10 cousins, 3 states, 8 days

Well Dean and I did it. Spring Break trip starting at 3:30 AM, traveling to see all his cousins in one week. It had it's ups and downs but overall was a very rewarding trip.

We started Friday of Spring break at 3:30 to be ready for our 5:30 am flight. Dean, of course, was already awake! (Little stinker) Amazingly our flights to NC went without a hitch AND Dean had his own seat for each flight! Thank goodness for flights that aren't full and Southwest's people first policy! We got to NC around noon and surprisingly neither of us was super tired!

We had a great trip in NC but boy did it go by fast! The first two days we hung out in Garner at my parent's house, visiting parks, Easter festival, Paul and Susan visiting and playing with cars. The weather was nice, not warm, but definitely not cold!

 Unfortunately our last two days in NC Dean got pretty sick :( He had few symptoms other than a runny nose, but had a fever that one day got up to 104! We took him to the clinic but they said it was just a virus and to keep him rested. (Which was hard to do with his cousin around! All he wanted to do was grab Henry's toys, say "MINE" and ride bikes!) He did ok for being so sick, but I was bummed that my family in NC got to see him at this grumpiest, clingiest, and worst. He definitely wasn't his happy go-lucky-self!

From NC Dean and I flew on Tuesday to Chicago where we met up with Mark. (Once again Dean got his own seat! This pregnant momma was thankful he didn't have to ride in my lap!) He was ECSTATIC to see Mark in Chicago, ran at him at the gate yelling "Daddy!!" I was thankful we had Mark for our 2nd leg because Dean was still feeling kind of crappy (fever down to 99) and no empty seat on a flight. In fact we didn't get ANY more empty seats, I must have been lucky!

We got to Houston Tuesday afternoon where Sarah and KK (or Kaka as Dean says) picked us up. It was nice being in Houston and getting to see all the Johnston. We hadn't seen them since the summer and they have all grown up so much! We also hadn't had a chance to see their new home since they moved from Dallas, and Dean really loved seeing his cousins (even if he didn't want to give them hugs when they wanted him to!)

We had a pretty laid back time in Houston, went for walks, hung out in the 70 degree weather outside, Easter egg hunts and lots of grilled meat (Thanks Mike!) We also got to go out one night and enjoy Tex Mex :) Once again though the trip passed quick, and when we left at 6 am everyone was sad to see us go.

Notice the raspberry on his face... he fell, A LOT

Poor Peyton He tried SOO hard

Watching Mickey "Ma" together

We got back to Minnesota Saturday around 3pm, and totally missed the 10-12 inches that Eagan got over the week. How thankful we were to have been wearing shorts! It was good to be home and we spent most of Saturday getting re-acclimated, and thankfully the house was spotless because Mark had cleaned while Dean and I were in NC!

Sunday was busy and we spent the day, Easter, with Dean visiting his last cousins in Afton at his grandparents. We had a lovely time with an Easter Egg hunt, family and dinner. But BOY were we exhausted that evening.

The Aronson Men-3 Generations

18 weeks pregnant

Needless to say Dean had his fill of cousins that week, but still seemed to want to see them once they were gone. He keeps asking for "Paul" and "Kaka" (the easiest names to say) and when we took him to Max and Marcella's house this past weekend so Mark and I could go out for my birthday (still in my 20's!) :) he was soo excited and couldn't wait to leave!

So spring has definitely been busy for us so far! We are hoping it gets warm soon, with threats of snow coming this week. We enjoyed one warm day this weekend and it was nice for my birthday weekend to get outside, see some tulips growing, start my tomato plants and vacuum the cars! I also enjoyed teaching my last OULA class before baby comes (i'm going to keep dancing, just not teaching! It's too intense). Lastly Mark and I enjoyed our yearly tradition of Pizza Luce and free dessert :) Yummy gluten free brownie with ice cream!

Birthday Breakfast

Birthday Steak

My last Oula class as an instructor Pre-baby, 20 weeks

This coming week we have our 20 week anatomy scan for baby so we are excited/anxious to see the little one moving around and maybe catch whether Dean will have a sister or brother? We shall see! Keep you posted...

Spring is On the Horizon!

Yes, there is still snow on the ground, yes today's "warm" was 38 degrees, but Spring is in the air!!! And in the last couple months Dean has been growing so fast! I love that time is moving and seasons are changing, but I'm starting to realize my little "newborn" is becoming a  little tiny boy! (sorry these are all sideways) 8/9months

 In fact, he is now sleeping in a crib. I know I know, you say "where was he sleeping before?" Well all you momma's don't be afraid to say, baby's can be tough, and maybe you don't do things "by the books"... for us, getting sleep and letting Dean sleep in a stationary swing was more important that putting him in a crib. (Who says they HAVE to sleep there anyways??? Well..everyone) lol BUT as of this week he is now in the crib. He wakes up and then sits himself up and cries for an hour (of course I go in and out checking on him) BUT I figure he's got to figure it out soon right??

Now baby sleep aside, The New Year started great, got to do something I've wanted to do a long time, do a PAINT Nite with Julie! It was fun and I love getting to spend time with my preggie friends :)

Speak of Preggie friends we threw a shower for 3 of our Pregnant friends "Boy's Club" babies. There are going to be tons of babies all around! The shower was at our house and it was a fun Children's book theme. 

Baby Pics of Everyone

Hungry Caterpillar Cupackes

In the new year we've also celebrated lots of birthdays. First Mark's birthday was in January. We celebrated with MN shaped cookies, Whiskey cupcakes and Whiskey of course.

 
 
 

Then came February and Valentine's day, and we celebrated like usual, no gifts but heart shaped pizza for Mark and baked goods for me :) Even Dean took part, eating Beet colored muffins. (The only way he'll eat veggies anymore is by baking them into muffins! We also bought some nice new plants for the house to start to bring a Spring atmosphere to our house!!

 We also got to celebrate birthdays with all the Aronsons and it was fun to watch the cousins play together! Dean is finally getting old enough that he interacts with people! In fact, when we leave daycare now, he cries. I guess I should be happy, but sometimes it still makes a mom feel sad :(

Vanilla cupcakes with Nutella frosting

Today he turned 9 months and he has decided that he is now big enough to pull himself up on everything we own. I'm afraid he's going to start walking early like his momma.... hope not!

Big boy taking bites out of a whole slice of bread

Really we are just happy that he is happy and healthy! (After having the stomach bug last week :( )

In other news, I am now working on complete fitness certification in a new modality. It's called Oula, and even though I LOVEEE Body Flow, I may love Oula as much or maybe a little bit more! It's a Dance party, , workout, to top 40's music, with fun, sexy, flirty, strong moves! Not only do you get an amazing workout, but you get a nice release and fell young and beautiful again! I'm loving teaching intro classes and I can't wait until we have full Oula classes! Right now I'm teaching 2 a week at Eagan YMCA, Wednesday and Saturdays, and I LOVE the me time, PLUS the other ladies who are bringing it to the twin cities with me are amazing too! Check out the website https://oulafitness.com/ for more!

One of the neatest things about Oula are the monthly affirmations.
January-Be Present

February- Be FIERCE
March- Be Inspired!
-This month I'm thinking about what I really love to do, why I do, and who inspires me to do it! Hope you all can do the same this month :)

Now of course extra fun pictures of my baby :)