Happy New Year!

A big Texas "Happy New Year" from the Rogers! Thanks to Cali (age 6) for our family photo!

An American Christmas

I haven't been in the states for Christmas since 2005, and then Jay was deployed so I kind of forgot what Christmas was like here. It's not all that different in Germany, but the pace of everything is so fast. I think it's because of all the options; Germany is usually pretty simple!

This year we had a lot of family to see and a lot of places to go! We started Christmas Eve like most of our days here, wrangling a two-year-old into clothes for the day and playing the "what are you saying" game at breakfast. We baked and prepped and thawed and chilled and generally tried to stay out of the way if we didn't need to be in the kitchen. Hayden got to open a present early, and hung out with a little friend for a bit. In the afternoon we did some last minute running around before going over to Jay's Aunt Teressa's for a Christmas Eve party. Jay's cousins have kids that are close to Hayden's age, so he had a blast playing on the stairs with them and helping them share. We barely made it through "Twas the Night Before Christmas" before Hayden was ready to sleep! Santa had a few things to do here but was soon ready for Christmas morning.

We woke up for Christmas and for once, Hayden was sleeping in! We had to go in and wake him up, we were too excited! He wanted a waffle and a few M&Ms (hey, it's Christmas!) before going downstairs to see what Santa brought him. What a difference from last year! He was really excited about everything and has gotten pretty good at opening presents. He had a little Buzz Lightyear from Santa that he wouldn't let go of, so it was pretty funny to watch him try to open everything with one hand. He had books and crayons, clothes and toys, toys, TOYS. He was super excited about his Toy Story race track and his Buzz Lightyear that lights up and makes noise! After we opened all the presents and played, we got ready to go to my brother's house.

As we were driving to his side of town, we saw a few flurries coming down! They had been forecasting snow for a few days but we had yet to see anything. We got to Eric's with some brunch goodies and started opening presents over there. Hayden was excited to give Ryan his sword, and Zoe really liked her tea set from Poland! Hayden got some new trucks and more Toy Story gear, but was really interested in playing with Ryan's Glowdome and Zoe's dollhouse. The kids played a long time, and Hayden was pretty worn out by the time we left. But on the way home we were driving through about an inch of snow, thus giving Hayden his first White Christmas and my first in NC since 1998.

Jay grilled steaks out in the snow and we had Christmas dinner with family. Hayden had a blast playing with more little people and is getting better at sharing his new toys. He was up pretty late, and at 10 he and Jay and Oscar decided they were ready to play in the snow! We put on his snowsuit over his new Toy Story pajamas and bundled him all up to play. He loved it! I stood on the porch to take pictures but the boys were all over the place! Hayden threw snowballs for Oscar, helped shovel the driveway and then threw snowballs at the inflatable snowman outside. He was definitely excited about all the white stuff. We came in, dried off and finally headed to bed after our long day.

On Sunday the snow changed our plans to hang out with my aunt and grandmother, so we picked up some snow boots for Hayden to make it a little easier to play in. We enjoyed a lazy day around the house and of course, some more fun in the snow. It's starting to melt a little, but today it's not supposed to get above freezing so it should stick around for awhile. The roads are pretty manageable and the sun is out, so it's not bad. I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!

An early Christmas present

Remember when I said I wanted a job soon? Santa heard, and delivered early! On Friday of last week I received a call from Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC) regarding my application. While I didn't meet the criteria for the job I had applied for, there was another position they were interested in interviewing me for. Was I interested? For my Catholic friends, does the Pope wear a funny hat? Yes!

On Monday I went in for my interview. I had decided not to get too worked up about it, because if it worked out that was great and if it didn't there wasn't anything I could do about it. I went in knowing the right thing would come along, even if I had to wait for it. Lucky for me, the wait was short! After my interview she offered me the position! I will be working in the Financial Aid office at GTCC as an extra set of hands of sorts. The mixed blessing is that it's a contract until June 30th. To me, I see it as an amazing opportunity to try out a new side of two jobs I've already done before. If I love it, I'm certain I can find a permanent opportunity within the office; if it's not for me, I found a job to keep me afloat while I look for something else. It's one step closer to some stability for all of us and to looking for a house!

In the words of my friend Jordan, that's a gift you can't wrap! Hooray for employment! I start on the 10th and am so looking forward to learning new things, meeting new people and being back at work.

Back tracking a bit

In my haste to keep you all up with our lives via the blog, I left out our Welcome Home Party!! Monique threw us a welcome home party the first weekend in December. This was a chance for us to see a lot of old friends all in one place, and enjoy the hospitality of one of my favorite hostesses. She had invited friends from Salem, people we worked with and of course, Uncle Ben. We had a great time catching up with everyone, and Hayden had a blast going up and down her stairs and watching "How to Train Your Dragon" on the big tv upstairs. There was tons of food, lots of sangria and great efforts at keeping Lucy from eating our food. I can't wait for Lucy to meet Oscar. We just can't tell Emma...

We also got our first taste of NC snow! It snowed for almost the whole day without being a dreadful mess. Just enough to blanket the ground and trees with the white stuff, but not enough to make the roads too dangerous. My favorite kind of snow! We are now waiting for the next round so we can take Hayden out sledding in it. Last year we didn't do too much out in the stuff because Hayden was still pretty unsure of it and dad wasn't home to do all the fun things. But this year we are armed with snowsuit and gear (and new tires!) and can't wait to get out and play in it. Most likely we'll get a few flakes here and there and maybe a good snow or two, but you can't expect this old NC gal to get too excited about winter weather. We left Germany, right?

A weekend of fun!

Last weekend we managed to cram a whole lot of fun stuff into just one weekend! After taking a trip to see Santa (and the necessary nap that followed) we headed west to see the Festival of Lights at Tanglewood Park. I haven't been in years and of course, Hayden has never been! He really likes the Christmas lights as we drive around at night so we figured that would be a hit for him. A quick stop to get some munchkins from Dunkin Donuts and we were ready to brave the line!

Surprisingly for a Friday night we didn't have to wait that long and boy was Hayden excited! He kept pointing out the things he had words for (tree, Santa, lights) and asked us what everything else was. My favorite part is the snowflakes, and the guy hitting the golfball near the club. What a fun experience! We drove slowly through the roads and ate our munchkins listening to Christmas music. Hayden passed out on the way home from all the excitement.

