This Weeks Outings

On Monday I once again got some kind of bug. I had a massive headache, chills and fever that lasted for a day or so. Ugh! We can't seem to stay healthy over here. Thus far no one else has gotten it and hopefully won't.

Thank goodness I felt well enough Tuesday night to go to my niece's concert. Alyx plays the French Horn at her school and they were giving their Christmas concert. It was great! What a change last year, where they were all just beginners. It is amazing how quickly they pick these instruments up! We brought Aidan with us and of course he was keeping us entertained while we were waiting for them to begin. He seemed interested in the music, but perhaps more in grinning over at Aunt Rachel and Grandma. What a ham!





This morning Aidan and I got out of the house early to do some shoe shopping for him. I have discovered that he has to be there with me to try them on, as there are very few stores that carry shoes that actually fit him (he was measured as a 6 1/2 wide to extra wide). He has some pretty cute chubby feet!! We got to the mall early (around 9 am) only to discover that the department stores were open but the other stores were not. We browsed for a while, quickly realizing that the dept. stores did not carry much that would fit Aidan nor did they have the style I was looking for. With about 25 minutes to kill, we decided to venture into the play area. Normally there are way too many kids in there for my comfort level, but this turned out perfect as there was only one other child there who happened to be Aidan's age. We spent about 20 minutes playing and probably could have stayed for an hour. I still had my camera in the diaper bag from the night before, so I managed to take a few pictures between running spurts (I am finding it more and more difficult for that!). I guess I just need to get better at taking those "action" shots.




As you can tell, I am trying to keep this blog better updated now because I am sure I will fall behind again during Christmas and New Years. There, I gave you my warning!! :-)

The big compromise

The Ege's came over for dinner and some games tonight. I knew we, meaning the adults, would have a blast, but was a little unsure about the little men. Last time the boys played together, Aidan got upset and decided Caleb looked a bit tasty. Luckily there were no samples tonight. Obviously there were a few unhappy moments, but other than that, it went well. The evening hit a high point though when the boys decided they wanted to play with the same toy. Normally that would be the low point. They both compromised on this one!







Aidan loves to push this airplane around and Caleb was enjoying being pushed. :-) What surprised me most was that Aidan was able to turn and steer it all over the house. I would have thought that the extra weight of Caleb would have affected that - but nope! ZOOM ZOOM!!

First official salon hair cut

TORTURE!! At least, that is what you would have thought Aidan was going through at the hair salon this past week. In fact, I really was unsure if it was going to get completed. I could just envision us walking out with one side short and the other long. We were lucky that the hairstylist was a VERY patient and understanding woman.

We tried first sitting him on the booster and he just started screaming. So, I ended up holding him, even though he was still very unhappy. We ended up taking the drape thingy off because it seemed to make it worse. By the end of the cut, both Aidan and I were covered in hair! He calmed down pretty quickly once it was over, but kept on giving the hairstylist evil looks (boy does he give some good ones!). Poor woman!!!!

I was unsure about getting his hair cut much shorter than it was because I just love his hair, but I am very happy with the outcome. He looks like such a little boy now.

Another crazy month

This past month has not only been an extremely busy one in our day-to-day lives, but both of our computers have stopped working for different reasons. We are still trying to get it all figured out. Right now I am using a borrowed one from my company, which I have to return next week. Yeeks - I guess we are going to have to figure out the computer thing pretty quickly. This is the explanation if you do not hear from us for a while again. :-)

I am uploading a lot of pictures that have been taken this month. The following is a re-cap on, in general, what is going on.

First off, Chris and I had a date night at Kemah with Chris' dad (Don) and Tina. Tina is the wonderful woman that recently came into his life. This was actually the first time we got to meet her and we instantly liked her. We ate dinner along the boardwalk, meandered around and listened to some live music. Kemah has changed a bit since last time we went - they have added many new rides, even including a large wooden rollercoaster. It was a great evening among adults and helped remind us that we need to do that more often.

