Christmas tree hunting 2009

My family goes on an annual Christmas tree hunt (ok, and we eat a lot of good food, too) with our family friends, the Ellsworth and Zang families. We always go to get our trees the first Sunday in December, and lucky for us, my parents live next door to a Christmas tree farm! This is a family tradition that I could not wait to continue with Aiden. Next year he will be in Papa John's tractor with the big kids!

This year was Aiden's first christmas tree hunt, and it was also his first snowstorm! We bundled Aiden up so snug that he could barely move and headed out to find a tree. As we left the house it was snowing a few small flakes and by the time we left there was several inches of snow on the ground. It was so fun to go tree hunting in the snow and we found the perfect tree this year!

All bundled up!

With Momma...

Standing next to our tree!

Daddy cutting the tree down...even though he complains, I think he secretly loves doing this kind of stuff...ha ha!

All decorated and in the house!

Aiden's first birthday party (finally)!

I know it took me a little while, but I wanted to post some pictures of Aiden's first birthday party! We had his party on November 22 - one day before his birthday. We invited our family and a few close friends over to our place for an afternoon of fun, cake and of course, Aiden opening presents...OK, he really liked playing with the tissue paper more than actually opening the presents ;)

The invitiation...

The decorations...

The favors - giraffe cookies...

Cupcakes! The orange were carrot cake and the blue were chocolate chip...

Aiden and Nana Robyn - couldn't have gotten his party together without her help!

Aiden and his daddy - just chillin'!

Time to open presents! Aiden in his new Mickey Mouse hat...

Playing with the tissue paper - he really had a great time!

Getting some help from his cousins Logan and Tanner. Notice Sophie in the corner she had to be envolved in the whole thing!

A post present nap on Auntie Heather (Mommy's friend and Aiden's NICU nurse).

Either he isn't sure about the flame on the candle, or he isn't sure about our singing...

Mmmmmm...he only ate a little bit of the frosting off the cupcake because he just wasn't too sure about it - but, he had fun playing with it!

Happy birthday to our fun, wonderful little boy and thank you to those who helped us celebrate!

Dear Aiden,

Today you are one year old. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by and I can't believe how far you have come. Sometimes I look back at your first pictures and think "wow, is that the same little boy?" You had such a rough start in life, but you are the happiest baby now. Thinking of your birth is a little hard for us; it was so scary, so hard and so happy all mixed into one. But, today is definitely something to celebrate. In your first few weeks of life we were told several times that you would probably not make it, several times we prepared for the worst and you pulled through it all - strong and determined to come home to your mom and dad. It was so hard to watch you go through all the difficult things you had to go through, and it is such a pleasure now to watch you explore new things, play, laugh and give us kisses. I know our rough journey was so worth it.

In the last year we have watched you learn to breathe on your own, eat on your own, get bigger, learn to sit, stand, and smile. What an honor it has been to be able to help you the whole way. I can't wait to see what the next year has in store, what you will learn and see how your little personality continues to develop. I can't wait to see you grow up to be the big boy we know you will be!

You are our little miracle baby, in so many ways. You have made us so happy and we love you so much. Happy birthday baby boy!

in the little blue hat on November 23, 2008...

and in the little blue hat one year later.

our first family picture...

and our family picture one year later.

Donate in honor of Aiden's first birthday!

With Aiden's first birthday only weeks away, people have been asking me if there is anything he needs that they can get him. I thought about it and realized that Aiden is a very lucky boy and doesn't really need anything, we are so fortunate that he is here with us, and some families are not as fortunate. What better gift is there to give him then knowing that people donated in his honor to help more babies be born healthy?

Each year almost 1/2 million babies in the United States are born prematurely and struggle to survive. Donations made to the March of Dimes supports research to prevent premature births, educate parents to be and provide services for babies that are not as fortunate as Aiden is. Their history includes:

• Developing the vaccine declared against polio...1955
• Funding the first successful bone marrow transplant to correct a birth defect...1968
• Funding the first in utero treatment for a birth defect...1973
• Calling for the creation of a regional system of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) to save very sick babies...1976
• Funding research leading to surfactant therapy to treat respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)...1985
• Successfully using gene therapy to treat hemophelia and retinitis pigmentosa in the laboratory...1999
• Ongoing research based upon delivery of a gene that affects the development of a healthy heart...2000
• In 1998, the March of Dimes began its six-year Perinatal Epidemiology Research Initiative, investing more than $5.7 million in research to study how factors such as stress, infection, genetics and environment may trigger preterm labor.
  

For more information on the March of Dimes mission and history visit their website, www.marchof dimes.com.

