all done, now he looks like a little boy!

It's haircut time, it was getting a little long and people were calling him a girl!

Fayetteville FireAntz

Ready for some hockey!!! He really enjoyed the game especially when they scored. It was fun!

I got John this slide and he loves it. We'll eventually put it outside but for now he's having a great time sliding in the house!

Hayden with one of his gifts on Valentine's Day. I got the boys several books each so they were happy!

John opening a gift on Valentine's Day.

This was the perfect snow. It snowed overnight, very pretty snow. The roads were clear by that afternoon but it stayed on the ground for a few days. It was great!

We found John some rain boots but they were a little big. That didn't stop him from trying to walk in them anyway. He wasn't going to let Hayden have all the fun! my snow bunny, this kid loves playing in the snow!

John loved watching the birds and was constantly going to the window and scaring them away!

February

The year is moving right along and most of the time the days go by fast. This is good b/c that means the closer we get to August and Heath coming home. We try to stay busy and not sit around too much. With my boys that's not hard. John is pretty much constant motion and so is Hayden most of the time. Not much going on. We had a big snow last weekend so that was fun. We ended up going to Jacksonville for the weekend to Heath's parents and they got more snow than Fayetteville-8 inches. Hayden had a great time and we even got John out. He loves the snow. He's pretty fearless and not bothered by getting dirty or wet. The boys had a good Valentine's Day. I sent Hayden on a little treasure hunt to find his gifts. Just made clues to go around the house. He likes it. That afternoon we tried to go see Percy Jackson but that sold out while we were in line. So we saw The Tooth Fairy instead. It was okay, Hayden really liked it. This weekend, they did military appreciation at the FireAntz hockey game in town. It was a we're halfway through the deployment party. So Hayden and I went to that, now he likes hockey and has been playing it in the kitchen with the yard stick and a hockey puck. Today John got his first haircut. He did pretty good. I had to help hold his head still. And he wasn't thrilled with that but it turned out good. He looks like a little boy now, where did the time go? Oh well, we have a busy week ahead, pics to follow...

Mr. Handy Man. He even makes the noise for the drill, too funny!

After lunch one day. THis is hummus, which John loves and just eats straight!

In our new backyard. THis was against my better judgement but as you can see by John's face he loved it. ANd they weren't going that fast.

My boys. This is at Nanny's(Heath's grandmother) house before Christmas. She lives in Fayetteville too along with his Aunt Sherry and Uncle Andy!

Our family

Putting together Legos with Uncle Ian. The funny thing is my uncle helped me do the same thing one Christmas!

Hayden's favorite gift, a real bow and arrow!

ALthough John loves both the kitchen and tools, this was his favorite gift. A vacuum cleaner just like mine. Once Heath got it together, he didn't let go of it for at least half an hour. It was too funny!

Big Daddy was concerned with John's gifts so he got him a tool box set! Hayden got lots of Legos this year.

John's Santa gift. A kitchen which he loves!

John on Christmas morning with Mommy

Santa Hayden Christmas morning, he was in charge of passing out the gifts!

John opening his gift, Christmas Eve. He got a play cell phone.

The boys are allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve and this is Hayden opening his. A SpongeBob lego set.

John loved this Santa. He sings a song and jumps up and down! And yes he has Hayden's shoe on. He's really funny about wanting to walk around in everyone else's shoes!

December and January

I'm finally settled enough to post an update. We hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year. Ours was hectic, but we made it through.

The movers came the 3rd week in Dec and it was a stressful few days. John wasn't too bad but trying to clean and paint afterwards was difficult. John is probably at the worst age to move, b/c he requires constant supervision or he gets into everything. We finally made it out of housing and got on the road. We managed to avoid the huge snowstorm that hit the southeast by going down through Atlanta and then across. We made it to Fayetteville on the 21st and the movers showed up the next day with our stuff. We were able to unpack some before heading to Jacksonville to Heath's parents house on Christmas Eve. Thankfully Heath's parents took the boys to their house the day before so we were able to do a little more. WE had a nice quiet Christmas and the boys enjoyed all their goodies. Santa was very good to Hayden and John.
We came back home on the 26th and my parents got here that afternoon. They stayed about a week and helped us get unpacked and settled. Hayden and John enjoyed having all the family around. Aunt Faith also came for a few days. This was good b/c Heath had to start inprocessing to deploy.
Hayden started school after the new year and is doing okay. He misses his old school and his old friends but he's hanging in there. We got a few extra days with Heath that weren't planned and he left on the 11th. So now we are adjusting to that and trying to stay busy. Hayden has had his moments when he's sad and acts out but mostly he's been okay. For the past week, John has been fussy and teething. He got his top canine teeth over Christmas and now the bottom ones are coming in. He also has a nasty runny nose. But otherwise things are going good. I found a new Cub Scout pack and Hayden will start that on Monday. WE missed last week with the ice storm. Last weekend, we got about 2 inches of ice that decided to stay around for a few days. So he missed school Monday and had a delay Tuesday morning. But we didn't lose power and that was a blessing. We got spoiled living in the midwest. Being stuck in the house b/c they have no way to plow is annoying!! ANyway, I'll try to keep up a little better now that we are mostly settled! Pics to follow...

