Easter Time!

A-man celebrated Easter in a special way - we combined it with his birthday! But I'll do a seperate post about that. We started Easter weekend with a huge Easter Egg hunt on Saturday. We went with some friends to the village Easter Egg hunt. Since A-man isn't walking yet we decided not to let him loose with all the other kids -which there was a lot. But the Easter bunny came up to him and gave him a little whirly thing that he loved. He had no idea he wasn't getting any eggs so he didn't notice anything.





Another great thing about the village Easter party was the petting zoo - they had a great petting zoo for kids. We could have taken A-man into the fenced area but again since he's only crawling I really didn't want him crawling in mud and animal poo. Does that make me a mean mom? Instead we stood on the outside of the fence and let him pet the animals there instead. He had fun doing that!



After the morning fun (and of course a nap) we went to Cantigny Part in the afternoon and had a blast walking around the gardens. I will do a seperate post about all the fun we had there but here are a couple of pictures from the visitor center. They do amazing displays there as well as incredible gardens and grounds.






We started another new family tradtion this Easter season - Peep Art. Diana's uncle who lives in Washington does this with his family every year and this year Diana's family & of course us - decided to join in. You take peeps and make a scene out of them. We did movie scenes - Diana did the Wizard of Oz or as we called it the Peeps of OZ or the Wizard of Peeps. Jason did a scene from Monty Python - or Monty Peepthon. We had a ton of fun and A-man loved trying out some peeps - I think he likes sugar - but who wouldn't. I can't wait until he can join in and make his own Peep Art since we will definitely be adding this to our family traditions.


\




On Sunday - Easter morning we had a special cinnamon roll breakfast - A-man is loving eating "big people food"! We dressed him in his super cute Easter outfit and had a wonderful day at church. We are going to try to celebrate Easter like this in the future - Saturday is all the fun stuff and Sunday will be the more spiritual side of Easter. But since we weren't doing all that much this first Easter since he is so young we gave him his cute little Easter basket with a few toys. He certainly enjoyed that - although he was a little baffled by the basket but he thought it was funny!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

So it's corny - I know but with a name like Aedyn and living in a city like Chicago I had to go all out for St. Patricks day. We decided to have some fun and take a lot of St. Patrick's day photo's of our little guy. Sure it's not the big day yet but we wanted to make a card and needed the pictures now. So sit down and get ready for some absolutely ADORABLE pics of my little man...

You've been served!

Well - he's only 10 months old and A-man has already been to court and served a summons by the sherriff's office. Yep - he's a little trouble maker all right...well not really but he did have to go to court.


All dressed up with somewhere to go - check out their suits

Last week we took a family trip downtown Chicago to petition the court for our adoption finalization. Our wonderful attorney met us at the Daily Federal Building and Courthouse and we startedm on the next step in this incredible journey. Our attorney had 2 other families there also that we got to know that were also adopting infants.


Watching the sherriff's deputy get A-man's summons ready


Apparently A-man thought it was hilarious too

First we filled out some papers in the adoption family waiting room and signed all kinds of things and then we were instructed to go to the 7th floor - the sherriff's office. We all went downstairs and then they served the babies their papers summoning them to appear in court. I have to say it was adorable!!!! After A-man received his papers the deputy on duty gave him his own sherriff's badge for his memory book.


A-man being served his summons to appear in court.

We then went back upstairs to the 17th floor family waiting room and waited to meet with the judge for our hearing. While waiting A-man was showing off his awesome suit and sweet crawling skills. In addition he was talking up a storm and laughing like crazy. He was so loud that they had to close the outer door to the courtroom because they could hear him inside. Our attorney mentioned that he should go into PR when he gets older because he is such a charmer.

Then it was our turn in front of the judge. Jason held him and let A-man stand on the judge's desk. He immediately started to jump and dance and charmed the judge and everyone else in the courtroom. We talked to the judge about how he was adjusting, how we were adjusting, and all kinds of different things. It all went really well - we had a great judge! The judge mentioned that she could see A-man becoming an attorney when he grew up because he looked great in his little pin-striped suit and like most attorneys he wouldn't be quiet. (No offense to any attorneys out there - it was a compliment) :) That's right he charmed her also! On our way out the baliff gave A-man a sucker which he proceeded to suck the plastic until we took it away...


A-man and his new buddy - his judge!

Then we waited a little longer in the waiting room for things to finish up and then it was over! The judge came out so we could get pictures with her and then we headed out. Now all that is left is for all the paperwork to be finished up and filed. For the first time in court for all 3 of us it wasn't too bad - we actually had fun! Now let's hope that's A-man's ONLY time going to court.


The whole family with the judge who signs the papers to make it all possible.

A few of his favorite things

Well our little man is definitely getting an opinion about things so I thought I would share a little bit about his likes and dislikes!

Favorite thing to do during the day - Explore! He is a crawling machine and loves to go all around the house and practice his new skill. He also likes to take things apart and see how they work. The play mats we have around the house he will rip up off the floor. We made a box out of some of the extras - and he proceeded to put it on and off his head.




Favorite activity with mom - crawling away from her when she is changing diapers. A-man will quickly flip over as soon as the diaper is off and take off as fast as he can - although he turns around to make sure mom is coming to catch him and then starts to laugh.

