Halloween

**Prepare yourself for an exclamation point overload.**

We had such a wonderful day! The absolute best part about it was that Daddy was home! He got back on Friday around noon and, aside from having to fly back to Boise one day next week to fly a jet home, he's home for good!!! Hooray!!! It is so wonderful to have him back with us. We missed him so much!

Even though Phil just got home, this is a work weekend for him, so yesterday I dressed up the kiddos, packed them up in the car, and trucked on down to the base to meet up with Phil for some trick-or-treating. A bunch of the offices on base had candy and treats for the kids. It was pretty much the perfect day for Halloween, weather-wise. 50 degrees-ish and partly cloudy. Jackson really got into the whole trick-or-treat thing. He was a tad bit shy the first place we went, but once he realized that people were putting goodies in his bucket he was over that quickly. And only a small amount of bribery was involved while getting him dressed in his costume. He even left his hat on almost the whole time! We had no complaints from Emmett, either. I was really surprised at how smoothly the whole costume thing went.

I have to admit that two of us did have a little meltdown before we left as I was trying to take pictures of the boys on the porch. My broken camera was having issues and I was extremely frustrated. Then Jackson kept hitting the pumpkins on the porch with his carrot bat and making them roll down the steps. I was having to run after them and replace them with my shirt riding up and exposing my too-tight pants (I just recently was able to squeeze myself into a few pairs of pre-pregnancy jeans). It was not fun and only added to my frustration. I was picturing my snobby, unfriendly retired neighbors in the huge house across the street looking out of their window and laughing at me. Anyway, my frustration caused Jackson to get upset, which is why he looks a little teary-eyed in some of these pictures. Emmett was happy to just sit and observe the clown show. :)

Here are the boys before we left. In the chaos I forgot to put on both of their red bandanas. I remembered for trick-or-treating in the evening, though.


"Good afternoon, Ma'am!"


Here are some pictures from our time at the base. Emmett was a horse, if you weren't sure.


Getting treats from Cookie Monster...


Trying to get Little Stinker to look at the camera... :)


The Public Affairs office on base was taking free pictures of the kids. Ours were too enamored with all of the balloons to be bothered with looking at the camera. :)


Our last stop on base was our squadron, and we had to make a visit to the pool table in the bar.


Here J is staring at a big poster of a pretty girl that hangs on the wall. I know you can't really see his head, but I loved how he was standing with his hands behind his back.


Here are just a couple pictures from the evening. I thought the boys looked so adorable together. I think I might try to have them wear these same costumes next year.... I loved them that much.


Here's J at a house right after ringing the doorbell. At every house, as soon as the people opened the door, he tried to walk right in like he belonged there! Phil and I were impressed with how brave he was about trick-or-treating, because he's usually shy around strangers. We even got him to say thank you (with prompting, of course), which was great because he usually won't talk at all around people he doesn't know.


Like I said before, it was a wonderful day! As we were walking home last night Phil and I both commented on the clear sky, beautiful full moon, and perfect temperature. What a blessing for Jackson's first real Halloween experience. And to top of the day, we put the kids to bed, picked up a babysitter, dressed up as a hunter and a rabbit**, and went off to a party by ourselves!

**I had my rabbit ears on while I was getting ready and Phil said, "Hey, I could be Hugh Hefner instead!" I immediately said, "Ummm, no. I'm in no shape to be a "bunny". I'm a rabbit... not a bunny." :)

A Few Things

First... A certain cutie had his six-month checkup yesterday. He is healthy as a horse... 19-1/2 pounds and almost 28 inches long - putting him in the 90th percentile for each. He's a big 'un! Poor thing had to get eight vaccines and five needle pokes, but he handled it pretty well. Jackson also got a shot and a vaccine mist (up the nose), and both of them woke up hot and very cranky from their afternoon naps. About an hour after that, though, they were both happy and hyper again. I was very thankful, because I had been kicking myself for scheduling those shots while Phil was still gone. I had thought that I might be in for a rough night of awakenings, but everyone slept surprisingly well. Jackson woke up crying around 9:00 P.M., but I think that was because he couldn't suck his thumb because his nose was stuffy. I didn't hear him for the rest of the night, though.

Here's Emmett fresh out of the bath tonight. I figured out that if I give him something to play with in the tub, he doesn't splash nearly as much. It makes bathtime much more enjoyable for me!


Second... My friend, Alexis, keeps some chickens, ducks, a turkey, and two goats on a small lot that she has here in town. She started doing this last spring, I think, and since then has been able to enjoy real farm-fresh eggs and even some fresh chicken meat. Alexis is a very healthy eater and has really been inspiring me to make healthier choices when feeding our family. A few weeks ago she wrote about the nutritional superiority of farm fresh eggs in relation to store-bought eggs on her blog (which I have a link to on my sidebar), if you're interested.

