Life with the Little Monkey...

Headed to the Big Apple!

2012-01-15T22:07:00.001-05:00

After spending a few days in New Jersey,

we headed to the big city!

Alex was very excited to ride the train into New York.

He was mesmerized by it and decided it was not Thomas the Train, but it

was so fast that it could only be Gordon the Express!

Trip Part 2

2012-01-15T18:06:00.006-05:00

There were some beautiful fall days while we were in New Jersey. On one of them, we

went to a farm near Jean's house. We were able to go on a hay ride,

run through the rows of corn, pick some crops, ride go carts, and even eat a cupcake.

Overall, Alex had a great day and as you can tell from the lastphoto....it wore him out!

Trip Part 1

2012-01-15T17:56:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of November, we went on a trip to New Jersey and New York.

Alex did great on the flight up there. The iPad kept him very well occupied.

How did parents survive before iPads and the App store???

We stayed with Jeremiah's Aunt Jean and Cousin Bobby. Bobby is now 16 years old,

but they had saved some of his Thomas toys from when he was a little guy.

Needless to say, Alex loved his old trains and managed to transform

their living room into Sodor Island!

We also had the chance to visit Jeremiah's Grandfather.

It was very special to let Alex meet his great-grandfather.

He loved giving Alex a ride around in the electric wheelchair.

At one point, he said "Let me dial up the speed on this thing!"

Then, he and Alex took off spinning and speeding around!!

Happy Halloween from Bob the Builder!

2012-01-15T17:40:00.002-05:00

Silly guy!

2012-01-15T17:38:00.000-05:00

A Visit from The Walkers!

2012-01-15T17:31:00.000-05:00

The Walkers came to visit us in October.

Alex has so much fun playing with Max!

We took the boys to play some miniature golf...

I wasn't sure how it would go since they both were carrying around golf clubs,

but much to my amazement there were no injuries!

Emma cheered them on and had a few snacks! :)

Here they are snuggled up to watch some cartoons!

The Apple of My Eye!

2012-01-15T17:21:00.003-05:00

Fun with the Sand Farm!

2012-01-15T17:20:00.000-05:00

Sneaky Little Guy!

2012-01-15T16:57:00.001-05:00

One day this fall, the boys were at the grocery store.

While Jeremiah was checking out, Alex nabbed some Whoppers.

He had eaten half the box before Jeremiah realized!

First Day of School!

2012-01-15T16:55:00.001-05:00

Here's Alex on his first day of school this year!

Note the hat....you will begin to see a trend as I update

the pictures from the fall....

Daddy felt so guilty about dropping Alex off at school that he got this

really yummy Diego cupcake when he got home!

Cutest Boy Ever!

2012-01-15T16:35:00.000-05:00

As you can tell by the lack of posts in the last 6 months, life has been quite busy! I'm going to try to post some pictures and catch everyone up on what The Wagstaffs have been up to!

I'll start with a picture of the cutest guy ever!

This was taken by one of my fellow interns, Monica. She's not only a great doctor, but a great photographer too! She really captured classic Alex! :)

Goodbye Army Life, Hello Circus!

2011-08-16T12:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was J's official last day as Active Duty in the US Army. I know it's a bittersweet moment for him as there are many things that he is going to miss about the Army, but there are also many things he is enjoying about his new life as a civilian.

Apparently, he is really thinking about the future and has decided to try out some other possible future career opportunities.

Choice #1....the Circus! :)

Fun with Water Guns!

2011-08-16T12:10:00.000-04:00

100% BOY!

Monkeying Around!

2011-08-16T12:07:00.000-04:00

Alex has been very into Curious George recently, so we brought out all the monkeys to play and listened to some Jack Johnson music from the Curious George Movie. Makes for lots of fun monkeyin' around!!

PARTY TIME!

2011-08-13T08:40:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to Alex!!

I can't believe how nicely four kids under the age of 3 sat at the table and ate dinner!

Are they singing to ME?!?!

Aren't I the cutest?!?

This is some good stuff!

My favorites...chocolate cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream!

BUBBLES!

MORE BUBBLES!

He got a little help opening presents! :)

Maddie had to supervise the present opening!

Slam Dunk!

Getting out some energy after the sugar high!

A few of my fellow interns...
Me, Monica, Gifty, and Geetha

This is precious Baby Meena (Geetha's new baby)
who came to her very first birthday party!

Saying goodbye!

On the Road Again!

