Preston's Impression of an Aileron Roll

Hey, the little Preston made one of his first major moves towards Manhood. (No, he didn't pick his nose!) Laura was able to catch the kid on video during one of his first roll-over's from belly to back.
What will be the little man-cub's next move? Only time can tell.....

A Goodbye Surprise

Here are the Enid Groupies. We have so much fun together. Our good friends threw us a surprise goodbye party. We sure are going to miss playgroup, garage sale-ing, early morning walks, long talks, movie nights, park dates, dinner dates, etc. These ladies and their husbands have been angels on earth for Laura, CJ and Preston while Clay has been doing training. Thank you everyone...you are such a blessing. We are hoping you all get a blogspot so we can keep in touch all across the world...hint, hint!! We are sure going to miss all of you.

My Two Sons!

Oh how we love our boys! They are too much fun. We have a great time together as a family. CJ is growing like a weed and talking up a storm. He is such a smart little thing. He is always cracking us up with those fun little things that come out of that mouth. CJ is a great big brother. He is always concerned about Preston and want to help. He can't wait until Preston can wrestle and play cars. Preston is now 3 1/2 months old and getting closer to playing with those cars every day! He is constantly watching CJ and looking at him with eyes that seem to say, "Oh, I can't wait to play and have fun with you!"

Footsie Fun

Thinking about the upcoming week with the packers and movers coming, Becky and Laura decided they needed a little relaxation time to gear up for the big week. What better way to relax than with a pedicure...and not just any old pedicure they got the massage, oils, cleaning, warm water, bubbles, nail trim and and fancy paint (a real treat) Now when the stress and work comes on, a quick gander down at their tired feet brings nothing less than a smile! They are even kid approved by CJ!

Bon Appetite & Giggles!

Well, people say that you should start feeding a baby solid foods when they start showing interest in your food by following it with their eyes and getting excited when they watch you eat. Well, it that is the case, Preston would have been eating solid foods from day 1 - he has always been completely mesmerized by our food. This last week, Preston has been waking up a lot more at night, so we thought that maybe he is growing and needs a little extra food, so we gave Preston his first taste of solid food this week. I guess food is more like eye candy for Preston than stomach food because when it hit his lips, it came right out! I don't think one drop of that rice cereal made it down the tube. You would have thought we were feeding him rotten lemons! He was puckering and gagging and didn't want anything to do with it. Even though the actual eating part ended up being a complete failure, the experience ended up being a real treat...right after the attempt, we got our first giggles and right out belly laugh from Preston. It was the best sound ever. I wish I could hear that every day all day. The sound of a baby laughing...oh sweet music! Of course we tried to record it, but no...sorry. We will continue to try!

Well, Look Who's Here!

Things in Oklahoma are getting pretty exciting! Clay finished his simulators and will start flying the KC-135R this week, Laura and the boys are getting ready to move in a couple of weeks, but to top it all off.....Becky is here! She was able to take some time off of her busy schedule to come and live a little bit of the good life here in Sooner Land, and so far things have been pretty fun. The pool is a frequent hot spot, we went to Enid's very own "Splash Zone" waterpark yesterday, and of course there have been a number of other things that have been going on, but it's been so hot and sunny that all that comes to mind is 'water'. Anyways, the fun continues and.... ...well.......yeah, it continues.

Fourth of July Frenzy

The Fourth of July week ended up being a good one for the Ward Crew. Clay wasn't able to get the entire time off, so Laura and the boys came down to Altus and spent a good week in the area. Now Altus is notorious for not having a whole heck of a lot by way of entertainment, but if you look hard enough, there are little Fun Nougats scattered around the Altus area. And if you are having a hard time finding those Nougats, stickers work just fine too!


(Click on a picture to make it bigger)








Laura and the boys got to try their hand at flying the Mighty KC-135R in one of the full-motion simulators. And their performance was "Not Too Shabby"

Altus.. Airplanes.. Adventures

While we were in Altus, we were able to see the KC-135. Clay showed us the simulators where he is currently training. Then we looked at the real deal! We couldn't get up close and personal with the KC-135, but we admired her from a far. And boy is she perdy! Laura is proud to announce that after some good instruction from Clayboy, she can now identify a KC-135! It's hard to tell one big plane from another, but after a little practice and a finer eye - the C-17, c-5, and KC-135 started to look different!
Since we couldn't get up close to the KC-135, (and we had already told CJ we were going to look at Daddy's plane) we looked at a ...Oh boy....here is the true test for Laura. Can she remember what plane we looked at? I want to say it was a C-141? ..uh oh..Is she right? I am either going to have a really proud husband because I got the plane right, or a really embarrassed husband because his wife got the plane wrong and now it is on our public blogspot.... We shall see. but anyway back to the plane, we looked at this big plane and realized just how small we are and how big these planes are! We even found out that they make good umbrellas...yes, a rain shower arrived and we took cover under the wing. CJ then had fun dancing in the puddles.

CJ and Preston decked out and ready to hit the pools!
CJ receiving his knighthood at the local park in Altus!
CJ driving his first rig. Clay says you have to start them out young.... then they can help Papa and Grandma on the farm by age three. Look out!

