A look back . . .

2010 . . . wow, what a great year!  A year of new experiences, trials, adventures, excitement and most importantly growth.  I have learned so much over the past year.

What I will remember about this past year . . .

Ty's birth in February.  Not knowing his gender was so much fun.  Experiencing pregnancy a 2nd time.

Having 2 children and all the challenges, and joys it brings.  Learning how to balance my love, time and attention between the 2 of them. 

Jeff's unemployment at the beginning of the year, his job at HoneyBaked for 8 months (the long hours) and his new job at IAT in November.  In all the transitions, what we learned most was faith to trust in God to provide.  We are both so thrilled with his new job, it is such a blessing.

Jeff's 30th Birthday.

2 great beach vacations with family.  Watching the boys play in the sand and pool and spending relaxing time with our loving families.

Weddings . . . 6 to be exact, Overstreet, Hurst, West, O'Neal, Hembree, and Coker.  Jeff and I love weddings, they are so much fun.

Great friends; playdates, weeknight dinners, football parties and cornhole in the backyard.

The verse written on my fridge (post-it) when Jeff was unemployed & I was 8 months pregnant. 1Thes 5:17-18 Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

The boys;

Aiden

This year Aiden has become his own little person.  He is completely out of the baby stage and I would say out of the toddler stage as well.  He has a personality; shy, funny, determined, curious, persistent and I'm sure more characteristics to come.  He has become so independent- doing many things for himself; using the potty, getting food/snacks himself, playing independently, and we are so close to having him dressing himself. 

As a Brother: He was jealous of Ty at first, but now he is so loving towards him.  He loves to show Ty how to do things or how to play with toys.  He is protective and concerned when Ty is crying or upset.  He also likes to tell him "no no, Ty-bo" when Ty is touching something he is not supposed to. :-)

Aiden is also so helpful; he loves to clean- vacuuming of course, doing laundry, starting the dishwasher, putting dishes away, putting groceries away, etc.

Ty

Ty was born in February and weighed 8 lbs, now he has nearly tripled his weight at 10 months old.  He is so big- gets very heavy for me, but I have learned to do just about anything with a baby on my hip.  He is a Mama's boy all the way.  He is very clingy and isn't comfortable with strangers.  He is a picky eater, but has tasted some new foods lately.  Some of his favorites are chicken noodle soup, Ritz crackers, teething biscuits, and peas.  He loves his walker which he uses in the kitchen and outside.  He usually follows Aiden around, but it allows him to get places quickly.  Otherwise he still crawls on his elbows to get around.  I got my first silent night last night; he slept from 10pm-7am, let's hope this continues. This year was one of many new experiences for Ty. 

When I think about the beginning of this year and where we are at now, it just shows me (again) God's unfailing love.  He has been so faithful and He never gives up on me, even when I fall short.  I am so grateful.

I am looking forward to a new year to see what God has in store for our family.  I'm sure it will be another year full of excitement with our boys!

Christmas

Christmas was so much fun this year.  It was the first year Aiden was aware of the holiday and all it's traditions.  We had so much fun teaching him and watching him take it all in.  We read the "Jesus book" as Aiden calls it, all month long (the Christmas story), and Aiden played with my nativity many times (with permission, it's not breakable).  Baby Jesus went missing a couple times and we had to find him around the house.  He learned the names of all the people and would set them up in a row. 

Our Christmas actually was spread out since we get to celebrate with each of our 3 families.  I don't think there is a toy out there that Aiden didn't get.  His grandparents got him so much!  We enjoyed our time spent with our parents and siblings.  We are really blessed to have them as our family.

We got a picture before our candle light Christmas Eve service.  We sang Aiden's favorite Christmas song- "Rejoice" as he calls it, O come O come Emmanuel at church.  I let Aiden hold the candle and he asked me 5 times when he could blow it out.  After waiting patiently he blew it out and got wax on my jeans.  I guess that's what I get for letting a 2 year old play with fire. :-)   

On Christmas Eve, Jeff and Aiden made cookies for Santa.  Aiden wanted to actually see Santa, and we had to explain that he comes while everyone is sleeping many times.

 getting a little taste . . .

