Homecoming & Holidays

We've had a busy couple of weeks in the Heyen house. Keith came home on the USS Harry S. Truman on Monday, December 20th. I bundled up the boys and we trekked down to the pier to collect him, standing with thousands of our closest friends in frigid temps and blustery winds. Makes me really miss those good old COD fly-ins! It was worth it though; we were all glad to be together again, just in time for Christmas. I had been prepping Will on what to expect once we got to where the "big boat" was docked. However, I failed to mention (or remember?) that everyone would be dressed the same and that it would be difficult to tell his Dad from all the others. So when I finally spotted Keith and tried to point him out to Will, Will just kept looking around. I guess he was expecting Daddy in civilian clothes or a flight suit, not his SDBs. But we finally reunited and Will was thrilled; he followed Keith around the house like a shadow for the first few days. Archer even seemed to recognize his Dad and wasn't at all hesitant of him. Life is back to normal now, whatever normal is in the Navy. Navy normal, is what it should be called. We're looking forward to Keith being "home" for most of January!


Right before Keith came back, Will had his Christmas program at school. It was pretty cute, although the music teacher was becoming obviously irritated with the 3 year olds (patience, Miss Cathy). They sang 4 songs, which was just about 2 too many. By the last song, one kid was jumping up and down, several had sat down on the steps, one had completely melted down and had to be removed from the situation altogether and the rest just weren't that into it. Will did pretty well considering all the distractions. I was able to get some shaky video (while holding a squirmy baby) so I'll try to get it uploaded at some point. Unfortunately I did not get video of Miss Cathy announcing how she needs a raise for working with the 3 year olds. Aaahhh, the holidays!


We topped off all that fun with Christmas at home. Unfortunately I got the stomach flu and was out of commission for much of the holiday festivities (hence, few pics). But overall we had a nice time with Aunt Jill, Matt, and Cousin Mandy. We got a Christmas night blizzard that kept everyone housebound and without power for a bit, which was far from ideal. But apparently we were all good this year because we raked in plenty of wonderful gifts, enjoyed great food, and had plenty of face time, although some of that was in the dark. :) I hope everyone will join us again for Christmas fun next year!

Snow!

We got the rare Southern Virginia snow today! Just a dusting but still exciting, especially for a certain 3 year old boy. I noticed the flurries before school and it continued to (slowly) fall all morning. By the time Will got home from school, there was about 1/4-1/2" on the deck...enough for him to play in (by his standards!) And play he did! Gotta love the excitement and optimism of a 3 year old!

5 months and mobile!

Archer turned 5 months old yesterday...I simply cannot believe it. Time has really flown. Despite my sleep deprivation and severe lack of "me" time, I am enjoying every moment of Archer's babyhood. So far we're having a blast! Will is so good with his little brother; I love to see them interact. I can already see how Archer will want to do everything his big brother is doing...hopefully not for a little while though!

To commemorate the 5 month mark, Archer decided to become mobile. He's not crawling quite yet but he's got the tummy slither and roll down pat. He's so good that I'll leave him on his play mat and come back to find him in a totally different place.
Last night he made it all the way off the living room rug and almost into the kitchen (on the hardwood floors!) before I noticed. Sneaky little thing! I guess he doesn't want to be left out of the fun. I'm going to have to dig out the baby gates very soon. The downside to all this movement is that he's STILL practicing his skills in his sleep. I'm hoping he'll learn to back up out of the corner of the crib soon. And he's desperately trying to sit up on his own. When I lay him on the changing table, he'll strain until he's red in the face trying to sit up. So cute. He can balance in the sitting position by himself for a few minutes before he topples over. Man, so many changes all at once with this little guy!


I keep asking myself how I ended up with 2 such high energy kids. I'm considering buying stock in hair color of some sort...I feel the greys will be getting worse and worse!





I'm taking the boys to see the Mickey Magic Live show today. Hopefully it's worth the rather high ticket price. I bet Will will love it. I'm hoping this will start off our love of all things Disney so I have an excuse to push for a Disney World vacation at the end of this year. We'll see!





We're counting down the days until Keith gets home. I bet Daddy is going to be quite surprised at how much Archer (and maybe Will too!) has changed since he's been gone. We'll be standing pierside when the "big boat" (as Will calls it) pulls in. Ought to be quite a change from our usual fly-ins at the squadron.