On Saturday we spent a little time with my brother and his family before dropping Hayden off with my mom and grandmother so we could go to the Coliseum. My very own Carolina Tarheels were playing Texas in Greensboro and our family had gotten us tickets to see them! We braved the last-Saturday-before-Christmas and Coliseum traffic to get there but made it in the arena just a minute or two after the tip. We grabbed some snacks and headed to our seats to watch the game.

It was a good game and a close one, but in the end Carolina lost. We picked up a mini Carolina basketball for Hayden before we left. I can't wait to take him to a basketball game when he's a little older and can get as excited as I do!

On Sunday we did a little running around and then headed back to Winston for Katie's Christmas Drop-In. I got to see some of my friends that I hadn't seen since at least 2008 and some of Katie's family I hadn't seen in even longer. Hayden busied himself with Katie's books, trying to break things and attempts at sticking his fingers in the dip. There were so many people and he was pretty shy at first but then commenced his usual Hurricane Hayden status. We had food and drinks and fun with friends before heading back home. I love the holidays!

A visit to see some friends

On Christmas Eve-eve, as people are fond of calling it, I headed up the road to Charlotte to visit some friends. My college friend Stephanie gave birth to a premature baby girl in October, and she is still in the NICU. I left Hayden at home with Jay so I could go visit her in the hospital! But her sister had a fever, which kept her mom at home so I went to visit Stephanie and Lily at home instead. Lily is so fun to be around because she is so different from Hayden. She's a girl and younger than Hayden, so she's small and still more of a baby than a toddler, and sometimes you forget what that age is like! We had a good time hanging out and catching up before I had to get on the road again.

My good friend Liz from college lives in Washington state, but was on the east coast for a visit. Her family is in Clover, SC so I drove down to see her. Two hours is nothing when the other option is a four hour flight to see her! I had a great afternoon spending time with her and her family and eating a ton of great food. The thing that sucks about growing up is that we're all so far apart. But every once in awhile, the planets align and we get to be in the (relatively) same place and time.

Merry Christmas!

Hayden was uninterested in a conversation with the big guy OR in sitting on his lap, but we waited an hour and a half so Mom stepped in to help.

So here we are. What next?

So. We are finally getting settled in Greensboro. We luckily have some great family that is letting us stay with them while we are looking for a house. The looking can't really start until we're settled, budgeted and employed, so it's nice to have somewhere to sit still and put away all our stuff. Our unaccompanied baggage arrived this week, which meant the arrival of Hayden's crib and toys. We are having the hardest time getting him back on a schedule. It only makes sense, with all the travel and given that every day is different and he's not back in daycare yet. We have found one we like, but it doesn't make sense to start him until January when the holidays and our last bit of travel before we settle down.

Hayden's newest obsession is Toy Story 3. And when I say obsession, I mean he demands to watch it at least three times a day, sometimes twice back to back when he wakes up at 530am. While I'm not a big fan of him watching that much television, I kind of feel like he's a CHAMP with all the running around we do so he wins that battle a lot.

Jay is all registered for school and we're getting the rest of the ducks in a row. Changing over car and health insurance, getting bits and pieces figured out and applying for jobs (me). I've done a little applying but most of the positions don't close until the end of this month or the beginning of the next so there's not a lot I can be doing right now. Except more applying, which is what I'm going to keep doing. I want a job soon!

Hayden is having a great time with all his family and really likes the new dogs we get to play with!

The joys of the DMV

We found out shortly after we returned from DC that our car had been delivered to port and was ready for us to pick up. We were so excited to have it on American soil and to be a two-car family again! We headed to Portsmouth, VA after packing up all our Black Friday, NYC and assorted other purchases. We promised Hayden and Oscar this was the last time they'd be squished for awhile.

After about two hours we arrived and soon heard our names over the loudspeaker. We would soon learn that it meant nothing, and we waited about an hour and a half before we were able to pick it up. Since our car was shipped from overseas, of course it had no plates! So once we had our papers, we had to go to the DMV to acquire a travel permit that allowed us to drive without plates. Soon we were gassed up, split up and back on the road to North Carolina.

The next day we went to the License Plate section of the DMV to title and register our car. Since it had never been registered nor titles in the states, we read online about all the required documents and showed up with about every identifying document we had for our car and ourselves. Wouldn't you know it, we didn't have a customs inspection that no one told us about. Further, they only do said inspection M-F from 8-10 am. It was noon, and Friday. So we called to see if they would do it for us but no dice. Unfortunately, the trip pass we had from VA only allowed us to drive the car through Saturday, which meant 30 minutes on the phone with our insurance company to get the documents we needed to acquire yet another permit. At this point, it was 4pm on Friday, and the LAST place I wanted to be was the DMV, which was a different one than we had been to earlier. Lucky for me, the guy inside found out I was a military spouse and that Jay was in the Army, and waived me through saying "I served for 8 years, give her anything she wants." So we finally had the trip permit and plans to get the inspection done on Monday.

Monday morning came and we showed up nice and early at the DMV for the inspection. It literally took 2 minutes in the freezing cold, and we had what we needed to go BACK to the OTHER DMV. Ugh. But this time we had everything we needed and saw the same guy we had seen on Friday. We waited while he processed all the paperwork and were so close to our plates when he told us what we owed. We were expecting under $100 with the registration and plates. NOPE. We bought our car from a military dealership in Germany, which means it was sold to us tax-free. When I read about it on the website, it mentioned a tax bill that would come later. No no, that's the county tax bill. We now had to pay the sales tax on the vehicle, which brought our bill to SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY EIGHT DOLLARS.  Definitely not expecting that. Alas, we paid it and had plates and registration. Only to be changed a week later, when the Purple Heart plates and new registration came in.

Guess who's excited to go back to the license plate DMV to re-title Jay's new truck? Yeah, not this girl.

More traveling!

After our whirlwind day in NYC, we decided to take yet another road trip. This time to DC's outskirts to visit Lizard and Matt. Hayden in tow, we loaded up and headed across the bay to see her new house! I had just seen her for her wedding of course but she hadn't seen Hayden since Reunion Weekend '08 and Matt and Jay had never met. We made great time until we hit 95 of course, where we were reintroduced to stateside traffic. Ugh. By the time we got there we weren't up for much, which was just fine with our hosts! We settled in with the wine cube from Target, some steaks on the grill and some movies on demand. Our kind of night! Hayden fell asleep upstairs, leaving us a little time to catch up. Not long after, Jay fell asleep during the movie and I dozed off here and there. Traveling is hard work!

