Old friends...

One of my oldest and closest friends, Alison, surprised the boys and I with dinner tonight!  From all the way across the country (Seattle, WA to be exact), she had dinner delivered to us.   She had spaghetti and meatballs, chicken alfredo, grilled chicken salad, minestrone soup, creamy tomato soup, cornbread, and a dozen cookies sent to us!  Wow-- it was enough food to feed at least three families and everything was delicious!  The boys were SO excited by the assortment of food to pick from and I was just amazed at her kindness and generosity... especially since this is the second time she's sent us dinner from afar.  She sent my mom and I dinner this past summer.

Here's a picture of all of us from Christmas this past year.  Love you guys!  Thank you for everything, always.  XO  

Pete's 1 year check up...

Pete had his one year, well-baby check up this morning.

The "little" man weighed in at 27.15 pounds (99%) and is 32.25" long (also 99%).  That places him as the heaviest out of the three boys at 12 months and in between the two big boys for length.

At 12 months, James weighed 26.0 lbs (90%) and was 33 inches (over 100%).
At 12 months, Henry weighed 24.6 lbs (80%) and was 32 inches (98%).

All that to say... Pete's a(nother) BIG BABY!  Thank God he's healthy and happy which is all that matters.

Pete turns ONE!!

Today was another big day!  Pete turned one!!  In some ways it feels like it was just yesterday...

but in other ways, it feels like I've been loving him so long, I can't remember a time when I didn't.

(Thanks, Grammie Jackie for the cute Birthday Boy t-shirt!)

Our sweet boy and his beloved Bunny...

Today was also special because Henry (and his preschool class) sang during church... but for some reason, I'm having trouble uploading the video right now.

Here are a few pictures of the boys eating the cupcakes they picked out to celebrate (a monkey for Pete, a blue bird for James, and a duckling for Henry).  They looked so cute in the store.  By the time they actually reached the plates this evening, much less so.  But, no matter... Pete didn't seem to notice.  I think the big boys enjoyed it more than he did?!

Here's a picture of Pete opening the birthday gift the big boys picked for him... Happy 1st Birthday!

Soccer Saturday...

Wow.  It's hard to know where to begin with this one.  Work.  That about sums it up... a whole lotta work!  We had to arrive 15 minutes early to Henry's practice since it was the first one, which means our time outside started at 9:30am (we were early of course).  It was freezing.  I mean, freeeeeezing.  And super windy.  As soon as I'd set a chair up, it would blow right over.  The soccer balls rolled down the hill.  The stroller toppled over.  The dad next to me said it perfectly when he told me, "This wind just makes me angry!"

Of course Pete wanted to get out and walk around so within the first two minutes he was soaked and looked like this... the fields were completely drenched after all of the rain we got yesterday.

Henry looked so cute in all of his little soccer gear... but all of his excitement to play was short lived.  Here he is playing with one of the volunteer helpers...

And here he is, five minutes later, walking off the field... 

"Henry," I asked, "why aren't you playing?  You were so excited to play!"  

"I'm hungry..."  

Ahhh, yes... of course you are.  

James was so incredibly sweet to Henry, encouraging him to go back onto the field to play.  He even went with Henry so he'd feel more comfortable.  (For the record, that must've been a temporary lapse in their relationship because they're back to bickering as I type.)

After a very long hour and a half, it was James's turn!  This is what the "upper level" fields looked like as we walked over...

James's team is the Bloodhounds, led by Coach Wayne.  As I mentioned earlier, this league is very intense and I had the unfortunate bad luck to have sat next to a completely spastic couple rooting for their son on the opposing team.  "GO TRUETT!!!!!  GOOOOOO!!  WIN IT.  YOU'VE GOT TO BE IN IT TO WIN IT!!!  NOW MOOOOOVE!!!!  TRUETT, MOOOOOVE!!!!" for an hour.... lit-er-ally.  "GOOOO, TRUETT!!  Get in and WIN IT!!!!"  Is it any surprise that they named their son Truett??  Right.  Not even a little.  Sigh.  It's a good thing the parents on James's team seem normal and friendly!

James is going to have to work really hard to play offense during a game on this team.  Several of the boys who have been playing with this league a few years are really good.  Here James is playing defense:  

James really, really enjoys playing so all of this was totally worth it for him BUT... 

Reminder to self for next game:

1. Bring less overall shit.  Apparently you are the 

only one with arms that work.  

