This blog is moving

I think it is high time that Aidan has his own blog instead of the ellarose site. Please visit us at http://www.fortheloveofaidan.blogspot.com/ . It has been stylized by Nikki and I am so excited!

Diva Dog!

I am so glad that we went to San Diego over the weekend.I always love watching Clinton work. Aidan is feeling much better now. I don't think he was teething after all but was just feeling really bad from his immunizations. While we were in San Diego we got a special treat. Lori Cheung is one of our lifetime members and she took pictures of Annabelle and Aidan. She is such an awesome photographer! She is mainly a pet photographer. Her work has been published in several magazines and books. Annabelle was being such a Diva that day! It was like she knew she was modeling. She did everything right on command. Lori specializes in action shots and got some great photos of Annabelle running. She emailed me just one of the shots she got of Annabelle in a Santa hat and I just love it. She will be sending me the rest in a couple of weeks after she touches them up and edits them. Her website is www.thepetphotographer.com . She lives in Northern Ca. If anyone lives up that way and wants a treasured picture of their pet, I would highly recommend her.

While we were in San Diego this weekend we got really inspired to move there! We have a friend of ours who is a realtor looking for houses for us. It looks like we may be moving in the middle of January. We are going down tomorrow to see what he has found.

Clinton and I have been enjoying this week. He was supposed to go to Chicago this week but cancelled his trip. It is so nice when he is home! We had Aidan's picture taken for our Christmas cards yesterday and they turned out oh so cute! I will be posting them later.

Favorite Photo Friday

Aidan had a better night. He ate 8ozs of formula at midnight and another 8 ounces at 5:00 AM. He woke at 3:00 AM and cried until 5:oo. The tylenol finally kicked in and he was able to settle down enough to eat. We both then had a blissful sleep until 9 this morning. He didn't eat much this morning but has not been crying. He fell asleep about half an hour ago. I think we will go to San Diego. If he starts getting cranky and not feeling well at Clinton's event then I will just take him back to the hotel.

This picture was sent to my by Helen. It is of a newborn Clinton. AWWW how cute!

Teething Bites!

I think Aidan has cried more today then the entire 4 months he has been alive. The poor baby just isn't feeling well. When I took him to the doctor on Tuesday he had a rash on his stomach. The doctor said it was just dry skin and to put Eucerin lotion on it. I used Johnsons and Johnsons until last night and it was looking a little better. Last night I finally put the Eucerin lotion on it and when the poor thing woke up this morning it was 10 times worse! It looked like a burn and was warm to the touch. I called the nurse and she said to put Auqophor lotion on it and to call back if it spread. I put on the Aquophor along with some Bordeauxs Butt Paste ( I figured if it worked on the tush is should work on his tummy) and it looks better.

I also think Aidan is teething in a major way. I can't see any teeth but he keeps biting everything and crying and putting his hands in his mouth. He hasn't slept much today and hasn't eaten much. Everytime I go to feed him he just screams his head off. I have been attempting to feed him every few hours. I figure the poor fellow needs some food. I finally went back to the drug store ( with screaming Aidan in tow - it is times like this that I really hate when Clinton is away!) and bought some baby orajel and a cool teething ring that vibrates when they bite down. I think this worked a little because I was finally able to get 3 ounces of formula in the poor baby. I then gave him some baby tylenol because he had a little food in his belly. He fell asleep 10 minutes later. I pray that he sleeps a long time and wakes up famished! We are supposed to go to San Diego tomorrow to be with Clinton. However, at this point I am just not sure if A will be able to make the trip. Teething Bites!

The Australian Stomper

Meet the Australian Stomper! While I was at my moms house we had lunch with my Uncle David. Now my Uncle David has had a very interesting life. We all say that we should get together and share just 1 story we know about him and write a top selling book. You might remember when I posted about him at my Grandmothers funeral in April - when his long lost daughter appeared at my grandmothers gravesite ( by the way -nothing else ever came of that situation). Anyway, David has had a couple of "colorful" jobs such as working for a Nascar pit crew, preacher, and professional wrestler.

