Toys for Jeffrey

We have been looking for a crib for Jeffrey for quite some time now, but very few places are willing to ship a large peice of furniture through the Army Post Office. A friend of ours tipped us off to a great crib at the Thrift Store. We found it in good condition and purchased it along with an exersauser that was still looking nice with it. Tricia looked on the internet and found replacement toys for a few of the peices that are looking a little used. If you know where to look on the internet there are many replacement peices for toys, ready to make something old and worn out into something almost new for another child to play with.

Jewelry Update

Hey everyone! I know you're probably sick of hearing about it, but I just update the site with lots of new things and most everything is now on sale (or at a lower price). So take a look and let me know if there's anything you'd like.


By the way if you have problems emailing me at the triciajewelry@gmail.com try my other gmail address or email Cory.

Here's the website

Just another day...

Jeffrey is now 14 lbs and 25 in. long. He's a cutie! He's eating more now and growing fast! He still hates tummy time so he won't be crawling anytime soon, but he's learning to talk...Gah is his desperate sound. He still loves fabric, though this week he's played with a chain of plastic links that I got for him.


Jeffrey does this scared face when you try to take a picture of him with the flash these days. I don't know why, he'll smile right up until the flash goes and then the scared face comes on.

I thought this was a cute picture.

He rolls onto his side when he's sleeping, I think it's because for so long that how we would hold him when he slept. He's even holding onto his blanket.

Two More Videos

You can watch the peanut butter song on ringo...it kept playing on here and got very annoying. If you need a link, let us know.

Jeffrey

Here was Jeffrey before church today.

Soldier and NCO of the Year Competition Dinner

I attended the dinner for the announcement of the USAREUR Soldier and NCO of the Year Competition. After dinner and entertainment, Sergeant Major of the Army retired Jack Tilley spoke to us. USAREUR Command Sergeant Major Savousa introduced the NCO winner, SSG Snook. He will attend three weeks of training before going on to Washington to compete at the Department of the Army Level. Everyone at dinner received a commemorative coin and CSM Savousa gave me a USAREUR coin for my train up time with SSG Snook. I did not get back from my trip until nearly 0300. I am glad that I had my TomTom to direct me home in the dark.

14 Weeks and Growing!

Jeffers the Bean is 14 weeks old today. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but I can no longer remember what life was like before him. He is doing so well, besides the fact that he really, really loves to be held. I mean really. He is getting stronger all the time, he can now lean at a 45 degree angle if he's sitting instead of folding completely in half though we still have to hold him because this weeble wobbles and he does fall down. He pushes his chest and tummy off the ground and can look straight up. He doesn't do push ups yet, but we're working on it.

He still loves fabric! His favorite toy of the week? His burp rag. It's kind of nice because he spits so much that he kind of catches it in the rag and saves me having to clean it up. He will also look at the pictures in the books we read. He loves rhymes of any kind and thinks it's great when Daddy comes home. Probably because he's sick of seeing mommy all day.

I'm excited to go back to teaching a couple of hours each week. It will be good for me to get away from sitting at home and I think it will be good for Jeffrey to get to know other people so he won't just be a momma's boy (though it's fine with me if he is). I had one parent who tried to bully me a little and complained about our spring recital but if she doesn't come back because I've offended her, oh well. For the most part I have excited dancers and good parents.

The consulate recorded Jeffrey's date of birth wrong (they made him two months older than he is) so we have to send the birth certificate and passport back to be corrected. I'm hoping it won't take too long, we've got travel plans for each of Cory's breaks over the next year because there just isn't much time left for us here.

Back to School and Back to Training

This is my third day of school and I am already swamped with homework. It would not be so much, but when I do not even get home from work until eight at night, even a little homework can take me into the late night after a shower, dinner, preparing for tomorrow and spending some quality time with Jeffrey and Tricia.

Out focus in training today was working in an urban environment. This is one of the more appreciated training periods by the students since they can see an immediate applicability in what they are learning.

