Army Friends

They are different than civilian friends. They are usually people that you normally wouldn't have ever had the pleasure of knowing if it weren't for the Army. They come from different states, went to different schools, and root for different teams (Go Hogs!). However, the Army brings them into your life for a while (hopefully more than once!) and you bond quickly. We laugh together, cry together, and "wine" together. :-) When the time comes to PCS, you say goodbye and hope that the Army brings your families together again down the road. If not, you still stay in touch, send Christmas cards, and visit when you're in "the area" (you know, in the same state or even just the same region!).

The other day, I got the pleasure of taking family photos for our dear friends, The Fleshman's. John will be deploying with Brian this month and they haven't had the time to go and get photos done professionally, so I told them I'd help them out.

John and Jen are awesome people who would help out in anyway they could. This was the family that Austin was with when he had his first seizure. I am thankful it was them and not just any other neighbors that he happened to be with. Even before that night, I trusted them with my kids and it became apparent that my trust was in the right hands.

Their kids and our kids play together. Sometimes just like they were siblings...which means that they don't always get along EVERY time they are together, but they are always happy to see each other! :-)

I am thankful for the Army. It has given us true friends throughout the years to add to the civilian friends we already had. While the Army brought us together, it doesn't have to be the thing that keeps us together. Even after the Army, we know that there are just going to be people that we love so dearly that we'll keep in touch, visit with and always call our FRIENDS.

I Heart Faces - Smile!

I know that it's been FOR.EV.ER since I entered a photo into the I Heart Faces contest, but I just couldn't resist entering this photo of Aiden. I also know that I just posted this photo yesterday in his 4 month post, but I saw what the contest category was after I had already put up his 4 month post and I was just too lazy busy to redo that post without the picture.



Aiden is so quick to smile these days and I just loved taking his picture this month. The string of drool just adds character to the photo, right? :-)

Go on over to the I Heart Faces website (by clicking the link or the button below) to see other fabulous smiles!

4 Months

Aiden is 4 months old today!!! A third of a year old! Wow, it is going by WAY too fast!

I took his photos today and I think I might have to go back and crop his other comparison photos in to match this month's photo. When we switched the rooms around (photos to come soon!), we put the full size bed and the bedding into Austin's room and the light just isn't as good in there (plus, the bed is underneat a loft bed, so it's even darker in there!). So, I had to pull the bedding and pillows into the little boys' room to keep up the monthly photo so that it wouldn't be messed up! So, the black headboard isn't in the picture anymore and then Aiden decided he wanted to keep trying to sit up on his own instead of chilling in the pillows, so I had to stay close so I could make sure he didn't faceplant into the floor. :-) Silly boy!

So, here's this month's comparison picture:

I had a really hard time narrowing down the other pictures this month. I just really like how these pictures turned out today!

Yes, the kid is a drooling machine!

A few things Aiden is up to:

*He's still in cloth diapers most of the time. We use disposable every now and then. I've been experimenting to see if he sleeps longer with the cloth or with the disposables. I haven't seen a big difference, so I think he'll stay in cloth.

*He is such a smiley baby! He is really easy to smile and is pretty quick to laugh as well. There are a few things that you can say that he thinks is silly and will smile and then laugh at. A lot of it is nonsense words...but the other night he was laughing at "Rub a dub dub, 3 men in a tub."

*This boy is rolling over both ways now. Sometimes it takes him a while to roll from his back to his belly and then other times he does it in the blink of an eye. I'm not sure which he likes better...but he would really rather be in someone's arms. :-)

*He was sleeping through the night. Then we went and messed it up by switching rooms. The past week has been rough on me since I was getting used to a full nights sleep! He's been getting up at least once in the middle of the night, sometimes twice. I'm hoping he goes back to sleeping a full night again soon!

*Aiden is now 13lbs 12 oz and 25 inches long.

*He is grabbing at things a lot now. When he sees something he likes, he goes for it. The big brothers are on borrowed time with their toys! :-)

*Aiden LOVES his exersaucer. Santa brought it for him and he is already spinning around and playing with the different toys. You know when he's done when he starts getting really cranky though!

(I love this picture, but am a little disappointed that it's a bit out of focus. Still love it, though!)

*This kid is a talker! He just babbles all the time and I don't remember his brothers being quite as vocal.

*He's still nursing like a champ and had his first bottle in 3 months last week. He stayed with his Uncle Matt and Aunt Paula the other night for his first time with someone other than Mommy. He did great and was even fed by his cousin Anna! I don't think we'll be starting solids this month as he hasn't shown any interest in them. We'll probably start them around 5-6 months old.

*Aiden still likes to be swaddled. I don't think he has to be swaddled in order to sleep, but he just seems happier and more content when he's swaddled. Plus, he just looks so darn cute when he's all wrapped up!

