Moving to Virginia

For those of you who don't know, we're moving to Virginia in July. Bruce got a job with the NRO in Chantilly, which is kindof a big deal. He definitely had to be a super star to get this assignment. I am so proud of him for all his hard work at Hill. We will miss Utah but are excited for the new chapter in our lives. Our initial plans were to live close to the city. How many chances with the Air Force do you get to live in or near such an amazing city with so much to offer?! With dreams of going to museums and monuments on a weekly basis, we were looking into Alexandria or Arlington, which are not in the dead center of D.C., but pretty close. We would be close enough to use the metro, but traffic is terrible and Bruce would have a hefty commute to and from Chantilly. We have recently reconsidered this commute and have decided it will be too difficult on us. We would rarely get to see each other during the week and neither of us want that. We are used to living on base which is a 5 min drive to work. We get to see each other during lunch breaks and he gets home in the early afternoon. We LOVE it! Therefore, we are looking at places closer to his work, like Centreville, Reston and a few others. I think in the end we will be grateful of our decision. And we will only be a short drive away from D.C. I can't wait!

I love you little I love you big I love you like a fat little pig!

Some quirks and tidbits that I want to remember about Trey...

He loves music. If he hears a tune, he will stop what he's doing and either do a kind of dance that's more like bouncing while squatting or he'll bob his head. It's great.

He is easily distracted while eating. He wants to do anything but eat when he's in a high chair. Eating in a restaurant is particularly difficult. He is twisting in his seat and looking around. Basically he hates to sit still. Sometimes when we're at home, I opt for the "eat on the run" method - where I just let him play and feed him bites when he comes up to me. It's actually pretty successful. As Aunt Kimberly says - Who said they HAVE to sit in a high chair to eat? She's the innovator of the method.

He's started this new thing where you ask "Where's momma?" and he'll point his chubby little finger at me and poke on my chest. Or "Where's Trey?" and he'll point to himself. I asked where daddy was and he pointed to a pillow we have with Bruce's picture on it. So far he knows who Gigi, MawMaw and Pa John are. He's getting so smart.

The other day we were shopping in Carter's with Gigi in Charleston and we were trying some flip flops on him. You would have thought we cut his feet off. He started crying and pitching a fit. At first we thought it was the part that went between his toes that wigged him out, but he did the same thing with the sandals too. It was so funny. I tried another pair of sandals on him at Target yesterday and he did the same thing. I have no idea why he doesn't like sandals.

His favorite word is mama. He says mama for everything. There is some jabbering mixed in there, but mama is his favorite.

He is almost completely weaned at this point. I nurse him only at night now - occasionally maybe once during the day. It has been a gradual and saddening process, but I reckon it's time. Nursing has been such an amazing experience for me. I have solely been responsible for keeping this child alive for a whole year. What an honor. I feel so blessed to have been able to nurse him so well for so long. I'm honestly going to miss it. My mother says I'll have another one to feed soon enough...I guess she's right. I HOPE she's right. I pray I'm able to nurse any other children we may have.

We still have nights where he wakes up some. (Augh!)I can't remember the last time I was able to sleep through a whole night. But by golly he GOES to sleep like a champion! He never puts up a fuss. He'll often fall asleep while I'm rocking him, but I can lay him in the bed fully awake and he'll go to sleep on his own. This applies for nap time as well. Sometimes it takes him a while to fall asleep - I'll hear him in there talking until he finally gives it up. But he never cries. I am so grateful for this!! His naps are still around 2 hours long. And if he sleeps the normal amount of time that he's used to, he wakes up in a great mood. He'll sit in there for a while just talking and rolling around and gradually waking himself up - but if he is in there too long he'll start yelling MAMA!! As if to say "Get your butt in here! I'm awake and I know you're out there!" It makes me laugh.

When we went to Charleston to see Katie and David Maggie stayed with Kristie and Sean. When we got back into Birmingham we met up with Kristie to pick up Maggie. Trey acted like he was seeing a long lost friend. He reached his arms out and gave her the biggest hug. Twice. Since then he has been trying to give her hugs and once even tried to give her a kiss. He's such a love bug. Just like his daddy.

