Laundry Basket Fun

Don't think this post needs to be explained. Dylan found a way to humor himself and his mom which isn't unusual he has me laughing at least once a day.
Our little man turned 10 months yesterday

Going to the Chapel...

Sorry all you wonderful ladies out there Dylan is spoken for!
Emorie batted those long eyelashes smiled at Dylan and...

Dylan and Emorie are going to the chapel...
well in a couple years:)


Thanks for the pictures Melissa I love them
TOO PRECIOUS!!!!!

High Seas Adventures

A picture of the USS George Washington at dusk.
Rory has been able to send me some pictures from the adventure that is the GW heading over to Japan

The above picture is a panorama taken of Rio de Janeiro from the top of Sugar Loaf. Sugar Loaf is the name of a mountain 1,299 feet above sea level that rises up straight from the waters edge. A glass paneled cable car takes passengers up the mountain

This is a gorgeous sunset where the USS GW was anchored next to the bridge while in Rio

Above you can see Christ the Redeemer Statue.
Some interesting facts that Rory sent along: The statue was originally made to cover an antenna because it would have marred the scenery. There was a vote and you see the end result. A statue of Jesus was decided on to cover the antenna. Because Brazil ran out of money France gifted them with Jesus' hands and head.
Wow that would have looked awful if they hadn't been helped out.

Rory was able to go up on Sugar Loaf and look what they found.
I guess there was an area with a lot of little monkeys living.
Interesting looking fellows:)

Here come the high seas!
Take into consideration that the GW's height keel to mast is 244 ft.
It's max. navigational draft is 42 ft.
Rory emailed me saying at one point the waves were 10-15 feet high and they were expecting 20 foot waves. He also mentioned that he felt at times like he was going to fall out of his rack.
The blessing is these seas didn't last long for the sailors

Sunrise on May 10th overlooking the flight deck. You can see the 73 on the left.

This picture was taken as the ship was passing through the Straits of Magellan with mountains on either side. Obviously the picture is of the rainbow but if you enlarge it you can see the snow capped mountains.

Here the Spirit of Freedom (USS GW) is dropping anchor off Punta Arenas.
Punta Arenas is the most prominent settlement on the Straits of Magellan.
It is also the world's southernmost city.
Punta Arenas is roughly 881.35 miles from the coast of Antarctica.
No wonder Rory told me at one point he believed the wind chill factor out on vultures row was in the teens (outside the "skin" of the ship there is an area above the flight deck that you can go out on a catwalk type area this is called vultures row)

Part of an email that Rory sent around about going through the Straits:

What an amazing site! The first day was a lot of flat land on both sides, most of the time too wide to see either side. But it did come pretty close at times and I got some good pictures. That evening we anchored off the coast of Punta Arenas, the southern most city in the world! Pretty neat to say I have seen that. We did not go ashore but I took some good pictures. The next morning it was back to the grind to get through the rest of the way. This day was amazing! There was beautiful scenery on both sides. Huge mountains that we were literally passing right between. We passed the southern most tip of mainland South America. That was pretty cool. There is a cross at the top of that huge rock. It was placed there long ago and was somehow destroyed. The Pope made a visit to Punta Arenas back in 1987 and the city wanted to place the cross back up before the Pope arrived. There is no access by helicopter so men had to carry the materials more then one kilometer up this treacherous terrain to erect the new cross. What an awesome site!! Most of the mountain tops were snow covered and made for beautiful scenery. I have great photos which I of course want to share but won’t be able to do so for some time. Then later yesterday afternoon we emerged into the Pacific and started cruising right along in some rough weather. The ship is rocking and rolling which makes for a good time to sleep since you are being rocked like a baby!! So now the USS George Washington has become only the second aircraft carrier to have transited the Straits of Magellan. I guess we are history in the making on this deployment.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day has a whole new meaning this year. Oh yes, it is still a day to honor and thank the Lord for my dear mother. Her patience is one of a saint!! Yet this year I too get to celebrate the "Hallmark Day" with a precious bundle of my own who will some day call me mom. I have been richly blessed and will never be able to fully express my gratitude to our Creator for entrusting Rory and I with Dylan.

This morning my good friend Heather invited Dylan and I to join her family and neighbor for Mother's Day brunch at the club on Langley Air Force Base.

Heather and I with Dylan
below:
Heather and her two precious bundles

The whole family:)
Love you guys thanks for sharing the morning.

Of course when we got home, I had to take some more pictures of my 1st Mother's Day!
So here we are in the next few shots in Dylan's room using the timer setting on the camera - thank goodness for that or I would be in trouble:P

Isn't that a look!
Wonder what he is thinking?

