My first attempt...

at blogging everyday for a month. I have been so impressed with Kelly and Kelley, blogging everyday this year through project 365. I love seeing all of their photos! Then Kate and Angie joined in with 222 days left (that is still very very impressive, ladies). I am not quite ready to commit to blogging everyday for the rest of the year, but I thought I could try to post everyday during the month of June.

The topic/theme at NaBloPoMo is heroes. Not too crazy about that but I am going to post at least one picture everyday. And, with inspiration from Kelly, Carissa and Nicki, I am going to post at least three things I am thankful for each day. That part shouldn't be hard- life has been so good since my little prince came on the scene!

Wish me luck!

PS- Round two of the storms missed us so all was well last night!

What a Week

Phew! It's been a LONG week. As I already wrote, the week started with my debit card being used in New Jersey...when the card is here. with me. in the midwest. So I had to go to the bank, fill out a claim form and then file a police report. It was creepy to get my case number and see my name listed as the victim. Then I had graduation practice with one of my students with pretty severe autism. It went well (or not) and I think I racked up at least 50 new gray hairs. It was also the last week of school. So fun to get students with emotional disabilities who have completely checked out to focus on finals. Graduation was today and it was a LONG day that started at 9 in the morning. They served us a very nice lunch but I didn't get home until 3:30. Then Aiden and I went to a few graduation open houses. We are both beat.

But final exams are done, graduation is over and school is out for summer! I wasn't really celebrating the beginning of summer because I was supposed to have a department coordinator's "retreat" (retreat, my a$$- call it what it is- a 3 1/2 hour meeting that's not at school) on Monday followed by an afternoon of interviews. Luckily the "retreat" has been postponed. Don't get me wrong, I love my job as department coordinator and I don't mind attending meetings. I think it was just bad timing, the first day of summer break! I still have to go in for 2 interviews on Monday, but Aiden's auntie Dana will be watching him and she lives right down the street from me to it's an easy drop off/pick up. It takes a village and I most definitely have an amazing village helping me with Aiden.

Speaking of my sweet boy, we have been trying to get in some fun time in between the busy times. I have loved being outside with him and we have made it to the pool 3 times so far. Last weekend I was able to take some one year old pictures of him. I think they turned out pretty good, but plan on getting some professional ones done as well. And I still haven't done his one year update. At this point I am going to wait until after his doctor's appointment on Tuesday so I will have some official stats. This is such a fun age and he seems to be learning and doing new things everyday. I will leave you with a few of my favorite pics that I took of my little man...

Oh, and while I was typing this post? I won mother of the year yet again. I heard thunder and saw lightning, but didn't think much of it. Then I thought I heard the tornado siren. Yeah, didn't register. I just got a phone call from Auntie Dana (good thing she is a part of my village and looks out for Aiden and me)- there was a tornado a few miles from us...and Aiden was sound asleep upstairs...while I cluelessly watched a DVR'd episode of one of my Bravo reality shows. Round two is heading our way. I have the news on now and am ready to get Aiden and go in the basement if needed. I am outta here to go light some candles!

It's Not Too Late

There is still time to help Heather build a house for a family in Vietnam. For the past month or so, fellow adoptive mom Heather has been trying to raise $1750 to build a home for a family in need in Vietnam through the group Giving It Back to Kids. She is close to reaching her goal and I so want to see this happen! It's hard to forget some of the extreme poverty I saw in Vietnam and I am glad I could do something to help. I just donated tonight- sorry it took so long! You can check out how to give here. When you donate, you will be entered in the drawing for an awesome double stroller (and no, I won't be needing that anytime soon)!

Baby You Can Drive Ride In My Car

Aiden loves his new cozy coupe. He likes to ride in it but he LOVES to let others sit behind the wheel and do the real driving himself. No pretend driving for this little boy.

No passenger too big....

No passenger too small...



Tonight he broadened his horizons and took the neighbor kids on a ride in his wagon. Forget this chef thing, Indy 500, here comes Aiden Bao!

