Oregon, brotherly love, and some smiles

Life is busy.  Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, in a not so good way, and other times I feel overwhelmed with gratitude.  This morning it's a little of both.  I love watching these two boys together.  Aiden doesn't look thrilled but he was actually quite happy when I took this picture.

Most of our mornings look a little like this.  Patrick playing with markers, his cars, and his backpack.  Favorites at the moment.  Afternoons seem to get crazy but mornings are filled with playtime.  

Aiden recently got this swing and it's become a favorite of his...and mine.  He quite likes those little animals hanging from the top. Thanks Grandma!

Another favorite of Patrick's is the movie Mamma Mia.  I guess it's because of the lively music but we kind of put it in as a joke, not thinking he would like it and he's begged to watch it everyday since.  I don't know if I should be happy about this or not. ;)  I get the same goofy grin Patrick does every time it's on.  

And we've graduated to the grinning stage with Aiden!  Too cute.  That's all I have to say about that.

6 weeks old

5 weeks

 I mentioned in the last post that we took a trip to Oregon...with a 20 month old and a 4 week old.  I don't know what we were thinking other than we love our family very much.  Unfortunately, my mom and Karolyn got sick on the trip and I'm afraid they had a less fun time in the car than my two little boys did.  I was amazed at how well Patrick and Aiden did.  Aiden slept the whole 24 hours, there and back and Patrick watched a whole lot of the Chipmunk movies, The Lorax, and Toy Story.  He also ate more chips than I thought would be possible to stuff into his little body.

Our only pictures from the whole weekend...swimming time!  A favorite hotel activity of ours.  We've never not had a good time when we've taken Patrick swimming.

 You can see his obvious excitement. :)

This is kind of turning into a really random post but lastly:

I've been thinking about this man a whole lot lately.  The newest grandson of his is starting to live up to his name and we're finding quite a few similarities between the two.  I'll be a lucky mom if little Aiden Kyle has some of the personality traits and looks of his grandpa.  Or as Patrick calls him, Papa.  Tears seem to come frequently when I think about this great man, and I always get the those feelings of overwhelming sadness mixed with overwhelming gratitude for his influence in my life.