Has it really been THAT long!?!

Aidan is FIVE years old!!!

Aidan Alexandru - 5 lb. 6 oz. 20.5 inches long

It is hard to believe that it has been 5 whole years since Aidan came into the world and blessed us with all of his cuteness. He is an amazing little boy and we are so thankful to have him.

I have never actually written Aidan's birth story before but I figured it's only fair that I do it now since I have written Colin's down already. So here is a (very) condensed version of the days leading up to his entrance to the world.....

Aidan was a surprise baby and I have to say he is the best surprise I've ever been given. My pregnancy with him was fairly easy in the beginning and I was able to keep up with working part time and full time nursing school through most of it.

When I was 29weeks pregnant, my nursing instructor noticed that I was pausing to breathe about every 5 minutes or so while helping care for one of my patients and encouraged me to call my doctor. I told her that I was sure that it was just braxton hicks contractions but she felt otherwise.

The contractions continued and I was sent to the hospital for monitoring the same day my instructor said something. While I was there, I dilated from 0-2 centimeters within an hour and everyone sprang into action.

I was given magnesium sulfate (awful stuff by the way) and turbutaline shots to try to stop labor and thankfully, a lot of medication and 3 days later things slowed down and stopped progressing.

My doctor sent me home on strict bedrest and told me I had to lay on my left side for the remainder of my pregnancy and could only leave the house for appointments. That is how I spent the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy....

Between 36-38 weeks along my I became very very swollen and my blood pressure started to creep up. My feet were so swollen that if you pressed your hand into them, your handprint would be left behind. Thinking about it now I kinda wish I had a picture but it was pretty gross so it is probably good that I don't... :)

Soon before I was 38 weeks I was sent back to the hospital to have blood work for pre-eclampsia run because my blood pressure was too high and my swelling was continuing to get worse.

My mom came to pick me up because Alex needed to be at a class and we were sure that they would check me out and send me home. At this point I was DONE with the hospital. They had already kept me there on three seperate occasions and I was sure that I was just going to be pregnant for the rest of my life.

Within 5 minutes of sitting in the hospital bed, my room was swarming with about 10 different people and they were saying something about the baby's heartrate dropping during my contractions. They tried flipping me around different ways and his heartrate was still way too low so my doctor came in and told me it was baby time.

I was being rushed into an operating room, one of the nurses was starting an iv in my arm on the way there and another one was making me sign a consent form for the surgery and all I could think at that point was that Alex was going to miss the whole thing.

My mom called Alex and told him to come right NOW because Aidan was coming via c-section and thankfully he was running late to school and made it to the hospital right after they started the surgery. I was so relieved! It's a good thing for him too that he made it because I remember very vividly that I was actually mad at him for not being there. It wasn't his fault but I was still mad (and very scared!). :)

Once Aidan was out they cleaned him up and checked him out to see if there was any obvious reason his HR was dropping and they never did find anything. He was perfect and healthy and pink as can be. We were surprised at his size though because they estimated 4 weeks before that he weighed almost 6 pounds and he came out weighing only 5.6 pounds. He was small for a full term baby!

I'd like to be able to say that it was love at first sight but unfortunately that isn't how it was with Aidan. I think it had something to do with the whole chaos of an unexpected emergency c-section but it definitely took a little bit of time before I was able to feel connected to him. By day two though I was fully in love :) It just took that much time to feel real!

Aidan is such an amazing little guy and has always been too smart for his own good. I wish I had a video of all of the crazy things he says and does. He loves to dance, and be silly, he takes things apart just so he can put them back together (he got his daddy's engineering brain), he's sarcastic, funny, sweet, caring, and so many other things. I don't think anyone has made me laugh as much as Aidan has in the time he has been here. So thankful for him!

So there you have it Aidan, this is the story of the day you were born. There are a lot of other details that I didn't add in here but just know that it is a day I will never forget and even though it was a little crazy, I wouldn't change any of it because it gave me YOU. You are an amazing little boy and you bring so many smiles to my face and the faces of everyone else. Mommy and daddy love you little guy. I can't believe you are FIVE years old! Stop growing so fast!!!!

Happy Birthday little man.... You're pretty awesome :)

first day home - I think Daisy like him... until he started crawling anyway

can you believe how little the girls were!?!

One year old - always being sneaky

he just poked at his cake, he has always HATED being messy

2nd Birthday!

goodness he's cute :)

3 years old!!

He had a Lego party and mommy spent TONS of time on his cake

4 years old!

Baby Colin is in this picture too even though you can't see him! I was about 19 weeks pregnant here

He is one awesome big brother!!

School Already!?!

One day you are buying them diapers...

... and the next you are dropping them off at preschool...

My baby big boy Aidan started pre-K this week and it's still hard for me to believe that we have already reached this milestone! It seems like just last week that we were watching him learn to walk and talk and now this!?!