2011-08-08T10:35:00.000-04:00

Dancing to his favorite singing birthday card!

A Big Guy Haircut!

2011-08-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

Alex had his first big guy haircut this week!

And, Dippin' Dots was his reward for being such a big guy!

The Big 2!

2011-08-08T08:55:00.000-04:00

Alex marked a big milestone and turned 2 this past week! I was very lucky and had the day off, so we got to spend a family day celebrating Alex.

He checked out his new tricycle. His favorite part is the little bell, so you hear ding-ding everywhere he goes!

He ate yummy donuts for breakfast!

Played at the pool!

Then, we took him to Rainforest Cafe....what a mistake! Even before we went in, he looks a little concerned. It only got worse! We sat down at the table and ordered drinks. He looked a little unsure, but then the animals started to move and he knew he didn't want to be there! I have never seen him quite so scared in my life. I hope we haven't scarred him for life.

We had to leave Rainforest Cafe immediately, so we went to a local seafood place. He enjoyed his fish sticks, but he had to stay in one of our laps the whole meal....just in case there might be any more animals lurking around that could come to life!

Then, we came home and enjoyed some yummy cupcakes and a little silliness!

It was a great day with a fun little man!!

Hello Again!

2011-08-07T16:02:00.000-04:00

It's been over two months since I last blogged and our life has changed significantly!

We are all settled in Galveston. We LOVE our townhouse here! It's a huge change from our old house in Columbus, but we are loving some of the amenities of new construction....especially the huge master bathroom, walk-in closets, and an attached garage just to name a few!

We ended up signing a lease without actually seeing the townhouse and one of my favorite things about it is that it's a beautiful shade of purple-pink. Not sure that's one of J's favorite points though! :)

It's been too hot to sit out on our nice front porch, but the boys have enjoyed some trips to the beach and to Palm Beach at Moody Gardens...

We have found Cafe Michael Burger our new favorite burger joint with a view of the beach...

(It's not quite Minnie's, but they have some mean sweet potato fries!)

I've also replaced my obsession for Pat-A-Cakes Bakery in Columbus with Patty Cakes Bakery in Galveston.....

(We celebrated the Big 29 for J back in June!)

Alex has also been throwing some good fits, proving to us that he is ready to enter the terrible 2's....

Amongst the fun, I've been readjusting to working 80 hours a week and learning how to balance it all with Alex. It's not easy, but so far it's going fairly well!

The boy LOVES his trains!

2011-05-17T17:16:00.000-04:00

Future Gamer

2011-05-17T17:14:00.000-04:00

We had to go to Best Buy last week and Alex had a great time testing out the PlayStation and the Wii!

Happy Mother's Day from Minnie's!

2011-05-17T17:13:00.000-04:00

Alex and I are going to miss that yummy Southern cooking!

Dying Easter Eggs and Easter Morning

2011-05-17T17:11:00.002-04:00

A Big Monkey!

2011-05-17T17:08:00.000-04:00

Mama!

2011-05-17T17:06:00.000-04:00

Here's my favorite video from the Safari!

A Safari, Georgia-style....

2011-05-17T17:03:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah's mom came to visit for Easter weekend. There is a place called Wild Animal Safari just north of Columbus. We have been curious about it for awhile, so we decided to head up there and check it out! It was quite an experience. We rented an old van to drive through the park that was full of all kinds of interesting animals. They gave us food to feed them, so they came up to the van begging for it.

Here we are about to head off!

We saw zebras....

and giraffes....

I even fed one!

Pregnant pigs....

A lion safely caged away...

And, lots of gross tongues!

It was a great day full of many memories!! :)

An Update from a Busy Household!

2011-05-17T12:50:00.000-04:00

The busy Spring at our house is turning into a BUSY Summer! The great thing is that our house is....

Yipee!! If all goes well, we are supposed to close June 20th. We are sad to leave all the wonderful friends we have made in Georgia, but it's the next chapter in life for us. We will be happy to be closer to our family and friends in Texas!

The little monkey is turning into such a big guy! His favorite things to do these days are play with his Thomas trains, play Legos, go to the park, and JUMP! He is also saying more and more words everyday. He has even started putting two words together and is quickly mastering, "No Mama!"

I'm going to try to post some pics from the fun things we have been doing this Spring!

Who's the Cookie Monster?

