Brad, Kimber & Micah

The Baby

2012-02-01T17:44:00.000-05:00

This pregnancy is flying by. I can't believe that it is almost half way over and I feel like it has just begun. I guess that is what it is like when you are moving in to a new home, running around after an almost two year old and trying to get settled. Like with Micah I have experienced quite a bit of morning sickness and nausea. I think I was able to manage it better this time with the help of medication so I felt mostly functional most days. I have felt much more tired than I remember feeling last time. Going to bed past nine is a crazy night for me these days. My stomach is much more rapidly expanding this time than it did last and hopefully at some point it will realize it is caught up and slow that down.

We have had several doctors visits and things have gone really well. I have been fortunate to find a really great doctor here in Las Vegas. We also live about 1/2 a mile from the hospital I plan to deliver at so that is another great thing! We have had several ultrasounds so far but have not had a good viewing angle for learning the gender. We do plan on finding out but we don't know yet! I personally think it is a girl. I could be wrong but I am going to go on the record with my guess.

Micah has been learning about the baby and although we know he isn't really grasping the concept fully, he does have an idea there is something going on. When asked "where is the baby?" He will lift up my shirt and poke his finger in my belly button. He also will sometimes talk to the baby and tell it hi and he has even given the baby (my tummy) hugs and kisses without being prompted. We really think he is going to make a great big brother!

Here is a belly pic from 17 weeks.

Christmas Day

2012-02-01T17:31:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas in Texas and as usual were more blessed than we could imagine! We spent time with both my and Brad's family and just ping ponged in between houses. Micah really enjoyed the present opening this year but did get a little over whelmed after awhile and just wanted to play with the gifts.

Picture with Santa

2012-01-27T00:13:00.000-05:00

We did the yearly mall pic with Santa once we got to Texas on Christmas eve. We fully expected it to be a zoo and nearly bearable experience, but to our surprise we walked right up and sat in Santa's lap and it was great! Micah did so well. He wasn't exactly jumping for joy and giving Santa hugs, but he wasn't scared of Santa and didn't cry this year. All in all Success!

More Christmas fun

2012-01-27T00:09:00.000-05:00

Before we set off for Texas for our Christmas vacation we took Micah to a place we heard about on the radio called the Magical Forest. It was basically a giant parking lot that was overhauled into a pretty impressive winter wonderland. Micah enjoyed seeing all of the lights and fun Christmas displays with his favorite characters such as Mickey and Pooh in them. There was also a small children's sized train that ran through the village. Micah LOVES choo choos and would get so excited every time he saw it. We looked into riding it but it was freezing and the line was LONG not to mention it was already past his bedtime. We didn't tell him we would ride it and figured he wouldn't really know the difference if we just packed up and left. Wrong. Worst parents ever here. As we tried to get in the car he resisted and kept repeating over and over, "ride choo choo, ride choo choo" At that point it was too late because we had already exited so we strapped him in the car and the whole drive home he cried and kept whimpering "ride choo choo." He still to this day asks frequently to ride the choo choo but that night was the first time. Oh well, we probably scarred him for life just a little.

Seriously.. How could you not love this face?

Merry Chirstmas from the FOUR of us!

2012-01-25T17:53:00.000-05:00

Christmas Party!

2012-01-25T17:50:00.000-05:00

We got to enjoy a fabulous Christmas Party for the kiddos at Brad's work. There was a bounce house, cookie decorating (and eating) and even a visit from Santa!

He didn't even know what to do with it until we showed him. Then the cookie eating quickly become his favorite part.

Oh look who's here?! He is in the cockpit!

Fun at the Park

2012-01-25T17:33:00.000-05:00

During the month of November we were still having wonderful weather and we tried to take advantage of it by going to the park. This park isn't the closest but it probably is our favorite. There is so much for the kids to do they just love every second of it. See those huge tube slides in the back of the photo below? Don't be fooled... Micah wasn't scared a bit. He loved them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2012-01-25T01:22:00.000-05:00

Despite being far from family we really had a lovely Thanksgiving! We spent the holiday with our Air Force Family... some of our closest friends we have made though our years in the Air Force.

This year I tried a new recipe for my Turkey. I have a method that I really like but it takes a long, I mean LONG time and I was just tired! So thanks to my good friend Carla for the tips and moral support (not to mention answering the phone on thanksgiving to answer my questions) we decided to go with the brown bag method. It was a winner. Basically you cook the turkey in a brown paper grocery bag. I was skeptical but it came out beautifully browned and cooked even quicker than I anticipated (that never happens!)

Our dear friends and guests for Thanksgiving were the Hale's and the Gossner's

Now that's more like the Hale's I know! Just Kidding!

Micah loves to eat so this was a good day for him!

The aftermath!!!

Thanks again to Kara and Sarah for helping cook and clean! Couldn't have pulled it off with out you guys!

Aire Show

2012-01-25T01:07:00.000-05:00

Back in November we went to the Nellis Air Show. Brad was really excited to take Micah to his first Air Show and although the weather was a bit icky for Vegas standards we managed to have a really good time. We met up with our good friends the Gossners there and Micah and Avery picked up right where they left off... chasing each other around!

Daddy showed Micah all of the jets and got to get up close and personal with some!

But really... who cares about airplanes when they are selling ice cream?!

And since it is an air show... here are some airplanes!

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-01T01:18:00.001-04:00

This Halloween was a huge success! Micah loved going door to door and collecting candy for his bucket! He also got many comments from people out trick or treating on how cute he was! I have to agree. He wasn't too sure about some of the scary masks but other than that had lots of fun. His favorite stop was at our friends John and Kara's home where he got given TONS of candy and got to play the piano and ~~run~~ fly in circles all over the house It is late so this post is short but here are the pics from the night.

Las Vegas Living

2011-10-17T17:40:00.000-04:00

We are getting settled into our new home (just not our new house.) and things are returning somewhat back to normal. Brad is working a lot and everyday is getting to be like ground hog day around here. Since don't know many people yet to play with we try to get out of the house as much as we can so our day usually goes something like this:
Wake up
Breakfast
Get Dressed
Play around House
Go to Park
Go home
Eat lunch
Nap time
Wake up
Play at house or run errend
Cook Dinner
Eat dinner
Bath
Books
Bedtime
Repeat

We spend may hours of the day outside and at parks so I'm hoping that the weather stays nice as long as possible. Things are still going well with the house and we are hoping to close by the end of the month but still just waiting to get an exact date.

Here are some pictures updates. They aren't really so much updates as I haven't been taking many pictures other than on my phone lately but they are from the past few weeks. These first ones are from when Sarah and Avery were still here and we went to the park and the last ones are of Micah with his new obsession... shoes!

Fun in Las Vegas

2011-09-25T16:52:00.000-04:00

We haven't even been here two weeks and we are already in love with all of the womderfulpublic parks. We have been at least every other day and Micah ust has a blast. This is a great park within 5 min of where we are staying.

This is the beautiful scenery I was talking about it the last post!

Guess who larned to climb ladders?

Home Sweet Home (Hopefully!)

2011-09-25T01:56:00.000-04:00

We have found a home and had our offer accepted. Now we are just going through with the inspections, appraisals and other fun stuff that will hopefully work out smoothly. This house is a foreclosure and so the process works a bit differently than a traditional sale. We are though the initial steps but with Las Vegas being such a distressed market we are doing our due diligence to make sure we are not buying a lemon. Unfortunately some people in this world don't have much integrity and when getting foreclosed on will sabotage or demolish the home before they leave. I have heard so many crazy stories you would never even think are true. The worst was people flushing cement down their pipes so everything appears okay until you start to use the water. Geez! With that said we are praying for smooth sailing but prepared to find some things that will be in need of repair on the home.

We think the home is perfect for us. We love so many things about it and are very lucky to be buying at a time and place where we can afford much more than we thought we would be able to at this point. The home is about 13 years old so it has some great elements but also has things that are in need of a little updating. My favorites though are the travertine flooring, plantation shutters on the windows, and all the extras that are included like a water softener, water filtration system, and sunscreens for the windows to block out that intense Las Vegas sun! The other thing that really sold us on the house was location. We love the area that it is in. It is in a master planned community called Summerlin that has tons of parks, shopping, dining, outdoor recreation and more. Our neighborhood is actually bordered by a park on one side. The schools are absolutely the best as well! There is a chance that Micah could start school here so it was a very important factor.

Here are a couple of pics. I will update more if everything goes though and we move in!

Last days in the South

2011-09-25T01:14:00.000-04:00

We managed to make some really great memories in our last few weeks in South Carolina! We spent lots of time with friends having fun and being silly! I know I have some memories that will last a lifetime from these last few weeks.

It was HOT HOT HOT so we spent lots of time at the pool on base. We found this great contraption that Micah can wear that actually allows hm to be pretty independent in the pool. It will keep him entirely afloat and he has learned to swim and maneuver while wearing it. It has allowed both of us to enjoy pool time much more!

Some of our friends, the Bolands, that used to be stationed in SC with us came back through for a visit and Carter, their son had a matching swimsuit with Micah. Too cute not to photograph!

Micah and Olivia often favored snacking over swimming. We stayed in the pool and watched :)

We got to have many fun playdates with Luke and Olivia. Olivia's mommy and Luke's nanny were great friends from our time at Shaw. We were really impressed we got 3 18 mo olds to look at the camera at the same time!!!

One of Micah's favorite things to do over the summer was piggy back rides! Needless to say both mommy and daddy made great piggies for Micah to ride!

