A Lot Has Happened in Two Weeks

May 1 - Play Date

Aidan had a wonderful afternoon playing with his friends. Riley, Declan and their mommies came over for a fun get together.

May 2 - After all the heavy rains, our neighborhood flooded. At 9:00 pm on Sunday, we were forced to evacuate our house. The speed at which the water rose was quite a scary experience. The following day, Brandon and I borrowed a canoe and rowed to our house to check things out. Men and women were wading in the water to save their beloved pets and the water was neck deep in the roads. At that point, the water was 3-4 inches from our front door. Rowing in a boat to your house - what a surreal experience. The water continued to rise until that evening. We were able to get to our house on Tuesday by foot. The water was up a little passed my knees at that point. When we got to the house and opened the door. Shouts of joy and praises to God went up to the heavens. We were within a 1/4 of an inch from the front door, but no water got in. A small amount found its way in through the back door and the sunroom floor/subfloor will have to be replaced. We were so lucky. Someone was taking care of us! The replacing of a hot water heater, furnace, ac, sunroom floor is minimal compared to everyone around us. Both neighbors on either side of us got 6+ inches of water in their house. They are tearing out floors, cabinets, carpets. Throwing away mattresses, furniture, etc. Our street makes you emotional just to drive down it. We were so blessed and say our prayers of thanksgiving daily.

Our backyard around 7:00 pm on May 2.

Our driveway when we were leaving at 9:00 pm on May 2.

Our neighborhood on May 3.

Our house on May 3.

Our driveway on May 3.

Our backyard and the top of our shed on May 3. No fence can be seen.

The water line.

Our backyard on May 4.

After the water went down and people started cleaning, this is what most houses on our street looked like.

May 6 - Aidan turned 1!!! I can't believe it, but my baby boy had a birthday. We celebrated at Gran and Papa's where we were living at the time. Aidan got to play outside in the fountain and creek, open some presents, and eat a cupcake. I do think he enjoyed himself.

Playing in the creek with Papa.

Aidan got a baseball set from his daddy.

Aidan loved his birthday cupcake.

May 8 - Aidan and I went to Collierville and spent a few days with Nanny and Paw Paw. We got to watch Brian walk across the stage at the FedEx Forum and receive his diploma. He is now a college grad!

May 16 - We celebrated Aidan's birthday with family. Many people were able to come, even Aunt Bethany and Cousin Liam from Texas. We were able to have everyone over to our house for a Barnyard Bash. It was lots of fun and Aidan received a lot of fun toys. What a great day we had!

Best buds! Check out the cute shirts that Nanny made.

Aidan's helping his daddy put together his new swing set.

Aidan's new spiderman.

Aidan loved his choo choo train.

All ready for mother's day out.

May 18 - To round out the last couple of weeks, Aidan and I got the stomach bug. It has been a ruff couple of days, but we are recovering and today has been a good day!

Mommy's Little Helper

Aidan is currently in a stage of dumping things out and then putting them back.. somewhere else. We have been practicing with his shape sorter so that could be a contributing factor. This has become a fun little game we play - Aidan dumps things out and puts them in a new location, and Mommy tries to find them. He loves to take everything out of one of his toy baskets and put everything back into his diaper hamper, or pick up anything he can find in the den and put it in his push toy. I couldn't find my car keys the other day when we were trying to meet friends for lunch. I later found them in the dog's water bowl. Brandon has misplaced his cell phone only to find it had mysteriously ended up in my purse. I have to check the garbage every time I throw something away because Aidan has learned to open the lid and loves to throw away his farm animal frig magnets.

He helps with laundry...

He helps pick up the kitchen...

I have been so proud of my lipstick plant. It loves the sunroom and has been blooming like crazy this year. I noticed that a particular lower section of the plant started missing some of it's flowers. I found them tucked away nicely in the bottom drawer. He prunes!

A Happy Easter!!

What a beautiful day Easter turned out to be. The Easter Bunny came for a visit and left a basket full of goodies, but Aidan didn't even seem to notice. We attended church and Aidan looked so handsome in his Easter suit. After church and a quick nap, we three went to the park and enjoyed the nice day. It was wonderful to have a day together (completely baseball free!!) and to celebrate the resurrection of Christ with our little man. HE is risen indeed!