In the lobby at Great Wolf Lodge, it's all decorated for Christmas!

Mommy and John at Great Wolf Lodge

Hayden getting his Tiger Cub badge

John wanted to play Hayden's DS. He watched Hayden and figured out what buttons to push. Too funny!

Grace loved the snow. She was eating it and running around. She had a blast! Hayden all bundled up and having fun!

We got a good snow last week probably 6-8 inches in places. The kids were out of school for two days. The first day was fine, not too cold and Hayden had a blast playing with his friends. John loved it as well. He would have stayed out longer if I let him. He doesn't really have any snow clothes so we couldn't do too much. The next day was freezing in the single digits and not much fun. Hayden could only stay out about 30 minutes so he wasn't much fun that day. Thankfully it's warmed up a little and we are back in the 30's and 40's. Reading a book with Daddy

John wants to be a Cub Scout too!

John with his first Starbucks(milk). He likes drinking out of the big cup with a straw. I now just give him his milk this way instead of a sippy cup. He has to be like Hayden!

Ninja Hayden. We went trick or treating around our neighborhood. Hayden got so much candy he could barely carry his bag!

John was more interested in carrying around the watering can. He wore Hayden's old dragon costume.

Halloween, John would not sit still for a picture with Hayden. This was as good as we could get!

I will really miss this weather in N. C.

We had a beautiful mild fall with great weather. The leaves were very pretty. John loved being outside and playing in the leaves as did Hayden!

They had an end of season soccer party where they got certificates and trophys. Hayden was MVP for one game.

Our Cub Scout

Throwing the ball back in.

At one of Hayden's soccer games. His coach was great and would have a theme for each game, like crazy hats and star wars. It was fun for the kids and they actually do pretty good. They don't officially keep score but the kids did. They knew who had more points!

John likes to dump the toys out of the basket and sit it in!

October, November and December

Well, here's what we've been doing the past few months. In October, I flew down to Fayetteville and found a house we are buying. It has been a long drawn out process with lots of hiccups but we should finally close this week. Which is good because we leave here Saturday. Heath graduated on Friday from the Command and General Staff College and we are now hard at work getting the house ready for packers. We pack out this week and get everything cleaned up to go.

John and Hayden have been busy as well. Hayden had a good soccer season and is loving Cub Scouts. He already earned his Bobcat and Tigercub badge. Hopefully we'll be able to continue in N.C. He is doing good in school. They are working on fractions and word problems in math along with addition and subtraction. And he's already taking spelling tests and learning how to read. It's crazy how much they do in 1st grade. He's sad to leave his school behind but looking forward to something new. Although his only complaint about the new school is that it doesn't have a planetarium. I told him his school is the only elementary school in America that has a planetarium. Yes, he goes to a really nice school right now!! We will miss it!!!

John is into everything. He tries to do everything Hayden does and sometimes can. He climbs now which is fun! He has his top molars with more coming in. He says share and see when he wants something. If one of us is eating anything, John thinks he needs to have some too. He's pretty funny. He tries to do too much sometimes and gets hurt. Last weekend, he feel off the 2nd step right onto his head. Thankfully he had a hat on for cushion and he only got a bruise. Thankfully we avoided the ER. Then the next day, we were at the JAG office and he tripped and fell into the leg of a chair right on his eye. So he had a nice bruise for awhile. He's pretty tough though thankfully. Having the packers here should be fun with him. We'll be getting him out of the way for two days. Wish us luck.

On Friday, we had a little vacation before the craziness and went to Great Wolf Lodge. It's an indoor waterpark and hotel. The boys had a blast. Hayden would hold John on the small slide and go down together. John loved it, he would get off and say again, again. It was nice to have a little break. This will be my last post for awhile. Christmas cards are coming soon with our new address. I'll post again in January after we get settled. We have a lot to do getting there and getting the house ready. Heath has to deploy soon so we have to get a lot done in a short amount of time. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

GG(Heath's mom) sent this to the boys for Halloween. It's a chicken that plays a song and dances. The beginning of the song is this funeral march and then it goes into the "chicken dance." John didn't like the funeral march at first and would crawl into our laps or stay behind us until the other started. Now he's used to it and he just goes up and picks it up and carries it around. He likes it and Hayden thinks it's hilarious!

John is working on using a spoon. He actually can use it for his yogurt really well. He would rather use his fingers though. One morning, I was feeding him with the spoon, he then took the spoon and fed himself. And then when I turned around, he put the spoon down and used his fingers again!

Sitting on the couch with Daddy

With Daddy's bird calls. He loves the sounds they make, he just laughs!

Walking around with Hayden's lightsaber. He even makes the sounds like he's heard Hayden make!

Looking out the window at Grace

Hayden's first official Dove Hunt on post with Dad. He was really excited. They didn't have a great hunt but he had fun! Hayden getting ready to go on the Dove Hunt with Dad

Happy Baby, after supper. He's always happy to eat!

John won't really eat corn off the cob but he sure loves it this way. He eats it from the end which is funny!

I was vacuuming one afternoon and John wanted to help too!