A look back . . .

As 2009 comes to a close I am reflecting on memories of the past year. Of course Aiden has changed so much this year and our lives revolve around him.
He only started walking in January and now he is running and has even started jumping. He started climbing before he was walking and still does it now. He has climbed onto the kitchen counter, on the coffee table and even out of his crib- my little monkey!
His vocabulary has expanded tremendously this year. He is still a quiet child, but he is learning new words everyday. Just this week, he learned "shark" and "yo-yo". I would estimate that he has about 30-40 words in his vocabulary. No phrases or sentences yet- he is a one word kid. His favorites are "hot", "cold", "ut oh", "Mom" and "Da-da".
Aiden has become much more independent this year- sometimes a little too independent. :-) He has learned to eat with a spoon and fork, although still gets frustrated occasionally when the food falls off. I am thankful that he is such a good eater- not picky at all, he loves his fruit and eats just about anything I cook.
Since he was very young, Aiden has always been a good sleeper- he still takes a 2-3 hour nap every day and sleeps 10-12 hours at night. Let's hope this new baby will follow suit.

Jeff and I have grown as a couple this year and discovered once again that open communication is a key essential in our relationship. We have made some lasting valuable friendships this year which we don't take for granted. Our family has proven time and time again their love for us and their love for Aiden. God has provided and blessed us tremendously and we have no doubt that He will continue to do so.

What will you remember about 2009?

Christmas Part 2 & 3

We celebrated Christmas with Jeff's families last night and today and Aiden got lots and lots of toys! I love Christmas time- it just puts me in the best mood and now that I get to watch Aiden enjoy it, it's even better.
Our family picture by the tree. Aiden will have to share the spotlight next year, we will soon be a family of 4!

He is admiring all of his toys and thinking "which one should I play with first?"

I think this is the favorite this christmas- the toy laptop!

Aiden is so blessed to have such loving grandparents. They were our "Santa's" this year and Jeff and I are so thankful. The older I get the more I realize that having such great families like we have is very rare. This was a great Christmas for our family and I know they are just going to get better as our family adds one more. I hope you enjoyed celebrating the birth of our savior. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Part 1

We are so blessed to have such a big family that we get to split Christmas up. This past weekend we celebrated with my family at my parents house. Aiden had a lot of fun with his cousins, as always and got lots of toys. This was the first time he actually opened the gifts himself. I believe my grandparents picked out the loudest toy they could find and that's what they chose as his gift. It's a steering wheel with many many loud noises! Thanks Nana and Papa! :-) Aiden also got a huge Tonka dump truck, a Packers outfit and a lego car.

Family picture by the tree.

We are looking forward to celebrating again this week with Jeff's family!

Turkey Day in PA

We had a blast in Pittsburgh visiting family the week of thanksgiving. The week was filled with activities and great food. With the exception of me getting sick Wednesday, all went well. Aiden did great on the plane and loved all the activities with so many people. Aunt Jill was an amazing host! It will be a memory we will never forget. Here are some pics that highlight what we did throughout the week.

On the sidelines at the annual turkey bowl. Aiden wanted to play with the big boys, but he had fun at the park instead.

At the bowling ally, watching everyone bowl and rooting them on.

The Gin tournament- mom and I in the first round and she beat me. Still not sure who the final winner was ?

Playing hockey in front of the house in the street. Aiden loved running through the middle of the game. Jeff got a little too agressive, but managed to score a goal! ;-)

A great time to celebrate Thanksgiving with family!

Teething . . . again?!?!

So I thought we were done with teething for a while, but the past week or so Aiden has constantly had his finger in his mouth and has been drooling all the time. I knew he had his full set of 16 baby teeth (shown) and at first I passed it off as tooth shifting; some of his teeth aren't completely in, and maybe were coming through more. Well after some research I found out that children can get their second molars as early as 22 months. I had heard from friends and family that they usually come around 2 1/2 or 3, but evidently Aiden's are coming soon! (he's almost 21 months) His baby teeth came in early- the complete set by about 18 months, so this isn't surprising. Like I said, I just thought we were done for a while. The diagram shows the full set of "baby" teeth (20 total). Currently, he has all but those second molars, but they should be popping up any time now!

Block Towers

Aiden loves playing with his blocks. When he first got them he loved to watch Mom or Dad build a tower and he could knock it down. Now he can build the towers himself, but the best part is still knocking them down. Sometimes he just likes to scatter them around the entire living room. He is such a boy!

Birthday Party Fun

On Saturday we celebrated our friends daughter's birthday at The Rock Ranch! It was such a neat place. Aiden loved it. It's a huge farm where families come and enjoy lots of games and shows. Aiden got to see and pet lots of stinky farm animals- he even rode a pony and fed a goat. We went thru a corn maze- or attempted to go thru anyway. Aiden got a little bored and it was really hard- lots of ways to get turned around. There were so many activities for kids, we only got to a portion of them. Aiden loved running around exploring everything. Of course we sang "Happy Birthday" to Bailey and had yummy cupcakes too!

