1 Year Ago

***(This was our Caring Bridge post from 1 year ago today!!!!)***

 

"We are home!!!!!!!
Words cannot explain how excited we are to have our little man home.  We will post much more tomorrow, as we are trying to get settled in.  We just wanted you all to know our exciting news!

Until tomorrow evening, much love and sweet dreams from our little family who is finally at home together."

Awe, look at him and his little 5lb self!  We had to tuck blankets around him, just so he could fit in the car seat!!  

I think for preemie parents, at least us anyways, going home from the NICU was the happiest day of our lives...even better than the day Ayson was born.  There was so much fear and uncertainty when Ayson was born, that it took away from the absolute joy we should have felt.  So, September 29th was like his birthday all over again :)

So, here's to one year at home with us buddy!  My oh my how you have grown!!! 

WE LOVE YOU!       

Birthdays, Race for the Cure & TU Football

Busy, busy, busy...wow, we have had a lot going on the last couple of days.  That's just the way we like it though ;)

Ayson and I went to Bartlesville on Thursday evening to help Mimi celebrate her 50th birthday!  It was fun to watch Ays and Kiers run around the yard and play with each other.  This was our attempt to get a picture of the two of them together.  Ayson is just way too busy for pictures!

Kierslynn just had to sit next to Ays at dinner, so they did a pretty good job entertaining each other.  

And once Ayson discovered that people would look at him and laugh while he yelled, there was no stopping him.  If only you could hear the sound that goes along with this face :)

Three generations picture.  Happy 50th Birthday Mimi.

We got up bright and early Saturday (and by early I mean 5:45 am), to go watch Aaron run in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.  This was our first time to participate in this particular race, and I think it is something we will continue to do every year.  What an experience!  I'm not sure if I was just having an emotional morning or what, but every time we passed a woman wearing a pink "survivor" shirt, my eyes welled up with tears.  It was simply an inspiring and uplifting experience!!!!  How lucky we ALL are to have our health!!!

And Aaron's performance was inspiring as well :)  His goal was to finish the 5k in under 20:00.  And of course, he did.  He was motoring!!!

His official time was 19:48.  He finished 37th overall (out of over 2000) and 4th in his age group.  Wow!  Great job babe! 

Then Saturday evening we took Ays-man to his first college football game to cheer on the TU Golden Hurricane.  We were a little nervous about how this was going to go, since he has ants in his pants all the time!  Luckily, we had a little room around us so he could move.  Family shot :)  Ayson could care less!

He took a little nap during the game.  I'm still not sure how babies can sleep through cheering fans, and loud PA systems.  I wish I could do that!!!

We almost made it to the end of the game.  Ayson had had enough, so we left during the middle of the fourth quarter...but TU won the game.  GO CANES!  Thanks for inviting us Maria, we had a blast!

And today we are just recouping and taking it easy :)  Or as easy as Sophie and Ayson will let us take it...haha!

First Hair Cut

Little Man got his first hair cut today!  As you can tell from this picture, his bangs were getting really long and the back of his hair was on the verge of a baby mullet.  So, we decided it was time!  I had to say goodbye to those cute little curls in the back :(

**A side note about this picture.  I let him carry around the Triscuit box while we were getting ready and next thing I know, there is a big whole in the box and Ayson had a mouth full of cardboard.  It looked like a rat had tried to eat through it.  We can't get him to eat fruit, but apparently cardboard is yummers.  ORNERY!

So, back to the haircut.  Kimberly, who has been cutting my hair since we moved to Tulsa, had the honor of cutting Ays's hair for the first time...He was so good!  He sat on his little booster seat and let her cut away.

We kept him occupied with combs and veggie sticks and... 

10 minutes later he looked like a well-groomed, sweet little boy :)  He's growing up too fast!    

Weekend Fun!

Ayson had a fun-filled weekend with Mimi and Bruce.  So far, (crossing our fingers), Ayson is so easy to leave with someone else.  He doesn't cry when we leave, and is good for whoever is watching him...or so that's what we've been told.  And this weekend was no different!

He ate great...

smiled lots...

slept like baby...

read lots of books, and...

continued to be his goofy little self!

And what were we doing this weekend while Ayson was enjoying some time away from mama & dada?  Cheering on the Cowboys and...

Representing OSU Med!!!

tailgating with some great friends and family!  

We are so lucky to have a happy baby, great friends and an amazing family to share all of life's little adventures with. 

Giggle Pants

Oh my, oh my, oh my...this is too funny!  Ayson has a new game he likes to play with the dogs through the baby gate.  He thinks its hysterical when they are on one side and he is on the other.  He tries to find them, and then once he sees them he starts laughing.  Such a little tease :)

 

Video Day :)

We've got a collection of videos from the past few days that I've been meaning to post but between class and chasing this little rugrat around, we've been pretty busy :)  So, enjoy the following clips!

The first video is Ayson and Sophie playing tuggy.  Ayson LOVES Sophie and the reverse is true also :)  We are so lucky to have pets that are so child friendly.  Ayson loves to get Sophie's ball, then give it to her so he can tug on it.  Sophie is really strong, but somehow knows to take it easy on Ayson.