On the donation page you can choose to donate in honor of Aiden's first birthday and you can have March of Dimes send an acknowledgement to him, you just have to enter in our address (if you don't know it, please email me at hollynicolls@gmail.com and I will give it to you).

I can't image a more lasting gift to give him. When he is 18, he probably won't remember what toys he got on his first birthday, but he will be able to look at the acknowledgment cards and know that his family and friends did a great thing in his honor.

Click here to donate in Aiden's honor

Some Halloween Pics

Aiden's first Halloween was spent at Uncle Chris and Aunt Lisa's house. We had fun and ate Halloween themed foods and candy and checked out all the little trick or treaters when they came to the door. Aiden got to spend time with his cousin Sydney (a butterfly) and friends Eden and Lily (also known as the little mermaid and her sissy).

Aiden was a little penguin for the night, he looked so darn cute!

11 months old/8 months adjusted (a little late)

11 months old/8 months adjusted already! Time flies!

Aiden's closed mouth smile, his daddy does the same thing!

Little Aiden is 11 months old already and just turned 8 months adjusted last week. It is so fun to watch him grow up, even if it is slowly :) Over the last couple months Aiden has really started to notice the world around him, he sees everything and is very curious about it. He wants to touch everything with both hands and then put whatever it is in his mouth. He is particularly fascinated with people and loves grabbing noses and mouths. He has also entered the phase where he loves pulling on hair and jewelry...ouch!

He is really close to sitting up without any help, but still needs a finger to grab onto for balance. He wants so badly to be able to explore, but doesn't have a lot of interest in crawling, the boy just wants to walk! He loves it when we hold onto him and let him walk around the house - he gets so excited and just has this huge smile on his face the whole time. He hasn't had any teeth break through yet, but he is definitely working on it, he chews on everything. I have read that the longer preemies teeth are below the surface the better, medication and breathing tubes can mess with their teeth, so we are happy that they are taking their time!

He is really such a happy baby, he wakes up with a smile on his face every morning - and in the middle of the night. It doesn't take much to make him smile and laugh, but don't let that fool you, the kid has a temper! If you don't give him what he wants quick enough, he just has a little fit! I think he might get that from me ;)

He loves watching baby Einstein DVDs - especially the parts with puppets or animals, and playing with his toys on the floor. His favorite toys are his interlocking rings, Sophie the giraffe, light up gumball machine, big soft blocks and mirror. He also loves, loves, loves playing in his little saucer - he gets to stand up like a big boy and there are so many activities on it. He also loves watching baseball with his dad, especially if there are fireworks when the players hit a home run!

Playtime in the saucer

He loves being sang to, Old McDonald, Wheels on the Bus and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are his favorites. He also loves being read to, he loves all of his books and likes to kick them when I read to him. He loves it when I read magazines when I hold him, because he just kicks and kicks at them and then laughs.

He hit some big milestones in the preemie world, he is off oxygen during the day, he still has it on at night - although I don't know how much longer that will happen, since he has started pulling off the cannula several times every night. He also is doing so well that the home health nurse no longer sees him. We were sad that she stopped coming, she was one of Aiden's friends, but happy that he has "graduated". We don't get weekly weigh ins anymore, but we think he is around 14 1/2 - 15 lbs.

We still have problems getting him to eat enough formula (not that I blame him - yuck!), but he loves his solid foods! He loves bananas, peaches, oatmeal, yogurt, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and apples. He was OK with avocado, carrots and pears but was not a big fan of green beans or peas. I know, a boy who doesn't like green vegetables - what a shock!!! I still make all of his food for him, which I love doing. I know he is getting all organic, nutritious food with nothing bad for him in it.

Avocados..blah!!!

He is such a good baby and a sweet little boy. He has even learned how to give kisses - mouth wide open on our cheeks :)

An escapee from the zoo

Last night, on Halloween, there was an escapee penguin from the local zoo. I was able to capture it on video walking around...

A week by the ocean

Last week we went on our first (and much needed!) family vacation. We spent a nice week by the ocean in Mendocino. My family used to rent a house there when I was younger. A few years ago the house we used to rent burnt down and they rebuilt a bigger totally upgraded house in its place - but made it look exactly the same on the outside. My parents and grandma rented it for the week and my whole family headed over. It took a little over 4 hours to get there and it was a the longest car ride Aiden has been on, but it wasn't that bad, we went at night so he slept most of the time.

I love Mendocino, it is a town full of tourists and old hippees - it is pretty funny. It is such a cute, quiet town and everything was within walking distance to the house we stayed at. We got to take Aiden out with us because everything we did was outdoors. He was probably outside more last week than he has been his whole life! We took him on walks through town and to several beaches, and my parents watched him one night so Jeremy and I could go out to a nice dinner and relax. Aiden was pretty spoiled, he didn't get put down much and he got a new outfit, a new pair of shoes and 3 new toys out of the vacation!

