Koa is HERE!!!!

On Saturday, we got to pick up our puppy!!! He ended up coming a little late, but we finally got him home and I took some pictures of his first moments at home!

Austin is absolutely in love with him. Abby is doing great with him. He's so little and so cute! We have figured out that having him reminds us a little of having a baby in the house again though! The first night was a little rough. He hadn't pooped all day long. He tried, but just couldn't. So, all night long, every hour and a half, he would cry and we'd get up and take him outside. He went poop 3 times in the middle of the night (each time also going pee!). He never went in the house though (or his kennel) and we knew he was in some pain with this pooping problems, so we weren't too upset about the bad night. Plus, everyone knows that a new puppy is going to cry a little the first night or two (or more???).

We also think that we have a glimpse into how Austin is going to act with a new baby...at least for a little bit. The puppy cannot be asleep without Austin being next to him. I even found Austin hovering above Koa (like a bridge) underneath the table while the dog was sleeping. He just doesn't want to leave Koa alone! :-)

Overall, we think he'll be a good dog. He's definitely been giving us some entertainment outside. Everyone around here loves him. Our neighbors and another friend even sat outside with him while Brian was playing X-Box with Matt tonight (Austin and I were at a birthday party). They asked to bring him out, so Brian said sure!

Here are some pictures.....WARNING...he's cute and you may want a puppy after this! :-)

Austin and Koa right after he came out of the kennel

Abby meeting Koa...just a few sniff and he passed the "Abby test"

A boy and his dog....he's so proud to have a puppy!

A close up of his cute face and blue eyes!

Our three "kids" hanging out....

This is how Austin spends some of his time watching TV....he always wants to be near Koa!

Water Play Day

On Friday, the playgroup at the YMCA on Wheeler had a water day. They basically set up baby pools, sprinklers, and water tables and bubbles and let the kids go crazy. This year, they also have a pot luck, so you get to feed the kids lunch as well!

Well, on this water play day it was rainy! They still set up all the stuff and the kids played in the rain, sprinkles, and in between the rainy periods. I didn't get any good pictures since I didn't want to get my camera wet from the rain. However, later in the afternoon, Austin and I met Daddy up at the bowling alley for lunch.

It was raining and I gave Austin the option of walking in the rain with his rain jacket on (the bowling center is a block up the street from our house), or driving up there. He picked walking.

On the way back, he kept his eyes open for big puddles to jump in....and I got a few pictures since it wasn't raining anymore! I love how dirty the water looks....I think we went through 3 pairs of clothes that day between the play day, the puddles and the mud!!! Oh to be 3 again!!!

Cuddling with Daddy (and a bath picture too!)

Daddy gave Austin his bath one night and this is what I found on my camera! He hates having his hair washed, so I guess Daddy was playing around making it fun. :-)

One night before bedtime, Austin said he wanted to lay down with Daddy. He climbed right up and just cuddled with him for a long time. Brian, of course, LOVED this! I had to get my camera to capture the moment! He really does love his Daddy, but there are times when he says things that just isn't nice.....so, when he does things like this, it makes Brian and I happy!

Children's Discovery Center

We went to the Children's Discovery Center with a friend and her daughter on the 10th. This was our second time and we just love this place! There is so much for Austin to do and use his imagination with! They change some of the areas, so it's different everytime you visit.

Some of the areas include: a firestation, a mechanics garage, a bus, police station, library, grocery store, an airplane, cargo ship, and various cultural areas (different houses set up like you were in different countries).

We spend an afternoon there and then go home for a well deserved NAP! :-)

Here's Austin picking some corn...

Being a firefighter....

Fixing a car....

Dressed as an octopus.....

He really loves this place and we plan to go once a month until we leave here. Hopefully, there will be something like it at Fayetteville. If not, then we'll just have to visit the Magic House in St. Louis a few times. It's basically the same thing with some science stuff thrown in there as well.

Some Say We Are Crazy...

We are getting a new dog on Saturday....is that crazy? Is getting a puppy really that crazy? I understand that we are also expecting a baby, but will it really be horrible to have a baby and an 8 month old puppy at the same time?

Brian and I don't think it's that crazy. Brian had started thinking that it might be fun to get another dog when we got to Arkansas. He had not told me he was thinking this. I have always bothered (teased...whatever you want to call it) him to get another Weim puppy. I just think that having 2 dogs is better than one. There are times when I think Abby wants/needs a companion. Anyway, I had looked in the paper at the pet section and in bold letters was "Weimaraner." So, I told Brian about it and he told me to call. My mouth dropped open and I was speechless. At least until I said, "are you serious???" He has always said that we won't get another dog until Abby dies (something neither of us can even begin to imagine!).