The next weekend we got together with my side of the family for my father's birthday. Craig, Kati and Kaetlyn came down from Austin for the celebration. We always have such a great time when they come in, especially getting to see Aidan, Kaetlyn and Alyx interact together.

This last month has brought a change in the weather. It has even been pretty cool in the afternoons. This has allowed Aidan and I to spend more time outside, which he just loves! With the temperature change has come the falling of the leaves. This has been a cute adventure with Aidan. He loves all leaves, but is mesmerized by pine needles. He really enjoys arranging these leaves into random piles. Since we have been out more during the afternoons, Aidan has become fast friends with a cat that lives on our street. Every day, this cat runs out to greet and follow us. For those of you who do not know, Aidan ADORES cats!!! He is intrigued by their tails, their small size and how quickly they can get away from him. :-) Each meeting, I am always surprised and impressed with how brave this cat is, as well as how gentle Aidan is with him. It is really too cute.

This month has also come an opportunity for Chris to do some "manly" things around our house. He built and replaced our side gate. I was so proud!! :-) He borrowed my dad's electic saw and got to pull out his tools and put them to some good work. I think he did a fantastic job.

Along with the outdoor talk, I couldn't help but post about our gorgeous flowering tree in our backyard, right along our deck. I have never seen anything like this tree - it is very tropical looking. We were unsure if we really liked it until it started blooming. My goodness, it is breathtaking! It blooms these enormous yellow flowers that face down, so when you stand under it and look up, all these huge blooms are facing you. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Check out the pics!

Of course, we can't skip thanksgiving. This year was our turn to stay with my side of the family here in Houston. Unfortunately, Craig and Kati were not able to make it down. However, just because there were only 7 of us, that is including Aidan, did not mean that we couldn't put up a huge spread of food. Yummy! We spent the morning watching the parade and Aidan really liked that part. Then, when it got dark out, we all bundled up due to the cold and went for a much needed walk around the block. It was a great day and weekend decorating for Christmas in our first house. What a blessing!

Lastly, there are some really adorable pictures of Aidan all bundled up getting ready for a walk around our neighborhood. Poor Aidan didn't understand us cutting it short due to some rain and was really trying to get us to take him back outside.

I know this is a long post with a lot of pictures, but I guess that is what happens when you don't post for a while. One way or the other, we will try to keep up better during this holiday season.

Our little Pumpkin

This evening Aidan, Chris and I headed over to my parent's house for the festivities of the evening. We had a great time! Aidan ended up completely wearing himself out though.

We all had a quick bite to eat for dinner and then headed out the door. My dad and Alyx stayed at the house as she decided to hand out candy and scare everyone - which she did! Rachel, my mom, Chris and I took Aidan around the block. We probably went to about 20 houses and he did great. As we began walking down the street, Aidan started squealing with delight and running. He even allowed the hat to stay on for most of the Trick or Treating time. When I say trick or treating, I mean one of us knocking on the door, saying trick or treat and holding the treat container. He just wanted to stand there and grin. There were a few times where he tried to break in and explore, but other than that he just had fun looking at everybody. What was really funny was that Aidan kept on wanting to stop in the middle of the sidewalk, sit down and empty out all his candy. He knows what this night is all about!! :-)

I know he is not going to remember this, but I will. What a treat! I am so proud of what a trooper he was!

Girls Weekend!

I was able to go to San Antonio this past weekend with a couple of my friends, Kim and Amy. We spent some much needed girl time with Heather and had a blast!

Now, you probably would not be at all surprised at what we did. Let's see . . . we talked, we shopped, we ate, we toured the River Walk, we watched a girlie movie and we slept. It was GLORIOUS!! Plus, we got to catch up with Heather, which is a HUGE bonus.

Not only was it a nice rest for me, but it ended up being a great bonding time for Chris and Aidan. They spent much of Saturday outside playing in the yard and going to the park. On Sunday, they went to Beaumont to visit family and take the firm Christmas picture (of the children). I heard that the picture turned out pretty cute - I am looking forward to seeing it.

