Meet Baby Jackson!

We finally got to meet sweet baby Jackson over the weekend! I love this little angel. My cousin & BFF had their baby - 1 month early! But Jackson is doing incredible, and we are so happy to have yet another baby boy in our family. Grandma & Grandpa Bosch now have 4 great grandsons!

Aaron looks so big next to Jackson!

Proud Parents!!

Aaron loves his Auntie, K

We're going to have so much fun with these little boys.
It's going to be like Adam & Jared - Take 2.

Mother's Day & 8 months

I enjoyed my first Mother's Day with my baby so much. Being a mom is the most rewarding experience. I can't express enough the amount of pure joy that he brings to my life, and the amount of love I have just pouring out for him. Every day is a new adventure, and it's so fun to watch him learn, grown and experience this world. I am so lucky and blessed to have him in my life. This whole mommy thing is pretty awesome!

Our little man also turned 8 months on Mother's Day. Only 4 more months and he'll be 1 year old, which means he's almost 18, and almost out of my house forever.....waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!! 

I just can't believe how quickly each day, week & month goes. SLOW DOWN WORLD! 

I guess time flies when you're having fun. 

Aaron has finally started sleeping through the night. If he fusses, he usually doesn't fully wake up, and he is able to put himself back to sleep. 

He is loving all of the food I've been making him, except those darn bananas. He still gets the willies when I feed him banana. We've also been trying some Puffs. We're working on getting him to open up his fist and put it in his mouth by himself. He'd rather just eat it out of my hand, though. 

He loves pulling himself up on to things. And he loves standing in an upside down V shape with his hands and feet on the ground. This kid really wants to walk. 

He still loves the "Hot Dog Dance" & this other really terrible song on Disney Jr. about vegetables. It's the worst, and it's stuck in my head all day long. 

I'm trying to teach him sign language - like signs for more, milk and all done. He just laughs at me. He also laughs at me when I tell him "no" when he's getting into things he shouldn't be. 

And he's still saying dada all the time. I wonder what his next word will be??

Teething

Within the past 2 weeks Aaron got his first 2 teeth! And let me tell you....that was NOT fun. There were many long, wakeful nights where I told "teething" that it could go straight to....well you know where. My poor buddy was in some pain a few nights last week. Just when I finally got a taste of what sweet, beautiful, wonderful sleep felt like again, teething started. Isn't it ironic.....don't you think?! But they're both through now, and he's back to his cheery self!

Birthday/Marathon Weekend

I'm a little late on this post. Last weekend was my dad & Kristen's birthdays, and the Illinois Marathon. Each year my family gets together to run some aspect of the IL Marathon. This year some of my family did the 10K & the Youth Fun Run. I went to watch.....and eat food all weekend!

It started off by celebrating my dad & Kristen's b-days on Friday night at my parents' house. I was a little under weather all weekend with a cold, but that didn't prevent me from carb loading with the runners.

Saturday morning my dad & I got in to Champaign a little before 7am to eat breakfast at one of my favorite diners.....Merry Ann's. I have only ever ordered the diner stack when eating there. This features hash browns, biscuit, sausage patty, eggs and gravy. You can hear your arteries clogging up. So good.

After we stuffed our faces, we went to watch my family race. 

Love this pic

Here they come

So proud of them!

Ryan was very pleased with his time

There's something about watching a race that is so inspiring. Tons of strangers people united for a common goal. These people train very hard for months to run a race that may take 30 minutes to a few hours to complete. People are on the sides of the road routing the runners on, handing out water, picking up the clothes they shed along the way. The whole process motivates you, and it's so nice to see good people out there.....people helping others, cheering for others, supporting others....others they don't even know. It's also nice to see the paper the next day which features positivity, success stories, and stories of triumphs instead of all the hate and negativity in the world. That's a nice & welcome change. 

After the race it was my turn to race - to my next meal that is. Bryan & I went to Black Dog. It's my favorite BBQ place, and it's seriously always so packed you have to wait hours & hours a really long time to get in usually. A long enough time that you might want to make a scene. But I would never do that. But seriously, we had to get there before it even opened to get a table (and it was already half full at that point), and within 5 minutes there was a line outside the door and around the corner. It is an illusion, though. This place is soooooo small. But that adds to its character. 

burnt ends, fried polish, sweet potato fries & slaw

flight 'o sauces - because we can't pick just one 

It was a nice weekend to end my month of weekends back home. 

Visits with Friends

Last weekend my friend Allison was home. She is on the State Farm catastrophe team, so she is deployed a lot. I miss her tons! She hadn't seen Aaron since he was like 1.5 months old. He had fun playing with her. He's a little tired in this picture from all the playing.

Then this past weekend we stopped by my friend Joie's house on the way back to Bloomington so I could meet her baby girl, and she could meet Aaron. Her daughter is 6 months old. I can't believe I hadn't met her baby yet! It was so sweet watching the babies play together. Aaron was really intrigued by her hair (we have a hair puller) and her pretty bow. I think he liked playing with someone his size.

Really wanting to pull that bow

Such a doll! Love those blue eyes!

Hey! We're the same size!

They had so much fun! 

Love these visits with dear friends!

Baby Shower

My "frousin" Kristen is due at the beginning of June. My mom and I, with the crafty help of Caitlin, put together a "Once Upon A Time" baby shower. We decorated in colors of yellow and grey which are the nursery colors. My girlfriend, Leslie, made the cake. It was AMAZING! She made the cake for one of my baby showers. She is so talented, so I knew I had to have her do the cake for this shower. Throughout the house you could find framed quotes from popular childhood stories, and books from mine and my mom's childhood. We tried to make it whimsical. I was very happy with how it turned out!

Love this girl...and that belly!

Kristen and the mommas

Kristen and Caitlin (the craft!)

Aaron loves his Auntie, K!

It was such a nice day celebrating Kristen and Baby Bosch. I can't wait for that baby to come into the world and join our big family. Then I can start buying some gender specific clothing!