Hodge Podge of Thoughts

So it's a new year. I'm only half way into the first month of it and still have our Christmas banner up at the top. Hmm. Perhaps I should work on a new one? Now there's a thought!

New to Junior
Junior's vocabulary in the past few weeks seems to be growing. However I can't always seem to make out what exactly he's saying. There are new words in there somewhere, I guess I'll just have to wait for him to figure them out a little better.

Also new in our son's little life is the fact that we decided to take the crib rail off and put the toddler rail up. Essentially converting his crib to a toddler bed. Really this is for multiple reasons. If we end up buying a new crib for "the Monster" his baby sister, I want him to see there is a difference between her's and his. His is for "big boys" and hers is for babies. If we don't buy a new crib, our hopes are that by transitioning him to a toddler bed now, we maybe able (by the time she is ready to use the crib) transition him to a "bigger boy bed". Lets just say the first night was a horrible disaster learning experiance. Yesterday he didn't nap in it because we went to a playdate and had a very hectic day out and about. Today, naptime is well, um non-existant agian a learning curve. So far out of the hour and a half he's been in his room, I'm pretty sure it has been destroyed, with toys everywhere and a little boy doing everything except what he should be doing, sleeping! I'm not ready for nap time to go away completely yet. heavy sigh.

New to Me
Yesterday we had our first playdate here. We went to a command sponsored "playdate/ladies social". Junior behaved much better then I thought he would have, and sharing is definitely on our list of things to work on! We both had a great time getting to know other moms & kids, and was even happier to learn that most lived relatively close to us!

New to Chris
Chris is official at his new command. Having completed the "in-doc" course, he now gets to work on becoming certified to teach! He seems pretty excited to begin on this new adventure!

New for the Baby
Tomorrow is my official "20 week" Ultrasound. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post from it :) I'm trying to decide if I should attempt to upload the video of our ultrasound we had on Chris' birthday. Lets see if I get any feedback (yes/no) and we'll go from there!

Blogging to Blog

Okay so I was going to post a photo blog, but for whatever reasons blogger doesn't want to cooperate so I am switching gears. I am going to blog about the unexpected I guess.

The Internet is a marvelous thing. You have pictures, videos and all sorts of things quite literally at your finger tips. Social networking sites bring things into full circle I realized this evening. I was reading the status of a friend (whom I thought of more of as an acquaintance in high school - and realized that she really was more of a friend than I realized at the time) and I know that had this been eleven years ago, I might have passed it by with out comment. Being removed from where we all where eleven years ago gives me greater perspective and pause. This was a person I may have smiled to and said "hi" to and moved on. I guess thanks to my son, I have re-evaluated how and why I do things. My goal is to be an example I can be proud of one that my son will be proud of when he is older.

Another thing I caught myself doing is searching for people I knew "back then" that I haven't talked to or seen in forever. It's funny, if you've found yourself doing the same thing you may have done what I did and searched for a former flame. I like to think that every relationship teaches you something about yourself (and others). Every relationship I had before the most important one (the one that I can't live with out and wouldn't want to) brought me to where I am. The "one" I thought I would end up with in high school seems to have a very successful business and a happy family. So in other words: he's made it in this world. And looking back at the things I learned from him - I wish nothing but the best for him and his family. I just had to laugh at myself actually searching for him. (I'm still giggling actually at the silliness of it all).

I feel like this blog post is all rambling - but then again... isn't that some of the most interesting conversations - the one that jump from one thing to another? ;) Have fun rambling with the one you love!

It's all in the little things

So we went by the commissary this morning after dropping Daddy off at work. (We have to go back to the hangar once Fed Ex shows up with my package from Grammie - things we left at the Ranch - you know like my Wii!! to take Daddy the lunch he forgot.) At the commissary, Jr decided the only thing that was going to keep him from grousing the entire time was the bag of coffee I had just ground. Hmm.. Jr sucking/chewing on a bag of fresh ground coffee... not my ideal item to keep him entertained. (it was 1/2 decaf for those wondering..) So what did we do? We substituted it with a can of corn. He held the corn the ENTIRE trip through. Even out to the truck. The entire ride home. Even on the short walk from the truck to the apartment, where he promptly deposited it over the baby gate in the kitchen and then took off to play with his toys. The things that intrest him!

It's amazing how much he has learned since we moved back to Texas. He now signs "done" when we ask him if he's finished eating. He also has said "hello", "bye", "hat" and "cat" (both only once). I've noticed that when Chris and I are both home he tends to use more words then when it's just the two of us.

I have learned though, that it's not all about the toys, or even the things you think you are teaching your child but the small interactions that mean so much. Often much more then you think they do. The holding on to your neck when he wakes up, the mimicing of a parent by attempting to wear their shoes, or just a simple smile in response to something mommy or daddy says. All those are the smallest treasures that unfortunately the only picture you can take of it, is in your own mind to remember for the rest of your life.

What's made you smile today?