New bowling shoes

If you follow the blog you know that Jake likes to bowl and it was one of the final carrots we could dangle in fromt of him to get him potty trained.  The place near our house is pretty good but half of the fees are actually shoe rentals.  After a while I decided to buy some shoes to cut down on the continuing costs.  His shoes arrived two days ago and last night we took him bowling again.  He also likes to copy any older kid and a few weeks ago he starting trying to roll the ball like older kids (and adults) do.  This actually has significantly increased his score as you can see from the pictures at the 9th and 10th frames.  You can see that not only did jake get two strikes and two spares in the first 5 frames but we were tied going into the 9th frame.  I am an increadibly erratic bowler and will bowl anywhere from 100's to 190.  Unfortunately jake was getting so enthusiastic around the 6th frame he was almost throwing the ball into the the adjacent lane.  I had to stop him and this made him start rolling the differently without much force.  (good thing or he probably would have won).  People started coming by and giving me a hard time about losing to Jake before the 9th frame.  Fortunately for me I survived with my ego intact and won out by 1 point.

Sam is 5 months old!

Well, actually Sam was 5 months old 2 weeks ago, but this picture was actually taken on December 4th. He has been interacting a lot, definitely expresses discontent when he drops his toys or you don't feed him fast enough. He's doing well with rice cereal. I haven't quite moved onto veggies yet. He is sleeping really well since we returned from San Antonio, about 10 hours most nights. He laughs at Jake and Daddy. He is cuddly and smiles with me. Happy 5 months, Sam!

Back home again.

Well the trip is over.  After a 16 hour marathon drive fueled by red bull and coffee we made it back today.  We spent the last two weeks in San Antonio for the CCC (non-important army acronym).  We had to bring the entire family with us or else do the course some other time in the future which could mean 3 months of separation instead of two weeks.  Thanks to Heather and Grammie Kris the kids both had fun down there while Mandy and I were in class.  It was strange putting on my uniform again for the first time in 18 months to remind me that I am in the Army still.  Even better was the PT test at 0420 in the frigid temperatures....
It was great reuniting with so many of our old friends from medical school and residency as well as making some new connections.  After all the stress and preparation for the trip I am glad I got to do it and no longer need to worry about it.


Jake and his new favorite helicopter the "Huey"



This was from a fe weeks ago but I just found it again and its too cute not to put it in.

Happy Birthday Jake

Yesterday was the official 3rd birthday for Jake even though we had a party for him last week.  It was a beautiful day outside so we took a trip to the zoo.  They have a nice kid zone with a petting zoo, Carousel, and train that runs around the whole area.  He got an unlimited pass and we spent 90% of the time just doing the rides.  Add a cheeseburger and cotton candy for lunch and you have a 3-year-old's dream day.  Sam was great the whole time and they both took a good nap once we came home.  Tom-Tom expect a binky coming in the mail, Jake will miss it but it had to be done.  In other news the little scooter that he got a few months ago is now one of favorite outside toys.  I figured it would be a while before he would develop the coordination to ride it but he is so far doing well.  I included the video to show grandma since he remembers who gave it to him.  Thank you to all who sent presents, we hope to get cards out soon.

Sam is close to rolling over from back to front, I expect the event to happen soon so stay tuned for video updates.

Who is this Kid?

Jake and I went for a haircut on Sunday and after I brought him home I couldn't help but noticec how different he suddenly looked. Kind of like after his first haircut when Mandy came home. I decided that I would not cut his hair while Mandy was in Afghanistan so she could be home for his first haircut. He immediately went from looking like a baby to a toddler. This one seemed almost as dramatic where he truly seems more like a little boy.

He also figured out how to take a picture with my blackberry without putting his finger over the camera lens or pointing the camera in the wrong direction. Yes the picture of me (taken by Jake) is a little blurry but blame the camera not the operator on this one.

Sam is 4 months old!

Sam is 4 months old this week, which is tough to believe! He's been so cute lately and reminds me of why I love the 4-6 month age. He does this cooing/talking/smiling/laughing thing that is so cute. He also grabs and rakes toys or your finger with his hands. We'll post a video sometime soon! He also is sleeping more and on a relatively good schedule. He's very portable and doesn't try to escape from anything. We are very thankful for him! Jake is just excited that he'll have someone to wrestle with! Happy 4th month, Baby Sam!

The Halloween Post

Jake and Sam had their first Halloween together and both were spooky bats.  Sam stayed home to hand out candy to the trick or treaters while Jake and I and a couple other neighbor kids went out for the halloween loot.

Actual quote from Jake:  "Look at me I'm a bat I'm really cute!"

Yes it definitely scored him some extra treats last night and he filled his bucket after only one street.





I couldn't decide whether to do the scary tree or bat this year so I put one of

each on either side







The tree on the back