The house we stayed at, it was awesome. The window on the third floor was our bedroom (if you look close Jeremy and Aiden are in the window). There was even a spa behind the water tower. The kitchen was huge, which was good since there was alot of cooking going on!

This is the view out our bedroom window - Mendocino bay and the ocean. What a way to wake up! Right across the street is a state park, bluffs, tidepools, trails and a little beach.

The town of Mendocino, we took Aiden on a walk through town and got some coffee and a toy for him at the little toy shop. He also went to his first restaurant (we sat outside of course) - a little cafe with a balcony overlooking the bay.


Me and Aiden out on the deck outside the house. We had pretty good weather, it was cloudy a couple days, but it was still nice! Most of the time we just chilled out on the deck overlooking the ocean.


Me and Jeremy at the bluffs, this day was right after a storm had gone through and the waves were HUGE!

My grandma, mom, me and Aiden. It was windy, hence the hair :)

Aidens first beach experience, we took off his socks and let him play in the sand. At first he wasn't sure what to think about it, but then he started to like it!

Yep, he had a good time playing in the sand!

Little sandy feet :)

Jeremy and Aiden at McKerricher state park - there is a boardwalk that goes out to a point on the ocean where you can see seals and sometimes whales.

Me and Aiden taking a little timeout on the boardwalk, it was a nice walk and we got to see lots of wildlife.

Thats it! We had alot of fun, but eventually had to come back home ;)

This time last year

A year ago today we were sitting in a specialist's office in Sacramento. I was barely 5 months pregnant and a doctor was explaining to us that my water had broken and there was no amniotic fluid left around the baby.

He was explaining to us all the horrible things that would probably happen next. He told us to think about terminating the pregnancy.

When this happens, the story doesn't usually end well.

We know how lucky we are, we are the exception.

And our story ended with this...

We love our little Aiden.

A Reunion

Today was the Mercy NICU reunion. The reunion is held every year and all the tiny babies come back all grown up to see the nurses and doctors and other families from the NICU. It was held at a park in Carmichael and there were soooo many families there, some that we recognized with babies around Aiden's age and others with older kids running around. We were so excited to go and see the people that saved Aiden's life and show them how great he is doing. The people that work in the NICU become like your family when you are there, they take care of your baby and they take care of you, too. We became very close to some of them when we spent our 4 1/2 months there and got to see many of them today. I hope that they don't mind that I posted their pictures, but I want my friends and family to see the people that helped Aiden so much.

Jeremy, Aiden and Heather. Heather and I have been friends since we were born and she works in the NICU. The day Aiden was born I was in the operating room in the early morning hours finishing up my c-section when in comes a worried looking nurse in operating room attire, it was Heather. She came in on her day off and watched over Aiden when we could not be in the NICU. She went between him and my room giving us updates on what was going on. Without her doing that we probably would have gone crazy not knowing - plus Heather can make you laugh even when you are having one of the most tramatic days of your life :)

;

Me, Aiden and Dawn. Dawn was Aiden's daytime primary nurse. Dawn watched over Aiden when he was very, very sick all the way through until he left the NICU. I loved it when Dawn was there because she let me do everything with Aiden and would chat with me like I was a friend, not a mother in the NICU which made me feel so much more comfortable there. She would joke around with Jeremy and made things a little more fun. She loved Aiden and took great care of him. She got teary today when she saw him :)

This is Dr. Getman, she was Aiden's main doctor, she was on duty the morning Aiden was born. She literally saved our son's life. Probably more than once. She had to give us the bad news and got to give us the good news, too. Sometimes I miss her morning phone calls to update us on Aiden's progress...mmmm...maybe not :)

This is Sheila, she was there today but we weren't able to get a picture of her - this is from the night before Aiden left the NICU. She was Aiden's nighttime primary nurse. Sheila taught us so much and helped us learn to do the basic things like giving Aiden baths. Sheila was Aiden's nurse the night we were told that things were looking bad, he was on full support and nothing else could be done for him. That night he started to turn around and got better, now maybe it was just a coinsidence, but I think Shiela helped him. He always had good nights with her and she was so good to him, we loved the way Sheila used to talk to him and comfort him. She was so excited to see him today!

This was the main area of the reunion - look at all the people there! We also got to see alot of the other nurses and also some of the respritory therapists that took care of Aiden. There were also a few people missing that we were hoping to see, maybe next year!

Jeremy and Aiden sitting on the lawn. Please note, Aiden has no oxygen tube :) He has been able to be off his oxygen during the day for the last few days!