1 month

Aiden is a month old!  Well technically he is a month and a half.  He is 6 weeks today!  I want to let you all know what he is up to at each month, like a bunch of my mom friends do, so here it goes.

• We went to his 1 month check-up last week and he weighed in at 10 lb. 2 oz. and measured 21 3/4 in. long.  He is in the 50th percentile for both.

• He had to get his second Hepatitis B vaccine.  At his next appt. he's going to have to get FIVE vaccines.  We are NOT looking forward to it.

Showing off his blue camo bandaid from his shot as well as his milky tongue :)

• His cheeks are getting chunkier and more kissable by the day. Sometimes I seriously spend a good 15 minutes just kissing on them (I've never actually timed it, but I bet I get pretty close)! He doesn't seem to mind most of the time.

• He has started to lose his hair and it's going in the front first :( He's starting to look like a little old man..haha.  We still think he's the cutest thing ever!!

• He often hangs out with his arms outstretched and his little feet crossed

Like so!

• In the last few days he has started to really interact with us. He's starting to make all of those cute baby noises (cooing and what not) and smiling at us :)  I'll try to get pictures soon!

• I have caught him laughing in his sleep a few times now and, oh my gosh, it is the cutest thing EVER!!

• I think he finds comfort in grabbing my hair..haha.  He often has a good fistful of it!

He was just so content on Christmas when he had a good hold on Aunt Jen's hair :)

A whole fistful!

• He is SO strong.  He can totally hold his head up (which we feel like is early, but maybe not), and has been since we can remember.  Of course he's gotten better over time.  Also, when we lay him on our chests he starts climbing up us..haha.  I think he's going to be an active little guy.

• Sometimes his chin randomly quivers and it's way cute :)

• He LOVES to sleep on his tummy.  It's really too bad you're not supposed to let babies sleep on their tummies because he sleeps so well.  When we do let him, we keep a good eye on him.

• He also loves our baby carrier and often promptly falls asleep.

• He seems to really hate the hiccups (just like his momma).  He always starts crying when he gets them and then his crying sounds really funny..haha.

• He would much prefer that we be standing when we're holding him than sitting.

• He loves the ceiling fan and just stares and stares at it. He also loves light.  He has loved our Christmas tree lights and it's really too bad we'll be taking our tree down.

Too distracted by the light to look at the camera.  He's wearing his "I <3 Mommy" shirt from Sarah :)

• We've just started to take him out (we didn't want him to get sick) and he seems to really enjoy it.  We took him to Costco last night and he was looking around at everything.  We have taken him on a few walks around the complex since he was born and he's always liked that.

• He loves bath time as long as we keep his whole body covered with water.  Otherwise he gets cold and cranky (understandably).

• Sometimes he loves his pacifier and other times he seems irritated when we try to give it to him.  Sometimes he lunges for it and it's pretty hilarious!  Also, sometimes he drops it while he's sleeping and it'll be just out of reach and we can see him frantically searching for it with his mouth (obviously he can't get it with his hands yet).  It's so dang cute.

That's all I can think of right now!

We can't believe how fast he's growing.  It seems like he changes by the day.  My little baby is already getting so big.  He's out of his newborn diapers and clothes :(  He is too fun and we are absolutely in love with him.  I don't even know how many times a day we'll say to one another, "He is so dang cute!"

To close, here are a few more pictures :)

Our little family on Christmas Eve.

Later that night in his Christmas jammies.

We took Aiden to Church for the first time on Christmas.  Check out his teddy slippers :)

Dad burping Aiden :)  My boys were matching so you can hardly see Aiden..haha.

Oh just playing with Dad.  Trent is so stinking cute with Aiden.

This picture cracks me up everytime I see it!  Aiden is so serious!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  It was a very different Christmas for us.  Trent and I both agreed that it was probably the most spiritual Chistmas we've both had.  I couldn't help but think about how Mary delivered baby Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, in a stable.  I am so grateful for Him.

