Happy Birthday Aidan!

We had Aidan's 1st Birthday Party this afternoon. Here he is, not sure

what to think about the silly party hat!

Aidan and Mommy!

His Elmo cake!

Getting a better look at Aunt Stacy!

Are all these presents for ME?

Not to be left out of the fun, Grandma and Grandpa Whetzel brought a gift

for the big sister too!

Ava showing Aidan how to

figure out all these new toys!

The great thing about a big sister -

sit back, relax, and let her do the present opening!

Ava and Callie even put on a little "First Birthday

Song" for Aidan that they made up themselves!

The candle is lit - bring

on the bad singing...

Ta-da! Aidan sees his cake, and we all

sing Happy Birthday! He isn't too

sure what to think about all this!

For me?!

He played with it at first...

it was pretty gooey, and he had a look that said

"Oh my word, are they really letting me do this?!"

And it was very BLUE too!

Blue..... everywhere!

Now he was really getting into it,

shoving it in with both hands like a boy should!

By the time the red frosting got mixed in with

the blue, and ended up all over his face, he looked like

he had gotten the best of someone in a back alley!

Ahh.... the sugar coma is kicking in. And we head

straight upstairs for a bath!!

Happy birthday, my handsome boy! I can hardly believe you are a whole year old.

One year of sweet memories made, and many more to come!

Mommy and Daddy love you!

My baby is one year old today!

Exactly one year ago today, I was in labor with Aidan. At this very hour (5am-ish), I was filled with anxiety about whether or not he would be healthy and fine, eagerness to deliver and finally meet this baby boy, and of course pain - thank you, non-functioning epidural! Over the next few hours of that day that became our little boy's birthday, I had no idea that it would be such a whirlwind of a labor and delivery story!!

The 4 hours I waited, from my recovery from general anesthesia and surgery, until I was able to see you after your time in the NICU seemed like forever, but this first year of life seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye.

It was never completely smooth-sailing, even from our first few days in the hospital. Daily bloodwork, and twice-daily forehead screens for bilirubin levels, due to quite a bit of jaundice, kept things interesting. By the end of day 2, Aidan was put on a bili blanket (the blue lights you see underneath his blankets in the picture above) to attempt to bring his bilirubin levels down.



Finally, we were able to go home! And the next week was rough, as any family with a newborn knows. We were sent home with our own rented bili blanket machine to use, and were told to have him on it as close to 24 hours a day as possible. Luckily, Aidan was a laid-back, happy baby, who didn't seem to mind it at all.

I was totally in denial how yellow he really was, until a few months later I looked back at pictures of him during his first week! And this is where he spent that first couple weeks - in his Moses basket, hooked up to the bili blanket, sitting on the coffee table in the family room!

The week was filled with dr visits, more bloodwork, more bilirubin testing. Supplementing with formula, anxiety that he is not eating enough, pumping, and more dr visits. But luckily after a week of this, he was much improved. His color was so much better, he was eating again like a champ, and was given a clean bill of health. And our bumpy road smoothed out again, just like that.

Such a sweet baby, who could sleep anywhere, and

loved to be held!



And a year later... here you are, my sweet boy. Full of laughter, personality, smiles, babbles, new teeth, new tricks, and so much happiness. You have made our family complete. I can hardly believe you are a year old already, and that you are leaving your baby days behind you. Happy birthday Aidan!

This makes it official, huh?

Yes, you read that right. Aidan is turning one - in three short days. I am incredibly sad about this. Not just because he's my baby, because that is what babies do... from the day they're born, your job and mission is to help them grow and thrive every single day. I'm sad because of the obvious - he's our last baby. And this marks the end of our "baby days" here in the house.

Little by little, I've been getting rid of things... some clothes here and there, the beloved cradle swing, even the green Bumbo seat that was such a lifesaver I didn't know what I did without it. And unlike me, Aidan is growing up without looking back, and smiling through every moment! He is using sippy cups like a champ, and only takes one or two bottles a day. He eats everything we eat, even pizza, and loves it. He is not only walking, but climbing up stairs, and getting back down them on his own. He babbles a lot, and can say "Yes", "No!", and my favorite... "Mama."

So next Saturday, after his official birthday has come and gone on Tuesday, we will celebrate. An Elmo cake for him to smash and eat. New toys wrapped in Sesame Street paper, just for him. A party to enjoy this first birthday, and the amazing little boy he has become. Just please, pay no attention to me... I may need a Kleenex box nearby!!

Christmas Pictures!

Ava getting into the spirit, ready to open gifts on Christmas Eve at the grandparents' house!

Aidan is not too sure what to do with all these boxes yet!

Ava and Daddy rip into their gifts - Bounce Back Racers remote-control cars!

Lots of fun additions to the dress-up wardrobe!!

Aidan with his reindeer antlers *and* Santa hat!

Too many sweets + No Nap + Too much holiday excitement =

Christmas Eve Meltdown!!

Christmas Morning! Ava shows off on of her favorites -

The "Dinosaurs In A Rock House"!

Dinosaurs everywhere!!

And we must line them up!

The Whetzel family Christmas tree. Notice the incredible lack of

ornaments on the bottom 1/3 of the tree!!

Ava delivering the goods!

Trying out her very own digital camera. Say Cheese!

Only on Christmas morning is it ok to completely devour a Reese's

chocolate peanut butter tree at 8:30am (straight out of the stocking!)

in a total of four huge bites!

Aidan and his new basketball game

It's the Inchworm!!

A new sandbox for Ava!

Whew, all this holiday excitement. Can you

see the tiredness in his little blue eyes??

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends, near and far! We hope yours was

as joyous and memory-filled as ours was!

The holidays are stressful..

Apparently it is even starting to affect Aidan. He has been caught hitting the sauce a lot more than normal lately!!

It is a sad day when you get to the bottom of your empty margarita glass...

A picture shoot with the 3 cousins!!

We had our first road trip as a family of four over Labor Day weekend! We made the trip up north to see some family, and had some pictures taken with Ava and Aidan, and their cousin, Allyssa. We had a great time! The kids did awesome for the 3+ hour car ride, and the weekend stay in the hotel. It is definitely an adventure traveling with a 3-year-old, and a 7-month-old, but we had low expectations, and were pleasantly surprised!

Ava, Allyssa, and Aidan... their best poses for a great picture for the "Grandmas"!

Ava and Aidan, hamming it up!

Aidan being his cute, smiley self!

Our 2 sweet peas!

A shot of the two girls - precious!





All 3.... and starting to get a little slap-happy!

"Can you believe this??"

"Another beer over here!!"

I love this shot of Aidan.... this is the side of him I see most, now that he is growing so mobile and curious!