When I got home Sunday afternoon I beat Chris and Aidan by an hour or so, which allowed me to rest from my trip for a bit and unpack at a leisurely pace. I rarely get to do that. I was spoiled!! I owe Chris for all of this.

The following are some pictures that were taken during the River Walk Boat tour. Look, we even dressed up enough to actually get to wear some jewelry! :-)

Help!!!!!

"Help!!" is not what I think Aidan was trying to get across this morning, but you never know.

I was busily packing up for my girl's weekend (Yeah!!) when my doorbell rings. I pick up Aidan and peek out to see who it is - as I have become more careful about opening the door to strangers. To my surprise, there was a uniformed police man standing on my front porch. Evidently, they received a 911 hang-up from our number and when they called back, our line was showing busy. So, they came and checked on us. When he told me this, my jaw dropped and I just turned my head and stared at Aidan. About 10 - 15 minutes before our doorbell rang, I found our cordless phone on the floor and still on, which explains the busy signal they got. You see, Aidan LOVES our phone and I guess now we need to watch him more carefully. Of course, I apologized profusely and the nice policeman laughed it off, as he has some little ones at home too.

Oops! I guess this is a warning to everyone else out there. :-)

In Daddy's Shoes!

Things have been pretty steady these past few weeks at home, in spite of me getting the stomach virus this past Monday, again. Throwing up all day is not how I thought I would begin this week. However, it only lasted 24 hours and I am much better now. Plus, Chris helped me out BIG by bringing Aidan to and from Mother's Day Out and then watching him for the rest of the day. Thank goodness!!! I think that was a sight Aidan could live without. I have such a wonderful husband!!

Aidan has started to show an interest in our shoes lately. If we have our tennis shoes or flip flops out, he will try to slide his little feet into them. It is really quite cute! I ended up taking a few really cute pictures of him putting on his daddy's shoes.





We have also been taking advantage of this gorgeous weather here by exploring outside. Both Aidan and Ginger will wait patiently by the front door for me as a hint to go outside. Aidan walks all over the place - back and forth, back and forth. He is even starting to figure out that he is supposed to hold our hand across the street. He will walk down the driveway and about 4 feet away from the street, he will stop, turn and hold his hand out for us to grab. Such a big boy!!

15 Months Old!!

Aidan turned 15 months old on the 8th of this month. One of the main milestones for this age is yet another doctor's visit, which includes weigh-in statistics and some more shots. Aidan handled the appointment pretty well, especially since we ended up waiting for a little while in the exam room. It is getting harder and harder to keep Aidan entertained during these types of times. He ended up pretty much running in circles and/or climbing on and off the chairs in his diaper. I did bring some "newer" toys, which lasted all of a few minutes. I guess I will need to prepare better next time. At least he wasn't screaming in frustration - I am sure we will have one of those public meltdowns soon enough though.

Now, for his stats. He weighed in at 22 pounds 8 1/2 ounces (25th percentile) and is 31 1/4 inches long (50th percentile). Everything looks good according to the doctor. He did point out that Aidan is teething and swollen with 3 molars and two small front teeth at the moment. Believe me, I knew that. Aidan is seeming to handle the teething experience a little better now.

Of course we got to finish him off with two immunizations and the first half of the flu shot. Yippee. He screamed, but calmed down pretty quickly - enough to give the nurse a smile as we were leaving. How about that!

Aidan is a high-spirited, talkative, exploring and sometimes feisty toddler and we are having a blast with him! Even if we are a little exhausted. :-)

Lots Going On

Aidan has really started to enjoy his ATV that my parents got him for his birthday. In fact, he plays with it many different ways and I am posting pictures as proof! :-) He rides it normally, rides it backwards and then uses it as a walker. I just thought it was too cute not to mention.





We are also starting to introduce the spoon and fork for him to use at meals. Aidan is very interested in these utensils, but as for now, has decided his hands are still is favorite, especially since they are much faster!