He's Going There Someday

Friday night we went to the temple to see the lights.  We went last week with my family for a family picture, but we had to hurry home to feed the babes, so we decided to go back just the 3 of us.  We wanted to see all of the nativities in the Visitor's Center.

We got Aiden all bundled up in his cuddly jumpsuit from his auntie Emma ;) in New Zealand.

It's pretty big on him, but he won't have many other chances to wear it since AZ doesn't get very cold or stay cold for long.

Mesa, Arizona LDS temple

Our little family :)

Aiden slept through the whole thing :)

Loved the shepherds.  Had to get a shot before we left.

We loved being back on the temple grounds.  We always feel the Spirit for sure.  We've missed going since I've been pregnant.  We'll have to make it back soon :)

What was I thinking??

So all growing up I always said I wanted twins, a boy and a girl named Bryce and Brenna.  Of course this stemmed mostly from the fact that I have a twin, as most of you know, and have always loved it.  Ask me if I want twins now.  HA!  My quick response would be a bold, "HECK no!" I can't even imagine trying to comfort TWO crying babies, feed TWO babies, and change TWICE as many diapers (it's amazing how many diapers we've already been through btw).  What was I thinking??

So that's all I really had to say, but of course I can't write a blog post anymore without pictures of cutie Aiden, so here you go!  He is getting bigger by the day and we are trying to enjoy every minute of it :)

Aiden scrunches his little forehead just like his mommy..haha.  We also love when he makes a little "o" with his mouth :)

Aiden got to meet his great grandparents (Trent's grandparents) 2 weeks ago!

Family picture!  Aiden was getting hungry.

We seriously kiss him nonstop :)

He often falls asleep with his little mouth gaping open :)

All snuggly :)

Over the last day or so Aiden's been sleeping with his arms stretched above his head!

Napping with Daddy this afternoon.  And again his arms are all outstretched :)

Tonight after we gave him a bath.  

He was in his monkey towel (you can't quite see the face) and was so cooperative and looked right at the camera for me!  The hood of the towel is quite large and often covers Aiden's whole face when we're not paying attention!  It always cracks us up!

We fall more in love with this boy by the day :)

As promised

Aiden came a week before Thanksgiving so we got to put him in his little Thanksgiving outfit that I mentioned here.  YAY!  And as promised, we got pictures :)

Aw, it's still too bright outside for poor Aiden. 

A closer shot.  You can kind of see the "Gobble, Gobble, Gobble" on his shirt :)

His turkey bum bum :)

He was much happier inside!  Very content :)

We had Thanksgiving this year with Trent's parents and they were kind enough to come to us so we didn't have to drag Aiden and all of his things out to Phoenix.  We had a nice, quiet, easygoing meal :)

Trent made an awesome hazelnut pumpkin pie this year.  You can find the recipe here.  It has more of a cheesecake consistency and was so yummy!  My family tried some later and even they liked it!  They can be pretty picky ;)  

Good job babe!

Grandpa and Grandma

I went out and purchased this turkey at a craft boutique with my mom and Jill last Saturday, right after we got home from the hospital.  

Everyone thought I was crazy!  I was pretty sore and had to walk pretty slow, but I had had this boutique marked on my calendar for a few months and just couldn't miss it!  I love stuff like that!  And we had to get a picture with the babes because of the "gobble gobble" theme  :)

Introducing...

Aiden Kent Knuckles

arrived Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 1:08 p.m.

weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz. and measuring 21 inches

His name came about simply because we liked Aiden. Trent laughs though because in Holland, where he served his mission, it means "duck", but it's spelled "eden."  So we're thinking for Halloween little Aiden (he won't be quite so little by then) will have to be a duck :) And Kent is a family name on both sides.  Trent's dad's name is Kent and my dad's middle name is Kent, as well as his dad's (my grandpa).

