Silly Aiden!

I know this isn't the best quality video, but what do you expect from a camera phone? Gotta love that smile...

Memorial Day Weekend

A little weird to just get back to work and then have a holiday weekend! But that's totally fine. The first two days of our three-day weekend have been pretty busy. On Saturday, I traveled to Circleville to attend the third and final baby shower for Angie. It was such a cute shower! And of course Angie got lots of nice things; she should be well on her way for Rachel to arrive--in just over three weeks!
Yesterday Mike, Aiden & I headed up to Lexington to wish my dad a happy 6oth birthday as well as move things out in the garage for my mom's upcoming garage sale. Once the heavy lifting was through, my grandparents arrived and we had a big cookout. The weather was FINALLY warm, and I was able to break out Aiden's sunglasses, which actually fit now since his head has grown two inches since birth. We had a lot of fun at PooPoo & PaPa's house.
Today, we don't really have plans; I have a few piddly things to get done around the house, and it's supposed to storm this afternoon, so we'll just play it by ear. All in all, it's been a great weekend :)

...and Many More!

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD--THE BESTEST DAD ANYONE COULD ASK FOR! LOVE YA! :)

"Inbanana" Jones

Mike & I were lucky enough to have a date together this evening. We were going to see a Clippers game, but the weather has been pretty chilly, and we decided to wait until next month for that. Instead, we went to go see the fourth Indiana Jones movie--and I'm glad we did! Other than the fact that it made me kinda sad to see Harrison Ford walking like an old man (especially one night after listening to George Michael sing and longing for the missing tone in his voice), it was a pretty good flick! I'm not going to give anything away (even the funny scene that involves a refrigerator), so go see it for yourself!

SMILES!!!

Back to Work

Another day I'd been wearily anticipating arrived today--my first day back at work, as well as Aiden's first day with his babysitter. Work wasn't so bad, especially since Angie brought me beautiful flowers and Ginger brought my favorite honey-oat muffins from Mimi's Cafe. Also, the babysitter told me that Aiden did great his first day; he didn't sleep more than a half-hour, but he wasn't fussy the whole time he was awake. Good news all around. :)
This evening, most of Mike's mom's side of the family came for a cookout before tomorow's funeral. My brother also stopped over--hence the funny picture. It was great to see his aunts & uncles that live out of town, even if it wasn't for the happiest of reasons.

Sad News

Mike's Grandma Lynch--or "Grammy" as she was affectionately known--passed away Friday evening at the age of 91. She lived a long, full life, and we were blessed to have known her. :)

Aiden's Two-Month Check-Up

I took Aiden to Dr. Brown today for his two-month check-up; I'd been dreading this appointment since his last one since I knew he'd be getting a lot of vaccinations today. After arriving at the office at noon and discovering our appointment was supposed to have been at 9:10 AM (that's what I get for not double-checking my calendar), the nurse weighed and measured our liitle guy; he's a healthy 11 lb 3.5 oz, and 22 inches long. Then after another fun exam with Dr. Brown (he always comments on what a cute little boy we have), the nurse came back with the shots.

I don't know who had it worse--Aiden for getting the shots, or me for watching him get them. I've never heard him cry so loudly--I always tell Mike we're getting spoiled because Aiden simply doesn't cry much--so it was pretty heartbreaking. After I took him home and fed him, though, he seemed to get back to his normal silly self; the smiles and funny faces returned. Good thing we don't head back to Dr. Brown for another two months!!!

Angie's Work Shower

Today, I helped host my bestest bud Angie's baby shower at work--and I think it went off without a hitch! Everyone seemed to have a great time, the cake was delicious, and of course Angie got a lot of great gifts. And seriously, check out how cute she looks at 35 weeks! I'm very excited for Miss Rachel to arrive, and for Angie & Duane to experience some of the crazy stuff Mike & I have been going through! :)

Being back at work was kinda weird; a lot of folks stopped me in the hall to ask if I was back, and I had to tell them not until Monday. In some ways, I won't mind going back, but in other ways, I'm a bit reluctant; unfortunately, it's just not in our budget for me to be a stay-at-home mom. At least we found a great babysitter. All I know is that it was pretty hard to be away from Aiden for just 3 hours today, and soon I'll be away from him for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week! I think this is going to be a difficult adjustment--I'll definitely be looking forward to 4 PM everyday...