2011-04-26T16:15:00.000-04:00

Alex and I were playing in his room a few days ago and he pulled his Cookie Monster puppet out of his toy box. Then, he took off running out of his room. I went to see where he'd gone and he was standing outside the pantry saying "key-key" (that's his version of cookie). It was too cute, so I had to let him feed himself and Cookie Monster a couple of cookies. Actually, I think Little enjoyed it the most....I know she ran off with at least two cookies of her own! :)

I'm the Cutest Boy Ever!

2011-04-26T15:58:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter from Alex!

2011-04-22T13:36:00.000-04:00

Where's my dinner???

2011-04-16T08:59:00.002-04:00

Fun in the Sun!

2011-04-16T08:58:00.001-04:00

Celebrate Good Times!!

2011-04-16T08:57:00.000-04:00

One day this week, Jeremiah got his official paperwork to get out of the Army! That gave us a reason we had to celebrate, so we went out to dinner downtown. The waitress set two spoons down on the table and then the dessert (pecan pie with ice cream). Alex was hilarious. He grabbed a spoon and then pulled the plate right over in front of him! He knows the good stuff! :)

Alex Heaven!

2011-04-16T08:39:00.003-04:00

Remind you of anyone??

2011-04-16T08:39:00.000-04:00

"I don't want to get up and go to school!"

10 minutes later....on top of the train table having a blast!

Alex and his Art!

2011-04-16T08:24:00.000-04:00

I have started keeping Alex's coloring and art supplies on the bottom of the hall closet. He has quickly figured that out and when he's ready to color goes and gets it all out! The first picture is from before our trip...

We arrived home late at night, so he went straight to bed. The first place he went the next morning was straight to his art closet with his morning milk! :)

A trip to the park with Grandma!

2011-04-16T08:21:00.000-04:00

A rockwall more his size! :)

Wheee!!!

Grandma even let me have some sno-cone!

"Woof, woof!"

A busy spring!

2011-04-16T08:18:00.000-04:00

The Wagstaff household is having a very busy Spring, so I haven't had a chance to blog in quite a while! With the house on the market, all I seem to do is clean! We still haven't had any offers on the house, so keep thinking good thoughts for us or send someone our way if you know anyone looking for a new home at Ft Benning! It's going to be sad to leave this house, but we are ready for our next adventure!

Two weeks ago, we went to visit Houston and do some house shopping there. We took Alex down to Galveston for the day, so here are some pics of him.

Checking out the big boats...

That's a big foot!

" I want the fried fish now!"

"This is yummy!"

A little street Chess on the Strand with some girls he met...

"I want that one please!"

This is good! Gotta eat it quick before Mommy takes it away.

After this, he fell asleep in the car and we didn't make it to the beach. He will have many more opportunities soon though! :)

March Madness at Alex's House!

2011-03-21T11:55:00.000-04:00

It was so much fun that even Bella (Alex's best dog friend from next door) had to come join in on the fun!! :)

The next Picasso

2011-03-21T11:51:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, some of Alex's friends came over to play. They swam in his little pool, ran around the backyard, and ultimately spent a lot of time with sidewalk chalk! They were so cute all drawing away and the back of our house is a masterpiece now! :)

Happy St Patty's Day!

2011-03-17T14:35:00.000-04:00

St. Patrick's Day is always a big day for us, but it's even bigger this year! Jeremiah and I are celebrating our 5th anniversary and it was Match Day for me. We found out at 1:00 that I got into the Pediatrics residency program at UTMB in Galveston. Yipee!!!!!! We couldn't be happier!!!

For our match day celebration, Jeremiah had some cupcakes made with humunculi (is that the plural of humunculus??) on them. Alex enjoyed every last bite!! :)

What a Difference a Year Makes!!

2011-03-15T21:49:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, we had beautiful weather so we decided to head out for our first family picnic at Flat Rock Park. We had a great time! Alex conquered the playground, ran around and explored on the rocks, and even played with bubbles. Jeremiah was home on R&R last year at about this same time of year and we visited Flat Rock then too. It's just amazing what a difference a year makes in the life of a baby! Last year, he was crawling around on the rocks and this year he's running and throwing rocks! Here are a couple pics from this weekend to compare with ones from last year. It's so funny for Jeremiah and I to look back at how fat he was when he's such a lean, skinny toddler now! :)

March 2011

March 2010

Future Mountain Climber

2011-03-15T21:28:00.002-04:00

Daddy, on belay!

The little baker!

