THE ROSSOW LIFE

Transition Time

2011-08-18T14:02:00.000-06:00

The last couple of weeks have been a little hectic. My mom flew down to Columbus last Thursday so she could help get the boys and myself ready to come to Missouri for a little while before the big move. We decided that we would head to Missouri to spend some time with family while Drew finishes his class and organizes the movers, etc. We did this when we moved to Georgia from Colorado and it worked well. It's a little hard on Drew being apart from the boys but it gives all the grandparents some time with the kids and we're not in the way while the movers are there.

So, we packed the car up and drove to Memphis on Saturday. We were able to spend some time with Drew's sister, Kristen, and her family in the evening. Luke had fun with playing in the kiddie pool and playing baseball with his aunt and uncle. It was great to see everyone but the time was so short. Wish we could see them again soon, but it will have to wait until Christmas. We drove from Memphis to Joplin on Sunday. It was a long two days of driving, especially for Luke. He sure was happy to get to Nana and Papa's and run around in the backyard. Levi was unbelievably good on the trip. We really are blessed he's such a happy and content little guy 99% of the time.

We've been pretty much relaxing at Nana and Papa's for now. We're trying to get Levi fully recovered from croup and trying to get the kids on some kind of routine on Central Time. My brother was able to come for a little while yesterday and today. It was great to see him before he makes his big move down to Florida. The boys and I are going to see Grandma and Grandpa in Stockton for the next few days and then stop in Springfield to see Uncle Jon and Aunt Carrie for an afternoon.

We're in the area until mid-September and hope to see a lot of family and friends. It seems like we'll be here for a long time right now, but it always feels so short when it's all done. Drew will get here about September 8 and have some time to spend with everyone before we head to California. I don't know that I'll have access to all of our pictures from the past few months to continue updating the blog. I was hoping to have it all caught up by now, but that's just the way things happen. If I find the time and photos, perhaps I'll get things rolling. If not, we'll get to it when we get to it.

Easter Time

2011-08-10T17:22:00.001-06:00

Here are a few pictures from around Easter.

Luke was excited at church on Palm Sunday since he got to keep a Palm branch. He carried it around for days and called it his "Palm Sunday", but we finally had to toss it. He still asks about it sometimes when we go to the dumpster at the apartment complex.

The day before Easter we went on post for an Easter egg hunt with our friends. We decided to all go bowling afterwards. It was Luke's first time bowling at he liked it, at least for the first few frames. He then got distracted by the arcade games. They even had cute little bowling shoes in his size!

I made sugar cookies with Luke that evening. They didn't turn out exactly

right, but Luke had fun making them and eating them.

On actual Easter we went to church for the sunrise service. Our church has a little outdoor worship area where they had the service. It reminded me of having devotions outside at summer camp.

They have the tradition of breakfast after service and then decorating the cross with flowers.

This was an unsuccessful attempt at a family photo

Levi was a little more cooperative

We gave Luke his basket later in the afternoon.

We tried to get a picture of the boys together. Here are some of our masterpieces.

We obviously were not having the best day or attitudes for pictures!

We got together with a great bunch of Army people for Easter

dinner. It was fantastic but I don't have any pictures.

(April 17-24, 2011)

Wild Animal Safari

2011-08-10T17:02:00.000-06:00

There's a drive through animal park nearby. We went up there one morning and had a blast. The animals come right up to the car and/or stick their heads in the car for you to feed them. They have no regard for personal property so we rented one of their minivans to drive. It was from about 1984 and barely ran. I can't imagine the herd of animals that would have attacked the van had it broken down. We sure laughed a lot and got some really great pictures.

My favorite picture BY FAR!

This makes you feel safe...

They also had a really nice walk through area that was like a little zoo.

Evidently Ligers do exist!

Luke is OBSESSED with gates. Doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing,

he's always more captivated by the gates than anything else.

Drew taught Luke how to eat honeysuckle.

Luke picked out a safari hat when we were done at the park. He loves it.

(April 22, 2011)

Randoms

2011-08-07T15:24:00.000-06:00

Here are some random pictures that didn't make it into the previous posts.

(March 2011)

Savannah Weekend

2011-08-07T15:02:00.002-06:00

On another long weekend we decided to go to Savannah/Tybee Island, GA. We decided to spend the first night by the beach at Tybee Island so Luke could see the ocean for the first time. It was pretty chilly that evening so he had to play in his pants and long sleeved t-shirt. He still managed to have fun, of course. We drove into Savannah the next morning. The weather was perfect that day and we really just walked around town all day. We decided to go on this trip very last minute so we didn't plan ahead very well. If we had, I'm sure we would've had more of a checklist of particular things to do/see.

Luke spent a good portion of time chasing and yelling at all the birds.

One things we tried to do in Savannah was go eat at Lady & Sons Restaurant, which is Paula Deen's restaurant. You have to go in the morning and stand in line to make reservations for later in the day. We got there decently early and I stood in line for about an hour but wasn't able to get a lunch reservation. The only thing they had open by the time I got to the front was for 8:30 that night. We were planning on heading home way before then. Oh well. I have her cookbook that has most of the restaurant's recipes in it, so we'll just have to call that good enough.

Here's the line to get your reservations and I was nowhere near the end of the line. Maybe next time!

I kind of wish we would've taken a trip around downtown in one of these.

We started our little journey in the middle of downtown and just walked for blocks and

blocks looking at all the architecture, trees, and flowers.

About every two to three blocks there were little parks scattered. Most had some

sort of historical marker or memorial in them.

The park where they filmed the bench scenes of Forrest Gump is in Savannah. They

have since moved the bench due to vandalism, etc but this is where it originally was.

We chose another bench inside the park to take a picture for memory's sake.

There were also many viewings of this sight around town. He was such a

champ walking around in the stroller for so long.

We hope our travels bring us back at some point. We would love

to explore the city and its history some more.

(March 25-26, 2011)

Doughnuts and Firetrucks

2011-08-05T20:22:00.048-06:00

We took Luke to Krispy Kreme for the first time in March. We took Levi too, but he didn't exactly get to partake. It's not that we eat doughnuts often, but we knew Luke would enjoy seeing the doughnuts being made and going down the "assembly line".

Later that day, we went to an open house at the airport fire rescue facility. They have a really nice facility off to the side of the airport. They let us tour the building, try on fire suits, see various vehicles on display, honk the horn on the fire truck, and spray a fire hose. Luke had a ball and still talks about it when we drive by the airport.

As most anyone knows, kids find the oddest things the most interesting. For some reason Luke

loves looking down grates whenever he sees them. These were inside the firetruck bay for the water

to run off into and he was way more interested in that than putting on the fireman suit. We had to

stop several times to look at them.

