Emma Bean,
I am so grateful to finally have a chance to write to you again! Wow have the last few months been absolutely crazy. First I'll update you on what's going on the lives of the rest of the family. Then, I'll tell you all about how much you've grown up and what's changed since I last wrote.
So what's been happening in my life?... I finished up the last of my classes in December. What a relief! I then spent most of Christmas break writing my thesis. Overall it turned out pretty well and I actually completed my defense last week. All I have left for school is to print out the final copy and graduate on March 22! Besides school I've spent a lot of time volunteering by helping kids in Greene County.
I've been staying home with you pretty much full time this quarter since I don't have classes. I can't tell you how grateful I am that we've been able to spend that time together. I know a consequence of being in the military is the fact that I'll miss a lot of your life moments. I'm just really trying to take advantage of the stability and time we have together now. You're so much fun to be with! Of course, that doesn't mean that all of our moments are happy ones. By and large you are an incredibly happy and delightful baby. You are definitely spoiled though. I can rarely put you down for more than a minute or two. It won't even matter if I'm two feet away and looking right at you. You'll still yell for me to pick you up!
You do this thing that I love to tell everyone about. Your usual spot is sitting in my left arm in football position. You'll always be looking around and squirming but every hour or so you'll stop for just a few second and look up at me. The look on your face is hard to describe but it really feels like you're showing me how happy you are and how much you love having me hold you. I can't describe it but it's what being your dad is all about. I'm dreading having to start a real job in April.
Mom's been really busy with school the last couple months. She also recently started volunteering as a counselor. Austin really loves spending time with you. He's such a good big brother and always loves to help out. He's playing indoor soccer right now and I think he's about to go through a huge growth spurt. He's been eating about twice as much as me the last couple weeks. We got a new puppy, Wes, about two weeks ago. He's about your size now but he'll probably be 100 pounds in less than a year.
And of course there were the holidays. We traveled to Illinois for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everyone was thrilled to meet you and your little cousin, Kaia. You two were the stars of the show, for sure.
You've been growing by leaps and bounds. You're so much more of a little person now, too. I'm proud to say that are now officially a pro at rolling over. I swear, half the times I change your diaper you're completely flipped over before I can grab a wipe. I'll look over to grab them and when I look back, three seconds later, mind you, I'm staring at your caboose! It absolutely cracks me up. You're also grabbing at just about everything now. You especially love to steal pens and pencils while we're trying to get work done. Sitting up is something you're definitely going to master in the next few weeks. You're always pulling yourself up by grabbing our hands but you're still pretty wobbly. If we put you in your boppy pillow you're usually pretty stable. And OH BOY, have you found your voice! You love to "talk" as I'm sure you call it. Sometimes you're talking is high pitched shrieks, sometimes it's deep cough noises like an old man. I think it's all hilarious and adorable, except when it's late at night and I'm trying to sleep.
Once again, I'm glad I was able to get some time to write you. As much as I try to make this blog a top priority, I'd so much rather spend time with you when I can. You're sleeping now though so we're all good :) I'm guest teaching a couple classes next week and I have hundreds of hours of studying to do for the PE exam in April so I better get moving. I love you so much my darling. I thank God for every day together He's blessed us with. Until next time, enjoy a whole bunch of pics!
Love,
Your proud daddy
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| We used this picture on our Christmas card. You two looked so cute. |
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| Aunt Stephanie got you a baby Emma doll, complete with a giraffe outfit. It was meant to be! |
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| First attempt at eating solid foods. You weren't quite sure what to do with the oatmeal. |