We just went up for the night, and then were planning to do a bit of travel in the DC area. We rode around looking at things for a bit, and decided none of us were really up for another day of sightseeing, so we headed back to the eastern shore. We said a quick goodbye to the Washington Monument, promised Lizard and DC we'd be back soon, and that was that. I figure our nation's capitol has been around awhile, and I'd much rather visit in springtime without scarves, hats, gloves and windburn!

The Big Apple!

Of all the amazing places I've seen, New York City has eluded me. I've been to country after country, great city after city in the states but never the Big Apple. So on November 27th, Jay and I woke up extra early to be out of the house by 4 to drive to Milford, DE to catch our bus up there! Jay's Nan goes up every year after Thanksgiving to do her shopping and invited us to come along this time. We were so excited! We left at 4, headed up to Delaware and boarded the bus along with many other excited shoppers. We had done some pre-planning and changed our minds a few times on what to see and how to get everywhere, but by the time we arrived at Rockefeller Center we had a good idea of what we wanted to accomplish. The bus dropped us off at 11 am and would be departing at 7pm so we didn't have much time to dawdle!

We took a walk around Rockefeller Center and the surrounding area first to get our bearings, and to see the holiday decorations. NYC seems to sparkle for Christmas! The tree wasn't lit yet but there were plenty of other decorations to get excited about. After a few minutes, we headed to the subway and went south. We really wanted to see Ground Zero. From where we were we couldn't see a whole lot but construction, but it was just amazing to see how much has to be done 9 years after the attacks. We also took a look at the church across the street from where the towers stood, St. Paul's. It's the oldest building in Manhattan in continuous use and has seen the Great Fire, Washington's Inauguration and the attacks of September 11th.

After that we headed down to the harbor to catch the Staten Island Ferry. We really wanted to tour the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but that would have taken up most of our 8 hours in the city. Instead, we took the ferry across to get a good look at the old girl and promised her we'd be back soon to properly introduce ourselves! It took a little longer than expected, because our first ferry was delayed due to medical emergency. That meant we missed the return ferry completely and had to wait another 30 minutes. Just enough time to grab a hot dog! We did a little more exploring uptown and bought Hayden a t-shirt and a sweatshirt for me.

From there we took our time wandering through Times Square. I could spend all day there! There is so much to see and everything is bright and shiny and lit up and entertaining. We ran across the Naked Cowboy and the Naked Cowgirl, took a quick trip inside Toys 'R Us, checked out a few shops and took a ton of pictures. From there we headed to Top of the Rock, where we got SUPER discounted tickets for being military ID card holders. Woohoo! We waited for our turn to go up and were not disappointed by the amazing views. We saw the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Central Park, Times Square and more at night. It was incredible, and definitely lived up to my NYC ideas.

After all that it was time to find our bus and head back home. We saw a ton in 8 hours and are already planning our next trip to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, do more shopping and eating and see more sights. After all the travel we did in Europe, we found that the shortcuts are just as helpful, there are just as many people not speaking English and the subway is virtually the same everywhere.

Hayden tries out the tractor

Hayden tried out his cousin's tractor while we were at his Poppy's in Virginia. He couldn't quite push it down hard enough with his foot, so he took dad's lead and pushed it with his hand! It was pretty funny.

Black Friday

This year we experienced our first Black Friday...ever! I have somehow missed it every year I lived in the states, probably due to work or lack of funds! In Germany it seems silly, to show up early at the PX to go shopping. All those people in one small building! So I've never bothered. But this year we decided to make a go of it.

We woke up around 5am, which was plenty early for me. Those people that camp out all night in line and start shopping at 4am can have it! Maybe that will change when I'm older, have more kids that want more specific things and the like, but I don't think so! We left a sleepy Hayden with his Poppy and headed up the road. We were still in Virginia, in an area that's not so densely populated so traffic was clear and our first stop, Wal-Mart, wasn't really all that busy. Definitely a high volume of people for 6am but nothing like what I've seen on tv. We picked up a few appliances and headed further up the road to Salisbury, MD.

We hit some good buys at Target, like a Toy Story 3 race track for Hayden and a 12-bottle wine fridge for us! We made our way over to Best Buy where we replaced our navigation system and picked up a few DVDs and CDs. We hit up Barnes & Noble to get some books for Hayden and headed over to the mall. After picking up some super-sale hunting gear for Jay, it was lunchtime. Not bad for a few hours' work! We ate at Chick Fil A, one of our favorites that we hadn't yet had since returning to the states. After picking up a few AMAZINGLY priced Vera Bradley pieces for me, we realized we had plenty of time to spare since Hayden was with his grandparents. Seemed like there was only one thing to do...hit the movies!

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part I had come out in the states a week earlier and we purposely waited until we could see it in the states and without Hayden. Momma needs her wits about her when watching HP! So we caught a noon showing of the movie and were not disappointed! We returned home with all our purchases, full bellies and happy hearts to a Hayden that had a wonderful day with his poppy! All in all, we called our first Black Friday a success!

Happy Thanksgiving...twice!

After spending four Thanksgivings in Germany, we were fortunate enough to spend TWO here in the states, in the same year! The day after we got back, we had Thanksgiving with Jay’s grandmother and some of that side of his family. Hayden was more interested in other people and in the dogs than in eating, but that didn’t stop us! We ate way too much and had a great time catching up.


We spent what was left of the weekend accomplishing mission number one: cell phones! There are of course about a million more options here than there were in Germany. It was easy for Jay, who fell in love with the iPhone in 2008. So we went with AT&T and I got a Blackberry, which I’m now obsessed with! It’s so strange to have internet EVERYwhere. But it’s convenient. I’m still learning how to use it but it’s a ton of fun!

We made some quick visits to see my parents and to see my brother and his family. Ryan and Zoe have gotten so big! They had a great time playing with Hayden and showing them their playground, their rooms and the guinea pig! Hayden’s never seen one of those before so he was fascinated. He played with Oz a little, Eric’s dog, but mostly he just barked.

On Tuesday we headed up to Virginia to see Jay’s dad and family up there. Hayden and Oscar were already kind of rotten from all the attention; it seemed like everywhere we went there were new kids and dogs to play with! Jay’s dad’s was no exception, with more dogs and more cousins.

