Daddy's home!

Our first morning with Daddy and we had to wear our "I love my Dad" shirts

Mommy finally gets to be in a picture!

Alex loves having another man around

Helen cannot resist the buttons on the DVD

Helen is schooling Daddy in feeding

Daddy jumps right in with a feeding

Everyone wants to hang out on the couch with Daddy for the Gator game

Friday morning we went to our local diner for breakfast - Alex was eyeing my french toast but made do with his bottle

Daddy and Ella

The girls with Daddy outside the diner

Cecil is finally home safe and sound! Thursday afternoon I got a call from Ft. Riley in Kansas saying that Cecil was on his way to the U.S. and would be getting in around midnight. Choking back the tears, I asked them to please have him call me when he got in, no matter what time. Then I got a pleasant surprise that evening when he called me from Maine where they had to stop to refuel. It was so nice to talk to him without the time lag from being half way around the world. We knew he was going to have to spend a few days in Ft. Riley and thought he might be coming home on Monday.

Friday morning I headed out for Robyn's weddding in Chicago. I had my phone with me the entire weekend waiting to hear when his flight would be. I was a little nervous because I was scheduled to fly in on Monday afternoon. I figured it would be my luck that he would be scheduled to get in before me. There was no way I was going to let him get home before me so I was ready in case I had to change my flight. Sunday night (while I was at the reception) he finally called and said that his flight would get in Monday night around 11. So I got back to Jacksonville around 4:30, went home to put the babies to bed, unpacked, and then headed back to the airport (huge thanks to Chace for coming over to stay with the babies for me!). I was at the airport almost an hour early but I was not going to miss my chance of being there when he walked out. It was a good thing it was so late so that I did not feel bad about clogging up security when I stood there and just hugged and hugged him. I don't know if I have words to describe all of the emotions. We picked up his bags and headed home. The kids were already asleep but he got up with me the next morning to get them up.

Alex and Ella took to him right away. In fact, Alex would not leave his side. If both of us were sitting on the floor, Alex would always crawl to Cecil and just stare at him. It took Helen a couple of days to warm up to him but now she laughs and smiles whenever she sees him. Maybe she was just a little scared by seeing someone who looks so much like her :)

Cecil was a little overwhelmed at first with their routine but now is doing great. We took them to breakfast with us, to the grocery store, and to church. It is so much easier having someone else to carry babies and baby stuff. And Cecil gets to experience the wonderful feeling of having so many people stop to adore your kids. I think I saw his chest puffing out a little bit more with each comment. Now maybe we will be able to get out and do more stuff too. It is wonderful to have the whole family back together again!!

Mommy goes away again

I tried "swimming" with them by myself. Everything went fine until they all decided to evacuate the pool at the same time

Baby Einstein still has its mesmerizing effects

Helen evens laughs at it now

Another attempt at swimming but this time with an extra set of hands

Alex is so regal

"I'm not sure how I got in here....and I'm not so sure I want to get out. I don't think Ella and Helen have figured out where I am yet...." -- Alex

What's the point of eating squash if we can't smear it around a little bit?

Go Gators!! Ella, Alex, and Helen wearing their new Gator shirts

Helen can't be expected to sit still for too long without trying out this climbing surface

Thursday I went in to get Ella up from her nap and was stopped in my tracks when she was standing up in her crib for the first time!

Ella is still trying to clear the top of the coffee table

"Mom, you are not seriously going to leave us, are you?" Helen right before I had to leave to go to Chicago this weekend

There may be a million toys out, but inevitably everyone fights over the same one

"Hey, did you guys know this fence moves???" -- Helen

My friend Jean watched them while I was gone. And she introduced them to Barney :)

The kids "helped" put up the welcome home sign for Daddy - who comes home this week!

Helen wants to wear the rope as a crown

Alex just likes chewing on it

Ella thinks it tastes pretty good too

Our sign is all ready for Daddy!

"Look, whatever it is, it wasn't me!"

Jean with Alex, Ella, and Helen

Jean and her godson Alex

I went to Chicago to be in one of my best friend's wedding. Here I am with the beautiful bride, Robyn.

The bride and bridesmaids (I'm in the back row, just behind Robyn's right shoulder)

Robyn and me

A law school friend, Emily, and me

Another law school friend, Jean, and me

As always, it was hard to leave the kids but I had a great time in Chicago seeing my friends and hanging out with the girls. It was exhausting too but I was very lucky to have wonderful help taking care of the kids for me. Stay posted - pictures of Cecil coming home are coming soon!!

Mobility Increases

We are too big to sit in the bouncy seat anymore but it is perfect to play with as we learn to sit on our knees and pull up

"OK people, sitting on my knees is no problem now. I need something stable so I can pull all the way up." -- Helen

"What? You never said we COULDN'T play with this...." -- Alex and Ella

Helen is so pround of herself for being able to reach all sorts of new things now

Just so you don't think they are always so sweet and cuddly, here's Ella having a melt down.

There she goes! Helen can now pull herself up in her crib

Ella is just happy someone has finally come to save her

Ella still enjoys crawling over things rather than around them

Alex is happy and hanging out

The DVD player is no longer safe

Attack of the babies! They all descended upon me at once.

Even though Helen cannot crawl with something in her hands, she's figured out another way to carry stuff across the room

Nothing on the coffee table is safe either. We used to keep all the books up there but now Helen loves to throw them on the floor one by one and her siblings are more than happy to lay at her feet and wait for the gifts from above.

This week Helen went from only pulling up when she was holding onto someone to being brave enough to pull up on other things like her crib and the coffee table. She is very excited about her new skill and loves to try it out at every opportunity. Ella and Alex are very proficient crawlers now and sitting back on their knees too. Thankfully Alex's two top middle teeth are starting to come in so hopefully his fangs will even out soon. Either that or he will be a vampire for Halloween.

Cecil is officially making progress towards being home. Last week he left his base and is in another base in Afghanistan. He will probably be there for at least another week while he gets "processed." We're still hoping he will be home before the end of the month!