Towards the end of my pregnancy Trent was totally rooting for Aiden to come on November 17 because it's exactly a month after his birthday.  And a week after mine!  And he came!  Crazy!

Now here goes the whole labor story.  Feel free to just skip to all of the pictures if you want because this will probably be long!

So last Wednesday, the 16th, I went to my weekly prenatal appt.  The doctor checked my cervix as usual (which is SO uncomfortable by the way..ha) and we found out I had dilated to 3 cm, which was a cm more than the week before, and I was 90% effaced.  Once he took his fingers out though, I knew something was up because the pelvic pressure didn't let up.  And I continued to have that pressure for the rest of the evening.  I still went babysitting for 2 1/2 hours that night and really couldn't figure out if I was having contractions or not.  By the time I got home around 9:30 p.m. I told Trent I was packing my hospital bag (I had been meaning to for a few days) because I really thought this could be it. He was excited and surprised, but he still went to bed because he was subbing in the morning.

I spent the next few hours packing my bag and the diaper bag and cleaning our place up, and by now I knew I was having contractions. I went to get in bed around midnight, but it was clear I wouldn't be getting any sleep.  The contractions felt so much worse laying down. So now I tell Trent to pack his stuff because we're heading to the hospital that night.  In the mean time I was bouncing on an exercise ball and rocking in the glider trying to time my contractions.

My contractions were pretty sporadic.  Sometimes they were only like 3 minutes apart, but other times they were like 7 minutes apart. We stayed home as long as we could, but decided to head to the hospital around 4 a.m.  It was pretty crazy to be heading there!  We listened to Taylor Swift's Christmas c.d. on the way :)

We headed to triage where we filled out some paperwork and they took us to a room where they monitored my blood pressure and contractions and did a pelvic exam to see where I was at.  I got really discouraged because I was still only at 3 cm - the same from my appt. earlier in the afternoon.  I was so worried they'd send us home.  I didn't know what I'd do if we had to go home because my contractions were feeling really painful.  They kept us in triage another hour monitoring me and when they came back to check again I was at about 4 cm.  THANK GOODNESS!  They admitted us!

We headed to our delivery room, they stuck me with an IV (which really hurt! Maybe I'm just wimpy, but I hate needles), and they made me sign a bunch of paperwork.  I was hurting and feeling very frazzled so Trent did it for me and forged my signature..ha.  It was now about 7 a.m. and Trent called up both of our parents to let them know we were in.  We held off telling them anything until we knew it was the real thing, so it was probably pretty shocking to them that we were already in our delivery room!

My dad was already at work in Phoenix, but I wanted him there with Trent to give me a priesthood blessing so I endured my contractions for the 40 minutes it took him to get there.  Trent gave me a beautiful blessing, which I don't remember much of unfortunately because I had a big contraction during it, and then my dad asked Trent if he could give me a father's blessing, which I thought was so sweet.  Although I don't remember too much from either of them, I do know they were both extremely comforting.  I am so grateful that I grew up in a home where my dad was a worthy priesthood holder and that now I'm married to a worthy priesthood holder.  What a blessing.

Literally right after my dad finished, I asked for my epidural (around 8 a.m.).  And I cried.  I was TERRIFIED!  But I knew I didn't want to endure any more pain.  I really wanted to hold out until I was at least 5 cm, but I think they gave it to me around 4.5.  After about 15 minutes I couldn't feel anything from my waist down, which was SO nice.  I was able to finally rest.  It kind of stinks that I didn't get any sleep the night before.

Jill came to visit before she went to work and Jen and Mom were there the whole time.  I don't know if I slept at all because I was pretty anxious, and Jen and Mom kept wanting pictures, but mostly I was just anxious ;)

Around 8:45 Dr. Huish, my OB, came to check on me and I was at 5 cm and still 90% effaced.  He broke my water to help things progress. At 10:30 the nurse checked again and I was 7 cm and 100% effaced. And by 12:15 I was 10 cm dilated and ready to push.  We were all so shocked!  It seemed like everything had gone so fast!  And suddenly they were telling me I was going to start pushing!