We spent actual Thanksgiving over at Jay’s Aunt Marcie’s house and there was SO much food! What a great way to reintroduce ourselves to America, too much food. We ate and watched football and then we had a small birthday party for Hayden. He’s had two birthdays in Germany so it was really nice to spend another one with family. He had a blast blowing out the candle and eating icing, and he got some fun stuff to play with. His favorite was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse marching band! He unloaded all the instruments and made everyone march with him. As we’ve learned over the past two years with Hayden, it’s pretty hard to say no to him!

This year we had so much to be thankful for. My happy, healthy family is safe and sound back in the states and ready to start our new chapter. We’ve gotten to see a lot of family and friends and have many more to go, but this time we don’t have a limited time frame to accomplish it. It’s so nice to plan trips and visits down the road without having to factor in a flight, a deployment, block leave or the farm for Oscar. We are truly lucky.

The Journey Home

Our last days in Germany were quite chaotic, trying to get everything in place for our big move. We had boxes to ship, suitcases to pack, floors to clean and goodbyes to say. That’s the hardest part of course, leaving the people that become your family overseas. My last day of work was on Wednesday, which turned out to be a half day! They owed me a half day vacation and realized it that morning. What a nice surprise! All the girls brought in food for a potluck lunch and man, what a great idea! We should have started doing that months ago. We had some great stuff, and said our goodbyes.

Wednesday night we had dinner with The Pollards at the Stables, one of our favorite restaurants in Schweinfurt. They serve greek food and love the kids. We had a fun dinner, and will really miss eating there! Thursday we had our housing inspection that we spent days preparing for. We took out so much trash and recycling and donations and consignments. We scrubbed and swept and mopped and cleaned until our fingers were shriveled and our house sparkled. For once, I remembered to CLEAN the oven after spraying oven cleaner instead of cooking it! We moved appliances, scrubbed baseboards and lime-awayed until we were green in the face. I was a little nervous, but knew we had 2 days to fix anything that wasn’t up to par. Wouldn’t you know the inspector spent about 90 seconds in that house and didn’t even open the fridge! We hadn’t taken Hayden’s border down in his room, but other than that he didn’t need to see anything. All that work!

Hayden was in school right up until the last day we were there, to keep him on his schedule. We picked him up just before dinner Friday night and let him say goodbye to all his classmates. What a great experience this had been for him! We headed to dinner with the Kings, Stockdills and Williams for one last round of bruschetta, pizza and tiramisu at Rimini’s. We had a great time, told some old stories and said goodbye to some really good friends. Luckily for us, they’ll all be in the states soon enough! We spent our last night in Germany with the Pollards, to make things easier all around. Jay went out with the boys while Amber and I hung out with our little guys. We stayed up too late of course, instead of being smart and going to bed early.

6am came pretty early for us and we got our bags ready for the trip. Ryan came to get us and we loaded up the van for the ride. We stopped for breakfast and Oscar’s benadryl, and we were on the road by 8 for our ride to Frankfurt. Luckily we used Jay’s new shortcut and saved ourselves some traffic. Hayden was uninterested in sleeping, which we thought would bode well for plane napping. We got all 7 of our checked bags, Hayden and his carseat and stroller, Oscar and his crate and us with our 3 carry-ons into the airport.

After waiting in the ticket line, we were told we had to get in the other line to purchase Oscar’s reserved ticket. 30 minutes went by with us in line and no movement; we sent Ryan away, anticipating a longer wait. Good thing, since we were waiting over an hour. What a mess! They were unprepared for Oscar apparently, and it took forever to get a vet there to approve everything. We thought we were finished, but then they told us we had to wait for security to come over and check out the crate. They sent me and Hayden through security and “hoped” to have Jay and Oscar ready for our flight in time to board. Hoped?? Yikes.

Luckily our flight was delayed boarding so we all made it. We got settled into our seats and I told Jay, “Wow I was so worried about Oscar getting on the plane I didn’t even have time to worry about the plane crashing.” Needless to say, Jay was not pleased. We watched “Despicable Me” on the plane and Hayden and I ended up watching it three times. We love it! We can’t wait to pre-order it for its release on December 14th. Hayden fell asleep about an hour into the flight and we thought we were home free. Not likely. He slept 30 minutes of our 9 hour flight. Yikes! He just wanted to run and play and I can’t blame him. He was a typical two-year-old which means he was kind of loud and a little pushy but everyone around us had kids as well so no one seemed too put out.

We arrived on time to Dulles Airport in Washington, DC and had to get all our bags and Oscar to be re-checked and clear customs. It wasn’t too much of a hassle surprisingly, and soon we were waiting at our gate for our flight to Raleigh. That was a short hour, but Hayden slept the whole time! Bless his heart he was too tired. Once at RDU, Hayden and I left Jay to get the bags and Oscar and we picked up the rental. After playing a little Tetris with all our bags and Oscar’s crate we were on the road for the hour drive to Greensboro. We arrived around 830pm and stopped to grab some food for us and some food for Oscar and then we were HOME. What a long, long day to get us back to where we grew up but it was worth it!

home, just busy!

 We're home and loving it.  Just can't sit still long enough to blog.  Lucky for you guys, I have a few written that I will put up as soon as we get back to NC!

A year's worth of stuff

Right before Hayden's birthday, I started to think about all the things he's accomplished since turning one. It's quite a list!

*walking
*feeding himself
*learning to use utensils
*learning lots of words
*turning words into phrases
*drinking from a cup
*putting himself to sleep without a pacifier
*climbing
*sign language
*learning songs
*brushing his teeth
*brushing his hair
*putting on lotion
*pulling up/down a pull up
*using the potty
*dancing
*recognizing faces, people, etc.
*recognizing inanimate objects

There's a whole host of things he seems to learn on a daily basis, but what a list! I love how he soaks up everything around him and loves to try new things. He is fearless! I can't wait to see how much he grows and learns this year!

Check ups all around!

Hayden's two-year check up was on Tuesday, the day after his actual birthday. He was very reluctant to let the doctor touch his belly and was really shy when she needed to take a look inside his pull up. I guess it's good that he's uncomfortable with strangers messing with his baby parts! Everything looked good, except his little ears. He's been battling an ear infection that's been lingering since about September, and just can't seem to shake it. We are trying another, stronger antibiotic to see if it that will knock it out for good. It's hard since Hayden doesn't have a fever and doesn't seem to be in pain. Let's hope it works!