I also wanted to give everyone an update on something that has caused me a lot of worry and stress . . . Mother's Day Out. Aidan is still going and has actually started to show some pretty big improvements. He still gets upset when I drop him off and is easily frazzled during the time he is there, but he has started to calm down and play some too! After much thought and discussion with family and friends, I have decided that it is the structure of the program that has him spooked. I figured this because Aidan seems to enjoy the nursery at church much better. Did I say enjoy? That may not be the right word at this moment - but I think he is almost getting there. The problem with MDO is that they are constantly moving from one activity to another, which I originally thought would be a good thing for distraction, but not for my sensitive little guy. I think it changes so quickly he is not able to get adjusted and get comfortable before they move on to the next thing. But, like I said, we are making steps forward. Thank you everyone for the prayers. I can see they are working!!!

Lastly, this weekend we went camping (okay - we were in cabins)/ATVing with my parents and my brother, his wife and baby. We went to a site near Hallitsville (about 2 1/2 hours away), which seemed in the middle of nowhere. We had a great time and really enjoyed everything, except Aidan decided he didn't want to sleep much. I think he was having indigestion or something. It was a really rough night. Now, this site is about 400 acres and we had to share the trails with some cows - MOO (an immediate follow-up for Aidan's benefit!). It was crazy turning a corner and there right next to you are a couple cows grazing freely. I imagine they have become used to all the dirt bikes because they really wouldn't even bother acknowledging us as we passed. At one point during the evening, about 12 of them came right near our cabins and the kiddos seemed to get a kick out of it. Anyway, we had our camera with us the whole time, but only took it out this morning as we were packing up. Oops. I was able to snap a few shots of Aidan playing/struggling with a water bottle. Sorry the pictures are not more exciting.

Another month has come and gone!

UPDATE!!! HERE ARE THE PICS!!!!

Last time I updated, I felt as though I was having to play catch-up and swore I would do better. Oops. Here I go again - it has almost been a month. I know I keep on using the excuse of life being crazy, but it is just so true! We have been out of town several weekends, had some more crazy illnesses going around and now that I am starting to work more during Aidan's Mother's Day Out program, I am having a hard enough time keeping up with the cleaning and the laundry. I have no idea how moms manage everything when working full time out side of the home. You guys ROCK!!!

That being said, I guess I should tell you what we have been up to. The last weekend in September, we all headed to Austin to celebrate Kaetlyn's first birthday and my brother's 30th birthday. But, before we left on Sat. morning, we (including Aidan) went to an Astros game that Friday night. My mother's company once a year reserves a section and a party room (Mezzanine - for those who know) for their employees and families. Being huge Astros fans, in spite of this last season (Yuck!) we always go. This year was different in that Aidan came with us. He did great! Of course, we had to take a break or two to roam around, but he seemed to enjoy all the commotion. Right after the Friday night games, there is always a huge fireworks show. So Aidan even got to sit through his first real fireworks. Except for the very beginning and the very end, he was mesmerized. For those of you who have never been and stayed for the fireworks, you need to! It is probably one of the best productions I have ever seen!

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to drive to Austin for the festivities and to spend the night. It was a great party! There were a ton of kids and a ton of presents, as there should be for a first birthday party. Kaetlyn seemed to enjoy the icing of her cake until, of course, she got it smeared all over and got sticky. Evidently she does not care too much for making that kind of mess. But, her daddy was around to save her! There is an adorable picture of them both in the slide show, to be coming.

Sunday morning, Chris and I drove back to Houston to make it to Craig Biggio's last game, as he retired this year. My fantastic parents took care of Aidan for us - he even drove back to Houston with them! This was convenient since the tickets we had were standing room only and would have been a little difficult with him with us. Thank you again Mom and Dad!!! The game was great and it was a fitting send-off for Biggio, although a sad one. I have to admit I even got a little misty-eyed.

All in all, this was a great weekend. Now, for the pictures . . . I will upload them
soon. I promise!

