Aaron, Joslin, Alex and Molly: August 2011

It seems that so often, people are only reminded to give thanks for the people and things in their life around Thanksgiving. I want to take a moment to give thanks to our family and friends who are always there for us.

To our family:

Thank you so much for your unconditional love and support. We would not be where we are today without you. You raised us well and I pray we inherited your ability to raise good children.

To our friends:

Sometimes I get bummed that I do not have a friend from when I was little that I have experienced major events with during our lives. I guess I see a ton of people who have close friends from when they were growing up and sometimes I wish I had that. Aaron of course has his brother and sister, but he also has a couple of close friends that he has known since he was little. They may not talk as much as they would like, but they are always there for each other. I’m usually only bummed for a few minutes because it doesn’t take long for me to realize that it doesn’t matter because the friends I have are the ones I need. God placed them in my life because he knows what I need and the friends we have are the ones I need in my life.

Between college, work, and the friends I have made through Aaron, I have friends that I know will always be there for me and that will be in our lives until the end. I know these people are my true friends and knowing that brings great peace and comfort. We may not say it much, but we love you dearly and are so thankful to have you in our lives.

A year ago today, I leaned in bed to kiss Aaron bye and my water broke.

A year ago today, we made calls to our family (and work!) to say that Alex was finally on his way.

A year ago today, my parents left to head to Houston and made it with about an hour to spare before push time came. I was surprised and happy that my dad came too. I wasn’t sure his schedule would make it possible.

A year ago today, Rachel came to the hospital to offer support and be our photographer.

A year ago today, I only thought I knew what love was.

A year ago today, my love for my husband and our family, especially my parents, grew and it has not stopped growing.

A year ago today, I felt the most overwhelming feeling of love and joy when I held Alex in my arms for the first time. My love continues to grow every day for my sweet boy. I didn’t know I could love this much!

I thank God everyday for giving us Alex and trusting us to raise him.

I thank God everyday for the love and joy Alex brings to our lives and for the opportunity to do this again with baby number 2.

I can’t believe my little man is a year old! Where did the time go?!?

My cousin Jennifer has two girls and she has been kind enough to pass along unused toys to Alex. One of the things she sent our way was a walker that Alex can push and walk behind. We had tried several times to get him to walk with it but he would just stand there. One day I got home from work and Aaron says to Alex “let show Mommy your new trick.” Aaron put him behind the walker and off came towards me! It was so cute. He didn’t even have the whole kick your feet in front of you funny walk. He did really well. Aaron said when they go home Alex crawled over to it, pulled up and started to walk. Now if he can stand by it and push it, he will walk with it, even laundry baskets.

Aaron’s parents came up one weekend to help watch Alex so Aaron and I could do some spring cleaning. We didn’t get as much done as we wanted but we still got some done and got to spend some quality time with his parents.

This month started off with Alex being completely recovered from the flu. But the flu was replaced by pink eye about 2 weeks later. Fun Fun. Aaron was out working in the field all day Monday and Tuesday, and I too had a lot of work to get done. I finished what had to go out on Monday and headed to get Alex. I got him into the doctor and got his eye drops started. Tuesday he still had some goop, so Alex headed to work with me. I can work from home, but sometimes it is slow and I had some stuff for another office to get out. I thought it would be better to just go to work, kick some butt and then head home. I had given my boss a heads up and Alex might have to come with me and he was thankfully fine with the idea. I brought toys (the quiet ones) and shut my office door. I did have a staff meeting that morning that Alex also attended. Aaron couldn’t believe I took him in there, but what else was I supposed to do? He did well and we all had a laugh when my boss said that we had a new employee and that we start them young here. I got all my work out and headed home. I was impressed with how he did and it is nice to know that in a pinch, I could do it again if I really needed to.

He wore his tie to go to work with Mommy.

We had to have an outfit change durning the day. He did really well at my office!

Our good friends Jimmy and Melissa bought a house with a pool and we went over there one night for dinner and swimming. We had a blast hanging out and Alex had fun in the pool. My boy loves the water!

A week ago I went to Phoenix for the day for work. I missed being home to wake Alex up and get him ready and I missed being home to put him to bed. I got home late Wednesday night and then Thursday afternoon, Aaron and his dad headed out for a fly fishing trip. They had a blast I got a lot of time with my little man. I didn’t get all that I need to get done around the house but hopefully I’ll get a lot done today. We are having Alex’s party this weekend and we are so excited to have my parents coming for the entire weekend! We still can’t believe my dad got the whole weekend off - Praise God!

Now for some more pictures of my sweet baby boy!