It took them a little bit to get the room prepared for delivery and what not. The left stir-up didn't work so Trent had to hold up my leg..ha. And Mom and Jen stood back behind me.  Everyone was a great support while I was pushing.  I was so surprised when Dr. Huish told me while I was pushing that he was seeing a lot of dark hair! Where did that come from?!  It seemed like I didn't have to push very long at all. Trent and I both think it was only about 15-20 minutes.  

And cute Aiden was born at 1:08 p.m.!  I didn't tear at all, which I was very surprised about because I thought I would for sure.  I think it's all because of Dr. Huish.  He's awesome! And everyone was so surprised that Aiden was 7 lbs.  Even Dr. Huish guessed 6 before he was weighed.

Baby Aiden was really quiet at first, just kind of making little noises and not really crying, which had the nurses a little concerned.  When babies cry a lot in the beginning they are able to get all of the amniotic fluid and what not out of their little lungs.  They gave him to me and he pretty much started to nurse right away.  It was pretty crazy!

We stayed in the delivery room until about 3 p.m. and soon Aiden's vital readings were much better and my bleeding slowed down.  Then they moved us to our postpartum room and the visitors, aka family, showed up pretty much right away :) 

Our sweet baby Aiden!  I just LOVE his hair!

First family picture!

We seriously can't stop kissing his little cheeks :)

We stayed in the hospital 2 days.  Friday we just kept getting the hang of things and Aiden and I worked on mastering breast feeding. He also passed his first test - the hearing test!  GO AIDEN!!  The nurses discovered he was a bit jaundiced in his face.  They tested him again on Saturday and he looked great so we headed home around 12:45 p.m.

Just waiting to have Aiden's security anklet cut off so we could get him dressed and head home.  

We meant to have a nurse get our picture, but ended up just having a stranger take a picture for us in the parking lot.  

Headed home with our newest addition!

Little Aiden looking so teeny in his car seat!

Daddy and son!  We made it home!

That evening Trent's parents brought us dinner and we had Tanis give Aiden his first bath at home.  She is a nurse (used to be a neonatal intensive care nurse) so she's had a lot of practice ;)  Aiden LOVES getting his hair washed!  We crack up every time because he makes the cutest facial expressions!

Sorry the lighting's so bad.  I'll have to get a better picture :)

Baby Aiden in his huge crib!  And he is just swimming in his sleeper nightgown!  He only uses his crib for naps - we have a co-sleeper in our bedroom for the evenings :)

Sunday morning I stuck Aiden in his bouncer for the first time while I ate breakfast.  Don't worry, I put a blanket over him :)

That afternoon we took Aiden on his first walk and he was so alert! We just checked our mail and took the "long" way home around the lakes :)

And Monday evening our cutie boy discovered his thumb! We thought it was so cute :)

Aiden is a week old now and last night he let me sleep 6 1/2 hours - 3 1/2, then I fed him, and then another 3.  Such a good boy!

All I can say is we are absolutely in love with Aiden.  I never knew I could love someone so much, so fast. (At first I didn't have "so fast" at the end of that sentence and Trent read it and was like, "What about me?"  I had to think about it and realized I fell in love with Aiden instantly and it took a little bit of time - not too much - to fall in love with Trent :) Obviously we had to date a bit before I fell in love!) Trent and I can't stop saying to one another, "He's just so CUTE!" and "He's such a good boy!"  I can honestly say I have never been so happy in my entire life and at times it makes me want to burst into tears, happy tears of course!  I LOVE MY BOYS SO MUCH!!

P.S. Just yesterday we realized that Aiden's birthday, November 17, is the same day Trent proposed to me 4 years ago!  Man, he has a great birthday!  I just love that little guy to pieces :)