Playgrounds are awesome!

Sunday late afternoon, we took Aidan down the road to this really neat playground. It is one of those huge, fancy ones that we wish were around when we were kids. Chris and I have been eyeing it and decided that Aidan was old enough to enjoy at least some of it.

When we got there, we let him down and off he went. He has really taken to exploring and has become really quick on his feet. We were there for almost an hour and probably could have been there for even longer, but mommy and daddy's stomachs were starting to growl. I took some cute pictures of him playing around, exploring, one of him running after Chris towards the car (so Cute!!), and then a random one later of him goofing around in daddy's hat. I have a feeling we will be going to this playground very often.

Mother's Day Out - Maybe not?

Last Thursday was Aidan's official first day at Mother's Day Out, which we have him signed up for on Mondays and Thursdays. (He missed the first two days due to not feeling really well.) It went decently. He cried, which I had no doubt would happen, but then he ate and slept pretty well. By the time I came back and got him, he had woken up about 10-15 minutes before and seemed fine. He was even smiling when he saw me. Usually whenever we leave him and come back, he starts crying worse and takes a while to be consoled. I think it is a mixture of him trying to make us feel guilty and him being concerned we are going to leave him again. So, Aidan being in a good mood was a nice ending to his first day.

Then, this weekend came, along with a molar or two with a few more on the way. He ended up doing okay at Church on Sunday (the term they used in the nursery was "better"), but still not great. This left me feeling like we are making progress . . . until today. Aidan did NOT handle Mother's Day Out well at all. In fact, they were worried and ended up calling me an hour into it. An hour later, I was picking him up. Of course, as soon as we got in the car, he was happy. Little toot!

We are planning on giving it a few more tries and see how it goes. He may be one of those ones who gets the boot with the old saying of "he is just not ready this year." I guess I am a little frustrated about his separation anxiety, which for obvious reasons, becomes worse when he is not 100%. So, I will have to update you all on the final outcome.

I will leave you with a few cute pictures I took of Aidan the other day. Aidan and I took a nap together and Chris caught us. :-) Not great of me, but soo cute of Aidan!

Our BIG Trip.

I have been really bad about updating this last month simply for the fact that we have basically been a sick house, passing back and forth viruses, colds, you name it. We are pretty much back to normal now and wanted to fill you all in on our, meaning Aidan, myself and my mom's, trip back East over the Labor Day weekend. I will say that we had somewhat recovered right before this trip - thank goodness! We flew out on the Thursday morning before and came back that Tuesday. It was fantastic and LONG overdue!

I, being a first-time mom, was extremely nervous about the whole plane ride with Aidan. Thank goodness my mother was with us because she was a HUGE help, especially when it came to getting through security. It just seemed that everyone was rushing us. We all had to take off our shoes, including Aidan's, take out any snacks, juice, medicines, portable DVD player (another must!) and put those in the bins. Then, I had to collapse the stroller and put it on the belt as well. It was a bit crazy - but manageable. I was also really concerned about his ears on the flight itself - what to do to help alleviate any possible problems. When they are really little, everyone tells you to either nurse or give them a bottle during the take-off and during the descent (something about the swallowing helping with their ears). Unfortunately, I had finally weaned Aidan two weeks prior, due to needing to take some meds. Plus, it was just that time. Anyway, he has not been drinking from a bottle for over two months and so I thought that drinking from a sippy cup would work just fine. I needed to make sure it was something he would be really interested in and continue to drink for as long as possible. Introducing . . . chocolate milk! Worked wonders!!!

After almost 3 hours, we finally landed in Philadelphia, where my Aunt Kathy picked us up to drive us to first pick up my grandmother at her new, fabulous apartment and then end at my Uncle Gene and Aunt Becky's house for the duration of the trip. I was blown away at how quickly Aidan adjusted to the new surroundings and to the new people. He pretty much went in the door and started running around. Of course, there were a few animals - mastiffs (huge dogs) - that helped to make it an interesting mix.