2011-03-06T13:13:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, we had a rainy afternoon so we couldn't go outside to play like we normally do in the afternoons. :( Alex helped me bake banana bread instead. He quickly figured out that the best part of baking was licking the spoon!

BUBBLES!

2011-03-04T15:04:00.000-05:00

I took this yesterday while Alex and I were outside playing. He LOVES bubbles! Sorry it's sideways. I can't figure out how to change that. If you know, please tell me and I'll fix it!!

Cutie Pie!

2011-03-04T14:59:00.000-05:00

None of the museum pictures were particularly that great of Alex because he was way too serious about the new things he was trying out! So, here are a few super cute pictures of him eating onion rings at dinner the night prior.

Our Quick and Fun Weekend Getaway!

2011-03-04T14:54:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, we really needed to get out of town after a week of sickness, so we headed up to Atlanta to find some fun things to do! We ended up taking Alex to the Children's Museum there and I would highly recommend it! Alex had a great time there. Jeremiah and I were also really excited because they had a West Africa exhibit right now. It was so cool to see some features of Sierra Leone shared in a way that kids can understand and enjoy!

There was a whole section of ba-bas to play with and the boys even got to move balls around with a crane!

Then, we went to the West African section where Alex and I played the African drums! We loved it! They had a green screen room with drums that you could play and then it put you on the TV screen with the African dancers/musicians behind you. SO COOL!

I loved, loved, loved that they had a mock African hut. For those of you who don't know, Jeremiah studied post-civil war landscape changes in Sierra Leone for his Masters thesis. One of the things he concentrated on was how the housing types changed. I thought it was really great that he could show Alex an African hut (not that Alex understands any of it, but still cool!).

He even got to walk through the rainforest canopy, which he did at least 10 times!

Alex had his first motorcycle ride, taking some roosters to market!

He caught his first fish! =)

(Pop would be proud to know that he probably would never have left this part of the museum if it had been up to him. I think he could have pretend fished all day!)

And, he even played the piano!

(I really wish that I'd taken a video of this because the whole time he was playing his feet were tap-tap-tapping away to the beat. It will be so much fun to see if he ends up musical one day!)

It was a great little getaway! We are hoping to have many more of these now that are house is finally completely renovated and on the market! It's great to finally have time to do whatever we want!!

Lowe's = Big Fun!

2011-02-21T15:28:00.000-05:00

Snuggled Up!

2011-02-21T15:25:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, Alex wanted to watch his Thomas video in our room. I put it on and walked out of the room for a minute. When I came back, he had pulled all the pillows together and was all snuggled up in there watching his Thomas! Choo, choo!

Splashin' Around in the Tub!

2011-02-16T15:14:00.002-05:00

Cruisin' for Trouble!

2011-02-16T15:12:00.000-05:00

Alex ♥'s Girl Scout Cookies!

2011-02-16T15:10:00.000-05:00

Shootin' Some Hoops with Pop!

2011-02-16T15:05:00.002-05:00

Pants Optional

2011-02-14T08:07:00.000-05:00

Alex and I flew to Houston for the weekend. I was really dreading flying with him because the last couple of times he has not been very well behaved. He proved me wrong this time and was amazingly good! I had a lot of activities for him....a new book, new stickers and colors, some M&Ms, and of course the iPad! The distractions worked like a charm and we made it there and back without any major meltdowns.

Besides him acting great, we did run into one little problem. I am always overly prepared for situations (Girl Scout Motto: Be Prepared!), but somehow I did not end up with an extra pair of clothes for him in my carry-on. Of course, that means this was the time that he chose to pee out his diaper! Ugh! When we got to the gate to wait for our flight, I let him out of the stroller and realized he was soaking wet. I had to take off the wet pants, so he ended up running around with nothing but a diaper for the rest of the flight. Luckily, they were pretty dry by the time we made it to chilly Houston!

Stroller Wars 2011!

2011-02-09T20:13:00.000-05:00

For my fellow mommy friends...if you are ever bored with your little one, here's some entertainment! We had accumulated several strollers in the back of the car, so we were cleaning things out. It ended up that Alex and I both took one stroller. Then, we rammed them into each other in true little boy style! I actually ended up having as much fun as him. He's such a silly guy these days!!

The boy loves to be outside!

2011-02-09T19:54:00.000-05:00

Havin' some fun on his slide!

Backpack!