Livin' the Dream

Yesterday we got to accomplish two of Will's biggest wishes...all at once! We went to have breakfast with Santa at the fire station! Let me tell you, when I told Will where we were headed, he was SO excited he could not stand still! This had to be the pinnacle of his 3 years so far! We enjoyed pancakes for breakfast, got to meet Sparky the "fire dog" (Dalmation!), learned how to get out of a burning house through a great demonstration, saw all the big firetrucks, and finally we got to sit on Santa's lap. Will told Santa what he wants for Christmas: a robot garbage truck. Yes, really. Archer even joined in to sit with Santa and although he had no idea what was going on, he did enjoy pulling on Santa's beard.


On Friday morning we got to talk to Keith; he was able to call while the boat is (or maybe was by now) in port in Greece. It was great to talk to him; Will was very excited to hear his voice and more than a little sad when the call ended. But we're looking forward to welcoming Keith home a little before Christmas. That will be perfect timing!

The boys have definitely been keeping me on my toes. They are starting to interact quite a lot. Archer perks right up when he hears Will's voice; it's very cute. Will loves making Archer laugh, which he does often. Besides the occasional issue that "Archer won't share", (hmmmm, didn't know 4 month olds knew HOW to share...seems a bit suspicious!) they are bonding well. As for Will, he keeps me entertained (to put it nicely) constantly. They are either keeping me young or quickly making me old. I haven't decided which quite yet. And yes, that's a picture of Will with his underwear on his head below. You never know what's going to happen around here!


I tried to start Archer on rice cereal at the end of November but he wasn't really having any of it. The first time he just spit it back out at me; the second time he kind of choked. So I'm waiting a bit before I try again. Interesting that MY kid doesn't want to eat; I never turn down food!


Will's Christmas program at preschool is coming up so check back for pictures of his big performance. He's been walking around the house singing "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" for a while so I'm anxious to see it performed live. I can only imagine that it will be semi-audible when sung by a large group of 3 year olds. :)

"That's a big boy!"

I'm a tad behind in posting but better late than never! (This single parent thing of 2 suddenly needy kids is tough!) Archer turned 4 months old on the 11th and a week later I took him in for his well-baby checkup. It was truly comical how many people looked at my baby and said "Wow, that's a big baby!" or "What a big boy!" I couldn't believe it. I mean, yes, he's significantly bigger than Will was at this age but he's not a total giant! He weighed in at 14 lb, 10 oz and 25 inches on the 18th. That puts him in the 39th percentile for height and the 30th percentile for weight. So yes, big but not the biggest. Although looking at those rolls on his thighs, it's easy to focus on the "big" part of him. I just love those big, chubby legs!


The boys are both doing well. We spent Thanksgiving in DC with Aunt Jill and Matt. It was a nice break, although being away from home is anything but relaxing at this stage. Luckily we'll be home for Christmas (with Keith to boot!) so it will hopefully be a bit more low key. Will is really enjoying school; his teachers are wonderful this year. I got to go to school and enjoy dessert with Will and his classmates after their big Thanksgiving feast last week. The kids performed a few songs and poems. It was super cute. I'm looking forward to the big Christmas program at school in December.


We have been missing Keith since he left a few weeks ago but luckily he'll be home just before Christmas (knock on wood...you never know what will happen before then...behave, North Korea!) From what I can gather from his email updates, the new job is going well and he's learning a lot about the formerly behind the scenes business of catapults and arresting gear. He's learning a lot about support of the aircraft instead of just the aircraft stuff istelf. It's good for these pilots to learn about the "real" Navy, although I'm sure he's dying to get back in the plane. Soon enough, I'm sure. We are really looking forward to welcoming him home before too long.

COD love

We had a great time at the Hawkeye-Greyhound Ball last weekend. We got to catch up with so many friends that we could have used several more hours just for chit chat. But of course we didn't spend all our time chatting...we ate, we danced, we laughed at the ridiculous costumes people wore after dinner. Hilarious! If only we had received the memo, we too could have been in on the fun. There were relics from the 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond. Good stuff.

VRC-40 even went all out and had a C-2 ice luge commissioned. It was awesome! I'm thinking of having one permanently in place in our living room. Okay, too messy...but it's a great idea!

But as much fun as all the partying was, the highlight of night came during the awards ceremony. Keith was nominated for, and won, the award for the Greyhound Pilot of the Year-Shore (meaning non-deploying, or a training squadron). Yay Keith!
The joke is that he had really stiff competition because he was, in fact, the only nominee. :) But it doesn't matter! He worked his tail off for 3 years at VAW-120 and it is nice to see his hard work recognized. He accepted his award in from the Commodore, who is in charge of the VAW/VRC side of the Navy. Pretty cool. Plus he got a stellar model C-2 that also doubles as a pen holder. I'm very proud of him!


As usual the ball was a blast; I hope Keith is home next year so we can do it all over again.