We spent the majority of the time playing cards, eating, watching movies, etc. It was really relaxing, which allowed us to be able to visit and catch up with everybody. It was a crazy bunch with a lot of jokes and laughter. They are always a blast to be around, if not a little crazy. It seems that when you put my mother and her siblings together, it makes for one interesting time. :-)

We were very fortunate that my Aunt had borrowed a high chair and pack'n play for Aidan, which helped make things much easier. Although, during the night, he ended up sleeping in bed with me. Hey, whatever worked. Sorry for those of you who are squeamish, but what was odd was that Aidan's dirty diapers were off. Usually I know when to expect them - not during this trip. In fact, for the duration, I think he would wait until I put him down for a nap or for bedtime because he was having so much fun. He would fuss and then start screaming. I would go, open the door and smell it right away. Picking him up and changing his diaper has never been conducive to easily getting him settled again. As you might imagine, this quickly got very aggravating. Other than sleep time, Aidan really had a blast and I was so happy for everyone to be able to meet him and see him in a pretty good mood. We had a wonderful time!

Towards the end of the trip, however, Aidan started to not feel good again. Uh-oh. This led to a pretty tough plane ride home. I later found out that he had started to get two ear infections and a cold, which caused the descent to be pretty painful. Poor little guy! Poor mommy and grandma! Poor other passengers! There were several other little kids who seemed to have the same problem with the descent. So, I guess there is security in numbers.

All in all, it was a great trip and I look forward to doing it again. We were welcomed home by Chris and a very excited dog. Ginger and Aidan had a very cute greeting (lots of kisses and giggles!)

There were a lot of great pictures taken and so I have made them into a slide show. So, enjoy!

The "baby" cousins

In August - I know it has been THAT long! - we went to Austin to celebrate Alyx's birthday (my niece). It was a great trip where we just relaxed, ate, watched movies, visited and shopped. We (meaning the women - the guys watched the kiddos) went garage sale hopping/shopping for several hours on that Saturday. Craig and Kati live in a large neighborhood that has restrictions of only allowing certain times for garage sales. So, we lucked out by coming in on that specific weekend and shopped til we dropped. So many people were having them. I have never really done this but found it to be quite fun and hilarious when we had to stop off at their house mid-way to drop off our first load! (we were in a truck and filled the bed!) The look on the guys faces was priceless! :-)

That being said, we of course took some cute pictures of the babies and wanted to share them. The first couple are of Aidan and Kaetlyn, who was experimenting with walking, playing around. The third picture is of beautiful Kaetlyn and the last one is of the ride back home (my mom was entertaining Aidan in the back seat).

Tagged!

I have been "tagged" before and never got around to composing this list. So, Tiffany "tagged" me a few days ago and I thought I would go ahead and lay it all out for everyone. No promises that it will be all that interesting!

The Rules: 1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts. 2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. 3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (**if you’re a non-blogger, you can email them!) 4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. 5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I was born in Couer d 'Alene, Idaho. My dad was relocated to San Bernadino, California before I turned one though. I still have family up there and every time I have to write down where I was born, I have to look up the spelling! :-) We moved to Texas when I was five and have stayed here since then. Because of this, Chris insists that I am not a true Texan. I beg to differ!

2. I grew up camping in the desert where my dad raced ATCs (3-Wheelers). It was such a huge passion for my family that a few years ago, my parents went out and bought themselves two ATVs (4-wheelers). We have gone out several times with them and even Aidan has gone for a small ride. I guess that would explain the mini 4-wheeler my parents got Aidan for his birthday. :-)

3. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to sing. It is in my blood. My secret is that I have always been scared to death that I will forget the words any time I sing a solo. This is one of the main reasons why I did not go forward and get a music degree. I guess I am a bit of a coward.

