Been a while...

Wow! Long time, no posting. After we left for SOS keeping up with posting just wasn't a priority for us! So here's what we've been up to...the latter part of 2009 for us was mostly spent away from England. I got the opportunity mid-October to go to Squadron Officer School (SOS) in Montgomery, Alabama for November through mid-December. SOS is basically a 5-week Air Force leadership school that all Captains have to go to a couple of years after pinning on Capt. We decided that we would all go - it is the perfect opportunity to spend time with the family since the pace is much slower than a fighter squadron - so we packed up the family and flew back to the states. Jen, Cole, and the dog headed to Chicago a few days before I departed to Montgomery, and Jen and Cole drove down with Dave so we could have a car. The time down in Montgomery was great as many days were very short and we were able to spend a lot of quality time together. Over the 6 weeks we were able to do a little exploring around Montgomery, went to the Aquarium in Atlanta, and went to Charlotte Spaulding's baptism in Birmingham as well. That makes 2 Spaulding baptisms that I've been lucky enough to make!

Our humble Maxwell billeting room.

Cole taking a play-break in his favorite window seat.

Filterhead eating breakfast with daddy.

How do I look?

The fam at Maxwell's Santa pancake breakfast.

Thanksgiving at the Hollon's in Prattville.

No snow, but we made do.

Cole's first experience with Santa - I think Santa wants out just as much as Cole.

That's just a few of our pictures from our time in Alabama.  We really had a great time there, met a lot of people, and even got to hang out with our friends the Fogle's.  Turns out they're going to the Aggressors too so we were really excited to see them there too.  All in all it was a great 6 week stint down south!

Videos of Cole

Just a couple recent videos!

New Post!

Wow, really been a while since we posted last...seems like we say that every time but things just keep getting in the way of our blogging.  Lots of stuff going on - visit from Jen's parents, Cole's 1st birthday, Cole started walking, Jen's belly getting bigger.  It's been a great August and September, and here we are already halfway through October! 

We're headed to Montgomery, AL, for Squadron Officer School for November, so our next post will likely be from the states! 

Here's some pictures from our recent exploits!

We took Cole to the beach for the first time - not quite a "beach" day but fun nonetheless.

Mommy and Cole taking a stroll.

Cole tried to eat all the rocks.

Daddy telling Cole how he's going to go kite boarding some day.

After some coaxing, he decided he liked the sand.

More sand.

Well hello!

Out for a hike.  Apparently Cole hates hikes.

That's what you get when you put us together just after waking up.

Go Badgers!

Our friend Elizabeth made Cole this great cake!

Mmmm...

Grammy gave me a bath.

Cole is trying to drown Elmo.

Thanks for the book!

Let me take a look...

Cole's not sure he likes the grass yet.

Cheese!

Just some pics and videos...

We've come to realize that we are terrible at keeping up at writing on this thing. Sometimes it feels like the best we can do is just add a few pictures and that's about it! So, in light of our lack of posting, I figured I'd at least add a few recent pictures and videos. Everything here is going well - Jen is almost out of her 1st trimester and we go to get our next ultrasound this week. Cole is doing great and learned to clap, wave, and standup just in the past week! He's almost walking...we can't believe it. Chris is just keeping up with work stuff too instructing most days of the week and flying a lot. We're looking forward to Kathy and Dave coming soon in September for a bit of time off. Well, we hope to hear from you all soon!

We're Pregnant!!! (again)

Well...it's that time again!  We just got back from our first OB appointment and Jen is 8 weeks pregnant!  Our due date is March 6!  We are exceptionally excited to be pregnant so quick again - Cole and his next sibling will be only 1 1/2 years apart!  Yep, it'll be busy around our house next year, but the joy of having two little ones running around will make it all worthwhile!  Jen is feeling great so far, but the normal 1st trimester ailments are here again (it's like de ja vu).  We are looking forward to the second trimester when some of the symptoms subside.

We borrowed our friend's daughter Eve to see what it would be like with two kids...



And we had to try out our new double stroller in preparation for all the walks we like to take.


Cole is thinking about studying classical guitar here soon. Maybe uncle Ryan can teach him a few things.


Cole likes to wakeup every day at 6AM.  Mommy and Daddy survive on copious amounts of coffee.


"Hey everybody...come see how good I look!" - Cole taking after Ron Burgundy


That's all for now - hope everyone up at Namakogen had a great time this week!  Wish we could have been there!

Summer, Summer, Summer Time (Yes, I know DJ Jazzy Jeff is out!)

We have been busy this summer, enjoying the great weather (for England!), working hard (Chris finished his instructor upgrade program, I am on to my next class working towards my masters, and most importantly eating up every moment we can with Smoochie Pants!), celebrating the 4th with a big BBQ with great friends and doing our best to have quality family time too! It is hard to choose just a few pics to post, but we will add more to our Picassa web album soon.















It has actually gotten hot enough to run around in diapers! Cole loves being naked, or near naked, so he was happy to enjoy the freedom!




One thing that I enjoy about living in England is the public footpaths. We like to walk the trails near our house, especially for Tess who gets to run free! Cole is a good sport about riding in the backpack too! He is able to look around to see what is going on!





We got Cole a swing for our yard, which he LOVES!!! He seems to completely relax EVERY time he is in it and he falls asleep! He will be laughing and kicking his feet while I push him, and then all of a sudden he will have his eyes closed and will be dozing!

Tess and Us

So we just finished watching the movie "Marley and Me." I read the book and cried like most, but watching the movie reiterated the loyalty that we take for granted every day from our fabulous four legged friend...or should I say kiddo!

Who could resist this face...yes, Chris's too! This post is about Tess, and all of those other wonderful furry friends who selflessly love us every day, no matter what! I imagine that you all are thinking of your special dog or pet ...I know I thought of Barney, our old Dachshund, while watching the movie, and Chris thought of Cody, his old Golden, as well!

Don't you wish that every animal could enjoy the lap of luxury!

Look at her! What a beautiful, great girl! WE LOVE YOU TESS!

Videos Should Work Now

Sorry, we had the videos set to Private on Youtube, so nobody could see them. They're public now, so they should be working.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Picasa Web Albums and Videos

Okay, so we finally added the rest of our Germany pictures up on our Web Albums site and also added some pictures from the past week or so. My friends from high school Blake and his brother Rob came out to visit and we have been having a great time. Dover one day, Cambridge the next, and all the while we've had the best weather I've seen here in a long, long time.

Here's the link to our Picasa Web Albums:

Blake/Rob Visit -http://picasaweb.google.com/airwee/2009_06_01LateMayBlakeRobVisit#

Germany Trip - http://picasaweb.google.com/airwee/2009_05_15GarmischGermany#

And some videos to top it off:

Hah, how's that for a post? Pictures, videos, we got it all....enjoy.