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb

I have to say I'm really enjoying Archer's current stage of babyhood. I know, I know...they are all great, unique, fun. Yep. But right now he's in a really exploratory stage and it's so fun to see things through his young eyes. He recently discovered his hands and cannot get enough of them. When they're not in his mouth (which is almost all the time), he'll just hold them in front of his face and stare in wonderment at these strange things. He also loves to grab his feet. Every morning when I get him up, he's laying in his crib clutching his toes. He'll hold on tight and kind of rock back and forth. He's in perma-happy baby yoga pose!


He continues to vocalize and is laughing up a storm. His laugh has evolved into more of a giggle lately. He is picky with what he finds funny though. He doesn't just dole out the laughs for no reason! But when he finds something funny, we all know it. So cute.

We went to the Hawekeye-Greyhound Ball last weekend so I'll try to get some pictures uploaded soon. It was, as always, a great time!

Our little pumpkin patch

Well the flurry of October activities is over and I have to say I'm not sad to usher in a (hopefully) quieter November. October was just very busy for us, which was good in many ways because it flew right past. We enjoyed many fall outings and all things pumpkin. Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin seeds, growing our own little pumpkin patch. Well, we didn't grow actual pumpkins but did have two of the cutest pumpkins around (biased! biased!)
We took the boys trick or treating last night and things went quite smoothly. This is the first year that Will understood Halloween and all its glory. We prepped him that the uber-useful "trick or treat" combined with a winning smile will net extra candy and he picked that up right away. He remembered his manners for a while but as the night wore on, and the excitement grew and grew, it became almost too much for him. He was on a sugar high without having actually eaten any sugar. :)
It got to the point that he was running as fast as he could from house to house, screaming "trick or treat" as soon as he set foot in the yard. No need to wait until he's at the door! Once he even forgot his trick or treat manners all together and just screamed "candy! candy!" as he went barreling up the driveway. It was quite entertaining! Needless to say I was not surprised when he asked if he could go trick or treating again "next day", which is Will speak for tomorrow.




Archer also tagged along for the trick or treating. But his lack of teeth and inability to hold on to anything for more than 15 seconds meant that he had to skip the candy. I was hoping we'd get extra while we paraded around our cute baby, but sadly, no one took me up on that. I'll have to rethink my strategy in the future. Anyway, Archer made an adorable pumpkin and just chilled in Dad's arms while we made the rounds. I think all the excitement did wear on him though; he was one tired little pumpkin by the end of the night.


On Friday we got to go to Will's school for the Halloween costume parade. All the kids paraded around the school in their costumes and then sang Halloween songs in the classroom. It was very cute. I'm not sure how long they've been working on the actual songs though because none of the kids seemed to know the words. There was a kind of low mumble throughout most of the songs; only Miss Sue could really be heard singing. Luckily she can carry a tune!

Rolling right along

What an exciting weekend! Keith came home on Thursday after finishing Shooter school in New Jersey. We're glad to have him back, if only for a few weeks. I told Will that Keith was coming back and he asked if Daddy was going to "wake up me" after nap. :) As a matter of fact that's just how it turned out. Will was so excited to see his Dad. I think Archer even remembered Keith too!


Archer decided to get on the move this weekend by rolling over for the first time. But he didn't do it the normal way, which is front to back. Instead he started rolling from his back to his front. Normally this would be great but since he can't roll front to back yet, he gets stuck on his stomach and is less than enthusiastic about it! I guess we need more tummy time so he can learn to roll the other way as well. Then he'll be rolling all over the house. Watch out, cats, there will be 2 little ones on the loose! Archer's also been smiling and laughing a lot more. He has the funniest "sideways" smile...it isn't always a full smile but tends to raise up more on one side (although the sideways smile eludes the camera!). I'm a tad partial but it's pretty cute. :) And I love his little laugh...it isn't a giggle like you'd expect from a baby. It's more of an old man "huh-huh-huh", kind of deep and throaty. Kind of Grandpa Rick-like. I guess it's in his genes. I wonder if he'll always have that laugh? As you can see, Archer has also been brushing up on his reading skills. I expect him to conquer Moby Dick any day now.



We've been having fall fun galore over here these past few weeks. I took the boys to Hunt Club Farm, where Will played in the giant straw pile and "drove" the antique tractor. He thought that was pretty cool. Will painted some pumpkins last week while Archer and I looked on and admired his Picasso-like skills. Then this weekend Keith and Will carved a pumpkin. Will was all about scooping out the insides of the pumpkin and did a good job separating the seeds from the rest of the mess. He even liked the roasted pumpkin seeds (what's not to like?).

