Mirror, mirror

Cutter loves to look at himself, and he's so darn cute I can't imagine why. I often catch him looking at himself in the glass reflection off the tv cabinet. The other day he managed to catch his reflection on the front of the dishwasher. After a couple of minutes he decided that baby was pretty enough to kiss. He is such a sweet boy!

Look mom, no hands!

He has actually been doing this for a while now, just never seems to be when I have the camera nearby. He seems very proud of himself and is now trying to stand up from a sitting position. He also took his first step last week. He can now take two steps on his own before he goes back to crawling. As proud as I am of him, it just breaks my heart to realize how fast he's growing up, and even more to know that Hank isn't here to see all of it.

My little monkey

Cutter has learned a new crawl today. We aren't real sure where this came from but this evening this is the only way he will travel. He looks just like a little monkey running around the house, it is so cute! He even stops at times to look back between his legs to see what's going on.


All that crawling around the house sure is hard work!

Bass Pro Christmas

On Thanksgiving Day we loaded up everyone and made a trip over to Destin. The Bass Pro Shop was open all day and had Santa on hand for the kids to visit. In addition to getting to visit with Santa they also had several activity areas set up for the kids to play. Cutter wasn't entirely sure what to think of Santa but figured if the other two were okay with him then has was too.

Look dad, I found what I want for Christmas!


As you can see, kids of all ages got to play.

Sailor even got in a little fishing while we were there.

Bye Bye

Cutter has recently learned a new trick, he's started waving. He doesn't do it all the time but tonight at supper he really seemed to have the hang of it. He especially loves waving at himself in the mirror, finds himself to be quite the cutie! He is also pulling up on everything in the house he can get hold of. Tonight I rounded the corner and he was standing in Tucker's doorway hanging on. He is getting much braver and only holding on with one hand now and showing signs of reaching for other things. Won't be long before he'll be off and gone. I'm not ready for him to grow up.

Red Horse

Hank's famous! Not entirely true but he was interviewed for a segment that the Air Force was doing on the purpose of Red Horse and their mission at Wolverine. I had not had any luck in locating the footage but Hank was able to send me a link. This will give everyone an idea of where he is and what he is doing.

Happy November!

Can you believe November is here already? Before we know it Thanksgiving will be gone and Christmas will be knocking on our door. Hank has now been gone 2 months, but for each new month we enter, means we are one more closer to him coming home.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween. Sailor was singing Halloween songs from the time her feet hit the floor yesterday morning, she was so excited. We had a football game yesterday morning and although their team lost they put forth a great effort. Tucker has really surprised me in his enthusiasm to play. He looks forward all week to practice and game time. After the game we had to get home so we could get to work on carving our pumpkin. The kids did a great job working together to agree on what we (meaning me) would carve this year. We went over to a friends house to eat supper and get ready so the kids could all go trick or treating together. Sailor had planned on being Snow White but a cold front came through and the temperatures were only in the 50's last night so she decided to wear something a little warmer. Tucker went as Darth Vader, Sailor as a pirate, and Cutter was just the cutest little pumpkin ever. The kids had a good time and got just the right amount of candy.

You've got mail...

With everything going on in Afghanistan right now I thought it would be a nice time for me to give an update on Hank. He seems to be getting along just fine. I have to confess that I usually don't worry about him, but this past week I got a little concerned when I read there had been an earthquake over there. At that point, I honestly had no idea where in Afghanistan Hank was located. Luckily he was able to respond to my email to let me know that he was fine and either they weren't affected by the earthquake or he slept right through it. He says they don't get the news, so when I read or hear about something going on, I usually drop him an email and just ask for a response that he is safe. They are staying quite busy and are working on a fairly large concrete project. He says the weather is turning colder, getting in the 20's at night and are anticipating snow within the next month. He is getting packages and mail on a regular basis and we greatly appreciate everything everyone is doing. Uncle Larry and Andy, a huge thank you to the both of you. You have helped fill a void for him this year. He always looked forward to Granddaddy's mail, and he says that getting mail from the both of you is as entertaining as his always were. He is quite generous with his packages, as I'm sure they all are, and share what they receive with everyone else. So not only is everyone helping look out for Hank, but also for the rest of the guys he's over there with.

The kids all received mail from Hank today, their first since he left. They were quite excited. The letters were all dated October 8, so it is taking a couple of weeks for us to receive mail from him, however, I recently mailed a package and it only took one week for him to receive it. As you can see, Cutter really enjoyed getting the chance to open his own mail!

Football, pumpkins, and fall fun!

Saturday morning was Tucker's first football game. He is playing flag football at the YMCA and enjoying every minute of it. The weather was perfect football weather, sunny and a little cold, Sailor watched the game while wrapped up in a blanket. And although Cutter slept through most of the game, he seemed to enjoy what little bit he saw. Tucker's team won 24-0! (Tucker is #2)



After the football game we came home, cleaned up a little, ate some lunch and then headed to Ft Walton Beach to the Methodist Church to their pumpkin patch. The kids had a really good time and loved seeing all the different sizes, colors and shapes of the pumpkins. They also had a hay ride, bounce house, putt putt golf and various other games set up for the kids. Cutter was happy just sitting and patting the pumpkins. It took awhile but we all finally agreed on a pumpkin, now we just to get it carved in time for Halloween.


Yesterday we had made plans to drive up to Milton to the Sweet Season Farms corn maze. We invited some friends of ours to go with us and the kids all seemed to have a good time. Tucker did a great job navigating us through the maze, we made every check point and didn't get lost even once! The maps given to us were an exact replica of the following picture, just an arial shot of the maze. Thank goodness they didn't rely on me to get us through or we might still be roaming around today. They also had a cow train for the kids, hay ride and a playground that all the kids enjoyed.