Seriously though, if you are a parent or a parent-to-be, life moves so quickly once kids come along and there is no going back. Try to enjoy those long nights when you aren't able to get much sleep because the baby wants to be held or those days that you get nothing done around the house because your little ones have other ideas. Once those days are gone, you ARE going to miss them. Thankfully, we spaced our kids out so I still have a baby to keep me company when Aidan is gone.

Anyway, Aidan LOVES school. He loves his teachers, and the kids in his class and especially the class theme. His is the "frog" class and everything is froggy related. What little boy doesn't like frogs?

I'm so glad he is enjoying his class and I am thankful that I will now get some special mommy-Colin time while Aidan isn't around.



I had to get a picture of his backpack that is bigger than he is :)

SEVEN months!!!

Dear time, please slow down!!

My little Coli-bear turned 7 months already and I am falling in love with this little baby more and more every day. He has such a sweet spirit and has added so much to our little family! We are SO blessed!

This month, Colin's biggest milestone is the fact that he has become mobile! Watch out world, here he comes! He has also learned to go from his stomach into a sitting position and is starting to climb up on things also.

He definitely recognizes the sign for "milk" now and has started doing it himself (with a lot of enthusiasm!) when he is hungry. I'm hoping that he will follow in his big brother's foot steps and start recognizing other signs soon. I'm trying to be more consistent with signing to him when I say certain words I want him to learn.

Colin is growing like a weed! He isn't eating a lot of baby food (aka purees) but he loves anything that we are eating. He has tried plain toast, banana, mango, spaghetti noodles, rice, green beans, cucumbers, and a few other things. At this point food is mainly just a learning tool so I'm not concerned that he is not overly interested yet. Food before one is just for fun after all! He'd be happy just drinking his milk all day and snacking on whatever we are eating.

Another HUGE milestone that we have reached (and probably the most exciting one for me) is that he now sleeps through the night every single night. We made the decision to move him to his own room because none of us were getting any sleep with him sleeping in his pack n play in our bedroom. Within 3 nights of making the move he was sleeping all night. I wish we had done it sooner!

He usually goes to bed between 7-7:30 pm and he sleeps straight through until about 7:30 in the morning. It is the most amazing feeling ever. Thank you Coli-bear!!

I'm not sure how much he weighs now or how tall he is but he has finally started getting too big for size 0-3 months. Now he is wearing mostly 3-6 month clothes and some 6-9 months as well. He's not my itty bitty baby anymore!! *tear*

Colin is the most loving little boy and he has a smile for anyone that wants one. He is easy going and just a very happy baby. I can't imagine not having him as part of our family!

Well, those are my updates. Guess what time it is now!?! That's right, PHOTOBOMB!!!

just hanging out with big brother

This child LOVES carbs. Give him bread and he always needs two fists to get it in quick enough...

Aidan spent two nights away from home and they missed each other a lot!

Push ups!

"This stuff is weird mom"

"I'm gonna eat you 'nana!"

Harleigh doesn't want to miss out on anything

sweet sweet boy

My happily ever after...

 6 years ago....

..... I married my best friend. It's still hard to believe that it has been that long and yet at the same time it feels like forever. I am so beyond thankful for the amazing years I have had with Alex and am looking forward to many many more.

Alex and I met when I was just 16 and he was 18. At the time I didn't feel like we were really young but now I look at my 16 year old little sister and realize just how young we were! Why is it that we are always "so much older" when we were a certain age and then we see someone who is that age now and they seem like such babies!?!

Anyway, we met at college  in the fall of 2003 and I can't say that I liked him right away because at that point I wanted nothing to do with having a boyfriend (although there was definitely something that attracted me to him and kept me interested in getting to know him more). I dual enrolled my last two years of high school and earned my AA degree at the same as I graduated from high school and he had already graduated. I think the age difference was definitely a good thing since everyone knows boys take forever to grow up :) In December of 2003 we started dating right after I turned 17 and we have been going strong ever since.

When we stood at the alter and said our vows, I never imagined how many twists and turns life was going to throw our way. Alex has stuck with me through different surgeries, ICU and hospital stays for asthma, pregnancy complications, preterm labor, long hospital stays, etc. We have had a car stolen from us when we were poor college kids trying to take care of Aidan as a newborn; Alex struggled and succeeded going through college and graduating as a Mechanical Engineer all while working nights and taking care of us; we spent 9 months going through a major headache of buying a house, bought three cars together, and many many other adventures. What a crazy 6 years it has been!

This week actually brought with it many bad memories from our 5th anniversary and I have struggled quite a bit trying to block that out but it has been hard. We didn't celebrate our 5th because I was at my sickest point in my pregnancy and wasn't able to stop throwing up. Fun, right? I am determined to move forward though and make new (good) memories to replace all of the bad ones that still haunt me. We went out to eat for the first time in a LOOOONNNNG time last night so at least we are on the right track!

