Bye-Bye Ba-Ba!

My babies are now Big Boys!

They officially said bye-bye to their ba-ba's on June 19, 2008 and have been far too busy to even look back. I hear horror stories about how it took parents so long to wean their kid from a bottle but once again, our kiddos exceeded our expectations. It was a perfect, stress-free transition. AMAZING! It took us a while to find the right sippy cup, but we think we've found it.

Their favorite drink is by far the vanilla soy milk. We even have JASON drinking fake milk!

What else is new? Oh! Aiden now claps! YAY! That took us forever. Jackson? Not interested. He's got far more important things to do than sit around and clap to "if you're happy and you know it..."

Jackson has wonderful eye/hand coordination (or at least I'm impressed!). He will sit at his highchair and while waiting for his next bite, he will pick up little grains of rice, one by one, and stick them in his mouth!

They've both come such a long way from the days when they were totally helpless and dependent on us.

Worth their weight in gold

This is just a quick note, because I keep forgetting to update everyone with their weight check at their one year visit.

Jackson came into this world weighing only 5lbs 1oz and one year later weighs 24lbs even!! He is in the 75th% for his length and weight.

Aiden came into the world weighing only 4lbs 12oz and now one year later is a whopping 20lbs even! He is still the "small baby" in the bottom 10th%.

We've got a walker and a climber!

One walks and one climbs the walls and furniture!

Aiden is getting more and more steady and confident with his walking every day. He's taking 4-5 steps in a row now and not just leaps forward. He can nearly go from sitting to standing without pulling up or holding onto anything. It's amazing! Even I can't do that! lol Just kidding. Kinda.

Jackson has really no interest in walking yet but he is far better at balance than his brother. Jackson can stand steady for MINUTES at a time but he just doesn't want to walk. If he's standing and there is something of interest, he's no fool. He knows that it takes less time to just drop to his knees and take off crawling. Yesterday he mastered something new though. He went from standing up against the couch to crawling all over it! He has not figured out how to climb up on the couch. Getting down? We'll that's going to be interesting.

Happy Birthday Party

Here we are in the middle of it all!
Life simply couldn't be better.

The Snake Cake Party was a HIT, if I do say so myself. ;o)

We had SO MUCH FUN and the boys got SO spoiled! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came and those who wanted to! I know so many of you out there were thinking of us and wishing you lived closer! Here are some photo's of the big Snake Cake Bash!
Aiden (left) and Jackson (right) are checking out the cool gift that Uncle Brian and Jerry got them! They LOVE this toy!


Uncle Brian holding Aiden (top). And poor Jackson (bottom) is thinking, "Hey, Aunt Kaity! WHO was this gift addressed to again?" Ha! Ha!

And here is Aunt Jen and Uncle Drew (top) who are 3 months away from welcoming little Dylan Chase to our family! Jackson and Aiden already have a favorite cousin picked out! Grandpa Mark and Jackson (bottom) are spending some time talking about fly fishin' before the party started.

Jason and Pat getting the party started, family style! Thanks guys, for the amazing chicken and dogs! Everyone loved it!!

Aunt Cheryl and Nana with Aiden(top). Oma feeding Jackson yummy potato salad(bottom)!

Check out all these new toys!!!! Dale is King of the Mountain!

And the picture you've all been waiting for......

JAKE!
The Snake Cake!

Blogging. The new way to keep updated.

This is it. THE BLOG. I've been told by so many of my friends that this is THE way to keep everyone updated on the going-ons on your life so here it is.

THE BLOG.

Where do I begin? Today is June the 3rd 2008. Nearly one year ago my little Mini Men were born. That's a hard pill to swallow. It hurts to know that already a year has gone by but it also makes me so proud to see them growing up and learning new things each and every day. They really are miracles and I have yet to take a single day for granted.

I think we will just start with our updates. I've always been told that I never give my own updates or updates about Jason, that it's always about the kids so I'll make sure to always start out with myself or Jason and then talk about the kiddos. We'll save the best for last. ;o)

I am fabulous! I've been giving myself a break from the March of Dimes to spend some time with the monsters before they are officially one year old. I've been soaking in the love. I recently took a cake decorating class which was so much fun! There are 4 courses and I took the very first one because believe me, I needed to start with the basics. I enjoyed the class so much that I'll be starting the second course tomorrow night!