While we were in Charleston I went shopping with Katie two days in a row and left Trey at home with either Glenda or David. It was fun and liberating. I love being with him so much but am grateful for the times I get to myself. In April I am planning to go to Savanna, GA with the Italy Girls for the weekend. It will be my first experience away from him overnight. Pray for us both :)

He's started climbing. And it's dangerous. He started out climbing up Katie's huge staircase - which he thought was the most fun ever and now he's trying to climb up and down little steps, but those little steps can make for big falls. He's had so many knots and bruises on his noggin. We had our first "bloody" accident the other day. He fell on a cup. Of all things. His face hit the edge of the cup (which was a bit jagged) and cut him right under his nose. I tried to stay calm but I was secretly freaking out. I'm not ready for this....lol!

Little dude is addicted to Orange Juice. It's all he wants. I try to give him whole milk but he wants nothing to do with it. He makes a face every time! He will somewhat drink water. But when I give him Orange Juice, he'll drink the whole cup no problem. He gets it from me. I love Orange Juice.

He eats alot of table food now. Almost to the point where I am going to quit buying baby food. I may keep a few of the "fruit and oatmeal" or just plain fruit around for breakfast, but I'm done with the dinners like "chicken and rice." Some of his favorite foods are chicken, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, field peas, steak or hamburger (chewed up - he still only has his two bottom front teeth.) He's becoming such a big boy!

He loves to play with his paci. He loves to have one in his mouth and carry another one in his hand - switching them out periodically. He loves to put his paci in other people's mouths. He loves to put his paci in something bigger like a cup or bowl and shake it around. While eating, he loves to put a bite of food in his mouth and then immediately put his paci in while chewing. Then take it out for the next bite. I think its all a game for him. His paci is definitely his favorite toy.

He's officially in size 4 diapers. They are much better! He's also moving into 18 mo clothes. He's definitely an average sized baby. Nothing crazy. I'm interested to see how tall he'll be.

There is a point in a baby's life when you start realizing they are getting smart enough to use some of the knowledge they have acquired in their short lifespan. And it's amazing. It only gets better from here. I am one proud mama. He is one cool dude.

Birthday Boy

I received the best birthday present on Trey's birthday...he gave me a hug! His first real hug! He was standing in my lap and he just wrapped his little arms around my neck and squeezed. I said thank you for the hug and he squealed and did it again...and again! It was priceless. Something I will never forget. He is such a precious baby and an enormous blessing in our lives. What a year it has been! We have been through so much as a family already. We've moved into a new house, Bruce has deployed and we've temporarily relocated. Things change so quickly. I feel like it was only a moment ago that we were driving to the hospital in the middle of the night, with me crying and praying this was the real deal, because I couldn't imagine going through this kind of pain again. Bypass a year and here we are - we have a toddler! He's walking everywhere and into everything. He can literally run! That little booger is fast. He loves to play with Maggie. He sneaks her food and shares his snacks. They get along so well. He can entertain himself forever with only a hanger, or a bag of buns. He always seems to be smiling and in a good mood. I have been asked on several occasions if he ever cries or gets fussy. And honestly he is only fussy when he's tired or sick. He's such a good baby! I'd like to be able to take credit for it - to be able to say it's due to my splendid parenting, but honestly it's just the way the Lord made him. It's the way he is. And I am so grateful.

We had his party on Saturday Feb 5 at my mom's house. It was mainly just close family. We had a great time and everything turned out perfectly. Trey wasn't in the least bit interested in opening his presents and didn't want to have anything to do with his cake. He poked at it with his finger and then got upset because he was dirty. He looked so handsome in his birthday tshirt and flannel shirt with blue jeans. Such a handsome little guy. Takes after his daddy. Bruce wasn't able to be there, but we were able to video chat with him on Sunday morning. It was great to see him. He seems to be doing well in Afghanistan. He feels like he has a purpose, which is essential. I think he would excel in just about anything - he never ceases to amaze me with his ambition and drive. He wants to do well at whatever he does, no matter how small. I love him for that.

Some Special Tidbits about our 1 year old...

