the river walk...

Downtown Columbus is our new favorite place. We finally found a good Mexican restaurant, there are fun shops and coffee houses, and the River Walk is beautiful. We have been a few times recently, and here are a few pictures.

View from the River Walk...

And my favorite...Can you tell the like each other? I wish you could have heard CJ's shreaks of joy as he ran to his daddy. We had dinner in the park and then had a nice walk along the river. Such a nice evening...

flat rock park...

We have a great park right around the corner from our house. One afternoon last week, we went with the whole family for a bit of fun.

CJ found lots of treasures...

Connor had lots of fun in the water...

And daddy and CJ got pretty far out in the water! This is quite an accomplishment for our little man. While he loves the bath tub, the cold running water in the park usually leads to tears. When they came, daddy and CJ went to the sand to play some more.

We also learned a great teething lesson this day. If your child is about to cut a tooth, if they chew on a piece of granite they find at the park, that tooth will be through in no time!

national infantry museum...

We have been so blessed to have Scott home for as long as we have. Scott and I were ready for him to check into his unit in January and to catch up to the rest of his unit that is already deployed by mid-February. Then February turned into March, March to April, and April to May. Just as it seemed certain he was flying "on or about May 10th" as his orders stated, that changed to the 19th. And just as we were ready for him to leave on the 19th, it was moved again to June. It has been a roller coaster of emotions getting ready to say goodbye, and then having him for another month, week, ect. But I will gladly take the roller coaster and have my honey home as long as I can.

Last week, as we were getting ready for him to leave again, we spent a day playing around Columbus. The National Infantry Museum is right outside Ft. Benning as we have wanted to go since we have been here. It was amazing. The complex is beautiful and the way the history of the infantry is laid out could not have been done better. It was haunting to hear a Vietnam vet tell a group of students that their freedom is not free. That he fought for it and he had 40+ friends whose names are on the Vietnam Wall who died for it. He was taking them through a section of the museum that mimics the feeling and sounds of trench warfare during World War I. He told them how the soldiers feet literally rotted from all the water in the trenches and how some were shell shocked from the constant bombardment of mortar shells. He told them never to discount what those who went before them paid for them. It was humbling, and I confess, I had tears in my eyes as he talked. I am so proud of what our soldiers do, and I know the vast majority of Americans have no idea what they go through and what their families go through. I am so blessed to be part of that 1% who know first hand.

But I digress. Here is the outside of the museum...

They had this fun area where kids could dress up like a soldier. Do you think a face this sweet could be a drill sergeant one day?

And as soon as Scott saw this he said, "Why haven't we done this at home?" I love the boots!!!

And doesn't he look adorable driving this WWII Jeep?

Naaayah...

Last night I was making dinner, and I heard a very pronounced "naaayah" echoing in the back yard. I know this sound well; I hear it countless times a day. It is how CJ says, "This (fill in the blank) is frustrating me!" I looked out the window, and here is what I saw...

Obviously, the frustrating thing at the moment was daddy. CJ doesn't like to walk on the grass barefoot, and Scott put all his favorite outside treasures in the grass hoping to lure CJ out for a closer look.

He stood and said, "naayah" for a long time.

Then daddy even tried to lure him with a stick...the treasure of all treasures. You can see him lifting his foot, wanting to get off the patio so badly.

Then finally with a little help from daddy, he took to step into the itchy, scratchy grass.

And CJ emerged victorious with bubbles!

early birthday celebration...

Please accept my apologies for not blogging the past two weeks. We have lots of fun things to share!

After returning from St. Augustine, we took it easy for a day, and then went into high gear getting ready for almost the whole family to come for CJ's dedication/birthday celebration. We had lots of fun last weekend with everyone, and I promise, if you keep reading through this long post...it will be worth it!

My mom, Scott's mom and dad, Scott's brother Bud, his wife Balenda and Kayley, Lexi, and Jayden (3 of thier 6 kids!) all came on Friday. CJ had lots of fun playing with Kayley and Lexi. If you can't see it, you should click on this picture because Kayley has chalk on her nose from where CJ drew on her-so cute! He loved playing in the dive way with them. I have loved looking at their pictures even after they left...

He loved Kayley reading to him...

And had lots of fun playing ball with Lexi...

Then on Saturday morning, we went to a flea market. It was super sketchy. Lesson learned. After lunch we headed to Flat Rock Park. It is right by our house, and we love to play there. I wish, wish, wish I had a video of Scott sliding down this rock. It was HILAROUS! If you don't try to slow yourself down, you will keep sliding and smash into a rock wall...so watching a grown man, who is very dense (if you haven't heard his tirade on this, don't get him started!), try to control his slide was priceless. He was in prime position to catch Kayley...

And then they both caught Lexi...

The girls, Scott and Bud had lots of fun. They stayed for about 2 hours after the rest of us left with the babies.

Jayden had a blast. He just splashed and splashed his little feet in the water. And he would smile soooo big.

CJ on the other hand needed some convincing. The water was a little cold and the rocks were slippery so he couldn't get his footing.

As long as he was in daddy's arms, he was OK though...

The rest of the day was spent visiting and eating. We all turned in early because we were meeting back at our house at 9:00 the next morning for CJ's dedication at church. My dad finally made in in early Sunday morning about 1 am! It was great to see them all Sunday morning. The Krispy Kreme doughnuts weren't bad either! (thanks dad!)

Here's our cute little family before the service. CJ is in another Gran-original. He looked precious.

All the kids who were dedicated received a storybook bible. CJ loves looking at the pictures, and I can't wait to read to him more.

When we got home, CJ crashed, and while he was sleeping, we set up to party. Kayley, Lexi, Papa and Gran were on streamer duty, Granddad took care of the balloons, and Nanny and Gran took care of CJ once he got up before we were ready to start eating. All we had to wait on was Uncle Richard, Aunt Krista, Natalie and Nathan to get in from Tennessee. Once they got there, the festivities began...

I think the most fun part of the weekend came early in the party. CJ opened a very special present from his mom and dad...

Why is Bobbie hugging me and Lexi grinning?

Why is everyone smiling and are little girls gasping?

Why do both my parents have wide open mouths?

Because this is what mom and dad got CJ! If you can't read his shirt, it says "Big Brother To Be." That's right boys and girls...I'm pregnant again! Don't worry, we had to try for years for the first one, but CJ will be 19 months (just barely) when #2 is born. We are so very excited!

Since CJ was in the present opening groove...we continued onward. He got so many fun things and has loved playing with his new big boy toys.

Then it was finally time for big people to eat. Since we were all preoccupied with eating, CJ took a moment to chill out. He's not used to all the craziness, and I think the baby announcement and all the attention while he opened presents got him a little overwhelmed. For some reason, he loves this rug. We bought it for Connor to sit on while she guards the neighborhood from the garbage men and mail men, but CJ has claimed it as his "alone spot." And the poor little guy needed a little alone time! He was happy as a clam all by himself...

Then it was time for more craziness. Granddad held CJ while we all sang happy birthday.

And he got his very own special cupcake. I wish I had a picture of all the cupcakes Kayley and Lexi decorated, but the disappeared fast!

CJ made fast work of his cupcake as well!

"All done," he said.

We had a great weekend and were so blessed to have family there to celebrate it with us.

And we have anther piece of fun news...Scott will be home for CJ's actual first birthday on June 1st! His deployment orders said he would leave "on or about the 10th of May" so we expected him to be gone over a week ago. This changed to the 19th of May and just this week changed to after Memorial Day weekend! We feel so blessed with this extra time.