The 1st month

The past month with the birth of Aiden has been really busy for our family not only with his birth, but a lot going on! Here are some pictures to document milestones with Aiden and our family!

First of all-lots of visits from family and friends in the hospital


Gaga and Papa meeting Aiden for the first time

Grandma and Grandpa Koziatek meeting Aiden for the first time


Aunt Mallori and Aiden

Aunt Stef chilling with Aiden

Grandma and Grandpa Cauble

Grandma Benz

Aiden looking cute in a onesie Kristi made for him

Jeff and I took Cale on a mommy/daddy date to see Cars 2-his first time in a movie theater and he did great!

Aiden loves bath time. He just sits there all relaxed and hanging out!

Daddy giving Aiden a sponge bath the first week he was home from the hospital

4th of July weekend we went to the lake house. Cale helping papa drive his boat.

Kristi, Jason, and Judah come into town for the month of July. Here's Judah and Cale playing in the pool at the lake house.

Cale and Judah swinging in the swings.

Cale loves, loves, loves trains, we sit at the Kirkwood train station quite often watching for trains. He would sit for hours and be happy if he saw just 1 train! It's awesome

It's been to hot outside this summer to do anything but play in the water! Here is Cale painting with water.

Judah and Cale in the pool at Gaga and Papa's house.

Aiden milestones:
Aiden had his 1 month check up and is now 23 1/2 inches long (2 1/2 inches longer) and weighs 11 lbs 7 ozs (3 pounds more than when he was born). He is so strong and lifts his head all the time. When he does tummy time he is already rocking from side to side so I wonder if he will be rolling over early. He can sleep 4 hours if he wants to :) at night. He is getting some fussy time at night the past few nights-not sure if it's gas or acid reflux, wish we knew how to help him. We are trying a prescription for acid reflux so we will see if that helps. He is quite the snuggler and loves to sleep on someone! In fact he is sleeping on me right now-oh how I love these little times of snuggling. He is one loved little kid and we are so blessed by the friends and family that continue to shower him and our family with love!

Dear Sweet Aiden....

Dear Sweet Aiden,

Wow has our world turned upside down since your arrival-and in a good way. I will admit, it's exhausting having 2 kiddos, there's not much sleep, but it is totally worth it to have you as part of this family! There are so many things that I love about you at this newborn stage. Here are just a few:

-how you reach out for my finger and hold on tight to it when you nurse

-your sweet little smiles in your sleep

-snuggling with you

-your mellow, calm disposition

-watching you with your big brother and thinking about how you two will be good buddies someday

-your little grunts and noises as you sleep

-your long fingers and your long toes

-how your hair is balding in the front, but how you have lots of hair in the back

-how strong you are-you have been lifting your neck since you were a just a newborn

-seeing just how you melt the hearts of those around you and how dearly loved you are by family and friends

I can't wait to see where God takes you in life. What will you be interested in, what will you enjoy, what will your little voice sound like the first time you talk, how will you interact with your big brother, what kind of personality will you have. I look forward to enjoying you more, loving you more, and growing as a mommy because of you and your brother. I love you sweet little guy with all my heart and am so blessed to have you and that our family is now a family of 4. You fit in perfectly!

Love your proud adoring mom

Thank you God for this amazing gift to our family. May we teach him in your ways, show him to love how you love and please guide him in this world and through this amazing journey called life.

Big brother Cale

Cale is an amazing big brother. I have to be honest that Jeff and I were a little nervous at the transition from 1 to 2 and just how Cale would do, but for the most part he's been great. The day Aiden was Born Cale came to the hospital with Jeff and a chocolate chip cookie cake with blue icing (this was Cale's request-he picked out a cookie cake with a watermelon on it in icing and blue icing around the rim). Then we sang happy birthday to Aiden. So cute! Since we have been home the transition has gone pretty well. There are a few more temper tantrums than usual and Jeff and I have to make sure to spend time with Cale so he knows that he is still greatly loved. We took him to see Cars 2 as a mommy and daddy date the other day and that was really fun. He had a blast and sat through the whole movie. Cale likes to hold baby Aiden, give him kisses and rub his head. It's so cute! We love you Cale and think you are an awesome big brother

He's here

So having 2 kiddos is quite an adjustment! Hence the lack in blog posts lately. Aiden Joseph is here and we couldn't be more excited or happy. On Monday, June 20th, Jeff and I went in for a weekly checkup with the doctor. She said I was already 3-4 centimeters dilated and in pre-labor. I had worked all that day and felt really uncomfortable all day so I thought that mabe my labor was progressing. She asked if we wanted to be induced that evening or the following day. I of course was ready to get this show on the road so I said that evening would be great. She arranged for us to be induced at St. Clare Hospital at 9pm on the 20th. Jeff and I went home and I showered and we packed. Then we went to my parents for dinner and to say goodnight to Cale because he was already at my parents. Then we headed to the hospital. I wasn't sure what we were in for since we had a rough labor with Cale and a spinal fluid leak from the epidural. This labor was completely different and more calm. We went in at 9, I was induced at 11pm, they broke my water at 1:30am on June 21st and I pushed for 5 minutes and Aiden arrived at 5:20am-a beautiful, adorable baby boy! There were no problems with the epidural this time, God hand-picked an amazing labor and delivery nurse for us who was amazing-I truly feel he was there and had this all planned out. The epidural actually worked well and I honestly didn't feel much of labor which was great! Mallori and Stefani were there in the room and got to experience the whole thing-pretty cool. Aiden was 8lbs 6ozs and 21inches long. He took to nursing right away and hasn't stopped eating-he's a pig and likes to eat. In his 1st week of life he gained 1lb 2oz, but this has slowed a little as at his 2 week visit he had only gained 3 more ozs, which is still great. Here are some pictures from the birth.