Easton's half birthday and first meal

We thought we would be cheesy and throw Easton a 1/2 birthday. The big reason we did it was because we chose not to feed him any food until he was 6 months (he doesn't need it before then and it's less work for mom and dad) and we decided why not go all out for his first meal!!! We made half a cake for the adults and gave him a rice cereal, milk and sweet potatoes combo. We made about 2 tsp worth counting on him only eating half of that. He ended up eating all of that and about another half of straight up sweet potatoes! He did so good. We're very proud!
For pictures, follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90040&l=11da3&id=547545638

Long time no blog

Hey! Yea, I know. I haven't blogged in a while. It's been hectic and I've been putting it off- but now here's some good stuff! First, we have some video of Eastie asleep in his jumperoo and it's really cute. FYI: The noise in the background is a mixer. We were making pizza dough.

Second, here are some really cute ones of Eastie with Santa. Santa happened to arrive at the 48th FTS Children's Christmas party in a T-1 airplane. We got all kinds of pics! For more pictures, check out this album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89196&l=a5440&id=547545638

More pictures in this album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=74408&l=25944&id=547545638

Petting Reeses

Ok, this one is an old one, but I just remembered that I recorded it and it had to make it on the blog. This one is two fold: First, Easton is petting the cat and I think it's so cute. Second, we're watching a dog (Jet) because my friend just had a baby and he's trying to play with the cats. Jet should and probably does know by now that they don't want to play with them. Anyway, it's funny.
Also, since I have a blog post going, Scott is expected back around Dec 6th or 7th. All I can say is "YYYYAAAAAIIIIIIIIYYYYYY!!" and "It's about time he come help me take care of this baby of his." FYI: The last one is supposed to be a joke.

The Hat

Easton has a hat that my mom and I bought for him when we needed something to shield his eyes from the sun. It's a cute hat and you can turn it into so many different types of hats. It actually turns him into different characters. Take a look and let me know if you see what I see.

"The F Troop"

"Brian Fellows" from SNL

A Country Music Star

He's sitting up!

I've been practicing for a few days and today he did it all by himself. I'm amazed! Check it out-

Easton's Dog

When I was pregnant, the thought of my child calling Nala "his dog" was a strange thought. We had her for 2 1/2 years before he came along, so if anything, she was the family dog. However, Easton has claimed her for himself and I don't seem to mind. I think it's actually very cute and I can see them getting close in the future. Until then, Nala is his endless entertainment. When I can't calm him down, more often than not she can. For that, I'm glad that we have her!

The Renaissance Baby

It's been a while since I've written, but I've been pretty busy this month. At the beginning of the month, my mom came to visit. We went to Louisiana and visited her father. While there, she showed me her old stomping grounds, which included the fruit orchard. We picked satsumas, lemons and pecans, all of which taste amazing!

Two day after my mom left, Scott's mom, Barb, came to visit for two weeks. We had a great time and she helped me out a lot. All in all, Easton had a chance to bond with his grandmother and I had a chance to enjoy some time for myself. Both of which are priceless!

Right now, I'm in San Antonio, TX visiting Scott. I leave here on Sunday and I'm already not looking forward to getting back. It was OK getting out here, but I think I was lucky because I had an empty seat next to me on the 2 1/2 hour flight to Texas. I can't guarantee the same on the way back. Until then, we're enjoying our time together and seeing as many sights as we can during this short visit. We've already gone to Sea World, The Alamo, and 'Ripley's Believe it or Not!'. I'm coming back for Thanksgiving, so we don't have to rush and right now we just want to take our time and enjoy each other.

Now...to the reason I named this blog "The Renaissance Baby." Easton is becoming a man of many trades and it seems like there's no slowing down. Here are a few occupations he's been dabbling with lately. More are soon to follow!

Paper Shredder

Professional Face Maker

The Jolly Green Baby

Musician

Marine Biologist

Baby "Seamstress"

Easton's jumping now!

Check out Easton in the jumperoo. He's actually jumping...you'll have to see it to believe it.