While we were moving out of our house my dear friend Raleigh let us move into hers! She has too adorable kiddos and they all played so well together! Micah looked up to Landon like a big brother and Janna Lynn was just happy not to be the littlest anymore! We had a blast staying with them! One night we managed to Rub-a-dub-dub wash 4 babies in the tub!

Another night we took advantage of all being in one place and got a sitter so we could have one last adult night out with our friends. We ate at the Mill Pond which was absolutely delicious! They can now all attest to how possessive I am over my Mac & Cheese!

We left Sumter with a bang. What special memories we have at this base. We bought our first home, had our fist child, and made some great friends along the way.

Viva Las Vegas!

2011-09-24T23:50:00.001-04:00

We have been on the go! It has been one busy summer, but I am hopefully seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. For those of you who don't know, we have now officially arrived in our new home, Las Vegas, Nevada. I never officially posted about this change, but since we are here and Brad has checked in, I feel like the Air Force might actually let us stay! We have had many changes over the past year and while we were confidently readying our family for an over seas move to Germany, the Air Force decided it had other plans for us at the last minute. So although a bit disappointed to not have an European adventure, we regrouped, redirected and became very excited for our new assignment in Las Vegas. I was a bit hesitant to announce the news since our assignment had changed quite a few times but now that we are here it seems to be safe to share. We have been here just over one extremely busy week. And so far, I have to say that we LOVE it! It is HOT! It often feels like you are walking head on into a hair dryer, but the scenery is breathtaking (the mountains, not the strip, ha!), the people have been friendly, and the city offers so many wonderful amenities to families such as parks, shopping, dining, and culture. It is a definite change of pace from South Carolina.

We had geared up for a very slow process of finding a home here in Las Vegas. With the town having the highest foreclosure rate in the nation (75%!) and full of distressed properties we really wanted to take our time and make a good decision on a home. We moved into TLF (Temporary Living Facility) on base which consists of one room with a bed, a bathroom, and kitchen/living/dining room. It was tight quarters. We got super lucky though because a single guy in Brad's new squadron is deployed right now and so he is allowing us to rent his fully furnished (and very nice!) home while we are transitioning. We got settled there yesterday and are all enjoying having more room to stretch out. We spent our first two days in Vegas diving our Realtor crazy and making her take us to every house on my list. We easily narrowed it down to our top three with one strong favorite. God must have been looking out for us because our favorite was a foreclosure (much more favorable than a short sale) and had just had a huge price reduction so we decided to take advantage of the good fortune and make an offer. After four tedious days of waiting we got the news that our offer was accepted! We will hopefully close at the end of next month pending inspections, appraisals and such all go well. We love the house and the area and are thrilled at how much quicker this is all happening than expected.

Micah has been such a trooper. He has been an outstanding traveller and continues to be such a sweet baby boy. My dear friend Sarah drove up from Phoenix to help me with Micah while we house hunted and I do not know what I would have done without her. She has a beautiful little girl Avery and I think Micah might just be in love! He gives her so much love. His favorite thing is to hug her so tight he knocks both of them over! But don't think that makes him let go! Oh no, he is still hanging onto her even after they tumble! Maybe a little too much love for her taste! He has also been known to take her paci out of her mouth to give her a kiss and walk hand in hand with her to the playground. What a sweet sight those two are! I am so thankful for Sarah and Avery. They are such great playmates for us!

I will hopefully be back to blogging after a summer too full of stress. I made sure an upload a few cute pics of Micah so to not leave you high and dry without any pics of the handsome devil. This was one morning last week while we were in the TLF. Micah has become obsessed with shoes and was adamant on wearing daddy's with his PJ's that morning.

Micah at 18 months

2011-09-04T23:12:00.000-04:00

Here are some recent pics of our favorite little guy.

More words

2011-08-21T22:34:00.003-04:00

I guess the language explosion has begun! Here are more new words from today:
Bye Bye
Night Night
Choo Choo (not from today but one of my favorites I forgot to put on the list!)

2011-08-21T13:03:00.000-04:00

A small update on our family and Micah. We are in full swing getting ready to move. Sorting through the house, throwing stuff away, having a garage sale and more. Micah turns 18 months this week and is just so big. He had a rough night last night and I went in and picked him up to rock him and he barely fit on my chest. When did that happen? He is starting to grasp language much better and is beginning to say more words everyday. Here is a list of some of his current words:
Dada
bye
rock
tickle
ball
eat
occasionally a mama
more
Elmo (we have only watched one sesame street ever and watch almost no TV but somehow he picked this up and loves elmo!)
car
cheese (as in for the camera)
up
bug
bath
mine
no (these last two are my least favorite)
book

I am sure there are many more but that is all my fried brain can come up with. I also made sure to include some pictures! I snapped these on an empty lot by my house and although the flowers aren't the manliest backdrop I thought they were cute. Micah pretty much hated it and was not giving me any cheese smiles because we went first thing in the morning and the grass was high and wet from dew and he just wasn't having it. We salvaged a few though, because no matter how hard he tries he just can't not be cute!

Micah's First Girlfriend

2011-08-09T22:18:00.000-04:00

One of Micah's newest tricks is that he as learned to pucker up and kiss on the lips. He has been acknowledging "give me a kiss" for many months by turning his cheek to you and planting it on your lips. Now he is just the cutest because when we ask for a kiss, he will pucker up big and plant one right on your lips. It just melts our hearts! This past weekend we had some new friends over who have a daughter right at Micah's age. They had a lot of fun playing together and learning to share. At one point we were sitting in the kitchen and the kids kept going to the staircase and sitting together on the bottom step. They looked so cute we said "Micah, give Olivia a kiss!" and Olivia's parents gave the same direction to her. Next thing we know... true love :) They were overwhelmingly cute and all 4 parents got a big kick out of the show!

Sea World

2011-07-28T15:53:00.000-04:00

On our trip back to South Carolina we stopped by Sea World and words can not describe how much fun Micah loved it. His absolute favorite part was the Sesame Street Bay of Play which is just a giant splash park in the middle of Sea World. He liked Shamu and the other stuff but LOVED the splash park!

We were at the park from around 11 am to about 5 pm. Micah was totally worn out when we were done! He NEVER sets his head down on our shoulder like this so it is evident that Sea World took every last ounce of this boy's energy!

Since I have been bad at blogging...

2011-07-28T15:34:00.000-04:00

Since between, getting the house ready to sell, planning for a move, and going on various trips, I have been very bad at blogging, here is a picture cute enough to make it up to you! Our little pilot in training!

I am pretty sure he really does get cuter every day. And you can't even hear him making the airplane noises while flying the plane around the house! Pay no attention to the mismatched PJs :)

A day at Lake Wateree!

2011-07-12T11:48:00.000-04:00

We have some of the best friends back here in Sumter. We hadn't even been back a week and they were already filling up our weekends with tons of fun! We went with some of our really good friends the Buessings out on their boat last weekend and it was a blast for the whole family! Micah went out on their boat last summer but slept most of the time, however this summer he was ready for action! He loved pretty much everything about the boat. Feeling the wind in his face, being in the sun, jumping in the water, exploring and even (pretend) driving the boat! One of the cutest things he did while we were on the boat was while brad was water skiing, I sat with him at the back of the boat turned so we could watch. He would continually wave to Daddy and got a real kick out of it when Daddy would wave back. We all had a blast, soaked up some South Carolina sun and enjoyed all of the good company. Thanks James and Elizabeth!

4th of July family fun!

2011-07-11T17:20:00.001-04:00

Another 4th of July came and went. It is always a fun holiday since there is great festivities but not all the commercial fuss that goes alone with many holidays. We spent the day with family and friends and had a good American time! Most of the day was uneventful but we did go to dinner at Chili's and then go to a local park for a fireworks show with some friends. The park was absolutely packed! It is apparently one of the largest fireworks shows in the state so it is well attended by locals and others from surrounding areas.

Micah loved the festivities. He was so excited by the hustle and bustle of all the people. They had tons of food vendors and small rides and entertainment set up. Micah was too small for the attractions but that didn't stop him from having a good time. He just wanted to run all over the place! I have to be honest we kept a very close eye on him but he is a hard kid to keep up with!

The above image gives you an idea at the speed this kid can run! We hung out for awhile and looked around at everything going on. There are some funny sights at a small town festival!

We also made sure to get some yummy treats! Brad got a frozen lemonade and I got a funnel cake. Our friends Hugh and Kristen did the snow cones and sweet tea. Between the group we really had festival food at its best! Micah of course had to approve it all for us too!

We were a bit worried how Micah would do at the festival. I know many young children do not do well with the loud fireworks. Micah doesn't really even like the vacuum and adding in that it was close to 3 hours after his normal bedtime we were saying a little prayer for the evening. Well God answers prayers and he did GREAT! He absolutely LOVED the fireworks. He was beside himself and kept trying to reach up to the sky to get them. It was more fun for us to watch him than to watch them!

A wonderful night and a wonderful 4th!

Play date with Lana and Liam!

2011-07-11T11:53:00.000-04:00

Last week just flew by. I guess it was because we were having so much fun! On Tuesday we got to get together for a play date with our friends Lana and Liam. Micah and Liam are only 3 months apart and they really enjoyed playing together. We did our best to beat the heat and of course as standard, Micah tried to eat her out of house and home and devoured pretty close to a whole watermelon! Most of the smiles in the pics below came from me holding up a piece of watermelon and him wanting it! Whatever works!