2011-02-09T19:50:00.000-05:00

I realize I put a lot of pictures of Alex ready for school in the morning on here, but he's just so cute when he's ready to go! This quite possibly is my new favorite picture of him. It captures him so well....if only you could hear him saying "go, go, go" too! This picture is also up to commemorate that he has a new word...BACKPACK! I credit that to him having the cutest backpack ever! :)

Cutie Pie!

2011-02-04T11:11:00.000-05:00

In the afternoons, Alex and I usually go for a little walk around the neighborhood trying to get out some energy. He recently discovered this little bench a couple houses down. (They work all the time, so I don't feel too bad letting him sit on their bench!) It's just his size, so he loves to sit on it. He is still obsessed with balls, so he of course had one to throw around on our walk....tragedy struck though and it fell down the sewer! He was not a happy guy. :(

Why??

2011-02-01T15:25:00.000-05:00

Why, oh why, must he put everything up his nose?

And, an even bigger why....

why must he put it up my nose when he gets bored with his own??

Crayons....for lunch??

2011-02-01T15:22:00.000-05:00

It's a rainy, yucky day so I decided to let Alex color like a big boy. He liked that he had an "Eh-mo" (aka Elmo) to color, but before I knew it all he wanted to do was eat the crayons!

Mommy's Little Helper

2011-02-01T15:14:00.002-05:00

Big Guy!

2011-01-31T11:23:00.000-05:00

We babysat for our friend Elise (almost 4 months) one morning last week. Alex was so sweet with her. He would see me do things for her and then he would try to do them too. He loved pulling her socks off and trying to put them back on. Although, he did not understand why she couldn't eat "ba-bas" too or drink from a sippy cup like him. That was quite confusing!

Here they were enjoying a little Elmo! :)

Ready for School!

2011-01-31T11:20:00.001-05:00

I love that he will wear his cute little backpack now! Thanks Karla! :)

The Word of the Week

2011-01-31T11:14:00.000-05:00

Sesame Street has the Word of the Day, so I've decided that we have definitely had the Word of the Week around our house. A couple of weeks ago, Alex pointed to a ball on one of the pages of Dr Seuss' "Hop on Pop" and said "ball" for the first time. The first time of MANY times. The whole last week, he has used it as much as possible.

Chasing tennis balls around the house....

Waking up at 5 AM, screaming for "ba-bas" aka his fave cereal....

Reading "Zoo Picnic"(it has googly eye-balls that are "ba-bas")...

Finding all the sweet gum ba-bas at the park...

And, most importantly, he has mastered the art of throwing ba-bas as soon as he picks them up! Just like a little boy!

Stay tuned for the next Word of the Week!

I Don't Know!

2011-01-24T15:00:00.000-05:00

For a while now, Alex has had two answers to any question, "yah" or "nah". It really didn't matter if he understood the question or not, he'd give you one of those answers back and then go on with whatever he wanted to do. Recently, he's started having a third answer... the "I don't know".

SNOW DAY!

2011-01-14T16:23:00.000-05:00

Monday morning, we woke up to about an inch of good snow on the ground. It was a fun day even though it was freezing cold! Jeremiah got to stay home and we all got to hang out!

Alex wasn't real sure what to think of the snow. When we first went outside, he refused to wear his mittens. Then he bent down and picked up some snow. He quickly regretted that and then let us put his mittens on. He didn't seem all the interested until Daddy started helping him throw snowballs at me. Then it got REAL fun, REAL fast! ALL BOY!

MiMi had ordered Alex this cute little fireman coat and boots. It happened to arrive that day and it was perfect for the weather! Isn't he so cute in it? He had to inspect his car. It was covered in ice and snow so he realized he shouldn't sit down in it. He did very importantly check to make sure the horn would still "beep, beep" and it did!

How To Open a Present by Alex

2011-01-09T15:20:00.000-05:00

1. Untie the ribbon.

2. Rip off some wrapping paper.

3. Give it a good tug to tear it off.

4. Stand on the present.

5. Have Daddy rip off the paper for you.

6. Finally, admire your new present!

Christmas Photos (Finally!)

2011-01-09T15:09:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas with all three of us together this year! The best Christmas present possible!

We spent Christmas morning at my parent's house. Here's the beautiful Christmas tree and overflowing stockings....

Here is Alex checking out his loot from Santa Claus. Of course the first thing he checked out was Thomas the Train!

Here's Uncle Sam helping him drive his new remote control fire truck. If you look through the Christmas photos, he never put that remote down!

Checking out his new train set... What would life be without Thomas?

