Aaron the Official Crawler!

Dearest Aaron,
Yay, yay, yaaaaaaay!!! You did it my little guy!  You did what you have been trying to do for a little while now.  I was sitting on the couch, watching you and Andrew, and BOOM! You were crawling towards me.  It was probably the one time I didn't have my camera ready! Lol! :P I filmed your second time though. :) And the third when Daddy got home of course.  He was so excited!!! Both videos included lots and lots of coaxing (you wouldn't crawl for just any ol' reason! :) ) and therefore were a bit lengthy.  Then after all the cheering, clapping, and pure excitement wore down, you simply took off crawling by yourself, no one really watching, well no one except Mommy.  And this time I was ready. It's just a short, sweet clip of you doing your thing! :)  I was so glad to get it on film!  That is the reason there is no clapping and cheering, not because no one cared (because OH how we did!), but because you had already crawled a few times.  So, here it is!  My sweet little boy crawling!  You did such a great job!!! <3 I love you my sweet boy!
 

Andrew, Aaron, and the Snow Day

Dearest Andrew and Aaron,
Today was a snow day.  Now, when you are older that will mean SO much more to you! :) Hehe.  That will mean no school which will become magical words you will be waiting to hear every year when winter rolls around. But for now it just meant playing outside and being lazy. :)  Daddy was home anyway since it was President's Day, so he got to play with you guys all day.  Andrew, you were SO thrilled to get to go outside and play in the "winter snow."  Your words.  Hehe!  What kid says, "I want to go play in the winter snow"?  A really cool kid with an amazing vocabulary, that's who!  I just love you little man!  Aaron, you and I stayed inside where it was warm and cozy and played, drooled (you not me :) ), and practiced our screeching (your new thing).  Oh and blew plenty of raspberries (your other new thing).  Here are just a few pictures I took of our fun, laid back day.

1. Andrew outside enjoying the snow.  This is where you spent a majority of the day.  Daddy bundled you up like you wouldn't believe!  There may have even been some sandwich baggies between layers of socks to keep feet warm and dry...  Oh my! Hehe!  That Daddy thinks of everything! :)
2. Aaron "chillaxin'" while enjoying some rice cereal and apples. :P
3. Andrew and Daddy's fort that was full of books and toys because as Andrew said, "A fort has to have books and toys!"  Indeed. :)
4. Aaron sitting up looking all cute!
5. An album I listened to that I loved as a kid!  I had to order the physical CD (gasp!) from eBay because there wasn't a digital copy to be found! I got it to share with the two of you hoping you will enjoy it as much as Mommy did.
6. Mommy and Aaron's "stripey selfie".  Because I mean, what else would you do when you realize you both have on stripes? ;)

So there is just a preview of what a fun day we had.  Aaron tried crawling again and was sooooo close, but not quite yet.  Daddy may have been trying to get you to crawl by driving a remote control Jeep around hoping you would follow...but I will neither confirm nor deny if that is true. :) Hehe.  I love you boys so much!

Aaron and His Dedication

Dearest Aaron,
Today we had your dedication and it was such a lovely time!  All of your grandparents came and we had the best day!  I believe dedicating you to the Lord is such an important thing!  We promised to raise you the way He would want us to.  We promised we will be the best Mommy and Daddy we can be and that we will teach you what it means to be a Christian.  But even more than that, what it means to really love the Lord with all of your heart.  My prayer for you and your brother has always been that you will grow into fine young men who put God first in everything that you do.  If you do that, then you will have it made! :) I know life will throw you curve balls, but when it does, that is when you will find your relationship with him the most important and hopefully you will cling to that.  I love you so much and pray that you will enjoy this beautiful life God has given you!  Enjoy it to the fullest!
I want to leave you with the lyrics to the song that we played at your dedication.  We played Find Your Wings like we did at Andrew's, but that is because there is simply no better song that conveys what we want to tell you as you grow up.  I shared that song on Andrew's blog about his dedication, but we also played another song at yours that sums up how I felt the day you came into this world, and still do to this day.  I am so thankful you are here with me, with all of us.  You complete our family like I could never imagine!  You are my perfect, precious, sweet boy and I love you more than you could ever know!

