Howie's 2nd birthday

Sorry I'm so late posting about Howie's birthday. We had some technical difficulties.

His birthday was on Tuesday, Nov. 11th. We started of the day with a junk food breakfast of hashbrowns from McDonald's.  Then we let Howie have his big presents: a trampoline from Mama & Daddy & a tractor from Grancy. He loved them both! He immediately knew what the trampoline was for (he's always been a big jumper). And he even wore the hard hat that came with the tractor. Later that morning we had a playdate with Ryland, Jojo, & Isabelle. The trampoline was a big hit! We also had Howie's ride-on Thomas out. Then we went out to lunch at a Thai restaurant. Howie digs spring rolls & noodles! We spent the afternoon at Gab Gab beach, which is here on base. Howie has always been a water bug! He's a little too brave for mama sometimes. After that, we went out to the playground for the evening, which is a regular thing around here. We usually run into our neighbors out there. 

On the Saturday after his birthday, we had a pool party here at the house. It was small & relaxed, but lots of fun! We had two pools out, so the kids liked running back & forth jumping into them both. Howie preferred the inflatable one with the slide cause it was low enough for him to jump into. It's nice having the playground right in the backyard, & all the kids ended up there eventually. And, as you'll see in the video, plastic slides & wet swim trunks make a fun mix (although maybe not the safest). Then we had a good old fashioned barbeque & tractor cake for dessert! The cake looked more like a jeep to me, but all the kids knew what it was. Howie opened a couple of his gifts that night (with some help), but we saved most of them for the next day so he wouldn't get too overwhelmed. 

We missed all our family & friends, but I'm pretty sure Howie still had a wonderful birthday.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Flashback Friday

For Thanksgiving week we're going back to Howie's first Thanksgiving 2 years ago. Howie was only 12 days old, & we'd only been home from the hospital a little over a week. My parents, grandparents, & brother came up to visit. And to keep all the stress off of the new parents, they even brought all the food! We had a nice relaxing day just spending time together. 

Howie & Great Granddaddy Nelson

Howie & Great Grandma Mavis

Howie & Granddaddy Reed

Howie & Grandma Vicki

Uncle Micheal with Vixie & Gus

Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving without family was not nearly as hard as I was afraid it would be. We got together with two other families for a fabulous feast & lots of laughs. The Ramirez family were wonderful hosts! Everyone ate too much, as it should be, & then played Rockband on Xbox 360. Howie was too busy to eat & only wanted to play with his buddies Mia & Ryland. He even helped Mama & Daddy play the drums. We have a video of that, but it's rotated so we have to try to edit it. We had such a great time, & we can't wait for our Hong Kong trip with this same group!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Our First Boonie Stomp - Haputo Beach

Sorry I've been slacking on the blog. We've had some computer issues, but they're all straightened out now.

We finally made some time to get out & explore the island. Haputo is a small, secluded beach on one of the Navy bases, so access is limited. You have to hike down a fairly steep set of steps to get down to the beach, but it's well worth it. The water was a little cooler here than the beach we usually go to, but it was refreshing. We saw a coconut crab for the first time in it's natural habitat, although it was a small one. Coconut crabs are the largestland arthropod, & are actually a type of hermit crab. The young ones usually have a snail shell, like the one we saw. Older ones adapt so that they don't need a shell. We also saw lots of "regular" hermit crabs, which really entertained Howie. He kept reaching out & saying "Come here crab" & "I'm gonna get you crab!" Then he wanted us to catch them, but he got freaked out when they came out of their shell while we were holding them. We had to escape into the forest when a big rainstorm came over right before we were ready to leave, but it didn't last very long. On the drive back out, we saw a deer on the side of the road, but it darted off before we could get a picture. We had a great time & can't wait to go back. There's also an ancient Chamorro village nearby, but we weren't sure exactly where, so we're going to try to find it next time. Enjoy the video & the smilebox!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Flashback Friday

For our second edition of Flashback Friday, we'll cover our trip to Florida to visit Nick's family in July. This is where our journey to Guam really begins, because it was important to spend some quality time with family before we moved so far away.