We're gearing up for Halloween this coming weekend. Well, right after the Chesapeake Wine Festival on Saturday. First things first. Check back for pictures from Halloween!

And counting...

Well Archer turned 3 months old this week and I can hardly believe it. In most ways it has flown right past. I realize I really took these days for granted with Will. I didn't know how quickly it would go. But this time I'm trying to slow down and enjoy each moment. That is, until both kids are crying at the same time, begging for my attention, and I need an extra set of hands. Then I want these days to just fly right by! Archer continues to grow and grow. By our home weigh-ins, he is already over 13 pounds. At this rate he'll double his birth weight soon. He's not sleeping all the way through the night yet but he does go for 6 or 7 hours at a time, which is great for me. He continues to get stronger every day and likes to practice lifting himself up in mini-pushup style on the floor. He's also spending plenty of time in the Bumbo chair, preparing for real sitting down the line. He's such an agreeable baby. I just can't complain.

We spent the past weekend in DC with Keith, Aunt Jill, and Matt. Keith drove down from New Jersey and we visited the Air & Space Museum (not as fun as we had anticipated due to Will's rotten attitude that day) and Cox Farms in Centreville, VA. The farm was amazing! They had a ton of huge slides for the kids (and fun loving adults!), a corn maze, a hayrack ride, apples, cider, and plenty of pumpkins. Note the giant prize-winning pumpkin. We can guarantee Will will never reach that weight! We had a great time soaking in the fall atmosphere, even though it was 80 degrees. Come on, fall temps, let's go! I'm so tired of warm weather.


We drove back home on Monday and resumed life as usual. Keith will be home from training in a few weeks. We're still waiting to hear what his final deployment schedule will look like. I'll keep everyone posted when (if) we ever figure it out!

On the up and up

I've been putting Archer to work on his tummy quite a bit lately. Tummy time is hardly relaxing as he tries to lift that big old head off the ground. He's doing pretty well with it! He seems to have a pretty big melon, as he's already outgrown a bunch of hats, so I don't doubt that it's hard to hold that thing up for very long! (Perhaps I should be glad for the c-section!) He's also started squirming so much while on his tummy that he'll shimmy all the way to the edge of his blanket. He kind of drags his face while he does it so it can't feel very good! I guess he's got places to go; just can't hang out in one spot very long. I don't doubt that once he becomes mobile, he'll be a mover and a shaker just like his big brother. Then I'll really have my hands full!

Will has become really helpful with Archer in the last few weeks. He loves to show Archer his toys and "share" them. Will is also very interested in Archer's baby toys. Who knew a rattle could be so exciting to a 3 year old! In fact, yesterday Will was jealous that Archer got a new rattle so Will shoved the rattle in his pocket and ran off so that Archer couldn't play with it. Aaah, brotherly love. It's so refreshing! I'm glad Archer isn't yet old enough to realize what's going on. Now where did I put that book on sharing...

We're heading up to DC to meet Keith this weekend. It's the halfway point between home and Lakehurst, NJ. We plan to hit the Air & Space Museum and maybe Natural History as well. That's our favorite. Pictures to follow!

Beach weekend

We spent the last weekend of September enjoying the sun and surf at the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival. It was pretty cool. There are a ton of activities but the main attraction is the sand sculpting competition. It's pretty impressive what these guys and gals can do with sand. Somehow I managed not to get any pics of the actual sand sculptures (oops!) so you'll just have to take my word as far as their impressiveness. :) Will did enjoy making his own creations in the sand. I wouldn't say they were quite Neptune Festival quality but he gets an A for effort!

We enjoyed some time with Aunt Jill and Matt as well. The boys always get the royal treatment when Jill and Matt come to town and this was no exception. Will rode carnival rides, got an awesome monster truck tattoo (if that's not a sign of living in Chesapeake, I don't know what is!), and even met Scooby Doo. Archer just took it all in and, as you can see, zonked out halfway through our fun. I guess he wasn't in the mood to party that day. :)

Speaking of Archer, he continues to grow and change every day. He's recently taken an interest in Will. Every time Archer hears his big brother's voice, he'll stop and listen (and I don't think he's wondering when he'll get hit over the head next!). It's actually very sweet to see them interact. Will is slowly getting more gentle and enjoys entertaining Archer. Aunt Jill brought Archer an awesome "Future President" onesie. If that's not putting on the pressure, I don't know what is! Maybe he can just be the future Class President or something like that.

Keith leaves Sunday to go to Shooter School and get training for his next job as a Shooter on board the USS Truman. Once he returns, he'll spend a few weeks at home before deploying in early November. I'm sure I'll have more to report on that front as we go.