Update...

before
after

It is that time again when I update what is going on in our lives. We are counting down the days until Daddy comes home. We are both tired of living without him. It seems like the days are longer and the months too. Eric is growing so fast. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine, Elmo, Blues Clues and Bear in the Big Blue House. He also loves Diego. Seriously he doesn't get to watch a lot of tv. I promise! He loves to play pretend and go to the park. He constantly asks me if we can go to the slide. He also loves to chase butterflies. He says "Bye" to every gate gard and loves to stop and pet dogs. He is speaking very clearly now and has picked up on several funny sayings including "Oh man!" and "That's Cool". He has four stuffed animals in his bed, two penguins, one bear and Daddy. Every time he gets up in the morning or from nap he has to give each one a hug and he has to give them to me to hug also. He is a wiz at his shape sorter, he is learning his colors he knows red, blue, yellow and green and he can count to ten while going down the stairs. He knows the names of most of the foods he eats and can even spot an elephant in his books and clothes. He loves his Blue's Clues book and his ABC picture book. He asks me to read Mama llama books all the time. They are his favorite. For thos of you wondering they are Llama Llama Mad at Mama, Llama Llama Misses Mama and Llama Llama Red Pajama. I recently got him on tape reading Slowly Slowly Slowly Said the Sloth. He just says "Slowly Slowly Slowly' as he turns the pages. It is really cute. He loves to pray at meals and sometimes we end up praying four or five times. He is an amazing little man and we couldn't imagine life without him. The pictures above are the before and after of his hair cut. What a difference!!!!

The Fourth of July!

Not liking our stroll in the heat

This year fireworks were done on the base across from base housing, since Ramstein is under construction. They asked all of the housing residents to walk due to limited parking. They have a foot bridge that connects the two bridges. Since we live on housing I figured that it wouldn't be that bad to walk. I know that the bridge has steps instead of ramps (stupid!) but I figured that I would just wing it and take the big stroller. I didn't realize that there was a huge hill/mountain on the other side of that bridge that I would have to climb to get to the festivities. Let's just say that it is uphill both ways! I wore comfortable shoes but one broke when I was playing with Eric waiting for fireworks and so I now have a huge blister from my 30 min walk home. Thanks to all of the people who helped. Thanks to all of the guys who carried Eric across the bridge for me both times and my friend Connie for her help too. Thanks to the older gentleman in line with me waiting for food. Eric choked on an apple and ended up getting sick so I had to take care of that and he offered to get my food for me and was really helpful. Thanks! Thanks to the gentleman who helped me get my stroller up the curb when it got stuck and I had stuff in my hands. Also thanks to those who have served and are now serving our country. Thanks goes to Eric for always making my day better and for being my buddy in all of this. A special thanks goes out to my amazing husband. I can't thank you enough for serving and for the sacrifices you make. I am so grateful for you and I wish so much you could be here with us. I know it is soon but still I miss you! I hope everyone had a Happy Fourth and once Eric decided that the fireworks were not going to hurt him, he acutally enjoyed them.

Golf Cart

Eric did this all by himself. He got a mini golf course for his birthday and decided that in order to be a true golfer he needed a cart. So here is Eric's invention. What a smarty pants!

Bubble Boy

Eric loves to wash his hands because of the bubbles. I decided that it was time to introduce him to the bubble bath. I bought some of my old friend Mr. Bubbles and loaded up the tub. He just stared at me and then back at the tub for a while before he decided that it was safe to get in. He had a blast! I showed him how to put bubbles on his head and chin and he thought it was funny. Now every time he takes a bath there has to be bubbles in it. I don't mind since Mr. Bubbles is safe for sensitive skin. It is now hypo-allergenic. When I was a kid Mr. Bubbles could have contained high amounts of lead and asbestos and our parents wouldn't have cared and neither would we. I love how things change and how safe most of the stuf is now. Though I am sure that some where in the future they will come out with research that Mr. Bubbles causes you to grow a third eye or something crazy like that. For now we are just enjoying the simple things like bubble baths.

Dress up!

Eric got a firefighter book, hat and coat for Christmas last year. I keep forgetting we have it and since he loves fire trucks and hats I thought he might enjoy playing with it. He loved it! I was surprised he kept the whole outfit on since it is like 80 degrees outside with no AC! He looked so cute!