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! : )