Flying High

This is the first weekend that Dave and I have been home together in over a month, and we've enjoyed every bit of it. We had some friends over for dinner on Friday night, and stayed up into the wee hours telling/hearing funny stories and laughed a lot - always good for the soul. We're so thankful for our church and all the amazing friends we've made there.

Yesterday was the annual air show at the air force base in Omaha. Witnessing the power of those fighter jets is always a sight to see. We had a feeling Will would enjoy the air show, because it's like he has a 6th sense for airplanes or helicopters...when we're outside playing, he'll often tell us one is approaching when we were otherwise clueless. He had fun watching them fly overhead, but his favorite part by far was walking through the planes they had on the ground. As soon as he was finished going through one, he would point to another and say, "MORE!!!"Dave was a good sport toting him around to all the planes.
































































The air show is an all-day event, and we only stayed for about 2 hours, but we were really excited to see B-17 bombers flying overhead during the time we were there. The reason this is so significant is because Will is named after his great grandfather (or, "Pop" as we affectionately call him) who flew B-17s while fighting in WWII. Nana & Pop live in Chicago, so we don't get to see them near as often as we'd like, but we're so thankful that they've had the opportunity to see Will on a few occasions already.
































There was a group there raising money for the Honor Flight Network. It's an organization that gives WWII vets an opportunity to be flown out to the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC who otherwise couldn't afford it. My brother, Buzz is in the Air Force and trying to get involved with the organization to be an escort for those vets. We thought it was a pretty cool deal.

































At one point we were within arm's reach of the Blue Angel pilots, and one of them said hello to Will and gave him a high-five, but I was too much of a weenie to ask them to take a photo with him. Maybe next year ;-) All the excitement and fresh air tuckered Will out. Within 2 minutes of getting into the car, he cashed out.

A Day to Celebrate!

Hard to believe we have a 2-year old. Will's birthday was last Wednesday, August 19th. I know it sounds cliche, but I honestly do not know where the last couple years have gone...I'm starting to understand all of those things that parents say about time flying. I feel like I was literally just pregnant with Will and now we're only two months away from welcoming our second little boy. And since we're on the topic, we're pretty sure we've decided on Graham for the name. It was in the running when we were pregnant with Will, and we keep coming back to it, so most likely that's the one :)

Between the move and all of our recent travels, we kept the birthday celebration pretty low-key. I knew I wanted to do something fun and memorable with Will on his birthday, though. Since he loves animals of all kinds, I decided to take him to a petshop. We found ourselves with a Betta fish in tow...if we were going to get a pet, wanted the lowest maintenance animal possible! Unlike the ever popular goldfish, the Betta doesn't even require a bubbler, so I didn't think it was too big of a commitment. Will requested the name, "Bubbles" for his first fish :)





















































In addition to Will's birthday, we had another BIG reason to celebrate...Dave passed the CFA exam!! I wish I could somehow communicate what an accomplishment this is. To break it down, it's been a 4+ year process, and at times, extremely stressful. In my twisted little mind, the testing process is a conspiracy. Everyone in the world being tested for this exam takes it on the same day. They actually put a cap on how many people they allow to pass every year (their lovely way of keeping it elite). To make it even more "exciting," you don't even receive a score. This is the scenario...you get an email stating that the test results are in, and they supply you with a username/login. Once you get to your test results page, you're given one of two answers, "pass" or "fail." Thrilling. There are 3 levels, and if you don't pass a level, you have to wait an entire year to take it again. It requires an insane amount of study time, so pretty much every night and every weekend was devoted to studying for 6-month long increments. And between days spent in the office, travel for work, and other commitments, it didn't leave much time for Dave and me - not to mention other fun social activities with friends.

To be honest, I don't think it's really sunk in quite yet that it's all behind us. The test is typically scheduled for the 1st Saturday in June, but the results aren't posted until mid-end of August. Two days before Will was born, Dave got the news that he passed Level 2 (hooray - two down, 1 to go). On Will's 1st birthday last year, we were disappointed to find out that he did not pass Level 3 (not exactly a fun day). Thankfully this year, we found out the day before Will's birthday that Dave indeed passed Level 3, and he was done for GOOD!!!!!!! Although my attitude was not always the best (nor, ashamed to admit, the most encouraging at times) throughout the process, I am so proud of Dave for all the blood, sweat & tears he poured into that nasty exam. He certainly gave it his all, and we're thrilled that it's officially said and done (whew!).