Here are a few Easter pics:

Our little man

The boys in their Easter outfits - so very handsome

Aidan loves walking all over the playground

Who knew Easter basket grass could be such fun

Austin

Aidan and I just returned from a long weekend in Austin. We had such a wonderful time with family. Aidan did great on the plane. Between me, Nanny, Paw Paw, and Uncle Steven he was well entertained. It was fun to watch Aidan and Liam play together. They definitely interacted more this visit than before. Liam is crawling around and Aidan was happy to show him a few new tricks. There was a lot of fun packed into a few days; Bethany, Ken, Steven and I even enjoyed a kyaking trip.

Aidan and Liam playing together

Enjoying a beautiful day

There was just one little snag in the vacation.... I misplaced my wallet, but didn't realize it until I was at the airport. At the moment of realization, I got hot and nervous and flustered. I didn't know what I was going to do. I talked to airport security. After 100 questions about where is your wallet, do you have anything with you to confirm your identity like bills perhaps (like I carry bills with me on vacation), my birthday, who I lived with, his birthday, the make and model of my car, and on and on, I was escorted through the security line on to more security for pat down, additional scans, testing bottle liquids, and then I was freed. We made it to the gate with just minutes to spare. Well, Bethany found my wallet folded up in a stroller and she shipped it to me overnight. Everything worked out in the end. Note to self----never go to the airport without first checking your wallet.

We are looking forward to Bethany and Liam's visit in May.

Spring Break

Brandon was on Spring Break this week. Aidan and I knew that Brandon would be busy with baseball most days, but little did we know that Brandon would come down with an Upper Respiratory Infection on Sunday. He was laid in bed for most of 3 days. Not the way you want to start your break; especially after being healthy all year. Well, Brandon is still not 100%, but we did get to get outside yesterday and enjoy the beautiful day. We took Aidan to Radnor Lake and did a little hiking. We hiked about 3 miles around the lake and tested out the backpack carrier that Uncle Shawn had gotten us. Aidan loved it. He loved being up high in his seat and he loves looking around at everything outside. If Brandon and I stopped to look at the geese or turtles, Aidan let us know that he did not think too highly of our slacking off. He liked to be on the move at all times. We had a lot of fun. I'm glad we got to go and hopefully we will have many more beautiful days like that for some more hiking.

What a true blessing it has been to be home with Aidan over the last several months. I thank my husband for allowing me the opportunity to quit my job so that I could spend every possible moment with my baby boy. He is such a joy. I want to remember every moment of every stage along the way.

Aidan has learned the word "no". Not so much how to hear it, but how to give it. We are having a little issue with texture aversions. Aidan loves his cereal and he loves his baby food, but anything else, well, not so much. We have conquered puffs. Anything else that is presented to him like cooked Green Beans, Pasta, Carrots... he shakes his head no until you take it away. He won't open his mouth again until you show him his preferred food of choice on his little plastic spoon. We are working through this slowly and I'm trying to find new techniques. We will get there eventually.

Aidan is ready to walk. He walks behind his push toy back and forth across the house. A couple of weeks ago, he was standing up holding on to the couch. All of a sudden he decided to let go and walk to the coffee table. He is taking 3-4 steps on his own. He gets so proud of himself and I reward him with applause and shouts of joy. It is so much fun to see his new skills developing and his determination.

Aidan and I are heading to Texas at the end of this week! I am so excited to see Bethany and Ken, and especially, Liam. He has gotten so big since the last time I saw him. He is sitting up and crawling! This will be Aidan's second time on a plane. His first trip was when he was 2 1/2 months. This time will be a little different with him almost 11 months old. He is mobile and more vocal. However, this time I will have Nanny, Paw Paw, and Uncle Steven to help me keep Aidan occupied. I can't wait!

Latest Pics

"Howdy ya'll"

"This is harder than it looks"

"Where are you Spring?"

This is one of Aidan's favorite spots.

(And the wrinkling of the nose is one of Aidan's favorite faces.)

"Look at those pearly whites"

"Here I am Reg"

I entered Aidan in the Live beautiful baby contest. We didn't get the call back :(

"Hello, handsome"

This is another of Aidan's favorite spots.