Father's Day with Daddy

Since Clay couldn't make it home for Father's day, his family decided to come to him! That's right, the whole Ward Crew bunked up with Daddy in his one room "hotel" for a week...yipee. We had make-shift beds for the boys (the play-n-pack for Preston and a sleeping bag for CJ) however, by morning we all ended up in the same bed. Hey, it's together time, right..quality time with Daddy!
Yes, we were sleeping like this, however, don't be fooled - there was not a fifth person in the room taking pictures! It was Clay and Laura having fun jumping in and out of bed, taking pictures of the funny situation, laughing at themselves, and not waking up the boys! The Adventures we have!
The little men finally stirrin' (and Laura making a funny face) getting ready for another big day in Altus!
CJ catching up on a little bit of Daddy time!
CJ helped Laura make a special Father's Day breakfast in bed for Daddy...toast, bacon and cereal. When you are limited to a only microwave...you have to make do with what you've got! CJ sure enjoyed it, as he ate most of Daddy's breakfast while he was sitting next to him. What can you say?

Those Precious Moments

There are those precious moments in life that make parenting all worth while.... The first "I love you" or should I say "Wuv Ou", kisses, hugs, smiles, coos and giggles. Luckily, we were able to capture some of Preston's first smiles. When you see that little face look up at you and grin, all the sleepless nights, poopy diapers, spit-up mishaps, screaming fits, etc. all seem to melt away and disappear. CJ is such a good big brother. He is so proud of Preston. He is always asking about him and making sure he is okay. He loves it when Preston talks to him or touches him. CJ just giggles and smiles. We are so blessed to have two healthy cute boys.

You brought home a WHAT?

Clay came home Friday night with a special house guest! Apparently, Clay and his carpool buddy had acted as a good Samaritan, or so they claim. A turtle was on the side of the road next to a dead turtle, who apparently became this girl turtle's dead husband. And since the turtle was so sad that her husband had gotten smushed, she was now contemplating suicide herself on the side of the road..but thanks to Clay and his buddy, they found her and rescued her from her fate. The Next obstacle, which was much more difficult than the first might I add, was to convince Laura that she really wanted a pet turtle....




Laura was not quite ready for another pet attempt (she is still recovering from her mishaps with the dead fish; for those of you not familiar with that story, oh boy. Well in a nut shell - we thought it would be a clever gift for our 4 year old friend' s birthday to give him some gold fish. Yeah well, Laura ended up killing 7 fish in two weeks. Not all her fault mind you - but the scar still remains! If you want more details check out the Kilgore's blogspot on Zach's birthday) So, long story short.. Laura wasn't too thrilled to meet Clay's new found friend. However, Laura isn't completely without compassion and charity. She let the turtle stay inside overnight, well almost overnight, the turtle got kicked outside in the middle of the night when it woke up both Clay and Laura because it was making too much racket in it's box. The next morning, we took a nice family outing to the duck park where she dove into the pond. We are ALL glad that she is in a happier place...right Clayboy?

2 Crazy Boys and their Parents

How do people do it? How can you get a family picture with two squirming boys? AGHH. Sorry, we haven't posted in a while, it's been busy, but I think we are getting life under control. Also, sorry for all the posts in one day, BOTH boys are sleeping (I can hardly believe it!!) and I am taking advantage of the moment. I'm not sure when I will get to it again...Mommy time!!!

Mother's Day and Preston's Blessing

How often do you get to spend mother’s day with your mom after your married? Not often, so Laura was excited to have her mother with her. Mother’s day started out perfectly! Papa and Clay made breakfast in bed for Nana and Laura –Pancakes with strawberries and coolwhip (Nana’s staple food – she’s crazy about the stuff), and a side of wheat bread…yum. Everything was cooked perfectly, it was delicious. Then, we took family pictures outside (which is very important to Laura) and headed off to church where Preston was blessed. What better way to celebrate motherhood than by witnessing your husband and father giving your new son a name and blessing. Wow. It was beautiful. Later that afternoon we enjoyed a wonderful meal of barbecued chicken and shrimp (thanks to the Thorups who let us borrow their barbecue and thanks to Papa and Clay who went over in the dark the night before and cooked it for us!).

Here Come the Men!

After the girls had been alone in the house eating raspberry and orange slime, soup, bagels, and wheat bread (all the things our men don’t particularly like, but we love – and amazingly Laura and Nana like the same things) the men were coming home. It was an exciting day! Clay drove up from Altus and picked up Papa from the airport. Nana and Laura were excited to be reunited with their men; CJ and Preston were excited to see Daddy and Papa. It was a great reunion by all. We had a full house for the weekend. We did yard work, went to Leonardos (which is a hands on kids museum…it’s awesome!), picked out flowers for the yard, barbecued, went to the park, and just loved being together.

Nana Comes to Town

CJ was a little confused, is it Nana or Santa? Sometimes when grandparents come into town it's hard to tell!!! Laura loved having Nana around to talk to, clean, shop, eat, walk, help with babies, and just keep her company.

The first night that Nana was here Laura and her stayed up until past midnight just talking! It was soo much fun. Slumber party for the next two weeks! Girl talk…fabulous. They also had a great time eating all the foods that they loved and their husbands don’t. CJ also enjoyed Nana – she brought a whole set of CARS figures and CJ got a new one every day. Nana played cars with CJ non-stop. What a life! We also got Nana hooked on our new tradition: Popcorn and Everybody Loves Raymond!