Oscar also needed a check up before the flight, so we went today. He needed one shot and an intranasal vaccine, which proved to be pretty difficult. Oscar has lost TWENTY pounds in the past year, so his svelte body makes him more limber and wily. I ended up having to sit on him, backed in the corner while holding his head up just long enough for the vet to put his nose vaccine in. He passed all his tests and his weight loss makes him run around like a puppy again: he is so full of energy! He definitely knows something is up, and I'm nervous for the flight with him on Saturday. But the good news is that we only have to do it once!

Happy Birthday Hayden!

Hayden's 2nd birthday fell on a Monday this year, so we celebrated the day before. Hayden was excited to see his friends and we were excited to have one last birthday party with the people that have become family during our time here in Germany. Since everything was packed up and it was so close to us leaving, we had a small get-together at our house. We had hot dogs and all the fun sides, and decided cupcakes would be easier than a cake. What a fun day we had!

All Hayden's friends were here, big and small, and two of our friends returned from deployments just days before the party...what a great gift! Hayden played with his new toys and books and was really good at sharing his new stuff. He decided for his birthday lunch, he'd skip all the stuff mom cooked and eat yogurt instead. His birthday = his rules! We put in Toy Story 3, a gift from mom and dad, and enjoyed a few hours with some of our favorite people. We will sure miss them when we leave!

Hayden visits the dentist!

We have been waiting forever to get a pediatric dentist here in Schweinfurt, so I was super excited to meet her by chance at the bank one day! I immediately called and scheduled Hayden's first dentist appointment on November 2nd. Jay and I both got to go with him, which was awesome. We walked into the room and let Hayden look around and take it all in first. We decided to let him try to lay down in the chair by himself first, with mom's lap as a back up plan. He was cautious but brave, and spent the entire appointment in the chair alone! What a champ!

Dr. Carol checked out his jaw and gums first, and then his teeth. When she started to put the toothbrush in his mouth to brush a little, Hayden actually took it from her and showed her how he does it at home! She was so impressed with him. He had a little bit of plaque buildup on his front teeth, and even let her use the "scary" tool to scale them! We had no idea what to expect from his first dental experience but Dr. Carol was absolutely blown away by how well he behaved and what little resistance he put up. She finished up and gave him his new toothbrush, and took him to the toybox to pick out a toy. Unfortunately, he was less interested in the give-away toys and more interested in the books that have to stay. We promised him a new book for being such a good boy, and he seemed okay with that. We are so proud of him!

Happy Halloween!

This year we knew Halloween would be a little different! Hayden wasn't quite walking last year, so he spent most of trick-or-treating in his stroller watching all the action happen. But this time, he got to do his own trick or treating! He got very shy as we walked up to each house, but he managed a few thank you's and some big smiles!

I got my dinosaur wish this year, and it was too cute! We liked his costume because it came with the suit (tail included!), the head piece, gloves and the feet just strapped over his real shoes. Perfect! We anticipated having trouble getting him in it, since he's pretty particular about headgear and new things. We tested it out on Saturday for some Halloween photos, which was a giant FAIL. He wouldn't wear it, so we decided not to push the issue and got his hair cut instead. Which was the easiest one yet! On Sunday we tried it on again, snapped a few photos and took it off so he wouldn't get tired of it. We figured once we got to the Pollards' house, he'd see everyone else in costume and understand a little better.

We got to the Pollards and everyone was so cute in their costumes! Hayden warmed up to the idea, and since we were going outside he knew he'd need a hat and gloves so he didn't put up a fuss about those either. He was shy going to the houses for candy, and definitely confused as to why they were putting it in his bag instead of his hand, and why he couldn't eat it all then.

Every few minutes he would get tired of the gloves or head, so we had a lot of on-off until he decided he was done with both and we decided that was okay. After a round on Jackson street and a few other stops, we figured the kids had enough candy and we headed back to the Pollards for some soup and yummy desserts. The kids all had a great time playing and we were grateful to be relaxing with good friends on our last holiday here in Germany!

And so far, Hayden prefers a lollipop to chocolate, and M&Ms are a front runner since they're his "treep" (treat) when he goes potty. Good choices, little man.

Wedded bliss

In October, I got to go home for the wedding of one of my very best friends from college, Lizard. I've known her since Freshman year and she's one of the most wonderful people I know. I was sad to leave Jay and Hayden home, but excited to see my friends for the weekend. Yes, I flew 9 hours across an ocean for the weekend. It was definitely worth it!

We dropped Hayden off at school in the morning but I couldn't take him in and say goodbye. I've left him for six days once, but I was less than 2 hours away in Mainz. I knew this would be tough, so I let Jay take him in to avoid mom's breakdown. He got out of the car, walked towards school, turned around and said "Bye bye mommy, loves you!" Instant tears, but I got it together by the time Jay was back. We had a quick, uneventful ride to Frankfurt thanks to Jay's new airport shortcut. I got there in plenty of time, checked my bags, went through security and waited to board. Once on the flight, we were delayed on the flight line and I fell asleep before we took off! It was a short lived nap, and I realized pretty quickly that my plan to sleep all 9 hours of the flight was moot. I got in some reading and four movies, and soon enough we landed in CLT! I got my bags, texted Jay, got in trouble for being on the phone because I wasn't finished with customs, and got to my rental car place. Picked up the car, realized I didn't know how to plug in the GPS, finally figured it out, called my mom and the bride and got on the road. I had Mapquested the ride down so I sort of knew what was ahead of me, but was unfamiliar with the brand of GPS I rented. About 3/4 of the way down I realized it was set on Central time and that I had another HOUR to go before I arrived. Talk about disappointment!

I arrived in Myrtle Beach, SC at the hotel around 8 and headed up to my room. The girls were waiting on me to go out, but understood that 9 hours of flying and 4 of driving on little sleep thanks to Hayden's ear infection were enough to put me down for the count! They went out and I showered and passed out, grateful to be in the bed finally. They came in around 230 and I rallied for a little catch-up time with the bride. I met the groom for the first time, as well as some of the wedding party, and we stayed up until about 530. Our time was limited, so we had to use it well!

Friday was all about getting prepared for Saturday. We had Bojangles breakfast before heading out to get manis and pedis. I did a little shopping, and before we knew it the time had come for the rehearsal. It was so great to see Lizard's family and to meet Matt's, and we had a lot of fun practicing for the real thing. The setting was beautiful, overlooking the beach on a sunny weekend. We had a wonderful dinner and some equally wonderful mojitos! I met up that night with Watts and Katie and then headed back to the hotel to sleep!