Well, that is my walk down memory lane for now and while I run the risk of grossing everyone out with a bunch of mushy talk, I just want to say that I am so thankful to have Alex in my life. I have never met a more hardworking, dedicated, caring, creative, amazing person and I am so blessed that he is all MINE!!! 

So Alex, happy anniversary to you. Thank you for taking your vows seriously and staying by me in sickness and in health, no matter what happens. You have been my rock and I don't know how I would have survived this past year without your love and support. Love you babe!

The 4 Year Old Mind!

Tonight I bravely (or stupidly) set on on the adventure of grocery shopping (with coupons!) with both Aidan and Colin - by myself... It went okay but I'm not sure that I'll be attempting a big trip like that anytime soon!

Even though it was hectic (and that's putting it lightly), I am consistently saving more money than I'm spending so I am very happy with that! Woohoo!!


Anyway, on to the point if this post. When we came home I took one pack of toilet paper into my bedroom and layed it against the wall. I showed Aidan where I put it and asked him if he could please bring all of the other packs into my room and stack them on the one I put there. There were 4 bags total.


I went to the kitchen to make dinner and I noticed it was taking Aidan a while but I figured he must have gone to the other room to play or something.


When I put Colin to bed I saw what took him so long. He had unwrapped every single pack of toilet paper and stacked all of the rolls up. He's such a cutie! I guess next time I'll be more specific!! (Or maybe if he's being naughty I'll *accidentally* knock the towers over and ask him to restack them... OOPS!!)


Here's his final project :) I'm always laughing with this little man around...

My 1/2 year old

Happy 6 months to my sweet boy!

Can time just slow down a little, Please! How did 6 months of my pregnancy go by SOOOOO painstakingley slow and I blink once and my little boy is HALF A YEAR OLD!?! How does that happen? While I am loving every minute of his cute little personality that he is developing and finally noticing an improvement on the way that I feel physically and emotionally after the toll that the pregnancy took on me, I still sometimes wish I could freeze time. I honestly don't know if I will ever have newborn again - I don't know if I'm brave enough to go through another pregnancy - and that makes me sad.... Ahhhhhh, oh well, enough whining and thinking about things. It's time for an update on all my little boog is up to lately!

I took my little chunky monkey to the doctor and he now weighs 14.4 pounds and is 25 inches tall!! He has grown 10 pounds and 7 inches since he was born! Unbelievable!!
Let's see, this past month Colin has learned to sit up unassited for a LOOOONG time and he is oh so close to crawling. He has also become a champion roller. If there was a rolling event in the olympics, he has a good chance of getting the gold. It is nearly impossible to change his diapers or clothes without him flipping in the middle of it but it's so cute that I sorta don't mind it. :)

He just started to get a taste of some food and he is anxious for more! He tries to grab anything he can off of our plates and has spilled food on either Alex or me more than once because of his grabbing abilities.

He has decided that he likes to sleep on his side and he always needs a blanket to hold. We have also found a pacifier that he loves but I already made a whole post for that. Can you tell that I am SO excited to not be the only one/thing that soothes him?!

This kid is the snuggliest, most cuddly little squishy baby I've ever held. He is very different than his big brother who was much more interested in moving around. I love that he's a little snuggler! It's kind of adorable...

One thing that I am less than thrilled with is the fact that Colin has not been sleeping at night as well lately. He thinks that night time is the perfect opportunity to practice his crawling. I know it's just a phase but it's hard to function on very little sleep!

Colin is just a sweet baby with an amazing personality and I am so blessed to be his mommy. He has a smile that lights up the room and he smiles at just about anyone that smiles at him. It wasn't easy bringing him into the world but I am SO thankful I had the support and care that I had to be able to endure my pregnancy with him. I can't imagine my life without him.

That is all of the updates that I can think of for Colin. I don't know his weight and length yet because his check-up isn't for two more days, but I'll update that when I have it.

There isn't much new with Aidan, he is just doing more of the same of his goofy tactics. He is getting excited for school and his birthday (in fact, he has the next 5 birthdays all planned out). He still loves his brother and even though he is a little mischievious, he really is a good kid. Love my boys!

I won't bother with a lengthy update on myself, I'll just say that I'm doing better than I was which is awesome. I have a ways to go but it's a work in progress. I am still having nightmares, though it isn't quite EVERY night and I am definitely not as panicky during the day. So SO thankful!

Enough of the updates, here we go to with my usual photobomb!!

first time eating rice cereal

I can do it, mom!

I love this boy!!

Just hanging out with the big kids, no big deal :)

he tried cucumbers and cooked carrots

so serious...

Roooollllliiinnnngggg over :)

can't forget my big boy! He's growing so fast!!

My absolute favorite <3