Playing Catch up...

2011-07-11T11:22:00.001-04:00

The thing about blogging is that it is really important to keep up. When you don't it is hard to even know where to start. So I am just going to start with this past weekend and work my way back to get through all of our travels and changes.

We have really enjoyed being back in South Carolina. Since Brad graduated from Weapons School we have had some really great (and much needed) family time. Last week was Brad's first week back at work and as luck had it he needed some paperwork to go through before he could really start his job so he had some pretty awesome work hours. We were very spoiled! This weekend was a fun one. I used some birthday money to take a photography class. I have been wanting to get into a class for a long time but just hadn't been able to work it out. This was perfect because it was on a Saturday so Brad could watch Micah. I learned a lot and and now am pretty confident shooting in manual mode on the camera which is a big step forward for me. Here is a pic I took using the principles I learned from the class:

Sunday we had a family day and got stuff done around the house and enjoyed each other's company. Brad did have to go to work for awhile so that was back to reality for us but we managed to still fit in some fun. I made a Southwest Chicken Salad for dinner which was pretty delicious if I do say so myself.

Then we took off to the the park. Micah had been in the house most of the day since we were doing housework and so we wanted to give him some time to run off some energy. I also just happened to take along the camera so I could get some more practice in. This was the first time that Micah really took notice of the ducks. He would point and say "quack quack!." He also learned how to feed the ducks. Most of the bread made it to the ducks... a few went into his own mouth :) We rounded out the outing with a quick trip to the playground which was of course just way too much fun!

We finished up at the park, went back home, then had, bath time (much needed after the 97% humidity) and bed for the little guy. And all of a sudden it is Monday again!

Happy Independance Day!!!

2011-07-03T22:28:00.000-04:00

From our family to yours!

We Have Arrived!

2011-06-30T22:46:00.001-04:00

We have arrived back from our cross country road trip. Now we are just doing 6 months worth of unpacking with a 16 mo old running wild. It was a great trip and there are lots of blog posts to come in the near future. Here are some family pictures from the last stop on our trip!

A Big Day for Brad!

2011-06-15T12:39:00.000-04:00

You may remember 9 months ago when I wrote on the blog about how Brad was going to be attending Weapons School for the Air Force. He started in January and we just finished the long and grueling 6 months apart. We are all so glad to be back together and Brad is overjoyed to have this feat behind him.

I got to go out to Vegas last week for all of the graduation festivities while our family helped us with Micah. It was a wonderful time!

I got to start off my weekend with a fun Girls day with my friend Kara. It involved pedicures and pools. Life is good!

My fore mentioned friend Kara!

Most of the Student wives on the night our husband received their patches.

Ivy and Holley, two of the wives I got to be friends with over the weekend

Me and my Handsome Husband on Graduation night!

Some of my favorite friends! And Robyn (to the left of me) got engaged that day! How exciting!

We were thankful Brad's parents could come in for the graduation!

Dirt and Chico (their call signs)

Congratulations W!

Brad's graduation present... in his dreams!

The weekend consisted of two main events. On Thursday there is Patch night. There is a special patch that only graduates of Weapons School (Weapons officers) get to wear. On Thursday night they get to be "patched" and they receive their special patch. After all they long hours and hard work this night is a special time for them. The wives of the instructors also put on a special night for the student's wives. They get a bus to take us all to the strip and we have dinner and get to take pictures at the top of the Rio. Both Brad and I had a really fun night!

On Saturday they have graduation where all of the graduates of the entire school walk across the stage. They have a big banquet with dinner, a speaker, history and awards and then the graduates walk the stage. There were 93 graduates from all disciplines (9 are F-16) and there were about 1200 people there! It was a big deal! We are so proud of Brad and just so so happy to have our family back together and be getting on with our life together!

!4 months is almost gone!

2011-05-22T23:30:00.000-04:00

Micah is growing so fast every day. I know it is cliche but after seeing my cousin's newborn baby yesterday Micah just seemed so big. I realized that every part of him is toddler now and nothing is baby! Even his ears are big toddler ears, not little baby ears!

To commemorate his 14th month here are a few pics we snapped when we stumbled upon some really cool "props". The sun was actually a little too bright but I think they still turned out okay!

Fun at the Zoo

2011-05-19T17:05:00.000-04:00

We set off to the zoo yesterday after being rained out last week. We met up with our friends Jennifer and Elijah and had a great day looking at the animals.

Looking at the flamingos

The zoo had a dinosaur theme... I am not really sure why.

Buds!

Checking out the elephant statue.

one of the last things we saw. Who knew there were ducks with neon blue beaks??

All drama!

2011-05-17T23:27:00.000-04:00

Last week was a rough week. We started transitioning from two naps to one (we are still figuring this out) and teeth numbers 13 and14 began their journey through the gums. So needless to say it was a bit tough on both of us. One night at dinner though Micah was being particularly ornery because he wanted to go outside and mommy said it was time to eat dinner. So he started throwing his body around in anguish over not getting his way. I thought it was pretty funny so I got the camera then when I started taking pics of the antics he started cracking up. I guess it was pretty funny. Here are some pics. Side note: sorry for the pics with a mouth full of food. We haven't learned to chew with our mouth closed all the time yet.

Woe is me!

big tears!

look at all those teeth!

Goodbye Las Vegas!

2011-05-13T15:23:00.000-04:00

These are from a couple of weeks ago when we departed Las Vegas. We arrived at the airport super early because I have had trouble flying out of Las Vegas several times with outrageous lines and wait times, but apparently the best time to be at the Vegas airport is Saturday afternoon. We practically had the place to ourselves! The best part was that the American Airlines check in crew were actually in a really good and helpful mood (rare!) and since we were military they checked our bag for free and let Brad accompany us to the gate. So needless to say, we really enjoyed this and had tons of fun stopping by the bank, USO, and playground on the way to the gate.

It has wheels....

SO why won't it move!!!!!!!!!!???????

My favorite guys

Micah had so much fun playing in here with Dad

Ahhh! Got you!

What's new at 14 months

2011-05-05T23:55:00.000-04:00

I went to visit a friend today that just had a baby and it really made Micah seem so grown up. He turned 14 months last week and for the most part we have been having more fun each month and being 1 year old is just the best!

We are starting to learn words. Micah is saying a few words now including uh-oh, wow, ball and woof. Whenever he hears a dog he will listen very carefully and then say "woof woof!" It is very cute! We are working on up and more but aren't quite there yet.

Most recently Micah is a climber! If he can get up on it, he will be trying! And it is surprising just what he can climb. He is regularly trying to climb up a low window sill of a window he often looks out of in the house. Near the window there is a low bench (made to display dolls) that has some decorative dolls on it. He loves to pull the dolls off and make himself at home on the bench. We do this multiple times every day. The other day we were picking up take out and there was a full size park bench in the waiting area. In one blink of an eye Micah was up and all the way on the bench! He is quite the little monkey!

Micah is learning more gestures everyday. Although he has been waving for a few months now, in the last couple of weeks he turned his full hand wave into a wave where he opens and closes his hand and has mastered this. Micah loves to do high fives and will gladly give you a hand slap either up high or down low. He thinks that fist bumps are hilarious and though he hasn't quite figured out to close his fingers into the fist he still participates by hitting your fist open handed. Dad taught him to add sound effects by saying "ahhhh!" after you high five!

Micah still enjoys dancing to any music that might come on. He especially enjoys American Idol and other such reality shows so he can get in the middle of the living room and jam to the tunes. He still has his signature move, the bob up and down. He has added a new move that consists on leaning his head to one side and turning in a circle. He also learned new moves from his friends in Phoenix. He can raise the roof and do a move that is more of a sway with a wave of the arm. He got talent and definitely didn't get it form me!

Micah is still a great sleeper and still taking two naps a day. He is a great eater and although some days he is pickier than others, for the most part he likes most foods and enjoys meal time. If he is hungry he will let us know by walking to the fridge and trying to pry it open. At least he leaves no room for guessing! Some of his favorite foods are blueberries, grapes, green beans, waffles, gold fish, pizza, and peanut butter crackers, and most anything mexican.

Since arriving in Texas Micah has gotten 8 new teeth for a total of 12. It has been a roller coaster ride as Micah is definitely an emotional teether. It seems that as the teeth come in we have a really long week then as it bursts though I get my incredibly sweet and good natured little boy back. We still have a few teeth left to come in so we just take every day as it comes.

Micah loves to play and be outside. If being outside is an option it will win over anything he could play with indoors. He has a small ride on toy that he loves but mostly he will just run around, look for rocks, and point out birds and bugs! If we are at the park it is climb, climb, climb! He just wants to climb all over the playground. He will swing for a short bit but would way rather be climbing! Indoors he loves anything with wheels! Cars, trucks, trains... if it moves he is into it! He will go find his cars and then make the car noise as he drives them around. He also likes books and enjoys bringing you a book although he might only have the patience to listen for a page or two. His favorite is his Thomas the Train book followed closely by Polar Bear, Polar Bear, and Baby Einstein.

Micah is a great traveler and has completed 4 airplane trips and multiple car trips. He has been to more states that many adults I am sure! He enjoys the airplane rides and likes to watch out the window for take off and landing. During the ride he is usually more concerned with making sure he is friends with everyone around him by putting on the charm full scale! I have to report that it usually works pretty well and we walk off the plane with about 10 more friends than we had when we got on.

