Leverson Clan

Last week was crazy! My mother-in-law had a family reunion at her house to celebrate Grandma June's 80th birthday. She hosted her three brothers and her sister plus everyone's kids and grandkids some 25 to 30 people! I find that it is really hard to take photos with Aiden around, but I'm trying to get better.

Here is the whole clan:
To celebrate 80 years of Ryan's FABULOUS grandma June we put together a photo book (you can check it out here, firefox users will have to use a different browser like safari). It was funny to take a trip back in time with Ryan's family. The last time the whole family got together was 17 years ago for June and Myron's 40th wedding anniversary, so there were a lot of photos from the event. My favorite was one of Ryan and his cousin Kevin when Ryan was 10... they were so cool (note he was a Seahawks fan back then!). So Amanda (Kevin's totally cool wife) and I decided (and demanded) that they recreate the picture... luckily they played along :-)Another thing that came from the 4oth Anniversary reunion was a ping-pong tournament. I'm happy to say that after 7 games of ping-pong Brett (Ryan's cousin) and I rocked it out and WON! There was even an awards ceremony where Ryan's aunt Julie and uncle Brian passed the plaques on to us :-) It was hilarious!Aiden proved how big he really is when I laid him down next to his second cousin Ethan (Kevin and Amanda's little boy). Ethan is two months older than Aiden, a little bit chunkier, but just as long!
Stay tuned for more...

a few of our favorite things...

Well I've been doing the mom thing for 8 weeks now, I'm in no way an expert, but I thought I'd share with all of you the really cool things that Aiden and I love... and a few that we don't.

We will start with Aiden's FAVORITE thing the Fisher Price Soothe 'n Play bouncer. I thought it would live in the office and he could use it while I work... but it has seen the world. Bouncy has been to every room in the house, the front porch, Grandma's house, the office, the SALON (wow, that was awesome he sat awake for two hours watching me get my hair done with out a peep!) and many more places. The bouncy seat is a life saver. Aiden will nap for 4 hours in it (I've tried putting him in his bed, but he is up 10 minutes later) and it usually only takes less than 5 minutes for him to fall asleep. I almost went for an expensive bouncy (it must be better if it is expensive) but this was the best gift ever and only $25!Aiden enjoying his bouncy seat.

Since it is in the picture above I'll share with you my favorite blanket. These Austrailian Muslin Baby wraps are AMAZING from Aden and Anais. They are super soft and light weight so I can swaddle Aiden even when it is hot. They are big so they'll work for a long time. This is the one product that people stop me on the street to ask about and is usually followed by "Can I feel it, it looks so soft?" I love them and they come in a pack of four so the seem expensive, but you get four!

My favorite pregnancy (and beyond) item was the Bella Band. When my belly was just starting to grow I could wear my regular pants unbuttoned, or hold up maternity pants that were a bit too big. I was also able to wear regular shirts longer because covered my pants and looked like a camisole. I wore it most of my pregnancy and even after wards before my pre-pregnancy clothes started fitting again. When one of my buttons popped off of my capris I just threw on the bellaband and went on my way... three weeks later I still haven't fixed the button :-) I even wore the bellaband as a top when I took my maternity portraits.

For nursing I have a few favorites that make life SO much easier. 1st the Boppy, its essential. 2nd a good nursing bra. I have three Bravado bras and they are awesome. I tried a cheapo target one and there was no comparison. 3rd is my nursing cover that allows me to nurse in public or when I just need a cover up. I made my own using a tutorial, but you can buy one too. I can be covered up, but still see whats going on with Aiden and don't have to worry that my cover is going to fall off. Last but not least is my pump. I have a life away from baby! I got the Medela Freestyle pump and it works awesome. I found a great deal on one so if you want to save $100 let me know and I'll let you in on the secret!

I have more favorites... but I'll leave it at that for now, I've got to get back to work :-)

details

Aiden's eyelashes are getting so long. When I feed him I just stare into his eyes and marvel at how beautiful they are. I love this little man! (OK I'll stop with the sappiness) It is crazy to think that 8 weeks ago he didn't have eyelashes at all.Aiden has started to smile and interact more with us which is really fun. This isn't a "real" smile, just a lucky catch while he was sleeping... probably gas. I caught some real smiles this weekend so those are coming.

my little model...

