Chris is Home!

Well, at least for a few days. It’s already going by too fast! =)

Chris’ flight got in last night and we had a joyous reunion. About 20 of our family and friends were able to come to the airport and welcome him home (many more wanted to come, but his flight came in while most people were still at work.) There were lots of cheering, welcome home signs and a plethora of smiles all around!

Luke watched intently as Chris’ plane touched down – and then as he came down the stairs. We rushed to the door he’d be entering in to greet him. Luke almost couldn’t believe his eyes! He just had to stare at Chris for a second for it to register that it was actually daddy standing right there in front of him. Then came the big hug he’s been waiting to give Daddy for almost 10 months. Will was pretty nonchalant about it all – though he was only 2 ½ months old when Chris left. He’s definitely coming around quickly though!

Luke is Chris’s shadow. No one else exists in his world right now. It’s just daddy. And it is so sweet and precious to see!

There are a few things we could use your prayers on though. Chris caught a cold on his way over here – so please pray for his quick recovery. And Luke’s mild stomach virus has become a full blown nasty stomach virus – so please pray for him as well. It’s a bummer that they both have to start out R&R sick. I do think Chris is beginning to feel a bit better – but Luke’s stomach is quite messed up right now. So any prayers on their recovery will be much appreciated.

Alrighty, here’s what everyone has been waiting for – Pictures! A reporter from the Daily Times was at the airport and took these pictures for us. I’ll send a link to the newspaper picture once it’s out.

Watching Chris walk to the door...

"There's Daddy!!"

Daddy's Home!

Big Hug!

So happy to be together again!

Will walking to Daddy - we didn't tell Chris that Will was walking so we could suprise him at the airport.

Daddy brought presents for both the boys - Luke and Will were very excited to get a car and train each from daddy.

At home - Riley was very excited to see her daddy again too!

She went crazy with happiness! She remembered him right away and jumped all over him.

More pictures later!

Happy Birthday Will!

Today is Will's 1st birthday! I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. I remember his due date coming and going and wondering when in the world this child would actually come. A week later he finally made his appearance and has blessed our lives immensely. He has such a sweet personality and a smile and giggle that will just melt your heart. He adores his big brother and it's so fun to see how much they love each other.

We had some cake to celebrate his birthday tonight - and we'll do a bigger birthday celebration later on when Chris is able to be here to enjoy it.

So without further ado - Will's first year in a few snapshots.

41 weeks preggo

Will's first picture!

Happy Birthday!

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009- Happy 1st Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Will! We love you!

Very Short Update!

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged! There haven't been very many free moments lately. I will attempt to write an update blog soon - but for now, I'll just post a few pictures. =)

A boy and his best friend...

The boys playing together!

They're everywhere!


Luke's hair has been growing so fast lately! My dad had just cut it over Christmas, but it has already grown out again! So I took him to my hairdresser a few days ago. Luke did great! He sat in the chair all by himself and was very calm...in fact, I think he really liked being pampered! He got to hold the squirt bottle - and by the end of the cut, he had managed to squirt himself in the face 3 times. He thought that was hilarious! Here are before and after pics:

(I took him first thing in the morning, so he had some major bed head going on! HAHA!)

Cutie boys!

More later!

2 1/2 years later, he finally uses a pillow and blanket - by his own choice!

Luke has finally embraced sleeping with a pillow and blanket! I'm not completly certain why, but Luke has taken his sweet time adjusting to using a pillow. I've had one in his bed since a bit after we switched his crib to a toddler bed. He's never wanted to use it. The last few night though, he has -on his own- begun using his pillow!

Now the blanket thing has been an ongoing battle. He has hated being covered up for quite some time. The only thing I can trace it back to is once, when we had first moved to Germany, he got wrapped up in one of his little blankets while he was sleeping and woke up terrified. Since then, he has refused to be covered up. This has proven a challenge in keeping him warm at night. In Germany we'd double up his jammies so he'd stay toasty warm. When it started to get cool this winter, I very slowly tried to reintroduce the blanket (any attempts before this would result in a huge flip-out on Luke's part.)

So, each night I would go in after he had fallen asleep and cover him up. This seemed to work well as long as he didn't wake up and catch me covering him up.

A few months ago, I let him pick out his own blanket from the store (a very wise suggestion from a very wise friend!) and I started asking him if he'd like to be covered up. He would say "yes" or "no" and I would comply with his answer. If it was no, I would put the blanket at the end of the bed and then I'd go cover him up after he fell asleep.

Just in the last week, however, he has started covering himself up!! YYEEESSS!!! Now I don't have to worry about him being cold in the middle of the night anymore! He finally likes to be covered - and he's happy to do the covering himself! I know it may seem silly to be this excited about such a small feat - but in my world, this is HUGE!

Paper Chains and the Phins

Chris's R&R is coming up soon, so I made a paper chain for the boys to countdown the time! Well, it's mostly for Luke because Will doesn't really understand yet...=) Each night before bed, Luke tears a link off the chain. He knows that we have to go through the whole chain - and when we reach the very last link, Daddy will be here to help him tear it off. Sooooo exciting!!!

I'm already preparing Luke in advance that Daddy will just be home for a visit. I don't want to be a party pooper, but I don't want him to be devastated when Chris has to head back either. So, I figured if I could help Luke understand that "it's just for a visit" before Chris even gets here - it'll help the dreaded departure day go a bit smoother. We'll see how it all pans out!

Even though it is, "just for a visit," we are all super uber excited! =)



On a completely different topic - we were all rooting for the Phins to win last Sunday...but they just couldn't pull it off. Oh well...at least they did better than last year!!=)

As always, more later!