4. When I was about 8 years old, I had to get a tetanus shot on New Years Eve because I sat on a huge nail. OUCH!!!

5. Chris and I met at a Michael W Smith concert that out friend, Heather, invited me to. Just a little over a year later, we finally started dating. In fact, he was kind enough to be my Prom date. I still have the pictures to prove it! The problem was that we had to keep it quiet for a few months because I was going on a Mission Trip that summer as a youth and he was going as a sponsor. By the end of the trip, everyone knew the truth.

6. I actually pulled the ultimate "no-no" one time when I asked a woman when she was due - she wasn't pregnant. In my defense, she was describing her previous pregnancy and was using present tense, not past tense. Still, I quickly apologized and retreated. Oops.

7. I am the main driver in the family. I have always loved to drive. I am also a horrible back-seat driver. I have driven Chris so crazy on numerous occasions that he has just decided that to keep us from fighting, either I need to drive, or I have to not pay that much attention when he is driving. I promise, he is not a bad driver. This is just the area where I become a complete control freak.

8. Last, I am scared of needles. I had to get over it a bit during my pregnancy with Aidan. Well, I don't know if I actually got over it so much as dealt with it. However, the idea of the Epidural NEVER scared me even though simple blood work freaked me out. Is that strange?

Okay, so I now tag Julie, Kim, Ashley, Amy, Jessica and Shaun. I think a couple of you have already done something similar to this, but thought I would invite all of you and whoever has the time and wants to do it can.

Things this month.

Since I have been bad about updating anything this month, I thought I would post another slide show of some cute pictures. They include random crazy day pictures, play day, family visits, etc. It has been an interesting month and thought this would be a great way of showing it.

Birthday Celebrations - Pictures!

After much searching around, Chris found the cord for our camera. Yeah!!! Here are some pictures (there were too many to post them all) from the day of his actual birthday and from his birthday party. We had so much fun!

Birthday Party Time!

(This post was created a LONG time ago and has been waiting on pictures. However, I seem to have misplaced the cord for my camera. I thought I would go ahead and post it minus the pics and add those when I find the cord - sorry!!!)



This past weekend, we celebrated Aidan's first birthday with family and friends. It started off with our good friends (Jay, Julie and Bailey, their 14 month old son) driving in Friday PM from Fort Worth to stay the weekend. Don't worry - of course we put them to work! :-) Thanks you guys!!! That evening, Aidan decided he was not going to cooperate with things by getting a nice long night of rest, and decided instead to scream for 2 hours. He ended up in bed with us, and so, none of us got much rest. In fact, Aidan kind of took over Chris' side of the bed. At one point, I looked over and down. Chris was sleeping a bit sideways half-way down our bed, having to share that portion with Ginger. Aahh, one big happy family.

Then, Saturday morning came and the other guests started to arrive. In my brilliant scheme of things, I decided to put on a Baby Einstein video (or two) during the set-up and initial part of the party for the kiddos, as it was after all a Baby Einstein themed party. What I didn't anticipate was Aidan becoming glued to a spot in front of the TV, oblivious of the commotion around him. If someone got in his way (ie. Uncle Craig) he would lean over as to not miss anything. We took some interesting pictures of him STARING at the TV - I am sure you will figure out which ones.

I was pleasantly surprised how long Aidan lasted, especially with the previous night fiasco. Other than a few breakdowns, which is normal for a tired, teething Aidan, he seemed to enjoy himself. He liked the cake and especially the icing until he took a large chunk off and everyone applauded - that frightened him. I think he looked up and realized how many people were looking at him and felt like the whole lot of us was yelling at him. Who knows? He also did a great job of helping mommy open all the fabulous cards and presents. Boy was this little man spoiled!

After the party, cleaning up and resting, Aidan got to play with some of his new toys. However, he seemed to still gravitate towards his walker, the good 'ol standby. :-) Bailey, however, took to a much anticipated gift from my mom, a mini ATV. He even figured out how to push and hold the button down to get it going. Now, the steering was a bit harder, but with the help from his Daddy, he was able to maneuver it all over the house. Aidan, of course, was right around him on high speed with his walker. It made for some big laughs.

