My little heart-breaker

We have had a busy couple of weeks, but they have been fun! Bill and Ruth drove down for a visit and stayed the 4th-9th. It was so good to see them again. They were amazed at how much Halen has grown and developed over the past couple of months. We miss them already, but especially Halen; they are such wonderful grandparents. We went to the beach in Wilmington for a day. The weather was really nice, but as you got closer to the shore, it got so much colder. Halen got to see the beach for the first time, but hopefully when we take him this summer it will be a lot warmer and he will enjoy it. Oh, I can't wait for those days, when he will be waddling on the beach playing in the sand :) Here are some pictures:

Halen is in there somewhere, all bundled up :)

Halen liked chewing on mommy's sunglasses.

Getting a pedicure! Halen was very interested in it all.

So here are some new discoveries for Halen...He has found out that he loves to scream. Not a mad, or upset scream, but a scream just to hear his own voice. He thinks it's so funny, me and Billy on the other hand, not so much :) It's almost as bad as listening to him cry...let's just say hopefully he starts talking soon. I keep saying mama and dada to him, in the hope that he will start to understand. He knows his own name, so now on to mommy and daddy's names. Such a funny noisy little baby boy!

He has continued to roll all over the place. Last week at Mommy's Group, he would start off right in front of me and end up all the was across the room. And he doesn't care who or what is in his was, he will roll over top of it, around it, or keep trying until someone moves the object for him. He's persistent :) We are still working on sitting up. He does really well holding himself up, but his balance isn't quite there yet. Oh, and he fake coughs a lot now. It's so funny. He will do it for like an hour straight. He sure is entertaining.

Billy leaves in 2 weeks for 3 months of training...booo. This time it really stinks because we can't have any contact during th 3 months...no calls, no letters, nothing. This will be my first true taste of being an army wife and I'm not to excited about it. But after he completes this phase, we will be one step closer to his graduation. Yeah! During those 3 months, Halen and I will be going back to Iowa for awhile. I think we will be leaving May 1st and then be coming back around June 15th. I am so excited to see family and friends. My sister, shout out to you Jord! Can't wait to see that girl. Oh and my crazy niece Kimber Ann, I love that little girl so much. My mom, my dad, Justin, Christopher, Chasidy & Abby. All of Billy's family. Oh and can't forget my wonderful friends! Amanda, Jordan, Jenn, Abby, Tara, Kati, and Kylie. I get so excited just talking about it! Can't wait to see you all!!!

One last thing, Halen and I went to church this morning with my friend Jenna and her baby boy Jax, and Halen went into the nursery during most of the service and he did great! I am so happy that I have found a good friend in Jenna! She is awesome and our babies are close in age so they can be friends too! 

My little heart-breaker :)

Sippy cup time!!

We got Halen a sippy cup yesterday and tried it out for the first time today. He did so good! He held it all by himself and he drank the whole cup (there were about 2 ounces in it). I was amazed, he just grabbed it and started drinking away.

And how cute is this? Message from Halen's friend Jax....

"Halen, im holding your toy hostage so that you have to hang out with me again soon."

That's Halen's gloworm :)

Time flys when you're having fun!

We are so amazed with Halen lately. He is rolling all over the place and he now has 2 teeth! One popped in and then like the next day, the one right next to it popped in. He now has his two bottom middle teeth. So cute! He was sick a couple of weeks ago, but I guess it could have just been part of him teething. And he kept sticking his tongue out, over and over, now I know it's because he was feeling his teeth come in! I will try to get a picture of them, so I can post it on here. We will see if he cooperates :)

Some wonderful news! Amanda and Brett found out that they are having a girl!! I am so excited for them. She was pretty sure that it was going to be a boy, but God had different ideas for them. I talked to her while she was on her way to the appointment and I told her I thought it was a girl! I guess Auntie Nikki knows best :) And now our plan for the future is to have Halen and her little girl get married so that we can finally be related, well kind of...Ahhh! I am so excited! I can't wait to buy cute girlie things! Here is a 3-D image of their precious baby girl

Bill and Ruth are leaving Pella tomorrow to visit us! They are driving, so please pray for their safe arrival. They will get here sometime on Thursday. Halen can't wait to see his Grandma and Grandpa Lubach!

Halen was able to play with his little friend Jax today. My friend Jenna came over for awhile today and the babies had some play time. Jax is nine months old and it is so fun to watch him because I know that Halen will be doing all the things he is doing soon. Halen is pretty interested in other babies and it's fun to watch him try to do some "big boy" things.

Just to show how much Halen has grown here are some pictures...

                                                                         Then...

...and now!

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!