One of the less attractive traits that he has picked up is temper tantrums. He is so good natured normally that I guess I am spoiled but it most assuredly tries my patience! Every once in awhile something will not go his way and he will let you know by crying and flailing limbs. If he wants you to do something you aren't doing he might try to push you where you need to be to do it. That is actually one of those things you have to bite your lip so you won't smile because him trying to move you is pretty funny. We are working through this. It is a learning process for both of us.

My little cutie patootie is growing like a weed. I have noticed pants that used to be long riding up to his ankles now. It is sad to see him change from being a baby into a big boy but each day is so much more fun it we never have time to dwell on it!

Pictures!

2011-04-27T23:20:00.000-04:00

So until this past week since we have been on vacation I hadn't posted many pics. I had been taking lots but just not of Micah! I had some friends and family want to get some shots of them so we came, shot, and conquered, getting some great pics! In case you are curious here are a few of my favs!

The Best Easter!

2011-04-25T14:00:00.001-04:00

The best Easter is one you get to spend with your family and although many would never think it would be any other way, the military way is to expect to spend most holidays, birthdays and anniversaries apart. It was such a special treat for us to spend this holiday weekend with Brad after not seeing him for 2 months.

On Friday night Micah ran to Brad and it was obvious just how much both had missed each other. My heart was so full watching them play together in a simple way that I know I would take for granted if we had a different life. Dad was quickly re-established as the cooler parent and all hand holding, and playing was preferably with him, which was just what made me so happy! At this age even though Micah cannot express his feelings in words, I know that he understands more than we give him credit for. He is a happy and wonderful child and we are blessed by his ability to adjust to so many new situations. Brad was amazed at how much more cognitively advanced he was since the last time he had seen him. I try to explain it but there is point where words are not enough and the experience says it all.

Saturday we started out the day with Easter Brunch at the Mandalay Bay Buffet. It was fun to offer Micah new foods that I would never make at home although his preference was still to have all the bananas he could eat! He loved the experience though as we sat by the windows overlooking lush landscaping. He spent quite awhile looking out the windows and pointing.

After the Buffet, Micah showed off his walking/running skills as he held dad's hand and led him all the way through the entire Mandalay Bay (not a short walk!) We ended up at the aquarium and got tickets to see the only aquarium in the world based on predators (read: sharks and other creepy animals with lots of teeth!) Micah was in heaven! He absolutely loved the aquarium. I wouldn't have guessed that he would have nearly as much fun as he did but he ran around and pointed out all of the different fish that he saw!

After the aquarium we headed back to base for nap time for all. Micah was very tuckered out from all the activities as well as staying up much longer than normal so he slept for almost 3 hours! After nap time we went to the playground on base and let Micah drag Daddy around some more! We ended the day with bath time which is the only downside of our visit. There is no hot water in Brad's room right now so we have to trek half way across base to another lodging area and go to a room that they have given the guys to share for when they need to shower. Not my favorite thing for sure. But overall what a great Saturday!

Sunday morning we decided to go to the 8 am service on base since it would work best with Micah's nap schedule. We ended up attending the Gospel service! To think we have lived in South Carolina all this time and our first Gospel worship experience was in Las Vegas! That is the great and amazing thing about America though, you have the freedom to worship God however it is that best strikes your fancy and we had a fun time celebrating Easter in a way new to us!

After the Service we went down the road to Blueberry Hill, which is our absolute favorite breakfast place. It is absolutely scrumptious! We ordered food and shared it with Micah and had plenty to spare! If you are traveling to Vegas don't miss out on this local jewel for a great breakfast!

The rest of the day we hung out and played. Micah thinks having his daddy around is pretty much the best thing ever! We got dinner and ice cream to finish off the day and Micah thought it was more fun to run around the ice cream store than to eat ice cream!

What a wonderful weekend!

Fun times in Phoenix!

2011-04-24T01:10:00.001-04:00

Our visit to Phoenix had to be one of the best weeks we have had since Brad has been gone! We both have had a blast hanging out with our friends.

This was a very popular toy with the boys. Micah even thought he could push Shaun around in it. Shaun wasn't so sure about this arrangement!

Micah climbed in and out of the truck all by himself. He is really growing up!

Since we got asked so much if the boys were twins we decided to play it up with matching outfits! No, they still don't look like twins to me!

I have mentioned all the teeth that Micah has been getting. He has gotten two more just in this week for a total of 12 teeth now. Here is an accidental good shot of the molars!

Micah took Avery on a date to the grocery store and drove her around in style in the car cart!

Micah's silly hair do!

With temps in the mid 90's we decided to take the kiddos to the splash pad down the street. It was a first for both of the kids but a HUGE hit! Also note Micah's new hair cut. Notice the difference from the top pics to these.

There were many different water activities on the splash pad with all sorts of fountains and various water squirting toys. They had one that had 6 buckets of water that would fill up and then dump out and repeat. Avery was begging to get dumped on and after getting her close several times she finally got her wish and LOVED it! This girl is a little braver than Micah when it comes to water!

So proud!

2011-04-18T18:31:00.000-04:00

Micah amazes me pretty much every day. He is just a sponge soaking up absolutely everything around him and I have the bad habit of constantly underestimating him! I could go on for pages about every thing new he is doing. The last 8 weeks he has jumped cognitively by leaps and bounds. One big surprise and proud moment happened last night. For the past 3 weeks we have been going to swimming lessons. Micah likes the water, but he doesn't LOVE the water. He enjoys splashing around but isn't much into getting it splashed in his face and gets shaken up if he loses his balance in the water. (the pool is like a shoreline where it goes from about 3 feet very gradually to nothing.) He does have fun though playing with the toys and splashing around. One of the skills we have worked on is blowing bubbles in the water. They have a cup that you can get water in and blow bubbles in or I will put my face in the water and show him how. He didn't really seem to be wanting or trying to catch on and I really wasn't even sure he was old enough to learn this. Yesterday, we had the boys in the big bath tub at Micheale's house and they were having a blast playing! I hadn't even thought about bubbles since our last swimming lesson and out of nowhere Micah leaned over, put his own face in the water and blew the best bubbles I had ever seen! I mean champion bubbles! I was so surprised and so proud! Here I was thinking he was too young to even understand what we were doing and he was just soaking it all in and pulled out the perfect bubble blowing to show off to Mom and his friends! Like I said, he amazes me every day!

Fun for Micah, Fun for Mommy!

2011-04-18T18:10:00.001-04:00

We left on our grand trip to see Brad last Friday. We flew into Phoenix first to visit my dear friend Micheale for her birthday. Her husband was out of town so of course we had to help her celebrate in style! Shaun, her son, and Micah were born a week apart and have been best friends for life. They were so happy to be reunited! It was a great weekend for both of us!

My dates... Sarah and Micheale!

Happy Birthday to you!

The boys also had a great time playing together. The first day we were there we went to Phoenix and put them in one of the double carts. We got stopped by no less than three people and asked if they were twins. Really people?!

Micah also enjoyed playing with Avery, Sarah's little girl while we went out to dinner the next day.

Ohhh... did someone say snacks!?

Let me in there!

I don't think so buddy! Pick on someone your own size!!!

Yesterday morning while I was fixing breakfast, Micheale was being super mom, juggling both boys while googling some info!

This is why we have two arms right?

Run, Micah, Run!

2011-04-12T17:42:00.000-04:00

While Brad is away I try to keep him as updated as possible with what Micah is up to. I keep telling him that Micah was running around and he stops me and says "Was he running, or walking?" and I think about it and usually respond, "well he was moving pretty fast!" I don't know exactly what qualifys running but I think he is pretty close. Check out this picture:

What do you think??? Here are a few more fun pics of my favorite little man.

More teeth!

2011-04-12T11:41:00.000-04:00

Micah has just been one big pool of drool over the past few weeks as he has gotten even more teeth! He now has 10 teeth. All 4 molars, 4 on the bottom and two on the top. I am pretty sure the other top 4 are working their way in too because the drool continues!

Picture of the day!

2011-04-06T23:31:00.000-04:00

Here is a pic I just fell in love with that I took today while we were out with friends!

He knows he is a Texan!

2011-04-04T21:48:00.000-04:00

Micah might have been born in South Carolina but he knows he is a Texan. First of all the boy can put down some Mexican food. It is probably his favorite cuisine. He loves salsa! He actually asks you to dip his food in salsa when it is on the table! Secondly, for those of you who aren't from Texas and don't know, in Texas it is pretty much a mandatory ritual to take your kids pictures in the blue bonnets. The blue bonnet is the state flower of Texas and thus is protected and you are not supposed to mow or pick them. This results in beautiful blooms throughout April all down the Texas Highways. Since the flowers really only are in bloom for a month or so, I figured this might be our one opportunity for quite a while to get Micah's picture with the blue bonnets. Now I realize that it is not necessarily the manliest thing to get your picture taken in a field of flowers but every Texan knows that blue bonnents aren't just a field of flowers but a symbol of our state pride. So we found a great looking patch and Micah looked great in them!

Fun at the Farm!

2011-04-03T23:18:00.001-04:00

We had a little extra time tonight so my mom and I took Micah to a place I wanted to check out. I had driven by this random farm in the middle of the city and didn't know if it was open to the public or what the deal was so we went to check it out. It was lots of fun with wide open spaces for running, trees, old tractors, a big barn and other farmy stuff! Of course camera in tow, Micah had a ball! Other than the fact that we weren't in very farm-like clothes (never made it out of the church clothes) Micah fit right in on the farm.