Picnic

My platoon received the assignment to set up the field site for our situational training exercise. This morning our barracks did not look up to standard so we had the student leadership go back through all four of our barracks and clean up after the rest of the platoon. If you cannot get your subordinates to do it last night, you are going to have to do it yourself this morning. Our student leadership was pretty cheery cleaning the first building, but when they saw the wreck of the second building they were not to pleased with the group of soldiers standing outside of the barracks talking and having a regular good time while they cleaned each latrine and room. When we brought the platoon out to set up the site for the company they had a good esprit de corps and completed the job in good time with all working together well and none lagging behind. My partner, SSG Streat, brought some cold sodas as a morale booster.

I was selected from the platoon cadre to spend the night tonight to keep an eye on all of the equipment while the company spends one last night in the barracks before coming out to the field site tomorrow. Tricia brought out dinner to me, which we ate together while entertaining Jeffrey between the two of us. I pulled a cot out of one of the tents and set it up on a patch of grass in the shade of some trees. After eating, we spent another hour talking about the places we want to see in Europe before it is time for us to move on. It turned out to be a great evening with time well spent together.

Jeffers is a Ducky...

Before we had the baby (well I had the baby...technically I was the one who did all the work), I was asking someone in our ward about ways to get routines and different ideas to make sure that Cory would get some good bonding time with Jeffrey. She told me that she had her husband do bath and bed time with their girls. They started it when the first one was small and continued on. I thought it was a great idea and so Daddy has always handled the night time routine.






Jeffrey's Grandma Whittaker made him a ducky towel before he was born. He used it for the first time this week during bath time with daddy. It's the one thing that we have set as a routine. He has it all figured out too, when I have to give him his bath instead of Cory, Jeffrey just screams because I'm apparently not doing it right. Cory then gets him all wrapped up and reads to him for a little while as he falls asleep. I usually hold him while he falls asleep, that I can do at least.

He also giggled for the first time today, he's laughed and smiled since day one, but today was an honest giggled. He's also developed a temper, when it's time to eat he gets so mad that he starts to shake with fury. That's what we call an angry bean.



He also has troubles waking up from a nap, like his mommy he doesn't like waking up so much. He cries and shakes his fists, so I hold him until he's calm. He also pushes his chest all the way off the floor during tummy time. He almost accidentally rolled over today, it seems he learns something new every single day.

The Bourne Ultimatum

I made it home from work just in time to take Tricia and Jeffrey to see The Bourne Ultimatum at the movie theater. I give it four stars for action and its closure of the proceeding two movies. We met my partner from work, SSG Streat, and saw the movie with him. Jeffrey has been great during the last several movies that we have taken him with us. Even as busy as my schedule keeps me, we still manage to squeeze in our date night on a consistent basis.

Jeffers' New Trick!

So, Jeffrey has a new trick. He can fit his entire fist in his mouth. Can You?



Jeffers is trying new things every day. He likes to play in the mornings but not too close to naptime or feeding time when everything is just too dramatic to handle. He is growing fast and well and fits in mostly 6 month clothes now. (Big boy!) He's not chubby, just a tall, solid kid. He loves singing alot and his favorite song of the week is the Wheels on the Bus. He likes it when the babies cry Waaa, Waaa, Waaa and the momma's say Shhh, Shh, Shh. We've had to add more verses, so the Grandmas snore and the grandpas sneeze. He thinks its all pretty hilarious.

He's come to regard his car seat as his fortress of solitude. A week or so ago he was crying pretty hard when we were on our way home from a little road trip. So Cory drove and I hopped in the back and gave him his bottle. He ate the whole thing without even looking at me, after he'd finished he started looking around and was shocked and actually jumped to see me in the back seat next to him. Apparently the giant hand had just been feeding him. What a funny kid!

Jeffrey is Almost Three Months

At church on Sunday Jeffrey was eating his fabric ball with the crinkly paper in the middle. Since Friday he has started to grab things and bring them to his mouth. Only fabric at this point. When someone saw him she told me that babies don't do that until they are four months old. I told her he wasn't three yet and her response was to ask if we were trying to raise the next rocket scientist. I just smiled and told Jeffrey what a smartie he was.




