Seventeen Month Pictures

Fool me once is all the Picture People are gonna get out of me! After spending a small fortune having Aiden's pictures taken back in October, Andy and I refuse to be suckers again! Luckily, we are blessed with two great  photographers in our family, Andy's dad Pat, and my sister Catherine's husband Cory! Anywho, here are the pics that Pat took of Aiden a few weeks ago...they are pre-editing, which I am hoping that Cory will help me with (hint hint)! Oh, and Cory has a newly founded Nauertz Photography blog... http://corynauertz.blogspot.com/  I'm sure he will be posting tons more pictures soon, he is really getting into his photography groove!

P.S...does anyone know how to edit out slobber? This kid is always drooling all over the place!

Fourth of July

The first summer that Andy and I "hung out" was the very first time that I ever attended the St. Paul 4th of July Parade.  I was newly 21, he was 23 and freshly out of college, without a job, and plenty of time on his hands to "court" me.  That was the best summer....tons of fun and clever dates (swathing, trips to scary cemeteries, out to fun bars) , surprises (carrot cake in a college class, a detailed car complete with my favorite Dave Matthews Band cd), and visits to me at work (also the first summer I worked for Ioka).  The summer between us ended awkwardly, 100% the fault of mine, and is a ridiculously absurd story for some other time (I feel like an idiot even thinking about it).  Luckily for us, alls well that ends well.

Anywho, back to the parade.  We have gone to the parade every year for the past 8 years with just about all of Andy's extended family each year.  It is the best small-town parade... anyone can enter into it the day-of!  There is lots of candy, and lots of waving, and you always see someone in the parade you know.  This year was Aiden's second parade...last year he got to meet Abe Lincolin! :)  We have such a great time going, and look forward to it all year long.

 

Girl's Weekend in Walla Walla

A couple weeks back I headed up to Walla Walla, all by myself (I think that is the furthest I have ever driven alone...it was NICE!) to see my little sister Lydia, and to join one of my best friends from college, Katie, and her sister (who also lives in WW), and their mom and friends for a girl's weekend! It was a relaxing couple of days of chatting, eating, and in true Walla Walla style, wine tasting!! The last time I was up there was in January, so it was a nice change to see all the landscapes flush with bright green, and yummy cherry and sweet onion season in full-swing!

At Three Rivers Winery for a bbq and live music

 The whole girl's weekend crew (minus Emily who was taking the picture)

 Katie & I

 The whole gang, this time with Lydia & Emily

 Beautiful Walla Walla

Father's Day

What do you mean I am a month late with this?? Oh well, better late than never! Andy's Father's Day wish was to go to the Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville. We had been there once before, but it was for a work function, so we weren't able to spend much time looking around.  Well, going with a kiddo didn't give us much time to look at everything either, so we have decided to go back soon, next time, adults only! :)  We did get lots of "WOW's" from Aiden, which is always so fun to listen to!!

WOW!!!!!

 Aiden was thrilled to be there, can't you tell?

 They also have a huge building just about the space program, it was really impressive!

 Actual piece of the Berlin Wall

 My boys...

Back on the Wagon

When you pick up your Catholic manual at the age of 3 months after your first dunking, the first 10 chapters are on guilt.  All Catholics are thoroughly trained at giving guilt; it's just a part of life as a Catholic, right along with the aerobics we do during mass and the phenomenal displays of Catholic Daughter macaroni salads after a funeral.  The number one most nagging form of guilt (a definite close second to the guilt given by octogenerian grandmothers) is self-guilt.  So, as the days have been passing since I have updated my blog, my self-guilt gland has been running on overtime.  Time to put an end to it.

Since the end of May, life has been grand.  I feel so spoiled to have the opportunity to stay home with my kiddo, that I practically feel like I am on vacation.  It is so nice to have time to do all the things I need and want to do, without feeling like the fast-forward button is always pushed.  Dinner is usually made or close to it when Andy gets home, the house gets cleaned on a regular basis, and I actually do the laundry instead of my mom or my mother-in-law (it just seems to be the lowest on my priority list).  And most importantly, I get to spend my days with Aiden.  What a blessing staying home has been!!  Here are a few pics of what we have been up to...

Playing at the Beach...

 Making Jam...

 Building Fences.....

Also, I have deemed myself with the position of "Marketing Manager" for Schaecher Wholesale Nursery.  Here is what I have been up to...a new logo and a new website in the coming weeks! (www.swnplants.com)

All-in-all, staying home has been fantastic, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!! Cheers!