So, after making sure he was serious, I called. No answer...so I left a message. There was a website, so we tried to get on there, but couldn't. Later, we realized we weren't typing it in correctly, so we eventually saw the puppies.

I got a call back the next day about the puppies, we discussed it, then called him back. The price was right around what they were in Nashville, it seemed like good timing and the more we thought about it, the more we wanted to do it.

So, we talked to the breeder some more, sent him the deposit via Paypal and have waited each week for new pictures of the puppies.

Here's a picture of "Koa" at 4 weeks.

The side view of him:

He is now almost 7 weeks old and the breeders are releasing the puppies a week early. I'm guessing they are all weaned and ready for their new owners. We are very excited...even with the fact that potty training a puppy is hard work. We think that this is better than waiting though, since we won't be potty training a puppy while having a newborn, or trying to potty train a puppy in a house with carpet (our house is all concrete floors.....easy clean up!).

If you'd like to see how big he has gotten since 4 weeks, you can go to http://supermodelweimaraners.googlepages.com/

Koa is the Green/Red Collar male. The picture is taken at an odd angle though, so he looks pretty goofy! :-) And it looks like the breeder had to steady him while taking the pictures, so I'm guessing he's pretty active! Oh, Koa is the Hawaiian word for "soldier" or "warrior." We thought that since we were getting him in Hawaii, we might as well name him appropriately! Oh, and he's from Maui....so he gets to ride on his first plane to get to us!

Austin is excited about getting Koa. We have Saturday with stars on it so he knows when Koa will be home. Now, we just have to get through this week!

What does 150 mean to YOU???

Well, to our family, it means we are having a healthy baby in January 2009!!!

On Wednesday, we went to my first appt and heard the heartbeat...it was in the 150s and after that we decided to share our secret with everyone. We are 12 weeks along and are due Jan. 21.

Austin is very excited....and right now, he wants a baby brother. We'll see what he gets in about 2 months as long as baby is cooperating (yes, we are wanting to find out...we're just not that patient to wait!!)

We are sorry to those of you who we have had to tell little white lies....we have known for a long time now that we were expecting, but with our recent miscarriage, we wanted to wait until we heard the heartbeat before telling everyone. It was too hard to explain that I was no longer pregnant when I saw people a month or more after my D&C. We didn't want as many people to know if it happened again. Probably a little paranoid, but oh well!

We move in November sometime...so I will be 32 weeks pregnant. What fun, right!?!? We are glad he or she will be born near family though...as I am sure the Grandparents are happy about that as well!

Well, that's about it for our news....now we just can't wait for January to get here!

4th of July....part 2

After naptime, we went back up to Schofield for the concert (Billy Ray Cyrus...yes, he did sing Achy Breaky Heart!!!) and to hang out with friends.

Our unit had a picnic area where we could have a grill, so we grilled hot dogs for dinner. Then let the kids do those Pop-Its fireworks (the ones you throw on the ground and they pop) and hung out with people.

Our friends, Chris and Michelle had been in town for their delayed honeymoon and hung out with us the day before at North Shore and at the 4th of July Celebration. Here are some pictures of the day:

Austin staying cool with the mister fan

Looks tired already, doesn't he! Can you believe he stayed up until 11PM!?!? He did great though....he was so good and he's so funny at that hour!!!

Brian with Chris and Michelle

Our neighbor, Glenn, selling glow sticks....we love our neighbors!!!

The one good shot of the fireworks that I got....some little boy decided he liked it much better in my lap, so I couldn't get too many more after this!!!

Overall, we had a GREAT 4th of July...and hope that you all had a great one as well!!!

4th of July....part 1

Schofield Barracks has a 4th of July Celebration every year. They have rides and bouncers and games for the kids to play on and a concert and fireworks in the evening. Not to mention the TON of food they have offered as well!

We went with Austin in the morning to do the games and rides. It was HOT!!! He had fun though....his favorite was the helicopter ride! After the rides, we played some games, had lunch, then went home for naptime.

Some of the rides are big bouncers and slides. Here's one that Austin's been on before....he's climbing up....

He's not so sure....

He's definitely not sure and Mommy had to climb up to rescue him!