2.  Bring more blankets.  Apparently two was not enough.

3.  Bring more snacks.  Apparently Henry wants to carb-overload.

4.  Sit by home team.  Apparently Southern parents are crazy.

5.  When it's 30 degrees, windy as all get-out, and the fields are completely drenched from monsoon the previous day, tell children game was cancelled.  Apparently I am crazy for not doing that today.

It's all the little things...

that make a good day, even when it's rainy and dreary outside.  The morning started off to a great start because Chris was able to send me several texts (albeit at 5am my time!) and several emails later in the morning.  It's amazing how good it feels just to hear from him.  Then, as luck would have it, Pete took not one, but two, super long naps... one this morning for 2 1/2 hours (which meant he was happy and enjoyable to be around at Henry's Little Gym class, unlike last week when he was tired and cranky and generally miserable to be around)... and another super long nap this afternoon that's still going on.  What did I do to deserve this?

We came home from Henry's class to find a beautiful flower arrangement on our doorstep that my Aunt Barbara sent me for my birthday!  What a wonderful surprise!

Somewhat soon after, I received a call from James's school that they'd decided to send all students home an hour early due to the inclement weather.  Strange, isn't it!?  I guess we're expecting a pretty big thunderstorm this afternoon, although it's done little more than thunder and sprinkle so far.  But, it was fun having James home a bit early to start the weekend.  James was excited to have extra time to play with the boys who live across the street (Christian and Jonathan).  They are 8 and 5 years respectively and even though I sometimes get annoyed by the additional boys (and the increased volume and mess!), I love that James and Henry have made such good friends so quickly.

But one of the best parts of my day was that soccer practice was cancelled due to the rain!  We've quickly learned that the soccer league I signed the boys up with is "no joke"-- James's practices run 2 HOURS long!  Whoa... you can imagine how much fun that is keeping Henry and Pete interested in a two hour long practice session and off the field.  Tomorrow is the first "game day."  Henry and James have back-to-back games so we'll see how that all goes.  Hmmm... wish me luck.  You know I'll need it!  :)

Dinner talk...

So tonight at dinner we talked about Daddy (of course) and then I asked the boys about their day at school. Tomorrow is a big day for James.  He was one of just a few kids chosen for a celebratory Chick-fil-a lunch at school for routinely demonstrating a positive character trait at school.  In his case, it's "self control"... which I find ironic since he refused to make anything other than a silly face when I asked him to pose for a picture with his award.  

Then the conversation moved over to Henry.  "Henry," I asked, "what do you think of your new school? You seem to love it."  (And he does.  At West Point, for whatever reason, it was such a struggle to get him to go to school.  He goes willingly and happily every day here which has been such a huge relief!)

"Yeah, I do" he said "but every time she (Mrs. Theresa, his teacher) wants us to listen to her she always says 'hello' instead of 'shhhh.'"  Huh???  I was trying to figure out what he meant... she says "hello" instead of "shhh"?  Clearly he's confused.  That doesn't make any sense.

Then he must've seen me struggling to understand him because he clarified.  "You know, she says... Helllll---OOOOHH----ooohhh! because no one is listening to her."  Ah ha ha... funny.

I imagine that's a pretty accurate description of just about any preschool teacher trying to get a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds to listen.  Helllloooohhh???  Is anyone out there?  Come to think of it... that pretty much sums up my day with them too!  :)

And so the countdown begins...

Here are a few pictures from last night. We said goodbye to him around 7pm.  I received a text from Chris at 3:30am letting me know the plane was just about to take off.  Not sure when I'll hear from him next but I'll be sure to let everyone know.

My heart is so heavy with him gone.  All I want his for him to return safely to us.  And sooner is better!

Celebrating Pete...

So, my mom suggested that we celebrate Pete's 1st birthday while Daddy is still in town... good idea!  The boys and I will still celebrate it on Sunday, the 26th, but we decided to think of today as a special birthday and less of a last-day-before-deploying-day.  Hmmm, a good try at least!

Here's a picture of Pete relaxing this morning in the adorable chairs Gigi and Papa got each of the boys for Christmas (and thank you, Grandpa Keith for bringing them down and putting them together this past weekend!).

Pete is excited about the cutest shoes ever!!  Cousin Laura (and Keegan, Liam, and baby Margo) sent him a pair of Tom's for his 1st birthday.  I've wanted to get him a pair for several months now and was totally excited when they arrived yesterday for his birthday!  They fit perfectly and look SOOO cute on him.  When you ask him "Where are your shoes?" he points to them!

