1/29/12

happy new year!

For New Year's Eve this year, we went to the NICU and spent time with Adalyn!

I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the night.. with my TWO kids!


Aidan was also excited to go see his sister, this was the first time that he held her.. 
he was kind of unsure about it!


I still can't believe that we have two kids now!

I can't wait for 2012, it is going to be a fun year watching Addie grow,
and watching Aidan with his little sister! :)

she's here!

Here's some pictures of Adalyn's birthday.. even though most of you have already seen them!

Adalyn Elizabeth, born December 26th at 8:34 pm!

She was a tiny little girl.. 5 lbs, 10 oz. 18 inches long!


Since Addie was a preemie, she was whisked away after birth to the NICU, where she was 
put into an isolette to keep her body temp nice & cozy!

Aidan was very excited to meet his little sister!


My first time holding Adalyn, I couldn't believe how tiny she was!


She looked even smaller in her isolette!


I was in the hospital for 5 days, due to blood pressure problems.. 
Aidan made the most of my stay by playing doctor! 


We'd also go visit Addie several times a day too. 


He loves her SO much!


Addie was also hooked up to some machines & had a feeding tube for when I wasn't there to breastfeed her.. other than being awake for a few minutes to eat.. she slept all day long!


She still had a little ways to go as of yet.. she would be home before we knew it though! :)

1/6/12

Merry Christmas!

(warning: this is a SUPER long picture heavy post!!!)

Our Christmas get-togethers always start in the middle of December, 
which makes me excited.. we get to see so much family during the whole month of December!

Our first "Christmas" was at my mom's house, which is always a fun time!

Aidan doesn't get to see his cousins as often as he'd like, 
so he loves it when we all get together! (me too!)

Here's the kids, patiently waiting until present time!


We tried something new this year & decorated Christmas cookies as a family!

I think there were almost 70 cookies!!!


Aidan had fun for about 10 minutes, then he (of course) got kinda bored with it..
I think the presents in the living room were kinda distracting him.. :)


Trent & Hayley stayed and decorated most of the cookies.. 
I had fun watching them & eating a few too!



Tony even got in on the fun! 
..even though he doesn't like sugar cookies.. I know, he's weird! ;)


Not a very good pic, but here us girls are!
Love my step-sisters! 


Present time, FINALLY!!!


It was so fun to watch Aidan rip open gifts this year..
he was very grateful & really appreciated all of the gifts he received too!


The one gift that Aidan kept asking for over & over again, Operation!

(thanks Grammie, I think we have played this 1000 times already!!!)


Our next Christmas get-together was at our home on Christmas Eve!
We had my Grandpa over and Aidan's Grammie & Grampie too!

Aidan loves his Great Grandpa, here he is helping to open his gift from us!


Great Grandpa also got Aidan another thing on Aidan's wish list.. Wall Tracks! 

This has got to be the coolest toy ever, it keeps Aidan occupied for so long.. I love it too!


Grammie got Grampie a silly gift, a little leg lamp from A Christmas Story!


Grammie also brought over some gifts for the new baby!


.. and my Grandpa surprised me with a new stroller/car seat combo that I had been eyeing for the baby!

I was VERY surprised & excited, I loved that Aidan wheeled it in for me to see! :)


I have been so blessed by everything that has been given to our daughter already, 
as I didn't expect anything since this is our second baby! 

One of my other favorites from the night was this pillow.. we're decorating her room with owls!


Aidan woke up bright & early (2 am!!!) to see if Santa had come the next day!

He was so happy to see that he did come, and that he had a new dinosaur playset to play with!


Aidan checking out what Santa stuffed into his stocking!


Aidan always helps Mommy with her stocking too!
(please excuse my pajamas.. I couldn't fit into my mine anymore, had to steal some of Tony's pants!)


We all went back to bed after that & woke up again around 6 to open presents.. 

New Tigers hats for Daddy & Aidan!


A new winter hat for Mommy! 

Aidan picked this out all by himself & I love it!


Later that afternoon, we went to my cousin Melanie's home for Christmas there!

Aidan always has fun with his cousin Ava, they opened all their presents together this year :)


Aidan got a Slinky & wasn't too impressed with it at first..


.. til he found out what it was & what it did!

LOVE this pic of him playing with it! 


With Grandpa unwrapping gifts.. Aidan got SO much stuff this year!!!


Our last "Christmas" was at Tony's sister's home the day after Christmas!

I really slacked on taking pictures here, 
I was on bedrest & couldn't really get up to get any good pics! :(

Aidan got to see his bestest friend Emily here, 
he was SO excited to see her & spend time with her!


On the way home from Tony's sister's Christmas get-together,
I got a terrible headache & called my doctor about it when I got home.

He had me come to the hospital because of my preclampsia & we had a baby later that night!!! 

Definitely a Christmas season to remember!!! :)

1/4/12

34 weeks!

I LOVE this picture of Aidan & I..
he could barely get his hands around me!

I was feeling pretty good here & had NO idea that 
this would be my last pregnancy photo!


..at least my last pic was a good one! :)

silly Hector!

Our little elf Hector has REALLY entertained Aidan this year!

Tony & I absolutely LOVED the wonder in Aidan's eyes as he 
woke up each morning to find Hector in a different & sometimes funny spot!

Here's some of Aidan's favorites from this year!

Hector vs. The Hulk in Connect Four..
I don't think Hulk was too thrilled to lose to an elf! :)


Aidan had been kinda naughty the night before this picture, 
so Hector left him a note on our kitchen chalkboard!


Playing with the fridge magnets..


Getting stuck in a box of Aidan's cereal!


Aidan's favorite was waking up on Christmas Eve morning to find a special gift left for him from Hector.. a new nightlight! 

Aidan had been really enjoying the little Christmas tree in his room this year & had been asking Hector for a new nightlight as bright as the tree, Aidan loves his new fish light!


Thanks for bringing so many smiles to our faces Hector, 
see ya next Christmas!


Christmas fun!

A new tradition that we started this year was an Advent calendar! 

I searched & searched for the perfect one, 
and found this cute felt one that was exactly what I was looking for!

Each day, Aidan would wake up & place a new figure onto his nativity scene, 
and tucked inside each pocket was a piece of paper with a fun activity that we
could do together as a family that day.

Aidan loved his nativity scene, and changed it several times a day.. 
I love that he really understood the Christmas story this year!


Just a few of our activities were:

Making a gingerbread house!

He was so proud of his creation, with a little help from Daddy!!! ;)


Making birdseed ornaments to hang on the trees for our birds!


Play-doh Christmas cookies! 


We used a couple of the days to make treats for Aidan's teachers!

These sock cupcakes were so much fun to make!


..and Aidan's Christmas cookie of choice this year was to make these 
reindeer cookies.. I thought they turned out pretty cute, and pretty tasty!


I can't wait to use our Advent calendar every year, 
and make family memories while counting down the REAL reason of Christmas! :)