Little Boy Treasures...

Lucky for me, I do not fall into the majority of females that are scared of bugs. The other day when I opened one of Gavin's dresser drawers I was greeted by a horrible smell and this sight. Two giant beetles, both dead and smelling very strongly of it. Also take notice of that stick sharpened to a very fine point! A boy never knows when he will need to defend himself with his handmade shank. Upon questioning I discovered that Chris had been letting him practice his "whittling skills" with a pocket knife. I wasn't too pleased with that piece of news. Gavin was very worried that I had thrown away his beetles but being the nice Mom I am, I had placed them in a ziploc bag with strict instructions that they stay in there.

Lovable Landon

This baby needs a double chin. It is just not right for a baby to have a neck!

I love this sweet little face!

2009 is the year of the Ox on the Chinese astrology calendar.

Landon turned 3 months old on the 18th. On the 14th he weighed 13 pounds 13 ounces, who says 13 in an unlucky number, not me! He is the happiest little baby. He reminds me a lot of Whitney when she was a baby, some in his looks and a lot in his personality. The only time he cries is when he wants his food and then he shrieks! He goes from happy to shrieking in one second. I think he will hit his physical milestones early. He does not want to be in a prone position he can almost do a sit up and boy does he get his bouncy chair a bouncin'! He suffered through his first cold this past month. He was such a trooper though! He would be smiling at me while I was suctioning his nose! Unbelievable, isn't it? He only wakes up once in the night to eat now, usually between 3-4. He fights sleep during the day. He has lots of little cat naps but never sleeps for very long. This little guy is my daily guilty pleasure. In general I have a hard time relaxing but as soon as I sit down to feed this little guy I just melt. I jealously guard his feeding times and do not want to share them with the other family members. I do share - though grudgingly.

Cool Copter Flyin' Chris

Last Friday we went out to the range to see Chris demonstrate the mighty firepower of the OH-58 D Kiowa Warrior, at his request. I think he was hoping that I would be completely bowled over and impressed by this display. Luckily, he has Gavin to fill that need! This was probably the last opportunity he will have to shoot the guns as the helicopter he will be flying in Arizona is not armed. He is a little bummed about that. Guys and guns, something I will never understand! We had went out once before at night time to see him shoot and I had forgotten how loud those guns are. Though I don't know how I did. I think I would pee myself if I heard that noise out of nowhere! Admittedly they are not the coolest airframe but the mission is the most interesting in Chris's humble opinion. They are kind of like the modern day cavalry and sneak around to scout things out. Nothing gets past a Scout pilot! At least, that is Chris likes to say when he totally misses the completely obvious.

Not my best work, but it is tad bit hard to take photos of a flying helicopter. That is him in there though! By the time I was sure it was him it would be almost too late.

Ashlyn was a little scared because those guns are LOUD! No wonder Chris has a hearing loss.
On the drive home she said, "My Daddy was killing the dirt!"

The difference between boys and girls, exhibit A. Whitney, is like whats the big deal ? She's more interested in the Gardetto's snack mix. Gavin and Colton, giddy with the excitement and wonder and Kaden completely mesmerized. It looks like it was Blue Polo Friday at Ft. Rucker Elementary. =)



In this shot, you can see they were coming in pretty low with that building to give a little perspective.

Arizona Here We Come - Take Three!!!

This is my third and I pray, last attempt to write this post! Ashlyn keeps turning off my computer just as I am almost finished. GRRRR! I'm beginning to wonder if this child will make it to her 4th birthday or more to the point, will I?!? But that is a whole other post in itself.

Chris has been in the process of applying for a job in Arizona. We both really wanted this job! The day of the big phone interview finally rolled around this past Monday. Ashlyn, Landon and I were ordered to leave the house two hours in advance. Eventually we were given the green light to come home only to wish we might leave again. Chris kept checking his phone every five minutes, made me call him to make sure it was working correctly, replayed the interview 20 times and kept asking me, how long do you think it will be till I hear something. Basically he was a spastic mess! I said to him, "how sad are you that you are 33 years old and have never had an important job interview?" He even took the day off work which might seem a bit extreme but really was for the best as his state of mind was not good. Thankfully his angst was short lived because he got the call Tuesday morning that the job was his!!!!!!!!

