She
wakes up about 3AM for a feeding and then she's down again until about 7AM.
While Laurel is the one who has to wake up - with resultant broken sleep - we're
very lucky that Caitlin pretty much sleeps the night.Missed some info? See all of 2006's updates here...
Updated Dec 28th, 2007...
Christmas is over and we're gearing up for 2008. All the company is gone and it's now just the four of us. Time to clean up the house and get ready to put away all of the holiday decorations.
It was a great time... Jeff's father and stepmother came up as did Laurel's sister, Monique. Alexander made out like a bandit with all of his toys. The big favorites were a train table from Santa and a toy tank from Aunt Monique. Everyone fared well, with appropriate gifts shared by all.
The dogs got their obligatory biscuits and bones, and the cat get some kitty treats.
Not going to say much in this posting - except to say the photos will be published on Alexander's page. Not going to bother formatting, so they may be a bit large for viewing, unless your browser automatically adjusts for your screen.
2007 was a wonderful year for all of us... the highlight was the arrival of our wonderful little daughter, Caitlin.
2008 is going to be a busy year, what with a move to North Carolina and Jeff getting strapped back into a jet. Lord knows, he's looking forward to flying again. We'll update again after the New Year.
Warmest wishes to all...
Jeff, Laurel, Alexander, Caitlin... Churchill, Emily, and Penny the Cat
Updated Dec 8th, 2007...
Caitlin is now about six weeks old and is starting to
smile and interact with us much more frequently. She's such a "sleeper".
Laurel feeds her at about 9PM and then puts her down.
She
wakes up about 3AM for a feeding and then she's down again until about 7AM.
While Laurel is the one who has to wake up - with resultant broken sleep - we're
very lucky that Caitlin pretty much sleeps the night.
Alexander is still not too terribly sure of his new
sister. Sure, he likes to point her out to people, but on several
occasions he has told Laurel to "send her away". We're sure it's a natural
reaction to having a younger sibling, and no longer being the center of
attention. Within a few months, we hope he'll start to warm up to her.
We had Jeff's mother and step-father down for Thanksgiving. It was the first time they had come to visit since we moved here in 2004. The last time we saw them was in 2005 when we went up to Massachusetts just before Jeff's grandmother passed. Alexander had a great time getting to know "Grammy Jo" and "Grumps". And we know the both of them enjoyed meeting their granddaughter for the very first time.
While they were here, Jeff took them to visit the Marine
Corps Museum.
It
is a brand new museum that opened on November 10th, 2006. That day is a
very special day in Marine Corps history, as it is the birthday of the Corps -
10 November 1775. While Jeff had been there several times, mostly for
promotions or retirement ceremonies, this was the first time he was able to walk
through all of the galleries and appreciate what the museum had to offer.
He hopes that both Joanne and Fred enjoyed their tour of the museum, and we will
be taking his father and step-mother there over the Christmas holiday.
In other news, Jeff received his "verbal orders" this week and we are expecting that he will have to report to his next duty station sometime in April of 2008. He plans on going down himself for a month or so and bringing the rest of the family down by the end of May or early June. The reason is two-fold: One, Jeff will have to get himself checked in and then he'll be off for simulator training in Florida for a few weeks... No need to move the whole family just for them to be alone in a new place. And two, if we move in May or June, we have a better chance of timing the move along with the "summer sillies" - the time when many more folks move - so that way we can lock on a renter with minimal overlap.
We are getting ready for the Christmas holiday, and Laurel's sister will be coming up in addition to Tom and Mary. While we have been enjoying the time as a family - getting to know out newest addition - we look forward to family visiting once again. We'll update again after Christmas.
- Jeff, Laurel, Alexander & Caitlin
Updated Nov 2nd, 2007...
Well, it's been a crazy two weeks. We now fully
understand what our friends have been telling us for the past 9+ months: "Just
wait until number two arrives..."
Jeff's father and step-mother departed yesterday after visiting for a week and a half. It was a wonderful time and they were a Godsend. Mary helped with all of the domestic duties to give Laurel a break, and Tom definitely enjoyed his role of grandfather. As you can see, he taught Alexander the finer techniques in eating popcorn.