(March 12, 2010)

Atlanta Weekend

2011-08-05T20:15:00.001-06:00

We took a weekend trip to Atlanta back in February on one of Drew's four day weekends. Our agenda included the zoo, the children's museum and the aquarium. The weather was perfect and it was a lot of fun. Our first stop was the zoo on Friday.

This kangaroo was just too much for me. I could just imagine it saying "How YOU doin'".

The only reason we took this picture of the goats in the petting zoo was the middle one was the goat version of Roxie. It had the same coloring, had short legs, a long body, and just looked kind of dopey trotting along.

This panda was so chill eating its bamboo. We found out from a zoo worker

that there are only three zoos in the U.S. that have pandas.

Of course one of Luke's favorite things was the train. Say "choo choo"!

We have no idea why it's called Zoo Atlanta and not the other way around.

We spent one night in a hotel while we were there. We stayed at Drury because we like all the perks and it didn't disappoint. In addition to the regular perks of free snacks/soda, dinner, hot breakfast, cocktails and the pool, we got a free upgrade when we arrived. The extra room was definitely appreciated! We've already looked ahead to see if there are Drurys we can stay at on our trip to California and there are! The free cocktails might be really useful after 10-12 hour rides alone with the kids for three days!

First thing in the morning we headed to the children's museum. It and the aquarium were across the street from each other. The museum was not what we expected and it was way too expensive for what you get. Luke did have some fun, so I guess that's what's it's all about.

We headed to the aquarium early afternoon. Big mistake. We totally should have gone there first. I have no idea what we were thinking. It's the largest aquarium in the world and always super busy and it was Saturday. To say that is was packed is an understatement. It's an awesome place but it was hard to enjoy when you were shoulder-to-shoulder with people the entire time. We also had our stroller because we couldn't find our front carrier when we got to Georgia. Ugh, it makes me so claustrophobic just thinking about it again. It is worth the experience and money though, but if we ever go again it will definitely be on a weekday morning.

(February 18-19, 2011)

Luke's Interests for the Moment

2011-08-02T22:20:00.003-06:00

Luke is obviously at the age where discovery and learning are top priorities. It's so fun to see him light up when he's doing something or learning something he really enjoys. These interests of course change quite often but here are a few of his favorites from earlier this year.

This boy LOVES puzzles. He amazes us with how fast he puts them together. My mom had bought him this puzzle of the United States for when he got a little older. He asked to play with it back in February and the little stinker has most of the states memorized. It's so funny what they decide to concentrate on and learn.

He likes to be in the kitchen helping me cook. His attention span is still a little short so he just helps me in little spurts for now.

We set our little laptop up so we could Skype with Nana and Papa. Here he's trying to feed Nana Froot Loops through the screen.

He still loves the water and swimming

He started the hiding/fort stage that is mandatory for all boys

It's hard to tell what this picture is, but Luke became obsessed with traffic signals. We let him push one when we were walking somewhere at some point. After that experience, he would ask to stop and push every single button. Almost every stoplight in Columbus has the "yellow boxes" so we were constantly hearing "I want to push the button, let me push the button" for months. He was being a particularly good boy when Drew actually pulled over in a parking lot so they could get out and push the button. I just had to try to get a picture.

As I said above, he loves water. Even if it's just looking at a creek or lake, he's fascinated. The excitement level is obviously kicked up a notch when he gets to play in the water. Columbus had awesome parks so he was able to be around water a lot.

He has loved planes for a long time and talks about going back to the air show often. He can see airplanes way off in the distance way before we can.

Luke became very interested in Waffle House while we were in Georgia. We have gone maybe two times in his life, but he started pointing out every sign for Waffle House wherever we went. Imagine his excitement when there was a Waffle House booth at the air show! He carried around the pencil they gave him for days.

Luke loves his tools and fixing things. Here he's trying to fix Drew's toes.

And yes, he mentions Waffle House in the video. Sorry it's sideways.

On a roadtrip, Luke needed to potty and the rest stop was closed. So Drew taught him what boys do when this happens. Luke asked to "pee pee on the grass" for weeks after this.

Baby Milestones

2011-08-02T21:41:00.001-06:00

It goes without saying that kids grow fast. The last few months have really flown by. Here are a few things Levi was up to at about three months old.

Taking baths in the tub and loving it, after being a bit surprised the first time.

Trying rice cereal for the first time and kind of digging it

Trying baby food for the first time and not minding it at all. I think this boy's going to be a big eater like his brother. I can't imagine how much food these boys will go through when they're teenagers.

Luke started wanting to help with Levi a little bit around the same time.

He started to smile and interact a little more

He started sitting up with support

He started grasping his toys

He was able to stay upright in his exersaucer and play

Laughing Boys

2011-08-02T21:13:00.002-06:00

One perk of having kids is hearing their laughter. There's nothing much better than that. Luke has always been a pretty loud kid and has always laughed really easily and really hard. Here's a video from February of him and Drew in the pool at a hotel.

Levi is a little more reserved so far but does give us sweet giggles when he feels like it. Here's the first video we have of him laughing at Drew, also from February.

Getting Settled in Georgia

2011-07-31T20:51:00.004-06:00

We arrived to Columbus, GA on December 29 and spent most of January getting settled. I found my way to the grocery store, shopping center, and Target (priorities, right?). I worked on my new role as a stay-at-home mom (I still am) and worked on getting Levi on a schedule somewhat. Luke worked on getting used to being a big brother and learning what big brothers do. I think Levi learned he was really stuck with us as his family. Drew learned all about being in the Army (or something like that). We learned to make Georgia feel like home as much as was possible.

We found a great little Christian school pretty close to our home and decided to send Luke 2-3 days a week to keep him on a schedule, keep him socialized, etc. They sent a folder home every weekend with "homework" in it. I just had to take a picture of his first homework.

We took Luke to the Space Center here it town. He loved to play on the simulators but he also got to see his first IMAX movie. It was about the stars and it was set in Sesame Street. Pretty cute stuff.

Luke still didn't want to make physical contact with Levi at this point.

We were driving around one of our first days in Columbus and saw this sign. Awesome.

There is this cute little restaurant close to Columbus. It's called The Farmhouse and it's in a little old house in the country. It's real home cooking and only open on Fridays and Saturdays. They also have animals and gardens on the property. It's a really neat place to go. One of the funnest things we've done in Georgia is finding interesting eateries. I feel a future post about it all coming eventually.

A favorite place of ours became Callaway Gardens. We first discovered it in January. It was a little cold on our first trip but we went many times while in Georgia. It's a huge nature reserve with lakes, a beach, trails, a butterfly house, and much more. It was always free for military families and was a nice place to go to get away for a while. They'll be future posts about it as well I'm sure.

