Christian and the Greats

Christian has gotten the chance to meet and see his Great Grandpa "Pop-Pop" and Grandma "Nonnie" (my mom's parents) 3 times since we have been home in Colorado. Christian is their 11th great-grandchild! Crazy. Here they are holding and loving on our sweet baby boy.

Doesn't Pop-Pop look so wise? (I guess that is what 7 children, 17 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren will do to ya.)

Happy 80th Grandma!

Today is my Grandma E's 80th Birthday! Thank you grandma for your love, support, and faithful prayer! We love you!

Linden and G.G. Christmas 2008

New Parent Thoughts

My SIL, Kimberly, is doing a helpful series on her blog called "Reflections on Being a New Parent." She recently did her second post in the series, and I would recommend any parent, new, established, or expecting to check it out.

13 Days!

We are SO excited! Christian and I get to visit Steve in Florida over Valentine's/President's Day weekend which falls about halfway through Steve's trainings at Hurlburt Field. Little C and I will be flying into Orlando and will meet Daddy at our hotel. Guess where we will be going? Disney World! ** Surprise! ** Well, those of you who know us, know this is not a BIG surprise....At any rate, we are really looking forward to seeing Steve and getting a few days to spend together before meeting up again at our new base in South Carolina mid-March.

Christian, Logan, and Kaitlyn

The other night Christian got to hang out with his older cousins, Logan (almost 5) and Kaitlyn (almost 3.) Right now they are pretty busy doing "big kid stuff" but I am sure that when Christian is old enough he will enjoy following them around and will try to do everything they are doing. I was able to capture a few pictures of Logan and Kaitlyn playing on the floor with Christian...so cute! We are so glad that Christian has 3 older cousins that he can look up to and play with at family gatherings. :)

Wordless Wednesday *Linden Paige*

Feed Me!

Last night Christian had his very first bowl of rice cereal. (When I say "bowl," I mean 2-3 tablespoons.) His pediatrician said that he would be ready for solids when he began to show interest in food at the table and/or when he no longer could stay full after nursing. Christian has been studying food at the table for about a month now...and always seems extremely eager to eat. Plus, he pretty much always has his mouth open and is playing with his tongue. I bought some rice cereal 2 weeks ago and some small spoons a couple of days ago...but kept putting off the solid food thing. It just seems like our baby is growing so fast that *I* secretly wasn't ready for him to begin eating solids. His little growing body obviously has other plans. He LOVED his rice cereal, opened his mouth wide, and probably ate 3/4 of the cereal. We will continue working on eating from a spoon and then will eventually move on to other tasty foods.

The Many Faces of Christian

I just love this little guy!

Christian is 4 Months

Above: Christian is loving his cousin Linden's baby toys.

Below: He also loves his afternoon walks (the weather has been beautiful this past week in Colorado.)

Our sweet baby boy is 4 months old! He is growing SO SO fast (I know, I say that every time...) Every day it seems as though he is learning and doing something new. These are the things that Christian has been up to recently:

• This past week or so he has begun to giggle in addition to his happy coos. He often laughs when his belly or cheeks are kissed.
• Christian is a smiley little guy. When he smiles he tends to "smile with his whole body" - he wriggles his arms and kicks his legs too.
• He will often stare at a person until they look at him and then will smile big and wide.
• He sucks on anything near his mouth: his hands, toys, clothing, snowsuit (we call it his "sleepy suit" because he will almost always fall asleep in his warm bear suit.)
• Christian still has crazy, strong little kicking legs. He is scooching himself around all over...but still working on rolling over.
• He loves to talk...making sounds ma, na, ah, ga...etc. Lately he really enjoys squealing.
• Currently, Christian's favorite toy is his cousin Linden's playmat. Really, he likes anything that is moving, plays music, and catches his attention.
• Just these past couple of days Christian has begun to purposely and actively reach for toys and objects that are near him.

Around Christmas time Christian made the change from his 0-3 and 3 month old clothes to only 3-6 month, as well as wearing a size 2 diaper (too much info?) Christian had a well-baby check up this morning with his vaccinations. He weighed in at 14 lbs. 14.5 oz. which puts him in the 50th percentile for his age. Funny though, because when he went to the peditrician on Jan. 7 (when he was sick) he was 13 lbs. 13.8 oz....he sure grew in a week and a half! He is 24.5 inches long putting him in the 33rd percentile and his head circumference is now 41.6 cm which puts him in the 32nd percentile. Like I said before, "he is growing SO fast!"

Christian and Mommy at exactly 4 months.