Seriously, though, both grandparents got their fair share of "kid" time and we were very glad to have them assist us with our new arrival.
We took a day trip over to Massanutten resort to show Mary & Tom our new piece of paradise. We drove around and showed them the sights, and took some time to run around in the park. Run your mouse over the image on the right...
In other news, Halloween came and went, and Alexander had a fun time dressed up in his dragon costume. Since Caitlin was only about 10 days old, she stayed home with her grandparents while Alexander went out with his folks. Our street was pretty dark - not too many people had their porch lights on - so we had to walk pretty far. Needless to say, Alexander was tuckered out at the end of the night. We'll be rationing his candy off over the next few months.
With regards to our new little bundle of joy... Laurel is doing wonderfully, and baby Caitlin is definitely a well-mannered baby. She rarely cries (yet is at DEFCON 4 as this update is being typed... figures) and sleeps for 4 to 6 hours a night. We are very fortunate that she is eating well and sleeping well and seems to be adjusting to "the outside".
Alexander is still not too terribly sure what to think of his new sister. He knows her name and if you ask where his sister is, he'll point at her and say "There." But we can definitely tell he's having some issues with the attention that is being given to her. He's no longer THE center of attention, and he's trying to compartmentalize it and figure out who this little new addition is.
Speaking of Alexander, we noticed that while he seems to readily identify all the 'normal' colors (blue, green, yellow, etc) he has a problem calling something 'red' as 'green'. After a quick search on the Internet, we found out that red-green is the most prevalent form of color blindness so we've got an appointment set up with an ophthalmologist in December. Jeff's father is color blind, but the color blindness trait is passed on by the mother. Laurel's father is not color blind, nor are any of her siblings, so either we're making much ado about nothing or Laurel's been carrying a recessive trait that she picked up somewhere from her father's side of the family. We'll know for sure next month.
Jeff's pretty excited that the Red Sox won the 2007 World Series and already got himself the official hat and t-shirt so he can proudly display "his" team. Also, the Patriots continue to do well this year so he's happy to see his home-teams being successful.
Lastly, Jeff has been off from work for the past two weeks due to the new arrival. The two weeks have flown by, and Jeff is anxious to get back to work - if only to unbury himself from what will probably be a mountain of paperwork and assignments past due.
- Jeff, Laurel, Alexander & Caitlin
Updated Oct 24th, 2007...
On Saturday, the 20th, Jeff's father and step-mother arrived in the early afternoon. That night, Laurel thought she had some contractions coming on. Pretty good timing, since Oct 19th or 20th were the "official" due dates. We had some dinner and watched some TV and settled down for the night.
Sunday morning, the 21st - "It's Time."
We drove to the hospital at about 9AM and we were promptly told to go home and come back when we were serious about having a baby. No kidding! So, we went home and Laurel took a 30 minute bath while Jeff puttered about. After the bath, Jeff went to make Laurel some soup and brought it upstairs. It was now about 10:30AM.
"It's Time."
We got to the hospital (deja vu!) at about 10:45 and passed through the observation area and Laurel was admitted.
All of the routine paperwork was filled out and signed - again - and this time we knew it was going to be soon. Jeff's folks were at home with Alexander, so everything was set and ready to go.
At about 3:45PM, Laurel told Jeff to go out and get some lunch - he hadn't eaten all day - and so he obliged. The nurse said she'd check back in on Laurel in "about an hour" so Jeff figured he had some time to kill. Bad decision, young man, but thankfully not a huge error!
Laurel got Jeff on his cell phone right about the time he was ready to take his second bite (at 4:10PM) and said "Where are you?!!?" Needless to say, some speed limits were broken on the way back.
The baby made her grand debut at 4:59PM. Jeff made it back with plenty of time to spare. Both mother and baby are doing great, but Alexander still isn't too terribly sure about the whole situation. We're sure he'll come around shortly.
Hope all is well with all of you - thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.
-Jeff, Laurel, Alexander, & introducing --> Caitlin
Updated Oct 7th, 2007...
Two months since the last update. Not a heckuva lot has been happening, believe it or not. It seems that August and September just melted away.