When we found out we would be going to Georgia for a little while, we had a goal of getting out and doing lots of things as a family. It seemed like we were never able to get away in Colorado much due to Drew's job and we regret not experiencing a lot of things while there. We knew Drew's schedule would be pretty easy and predictable at Ft. Benning so we really wanted to take advantage of some leisure time. After settling in, we think we did a pretty good job in the months to follow of being adventurous in Georgia.

(January 2011)

December 2010

2011-07-31T19:38:00.002-06:00

Practically all of December was spent in Joplin/Stockton. Drew spent the first part of the month in Colorado finishing things up with work and prepping for the move. He stopped in Missouri for a few days and then drove to meet the movers down in Georgia to get moved in. He then flew back to Missouri to spend Christmas and a few more days of leave. Since he left his vehicle in Georgia, we were able to all drive down together as a family for the long drive to Columbus. It's SO much easier when we're able to travel in one car together (we're definitely not looking forward to that part when we make our trip to California in September).

We rented an apartment in Georgia since we were only going to be there for a few months. We would prefer it to be our last stay in an apartment ever. There are perks, but we have found it to be more of a nuisance for many reasons. Drew's parents kept Roxie for us while we're away and my parents kept Rico. It was so nice to be able to leave the pets there so we wouldn't have to pay a ridiculous amount in pet deposits and worry about dog barks/howls in an apartment.

Here are some highlights from December:

The boys and I were able to visit my friend Erika. Luke didn't find Mom and Erika yapping for a few hours to be too entertaining. He fell asleep under the tree.

I love this picture of Luke because he's actually smiling. He almost never smiles for pictures anymore. I don't love this picture because he's got the horrible chapped face/chin we dealt with all winter long.

While we were in Joplin, Luke "helped" a lot around the kitchen at Nana and Papa's. I'm not sure eating out of the serving dish before we sat down for dinner constitutes as helping, but we're all family, right?

Helping Papa feed the puppy dogs

My grandma and aunt were able to come down from Nebraska in early December to visit and to meet Levi. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to recover those photos from the camera fiasco. It's always great to see them. We sure wished we lived closer to be able to see them more often.

We always have a list of things we want to make sure we do when we're "back home". This trip back it was Bass Pro and Lambert's. Who knows what we'll decide we can't live without next time.

This is totally random, but there's this little church somewhere in between Springfield and Stockton that still has outhouses. I finally stopped and took a picture. At least they are very nice outhouses, being gender specific and providing privacy!

We were able to celebrate in Stockton the weekend before Christmas. Drew's brother and his family were there and we had a lot of fun with them.

Luke was obsessed with Grandma's train set

Opening presents with cousin Avery

I found a Nancy Pelosi book on the clearance rack for a buck. Drew was less than amused by my gag gift.

Luke and Avery had a lot of fun together and maybe made just a little bit of trouble. Next year's Christmas should be really interesting with all 10 grandkids there.

Tractor rides and/or golf cart rides are a must when we're at Grandpa's

We spent actual Christmas in Joplin with my parents. My brother was able to come down so that was great to see him. Drew's parents were able to come down and eat Christmas dinner with us as well. It's so nice our parents live so close together so we're able to spend time with both while we're there.

And here are just some other random shots...

November 2010

2011-07-25T14:08:00.001-06:00

I don't have many pictures from November due to the malfunction of our camera. I was able to restore some pictures from the year, but the November ones were gone for the most part.

We had Levi's baptism on November 14. Drew's parents were able to come out. Grandpa (Drew's dad) has baptized all ten grandkids so it was special to have them out for that. Our friends from Denver, Zach and Kelsey, were able to stand in as sponsors. Aunt Meredith and Uncle Steven are his sponsors on paper but their little Laura had just arrived five days previous to Levi. Plus, they lived in Wisconsin. Here are the only two pictures where you can kind of tell what's going on:

Early in November we decided that we would drive home to Missouri for Thanksgiving and that the boys and I would stay there for a while. It was perfect timing, really. I was just finishing my maternity leave/vacation time at work and it would nice to spend some time with family before moving to Georgia. Drew would go back to Colorado and get all the moving and loose ends taken care of. We were able to spend Thanksgiving at Drew's parents and my parents came up for the day. Uncle Jon, Aunt Carrie and the girls were there too. Here are the only pictures I have of the rest of November.

Avery and Luke eating pumpkin pie

Halloween 2010

2011-07-20T19:01:00.000-06:00

I was glad I had Levi in plenty of time to be able to spend Halloween with Luke. I had found the perfect costume and he was finally old enough to have fun with it all. We just went to a local church for their carnival and Luke had a ball!

Look at that cute butt:

Drew taught Luke to take his hat off and say "Howdy, Ma'am":

The couple weeks leading up to Halloween called for practice in his cowboy boots:

We carved a pumpkin and Luke didn't know what to think. He very cautiously looked inside, even utilizing a flashlight. He just wasn't too sure about reaching inside for the seeds. Who knew he'd be such a pansy?! We finally got him to reach inside by dropping pennies down inside. Then he loved it!

Levi Andrew Rossow

2011-07-20T15:22:00.001-06:00

Levi Andrew Rossow arrived October 15, 2010 at 11:30pm. He was 8 pounds, 5 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long. He was healthy as they come and adorable. Here's a quick story on how things went that day:

I had gone to my midwife appointment the evening before (Thursday) and there wasn't much progress from the last week. So not to gross anyone out, she did a quick "procedure" to maybe help things along. There was no guarantee it would help, but she said if it was going to work it would do so in less than 24 hours. The evening was very uneventful so I figured there was going to be nothing for a few days. I went to work like usual on Friday morning and again, nothing eventful happened overnight or that morning. I ate my lunch at noon and then started to feel some pressure/cramping when I would stand up or walk around. So for the next bit I stayed sitting down. I would get a little bit of cramping about every 45 minutes or so. I went ahead and told my boss that I was going to go ahead and go down to the hospital and get things checked out (yes, I worked at a hospital, but A) they don't have labor & delivery and B) we were delivering at the hospital on Ft. Carson ). I called Drew to tell him to meet me at the hospital but to not get his hopes up. I think that was around 2:30pm. I was totally convinced they were going to tell me to go back home and that nothing was really happening. So I drove home and grabbed my bag and the baby's bag and went down to the hospital.

