Happy New Year 2010!

Happy New Year Every One!

So Long Oughts, Bring on the Teens!

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Wow, 2009 was truly a wonderful year for us. #1 Best Moment, of course, being the perfect birth of Mr. Ethan. After all we went through with Aid, what a breath of fresh air this one was! And today, what a wonderful baby. Very fun, great eater and sleeper, great personality...and the list could go on and on. Speaking of Aid, wow how he has changed in 2009. From just a few words to now fully comprehensible sentences, with organized thoughts, directives and all sorts of great imaginary stories to tell. What a fun little man he has become. And Mommy, well turned the big Three-Oh, but continues to love all her men and fills that space in our hearts that completes who we are. And me, well, it was a fun year, a couple of really, really interesting business trips, and of course, where I'm sitting right now...a newly finished basement room! Awesome!

So what will 2010 bring? The rest of the basement finished? Probably. Trips to see family and friends (and who could forget Mexico in April)? Oh yeah. Lots of challenges too, Ethan going all solid food, Aidan potty training, Mommy getting through all the work stacked on her desk, and Daddy, maybe a little job transition could be in the works. Time will tell.

All I do know, is that we'll do 2010 like we did 2009: as one loving family, through thick and thin, we'll do it together!

And now I present our yearly tradition the makeshift Happy New Year card (this year plus one new addition!) Enjoy!

Just Baby Aidan in 2007, 2008 and 2009.....

And now both our big guys, wishing you a Happy 2010!

Finally some pictures of the boys over the last day or so:

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Ethan tonight, boy looks so old....he is HAPPY for the New Year!!

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Speaking of old, here's Aidan shaving in the tub....dang this kid's growing up fast! (Thx Aunt Natalie)

Have a wonderful New Year! Go Bearcats and Buckeyes!!

Ty, Emmy, Aidan and Ethan

Happy Third Birthday Aidan!!!!

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY AIDAN MATTHEW!!!!

Gosh how time has flown!! Our little baby is now becoming such a big guy!!

This year was so special with the big guy, he was SO into presents and was so much fun.

Thinking back to exactly three years ago today, as new parents, it was the worst day of our lives for Emmy and I. There lie little Aidan, with cords out of every which way in the NICU. He had been seizuring all morning, and there was very little that any doctor could tell us about his condition, let alone what his prognosis would be for the future. All Emmy and I had were each other and the thoughts and prayers of many of you. At that time I remember being so strong and positive, only to look back now and finally being able to get some of the emotional relief since our little baby has grown into a smart and loving little boy. My God how we are so blessed that this little creature has overcome all of those complications and has grown into something that really cannot be described by words. Really. I have no words for how unbelivably lucky we are to have him well.

With that, let's talk about a little boy and his birthday!

We had Aidan's birthday on Sunday, when everyone was still here in St. Louis, even though technically his birthday was Monday the 28th. Grammies P and T, Aunt Natalie, and Auntie Elizabeth and her family were all here to celebrate too!

This year, we decided to throw a "Thomas the Train" themed party, so just about all things were Thomas...and Aid loved it! Of course there was a reason we decided on the "Thomas" party, Aidan's big present from us was a new Thomas table that Daddy had spent quite a lot of time on. But first, no party is complete without cake!

So on Saturday night, everyone stayed up very late making Aidan's special train cake. All of us had great time decorating with all the sprinkles, candies and the like. In the end, the cake looked awesome!

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Lots of creativity going on here....

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Nice Train Cake!

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Next it was time for the big guy's big day! Aidan's favorite is the the Macaroni and Cheese (He calls is "Mac and a Cheese") and mandarin oranges at Red Robin. So off we went. After a mostly uneventful lunch and a great nap it was time to celebrate.

Grammy T and Mommy did a great job of decorating the house while Aunt Natalie and Grammy P went and got the balloons.

Finally around 4 all our guests arrived for cake and present opening. Here's the birthday song singing:

Aidan (and for that matter the rest of our guests) loved the cake. It was quite good.

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The birthday boy and his special Thomas cake that Daddy decorated and loving his Auntie Elizabeth

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A very happy boy indeed!

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Knowing that his big surprise from us would make it impossible to pull him away, we decided to do presents last. Lots of Thomas Stuff, lots of clothes and a basketball hoop from Grammy P and Jim made this birthday quite special for our guy! But then it was time....the BIG surprise.

Opening presents....and even Ethan got into the spirit with the birthday hat!!

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Opens the present and tosses the clothes...he's looking for toys!!! And opening the big Basketball hoop from Grammy P!

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I decided awhile back that his old Thomas train was pretty junky. There were too many curves, and really just not as useful as Aidan wanted it. He likes to make big trains and with lots of curves on the previous board, derailments happened too frequently. After finding a great deal on some train stuff and putting it together with some imagination, the ***New*** Thomas Table took shape. The trains run awesome on it. The grass is marine carpet from Lowes and yes the runway and ramp use real LED lights. It is a really cool table, and I loved working on it!