In
August, we took a weekend and spent it up at
Massanutten resort near the Shenandoah
Valley in Virginia. We had an absolute blast and spent a full day at the
water park. There are mountains (not like the Rockies or anything) and
streams, ponds, trails, two golf courses and all sorts of neat stuff to do.
Sure, we had to listen to a time-share pitch (thanks goodness for rights of
rescission!) but it was a fun time and we're looking forward to returning again
someday. Actually, the weekend was Jeff's surprise birthday present to
Laurel. A few years ago, she surprised him with a trip to Hershey, PA, so
he returned the favor. Alexander had a blast!
Not really sure where September went, but we got a new car -
that's pretty much the highlight... We traded in the '95 Toyota Paseo with
272,000 miles on it (and still getting 38 mpg!) for a 2007 Toyota Yaris.
It's advertised at 39 hwy mpg and Jeff got about 38 on his first fill-up.
The Paseo was great, but it had power "nothing", one air bag, no anti-lock
brakes, and was a standard, two-door coupe. We never put Alexander
in it for safety reasons. The new car, however, has front, side, and
curtain airbags, 4-wheel anti-lock brakes, power everything, and is a 4-door
sedan. It's got plenty of room for not one, but two car seats, since we'll
be expanding our family here in a few short weeks. Jeff traded in his
Paseo (which was given to him by his brother-in-law back in 2005 when it "only"
had 245,000 miles on it), put some money down, and financed the rest. So -
we don't just look at it as just one new car, we look at it as 60
wonderful car payments!! (ugh!)
Seriously, though, it's a great little car and we hope it lasts many years and
several hundred thousand miles.
So we're about 2 weeks away from meeting our daughter. Laurel is going to the OB for her weekly appointments and continues to hear compliments on how the pregnancy has treated her favorably. She still goes to the gym 5 or 6 days a week, and Alexander has been attending weekly tumbling classes at Paragon Gym nearby. Laurel continues to hold down the fort at home with numerous appointments for Alexander, herself and our Boxer Churchill. Churchill had surgery back in September to have a cancerous tumor removed from his left side. He got some stitches and was down for a few weeks, but the tumor came back as benign and we're hoping that he continues to have a long and wonderful life. Our puppy Emily is still a puppy - albeit a 10 month old, 50 pound puppy... But she's all puppy, that's for sure. Great disposition and personality, so we are very happy with her in our family.
Jeff continues to do the daily grind to Quantico... while he enjoys the job, the commute on I-95 is starting to wear on him a little. He's found some solace in the fact that he's got his new car and it's an automatic! Yay - no more clutch to deal with during his daily gridlock on his way home!!
This will be the last update until Caitlin arrives. Then, we'll put up our new, updated family photo and will let everyone know through this website. Take care!
-Jeff, Laurel, Alexander, Churchill, Penny the cat, Emily.... and soon to arrive - Caitlin!
Updated Aug 5th, 2007...
Wow - just over three months since the last update. We actually tried to update it about a month ago but the computer crashed just as I was about to hit the "send" button. Figures. Our computer has had a case of the gremlins ever since the hard drive crashed and Jeff had to go buy a new one. We figure we'll go out and get a new one after we move next summer and the finances settle down. We have had this laptop since 2003 so it might be time for an upgrade. Anyway, lots has happened since the last update.
First thing's first: We're having a girl and her name is going to be Caitlin Elise. We actually found out just after the April update to the website - and all our family knows, so it's no big secret. It's funny... we've got plenty of boy's names picked out but had a hard time coming up with a girl's name we could agree on.
In late April, we found out that the tenants vacated the rental house we own down in Pensacola. While we were upset that the tenants moved out, we were not too tore up about it because we were approaching the summer season and knew that it would rent quickly. That is, of course, until we saw how much work needed to be done to it.
We asked Laurel's brother to lay down a tile floor in the kitchen - the previous floor had broken/missing tiles and looked horrible. Joe did a great job, and did it the "right" way with a cement board sub-floor. The new floor looks great and is not going anywhere! But, there was still a LOT more work that needed to be done.
We were planning on spending a week at the end of May in Tennessee to visit Jeff's father and stepmother, but Jeff asked for an additional week of vacation from his boss so we could head down to P-cola and build up some sweat equity. So, we loaded up all of Jeff's tools (3 bags full), a ladder, painting gear (drops, etc) along with the pets and all of our other "normal" vacation items, and we hit the road.