This is what he looked like after a morning of presents!

I think it was a bit overwhelming for him. :)

The fun wasn't over yet! After lunch, we drove to see Grandma Gale. Here is a handsome dude dressed up for Christmas dinner with Grandma!

Still playing with the firetruck....I guess he thinks he should be able to hop on for a ride. Not real sure why he's pants-less here!

Having fun with Grandma Gale!

Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas and hope that everyone else had an equally wonderful time with their families and friends! We are so fortunate and thankful to have such a nice life!

Paging Dr. Alex...

2011-01-09T14:30:00.000-05:00

Rattle, Rattle....

2011-01-04T08:49:00.000-05:00

I'm very behind on my blogging, so I'm going to try to finally catch up!

Before Christmas, we went up to the Rattlesnake Ranch in Madisonville, where my dad hunts. He had been dying to take Alex on a ride in the Polaris. We picked what we thought was supposed to be a nice weather day and it ended up not so nice. :( It was warm, but really windy! We did get to go for a fun ride in the Polaris though and explored the land. Alex got to see cows again, as well as check out some farm equipment. What could be more Texan than climbing on some John Deere tractors?

The day came to a close when Alex was exploring the Polaris and fell and hit his head on the gun mount. That explains the bruise on his forehead in the upcoming Christmas pictures.

Why did I climb in here?

2011-01-03T15:39:00.002-05:00

He climbed in here the other day and then couldn't figure out how to get out!

He got just a little mad!!

iPad-aholic!

2011-01-03T15:36:00.000-05:00

I love my, I mean Daddy's, iPad that he got for Christmas. I have even learned how to open the apps that Daddy downloaded for me! Aren't I so smart?!?

For any parents out there reading the blog, the Thomas Misty Island Rescue app is well worth every penny of the $4.99 it costs! It has an interactive book, song, coloring pages, and connect the dot! He loves it!!

Choo Choo!!

2010-12-23T23:13:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago, we went to visit our good friends the Walkers in San Antonio. We had a GREAT time with them! Alex loved playing with Max. He was squealing with happiness the entire weekend!

We did lots of fun things: went out to eat, shopped, chatted, played with toy trains, took the boys to the San Antonio Children's Museum (definitely recommend!), and even went on a train ride!

My camera was having some technical difficulties, so I was only able to snap some pictures the morning of the train ride.

It was a chilly morning and the boys were so cute bundled up waiting for the train to come:

They went crazy over the popcorn!

Captain Aggie, here to save the day!

I love how this picture captured that mischievous smile of his...

All of the boys...

Thanks to the Walkers for hosting us for a wonderful weekend! We can't wait to do it again....especially with the soon-to-arrive Emma!! =)

A Morning at the Ranch...

2010-12-18T15:52:00.000-05:00

Some of my parents' neighbors recently moved out of suburbia to their very own ranch. They have dogs, cows, a pond, a tractor, a trampoline...what more do you need?? We went out to explore one day last week and we had a great time!

Checking out the pond....

Riding around the property on Daddy's shoulders....
(Life is good!)

What is this thing??

I can drive it!

They even have their own zip line that J had to try out!

Then, Alex was ready for his turn....

Lots to explore!

Even a trampoline to jump on...much better than that wimpy one at MyGym!

Here is everyone else checking out the cows....I thought this was kind of a cool picture and looked even better in black & white!

Alex's Trip to Aggieland with Dada

2010-12-08T19:33:00.000-05:00

Today Alex and I drove to Aggieland to visit some old friends. First we met Uncle Gabe at Rudy's and had some great barbecue. Alex liked it and ate lots of brisket with sissy sauce and finished up with some peach cobbler. Next we went to Uncle Gabe's house and he got his first Twelfth Man towel, which Uncle Gabe taught him how to twirl.

After that we went up to Campus to visit with lots of our old professors like Dr. Tchakerian, Dr. Brannstrom, Dr. Lafon, the Bednarz's and Cathy. They all thought he was really cute and wanted to play with him. Then we went over to Gabe's office and all the other graduate student girls wanted to give him candy, play with him, hold him, and pretty much just fawn over how cute he was. Here is a picture of two people I just met obsessing over him.

Last we went by the Trigon and met two of my former buddies from the Corps, Mack and Zac who are now NROTC instructors. See how they don't even have to wear a uniforms to work....Sounds like a job for me! In this picture I had just knocked Alex over by turning around into him after handing off my phone for a picture. We managed to stop his crying but he still doesn't look that happy.

