Sunday Morning

(Click on a picture to enlarge it)



Well, sorry it's been a few weeks since we've updated the blogger. It's definitely been a busy few weeks, and we've not been taking as many pictures as we would have liked. Training has kicked into high gear and Clay is flying every day (except for bad weather days) and somedays he's flying two times a day (a.k.a.double-pumped). Laura has been busy with Young Womens and the play group, and just keeping up with CJ during the day is very demanding at times. But never fear, the Ward crew is alive and kickin' and doing great.
These pictures were just taken this morning out in the back yard when CJ was exploring the dirt, bugs, water, and wood chips. You might notice CJ is a little bit shorter, but don't worry, he didn't shrink in the wash, he just got a hair cut.

CJ's First Birthday!!!

It's amazing how fast the time goes by. Who would have thought that it has been a whole year since CJ was born. It seems like we just got him, but also he's grown up so much this past year that it's hard to imagine what it was like when CJ just layed around with little booties on his hands. He's brought so much joy and Entertainment into our lives, it would be hard to even imagine what our lives would be like without him.
He had a lot of fun on his birthday with a big piece of chocolate cake. He's not a stranger to chocolate, so that was probably why he had lots of fun 'playing' with his cake, but not too much of it actually got eaten.



CJ also had a lot of fun opening some ofthe gifts that he got, like the forward facing car seat which he Loves, compared to always ridingin the car while facing backwards. He got quite a kick out of opening the package from Grandma and Grandpa Smith with all of the paper confetti inside, as well as the toys and books that he received.

Our Little Superhero!

We made an attempt to go to Pensacola beach yesterday. When we left Milton it was nice and warm and sunny, but of course when we got close to the beach the clouds came in and it was a little colder and cloudier than expected. We didn't bring our jackets, so that's why Laura is wearing a towel and CJ is wearing a blanket a.k.a. superhero cape. Though it was cold, it was a lot of fun hangin' out on the beach with the Bailey's for a bit, and helping Jed build a sand castle. CJ and Hunter also had fun "helping" their parents with the finer details of the castle.

Books and Bronco

CJ has developed a love for his books. Now that we have trained him not to rip the pages, but to turn them... we feel comfortable letting him "read" by himself. He often goes and reads the stories on his own- we sometimes spy on him and can't help but smile as we listen to his cute narratives. Every now and again we can contain his energy (usually when he is tired and ready for bed!) and he will sit and read with mom and dad.








In between his flights, Clay needs to stay physically fit. So.. while doing push ups the other night, CJ decided to "help" Daddy by giving him a little extra resistance and getting a free ride in the process!! The good news is.. he only got bucked off twice! Ride 'em cowboy!

Checkin' Out the T-34C 'Turbomentor'

Last weekend we, along with our friends Jed, Erin, and little Hunter Bailey, decided to go see the planes that Clay and Jed fly for training. It was a lot of fun for the boys to show Laura and Erin the controls and they had fun showing the boys how to look good in a plane! CJ and Hunter also had a blast sitting in the cockpits and playing with all of the buttons, knobs, and controls.
Clay has started flying! He flew two flights a little over a week ago and is steadily improving in his abilities, at least the second flight was a lot better than the first flight. He wasn't able to go flying all this past week because of bad weather. He was scheduled three different days and struck out.
Laura has been quite busy these past two weeks with Young Womens as well as taking command of the community play group. At the beginning of this last week she and her counselors took the girls on a five mile hike through the wilds of Florida, then the next day she assisted her counselor, Tina, in putting together an excellent ettiquette dinner/ fashion show for mutual. It was really good. Also this week she was given the responsibility over the community play group which meets every week and is an excellent time for the kids, and the moms, to socialize.

Training is Getting Exciting!

Well, it has finally begun. Today Clay had his first event out on the flight line. No, he didn't fly today, but he met his 'On-Wing', which in Navy terms means the instructor that Clay will be flying with. The instructor took Clay around and showed him how a typical preflight would take place; from the briefing, to weather, to aircraft issue, as well as preflight. Basically today was the last event before Clay actually gets to strap a plane to his back and go flying (which is supposed to take place sometime in the upcoming week).

A couple of nights ago Clay brought his helmet and oxygen mask home and demonstrated it to Laura and CJ. CJ was a little worried that dad had turned into some kind of monster/alien. He was much happier when the helmet and mask came off.














We had some fun earlier today When Laura tried on Clay's flight gear, including the helmet and mask, and strutted around the house Top Gun Style! Also, along with CJ recently learning how to fold his arms for prayer, wave good bye, and clap, he has also learned how to salute. So yes, in that last picture CJ really is saluting of his own accord, even though his facial expression is a little lathargic.

Real Men Like Dirt!

Like most little boys, CJ is fascinated with being outdoors and exploring everything that he possibly can. He loves to get in the dirt and squeeze it between his finger, as well as find all of the leaves, twigs, bark etc... and give it a good taste. As you can imagine, mom is usually standing there saying "No CJ", and dads usually standing there saying, "That's My Boy".

