Christmas at Granma and Granpa's

I hope you all had a very, merry Christmas. We certainly did. Aiden actually let us sleep in a little. I guess we have a few years before we have to be getting up before the crack of dawn to see if Santa came by with presents. Santa brought Aiden a few toys that he enjoyed playing with and he brought Mommy and Daddy tickets to the Capital One Bowl. After breakfast we headed to Lilburn to Granma and Granpa's to exchange gifts with them and Aunt Jessie and Uncle Matt while we waited on the rest of the family. Once everyone arrived we had a great meal and a lot of fun just hanging out and exchanging gifts. Aiden had a blast playing with Alexander and entertaining everyone, but was completely exhausted and slept the whole way home.

On a side note, I read Luke 2 to Aiden on the way to Mom and Dad's and told him that the reason we celebrated Christmas was because Jesus was born to save us from our sins. When I was through reading Aiden started clapping. It was the cutest thing. I guess he was saying, "Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus."

Here are some of the highlights from the day.

Playing with one of the toys Santa brought him.

Talking on the phone from Aunt Jessie and Uncle Matt.

Thanking Granpa for the blocks.

Granpa tried to put a bow on him.

Being silly with Granpa.

Here's his new outfit from Granma and Granpa.

Getting some air outside on the deck.

Hanging out with Alexander Rice.

Alexander is my cousin, Chris's, 2 1/2 year old son.

Getting a little sleepy from all the fun.

Christmas Eve at the Zimmerman's

Christmas Eve at the Zimmerman's house is a long standing tradition. This year was a lot of fun with all the little ones. It took Aiden a little while to get used to all the people (about 43), but after he settled in he had a great time. Aunt Leslie bought Memaw and Papaw a toy for their collection. They keep Aiden's cousin Drew a couple of times a week too. Aiden and Drew had a blast playing with the new toy. Drew is 10 months old and starting to take his first steps. We played Dirty Santa with the grown-ups and Andy and I both ended up with something we liked. Memaw and Papaw have a laptop computer designed for kids for the little boys to play with. Aiden loves using a mouse and hitting the keys. It has a lot games and learning activities on it, but for now he's happy just playing with the mouse and keyboard.

Aiden and Papaw playing computer.

Drew giving Aiden a ride on the new car.

Aiden "steering" the car.

Aiden and Drew playing on the hearth.

Aiden does actually give Drew a turn. Apparently I just didn't get a picture of it....

Christmas at Nanny's

Saturday we celebrated Christmas at my grandmother's house in Lawrenceville. Aiden was the only "little one" there so he had a blast entertaining my uncles. He wore the shirt he made at preschool. Don't they do cute stuff? Apparently he didn't like having paint on his hand. Of course his grandmother found the reindeer bib which was cute too!

Rocking in the little chair Nanny found him with his reindeer bib on.

Getting some help from Granma and Aunt Jessie to open presents.

Aiden loves the train Nanny got him.

This cute outfit was a birthday present from Andy's sister, Aunt Rocky.

These are pjs my friend Stacie sent him.

You gotta love a 1 year old that will read his own bedtime story!

Aiden's Christmas Card

Andy and I received a wonderful surprise in the mail today. It was a white envelop addressed to us with no return address and I just figured it was a Christmas card from someone who forgot to put their return address sticker on the envelop. However, when I opened it up and took out the card I was pleasantly surprised to see that our little angel had remembered to send us a Christmas card. Isn't it cute? (I'm just glad they could fit his big ol' foot on the paper.) How nice of his teachers to take these and mail them to us! I just thought that was really neat and wanted to share it with all of you.

Merry Christmas! I hope you all enjoy this special time of year as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour!

12 month check-up

Aiden went for his 12 month check-up today. He is still proportionally off the charts, but you will be happy to know that he has slowed down a little. He is currently 33 inches and 29 pounds which means he has gained 20 pounds and 11 inches since birth-- not bad for the first year! Everything checked out great, except for a left ear infection that he was showing no signs of having. We starting introducing whole milk tonight so we'll see how that goes over. Aiden now has 8 teeth, 4 on top and 4 on bottom. He is just starting to run, has learned to kick and has recently learned to open doors (he can only do ones that push inward, he hasn't figured out pulling yet thankfully). He loves to wrestle with Boss and his dad or anyone else who happens to lie down on the floor. He "talks" non-stop sometimes, but still likes to sit quietly and observe what is going on around him. We are looking forward to a wonderful second year!