When we checked in on the floor, I explained the situation. The response I got from the first nurse was that I didn't look like I was in enough pain to be in labor but they would check me out. They hooked me up to a monitor and I had two contractions in about an hour. The midwife came in to check on me and didn't think I was probably in true labor yet. Well, she checked and I was already at a 4! So, we stuck around and had a baby a few hours later! Labor itself was okay. Things progressed super fast as soon as I got into the labor room. They were able to get an epidural in just in time so I had that for the actual birth. I delivered pretty fast but I hemorrhaged some after. I started to shiver and shake really bad for the hour after the birth and had to get medication to help with that. The medication made me a little weird and I evidently acted like a very drunk lady for a couple of hours. They were worried and there was some drama, but everything was fine within a few hours. We went home Sunday morning and started our life as a family of four.

Nana and Papa got there a few hours after Levi arrived to meet him. You can't see Levi's hair in the pictures, but he had a matching hairdo with Papa! He was bald on top and had hair on the sides and back for about two months or so.

All snuggled up to head home:

Roxie's such a good big sister:

Luke didn't want much to do with Levi for the first few months. This picture was forced and Luke was kind of horrified:

Pumpkin Patch

2011-07-20T10:15:00.002-06:00

We took Luke to a pumpkin patch/ranch a couple of weeks before Levi arrived. This was one of our favorite seasonal things to do in Colorado.

(October 2, 2010)

The Colorado Last Hurrah

2011-07-10T15:15:00.003-06:00

We tried to cram in quite a bit the last few weeks I was pregnant with Levi. Of course we wanted to spend some special time with Luke, but we also knew about our next journey for the Army at this point. We knew we would be leaving Colorado in December and heading to Fort Benning, Georgia for a few months. Drew had to attend his Captain Career Course for six months and there was a possibility to attend a couple other classes there as well. So as we made preparations for the new baby and the move, we also tried to fit in a few things.

We took a day trip to Canon City to see the Royal Gorge one more time. It's pretty neat and we hadn't seen it for a couple years. It's this massive, deep gorge with a river running at the bottom of it. There's a huge suspension bridge built across it you can walk or drive across. There's also an open elevator you can ride down to the bottom. We didn't take many pictures this time, so I'll add a few from previous trips too. We also went to Buckskin Joe's while we were down there. It was an old west town with most of the buildings being authentic. The owners had recently sold it, so it was the last weekend they were open before they dismantled it. They have an awesome little train that goes around the Royal Gorge so we were able to take Luke on that. The boy loves his trains.

(September 4, 2010)

In September we went to the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo. Luke got to see a baby cow, bunnies and other farm animals. His favorite thing was playing in the corn box though. We of coursehad to eat fair food - a massive corndog, a fried twinkie (don't think I need one of those again), and fresh squeezed lemonade. We split them between the three of us so that's healthy, right?

(September 6, 2010)

We'll obviously miss the outdoors in Colorado. We didn't take advantage of them nearly as much as we should have but it was so nice to have everything in our vicinity. We had such an awesome view of the mountains from our backyard, could drive five minutes to get to creeks, parks, or go for a drive in the mountains. And the weather was so great. You got four true seasons and barely any humidity and the air just seemed so crisp and clean. Anyway, here are a few pictures of Luke and Drew in a creek. Of course there are creeks almost everywhere else, but they aren't really the same!

(September 11, 2010)

We went to the air show in early October. Luke loved seeing all the planes flying, but also had a lot of fun seeing all the various vehicles on the ground.

(October 2, 2010)

August 2010

2011-07-10T12:25:00.012-06:00

It doesn't look like we have many pictures from last August. We did lose a lot of pictures from the last half of 2010 from our camera though. I was able to recover some of them with a program I found but some are still damaged or missing. Here are a few though...

One thing we'll definitely miss from Colorado Springs is the zoo. It really is an amazing zoo. It's pretty large, has a lot of animals and is built right on the side of the mountain. We had a membership so we went quite a bit. They have this one room where a bunch of parakeets and tiny birds are free to fly around and you can feed them.
Although Roxie likes to run around and terrorize Rico about 80% of the time, they can be pretty sweet together sometimes.
I was able to snag some really cheap tickets to the Toby Keith concert in Denver, so we were able to sneak away for a few hours. It was a great show and one of our last times out by ourselves before we had Levi. Please excuse the pale, puffy pregnant woman in the picture.

Although Luke wasn't fully pottytrained until he was three, he had some quality training time in Colorado. You can see Drew had some influence here. Sorry the picture is weird, it's one of the ones that only got partly recovered.
Some quality father and son napping:

Summer Trip Home

2011-07-09T19:34:00.008-06:00

We were able to make a trip back home last July. As always, the drive was a long one. Especially with one pathetic Basset Hound who thinks she's human...

We definitely had to spend some time on the boat and in the lake!

My in-laws have some neighbors who have all kinds of animals at their place. The kids had a lot of fun exploring. We were even there in time for the baby chicks!

Luke obviously had to take golf cart rides with Grandpa and the other kids (well, and Uncle Steven)...

(July 1-5, 2010)

Luke's 2nd Birthday

2011-07-09T19:02:00.009-06:00

We were pretty low key on Luke's birthday last year. He opened gifts at home from us and family. We went to Chuck E. Cheese for a mini party with his favorite family, the Sandbergs! Luke has known them since he was a few weeks old and they have always treated them like their own. I could write a book, but I'll just keep it at they are awesome and we sure do miss them!

Since when did Chuck E. Cheese stop having the characters actually walking around instead of glued to the stage?! And when did they stop having the ball pit? I know it's probably not sanitary and all, but come on! On a positive note, the pizza was much yummier than I had remembered or anticipated.

This is totally random, but found these in with the other pictures for May. Luke has never been too fond of drive through car washes...

Easter Visitors

2011-07-07T19:30:00.017-06:00

My parents were able to come out in April and spend Easter with us. Luke had a ball learning to hunt for eggs in the backyard.

We went to a restaurant that has a real plane attached to it and Luke had a blast with Papa and the controls. That boy has a fascination with buttons. If there was a button (or anything that resembled a button) anywhere in view, we just HAD to push it. Although this obsession has lessened some with age, he still loves his buttons.

(April 2-4, 2010)

The Remainder of 2010

2011-07-07T19:29:00.001-06:00

According to the blog, about the only things that happened in 2010 were Luke had a hernia and turned two. If I tried to break it down into too many posts, I would probably never catch up. So, I'm just going to hit a few high points and then get into 2011 with a little more detail. Here we go...