Second Word

2011-04-03T12:56:00.000-04:00

We are ever rapidly expanding our vocabulary. In one week he has learned to say Uh-oh and now, "Woooooow!" And no he doesn't say wow... it is woooooooow! Very enthusiastic and very cute!

Reunion!

2011-04-02T22:23:00.000-04:00

Nothing beats the comfort of old friendships! It is just wonderful when you can reconnect with people when life has taken you in different directions. And life is always taking us in a different direction! While Brad was stationed in Korea in 2007 I spent my time in Texas and got to be a part of a wonderful small group from our church. It was a really neat group because we were all about the same age and all at the same place in life. Young, married, no kids, and a faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. It was a great year and whether they know it or not, many times these girls were my sanity and the thing I most looked forward to each week. It was interesting because most all of the group were transplants to the DFW area, and when I left to move to South Carolina in November of that year I started the snowball effect of everyone else leaving. Some to other parts of Texas and some to other states, almost everyone moved away. As I have again been spending time in Texas I have really missed the group of girls and their husbands being a part of my life. So the reunion seed was planted.

Months down the road, plans were set, travels were made and everyone was so excited for our group to be together again! Today we finally had everyone get together and it was such a treat. Of all those young, married, no kids friends, we used to be 3 years ago, were now a little bit older, a little bit wiser, and had added a few extra little ones! Most all of us have kids very close in age, and almost all boys!

We had a cook out and let all the kiddos roam wild! It was such a blast! I miss these friends being close and wish this was still a weekly get together for us! Here were some highlights of the reunion:

Jackson and Micah riding the zebra!

Micah thought Ethan had very good taste in clothing

Some of my favorite girls and their boys
Me & Micah, Jennifer & Elijah, Stacy & Jackson, JaNae & Zander, Katy & Jenzen
(Sorry you missed the picture Chione & Kamy!)

First Words!

2011-03-28T22:42:00.000-04:00

Micah said his first word yesterday! Well, I guess it qualifies as a word! He dropped something and then looked up and said "uh-oh!" I was so proud! He has since said it many times and mostly in context so I guess we now have a budding little talker!

A Day Out with Thomas!

2011-03-27T12:16:00.001-04:00

We have a passenger train that runs near by us and while we were spending all day hanging out at Chick-fil-a the other day, my Sis-in-law Jenny and I were talking about how much fun it would be to take the kids. When we went online to check it out we found something even better! Thomas the train was coming to town! So we bought our tickets and headed out to see Thomas!

Now I thought Micah would enjoy the experience, but what I didn't expect was for him to have more fun than any kid in the place! He had an absolute BLAST riding the train! There were also lots of activities there that we were able to see and do and Micah even got to have his first funnel cake, yum!

Decked out in our train clothes and ready to go!

Hey Cuz! Can you believe Thomas is really here! This is AWESOME!

Posing with Thomas ad friends with our two little stow-aways!

Micah and Mommy getting ready for take off... or whatever they say for trains!

This is SO cool!

And look there is an airplane!

The conductor gave this especially to me!

Thanks for the ride, Thomas!

One Year Photos

2011-03-24T23:41:00.001-04:00

FINALLY got the 1 year photos done. I didn't get to do everything I wanted because I couldn't keep up with the little guy all by myself on the first try, but you will see that they are true to his personality right now... In to EVERYTHING! Looking at the camera and smiling was definitely not a priority when there were rocks and sticks to be had. But that is what I love about them, that they tell the story of his personality now! Most of the smiles you do see are a result of Grandma. Micah loves his Grandma! Enjoy!

Having a good ol' time!

2011-03-23T00:05:00.000-04:00

We have loved having warmer weather and have been getting outside a lot as it is Micah's favorite thing to do! Tonight we sat outside on the patio at where else, but Chick-fil-a to eat dinner and Micah was a riot, entertaining everyone around us! The drive through line goes right beside the playground (don't worry, there is a fence separating the two!) and Micah thought he was the official Chick-fil-a welcoming committee. He waved and yelled "Hi" to almost every car that came through! It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen! I got a video of it after he had been doing it awhile, but it is not the best since I was behind him.

We were eating with some friends that we happened to run into there and I don't know who was entertaining who more, Micah or her older boys! He thought they were just too funny! Here is him enjoying himself immensely:

First 100!

2011-03-21T17:19:00.000-04:00

I had quite an adventure last week. We will start at the beginning... I have always liked Chick-fil-a as much as the next girl but never quite understood those with the obsession. Well, until I had kids. Chick-fil-a has good food. You can eat healthy. They have indoor playgrounds, so you can go even on a rainy day. They have the best high chairs. They have plastic mats that stick to the table for the kids to eat on so they don't get germs. If they see you have your hands full (of baby and accouterments) when you order then they will offer to bring your order to your table for you. If you run out of drink they will come to your table and refill it ( so you don't have to get up with your baby, purse, diaper bag and balance the cup just to get a refill.) They are clean and friendly. Many of them have infant play places and offer Cheerios for little ones. Now I am obsessed with Chick-fil-a.

When I arrived back in Texas I started hanging out a good bit with my friend Naomi and her two boys. She shares the obsession and introduced me to something I had never heard of before. The Chick-fil-a First 100. Basically with they open a new Chick-fil-a the day before the first 100 people that get there by the designated time and camp out there for 24 hrs get a years worth of free Chick-fil-a. I was intrigued and luckily there was a grand opening coming right up. Some how I managed to rope my sister-in-law Jenny into doing this with me so last week we packed up our bags and headed for the camp out.

In order to qualify to be in the First 100 we had to be there by Wednesday at 6 am. I dropped Micah off at Grandma's Tuesday night and headed out to Chick-fil-a in Montgomery Plaza, near downtown Ft Worth at 5:15 am. When I got there there were LOTS of people there. Hmmmmm I guess we underestimated it being spring break! At 6 am they escorted us on the property and put us in groups of 25. We were counted and given raffle tickets. Only 100 would be allowed to stay! They called out numbers and we got really lucky! My friend Naomi ended up being number 10, I was number 26, and Jenny was number 90. There were well over 250 people there that morning so the fact that we all got in was very lucky!

After they called the numbers you have to go in and register (aka sign the sign your life away forms) and then you are allowed to go to your car and get your things for your stay. We went and got our things and were back pretty quickly. Wow, were we woefully unprepared. Everyone had a tent but Jenny and I!

It was tent city! Luckily for us since out of the 10 people in my friend Naomi's group only 4 made it they had some spare tents and we camped out with them! Once your time is up for getting your stuff you must stay in the roped off area of the parking lot until 6 am the next morning, the only exception being short bathroom breaks inside Chick-fil-a. So our adventure began.

Now with Jenny having 3 kids and be having Micah, but neither of us having them there, it was much like a Mommy vacation. The weather was awesome and we sat and read and I learned to play 42 (dominos) with Naomi's family. Around 9 am (3 hours in) we were asked to line up in numerical order. We would get really good at this over the next 24 hours. After they did a "line check" to make sure no one left, we walked through the drive-thru and were served our breakfast, a chicken biscuit! How fun! This was repeated at noon for lunch where we were given chicken strips and some chips. Then at dinner we got to dine in the restaurant so their staff could have a practice run for the next day and were allowed to order a combo meal.

After dinner they had a DJ there playing music and they hosted a 4 square tournament and a scavenger hunt. All in all, a relaxing fun day! No diapers and someone cooking every meal for me! At 8 we got a snack of chicken nuggets and then at 10 they had an ice cream sundae party. Then the DJ wrapped up and we went to bed for the night.

The next morning we woke up around 5:30 to pack up and were then lined up for one last line check. They then handed you a bag with a Chick-fil-a First 100 T-shirt, hat and pen. When that was finished we were paraded through the restaurant and what ensued I can only compare to a graduation. You were being applauded by the entire staff, there were a bunch of guys in suits and some news cameras, and you followed the line to get your "diploma" or your box of coupons as a guys in a suit shook your hand and handed it to you. Kind of an odd experience!

All in all, we made it! I am rich in Chick-fil-a and see great amounts of it in my future! It was fun and honestly almost like a vacation. So one adventure has been laid to rest!

Holy Moly (or Molar!)

2011-03-18T22:15:00.000-04:00

Well to my surprise Micah has not cut just one but now two molars! One on the bottom right and one on the top right. Wow. I didn't have any clue his molars would come in before his other teeth! (he currently only has two on top and three on bottom.) The good news is my sweet boy was back today and the two headed dragon child went back into hiding... for now!

The teething saga continues!

2011-03-18T00:24:00.000-04:00

Lately the only word I have for Micah is unpredictable. He is so much fun then all of a sudden and for no reason it is melt down! We just haven't been able to attribute the behavior to anything in particular other than those 5 teeth he is still working on. I just seem to think it just shouldn't be so emotional to get teeth. Well today when I stuck my finger in the mouth to feel what was going on in there I found a surprise! The lower right molar has at some point in the past two days broken through! Little did we know that on top of the 6 other teeth he is getting the molars are coming in too. I guess that is a good enough reason for all the drama. We will let it slide for now.... one molar down... ??? to go!

Spring has sprung!

2011-03-11T23:21:00.001-05:00

The weather has warmed and finally we are able to get out and enjoy ourselves! Micah could spend every waking moment outside. As a matter of fact, while he is inside he will almost constantly be pointing at the door asking to go outside! We got to spend this week with a dear friend, my former college roommate, and her family in Houston. Since she has a three year old boy him and Micah spent lots of time chasing each other around outside! On our last day we got a special treat! Opening day at the strawberry patch! We got to fill our buckets with fresh ripe strawberries! Micah loves strawberries and as you can see, he couldn't quite wait to get done with the picking and on to the eating! What a great end to a great week!

