Happy Birthday Aidan!!

Today we celebrated Aidan's 2nd year with us.  I can't believe he is already two!  As it is with Jacob, it still feels like yesterday that Aidan joined the family.  It's been amazing and entertaining watching him develop such a completely different personality than Jacob.  (Not that I expected them to be the same - it's just interesting to see how different they are!)  Aidan is and always has been our fearless child.  If he sees something he wants or thinks of something he wants to do - he just does it.  No thought needed.  I am still amazed that this child, who can trip on nothing walking down the hall, can climb on anything like he's a professional mountain climber and not fall down.  Aidan is typically a fairly easy going child.  He takes after his Daddy with that.  That is if it doesn't have to do with meal time.  Once you call for breakfast, lunch or dinner, it better be on the table.  There's no patience when it comes to food with this child.  And luckily he is a great eater!  Aidan is our entertainer, no doubt about it.  We laugh everyday with (or at) him, whether it be something funny he says, a funny face he makes or if he's falling down for the millionth time that day (of course not if he gets hurt)  One of my favorite things about Aidan is that he is my little snuggle bug.  He loves to cuddle and be close.  We love him very much and our so blessed to have him in our family.  I can't imagine life without him.  Oh, and of course, in true Aidan fashion, he has a huge bump on his forehead.  There isn't a major picture day (holiday of some sort) that Aidan doesn't have a bump on his head!  Oh well.  What can you do?

A quick look back

November 30, 2006

November 30, 2007

November 30, 2008

Trying to get a picture of the birthday boy, who was too interested in the balloons.

Enjoying his birthday donut

Jacob enjoys his donut too

Opening his first present

Checkin' out the tractor

We did go out to dinner to celebrate, but I didn't get any pictures of that.  Afterwards we headed home to open the rest of his gifts and eat some yummy cupcakes.

"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday dear Aidan . . ."

Blowing candles out can be really hard!

Umm, could I just open my present in peace please?

His own dump truck!

Super excited about play-doh!!!

Yummy cupcakes!!

Jacob was having fun making funny faces for the camera.  I'm only posting one. :-)

Enough, enough, no more photos!!!

Ok, one last one.  But I'm not giving you a real smile.

Family Birthday party

To continue the boys birthday celebrations, we invited family and a few friends to join us at Peter Piper Pizza.  Again, I think everyone enjoyed themselves and I know the boys had a great time.  Thanks again for everyone who helped make our boys birthdays special!

Our little Birthday Boys

Part of the party crew

More party goers

What do you mean I have something on my face.

Our littlest party goer, Jake.

Last table of partiers!

First present opened - a giant fish pillow from Aunt Lori and Uncle Les - Jacob loved it!

Aidan wasn't so sure . . . but he eventually warmed up to it and loves it too!

Notice Aidan's big dilema . . . keep eating gummy worm or open present.  The gummy worm won for a while.

Don't even think about it, it's mine.

Hey wait a minute, I only got pants, what did he get?

Bradley was so excited watching the boys open their gifts - it was so cute!

Mark and Justin - so cute!!

Great Grandmom, Gramps, and Aunt Jamie

A little shy during the singing of "Happy Birthday"

I guess Aidan finished all of his dirt pudding out of the cup and decided the cup itself must taste good with the remnants.

Jacob is teasing Mommy by pretending to eat her dessert!

The Armstrong Family

t:b,l:r

Luke, Josh, Les, Andrea and Lori

Birthday Party #1

We have had a fun filled birthday weekend.  We started off the weekend on Friday with a birthday party for the boys with my moms group.  We all met at the Railroad park for the festivities.  It was a nice day, though a bit windy.  Everyone seemed to have a great time.  I am so thankful to be connected to an awesome group of women and thank them for helping make this a great day for my boys.  A thanks also goes out to my Aunt Lori and grandma (Nan) who helped set up for the party and watch the boys.  I am so thankful to have them!!