Big Decision (December 2009)

2011-07-07T19:05:00.006-06:00

I was looking back on the posts I had made before my hiatus to kind of see where I left off. As per the blog, Drew left the Army in January 2010. Not so true. It's a long story, but I'll spare you all the drama. After much deliberation, discussion, prayer, and not-so-faint gut feelings we stayed in the Army. Even though military life is trying and there are definite cons to it all, we strongly felt (and still do) that we were being led to continue to serve. Obviously, it was ultimately up to Drew, but we are in this as a family. Yes, our relationship and our children will be affected by this decision. That doesn't mean it has to be a bad thing. We may have to approach and deal with some things in life a little differently but we're prepared to do that. At least for now. Drew has the intention to stay in for his whole career (20+ years), but he always has the option to leave if we decide it's needed for the family, etc. So, most of the time we are excited about our crazy life and try to enjoy all the experiences we are offered by this lifestyle!

SHAME

2011-07-02T20:06:00.002-06:00

Whoopsie. My absence and neglect was definitely not intentional. Sometimes life just happens and it takes us with it. We make big life decisions, we have a baby, we move around, we go on adventures, our kids grow like weeds, and this all happens in the past year without telling people a darn thing. So, I'm back and looking forward to sharing our life again. I've missed blogging and have wanted to post lately but just figured I was just too far behind. Well, I'm going to quickly catch you up in the next few days and then update from there. Not that it would take much to improve...

Luke's Two Year Pictures

2010-05-10T13:12:00.005-06:00

We had Luke's two year pictures done Saturday. He was a pretty good boy and we were able to get some cute shots. Sorry I've been so bad about posting anything new in a while. One of these days I'll post about some of the happenings over the past few months.

Luke had his two year check up recently as well. He's 36 inches tall, weighs 28 lbs, and is meeting all his milestones. He's an ornery boy with a lot of energy and a mind of his own, but he's tons of fun too!

The hernia

2010-02-07T18:53:00.007-07:00

Most of our last few weeks have seemed to revolve around Luke's hernia. He had a right side inguinal hernia for a couple of months. It started out small and then slowly got bigger. It didn't seem to bother him though. We had scheduled his surgery a couple of weeks ago but had to reschedule since we all got a stomach bug. So, we were scheduled to go again Friday morning. As luck would have it, we ended up in the E.R. on Thursday evening, a few hours before his scheduled surgery. His hernia would not go back in and was causing him a lot of pain. Previous to this we would be able to push it back in if it was protruding. So, the surgeon had to give him morphine and push it back in with all his might. NOT fun holding Luke down for the few minutes it took to do this. We're just thankful that Luke will probably not remember all this down the road.
Luke finally had his surgery Friday morning and it went fine. The surgeon did say it was the biggest one he had seen in someone Luke's size. Luke is doing pretty well. A little sore and cranky but overall pretty good. Here are a few pictures from his little ordeal.

In the E.R...

We couldn't let Luke eat or drink anything while we were there and he was starving. He finally got some crackers and water after we were done and was one happy boy...
Luke got this cute little backpack filled with goodies for being a good boy in the E.R...
SURGERY DAY
We were told to put Luke in a gown while we were waiting. That didn't go over too well...
The only way he was happy was in his diaper and tennis shoes. He wouldn't let us take his shoes and socks off...
We finally got him to agree to wearing a shirt since he was getting cold...
They gave him some woozy medicine before surgery and he thought sticking his finger in his nose was the funniest thing ever...
Daddy got to go back to the O.R. with Luke until he went to sleep...
Luke's I.V. after he got out of surgery...
Eating a popsicle to prove he could go home...
Sorry for the quality of some of the pictures. My camera battery went dead so some of them are from my phone.

January

2010-02-05T19:07:00.009-07:00

Looks like I didn't do too well posting last month. Here's a recap of the month.

Luke loves snuggling with his puppy and giving her kisses...

Two of Luke's favorite Christmas gifts- his Mighty Dump Truck and his mp3 player...

Luke's getting a lot better at feeding himself...
He's loved his Legos since the day we got them...
Mr. Potato Head occupies a lot of Luke's time and he gives them kisses...
He walks around with his canteen from Nana and Papa quite often...
He can find almost anything interesting if he's in the mood. Case in point, the garlic press...
He loves to pull his chair up to the couch and watch t.v. with Daddy. Usually only lasts for about two minutes though...
Loves to dance it up on the coffee table...
Loves to put food on his head while he's eating...
Loves to feed the puppy and kitty when he's eating...
Loves coloring on his easel...
He's such a Daddy's boy sometimes...
In the evenings, he looks like this a good amount of the time. Evenings are not his best time of day...
This boy would be outside constantly if he could...
We've spent quite a bit of time at doctor offices lately. Luke had a inguinal hernia. We finally got it fixed yesterday. More to come on that later. I thought it was hilarious in this picture that the word "hazard" shows right beside his head. He IS a huge hazard when medical equipment, drawers, a computer, phone, and paper are in his reach...
TRUE LOVE...
Although it is hard to resist with a face like this...
Ever since we got our Wii, we've been playing it on a 19 inch tv I've had since college. Drew recently found a used tv on Craigslist. We thought it was going to be a 27 inch, but it was 36 when we got it home. We barely got it to fit, but it's been so nice to have a bigger one. Drew loves it.
We did manage to go driving up in the mountains one Saturday. We should take advantage of this more often...

Christmas with Nana and Papa

2010-02-05T18:35:00.003-07:00

I got copies of pictures of Christmas with my parents a while back and finally getting around to posting them!

Here's Luke jamming on the piano...

This was Luke's favorite spot while there...

We arrived on our anniversary so Nana and Papa took us to Cheddar's. It was A-MAZ-ING! Luke loves to help Daddy eat...

Eating Nana's wedding cake replica...

Drew got me a new camera! Loved my old one, but it was starting to act up.

We got Luke this latch board. It's really neat with six different types of latches on it. He plays with it a lot and had all the latches figured out in no time!

Our loot from Nana and Papa. We are so spoiled!

Luke relaxing after a big evening in Uncle Ryan's rocking chair...

Our time together was awesome, but too short!

Christmas

2010-01-09T08:06:00.008-07:00

We made the trek to Missouri for Christmas this year. We had a lot of fun to say the least. We stopped by Stacy's parents' first. We arrived on our anniversary (3 years already) and Stacy's mom had made us a mini replica of our cake. It was delicious! We then had a yummy dinner at Cheddar's. They stupidly do not have Cheddar's in Colorado. We opened gifts with Nana and Papa on Christmas Eve day. I don't have pictures of any of this unfortunately. I got a new camera for Christmas and somehow deleted the pictures I took. Anyway, we had a short but great time in Joplin! Thanks Nana and Papa!

We then headed to the lake to see Drew's family. All the siblings were there and all six grandbabies. It was a blast to see everyone together!

Grandma had to remove the glass inserts from the coffee table because a certain someone wanted to take them out himself and climb around...