The teeth strike again!

2011-03-07T23:15:00.000-05:00

As I have mentioned before... Micah is simply not the best teether. Up to this point we have only had to deal with teeth coming in two at a time. Now we are dealing with 6 coming in consecutively! I noticed his incisors swelling up about a month ago which is exactly what all of his teeth have done as they prepare to spring through. It was a bit odd because there was no sign of the two between the front teeth and the incisors coming in. They have remained swollen that way for the past month with no teeth sprouting through. on Friday, Micah happened to sit still just long enough for me to nice that his bottom next to center teeth were also very close to coming in, although they had never done the tell tell swelling that the other teeth did. Sure enough on Saturday we had the bottom right of center pop through. Upon further inspection I saw that not only were the bottom two and the incisors making their way in but also the two missing ones in between on top. Hopefully in a week or so all six of them will be through, for the little guys sake and mine!!

Par-Tay! Part 3

2011-03-07T17:36:00.000-05:00

The weekend after we got back home we had a small little birthday party for Micah with Brad's family. IT was fun to get to may a little bit of a fuss over my little man for his first birthday! I made the cake and some munchies and Grandma got fun balloons and decorations and hosted the event! Micah has gotten much better at opening presents since Christmas where he had no intrest what-so-ever to now where he enjoys ripping the paper off. He got one or two done but soon lost interest and got some help from his cousins! He had so much fun opening gifts, eating cake, and most of all running around with the kiddos and playing with the balloons!

It's a MONSTER birthday party!

Balloons... hours of entertainment!

Hey Cuz!

What's that you have?

Here! I will share my birthday lunch!

When the presents are done... don't worry the trash is just as fun!

Par-Tay! Part 2

2011-03-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

After Micah's first party with Mom and Dad at Chuck E Cheese we spent all of the next day, his actual birthday, travelling back from Vegas to Dallas. Not the most fun one could have on thier birthday but we tried to make the most out of it! We got to spend a bit of time with Daddy before we all left which Micah loves! Then around 9:30 am we went to the airport and about 9:30 pm we landed in Dallas. IT was a long day for everyone! Micah was so good on the airplanes and in the airport but even with a good baby it is a pretty long day for Mom. When we finally arrived back in TX and got home Grandma had made Micah a birthday cake. What a great surprise after a long day of travelling. Here are birth- day pictures.

Man I love this guy!

And I love ot run outside!

Wait?! Whose birthday is it?

Me?

Yes! I'm the birthday boy!

Par-Tay! Part 1

2011-03-07T11:43:00.000-05:00

Since we were so spread out over Micah's birthday we didn't get to have a big birthday party however we did try to celebrate a couple of times! The night before Micah's birthday while we were still in Las Vegas we made our first family trek to Chuck E Cheese. I was hoping there would be more to do for his age than there ended up to be but we still had a good time. What I really want to know is where did the playground and the ball pit and the shows go? I guess a lot has changed since I was a kid!

A special sticker for the birthday boy!

Let's not waste any time getting to the rides!

I was born to drive!

A riviting game of Whack-a-mole

Ohhhh whats in there?

This is one big shoe!

Hurry up!!! We have to get over to those games too!

I'm good at pressing buttons... this game is right up my alley!

Forget the mallet Dad! Let just grab these suckers!

My first (of 3) birthday cake!

But mom said I have to eat my pizza first

Let me at it!

Where do I start?!

This is good Dad... you should try it!

Family photo!

Dad... this game is a little old for me!

Ski ball!

I've moved up to the big cars

12 Month Check up

2011-03-05T22:22:00.000-05:00

One year old and still as healthy as ever! We got a big thumbs up from the doctor at Micah's one year check up this week. He said he was heathy and looked great! He also again commented on how extremely active he is! Here are the stats:

Height: 29 in ~ 25th percentile

Weight: 19 lbs 4 oz ~ 25th percentile

Head cercumfrence: 18.5 in ~ 50th percentile

Micah is ONE!

2011-02-28T01:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to our favorite little man! My how time has flown! When we woke up that morning we were hanging out in bed and I sang him Happy Birthday he just started dancing along with the tune! This was so immeasurably cute that we repeated this over and over all day long! It is so fun to remember each of the months that led us to the year marks and each of the milestones he hit! Here is a year in pictures!

Last tummy pic... 10 hours until arrival!

Newborn

1 Month old

2 Months old

3 Months old

4 Months old

5 Months old

6 Months old

7 Months old

8 Months old

9 Months old

10 Months old

11 Months old

1 year pictures to come....

I tried very hard to pick one per month and I got close to succeeding.. if he wasn't so darn cute it just wouldn't be a problem!

What we have been up to...

2011-02-23T23:30:00.000-05:00

Well.. not blogging for one! Oops! The countdown to Micah's first birthday is going strong and we are enjoying every moment before he officially becomes a toddler!

There has been so much going on and so many changes. In case I didn't mention it before Micah has been walking like a champ for about a month now. He doesn't even fall down very much. He has way better balance than me for sure and has made walking his main mode of transportation. When I first posted the blog a while ago where I said he was officially walking we would rate his walking. ie Today he is 20% walking and 80% crawling. Everyday the ratio would shift more toward walking and those days came and went and he has been 100% walking for awhile! His only slight setback is many times it doesn't see it as important to actually watch where he is walking so he often trips over toys he has left around. Besides walking he can also climb stairs at a super sonic pace. We haven't been around stairs much since he has been moving but while staying with our friend he tried the stairs out once slowly and figured it out and by his next go he could pretty much take them one by one and quickly (and not much to my liking) this became his favorite thing to do.

His sociall development is also growing and changing everyday. He can wave, point, and clap. He points at things when wants to see or places he wants to go when you are holding him. He also has learned to wave although he is relatively stingy with this. He can do it and knows what he is doing but doesn't really like to do it on command. His favorite time to do this trick is when someone isn't paying attention to him and he thinks they should be... then he brings out all the charm. A little manipulative? I think so. Lastly he surprised me with learning how to clap. I didn't teach him this, but he just picked it up from our friends daughter (8 mo) who loves to show off her clapping skills! I guess he wanted to impress her and show her he could do it too! He quite obviously enjoys being around other kiddos and when we are out and about he enjoys being around other kids and waving and talking to them.

He is becoming more interactive everyday and is much more sensitive to our reactions and directions we give him. He loves to make us smile by giggling or giving us a big belly laugh and he thinks playing chase is the most fun game in the world. He is also babbling more and more. He is starting to get the hang of sounds and making more new ones. I still don't think there is an official first word but we are closer everyday. He thinks it is hysterical to feed Mommy or Daddy whatever he is eating and will quite often very persistently offer you a bite and if you take it he will just dye laughing. He is beginning to understand the concept of sharing and will bring things to me and actually let go (before he would hand it to me but not let go.) He also picks up on directions we give him more than we realize. Since we are in small quarters when staying with Brad in Las Vegas we spend lots of time on the bed. I have had to show him that it is not smart to dive head first off the bed but rather to turn on his tummy and slide feet first down to the floor. After only a couple of times showing him, and much to my surprise, he started doing this himself!

Micah has become a super sleeper! He has been so tolerant of our moving and traveling and become very flexible. At nine months he started sleeping though the night with two naps a day and since then it has been smooth sailing! Sleep training is definitely not the easiest thing to do but man has it paid off for us! He still sleeps about 12 hours per night (usually about 7-7) and has 2 naps during the day totaling about another 2-3 hours of sleep. Despite our travels and changing time zones, unless he is sick if I put him in his crib at the right time he will almost always just lay down and go to sleep. I feel so lucky for this! With that said, if we do get off schedule say we are on an airplane or out shopping during nap time he will not sleep with lots going on around him. It is not that he is necessarily fussy... he just wants to make sure he is a part of the action.

It is sometimes hard to believe considering how much fun we have had with him up to this point but he just gets more fun every day! And what you have probably been waiting for... new pictures of the little munchkin.

Micah's First Haircut!

2011-02-18T00:04:00.000-05:00

The day after Valentine's Day we headed out to get something that was long overdue taken care of... Micah's first haircut! It is not that his hair was terribly long but it had grown pretty uneven and really needed to be cleaned up. We wanted to make sure he had a manly experience despite being stuck with the girls so we took him to Sports Clips and they did a great job!!

The before:

I think I want out!

A dum dum... the key to a great first hair cut!

All gone!

Are we done yet?

The After

I have to say he is even more handsome after the haircut! If I would have known how cute he would look then I would have taken him way sooner!

More from our trip to Austin!

2011-02-03T21:20:00.000-05:00

I found more pics of the kiddos playing together on our trip to Austin last week. It is so sweet to see Micah enjoying his playmates so much so I had to share.

These are a few of my favorite foods!

2011-02-02T21:44:00.000-05:00

Micah can be quite the eater these days. When he is in the mood he will devour just about anything you put in front of him. Over the past couple of weeks this has been the case and as we found out at our recent doctors appointment he actually packed on about a pound and a half in a little over a week. Must be a growth spurt!

One food Micah has loved for some time is lemons. We thought it would be funny once to give him a taste and see what his reaction was (horrible parents, I know!) To our great surprise he loved it! It is now one of our special tricks when he starts getting antsy to play when we are eating out, we just give him a lemon and it will usually buy us at least five minutes if not more.