Sooooo, to celebrate these joyous occasions, Dave's parents came over that evening for dinner, cake, the present-opening festivities, and to breathe a sigh of relief for Dave :) Thank you to all who prayed so fervently for Dave and Will and me during that time - what a huge answer to prayer - we cannot thank you enough for the prayers you prayed on our behalf!

Speaking of being thankful, Dave and I seem to fall more and more in love with our little toddler every day. He has brought us so much joy and has been such a gift from the Lord. We find it hard to believe that we could love another child as much as we love him...but I know we will :) Will makes us laugh so hard with his funny little antics, and can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for his life. He has such a sweet spirit. We pray every day that he would come to know the Lord at a young age, that the Lord would grow him in "wisdom & stature, and in favor with God and man," and that he would be filled with Christ's love, and a heart to serve others. It's a tall order, I know, but we're asking the Lord to give us His wisdom as we parent, and that's gotta help, right ;-)? We love you, William Allen, and can't wait to see what this next year holds...we're so proud of you!!

Cabin+Will = Fun

When I was pregnant with Will, Dave's parents purchased a cabin on a lake about 45 minutes South of Omaha. Although the summer months are busy, we try to spend as much time out there as possible.

Because of all the wonderful memories for me as a child with my family's lake house in Michigan, I was excited for Will and our future children to have similar experiences growing up. Last summer he wasn't quite old enough to appreciate everything the cabin has to offer, but it's been fun to watch him enjoy it this year. Will has always loved the water, so you can only imagine his excitement whenever we tell him we're going to the cabin. We often take the boat or waverunner for spins around the lake, but Will's current favorite activity by far is cruising around the lake in the golf cart...he loves to help us drive. And somehow he always has a way of convincing us to take a detour to the park ;-)

This past weekend Dave went to DC to visit a friend, so Will and I decided to spend a portion of the weekend at the cabin with Grammy & Grandpa. Any chance he has to be outside he'll take it. My last post included pictures at our house of Will helping me water my flowers. He wanted to do the same for Grammy at the cabin this weekend, so below are some shots from that.


























































Since I wasn't in the mood to get into a swimsuit this weekend and take Will in the lake (being 6+ months pregnant has nothing to do with that!), we decided to get a pool for him instead. This particular pool came with a motorized whale that spits water out of its spout...Will thought it was pretty fun. The video was taken on my phone, so not the best quality, but it's better than nothing.

Confessions of a Blogger

Did you all give up on me? I was telling one of my fellow blogger friends at church this morning that I go in waves when it comes to blogging...once I fall behind, I get overwhelmed and therefore continue putting off the daunting task of updating. And so goes the cycle. So there you have my confession. With that said, I'm once again way overdue, and not sure where to begin, but I guess I'll post a more recent "event" and work backwards...does that go against blogging rules?!

As most of you are well aware, we have been in the process of moving. We officially moved into our new house about a month ago, and thankfully had my mom here for almost 2 whole weeks throughout the transition. She was a HUGE help (thanks, Mom!!) in getting us settled in, but we still have quite a bit to do. The challenge is that we haven't had much time at home on week nights OR weekends because we've had so much going on. We are remodeling a bathroom and need to make all of our final selections this week so we can get the ball rolling - I want to have it done before our little dude arrives!

I have tried to spend as much time as possible outside with Will the last few days. With everything we've had on our plates, I started to feel guilty that he wasn't getting enough time to be a kid. Poor guy has been toted all around town looking at so many exciting things such as tile, paint, sinks, faucets, tubs, toilets and the like.

Something we love about our new house that we didn't have at our other one is a flat driveway! Previously we had a fairly steep drive which didn't allow us much opportunity to play in the front yard. The other day we were enjoying hanging out on our beautifully flat, 2-car wide driveway, and I decided to snap a few photos.
































Apparently Will was thirsty and thought he could get a drink from the fire hose :)



















Such a great helper :)

Thanks for bearing with me...I'll be back soon...promise!

Stay tuned...

Hey all -

Sorry I've been in such a blog-drought! We're in the process of moving, and since I'm only a couple weeks away from the 3rd trimester, I figured I better take advantage of my energy level before I lose it all! Stay tuned for a new blog (or 3 or 4) coming soon :)