PeePee in the Potty!!

Just wanted to make the proud announcement that Brian went peepee in the potty tonight for the first time! We are not actively potty training, but he knows all about the potty and it's always there for him to try. He asks to use it every night before and after his bath for the past few weeks. One less pee diaper for me to change, yay!!! Steve's reaction was a little sadness at his baby becoming a big boy and he said "it will just be a few more days and he'll be out getting a job!" I'm not sure how peeing in the potty qualifies a 2.5 year old as employable but I think he meant that Brian is growing up so fast.

Father's Day

The Boys on Dad's Day

We enjoyed a quiet Father's Day weekend thanks to something called Strep Throat. Brian came down with a cold mid-week and I knew something wasn't right on thursday night when he wouldn't swallow any solid foods, even his favorites like cookies or Dora the Explorer cereal. I got him into the doctor on friday, thinking they would tell me I'm overreacting, but turns out he had come down with Strep, and I'm so glad I didn't wait til monday to take him to the doctor! He still has a little cough and runny nose but he started sleeping and eating again yesterday, just in time to hit the pool and go out to dinner for Father's Day. The boys even managed to squeeze in a few "bebeep" ATV rides. Brian is really enjoying his diet of ice cream and popsicles and Steve is trying to keep up with him in the ice cream department. On our way out for dinner last night we stopped by the giant Cabela's sporting goods store near us, which I thought I'd have no interest in at all, but it was actually super cool, lots of wildlife (dead and stuffed) and a waterfall and an airplane. Brian was really excited about the whole thing and even tried counting all the "deeeeers" on the walls. He can count to two a million or so times, "one, two, one, two, one, two!" His vocabulary has really exploded this week, he's trying all sorts of new words, some of my favorites are "hoooo" (hole), "bockzzzz" (blocks), "beesball" (baseball), and "nuts!" (telling us we are nuts). And he's coming home from preschool with more than just strep throat, he's started singing a few new songs that he learned there and says he likes playing with balls at school and that he has to "seat," which means they are teaching him he has to sit down for snack time, story time, craft time, etc. That's hard for him because he's the energizer bunny and only Dora the Explorer can capture his attention for longer than a few seconds!

Look at that big grin!!

A jewelry thief caught red-handed while I was showering last week! He tries on my jewelry all the time but this is the first time I caught him on film!

Weekend Pictures

This weekend we spent two nights at the JW Marriot resort in Scottsdale with our new squadron, the Ducks. Our honorary squadron commander hosted a party at his mansion thursday night. Brian loved running around in his backyard, he has every single toy a boy could want--trampoline, pool, swingset, tennis court, basketball hoop, and on and on. Brian spent the better part of an hour jumping on the trampoline! The next day Steve had golfing and meetings so Brian and I lounged poolside most of the day. It was a nice relaxing trip and we got to meet some of our new squadron mates.

Lounging in bed, watching Sesame Street

Going out to dinner, Brian was not in a picture taking mood

I was there too!

Steve's birthday (sitting in his present). We went to the community pool and ate lunch and dinner out. Brian and Steve went on a "bebeeep" ride in the new thing. I made a cake and homemade ice cream, yum!

The cake--his birthday is on flag day

First Day of Preschool

Brian had his first day of preschool today. He's attending a summer session 2 mornings a week for 3 weeks to see how it goes and if he likes it, he will continue on in the fall. He told me he had fun, there was no crying, and he was covered in glitter glue when I picked him up, so it sounds like his first day went great!

Gotta have a big boy "bap-bap" (backpack)

Ran out of "cheese" for the camera by this point

An Unauthorized Pool Guest

This morning while Brian and I were eating breakfast (pancakes and bananas in case you were wondering) I looked out the window and saw a little bunny sitting atop one of our solar pool rings, obviously not enjoying his morning swim. I immediately called upstairs for our resident baby animal rescuer, Daddy. Although he was not super excited about getting up to save a baby bunny, I reminded him that he would have to remove the bunny's body from the pool later today if he didn't save it now. That was motivation enough, and Daddy was outside saving the adorable little bunny within minutes. The bunny is cold and in shock and hiding under a bush in the backyard right now, hopefully he can recover from his swim soon (before that rattlesnake comes back at least!)

Enter Daddy, the baby animal rescuer

The little guy being rescued

Ten Years Ago Today...

June 2nd, 1999

...Steve graduated from the Air Force Academy and was commissioned into the Air Force! Wow, it seems like just yesterday but also seems like so long ago! In the ten years since this picture was taken we've lived on three different continents, in two foreign countries (Germany and Korea), four U.S. states (CA, MS, AZ times two, and SC), survived three deployments to the Middle east and one year-long unnacompanied assignment, and had one beautiful little boy. Well, ten years down and ten more to go until retirement from the Air Force! I wonder what the next ten years will bring!