Eric leaving on a business trip

I left on Sunday for some training in Norfolk. I'll have some more training along the way and will be in Iraq sometime in late November or early December. By the time I was actually on the plane it wasn't too bad, but Sunday afternoon just before leaving for the airport and the drive there was not easy. From now on out, I feel like everything is going to be easy because Sunday afternoon was the hardest thing I have ever done.

The picture is at Heather's parents house right before we left for the airport. Just the idea of taking a family photo on the last day we would be together for a long time was pretty sad. Once we got to the airport the very nice lady behind the counter offered to let Heather and the kids through security to see me off at the gate. The security lines were quick and we had about 45 minutes in the terminal to talk and play. Ethan practiced taking pictures with the camera (representative sample shown at right). He also managed to take a couple of short videos and several other photos of his finger
over the lens. As always, Kailey was a doll the entire time. One of the few photos that I took was of a new skill that Ethan has developed over the last few weeks. He lays down on the ground when he doesn't want to participate in whatever is going on or he doesn't want to do what you want him to do. He used to occasionally lie down when he was REALLY tired, but this, unfortunately, is happening a little more often. One of the problems we've encountered is that he typically likes to do this in the middle of street when we're crossing from the side he wants to be on to the side of the street that mom or dad wants to be on (i.e., where we need to be most of the time).

I miss and love you.

Adorable kids!

This is Ethan's Halloween costume--he just loves monkeys. When I put it on him he walked around the house for over an hour saying, "eee, eee" like a monkey and did not want to take his costume off.

Ethan sees me carrying Kailey around in the baby bjorn and always wants to imitate me--it is so cute!

Ethan has been such a great big brother to Kailey and just loves her so much--it is wonderful. He always wants to hold her and help her--I hope it stays this way!

This adorable outfit was sent by some of Eric's aunts and uncles and she wore it to church two weeks ago and just looked SOOOOO cute. This picture doesn't even do justice to how cute she was!!

Kailey is just so cute and such a happy baby and we just love her so much!

Ben & Jerry's here we come!!

So, as we are preparing to move, the last thing we wanted to do while we were here was to go to Vermont. Eric has never been there and we needed to make our pilgrimage to Mecca (otherwise known as Ben & Jerry's). For those of you who don't know, Eric is a diehard addict-he consumes one pint of Chunky Monkey a week, in fact one of my wifely duties is to buy him a pint every week when I grocery shop. We started our trip out by going to the Joseph Smith Memorial in Sharon, Vermont. They have the hearthstone of his original home where he was born. They also have this great granite memorial that is 38 1/2 feet tall--one foot for every year he lived. There is a great story about how they got that there, but it is too long to tell on here. Next we went to a cider mill for lunch--it wasn't nearly as good as the one in Massachusetts we went to with Brent and Darcee, but we did eat a cider donut for Brent. Finally, the reason for the trip--BEN & JERRY'S!! We went and visited the factory where it started. I have to admit, the factory was a little bit of a let down, I was expecting more, but we got a free taste test of a new flavor, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Saturday night we spent in Burlington, Vermont, where I swear every other person drives a Subaru Outback or some station wagon-what a bunch of hippies up there! Sunday morning we went to this fun aquarium on Lake Champlain that had a ton of interactive exhibits that Ethan just loved! One fun thing you could do was make a shadow movie of yourself. Check out:http://video.snibbeinteractive.com/video/c771b354-6733-44d7-80d9-716d24dcbf05 to see Ethan and Eric's movie. Ethan is playing with one of those noodles in the movie. Enjoy our pictures--we had such a fun time and are sad to be leaving New England. It is just such a beautiful area with so many things to do!!

Mom and Dad we are moving home!!

Well, I hate to say it, but my husband is leaving me for 8 months vacation in the sand and sun, so I am taking the kids and moving home. Dad and Mom, I hope you are ready for Ethan, Kailey and I. We found out two weeks ago that Eric is going to Iraq. He leaves November 3rd for training in South Carolina and then heads to Iraq the end of the month and won't be back until the end of June. Sorry, I can't say too much about what he is doing--it is top secret Navy stuff, but don't worry he will not be in a combat zone and should be relatively safe. We are not looking forward to being apart, but on the other hand this is a great opportunity and experience for him and my parents are so excited to have their grandchildren closer. For those of you wondering what exactly Eric will be doing, here is an idea!!

Thank you Brooke!!

Brooke, thank you for being the best intern/aunt/sister/babysitter/etc of the summer!! We can't thank you enough for all your help and surviving the summer with us. We enjoyed having you so much and are sorry if we traumatized you!! We miss you lots and hope you have a great school year!!

Busy Month

Well, I have been very remiss in updating our blog. We have had a fun, but busy month. Eric left the beginning of August for 2 weeks to go backpacking with the scouts in New Mexico at a scout camp called Philmont. He had an interesting time, but was glad to get back. He took a bunch of pictures, but I would be surprised if they ever end up on here--I seem to be the only one that blogs--I will have to work with him! While he was gone, my mom came out to see her new granddaughter and spend some quality time with Ethan, my sister Brooke and I. I have never seen 2 weeks go by so fast. We had so many projects that we worked on, she helped organize my house a little better (it had fallen into disarray after Kailey came), we went and played and just had a great time. My dad ended up having a meeting in Boston, so he came down for a couple of days to see Ethan and Kailey. It was so great having them here. Here is a slide show of some of the fun things we did.

20 Products to Traumatize your infant

I saw this on my friend's blog and thought some of these products were insane--I don't know what parent would buy these or what crazy person thinks some of these products up, but it happens. When you get time check out the link: http://www.cracked.com/article_16475_p2.html. Enjoy and don't worry I have only bought a couple of these products--just kidding!

My Sous-Chef!

I am a little behind in my blogging and also haven't taken too many pictures lately--I know--I need to take more pictures of Kailey and I will do that soon. So until I get a little more organized, here are a couple of pictures for everyone.

When my dad was here in June, he made Ethan this little house. It is so funny, Ethan will go inside and then yell, "Hiyeee" and then we loves it when you close the windows and then he will push them open and play "peek-a-boo." Thanks Dad for the great house.

Ethan loves to help me bake and the other day we made Texas Sheet cake--he is so good to stir and put the ingredients in, but his best job is tasting!

Here is a cute little picture of Kailey--she is about 2 weeks old in this picture. I will update soon with some new pictures. Isn't she just adorable--I just love that her hair is long enough to put bows in, but I wish I could find more bows--who knew it was so hard to find bows for little girls' hair??

Finally caught by the paparazzi...

My sister Brooke has been living with us this summer and finally caught on to some of our secrets--I swear none of this is true. Check out "The Nelson's: Exposed" at www.brooketolman.blogspot.com.