Lil Punkin'

We visited a pumpkin patch yesterday, and Aydan had the best time! She was running all over the place! It was really cute! We bought an enormous pumpkin for our front porch and a little tiny baby pumpkin for Aydan. It was perfect "pumpkin patch" weather...chilly, but very fall-like!

Checking in...

I know it's been a while since our last post, but we have been so busy with school starting, football season, etc. The fall is such a busy time of year. We are loving the cooler fall weather and spending lots of time outside. Aydan loves being outside!

I know this isn't the best picture, but I need to post something and this is all I have right now. We are planning to do another photo shoot soon. This is Aydan "helping" mom fold the towels. She's such a good helper. She is crazy about socks and shoes right now, and she wants to wear them even if she's not wearing anything else! They love the simple things, don't they?

We are just plugging along and doing great! Aydan has surpassed walking and prefers to run most of the time, and she is talking up a storm. I can't believe how big her vocabulary is and how she uses her words in the right context. To mom's dismay, one of her favorite sayings right now is "No way," and she says it all the time. We all have to be very careful what we say now, because she's a little parrot!

I promise we will check in again soon, and in the meantime we will work on taking some new pictures.

Aydan's 1st Birthday

On Saturday, August 22 we celebrated Aydan's first birthday with our family and friends. It was a great day! We ate BBQ, watched Aydan devour her cake, and opened presents. As you can see, Aydan really liked cake! It was the first time she's eaten anything like that, so she couldn't get enough. Everyone was so kind to come to the party, and you should have seen all the gifts! Aydan is so lucky to have so many people that love her!!

She LOVED it when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her! We had to sing twice, to her delight, because mom forgot to video the first time!

The party theme was pink and green ladybugs, and I may have gone a little overboard. There were pink and green polka dots everywhere! We chose ladybugs as the theme for a couple of reasons. First, when I was pregnant I saw ladybugs everywhere (I normally never see them), and for some crazy reason it made me think I was going to have a girl. Then, after Aydan was born and we named her, we started calling her Aydie Bug, so it's just a silly little theme we've had. I chose pink and green to make it more girly. I made her cake in the shape of a ladybug and made the adult cake with green and pink dots. Here's Aydan's cake...

and the adult cake...

I also made her a bib for her cake with white terry cloth and hot pink backing. It had a pink polka dot applique and her name in green. I made her a pillowcase dress with green ribbon and a cupcake applique.

Here are some more pics from the party...

Wild Dunes '09

I know this is very late, but just haven't had time to get all these pictures organized since school started!

We spent the first week of August on a fabulous vacation with my family at one of my absolute most favorite places in the world...Wild Dunes (Isle of Palms). Nuni, Papa, Taylor, Britney, Aydan and I were there all week. Mamo and Babs were there part of the week, Matt came down Tuesday after work, and Russ, Barb, and Ashley were there Friday through Sunday. The house was gorgeous and was big enough for us to all fit comfortably! Look at how great this house is...

One of my favorite parts was waking up bright and early with Aydan and jogging around the resort every morning before everyone else got up. (I remember doing the same thing last year when I was 8 months pregnant and thinking about how I couldn't wait until this summer when I would be pushing my baby girl in the jogging stroller all around the resort, so it was really cool to think back and remember how excited I was and to know that it was as fun as I thought it would be.)

Aydan totally loved the beach! She was walking much better than when we were in Florida earlier in the summer, which made it easier. She also wasn't as intent on eating the sand, which definitely reduced my stress level. She loved picking up shells and walking around the beach. As before, she had no fear of the ocean and would charge toward it.

We relaxed a lot, cooked dinners, played on the beach, went out to dinner, read books...all the fun, relaxing beachy things. The guys even played a couple rounds of golf on the Links course. It was a wonderful, relaxing vacation! I can't wait to do it again next year!

Happy Birthday, Aydan Claire!!!

My sweet baby girl is one year old today! I can't believe this time last year I was just a few hours from meeting her (and in some serious pain!)! People always tell you how fast it goes, but it is still hard to believe she's already been with us a year. It has been an awesome (and tiring!) year. Aydan has changed and grown so much. I am amazed each day by how smart she is and how much information she retains. She is an absolute joy, and I feel so blessed to be her mom (and lucky that Matt is such an amazing dad!) She will officially be one year old at 11:59 pm. Hopefully we all be asleep by that time, though!

Happy Birthday, Aydan Claire! We love you so much!