The house and some more Easton stuff

Ok, so finally, here's a picture of our new house. It's a HUGE step up from our last one...we just love it! I have more pictures up on my facebook album. You can check them out here:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=72779&l=6fe20&id=547545638
As for Easton, he's been such a doll lately. From the moment he's up to the moment he goes to sleep, he's constant smiles. Sometimes he just looks at me in anticipation that I'm going to do something funny and when I do, he starts to giggle a little bit. Today I went into the garage to do some cleaning so I put him in the jumperoo and he just loved it. I must have been working for close to half an hour and he was fine the whole time. I couldn't believe it! He just kept himself busy. I couldn't have asked for a better baby! : )
Below is a video of Easton trying to stay awake while playing in his bouncer. I think it's really cute!

Caught on video...without his permission!

Easton is so funny. He's mesmerized by the camera and doesn't act himself when he sees I'm filming. To work around that, I have to record him when he's not looking. It doesn't make me the best videographer in the world, but I catch him in the act of being cute! On the video above, I caught him talking to me. It's the closest we'll have to a conversation for a long time. It's also pretty dark and you may not see a lot of it (it showed up better on the camera), but you can here him.

On the two videos below, it's bath time and he was being a cutie pie. The first video shows what he's like when he knows I recording and the second is me secretly recording. It's a big difference!

Some more cute baby stuff

Easton's changing everyday and he's getting to be soooo cute! Last week I got out a pad and paper and wrote down what week he started doing things, like smiling, rubbing his eyes and sleeping through the night so I don't forget. People told me to do that a while ago and I finally got around to it! Anyway, I know I said the next blog was going to be about the house, but I haven't taken pics yet. Maybe tomorrow since we're looking forward to a lazy long weekend! In the above video, Easton's trying to tell me that he's done playing without going into a crying tantrum like he has in the past. He just started doing that last week an I love it, he's so sweet!

Lots going on

It's been a while since we've updated, but we've been pretty busy! First, we were able to get a new house in the newer part of base housing. We had to move ourselves and luckily we had our trailer to do it. Also, it was nice that they gave us 7 days to do it. We just found someone to watch Easton on the days we did moving. (BTW, people were so nice to watch him for 5 or 6 hours for free...we have great friends!) I'll have to post pictures when we get a chance, but the house is absolutely perfect for us! I'll fill you in on all of the stats when I do the post.
As soon as we finished moving out of the old house, Scott had to pack his car and head out to Pilot Instructor Training (aka PIT) near San Antonio, TX. He'll be gone for 4 months, so he had to make sure to pack both summer and winter clothes. I'm staying back to take care of the animals and to "hold down the fort." Four months is a long time but when you think about it, he won't be delpoyable for three years when he gets back and that's a fair trade. He left on Tuesday and already misses us to death. I feel worse for him than I think he feels for me because I have to baby and he doesn't! However, Scott did say that we was excited to catch up on all of the movies we weren't able to see because of the baby. What a meanie!
Easton definitely makes the time fly by. Plus, he's a lot of fun to be with. There's always something new when it comes to our little piglet.
Anyway, I'll try to get those pictures taken and on the blog soon. Until then, watch Easton enjoying his mobile. We put it at his changing table because he doesn't like it when we put his hands through the sleeves, but now he's too distracted to care!
Oh, and here's a new album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66952&l=16e37&id=547545638

Easton the Flirt

Easton likes to play games with his mom...and now he starting to have the smiles to prove it. Who said it takes 8 weeks for babies to smile? Apparently those rules don't apply to our little guy.

Play Time

Easton has started playing in what we call his "play station." All he really does is stare at the flashing light on top of the play station, but he gets a kick out of it. Soon, he'll start to pay attention to all of the little toys too. Here's a peek at play time!

New Easton Video

Here's a new video of Easton. There's nothing really special about it...Scott lightly blows on his face and he makes a funny face. However, he looks so cute that we just had to share it!

Big Boy!

Alright...well we knew we had a big baby from the get go. However, he's growing bigger and bigger at a very fast pace! He was born at 8 lbs 11 oz. At one week he was 9 lbs 12 oz. At three weeks he was 10 lbs 14 oz. Now, at almost 5 weeks he's 11 lbs 4 oz! Normal babies gain on average half a pound a week, but he's no normal baby. He's growing out of some of his clothes already, which is a shame because it seems as though the one's he growing out of are the among the cutest ones he has!

