What a great day!

Today was such a good day! Halen was SO happy and such a great baby all day long! I feel so blessed to have such an amazing baby boy. This morning we went to mommies group, and then we had lunch with a couple of friends and their babies at Applebees. We were just enjoying ourselves, and as a lady that was sitting behind us was leaving she said, "you girls have the best babies!". It was such a wonderful unexpected comment :) Then Halen and I went for a run and he slept most of the time. I think it is soothing for him. I am so glad that he likes it. Here are some funny pictures of him after his bath.

He's so funny :)

Halen is a pro now at rolling from his back to his tummy. He is going to be rolling all over the place now! It has been so nice out lately. Yesterday Billy and I took Halen to a park near our home. We went down the slides and played on the little animal things. I don't really think he knew what was going on, but I hope he had fun. We were able to get some good home movies to show him when he grows up.

It was 69 degrees today! I can't believe it, I was in shorts, a tank top, and sandals! This makes me sooo excited for summer! I can't wait to go to the beach and just be outside all the time. Since it was so nice out, I was able to go for a run with Halen using the jogging stroller for the first time. This was a gift from some of my WONDERFUL friends after Halen was born. I didn't know how he would do in it, but he was very content. He was awake most of the time, but fell asleep as we were headed back. It was a success and we will definitely be doing that a lot more.

Billy is still sick :( He feels pretty miserable and went to bed tonight at 7:30. He was so cute, he was reading before he fell asleep and when I went in our room, he was still  holding his book with the lights on sleeping like a baby. Hopefully this will pass quickly. Halen is doing sooo much better. Just a little bit of a cough left over, but besides that he is great.

Sometime this week I have to take Halen to get his 6 month vaccinations. I tried to do it the day after he turned 6 months, but the doctor's office was closed. And then he was sick all last week, so I couldn't bring him in then either. I hate taking him to get his shots, so hopefully Mary will be able to go with me. It is just an awful experience. Poor baby. Then we have mommies group on Tuesday and Halen will get to play with all the other babies. On Thursday, I have a doctor's appointment and then I am going to a job fair. I am going to start looking for teaching positions for this coming fall. I am kind of excited about it. Nervous, but excited. So, I guess wish me luck :)

Ok well that's all for now!

Sleepy Halen...I was trying to burp him lol

He did it! He rolled over! Such a big boy!

My wishful mommy thinking (and prayers) has paid off! Halen is feeling better. Hallelujah! He is back to his vibrant, happy self. He still isn't eating as much as he normally does, but he is getting there. We had a wonderful day today. It was so nice here in Fayetteville; we had all of our windows open to let in some fresh air and it was great! I feel sorry for everyone back in Iowa, we hear there is more snow in the forecast. It's never ending! Anyway so we had a good day. Halen was happy, I went for a run with Snoop, and we went out to dinner with Colby (one of our friends from college, who is going through the same course as Billy right now...small world). One bad thing though, is that Billy is starting to get sick...not looking forward to that, he is a bigger baby than Halen...love you, honey :)

Halen is such a great baby. He is sooo smiley! It's funny because if you smile at him 95% of the time he will smile right back! We LOVE it! And his laugh is to die for; I just can't get enough of it. While he was sick, we didn't get to see our happy baby and it was really sad. He is thisclose to rolling over, I bet he gets it within the next week or so. So proud of him.

The Fox family has a lot to look forward to this year...Well, Billy will be gone for some of it, which really stinks, but I know he won't be in any real danger. He leaves for some training on April 12th and won't be back until the last weekend in June or the first weekend in July. And there is NO contact with him...seriously, how am I going to do that?? It's going to be pretty awful. We will miss him so much...Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? In our case it definitely applies. We hate being away from each other. I guess it is just preparing us for the inevitable, when he will have to deploy. We don't like to talk about that....so anyway....about the things we are looking forward to...

