Morning sickness with Mike

Things to know about Camp Basra

2010-01-03T13:11:00.003-06:00

This post is designed to provide information to my fellow soldiers who will deploy here to Basra in a couple of weeks. This blog was another method to get information to them before they depart.

So unless you are one of them or their spouses this may not be that interesting to you. But if you want to know how we're living, then feel free to read on. Little lengthy though. Otherwise, I'm starting to get some pictures now that I will post soon.

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Good things to know about Camp Basra

1. Internet options.

a. Internet in your CHU. A local Iraqi company provides internet service (hard wired or wireless) in your CHU for $70 per month. I just signed up for this last week and I’d say it works “good enough”. Works fine for e-mail and general web surfing but has limited streaming video capability. Skype works fine and just having that ability to video chat with the family was enough for me to justify paying the money. I will say that sometimes this service is inconsistent. Just isn’t available for hours at a time. I’d say this happens about one night a week for hard wired and about twice a week for wireless. It’s a month to month service though with no contract so you can try it for a month then decide whether to renew for another month.

b. Spawar Internet Café. There is an internet and phone provider called Spawar that has internet and phones at each base camp. Works just like a regular internet café and is free. Walk in, sign the sheet, and you’ll be assigned a computer unless there is a wait (which there only has been once for me and that was Christmas Day). Not sure who provides Spawar but it will be managed by our G-6. Soldiers volunteer to work the desk and issue out phones and computers. Internet speed here is about the same as the one the Iraqi company provides. Some people Skype from here but you won’t have much privacy as you are in a room with probably 25 other people using computers. And generally it’s pretty quiet in there as most people are just e-mailing or surfing the web. So your voice would really be the only one heard as you make little baby talk to your kids or whisper sweet nothings to your wife. But no one really cares as it’s very important to communicate with your family. If you do want to video chat from there they have limited cameras and headset to issue. Otherwise, you’d have to bring your own. This internet café is located right in the middle of the Life Support Area (LSA) where most of us will live.

c. USO Internet Café. The USO is about a month old and is very nice (more about it later). There are probably 30 computers there for use. This place is much cleaner than Spawar and the internet speed is a little faster. It’s also located right across from the Division Main building where we work and next to the dining facility. I use this place if the unclassified internet at work isn’t working well (which most of the time it isn’t) or I may use it if I’m there watching TV, stopping by after a meal, or making a phone call. Oh, also you can use Facebook, blog sites, and other entertainment and social networking sites that are blocked at work for some reason. So I generally updated my blog and Facebook from there before I got internet in my room.

d. Internet at work. This has been the least reliable unclassified internet service I’ve experienced here so far. It’s typically gruelingly slow and times out often. If you use AKO from there you have to use the low bandwidth option just to open mail in a timely manner. I heard there may be some improvements to the bandwidth in the next couple of weeks so maybe this will get better. But the SIPR classified network is the primary method of communication for work related issues (and it works well) so fixing the NIPR unclassified network hasn’t been a priority it seems. But it’s there and will probably work okay by the time you arrive. The internet service at work is far too restrictive right now so you can’t check sports scores, some news sites, and some shopping sites. So that’s why you’ll find yourself going to Spawar, the USO, or get internet in your CHU.

So those are the primary options for internet. One important note is that at Camp Basra there are no wireless internet options. In other words, there isn’t a place like the MWR, Starbucks, or USO where you can take your own laptop and get wireless internet like at some other camps in Iraq and Kuwait. Well, the Basra Air Terminal does have free wireless internet service if you find yourself on that side of post waiting for an aircraft which I’ve actually done several times waiting to fly (for 6 hours yesterday in fact).

I’ve heard there is an Italian company considering opening up another internet service. It’s currently being tested. And I know some soldiers have pitched in to purchase a satellite system then they get about 10 soldiers to cover the costs. These soldiers will leave when 34th leaves so if this is an option for us, some 1ID soldiers would need to purchase their equipment or order their own.

2. Phone options.

a. At work. Several of the unclassified phones in each section have the ability to dial an AT&T operator within the States so your call is at domestic rates instead of international rates. So if you buy an AT&T card with 550 minutes on it (like I recommend you do) then you are truly getting 550 minutes instead of the old days where you would only get about 150 minutes due to the international rate. Calling at work is easy, just pick up the phone and hit the # button three times and you’ll be connected to an AT&T operator in the U.S. Many soldiers hang around later at work so they can call their families taking into account the 9-hour time difference. If you live on an installation you can also be connected through the local DSN operator and transferred to your house. There is generally a time limit on these calls. Not sure what it is but I think either 15 or 30 minutes.

b. Spawar. Same little rickety building as the internet café, you can also sign in and use a Spawar phone. Your first time using this, you’ll have to sign up through the internet and purchase $25 of phone time and you’ll get about 10 hours. I bought a $25 card a month ago and am just now down to about $18 remaining, and I’d say I call my family probably about 4 times a week from there as it’s near where I live.

c. USO. Cleanest phone place, most reliable, has little privacy booths, and it’s completely free. Just sign in, you’ll generally have to wait 10-15 minutes during peak times, then just pick up the phone and dial the number. There is a 30-minute time limit and it’s enforced as others are usually waiting.

d. Cell phones. There is an option to buy a cell phone and service here. The only possible reason I can think of for someone to get a cell phone is if you needed the ability for your family to call you, instead of you always having to call them. But the cell service in southern Iraq is poor, it’s fairly expensive, and you can’t take your phone into the building where we work.

Those are the phone options. If you’re familiar with Skype you can also make regular phone calls through there. It’s Voice over IP similar to Vonage. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the reasonably priced and convenient phone options here.

3. Living Conditions.

There will be a time during our transition where the base will be a little crowded. We are an 850-person organization transitioning with a 1200-person organization. The good thing is 34th begins sending their main body flights home within the next couple of weeks. Saying that, be prepared to be in a temporary living quarters shared with someone else for a couple of weeks until we are able to move into our permanent quarters (probably somewhere in late January). Permanent quarters will be in a CHU. No idea what CHU stands for but probably something like Container Housing Unit as it’s a little trailer type place surrounded by concrete bunkers.

In keeping with Army tradition, whether you share a CHU with another soldier or have one to yourself depends on rank and position. Most senior enlisted and officers will each have their own CHU. Most lower enlisted will share with another soldier. I’ve shared my temporary quarters for the past month with another Major and it hasn’t been bad (expect for the time it rained so hard it flooded our room but that’s another story). So I’d say be prepared to share temporary quarters and we’re just going to have to wait until the dust settles after 34th ID leaves to see how to best position soldiers for the best quality of life. All that will be DHHB’s call along with their commanders and first sergeants.

The CHU is about 10 x 15, has a vinyl floor, is climate controlled, and has one or two twin beds and one or two wall lockers (depending on whether you are sharing or not). 34th ID is having a big “yard sale” sometime the third week of January. They will be selling small refrigerators, television, DVD players, dressers and shelves and storage type places they have made or acquired, and many other items you can imagine when you leave a place with no use for those items anymore.

You’ll be issued a set of sheets, a pillow, and a bed spread when you arrive. Most soldiers I know immediately turned these back in and bought their own. The bedding they issued looked and smelled like they had been donated by some poor Iraqi camel herder. Maybe those sheets had been used in his family for generations then used to keep camels warm then donated to the Americans for use. They were scratchy, smelly, had holes, had stains, and were probably about a 25 thread count. So yeah, we all made a beeline down to the PX and bought our own. If bedding is important and you like high count sheets then you may want to bring some or mail yourself some, twin sized by the way. Sheets in the PX are okay but not great. My wife mailed me a set from home that I use and when they are in the laundry, I use the ones I bought from the PX.

With the exception of LTCs and above who have a bathroom hooked onto their CHU that they share with the next CHU, soldiers will have to go outside and walk about 100 feet to the nearest bathroom and shower facility.

The location where most 1ID soldiers will live is about a 10 minute walk to work, the USO, the gym and one of the dining facilities. The Spawar café and an MWR area with TVs, couches, and books, etc. is located within the housing area. There is also another dining facility closer to the housing area. And of all things, there is a little Pretzel shop in the middle of the housing area, kind of oddly placed if you ask me. But if you like pretzels then you’re in luck. There is a bus stop near the housing area which can shuttle you to any other location on base.

The electrical sockets are 250 volts. It’s 110 in the States and 220 in Europe. At Basra, it’s a three-prong triangled socket (as opposed to two-pronged like Europe and regular two or three pronged like the U.S.) and you can buy little adapters for about 3 bucks a piece and can use them to power all your stuff as long as they are dual voltage like computers, televisions, radios, etc. Just make sure to check the voltage on whatever you are using to make sure you don’t blow it up. Otherwise, you can buy a converter here for about $30. There will likely be hundreds of little adapters for sale by 34th ID also.

4. Other services on base.

a. Dining facilities. There are two on base, one is right across from the Division Headquarters building and the other is down closer to the housing area. Both are very similar, the food isn’t too bad, and there are numerous flat screen televisions with sports, news, or movies playing. The place is well stocked with cold water, Gatorade, juices, sodas, fruits, and other items you can take back to work or your room. They are open for about 3 hours at a time for each of the three meals and one of them is open at midnight for those working the night shift. Right now they are not open in between meal times for coffee, drinks, and snacks but that is something we hopefully adjust when we get the division here.

b. Post Exchanges. There is one large PX and a couple of shopettes on base. All are stocked pretty well with just about any item you are looking for or might have forgotten to pack. One item that most people forget is shower shoes or flip flops. And I haven’t seen them for sale here (maybe I missed them but I haven’t seen them). They only have Crocs, so if you don’t want to buy Crocs you might want to remember your shower shoes. Actually, I do recall they have the little flimsy 99 cent shower shoes which would probably work for a few days. The PX takes cash, checks, credit, debit, and the Eagle Cash card. If they have cash on hand you can sometimes get cash back. Let’s see, they also sell different sizes of carpets which you will definitely want to purchase unless you like walking around barefoot on dusty nasty floors.

c. Postal Services. There is a full service post office not far from the HQ building. Generally it has been taking about 10-14 days to get mail sent here from the States. Boxes generally arrive before letters do. Most of my time here has been in the holiday season so I’d expect mail transit time to get down to about 8-10 days. I mailed a box back to my wife with stuff I don’t need and it took exactly 7 days. But then I mailed another with some things I bought here and it still hasn’t arrived and that has been about 12 days ago. So you never know. But right now we’re affected by the holiday mail and the fact 34th ID has been sending lots of stuff back home. I’d say a good planning mail transit time to put out is about 8-10 days each way.

d. Religious Services. A new post chapel opened on Christmas Eve and is close to the housing area. There are also other make shift places where services are held. Once our Chaplains get here the options for worship will likely change from the current schedule. But just know there will be options available to worship and time to attend.

e. USO. This USO is state of the art and has only been open about a month. It is very clean (unlike most other places here) and has multiple televisions, couches, tables for cards and board games, drinks and snacks, books, magazines, phone and internet cafes, a room for Guitar Hero, a large area for multiple X-Box systems and televisions, and a movie theater with bean bag chairs. It also has the United Through Reading program rooms there (more on that below). I followed a couple of negative comments about this USO on the DHHB Facebook page a couple of weeks ago and I’ll only say this. This is the only place on base that even partially resembles civilization like we’re used to seeing back home. It’s an opportunity for a soldier to take an hour out of his day or week and just be normal, to play a game, to make a phone call, to send an e-mail, to laugh or goof off, to talk normal talk with co-workers, or to read a book to his or her children. We didn’t ask for it but it’s there. And I’m glad it is there as it keeps the stress levels relatively normal and helps prevent soldiers from going crazy. That leads to more effective work performance and a better and closer relationship with family and friends back home.

f. United Through Reading Program. If you didn’t take advantage of this at Fort Riley it is offered here at the USO. The rooms are private, the book selection is awesome, and it’s just a great deal. Once you sign up, you choose some books, go into the room and you have up to 20 minutes of time to read books and talk to your family on camera. Once you’re finished, the books and the DVD are mailed back to your family. I did this at Riley and my 14-month old loves hearing my voice. I plan to do this again this week as they just got a new shipment of books in for children of all ages. And I know others that came with me from Ft. Riley have done this once a week since they got here.

