I've Moved

I swore I had updated this but Blogger must have eaten my post, which is a big part of the reason I moved to Word Press! By all means come on over and check us out. I've missed all my blog buddies!

http://www.anewnicole.wordpress.com

Christmas Card Time Has Arrived

I'm a little behind the ball this year, but it's time to think about Christmas cards already!

I normally send out generic cards that I pick up at the store, but this year we are wanting to do photo cards to show family and friends what Aidan looks like now that he's one year old!

We have used Shutterfly multiple times in the past. We've ordered calendars, we ordered our birth announcements through them, and of course we've ordered prints as well. I've never had anything bad to say about Shutterfly, so of course when I saw their Christmas Photo Cards it didn't take much to twist my arm into wanting to order from them.

I've been looking around for a while now and I can't figure out which type I should get!

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Option 1: This would of course have a picture of Aidan front and center!

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Option 2: This could be either a family shot, or a single shot. I was thinking more family style, as shown above.

Both are 5x7 cardstock, and I just know they will be wonderful quality if my past experiences with Shutterfly have anything to say about it! I do believe I prefer the folded card, just so I can personalize each card without having to include a seperate note for each, but I'm leaving it up to you guys! Any preferences about which one I should get? Any ideas on what type of photo I should use in my cards?

Aidan is One!

Got a cool new Cozy Coupe!

Dressed up in Toys R Us

He was THRILLED when we told him it was his birthday.

Playing with a new toy his grandma got him.

Eating some squash!

Always a ham for the camera

Opening gifts at his party

Even a busy toddler stops to smell the roses sometimes :)

Hamming it up. He LOVES everyone, would go to a stranger on the street if they tried to pick him up. He's not shy at all.

A nice shot of his semi busted lip. He misjudged the distance between to places and face planted.

New Pictures

Aidan's 10.5 months now, and oh boy is he a handful! He's always into everything, but it's so cute it's easy to not get frustrated. He's truly inquisitive about the world around him, and it's awesome to see him learn how things work. His big brown eyes just light up when he discovers something new!

He had his first real playdate with a friend close to his age. They played nice the whole time!

He loves it when his daddy lays on the floor with him to play before bedtime.

He's teething so he loves to chew on everything, including bottles of Gripe Water.

You can see 2 teeth here, but he has 4 more hiding up top!

He loves his puffs, and they stick to him if he isn't wearing a shirt ;)

10 Month Letter

Dear Aidan,

I have no idea where to start! You're 10 months old now. I swear I feel simultaniously like I've known you all my life and that you just got here. Such conflicting emotions but I guess every mom feels that. You do new things every single day, so I'll make a laundry list of them in the interest of quickness:

• You walk, kind of. You hold 1 handed onto anything and everything and haul butt across the room. Hands, walls, couches, etc.
• You say mama, dada, baba, buhbye, and hey
• You eat everything. Pizza, pasta, etc etc etc. We feed you veggies and all sorts of healthy items but in reality you want whatever we are eating, and we give you bits of it not only to keep you from screaming but to expose you to plenty of foods!
• You FINALLY mastered thumb-pointer finger grip. You still prefer to SHOVEL food into your mouth but you're just an enthusiastic eater and I love that about you.
• Favorite foods are still anything apple, pastas, breads, any fruits, carrots, broccoli, okay... everything! LOL
• You are in size 4 diapers, 12 or 18 month clothing.
• Your favorite toys right now are your Fisher Price music learning table, Fisher Price Roll Along Bongo Drums, and any and everything you can fit into your mouth
• You have 6 teeth. 4 up top, 2 on bottom and you are most definitely working on some more.

And really, I couldn't love you any more than I do. You're simply the most awesome baby ever. Your great great gram passed away this week, and you were an angel (maybe her angel!) every time I took you to see her. You were quiet and respectful and you smiled at me while I cried for her. At the funeral today you kept yourself quiet and when I showed her to you in her casket you reached out and tried to eat the roses she was clutching. You fell asleep in your stroller and while you were awake you literally stole the show. Everyone wanted to love on the "most adorable baby ever".

You have the most amazing personality ever, and everyone can see it. Thank you for giving me the honor of being your mother.

I love you,

Mama

9 Month Letter

2 weeks late, as usual. Mommy is just way too busy sometimes!

My dear Aidan,

You're now 9 months old. You are 21 lbs. 30 inches long. When we took you to your 9 month well-check you had a double ear infection! I'm so happy we went because you weren't showing any signs at all. No fever or fussiness or tugging at your ears. I guess you're too tough for an ear infection to get you down!

You are steadily growing. Size 4 diapers, 12-18 month clothing.

You're favorite activity right now is cruising the furniture, I swear one day you're just going to let go and toddle across the room! You've also discovered that you can push your bumbo chair in front of the couch and then CLIMB on top of it to climb up on the couch. Unfortunately you still try to climb off of the couch face first.. so we are always on our toes!

You're favorite foods are.. well, anything! Puffs, yogurt melts, cheerios, all stage 3 baby foods, grapes, strawberries, melon, crackers, wafers, bread.. you eat it all plus more. You're still averaging 30oz of formula a day, plus 3 solid meals plus snacks.

You're favorite toy right now varies, but you still love Sophie and the Fisher Price Roll Along Bongo Drum thingies.. you chase those all over the house. You also love to blow raspberries!

You go to bed between 8-9pm, and on weekdays wake up by 7:30am, weekends you sleep in a bit and don't get up until after 9am (yay!). You still take 3 naps a day usually, sometimes only 2.

You're going to be a boy, in all meanings of the word. You love dirt, leaves, trees, grass. Your favorite things to do outside is to play in your baby pool, go for a walk in the stroller, and crawl around playing with dirt. I must admit I LOVE this about you. I'm not a girly girl and I couldn't imagine having to play pretty princess. I'd rather hang out outside anyday.

You have your first girlfriend.. not really, but it's cute. Little Maxine is a younger woman by about 6 months, but she sure has eyes for you, little man.

All in all you're steadily making my heart grow more and more every day. You're my favorite man, and I wouldn't change a thing about you.

8 Month Letter

Dear Aidan,

Oh geez, boy. You have mommy busy! Even now I'm writing your letter 2 weeks late. Soon I'll be composing your 9 month letter!

You are still the light of my life. I can't think of any saying to describe it, other than that. You absolutely radiate love every single time I come home from work, and every time you see your father. You've gained a long laundry list of things you do, and do well.

• crawling, real, fast, full on crawling
• pulling up to stand on anything you can get your hands on
• eating more and more table food. you are a ninja and grab things off of our plates without us noticing until we see you chewing!
• saying Mama now, but only occasionally and not really directed at me
• you point at what you want
• you reach out to people for a hug
• eating between 32-40oz a day plus 3 meals of solids (which I'm about to up the solids some, you've been out-eating my servings for a while but I just now noticed)
• you're starting to "dance" when you hear music you like, you semi-jump and wiggle your whole body

As you can see you're growing in leaps and bounds. You're everything I ever dreamed I would have in a son. Keep on being amazing, it helps mommy through rough days.

Love Always,

Your Momma