We finished up the day with dinner at Koppe Bridge. Alex really enjoyed his chicken strips and fries and Mack got to see how his life is about to be over. We both had a great time and I am pretty sure Alex wants to be an Aggie too now, since he was yelling A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a the whole drive back home.

Scooter Time!

2010-12-05T16:06:00.000-05:00

This past week, we went to visit Jeremiah's father and his family in El Paso. Alex enjoyed playing with J's half-sister and especially checking out some of her toys. He was very curious about her scooter and Daddy showed him how to use it!

Stuck in a bucket....

2010-12-05T16:03:00.000-05:00

This morning, he crawled in this bucket and then he wanted everything in his sight to be in the bucket with him!

Man Time

2010-11-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, Alex helped his Pop and Daddy put out the Christmas lights at Pop and MiMi's house. I hope he's taking notes because like Clark Griswald says to his father...."You taught me everything I know about exterior illumination!" You can't start too early, right?

Bringing out some lights....

He for some reason thought the plunger was going to help them get the lights out...

Inspecting the lights....

Taking a little break with Pop to eat some yummy animal crackers DeeDee brought him....

I wish I had a picture of the final product...I'll take one sometime soon! Hope everyone else is having fun decorating for Christmas!

Gig 'Em!

2010-11-30T10:07:00.000-05:00

We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving at my grandmother JoJo's house. Since the Ags had a big game that night, our family decided to wear our maroon shirts to support them! It was fun and here are some cute pics of us!

We have also managed to teach Alex to do the yell "AAAAAA". He gets pretty into it....maybe he'll be a future little yell leader! =)

Alex the Builder!

2010-11-23T16:00:00.000-05:00

He can build it! Yes he can!

Arrrr!

2010-11-23T15:57:00.000-05:00

One of Alex's new favorites is Pirate's Booty! Think he'll turn into a pirate??

The best place to sleep in the house!

2010-11-10T18:49:00.000-05:00

Then he woke up and finished off his dinner!

Trick-or-Treat!

2010-10-31T11:25:00.000-04:00

We had fun trick-or-treating with our neighbor friends!

They were all so cute and had fun despite the fact that they didn't quite understand what it was all about! :)

These are a few of our friends:

Sofia (the skeleton), Alex, Reid (the tiger..grrr!), and Emma with Elise (Ladybugs)

(There is also my beautiful Honda Pilot in the background!! :)

Here are Sofi and Alex ready to go in the wagon!

The daddys played bumper cars in the street and the kiddos were quite entertained!

The whole family trick or treating at Miss Robin's house.

Sittin' on the front steps with Daddy.

It's an ear pullin' good time!

Handing out candy at the front door!

Halloween Celebrations!

2010-10-31T09:19:00.000-04:00

Alex has done quite a lot of Halloween celebrating over the last two days!

On Friday morning, his school went trick-or-treating through the church. His class was so cute! They had no clue what to do and were just wondering all around the church. We tried to get a group shot of them. I love how it truly represents the chaos which is the toddler class!!

Here is the Little Train Conductor with his trick-or-treat bag. He finally figured out to carry it around at about the last stop of the morning!

That afternoon, we went to a Halloween party at MyGym. It was mostly just playing on the regular MyGym toys with a few extra games and wearing costumes. Alex still doesn't really understand following the rules, so the games were lost on him, but he had fun running around and wore himself out!

Here he is playing in the toy box of balls. He took all of them out and put them through the basketball hoop.

I was trying to get a picture of Alex and his friend Jaden. That obviously didn't go very well!

There was a giant tunnel that Alex was obsessed with. He must have gone in and out it atleast 20 times while we were there!

War Paint or Green Marker???

2010-10-27T08:07:00.000-04:00

Happy October!

2010-10-24T09:37:00.000-04:00

Fort Benning has an annual Oktoberfest, so yesterday afternoon we went to check it out. My real motivation for wanting to go was that there was going to be yodeling there. Over the summer, my mom and Alex realized they have a real passion for yodeling and I wanted to see what Alex's reaction was to yodeling in person. I have to say it did capture his attention for a good 3-4 minutes, which is quite a feat for a toddler!

There was a little area with pumpkins where the kiddos could pick one out. Alex was more interested in picking up sticks and using them like swords, but we did leave with a pumpkin.

