Aiden

Just a few photos from our last week at home together:

Aiden has reflux so we have to keep him at an angle after he eats. He loves to curl up in a ball so it didn' take him long to curl into this position after I laid him down

Extra snuggling, extra kisses, and lots of just sitting and holding him this week!

Owen's true love

Owen LOVES horses and got an opportunity to see some up close and personal last weekend. I didn't get any good pictures of him with the horses but I did manage to get this picture of him riding this plastic horse which he LOVED! Definitely gave me an idea for his upcoming birthday!

Aiden - 1 month

Aiden you're 1 month old! What you're up to these days:
- sleeping - you're starting to stay awake for longer stretches and love to just look around and give your brother crazy looks. At night you were sleeping 3-4 hours at a time but in the past few days you've started having lots of trouble with acid reflux so you're not sleeping so well anymore.
- eating - you're starving ALL the time and with your troubles gaining weight we've been supplementing with formula 1-2 times a day and you take 2-4 oz via bottle and nurse the rest of the time.
- You weighed 7 lbs 10 oz about a week ago when we went for a weight check. You are wearing newborn sized clothes and diapers but are starting to wear some 0-3 month clothes. You have a long torso and short legs just like your brother. Your dark hair has thinned out some but I'm holding onto hope that it won't all fall out. We are almost 100% certain that your eyes are going to be blue like Owen's and that makes me so happy!
- personality-wise you are very laid back and tolerant of everything that Owen wants to do with you and to you! Noise doesn't seem to bother you and you just like to look around and take it all in. You've been to church for the last two weeks and done great. You are very sweet and we all love and adore you!

I'm gonna miss this....

It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from he hospital and in the blink of an eye he's become such a big boy. So, when I'm up all night with a crying baby or listening to a whining two year old and my nerves are shot I've got to keep it in perspective and realize that the days can be long but the years are short.

On another note, I know I'm biased but isn't he the cutest two year old you've ever seen?!?

the many faces of Owen

Owen the housekeeper....

Owen the cowboy......

Owen the handyman......

Love that kid's imagination!

Owen @ 2 1/2

I want to take a minute to document all the fun things Owen is doing at this age since apparently I stink at keeping up with the baby book. I'm such a stellar parent that Aiden doesn't even have a baby book yet! Here are Owen's current stats:
weight: a whopping 35 pounds!
height: not sure about this one but he seems to be average for his age
He's built like a linebacker with very broad shoulders and is as strong as an ox!

He's doing great in daycare and has learned so much. We are thankful for Ms. Lois and Ms. Latrelle and the ministry at Wee Care....he loves his wowis and twelle!

Owen knows his colors, shapes, letters, and numbers. He can spell his name orally (can't write it yet) and can recognize it when he sees it written. He knows tons of songs and LOVES to sing. We're really looking forward to him being old enough to go to children's choir this fall. His imagination is really flourishing and it's so fun to watch the games he makes up. He loves animals and loves to pretend to be different animals (usually a dog, horse, cow, or sheep). He is really into watching movies these days and his current favorites are: Over the Hedge, Up, The Bee Movie, and Ice Age.

He's very loving and sweet but is starting to develop a manipulative side....case in point: he has started telling us to close our eyes so he can do something he's not supposed to do. He's 100% B-O-Y and definitely keeps us on our toes but we wouldn't trade these moments for anything in the world!

Pictures coming soon of Owen's imagination at work!

Family Pictures

A good friend and coworker gifted us with a photo session for a baby gift. She came to our house on Friday and got some great shots of the family....here are some of my favorites:

typical Owen...pretending to be a dog!

Thanks Crystal! We love the pictures and had a great time!

Brave

**There are 8 new blog posts so you will have to click on "older posts" at the bottom of the page to view the last 2**

We decided to all be brave and venture out with all the kiddos for mom's birthday. All in all it was a successful trip to Joe's for great Italian food. Here's a shot of Reed and Aiden relaxing while we waited for our food. There was a good 20 minutes where at least one kid was crying at all times but we survived!

How to spend the cold days of winter....Aiden style!

Awake!

It's easy to forget just how much time newborns spend sleeping and it definitely seemed as if Aiden slept 24/7 (except for waking up every 2-3 hours starving!). This week he's definitely spent more time awake and checking out the world. It's amazing how different he already looks after just a few weeks!

It's fun to watch how different Aiden's personality already seems from Owen's and his different likes/dislikes. Owen loved being naked and couldn't stand blankets, socks, or footed sleepers. Aiden on the other hand HATES being cold. He screams and screams every time we have to change his clothes or diaper and heaven forbid we give him a bath. He loves socks and footed sleepers and snuggly blankets. Owen was very strong from day one and always seemed like he was ready to get up and run. Aiden is very laid back and just looks around like he's taking it all in. Nothing seems to faze him....not even when his brother is centimeters away from his face talking in a high pitched baby voice...LOL!

