Aidan's Birth Announcement

Make a Smilebox photobook

New Photos

For months Brandon has been spending all of his extra time working on transforming our back deck into a sunroom. It's finally finished! Aidan and I love spending our afternoons watching the dogs and the birds and sometimes we even have some bunnies that come for a visit. It's wonderful to have the extra space. Brandon did a great job; it turned out perfect. 

Before

After

Brandon starts a new job at the end of this month. He is the new P.E. and Drivers Ed teacher at Middle Tennessee Christian. He will be the assistant football and baseball coach. He's going to be a great coach and he's looking forward to it.

Aidan and his daddy are already having serious sports talks.

Aidan enjoyed his first Collierville concert on the square with Nanny and Paw Paw.

Aidan is starting to figure out this tummy time thing.

Aidan had baby dedication at our church on June 28th. He did very well in front of all those people. Nanny, Paw Paw, Gran and Papa all were there to celebrate with us. 

Bethany update: she is 11 days from her due date. she is starting to progress; last week she was at 2 cm. We are waiting for the call! Aidan and I are going to visit July 23rd. 

Fun in the Sun

We got home from Florida last night. I think Aidan enjoyed his first beach vacation. It was incredibly hot so Aidan and I spent a lot of time in the condo, but it was a nice change of scenery. We had a lot of wonderful help with Aidan and we stayed at such a beautiful place. It was great having Brandon around during the day, and he got to play some golf with friends. We had a lot of good seafood and the wedding we went down for was beautiful. I can't wait until Aidan is old enough to go to the beach and play in the sand with cousin Will.    

I didn't get in the water, but I went prepared.

I celebrated with Dad for his first Father's Day!

Discoveries

Every day is a new discovery. It's been so much fun watching Aidan discover this great big, new world around him. Today Aidan turns 6 weeks! We have started venturing out a little at a time. He made his church debut on Sunday, we've been to Target a couple of times, we've been out to eat, and tomorrow we are heading to San Destin.

I'm packed and ready to see the beach 

 This cat in the hat is quite the character

My Sunday go to meetin' outfit

My mommy is a riot

First Month

We can't believe it. Aidan was 4 weeks old yesterday. The time has flown by. Aidan has been such a joy; he's a very laid back, content baby. We are very blessed. He seems to be changing daily and I can just stare and watch him for hours on end. 

Favorite Past Times: sleeping, eating, going for a walk (it's usually a good time for a cat nap), staring out the window, listening to daddy read him a story 

Milestones: smiling, rolling from tummy to back - it's only happened a few times but I got it on video, sleeping 5 hours at night

Road Trip

On Friday, we headed out to Memphis for Aidan's first road trip. We tried to time it just right so that he would sleep the entire way, and Aidan did just that. What a blessing that we had a quiet 3 hour ride to and from Memphis. He is such a layed back baby. 

We had such a good time. Aidan got to meet his Aunt Bethany and Uncle Ken, his Uncle Brian, and Uncle Steven, his great grandmother and his great granddaddy, and other family and friends. Aidan attended his first annual Hall Family Memorial Day Picnic and his first Saturday morning GG pancake breakfast.

Bethany is doing well. She has 2 more weeks of school before summer break begins. Then she will hopefully get to rest and relax and await the arrival of little William whose due date is in 9 weeks. Aidan can hardly wait to meet his cousin.    

Brian and the newest Tiger supporter

1 week old

It's hard to believe that Aidan turned 1 week old yesterday. He is so sweet and we are having so much fun. 

We've had many firsts this week. 

His first night at home was not bad. We

had a stretch from 12-3 where Aidan wasn't sure what he wanted, but other than that he was on an every 3 hour feeding schedule. Every night so far has been different from the one before. We are continuing to work on establishing a schedule.

The first day home, just me and Aidan, after Brandon went back to work was a special time and a hard one at the same time. You want to hold and protect this new little person, while questioning all that you do. You never worried so much about everyday things like driving a car and it's surprising these new things that make you so excited, like poopy diapers that make you think "maybe he is eating enough" or watching someone sleep or seeing a drousy or gassy grin. 

He seemed to enjoy his first sponge bath. He looked in the mirror most of the time.   

Our first week favorites:

- His Boppy bouncy seat (although it's hard to put him down; he's content in his seat and I can get a few things done)

- Newborn Pampers with the yellow/blue wet strip 

- Disposable changing pad covers (without these I would have had to do more laundering than I have)

- Miracle Swaddeling Blanket (it has a leg pouch so he doesn't come unwrapped)

- Everyone's love and support. We can't thank everyone enough for the visits, the dinners, the flowers and gifts.