Bath tub fun

Now that Cutter is able to sit up on his own he is really enjoying bath time a lot more. Last night he stayed in the tub and splashed and played for the longest time. I hated to take him out he was so happy but we are still having a slight problem with his skin and didn't want to chance having him dry out too much. He is the absolute sweetest little thing! We are so lucky to have him and can't wait for Hank to get home to be able to enjoy every minute of his happy little self.

Fall is here

Friday finally brought some cooler weather our way and made for a perfect day to head to the park. Tucker was in school but Teresa and I picked up lunch at McDonald's and took Sailor and Cutter over to the park for a picnic and some play time. The kids had such a good time. Cutter spent quite a bit of time crawling around and Sailor enjoyed every minute on the playground. Later that afternoon Tucker had football practice, he is playing flag football at the YMCA. His first practice I had to watch from my truck since it was raining so this was the first chance I had to get some pictures. He is really enjoying playing and looking forward to his first game this coming weekend.

7 months

It's hard to believe but Cutter is another month older, he is now 7 months. He has learned so many things in the past month. He is now crawling on his hands and knees, pulling himself up to a standing position and eating all his fruits and vegetables. I don't know if the trend will continue but for the last three nights he has only gotten up once each night, which is a huge improvement over the 3 times a night he's been doing. He is such a joy to have around and I am so very thankful that I have the opportunity to stay home with him and enjoy him every day.

Look at me

Just to prove to us that he could, Cutter decided to pull up again today, only this time he decided to use me for the pulling. He is one determined little man and seemed very proud of what he accomplished. Luckily Teresa was able to grab the camera today so we could actually get proof of his milestone. I'm beginning to think we will need to put safety netting around the Christmas tree this year!

Growing up

My little man is growing up way too fast. He cut his 4th tooth yesterday, one of his front top teeth. We also saw him pull up on the loveseat to a standing position. I could not believe what I was seeing, but he did it twice! Of course I'm very proud of him but somehow all I was able to do was cry. I hate that Hank isn't here to witness these milestones with us, that seems to make it that much harder. Cutter is starting to get the hang of crawling on his hands and knees, can do it if he takes his time and goes slow but if he is in a hurry he will drop to his belly and take off. He is doing great with his eating, luckily we have not come across anything yet that he has refused, I'm so proud of him. For the past two nights he has only gotten up once during the night. I sure hope this trend will continue, if he won't sleep all night, then this sure beats getting up 2 and 3 times.

Busy weekend

We have had quite a busy and fun filled weekend. Yesterday morning we went to the annual Monarch Butterfly Festival here in Navarre at the butterfly house. This festival celebrates the annual trip the butterflies make to Mexico for the winter. We learned about the butterflies and got to check some out up close. Afterward that the kids spent a little time playing at the park located next to the butterfly house. It is quite a nice park and is located directly on Santa Rosa Sound. Cutter and I sat in the shade of the palm trees and enjoyed watching Tucker and Sailor having such a good time. After coming home and cleaning up a little, it was off to Pensacola to pick Teresa up at the airport.

This morning we all got up, got ready and off we went to the Gulfarium in Ft Walton Beach. It was actually a little cool this morning which made for a wonderful time. We got there shortly after they opened and before all the crowds hit. The kids loved the dolphin show and Cutter seemed to enjoy watching the sharks swimming in the tank

Updates on kids

After many weeks of trying to convince her, Sailor finally decided that she was ready to cut some length off her hair. We spend every single morning with fighting and tears over her hair. So the minute she decided to have it cut, we went as quickly as possible before she could change her mind. Already we can tell a huge difference in the tangles. Hoping the mornings will go a lot smoother now!

My parents were just here for a visit and after all the work they did while they were here, I'm sure they may not want to come back for a bit. But the kids sure enjoyed their visit, especially Tucker. He and dad got to spend some time fishing, Tucker's new favorite sport, and that is all he has talked about since they left. Tucker has already asked me to save my money so they can do more fishing at the Pensacola Pier when they are able to come again!

Cutter is doing fabulous with his eating. We have yet to introduce a vegetable that he won't eat. He has gone from eating half the container at supper to eating the entire thing, such a growing little man. He is doing better with his sleeping although it is very rare for him to sleep all night. He has also finally taken to formula. I wasn't sure he would ever take a bottle but after many tries he finally figured out that it wasn't such a bad thing. He still hasn't mastered crawling but that hasn't slowed him down at all, he can scoot over the entire house.

6 month appointment

I took Cutter for his 6 month well baby appointment last week and he is growing like a weed! He is now up to 17 lbs and 11 ounces, quite the adorable little butterball, and 28 inches long. We can now officially start fruits and vegetables, which so far seem to be going well. I decided to start off with vegetables, afraid if we started with fruits that I would never get vegetables in him. His first veggie was peas and after gagging the first night he seems to be getting the hang of them. We managed three more nights of them with no gagging involved. I have a tendency to be a little cautious in the introduction of foods, try to do everything I can to help avoid allergies, but so far things seem to be going well.

6 Months

Cutter is 6 months old today! I have such a hard time believing how quickly the time has gone by, seems like yesterday we were waiting for his arrival. We have had so many changes in just the short time he has been with us but we are so thankful that he has been with us for all of it. Tomorrow is his 6 month well baby appointment and we are looking forward to the introduction of solid foods. He is such a happy baby, and although he seems to require very little sleep, he has brought such joy to the entire family. He still has not mastered crawling, thankfully, but can scoot wherever he feels the need to go. Sitting is his newest challenge and he is working hard on maintaining his balance while trying to support himself.