Luke gives kisses, but only on his own terms. He wasn't quite in the mood with the cousins...

We woke up Christmas morning to a beautiful blanket of snow!

Three of the cutest little bums on Christmas morning...

Roxie with the loads of gifts...

Grandma and Grandpa got each family a Wii! We couldn't believe it! We've had a lot of fun with it so far...

The beautiful Christmas tree, showcasing Grandma's nativity scenes on the levels below...

Dance party after we opened the gifts...

Time for some fun in the snow! Luke wasn't a huge fan though.

We ate so much wonderful food while we were home! Here's Christmas dinner...

The famous Buttermilk Pie...

Grandma feeding the grandbabies buttermilk pie...

Don't forget the eggnog shakes!

Roxie had a blast! She went on a very long hike with the guys, played chase with the kids, and loved playing & running in the snow. She was one tuckered out puppy at the end of each day...

Drew brought everyone an American flag from Iraq. Each one flew over their base for at least a day...

Grandma and Grandpa with all the kids...

Jon and Carrie taught Avery to do the "robot". It's a favorite dance move of Drew and Jon's. I love how Caroline is posing in the background.

The whole gang!Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for such a wonderful time! We wish we could be back there right now!

Luke did a great job in the car on the long ride. You can't really tell that well, but he loved busting a move to the music...

North Pole

2009-12-20T08:49:00.006-07:00

Last weekend we took Luke to the North Pole, a little amusement park here in Colorado. For those of you from back home, it's like a really tiny Silver Dollar City for kids. It's not nearly as well done though. We had fun, but I think Luke was still a little too young for it all.

All bundled up...

On the train ride...

The carousel started out okay, but did not end well...

I think Luke had the most fun stomping on snow patches that were still on the ground...

Luke enjoying his first taste of funnel cake...

Luke had a lot more fun on this ride with Daddy...

Overall, a nice family day!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-12T16:44:00.005-07:00

We had a great Thanksgiving week with our family. Stacy's brother, Ryan, came to Colorado the weekend before Thanksgiving and we had a nice time catching up and eating good food. Luke liked Uncle Ryan's computer and helped him count some change.

It's always a long drive, but Luke did really well entertaining himself. He and Roxie did some world class sleeping as well...

The day before Thanksgiving we drove to Nebraska and picked up Stacy's Grandma so she could join us in Missouri. Luke got some quality time in with his Greatgrandma...

Somehow I didn't get any pictures of actual Thanksgiving, but Drew's parents were able to come down to Joplin so we had a wonderful meal with both sets of parents. Here's some fun around the house during the weekend...

Luke was able to spend some quality time with his cousin, Avery. They are exactly six months apart and had a blast playing in the backyard and watching the puppies out the window...

We had such a great weekend and can't wait to go back at Christmas when we'll get to see all of Drew's siblings and all five of Luke's cousins! Wish we didn't live so far away, but the long drive is always worth it!

Halloween

2009-12-06T11:10:00.006-07:00

I realized we never posted anything about Halloween this year. We took Luke to the "Boo at the Zoo" a couple of weekends before Halloween. He didn't seem too interested but the weather was nice and we had fun as a family. On actual Halloween we went up to Denver to visit our friends, the Wilberns and had a great time. Luke really enjoyed playing with Ella. Here are a few pictures...

Reading

2009-11-22T14:16:00.001-07:00

Here's Drew and Luke reading their favorite book before bed...

Keys

2009-11-22T14:08:00.003-07:00

Luke has always loved playing with our keys. He suddenly found another use for them besides shaking and throwing...

Somehow our key to the Jeep fits in our bedroom door...

I Crack Myself Up

2009-11-22T14:05:00.003-07:00

The other night, Drew was watching a playback of him and Luke playing. Luke was watching it and thought it was hilarious.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

2009-11-22T14:00:00.003-07:00

Three words: Luke, alone, baby powder...

Here's a favorite hobby of Luke's lately... flushing the toilet

Air Force vs. Army Game

2009-11-22T13:50:00.005-07:00

Although we've lived here for 2 1/2 years now, we've never made it to an Air Force Academy football game. A couple of weeks ago they played Army so we decided to go last minute. There was a little bit of a chill in the air but it was pretty nice. Luke did better than we thought and I'm so glad we decided to go so we wouldn't lose the chance.

Jets and parachuters flew overhead before the game. The jet noise sure gave Luke a rattle but they were fun to see for sure.

Doctor Visit

2009-11-22T13:40:00.002-07:00

Luke had his 18 month check-up a few weeks ago. I finally took a picture. We've lucked out and have a really great pediatrician here in Colorado. He's really tall for his age but a little skinny, so we're trying to bulk him up a little bit the next few months. He already ate like a pig, so we'll see if backing off some of the milk might help. He loves his milk! The picture was taken with my phone so it's not the greatest quality.

New Rig

2009-10-15T19:52:00.004-06:00

We got this adorable used four wheeler for Luke the other week. We thought it was broken, but Drew got it working today. Obviously Luke is a little young yet, but I couldn't pass up such a good deal! At least it's fun to take pictures in, right? As you can tell, Roxie just loves it...

Last Military Ball

2009-10-15T19:39:00.004-06:00

Back in September, we had Drew's last military ball. If you didn't know, Drew is leaving the Army in January. Well, we finally pulled the pictures off Drew's camera (long story), so here you go...

At all the balls they have a grog ceremony and the end result is a disgusting mix of every alcohol imaginable, plus other disgusting things. This actually had a little bit of gunpowder and horse poop in it. Drink up!

The spur ceremony. Since Drew is in the Cavalry, they get to wear spurs with their uniforms! A lot of the guys were finally getting their spurs that night.

Trip to the farm

2009-10-04T22:13:00.007-06:00

Yesterday we went to the cutest little farm. They have a pumpkin/fall event every year. Luke got to pick out a pumpkin, pet all kinds of animals, play in the corn tub, go on a pony ride, ride a train, and just run around. It was a little chilly, but fun!

Legos!

2009-10-04T22:07:00.004-06:00

We recently got Luke some Legos and he loves them! He loves to climb in the box and play away.

September

2009-10-04T21:05:00.008-06:00

Luke has recently been sleeping with his little legs through the slats on his crib.

Luke's pants got pulled up way high and he looked like such a little old man. Man, the things we find humorous these days...

My two guys hanging out...

Drew and I went on a little vacation at the end of September. He was on block leave so we decided to go away for a few days. We went to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for four nights and had a blast. Here are a few pictures of our stay...

Our very inexpensive, but very awesome room at Hacienda Paradise...

The beautiful immaculate beach...