Bill and Ruth are coming for a visit in just a couple of weeks. We love it when they are here and I know they can't wait to have some quality time with their grandson. Halen misses his Grandpa and Grandma Lubach. That's in March...

In April, my WONDERFUL sister-in-law bought us tickets for Carrie Underwood in Raleigh as a birthday/Mother's Day gift. Love her and I am sooo excited. I haven't been to a concert in forever.

Sometime in late April/early May, Halen and I will be traveling back to Iowa for awhile. I get excited just thinking about it. I miss my family so much. I wish we all lived in a 5 mile radius of each other. That would be perfect :)

On May 8th, my brother, Christopher, is getting married to his beautiful fiance, Abby!! They are getting married in a castle and it will be so much fun to have everyone together again (minus Billy, who will be there in spirit!).

In June, one of my best friends, Jordan is getting married! She is going to a gorgeous bride and a wonderful wife to Rhys. Can't wait to be a part of their big day!

In late July/early August, (hopefully, July for Amanda's sake) another best friends, Amanda, will be having her first baby!! AHHH!! This is the best news ever! You have no idea how excited I was to learn that her
and Brett were expecting, so when they actually have the baby, take that excitement times 10 and that will only be half of how excited I will be (does that even make sense??). They will be amazing parents and I can not wait for our babies to be best friends :)

On August 9th, Halen turns 1! Oh my gosh, that's surreal. Our baby boy will be 1 year old. Wow! For now though, I am going to enjoy his little 6 month old self.

In October, another best friend, Abby, is getting married too! So many weddings this year. It is a fall wedding so it will be so pretty and she already has a lot of it planned. She's on top of things. Can't wait to be a part of her big day too!

And finally, we will (hopefully, keep your fingers crossed) be moving to Colorado in November/December...Nothing is for sure yet, but I'm praying that we get stationed there. It would be great because we would be so much closer to home and we both have family out there.

Wowza, that was a long post...Nighty Nighty everyone!

My 3 favorite boys snuggling!

Halen James is growing up so fast! He is 6 months old already! He has come a long way. Born 7 weeks premature on August 9th. His actually do date wasn't until September 27 (same day as two of his grandpas). He weighed only 3lbs 15oz and measured in at 16.5inches, now he is almost 16lbs and almost 25 inches long! He amazes us each and every day with what he can do and how much he is learning. Oh boy...we will be hearing the pitter patter of his little feet before we know it. Let's see he can pretty much sit up on his own; he is still pretty wobbly but he's working on it. He has mastered rolling from his tummy to his back, although he doesn't really seem to like it. He has been trying so hard lately to roll from his back to tummy. He almost has it but he gets stuck on his sides. It's pretty cute watching him try. He has found his feet and finds them fascinating. He would usually rather suck on his fingers than his binky, no preference for a certain finger, any one will do :) He babbles so much now! I can't wait to hear what his first word is! (Ok secretly I'm hoping for "mama," but "dada" would be fine too) He loves music and dancing. He is such a wonderful baby. He is such a blessing.

So, now that I've told you a little bit about him, I want to tell you about our week. On Valentine's Day, Billy and I went on a romantic little date, and when we got home Halen was running a fever. Poor baby. And he has been sickly all week. This is the first time he has been sick at all, so we were a little freaked out. Long story short, we were in the ER yesterday, and today we were at the doctor's office waiting for the little guy to go poopy. Which honestly could have been hours, but he did it in about an hour. Thank goodness. Anyway, he is going to be just fine. We were told that he has an upper respiratory infection. He is really congested and has a really bad cough, it is so sad because there isn't a whole lot that we can do to help him feel better. Trust me we have been doing everything we can, from warm apple juice, pedialyte, vaporizers, infant tylenol, saline solution, and the little snot suction thing. At least we can rest a little easier knowing we are on the tail end of this sickness. And right now our baby boy is dreaming peacefully in his crib. Hoping that lasts all night and tomorrow when he wakes up he will be 100% better. Wishful thinking but that's what mommies do! Nighty night sweet baby!