Here's he is in front of Daddy's office.  We got to meet a few more guys leaving with Daddy tomorrow.

We decided to go out for dinner at The Mash House, our favorite restaurant in town...

Someone's annoyed by our server's slow service...

Here's a video of Henry singing grace (a new song he learned at his church preschool) which went like this... "God, Our Father, God, Our Father... we love you.  We love you.  Thank you for our food.  Thank you for our food.  I love men.  I love men."  Ummm?  Daddy figured out Henry actually meant Amen... Ahhh-ah-men.  Not, in fact, I love men.  I guess that is God's overall message so we still gave him credit for a job well done!  

                                     

And, finally, here is Pete attempting to blow his candle out!  That happens to be mommy and daddy's all-time favorite dessert (a butterscotch blondie sundae)... who says it has to be birthday cake??  :)

Happy 1st Birthday, little man.  We are absolutely over the moon about you!

A Night in Chapel Hill...

It was so nice to have Grandpa and Ita come to visit us in NC this weekend!  The boys got lots of fun "grandpa and grandma time" and Chris and I were able to slip away for a night to Chapel Hill.  We had a wonderful time, although the reality of his imminent departure is weighing much heavier now.  Unfortunately we only took a few pictures last night, after we'd just talked about him leaving.  I look so sad.  But, I am sad so I suppose it's fitting and a reminder of this time.  He has to report around 6pm on Wednesday and is scheduled to leave really early Thursday morning.  We are doing our best to enjoy these last few days together...

"I love Daddy, I love Daddy..."

So just about every day lately Henry asks if he can write Daddy "a fancy card" which means he pretends to write in cursive on my stationary and then covers the envelopes with every sticker he can find ("See, Mom... they're stamps.").  It really is sweet except that he's just about used up my en--tire collection of cards, envelopes, and stickers and so far, I've never made the cut.  Not one card for Mommy to date.  I tried to catch him while he was working on the cards this afternoon but I was too slow.  Here he is singing a song once he finished.  I think someone is really going to miss his Daddy...

Pete wuz here!

I think Pete's playing a joke on me.  It's called: "Let's see how many times my mom will pick up the same shit I deliberately drop/ unroll/ throw on the ground.  It'll be hysterical.  And I'll do it all over again tomorrow."  I think this must be the equivalent of some punk 15 year old spray painting "Pete WUZ here!" on everything.  Same diff.

Here's some of his graffiti...

And lest we forget all of the food he's fond of throwing off his high chair... today, it was chicken, tomatoes, cheese, Cheerios, water.  It doesn't matter what it is.  As soon as he's full now, he throws it. Also the lamp he pulled onto his head.  Yes... the entire shade was down around his ears.  Busy.  Busy Pete.  No longer Sweet Pete.

*Here's a little "PS" from Pete at dinnertime...

Busy.  Busy Pete.

Making friends left and right...

Yesterday Chris had to pick up a few things at CVS.  So, while Pete and I waited for Daddy, we made a few friends... 

Did you see the look on that woman's face??  She was none too pleased.  Stuff like this mortifies Chris.  Like when we went to Starbucks afterwards and Pete proceeded to squirt applesauce all over himself and Daddy.  And then crumbled a blueberry scone all over the floor.  Chris looked up and was like, "It's time to go."  I'm not sure why I find things like this so funny, but I do.  I mean, I obviously picked up the applesauce and blueberries but we wouldn't even be able to leave the house if I was afraid of public messes and mishaps.  According to that CVS clerk's face, she might've been thinking exactly that... "Stay inside with your misbehaved child!"  You know Southerns don't play around when it comes to manners!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chris and I went to his Brigade Ball last night at the Pinehurst Resort.  The resort was beautiful and the Ball was (mostly) fun.  I met a few new wives and lots of the guys Chris works with too.  They had a free photo booth with props that we took a few pictures in.  Here they are!  

And, on a different note... we all enjoyed a great Valentine's day.  The boys got fun Valentine goodie bags with silly t-shirts, new electric toothbrushes, and lots of candy!  And Chris surprised me with roses and chocolate... yum!  Even better, Chris has today and tomorrow off of work before he leaves for DC.  It's so nice spending the day together.  

Yes, Henry is in a Spiderman costume.  That's been the "pajama" of choice lately.  I imagine he must be roasting at bedtime because he has another entire pajama set under it... but, hey!  Whatever makes you happy!