i hate doing this...

I really do try to update the blog regularly, but alas, I have failed miserably over the last few weeks. CJ's newest desire is to be carried around all the time. He is becoming so curious and sitting still and looking at the same thing just won't do anymore. Also, he is a very light napper. He needs a comfy set of arms to fall asleep in and when you try to put him down during the day, he usually wakes up. All this has left a mama with no time to do things during the day except enjoy her little man. And with Scott in school, he has been in the field for weeks at a time, he leaves for work around 4:30 in the morning and comes home between 6:30 and 7:00 at night. So, blogging has fallen though the cracks...forgive me and enjoy the many posts below...

my newest trick

CJ finally figured out how to get his thumb in his mouth and keep it there (for the most part). For about a month, you could tell by watching him he was trying to figure it out. He has almost stopped stabbing himself in the eye with his thumb, and this weekend he started to figure out how to get his thumb in his mouth, keep it there, and tuck the other four fingers into a fist so they didn't go up his nose and in his eyes. When you think about all that goes into thumb sucking, it really is a lot to coordinate. The only time it is bad is when he is going to sleep. He is a baby who needs to suck to go to sleep, so when is is falling asleep, we give him his pacifier. But now when he is almost asleep, he tries to stick his thumb in his mouth with his nook, and it is just a disaster. It usually ends in frustrated crying and flying nooks. He'll get it all figured out eventually though.

auntie juila

CJ loves his Auntie Julia almost as much as his mama does. Julz is our really good friend from Japan, and she came to see for a few days while she was back in the states. It was so great to have her around us again. It was easy to fall back into the rhythm being together again. There are few people in this world that you can be 100% yourself around, 100% of the time, and Julz is one of those people for us. She knows us, good and bad. She started out a friend and ended up family. I even let her was my dishes and put them away in my cabinets; in fact she is the only person besides me that I completely trust with this task. She is a one-in-a-million friend and we love her and can't wait for her to get back to America so we can see her more often.

harley ride...finally

It has been so long since I had a chance to ride with Scott. When I was pregnant, I didn't ride, and since we have been in Georgia, we don't really trust Connor to babysit yet. With Julz here this weekend and nice weather, we took an hour long ride this morning. We ended up in FDR state park. And for those of you stationed overseas who watch AFN, it is really close to "the little white house." :) We plan on touring it some day since we saw it so many times on TV. It was a beautiful morning, and we couldn't help but stop and take a picture. To this day, almost every day I drive on the highway, I am struck by how beautiful all the green is. I told Scott this morning, "this is definitely not Japan." Thanks Julz!

we have another pet

When we met the people who used to live in our house, they mentioned they used to have a pet turtle in the back yard. But, when they put a new roof on the house, they thought the contractors let him out. This weekend we got quite a surprise, Mr. Turtle is back (and probably never went anywhere because our back yard it totally fenced in). Connor was at the back door with her hackels up and she was starting intently at the ground outside. I thought there must me a bug or a squirrel out there, but it was Mr. Turtle. We have had fun with his this weekend. For some reason he has been hiding for a few months, but he decided to make his presence known this weekend. He kept coming up on the patio and then would run off. We haven't decided on a name yet...still thinking on that one.

changing table time

CJ loves to hang out on his changing table. It cracks me up. We sing and play before, after and during diaper changes. It is one of my favorite times of the day to spend with him because of the adorable smiles he gives me. He is even starting to laugh a little. It isn't a full on laugh yet, but it is more of a big gasp and a big grin. I LOVE IT!

i like my papa!

hetzel men hard at work

CJ had fun helping dad and papa with yard work last weekend. After spending the previous week with his mom, nanny, granny and Aunt Carla, and over the weekend at home his other nanny wouldn't let him out of her sight, he was glad to get some dude time.

me hold my own hand

When I was little, I didn't want to hold anyone's hand in the toy store. I told them, "Me hold my own hand." CJ takes after his mama...

my nanny can make me smile!

CJ loves to play with his Nanny. Whenever she holds him or talks to him, he just smiles and talks to her. I love how much he loves her.

2 months

What better present could a little boy ask for than to see his Granny (my mom), meet his Nanny (my mom's mom), and his Aunt Carla (my mom's sister) on his 2 month birthday? After being in the car for almost 8 hours, he was melting down the closer we got to Nanny's house. I was so worried he would cry when he met Nanny, but as soon as he saw her, he started grinning from ear to ear! He liked his Nanny and Aunt Carla...I think they made the long trip worth it. Happy Birthday baby!

scott's been busy

After living in older, military housing for the last 5 years, we have become very accustomed to hardwood floors. We found beautiful, wide plank, dark wood flooring, and Scott is working on installing it throughout the house. He pulled up the laminate floors from the kitchen, the carpet from the office, living room, and hallway, and the tile from the entry way. After all that, he had to rent a machine to level the concrete - hard work! He has been busy making a mess the last few weeks, but this week, he started laying flooring. Yeah! He plans on being finished with what he has torn up by the end of next week. I can't wait to see how beautiful it will look; he is doing a great job. And doesn't he look cute while he is doing it?!?