Cheering for Tennesse in orange with Grandma Ang on football Saturday

Aiden with his Great-Great Grandma Bee

Playing outside...a hat and mittens are now required!

Learning to sit in my new Bumbo chair

Nibbling on my green blanket...yum!

Posing with Grandpa & Grandma Helleseth

Playing before bed...

And now it's bed time...

Aiden loves his new ExerSaucer

The Hawkeyes are still #1 ...

...but we can be Texas fans too! Thanks cousin Cade for the cute sweat suit!

Aiden meets his cousin Hayden

Hanging out with Grandpa Darryl

First Combine Ride with Grandpa Bruce

Just Chillen!

Aiden with his pal Megan in their Camo

Aiden's First Tailgate!

Aiden survived his first tailgate this past weekend. It was such a gorgeous day and he was such an angel we had no problems. We wanted to get his picture taken with Herky but we missed seeing him by a few minutes...we were bummed it didn't work out. There were two groups of people we knew tailgating so we bounced between the two all day. The game didn't start until 7 pm so it was a pretty long day for Aiden. We took him back to my aunt Carrie's before the game started and he fell a sleep shortly after kick off because he was so exhausted. Aiden is also getting excited for Halloween. He's gotten quite a few little outfits already but we haven't decided on a costume yet. Pat has a lot of Halloween decorations that we've pulled out of storage and we're not sure yet what Aiden thinks of all the gules and skeletons placed around the house! We haven't gotten a picture yet (I can only get a picture of his top gums) but Aiden is getting his first teeth. He was sucking on my finger last week and I felt something sharp. I was pretty shocked to see two little teeth popping up on his bottom gums. He hasn't really been fussy or shown any other signs that he's teething so I was quite shocked. He has been drooling like crazy and sucks on his hands all the time so maybe those were my signs. He's just growing up so fast on us!

Aiden's Getting Big!

At almost 11 weeks old Aiden now weighs over 14 lbs. and is over 24 inches long...he is growing up so fast. He is still sleeping through the night for us and we have to wake him up most mornings. He is holding his head up really well now when we put him on his belly. He likes to hold it up and look around at everything around him...we're just waiting for the day when he can take off to explore everything he's been staring at from afar. The past few weekends Aiden has become quite the Hawkeye fan. He has an outfit that he wears every Saturday as we tune in to the Hawkeye games. The past two weekends have been quite stressful on him as the games have been quite close. We're actually going to go down to Iowa City for the Hawkeye vs. Ohio State game next weekend. We've heard rumors that Herky may stop by the tailgate so we're hoping Aiden can get the chance to meet him. Uncle Logan will be in Iowa City for the game too so we're excited to see him as well...he's going to be amazed at how much Aiden has grown since he last saw him. And of course my aunt Carrie and her family also live in Iowa City so Aiden is finally going to get the chance to meet them.

Almost 9 Weeks Already!

Aiden is now a few days away from being nine weeks old. I had to return to work this week so he had to start going to day care. So far the transition for us has been pretty smooth. Amy, his babysitter, said he's a really good baby and she really enjoys him. It's been pretty tough dropping him off everyday but slowly we're getting used to it. Pat has become a fanatic Nascar fan the past two summers. His favorite driver, Matt Kenseth, won a few races in a row so he thought he and Aiden should show off their Kenseth gear. Aiden has his own outfit but had to borrow one of his dad's hats for the picture! We've spent the past few weekends in West Bend helping Jess, my sister, get her salon up and running. Last weekend was her grand opening and Aiden was proud to be a part of that all day on Friday. He , his Grandma Ang, aunt Robin and I helped check people out at the register and greeted people as they came in while Jess cut and colored hair. Saturday we let him have a break from the salon and he spent some time with Grandma Tory. He's enjoyed spending time with his grandparents, aunt, and uncles back in West Bend...and I think they've enjoyed him too!

New Pictures of Aiden

Aiden was six weeks old yesterday and it's amazing how much he's changed throughout the past six weeks since we've brought him home. We've been trying to get into somewhat of a routine so that when I go back to work in two weeks we don't struggle. It's hard to believe my maternity leave is coming to an end. I have to go back to work the Tuesday after Labor Day. We've had a heck of a time lining up daycare for Aiden. We've had a couple of things fall through for us and things have come down to the last minute. We think we have finally found someone though so that is a releif. The problem is she only does daycare Mondays-Thursdays so I'm going to have to work from home on Fridays until we can find someone to take him full time. Luckily my work has been gracious enough to let me do this because we were not sure what we were going to do if they didn't. Aiden has been doing really good at nights and will usually sleep anywhere from 7-10 hours for us. We feel really lucky and it has been really nice getting some good sleep at nights again. Of course getting to bed when he does is quite difficult so Pat and I are trying to get our sleeping schedule on track with his so we can enjoy these long stretches of sleep. Durring the day then he stays awake pretty much most of the time accept for some quick 15-30 minute naps here and there and occasionally he'll take a 1-3 hour nap. He's such a good baby and we are enjoying every minute with him!

Okoboji Vacation

Aiden went on his first vacation the week of August the 6th to Okoboji, Iowa. A lot of our family (a few of my aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents) were there over the weekend and throughout the week it was Pat and I along with my Mom and sister Jess in one cabin and in the other cabin was my aunt Julie, uncle Roger, cousin Anna and her little boy Cade. The picture on the left is Aiden with his cousins Cade, Natalie and Abby. Aiden was really good throughout the vacation. It was on vacation that he actually started sleeping for 6-7 hours at night. Aiden also got to meet his uncle Logan for the first time. Logan actually flew into Minneapolis the night before we left for Okoboji so they got to spend some time bonding before we met up with the rest of the family. My cousin Anna had a baby boy, Cade, back in December so this was the first time these two cousins got to meet. Cade is only 7 months older than Aiden but it's amazing how much bigger Cade is than Aiden. It made me realize how fast Aiden is really going to grow!

July 30th...Big Day for Aiden

On Sunday July 30th there was a shower for Aiden in West Bend with all our friends and family. Aiden got his picture taken with everyone there along with a piece of advice that was put into a picture book for us to enjoy. Aiden did very well while he was being passed around and didn't really fuss a bit. Jenny was in charge of entertainment so there was some very fun and creative games that we got to take part in. Aiden recieved a variety of gifts that we are very greatful for. On the same Sunday Aiden was also baptised at the Catholic Church in West Bend. It was in the afternoon after the shower on a very hot day. Considering there is no air conditioning in the church and Aiden was in a pretty warm outfit he did really well. He really didn't start fussing until afterwards when everyone wanted their picture taken with him. Fr. Ed Girres, Aiden's great-great uncle, was the priest who baptised Aiden and Aiden's God parents are my sister Jessica and Pat's brother Brad.