Colton's Day out in London

We had the opportunity through the Lakenheath Officer Spouses Group to take a free bus trip to London for the day. Jeff and I decided to take Colton as it was going to be a 12 or 13 hour day. I was a little bit nervous, with our big MDG charity auction the night before stimulating him a bit more than I thought it would, that he would be a mess during the day. However, he did brilliantly! Just like a little British boy should. He took turns being carried by mommy and daddy throughout the day in his little front pack. He took in all the sights and sounds of the busy streets, riding a bus and even the tube throughout the day. We decided to spend the day doing things the other boys would most likely not enjoy. So we went shopping up and down Portabello Road. It's this cool market street by Notting Hill. It's in the movie in scenes. I watched it after we got home and recognized shops throughout. We hung out with several of my friends Wendy Lawlor and Sarah Hall and picked up a few neat things from the market vendors. We also visited the largest map shop in the world. Jeff fell in love with a map of Texas which was several hundred years old. I told him no as it cost 27 thousand pounds. We found one of the Suffolk area we live in that we really liked. So perhaps for fathers day it will appear as it was considerably less than 27,000 pounds. Then Jeff had never been to Harrods. It is the most amazing store I've ever been in so we poked around a bit and visited the food halls for some tasty treats for the bus ride home. It was a fun day and it gives me hope that Colton will be a great little traveler.

Mummy's Baby - The Happy Chappy

Colton is growing so quickly I feel I have to post all these sweet pictures of him so I won't forget all the faces and cute looks he gives us daily. He's a real thinker this one. He's always willing to give up a sweet smile when asked. He gets passed around and fussed over by all of my friends and folks up at Jeff's work. He's such a good baby he almost makes me want another.

Mommy's Two New FAVORITE Boys

Okay, so everyone knows I'm CRAZY about my 3 sons! But I have discovered two new "men" in my life that I ADORE! Bob and Dyson make my life as a mom and housewife a dream! Dyson is my houseboy. He picks up dirt like you wouldn't believe. And Bob goes with me everywhere helping take care of my hauling giant baby needs. Both of these purchases while extravagant make my life easier. I have to look at Jeff every time we use Bob and tell him how much I love using that stroller! It just makes me happy.

You Should See The Other Guy

Jackson's first black eye. Somehow I feel it won't be the last for him. He is my daredevil child. He is not afraid of anything. It's amazing that something as simple as a pillow is his undoing! He was walking across the living room floor, tripped on a pillow he'd put there and went head first into daddy's piano. I've never seen anything swell that quickly. Luckily our friend Jim was over for dinner and being medical was able to immediately evaluate him. It didn't look like more than a goose egg until the next morning. We've enjoyed a week of watching Jack's eye change color daily. Now a week later it's almost gone. but Jim told Jack to say the story is that the guy got in one good left hook, but you should see the other guy!

Easter Party

We just had our Med Group Easter Party. It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day for an Easter egg hunt. Before the outside fun began we had a yummy pot luck lunch, the kids did crafts and the Easter bunny read a story to the kids. Jackson and his buddy Paul had more fun trying to dodge me taking pictures of them during the storytime. Jackson wouldn't take a picture with the Easter bunny because he said, "It's not the real bunny, it's Amanda!" He's too smart that one. Colton met the Easter bunny without any fuss. Then he met a new friend. He was fascinated with her and her sparkly flowery headband. He likes the girls just like all the other three White boys! What is really funny is the little girl is at least two months older than Colton, can't you tell by how much smaller she is??? That's our giant baby!

Games We Play

Okay. So we've made a new friend Lt. Col Beals (who happens to be a t-sip) through our good friend Col. Jim Forrest. Being good Ags, we have to show our school pride. The friendly competition began one morning when Jeff went to work and found a longhorn sticker on a picture in his office. The retaliation quickly began. Texas A&M stickers appeared on her car in multiple locations while she was having dinner with a neighbor of ours. And then somehow the systems folks managed to get "Aggies rule, longhorns drool" on her computer log in so she has to click this message three times before being able to log onto her computer. Luckily Jeff has some very loyal employess and one day got the call , "Boss, they're trying to get you!" They were going to mess with Jeff's squadron crest in the entryway to the hospital before an awards ceremony being held in the entryway the next morning. Being a good Ag, he snuck up to the facility after letting Col. Forrest know he was going home. He dressed in all black and got these great shots of Kristin and Jim two stories high putting a longhorn sticker and coin on Jeff's crest. Later that evening after everyone left, we went back to the facility with our own extension ladder and placed a Texas A&M sticker on Col. Forrest's squadron crest. (Don't mess with the bull, you'll get the horns!) We then removed the horns from the longhorn sticker and placed it on an envelope. Both Jim and Kristin got letters in plain manilla envelopes with I know what you did last night messages cut from newspapers and magazines. The boys even got in on the action by cutting out the letters for us. We have such a fun medical group here. It'll be interesting to see the next move......