This is sewius

Nothing like a little debit card fraud to ruin a 3 day weekend. Grrr. Not even the wonder pets can save the day, even though that song is running through my head. My debit card was declined on Friday night. I didn't think too much of it and just used another card. Yesterday I went online to pay some bills. Hmmmm....how did my account balance get so low? I looked closer and discovered almost $500 of debit card charges that I didn't make. Seems someone was furnishing his or her house in New Jersey, courtesy of IKEA, Target and me. The $3 charge at McDonald's was just a little added bonus. Actually I think the $3 charge was to see if the card was still working yesterday morning because there was a $350 charge to IKEA that was declined yesterday. That would be the reason my card didn't work on Friday- they had closed it but never notified me. Nice. I rarely use my debit card as a debit card. I use it as a credit card for this very reason. But on Thursday I went to a local UPS store. The amount was under $10 so I just entered my PIN and didn't look back. Seems that may be where the fraud began. And they will be getting a visit from me on Tuesday.

In other sewius news, Aiden had a rough night. I was so excited that he ate 1/2 of a jar of a stage 3 dinner. He proceeded to lose that dinner in Kroger and then all over my kitchen floor. He had a fever and was just restless. We did a little co-sleeping last night. Aiden did most of the sleeping. I think I got kicked in the face at least 3 times. Oh well, we slept until 8 so I'm not completely exhausted. Aiden seems fine this morning and had a good breakfast. He is upstairs talking in his crib right now. I am hoping he takes a little nap so we can go to the pool before lunch.

Our pool opened yesterday. That was the highlight of the day for both of us. Aiden loved both pools. He cruised around the edges of the baby pool for about an hour. He loved the big pool too but it was freezing so we were only in there about 10 minutes. He was laughing and squealing even though his whole body was shivering (as was mama's).




Hope everyone has a great memorial day weekend. It's a HUGE weekend here with the Indy 500. I can't wait until Aiden is older so we can enjoy the parade and other activities. I am a big race fan and bought Aiden is own race weekend shirt at Nkids in Saigon. It's a bit big and he was over me trying to get a picture of him in it, but he wore it with pride!

Favorite Photo Friday

Nashville Bound

In 3 weeks, Aiden and I are headed to Nashville. The trip was planned to meet some very special bloggers. We are SO excited that Susan and Petunia invited us down. Daphne and Ben are also going to head up to meet us. We can't wait to meet them- Susan and Daphne have been so supportive to me since day 1 of this adoption! I think I heard that Sherri and Gracie may join in on the fun. Then I realized there are several other special people that live in the area. We are anxiously waiting to meet Maria and Princess Ellie. Maria and I were in a special group together last fall, waiting to see what would happen with our first agency and Vietnam adoptions. Luckily we both found other paths to our babies! Another supportive person I am thrilled is making the drive to Nashville is Julie and her adorable Stephen Paul. There are others we are hoping to meet. I promise I will send some emails soon so we can start planning! Aiden and I are game for anything! So if I missed you, let me know if you will be in the area from June 12th to June 15th. I am so psyched for this trip!

Thôi Nôi

The first birthday has a special name in Vietnamese: thôi nôi (pronounced toe-ee know-ee). This includes a ceremony in which the child picks an object that gives a glimpse into his future. Whatever is grabbed first predicts the future career of the child. The tradition of setting out objects doesn't have an actual name, but is simply understood as part of the thôi nôi. (Thanks for the info, Jonathan!)

I set out the following objects:

• calculator (engineer)


• stethescope (doctor)


• ball (professional athlete)


• toothbrush (dentist)


• pen (writer/scholar)


• whisk (chef)


• money (wealthy)

Of course I will love him no matter what he decides to do but everyone in Vietnam told me his ears showed he would be wealthy. What did Aiden choose? The whisk. Maybe the next Emeril?

Aiden got a second pick and chose the pen. Maybe he will write some bestselling cookbooks.
And maybe, he will have a partner in crime. Looks like Hayden wants to be a chef too :)!

The Big Day in Pictures (LOTS & LOTS of Pictures)

Aiden's special birthday shirt

Some of Aiden's ladies coloring their jungle masks
Arriving at the party in his new ride from Gram and Papa.

Aiden decided pushing Hayden was more fun than riding

Presents!

Cake time (at least I think there was cake under all that icing)!

It's my party....
Wait, are they singing to me?
The first taste....
The verdict? More! Aiden signs more with one hand open- always has to do it his way!


This is good stuff, Auntie Kelly!

The sugar coma sets in...

Aiden passed out about 10 minutes later. After a 2 hour nap he spent some time hanging out in his new chair from mama (well, like 5 seconds)!
And believe it or not, there may be one more birthday post....