Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy teething....yes again working on those darn K-9's!

"Who you Calling a Turkey?"

Loving Uncle Mark's Mac and Cheese!

Thanksgiving 2009

Yummy who knew that a turkey dinner would be so great?!

Well Thanksgiving came and went and Christmas is right around the corner...where does time go? Well trying to catch up here are some pictures from the big day. We got to spend lunch with my family and then it was off to dinner at Aunt Shell and Uncle Mark's! The funny part of the long weekend and being off with my boys is how off of his schedule Mr. Aiden got. I now know why people fuss over times and trying to stick to them! After a few late nights (8:30-9:00) and some waking up crying (yes we still do this) but more over the break we made it back to our "normal" routine! It was so neat to see Aiden eat his "first Thanksgiving dinner" and how he really enjoyed all that was put on his highchair. We are very blessed with a "I'll eat anything mom" eater. Don was a VERY picky eater and I had my weird it must have cheese on it to be eaten phase. Most of all Aiden is a pretty laid-back, easy going little man. That is unless he is in his "throwing" phase...as you can see with his ornament opening!

Pre-Walking to Walker!

Pre-Walking Stage...look at him use that walker toy!

Here we are with moms encouragement...we missed the quick walk from mom to blocks, see my arm behind the tower? It's hard to see but I'm there!

SMASH...that is what I love to do these days! Destroy and walk all over the house, I even figured out how to open this gate here in 2 days!

Well Halloween came and went and now Thanksgiving has done the same...needless to say a bit busy here in the Abbott Household! Well November has been a busy month of development for Aiden. We started with the 1-2 steps from the sofa and falling quite softly to the crawling position to 4-5 steps at a time in the middle of the month to walking by Thanksgiving! We had a LOT to be thankful for this year seeing our little man take his first steps. It has also been a time of reflection for Don and I as it was this week last year that we tried and were unsuccessful with our first IUI procedure. Little did we know that it wouldn't work and that Santa would deliver his own gift to us for Christmas! It is very humbling to reflect back at how badly we wanted to become a mom and dad and how since getting pregnant and becoming parents has gone by in the blink of an eye!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Trick-Or-Treating was a great time even though it was a bit chilly outside! I must say it was so fun dressing Aiden up and getting to show our little monkey off to our neighbors. We only went to a few houses and Aiden really enjoyed cruising around in his wagon. He didn't mind the costume or the mittens that we put on last minute! Here we all are and Aiden next to his pumpkins.

Aiden next to his candy bag...yes it is a banana you all know how I like to coordinate things! I even got his name embroidered on it! Enjoying the wagon ride...man this is fun!

Friday morning as I was getting ready to leave for school Aiden just really loved looking at my costume. He was very intrigued by the ears and as you can see wanted to get them off my head!

Well we had a wonderful 2nd Halloween here in the Abbott Household with our little man. We were very busy with pumpkins and getting to carve/paint our first pumpkins with the little man's assistance! The monkey pumpkin my dad carved to match Aiden's costume...I think he did a great job. The second pumpkin was my "attempt" at making a bat, I realized after painting I should have not painted the thumbs then it would look more like a bat and not a spider thing! You live and learn right?! It did look better after I added the eyes and mouth.

Aiden enjoyed watching daddy carve the pumpkin and I even gave him some seeds wanting to see what he would think of them. Of course he attempted to eat them but thankfully they were to slimy and fell to the ground. This was funny to me since I have been very lucky that he doesn't put stuff in his mouth, in his defense he was in his chair that we take with us to restaurants so I think he was expecting dinner! We loved the pumpkin kit and how nicely the "funny" face turned out. Go Don!

Our little explorer checking out the pumpkin that mommy and him would paint together. So close to walking and last night he took those first 3 steps across his crib... mommy was SO proud. I can't believe how quickly we have gone from pulling up on things to cruising to now taking those first steps. We also have popped our First Year molars in the same fashion. All 4 in 2 1/2 weeks. Is that normal? I thought it was quite quick but at least they are past us...now just the K9's! Well we will keep you posted on the walking and maybe we can figure out how to upload video and put them on! We hope every one's Halloween was a Sweet One!

A Wonderful Fall Weekend!

On Sunday we lucked out and had great weather and decided to fight the crowds (it was the busiest I have ever seen the parking lot) and headed to the Pumpkin Patch! I must say even with how busy it was, it was easy getting around and everyone was very kind in regards to letting you get photos at all the hot spots! I must say it was really fun this year to see Aiden's reaction to the pumpkins and everything going on around him. The top picture was taken as we were leaving and I must say this is my favorite from the day! My little pumpkin!

We all have this shot...well if you grew up around here and this will be a yearly tradition. Last year he was in my arms for this photo my how time flies!

Aiden kept knocking off the scarecrow's gourd...too cute. Notice how he is standing all on his own! Steps next? Notice the pumpkin hat? It has been a huge hit at the grocery store, the mall and of course at the Patch thanks mom for getting it for our little man!

On Saturday we braved the long line for the cider donuts and headed to Edward's. This wasn't as bad as we were expecting especially since we did not yet have to partake in the pony ride, apple picking, or petting zoo. It was a cool fall day and what better way to introduce Aiden to the delicious donuts that we all love! Notice the crumb on the bottom lip...he loved the few bites that I allowed him to have. My favorite picture from our outing was the pumpkin one. Look how he is trying to stand up and be a big boy. Even hamming it up for the camera! What a great trip and I can't wait to see him running around next year.