g. Gyms. There is a nice large gym located next to the USO building. Has free weights, machines, treadmills, ellipticals, mats, etc. There is also another smaller gym located a little closer to our living area. And when it’s not muddy, there are good running routes on base.

h. Local vendors. There are also numerous little Iraqi shops that sell electronics, jewelry, and local merchandise. There is an Iraqi bazaar that serves local food, has hookah pipes for sell or rental, sells Chai tea, and has opportunities for Camel rides. There is also a little movie shop which sells DVDs of movies that are still in theaters as well as older ones. The quality is pretty good if you don’t mind Arabic subtitles on some of them. I bought all six seasons of the Sopranos for $20 and sent it back to the wife. I watched “The Blind Side” (Sandra Bullock movie) about 5 days after it opened at the theaters in the U.S. And I picked up Alvin and the Chipmunks last night and understand it just came out at theaters in the States. Sure, it’s a little shady as to where these movies come from but hey, they are on post and the shop takes the Eagle Cash card. And that’s good enough for me.

i. Laundry services. There is a 24-hour turnaround on laundry. Keep that in mind when you pack so you don’t bring too many clothes. You should bring a laundry bag with you but you’ll also be issued one they want you to use as it is marked with a device that helps them keep track of your laundry. This is bulk laundry which means they just toss your entire bag into some sort of huge washing machine and dryer with other people’s dirty clothes and call it good. They do fold your clothes at the end and I think the clothes are “generally” clean, or at least a little cleaner than they were (hopefully). But after a year of washing clothes like that I fully anticipate taking all my t-shirts, socks, and underwear and tossing them into a dumpster before I leave this place and just starting over fresh when I get back home.

j. Other food options. If you want a change from the dining facility or you missed a meal, there is a Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, and a Green Bean Coffee place. Seems like I saw a Popeye’s but that might have been at another base camp. In reality, these are just little tiny trailers run by little dudes from India but I hear the food tastes pretty close to the real restaurants in the States. The dining facility is good and these places are expensive so I only ate at Pizza Hut one night when I landed back on the base late and missed dinner. There is also a place called Echo’s, which was opened when the Brits were here for a few years. It’s a sit down restaurant, the food isn’t that great, and it’s extremely expensive (coffee is $1 per little cup with no refills and meals are like $10). But it’s a good comfortable atmosphere and a nice place to meet up with friends or co-workers. By the way, if you follow me on Facebook and know about my stomach virus from this past week, I had eaten at Echo’s earlier that day. So I actually saw my food twice that day. Some people really enjoy eating there though.

k. Beauty salon. I hate to mention this for fear of demonstrating a feminine side but there is a full service spa here. You can get a massage, manicure, pedicure, facial, or a “stylish” haircut. The back and shoulder massage is a popular option. I think it’s about $17 for 30 minutes so that’s not bad. When you’re traveling around wearing a 45-pound armored vest all day I can see where this would be a preferred option. I’ve been wearing mine often this week as I’ve traveled around southern Iraq so maybe that will be a Sunday event for me when I get back to Basra.

5. Work environment.

Most soldiers will work in a large complex of a few buildings which is the Division Headquarters or Division Main (D-MAIN) as it’s called here. I’d say a general rule of thumb is if you work in the Division Headquarters at Ft. Riley you’ll work in that building here. And if you work in DHHB or one of the companies you’ll probably work in a different building near the HQ. The G-sections are generally in one huge open area divided by little cubicles. Each desk is L-shaped and has a couple of book shelf areas and drawers. So there is room to tape or place pictures or cards in your area. You can personalize it about as much here as you can with your cubicle at Ft. Riley. You’ll have unclassified and classified computer and telephones. Because of the concrete floors as well as blowing sand this building gets very dusty. So if you bring something in for your work area (pics, radio, those little rotating picture thingies) be prepared for it to accumulate lots of dust and sand over your tour. Your unclass computer will be connected to a color laser printer in most cases. So I’ve seen many people who print off photos their family sends them or they have stored on their computer and tape them up in their work area. That prevents ruining some of your actual pictures due to the dust. I plan to tape up pictures at work and put the actual photos up in my CHU where I can control the dust a little better.

6. Work schedule.

This will obviously vary by staff section and other variables. And the bad guys have a vote in this. But generally, staff sections arrive to work by around 7:30 or 8:00 on average. My particular section (Effects) right now meets at 7:00 for a quick update then we go to breakfast. The middle of the day seems to be the best time to run errands, work out, etc. 1ID might be different but these guys usually have key meetings and are the busiest in the morning then again in the late afternoon. Most folks (myself included) usually eat dinner around 6PM then stop back by the building (as it’s right across the street from the DFAC) just to close things out before heading out for the night around 7:00 or 7:30. Hours will likely be longer for a few weeks after 1ID gets here and gets settled into a good schedule but my goal once we get back on a routine is to maintain that schedule and preserve 2-3 hours each night for myself. Some sections who work 24-hour operations will be on a more predictable 10-12 hour shift.

7. Down time.

The current unit preserves Sunday as a down day. Again, dependent on what’s going on but it’s typically a limited duty day. 1ID plans to do the same thing as I understand. The 34th ID leadership here enforces no activities that day and hopefully 1ID will do the same. My current section here meets at 6PM on Sunday evening just to go over the schedule and priorities for the upcoming week. And I think most staff sections have some sort of similar quick meeting on Sunday afternoon/evening for at least the staff leaders. But that is a day soldiers look forward to and a great opportunity to sleep in, attend worship service, get in a better workout, clean their CHU, visit one of the MWR places, or just rest.

8. Overall comments about Camp Basra.

Most people will probably spend the first 24 hours thinking this is the biggest craphole they have ever seen. If you’re like me, you’ll think that and also wonder in your mind what in the world you’ve gotten yourself into. I won’t sugar coat it, this place ain’t pretty folks. It’s a camp created in what used to be open desert and some crappy old buildings at the Basra International Airport. The Brits didn’t do much to improve it for the 6 years they were here and the majority of the camp improvements have taken place in the past 8 months since 34ID got here. It’s a linear shaped camp (long and narrow) so the layout isn’t that great as the PX isn’t anywhere near the living quarters or HQ, nothing is really that consolidated, and you are constantly surrounded by 15 foot concrete barriers, wire, and gravel.
But I will say that after a few days it started to grow on me. It really does have about all the services you could ask for in a deployment. The shuttle bus is at each stop every 10 minutes or so, the work area is pretty nice, we’ll get to a point where living conditions aren’t bad, and the mission we’re doing here is pretty cool. And the clock ticks fast. I think we’ll also experience numerous other camp improvements during our time here as well.

9. Uniform on Camp Basra.

There are really only two options, duty ACU uniform with weapon and soft cap or Army issue PT uniform with reflector belt and weapon. Keep your reflector belt handy on your way here as the camps in Kuwait require you to wear it even with ACUs during hours of limited visibility. You can wear any type of civilian clothes when you’re in your CHU but anywhere else you must be in one of the two other uniforms. Bring a couple of sets of civilian clothes though as there will be opportunities for soldiers to go to Qatar for a 4-day pass and you can wear civilian clothes back for R&R.

10. Most likely threat.

So...this information paper has primarily focused on quality of life on base. But the reality is we are in a combat zone and though most of the local Iraqis in the area are friendly to us, there are bad guys in the area who would like to hurt us. It’s no secret the most likely threat to us while we’re on base is indirect fire, a rocket launched onto the base. We were last hit on December 21st. Two rockets landed on base but fortunately they landed in a remote part and did no damage. Everyone will be briefed on what to do when we are under attack and where to go. But it will happen and will likely happen again between now and when you arrive. It’s just an assumption that is accepted here. Without going into detail I’ll just say I feel like the active and passive measures taken on base make me feel safe wherever I am. It won’t be something you’ll worry about but is something you’ll be prepared for when it happens.

MAJ Mike Essary
Deputy G-7, 1ID
Camp Basra, Iraq

Christmas Day

2009-12-25T06:41:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas from Basra! Well, this is my 5th deployment (2 x Bosnia, 3 x Iraq) but the first time I’ve spent Christmas away from home. I think the military does a pretty good job of ensuring holiday cheer is evident here in a combat zone. Thanks to many generous and thoughtful people in the States, we have numerous Christmas trees throughout our headquarters. There are also many strands of lights and Christmas stockings hung around the building. So all things considered, the place looks pretty nice. And I hear the meal tonight will be a great one, complete with 26 different kinds of pies. I didn’t even know there were 26 different kinds of pies.

Yesterday, a group of soldiers donned Santa hats and walked around our building caroling. Since we don’t have a radio station here I really haven’t heard Christmas songs this year so it was nice to listen to them sing some familiar songs. Last evening, an armored security vehicle normally used for combat patrols was decked out with loud speakers. It rolled slowly through the base camp playing Christmas tunes. And there literally hundreds of cards and posters lining our walls sent from schools and other organizations within the States. Santa even walked through a few minutes ago handing out little bags of goodies.

There are a few televisions set up in our two dining facilities. Each TV was playing a different Christmas movie last night. Some I noticed playing were “Home Alone”, “Elf”, “Christmas Vacation”, and “It’s a Wonderful Life”. It was nice to watch a few minutes of a Christmas movie and be reminded of our own holiday traditions with our families back home.

I set my alarm for 2:30 AM this morning because I had a planned time of 6:00 PM Oklahoma time (3:00 AM Iraq time) to video chat with my family. So even though it was the middle of the night for me it was worth it to see my wife, little boy, parents, sisters, nieces, cousins, and aunts and uncles for a few minutes. Christmas Eve is probably one of my favorite days of the year as it’s the time when we traditionally get together for a nice meal and to open presents. So even though I would rather have been there in person it was nice to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to see them enjoying their evening.

I can tell you from a Soldier’s prospective that it is difficult to be away from home during the holidays. I think people are in good spirits today and I’ve enjoyed talking with my co-workers and telling stories about what we normally do during the holidays. The war doesn’t stop for the holidays so today is sort of a work day. Each of us have been in the building some just working on a few issues and keeping up with tasks. But we also will take some time off this afternoon. I can tell my looking at Soldiers sometimes that they are in thought about their families and their homes. It’s just all part of the deal and everyone will be back focused on the job at hand tomorrow.

I also know it is extremely tough on the families who are at home. My wife looked so pretty last night on video and my little boy was dressed in a red Santa type outfit, complete with a black belt and gold buckle. It’s so nice to see them but makes the walk back to my little trailer a tough one. But they are in place surrounded by love and I know they had a good time eating and opening presents. And we know that next year I’ll be right there with them.

I truly hope anyone reading this has an enjoyable holiday season filled with joy and thankfulness. Hug your family and extra time for me today. And thanks for all the great support to all those serving abroad and our families back home.

Mike
Basra, Iraq

Back in Iraq

2009-12-12T08:34:00.006-06:00

Well, here I am back in the Middle East. Spent a few days training in Kuwait before arriving in Basra, Iraq a few days ago. Actually, I’m back in Kuwait today preparing to fly to Baghdad tomorrow for a few days. Flew here this morning from Basra.

My intent is to use this blog to journal my thoughts during this deployment as well as provide friends and family an idea of what I’m doing and how life is in Iraq. While I plan to keep it entertaining as in the past I also want to share with you the raw emotions a soldier and family go through during a long deployment like this. So sometimes it will seem like I’m feeling sorry for myself and others it will seem like I’m having the time of my life. Just part of the emotional roller coaster associated with a long separation.

I’d like to take the opportunity during this first entry to discuss my last few weeks and days prior to leaving my family for a year.

Without a doubt, walking out the door of my house at 4:20 AM on December 2nd, 2009 was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. No matter how much notice you have the actual departure is almost unbearable on your heart and that last hug is brutal on your emotions and inner being. Shelly and I have known I was deploying for over a year now. I think we took advantage of our time though and really enjoyed ourselves as a family. In an odd way, that contributes to the painful departure. Not that I would trade any of my time together with Shelly and Anderson. Because that quality time has provided me hours and hours of great memories and hundreds of pictures.