Football

Although this isn't our year, we are faithful bulldog fans. Here are some pics of us rooting for our team!

Two of Aiden's favorite words right now are "Uga" and "Georgia". He knows them well and is a true bulldog!

Happy Halloween

We were so excited to take Aiden out trick-or-treating this year, because it was his first time. The weather wasn't great- a little rainy and windy, but we had a great time. At first, Aiden didn't understand what or why people were putting candy in his bucket. He wanted to approve everything that went into it. We went with a group of friends, and he was the youngest, so he was also the slowest and had trouble keeping up with the older kids. He loved the Halloween decor/lights. We had fun and I'm sure we'll remember this Halloween for a long time to come. I have to say, he was the cutest kid out there! ;-)
In his Ninja costume, going to the next house ready to get candy!

Here is Aiden with all his friends. Wow! I can't believe they all sat still for a pic!

With Daddy before we went out.

Ready to go!

Laughter

Job 8:21 (NIV)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

A day at the Park

Jeff got a day off work and the weather was beautiful! We enjoyed a family day to the park and had a picnic. Aiden loved it. He ran around, climbed stairs, went down slides and sat w/ Daddy on the swings. He played in the dirt a little (typical boy) and loved watching people walk their dogs close by. Here are some pics:

Redneck Pumpkin

Some pictures of Jeff's Redneck pumpkin, and Aiden admiring it.

Half way

Reaching the 20 weeks point feels so great! and I feel great! a little tired, but other than that I can't complain. My energy has picked up- I've even started a work-out routine. This pregnancy has gone by so much faster than the first one. Having a toddler around makes life go by so quickly. Aiden knows that there is a "baby" in Mom's belly, but he's not too interested in it. He sometimes thinks that all women have babies in their bellies. ha ha! He's too busy to be concerned with a little brother or sister. I'm excited to be surprised about the sex. Jeff and I both have our suspicions, but they change all the time. God knows which will fit into our family best! The baby is about 1 lb at this point, but I can feel it all the time. Everyday I feel movement, it's so exciting. I am definitely showing at this point. I look like I have a cantaloupe in my belly. I'm looking forward to the next 20 weeks, feeling lots of kicks, resting, and preparing for number 2.

Time-out

This is Aiden "serving his time". I can't remember the "crime" right now since he's been in time-out 3 times today! It's usually for not listening. I was so surprised, but he actually sits still for his 2 minutes. He knows where time out is and that he's "in trouble" when he is there. Since I've been using time out he hasn't gotten up once! At first he used to scream, but now he just sits there and waits for me to let him out. It's kinda funny. I know the terrible 2's are coming, and so is another baby! Lord, help me. :-)

Up in the Mountains

This past weekend, we enjoyed a short vacation up to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee with Jeff's family. It was so nice to get away and relax. We did some shopping, played some games and ate lots of good food. We stayed in a beautiful 3 story cabin.
At the chocolate factory, Aiden enjoyed a milk chocolate bear. He ate it in less than 5 min and had it all over his face. We didn't get a picture, but it was funny.

Aiden loved climbing the stairs.
This was our view from the porch!

Aiden and Daddy hanging out on the porch.

This and That

I'm sorry its been so long since I've posted. I have no excuse, except life. It gets busy and lately I've wanted to spend my free time (the 1-2 hours Aiden is sleeping) cleaning or napping. But today you are lucky- most of my cleaning is done and I actually have some energy to update you on our lives! We did have some Internet problems too. I know . . . enough excuses.

We had an ultrasound of baby X on Tuesday. I know this isn't the greatest pic, but I had to share. The baby was very active and we got to see everything from toes, to an ear. We saw lots of bones- nice and straight. The baby weighs 8 oz- so tiny! It was tempting, but we stuck to our decision and did NOT find out the sex. I'm so glad Jeff got to come with me to see the baby- we we're both in awe.
Dad is finally home from Afghanistan! The homecoming was emotional and wonderful. We are so glad he is home safely. Our family is whole again.

Aiden remembered him, he was just confused as to how he got out of the computer screen (from all the skype we did). As Aiden got bigger (and so did I), Dad got smaller. He lost 35 lbs over there, but he looks great!

If you'd like to see all the pictures from the homecoming, click here.

It's been so long since I've posted, Aiden actually started driving! They really do grow up fast! Ha Ha! Because it's difficult to lift him, I let him get in the car himself, but he wants to go straight to the driver seat where all the buttons are. I thought it was too funny! :-)

Last but not least, today is Jeff's birthday and he has been sure to tell everyone that he is NOT 30 (Nana)! Today he turns 29. Aiden picked up a present for his Dad yesterday at the grocery store- chocolate covered pretzels- Dad's favorite! Hope you have a great day honey!

It's working!

Notice the sleeping toddler (with no shorts on) and the passy on the floor next to the crib. I'm not sure if he threw it (out of frustration) or dropped it (accidentally) but somehow it got out of the crib and he fell asleep on his own! Yay!

New Do

Mom had some fun "styling" Aiden's hair in the tub last night! He thought it was funny too!