We spent most of our time just hanging out. We took a day to go tubing down the Itchitucknee River with Grandpa Van. Grammy Michele couldn't come because of her cast. Howie had fun, but the water was freezing, so he mostly wanted to snuggle with Mama. We also took a Jungle Cruise on the Wacissa River with Grancy & Pappy Scott. Unfortunately we forgot our camera that day. Howie seemed to enjoy the cruise, & he could even see the fish under the water & the mullet jumping. We spent a little time on the beach there, and the freezing cold water didn't seem to bother Howie as much this time. But we had to drag him away when his lips turned blue. On our last day there, Grancy & Pappy took us to a local farm where they get eggs to see the chickens, goats, & other animals. Howie was most interested in the family cat. But the baby chicks were cute, too. We took the train back up to NC, which was lots of fun, except for the 4 hour delay that left us departing at 2 am. Now you'll understand the last picture in the smilebox.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Flashback Friday

I was planning to start with our trip over from the states, but since Howie's birthday is coming up next week, I'm gonna flashback to his first birthday instead.

Nick was underway for Howie's first birthday, so Howie & I were in NC with my parents. The 4 of us had a small birthday party breakfast, complete with chocolate chip pancakes & birthday cake. He was pretty surprised when we let him dig into the cake, but he made the most of it. We went back home to VA pretty soon after the celebration so we could be there to meet Nick the next day. We had his actual party the following Saturday. My parents, maternal grandparents, & brother Spencer came up for the party. We let him go on the cake again, & he almost choked cramming a chocolate cupcake in his mouth. He really seemed to have a good time. I hope this year will be even better!

Giddy up!

cupcake cake

the decorations

Party favors with Granddaddy Reed . . .

and Great Granddaddy Nelson.

Those adorable early steps!

.

Smashmouth

We decided kind of last minute to go see Smashmouth tonight. It was Howie's first concert, & he had a blast! And it was the first concert Nick & I have gone to since before I got pregnant with Howie. The music was pretty good & even had Howie dancing. But mostly he ran around & played with a ball, until he got so tired he could hardly walk. He fought it off though, & stayed awake the whole time. And best of all, it was free!

Howie dancing

More dancing . . .

and really getting into it!

Howie & Alex

Howie watching the concert

Playing with Daddy

Taking a break . . .

and having some water.

Getting so sleepy!

Our Sunday

We had another big day today. The biggest news is that Howie pee peed on the potty for the first time this morning! Woo hoo! We clapped & cheered & were all 3 very proud. He also went on the floor a couple of times, but that's ok because we just started potty training. We're just going to take it slow.

Then we went for our first visit to what will likely be our new church home with our neighbors, the Morrisons. Like most things here, it is best described as "island style." The service is really laid back, which is nice for an unpredictable 2 year old. There's a beautiful view of the Philippine Sea, and thankfully a nice breeze since it's outside (because of the frequent power outages). But we felt very comfortable there & look forward to our next visit. After church we went to eat & then to the aquarium, Underwater World. Howie was a little scared of some of the bigger fish & the eels, but he really liked the turtles. Then we went for ice cream at Haagen Dazs. I'm really only mentioning that because while we were there we felt a pretty big earthquake that lasted several seconds. I've felt a couple of small ones here before, but nothing like this one. We thought it was some huge truck or something outside. Apparently earthquakes are not uncommon here. Kinda freaky!

What a big boy!

Howie & Tyler dancing & spinning

Halloween

We took Farmer Howie trick or treating last night for Halloween. His love of tractors made his costume choice an easy one. And he even had his very own tractor & cow to drag along. He would only say "trick or treat" once in a while, but he did say thank you for the candy every time we reminded him. He was even able to stay out & walk around for almost an hour. I think the suckers helped keep him going.

Right before we went out trick or treating, we ran the Trick or Treat 5K here on base. It was my first one ever! I was able to run the first half, then after that I had to take a couple of walking breaks. Nick was pushing the jogging stroller, & I still held him up. But I'm working on it! We finished in 34 minutes, then rushed home to shower & change.

It was a busy day, but we had lots of fun!

Moo, moo Clarence!