Two Months Old

That's right, folks--two months old. But who's counting? I took Aiden to Polaris Mall today to get his picture taken, and the pictures turned out GREAT; unfortunately, they are copyrighted, so I can't post any of them here, but if you'd like to see a sample, click here --what a riot! I came home and decided to take some photos of my own, but someone was a bit tired of having his picture taken, so I didn't get too many smiles. Oh well. :)

A few things about Aiden at two months:
--He's slept through the night about 3 times now, which really freaks Mike & I out when it happens; we assume that since we didn't hear him, something must be wrong! Even on the nights he doesn't sleep all the way through, he's usually only up once, which is a major improvement over his first few weeks.
--This guy is in love with his Grandpa; he smiles and coos the most when Mike's dad is talking to him.
--Aiden LOVES his little floormat/jungle-gym (hence the large amount of photos on said-mat); one of is favorite things to do is look at himself in the mirror and giggle.
--I can't believe how well he does on his tummy! I've heard stories of babies screaming and crying during tummy time, but Aiden seems to love it; he either looks all around at the different view, or rolls over if he'd rather be on his back.
--He still has a bunch of nicknames: Monkey, Buddy-boy, Fart, Little Guy, Booger-Butt, etc. :)

We head to Dr. Brown on Thursday for his two-month check up; I'll more info on his updated weight and length then. Until then, enjoy the photos! :)

My First Mother's Day

I celebrated my first mother's day today--what a treat! Mike was wonderful--he got me exactly what I had randomly said I was craving the day before--some Tostitos with lime and a bottle of Chardonnay (weird combination, I know, but I'm not here to explain myself)! I also got an extra special card from Aiden--he even "signed" it with some help from Daddy. :) We also went up to Mansfield to visit my folks and grandparents; they were all lucky enough to witness Aiden rolling over a few times! :)

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Moms--and future Moms--out there! :)

Family Photos

Since the weather was beautiful today, we grabbed our camera and headed outside to take some of our first family photos. Unfortunately, Aiden wasn't quite awake, so we had to work around that. :)

HE ROLLED OVER!!!

I'm not kidding! We only just started "tummy-time" recently, too. Today, since he was in such a good mood, I decided to try it again, and imagine my astonishment when he rolled right back over onto his back! Thinking it was a fluke, I put him back on his stomach--and he rolled over TWICE MORE! I ran to get my video camera, and do you think this kid would repeat the roll with it on? Of course not! So I turned the camera off for a few minutes, then put him back on his tummy--and he DID IT AGAIN! So I turned the camera back on, and of course he forgot how to roll! Oh well--at lease Mommy knows what she saw! :)

Bathtime, Piggy Bank, and Angie's 1st Shower

Save for his very first experience, Aiden LOVES bathtime; he gets so excited when you pour water over his tummy that I think he would giggle if he could! But he also loses control of some of his plumbing (if you get my drift) while in the tub--hence the strategically placed washcloth.

I, meanwhile, am just having too darned much fun making stuff for this guy! Today Mike & I went to Michael's, and I found these cool piggy banks that you can decorate yourself! Of course I had to get one. I'm not the best at decorating, but I think he'll understand it was made with love. :)


The most fun we had this weekend, however, was at Aunt Angie's first baby shower. Aiden was awake for almost the whole party, which really surprised Mommy! We both had a great time at the shower; Aiden even got Rachel a present (see the photos). :)

Seven Weeks Old

Aiden spent a good part of his day awake yesterday (he only had a half-hour nap between 7 AM and 6:30 PM), and he was in a pretty decent mood a lot of the time; I was the happy recipient of plenty of coos and smiles!!! I honestly can't believe he is seven weeks old already--especially since that means I'll have to return to work in just over two weeks. The saving grace with the situation is that we were able to find an AWESOME baby sitter. So two stressful items have been marked off my list; the first, finding a good baby sitter, and the second, FINALLY finishing our move!

Everything that we're not going to need while at the Cotter's for the next few months is now in a secure storage unit. All I could think about when I was packing up our apartment was that when I next open those boxes, it will be in our very first house!

In other news, besides being seven weeks old, Aiden *officially* exists now; he's got both his social security card and his birth certificate; we're heading out later to open his first savings account. Welcome to the real world, Babykins!!!