The first week was spent down in TN and we had a great time - hit Dollywood again and just relaxed. Went out on the lake, kicked back, and spent an enjoyable seven days killing time. But, that fun ended abruptly after five days when we loaded everything up and headed down to P-cola for six days of work. We enlisted help from Laurel's sister to help paint the ceilings as Jeff went ahead and updated all of the electrical switches, plugs, and plate covers. While it doesn't seem like a major task, taking care of the entire house's electrical needs took a better part of a full day. Jeff also put up some new light fixtures, new smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, and replaced the air conditioning diffusers.
After the ceilings were done, we moved to the walls and the trim. Of course, the doors had to be cleaned and touched up as well. Jeff ripped out the old, nasty set of French doors and replaced them with a nice Pella sliding glass door. While French doors would have looked nicer, the sliding glass door is so much more practical (and less expensive!)... Jeff dresed it up nicely with some trim pieces, and we could not have done it without the extra muscles and the truck of Laurel's friend, Hiro. Thanks again, pal!
We continued on through the house and Laurel did most of all the painting of the trim. We ensured that the windows were left open to ensure proper ventilation the entire time. While everyone gasped that a pregnant woman was painting, we made sure that the fumes were never building up too much with fans and cross-ventilation. As Laurel continued to paint, Jeff went out back and reset the 6' privacy fence in the backyard while had blown down by a storm years ago. And then, we got to use Hiro's muscles and truck again as we swapped out the little tiny fridge for a larger side-by-side.
There's probably a bunch more we're missing here, but after six days the house looked brand new (well, not really) and we loaded up and headed back north to TN to finish our vacation. We got to check out the Tennessee Zoo and relaxed a little more before we headed back north to Virginia.
All of our hard work paid off - the house is now rented out and we're breathing a little easier since we don't have to eat that second mortgage!
In other news, in July we returned to NY to go to the Maxwell's annual "Two week after the 4th of July party". This was a great weekend and we brought up fireworks again for everyone to enjoy. This year, it doubled as a surprise 40th birthday party for Max. While his actual birthday is not until November, Celine decided that this would be a good time to throw a party since so many guests would be here. The best thing about it? --> Max didn't see it coming! We had a great weekend, but the expected terrible traffic getting up there and returning always sours us. We plan on attending next year - but we'll have to play it by ear since we don't know exactly when we're moving.
Laurel spent most of July down in Florida with her reserve unit. With the baby due in October, Laurel wanted to make sure she got as much military time in because she won't return to her unit until our new bundle of joy is at least 3 months old, so sometime after the new year...
Saving the best news for last... Laurel has been promoted to the rank of Major in the Army Reserves!! So now, we've got two Majors living in the house! We're all proud of her and the added pay raise doesn't hurt!
That's it for now - will try to update a little bit more frequently.
-Jeff & Laurel
Updated Apr 28th, 2007...
Well, it's official... We've known since January but now we're letting the word out: Laurel's pregnant with Alexander's little brother or sister! After last summer's experience, we decided to wait until the first trimester was over to let the proverbial cat out of the bag.
The baby is due October 19th, 2007 and we've got names picked out but we're going to keep them a secret until we know for sure what the baby is going to be. And yes, just like last time, we're going to ask to know the sex in advance.
Needless to say, we're all excited and we're telling Alexander that Mommy has a baby in her belly. Every time we tell him that, he'll look at Laurel's stomach area and then he'll lift up his shirt and start patting his tummy. It's cute to watch...
We'll keep you updated...
Updated Apr 8th, 2007...
Today is Easter Sunday and we've been guilty of neglecting the website for the past two months. Jeff has been very busy at work and Laurel has had her hands full of taking care of everyone and keeping the house in order! Where do we begin?
Well, we found out that we are not moving to North Carolina until June or July of next year. Apparently, Jeff's next squadron is properly staffed for now so that means we get to stay in Virginia for another year. With the exception of Jeff not getting back into the cockpit until 2008, we're not upset at all. Jeff likes his job and we continue to enjoy and love the area!!