Our plan for the last few weeks prior to my deployment was to spend as much time together as possible, to keep things light, and to maximize our time with our family and friends. And I think we did a good job at that. We had a nice Caribbean vacation, spent several days at each of our parents’ house, and spent lots of time doing family activities. But no matter how happy things were and how much fun we were having the looming thought of separation was always in the back of my thoughts. Maybe it’s my own cruel mind, but I would find myself during happy times thinking about how short lived that feeling would be since I would be leaving soon. That contributed to lots of anxiety for the last few weeks.

So anyway, I love my wife and son more than anything. I thank God for blessing me with such a strong, close, and loving family. No matter how bad my day might have been, just knowing that when I walk into the door of my house I would be met by my little boy running and jumping into my arms made things all better. He’s just so much fun and the highlight of my day every day was to spend time with Shelly and him.

The night before I left I gave him a bath like I do every night I’m home then I read his books to him before bed like Shelly normally does. Just the feeling of knowing I was holding him for the last time caused an almost hyperventilation feeling. I tried to read the books but found myself just holding him with tears running down my cheeks onto his pajamas. I laid him down in his bed and kissed him goodnight. Then I walked with a numb feeling into the other room. I think I just stood there for a minute staring into space before finding Shelly and just letting her embrace me for a few minutes. We sat and talked about our feelings and about how we need to be strong and just get through this.

Since my bags were packed and by the door, we decided to get some sleep since I had to get up at 3:30 AM. Surprisingly, I slept pretty well. I think in some ways a weight was beginning to lift off my shoulders. I was finally going to get the clock started so I could focus on returning safely to my family. After I was up and ready to leave, we decided we would get Anderson up for a few minutes so I could say goodbye to him one last time. That feeling of hugging Anderson and Shelly at the same time at 4:10 AM is indescribable. I wasn’t going to see my two best friends for a long time. Shelly wept softly as she watched me hold my baby boy for the last few moments. With tears streaming down my face I gave him back to her so she could lay him back down in his bed.

I’m choosing to show the picture below because I think it captures some of the emotions of that moment.Soldiers cry too. There are certainly many opportunities during a soldier’s career to shed a tear. I could tell once I met up with my fellow soldiers for deployment they had similar mornings.

I think Shelly and I were both mentally drained as we walked to the door. All my bags were in my Jeep and we just held each other, said our “I love you’s” then I walked out the door. “Silent Night” was playing softly on the radio as I drove down my dark street. I was extremely sad but started thinking of all the Christmas mornings we will have as a family in our lifetime. Then I smiled and swelled with pride of how lucky I am to have a family like I do.

May God watch over us all and may our family’s strength sustain us until we re-unite.

So there you have it. Don’t worry, I’ll blog soon about what I’m doing and post some pictures. My job here is very interesting and rewarding. I look forward to making a difference.

Mike
Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait

Anderson's 1st Birthday Party

2009-11-01T18:32:00.021-06:00

My brutal work schedule lately has really interfered with my blogging. So...trying to catch up now. Here are a few pics from Anderson's first birthday party in Oklahoma a couple of weeks ago.It was the first time he had eaten cake so he was a little leary at first.But as you can see, he quickly got into it. Some of it actually made it into his mouth.Dad took us all for a hayride to the pumpkin patch in the afternoon.While there he got to walk around a pick out a pumpkin.Grandma and Grandpa Deutscher made the trip with us, their first trip to my parents' house in Porter, OK.Papa Essary helps him in the pumpkin patch Looking a little embarrassed her as he makes his appearance before church.We all had a great time! Back at the house, here he is enjoying some of the things he got for his birthday.
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Riding in style

2009-10-14T15:25:00.010-05:00

Since he's approaching the ripe old age of 1 year and a total weight soaking wet of 23 pounds we decided to go ahead and get him a new car seat, the Britax Marathon CS.

I think we threw him off by letting him try out his new seat with his pajamas on. Here he looks disappointed and probably thinks he's going somewhere instead of going to bed.Very confused here, not sure why he's in his car seat in the house. He looks at me as if he's waiting on me to explain it to him.This doesn't look too comfortable but he laid in this basket for quite a while playing with his toys.He finally managed to get himself out.Then he realized it was more fun to just dump all the toys out onto the living room floor.He's become quite the hugger. So to all of you who will see him this weekend in Oklahoma, be ready. This is typically the last sight you see before he launches himself into your arms.Looking at a face like this, it's easy to practice hugging with him all day.
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Oral hygiene time

2009-10-07T08:14:00.013-05:00

Since the boy now has six teeth, we figured it's about time to start brushing them. He eventually liked it and enjoyed watching himself in the mirror.He wasn't quite so sure at first though. It was a face similar to the one we saw when he first tried peas.This is what happens when you get him undressed for his bath and tell him to meet you in the bathroom. Guess he got a little disoriented and ended up in the kitchen.As we close in on him he makes a run for it, trying to make it to the laundry room.Although exhausted, we eventually caught up with him and plopped him into the tub.These were taken Sunday before church.Ready for winter, he tries out one of his hoodies.He and Daphne spent a lot of time each day looking out the window at neighbors and other dogs.We're all excited about his 1st birthday party next weekend in Oklahoma!

Mike
Fort Riley, KS

75% of us are walking now

2009-09-19T15:15:00.023-05:00

At the spunky young age of 10 1/2 months our little boy is officially a walker now. He started off about a month ago walking a few feet between Shelly and me. Then all of the sudden last weekend he decided he would just walk all over the house.But the day he started walking is the day Shelly had foot surgery. So we still haven't gotten to the point where all four of us (including Daphne) are walking at the same time.Shelly got fitted with a walking boot a couple of days ago so she's a little more mobile now.Now that he's more mobile we really have to keep an eye on him. Usually, he either heads straight into the laundry room and tries to eat Daphne's dog food, or he heads into the middle bathroom and tries to put his hand into the toilet, or he goes into the kitchen and gets into the same cabinet every time trying to pull out cookie sheets, or he opens the dishwasher and tries to pull out the silverware, or he goes into the master bathroom and sits in our shower, or he goes into the spare bedroom and drags all the picture frames into the hallway, or he goes into the living room and changes the TV station with the remote, or he goes into our bedroom and hides in the closet. You get the idea.

But the place he goes most consistently is back in his bedroom. Once there he goes immediately to his changing table where he gets into a basket and drags out the baby lotion, diaper rash cream, and anything else in there. Here he is in action. He doesn't know I've snuck up behind him or he would turn around with a guilty look.Once he gets busted he tries to make a run for it.But I must admit his mischievous behavior all evens out because he's just so darn cute and such a great little boy every other time.In this picture he jams out on the keyboard (and he's very proud of himself by the way).When he gets shy, like when a cute girl oohs and aahs over him when we're out or when the camera is on him, he puts his hand in his mouth. You might have seen him do this before when he first sees you.And finally, we've retired many of his "baby" toys but we weren't sure how long he would want to use his exer-saucer. As you can see by this video, we should probably retire this before he breaks out of it.

Mike
Manhattan, KS

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-08T15:23:00.013-05:00

This weekend we hosted my parents for their first visit to our house in Manhattan. Had a great time...went out on the boat a couple of times, ate some awesome food Shelly cooked, went out to dinner for Mexican and also home style fried chicken, and played some card games. And of course everyone enjoyed playing with little Anderson.My dad and I also went to the Kansas State football game Saturday night. Glad we were there instead of having to witness how crappy OU played.My mom's birthday was last week so we celebrated with a zucchini cake Shelly made. It was probably one of the best things I've ever tasted. Needless to say, it's all gone now.Since Anderson can't quite have cake yet he got to enjoy some grapes and Cheerios.Here, he gets the giggles while trying on my hat.We also spent some time watching the squirrels in our back yard. Similar to our house in KC, we feed squirrels and now a couple of them permanently reside in our yard eating walnuts and corn. We believe one of them may be pregnant.Finally, now that the boys is taking a few steps on his own he enjoyed showing off for his grandparents. Here he is practicing by pushing his toy lawnmower.

Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Day at the zoo

2009-08-30T22:22:00.017-05:00

This weekend the weather in Manhattan was great so we decided to visit the zoo. And believe it or not, for a college town with a population of only 50,000, the zoo was actually really cool.Anderson enjoyed all of it but his favorite part was the goats. Here, he waits patiently as one of the goats comes over to visit us.The goat was not shy at all and immediately leaned over and began licking us both, causing Anderson to giggly uncontrollably.Each time the stroller stopped this was the look he had as he searched the area to see what kind of animal was in there.He had a great time seeing animals in person that he's only seen in his books.I think this weird looking pig was my favorite.After sliding down the slide with Shelly it was time to go back home.When we got home we followed the example of these monkeys and took a nice family nap.
Mike
Manhattan, KS

Vegas wedding weekend

2009-08-26T20:50:00.011-05:00

Well, I've only seen my little boy for a total of about 2 hours in the last week. We left for Vegas last Thursday morning and returned Sunday night. Then I left early Monday morning for a conference at Ft. Leavenworth and I'm still here in Kansas City until Friday.

So...since I don't have any recent pics of Anderson you're stuck looking at some pictures Shelly and I took in Las Vegas. We went there to attend a wedding for our friends, J.P. and Nicki.It was the first time Shelly has spent a night away from Anderson. It was tough to leave him but he did great with Shelly's parents and her sister. It sure was exciting to get back home to him though.

This was taken in the limo on the way to the Venetian last Thursday night. Enjoyed a nice dinner with our friends then did some shopping in the resort.Here are some of the things we bought Anderson.Check out this cute girl looking relaxed outside our resort just before the wedding.Here's a few pics from the wedding. It had been 110 degrees on the 3 days prior to this but on this evening it was cloudy and cool.It was a beautiful wedding and we had a great time relaxing at the spa resort for a few days.
Mike
Kansas City, MO

9-month pics

2009-08-12T07:38:00.013-05:00

Here are the 9-month pictures we had taken a couple of weeks ago.Some of the pictures from my last post didn't save when I posted it so here they are.

When Shelly went to her hometown she also spent some time with her friend Lisa.Now that the boy is so mobile he often finds himself in predicaments like this.And he plays so hard during the day now that he's very tired at night, so much that he sometimes falls asleep while playing like here in his crib.It's been a busy couple of weeks so we're looking forward to some quality time on the lake this weekend.
Mike
Manhattan, KS

Day trips and family time

2009-08-11T18:58:00.018-05:00

This past weekend we all enjoyed going back to Kansas City for the Royals Military Appreciation Night.In this picture, Anderson looks concerned as the Royals fall behind 2-0 against the Oakland Athletics.A two-run home run by Mike Jacobs brings a smile to his face though.Having his mommy there certainly made things easier than the last time when I took him by myself.The most common comment we get is "that boy is always smiling". Well, in this picture he tries hard not to smile but is still pretty cute trying out his mean face.Shelly had the opportunity to spend some time with her family while I was in Texas a couple of weeks ago.

Sporting the mohawk

2009-07-27T21:28:00.008-05:00

It took a while (like 9 months) but the boy is finally starting to get a full head of hair. His blonde locks are long enough on top now to allow a practical joker like myself to make it into a mohawk. He has a natural clump there so it doesn't take much.We washed his hair when he was a little baby, primarily for ceremonial purposes I suppose as there wasn't much there.Anyway, we enjoyed another fun day on the lake on Saturday.I'm in Texas now until Thursday and Shelly, Anderson, and Daphne are enjoying a few days with her parents in Wakeeney.

Mike
Killeen, TX

Chick magnet

2009-07-21T20:40:00.007-05:00

The messy face and the message on his shirt pretty much sum up this picture.

So "the book" says babies about this age (9 months) begin to crawl into a quiet area of the house and poop. Well, we believe his little area will be here under the dining room table as he has now begun to go under there for a little "private time".Guess we can expect him to be a little more secretive in his pooping experiences now as opposed to him grunting out loud in church as he works one out on Sunday mornings. Or at least we hope. Nothing like singing "Amazing Grace" while your baby is grunting so loud his face turns red and he begins to shake a bit.

