since you've been gone

It's been 7 weeks since Patrick has been gone and we are managing.... we miss him and we won't let him leave again (for a while at least) and here is a recap of the last 7 weeks.

Oliver was teething pretty much the entire month of December and it.sucked.balls!!!!  normally I take him to bed and it is matter of minutes but not last month... on a good night I would be out after an hour :(  honestly I believe it was a mix of teething (silly molars) and Daddy being gone... 

We went to a sleepover at Steffi's house and we had a blast - Frankee joined as well and slept the entire night on their couch :)  

For Christmas we drove up to New York to stay with Norma, Viktor and the kids and we had an amazing time.  I am very thankful to have my family in driving distance.  We spend Christmas Eve in the mansion and there were sooooo many kids - it was like a mob of children and at one point I was afraid they were going to hurt us if we didn't cough up more gifts...  Oliver loved every single gift he received and he was having so much fun to be surrounded by all the kids :) 

Christmas Morning was again with Norma & Viktor.  I have to say I got a lot of ideas for next years Christmas Morning - Jakob, Adrian, Veronika and Oliver were just blown away by what Santa brought them :)  We spent the day with my Aunt and Family and it was so much fun!!!  

New Years Eve we went to the Alpaugh Family and it was fun to be around MORE babies!!!  Thankfully Aria was also there and she helped Oliver to show Mike & Laura what else needed to be baby proofed ;) 

Since the New Year Oliver has been going to bed pretty easy again (I do not dare to jinx it here)  and I am amazed at his ever changing development... Last Saturday he started putting away his shoes at his little closet area. I happened to take them off and leave them in the dinning room and Oliver got up, grabbed them and put them in its place.  Immediately I cheered him on and started clapping, so now he clappes and gets super exciting whenever he puts his shoes away.  Needless to say I started to incorporate toy clean up now every night HOPEFULLY that will just catch on somehow....... 

Coloring with Crayons is a new activity in the Lamb household...  I am trying to teach him to leave his art on the paper and not the WHITE coffee table....  

While I cook he is obsessed with trying to cook himself and always grabs the smallest pan and tries so hard to put it on the stove.  I am not a fan it and I need to look into getting him a play kitchen to keep him occupied for a few minutes...  

While we were at my Aunts house we practiced walking down steps - she has two steps in-doors and it was a good way to practice.  He now knows that he could fall and if he finds support (Mommy or the wall) he can walk down safely one step and sometimes two.  

 

I am still amazed that in 6 weeks he got 6 teeth!!!! only two more cuspids to go :) 

Terrible Two's at 16 months???

Oliver is a lot like his parents, very opinionated and stubborn.  It will pay off later in life to be a strong character but not when he is 16 months old!!!! I mean come on... give me a break!!!!

My sweet innocent child can go from cute to throwing a tantrum in five seconds....  SCARY!!!!

I am blaming it on his molars coming in or maybe it is just my cute little son being a little bit too much like his parents... very opinionated and stubborn....  I am already fearing it when he is two or dare I say teenage days????

he is gone

Since Oliver is born time has really been flying like crazy - now I am putting you to the test TIME!  Let's see if it will seem like forever before Patrick gets back home OR will it go by super fast???

Let's just say - the countdown to his return has begun!!!!

Patrick - I just want you to know that although you have only been gone a few hours (almost 5) that you are already MISSED and you are loved and we are proud of you!!!
Not everyone can/will do what you are doing....  some must, but only a few choose....

Stationery card

Retro Stripe Frame Christmas Card

Seasons greetings with personalized Christmas cards from Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

two weeks

In two weeks Patrick is leaving for 6 months for work.  I have been with him for over 8 years and while he was active duty military he never got to deploy for such a long time and I know in comparison to other spouses who have been gone multiple times for a year or longer it is not comparable, but the longest Patrick ever deployed was for 3 months prior to meeting me.

I will miss seeing him everyday
I will miss seeing him interact with our son
I will miss his kisses
I will miss his hugs
I will miss his text messages
I will miss his random phone calls
I will miss his dinners

but mostly I will miss him...

Six months will fly by and I will try to keep myself busy... hopefully we will get to talk over skype frequently and I hope we will be able to email daily...

Trick or Treat Oliver Style

A few years ago our friends Aaron and Miranda's son Will was dressed up as a gnome for Halloween and we saw it and knew right away we had to use that outfit whenever we were going to have kids.  So September rolled around and I asked her where she got it from and found it on Amazon.

We did a little photo shoot Saturday before Halloween and let's say I am glad, because someone (not trying to mention any names) had an incident at the playground last Sunday and scraped up his nose pretty bad :(  Everyone thought it was part of the costume so I guess it worked out... 

Here is my gnome:

My little Gnome

 At first he was enjoying wearing his outfit but he lost interested very fast....

this sucks! 

Halloween Night - getting ready for the big show!!! 

there is always time to annoy Frankee

gnome and witch 

grown-ups treats! 

 Oliver's bed time is usually around 7pm so we were out and about at 6:30 and lasted for one hour.  At first he enjoyed walking by himself and he LOVED walked up to every single house (something that he usually isn't allowed) and he did have Jayden and Zoey to show him how it is done.  But I am already looking forward to next year when he'll be able to not only walk up the steps but also down...  Halfway through our trick-or-treat I had to start carrying him.  Poor little guy was getting tired.
I realized it was time to go home when his diaper gave up and leaked onto me :( I guess I didn't get a treat, just a trick ;)

first house! 

Disclaimer to the outfit - it runs VERY small - we squeezed our almost 15month child in a size 2T and the red slippers are made out of felt and are very slippery when wearing on non-carpeted flooring.  20 min before bed he slipped and hit his forehead :(  Miranda placed duct tape on the bottom for some traction.

from Pumpkins to Halloween

We took Oliver to pick out his pumpkin and he had a blast and let's say we kind of snuck in by accident...

getting ready for the pig race

we had great seats 

my boys (someone is sad that the pig race is over) 

those are too big for me... 

let's see if there is something in my size

here we go Daddy! Look what I found

ok if it doesn't burst open, we are buying this one! 

it passed the test

let's go! 

playing in the corn box

and having fun

it was a big bouncy ball and it was FUN! 

Mommy loves her little boy!!!