Nicole Tasker Woods

I had a wonderful time with Aidan, just him and me, decorating our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. He had spent the night at his Uncle Curtis’ house the night before so that Ryan & I could have an adult evening out at the Magic Castle. Before I went to pick him up the following morning, I quickly set up the tree (which already has lights on it–love that!) and put on the glass ornament balls. He was so excited to see the tree when he walked into the house. Even more excited to hand me ornaments one by one so that I could hang them on the tree.

Just felt my first sizable earthquake – 4.4! I was lying in bed, watching TV with the dogs and all of a sudden it felt like a strong wind was picking up and then the shaking started, but not violent shaking. It was just a slow, gradual movement. Not scary at all. I wished Aidan was awake to feel it so that he knows it isn’t anything to be afraid of. The dogs freaked out and started barking; I thought that would wake the Big A up for sure, but nope, he continued to sleep soundly in his bed.

We ask Aidan these questions every day and his reply is always the same:

What’s your name?

A!

How old are you?

Two!

Who am I?

Mommy!

Who is that?

Daddy!

Who is your dog?

Cali best!

Because clearly, she is the best.

Today was beautiful! The sun was shinning bright and hot, the wind was blowing cool and constant. Ryan, Aidan, Cali & I went to the park as a family after we had donuts for breakfast (Aidan had eggs & fruit first, Mom, don’t worry!). Aidan had a great time swinging as high as he could go, while Ryan & I both took turns pushing him. Then Ryan and I started swinging with Aidan on my lap. He held on tight while leaning back on my chest saying ‘hug’ – he’s such a lover.

Then we did a few rounds on the slide, watching with cautious, outstretched hands as Aidan climbed up the stairs, then cheered him on as went zipping down the slide.

Aidan & Cali kicked the soccer ball around a bit in the field. Cali was screaming with joy and Aidan kept saying, ‘no, no, no’ waving his hands to the side. Cali had a hard time sharing the ball with the Big A, but she did give him a few turns.

We probably spent an hour at the park, it was a blast on such a beautiful day!

Our 7th wedding anniversary was Monday, October 1st. I can’t believe I’ve been married for that long! It’s even more unbelievable that I have known Ryan for 10 years. Insane!

To celebrate our anniversary on Monday night, the three of us when to Five Guys for a cheeseburger (Aidan had a hot dog). It was a nice outing, sharing the special occasion with our son. We didn’t need a fancy meal, just one another.

Tonight, the Big A will spend some quality time with his Grammy & Pop Pop while we go out to dinner and a movie – a true date night – just the two of us. We haven’t enjoyed something like that in quite some time.

As much as I enjoy getting away for a few hours of adult time, I still look forward to returning to our family dynamic.

Looking back on all the other ways we celebrated our anniversary in the past, I don’t know how we felt complete returning to an empty home. Even after a long, expensive dinner at Ruth’s Chris or Mastros or the Melting Pot – how did we survive without having the A-man toddling around the living room? It’s like life before Cali…how did we ever do it? I could never be truly happy without the monster and our sweet baby boy.

About 17 or 18 years ago, my Grammy Tasker got me interested in crocheting. She was always knitting and making afghans and sweaters for all her grand children and great grand children. Whenever I would come over to her house in the summer or after school to watch Price Is Right or Bonanza, she always had another project going. Her fingers would moved like lightning with those knitting needles!

The first blanket I started was with a super soft purple yarn and from that tiny square that she started for me, I ended up making a really large girly blanket, which I always thought would be for my baby girl. It was purple, pink, yellow and blue. I actually slept underneath it when I was home in March for my NH baby shower and was surprised how comfortable it was–not only was it the perfect weight, but it covered my entire body! I was never too adventurous when crocheting and always went around and around the center square so as a result, the blanket is a perfect square.

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This coming Friday will be my last day at work. It has been so slow in our office these days that I have been going through my drawers and carefully combing my desk about a million times to make sure I don’t leave anything behind that I might need over the next 12 weeks.

The company I work for is pretty awesome when it comes to maternity leave. I get 2 weeks off before my due date, full pay, and an additional 10 weeks off after I deliver the baby–at full pay.  A lot of businesses only offer 6-8 weeks and sometimes at partial pay! I have heard of some mothers-to-be who work up until their water breaks. My office is about 25 miles from home, which is 1.5 miles from my hospital, so I couldn’t imagine working until the very last minute–no way! Not if I don’t have to!

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