And made him slide down with her because she wanted to have fun! Seriously, last Easter, he LOVED this slide! He went down it so many times I lost count! This year, there was no way he was going to go down that slide!!! At least not alone! There are just some things I will never understand about this boy!

This game was really cool...Daddy got to sit behind the screen and Austin threw water balloons at him!!!
One last picture of the morning....

A Carnival in our Backyard

One day, Austin and Brian went out for a Boys Day Out. Mommy got to go shopping by herself, so Daddy took Austin to Chuck E Cheese. He also took him to Toys R Us. While at Toys R Us, Daddy called Mommy and told her they were looking at bouncers. He described one that he wanted to buy for Austin. Mommy remembered that the same one was at the NEX for a lot cheaper....but that she wasn't sure about the price since she didn't look too closely because they were going to wait until they moved to Arkanas.

Daddy went to the NEX and found that the bouncer was MUCH cheaper there and decided that Austin needed one. :-)

When Mommy got home, this is what she found:

Overall, it was a great purchase...we just need to figure out where to store it now!!!

Spouse Orientation Flights

One of the things I love about living on Wheeler is the fact that we always get to see the helicopters flying around. Austin loves to watch them...he calls them "hopters."

Being a part of the Aviation Brigade, I got the rare chance to actually ride in one on the 27th of June. The Blackhawk Battalion (2-25) got DOD approval to do spouse flights. Normally, you can't ride in one unless you are a Soldier.

Each unit was assigned a time slot during the day. Ours was the last one of the day and when I got there, we had to sign in (they made sure we were spouses...you couldn't go unless you were on the list as a spouse) and go through a couple of safety briefs. They had flight suits and ear plugs for us .... and an air sickness bag! :-) We took off, flew towards Pearl Harbor and then turned around and came back. Not a long flight, but a flight nonetheless! About 320 spouses took advantage of this opportunity...not one had to use the air sickness bag! LOL I think everyone left with smiles on their faces.

Here are a few pictures:

The Blackhawk I rode on

Me in the "hopter"

A view of Brian's building (center of picture)...where Austin was staying while I was flying

A view of Diamond Head and Waikiki

Pearl Harbor with the USS Arizona Memorial and USS Missori

Dinner and some Fireworks

Brian and I wanted to go out to eat one Friday night in June and decided that Austin would probably like to go to a Japanese Steak House. If you haven't been to one, it's where they sit you down at a table with a habachi grill in the middle and the chef cooks the food right in front of you....and they are very entertaining as well.

We tried to go Benihana's at the Hilton Hawaiian, but they were REALLY busy and couldnt' get us in until after 8pm!!! So, we went around the corner to Kobe's. The dinner was really good...and Austin LOVED the onion volcano that shoots fire and he CHOWED down on his steak!

After dinner, we walked back to the Hilton Hawaiian's beach and waited for their weekly fireworks they do. It's not a huge show, but we figured we'd see how Austin reacted to fireworks before 4th of July. They started the fireworks and he just stood and stared, then climbed into my lap and buried his face saying they were too loud. I told him he could just cover his ears with his hands so he could still see them. So, that's what he did and it worked really well. He thought they were pretty, but loud. :-)

Here are a couple of pictures of Brian and Austin waiting on the beach....

A visit from family

On June 6th, we got to spend a day with my uncle and aunt, Keith and Peggy. Keith just retired from the Air Force after 30 years (!!!) of service. They came to Hawaii as a "delayed honeymoon." You don't get much time for a honeymoon when you're in the military!!!

Anyway, we took them up to North Shore, had some shrimp from the shrimp shacks in Haleiwa, swam and snorkeled at Sharks Cove, got some shave ice back in Haleiwa and then went to dinner. It was a fun filled day, but wouldn't you know it, I didn't take hardly any pictures!!! I did get a few from Sharks Cove, so I'll post one of Austin and Peggy. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of Keith....so, Peggy, if you have any, can you please send some to me??? :-)

Playing with Daddy's Stetson

I am going to be updating the blog now. Yes, I know it's been nearly a month since I updated it...and I'm sorry! Well, after today, I will be caught up....ENJOY!!!

Here's some pictures of Austin fooling around with Daddy's Stetson. When Brian was in 2-6 Cav, he got to participate in a few traditions that the Cavalry units have. One is a spur ride, another is breaking in their stetsons (where they put all kinds of gross stuff in the stetson and they have to drink it....eww). Anyway, Austin loves wearing the stetson and looks cute doing it, so I snapped a couple of pictures.