Christmas Festivities...A Gazillion Pictures!

This blog has been in the making for quite awhile - a few spare minutes here and there - and now finally it's ready to post! There are a TON of pictures, so I won't be doing much talking in this one. =)

We had a wonderful visit with my family over the Christmas holiday! The days went by so fast we could barely believe it when it was time to pack up and get back on the plane. We did lots of Christmas shopping, visiting, catching up and enjoyed many laughs together. I'm so glad we were able to make the trip!

Like I said, I'll let the pictures do most of my talking:

This is before we left for my parents house. Judy, Jamie and I went to a cookie exchange, so Luke was helping to make the cookies!

And Will learns to climb up on his rocking chair and rock...while standing up on it...Yikes!!!


Let the packing begin! Luke is excited for his trip to Grandpa and Grandma J's house!

The airport: I don't have any pictures of the airport...or the kids on the airplane this time around. On the way out, we were delayed 3 1/2 hours. The kids were fed up and I was about to lose my mind by the time we boarded the plane in Philly at around 8pm...when our original flight time was supposed to be 4:20pm. The kids were well past their bedtime and CRANKY! Thankfully, there was a very nice man that helped me at the end of our wait...which was such a blessing because I was near to losing my mind at that point! =) Once we got on the plane, the kids turned into perfect angels. Which I was eternally thankful for...but I think everyone else on the plane (who had to endure my children's crankiness at the gate for hours) was even more thankful.

We landed and hurried to meet my parents. It was so great to be reunited! We carefully drove home in the icy weather - which had cleared a great deal from its earlier fury of the day - once again, something we were all very thankful for!

We had such an enjoyable time, I can't say it enough! Here are more pictures:

My mom decorated an awesome treat tree! It had treat boxes for the boys to open each day, candy and candy cane ornaments! The boys LOVED it!

Will blowing raspberries...

Luke cuddling with Grandpa at a restaurant.

Mommy cuddling with Will at the restaurant.

Will tickling the Ivory...the next Mozart maybe?

We visited Dad's favorite store - Harley Davidson Motorcycles!

Will enjoying a car ride to the store.

Luke playing in the snow.

We were able to get down and see my grandparents one day during our visit. It was So SO nice to see them again! We had such a lovely visit! We were also able to say a quick "hi" to my Uncle Bill and Aunt Linda on our way out, which was really great too! I haven't seen most of my family since before we left for Germany.

Great Grandpa passing along some wisdom to Luke!

Will is named after my Grandpa, so it was very special to see them together!

I love my Grandpa so much!!!

Great Grandma cuddling with Luke.

I love this picture! My beautiful Grandma and a very happy Will!

I love my Grandma!!!

Later that week, Dad was able to give Luke a trim - Luke was thrilled! He thought it tickled!! A huge change from our early days of haircuts when he'd scream like we were cutting his arm off...

My mom makes the BEST homemade pizza ever! It's always always a request when we come visit. I could have eaten a whole pizza myself! =)

Will enjoying a tasty treat after the church Christmas program.

Christmas Eve:

Making Cookies for Santa...

We were all pretty tired by this time, so we made Santa the packaged cookies. They were yummy...I mean, Santa said they were yummy...=)

Getting ready to bake some chocolate chip cookies!

Aunt Kerri helping Luke put out the cookies for Santa.

Luke putting out a milk sippy for Santa.

I let Luke stay up later than normal to wrap his present to Will...

Here we are making funny faces...ok, just me! =)

Santa's coming tomorrow!

Christmas morning:

Luke was READY for Christmas morning to arrive! When he woke up, I told him that Santa ate his cookies. Luke had to think hard about that one...he wasn't to sure about Santa coming into his house - at least I think that's what I saw processing in his mind. Regardless, he was excited about ripping into the presents.

We ate a yummy breakfast my dad prepared, then read the Christmas story. After that we let the kids open some gifts and start playing with some of their toys. Then we'd open gifts for awhile. Then they'd open gifts...it worked out well! We all had a great time of fellowship, giving and receiving!

Mommy and Will listening to the Christmas story...well, I think this was right before we read the Christmas story...

The boys tearing into some gifts:

Dad opening a present:

Mom opening one of her gifts.:

Aunt Kerri reading one of Luke's new books:

This was such a cool gift. My mom scrapbooked this picture of our grandparents, parents and us. It was really really cool! Here is mine:

Here is Kerri's:

Stockings!

We had so much fun!

After our fun festivies, we prepared our tranditional Turkey Christmas meal. Sooooo yummy! Then I had to pack up and early the next morning we were back at the airport. The time went by so quickly! I'm so glad we were able to go, it was so so so wonderful!

After we got back on the 26th, we had Christmas with everyone at home and with Chris on the webcam:

Luke and MeMe opening a gift for Daddy to see!

Webcams are great!

Will getting some fun instruments.

Luke gets a CARS chair and a baseball mitt!

Will loves his Sing and Dance Stage.

The pups got in on the fun too!

Here was Luke's big gift! It's an Imaginarium (sp) Train Table. It fits all of his wooden Thomas Trains and it was an unbeatable price...we got a steal on this one! He LOVES it! Will even loves it! It gets A LOT of attention from the boys every single day.

This picture cracks me up! How many of us does it take to put together a baby toy? =)

This was one of the last presents Will opened up...and he was JUST getting the concept of opening a gift!

And last but not least - Mom Judy, Jamie and myself!

So that's our Christmas festivities in a nutshell!