We woke up Saturday ready to get this party started! Quick breakfast, Starbucks run, pick up the dress and off to the bridal suite! We had hair and makeup and snacks and champagne all while getting ourselves and the bride ready for the big day! It went by so quickly and before we knew it, we were walking down the aisle. What a perfect ceremony! Matt had to kill a bee with his bare hands, and suffered a minor sting but shrugged it off. The weather was beautiful, the vows were perfect and the bride was exquisite. After that it was time to party!

We headed to the reception and enjoyed Asian-style food for dinner. We watched the first dance of the bride and groom, and a wonderfully choreographed father-daughter dance that had us all in tears and then in stitches. A Disney-themed reception full of fun, drinks, food, dancing, karaoke, photo booth and some great toasts...what a night! We finished up with sparklers as the bride and groom took off on the golf cart into the night!

Sunday was a day of driving, as we headed back to NC to visit a few friends, catch up and CRASH! I was so exhausted from the weekend, but of course couldn't sleep in on Monday morning. Instead I headed to visit Stephanie, who was unable to serve her bridesmaid's duties due to a baby that wanted to come too early! She was on bedrest so I stopped by to visit and show off some pictures from the wedding. We missed her there but moms have to prioritize! It was so good to see her and her family on my short trip. I had some time to kill before my flight so I headed to the mall for a little retail therapy. I picked up a few things for myself and for Jay's birthday, grabbed Panera and headed back to the airport. They're a little more efficient at the CLT airport than in Frankfurt, so my three-hour prior to departure arrival had me through security 2 hours and 45 minutes before my flight. I made a last round of phone calls, picked up a book for Hayden in the airport and took a little nap at my gate before we departed.

Soon I was on the plane and flying back to Germany. I landed at 7am on Jay's birthday, and he was waiting to pick me up when I got off the plane. It was nice, as usually our roles are reversed and I'm picking him up! I came home and unpacked and in the afternoon, I was able to go in and pick up my bubba. I missed him so much, but I'm so glad I was able to go home for the wedding.

Fall fun

Last weekend we took a trip to the Wildpark with some friends to take a few pictures in the fall leaves. We did this last year with the babies, and we loved it! This year Jenn & Addie weren't with us but we added some other friends. It's amazing to see the difference in the kids from year to year. Last year, the boys weren't quite sturdy at the walking yet, so we could plop them in a pile of leaves and snap away. It proved more difficult this year, but we had a blast on the playgrounds and checking out the animals in between shots. I even convinced Jay to take a few family shots, and I think everyone left happy.

Plans, plans, plans!

We still have a lot to do before we're back in the states! Tomorrow I fly to the states for Lizard's wedding in Myrtle Beach, SC. Just me, since Jay wasn't able to take leave to come with me so he'll be back here with Hayden and Oscar. I leave Thursday and am back in Germany by 7am Tuesday...whirlwind trip! I fly into Charlotte and am not even heading to Greensboro because there isn't time!

I get back on Jay's birthday, and hope to have a fun day with him on Tuesday. The big 2-6! He's more excited about moving home, so he may even forget about his birthday! That Friday we have our annual Halloween party with our friends, despite the fact that all the husbands aren't home yet. But not too much longer! We expect them to return in time to see them before we go, so here's hoping!

We pack up UB on Oct 30th and then of course, trick or treating for Halloween the next night! Hayden is going to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex! He's got the roar down pat, and we got his costume in the mail yesterday. It's so cute and perfect, I just hope he'll keep the head on! Into November Jay will be going through the clearing process to leave, and we'll just be doing what we do. Hayden turns 2 on November 15th so we're planning a small birthday party for him the weekend prior. My last day of work is November 17th, Hayden's last day at school is November 18th and we fly on November 20th! We'll be back in the states in time for Thanksgiving with Jay's family in Virginia, then a quick trip to NYC before heading home to find an apartment and settle in for our new lives as civilians. We can't wait!

Packing up

Time is flying by as we prepare for our return to the states! They packed up our household goods on Sept 30th which was quite the adventure. The Army contracts movers to come in and pack everything up, which is nice because it saves us the trouble. Also, anything we pack isn't covered by the Army so if it gets broken, we're out of luck! But everything packed by the movers is covered. Jay was walking out the door to take Hayden to school as the movers arrived, so the first hour was definitely the most stressful. We had separated some things out to not be packed and wouldn't you know it, those were the first to be packed! Once we rescued the "PCS box", the passports and my work clothes, we were good to go.

 Holy cow did we have a lot of stuff! We didn't come over with much, but four plus years in a foreign country when you add in a dog and a baby adds a lot to what you own! We didn't want to just toss Hayden's clothes when he outgrew them since we're planning to have more kids, so there's all that. Plus every baby toy he ever played with. Then there's the clothes and dishes, the keepsakes from our travels, the books and DVDs we picked up and the scrapbooks I've completed. Did I mention the new furniture and the antiques? We were amazed at how much stuff we had! The movers did a great job and we tried to keep them happy with food and of course, by staying out of their way!

That evening we slept on our air mattress and Hayden enjoyed running around in our furniture-free house. The next day they dropped off government furniture, so now our house looks a lot like it did when we got here in 2006! It's definitely challenging to cook the things we're used to with limited kitchen ware, and we only have four forks so there's always dishes to be done! It's kind of nice to live simply, and it made us realize we have a lot to throw out once it all gets to our house! We've held on to a lot of stuff that we really can do without, and less is definitely more in our house! I kept a few dvds, a few books and some scrapbooking stuff and it seems like we have more time to do the things we enjoy when there's not as much other stuff hanging around.

Speaking of scrapbooking, I have finally FINALLY finished Hayden's one year album! And just two months shy of his second birthday :-) I have a few things to work on for his next book, and I'm mid-October 2009 in our family album. I'm hoping to be finished with 2009 before we leave here, but that remains to be seen!

The next step is to ship our car, which is made much easier by having our 2nd car that will be sold just before we leave here. That way we can ship the good car early and have it waiting on us when we get home. That should be done next week, and then our unaccompanied baggage goes on October 30th. UB consists of the things we need here longer and need sooner in the states, like our air mattress, one of the TVs, Hayden's crib and a few kitchen items. We've thrown away a lot, recycled a lot and taken a lot of things to the Thrift Shop for consignment. It's starting to happen!