I've always been freaked out by the "Jack in the Box". I just don't like the suspense of not knowing when Jack will pop out and scare the bejesus out of me. Here the boy expresses his frustration with it by laying it down and beating the crap out of it. And I don't blame him.On Sunday afternoon we did a little babysitting. We have about 3 babysitters we use these days so we figured we should keep someone else's kid so we'll know what babysitters go through. So we kept cute little Harrison, 2-month old son of my co-worker, Darrell and his wife Jennifer while they went to a movie.Anderson grew out of his activity mat a couple of months ago when he began to crawl but fortunately we still had it and it kept Harrison entertained. He was a good boy and it was fun to reminisce about memories of when Anderson was that little. Ah, the good ole days of just letting them play on the activity mat without worrying about him crawling into the laundry room and eating the dog's food.

Finally, we messed up this video by not turning the camera the right direction but if you don't mind turning your head it's pretty funny. He loves music and will often dance when he hears a song he likes. Turn your speakers on.
Mike
Manhattan, KS

Lake pics

2009-07-20T21:25:00.015-05:00

We finally got the boat on the water and have enjoyed it several times over the past 10 days. Here are a few pics.In these pictures, Anderson waits patiently while we untie from our dock slip and prepare to get underway.With the Skipper at the helm and the First Mate nearby we leave the dock behind.The boy has a great time each time we go out. These were taken when we docked onto a vacant beach we found.But after some playing and some sailing he sometimes gets a little sleepy and just naps right there on the boat. This was under the table in some good shade but before we figured out the canopy comes up and shades about half the boat deck.To cater to the needs of our little beach boy while we're not on the lake we bought this little swimming pool last weekend for use in the back yard.We all look forward to many more good times this summer.
Mike
Manhattan, KS

July 4th weekend in Oklahoma

2009-07-10T14:34:00.032-05:00

Last weekend we enjoyed a nice relaxing few days in Oklahoma with my family. Stayed with Shelly's sister in Wichita on Thursday night then finished up the trip to Porter Friday morning. Enjoyed our annual family whiffle ball game and fireworks extravaganza Friday night.

Here's the story on the pictures below. Well, this was my outfit back in 1972. My mom found it, washed it, and Anderson wore it to church on Sunday. Who knows, maybe one day his son will wear it.And these were during our cookout on the 3rd, just before everyone got their chairs ready on the lawn for the game and fireworks. My family was looking very patriotic, including little Daphne.On Saturday, we went down to my grandma and grandpa's house. They have newborn baby kittens!The boy hasn't been around too many cats but he does see them on occasion. So I think he was surprised to learn that this one was pink and also a little cool to the touch and didn't move much. But he played with it nonetheless, and didn't even get scratched.In preparation for our upcoming times on the lake with our new boat we went to Bass Pro Shops and bought Anderson a life vest. Pretty snazzy huh?He also got a Spiderman truck. He just loves mashing down on that darn horn.On the way back to Kansas we stopped in Oklahoma City and stayed the night while visiting my sister Mandy, husband Matt, and cute little Viv. Mandy is due with baby girl Violet on July 21st. Had a great time in the hotel pool.Looking like a tiny version of Michael Phelps, Anderson emerges after a good pool workout.We also had the opportunity to give baby presents to Mandy and Matt. Even little Viv got something.And we were all impressed with Shelly's wrapping job.And finally, Shelly's backyard garden has produced its first two items, a scrumptuous pepper and a yummy cucumber.
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Dog bites and knee slappin' good times

2009-07-02T13:44:00.012-05:00

Just a quick update and some random pics before we load up and head to Oklahoma this evening. Gotta get this grand baby down to see his Granny and Papa!Daphne and Anderson are like best buddies. Here, Anderson waits patiently for Daphne to wake up so they can play in the living room.Now this picture isn't as bad as it looks. Yes, it is well documented that Daphne has been know to bite the hands off small children who bother her. But she treats Anderson differently by only chomping down with her gums. Here, Anderson decided he could wait no longer and decided to hit Daphne in the nose to wake her up. Shelly snapped this picture in mid-chomp.But his immediate reaction after the chomp was to giggle and smile while still looking guilty.Our weekly date night was to attend the Country Stampede music festival on Sunday afternoon at Tuttle Creek State Park (same lake our boat will be on next week). It's one of the largest outdoor music festivals in the nation. We saw The Bellamy Brothers and The Lost Trailers while the babysitter had Anderson for about 5 hours. Here we are looking like we just got off the tractor.Tomorrow night is our annual whiffle ball tournament/fireworks extravaganza in Porter. Pics from that next week. Enjoy your weekend!

Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Father's Day Weekend

2009-06-25T12:32:00.018-05:00

Only have a few minutes but wanted to get some pics on from our Father's Day weekend with Shelly's parents in Wakeeney. We made the short 180 mile drive last Saturday morning and got there for a nice lunch. Relaxed and talked in the afternoon then took Shelly's dad out for a Father's Day dinner. Here are some pics with Grandpa and Grandma Deutscher.We also went to the nursing home and visited Great Grandma Hillman.This is us before church Father's Day morning. Shelly and Anderson got me some grill accessories for the grill on the boat, some shoes, and a couple of nice framed pictures of them to put in my office. It was a great first Father's Day for me!Here, the boy shows off his two teeth. We think he may be getting another one on top now.And the result of having two teeth is he gets to make a big huge mess each day eating crackers.Gone are the days we could give him a bath every other day. He's into so much stuff now he just gets too dirty during the day. So my task each night at 6:30 is to plop him into the tub. Then he gets handed off to Shelly who has drying duties while I go dry myself off from all the splashing he just did. In this picture, he's looking at himself in the mirror.I see him every day and looking at these pictures really reminds me of how big he's getting. So I'm sure he looks like he's changed a lot for those of you who haven't seen him in a while. 8 months old tomorrow!
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Big boys need toys too

2009-06-19T20:07:00.013-05:00

After a few years of fighting off boat fever I finally gave in this past Monday. This is the newest addition to our family, a 25 foot Sun Tracker Party Barge Signature Series.It holds 14 people, has a grill, sink, and even a bathroom/changing room.We plan to keep it at Tuttle Creek Lake, which is about 7 miles from our house. We went there last night and picked out a boat slip. I took the boat to a boat shop today to get it serviced and ready to go. I'm also in the process of getting it registered in Kansas. So we'll be ready for visitors within a couple of weeks.

Today we went to a picnic sponsored by my Army unit on Fort Riley. Anderson and I decided to dress in a Hawaiian theme.After a couple of hours there eating and visiting friends he was ready to get back home and kick off his sandals for a while.This picture was taken at the pool just before his swim lessons last week. It was like he was really thinking and getting his courage up before getting in the water.And finally, this is from our date night this week, something we plan to do once a week. We got a baby sitter and went to a nice Italian restaurant.Heading to visit Shelly's parents tomorrow for the weekend. Be back Sunday evening.

Mike
Manhattan, KS

Pool time

2009-06-17T11:34:00.006-05:00

This week Anderson started swimming "lessons" here on Fort Riley. It's called "Mommy and Me" and it's a neat program they have to get kids used to the water. He is the youngest kid in there but he absolutely loves splashing around and kicking. He even goes under water and comes up grinning. Here are some more pics.Here he is modeling his new body suit before heading to the pool.
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

The move, part II

2009-06-13T22:18:00.017-05:00

Well, we've spent the past three days having the rest of our worldly possessions moved from Kansas City to Manhattan. Since we moved about half our things last month to set up this house, pretty much all the remaining stuff in our KC house went straight into our garage here. So our KC house sits completely empty tonight, we signed the closing papers on Wednesday and the new owners begin to move in next Tuesday.

Moving can be a stressful time. But as you can see and hear in this video at least one of us has remained cool and happy this week.

Overall, we shipped a total of almost 15,000 pounds of household items from Kansas City to Manhattan. I'm amazed it actually all fit here in this house and the garage.

For those who have been in our KC house, these pictures will show a much different look with nothing in it. Here are a few from the top floor and of the garage.For old times sake, Daphne went ahead and destroyed a bag of trash during a time we were away from the house on our last night in Kansas City. The tally included multiple diapers, leftovers from Sonic, Chipotle, McDonalds, and Thai food since we had shipped all of our cooking supplies. She had also eaten baby food, packets of soy sauce, and coffee grounds.Here's a before picture of our garage in Manhattan yesterday morning.And a couple of pictures just before we finished.Last night we went to Wal Mart and bought Anderson a couple of big kid toys. Since he's now standing all the time he needed something to play with while standing up.He's also started using his little tunnel more often.We're now in the middle of a 4-day weekend! Goodnight for now.
Mike
Manhattan, KS

The proud stander

2009-06-05T16:19:00.012-05:00

I returned yesterday from Virginia to a boy who loves to stand! We put him on the floor and he immediately crawls to some object and pulls himself up. Then he stands there and laughs and smiles at his accomplishment.

Here's a short video clip we took this afternoon.
Today Shelly took Anderson out to Fort Riley and spent the morning at a play date group designed for new mothers. He had a great time playing with other little friends.After that we met at a park near my office. Once again, the boy enjoyed being in the swing. But this time he got to show off his new hat.And once again I found myself enjoying the rides also.We're all going to walk around the mall here in Manhattan in a bit. Then we look forward to a nice and relaxing weekend.
Mike
Manhattan, KS

Enjoying the park and standing

2009-06-02T20:38:00.014-05:00

Shelly and I always enjoy finding a Saturday morning breakfast place. In Kansas City, it was Einstein Brothers Bagels. Well, in Manhattan we found a neat place downtown that serves a great breakfast. Last weekend after we ate we took Anderson to the park nearby. Here he is enjoying the baby swing.On the slide, I thought he might want to slide down with a little bit of my assistance. But the death grip he had with his right hand said otherwise.He eventually let loose and decided to give it a try by inching down a little bit at a time.But in the end it was just easier to just slide down together. And I must admit, I kinda wanted to slide down anyway, with or without him.I've been in Virginia since Sunday so I haven't been able to see this for myself but Shelly says the boy is now standing up. As you recall, he began crawling all around the house about 10 days ago. Shelly took these with her blackberry so not quite as clear but not bad.Shelly says each time he stands he squeals and starts laughing as if he is so proud of himself.Amazing how quickly he's changing these days. We really have to keep a close eye on the boy in the house now. Now, instead of us walking into his bedroom in the morning and seeing him lying down playing in his bed he's now standing up in bed as if he's looking at his watch like we're late or something.

And here's his new cool hat Shelly got for him for summer. Shelly and he and sometimes Daphne take walks in our neighborhood each day.Looking forward to flying back home tomorrow!

Mike
Chesapeake, VA

Little Puff experiment

2009-05-29T10:39:00.014-05:00

This week Shelly decided to let Anderson try Little Puffs baby food since he's beginning to self-feed. I guess I'm the last guy to know about Puffs since I just heard of them a few days ago but apparently they dissolve quickly in the baby's mouth and help teach them independence by letting them feed themselves.As you can see, he wasn't quite sure what to think with that first bite. His bent eyebrows show a look of extreme concern and relative uncertainty.

In this picture, he shows how he would look if he had buck teeth.But as he got the hang of it, he really enjoyed them.His favorite time of day continues to be bath time!Yesterday was Anderson's first day in day care. Shelly and I toured the facility the day before and decided to let him try it out yesterday. We've learned over the past couple of weekends visiting family how good it is for him to interact with other people. And putting him in day care on occasion will allow Shelly time during the day to do other things.

So we went to drop him off and here he is enjoying a new play area as we were leaving.I went by and checked on him at lunch. He had been a little upset since this was really the first time he's been away from Shelly for more than a couple of hours. So he hadn't eaten or slept much that morning. I held him for about 20 minutes during lunch and he just rested in my arms and I think he was happy to see a familiar face.