Favorite activity with dad - bathtime! A-man loves bathtime with dad - they laugh and play and laugh some more. Sometimes I'm not sure who enjoys their time together more - A-man or dad.


Sporting his bubble beard and mohawk compliments of dad\

Playing as the water cascades into the bathtub

Least favorite activity - naptime! Someone is now putting up a fuss when it's naptime - it will last a few seconds and then he is so wiped out that he is out like a light. But he makes sure to let us know that he doesn't want to be going to bed.

Favorite food - carrots, spaghetti, waffles, peaches, and of course his puffs and just about anything else he can put in his mouth.


Feeding himself - as you can see by the mess - this doesn't happen too often.

Least Favorite food - pureed macaroni and cheese - talk about a mess - he definitely didn't like that meal...

Favorite word (at least babble) - ma ma/da da - but it ends up being more like ma ma ma ma ma ma....or da da da da da....

Favorite toy - where to start...he loves his little activity center, and his blocks, he especially loves his musical instruments - I think we have a budding musician on our hands. He also loves stuffed animals right now and anything that he can make noise with. And books! He loves to read his books.

Favorite accessory - ok this is more for mom and dad but he looks adorable in hats! So he has a ton of hats that he wears. The best part is that he doesn't mind them at all - in fact he plays peek-a-boo with his hats.


Playing peek-a-boo with his newsboy hat

Hat time!

Other misc favorites - he loves to skype with his grandparents and aunts and uncles - he recognizes the sound of someone calling to skype and gets very excited to show off. He also loves when we play games together - he gets such a kick out it.

MOM & DAD's favorite - A-man!!! We love him so much and can't seem to get enough of him. Here's a quick video of him laughing while dad plays peek-a-boo...

November fun

Well lately we have been very popular. Grandma and Grandpa Bowler came to visit our favorite little guy. Then we also had Jason's sister and her family come to visit. Baby boy is always being entertained and he is loving every minute of it! We took him down to Wrigley Field in downtown Chicago and even all bundled up he was adorable. We took some cute pictures of Jason and Aedyn together at Wrigley Field. You can't be a Chicago boy without going to some of the most famous sports spots in the city.




Aedyn is also adjusting extremely well to his new home! He has so many toys and fun things that he is completely spoiled. He also has a ton of new friends. The first Sunday we went to church our little guy was the most popular person there. Everyone wanted to see him and he loved the spotlight. It's amazing to me how he loves people and is so happy to meet new people. Everyone kept mentioning how cute and happy he was. I couldn't ask for anything more.


He is also making great strides in his development. He is rolling over now and starting to sit up by himself. He does really well until he gets too excited and then he starts to tip over a little (we are keeping lots of pillows surrounding him at all times on the floor). He is also starting to eat solids now. He loves food! So far he loves everything he has tried. I don't know why he likes it so much - he shared some with me the other day - he got so excited while eating that he spit everything right at me and I got a nice mouthful of green beans and rice cereal. At least he is loving it!

Fall & Halloween 2010

Well baby boy celebrated his first Halloween recently and had no idea what is was all about but we sure enjoyed it! He dressed up in two different costumes. The first costume was a puppy dog - we went to a party and he was so adorable - although the the costume was a little big and the hood kept creeping over his head. So we went and bought him another costume. This time he was a bumble bee! He was so adorable! We didn't go trick or treating (Jason and I definitely don't need to be eating candy and Aedyn can't eat it). But he helped to pass out candy and got oohh's and aahhh's because he was so cute!



We also went and took him to get come pictures taken. What a photogenic little guy! We took a couple pictures by some pumpkins but he was too intrigued by the pumpkins to pay attention to the camera. Then we went by some colorful trees and put him in a little Androdak chair and he was all smiles! Then to make Jason extra proud we put his University of Utah jersey on and put him on his U of U blanket! What a ham! He totally lived it up. I couldn't ask for a cuter, happier, better little boy!




Once we got back to Illinois I took some pictures in all the leaves. I raked the leaves and then positioned his bumbo chair for him to sit in and it looked like he was in all the leaves. I was amazed that he didn't try to eat one single leaf - instead he was just intrigued at looking at them. Super cute!

Welcome to the family!

On Sept 29, 2010 our family experienced the most wonderful blessing ever! We welcomed a beautiful 5 month baby boy into our family. Aedyn's birth parents truly loved him and wanted him to have the best life possible. They choose us to be his adoptive parents and to raise him. We felt so honored and blessed that they trusted us with this wonderful spirit! He has brought so much joy and we can't imagine life without him.


When we first met him at the meeting with his birth mother Aedyn just lit up! Stormie, Aedyn's birth mother, told us later that it was as if he recognized us and was excited to see us. He has been so happy ever since he foined our family! It has been a dream come true to have him in our family. Both of us will look at Aedyn and just thank our Heavenly Father that he has blessed us with such a wonderful little boy.


We also owe so much to his birth parents. They love him so much and made the ultimate sacrifice in order to give him a better future. I admire their sacrifice and the decision they made so much! We will forever be grateful to them for letting Aedyn join our family. Thanks Stormie and DJ - you are our hero's!!! You have made our family complete!