Lake Lanier Islands

Today was a great day. Archer, Gee-Ma, Auntie Sarah and I loaded up the car and headed to Lake Lanier Water Park. To say it was a fun day would be quite the understatement. With the water being cold, I wasn't sure how quickly Archer would take to it. No sooner had I set him down, he took off right into the water, shoes on and everything. Luckily, they were water shoes. AND, Gee-Ma had her eye on him so she was right behind him. He splashed and played in the kiddie area for almost three hours. There was lots of laughter. He also enjoyed the slides. Surprisingly, he preferred to go down the slides head first. I am not sure what made him decide to do this, but he scared me every time he went down the slides. We certainly learned that Archer has no fear what so ever. He put his face in the water a ton, tried everything we put him in front of or on and had a blast doing so. I hope we can find something comparable in Colorado. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Shoes...shoes...and shoes.

Oh boy. As many of you know, Archer is NOT a huge fan of shoes. We have had trouble keeping shoes and socks on this boy from the moment he could reach his toes. Since he is walking all over the world now I had to get him some new kicks. I bought him some sneakers a few days ago and once I put them on him...he was off. I don't know what he thinks happened to his feet, but once he had the shoes on he acted like he was super man or something. He runs EVERYWHERE when he has his sneakers on.
Since I found shoes that he would keep on, I was shopping with my wonderful mother and sister today. We went to Stride Rite. I have to say this IS the place for kiddo shoes. Archer has a bit of a wide foot, so we where able to find him shoes (extra wide) and they fit him perfectly. We wound up with two pairs of sandals for his little fat feet. I will try to get pictures of him in them soon!

First Hair Cut

For some time now, I have been saying I was going to get Archer's hair cut. It was getting very long in the back. I was having trouble with the decision to get his hair cut because the long hair in the back turns into curls after his bath. They are just adorable. BUT, every time we get on skype with Nick...he comments on how much Archer's hair looks like a mullet. Not wanting him to be unfashionable, I took him to the barber shop on base today. I was very nervous and didn't know how Archer would be. Well, my fears were quickly dismissed. He sat on my lap and let the stylist do her job. It wasn't too terrible and he only sunk his head down into his shoulders a few times. I know the razor tickled his little neck because he giggled every time she touched him with the razor. After she was done, he looked adorable. Even more like his daddy than before. As I was looking at him, it was a sudden shock to see just how big he is. He looked like such a grown up with his new hair cut. Of course, he wouldn't let me get a GOOD picture, but this is what it now looks like from the side:As you can see, after the haircut we went to do some shopping at Kohls. We had to get a few things for our trip tomorrow to Georgia. I am so excited to see my mom for the first time in almost a year. It will also be great to see all of our other friends and family. I know a certain Gee-Ma that cannot wait to see her little grandson!

Momma's Little Helper

Well, Archer has recently turned into quite the little helper. He has started to understand simple directions. This has turned into me being able to get him to do small tasks. So...what can he do? One of his favorites are putting things in the trash. I will purposely drop things like receipts I know I don't need or when he finishes with his fruit snacks I make sure to give him the wrapper. With trash in hand, all I have to do is ask him to "please go put that in the trash" and he walks right over and places whatever in the trash. Sometimes this turns into a game and he starts to put all kinds of things (such as toys) in the trash. I have to keep the door closed to the trash can so that I can make sure to keep an eye on what things go in there. I have also learned that he LOVES to help load and unload the washer and dryer. I don't know where this fascination came from, but every Sunday, (our usual laundry day) Archer helps me. He also likes to press the buttons on both machines to make them start. I know these are two very small tasks, but it is amazing to watch him be able to understand directions. He understands and can identify what things are (like his milk cup or when it is time to go to bed) which makes things SO easy for me. I feel like if he is mentally prepared for things that are about to happen (i.e. nap time or bath time) the task at hand goes A LOT smoother.

We only have one week until we are back in Atlanta. I am so excited to spend time with family and see friends. Also, it will be great to get Archer away for a little while just to break up the monotony of Colorado Springs. I mean, I know that we have fun each day but there is only SO MUCH one little momma can do!

Deployed Family Dinner

I just got back from a deployed family dinner. It is a dinner that is held here on base once a month. I didn't know if I should go because I haven't really started feeling like I am 100% back to normal and didn't know what kind of company I would be (on a side note...my appetite has come back!) for anyone, much less new people that I would meet. But, I was proven wrong. Lots of the wonderful ladies from our squadron were there. I also met a few new friends. It was a great morale boosting night. When we arrived at the dinner, we were given a raffle ticket. I quickly dismissed this since it seems as though I NEVER win anything. Well...tonight was my lucky night. My raffle ticket was called. They had so may prizes that you could choose from. I bypassed all of the gift cards and got Archer some kind of robot transformer toy. He seems to really like it. After the dinner they show a movie at the base theater. I would have loved to have gone but I don't think Archer is quite ready for a movie. It was a really fun night and I look forward to all the other events we can participate in!

Nick was able to skype me today. It was WONDERFUL to see him. Archer was full of smiles and silly noises for his daddy. It made Nick smile, so that was great. I think that technology is really going to be the biggest help as we go through the coming months.

Dealing with this Deployment

So...today was the day. I have been dreading this day for some time now, and it has come...and is almost gone. To say it was filled with emotions would be such an understatement. I have never felt more proud, sad, scared, anxious, hopeful...you name it and that emotion was there today. I couldn't believe Archer though. He was quite the source of entertainment for a lot of people this morning. He got quite a few laughs and was a joy. I think he new his momma needed that more than anything else. I know he doesn't really get what was going on but it seemed as if his one year old heart just new to be good, funny and loving. Kids are truly amazing. I wanted to write this blog entry about all of the things we are doing to help get us through this deployment. I say that most of them are for Archer's sake but if I am being honest I have to admit that they are more for me. Here are some of the things we have done:

-We went to Build - A - Bear and made Archer a bear that has Nick's voice recorded. Whenever Archer hugs the bear, it plays him a special message. He loves the bear...hugs it A LOT.

-We purchased a "daddy doll." It is really a pillow with a full body picture of Nick in his flight suite. I love it and Archer laughs and smiles at it when I put it in his crib with him. He also likes to drag it around the house...I see the daddy doll coming a lot of places with us.

-Nick bought a recordable story book from Hallmark. It is SO awesome. He can now read a book to Archer every night. It makes me a little teary-eyed to hear it, but I am pretty sure Archer is going to love it. Books are a huge part of his night time routine, so this will be a wonderful addition.

-This one is really for me. I bought a candy jar and filled it with enough Hersey's Kisses for Archer and I to have one each day until Nick gets home. Now, I don't know the exact number of days he will be gone, but I (hopefully) overestimated. It has a label on it that says, "kisses from Daddy" This will help me visually as well as give me a sweet little treat to end the day with. I am thinking that I will let Archer have his right before his bath. I know that chocolate is not the BEST thing for kiddos, but this is a special time and...if he doesn't want it I am sure I can handle eating his!

So, hopefully these things will help ease us throughout this deployment. There are so many cool things to help us keep in touch as well, so we look forward to using all the technology that we can!