WRAPPING THINGS UP IN TEXAS

This is our last weekend in Texas.  Thursday was Chris' fini flight in the T38 and Alexander and I and some other friends met him on the flight line after his flight.  It was a gorgeous day to be outside and Alexander loved seeing all of the planes including seeing his Dad get out of one!  Afterwards we went inside for some food and presentations.  It was really a nice way to say goodbye to the T38. 

Friday night we stayed up really late to cheer on our Kentucky Wildcats while they beat #1 Ohio State.  Then on Saturday some good friends had a farewell bbq for us including a lot of friends.  It was really a great day and a great chance to say goodbye to some good friends. 

The movers will be here tomorrow and Tuesday and then Wednesday we'll be starting the drive East to NC.  I'm not really looking forward to the drive, but as we pack up some of our stuff today, I'm really getting excited about the move. 

And of course I have to say, "Go CATS!"  We just beat UNC and are on our way to the Final Four next weekend.  We look forward to cheer on our Big Blue!!!!

Playing in his fort.

BUBBLES!!!

Popsicles on the patio

Climbing into his high chair

With Daddy at the Wichita Mountains

"Ocho" and "Ork" after his fini flight

The Fam in front of the jet.

Panama Alexander

HAIR CUT, SINUS INFECTION, MONKEYING AROUND

Last week Alexander came down with a sinus infection.  It started as a runny nose, then a low fever, and then when it sounded like it was moving to his chest, I decided that I should take him into the doctor.  We went Friday afternoon and I was so happy that I took him, because he has a sinus infection.  He's now on antibiotics and doing better.  Chris was cross country this weekend, so Alexander and I had a very quiet weekend trying to lay low and keeping him resting.  Not so easy for an active toddler.  He did do a lot of snuggling with me though.  We don't really watch much tv at all, but the other day I saw that Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were going to be on tv so I decided to record them.  I am so glad that I did!  This was a nice distraction for him to sit and rest while he was sick.  He definitely couldn't last through and entire movie, in fact he would really only sit still for about 30 minutes at a time before he would get restless, but it really helped.  He is now feeling better, but not 100% because he is really cranky this morning.  Hopefully I'll get my happy, healthy baby back soon! 

Early last week I took Alexander to get his hair cut.  The last 2 times I've taken him it is a complete disaster.  He cries and screams and I feel like putting him through torture.  So I expected much the same this time around, but he pleasantly surprised me.  If anything, he seemed a bit annoyed that someone was messing with him, but there was not one single tear!  Yay!!!   His hair is still a bit choppy because he's so wiggly in the chair and his hair isn't growing quite evenly yet.  But he looks so darn cute! 

Here are some pics of Alexander at the park. 

Here he is enjoying a snack at the table like a big boy!

And here he is pretending to talk on his "phone".  Which happens to be an old ipod that Chris and I don't use anymore.  It's really cute. 

And here he is climbing on the bookshelves.  He starts out on the sub woofer.

Then he monkeys his way onto the shelf.

And then he lets himself down very gracefully.  It really is amazing to watch.  He is quite careful the entire time.

Lastly, I just realized that I forgot to announce that we found out where we are moving.  We are heading to Seymour Johnson in Goldsboro, NC where Chris will be flying the F-15E again.  We should be there for the next 3 years or so and we are so very happy about this.  It was our first choice.  We really thought about trying to go to England, but with the new baby arriving in August, we decided that it might be a little much to move to a foreign country.  So now we'll only be about 10 hours from our families and closer to a lot of our friends as well.  We leave in 2 weeks!  Crazy, I know! 

BATHTUB SLIDE

Alexander discovered he can climb into our bathtub and then he discovered that the back of the tub was sort of like a slide.  Here's a video of him having fun!  He cracks me up with the things he discovers and the way he plays!

THEY DON'T CALL THEM THE "TERRIFIC TWOS"

So, we are definitely in the Terrible Two's.  I know he's only 19 months old, but he is in his 2nd year and really acting out.  There seems to be 2 Alexanders recently.  The first one is an absolute angel.  He gives hugs and kisses, likes to sit, snuggle and read books.  We took him to dinner the other night and he was perfection!  The 2nd Alexander is a bit of a menace at times.  He hits, bites, and claws when he doesn't get his way.  He throws temper tantrums and is super whiny. 

We are trying to get a handle on his aggressive behavior, but so far nothing is really helping.  We've been doing time outs in his crib until two days ago when Chris literally caught him on his way out of his crib.  Yes, apparently he can now climb out.  Awesome.  So then I put him on a chair in the kitchen, which he thought was fantastic and laughed and smiled the whole time.  Then I tried putting him in his room for 1 minute and he promptly let himself out (first time for opening doors as well).  Chris and I are trying to come up with a new time out area and we're going to try a chair in the guest room.  I'm sure we'll need to use it at some point today, so hopefully it will work. 

I know that he will eventually out grow this stage and he is just testing his independence, but it is really hard.  I knew that motherhood wasn't going to be easy, but recently it has been ridiculously difficult.  Don't get me wrong, I still get lots of hugs and kisses which are wonderful, but I could use a little less of the hits and bites.  And I know that this is only magnified because my crazy pregnancy hormones are making me super emotional.  Also, Chris has been working the past few weekends to try to get his paper finished and then next weekend he's going cross country.  So it's been a lot of just Alexander and I.  Luckily for us, Chris took today off so that we all get a break together.  And so far, it is lovely! 

NEW PICS

Making paper airplanes with Daddy!

Cheesing for the camera

He apparently decided that his tractor was dirty.

With his new best friend, George!