He's really started to enjoy his little aquarium fish toy more and more.

Back to Work

Now that the NCO of the Year Competition is underway I am no longer in the train up phase. SSG Snook has gone on to the competiton and I have gone back to work. I have heard that SSG Snook is doing well in the competition and has a good chance at winning and moving on to the Department of the Army competition. I do not have a class of my own to instruct, but get in where I can with 2nd Platoon to get involved with the students. Today we went to the Leaders Reaction Course.

Volksfest

I took Tricia and Jeffrey to the Volksfest held on our post. It is traditional for each town in Germany to hold its own fest each year, and in order to integrate into the community a fest is held each year on the Grafenwohr post to which all of the German people are invited. The fest is a lot like a carnival with rides, games, and food. The NCO Academy ran a rib shack to raise some spending money. At one point we were bringing in almost $500 per hour, but we only get to keep a part of the money. The rest goes to the Morale Welfare and Recreation department as their own fund raising money which comes back to the soldiers and families later in the year with activities.

Jeffrey is almost 12 weeks.

It's so fun to watch Jeffrey growing each day. He doesn't quite have the concept of grabbing things, though when he does, he's got quite a grip. He will reach for things though, he has a bug book with 3-d pictures and he will grab for the wings of the beetle. He's facinated by bright colors and shapes, things that a few weeks ago he had little interest in. We're having so much fun with him.





I've updated the jewelry website...in case you're looking for any early Christmas presents...or just because presents. Click Here!

NCO of the Year Training

I have been having a great time training for the NCO of the Year Competition. In the last few days, we have done weapons training on the weapon systems that we do not have at our disposal at the Academy, chemical environment situation rehearsal, and a 10-kilometer ruck march, which was my favorite event of all. While the other two stayed in on the road for the march, I went into the wood line at the edge of the road to conduct my march. I think it is a lot more fun to be in the woods walking between trees and in the grass rather than on the hard surface of an improved dirt road. I do not anticipate anything happening to SSG Snook between now and 12 August, so I will probably not be in the competition, but it is a lot of fun to take this time for training.

Another Set of Classes Finished

I have finished another set of classes at Axia College of University of Phoenix. This puts me well on my way to earning my associates degree within the year of having started school. I have decided to take a two week break in school so that I can concentrate on the NCO of the Year Competition train up, and Tricia wanted me to take some time to come home without having to go right into homework. That is the great thing about taking college as a distance-learning program. The classes begin every Monday, so if you want to take a one, two, three, or more week break in between classes, go ahead and do so. I needed to take a break in classes any way. I only have $4,500 of the Army’s money to spend each year and with the classes that will begin in two weeks, I have already spent that money until 1 October when the fiscal year begins again, and I get another $4,500 to spend on college.

Faces

Jeffrey has been very interested in looking at picture books recently. Yesterday when I was finishing a scrapbook page (one since he's been born), I would show him a picture and tell him "That's Sugar" or "That's Elena" and he would look at their smiling face and smile back. So as one of the ways to try and introduce him to family so far away (since we won't be home for 2 years) I want to make him a faces book. I know how I'd like to do it and have the supplies already, I just need photos from his family back home. Preferably close-ups of smiling people since that's what he seems to like best. I know some people don't like pictures of themselves, but this is for Jeffrey, so he can get to know the faces of his family. You can either email them or send them to me. Thanks in advance!!

Jeffrey loves to interact with people. I sing him silly little songs all the time and they never fail to make him smile (unless it's time for a bottle and then all else goes out the window because he's clearly never eaten in his life!). He loves the peanut on the railroad track, and any primary song, especially Popcorn Popping. When it's bedtime though, I sing him one of the Irish songs that I used to sing for competitions, The Star of the County Down. I'm not a great singer, but Jeffrey doesn't know that.

Daddy still reads Harry Potter to him, but today I read him the first Beatrix Potter story about Peter Rabbit. (The movie Mrs. Potter was adoreable and sweet, my mom recommended it and I loved it!) He loves it when we do the voices and really get excited about the story.

It's bathtime and since daddy has staff duty tonight, I'll be the lucky one.