Flashlight Fun

There's just some nights when you have a hard time coming up with something to do (at least the nights before primary flight training started), That's when stuff like this happens. We were playing with the shutter speed on our camera and got the bright idea to twirl flashlights around. It looks dumb but was actually quite entertaining.

Peek-A-Boo.....I Hear You?

One of CJ's new things has been getting on all fours with his hind quarters in the air, and playing peek-a-boo through his legs.... he had also been doing the 'hands over the ears' bit. We don't know why he does it, but we're sure that it has some deep (CJ language) meaning, like the time when we found reconstituted raisins in his diaper.

Discovering Milton

Yesterday the Ward crew decided to have a look-see of downtown Milton Florida (a very short look-see as it turned out, Milton isn't that big). We look a walk down the Milton Riverwalk which was nice, but the Riverwalk is about a hundred yards long, and is just a long dock-like walkway. But fun none-the-less, and CJ enjoyed watching the seagulls and the water. Next to the riverwalk was a war memorial which was really interesting to see. It had information on every major conflict that the U.S. has ever been in which was carved into large polished granite slabs. Also, the walking area at the memorial is layed bricks, and on every brick was carved the names of every person who has lived in Milton and died in war. It was humbling to see how much one small town has sacrificed for our countries freedom.

Some Play Time

Thursday afternoon was such nice weather that we had to take advantage of it and get out a bit. We went on a bike ride around the neighborhood, which CJ loves to do, as well as hit the playground for some swinging, sliding, monkey bar'ing, and playing with one of those funny looking wheels that looks like the helm of a ship (we are on a Navy base). It was lots of fun. CJ enjoyed it, except for one time when dad let him go down the big kid slide a little too fast for a ten month old.

An Early Celebration

Well we know that 11 Jan was a bit early to be celebrating Laura's birthday, but we figured that since Clay will probably be up to his ears in flight training come time, it would be a little better to celebrate early. We took CJ to some of our good friends and then went to see The Cronicles of Narnia, as well as go out to dinner. We then came home and Laura blew out her cheese cake candles and opened her birthday gifts.

Day Trip To Tyndall AFB

Yesterday, 7 Jan we decided to take a little trip over to Panama City, FL and visit Tyndall AFB, where Clay did his field training (like boot camp) 2 1/2 years ago. We spent most of our time there at the beach where we ate lunch, played in the sand, and hunted sea shells. We would have played in the water if it wasn't 45 degrees outside (we took off CJ's hat and gloves for the pictures). But it was a good time and it's always fun to get out and explore the area a bit.

Little Boys Gotta Have Trucks!

CJ has been putting his shiny new dump truck to good use, and I'm sure that he'll have the paint starting to wear off of it in no time; although I don't think that it will be from hauling DIRT around.
Earlier today the three of us went out into the backwoods of Florida and shot some of our guns; mainly the 220 swift, the 9mm, and one of the .22's. It was a fun little outing and we even saw an armadillo. We have probably seen hundreds of armadillos along side the highway (more like hundreds of pieces of armadillos) but this was the first one that we saw alive and upclose. Did you know that armadillos hop kinda like kangaroos when they run away? Neither did we until today.

CJ Gets Teeth

CJ got his first tooth at the beginning of November, we have just failed to let it be known to the world. As of now he has five teeth and we're excited to see them coming in. Luckily we have been fortunate not to experience too much of the fussy-baby-syndrome that sometimes accompanies a teething kid.

CJ also started walking about a week and a half ago. We know that we'll be kicking ourselves later for being so excited about him walking, but for now it's pretty exciting watching the little guy shuffle around the place. But one things for sure, nobody is as excited for CJ to be walking than CJ. His eyes light up with every step.

CJ Makes New Friends

On 23 December CJ became quite the social bug when he personally invited over about four armed officers from the local Milton police department. Early in the evening he had gotten hold of the phone and started pushing numbers, which means mommy had to keep pushing the 'hang-up' button since the operator kept coming on. But obviously one of his calls went through to someone besides the operator because a few minutes later we got a call from 911 dispatch asking if everybody in the household was all right. Mom apologetically explained the situation to the dispatch who understood and informed us that she would call off the police officers en route to the house. So we didn't think anything of it and went across the street to tend to our neighbors dogs (the neighbors were out of town). When we left their house we were quite startled to see at least three cop cars parked in front of our house and about four cops peering through our windows. Quite embarrased we stated that we were 'over here' and that CJ had been the one who had made the call. Luckily they were completely understanding.

Santa Clause Did Come!!!

Well, Christmas certainly came in the Ward house. He was quite generous, especially when it came to CJ and his newly acquired mountain of loot. He got all kinds of toys, from learning-games, to squishy blowfish, to a toddler-sized dump truck (every little boy needs to have a dump truck, along with airplanes and cars, all of which CJ got this Christmas). We're sure that he didn't need that much stuff, but what can you do. Clay was also excited to see that CJ didn't receive any girly dolls or anything of that sort.