Our little Picasso

Owen got a cool Crayola art table for Christmas that gives him more space to work on his creations. He loves to color and draw and practice his letters. He has definitely enjoyed his art table!

Snow in South Arkansas

We woke up to light snowfall Monday morning so I ran out to take some pictures before it all disappeared (which happened around noon). It's ironic that it snowed on Monday when it was not in the weather forecast but there was no snow last night when there was a 60% chance of it....hmmm.

What Aiden thought of the snow...LOL!

Bye bye diapers...well....at least for Owen!

A lot of people had told us to expect Owen to regress on his potty training once we brought Aiden home. So, it was with much surprise that we watched him actually progress to full potty trained as soon as we got home from the hospital. We've been three weeks now without wearing a diaper at all...not even at naptime or bedtime and we're so proud of him!

I had to get out one of Owen's old diapers and compare it to Aiden's current diapers...it's amazing how fast they go from the little bitty diapers to the big daddy diapers!

Brotherly Love

People have asked how Owen has handled getting a little brother and I'm proud to say he's handling it better than we could have ever imagined. He loves him to death...literally. He wants to squeeze him, kiss him, and hold him a lot so we have to watch him like a hawk but for the most part he just goes about his business. He's very helpful and is always concerned when Aiden cries. We have been trying to give him extra attention and talk to him about how important it is to be a big brother to help with the transition. I think this picture captures his fascination with "brudder" as he calls him.

Christmas 2009

Christmas was fun and hectic this year. Chris and I always go shopping the day after Thanksgiving to get all our Christmas shopping over with in one day. It's fun and crazy and we do good keeping ourselves on budget but apparently we don't keep track of the quantity of stuff that we get because this first picture is just ridiculous. Can you say overkill!?! In all honesty we didn't spend that much money because (Praise the Lord!) Owen's at an age where the things that he wants are super cheap. His favorite Christmas toys are his horses and farm animals that cost less than 10 dollars. I'm certainly not looking forward to the days where he wants expensive shoes, video games, etc.!

What Aiden thought of Santa's visit...LOL!

Priceless!

Checking out his Black and Decker tool kit that looks just like daddy's!

The main attraction! On a side note, I know I look horrendous in these pictures but I don't know how to Photo Shop myself out so forgive me. Bear in mind that I had had major surgery exactly a week before Christmas so I was doing the best I could...HA!

Owen and Aiden got matching hats and mittens.

Playing with his beloved animals...

trying out his new drill....

After we looked at what Santa brought, Owen opened gifts from Grammy and Papa and Stacy, Jacob, and Ashleigh. Notice he's using his new drill to "open" his gifts. This took forever!

Another shot of his beloved animals...he sleeps with these every night!

Some of Aiden's gifts...he's under the blanket in the bouncee seat in the background...doesn't he look excited!?!

Chris and I look like super models in this one but I put it in to show the kids matching Christmas pajamas that I'm so proud of.

This christmas was definitely the most fun so far since Owen has gotten to the age where he really gets into presents and Santa. It was also exciting since we were celebrating Aiden being 1 week old! Next year will be extra crazy with a 3 year old and a 1 year old....better start saving now!

Introducing.....Aiden!

I'm so behind on the blog so grab something warm to drink and pull up a chair because I've got lots of posts going up today. The first one had to be about sweet little Aiden! Aiden was born Dec. 18th at 8:08 am weighing 7 lbs 5 1/2 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. He was born via scheduled repeat c-section which I must say was fabulous! I'm definitely not one to feel like I missed out on the true birth experience. A scheduled c-section is right in line with my Type A personality. Everyone had told me how much easier the recovery was the second time around and they were totally right. I was amazed at how well I could move around the very next day vs. how I felt the first time around. Aiden had transient tachypnia at birth and spent 8 hours under the oxygen hood but he's perfectly fine now and we're so thankful for the great doctors and nurses at MCSA for their excellent care. I'll stop rambling now because I'm sure most of you have just scrolled on down to the pictures!

I love these tiny toes!

He makes the funniest facial expressions....he's clearly annoyed at wearing this outfit...or it could be the two million pictures I keep taking!

totally relaxed.....and moments before he becomes very angry at me for taking him out of this warm blanket and giving him a bath.

this little shirt is too cute! A good friend (thank you Stefanie!) made him this cute little shirt with a tie! She also made him the pacifier clip with his name on it (which is made out of a domino) that you'll see in some of the pictures. Very talented!

We are enjoying spending time with out two boys and watching them grow and change every day. We count ourselves blessed beyond measure!