We definitely had to make calls back home to check on our little buddy. Drew's parents were awesome enough to come stay with him for a few days. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! Luke had so much fun. We'll have to post some pictures later of all the fun they had!

This is how we looked the whole trip: sweaty and a little sunburned...

Having our last breakfast at the cutest little place...

One last walk on the beach before we left...

Silly side story. We ventured a few blocks and went to the local Wal-Mart. It was a lot like those here with just a few differences. For some reason I didn't take a picture, but the bakery was amazing. You grabbed a pizza pan and a pair of tongs and then just walked among aisles of fresh-baked breads and pastries. We bought like 7 or 8 things and it was less than two bucks!

They also had a huge help-yourself warmer of these. HUGE pork rinds. We didn't try any of these though.

August

2009-10-04T20:53:00.010-06:00

Just a few things for August...

Luke had a lot of fun at my company picnic with two of the cutest kids, Evan and Reese.
This quickly turned into a constant battle to keep the tv on...

Luke LOVES the rockbed that's beside our deck...

Not much happened in August other than Drew coming home. Here are a few pictures I don't think are on the previous post...

Drew's the tall one with the black hat on...

July

2009-10-04T20:30:00.014-06:00

Here's July in a nutshell...

Fun with cereal puffs when Mom isn't watching...

The trash can is the greatest!

Learning to brush my teeth...

Yummy grilled cheese...

I've been cutting Luke's hair since he was teeny tiny, but finally took him in for his first big boy haircut. This was also our first experience with a sucker. He couldn't quite figure out that you have to slurp the juice back so it was just drooling all over him and the cape.

We also added to our crazy little family in July. Meet Roxie the Bassett Hound. She's absolutely hilarious and is perfect for Luke. As you can see, Luke can do anything to this poor dog and she just takes it. She's not even one yet so we have a few training issues, but she's a really good dog.

Wonderful visit from incredible friends

2009-10-04T20:14:00.006-06:00

Back in June, my wonderful friends Page and Katie came all the way out to Colorado to see me. It was such a nice thing for them to do while Drew was still gone. Katie brought her daughter Ellie. Luke wasn't quite sure what to think since he's not around little ones a whole lot. I also got to see Page while she was pregnant. It's so weird that since we've moved I haven't seen most of my friends while they were pregnant. It was such a great time and I am SO thankful for such great friends!

Walking!

2009-09-03T18:53:00.004-06:00

Luke has finally decided to start walking recently, so I'm finally posting a couple of videos.

One week ago...

Today...

DREW IS HOME!

2009-08-31T19:19:00.015-06:00

Drew got home Thursday (Aug. 27) at 7:50am. His parents drove over to be here for the welcome home ceremony to surprise him. I'm very excited to have him home and Luke is having so much fun with his daddy. It's been a long year, but we made it through and now get to settle back into a new routine. Here are a few pictures from his first few days home. I will update the blog with other things in the last few months soon, but thought I'd get these out. Thanks for all the support and prayers over the past year!

Waiting around for the ceremony to begin...

The colors...

The guys in formation before they let them go...

He's really home...

Drew's welcome home sign on the garage...

Grandpa and Luke playing in the rocks...

We drove Drew's new Jeep up in the mountains on Saturday...

Fun with toys

2009-06-12T21:15:00.015-06:00

Here are some fun pictures of Luke playing with some of his toys lately...

Although this is not the intended use , it's still pretty fun...

Mom got me all kinds of neat stuff today off of Craigslist for super cheap. This is my new activity center. I couldn't stop playing with it before bed tonight. It plays all kinds of songs, has letters and numbers, a ball drop, and other fun stuff!

This is the look Mommy gets when she tells me it's time for bed and I'm not done playing...

Standing up

2009-06-12T21:07:00.007-06:00

Luke is so close to walking. Here are some pictures of him standing around and holding on to things around the house. He wasn't quite standing up when Drew was home, so this will be a nice treat for Daddy.

Eating

2009-06-12T20:50:00.012-06:00

Luke is doing pretty well feeding himself now. It of course depends on what he's eating, but it's usually at least a partial success!

In it goes, easy does it...

I'm thinking about it...

Not always the best table manners

I've been making this face a lot lately...

Okay, I'm done now and about to get upset about it...

And here's something a little more messy...pancakes!

Finally...

2009-06-12T20:46:00.003-06:00

My computer broke on me a few weeks ago and I finally got the new computer a few days ago. It's taken a while to get it all set up and get the internet working properly, but now I can finally post again! It's been almost a month. I've been dying to get new pictures up so Drew can see Luke (not to mention everyone else)!

A wonderful time with family

2009-05-14T15:22:00.014-06:00

All of Drew's family got together at his parents' house for a long weekend while Drew was home. It was the first time all six cousins were together as well. We had a very fun time, even though the weather was a little dreary and chilly. It went way too fast, as always.

Fun with cousin Megan. This was the first time we got to meet the sweetie pie.

Grandpa took the boys for a ride in his golf cart around the property.

Grandpa built this great playhouse for the grandkids. The slide was a hit!

Wagon ride with cousin Avery.

Cousin Caroline working it out.

Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandkids

The whole Rossow clan!

Birthday Celebration

2009-05-14T13:04:00.015-06:00

While we were back home, we celebrated Luke's first birthday with family. Here are the highlights.

Nana was supposed to make just a plain chocolate cake, but she outdid herself by making a big monkey cake for everyone and a little one just for Luke.

The birthday boy before the mayhem.

Getting a good feel of the cake, not knowing what to think about it.

Getting into the groove now.

That's the stuff!

Daddy taking him outside to get "hosed off".

Right before we took a bath

Mommy and Daddy got Luke a wagon for his birthday. He's "helping" Papa put it together.

First wagon ride. He loved it!

Luke got awesome birthday gifts from everyone. Aunt Kristen got him a drum. He grabbed a drumstick and started playing it immediately. Luke had an awesome first birthday!

Swimming

2009-05-14T12:23:00.008-06:00

While Drew was home we decided to take Luke swimming for the first time. After our trip back home, we decided to stay at a hotel with an indoor pool on our way back. The weather was still a little chilly for outdoor swimming. Luke had an absolute blast. As soon as we put him in the pool in the floatie, he kicked his little legs and took off across the pool. We might have to sign up for swim lessons at the Y this summer!

Here's a quick video of Luke and Drew in the pool:

Luke is a one year old!

2009-05-10T19:26:00.010-06:00

I absolutely cannot believe Luke is already one. He had his check up last week and he is doing just fine. He weighed a little over 22 pounds and is almost 32 inches tall. We're still waiting for him to walk, but he's getting closer each day. We had a few pictures taken last week as well.

Luke is always messing with his tongue and making funny noises. The next two pictures depict this very well...

