Daddy's favorite co-pilot

Twas the night before Cyclone football, when all through the Winnie, not a creature was stirring, well except maybe 'lil Aspen........

Our September 11th Story

September 11th typically serves as a moment of reflection for those who lost their lives on that tragic day back in 2001.  But, sometimes, out of sorrow, joy can be found.  Ours, just happened to be on September 11th, 2014.  The news: a plus sign on a pregnancy test.  While there hadn't been any official plan nor really discussion of when Aspen would become a big brother, apparently someone had a plan for us.  Excited may have been the understatement, as we quickly determined we wanted to tell our family two weeks later when Britt planned for everyone to get together in Ames to celebrate her Dad's Birthday.  So, we had Aspen pose so we could make a Birthday card for her Dad to open and the rest would have been history.

If the week couldn't get any crazier, we first came across an acreage earlier in the week that sounded as if it fit our perfect criteria in our "dream home".  Only three miles from our current location, an acreage nestled on three acres still in town, with a stocked pond, corn crib, and even greater than our expectations list, a log cabin!  We quickly contacted the owner, who by chance, lived on our street prior to moving to the cabin.  We instantly fell in love and knew it was exactly where we could see our future.  We made an offer by the end of the weekend, and found out later that night, it was accepted!  

So, in one short week, we went from a family of three to four, and plans to move to a new home in a matter of months.  Then, the shock of having to get our current home ready to sell all set in.  Where we crazy afterall?

The following week ended on a downer.  By Friday, Britt began having problems with her pregnancy and knew things weren't quite right.  By Saturday morning she called her doctor for advice and was given the option of either waiting until their office opened Monday morning or visiting the ER.  She chose option 1.  The weekend was spent laying low and informing our families of the soon to be confirmed unfortunate news.  By Monday, we knew, that our recent news was now one not meant to be.  Hard to fathom when the pregnancy with Aspen went so smooth.  We had to remind ourselves that someone had bigger plans.  

With that being said, a sad, humbling, and exciting few weeks for our family.  

8 months old and not slowing down

Another month down, another month closer to the big "1".  Ma wrote a little poem for me this month.  I'm hoping my English skills are a little more refined than hers some day, but I'll give her credit for at least attempting.

Eight months old and counting....and my attempt at a poem. 

Mirror mirror on the wall, oh how did my baby grow so tall?

He's grown by leaps and bounds you see, and I'm talking more than just growing up as tall as a tree.

He's learned to wave, to eat, to stand, to crawl,
All I want to know is...can we make him stall?

Eight months has come and gone way too fast,
Before I know it, he'll be gone from his Mom and Dad's at last.

All I want is to cuddle his sweet little frame, but to some that may sound oh so lame.

I love our sweet little Aspen with all my heart, and pray one day he will be oh so smart.

But until that day comes, likely in a flash, we will continue to play and play and play until we crash.

Thank you for all of the memories our family has created, your Mom and Dad could never be more elated.

And as I close I have one last wish for my little man, that when you grow old, you become Iowa State's biggest fan!

Here a few pics of my little Hawaiian.

I'm a human sponge

Apparently I'm a human sponge.  I'm learning and growing and growing and learning.  Just in one short month I've learned new words, tricks, how to army crawl, crawl, pull myself up, move laterally along the couch, and probably much more that Ma and Da that can't remember.  This video shows me crawling crawling for the very first time.