We love this boy so much! I just can't imagine our life without him! He can brighten the day no matter what is happening. His big brothers love him and it's so sweet to see them give him kisses and for him to laugh at them. This little boy has completed our family like I couldn't have even imagined! It's fun to watch him grow and show his personality more and more each day.

Papa Visits! (Catch Up from November!)

At the end of November, Papa and Miss Lois came to visit us! We had a fun week, but unfortunately, it was just one of those weeks where I didn't pick up the camera a lot. Hence, not a lot of photos. I think I took a picture or two on my camera of the night we played Kinect. It was a lot of fun and I think XBox may have some new customers soon! :-)

Papa loves history and the military stuff. So, we went to the Airborne and Special Operations Museum one of the days they were here. It was a great museum and had some older veterans there visiting as well that we talked to. It's always special to be able to talk with them and hear them remember the past.

We spent quite a bit of time walking around and reading about the exhibits. Colten started getting cranky near the end since it was his naptime, but he really did great during the visit.

Papa let the boys pick out their Christmas gifts while visiting. He took them shopping at different times so he could focus on them individually. I really thought Colten would be easy, but I think he took longer than Austin did because he just doesn't make decisions very well! He wants it all! Austin ended up getting some Beyblades that he has been begging us for, so he was a happy boy!

{as a side note: he had gotten a hovercraft-type thing made by Air Hogs. We ended up taking it back because it would only work for 3-4 minutes before it had to be charged again. I called the company and they said this is how it was supposed to work. Seriously? They're going to make a kid wait for 30-40 minutes for a toy to charge up just so they can play with it for 3-4 minutes? Ridiculous!}

The boys playing with the new toys.

Happy with the new toy!

Playing with Papa.

Picture time!!! People always grumble when I do this, but if it wasn't done, we wouldn't have the pictures later! :-)

I couldn't decide which picture to put in because I love both of them. Colten really is a silly little boy. He makes me laugh on a daily basis, mulitple times a day!

We were happy to have visitors. The boys always have some much fun and it's nice to visit with them after the kids go to bed.

Wooooo Pig Sooie!!!

Let's go Razorbacks!!!

Our family is ready for the Sugar Bowl tonight!!! On a side note...not a bad family picture for deciding to do it just moments before taking it! :-) Brian went up and got the tripod and I set up while he got the kids wrangled.

Hope the Razorbacks bring it tonight!!!

2011...

With today starting a new year, I think about what this next year will bring us. My first thought is that it won't be a very good one. I just want to get this year over with and see 2012 with our family back together again. Brian's leaving in just a couple of weeks and I just want to go to bed and wake up and it all be done.

But the very next thought is about all of the good things that will happen this year. The three best boys in the world will be growing before my eyes, providing endless entertainment (and yes, work as well!). I can't just fast forward a whole year of their life because of a deployment. I want to experience the little moments with them that I know will happen. I know that I'll look back and miss the days of them being little and if I had the ability to fast forward through the bad stuff, I'd miss the good stuff as well.

So, I'm torn. I want the year to go by fast so we can put this deployment behind us, yet I don't want to rush our boys to grow up. I know for a fact that I want the next couple of weeks to go by SLOW and whatever 2 weeks we get to see Brian for R&R to go by SLOW. It won't though...those are the times that will just fly by. Funny how that works, isn't it?

Normally, I try to change a thing or two for the new year. Resolutions or whatever you want to call them are sort of made in my head, but they aren't as concrete as some people make them. This year, this is what I want: I want to be a good mom and a good wife and get through this deployment in one piece. I want to yell less and hug more. I don't want to sweat the small stuff (although, I know that at times I will). I am going to try and accept help when I need it and not let pride take over as I try to do it by myself (this is a big one for me). I want our kids to know that they have two parents that love them to the moon and back and that no matter how far apart we are, our hearts are always together.

I think survival is key this year. There are things that I know won't get done. I'm not going to try and do a picture on the blog everyday like some people in the blog world. A friend of mine is giving up McDonald's for a year...nope, not a chance. I'm not going to make sure the house is immaculate, because who am I kidding? There are days now when it's not presentable! :-) My main focus is to get my family through this next year and try and enjoy it as much as we can even while missing a HUGE piece of our family...a HUGE piece of our hearts. That's my resolution...

A Look Back at 2010

Happy New Year Everyone! I know I'm behind with not posting Christmas pictures and I also haven't posted pictures of the boys with their Papa who visited at the end of November/beginning of December. I'll get to them...I really will.

Right now, I wanted to take a look back at some pictures in 2010.

This time last year, we were doing this:

We were traveling on New Years Day to go to Memphis to visit family and to go to the Liberty Bowl to watch the Razorbacks play. It was a great start to the New Year and we had so much fun. This year, we are doing things a little differently, but that's for another post (later today, probably).

So, here's the rest of the year, as seen in pictures:

January:

February:

March:

April

May

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December: