Cake and Presents!

We did an ice cream sundae bar for all of our party guests instead of a big cake. We did have a cake made for Aidan though. It was so cute and sooo good!!! We were able to eat it because Aidan wouldn't eat it at all!! He had a piece of "practice" cake on his actual birthday and loved that. But today I think he was too tired and too overwhelmed by all the people that he wasn't having it. After the cake we opened presents. I don't know who is more excited about the new toys, Carter or Aidan! Why is it that Carter wants to play with Aidan's things and Aidan only wants Carter's things! :) After the presents Aidan went straight to bed for a nap. Poor guy!!

Happy Birthday Aidan!! You have made our family complete and we love you so much! We can't wait to see all the new and exciting things that this year has in store!!

1st Birthday Fun

Aidan's first birthday has come and gone! Here is part 1 of the pictures. I didn't take as many as I would have liked. Carter got stung twice by a wasp early on in the party. So that took me away for a bit and Aidan wasn't feeling quite like himself either. We did have a great time celebrating Aidan though. Nana, Papa, Memaw, and Grandaddy all came down to help celebrate. We also had lots of friends too. We still can't get over how God has blessed us with such great friends down here. We are so thankful for all of them!!

Happy Birthday!!!

It seems like yesterday that our sweet baby Aidan made his debut! I can't believe that he is 1. His party is on Saturday so I will do a bigger post then, but here are some then and now pictures of our sweet boy! Happy Birthday Aidan!!

Aidan at 1 week old.

Aidan at 1 year old!

Why......?

/div>

This is one sweet boy! A sweet boy that is way more active and energetic than his older brother ever thought of being at this age! He plays, explores, and investigates from the time his knees hit the floor in the morning. I say knees instead of feet because he's as stubborn as he is sweet and he refuses to walk! Anyway, knowing that he is so busy you would think wow, he must be a great napper or he must really wear himself out during the day. All this leads to my question, WHY won't this child sleep for longer than an hour during the day! :)

One week down...

The perfect ending to a great first week of school!

Determined??

I heard Aidan crying and just a jabbering away this afternoon and this is what I found! He loves to climb up the stairs and he can climb all the way to the top. If you notice there is a gate covering the stairs! Aidan apparantly thought that he could climb up the side of the stairs. He didn't get very far and was crying for help. I of course made him wait until I could find the camera to capture this act of determination! What amazes me even more is that he is brave enough to attempt this, climb to the top of the stairs, walk around anything he can hold onto, yet he still refuses to take his first step on his own!

30

I turned 30 today and so far I have survived to tell the tale! The tale that I'm going to tell you is the 30 things that I am grateful for! It's ok if you don't want to read all 30, I saved the best ones for last!!

• 30. Grateful that I just figured out how to blog from my phone!
• 29. That is probably something that I could have gone without!
• 28. Grateful that I have stuck with my daily running.
• 27. Eventhough I still really don't like it!
• 26. Grateful for all the vacations my family took growing up.
• 25. San Diego was my favorite one!
• 24. Grateful that I survived Carter starting kindergarten.
• 23. Grateful that I survived having Carter without any pain meds!
• 22. That wasn't by choice, but still I'm grateful.
• 21. I love my job. (most days)
• 20. I love the people I work with. (most days)
• 19. I am very grateful to my parents for taking our cat when we moved.
• 18. Really grateful that I don't have pets to deal with now!
• 17. Grateful that both my boys are such great sleepers.
• 16. Grateful for an amazing church!
• 15. Grateful for our friendships that we have made through our church!
  14. Grateful for my friends Lisa, Amy, and Danielle from McDonough. I miss them still so much!
• 13. Grateful that I'm almost done with this list! Gotta finish what you start!
• 12. Grateful for our families that love us unconditionally.
• 11. Grateful for the relationship that Carter has with my sister and brother.
• 10. Grateful for a husband that has stuck with me since I was 17!
• 9. Grateful for 2 sweet sweet friends that hold me accountable. One is near and one is farther than I'd like!
• 8. Grateful for my sister and for what she means to me.
• 7. Grateful for my parents and all the sacrifices that they have made.
• 6. Grateful for 2 amazing boys! I'm blessed beyond measure!
• 5. Grateful for Aidan's sweet smile and contagious laugh!
  4. Grateful for Carter's sweet and caring heart!
• 3. Grateful that my husband ran all over town today picking up things that he knew would make this day special! I love you very much!
• 2. Grateful for the picture posted below, and the joy that it brings! It even makes this noncrier tear up for a bit!
• 1. Grateful to know that God has my family in the palm of His hand. Even as tough and uncertain as things are we have peace that can only come from Him!

This pic is from my phone! Not great quality but it captured the memory all the same!

No, I didn't cry....

I got asked this question a lot today. "Did you cry?" I am not a crier and eventhough having to leave Carter behind in tears was hard it still didn't trigger tears. We went through a lot this past week with getting him ready for school. I love his teacher and know that he is in good hands and will be well taken care of. With that said, that's why I didn't cry this morning! Then he got home and I checked his folder and this poem was inside:

Your baby started school today.

A first big milestone along the way.

He's not a baby, oh no, not he,

As big as any in the class, you see.

Until now you've been his shining sun.

Your influence has been equaled by none.

But now, I'll share in his work and play.

Thanks for lending me your son today.

This little hand so small

Is starting school today.

This little hand will learn

With others to work and play.

And I will try to train

This hand throughout the year.

I wonder if this hand will belong

To a scientist, pilot, or engineer,

To a teacher, farmer, or financier.

His handprint was at the top and this is what brought me to tears. Mrs. Privett will be spending more time with him than me. Please join me in praying for her as she teaches and influences Carter and the rest of his class this year. Please pray that it will be a positive influence and one that he will remember for years to come. I have no doubt that this will be the case. God's hand is on Carter and it was on the selection of his teacher. We are so grateful for her and so very proud of our son!

First Day

So Carter went to kindergarten today. He came in our room at about 6:15 asking to put on his uniform. He was very excited and a little nervous. We had everything laid out the night before so there wasn't any rushing around this morning. We had a great morning and actually left on time! We got to school and immediately ran into some friends, and then saw more as we walked inside. We were all good until we walked into the gym! He immediately became overwhelmed with all the noise and people in the gym and the drop off went down hill from there. It wasn't too bad but I did leave him in tears. He has a wonderful teacher who went to comfort him and I know he was fine within minutes. He did have a great day! I think it was a little long for him but he will continue to get used to it. Here are some pics from the morning! Clothes laid out the night before.
He had to show off his backpack!
Outside of his school.
Walking to the gym...
So excited to have balloons from Nana and Papa waiting on him when we got home!