A weekend away

Thanks to our good friends the Bakers, Jay and I got to spend a weekend away in Paris! We spent the night at Ramstein and got to stay in the new KMCC, which has a new hotel with fancy rooms. No kids allowed, which is why we've never set foot in it up until this point. We enjoyed a little dinner at Mac Grill, a movie at 8:30 (wow!) and dessert in the room. Not a bad start to our vacation!

We got up early and headed to Paris. We've now decided there's never a good time to drive into or out of Paris, but we still had a good time. We got checked into our hotel, did a bit of exploring and enjoyed a lazy, leisurely afternoon walking around the city of love. We toured the Louvre and the Pantheon, and barely missed the catacombs; they stopped taking people in while we were in line.  I even had time for a bubble bath before we went to the Eiffel Tower! These are things a working mom only dreams of. We had 9pm reservations for the tower, so we took an evening stroll to see it, all lit up and pretty. We made our way to the third level, despite my recent fear of all things cable car, and were nearly ONE THOUSAND feet above solid ground at the top. Insane! It was pretty amazing to see the city all lit up at night, and to be doing it without the fear of my toddler tumbling over the side. There are just some things kids are not meant for; mainly, moms with overactive imagination.

On Sunday we set out to visit the beaches of Normandy, which did not end as we expected. We got very close, but after a day of train travel, we arrived an hour after the buses stopped running. Any other means of transportation would have made us miss the last train back to Paris, so we turned around and went right back. Another reminder that in travel, it's not the destination but the adventure you have along the way and who you have it with! We made it to the Hard Rock and after a midnight stroll down the Champs Elysees, managed to catch the very last subway and bus back to our hotel. A little luck was nice after our long day.

Meanwhile, Hayden had a blast with the Baker girls! Despite an impending ear infection, he had a blast traveling and even went to a football game! The girls spoil him with love and attention, and I'm certain he didn't miss us at all! After we picked him up he fell asleep instantly in the car and slept the whole way home. I think this may officially end our travels in Europe, as we're about to leave! We pack our household goods and ship our car soon, and we'll be back in the states for good just in time for Thanksgiving! We have had an amazing four years here, but we're ready to get back to the good ol' USA!

Potty progress, and other things Hayden

I swear Hayden grew 3 inches while I was gone! I was in Mainz Kastel for training for my job and Jay & Hayden were left up to their own devices from Sunday to Friday. I came home early Friday afternoon, stopped by the house and Jay & I went to the commissary and to pick up Hayden. While he recognized me and hugged me immediately, it was clear that I had missed out on some serious boy bonding time as Hayden ran straight to his dad. It was strange to be without either of them all week, and school was exhausting so it was nice to get home to my boys.

Hayden is making leaps and bounds in the potty department! He went poop on the potty every day this weekend and is getting really good at telling us when he needs to go. He usually pees at least twice a day at home, and sometimes at daycare. We are so proud of the progress he's made and are continually amazed at what he can do.

He's working on multi-syllable words, phrases and practicing what he already knows in the vocabulary department. He's got "not nice" and "go 'way" down pat; we tell him something was not nice when he's being ugly to Oscar or us for instance, and he tells us to go away when we're keeping him from getting into trouble, also known as something he wants to do. Typical toddler behavior, but man if it isn't still cute! He gets better by the day at using utensils to eat and big boy cups in his chair. Where did my baby go?

Last weekend we took Hayden to "his" first movie, as in, one that was for him and not just one he tagged along for. We went to see Toy Story 3. Hayden has a Toy Story toybox and dinosaur flashlight, so we figured he'd recognize the characters. I think he enjoyed about the first 45 minutes, shouting "Ah-guh" (Oscar) when he first saw the dog. After that he just wanted to play in and out of the doors, crawl on the floor, etc. so we left a little early. But not bad for our first attempt at a movie with our almost-two-year-old. He loved the popcorn though!

Channel hoppers

Last weekend we took our very first visit to London! We were excited to get away for the weekend, especially to somewhere they speak English! We flew Ryan Air for the first time, which is one of Europe's low-cost airlines. Not a bad way to travel for three of us, definitely saved us about $200 on tickets. We headed out early Friday morning to drop off Oscar at the farm and head to Frankfurt Hahn. We arrived, in the rain, and found parking after about 20 minutes. 20 euro for the whole weekend? Yes please! Only because the 10 euro lot was full. We headed in, checked my bag (hey, it was for me AND Hayden, I couldn't carry on), checked our passports and got through security seamlessly. An hour-ish wait and we were on the plane!

Hayden was a lap child for this flight, and did very well in his special seatbelt attached to daddy's. One quick hour and we were landing in London. Most excitingly, they still stamp passports in the UK so Jay got his first stamp (!) and Hayden and I got one as well.  We figured out the train pretty quickly and took the 40 minute ride to London proper at the advice of some friends that had flown into London Stansted before. Thanks Jaime! Once at Liverpool Street station, finding our hotel was a bit tricky but as usual we prevailed. By 4pm we were checked into our hotel and unpacking. Well, two of us were; one of us was jumping on the bed. Three guesses.

After our long day of travel, we decided against much sightseeing and opted instead for dinner across the street at a cute little pub. I had fish & chips, Jay had chicken and a Guinness and Hayden had a blast! We got in bed early and woke up early to our little alarm clock (Hayden) at 5am. Breakfast was a wonderful event in the hotel and Hayden enjoyed baked beans with his breakfast. Silly Brits. We took the Overground to the Underground to get our train tickets and soon were on our way to Salisbury in southern England.  While waiting for our train, we did get our first glimpses at the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the Thames river and the London Eye. The weather in London was gloomy and wet but we were pleasantly surprised by the sunshine in Salisbury.

Our first stop was the bus stop, literally, to Stonehenge! We rode through the town of Salisbury on a bus with commentary to fill us in on the history. We were dropped off at Stonehenge and fast-tracked through the line to get in. What a magnificent place to visit! Hard to imagine that these stones have been around for thousands of years and are still in pretty good condition. Hayden enjoyed a little run through the grass and took our audio guides to talk on the "whoa" or the phone. After taking as many pictures as possible we headed back to the bus and went to Salisbury.