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It was tough fitting everything in, but we made it work....and the airport...you KNEW that I had to put an airport on the train board!!!

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Here comes Thomas down the track with all of his friends watching on!!!!

So here's the big surprise video, only Emmy and I had ever seen the new board, so really it was a surprise for everyone! The reaction of Aidan is one that I think I'll remember for all my life. It's so pure, it's so him. So special, guys, so special. He's just something else.

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We couldn't pull him away...and that's a GOOD thing!

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And after some Thomas play, we shot hoops!

Well that was it for Sunday. Yesterday (his actual birthday), Mommy took the day off to stay home and celebrate. He wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese for lunch, so we packed up and heading out. It was a great experience as the pictures below show!

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The Chuckster himself...

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Playing games with Daddy and Mommy

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And of course his favorite game, run the BIG diesel engine!!

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And finally a birthday hug from the "man" himself....Chuck E Cheese!

Then last night he wanted is other favorite, steak, so we drove out to the Texas Roadhouse, and he loved it!

So with that...here's Aidan's "Top Highlights of being a Two Year Old" movie! Enjoy!

Aidan...we love you buddy...you are so amazing!

Daddy, Mommy, and Ethan!

Merry Christmas 2009!

To all our readers, we wish you a very Merry Christmas today. We hope that you have fully enjoyed the company of friends and family and that Santa brought everything that you could ever want.

Here's a few pictures of our day...this was Ethan's first Christmas and Aidan's third!

Oh my, Santa DID come! And he was watching "Elf" that movie rocks!

Wow! A train snow globe and real live Farmall Tractor from Grandma June and Grandpa Bud! Thank you!!!

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Mommy and her Ipod Touch and Daddy and his external flash for his camera (one that points up and diffuses)...you can SEE the difference once I put it on!

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See look how bright! Nice! Thanks Mommy!

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Allie digging away at her stocking!

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Aidan and his Thomas Play Tunnel from Grandpa John! We couldn't get him out of it. Thanks Grandpa John and Mary!



Oh here he is....Mister Ethan's First Christmas!!

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And opening presents with Mommy!!

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Here's Aidan opening presents from Papa Steve and Nana Liz! They are AWESOME! Thank you!!!

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Amd a video of Aidan seeing all the presents this morning!

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And look at it there! It snowed today! Not enough to really accumulate, but boy was it beautiful this afternoon!

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He hope you all had a great Christmas, have a great night!

Ty, Emmy, Aidan and Ethan....and Grammy T and Aunt Natalie too!

Lots of Stuff to Tell!

Sorry we missed your Sunday night fix of the FFA, we were busy getting things ready for this week's big events!

But now, wow, lots of things going on with the guys. First off Mr. Ethan.

Biggest news is that we now have a tooth! Lower center right has broken through the surface! And...Lower Center Left is making his way up too! He's been pretty darn good too with the pain involved, with really not much in the way of crankiness or fever! So here's to some more teeth!

Secondly, we've really been moving up in the food world. Peas, Carrots, Green Beans and starting today, Sweet Potatoes! He's been doing pretty well with the greens and carrots, but tonight....whoa! I guess the sweetness of the potatoes turned. him. on!

Let's see what else, we're getting better and better sitting up on our own. Much like Aidan was, if you can distract or for better words, "attract" him to something, he forgets about trying to stay balanced and just sits there fine. It's funny to watch because as soon as he loses focus he starts to waver. Here's a shot of him with the Boppy, playing.

Now on to something truly special. In Daddy's world, airplanes are just about everything...and when we went to Chicago, we found quite honestly the best baby airplane shirt ever. Ever. Here's E modeling it well. If you click on the picture, you'll see all the most important parts of the plane as well as the three major aerodynamic functions, yaw, pitch and roll!

Finally with Ethan tonight, the Christmas jammies are in full effect. We found these ones below on sale and I was particularly impressed with the "reindeer butt and feet".

And just for kicks, some more fun pics of Ethan Thomas!

On to the Big A. We have been preparing for his big 3rd birthday for some time (you'll have to wait to see his surprise gift). His theme this year will be none other than Thomas and Friends. Several years ago, we were cruising through Williams-Sonoma and found this awesome cake pan (see here) that you could make little train cars and decorate them as a birthday cake. So this weekend Daddy and Aidan did a little test run, which worked out OK, except for Daddy put a little too much batter in the trains so they overflowed. But the cake was good!

Here we are making some cake!

Now speaking of good cooking, Mommy took her try at Grandma June's Cherry Pie that Daddy absolutely loves...and did it to perfection! It was great, so great, I took a picture!



And finally, Mr. Aidan entertaining yet again tonight, this time with a medley of great songs from school. Enjoy!

That's all for tonight. Everyone have a great Christmas and I hope Santa brings you everything you ever wished for.

Have a great night,
Ty, Emmy, Aidan and Ethan