Eskimo Kisses

We've been having such a great time with little Colton. He giggles and belly laughs now when we tickle him. He is amused with just about everything we do. I was able to capture this sweet moment when daddy was giving the little guy little eskimo kisses. Quite honestly, I think the baby was more interested in putting daddy's nose in his mouth.

Dog Days

I had to post this picture of Colton with Mulligan. Jeff grabbed the camera and too this as it is a sweet reminder of how the dog likes to be close, but not too close to the boys. I like that he's clearly out of the way of baby's grabby hands. I think he learned his lesson with the first two! But at the same time he looks protective. At 17 I'm not sure how much longer we will have Mully as he's deaf now and has a definite hitch in his giddy up.

First Grabs and Giggles

Colton, despite battling his first cold this past week, is a delightful baby. Even when he didn't feel good, he still tried to smile. He is starting to giggle already which is so fun for me. He only does it every so often, and I'm not sure he realizes what he is doing. So far he'll only do it for mommy. I'll keep that as my consolation when he says da da first! I'm going to try to get it on video and then try to figure how to upload clips. I just can't believe what a good baby he is. Maybe his is my reward for putting up with the first two? He is so content to just sit and interact with his caterpillar (thanks Craig and Laura) for quite some time. He is a very determined looking boy when he is playing. He also really enjoys his little cow toy. He's soaked it with tons of baby boy kisses so far. Enjoy these snippets of our little guy seeing his toys and just plain being so sweet and wonderful. He's the spitting image of Jackson at 6 months too! They could have been twins!

Still Fine at 39!

Whew, my last year of thirty-something. Can't believe I'll turn 40 in one year. Besides being a bit freaked out at my growing older and older by the day, I had a great birthday. The boys all treated mommy like a Queen for the day. No breakfast in bed, but Colton took a great morning nap so mommy had a bit of a lay in. Then the boys took me for a Starbucks mocha in Bury St. Edmunds and even let me do a bit of shopping...without too much complaining. They got new cleats and footballs so all was forgiven. Then they made a wonderful grilled filet mignon wrapped in bacon with baked potatoes for dinner. And a chocolate kahula vodka cake for dessert. Yummy! They were kind with only one candle. I suspect next year the cake will be aflame and we will have to have the extinguisher close by! I got lots of great things I picked out for myself which I love. And Jackson played me an original musical piece he created on the piano special for momma. Connor gave me $2 of his allowance to buy a mocha this week. Daddy filled my kitchen with the smell of fresh flowers with a huge birthday bouquet filled with my favorites. I'm so blessed to have 4 wonderful boys who make me feel special most every day.

Look Who's Three (months that is)

The last couple of weeks with Colton have been so much fun. He is really beginning to interact with us more and more on a daily basis. He started grabbing at everything about two weeks ago. This includes mommy's hair which is NOT my favorite thing. He is so funny because he'll grab a toy and then look really surprised that he got it. He is absolutely FASCINATED with the caterpillar that hangs over his car seat. He just stares at it and smiles at the face or smiles when the music starts. He is such a mommy's boy too these days. He just grins when I walk near him. And if someone else is holding him, he'll watch me and just stare at me until I take him again. The noises are already changing and he's beginning to try out different pitches. He'll be a vocal one just like his brothers. The one thing he isn't doing yet is rolling. We figure it might be six months before he does as it's going to require a massive effort to get his giant self over. We haven't weighed him yet but we are guessing he's about 18 lbs by now. What an absolute sweetie his is. He charms us all and crushes all the other babies! We call him our gentle giant.