On Christmas morning, Aiden came into our room (as he usually does) and I guess he walked right past the presents because he didn't say anything about them.  We told him that Santa came and he was excited to see what he brought.  He noticed his play kitchen and guitar first.  Ty woke up shortly after and wanted to play with the guitar too.  It makes lots of noises and it lights up!  We opened gifts and ate Monkey bread for breakfast.

 After lunch we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, here's my cake . . .

 The boys enjoyed playing with their new toys.  Ty had the sniffles on his first Christmas, but I think it's just a little cold.  He is content watching his big brother and playing with simple toys.  I think Aiden's favorite toy is his real Dirt Devil vacuum.  He has used it all around the house multiple times, in the living room, in the kitchen and even in his room.  It was so much fun this year and I'm excited to experience more Christmas's with them especially while they are so young!

Santa

On Friday, we went to visit Santa.  We had been talking about doing this for a while, so Aiden was really looking forward to it.  We stood in line for about 10 minutes and watch other kids talk to Santa, so when it was our turn Aiden jumped right up to sit with him.  He usually isn't so fond of strangers, but he did great.  Our camera guy was a little slow, and the kids ended up sitting with Santa for almost 15 minutes, but they were so good.  Ty played with his beard and Aiden rubbed his soft coat.  Santa spoke to both of them, but Aiden didn't say much back.  Of course when it came to picture time as Jeff and I tried to get their attention and make them smile, one would look and the other would smile, and then vice versa, so this was the best of the 5 shots they took.  Aiden showing off his "cheesy" smile.  Santa was great, very patient.  :-)  We'll be back next year! 

Ty- 10 months

Ty is 10 months old today!!!

Ty . . .

is "army crawling" everywhere.  He can get all around the house; in the playroom, in the living room and in the kitchen.  But surprisingly, he stays away from the Christmas tree.

 is eating everything in sight.  As he is crawling, he will find crumbs (mostly left behind by his brother) and take a taste for himself.  He has me vacuuming and moping daily!

 is not a good sleeper.  He is still up 2-4 times each night, but I don't mind- he isn't up for long and he goes right back down.  His naps are very inconsistent, usually 2 times a day for 20 min-1 hour. 

loves watching his big brother.  They play together for short periods of times.  Ty will chase Aiden, but Aiden is too fast, so he'll eventually give up.  Ty is always interested in what Aiden is doing and likes to try to play with what he is playing.  Aiden actually shares pretty well.

has started eating some chewable foods.  He had peas and carrots a few nights ago and he loved them!  He eats crackers, toddler puffs, and other soft fruits and veggies.

has 5 teeth- 3 on the bottom, and 2 on top.

is wearing 12-18 month clothes and has a size 4 foot.

still puts everything in his mouth

has the most adorable chubby cheeks!  They really come out when he shows off a big grin.

loves watching TV.  I would say his 2 favorite shows are Sesame Street and Super Why.

I can't believe he'll be 1 year in just 2 months.  Time really does fly and even more so with the second child.   

Brothers in Bubbles

Our little mischievous Aiden got a bottle of bubble bath and he poured the entire contents into the bath tub.  Rather than rinsing it down the drain, we decided to let the boys play in lots & lots of bubbles.  We almost lost Ty in the bubbles a couple times. ;-)

laughter

this morning . . .
(make sure your sound is on)

Brothers in (Christmas) PJ's

9 month Doc visit

This morning I took Ty to the Doctor for his 9 month well visit.  Doc says he looks great- growing and developing normally.

Here are his stats:

Height: 30 1/2 in     93%
Weight: 22lbs 10oz     71%
Head Circumference: 18 1/4in     71%

The visit went well and I'll bring both the boys back in February for their 1 and 3 year check-up.

Photo Shoot

Recently we had a photo shoot with my friend Kelsey.  She always does an amazing job of taking pictures of our family.  Here are some of my favorites:

http://kelseynicholsphotography.com/



Wordless Wednesday

just a few words . . . don't you love how he crosses his feet? :-)

Decorating for Christmas

On Friday we went out and got our Christmas tree.  Aiden was so excited to put lights on the tree since we had been talking about it for a while.  He was quite the little helper; meticulously placing each ornament on the tree in it's own special place.  Most of the ornaments he put on ended up on the same branch next to other ornaments.  But he had a great time and was very proud of our tree.

 Ty loved the lights!  He played with them and enjoyed watching us put them on the tree.

and the finished product . . .