In other news, we got a new puppy. We picked up "Emily" on Jan 28th from a local breeder. She's a Rottweiler and has been getting along nicely with Churchill and the rest of the family. Here's a photo from when we brought her home... as you can imagine, she's a lot bigger now!
March was a whirlwind of a month - Jeff was awfully busy at work and Laurel had several appointments just about every week. We were so busy that we really were unable to relax and enjoy ourselves. Alexander has been keeping us busy as well. He's becoming much more independent and "sneaky" - we know he's up to something when he's REALLY quiet!
About the only "fun" thing we got to do was go to a birthday party for Caleb. He's a neighbor of ours and just turned three years old. It was Alexander's first "real" birthday party and it was held at a local gymnasium / street hockey place where all the kids could run and jump around on trampolines. Since it was his first time seeing these things, he was a bit hesitant at first. But, after he warmed up to the equipment he had lots of fun! Of course, there was cake and ice cream, too - but he didn't need any extra time to get comfortable with that!
As always, check out Alexander's page for more photos...
We spent some time coloring Easter eggs this year. Alexander got to color them himself, but he wasn't sure exactly what to do with the eggs when he was done. He does not eat eggs (must be the texture?) but he loves to squeeze them. Needless to say, the hard-boiled eggs didn't stand a chance with his Herculean strength! Looks like Jeff will be eating egg salad sandwiches this week at work...
In other news, Laurel leaves tonight for Army training down in Florida. Jeff will be a single Dad for the week and still hasn't figured out how the puppy is going to make it for an entire day without a break! Churchill can go for 12 hours at a time, and the bulldog was able to go a whole day as well (even at a young age) but this will be the first test for Emily. It's either going to work out great or Jeff will be bathing her every night!
This will be good practice, though, because the week after Laurel returns, she'll be doing her "two weeks a year" out in California. No rest for the weary... Basically, it's going to be rough month for Jeff... keep your fingers crossed! We've got more news but we'll save it for the next update which will definitely be no later than the 1st week of May! Until then - take care...
- Jeff, Laurel, Alexander, Churchill, Emily and Penny the cat!
Updated Feb 17th, 2007...
Well, today's update is going to be very brief. Jeff found out yesterday that he was not selected to be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps. Believe it or not, but we're not upset, depressed or otherwise angry.
It was expected, as Jeff has not followed the "traditional" career path for an aviator. While he's got most of the appropriate "checks in the boxes" that are required for promotion, there were a few things that made him less competitive compared to his peers. We knew that if Jeff returned to active duty back in 2004 that he would probably not get promoted to the next rank. It's just the way things go.
Updated Jan 27th, 2007...
Well, today is Alexander's 2nd birthday!
We started the day with bowls of cereal and cartoons. Then, Alexander decided he needed a little nap so he slept a little bit more while Jeff & Laurel cleaned up a bit and got ready to go out for lunch. And where did we go? Why, Chuck E Cheese, of course!
We headed out a bit before noon and went to our local Chuck E Cheese which is down the road about 10 minutes or so. We got ourselves a pizza and $5.00 worth of tokens. Photos are on Alexander's page... Alexander had a great time - he's still a bit too little to understand what he's supposed to do there, but he ran around and looked at all of the lights and enjoyed the sights. He went on the rides and enjoyed the basketball game the most!!
After a few errands, we were back at home and it was time for the cake and ice cream! Laurel baked him a cake this morning and last night Jeff made the home-made pineapple ice cream. It was not as good as the pineapple ice cream we enjoyed so much at the Dole Pineapple plantation in Hawaii, but it still tasted good nonetheless!
After cake and ice cream, Alexander got to open up his presents. In addition to some cards, he received a piggy bank, some crayons and coloring books, a pillow, a wooden jigsaw puzzle toy, and a bath toy! He also received some money that will be put into his savings account.
He's no longer a baby, he's officially a little boy! Happy birthday, son!
Love, Mom & Dad
Updated Jan 15th, 2007...
2006 was a another good year for us... In case you missed our website, here are the highlights:
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, a happy New Year, and we wish everyone a safe and happy 2007!
- Jeff, Laurel, Alexander, Churchill, & Penny the cat.
Also, be sure to check out Alexander's page from time to time to see the latest photos!