I love my boy so much!
Every day is truly mother's day and it will be forever!
You have all heard it said 'once a mother always a mother' - it is so true

Psalm 127:3
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,
The fruit of the womb a reward.

Problem - Power Tool Solution

When it gets quiet what do we parents know? Oh yes the child is into something fun and probably not what they are supposed to be into.

At first all this did was make more of a mess for Mom to pick up - no big deal. Dylan was happy and not hurting himself. I must say the cutest part was when I would find Dylan with a diaper hanging from his mouth and one under each hand as he would "ski" on them around the room.

Soon, as you can see this became a safety issue. Never unless you want to get creative buy a changing table without doors! This is what I found yesterday when it got quiet. I knew I had to make some changes for Little Man's safety.

Here was the solution bust out the power tools!

I bought two shelves to match the ones his teddy bears were on. One went by the futon for my books and some extras (water proof pads, Lysol, diaper baggies etc...) The other went above his changing table and held all the changing essentials - q-tips, baby powder, lotion, etc...)

This way on the shelves of the changing table, I could have safe items only.
Half of the bottom shelf is now his toys. As you can see he thought this was a great idea:)

Aah a woman and power tools:) I had out the drill, screw driver, laser level and hammer. The directions said putting up one shelf takes about 15 minutes ( I am sure Rory could have done it in 7 minutes) I of course doubled that time so it took me and hour to put up both. I had to figure out how to get the bit to stay in the drill, I was eating my dinner at the same time (us ladies have to multi-task), and of course I didn't have the right size bit so I had to make due. Anyways, I got the shelves up, vacuumed up the mess, put the items up on the shelves, ate dinner, fed Dylan his "night cap", changed clothes, put on some mascara and out the door we went to hang out with the ladies all in 1.5 hours. Oh yes, power tools are invigorating, but I am so ready for Rory to be back:)

CHEERIOS!!!!

Dylan tried cheerios on May 4th.
The very first one he grasp off the tray went to his mouth. See the above & below picture:) I guess babies are hot wired to know what to do with cheerios.

After eating the first one, Dylan pushed the cheerios around on the tray. He tried crushing them in his hand and even shot one off the tray onto the floor. I put the next one in his mouth and away he went eating the rest on his own.

Grasping the cheerios with his index finger and thumb

Here he is making sure after eating some that these really were OK to put into his mouth:)
At one point Dylan started talking to the cheerios and has every day since.

At times, Dylan tries to put two in his mouth at one time - one from each hand. Usually he is only successful getting one in his mouth and the other falls in his lap. He also likes to pick up as many as he can and hold them in his hand while trying to put just one in his mouth. After he is successful with getting one in his mouth while holding the rest he looks at me to give him more. I guess he forgets he is holding the other ones.

front teeth chewing
He also holds the cheerios on the knuckle of his thumb with his index finger wrapped around it brings it to his mouth holds it there and chews.

YEA Mommy Cheerios are great!!!!
I got a kick out of watching him eat cheerios. I was trying hard not to giggle to loud and distract him but it was the cutest ever!

Jeff's 30th B-day

The Birthday Man - Jeff with his little man HunterMichaela and I
(Michaela is Jeff's wife. The sweetheart that threw the surprise party for him and she is pregnant due at the end of June beginning of July. You go girl!)

Kerry (with her newest Matthew) and Heather

Hunter
I can't believe how much he has grown. He is a little boy not a baby.

Precious Carozza Girls loving on each other

Little man chewing on some of Hunter's toys. He did interact a little with the other children. I never got a good shot of that though. He and Cassie (the girl at the top of the above picture) played with a toy together. Actually she was sweet and let Dylan steal one of the rings to chew on. Dylan also had some guy time with J. so Mommy could see all the cute decorations for the new baby's nursery.

Dylan and Mommy
Whitney is in the background - yea you can see the baby bump. Honey did you know that Whitney was also pregnant? Our class is blessed with the babies:) Wonder who is next?

Melissa and her youngest daughter Emorie
Another dear child that I can't believe has grown up so fast.
(Melissa says she looks more like Mike than Mallorie did)

Getting serious!
Jeff is all business looking at his cake with 30 candles

Jeff is the man - He blew out all the candles in one breathe!

Michaela and Jeff
Happy Birthday Jeff!

Thanks for inviting Dylan and I we had a great time!
Love you guys!

Some of the comments were for Rory's sake since he didn't get the opportunity to be at the party