Family Photos

My family started the New Year with new family photographs. Here are some of my favorites.

The whole crew: My wonderful parents, Steve, me, and Christian, my brother Ryan, his beautiful wife Kim, and their daughter Linden.

Our happy little family

Isn't he cute? He has such a beautiful smile!

Christian and his cousin Linden

Like Father, Like Son

Who is who? Do you think Christian looks like his daddy?

Christian and Linden

Uncle Ryan, Christian, and cousin Linden

One of the great things about being home in Colorado for these next couple months is getting the chance to hang out with family and for Christian to be able to "play" with his cousins. My brother's baby girl, Linden is 15 months older than Christian which seems like a big gap right now, but in a couple of years they will be able to play and do many of the same things. Looks like they will be best buds:

Christian loves Linden's old playmat! Looks like she likes it too :)

Matching pajamas...gotta love it!

Christian's Birth Announcement

I had these printed about a month after Christian was born and sent out most of them, but the rest were packed with all of our things and sent to South Carolina, so I thought I would just share Christian's cute birth announcement for those who had not already seen it. He was 3 weeks old in this picture (I can't believe he is almost 4 months already!)

Sick Days and Another Goodbye

This past week was a little crazy...okay, really crazy. All three of us (as well as my parents, SIL, and niece) were sick with colds which was not the best way to spend our last week together in Colorado. Poor Steve had a nasty stomach bug and was literally in bed for 3 days without eating (which is SO unlike him.) I was able to finally convince him that he needed to see a doctor and I took him to Urgent Care where they gave him 2 bags of IV fluid and medications. Christian had a nagging cough all week and I took him to the pediatrician...fortunately he just has a cold, but the cough could last for 2-3 weeks, not fun. Even though I tried to protect myself from the germs, I inevitably caught a cold as well and continue to have a stuffy head and headache. Unfortunately because I am nursing there is very little medications that I can take. I am basically fighting the cold naturally which takes longer. On a lighter note, it does seem that we are slowly but surely becoming healthy again.

I spent the first half of the week making countless phone calls to Tricare, Edwards AFB, Buckley AFB, and Peterson AFB simply trying to set up a well-baby checkup for Christian and then with the colds, that's a whole other story...ugh such a pain...they certainly don't make it easy when you are en route between bases.

Steve was feeling better and had enough strength to begin his 3 day drive with his mom on Friday to his TDY destination at Hurlburt Field in Florida. He has 9 weeks of training before taking up his new position at Shaw AFB mid-March. Christian, Phoenix and I are staying back in Colorado since family is strongly discouraged from joining. It's always difficult being apart even though we have experienced several lengthy separations while dating, during our engagement, and now 2 since we have been married, but now it seems even more difficult now that Christian is here. At least this TDY is not 15 weeks like the one this past summer and this time we are hoping to be able visit Steve. Also, Christian and I are very blessed to be able to stay with family the entire TDY...yay for Colorado and our supportive families!

Christmas Day

This year we celebrated Christmas Day at my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Deanne's home in Monument. My brother, Ryan, SIL, Kimberly, and niece, Linden were in Texas celebrating Christmas with Kim's family, so we decided to celebrate Christmas together on December 28 after they got back. Here are a few highlights of Christmas happenings and some pictures right before the New Year:

Christian with his great-grandma Nonnie, and my cousin (Christian's 2nd cousin) Jillian

My Colorado girl cousins (L to R): Janessa, Jillian, Me and Christian, Kristen, and Kathryn.

Grandma E. snuggling with Christian

Grandpa E. and Steve made a snowman for Christian...a little too cold for him to help :) Here we are posing with their creation.

Family pic at the E home (December 28)

Kim. Ryan, and Linden

Christian and Grandpa E. watching some football together.

Christmas Eve

This year we celebrated Christmas Eve at Steve's parent's home with Grandpa and Grandma R., Aunt Kristi and Uncle Kevin, cousins Logan and Kaitlyn, and Uncle Will. Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve and one from a day prior.

Christian and Grandma R.

Sweet baby boy in his little Santa Suit.

Family pics!


Christian playing with his Grandpa R.

Rewind...Christian is 3 Months

I promised to post some pictures of Christian at 3 months since I was unable to do so before. Here he is during the week of moving from Edwards (December 15-19.)

Sleeping On Mommy and Daddy's bed the day the packers were at our house.

Christian is 3 Months! (Actually taken Dec. 18 - a day later)

Hanging out with Mommy at the TLF (Temporary Lodging Facility) the day before our move to Colorado.

All bundled up and ready for our 16 hour drive from California to Colorado.