He ate a little better in the afternoon and slept a little more but he was certainly exhausted last night. Overall, it went well and I think we'll start taking him there a couple of days a week. Maybe we'll try half days until he gets used to it. When I picked him up a little 1-year old boy named Larry came up and patted Anderson on the face and legs to say goodbye. So it looks like he already has a little friend there.

Shelly took advantage of her free day to get a massage and also plant our garden. Here's a before and after of the garden she planted.The garden has tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, spinach, hot peppers (two different kinds), pumpkins, and we'll plant some onion bulbs soon. She also planted flowers in the back and also the front of the house. Looks great!

This evening we'll set up our new patio furniture out back. Then I head to Virginia Sunday for a few days.

Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Western Kansas weekend

2009-05-26T10:09:00.010-05:00

We spent the weekend with Shelly's family in Wakeeney, KS. Had a great time--family reunion, relaxing, visited Shelly's grandma in the hospital, church, flowers on graves of relatives, attended a Memorial Day ceremony at their local cemetery, and of course some great food all weekend.

After perfecting it all week, Anderson is now officially a crawler! It was like he was working on it all last week so he could break it out for his grandma and grandpa Deutscher this weekend. He moves quickly now across the room. So this week we get to go around and childproof our house, since I don't expect houseproofing the child will work quite yet.This pose has been a familiar sight over the past 3 weeks or so while he tried to learn to crawl. Some of you may have seen him do push ups and get into this crab like, near somersault position. He was moving his legs but forgetting to move his arms, resulting in his rear end going straight up in the air with his forehead planted firmly onto the carpet. Needless to say, his forehead has consistently had rug burn on it from doing this.We thought this was an appropriate shirt for the family reunion on Saturday.With his grandpa Deutscher.With cousin Zoe.By the way, he has two bottom teeth so that's why he's munching on his fingers in so many pictures. Those babies are sharp too! Made the mistake the other day of feeling of them just before he chomped down in an alligator clamp.

Overall, it was another great weekend spending time with family. It's nice to live so close to both of our families!
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

The Johnny Jumper Concept

2009-05-21T12:41:00.014-05:00

As you can see, the boy is a big fan of his new Johnny Jumper. Shelly bought it last year at a garage sale for $5. And that has been the best five bucks we've ever spent at a garage sale, followed closely by the Chia Pet I bought back in 1983.We put this in his room last week and he immediately began jumping around and laughing. As I sat in the floor watching him I couldn't help but wonder how this Johnny Jumper concept came about. Because you have to admit the contraption looks a little redneck.

My assumption is there was a guy named Johnny, probably wearing old jeans and a white wife beater t-shirt. He shirt likely had grease on it and there was a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve. His wife was nagging him about buying their child a new toy but he knew money was tight. So he took an old high chair, an exer-saucer, maybe parts of a car seat, combined them all together to make just a seat. Then he took probably some rope from the barn and tied it up like an old tire hanging from a tree.

Problem was, when the kid jumped he immediately came crashing down resulting in probably a good cry followed by some screaming. So he needed to find a spring. He went to the garage and took one of those springs off that helps the door go up and down. He tied that on the top of the baby seat, put it at a good height, somehow secured it to the top of the door, and the baby was able to bounce around safely while having a great time.

So that's pretty much how I think the Johnny Jumper concept was developed. Nevertheless, we're glad it's here.Anderson also started using his high chair. Much easier feeding him now and he loves being in it. Next up will be the tossing of food onto the kitchen floor.For those who didn't see the nursery pics on e-mail or Facebook, Anderson finally has a nursery. Shelly organized it all at our new house last week.Here, Anderson demonstrates how comfortable he is sleeping in his new bed.This was taken last weekend with his Papa Essary. Had to wait to post this so Mandy could fix a little red eye issue we had. Thought it was a great picture of a proud grandpa with his grandson.
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Weekend at the farm

2009-05-19T13:38:00.021-05:00

This past weekend we all enjoyed a nice relaxing time at my parents house in Oklahoma. As a reminder, here's a quick tally of all the animals there: two llamas (one is pregnant), three miniature ponies (one was born about two weeks ago), probably about 25 ducks, two large dogs, and one 2,000 pound pet cow.
He also saw my sister Marcy for the first time since Christmas.At my grandpa and grandma Essary's house.Before church on Sunday.Granny and Papa Essary.Cousins Addie and Lily (who were a big help babysitting him during the weekend).Outside with his granny.He loved swinging and riding on the Gator.One of their two big dogs, whose head is half the size of Anderson.Overall, as you can tell by the expression on his face, it was a great weekend!
Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Sold!

2009-05-18T12:11:00.012-05:00

After 13 long months on the market, our Kansas City house sold last Wednesday night. Couldn't have come at a better time as we were preparing to begin making two mortgage payments in a couple of weeks (since we now live in Manhattan, KS).

I must admit it's a little bittersweet as we really loved that house. It was the first house I ever owned and we have tons of great memories there. With four bedrooms, three bathrooms and lots of space it has accommodated many visits by family and friends. I bought the house in August 2004 so it's almost unheard of for a military officer to get to spend that long in one place. We also renovated it inside and out so it has always had our personal touch to it.Our closing date is scheduled for June 16th but I think we'll be able to close earlier than that. About a third of our possessions are still there so we'll need to schedule a time to have all that shipped into storage here. Our Manhattan house is already completely set up so besides a few household items, the rest will go into storage until we need it.

We love the area we live in here but still plan to return to Kansas City at some point. We're currently reviewing possible locations for us after we finish our time here (about 2 years from now) and Kansas City is a high possibility.

I'll close with a couple of the first pictures we took of Anderson in the KC house when we brought him home from the hospital. This was taken when we first got home and placed him in his bassinet.And this was taken the next day as the little 5-day old boy enjoyed napping through his first Halloween.I'll post pics later of our visit to Oklahoma this past weekend.

Mike
Fort Riley, KS

The move experience

2009-05-12T12:35:00.013-05:00

This was the sight at the Essary house in Kansas City last Friday morning as a 26 foot U-Haul truck sat prepared to move most of our stuff to our house in Manhattan, KS. We were back in Kansas City last week as I had a conference there all week. Shelly packed boxes during each day and I helped pre-position them into the garage at night. Shelly was definitely the MVP as she packed every box in the house, except my one box for my clothes. Needless to say, it's been an exhausting past couple of weeks but we're all moved in now and are happy to be in Manhattan.

Overall, we moved 5,820 pounds of stuff. 5,000 of that was furniture and household items and the other 820 pounds was Shelly's shoes. Here I am pretending like I'm not about to drop this box down the stairs.Anderson cooperated greatly by playing with his toys and being a good little boy. He started out with a sack of toys, then proceeded to dump out the toys, rip open the bag, then try to eat it.With two bottom teeth already in, he's in full fledged teething right now. And that means he's a big drool monster as evidenced by his spitty shirt.I guess watching all of us move tuckered he and Daphne out.I hired these two guys to come and help load the truck.And I learned something about helping them. Of all the options I'm pondering after retirement I know one job I can cross of the list--furniture mover!

Our garage before...And after...After everything got loaded up we headed west to Manhattan. Arrived about 7:30 PM, hired a couple of college boys to help unload, and we finished up just after 10PM. This is Shelly at the end of the day.The bad part was I had 24-hour watch duty at Ft. Riley beginning at 8AM the next morning. Luckily, Shelly's mom and dad drove over and helped her organize the house. They were a great help and made lots of progress. I got home the next morning and almost everything was put away.

Our new address is:

2211 Tamarron Terrace
Manhattan, KS 66502

More pics of our set up house later.

Mike
Fort Riley, KS

6-month appointment

2009-04-30T14:41:00.014-05:00

Today was Anderson's six month check-up. Overall, everything was normal with no issues. He weighs 17 lbs. 3 ounces and is 26.2 inches long. He's gained 11 pounds and has grown 7 inches since we brought him home from the hospital.

The only strange thing with this visit was this was the first doctor's appointment where he did not pee all over the doc and the table.

Here he is getting ready to weigh in.Starting to look a little concerned here as he sees the doctor walk into the room.Looking very concerned here as he realizes he isn't here to play. In fact, he looks "scared poop-less". He is stiff as a board here. If I were to pick up his feet his whole body would have come up.We really like our pediatrician, Dr. Meng. I'm glad he grew his goatee out so he doesn't look 19 years old anymore.In comes the nurse and we both listen to the instructions as to what shots will be given.This was the worst part for all of us. And those needles just seem to be getting bigger.A few minutes later, still a few whimpers.One last moan......and all is good again.We're all driving back to Kansas City tonight and will enjoy a nice 3-day weekend before I start a conference next week at Fort Leavenworth. So we'll be in KC all next week and plan to move some things to Manhattan next Friday.

Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Boys night out

2009-04-29T15:09:00.008-05:00

Okay, back in the Midwest again! Flew back into Kansas City last Friday night and was met at the airport by Shelly and this little guy.Saturday evening I had plans to attend a KC Royals baseball game with my friend, Brian Orloff. I volunteered to take Anderson so Shelly could enjoy a nice dinner with some of her friends. This is us on our back deck before heading to the stadium.Now on this next part I could be accused of being a whiner and complainer or I could be praised for wanting Shelly to have some girl time at the expense of my brave attempt of handling an 18 pound, 6-month old, very active little boy for the better part of 4 hours...all by myself.

So we get there and park. I put the boy on my chest in his Baby Bjorn and strap on my little ruck sack. Decided not to carry in the baby blue motherly looking diaper bag and instead chose a camouflage backpack. I walk through the parking lot of tail gaters and receive many oohs and aahhs as Anderson bounced along and just took in all the sights. Life was going well and I thought, "this won't be so bad". We enter the stadium, link up with Brian, and begin our tour all around the newly renovated stadium. That took about 45 minutes. The boy continued to just sit there and enjoy looking at everything.

We get to our seats just as the National Anthem begins. Following that and in true pre-game tradition, the sound in the stadium went from a nice song to deafening noise. Sound bits from Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" followed by ACDC's "Thunderstruck" combined with everyone clapping and stomping and the announcer pumping up the crowd was just too much for the young lad.

Again, the boy is facing away from me so I cannot see his face. You know how when a baby cries they get to the bottom of the cry and then begin again at the top with a hearty scream. Well, that was my first indication he did not like all that noise. Amazing I could hear it above everything else but when I looked at him I saw eyes closed, tears streaming down his cheeks, mouth wide open, and a beat red face. I immediately took him back into the concourse and he went silent except for an occasional whimper. Guess I should have know he'd be scared by a sound like that which he had never experienced before.

We were able to sit back down but every time people clapped and it got loud he'd cry again. So, for most of the remainder of the game, I stood at the top of the seats and held him like a sack of potatoes.

I must admit it was tough. Not having the stroller there meant there was never a time to lie him down anywhere. And without Shelly there we couldn't just transfer him back and forth when he tired one of us out. And Brian Orloff is a great dude but just hasn't really been around a baby in about 20 years and might have been a little intimidated.

I changed him twice in the family bathroom and fed him once. Other than that, for about 3 hours I held him and wrestled him. Needless to say, my arms are still sore 4 days later.

So I have a new found respect for Shelly and all mothers out there who handle children often by themselves for long periods of time. In these pictures, he and Shelly enjoy some Eskimo kisses.In the end, Shelly enjoyed a nice peaceful evening with some of her friends and I picked up some major brownie points along the way. So once the feeling comes back in my left arm I'll know it was all worth it.

And what would a blog post be without a picture of my little boy once again sticking out his tongue for the camera.We're at Fort Riley this week for his 6-month doctor's appt. tomorrow but will be back in KC tomorrow night for about a week.

Mike
Ft. Riley, KS

Last day in Virginia

2009-04-24T11:16:00.005-05:00

Just a quick final note from northern Virginia. After 15 weeks, I graduated from the Army's Command and General Staff College this morning. Not sure I'd want to live here full time but being in the DC area was a great opportunity. And of course it was nice to have Shelly, Anderson and Daphne here with me until a couple of weeks ago.

Not that the boy will remember being at all the sights in DC but will be neat to show him all the pictures one day.We've certainly mastered the art of maneuvering a stroller on and off the metro and traversing all over DC. And if you plan to visit DC, I think we could recommend some great itineraries.