Drew's trip home

2009-05-10T18:58:00.011-06:00

Drew came home for his two weeks of R&R from April 23 - May 8. We had a lot of fun while he was here. We went to the zoo, went home to Missouri to see the family, took Luke swimming for the first time, and just spent time together as a family. I will probably do several posts in the next few days of our time together. I'll start with the first thing we did after Drew arrived home... the zoo! It was Luke's second trip to the zoo and he liked it much better this time.

Here are the boys at the entrance. I think Drew loves the zoo more than any little kid!

My favorite... feeding the giraffes!

Luke absolutely loved riding on Drew's shoulders when Drew was home. Any time Luke was fussy, up on Drew's shoulders he went. Definitely a resource I already miss having around.

My two very handsome boys!

Mommy and her little man

Drew loved showing Luke the turkeys. They had these at the petting zoo and then more in a more "wild" setting. Luke did seem to make a sound that resembled a turkey call. We even had to call Uncle Jon to share the news!

Sharing

2009-04-12T16:02:00.005-06:00

One of my favorite toys is really for the kitty. Go figure...

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T15:41:00.016-06:00

Dressed up and ready to go to church... (we had 2 inches of heavy, wet snow when we left this morning)

My fun Easter basket I got to play with after getting home from church and taking a nap...

I think I like my Easter basket...

I love rubber duckies! This one is supposed to squirt me in the bathtub...

All my fun loot: bubbles, bath toys, a race car, a froggy, a summer shirt, and wiffle-like balls...

A video of me getting into my stuff...

Pretty Kitty

2009-04-09T18:01:00.002-06:00

Just thought I'd post a picture of our kitty, Rico. He's usually not so photogenic, but got a pretty good one while he was lounging around today. He's a little rascal, but he's so darn cute too!

Silliness

2009-04-09T17:53:00.004-06:00

I ran upstairs today to pay a bill on the computer. When I came back down a couple of minutes later, Luke had gotten the Kleenex off the couch and helped himself.

He sure looked like he wasn't sorry a bit and had a lot of fun!

New Fence and Crazy Weather

2009-04-09T17:45:00.002-06:00

Nothing too exciting has been happening around here, so I haven't blogged in a while. We finally got our fence replaced last month. It was very old and had broken on us a couple of times in wind storms. The husband of a friend at work did it for us. It looks awesome! Thanks Butch! Our next step is to revamp our dead yard.

Weather has been kind of nuts around here this winter. We had days in December, January, and February that were in the 70's, but finally had our snow storms this March. Here's a view of the snow-covered mountains from our backyard.

Splish Splash!

2009-03-19T12:58:00.003-06:00

Back while Grandma was here, she taught Luke how to splash in the bath. For some reason, I couldn't get it to post the other day, but here it is!

Crawling!

2009-03-17T20:22:00.003-06:00

It seems like we've been waiting forever for Luke to crawl. He's been kind of scooting along for a while now, but today he finally fully crawled. Looks like we're definitely going to have to watch the little man a lot closer!

Growing up

2009-03-13T19:33:00.007-06:00

Luke is working hard on becoming more mobile and independent. He's starting to try to pull himself up and finally holding his own bottle. He's starting to crawl about a foot at a time, but I haven't been able to get a video of it yet.

More fun with Grandma

2009-03-12T20:29:00.010-06:00

We went to the zoo while Grandma was here. Luke wasn't as enthused as I thought he would be. He wasn't too sure what to think of feeding the giraffe.

He seemed to enjoy the meerkats more than anything. He loves watching the squirrels at the babysitter's every day and I think these were the closest thing at the zoo.

I was trying to get him to look at the moose, but he was obviously not so interested. Oh well, we'll have to try the zoo again when he's a little older. We bought a membership, so we'll have plenty of opportunities in the next year!

Fun with Grandma

2009-03-02T19:01:00.005-07:00

Grandma came out to visit for the week and is spoiling Luke to death. Here's a video of them having fun together.

Little Explorer

2009-02-21T12:49:00.002-07:00

Luke is definitely in the stage of starting to get into everything. Here he's opening our file cabinet and seeing what he can get his hands on!

Iraq photos

2009-02-21T12:32:00.009-07:00

I got a few photos from Drew today. It's nice to be able to see a little bit of what life is like over there for him.

He's still as handsome as ever! He's sitting on his bed here in his little mobile unit that he shares with one other soldier.

Here's rows of the mobile units they all live in. His is the one that has a Texas flag flying over it!

Here's looking into his unit from the front door. He gets along with his roommate pretty well. They didn't know each other before they got over there. They have "movie night" every few nights. They watch movies together on Drew's laptop to help pass the time.

Here's a typical view from around the camp. Drew said they have been having bad wind storms lately and this is what the sky looks like a lot- just thick and gray.

A nice little surprise today

2009-02-12T20:48:00.003-07:00

I was at work today and got a special delivery. My hubby actually arranged to have flowers delivered to me for Valentine's Day. Pretty impressive considering he's in Iraq!! Thanks babe! It made my day!

2009-02-11T17:57:00.006-07:00

Sometimes it's rather difficult trying to get a picture of Luke these days. He's always heading toward the camera, trying to grab it. Here I got him before he quite got his hands on it.

I was letting Luke play in his crib the other day after his bath. It looks like we're going to have to consider taking his bumper down...

Luke finally sits up in the bath tub like a big boy (safely, that is). He loves his rubber ducky!

Luke loves his kitty, Rico. He always smiles or laughs when he sees the cat around the house. Luke also loves to look outside. If he's fussy, you can usually calm him by putting him in front of a window. Here, both are enjoying the view of the backyard.

A couple of videos from a while back...

2009-02-07T15:38:00.004-07:00

For some reason Luke does not not enjoy food other than his baby food yet. Here he's trying some mashed potatoes with gravy at Grandma & Grandpa Schwartz's house.

2009-02-07T15:19:00.005-07:00

Here's Luke's first Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Rossow's house!

Luke is 9 months old!!

2009-02-04T21:17:00.007-07:00

We had Luke's 9 month pictures taken today. Here are a few of them. He was kind of grumpy, but we were able to get a few good ones. He is getting so big. We went to the doctor last week and he weighs 20 pounds and is 30 inches long! He's getting close to crawling, but not quite there yet. We're still waiting for him to get teeth too!

We have a blog!!

2009-02-04T21:12:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! I finally decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon. I can't promise that I will keep up with it really well, but I'll do my best. I'm going to really try to keep up with it while Drew is gone so it will be easier and faster for him to see pictures, videos, etc. Now bear with me because I'm totally new at this and I'm not familiar with how to do it all yet!