Oh, well. The doc said he's healthy and we can't complain about the wonderful child we have. He's already sleeping all through the night (seriously!) and he only takes cat naps during the day. Some say that bigger babies tend to do that soon while other babies can take up to six months to sleep all through the night. We guess that extra week in the womb did count for something!

Here's a pic of him today in an outfit that even a week ago we thought was too big. Not anymore!

New Born Portrait Session

Easton got new born pictures taken by Sherry Schluchter of Taylan Brooks Photography yesterday. The session was 4 hours and she came to Scott's parent's house to do take them. He wanted to be awake for the whole thing, but for new born pics, they're supposed to be asleep. He was a challenge, but we were able to get a a lot of amazing pictures. To see a sneak peek, please go to www.taylanbrooks.com and click on "Blog." His pictures were taken On July 10, so if it isn't the latest blog update on the site, go to July postings and find "Thursday, July 10." They're wonderful!

Easton's Photo Album

Easton of course has plenty of photos and we want to share them with everyone! They're on Crystal's facebook page, which is private, but we can make the albums public. Here are the links:

Album #1: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56985&l=be27c&id=547545638

Album #2: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57851&l=17a3f&id=547545638

We're going to the zoo tomorrow and we're so excited to see the new exhibits. Since we've been to the zoo, there are atleast three new buildings. Be looking for a blog about that very soon!

Easton going to town on his pacifier!

There is one particular pacifier that he can somehow suck to the extreme! Just watch the video.

Wake up!

Easton has been sleeping all day and staying awake at night lately, so we try about everything to wake him up! Here's video of Scott trying to wake him up.

Easton is here!

We had Easton on Wednesday, June 18 at 12:01 am! He's so beautiful! He was so big, though, that Crystal had to get an unexpected c-section. He was 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches! He felt that big in the womb too!

We're home now and loving it. He stays awake quite a bit during the day (for a newborn), so he sleeps through the night very well. We've been averaging 5-6 hours of sleep per night and that's almost unheard of! Hopefully, the luck lasts.

We'll keep everyone posted and expect more photos!

Scott finally graduated from pilot training last Friday on June 6 and it was one of the greatest days of our lives. Scott's parents drove down from Nebraska for the event and that was really special. Scott got the Air Force Association Award and the Flying Excellence Award (2 of the 3 awards given out) and we were all proud of him. He did such a great job over this past year! This past week, he's been helping out at the squadron that, after training, he will be an Instructor Pilot.

Scott's Assignment

Sorry it took so long to update about what Scott's assignment was. It's been close to a month since he got it and I know some people are eager to hear! He got what he wanted...T-1s to Columbus AFB, MS, which is where we're at right now. He put it #1 and it wasn't orignally one of the choice options, but his flight commander liked it so much that he made the spot available just for Scott! He's going to training on August 21 and will be gone until December 16, home just in time for Christmas! His training is at Randolf AFB, TX, right outside of San Antonio.

Welcome to our Blog!

Hi, everyone! We set up this Blog last month and this is the first we've actually done anything with it. We're getting down to the wire with just about everything big going on in our lives right now. First, Scott finds out his Air Force assignment on May 22, which includes plane and location. Right now, he either wants C-17s to Charleston, SC or T-1s to Columbus, MS. However, we'll be happy with whatever he gets. He'll do great at it.
After assignment night, he'll be graduating from Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training and getting his wings on June 6, which is conveniently "D-Day." Graduation and all the events that go along with it are going to take all day. The night's going to close with a formal dinner.
Next, our first baby's due on June 10, so he should be coming pretty soon after graduation. He's been really quite and Crystal's already 35 weeks, so hopefully he decides to wait until we're ready. If not, that'll still be fine!
Lastly, we have a big McCoy family reunion that happens only every 5 years. This past one was separated by 6 years because Allen III and Uncle Jay were both out of the country for the military last summer. We're going to drive up to Bellevue, NE from MS with the newborn, which shouldn't be an issue. We want to stay for about two weeks...but we'll see what we can do!
We'll keep everyone updated as best as we can...we've just got to stay on it! : )