Weekend in El Dorado & CHUBBY CHECKERS!

Okay I really mean CHUCKIE CHEESE but ever since my dad called it chubby checkers one time I always refer to it as that because its so hilarious. Last weekend Aiden and I headed to El Dorado to visit my sister Amy, her husband Josh and my ADORABLE nephew Paxton and niece Harper. We had to drive in some pretty terriying fog on the way there.  Seriously I can't even explain how scary it was. Doesn't help there were SO many morons on the road. No, I do not feel bad saying morons because thats what they are. Who PASSES (its a 2 lane highway!) in ThIcK THICK ThIcK fog and who doesn't have their dims/lights on!!! (um about 80% of the people on the road that day!) I didn't even take drivers ed and I STILL know these things, its COMMON SENSE! But thankfully we did make it safely and I was so happy to finally be there.

After getting Aiden dressed and letting him  check out his cousin harper and play with pax for a while I started packing up the car to head to Wichita. We were going to meet our other sister Sarah who lives there and do a little shopping and then head to chuckie cheese!

(let me point out that we live in an apartment right now so Aiden loves going to auntie Amy's because he can RUN from one side of the house to the other, he loves it)

Miss Harper was WIDE awake and ready to go!!

 Packing up the car... what a PAIN!! I never thought I would say this but a mini van would have been amazing that day! We had 2 toddler car seats and 1 infant car seat to fit in the back of Amy's honda accord. I have always thought that car had a super roomy back seat until the day I had to fit 3 car seats in the back of it. After tugging and pulling and safely securing all 3 seats we were on our way!

We first went to the mall to do a little shopping. I swear people were looking at us like we were crazy with 2 strollers and harper in a sling. We had it all figured out though!!

Shopping was a success and now it was time to head to chuckie cheese!! As soon as we pulled into the parking lot we knew it was going to be CrAzY. Seriously who goes to chuckie cheese on a saturday afternoon with  1yr old, 2 yr old  and 6 week old children...

WE DO!!!

We walked in the door and there was a line. Found out there was a 15/20 minute wait. Great. Amy was ready to skip out but Sarah would not let that happen. (Im pretty sure she was more excited than the boys!) At this point aiden is squirming to get down and explore and Pax is in tears. He caught a glimpse of Chuckie Cheese himself and was terrified! The wait went fairly quick, we ordered our pizza and were seated. PHEW! The pizza came up pretty fast and we were all so starving by that point I don't even think we cared that it didn't really taste that great at all.

The boys were eager to go play so we let them loose! I really didn't get that many pictures because I had my hands full with Aiden and I was trying to capture video as well! It was just packed at chuckie cheese. Hundreds of people and kids and birthday parties... I was super overwhelmed! Aiden just wanted to RUN and I had never seen him run that fast in my life. It was hilarious and I really wanted to just let him go but he would take off and either fall on his face or run into a complete stranger. So i tried to keep him busy with the rides and stuff. I think we were really only there a couple hours but it seemed like an eternity and I was ready to go as was amy... and for sarah, Im sure you can guess. We had to pry her and Pax away. It was nap time anyways and the boys were fast asleep before we hit the highway. My camera had died but i took cute pics of them sleeping with Amy's. Harper on the other hand slept through chuckie cheese and was wide awake for the car ride home, silly girl. We spent the rest of the night relaxing, went to dinner at the mexican restaurant and after putting the boys to bed us sisters enjoyed some wine and watched The Hangover. Very FUN (exhausting) weekend!!  Im excited to go back again with Aiden the 2nd weekend in february to help Sarah watch Pax and Harper while Amy and Josh go to VEGAS!

Sweet tooth

I have been CRAVING something sweet lately. Its like ever since I was pregnant I can't have a meal without a little treat afterwards. Its really awful actually, especially when you're trying to watch what you're eating. These days stores offer plenty low fat, low sugar "healthy" goodies that wont sabotage your efforts but this weekend I really didn't care and just wanted to make some yummy treats for me and my boys! More like my boys, co workers and whoever else would like to take some of these cookies off our hands, we have MORE than I know what to do with!! I wonder what would happen if i froze some... hmmmm.

Anyways...  here is what i made!!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

The ingredients include applesauce and whole wheat flour. I found the recipe on this healthy living website. They really aren't THAT good for you so I might as well just make regular chocolate chips cookies but they do taste great and Im glad I gave them a shot. I think ill use half a bag of choc chips next time, don't get me wrong I LOVE chocolate but I think there were just too many, thats all I could taste!!

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies: 

Aiden's new favorite snack is craisins. My sister Amy had some in her purse for Pax while we were  out to eat one night and we gave some to aiden to try. He loved them. He has always like raisins so i decided to buy some at the store. I bought 100 calorie packs to keep in the diaper bag and a bag to keep at home. (Those things are not cheap! )

So i saw the recipe in a craisin ad in Taste Of Home magazine and have also heard my co worker Megan  rave about them so I decided to make some since I had all the ingredients. (minus the white choc chips which Mike so graciously picked up for me after work last night. Love him.) They are super easy to make and are quite tasty!