All in all, the weekend went great! We feel so blessed to have Aidan in our lives and to have such a supportive group of family and friends around us. We want to thank everyone again for helping to make it such a special day.

Aidan turned one on Sunday. It is so hard to believe that this first year is already over and, even more surprising, that we made it through. At this point, I think Aidan's first birthday is as much of a celebration for us as it is for him. HIs big birthday bash is next weekend so we were able to do some fun things with him this weekend. On Saturday, we took him with us to the Astros game with Paw-paw and Uncle Casey. He handled it much better than I thought. Sunday afternoon we went to The Children's Museum, since he seemed to enjoy it so much last time. All in all, it was a great weekend and we are now looking forward to his birthday party.

Here are some of the things, mostly from the very beginning, that were going through my mind:

1. I remember at the hospital I was having a hard time getting Aidan to nurse correctly and so I had a session with each of my nurses at shift change for some help. I was so unsure if it was going to work out let alone whether I would nurse for as long as I have.
2. When Aidan was about 10 days old and he spit up, reflux spit up, for the first time - I was so scared. Two days later I remember crying over at my parent's house because I was at my wits end. The doctors told us to try to feed him less at each feeding to help keep it all down. However, I was having a hard time figuring that out since I was nursing and he kept on acting like he was starving. I really didn't think I was going to make it as a mom at that point. Gee, that moment could have been a little bit of hormones too. :-)
3. I also remember looking at Aidan when he was born and seeing ALL Chris. Now, he is a good mixture of both of us, but has started to resemble me more. Crazy how that happens.
4. I remember all the firsts of this year and how excited we were with each one. Now Aidan gets just as excited and is so proud of himself with each new trick he does.

Two weekends ago, we took Aidan for his 1st Birthday pictures and wanted to share some of them with everyone. He did such a great job and we absolutely loved them! It definitely made it hard to decide on the poses we wanted - maybe that is why we picked 8. Believe me, picking from about 85, that isn't too bad!

From standing to walking!

Today Aidan has been experimenting with walking. CRAZY! This is happening too quickly! He basically will balance standing and then take as many quick steps as possible before falling forward. Helmet anyone? Now all he wants to do is walk. And, it just started this morning!!!! The most consecutive steps he has taken thus far is six - I said SIX! Yeeks. Here are some short clips of his new love. Sorry they are kind of dark - and sideways. Hey, it is hard doing it by myself while trying to help him! Anyway, you probably get the idea. :-) I will try to do better next time.


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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Standing and food - does it get better than this?

Aidan has been playing around lately with the idea of standing alone. This past weekend, he really took to it and on Saturday evening, all he wanted to do was stand, sit down, give me a high-five and do it all over again. It was too cute! Chris managed to take a couple pictures of him standing. We will have to work on getting one of him looking at the camera! Of course, like all new things, Aidan practices and practices and practices. He is already getting much better and has gained enough confidence in himself that he has started to "walk" with his walker all over the house. This includes over all the tile we have everywhere. So surprising, because just a few days ago, if we weren't there to steady it, the walker would go too fast for him on that slick surface and go shooting away from him. This walker has become his favorite toy right now - thank you Michelle!!! My previous desire of him holding out and not walking until after his birthday? Hmm. . . at the rate he is going right now, we will have to see.

As for meal time with Aidan, things have definitely been changing. We have officially started the weaning process and I am doing better than I thought I would. And Aidan? We haven't started changing the really important feedings yet, but so far so good. As for solids, we are starting to buy less and less baby food and have started to cut up fruit and veggies for him. His favorite things are sliced bananas, peaches and nectarines. He also really likes cooked carrots and these funny meat sticks made by Gerber, thanks to a friend's recommendation. Oh, he also enjoys pasta - as he was devouring MY pasta for lunch today. I guess we can share. :-) With all the new "finger foods" we have been introducing, I have started to notice him being either a little impatient or acting bored lately with the foods that I feed him. Independence, here we come! Oh, and did I say messy?