) that makes EVERYONE laugh.  He continues to be in love with his father, which continues to make me fall deeper in love with both of them.

6.  We are about to (in 3 days- June 1st) pay off Aaron's car loan.  Now, this might not seem like the biggest deal ever, but it was our biggest single loan (my student loans are all broken up into smaller loans).  It has taken us six months to do it.  Although Mr. Ramsey advises smaller loans first, we decided to deviate a bit and go for the bigger one with the biggest interest.  The reason this ROCKS, is that it took us 6 months, from this point on, we will pay off a loan every other month (for the next year) which is lots of little celebrations.  And, in one month and one year, we will be DEBT FREE!  A huge feat considering we entered our marriage with 86 k of debt.  The husband drives me crazy with the 'no's' that come with getting our finances in order, but with the light at the end of the tunnel becoming clearer and clearer...I am pretty pumped.  Along the journey, my understanding of personal accountability has been challenged and redefined, but it has been SO good.

7.  Memorial Day Weekend was awesome.  We attended three different BBQs with exceptional l food and really good company.  Plus, we got to see Aaron's nephews, who are growing up so fast and are so much fun and they love their cousin baby Aaron, so that was a blast as well.

8.  I am getting better at cooking from home and we are getting more creative in cooking food we like.  Last week, I was CRAVING Raising Cane's Chicken.  I tried to convince my husband to drive down to KY so we could get some, but he shot that down.  And so, we decided to attempt to duplicate the experience from our house.  Complete with the sauce.  It was DELICIOUS.  Plus, the husband made excellent tostadas (sp) with freaking coleslaw on them, and they were pretty much the best thing ever.

9.  We ended another youth group year.  This one was bittersweet, I cannot believe my baby 6th graders have not graduated HIGH SCHOOL and that we celebrated our largest senior class yet.  To be at the last meeting of the year, with a room FULL of alumni, 8th graders, high school students, adult team members, and of course, our seniors being honored....was so.cool.  I have a REALLY cool job.

10.  And finally, today, i brought lil' Aaron to a 'splash pad' his first experience with outdoor summer play (with water). It was a bit chilly, but he was totally intrigued by the whole thing.  He couldn't decide whether to laugh hysterically, or cry, so he kind of did a blend of them both for about fifteen minutes.  We went with his Busia and Har Har and had a blast.  My parents have a splash pad right by their house, so I am sensing LOTS of summer fun.

June, here we come...feel free to be the month of my second baby boy's birth!