The job is considered active duty special work. He will be attached to the Arizona Guard and apart of the joint counter drug task force. Which means we will keep all our active duty benefits but he will not deploy and we won't move. He refers to it as the "Dream Job" because he gets to fly an actual mission every day and come home every night. The unit is in Marana which is right next to Tucson and also an hour south of Phoenix. He had been obsessively looking at real estate online for the past month or so but now has stepped it up to every spare moment. We are both really excited to join the ranks of home owners and put down some roots. Any advice anyone would like to give would be greatly appreciated as this will be our first time buying a home. We will be leaving Fort Rucker November 2oth which I know is going to come so fast! We feel so blessed and thankful that things have worked out the way we were hoping they would. It is going to be wonderful to be so much closer to so many of our family and friends.

Pool Party For One

What do one slide (Salvaged from the neighbors trash. My Grandpa and Dad would be so proud!) And one small kiddie pool equal? Hours of entertainment for Ashlyn and some much needed peace for her Mommy!!!Weeeee! So much fun! Eat your heart out Sadie. Sadie wanted to join in but Ashlyn wouldn't share.

Wow! Future fashionista in the making, right? This little number was all her. She was so pleased with it she asked me to take her picture.I hate blowing things up but if this is the result I will gleefully blow that pool up everyday. =)

She woke up so refreshed from her little siesta that she decided to take another dip but with a slight twist. Just trying to get rid of those unsightly tan lines. =) Since this occurrence she has made a habit of getting naked in the backyard much to Gavin's embarrassment and Whitney's amusement. We have a hard time keeping our nudist clothed indoors but now the problem has become an outdoors issue as well.

Back to School

Chris decided to tag along for the first day.
Mom, can we just go already?

Today is Whitney and Gavin's first day back to school. Whitney is starting 5th grade. She is stoked because she got the homeroom teacher she wanted (Mrs. Patrick) 3 of her favorite friends are in her homeroom and she gets a locker!!! She is really excited about having a locker. She says the only way it could be better was if she got to finish out the school year here. (It looks like we will be moving in December.) Whitney couldn't wait to get back to school and was so excited she couldn't sleep last night. =D

Gavin is in 2nd grade and has Mrs. Hatcher. The same teacher Whitney had for 2nd grade. He says he wants more summer vacation but he hopped right out of bed this morning and seemed happy to be going back. There was some bickering over whether or not to walk or bike to school. Gavin wanted to ride his new bike but Whitney wanted to walk with her friend Jessica though she usually favors biking as it is quicker. And she cannot miss a moment of school! She has been very worried that Gavin is going to make her late.

Growing Up Too Fast!

Smiling for Daddy.

Fresh from his bath.

Tummy time is so fun thanks to Aunt Heidi's awesome airplane mat! That is until Ashlyn comes along and forces his head down so he can see himself in the mirror.
Sweet Angel Baby

Landon is growing up too fast! He just had one of those growth spurts where literally overnight his 3 month clothes no longer fit from one day to the next. He has moved up to his 6 month wardrobe. Always fun but sad too. I am inordinately attached to my children's clothing. Everyday Chris berates me for "neutering myself" and depriving him of more babies. He also proclaims Landon to be "our cutest baby". Which I find ironic since everyone says he looks just like his Dad. =D If only we could freeze him at this age for ever. Has anyone figured out how to do that?

Social Homebodies

Isn't my title an oxymoron??? Yes, I think it is, but I can't quite think of how best to describe my oldest two children. When I was a kid, I always wanted to go to my friends houses. My kids actually prefer to have their friends at our house. Which inclination is more common? Was I abnormal or are they? They want to have friends over all the time though!!! For the most part I prefer it that way too but sometimes I would like it be just us. They in turn don't seem to understand this bizarre notion, so I guess that makes us even.

Also I am not sure how to feel about this. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Should I be happy that they prefer our home to all others? Or should I be concerned that they are control freaks or somehow socially handicapped? Just a little glimpse into my mind and the over analyzing that occurs way too much.

Gavin's Baptism Day

Gavin was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on August 1, 2009. He shared his baptism day with one of his CTR 8 classmates, little Miss Skylee. Don't they make the cutest little matched set in the photo above?!? (Gavin is 4 days older.) We are so proud of Gavin for choosing to follow in Christ's footsteps. Everything went wonderfully and we couldn't have asked for a better day. Gavin had his eyes squeezed shut and the biggest smile on his face as his Dad dipped him under the water, I don't think I will ever forget the look on his sweet little face. He and Chris had already started to change when Bishop Magonigal came in and said they would have to do it again. He thought Chris left out two little words from the ordinance "of the". =D Chris said Gavin was thrilled to have a second go at it. He dived into the font and started swimming! A big thank you to our ward family for all your help and support!