Nose Blowing and Park Play!

Well, the family has completed a lovely round of a daycare-born stomach flu and now we are on to the dreaded chest cold! We have now stocked up on all manner of vaporizers, thermometers and the old favorite VapoRub and are battling on! Tess has had a wicked cough, runny nose and a low-grade fever off and on but today was much better. I am sniffling and snorting and dripping everywhere and Chris remains unaffected so far, of course, which only means that he will be the last to fall victim.

Other than the rampant illness we have been greatly enjoying all of the falling leaves and changing weather! The days have been beautiful, the nights nice and chilly and the neighbors have officially started the annual Christmas Light Overload Contest! We have been making great use of the numerous parks on base and Tess loves to slide and swing and put various pieces of playground equipment in her mouth.

Here are some park photos and a short tour through tonight's bedtime antics!

http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r177/sunpeach1/November%202007/

Enjoy and I hope this little blah blah blah finds you all well!

Love,

Sarah

P.S. I wanted to let everyone know that the wishlist on the "Toys For Tess" link I posted to the right is available if you sign in as username: sunpeach1 with password: love11

I know Chris and I have both had some questions about that particular link, so... there you go! I also wanted to say that though some of the toys listed on the site are "Made in China" they truly are responsible toy companies who manufacture under very strict guidelines. We trust these companies greatly, even with the tough job of making toys for kids as cool as those in our families!

I'm Back!

I am home and with my family and I couldn't be happier. Tess had a few rough moments reuniting with me in the dark but as soon as we sat down and she nursed everything was back to normal. She continues to sleep right through the night we have all been having a lot of fun hanging out on this (thankfully) slightly longer than usual weekend. Thank you for all of your good thoughts and prayers while we were seperated, it really means the world to all three of us to have so many people in so many places thinking of us and offering support. We are having fun adjusting to the wintery weather adn are planning a trip to the park this afternoon or tomorrow which I am sure will lead to updated photos! All of our love to all of you!

Love,

Sarah

Tales From a Field in Florida

Well, here I am miles from home and writing a quick update on how things are going. It is Tuesday, lunchtime, and I am waiting on a meal delivery from my coworkers at an even more remote location in beautiful Avon Park, FL. I am doing remarkably well considering the circumstances and Tess is doing so well too. Chris is doing a wonderful job with her and she is now (3 nights running) sleeping all the way through the night! She has also been standing up all on her own and Chris says he can "see in her eyes" that she is ready to walk. I am so proud of my family for getting through this with such grace. It makes the separation so much easier for me knowing that Chris is home with our baby and they are enjoying each other greatly. Here's hoping that the next few days go quickly and I will be home sending pictures and happy news soon!
Love,
Sarah

Happy Halloween!
Well, our first Trick or Treat experience went off without a hitch. At Chris' suggestion we walked through the mall rather than a neighborhood and it turned out to be just right. All of the stores had candy at the front and nice people to hand it out. Tess was able to walk (assisted of course) from store to store collecting bits of candy and new admirers along the way. She was commonly proclaimed "cutest little boy". Well, they got the most important part right because she was a terribly cute little monkey! The excitement hasn't quite died down yet and as I type Tess is happily chatting away in her crib and telling Oliphant all about the wonderful time she had.
Now I am onto the sad business of leaving tomorrow for Florida. Sure to be the longest nine days ever. I don't have much else to say about that, I am at a total loss.
Here is the link to the new pictures and I will update all as soon as I return to the loving arms of my family, I hope this Halloween finds you all happy, healthy and wise!
Love,
Sarah
http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r177/sunpeach1/October%202007/

First of Many???

Well, here we are. Another wacky website put together in the hopes that I will be better about keeping up with my friends and family!
Chris and I are having fun being Mama and Daddy. We are preparing for Chris' upcoming deployment and as always taking things one day at a time. We are both working hard and I will be leaving for a very sad, very long 9 day work trip to Florida on November 1st. Chris is ready for some serious bonding time with his little girl and Tess is as ready as she can be so as long as I can keep it together we should do just fine!
Tess is having fun testing things, such as how far food can be thrown(and which are the dog's favorites), how many times she can wake up in one night, and what happens when she bites/scratches/hits things! Tess has recently started taking a few shaky steps towards toddlerhood, though super speedy crawling continues to be her preffered mode of transportation. She has also grown three new top teeth to match her two bottom chompers and she is putting all five pearly whites to "good" use. She learns and grows so much every day and we are lucky to be with her.
Well, not much of an update but not bad for a first try. Below is a link to the newest pictures in the photobucket account, feel free to look around at the other folders too for some oldies but goodies! I hope to be updating weekly with pictures and any news we make. Much love to all of you from the three of us!
http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r177/sunpeach1/ *
* All of the albums are listed by date and year, so they should be pretty easy to sort through. Have fun!