This second video is one of little man's new favorite things to do.  I had a chair in the kitchen to reach something high in the cabinet.  Next thing I knew he was pushing it all over the place.  So, now I will bring one in the kitchen with me while I'm cooking to keep him busy :)  He's a pretty strong little dude...our chairs are not lite!  He has figured out that if he hits a wall, he needs to start pushing from a different direction to get the chair to move.  He still gets a little frustrated when he's pushing and its not moving though.

And finally, more walking...because that's all we do now!  We were at the car dealership today getting the oil changed.  For the ENTIRE 45 minutes that we were waiting, Ayson was walking all over the place, and making lots of new friends :)  He cracked me up clopping around in his Sperry's!!!  I tried to get him interested in the kiddie area, but he was having more fun walking and talking, to stop too long to play.  Every once in awhile he would stop in to play, but then take off again to talk to the salesmen...I'm pretty sure he could have gotten us a great deal on a new car today :) 

The Volume Wheel

What do you get when your 13 month old discovers the volume wheel on the stereo receiver, you ask??  

Ringing ears and one terrified toddler!  

Sorry, Ayson but I couldn't resist capturing that pitiful face.  After a little love, we were just fine...and our hearing is all back to normal ;)  

On a good, and much quieter note...he hasn't messed with it since!  Ah, growing pains. 

13 Months

It's officially official...we have a walker on our hands.  He has decided that walking is the way to go, so he walks everywhere now.  No more crawling for this big boy :)  

He is also getting so close to being able to stand back up without holding on to anything.  

 

Since he has discovered his new found height...he has also discovered a million different things to get in to.  Our blinds haven't been safe for a long time, but now we have to raise them up even higher.  The second Ayson is awake, the blinds go up, because if they are down, he makes a beeline for them.  

In addition he has also figured out how to turn the knobs on the stove (that's safe...right??)  And he also has figured out how to flush the toilet...as a result, water consumption has gone up at our house!!! 

But, his favorite activity is to open and shut all of our doors.  I love to keep our front door open during the day, but that is no longer possible because after Ayson is done opening and shutting it...it must stay closed!  He is a little OCD about doors right now ;)  Here is little man shutting the bathroom door...which he does EVERYTIME someone goes in there.  He follows you in, shuts the door, then tries to get the cabinet doors open...darn child safety locks!

Here is another video that we thought was pretty funny.  Once Ayson cut a few teeth, he loved to crawl over to us and bite us...YIKES!  (He bit Aaron on his Achilles tendon once...funny to me, not so funny to him!)  So, now that we have broken him of biting, he likes to blow raspberries on our legs.  Weird child!!!!

 

Happy 13 Months Little Buddy!

Football Season is Here!

We had a fun weekend of watching a lot of football!  We are pretty excited at this house about football season because we have season tickets to OSU...and a lot of very gracious baby sitters to hang out with little man during the games all season :)  On Saturday, Ayson got to spend the night with Grammy & Pops while Aaron and I enjoyed a babyfree day of tailgating, football and friends.  Don't get me wrong, we missed the little guy, but I truly believe that a little time away is vital to being good parents!!!!  Plus, I'm sure Grammy & Pops enjoyed a day with Ayson without us around :)

Making the baby drop in Ponca...we had to get a pic of all three of us in our cowboy gear.  Ayson was not interested because it was so sunny.

Thank you so much for watching Ayson!!!!

Ashley, Abbey & I at the tailgate...so much fun!

Tailgating fun

Angela and I before the game.

Having fun with the Leigh's at the tailgate.

Finally gametime

We have great seats!

Pokes start off the season 1-0!!!!

The next day we put on our TU gear to support the Golden Hurricane.  He looks so good in blue!!!  Thanks to Auntie Maria & Uncle Michael for the cute TU outfit.  He will be wearing it proudly all season...except for the 18th :)  Maybe we'll put it on under his orange shirt!  It's going to be a great game because we will be happy no matter who wins!  Can't wait!

Lil' Poke Visits OSU

Ayson had his first, of what I'm sure will be many, trip to Stillwater today!  I had to turn in some papers for graduation (that's right, I will be graduating in December...whoop!), so we headed to Stilly to take care of business, and have a little fun too :)

Of course, no trip to Stillwater would be complete without a trip to Joe's.  Whenever we lived in Stillwater, we always hated eating at Joe's, because everyone who came to visit always wanted to eat there.  But now that we don't get to Stillwater that often, nothing sounded better than a burger and fries.  

Going out to eat with Ayson is usually not an enjoyable experience because he has a 10 foot reach and ants in his pants, so I was nervous to try this by myself, but he was actually very good the whole time! 

I wanted to introduce Ayson to the heavenly goodness of cheese fries, but since it was just me and little man, and they don't make small orders of cheese fries, we stuck with plain 'ole fries...but they were still yummy!

Once we had a full belly we headed to campus.  I had to laugh at myself trying to navigate campus with a stroller...I had to find some new routes to get where I was going :)  Ayson had so much fun people watching, and looking at everything around him!  On our way to the JB building we went through the gardens outside the student union.  The flowers looked so pretty and Ayson was dying to get out and stretch his legs, so we stopped for a few pictures. 

Little fishy in a big orange pond!

Leaf bandit!

So cute!!!!  Go Pokes!  We instill "ORANGE POWER" at an early age in our house :)

It was a perfect day, except we really missed Aaron.  So, we went to visit him at the hospital tonight before Ayson went to bed.  Less than a year left of these long days and crazy hours for Aaron, and we can't wait!!!!