Henry-

Henry is almost 8 weeks now. I can hardly believe it He's already graduated to size 2 diapers. He eats like no child I have ever seen. My Dad was amazed at the time I spent feeding the little piglet. This picture is from my Dad's visit. My Dad, Wendy and my grandma came. I will post more pictures, but I wanted to post this one of Henry since I think it shows how big he's getting.

Mike does not love the dr-

Mike is one of the most social kids I know. He says hi to any and everyone. That is except for the dr. We had to take him to the ER today b/c he had an ear infection. He screamed like he has never screamed before when anyone came near him. He kept saying "no doctors, no doctors." I'm not sure where this fear of drs developed, but oh my gosh. Even when I was in the hospital with Henry, he told every nurse that came in the door, "NO!". He did not want any of them to come near me. So anyway, he came out with every medicine under the sun. That is matched with Henry's medicine for Thrush. He had to go to the dr earlier this week for that. And now after discovering that the drs have left soemthing behind after my C-section, I will be going in to get that taken care of this week. I hope we can narrow these visits down to well baby check ups and be done with the doctors!(wishful thinking!)

Butler

Yesterday we went to watch Butler play at Campbell University. Mike was of course entertainment for everyone. He was cheering and dancing his little heart out. So our little celebrity will be featured on the Butler parents website this week. You can see his photos at www.butlerfootball.org later in the week.
Joe was also a hit at the game. The assistant athletic director asked him to go to the press box where he was interviewed for the radio show. I'll post where you can find it later this week.
It was a good time. Henry slept the whole drive there, through the game and the entire way home. I think that had to be some kind of record. We left at the third quarter. Butler was winning by a landslide, so unless something went seriously wrong, I will assume they won the game.
Wish we could have been there for Lily's b-day party. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!

1 Month Old

Henry turned a whole month on Friday. He's doing great. He's learning to take the rough stuff from his brother now too. Mike just about smothers him when he tries to kiss him, but so far, Henry is tough and doesn't seem to mind too much!

Sleepy Head

Hank only sleeps in his car seat. It's wierd, but hey if he'll sleep, I'll take it! Today he was sleeping very soundly and was looking very cute. He's getting bigger by the day. His face is a lot fuller now and the clothes we have are starting to fit. I can't wait for him to meet everyone!

Mike's Farm

Yesterday we went to a very cool farm not too far away from our house. It was similar to my mom's operation, but a little bigger and they had a HUGE resturant. Everyone has been telling us how great the food was, but I'll tell you-my mom's is better. Even Joe said so. Mike LOVED it there. They were having an antique tractor show and he was in heaven. Some of the owners were nice enough to let him sit on them. Then we went to see them animals and picked out pumpkins. They runn through the holidays with hayrides that go through christmas lights and live nativity scenes. We will be going back for sure!

Henry, almost two weeks

I really wish these kids would stay babies for a little longer. Henry is only a little over a week old, but already he is changing everyday. He's eating major amounts of food, so I'm guessing he'll be growing out of these newborn clothes any day now. Mike likes being the big brother, but he still loves to sit in the baby's seat to watch tv.

Just Like Dad

Lately Mike has been very interested in everything his Dad is doing. He loves to do push ups with him to get "tough" and when Joe is at work, Mike uses the perfect push up handles just like Dad. His new interest is in Joe's boots. He tries to walk around in them all the time even though they weigh as much as he does. It's very cute.

Weekend in Atlanta

This weekend we went to Atlanta. One of Joe's good friends from college was getting married so we decided to pack up the kids and head over. The drive there was good. The boys were both really well behaved, but the 6 hour drive took us 9 hours. We can't blame the kids for all of the delays. We did get stuck in a traffice jam for about an hour, but all other stops were related to diapers and feeding. The way back was a breeze. We stopped once and that was it. They were both so good, I couldn't have asked for anything more! On Saturday before the wedding we took them to the Aquarium. Mike thought it was the coolest thing and told all of Joe's friends about the fishies. Henry slept the whole time which was great. Then we didn't have to stop Mike's tour to feed or change diapers. The wedding was nice. The reception was at the top floor of the hotel overlooking Atlanta. It was very nice. So, while I thought we were out of our minds trying to take them both on a 6 our drive, it turned out to be a great weekend. Joe is going back to work tomorrow which is sad. We have had so much fun having him home with us. Mike is going to start going to the child development center on base twice a week. I think he will love it. He loves other kids and could stand to have a few lessons in sharing with others! It's kind of hard to teach him when he's at home with me and there isn't anyone for him to share with!

Hank is Here!

Henry Bryan "Hank" Haley was born at 9:49am on September 3rd. He weighed 8.2 lbs and was 21 inches long. We all spent Wednesday and Thursday in the hospital waiting for Melissa to recover from her surgery. Both Mom and baby are doing fine and they are home now. Michael is very protective of his new baby brother and of his hurt mom. He would push the nurses away when they'd come in to treat Melissa. Granny Leturgez got Michael a "I'm a big brother" shirt. Hank looks a lot like Michael did when he was born, but there are slight differences. See for yourself.