Safe & Sound

Matthew West

Can't believe you're here now
Tiny dream come true
The answer to a prayer now
I'm so in love with you

Couldn't wait to meet you
Hope you like your name
I get the funny feeling
Life will never be the same

Safe & sound
You're here with me now
Like I hoped you'd be

Safe & sound
You're here with me now
And that's all I'll ever need

The world's a scary place here
But baby, it's alright
I'll make sure the coast is clear
So you can just sleep tight

But if you're afraid of monsters
Like everybody is
I'll be right beside you
Closer than a kiss

Safe & sound
I'm here with you now
And you will always be

Safe & sound
I'm here with you now
And that's all you'll ever need

Someday I'm gonna teach you
The reason why we pray
So that Heaven's love may reach you
Every single day

So baby, close your eyes now
And say a prayer with me
Lord, I lay me down to sleep now
But I know I will be

Safe & sound
You're here with us now
And we will always be

Safe & sound
You're here with us now
And that's all we'll ever, all we'll ever need
You're all we'll ever need

Aaron and His First Tooth

Dearest Aaron,
Today you got your very first tooth!!! I knew it was coming because you were not liking it one bit.  You are like every other child out there...teething hurts!  I promise, promise, promise to try my best not to compare you and your brother, but Andrew didn't have pain with teething (I have no idea why) so it was hard to tell when he was getting one.  I went back and read the entry I made about his first tooth and I found this to be OH so true with you as well:
"You know what your favorite game is now??? Never, ever, ever, ever, ever show Mommy your teeth. Getting a picture of your new chompers? Fugetaboutit! Hehe!"
You are the exact same way!  You will not let Mommy see that cute little tooth.  I did finally get one of Andrew's, but you must have a little more of Mommy's blood running through those veins, because you will not give in! Haha!  You are my sweet little buddy all the same!  And I just love, love, love your new tooth!!!  Love you little guy!

Aaron Is Sitting Tall!

Dearest Aaron,
Today you sat up! :) I looked over and there you were!  Sitting up all proud of yourself! :D It was so cute and I was SO proud of you! You have been trying for awhile and I was so happy to see you accomplish your goal! :) You are also trying so hard to crawl, but you are not quite there yet.  I know it's coming any day though! When Daddy got home, I made sure to show him how you could sit up all by yourself.  He was of course super proud as well!  You are growing up too fast my little guy! It's hard on Mommy since you are the last one.  I would be fine and dandy if this baby stage would slow down.  I love cuddling you, watching how you get excited over a new toy, rocking you to sleep, etc.  These are things that will not last forever.  I sure love you my little pal!  All the way up to the moon and back! <3

Aaron and His First Solid Food

Dearest Aaron,
Well today you finally tried your first solid food, rice cereal.  You loved it! It was also your first time to sit in the high chair and you couldn't quit smiling! :) You kicked those little legs (that's what you do when you get excited) and opened your mouth wide for each bite.  You actually managed to keep a good amount in your mouth.  Very impressive little man! :)
Okay, okay, so really do you want the truth?  This is an "Dearest Andrew and Aaron" exclusive.  Your first "official" solid food was rice cereal.  That's what I put on Facebook.  That is what will go in your baby book and Mommy's planner. :D But really, your first taste of food was vanilla pudding.  Hehe. Oops!  It wasn't much, but you seemed over the moon for it!  Mommy was holding you during lunch one day (that's a whole 'nother story! :P ) and I was enjoying a little cup of pudding.  You kept looking at me like I was a traitor.  You watched every single bite go into my mouth and even grabbed for my spoon.  So when I was done and there was a little left over, I let you taste it.  Then I freaked out and googled "Can you give an infant vanilla pudding?".  Haha,  You were fine.  It was fine.  Not recommended, but fine.  And I imagine it will be a very long time until you have it again.  Sorry buddy.  But I got all kinds of pureed goodness coming atcha in the next few months.  You'll love it though, I promise! :)
I sure love you little buddy!  More than you could ever, ever know!