Salisbury is home to a 13th century cathedral and also the best of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta. We weren't allowed to photograph it, but it was amazing to see. The cathedral has the tallest spire in England, and the spire itself is actually leaning 29 inches to the west! No worries, it doesn't look like it will fall any time soon. It was beautiful inside and out, and the grounds were full of people just enjoying the August sunshine.

We awoke early Sunday to take our trek around the city. By then, we were pretty good at the Underground even with its construction and re-routes. We headed to the Big Bus to take the tour, and Hayden fell asleep in about 20 minutes. We toured London and Westminster with another set of audio guides, and got to see most of the big sites. We stopped off at Buckingham Palace to see the famous guards, but missed the changing of the guard as it only happens every other day from spring to fall. We went to the Hard Rock for lunch, and headed to the Tower of London. There we saw the 1000-year-old White Tower as well as the rest of the fortress. We also got to see the Crown Jewels of the royal family and boy was I disappointed that this was another photography-prohibited site. They were amazing! Glittery and sparkly and gold and jeweled...my kind of place!

After the Tower we headed down to the pier to take a cruise down the Thames River. We saw some great views of Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Shakespeare's Globe Theater and much more. We were heading to see Westminster Abbey when Hayden got a little sick, so we decided to end our tour for the day and head back to the hotel room.

For our last morning, we got up and packed and ate breakfast and headed to the nearby Abbey Road, made famous by the Beatles. I walked across the intersection along with the rest of the tourists, and that made our trip complete. Soon we were making the return journey back to the hotel, the train station, the airport, the parking lot and finally, home! We had an amazing weekend and I wish we had enough time left in Europe to go back!

A trip down memory lane

Normally, my blogs are about the recent past. But today I'd like to talk about the not-so-recent past.

Ten years ago this weekend, I moved my stuff into Salem College. More correctly, several cheerful and helpful orientation leaders moved my stuff in, and all I carried was my purse. I remember about 100 things about that day, a day that would literally change my life. Two months ago, I didn't get nostalgic about the fact that I'd graduated high school ten years ago. I feel like what really made me who and where I am today started ten years ago this weekend.

I remember Jen Pounders, carrying her purple cinder blocks with the fish painted on them. I knew instantly that was someone I would be friends with.  I remember Monique Farrell and the rest of the seniors, looking impossibly grown up and thinking there's no way I'd look like them in four years. I remember meeting my roommate for the first time, and seeing Kelly Delaney bounce from person to person, introducing herself. I remember the first look at my new dorm room and wondering how I could share a room so small. I remember meeting my "hall advisor"(now known as RA's) Piper Williams and feeling instantly comfortable. I remember meeting Shirley Southerland and thinking wow, this old lady does not know what she's gotten herself into with all these wild girls.

I remember standing on Clewell patio with Susan Jacobs, the one person I knew on that campus other than a girl that I went to high school with. We stood and talked, and met a new friend, Courtney Barron. Courtney was pissed that her mom made her wear a skirt, and after that day I only ever saw her in Abercrombie running pants and a ponytail. Susan still had her long, multicolored hair and years later I would find out that the sight of us terrified Heidi Schneble. I remember meeting Nan Tilley, the sweetest and most wonderful lady that would guide us through our first year. I remember being in awe of the amazingness that was Staci Lewis, a feeling that I would get for the next two years every time I saw her.

It seems impossible that this happened ten years ago, because I could swear it happened yesterday. I knew instantly that to be a Gramley girl was going to be something special. I had no way of knowing that, even with all the people I'd met, I hadn't yet met Liz Smith and Katie Burge, and how important that would be. I didn't know Lizard, but I heard she won a dance contest in her first 24 hours on campus. My roommate and I didn't work out but seven years later, we reconnected and became friends again. Girls came and went, for a semester or a year. Eventually we all moved away from Gramley (some of us after a second year) and one day we were all seniors, wearing caps and gowns and saying goodbye to our dorm rooms for the last time. But it all started ten years ago this weekend, and I can't imagine where I'd be today if a single thing were different that Saturday morning.

"And sing we of Salem ever,
As proudly her name we bear..."

Dancing baby

Daddy teaches Hayden how boys are "supposed" to dance, and he shakes his dragon tail!

Up, please!

My little sponge

Hayden is changing so much, it's hard to keep up with him! We've really noticed a change in him in the past month or so, and I think part of it has a lot to do with his new room in daycare. He's the youngest, so he sees all these kids doing big-kid things, and hears so many words that he just seems to crave learning. I can't keep track of all of his new words, but some of his favorites are: mom, dad, trash, dog, bubble, Oscar, bink, please, out, go, up, bed, bite, juice, milk, ow, uh-oh and my favorite, hello (ah-whoa) when he picks up the phone. Last week he learned "mine" and "no" at the same time, which has been pretty funny.  He is working on 1-2-3, and will follow along up to "D" when we sing the ABC song. His very favorite song is "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and he requests it by doing the "spider" hand motion that goes along with the song or by saying "it-ee".

He has also gotten really good at identifying his body parts. He has head, ear, nose, mouth, foot, toe and belly down pat; he gets a little confused with "eye" and "hand", I think because they sound so similar to "ear" and "head". His motor skills are really developing and he loves to color. His very favorite thing, other than jumping, is to read. He loves to grab one of his books and carry it around and stop to look at it and turn a page. He's very clear when he wants to read, and when he wants to be read to.

He's also starting to really come along on the potty. We still aren't in full-on potty training mode, but he knows when he needs to go and knows how the whole process works. We can get about one good pee out of him a day on the toilet, but not much on the poop. He's grasping the concept though, as he always squats now to get a little help from gravity! We did buy some pull-ups for when we're ready to start, and even picked up a few pair of big boy underwear! He is resistant to keep a diaper on sometimes, so we figured the underwear would be a logical step. He wore a pair to bed the other night over a pull-up, because it was just too hot here for pajamas.

He is absolutely a creature of habit, and requires a few things every day. He must have his cup of milk first thing in the morning, and he likes to pick out his clothes for school. He will not go to bed without a bath and brushing his teeth first, and makes a big production of throwing pup-pup (his sleep buddy) back in the crib when he gets up in the morning. He hates dirty hands, and loves to help us do anything. He loves to blow bubbles, and we have a hard time getting them away from him! He has also started to make "the face" when he doesn't get his way. It's a face he definitely gets from me, drawing his eyebrows way down and pursing his lips together. Despite his intention of looking fierce and angry, it's terribly adorable.