I fly back to KC tonight, will spend the weekend there, then head to Fort Riley on Monday. Then back in KC Thursday evening for the weekend. We'll move a few things to our house in Manhattan at some point in the next couple of weeks.

Talk to ya from the Midwest!

Mike
Springfield, VA

The Miracle Baby

2009-04-20T15:31:00.007-05:00

First of all, let me mention how excited I am knowing I will see these guys on Friday evening at our house in Kansas City.I haven't seen the family in over a week and the days are certainly longer without them here.

So pardon my sensitivity today but since I haven't seen my son in over a week I decided to go back and look at some of the early pictures of him including his birth. I just can't believe how much he's changed.

Several of you have probably heard the "Miracle Baby" story. I'm not sure I ever blogged about it last year but the people who have seen the picture are usually pretty amazed.

**Let me warn you that the picture below is a little graphic**

I took this picture as Anderson was being born.

That is a true knot in his umbilical cord. Only 1% of all babies are born with a true knot. And of that 1% a percentage do not survive because nutrients and oxygen may not be getting to the baby. In addition, the cord was completely wrapped around his neck at least once.

Just to the right of the knot is his right food and you can also see his little hand grabbing the nurse's hand as if to pull himself out.

Shelly tells this story far better than me but I'll give it an attempt to summarize.

A few minutes after Anderson was born by C-section the nurse whispered to Shelly that she had a "miracle baby" and that he would do something very special someday. She then told Shelly about the cord. We didn't realize that picture captured it until possibly a couple of days later when we were reviewing the pictures on the computer. We have no idea how long the knot had been like that or how long the cord had been wrapped around his neck. But I get chills every time I look at that picture and thank God for bringing him to us safe and sound...and screaming his head off.So anyway, there's my retro sentimental post for the week.

See ya soon little buddy.
Mike
Springfield, VA

Slim pickin's

2009-04-17T20:01:00.004-05:00

Shelly has been gone for over a week and this is the condition of my refrigerator here in the hotel room.It's very evident how much Shelly takes care of me when you take a gander at how it looks when I've been left alone for a few days. You know Shelly would never have a fridge that looks like this. Hers would be fully stocked and she would likely have it all planned out and possibly labeled as to which items go with which dishes and possibly categorized by day. At a minimum, there would be many items in there that could make a scrumptious meal.

While there are several items in there left over from when she was here, nothing really goes together. I mean, that odd bowl in the center is full of green beans, created initially sometime in March I believe. I put the bread in there because it was beginning to get green mold on it, thinking the mold would taste better cold I suppose. The sour cream container is actually completely empty, but like any other guy I went ahead and put it back in the fridge after putting the rest on my microwave tamales yesterday.

I have high hopes for the bacon though, possibly cooking half the package tomorrow morning and half Sunday morning, since I don't really have time to cook bacon before school during the week. And as you know, bacon goes with everything.

Needless to say, I'm ready to get back next week to Shelly's home cookin'!

In the meantime, I guess I'll go prepare my ketchup, spiced mustard, peach yogurt, American cheese, butter, sliced apple sandwich on moldy bread. I'll have the green beans for dessert and wash it all down with some ice cold flat Pepsi-Cola. Mmmm...good!

Mike
Springfield, VA

The other 9%

2009-04-15T16:33:00.006-05:00

As I peer back through some of the pictures I posted here I noticed something. Little Anderson seems to be smiling in almost all of the pictures. And he is happy about 91% of the time. But just to prove he isn't some freak of nature kid who never throws a fit, I thought I should post a little proof...the other 9% of the time.These were taken a couple of weeks ago. I can't remember the occasion for the fit or the cause of the cry. But he certainly wasn't too happy here.

Those of you who have held him know he is very strong. He uses that to his advantage here as he arches his back, making it difficult to hold onto him.Our friend Matt Hooker found out how tough it is to maneuver him recently. Matt was trying to put Anderson in his car seat so we could head out to dinner. Anderson did the ole arch the back trick and also bowed out his elbows. He said it was like laying a board in the car seat.

But his fits don't last long and generally happen when he hasn't rested much or is out of his element. This picture was taken after he realized I am actually stronger than him at least for the next 15 years or so. Okay, maybe 12. Guess he figured his 2 minute tantrum was enough.That is a typical look for him following a tantrum. Flashing those baby blues makes us forget it even happened. Nice strategy on his part.

Shelly said he threw a little fit last night at her parents house. But he had traveled 300 miles from KC to Wakeeney and had been in and out of the car all day while Shelly stopped at 11 different houses in Manhattan. I think the boy was exhausted.

Mike
Springfield, VA

No longer homeless in Manhattan

2009-04-14T19:18:00.010-05:00

Wow, amazing how so many things can happen in just a few days. I'll try to provide a brief recap.

Last Thursday we began our drive back to Kansas City. Stayed one night just outside Columbus, Ohio and one night in St. Louis. Arrived back in Kansas City around noon on Saturday. Total miles driven: 1,120! Anderson did very well. One of us sat in the back with him during the entire trip in case he got bored or restless. The trip was long but uneventful. It was nice to be back home.

These pictures were taken after church at our house in Kansas City.In true Essary tradition, the boy stuck out his tongue for the picture. Sure makes me proud.I flew back into Baltimore on Sunday evening and took the Amtrak down to DC then the subway to Springfield followed by a taxi to the hotel. Couldn't quite find a way to travel by boat that day but had pretty much everything else covered.

Today, Shelly traveled to Manhattan, KS to look at some houses. The organized girl she is, she had all the houses, condos, and duplexes printed out with detailed directions for each and appointment times coordinated. She called me sounding a little discouraged just before she looked at the last house. But the final house had everything we wanted! Here it is.The house is in great condition with new carpet, paint, and appliances. It's in a very nice area of Manhattan on the northwest side, not far from Kansas State and about 17 miles to Fort Riley. Shelly really fell in love with the fenced yard (as will Daphne) and how quiet and private the house is. So that will be our home at least until the end of the year. We'll maintain our house in Kansas City while it's on the market and will stay there on some weekends.

Shelly is now driving to her parents house a couple of hours west of Manhattan. They haven't seen Anderson since February so I know they are excited to spend a few days with him. I'll fly back to KC a week from Friday and will be looking for a big hug from this little boy.We plan to move a few things to Manhattan sometime the first week of May.

So let the transition begin!

Mike
Springfield, VA

Shelly and Anderson's last DC weekend

2009-04-06T21:08:00.019-05:00

Last weekend was a very busy one, the last weekend in DC for Shelly and Anderson as we will drive back to KC on Thursday. I'll fly back to DC on Sunday to finish up my final two weeks of school while Shelly does some house hunting in the Manhattan, KS area.

Fortunately, it was a very nice warm weekend in DC so we tried to make the most of it. We attended a Washington Nationals baseball game, went to the National Zoo, walked around Union Station and Chinatown, and even made time to watch three movies (Seven Pounds, Marley and Me, and Quarantine). We had planned to attend the Cherry Blossom Festival but there were just too many people in that area. So we plan to go there tomorrow. Here's a picture recap.

This is us before heading to the Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Nationals game on Saturday. We attended with Jayna and Matt. Jayna is friends with one of the catchers for the Orioles so he provided tickets for us.
At the game with Matt and Jayna.Jayna is such a natural mommy during his third inning snooze. We'll miss seeing you guys!Lots of fun and a great game. Washington won 6-5.Sunday after church, we met up with our friends David and Jeanne and kids Jeremy and Ethan, who all drove up from Richmond for a day at the zoo. It ended up pretty much being a day on the metro as we had a disastrous time getting down to the zoo. Between the festival and the crowd going to the hockey game the metro was jammed packed.

The short story is we spent about 90 minutes on the metro face to face with people. Oh, and we had two strollers between us so that made it even more interesting. Some mishaps included Shelly and Jeremy making it off the train while the rest of us were stuck on with no room to exit. And since Shelly's cell phone was with me in the stroller I had no way of reaching her once we got to the next stop. But Shelly, being the problem solver that she is, borrowed a phone so we could finally reconnect a few blocks down the street.

The zoo was pretty desolate. I guess we were there at the wrong time of day because pretty much the only animals we saw were an ape, an elephant, and some goats. The tigers, lions, bears, and pandas were no where in sight. Oh well, it was a nice day and we were able to visit and also laugh about our misadventures.

Here we are outside the petting zoo.Anderson enjoyed seeing the little goats.After a little while, a snow cone break was in order.Here's Ethan enjoying his. He dropped his on the ground a couple of times. But quick thinking by his dad and a little lemonade to wash the dirt off made it as good as new.We'll miss being so close to our friends, the Walkers.Goodnight for now. I'll leave with this picture. Looks like Daphne just whispered a funny joke to Anderson. Must have been a good one.
Mike
Springfield, VA

Little Buddies

2009-04-03T14:04:00.012-05:00

Anderson is starting to get to the age where he likes interaction with people (or animals) his own age and size. For the past few months since we've been here in the hotel it's pretty much been Daphne and occasionally Ethan, son of our friends David and Jeanne in Richmond.. The above picture was taken in our room as he watched Baby Einstein while Daphne kept out any distractions.

These were taken in his room as they both napped together.And you'll notice from this picture that Daphne is typically within about 3 feet of where Anderson is.
He enjoyed hanging out with Ethan last weekend in Richmond. Ethan is a year older than Anderson so we're borrowing several of his toys and things while we're here in Virginia.Ethan and his family are also coming up Sunday afternoon so we can all go to National Zoo in DC!

This was also taken in Richmond and is a sight we see many times. As soon as a sporting event or ESPN Sportscenter comes on the boy is quiet and focused on the television. Sure makes me proud. Could have gone the Miley Cyrus or Strawberry Shortcake route but he chose correctly.Enjoy your weekend! We're heading to the Holocaust Museum tomorrow following by a visit to the Cherry Blossom Festival then off to a baseball game tomorrow night between the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals.
Mike
Springfield, VA

Frequently asked questions

2009-03-31T14:31:00.004-05:00

Hey guys, I thought I'd take a moment with this entry and try to answer a few common questions we've had lately. I realize keeping up with a military family is a little difficult as to where we are and where we're going. So I hope this answers some of the questions.

1. How long will you be in Virginia?

We will pack up the Range Rover and make the 1100 mile journey back to Kansas City a week from Thursday, April 9th. The intent is to get Shelly back so she can complete our house hunting in Manhattan, Kansas. I’ll fly back to DC on Easter Sunday, April 12th, and spend my final two weeks here before finishing up on April 24th. I’ll fly back to KC that night.

2. What course have you been taking in Virginia?

I’m taking a course within the Army’s Command and General Staff College called Intermediate Level Education, consisting of several modules of instruction. It is a masters level military course that all Army officers attend between their 10th and 15th year of service. It’s also designed to give officers a break and time to focus on family before heading back out to the force.

3. Did you sell your house in Kansas City?

Unfortunately, no. Today marks the one year mark it has been on the market. We switched realtors recently to give it a fresh look and have designed a new marketing strategy. That combined with the upcoming spring and recent housing tax benefits approved gives up hope it will sell this spring/summer.

4. Where do you plan to live while stationed at Fort Riley?

We’ve been house hunting on the internet the past couple of weeks. Well, Shelly is doing 98% of it. Since we’ll still be paying our mortgage in Kansas City we plan to rent something relatively simple in the Manhattan or Junction City, Kansas area. If the right deal came along and it was more economical to buy something, we’d consider buying there as well. We’ll know more in a couple of weeks when Shelly goes there to visit some potential houses. Regardless, there will be room for visitors both there and when we’re in KC on weekends.

5. What does Obama’s plan for Iraq and Afghanistan mean to you?

The units identified to make up the increase in troop levels in Afghanistan have tentatively been identified. Our organization at Fort Riley is not part of that as of now. As for Iraq, the dust is still settling in the Pentagon on what the drawdown means for units projected to deploy to Iraq. For the past few months our unit at Fort Riley has been projected to deploy to Iraq in early 2010. Shelly and I are still preparing for that. But I can tell you that being 5 miles from the Pentagon the past 3 months and around many people who work there that it’s a little unclear right now as far as the composition of the “residual force” you’ve heard about on TV. A significant change in planned units for 2010 happened this past week in fact. As of right now we are projected to deploy. But the powers that be in the Pentagon are still shuffling around different courses of action. So more to follow.