Anyway, I've been wanting to switch to farm-fresh eggs for a while but didn't really know where to buy them. Luckily, Alexis just offered to let us feed her animals one day a week and collect all of the eggs on that day! The only other thing we have to do is buy a bag of chicken feed every month or so. We'll get about 18 fresh chicken eggs on that one day, plus a few duck eggs and maybe a turkey egg here and there. I am so excited about this! Today I went to watch my friend Rocky (who is also helping out one day a week) feed the animals and the boys went with me. Jackson loved it and wasn't even too scared of all of the birds and the two big goats wandering all around us.

I just have to say that seriously, I wish you could see these birds. I usually hate birds of any kind (I think I've even blogged about it before), but all of Alexis's birds are totally beautiful! They look just like pictures from a magazine (a bird magazine, I guess). Their feathers are all shiny and smooth, they are filled out and plump - not skinny and scrawny, they are gorgeous colors... you should see how striking the male mallard duck's head is!

And on top of that... they are extremely friendly! The turkey (who is the cutest thing... she has one gimpy foot and has to kind of limp around all over the place) actually enjoys being petted! I really hope she's not going to be gone after November 26 (is she, Alexis??). And the chickens and rooster will walk right over to you, but not chase you or anything. It was great fun. Did I mention I'm excited about this?

It was freezing today, so I bundled both boys up really well before we went out. I didn't have enough hands available to take a camera with me, but I took some pics at home before we left. I will be sure to get some pictures of those birds for you. I know you're dying to see them. :)


Poor Emmett was plumb tuckered out after all of the excitement at the "farm"...


Third... Here's a little Halloween sneak peek for you (Emmett's costume just came in the mail today).


And Fourth... Thanks so much, Mom and Dad, for the package of goodies for Jackson. He loved it! I posted two videos of him with a few of the gifts. You'll notice that he's not very fond of talking on command... and please excuse my annoying voice! :)

Six Months

Love this stage of babyhood! Emmett is sitting up on his own, totally entertained by his big brother, sleeping 12 straight hours at night, still struggling with naps (but getting a little bit better... he loves to trick me by taking good naps for a few days in a row and then the next day reverting back to waking up after 40 minutes for every nap), weighing about 19 pounds, and loving solid food (he's enjoyed bananas, sweet potatoes, and apples at this point). He has the loudest high-pitched screams, both of joy and anger, the chunkiest, squeezable thighs and calves, and the sweetest smile with a big dimple for good measure. He's pretty easy-going, except in noisy, chaotic situations like squadron functions. He melts down pretty quickly in those instances, but we're working on that! He is a such a joy...

Here's a short video of some cooing and giggling...

Here's Jackson at six months in a similar pose. I love six-month baby rolls!

Countdown to Normalcy

We have 15 days until Daddy/Phil returns home for good, and boy, are we ever ready for that. In August I thought, "Wow, this six-month deployment is really going by fast! I can't believe it's August already and we only have two months of it left!". Now that it's October, I feel like we've been doing this for a year and a half. I am SO! READY! for Phil to be back and our family to be complete again. I hate being apart from him and having him miss seeing the boys everyday. It almost seems weird to think that in a few days he'll be able to stay home and not have to leave again after two or three weeks.

Okay, enough of that. I feel bad complaining because I know a ton of military wives have it MUCH worse than I do. At least Phil is not overseas in a dangerous area right now. Very thankful for that.

Anyway, I've been trying to find ways to make the monotonous days go by as quickly as possible. This is quite difficult, what with trying to be home as much as possible to get a 6-month-old on a nap schedule and not wanting to go anywhere for fear of having both boys (and then me) catch H1N1. I keep hearing how many cases have been popping up in this town and I don't want to take any chances, especially while Phil is gone. Luckily, the weather has been pretty good so we've been able to play outside almost every day.


Jackson found the only little puddle of water that was left after a day of rain and ran and jumped in and out of it - over and over and over.


I'd like to send a special shout-out to Margret and H.A. Rey for inventing Curious George. Jackson is close to having to be sent to George rehab, so I'm trying not to have him watch the show too often, but it really helps me out when Phil is gone. It is the only thing that will keep him still and occupied for a few minutes while I... take a shower during the day, put the baby to sleep at night uninterrupted, give my full attention to Emmett if he's being fussy, etc., etc., etc. He's getting pretty good at playing by himself, but sometimes I need him to be zoned-out and non-needy for a few minutes.


New camouflage hat...


"Cheese!" face...


One morning, totally out of the blue, Jackson walked up to me and said, "Cocoa, please." I stood there wondering how on earth the thought of cocoa popped into his head. There are two CG episodes that we watch in which George talks about his love for cocoa, so I'm guessing that's what made J develop a longing for it, although we hadn't watched those episodes in a while. We didn't have any cocoa mix in the house when he asked, so I just warmed up some milk and put Ovaltine in it. He loved it. He took a big gulp from the sippy cup, looked up at me and said, "Cocoa good!"

These cocoa pictures demonstrate my lack of knowledge of the workings of my camera. This was right after I broke the lens and was trying to figure out how to take pictures in a different setting. Not good. I need help!


Two short videos...