(*more pictures of the family birthday party coming soon...)

The centerpiece - our desserts

Birthday Boy #1

Birthday boy #2

Little Paulo man tasting the good eats

Ethan, dining on delectable worms

Behind: Willow, Cricket, Hannah and Paulo

The little men playing in the sand.

Nicholas, Ethan, Aidan and Rowan

Sweet girls, Julia and Paige

Rowan, waiting for the train

Cutie pie Paige waiting for the train

More train waiting

Jacob, Aidan and Paige

Jacob explaining to Paige how the big scoop works

Opening presents

All the kiddos helping

Relaxation . . . mommy style

Imagine the sound of nice, warm bath water filling up the tub.  The smell of lavender filters through the room.  The bubbles playfully fill the tub as the water turns a deep sea green as the sea foam is absorbed into the water.  The perfect magazine is waiting to be read . . .  The warm water is embracing as I slip into the tub, eager to let my aches and pains melt away.  Then "Splash!" a rubber fish finds it way into the water and is soon joined by a rubber crab.  Four little hands are fishing their way through the water trying to find them.  "Watch mommy, watch mommy!" they screech.  Cody and I tried to explain that watching mommy wouldn't be very interesting.  "Watch mommy, watch mommy!"  I sigh and give in.  When exhausted, it just seems easier than listening to them cry and throw a fit.  I attempt to read my magazine while the boys play in the water.  I glance down at my protruding belly to see a crab peering back up at me.  Apparently my belly is the Island of this sea.  Back to reading.  Then Poke!  Aidan finds it humorous to poke my nipple.  I quickly explain why this isn't funny.  While attempting to read an article to see if I could live with the the Nikon D90 versus the much more expensive Nikon D300 (like I could really afford either), Squirt!!  I am squirted with water from the fish and crab and told that they are "throwing up".  Lovely.  One more try at reading.  One sentence into the article and I see Aidan dunking his head over the side of the tub into the water.  He finds this hilarious - why wouldn't he?  I give up on the magazine.  Sit in the tub for a few more minutes while fish and crabs swim, rest and throw up on me.  Then I call in the reinforcements, afraid of how much water is actually on the bathroom floor.  Cody cleans it up, takes the boys to put on pj's and I step out the tub, dry off and feel much the same as I did before.  So much for that nice relaxing bath.  I have the thought of it and some humorous memories.

3 years ago today . . .

Three years ago today began a new chapter in our lives.  It was the day that Jacob was born.  An awesome day that seems like just yesterday.  It's so hard to believe that our first little baby is already 3!  He has filled this chapter of our lives with so much joy.  It has been amazing to witness all of his little life changes and watch what kind of little guy he is growing into.  At the age of three, Jacob is a very passionate person.  He tends to lean towards being a perfectionist and can get frustrated when things don't work exactly they way he wants them to.  From day one, he has always been one who studies and takes everything in.  Which in turn, is the reason he can figure things out so quickly.  He is very smart and loves to learn.  His hobbies now are trucks, tractors (which we call by their Bob the Builder names - which works for me because I never remember the real name) and dirt.  Jacob loves to play with Aidan, most of the time.  He is super sweet with Aidan when he gets hurt and neither of them can go to sleep without giving the other huggies and kisses.  He loves his family and is so blessed to have so many family members around that care and love for him on a daily basis.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

First, a step back in time . . .

November 15, 2005

November 15, 2006

November 15, 2007

November 15, 2008

We started off Jacob's 3rd birthday with a yummy breakfast of donuts and one little present.  The funny thing was that when we asked Jacob if he wanted to open his present, his response was "No, eat more donuts."  Cody finally had to open it for him.  But he liked it when he saw it!  Then for a yummy dinner, we went to Peter Piper Pizza for a few games and some good eats.  Finally we ended the night back at home with the grandparents for more presents and some yummy cupcakes.  All in all, it was a fun day.