There was also a moonwalk where Alex and his friend Sofia had lots of fun running around. It was next to impossible for us to get them out of there!! It was hilarious!

We even got a family picture....I think it might be the first one since J has been home!

Happy October to everyone!!

Jewel - Yodeling

2010-10-24T09:35:00.000-04:00

This is Alex's favorite youtube video of Jewel yodeling. He loves it!

Super Reader?

2010-10-19T14:24:00.000-04:00

This is a bulletin board at Alex's school.

Here is the close up of Alex's picture.

I don't think he wants to be a super reader!

The Little Climber!

2010-10-19T07:49:00.000-04:00

Alex continues to love to climb everything! It doesn't matter if it's furniture, solid structures, or even toys, he will find a way to climb. Daddy has decided that he's going to be a mountain climber when he grows up!

Trains, Trains, and More Trains....

2010-10-19T07:45:00.000-04:00

Daddy bought Alex his first Thomas the Train set. He's having lots of fun with it!

My Little Ghost

2010-10-14T12:37:00.000-04:00

The Little Monkey was on a bit of a sugar high last night after having chocolate chip cookies and milk with Daddy. After he finished his cookies, he started running all around the house. Eventually, he grabbed my sweater that was lying around and threw it over his head. He thought it was absolutely hilarious to run around with it. I guess he's just trying to let me know he's ready for Halloween because it made him look like a little ghost!

Chug-Chug, Choo-Choo!

2010-10-08T21:37:00.000-04:00

Someone loves Thomas!

Afternoon at the Park with Mommy AND Daddy!!

2010-10-06T21:09:00.000-04:00

Playin' Around in the Backyard

2010-10-05T14:29:00.002-04:00

Helping Mommy with the Chores....

2010-10-05T14:28:00.000-04:00

He crawled right in the dryer and pushed all the clothes into the laundry basket for me. What a good little helper!

WELCOME HOME!

2010-10-03T14:35:00.000-04:00

Daddy finally arrived home on Wednesday! We are very excited to have him safely back home with us. It's been a bittersweet welcome home though. I've had strep throat and J has had a stomach bug. Thankfully, we finally are all well and enjoying our time together.

Here is the house decorated for J's return. Not sure if you can tell, but there are little flags lining the pathway and the holly destroyed the balloons. :(

A close up of the banner...

The guys arrived home to the airfield at Ft. Benning. The families all waited inside a large building there. There were big TVs that showed film of their airplane arriving, landing, and then the guys getting off the plane. It was so exciting to watch!!

Once they were off the plane, they had to go turn in their weapons, complete paperwork, etc. They had a countdown of these processes on the big screens for us to watch.

While we waited, we chatted with other friends and Alex played. He had a blast waving his flag around and dancing to the marching band playing.

It seemed like it took FOREVER, but finally everything was completed!

They opened the doors and the guys marched in 'in formation'. Everyone was screaming, crying, and it became really exciting! After they were all in, a prayer was said and they were released to their families! It was SO WONDERFUL to have Jeremiah safely back to us! Everything there was a little too much for Alex, so we got out of their quickly and headed home to be a FAMILY once again! I don't have any pictures of us as a family on my camera, but someone else took one for us and as soon as she emails it to me, I will post it on here!

Alex is readjusting to having Daddy home very well! They have a blast together....he sure can make him laugh more than I can. Alex is also very interested in all of Daddy's gear. He loves wearing his dogs tags and trying to put on his giant combat boots.

Here are the two of them making up for lost time.

Last, but not least, a HUGE thank you to all of our family and friends for their prayers and support that have helped our family make it through the last year. It's been tough at times, but we are very happy to finally have it behind us. We could not have made it through without all of you.

Yum, Yum Applesauce!

2010-09-27T16:20:00.000-04:00

Who needs a spoon? Not me!!

Alex's New Kicks!

2010-09-27T16:13:00.000-04:00

Hey Mom...Can I Borrow the Keys?

2010-09-17T16:56:00.000-04:00

HEAD, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes....

2010-09-17T16:53:00.000-04:00

One of the new things Alex has learned at school is how to point to his head. They sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and he seems to have only picked up on the head part so far. One of the unfortunate side effects of that is that he discovered it's very fun to pat your head while you are eating dinner and smear all of your food into your hair...making a lovely mess for mommy!

Yesterday was a terrible long day. He wouldn't take a nap and was overall in a BAD mood, so when he put his dinner into his hair and made himself look like he had devil's horns....I just had to laugh! =)