Sunday Lovin'

Hope you all are having a great Sunday! Hug your loved ones a little tighter.

(Hanging out at Target on a Saturday afternoon. Too hot to be outside)

Fun at the mall

With it being so disgustingly hot, we have not been able to go outside for very long...or at all. The pools here do not open until 12:30, which at the point, it is nap time and dangerously hot. So, I had to get creative with various things to keep David entertained.

We have been going and walking at the mall, window shopping, sometimes grab a snack (our favorite is a pretzel from Auntie Anns :-)

The other day while at the mall, I let David ride in the little spaceship. He thought it was great, probably the best .75 cents spent.

Such a handsome little man. In other happy news, we had our long awaited ENT appointment on Wednesday. The Doctor said David is definitely a candidate for tubes (he has had 7 ear infections since the end of February. Poor little guy.) As I walked out of the room we were in, and was walking up front to schedule it, somebody called and cancelled their appointment for Monday!!! Normally, it takes at least a month to actually have the surgery, but we got incredibly lucky. He will have tubes early Monday morning. I'm a little anxious, but know he will be in good hands, and this will help him.

This picture is pretty blurry, but still so cute. This was after our long, hot day.

And flowers, Mark sent flowers last Friday. However, the floral shoppe messed up the date (I got my birthday flowers a month early). So, I have 2 beautiful floral bouquets to smell and look at.

(birthday flowers a month early)

(the flowers I was suppose to get first)

Davids new love: the stairs! He likes to climb up on the first step, and lay across it. He fell off yesterday, but did it well. He tucked and rolled, not hitting his head. Gave me a bit of a heart attack though. The days of letting him rome freely are long gone :-/

Determination

At 13 months, David has finally started to pull himself on things. I am going to blame genetics on this. I did not walk until I was 15 months and Mark (who David has done everything else like) at 18 months! And his ears. TOMORROW is finally the day we get to see the ENT about tubes. He has had 7 ear infections since the end of February. Poor David, the genes win this one.

Anyways, he has started to pull himself up on stairs, the bathtub (this gives me a heart attack everytime), and various pieces of furniture.

Stairs are probably the most fun though. Which means I can't let him have complete freedom from my undivided attention. The other day we were over at Gardners. David was crawling around and then I didn't hear him any more. When I found him. He was standing on the stairs.

He continues to love bath time! His new thing is to scoot back into the corner and just sit there contently and play. When the water is still running, he likes to stick his head under.

And reading. He will sit on the floor and flip through the pages, pointing and saying outloud the things he knows. He LOVES balls and balloons.

Excuse the lack of clothes in some of these pictures. It has been unbelievably hot.

One day I really will get around to blogging about Marks homecoming R&R at the airport. Hopefully before he comes home for good (in less than 2 months!!)

Firsts

Apparently that blog post just wasn't enough, so here's another go at it.

The hardest part of being a military family, is that a lot of the time, the soldier doesn't get to experience their child (or childrens) firsts. Skype has been a huge blessing in which Mark can see David every other day or so doing his thing.

The 2 weeks Mark was home, he was able to experience some of these things first hand. Probably the most exciting was Davids first birthday. I still can't believe David is 1. Where has this year gone? I'm so grateful to have David as my son and that he keeps me on my toes. To celebrate on Davids actual birthday we had a family dinner at O'Charleys (kids eat free, which is just a bonus).

David is a champion eater. There are seriously some days where I don't think there is enough food on this earth to feed him. After dinner, we came back to the house for cupcakes. I was so excited for this. But David just didn't seem to get it.

I eventually took his hand and smashed it in the cake. He wasn't too interested. Fortunately, this was practice before his birthday party. I love that smile. It is a great way to start the day.

Another thing, Mark got to participate with us in doing was church. Granted, we usually don't stay in all the meetings (but we are getting better). It was nice to be able to do this together as a family.

Then it was time for the party. I may have gone a bit overboard. I saw this a party for David, Mark was home, as well as a thank you to the many people who have helped David and I through this. Seriously, there are some people who have gone above and beyond and I am so very grateful.

And then there is the hair cut. Mark has been asking me to cut Davids hair for months. I was a little sad to see those curls go, but he does look a little more grown up. His haircut was just about a month ago, and he needs another one. He has a slightly ridiculous amount of hair.

He did not enjoy the cut. He wanted to know what was going on, to touch the scissors, not be held, etc.

But in the end, he was okay. We gave him a good bath, got all the extra hair off, and he was good and happy again.

Oh, and the blueberry incident. Mark and I went to the Temple and dinner one night. I told Dana that he would probably need a snack before bed. She gave him blueberries. She said he loved them, so a couple mornings later I thought I would give him some with breakfast. The reaction was perfect.

Haha. Oh, Dave. I was so confused, so I double checked again with Dana, and again she said he loved them, and would pick them up and pop them in his mouth. I probably should try them again, maybe not in the morning, and see how he does.

I should mention his stats. He weighed 22.8 pounds and is 31.5 inches long and is just growing constantly. He is such a happy baby (except when he has an ear infection-and even then I really can't complain.) We love you David and are so glad that you are in our family here on earth.

Alright, I think thats all for now. I still need to write about the homecoming. Soon. I promise. 2.5 months to go sounds so much better than 2.5 months in, 10.5 months to go :-)

Bliss

I know, I know I am way behind on blogging. Once I get a little more motivation, you will have plenty to read. To hold you over, I'll just lightly cover a few things.

Mark. Home. Family. Together. Bliss. Mark had R&R, David turned 1, David had his first haircut, things were decided (we will be back in Rexburg in about 3 months!), purchases were made, it goes on and on. We didn't do a ton of terribly exciting things, but it was just nice to be a family again.

The first morning Mark was home, he was pretty jet legged. He couldn't sleep, so about 3 A.M. he got up. Ran some errands, washed the car and changed the oil. All before, oh, 6:30 A.M. He had run to Walmart and was a little overwhelmed of the amount of stuff available. The store close to their FOB is about the size of a gas station mart.

It was so great to have my boys together again. David was slightly confused at first, but took Mark before we left the airport.

This picture is before Davids haircut. I'm not going to lie, I miss those curls, but he definitely so needed a haircut.

I need to stop so I don't get out of order. But, don't worry, more to come...soon :-) And for those who have texted and called, thank you for your love and support!

Papa Murphys

First, He's home...for 2 weeks! More on that later though.

Back in September when we were visiting Mark in Idaho before he left for Mississippi, we attended a farewell for the troops. There, each family was given two vouchers for a free Papa Murphy's every month for a year. I gave mine away because they were meant just for the Idaho locations. I ended up being given another one and just kept it.

I ended up going in to one of the locations here in IL just to see if they would accept it. Sure enough, they did and we have been enjoying a free pizza each month. Thank you Papa Murphy's for supporting the troops and their families.

P.S. I do not like seeing my blog on the bottom of other peoples blog list. So, Katie, you're welcome. Have a great day at work :-)

One Happy Boy

David is an incredibly happy baby (and for that I am grateful!) Although, I guess after tomorrow he is no longer considered a baby. It's hard to believe that he is just about 1. I have a one year old. How did that happen?