Here is Aiden enjoying some of the choc chip cookes... quite messy but well worth it!

I have the day off today and its super cold and insanely WINDY so Aiden and I are cooped up in the house all day! Plus he's not feeling very well so unless we go to the doctor we're not going anywhere! Wish I would have saved the baking for today but guess Ill tackle the laundry instead. FUN :)

HAPPY MONDAY!!

Pancake Sunday!

This morning I was VERY excited to bust out some of my christmas gifts. Each year my dads girlfriend Kelley goes above and beyond in our stockings. She doesn't actually even use a stocking for us girls because it wouldn't all fit. Her and my dad fill it with anything and everything, stuff you would never think of but use on a daily basis. This year I got a pancake pan called ZOO friends, it was the CUTEST thing and I couldn't wait to make Aiden some fun pancakes!

Seriously how cute is this pan?!?

I almost forgot about something else she gave us and almost started spooning the batter onto the pan with a measuring cup! Silly me... good thing Mike reminded me! 

Check out this nifty thing!! 

You poor the batter in it and squeeze the handle and the mix comes out. You decide how much at a time making either large, medium or small pancakes. I was wondering how i was going to fill each one by hand knowing they would need to be flipped before I was done. I could have lowered the heat but thats me being a very amateur cook, I use HIGH HEAT for everything! 

I did the monkey, hippo and crocodile first, they were my favorites :) Im officially obsessed with this pan and had so much fun this morning making Aiden's breakfast. Of course he could care less and had no idea what was going on. Im sure he was thinking " mom why are you showing me my food and talking to me about it... just FEED ME!! " He'll appreciate it more one day.

MMMMMMM!!!

So I COULD just end this post now making you all think that this was a perfect breakfast and I made perfect animal pancakes for my perfect son but that definitely wasn't the case. Yes the pictures above were the first three pancakes I made and they did turn out great but then I got cocky and decided to them all at once...

Ha Ha Ha! I think it had something to do with the HIGH HEAT thing I was talking about earlier.  So that batch when straight in the trash and I stuck with doing 2-3 animals at a time after that :)

To make matters worse, Aiden must not have been feeling well because he threw up his whole entire breakfast ten minutes after eating it! POOR BABY!!

The joys of motherhood...

I wouldn't change it for the WORLD though!!

THANKS DAD AND KELLEY FOR THE FUN STUFF, WE LOVE IT!!

Happy New Year*

Happy New Years everyone!! There is nothing better than spending the first day of 2010 with my boys in our pajamas playing and watching football. I've decided to reflect back on the past year... I have so many things to be thankful for and i'd like to share a few with you! 2009 was THE BEST year and we feel incredibly blessed.

1. Technically Aiden was born in 2008 but the majority of his first year has been in 2009 :) To be able to carry and give birth to a child is an absolute miracle and it truly changes your outlook on life. We are so fortunate to have had a healthy baby boy and Aiden has made this past year unforgettable! He has brought so much joy to our lives and i can't describe the LOVE you have for your child. All the sleepless nights, crying, diaper changing, bottle washing etc. doesn't compare to all the smiles, laughs, hugs, kisses, milestones and MEMORIES we have created this past year. Thank you Aiden for making this year the best year of my life, I love you more than you'll ever know!!

 2. My best friend and boyfriend Mike. We are incredibly lucky to have him in our lives and I don't tell him nearly enough how much I appreciate and love him! Im thankful for his PATIENCE and all his help with Aiden. Im thankful for how HARD he works in school, his job and at home. Nothing makes me happier than seeing Aiden's face LIGHT UP when his daddy walks in the room. Thank you Mike for  being and amazing boyfriend and dad and for making this year the best year of my life!

3. Im thankful for both our families. All of their support and everything they do for us! I am most thankful for  their love for our son. He has no idea how lucky he is!!! Thank you all for making this the best year of my life, we love you all and we appreciate all you do!

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy 2010!! 

Christmas 2009* Christmas Day and Day After

Even though Aiden had no idea it was Christmas morning it was still THE BEST feeling in the WORLD to wake up and get to see his smile and smother him with kisses and wish him a merry christmas! We woke daddy up next and headed upstairs to see the rest of the family. We didn't dig into presents because we wanted to wait til Ron got there so he could share in the festivities! In the mean time Aiden quickly found his pickle ornament! In Mike's family it's a tradition for his mom to hide the pickle ornament while everyone is still sleeping then we all look for it. This year there we 3 pickle ornaments... Aiden's, a girls one and a boys one. Alissa found the girls one before i did. Such a bummer! She got some beautiful hand made mittens, I was jealous! Aiden of course found his and Mike found the one for the guys. Its always fun to find it first and get the pickle prize! It's such a cute tradition and i intend to follow it every year!