Mommy and Aiden Daddy and Aiden

At this point we didn't want to look at the camera anymore and wanted to be down standing up on something...or was it the fact that we didn't get our morning nap?! It has been a great few weeks and every day it seems like Aiden is doing something new. We are rolling our arms, clapping on command, and even saying "Uh-oh" when we throw/drop something. We are standing up and letting go now, pushing our walker all over, and the newest milestone we popped one of our top 1 year molars! All while fighting our first "real" cold. Every day is a joy and we can't wait to see what our little man will do tomorrow!

This Little Monkey is One!

Wanting to clap but not sure!

Closest thing to a smile that we got!

This was my personal favorite...my little monkey!

Just "hanging" out!

What is this...can I eat it?

We have had a lot going on lately and I must say I am sad to have boating season weather over, but am glad to have the weekends back to just "relaxing"! I can't wait for Aiden to take in Edward's and the Pumpkin Patch this year and see the expressions on his face (especially when trying the yummy cider donuts)! I love this time of year and all the activities that go along with fall. That being said one of my personal favorite holidays is upon us and we thought we would utilize the One Year photo shoot to show off the "monkey man". It is funny with his party being jungle theme that I picked this as his costume, not intentionally but I thought it was cute and when I saw a banana candy bag I was sold! Enjoy and I am trying to convince Don to do a photo shoot with a local photographer for our first "family" picture here at the house or outside so Miss Riley can be included...we shall see!

Of course my dad doesn't do things the easy way... what should have been a 1hour procedure ended up taking 3 1/2 hours. Everything went well they just had trouble getting the shunt into place so he had to be put under anesthesia. Because of that he then got to stay the night at the hospital. The doctor was pleased with everything and in a month he will go back for a check up and ultrasound and if the cyst is no longer there they will go back in and remove the shunt. My dad came home Wednesday morning after getting a round of antibiotics through his iv and him and my mom spent the rest of the day napping/resting. He still felt out of sorts yesterday due to his throat bothering him and some discomfort in his tummy. I got to visit with him tonight since my mom and dad come over on Thursdays and other than looking tired he seemed to be getting around fine. As I said before this is hopefully the last step in dealing with his Pancreatic attack. Thanks for all of your thoughts they are greatly appreciated!

I wanted to do a quick update and ask everyone to keep my dad in your thoughts. Tomorrow my dad will have hopefully the last procedure regarding his Pancreatitis. We thought that the cyst would naturally release into his stomach and for the past year we thought that was happening. After what we thought would be his last ultrasound check-up the doctors noticed that the cyst had increased by quite a bit. Tomorrow he will have an outpatient procedure to put a shunt in to the cyst and it will then drain into his stomach naturally. We will be glad to have all of this behind us after tomorrow and are so thankful that this past year has brought great health to all of us...and we hope this trend continues!

It's a Jungle Out There!

What is this thing?

Enjoying the mess...notice nothing on the shirt!


The hat mommy made for my safari!

Enjoying some of my gifts!

Our Family...sorry he wouldn't look at the camera!

The Smasher...to cute!

Aiden's First Car!

His Jungle cake from By the Dozen!

The Invite...how fun!

Well the big bash has come and gone...and I am still left here saying "Aiden is one year old now"! I am amazed by how quickly this year has come and gone...our parents were right when telling us that the years fly by. Aiden's party was a huge success and we enjoyed having our family and friends there to celebrate with. The weather was beautiful thankfully since we ate outside in our tent and we could all take in a little sunshine! Aiden really enjoyed having all the people to admire and show off his new cruising/crawling skills to. I was so thankful that he took a great morning nap and was able to make it through the afternoon and even into early evening without one meltdown. It was fun to see him rip some paper from a few gifts and really get into his cake after a few minutes went by. I think the thing that amazed me the most was that not more than a few crumbs of his chocolate on chocolate cake got onto his white onsie. I must say he IS my child, being a huge clean freak you all know what I am talking about! We are just so thankful that mostly everyone was able to make it and enjoy Aiden's big day and we are so grateful for all the wonderful gifts that Aiden received. We had our 1 year check up last Monday and Aiden was such a trooper getting 3 shots and his blood drawn to check his clotting factor. He didn't even react to the finger prick after his other shots and the nurse was so shocked as to how well he did. You all know what a great baby Aiden has been and what a layed back personality he has! I was so glad he wasn't even fussy by time we got home and has been his "normal" self this week. We are working on 2 more bottom teeth, and his top K-9's are swollen. We also took Aiden to get his feet measured and he is a 3 1/2 and a little on the wide side. We have been lucky since summer has been here and being on the boat no shoes were on our little man but with fall upon us we figured we needed to start looking into walking shoes. I can't believe the milestones that are quickly approaching and look forward to everyone of them! Thanks again for everyone that was able to make Aiden's First Birthday and for making the day wonderful for his mommy and daddy as well!

Dinner at JMK's

Aiden's Birthday Dinner September 17th, 2009

Clap your Hands!

Look at me mom!

Wow...I am good at this!

To cute for words!

Well I just had to do a quick update since I talked about this in my last posting. After enjoying a great dinner with Don's mom and dad, sister Michelle and my parents Aiden decided to give his mommy the best gift ever...he clapped! It was great because everyone was singing the Japanese birthday song that we all hear 10 times while dining there and everyone was clapping along at our table. Once the song was done Aiden decided to clap for himself...it was his birthday after all. It was such an exciting way to end the night and what a great memory for his mommy on his BIG First Birthday!