I've been slacking on the mommy photographer front. I'm really good at capturing the snapshots, but the "photo sessions" are seriously lacking for my little man. I guess the saying is true, the cobblers kids have not shoes. I know its silly, but I have all of these images in my head, and it is so much harder when its your kid, and you're the one that is sleep deprived and you actually care about their nap schedule and don't want to wake the sleeping baby. I finally captured some images that are less snapshots and a little more artsy. We were out at my parents house for our Tuesday night visit (while Ryan is golfing) and the weather was perfect and so was their over grown landscape.

Oh man I hope these little peepers stay blue. Aiden is very expressive with his lips... check out the Elvis lip :-)

family photos

Friday night we ventured over to the Oddy house to celebrate Diane's Birthday (Ryan's mom). I had no idea that adding Aiden and Cameron to the mix would be so much more noise. I knew it would eventually... but not right away! It would have been pretty funny to be a fly on the wall for this one. Four kids 2 and under, ten adults and two dogs... full house. Thankfully Aiden was a little gentleman and let everyone hold him, slept through dinner and only squawked when he was hungry.

So what do you get the mom that has everything, a family photo of course! (Molly was really interested in my camera remote)Which led to impromptu photos of each family.

Jen (Ryan's sis), John, Colter and CameronJay (Ryan's Step-brother), Steph and Ethan

Then it was Larry and Diane's turn with the dogs. With dogs and people you just have to keep shooting because you never know when everyone is going to look and sit at the same time. While I'm shooting away look at the little ham that ran into my view proclaiming "CHEESE". You'd think he was trained or something. :-) He ran back and forth three times and we were dying of laughter. I'm surprised I was able to get the shot.Larry, Diane, Cosie and Molly
And US :-)

Happy Birthday Auntie

Auntie Christy turned the big 29 last week so we ventured out to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a little celebration.

Auntie likes to tell Aiden secrets... he wasn't a very good secret keeper though. She tells him secrets about all of the fun things they are going to do together when Aiden gets bigger... I have a feeling she'll spoil him rotten (in the best possible way).

Grandpa got his cuddles in too.

When I walked upstairs on Sunday to see my two guys cuddling it hit me... Aiden is growing way too fast! Can you believe this is the same baby from 5 weeks ago?
Aiden's eyes are turning blue and lightening every day. He is an old pro at tummy time and can hold his head up really well, perfect for pictures and mama really loves that!

Weekend Wrap-up

We had a GREAT holiday weekend, and we hope you did too! Here is a little wrap up of what we did.

Being on maternity leave our weekends start kinda early...
cuddle time on Thursday morning

Ryan thought this picture was funny because we are both sleeping with our arms up. *disclaimer - Aiden only gets to cuddle with us if he has an early morning feeding... not all night, we're mean like that.

Then he got his first golf lesson from Daddy

Friday (Happy Fourth of July)
Was a pretty lazy day. We just hung around the house...
We stretched...We relaxed...and Aiden asked for kisses ;-) (actually he was about to have stinky pants)Then we had to prove to Mark that our corn will make it because it was "knee high by the fourth of July"... he didn't say who's knees.Our neighborhood was insane with all of the fireworks so we skipped out on the craziness and went into town to see the sponsored fireworks show. It was loud but Aiden slept right through it.

Saturday
We started the day with a hike up to Palisade Falls. It was short but sweet. Aiden was awake for the whole hike looking around and taking everything in.


After we went home and took a long nap then Shawn, Carli and Keegan joined us for dinner. Keegan just started walking two days ago so we had to try out his new skills. (His little strut kills me!)


We stopped to see our new neighbors (Congrats on the new home Jen, Dustin and Payton!)
Sunday we lounged some more... cleaned the house... had brunch with Ryan's family and went to the driving range. It was a pretty eventful weekend and now I'm off to bed to recover :-) We hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday!

Aiden was having an extra long nap the other night so in an attempt to wake him up for his bath I drug him outside for a little photoshoot. Why he doesn't sleep like this when I want to do a real photoshoot I have no idea...
I love his smooshy lips. Do you notice how he is starting to look like an old man? His hair is falling out on the top of his head, but holding strong everywhere else so he looks like a balding old man :-)