Photos of the big birthday party soon to come...

Our First Family Vacation

We just returned from our first official family vacation, and we had a wonderful time! We started our vacation at Tidewater (Cherry Grove/N. Myrtle Beach) where we took walks, played on the beach, swam in the pool, and did a lot of "chillaxing." This was Aydan's first time at the beach, and she loved it! She was not at all afraid of the ocean, but instead crawled right into it when we put her down. She also liked to "jump" over the waves, which consisted of hiking her leg up to step over every wave that came to her. It was so cute! As you can see from the picture above, she especially liked eating the sand...to mom's horror! The best part was getting to spend uninterrupted time together. We rarely spend time together with just the three of us, and it was really nice to hang out and relax together as a family!

On Sunday, Micah, Amanda, Kylee, and Camdyn joined us! We went to restaurants, shopped at the outlets, played at the beach, and had fun juggling three different nap schedules! It was lots of fun! Amanda made the girls matching shirts for beach photos...aren't they precious?!?

From there, we traveled to Daytona Beach, FL to join Matt's family on their annual beach vacation. MiMi and Ganddaddy were very happy to have Aydan there and spent most of their time playing with her. We hung out on the beach, went bowling, and shopped. We had a great time!

First Steps!!

It's all over now...Aydan has started walking! She took her first steps last night, and here is a video of today's steps. She's catching on very quickly! The video quality isn't the best, but we will add more soon! Can't believe how fast she's growing up!

Happy 1st!

My dad and Taylor had to work on the 4th, so my family celebrated July 4th on July 1st! We hung out at the pool and cooked burgers and dogs. It was a fun day! Nuni, Papa, Mamo, Babs, Ashley, and Taylor were here to enjoy the fun. Aydan had fun with everyone and learned to drink from a straw for the first time! We had a fun and relaxing day! Here are some photos...

Happy 4th of July!

We have had a great 4th of July! Our dear friends Jaime and Steve Foushee came to visit on their way back from the beach. Micah, Amanda, Kylee, and Camdyn and Wes, Kelbe, and Jacob came over and we had a pool day and grilled out burgers and dogs. After dinner we went to the lake to watch the fireworks. One thing is for sure, Aydan does NOT like the life jacket. Like, she really, really doesn't like it. Hopefully she'll grow out of that and learn to like it. We had a great day with our friends! Hope you all had a great day! I can't believe it's July already...the summer is going by so quickly!! Here are some pics from our day...

Our Little Fish

We put Aydan in the pool for the first time yesterday! MiMi, Granddaddy, Nuni, Papa, and Aunt Ash came to watch. We thought she would be scared or at least not like the cold water, but she loved it!! She loved to splash her hands in the water, and didn't even mind too much when it splashed her in the face. She even "swam..."

and floated on her back....

I think we definitely have a swimmer on our hands. It was such a fun day! We are going to have lots of fun in the pool this summer!

The Best Thing

I can't believe how long it's been since we've updated. We have been so busy and so much has been happening! However, the best thing is that Aydan has started giving kisses! She does it on command and even gives a few on her own! It is the sweetest thing, and I just LOVE it!

Let's see, what else has been going on...she's copying things we say now, and loves to say "Hey Sophie" when she sees Sophie, although it sounds like "Hey Zozie!" Yesterday she clapped and said "Yay" after she kissed me. We had her 9 month appointment last week. She weighs 17 pounds and is 28 inches long. Dr. Mac says she is growing just fine and is very advanced for her age. She has one shining tooth down at the bottom, but more are sure to follow soon. We also found out she has an ear infection, but we can't complain too much since she went 9 months without getting sick! She's on antibiotics and seems to be doing better.

My family bought me a sewing/embroidery machine for my birthday, so I am very excited about that!! I will be posting pictures of my creations!

We are almost finished with the Kid Cave! We just have to put on the finishing details, accessories, etc. Matt has worked really hard and done an amazing job! I will post before and after pics as soon as we put on the finishing details!

I will try to do better with my updates. Summer vacation starts in 9 days, so hopefully I'll have more time on my hands! : )

Biker Chicks

Matt and I rode the motorcycle with some people from Trinity Baptist on Saturday. Micah and Amanda of course were there. We rode to Shealy's BBQ in Batesburg-Leesville, and it was a beautiful day! Aydan didn't go with us, but did pose for a pic! Such a cute biker babe! Mom and dad look sweet in our helmets, I know! Safety first!