The Days Prior to Hank

Melissa's mom and grandma drove down to visit and help with Michael when it was time for Henry to come. It has been a huge help having them here. In the two days before Henry was born, we laughed at Mike while he played in the sprinklers, we let him crawl around on Dad's helicopter, and we all went down to the beach to see the big waves before TS Hanna hit the coast. Melissa's belly reached an all-time record for hugeness. Mike used it to shield himself from the rain! And then it was time for Hank...

Joe is Home!

Well after days of delays Joe finally made it home! He arrived on a bus at New River on August 3rd at about 1am. It was so great to see him! Everyone was super excited to see them all returning. Because of the late hour Mike didn't get to see him until the next morning. They are like two peas in a pod now. They are doing all kinds of manly things like putting together lawn mowers and going to lowes.
The Haley's were here visiting when Joe returned. Unfortunately everyone came down with some kind of stomach virus. Not a great welcome to be at home sick for a few days, but everyone is better now. Carey and the kids were the only people to avoid the illness, although Mike did vomit all over me at one point, but we are still unsure of the reason behind that incident. It was pretty funny though. Carey did happen to snap a picture of that, but iu haven't seen it yet. Now we are just trying to put the house together. In a few more weeks baby #2 will be here. Because of the plague hitting the house, I didn't get too many pictures. I will work on that the next couple of days.

OH MY GOSH!

Well I can tell you this-I severely underestimated the amount of work we would have ahead of us when we started this move! It has been a non stop week of working to get things to NC, out of storage and into the house. Whew! I couldn't have done this without the help of the family. The kids have been helping with Mike 24/7 and Mom and Roger have done all of the hard moving and hanging. They are leaving tomorrow and we are going to MISS them like crazy! Mike likes his new house. Whenever we drive up he claps his hands and says "house, house." He really likes the deck. We bought a pool just like Popo's, so he's having a blast with it. The neighbors just moved in yesterday. They are very nice. They have a 4yr old, a 2 yr old and the wife is pregnant with her third one right now! Everything is coming along nicely. Joe will have plenty to do when he gets home, so he didn't miss out on everything. We are so excited to see him and to have everyone come to visit. Since Joe has our computer and I have been using the family's, I will be without one until he comes home. They will be taking theirs back with them of course! So, if you email I won't get it for while. See you soon!

Happy Fourth!

We had a great weekend visiting with all of the cousins. Taryn and Gabe were able to come hang out at Popo's with all of us. Barclay was a great sport standing in as griller and kid wrangler. Mike liked him but was just intimidated enough to behave whenever Barclay was near. The actual fourth was cold and rainy. That didn't stop Mike from stripping down and getting into the pool. Chris put on a nice cookout for all of us. Roger and the kids put on a mini fireworks show for Mike. He thought it was very cool and clapped after each display. It was a great weekend. Now we are getting ready to pack up and head back to North Carolina. We will get there on Monday and I will be closing on the house that afternoon. Then we will move in before mom and the family has to go back to Indiana. When they do Mike and I will be waiting for Joe to come home and then the big reunion with the Haley's. Shortly after that the little one will be on his way. We're heading into a busy time!

Funny Faces

Growing too Fast

Mike is getting super big. He looks like a total kid now. Except for the diaper he's lost all babyness. The countdown is on now. There are only about 34 days left until Joe comes home. We are SUPER excited. So now we have about two weeks until we head back to NC. I am getting stuff ordered for the house, and starting to pack things. It's going to be busy, but we are so ready! Taryn and Gabe are coming over the 4th of July weekend. It will be fun to see them and have all the cousins hang out. We will miss Joe Sr., Joe and Matt. They are all out doing their crazy jobs. We will see them soon though. We are all meeting back in NC around the 2nd of August.

4 peas in a pod

The kids are all enjoying spending time together now that they are out of school! Mike is especially having fun! He's learning all kinds of new things. Including this new pose.

Happy.........

Happy Father's Day, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary!!!!
Geez!! This is the busiest week and a half of the year for our family. For starters we had Allie, Spencer and Chris's birthdays. For anniversaries we had Mom and Roger, Joe and Barbara and Joe and me(coming on the 18th). Then we also celebrated Father's Day. Whew! What a week. It was fun! Here are a couple photos!

Tired Boy

Physical Therapy wears Mike out. Since he started sleeping through the night around 5 months, he has never fallen asleep anywhere but the car. Today I found him knocked out on the couch just before Abbie came over. The poor guys gets so worn out from wrestling with the therapist. He's wiped out by the time we get home.

Swimming!!!

Today Abbie and I drove Mike up to Carey's. We took all three kids to the neighborhood pool. It was a blast. The kiddie pool was closed, but they did fine in the big pool. Mike learned how to jump off the side from Lily. Addy opted to stay poolside and watch. We can't wait for them to come visit us in North Carolina!