April 2011

Finally caught up enough to call a post by it's proper month and not feel extremely late! This month we've enjoyed having spring/summer arrive here in Savannah. The weather has been very warm and we've had almost no rain. Hayden loves being outside so this has been a welcome change. Hayden also loved watching the Master's this year and made his Grandpa very happy, he's secretly hoping for another golf lover. This prompted the purchase of a plastic golf set which Hayden loves to hit around the house. Also this month one of Hayden's cousins sent us a Flat Stanley from his first grade class so we had the opportunity to take him with us to visit Preston and the helicopters at work. Hayden loved sitting in the "copper" and getting to play with some of the buttons.

Watching the Masters!

Hayden loves playing in the water and can't wait for bath time.

Hayden's first time eating corn on the cob, it was a huge hit!

EASTER

We celebrated a wonderful Easter this year and felt very blessed to have Preston home with us. To make it even better Preston was also given a 4 day weekend and was able to spend some extra time at home. Hayden loved finding all the eggs that the Easter bunny left him and was very surprised when he later realized there was candy inside.

Yummy, chocolate Easter candy.

St.Patrick's Day Parade

Every year the City of Savannah hosts a wild St.Patrick's Day weekend which includes a huge parade reporting to be the second largest in the nation.  Thousand of people pour in for the parade and wake up super early to get good viewing spots.  We decided that before leaving Savannah we wanted to see this fun parade.  So we woke up super early and headed to one of Savannah's famous squares where we enjoyed homemade green cinnamon rolls while waiting for the parade to start.  Hayden loved seeing all the horses, marching bands and parade floats.  I loved seeing his excitement and am happy we got to experience the Savannah St.Patrick's Day Parade at least once.

 Playing with bubbles while patiently waiting for the parade to start.

 Parade party goodies!

 The best viewing spot around, daddies shoulders.

 All that excitement sure tires a boy out.

Friends Forever

Well I'm only about 2 months late getting this post up and since I'm using this more as a family journal now everyone else gets to come along for the ride. We've had some amazing friends who recently moved away and as we got down to the last few weeks I found myself reflecting on all that we've been through with them. Michael, the father moved to Ft.Drum with us at the same time and purchased a home a block away, shortly after he married his sweet wife, Jaclyn, who quickly became a close friend. We shared both of our deployments together, welcoming family pets, pregnancies for both families and a move to Savannah together. When we returned to Savannah Hayden quickly became attached to Emily. He would walk around the house calling for "Emme" as he called her. We are so sad to see our friends leave, especially Hayden who doesn't quite understand where Emily has gone. Here's best of luck to all our friends who know the Army lifestyle all to well and to new friendships may they be as cherished as ours.

Hayden and Emily enjoying soft play together, Aug '10

Halloween together 2010

All the kiddo's at Christmas (Ethan, Emily and Hayden)

One last trip to the beach together.

They even shared matching pj's for a night!

 They loved swinging together.

 
 We tried for one last photo before saying goodbye, but as kids do they just wanted to run and play.
 

Our Eventful Weekend

Okay technically the weekend isn't even over yet but, we've had an eventful few days.  We started it out on Friday with Preston being promoted to CW3!  I am so proud of him and extremely grateful for all that he does for our family.  He totally deserves any and all recognition he receives.
    Then this morning I headed out to Tybee Island to run in my first half marathon.  I've been training for this for several months now and was so excited to finally see how it would all turn out.  The weather was not the best but considering what it's like everywhere else across the nation I won't complain.  It started out with some heavy rain the first couple miles, then it cleared out and I was able to finish.  I finish in a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 7 seconds.  I've had two goals as I've trained for this race one to finish having had a positive happy experience.  Second (and only if the first was a success) was to hopefully finish under 2 hours and 30 minutes.  I am happy to report that I was able to finish both my goals and am so grateful for such a good experience and I hope that there will be many more races to come over the years.   Then I came home to a fresh batch of delicious and adorable cupcakes courtesy of the Maides.  Thank you, I know I have the best friends ever!
     I would like to take a minute to thank all of our family and friends who have been so supportive of us.  We are where we are today because of a culmination of a ton of support from all of you.  We love you all and thank you!

Sorry in all the hustle this ended up being one of the few photos taken.

  This was just seconds before I crossed the finish line.

Hayden just couldn't wait for me to finish taking photos!

First Official Hair Cut!

Sorry for the lack in posts lately.  I promise to hopefully get the blog caught up sometime over the next week.  That being said I couldn't resist posting about Hayden's first hair cut experience from last weekend, oh and I've had grandparents being for pictures of it.  We decided to take Hayden to a local salon, Toadly Kool, they tailor just to toddlers and kids.  Hayden had so much fun, he got to drive the jeep stool and watch Cars while getting his hair cut.  He did awesome and they awarded him with a certificate at the end along with a lock of his hair for the scrap book.  I would recommend them to anyone in the Savannah area looking for a kid friendly hair cut, they are so friendly and do an awesome job.

BEFORE

DURING

ALL DONE!

I couldn't resist throwing in this one from later in the day.  I was cooking dinner when I looked down and found Hayden coloring so cutely.  I just love this little guy!

Last Few Weeks Alone

Since we're almost finished with this deployment and we've been on our own the last few weeks, Hayden's had a little more freedom to roam on his own.  This has meant finding him in some pretty interesting places or me allowing him to do a few more things just to stay busy.  Lucky for us our time apart is over as Preston is set to arrive home tomorrow!

 Brady taught him this and now he won't stay out of it.  Sad part is he can't get out on his own so he'll call until I come.

 He just had to find a way to get those bubbles.

All this playing sure tuckers a boy out.

 Yeah, fresh bread!

 Sure smells yummy, is it done yet? (I love how his nose is smashed right up against the top.)

Uh Oh, he's found the buttons.

 Let's see what I can find in here.

Ah, a nice book.  I love finding him like this rather than ripping them apart, maybe he is learning after all.

Halloween 2010

For Halloween this year we had a great opportunity to spend the evening with some good friends of ours at their church's fall festival.  Hayden wasn't so sure about the bounces but loved dancing and running around with his friend Emily.  He was absolutely adorable in his soldier uniform and even though he wouldn't hold still for the camera he was cute all the same.  Thank you Maides family for inviting us.