William Paul Mongold

August 5, 2009 I became an aunt, Aidan welcomed his first cousin, and Bethany became a mommy!! After much anticipation, William arrived into this world weighing 10 pounds and 9 ounces and measuring 21 inches long. He is precious with curly blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a a rider pinky toe like his Paw Paw. I can't wait to see him in person. We sure hope they get to make the trip to Collierville for Labor Day.

Waiting on Baby

Aidan and I headed to Austin hoping to meet cousin, William Paul. We had a wonderful time with Bethany and Ken, but little William did not make his debut. Ken took the opportunity to practice his baby skills while Aidan was there; he earned the name "The Baby Whisperer". He is going to be a wonderful daddy. William will be here when he's good and ready and we plan to see him Labor Day weekend. 

Aidan had his first experience on an airplane. I was nervous, but he did great. No meltdown occurred from either one of us. Just being able to eat and sleep is all Aidan needed to keep him happy. I learned a few 'traveling with infant' tips: 1. I was wondering how the base was going to stay connected to the infant carrier-- they wrap them in a big plastic bag when checked. 2. Feed during take off and landing since they don't know how to pop their own ears. 3. The 3 oz rule for liquids does not apply for milk and/or formula.  

Our adventure to Texas is not the only big event of the week. Aidan has discovered he can roll from his back to his tummy. He does this very well, but he forgets he hates tummy time. He rolls over and then cries because he is on his tummy, I roll him to his back, and then we do it all over again. This occasionally also occurs in the middle of the night. We also discovered that Aidan is intolerant of cow's milk. This means no milk, cheese, or ice cream for me. No ice cream is going to be a tough one; oh the sacrifices we make. But look at that face.

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