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. :)