Here is a little Aiden story I forgot to relay with the birthday post. I know that I've mentioned that Aiden likes the remote control, but I don't know if I've mentioned that he knows what it's for and how to use it. At his birthday party at Memaw and Papaw's (Andy's parents), sometime in the middle of the party while everyone was just sitting around visiting, Aiden walked over to the end table and picked up the remote. He then pointed it at the TV, which was on football, and changed the channel to Cops. One of Andy's brother-in-law's thought that was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. He couldn't believe Aiden knew what to do with the remote. I just thought it was funny that he put in on Cops.

I was trying to get a picture of his Santa shirt but he kept hiding Santa.

Here are most of his teeth.

Playing the keyboard.

Playing AND singing.

Relaxing in his chair.

He made the paper Christmas tree ornament on the tree above his head at preschool.

Happy First Birthday Aiden!

It is hard to believe that this time last year I was being sliced open and having a baby yanked out of me, but here we are a year later. People tell you all the time that time flies, but you just can't fully appreciate it until you have a child. Aiden made the most of his birthday weekend by celebrating Saturday and Sunday with parties at both sets of grandparents. He is truly blessed to be able to be so close to both sets! We love you Granma & Granpa and Memaw & Papaw! Thank you for hosting parties for Aiden!

Saturday night we had my whole family over at my parents and I am so thankful that everyone was able to come. Aiden had a great time and enjoyed all his toys. He was so worn out that he slept until after 9 am this morning and Andy had to go to Sunday School without us.

After church today (which Aiden and I did make), we had a party at the Zimmerman's with a great turnout! There were several other little ones for Aiden to play with and watch. I was a little worried about how things would go since he hadn't really had a nap, but he was a trooper. Of course he fell asleep on the way home and except for about 30 min to change into pjs and check out the new toys has been asleep ever since.

I started to apologize for there being so many pictures on here, but you know what? I took almost 150 over the weekend, so be glad I narrowed it down this far. Anyway, the pictures are what you come to the blog to see, right? Aiden received lots of great toys, cute clothes, and a wonderful chair from Nanny. All in all it was a great birthday!

Looking good in his "It's fun to be one" hat that Granma found.

We were just glad it fit on his head.

Aiden thought he looked very grown-up in his moose vest and cords.

Checking out the gifts.

Wow, this box is bigger than I am.

I'm allowed to tear the paper off???

Getting into the unwrapping.

Great chair, Nanny!

I think he likes it!!!

Another present? You mean there are more?

I didn't know present opening could be so funny.

Alright, a drum! Aiden is very musical and loves to make noise.

Hammer and nails-- its always fun to hit something.

He loves to read so when he's not standing in the chair flipping it over this is probably what he'll be doing in it.

Almost time to blow out the candle...

with a little help from Granpa.

Alexander, my cousin Chris's son also enjoyed the birthday hat and drum.

Aiden and Alexander are forming a band. Aiden doesn't need drumsticks, he has a hammer.

This is party number 2 and cake number 2. Every bit as good as number 1.

Memaw decorated perfectly!

Lots of blue Happy 1st Birthday stuff!

This is Aiden's first cousin, Krystal holding her niece and Aiden's second cousin, Gracie.

This is Haylee, Aiden's second cousin. She really liked the cake.

Logan and Tela, more second cousins, made sure Aiden knew how to open his presents.

Memaw and Papaw got Aiden a keyboard to have at his house. They have one he plays with at their house and it is his favorite thing! Check out that grin!

There's Aunt Lisa in the background.

Checking out a helicopter with Daddy.

Here are his cool new pajamas and his dump truck with Lego's.

I kept ornaments off the low part of the tree, but Aiden hasn't really bothered it. The cats on the other hand....

I think he likes his new toys.

I love this look of concentration.