6. Where will Shelly live if you are deployed and how long will you be gone?

Right now, our plan is to lease something for 8 months around Manhattan/Fort Riley if possible. We’re working with a few folks who are willing to do an 8 month lease. If so, Shelly plans to move next January back in with or near her parents’ house in Wakeeney, KS, about 2 hours west of Fort Riley. If our house in KC is still on the market by next January then she may just move back in there. Little too early and too many variables to make a decision on that as of yet. As for deployment times, it would be a maximum of 12 months. A Presidential directive last year dictated the maximum time deployed would be 12 months. I’d come home about midway through for a couple of weeks.

7. Will your job at Fort Riley require you to travel like you have in the past few years?

No, I’ll be back to a normal Army job and will travel some but not nearly like I have been. And that’s a good thing. We’re looking forward to getting into a routine where we are all home together each night. And we look forward to visiting friends and family on weekends. This job, while challenging, won’t be quite as demanding as the assignment I just left at Fort Leavenworth. The hours will be longer but I still plan to be home each day at a reasonable time for dinner with the family.

8. How long will you be stationed at Fort Riley and what are your plans after that?

As of today, our plan is to move about two years from now, in the spring of 2011. Our primary plan is to seek another assignment at Fort Leavenworth which would put us back in the Kansas City area. That would be my last assignment before retirement and that would posture us to remain in the Kansas City area after that.

9. When do you plan to retire?

I currently have over 20 years of military service and 15 of that is active duty. So my retirement date with 20 years of active service would be April 2014. If my calculations are correct I will retire prior to Anderson beginning kindergarten, and that is a good thing for a stable school environment for him.

10. So what will you do then?

Well, the military offers a great retirement pension. I’ll still get over 50% of my current base pay after retirement. So I’ll just need to find something to offset the other 50% in order maintain our current lifestyle. One possibility that is easy is to move into a civilian contractor job on Fort Leavenworth and establish our “forever home” in the Kansas City area. But if I wanted to do something completely different I have actually given serious thought into working in the organization of one of Kansas City’s professional sports teams. Just not sure it would pay what I would require. But we’ll see.

So there you have it. I apologize for the wordiness. But please let me know if there is anything that hasn't been addressed. And we'll keep you updated as we continue this transition. We look forward to seeing many of ya'll soon!

Mike
Springfield, VA

Papa and Granny Essary visit DC

2009-03-29T20:56:00.023-05:00

Last weekend, we had a great time hosting my mom and dad from Oklahoma. This was their second visit to DC as they visited here last summer. So we had the opportunity to take them to a few places not quite as touristy while also taking them back to some of the sites they wanted to see again.

We spent a beautiful Saturday morning here at the National Cathedral, 2nd largest Cathedral in the U.S. and 6th largest in the world. It was the site of the National Prayer Service hosted by President Obama back in January and also where President Reagan's funeral was held, among other historic events.Saturday afternoon we visited the National Mall and the monuments.

Jefferson Memorial Lincoln Memorial The Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument My dad showed me the Vietnam Wall. As a combat veteran of Vietnam he was pointing out some of the names of buddies of his who died there....including his best friend in Vietnam, who took dad's place on point one day and was killed on patrol.On the way back to the hotel we stopped in Old Towne Alexandria for dinner at this Colonial restaurant, Gadsby's Tavern. It was built in the 1770s and is famous for the many presidents who have eaten there, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams.The restaurant is lit by gaslight lamps and the servers dress in Colonial period dress. Here, Anderson receives a serenade of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".When we returned to the room Daphne had gotten into my mom's bag. If you recall from earlier posts and our stories, she has a habit of snooping in bags while we're gone and she loves sweets.Final tally included 40 jelly beans, a package of peanut butter and crackers, a portion of three different packs of gum, the top of a plastic bag of coupons, and a York peppermint chocolate bar. And believe it or not, she ate an antacid tablet. Guess the pill helped because she showed no signs of sickness the following day.

And finally, after church on Sunday we went to a pet show. These pics are a little blurry but it was awesome watching these dogs in the distance competition.
A long post but a busy weekend. Great to see ya'll again!
Mike
Springfield, VA

An Easter peek

2009-03-25T20:04:00.012-05:00

Hi, sorry for the delay. We enjoyed hosting my parents for several days and I'm just catching up. I'll post pics of their visit next but thought I'd better get these posted first.

These Easter pics were taken a couple of weeks ago when Mandy was here but he's growing so fast he may have sideburns and a goatee by Easter. So we thought we'd better put these on here now.That's another one of those pictures that will likely show up in his high school yearbook or his wedding video one of these days, humiliating him once again. But until then, enjoy little Anderson with his bunny ears.These were taken after church at the condo of our friends Matt and Jayna in Arlington, Virginia (just down the road from here).
As usual, always smiling.
Mike
Springfield, VA

Off to see the Wizards

2009-03-16T19:42:00.015-05:00

Yesterday afternoon we all went to our first professional basketball game. Of all the sporting events I have been to in my life I had never seen an NBA game until yesterday. So we saw the Washington Wizards take on the Sacramento Kings.The combination of those being the two worst teams in the league and the fact it was raining and cold meant a good chance to get awesome seats at a great price. And that's exactly what we did. After about 15 minutes on the internet I found front row seats on the floor at center court right behind the scorers table. A 20 minute subway ride later and a short conversation and money exchange with a hippie looking guy on a back alley in downtown DC I had the tickets in hand. We were able to see the players up close and personal and even hear their conversations.Our little blue eyed boy had a great time looking at all the action and the lights.
If you know him you know he doesn't cry very often. But he did scream his head off the first few times the buzzer sounded and the first few times the audience clapped loudly. Guess those weren't sounds he was used to hearing. But after a few times he got used to it, although he did continue to have strange and startled looks like this.And this...Guess all those 7 footers intimidated him a little.

Honest Abe Lincoln even made an appearance.The television announcers were just a few feet in front of us and came back to play with Anderson before the game started.This picture was taken when the game was tied up with about a minute to go. Everyone was on the edge of their seats...except for this little fellow.Guess he figured he'd just watch the ending on Sportscenter later. Oh, and Washington actually won 106-104.

Mike
Springfield, VA

Our first "house" guests

2009-03-10T19:32:00.009-05:00

Last weekend we enjoyed hosting Mandy and Matt, my little sister and brother-in-law from Oklahoma City. It was a busy weekend of seeing the major sights in DC and I think we're all a little sore from all the walking. Fortunately, the weather was very nice here.Her good friend Jayna lives here so we all had a great time jaunting around DC and the surrounding areas. Jayna has lived here for a couple of years so she and husband Matt have the inside scoop on cool places off the beaten path. And of course little Anderson loves hamming it up for girls so he was always smiling.

Here he is inside the Capitol rotunda on the tour, proudly holding his CVC (Capitol Visitors Center) pass. He's like, "Who cares if the economic crisis is being debated down the hall from me. I just crapped my pants in the most powerful building in the world!"I'm sure he was the youngest person in the Capitol that day.

On Sunday, Anderson decided he wanted to dress up as a cow for church. Okay, he isn't quite old enough to pick out his own clothes so we'll blame Shelly instead. He received it as a shower gift last fall and since it is now part of the clothes that fit him, it was just too darn cute not to let him wear it out.Yes, that's a little pouch in the front with a baby cow inside. And of course it wasn't tied down so my main job that day was to pick it up off the floor a couple of hundred times.
And in case you didn't notice, he even had a little tail.The way I see it is if Jesus Christ can wear a robe a sandals to preach the Gospel then a 4-month old baby can wear a cow suit to church. Can I get an "Amen" out there?

It's always nice to see familiar faces when you're away from home. And we all had a great time. We now look forward to my mom and dad visiting at the end of next week!

Mike
Springfield, VA

Outnumbered 5 to 1

2009-03-04T21:40:00.004-06:00

This week my sister Mandy found out she will have another baby girl this summer! Cute little Vivian is 15 months old. Toss in my other sister Marcy's three girls and my dad and mom will have five granddaughters and just little Anderson as their only grandson.

Guess we'll have to make sure there are some little trucks and some footballs and baseballs down at their house in the midst of all the dolls and dresses.

Congrats! And we're excited to see Mandy and Matt in DC tomorrow for a weekend visit.

Mike
Springfield, VA

Ready for summer

2009-03-01T18:27:00.008-06:00

After being in Kansas and Missouri during some frigid temperatures and heavy snows in the fall and being here in the DC area for cold and heavy snows this year, we are all ready for some warm weather.

It is snowing hard here now at the pace of one inch per hour. Looks like tomorrow might be a good ole snow day as 6-9 inches of snow are expected tonight. And if you recall from a previous post, less than two inches will gridlock this place.

So last week, we decided to try out Anderson's swimsuit for when it does get warm enough to swim.
With his little towel, he looks like he's ready to wander along the beach flexing his little pecs.
We even got him a little surfboard mat.
Yesterday, we drove to Richmond and spent the day with our friends, Jeanne and David. Since Anderson is becoming so active we borrowed their exer-saucer. He loves it!
Mike
Springfield, VA

A day of poking and prodding

2009-02-26T19:13:00.015-06:00

Anderson is 4 months old today. And what better way to celebrate than to take him to his check up and let the doctor give him 3 shots. I'll show these two pictures first as it only gets better from here. These were taken about a minute after the shot series, two in his left thigh and one in the right. That is certainly a face we don't see very often. But if you notice, he did get a cool looking sticker. It all started here with the measurements by the nurse. He's gained a total of 8 pounds since birth and has grown 5 inches. "Hey, what are you getting out of that tray over there?" (after the first shot) "What in the @#!% was that!!" I must admit it was difficult to watch. In a split second, he went from his typical laugh and smile to screaming at the top of his lungs. But just like the shots at his 2 month appointment, he cried for about 10 seconds then was completely silent with just an occasional light whimper while his mommy was holding him.

Minutes later, he was back to normal. The doctor cleared him to begin trying solid food. So back at the hotel, here he is eating from a spoon for the first time. Rice cereal, everyone's favorite. Daphne provided direct supervision and was ready in case any of it dropped to the floor. But in this picture she decided to go straight for the source. Only a swift and timely move by Shelly prevented Daphne's tongue from lapping up Anderson's first bowl of cereal. Here's a short video.

After swallowing some and spitting some out, he was full. Here he is wiping his mouth after his first solid meal. We're all heading to Richmond tomorrow to visit our friends Jeanne and David and sons Ethan and Jeremy and will be back Saturday night. Enjoy your weekend!

Mike
Springfield, VA

Day trip to Baltimore

2009-02-22T20:25:00.017-06:00

Saturday morning we all drove to Baltimore to visit the aquarium and the beautiful Baltimore Inner Harbor. Baltimore is about 40 miles north of DC by the way so a nice short little day trip.

Anderson was much more alert and interested in all the sights there than we thought he'd be. Here he is mesmerized by all the bubbles.

And these freaky looking fish skulls caught his attention.

We couldn't take the stroller inside the aquarium so we had to check it in exchange for this child carrier thingie (we have one but didn't take it). It worked out well but I made a horrible error late in the day. I complained to Shelly that my back was hurting after carrying 15 extra pounds on my stomach all day. Shelly looked at me with both hands on her hips (you know the look) and said, "Yeah, try carrying 30 pounds for several months fool!" Oops. So I bought her some ice cream and she was fine.

We ate lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. And since we didn't have the car seat and he needed a nap, we used our jackets and a blanket to make him a make-shift bed in the booth. He looked a little like a bum under a bridge but it worked.

The dolphin show was our first stop there.

Even though there was a thick glass between us, seeing a shark that close was a little frightening. Nice teeth though. He must use Crest with tartar control.

And I could swear this guy was looking right at me.

This is from the 27th floor of the Baltimore World Trade Center.