• He seems to have found his voice. He loves to squeal. I'll squeal at him and he'll squeal back. It's our new game and he loves it.
• His new favorite - Orange Juice. Thanks to his Aunt Kimberly, he drinks more orange juice than breast milk. He carries his sippy cup around and can finish off a whole cup of it.
• He is still nursing and is still mainly eating baby food. I give him table food and he likes most of it, but it's usually not enough. I'm trying to feed him more and more of what we eat. Baby food is easy and its convenient, but it's getting expensive.
• He still only has his two bottom front teeth. He's a little behind in the tooth department.
  
• He loves to play with his older cousins, Alissa and Lucas. He follows them everywhere and wants to do everything they're doing. I'm so happy they all get to spend so much time together while we're here in Alabama.
  
• He LOVES Daddy Mac and I think he can say his name. He says dada ba. It's adorable. When he sees Daddy Mac he'll run to him and loves to hang out with him. I feel like he looks more like Daddy Mac than Bruce.
  
• He's starting to be a bit more interested in books. I can read him one book and then he's wiggling to get down. But I will occasionally see him pick up a book on his own and flip through the pages and jabber about what he sees.
  
• He's still not interested in the tv or movies. He's too busy to sit still for anything like that. However, due to the recent discovery of how much he hates to ride in the car for long periods of time, I got him a portable dvd player for his birthday. Yesterday, on our first attempt to watch it, he fell asleep within 10 minutes. But he was quiet so it served its purpose. We will see how it goes.
  
• He's still sleeping around 12 hours at night, and usually takes two 2 hour naps. It's wonderful.
  
• He is now sitting facing the front in the car. Maybe this is why he's so fussy...hmm. Interesting.
• He stood on the scale this morning on his own...he is 21.6 lbs.
  
• He wears mostly 12 months clothes but is quickly outgrowing them as well as his size 3 diapers.
  

Sick as a Dog!

I feel like we have been rung through the ringer. It has been a rough couple of weeks! We left Auburn on Jan 11 and Trey woke up the next day with a runny nose, sneezing and just cranky. When we got to Huntsville on Jan 21 he started an awful cough. I finally took him to the doctor on Jan 25 and found out he had RSV and an ear infection. He was prescribed amoxicillin for the ear infection and was told there was nothing they could do for the cough. We would just have to wait it out. The poor little fella sounded like he would cough up his lungs. I woke up about a week ago to severe vomiting and diarrhea that lasted about 5 hours. Glenda caught it the next day and she was out for a couple of days. It takes such a toll on your body. We still don't really know what we had - maybe food poisoning - maybe a stomach virus that had been going around. We heard from Linda that she had strep throat and I said to Daddy Mac - I would rather have a stomach virus for a week than a bad sore throat. Do you know what happened? OF COURSE I got a sore throat not 2 days later. When this said sore throat showed up I was insistent that I would NOT be sick again - so I avoided it until I woke up Saturday to what felt like a full blown sinus infection. I had a sore throat, major congestion, sneezing, headaches and cough. Glenda gave me some amoxicillin and I took it for 3 days until I woke up this morning with an insane looking rash all down the right side of my body. There were monster welts and it itched. I couldn't imagine anything else going wrong. I wanted to cry. I took some benadryl and it was gone when I woke up 3 hours later. I went to the doc in a box and he gave me a steroid shot and 3 Rx so I'm hoping this will all be over soon. Trey is doing much better - he still has a cough and can be cranky, but he's sleeping like an angel averaging 13 hours a night. That really helps because I need my sleep so I can get better. It's hard to take care of a baby who is full of energy no matter how sick he is when you feel like crap.

A New Year

We saw Bruce off today at the Huntsville airport. Today starts the 4 or so months we will be apart and I'm excited to get it over with. Let it begin, so it can end. I am so glad we live in a technological age that includes telephones, email, and skype. Can you imagine writing letters back and forth? Snail mail takes forever!

Having Grandparents around has been such a nice treat. Bruce and Glenda have kept Trey twice now so that Bruce and I could go out by ourselves. We went to see Harry Potter 7 at the IMAX theater - finally! It was such a great movie. We really enjoyed it! We had a wonderful time on our last night together. Bruce took me to The Melting Pot for a romantic dinner date. It's been a while since we've been to dinner, just the two of us. It was very relaxed and just fun to be together. Afterward we went to Barnes and Noble. I love that place.