I also gave in to Grandma the other day and let him have his first taste of ice cream. It was just some soft serve from Sam's so nothing really special but he thought it was pretty great! I am sure there will be much more ice cream in his future!

Some of our Favorite Folks!

2011-01-29T23:36:00.000-05:00

We got a great treat this past week as we got to spend it in Austin with one of my best friends from college, Erica and her beautiful family. We fit right in with her three kids and Micah had a blast in a very child proofed house with TONS of toys! We had planned to do lots of fun things and even though we still had lots of fun, we didn't get to do too much because Micah quickly came down with a Fever near 104 so we had to go to the ER and get all fixed up. The verdict was ear infection and possible sinus infection and so we tried to let him take it easy the rest of the week. He is doing better now, the fever is mostly gone but he is still fighting it.

Waiting miserably at the emergency room

Some fun the next day

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I have to wonder what goes on in that little mind!

The McDonald kiddos are just as sweet as can be. They are all blessed to be beautiful inside and out. Peyton is 4, Hayley is 2 and Tyler is 4 months. Micah was thrilled to not be the baby and get to run around with the big kids. We think Hayley had a little crush on Micah despite the age difference because when she got dressed one morning she picked out her outfit, put on her clothes, looked at her mom and said "Mom, Micah is going to love me in this skirt!" Unbelieveable and too funny!

The perfect skirt Hayley picked out for Micah

The last day we were there we played with my new camera a bit and did a little photo shoot with Erica's kids. I have been having lots of fun learning and even had a new lens to try out so it was really fun to take pics and it didn't hurt that her kids are absolute dolls! Here are some of the best ones!

Bath Time Fun!

2011-01-23T23:21:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of January Micah very suddenly decided that he hated, lothed, destested, or was scared of bath time. I have no clue what brought on this change of disposition because he has always had a blast in the bath but let me tell you he changed his mind. A brief synopsis would include clinging to me with the strength that no 10 mo old should possess when we approached the water and the screaming in agony the entire time he was in the water and constantly trying to push out of the bath. It was totally opposite of how much he had always loved the bath. It looks like after a few weeks of coaxing and some not quite as scary baths in the sink we lured him back to the tub with some new fun bath toys today, and for the first time all month we had a very fun bath time!

I'm not so sure about this!

Look Mom! It's my name!

That is really exciting!

I guess all these toys do make bathtime fun...

New Years Eve!

2011-01-23T23:07:00.000-05:00

Brad and I got a special treat on New Years Eve. We got to spend it in Las Vegas with friends and even got to borrow a babysitter and go out on the town! Nothing crazy, but we did get to go to dinner and go bowling. Here are some pics from our fun evening!

Me and my Handsome Husband!

Me and the beautiful Kara- who was our wonderful hostess while we were in Vegas!

Hello 2011! I got my kiss this year!

Our bowling group!

Watch out! Brad's Bowling!

Look of satisfaction after what I am sure was a strike!

Is it midnight yet? We are old and need to go to bed, ha!

Can you believe it?! A post with no Micah pictures! I know many of you are probably disappointed and I do admit that the post is not nearly as cute... Sorry John. But rest assured, I am sure it will be a long while before it happens again!

Fun with Cousins!

2011-01-19T23:43:00.000-05:00

Today we got to go to Denton to visit Jenny, Jorday, Taylor, and Karis. Micah is really starting to enjoy the company of others more every day and he epecially loves visiting with his cousins. We went to Chick-fil-a for lunch (yes we were guilty of going twice in one day!) and the kiddos had a blast!

After a lenthy lunch and everyone over 3 months old getting to play on the playground we headed back to the Hipp house for more fun. We played in both Jordan and Taylor's rooms and had much fun chasing each other around the house.

Chick-Fil-A Pajama Day!

2011-01-19T21:58:00.002-05:00

Today was Pajama Day at Chick-Fil-A if you went in your jammies you got a free chicken biscuit. So we went and got breakfast for dinner! Micah had the best time... minus meeting the cow again! He got balloons and a free mini cow (the mini cow he liked!). He loved bouncing the balloons, holding on to the cow and even ate his whole chicken patty for dinner. What a fun night!

The Matherne Great American Roadtrip- Part 2

2011-01-18T17:29:00.000-05:00

We left Dallas after Christmas hopeful for a two day journey to Las Vegas. We planned to drive from Dallas to Albuquerque on day 1 then from there to Vegas on day 2. As best planned intentions seem to go that is not quite what happened. We had beautiful driving weather for day one and really enjoyed our trip to New Mexico. We got to meet up with some friends from there, the Strongin's that night to get a quick bite to eat. Kyle told us that she heard snow was coming toward New Mexico so that night we had to check it out. Sure enough Flagstaff, AZ which is right in the middle of our path to Las Vegas was expecting severe winter weather starting early the next morning. We decided to play it by ear but when we got to the last town we could to divert from our course Brad made the call to head south to Phoenix. We were hoping this would only add about 3 hours total to the trip and keep us from encountering winter weather but again we were not quite so lucky. We should have taken this as a sign...

We entered another separate snowstorm on our way to Phoenix which was made worse by us being on a teeny tiny road leading from the middle of nowhere where we turned off to Phoenix. We spent a long, long time slowly, and carefully getting through this storm.

Finally though we made it to Phoenix! The one great perk about going to Phoenix was that we got to stay with our great friends the Hafez's. As you may recall Micah and Shaun were born only 9 days apart and have been friends for life! They were visibly excited to see each other!

They kept doing this thing which was ridiculously cute where they would both crawl over to the push toy and stand up and push it around together, side by side!

Brads favorite saying of the night was "Somehow I woke up and we were 9 hours from Vegas, we drove 10 hours, and we are still 5.5 hours!" It was a long day but seeing friends and Micheale's homemade chili and hospitality made it a great end to the day. We took off the next morning and headed up to Vegas again. This time with beautiful weather and even better views! It was a gorgeous drive! When we hit I-40 again (the road we got off of the day before to go south) It was completely closed in and out of Flagstaff! It looks like we made a very good decision to go to Phoenix which was nice to know since we had to deal with another blizzard on the way! We managed to get to Vegas early that afternoon and were happy to get to spend the weekend with more great friends from South Carolina, the Hales! Kara is Micah's self proclaimed best friend so he was obviously very happy to see her and to get to show her everything he could get into at their house. We had a great time there and look forward to another visit soon!

Guess who Micah misses?

2011-01-18T11:26:00.000-05:00

Micah's FIrst Christmas

2011-01-14T22:47:00.001-05:00

Oh what fun it is to have kids on Christmas Day! I know it is a bit late but I am finally getting back up to date with the posting and I have to say, Micah was mighty cute Christmas morning. We woke up at the Ross House and Micah got to see his first Christmas tree loaded with presents. Lets just say yes, Santa definitely came! Since Micah is up early we headed over to the Matherne house for an early couple of hours visit. Then back to the Ross house for some marathon present opening and a delicious late lunch then back to the Matherne's for the evening and more and more presents. Micah was excited to see everything but really had no interest in opening gifts. It was more fun to wade through the paper and play with all of his family! We were all so blessed with so many wonderful gifts but most of all by being able to spend the holiday with all of our family members from both sides. It doesn't happen often with the families always growning and many of Brad's siblings living the military lifestyle like us. What a wonderful Christmas gift!

He Walks!

2011-01-12T22:33:00.000-05:00

Micah is now walking! I qualify walking as being able to take multiple steps regularly. Crawling is still his preferred method of mobility however he is quickly becoming quite the walker. When you stand him up he can easily take 4-6 steps every time and now sometimes can take even 10 steps. He gets pretty proud of himself too! Of course he started this the day we left daddy so that was the only sad part. Here are some videos!

Catching up!

2011-01-12T22:09:00.000-05:00

As I have been reminded by multiple people I have been a very bad blogger the past three weeks while we have been traveling. I apologize and will be now back to the blogging world. I will make the most exciting news first then go back and catch up on all the travel and Christmas stuff.

The Matherne Great American Roadtrip - Part 1

2010-12-31T13:25:00.000-05:00

We set off for our cross country journey before Christmas to travel from South Carolina to Las Vegas to get Brad to Weapons School. We had many adventures along the way. One of our frist stops was for lunch at Chick-fil-a in Jackson MS. They were decked out and ready for Christmas. Micah got a cow christmas hat.

They also had a toddler area in their playground which was perfect for Micah to stretch his legs.

Before we left we had to have a picture with teh Santa Cow! Micah just wasn't so sure about Santa as a person much less a cow! Check out this face!

At another stop in New Mexico Micah had nowhere to stetch his legs so we let him stretch up front and he loved driving the car!

After a long day's trip Micah is pooped and so are we!!!

Micah 9 month photos!

2010-12-19T21:03:00.000-05:00

HO HO HO... Our first visit with Santa

2010-12-13T07:55:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we did not one but two visits to Santa! Thankfully Micah was feeling much, much, better yesterday and we went to the doctor for a check up and left with the OK to see Santa. We started off at the base. I know most of you think that Santa flys in a sleigh but this year he got a bit of an upgrade and arrived to see the kiddos in an F-16!

After being up for a pretty long time, being poked and proded at the doctor and staying up past nap time Micah did pretty well hanging out waiting for Santa.