Here is a picture of my most recent cake. It was my first attempt at a casual wedding cake. I was just playing around with the colors. Over the next few days I'll be working on two cakes for the boys' photo shoot that Jason and I are going to be ambitious enough to attempt at home. LOL!

Speaking of ambitious! Jason. Haha. What a man, husband and father! We just love him to death and wouldn't trade him for all the alone time in the world! I don't know how he's ever going to top this last Mother's Day. I got a pool for the backyard which has been AMAZING! It's a big ole 16 foot by 4 foot above ground pool that we've been using like CRAZY and the two most fitting and cute cards. Oh! AND a nap! He is the BEST! He's also been doing wonders at work! He's being recognized all the time for going above and beyond what is asked of him. He's in charge of projects far more advanced than what he's getting paid for (it's the government, what else is new?), ect. but the best thing is....he's finally getting recognized for it! I'm so proud of him. We will be going to Houston (YAY Miranda!!!!!) in late July for some more work training.

Jackson. Wow has he changed.

No more helmet.
Seven teeth (ouch!)
He is so full of energy and spunk. He's becoming more and more demanding and harder and harder to please. He's still pretty laid back and easy going but he's a lot more vocal these days. He is not at all interested in being fed like a baby. If you won't let him feed himself then he'd rather not eat, thank-you-very-much. Oh, and please don't think you can trick him by feeding him something similar off the same plate...oh no no no. He's no fool. He wants EXACTLY what you are eating. NOW please.

He is all over the place, normally with Aiden following right behind.
He gets himself in these crazy situations where I just scratch my head and think, "How did he DO that?" for example...I heard muffled crying coming from the living room area and I knew it was Jackson's cry. I just thought that maybe Aiden had knocked him down but at the time, it wasn't like Jackson to sit back and let Aiden stomp on him...so I went to check it out. I couldn't see Jackson anywhere but I kept hearing this muffled cry. It took me a minute but I finally figured out that Jackson was hiding UNDER THE COUCH and was mad because he was trying to sit up. Haha!!

On to Mr. Aiden, or I'll NEVER finish.

Ohhhhh Mr. Drama!! Ok, so they are BOTH Mama's Boy's (and don't let Jason tell you otherwise) but Aiden is especially so. He's feels as if his HOME is planted right on my hip. And jealousy!! Already! They are possessive little guys. Aiden used to be my little guy that would get trampled on and pushed down but not anymore. Oh man, have the tables turned. For what Aiden lacks in size, he more than makes up for in attitude. He pushes Jackson down, pulls his hair, ect. All the same things that were done to him not too long ago. What goes around, comes around I suppose.

Aiden will let you feed him some things but for the most part, he's all about being a Big Boy.
We are completely off formula and completely off his acid reflux meds! YAY Aiden! AND Mr. Underdog Aiden was the ONLY ONE in our family to miss this last bug that got us sick. It started with Jackson, then I got it, then Jason but Aiden has remained unaffected and unamused with the rest of us. He wants to know why all we want to do is lay around crying.
Aiden is also going to be the heart breaker. No doubt. Aiden loves himself some females. Females of all shapes and sizes. All different colors and ages. He doesn't discriminate.
BREAKING news!! Literally.
Aiden now has SIX teeth!!! and he can wave!
Plus, our bets are that he is going to be the first to take his steps. It will be any day now, we can feel it.

And I had to save THEBEST news for last. We had Jackson's cardiology appointment on Monday and Dr. J told us that even though it rarely ever happens, it looks as if Jackson's heart condition has actually started to improve somewhat. He said that normally this would be the time we would have to start thinking about surgery but at this point, he (Dr. J) says that Jackson may never need the surgery! This is far better than any news we were expecting!! So a big thank you to everyone out there who's been following Jackson's story and praying for him. We appreciate it.

Now, before I get distracted and forget, I'm going to publish this.