We spent the rest of the morning opening presents which i FAILED to get any pictures of! I was not on top of it at all this Christmas with pictures, im SO mad at myself! Aiden got spoiled once again. He received a DVD player system for the car. Two screens that attach to each head rest, its pretty awesome. Wish we hadn't gotten so much stuff or i would have sat in the back seat with Aiden and watched Santa Buddies on the way back to Manhattan, but the car was completely PACKED FULL! Mike's parents got us a CAMCORDER! I was sooo excited! Its adorable and Ill probably do a post soon all about it! Too bad we dont have any videos of Aiden's first year of life but I did take a million pictures. I shot a lot of video footage this weekend and I love love love the camcorder. Now I just need to read the instruction manual and figure out how to upload them.

After eating lunch it was time to head back to Manhattan to spend the rest of the afternoon with my dad and siblings. The plan was to go to my grandparents house and eat and open presents with my dad's side of the family. But once again the weather ruined our plans and dinner was canceled because my aunt and uncle couldn't make it and it was safer for us all to not be out on the roads. We ended up just going out to my dads and hanging out with him and my siblings! It was so good to finally see all them!! We hadn't seen my niece Harper since the day she was born so I was DYING to hold her again. She is still tiny and  beautiful! Pax and Aiden embraced as soon as they saw each other, it was SO cute! We opened more presents, ate and played an intense game of Trivial Pursuit- Pop Culture! It was a great time! After getting stuck on my dads STEEP  driveway and having Mike, Josh, Tony and my dad push us up it, it was time to head back to our apartment. I was very eager to sleep in our own bed and just be HOME.

We finally made it up to my grandpa and grandma Long's on saturday. We had already planned on spending that day doing Christmas with my mom's side but pushed it back a little so we could go spend some time with them. The boys had fun running round and round and round their house and we were all exhausted from chasing them. It was a good time and i always love spending time at their house. Grandma had quite the touch with little Harper and had her fast asleep in minutes. I guess you never loose your mothers touch.

The rest of the afternoon we all got REAL COZY in our tiny apartment! My grandpa and grandma ekart, my mom and her boyfriend, my siblings and the kiddos relaxed ate tons of snacky foods, watched movies and opened MORE presents!

It was a WoNdErFuL Christmas and we were able to travel and spend time with ALL our loved ones! It was perfect and we are so blessed to have each other and all our family and friends!

Christmas 2009* Christmas Eve

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the Schuessler house...

Were a bunch of bums just laying around! The weather was getting pretty frightful out so we stayed inside and enjoyed the beautiful view! We all stayed in our pajamas until it was time to get ready for church, our excuse was Aiden was still in his so it was okay for us all to stay in ours :) We decided to go to the 6:00 mass in Washington so Ron could join us but because of the weather he decided to play it safe and stay in Manhattan. We all bundled up and braved the cold and WIND and made it to church safely. Aiden was pretty well behaved during church. As long as i was feeding him puffs and giving him anything and everything he wanted to play with he remained pretty quiet the whole time. phew!! After church we headed back to the house and ate dinner. In prior years family members would stop by after church to visit and have some drinks but the weather really put a damper on things this year! So we all watched Aiden play for a bit then started Christmas Vacation once he was in bed. A tradition in Mike's family as well as mine!! That movie never gets old to me... too bad Linda and I were the only 2 that made it through the whole movie!

Christmas 2009* Dec 22-23rd

I can't believe Christmas is actually OVER!! All the presents, all the wrapping, all the laughs, all the food, all the games, all the family and all the FUN and its all over and back to work tomorrow. BOO!

On the 22nd we took Aiden to see santa at the mall! He handled it exactly how i thought he would! The child before him flipped out so i was holding aiden and turned him around quickly thinking he would see  that and have the same reaction. NOPE! Being the BiG boy that he is we let him walk up to santa. Bad idea he was way more interested in the pretty christmas tree and the huge bulbs. So Mike redirected him towards santa and put him on his lap. Aiden just STARED at him, just like he does to most strangers.  He'll just stare you up and down and with in five minutes he loves ya! Santa didn't get there til 3pm which is during aiden's nap time so he was extremely tired. We had to try forever to get him to smile but the sweet lady working finally got one and they captured the pic! (i didn't get it on my camera though) I thought for his first time seeing santa (last year doesn't count since he was 2 weeks old) he handled it perfectly and hopefully next year he will be the same way!

We left Manhattan on the 23rd. The weather was suppose to get bad so we decided to forego the annual ginger bread party with my besties from high school and head straight to hanover when mike got off work. The weather ended up being fine but better safe than sorry and now that we're traveling with a baby we can't take any chances!! We spent the evening with mike's grandma, parents, siblings, aunt/uncle, cousins and their children. It was a great time as usual. Little Aiden was up until 11pm! He was SO good though and just played with the kids and explored great-grandma's house!

I will finish my christmas posts tomorrow!!