Unfortunately he did not have much love for Santa, and would have much rather had Mommy continue to hold him rather than tell the jolly old man what he wanted for Christmas.

After we saw Santa we headed home to try to make the most of getting the afternoon nap in. While he was sleeping we figured once he got up we could try to cram all of our Santa in one day and try again freshly refueled with sleep to see the Santa at the mall.

This worked a bit better. Micah had a death grip on Brad as he got closer and closer to Santa but some how we managed to pry him off and even convinced him not to cry. Don't get me wrong... he didn't smile but he didn't cry. It was a small victory.

Poor Micah

2010-12-11T20:37:00.000-05:00

Why is Micah so sad you ask? Because he has been one sick little baby. Last Wednesday he woke up from his nap with a funny cough so I took him into the doctor. We left with a diagnosis of croup and a double ear infection and two prescriptions to fix things. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday he seemed fine for the most part but today has been more obviously feeling not so hot. It is so hard to see your baby not feeling good but he is a trooper and I know we will be chasing after him again in no time. He even managed to take not one, but TWO steps today! We may have a walker by Christmas!

Getting even closer!

2010-12-10T21:19:00.001-05:00

Micah is now more into the standing so now he is getting more into the walking. Today with a little coaxing from Mom and Dad he tried to take some steps for the first time. He mostly just moved his feet forward on the way down but he is getting dangerously close to bringing it all together. This video in particular really cracks us up with the random sneeze and the looking up at Daddy.

And He's Standing!

2010-12-10T21:09:00.001-05:00

Micah has been standing for a few weeks but at first he was very unsure of it and would immediately sit down once he realized he was doing it. Needless to say I could never get that on camera. In the past few days though he has decided this standing thing is quite an accomplishment and gets pretty proud of himself. He can probably stand for about 30-60 sec. He gets so excited he often waves his arms and loses his balance but regardless it is very cute.

9 Month Check up

2010-12-06T10:43:00.001-05:00

Micah had his 9 month well baby visit last Thursday and he is just doing great! The doctor only had great things to say and was very complimentary on how he is looking and developing.

9 Month Stats

Height: 28.5 in ~ 50th percentile

Weight: 17.13 lbs ~ 10th percentile

Head 18in ~ 50th percentile

At our appointment his top two teeth had not yet come through and the doctor told me he was also working on his bottom tooth right of the center. I got a cute pic this morning of Micah's two newest teeth!

Getting so close!!!

2010-12-05T20:07:00.000-05:00

Micah is getting closer to walking everyday! Since he is a super crawler he hasn't shown too much interest in walking unassisted since crawling is just oh so much more efficient at the moment. He has been really enjoying using his walker and is getting pretty good at it. He also will use anything that slides across the carpet as a walker as well like say a laundry basket or empty plastic tote. His big accomplishment as of late though is walking with only holding one hand. He also is beginning to stand for longer and longer periods unassisted. If he doesn't realize he is standing he can sometimes stay up for 30 seconds. As soon as he realizes it though it will bend his knees and sit down. It is only a matter of time though!

We have teeth!

2010-12-04T20:55:00.000-05:00

After what has most literally been a month of teething we FINALLY have Micah's top two teeth broken through! They both started swelling at the beginning of November then both sat right beneath the gums for the past week and a half and finally today they both broke through. This Mama is very happy to have that over with although at our doctors appointment last Thursday the doctor said there was also another tooth on the bottom right of the center also coming in. I guess it never ends!

Our New Adventure is....

2010-12-04T11:19:00.000-05:00

After Brad finishes Weapon's School we will be going to.......

GERMANY!

After a long wait we think it is official (at least as official as the AF gets) that our next assignment will be to Spangdahlem Air Base (Spang) in Germany.

It has been quite a road to get here after initially finding out we were going to Germany then having our assignment changed to Utah, then back to Germany. We are beyond excited to be going to Europe. It will be quite an adventure and really a great opportunity for our family to see the world! Spang is located in the German country side near the border of France and about 2 hours from Frankfurt. We anticipate our move to fall around September of 2011. We hope to have lots of visitors so start planning your trip!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

2010-12-01T16:02:00.000-05:00

Let the count down begin!

Which of these do not belong....

2010-11-30T20:35:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!! We had a wonderful Turkey Day. We didn't get to go home for the holiday but got a special treat when Brad's sister Julie and her fiance Cameron came to visit us! We had a great time hanging out, playing games, eating, eating, and eating! Micah got to try a little of everything and really enjoyed the new tastes. We got a laugh out of the fact that our turkey weighed just about as much as he does! Here is our day in photos:

Like Father Like Son

2010-11-20T20:36:00.002-05:00

Here are a few more pics of Brad and Micah. I think Micah was a natural with the jet!

More jet photos!

2010-11-14T09:39:00.001-05:00

Theses are some of the Jet Photos taken by Raleigh!

Farewell Shaw!

2010-11-14T08:22:00.000-05:00

We had our official farewell on Friday at the Squadron. Whenever a pilot is leaving they will always do a fun get together where after work all the families come and Commander officially says goodbye to the pilot by giving a short speech on their accomplishments while at the base then the pilot can say his parting words to the guys. We won't be actually leaving for awhile but since December is filled with the holidays and everything else the month comes with we piled onto the November farewells and did one big one. It was a fun night with a burger burn (note the smokey pictures) and lots of friends. Even though it was dark, smokey, and there were kiddos running all about, we still managed to get some good pictures! Thanks Becky!

This is a clip of all the lovely things our commander had to say about Brad at his farewell!

Jet Photos 2010- Sneak Preview!

2010-11-12T15:50:00.002-05:00

Here are is a sneak peek at some of the photos we got today at our Jet photo session. More to come!

Daddy time- Playing chase

2010-11-11T23:00:00.002-05:00

Last night we had some precious time as a family. We got home from dinner and Micah was in such a good mood that instead of going straight to bed we just hung out and played for awhile. Brad would hide behind the door then Micah would go look for him. Brad would "jump out" and Micah would squeal excitedly and "run away." We just had so much fun spending that time together. These are truly the moments that make life so sweet.

Hey Little Walker!

2010-11-10T21:41:00.003-05:00

Micah is getting around quite nicely now. He is crawling at pretty much warp speed and starting to get around on two feet as well!

Daddy Time! Playing catch

2010-11-10T21:15:00.003-05:00

Micah loves his Daddy more every day. When he comes home from work Micah will get SO excited and crawl as fast as possible toward him. Daddy decided it was time to learn to play catch. Micah didn't really get the concept but I can certainly tell you he had fun!!

We are in trouble Part II

2010-11-08T21:02:00.002-05:00

Yet another reason why we are in for it with this kiddo... he is already trying to sneak out the window!

Fun pics of Micah at 8 months

2010-11-06T20:53:00.000-04:00

Here are some fun pics we have taken over the past couple of weeks. Micah is just growing like a little weed and becoming such a big boy. He really gets around with ease whether he is crawling or walking holding onto things. He is also successfully feeding himself small finger foods which he has been working on for awhile. We are pretty sure he gets cuter every day!

Our little Tiger! Micah's first Halloween

2010-11-03T10:26:00.000-04:00

For Micah's first Halloween we had a good friend lend us a tiger costume that her son wore last year. It was perfect since as I have mentioned before Brad is in the Tiger squadron. Micah was not too sure about this costume at first and really didn't like Mommy drawing on his face. But once he was all made up he was just too cute for words! We took him to the church for the fall festival there and although he was too little to really enjoy any of the festivities we had fun walking around and he was very entertained by all the other kiddos in their costumes! All in all, a success!

8 Months Old!!!

2010-10-26T20:35:00.000-04:00

Micah is 8 months old today and he is growing like a weed and busier than ever! he has become very mobile crawling, sitting, pulling up, and walking while holding on to things. Needless to say he doesn't sit still much. He is learning to give kisses and to feed himself. It is such a fun stage but I get a little sad to think how big he is already getting! I got him to pose for me tonite in his Halloween jammies. He is a cute as ever!!

We're in Trouble... Part 1

2010-10-23T21:55:00.000-04:00

Just the fact that I already know that the title of this post is "part one" should tell you something!!! Micah is one busy little boy. It is hard to believe he has been crawling for 2 months and moving for almost 6! To say he is into everything is sometimes an understatement. The other day he was playing next to the couch and the next thing I know I can't see him anymore. When I go to investigate this is what I find!!! He wiggled his back behind the thing and I had to pull the whole couch out to free him. Crazy kid! I already have "Part 2" of this post and it is a video. Oh what is in store for us next!!

First Big Boy Bath

2010-10-20T22:08:00.000-04:00

Over the past couple of weeks Micah has really grown up! He is still crawling like nobody's business of course but now it is no big deal to go from sitting to crawling or crawling to sitting. He is starting to be a bit more independent in entertaining himself since he is so mobile and also starting to find more trouble! I don't know what his current stats are but he seems so much bigger to me. When I hold him or feed him he just feels so big in my arms. It is a blessing to have such a healthy and active child but sometimes it is hard to keep up! We are also officially down to two naps a day. He has been working on this transition for probably almost a month but this past week or so we finally really got it! He is still eating like a champ and has started to smack his lips when he is hungry and it is time to eat! Too funny! Today was another big boy milestone. At his last bath we noticed how snug he was fitting into the baby bathtub. So today we moved him to the big boy real bathtub. He really enjoyed it but didn't hold still too long which proved to make it a much more challenging experience for Mom and Dad. But of course we caught it on tape so here is the first big boy bath!