Jaiden's 1st Birthday

My sweet, sweet Jaiden turned 1 year old on October 20th. This year it fell on a Wednesday so I took Hannah & Jaiden to celebrate at the zoo. We stopped by Zaxby's and picked up lunch. We added a special treat and ordered cookies to celebrate our special baby! Jaiden slept the whole time we were looking at the animals. I took Hannah to play in the kid area and Jaiden played by picking up rocks, leaves, and grass. Of course, she tried to eat of all them but she had fun exploring and running!

This is why Jaiden never has a bow in her hair!

Enjoying a french fry!

I realized after I took this picture that this rock doesn't look like a rock! However I assure that it is and not something we picked up at the zoo! :)

Jaiden is almost 13 months now. These are the things she is doing:

*She is running - everywhere!

*She can say "mama," "dada," "hello," "hey," "Hannah," "Love you," "Bye," & "no!" When we shout "War Eagle" she says "hey!" after. So cute!!

*She only drinks from a cup and is on whole milk now.

*She loves to dance and anytime the song "Little White Church" comes on she starts shaking her head.

*She puts everything into her mouth!

* Her favorite song is "The Wise Man"

*She loves going to Bible class and is learning to participate well. She smells her flower, pats her Bible, and dances to the songs!

*She has 6 teeth - 4 on top and 2 on bottom.

*She refuses to eat baby food but will eat anything else I put in front of her. She loves to eat fruit and cheerios.

*She wears a size 4 diaper. When she went for her 1 year check-up, she weighed 19 lbs, 14 oz.

*She loves to give hugs and kisses. When she give a hug, she says "awww."

*She sleeps through the night. I rock her until she settles down and gets sleepy. Then I put her in her bed with a blanket and Minnie Mouse & she drifts off to sleep. Most of the time she talks to herself for a little while and I could listen to her do that for hours!

*She loves the telephone and gets very angry when I take it away from her.

*She loves baby dolls. She is so sweet with them (most of the time). She will hug them and pat them on the back.

*She loves her big sister!

*She has provided us with so much joy! I can't even express how sweet she is. She is busy and all over the place but she is so full of life! Her smile & laugh melt my heart!!

Jan's Shower

My sister-in-law, Jan was expecting twin girls due on November 22nd. However they had a different plan in mind and came on September 23rd! Sophie & Maggie were born the Thursday before their shower which was planned on Sunday. However Jan was in the hospital recovering and the babies were in the NICU. So they rescheduled her shower until October 10th. They had a great shower. The babies are now home and doing well.

Jan with Hannah, Jaiden, & Emily (my niece)

They were showered with LOTS of gifts!

This was one of my favorite things ~ are these not the cutest?

Another one of my favorites ~ these are handmade. If they had a "J" on them I would have stolen them because Jaiden has tiny feet!

Opening more gifts!

Wow, it has been an emotional 6 weeks for our family. However I am happy to report that the girls are home and doing good. I have yet to meet them. They came home last week and I have had a small cold since then. I will not take any germs to those sweet babies. Plus Hannah & Jaiden have to wait a little longer until they get to meet them. So I need to find a time to get a baby sitter so I can go. Meeting Sophie & Maggie is on the TOP of my list of things to do this week. I can't wait to love on them and let them know how much their aunt loves them!

Texas ~ Part 4

Thursday was our last day in Texas. We went first thing to visit mom and say goodbye to her and dad. Then we headed to the Houston Space Center before going home. Here are the pics from our day...

Our ride home was LONG. Josh said he could make it so we decided to drive all the way home. In two hours we had to stop 3 times for bathroom breaks. The joys of traveling with children. Jaiden was restless and tired of being in the car. Then about 4 hours from home, Hannah began throwing up. She finally fell asleep and we continued our drive. When we got in AL, we got stuck behind a truck carring way too much weight for his pickup truck. He was driving slow and going all over the road. He finally pulled over and let us pass him. We got home around 3:00 am. We all crashed in bed and Hannah was fine the next day! It was a fun trip and mom is recovering well. She got home last Thursday night. We are optimistic that all will be well with her. Our God is a GREAT God!

Texas ~ Part 3

Wednesday we started the day by going to the Children's Museum. We all had a lot of fun. Hannah had fun in the "Metropolis." It is set up like a mini city. You can go to each place and work a job. They had a bike shop, diner, grocery store, vet, ambulance & police cars, & an artist studio. Hannah had to work all the jobs and she had so much fun! Jaiden's favorite was the water works. She loves water (which is why you have to watch her to make sure her hands aren't in the toilet when she walks into the bathroom!)

Jaiden's first pig tails!

Working at the bike shop :)

Josh was her patient!

This is what Jaiden would do if she were let loose in a real grocery store!

The artist!

She gave the final masterpiece to her Nonnie.

She is turning around to see if I was going to come & get her. She is getting a little sneaky lately.

That afternoon we visited mom and then hung out with dad in the hotel. We went to church at the Fry Road congregation. They are a great group of Christian people! After church we were starving so we decided to get some Texas BBQ. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but I was not a fan of the sauce. It tasted like spaghetti sauce. Thankfully I got mine on the side and the meat was delish. So I enjoyed my dinner. We sat by another stuffed buffalo and this time Hannah wanted PaPa Tim to join her in getting her picture made!