Trey now has 2 bottom teeth sticking through! He's almost 11 months! To be honest, I am happy they took so long to come in. I'm about to start weaning him off the breast, so maybe we can avoid anything seriously painful :) He's been really cranky today and tonight he had a fever of 102. I've never felt him so hot! I gave him some ibuprofen and it went down to normal within an hour. I'm assuming this was all due to teething. He will NOT let me in his mouth to feel or see these teeth coming in. He is so stubborn about it.

Trey can now suck through a straw! Like most things he does, I think it's the cutest thing ever. His little cheeks suck in and out and his lips pucker into a fish face. I know he probably should have mastered this by now, but to be honest I haven't even given him a straw very much until now. He drinks water so well and loves it. He will not, however, drink any sort of juice. He can be so picky.

Tonight we were sitting on the floor playing together and he was rolling a ball back and forth across the floor to me. Bruce has been trying to get the boy to play ball with him since the day he was born. He was sad he wasn't there to see it. Every time Trey rolled it he would clap for himself and I would say "yay." Such a fun little guy.

Christmas 2010

Trey's first Christmas was so fun and memorable. We were at my mom's house along with all my siblings and their kids. I loved it!!! It was a Christmas miracle! We also woke up to a white Christmas. The first in Alabama history. We opened our presents while the snow was falling - it was too cool. After a delicious breakfast casserole Kimberly made, we all went back to sleep for a nap. The Harris's came over for lunch and then we went to Uncle Jimmy's for dinner with the Bynum's. It was a very busy day! The 26th was just as busy. We went to Bruce's Aunt Linda's house with all of his family. David and Katie were there and it was nice to see them for a hot second. Then we drove to Helena to Uncle Steve's for Christmas with the Bailey's. Dad was actually somewhat normal. What a relief.

Through all this travel Trey has slept in so many different beds, but he has done amazingly well! I was worried about nap time, because he usually sleeps in his swing, but he has started falling asleep on his own in his bed! It is amazing!! I'll put him in his bed and say "lay down!" and he actually lays down! It takes him a few minutes to fall asleep - he will stand up and talk and giggle and throw his paci, but then he will bend over and lay his head down and wiggle around until he's asleep. I'm so proud of him! Such a relief! He is also still sleeping 12 hours at night. I couldn't ask for a better travel baby.

We were such a sight when we traveled to Alabama on Dec 23. At the airport, we had 5 checked bags, 2 carry on bags, a baby bag, a stroller, a dog in a crate, and a baby. Security ended up not being a problem at all and we zoomed on through. Maggie did really well considering it was her first time to fly. And Trey slept on both legs of the flight. Timing and everything worked out perfectly. I was so relieved. I don't look forward to flying back to Utah in April by myself. It will be a challenge without Bruce.

About a week ago, I was telling everybody that Trey wasn't really saying much - as far as words or things that make any sense. Well he has really changed that within the past few days. He has been saying mama mama over and over and it completely melts my heart. Today he started saying dada dada - the first time ever! I love his baby babble.

We have noticed him becoming so smart. It's amazing how quickly they change from an infant who just sits there and into a little toddler walking around, getting into everything and learning all sorts of things. There is this toy where you put a ball into a hole and it slides down a little slide. I did it one time for him and then asked him if he could do it and he immediately did it! I was so amazed. Later, I had been playing with him with this Winnie the Pooh toy that has 3 characters - the Tigger, Roo, and Piglet. Later Glenda got the same toy out and Trey reached into the cavernous toy box and drew out those 3 characters to go with it. He knew which ones to grab! Such a smart cookie.

Bruce leaves for Utah tomorrow and then he's off to Afghanistan on Jan 11th. It doesn't seem real yet and I've yet to have an emotional breakdown. Hopefully I can hold it together when we say goodbye at the Huntsville airport.

Slow-Cooker Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
12-oz. bottle red taco sauce
4-oz. can green chiles, chopped
2-3 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
15 1/4-oz. can corn, drained
15-oz. can tomato sauce
2 c. water
1 1/4-oz. pkg taco seasoning mix, I used hot
Garnishes: sour cream, shredded Cheddar cheese, corn chips

Brown beef, onion and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat; drain. In a slow cooker, combine beef mixture and remaining ingredients except garnishes. Cover and cook on high setting one hour. Serve with garnishes, if desired. Serves 8-10.