When we were at lunch we were laughing because my mom was talking about how she had Aidan watching Friday Night Smack Down. My uncle was holding Aidan when the baby sitting directly behind him started crying. He looked at Aidan and said, " See that other baby is scared because he knows the Australian Stomper is in town". We began howling. So now Aidans official "wrestler name" is The Australian Stomper. I told Clinton when we got home and he thought is was hilarious.

We took "The Stomper" to the doctor yesterday for his 4 month checkup and another round of nasty shots. He now weighs 16 lbs 1 oz and is 26 1/2 inches long. Our boy is getting bigger.

Meet the Australian Stomper. You should be scared because he is one tough dude!

Rachel Ray Lies!

I never ever watch cooking shows, but just happened to stumble across Rachel Rays show with the title - Thanksgiving Dinner in 60 minutes. This intrigued me so I proceeded to watch the show. Everything she made looked so yummy and I couldn't believe you could do it in 60 minutes! I decided this was going to be my Thanksgiving dinner that I would prepare. She lied!! O.K. well maybe SHE can prepare the meal in 60 minutes because she is a professional, but for us amateurs it is just not that easy!

Let me just say that when I first decided to prepare this meal I thought it was just going to be Clinton and me. I sent out several invitations but didn't hear back from anyone, so I just thought everyone made other plans. Well on Wednesday I found out that I was making dinner for 6. This would be o.k. I had bought an extra turkey breast and had it in the freezer just in case I needed to make more. I immediately got out the breast and let it begin to thaw. I started to get a little nervous because I had never prepared anything that was on my menu - Herb stuffed turkey breast, autumn potatoes, apple cider green beans, and apple stuffing muffins. I first started to panic when I began to fix the turkey. I told the butcher at the grocery store what I planned on making and he told me I should get a butterball turkey breast. When I opened up the turkey I realized that it was the wrong kind of breast! I needed one that was intact so I could gently raise the skin to insert the herb mixture. What I had bought was some ghetto turkey breast that had been sliced open and held together with string. I was not a happy camper. I undid the string on one of the breast to see what would happen and the entire thing fell apart! Anyway, I improvised and it turned out fair. The entire meal was a bitch to make. Nothing turned out like I thought but it was at least edible. I was never so glad when the meal was finally finished 3 hours later! 60 minute - I don't think so!

The dinner went o.k. I usually love cooking for a small group and getting out my grandmothers crystal and china. Mr. A on his first Thanksgiving. He slept the entire time we had company and no one even got to see him.

my grandmothers crystal and china

We were happy to have Kalisto there

Big James and little James. I wanted to get a picture of the 2 babies but Aidan was sleeping the entire time.

millionaire in training!

Trip to Gatlinburg

While I was at my moms house we took a girls trip to Gatlinburg, which is in the Smokey Mountains. We used to go there every year when I was a kid and I have many fond memories of spending time with my mom and dad. We met my Aunt Sue and Cousin Sabrina there and had a great time!The leaves were absolutely breathtaking! We also got a bonus because the town was already decorated for Christmas! It was really cold there ( by So Cal standards) and I had to buy a heavy coat. Our favorite thing to do when we all get together is to SHOP and we did plenty of it! Aidan was a very good boy but reached his limit when we spent a day of shopping and then went to the Black Bear Jamboree dinner theater. It is best NOT to take a 3 month old to a loud dinner Christmas performance after he has been drug throughout many shopping malls throughout the day. My mom took him outside to the lobby and let him stretch out on a bench and he was fine. For Christmas my entire family (about 12 or 13 of us) are renting a cabin in Pigeon Forge which is just outside of Gatlinburg. I absolutely can not wait! This time Clinton gets to join in on the fun! I hope Aidan gets to have a white Christmas for his first Christmas! My handsome boy and his Nana

Sporting my new coat

My cousin Sabrina, Aunt Sue, Aidan, and me

For some reason my mom HATES getting her picture taken. She kept hiding behind my cousin so she could not be seen. However, my cousin and I devised a plan and this was the result.

Tree in the village. My favorite trees are the orange and red ones.

The tram that goes up the mountain where they have some outdoor activities like ice skating and skiing. I actually have not been on that tram since I was 10 years old.

Photo taken from the balcony of our hotel room. There is a stream that runs outside the property. Usually we sleep with the window cracked so we can hear the stream at night but didn't this time because we didn't want to make Aidan sick.

Another view from our hotel room.