After a quick snack of oysters and shrimp at this seaside restaurant it was time to head back to the hotel.

This is the one where I said, "Okay, make a funny face". Anderson did the bug eye look while Shelly chose her patented head tilt.

Mike
Springfield, VA

Grandparents weekend in KC

2009-02-19T20:20:00.018-06:00

A great time enjoyed by all in Kansas City last weekend! After saying a family goodbye to Daphne as we dropped her off at the kennel for the weekend we headed to the airport Friday afternoon. I'd say the airport experience with a baby went better than I thought, although we weren't expecting to take Anderson out of his baby seat and cram it and the stroller through the conveyer belt at the security point. But somehow it went through. The stroller that is, not the boy.

Here we are preparing for take off.

As luck would have it, Anderson enjoyed his first ever flight with U.S. Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas sitting next to us. Here he is in the background.

He was very nice and made little googly faces at Anderson on occasion. He looked a little tired from speaking on the Senate floor that day opposing the stimulus bill so I left him alone until late in the flight. Then we talked for a while and he introduced himself to Shelly and chatted about Kansas, the military, Anderson, his kids, etc. This is his last term as a Senator as he'll run for Governor of Kansas in 2010.

Anderson did very well on the flight. Pretty much just looked around and smiled at people around him and he slept a lot. Made it back without a problem last Friday night.

After getting our taxes done Saturday morning we met my parents for lunch and Shelly's parents had arrived at our house by the time we returned home.

Here he is with Grandma Deutscher.

And on Granny Essary's lap.

He was a big help for Granny Essary during our card game Saturday night.

Here he is with his Papa Essary.

Many people say he most resembles his Grandpa Deutscher.

All of us stayed at our house until Monday when all the grandparents left. We all had a great time and lots of fun! None of them could believe how much our little boy has grown since they last saw him over Christmas.

Shelly, Anderson, and I stayed another day and flew back to DC Tuesday night since I had school Wednesday morning. But we were able to meet some friends at Minsky's pizza in KC Monday evening. Joy and Kevin met us there as well as pictured below, Jackie Abell and Terry Elmore.

After meeting Shelly's friend Cari Beth (who found out yesterday she's having a little boy this summer!) for lunch on the Plaza we flew out of KC and landed back in DC late Tuesday night. After school on Wednesday, we met our good friend David Douglass at a nice Italian restaurant a couple of blocks from the White House. David was here this week from KC for a seminar.

Here we are after dinner. One of us had a bottle of Similac Sensitive and one of us ate Gamberoni ala Griglia and shrimp stuffed with crab meat in a pernod garlic sauce over capellini pasta.

After a busy week we all stayed at the hotel tonight. Anderson played with some of his new toys we brought back and Shelly and I played cards (she beat me bad as usual) and caught up on some television.

Heading to Baltimore's Inner Harbor Saturday morning to go to the Baltimore Aquarium. Maybe Shelly will see her favorite little sea otters!

Mike
Springfield, VA

The Walk of Shame

2009-02-11T20:50:00.010-06:00

Here he is...on the way to the bath tub on Tuesday night. This picture reminds me of why I'm glad the internet wasn't around when I was a kid. I'm sure there will be a day when he's really embarrassed this picture was posted. But until then...

These were taken today at the National Mall and the Smithsonian Museum.

We went to Georgetown this past weekend. Shelly went to see "He's just not that into you" with Jayna while Anderson and I wandered around the area and the pier. Anyway, there's a very popular place there called Georgetown Cupcake. This is the line we waited in to get in there.

And this is what we went home with.

Shelly will tell you it was well worth the wait.

Last Friday night we went to a car show at the DC Convention Center. Thought it was interesting that Anderson's stroller was almost half the size of this Smart Car.

This is the car I chose (if I had an extra 300K lying around that is).

And this is the one Shelly liked. Pretty cool huh?

Goodnight. We're looking forward to being back in KC this weekend!

Mike
Springfield, VA

More photos and some random facts

2009-02-08T20:19:00.007-06:00

1. He peed his pants in 3 different states this weekend (Virginia, DC, Maryland).
2. He usually goes to sleep around 10 and wakes up around 7AM for a 6 ounce bottle then back to sleep for a couple of more hours.
3. He's 15 weeks old today and weighs 15 pounds after weighing 6 lb, 10 oz. at birth.
4. This Friday he will make his first flight as we fly from DC back to KC to visit our families who are meeting us there.
5. He now giggles and laughs out loud.
6. His happiest times of day are right when he gets up, when he's in the bath tub, when he's getting his diaper changed, and anytime Shelly is holding him.
7. He was awake for the entire church service today and besides a case of the hiccups, was very quiet and just looked around at all the people.
8. He started rolling over a couple of weeks ago from his tummy to his back.

Mike
Springfield, VA

Who does he look like?

2009-02-05T20:09:00.011-06:00

Take the poll on the right side of this page. We're interested in hearing who ya'll think he looks like. He loves tummy time! He tried his best in the earlier picture with me to keep a straight face. Then he just started giggling. He's a little wobbly in this video but he enjoys standing up with some assistance.

Tomorrow we'll post the rest of the pictures taken at the professional photo shoot 2 weeks ago.

Mike
Springfield, VA

3 months!

2009-02-01T15:21:00.007-06:00

Simply amazing how quickly he's changed between 14 weeks ago today...

...and last weekend.

More from this photo shoot soon.

Mike
Springfield, VA

A pretty snowflake...then pandelerium!

2009-01-27T19:16:00.004-06:00

Apparently, it doesn't snow much here in the DC area. Last night's news called for 1-2 inches of snow today. While I thought how much I would enjoy a snow day today as much as the next guy I knew that little of snow just wouldn't be enough to cancel school.

So I'm in my vehicle this morning just after 7AM at a busy 4-way intersection near our hotel. It's dark, eerily quiet, cold, still, and dry. No snow anywhere in sight. There were probably about 15 cars at each of the four points of the intersection, making a total of 60. All of us were probably doing the same thing--flipping through radio channels and enjoying some coffee while waiting for our turns to go through the light and onto the interstate.

Then it happened. Floating down ever so gently like the feather at the end of Forrest Gump was a single large fluffy snowflake. I watched the snowflake finally land right on the street in the center of the intersection. Every car must have been watching it because at that point, all heck broke loose. In a single second the other 59 drivers skipped past the low setting on their windshield wipers and went straight to the rapid setting. Rolling my window down, the sounds of all those wipers sounded like a herd of wild horses running across the meadow. Not just the front windshield wipers but also the back window as well.

Let me remind you that at this point there had only been that one snowflake. That flake must have sounded like a load of wooden pallets being dropped from a 100 foot crane to these folks, because it seemed to scare the bejesus out of them. Once a lane had a green light the entire line of cars moved forward at about 12 miles an hour, apparently just in case the rest of the blizzard would hit at any moment.

It eventually started snowing a little more steadily but certainly less than two total inches by mid-afternoon, and it was above freezing so it was mostly just wet. Nevertheless, there were over 300 emergency calls from vehicle incidents in the DC area before noon today. Schools let out early, salt trucks were everywhere, and the "snowstorm" was the biggest story in town. In Kansas City, it would have just been an ordinary day.

So while I would not want to traverse on roads in Oklahoma and other parts of the midwest right now with the ice storm I'm having my own challenges here with these folks.

The good thing is, there is still some slush around so in this area, there's greater hope for a good ole fashioned snow day for us tomorrow!

Mike
Springfield, VA

Right place at the right time

2009-01-24T20:32:00.022-06:00

Guess it was our lucky day today. We went back into DC this morning and look who we ran into at the White House.

And look who else was still lurking around.

I just couldn't resist giving Bush his due respect on his way out.

And if that wasn't a big enough day already, we ran into Johnny Depp and Miley Cyrus.

Katie Couric finally caught up with me and wanted to know my thoughts on the economic crisis, politics, and if I would go out with her if I wasn't married.

I gave her a little glimpse of what that would be like.

Okay, you've probably figured out we enjoyed some time at the wax museum today. Went to Madame Tussaud's, about 3 blocks from the White House. We hadn't been to one of these in years but as you can see we had lots of fun.

If you don't already know, Shelly doesn't care much for Angelina Jolie.

"Sorry George, I'm flattered but I am a married woman".

"Get up Julia, I've been walking around DC all day and need to sit down."

"You may be tough now, Evander Holyfield, but I'll take you one day".

"Hey Julia, how about I sit on your lap?"

"Let's make this press conference short. I just pooped my pants".

"I just had to lean down and see how cute you are!"

"Oprah, stop eye balling that donut and take a quick picture with me."

"Excuse me President Lincoln, I know you're enjoying the play here at the Ford Theater. But I saw a guy with a pistol over there talking about shooting you."

"I think they did a pretty good job chiseling my face into Mount Rushmore".

"Katie, you look like you're choking. Allow me to give you the Heimlich maneuver."

Quite a fun day indeed.

Mike
Springfield, VA

Back from Richmond, into the Bumbo

2009-01-20T18:30:00.016-06:00

We returned yesterday from a great weekend in Richmond to visit our friends Jeanne and David and their sons Ethan and Jeremy. Ethan is one year older than Anderson so we were given many nice clothes and lots of toys and things to borrow while we're here. Thanks again David and Jeanne for all the nice things and the southern hospitality!

Shelly and Jeanne's sister shared a birthday party Saturday night. David fried a turkey and Jeanne had all the fixin's. Here's Shelly's second of three birthday cakes. Since we just couldn't fit all of Anderson's toys and things for the trip here Jeanne let us borrow a few things. He really enjoys his activity mat. And he has fun in his Bumbo seat. After all that playing with his new toys he was tuckered out. And Daphne is always the first to volunteer to take a nap with someone. We returned to our hotel room last night to a big surprise. The staff here at the hotel had bought Shelly a birthday cake and balloon and they all signed the card. After a big weekend our little Ace enjoyed a nice warm bath. Here he is all cozy waiting for his lotion. Even though we are about 10 miles from the Capitol we ruled out fighting our way through 2 million people to attend the inauguration. Our hotel has been bursting at the seams though. The lobby and common areas last night were full of people. And we could hear many people leaving around 3AM this morning to catch the 4AM subway just down the street from here. We watched the events from the comfort of our room. Made some hamburgers for lunch then some chili for dinner. We've been playing cards this evening and I suppose since I have school tomorrow I should take a glance at some homework later. But it's been a very nice 4 days off. I'll close with a short video we took tonight. Anderson is really growing and is a very happy baby (most of the time)!

Mike
Springfield, VA

Happy Birthday to Shelly!

2009-01-17T08:49:00.012-06:00

Today Shelly begins the last year in her 30's! And since you all know Shelly doesn't have just a birthday but a birthday week, her events began last night. We went to Arlington and met up with one of my sister Mandy's best friends, Jayna. Jayna moved from Oklahoma to DC a couple of years ago to work for one of the congressional newspapers. She and her husband Matt live in Arlington and work in DC and Alexandria. We decided on Cheesecake Factory as I figured they had the most choices of birthday cheesecakes for Shelly. We all had a great time catching up and the wait staff sang to Shelly as they presented her Snickers cheesecake.

Anderson and I both were corduroy pants and despite OU stinking up the game last week, he wore his OU socks since we knew Jayna was an OSU fan.

When we got back to the hotel we realized something was once again out of the ordinary as Daphne was not right there waiting for the door to open. Yes, she was at it again. Early in the day someone from the hotel staff brought us a big chocolate bar and some hot cocoa mix as their way of wishing us a nice relaxing weekend. Rushing out to dinner we accidentally left those on the coffee table and I guess Daphne just couldn't resist the urge.

This is her guilty look. She always pins her ears back and hunkers down.

But as many of you know who have read previous stories about her getting into chocolate, it doesn't seem to affect her.

This morning we decided to make our first visit across the street to Dunkin' Donuts. After all, it is Shelly's birthday. We've enjoyed some coffee and donuts and Shelly opened her presents from me. She got some Burberry perfume and this watch.

Now we're off to Richmond (about 2 hours away) to stay the weekend with one of Shelly's good friends, Jeanne. We have visited she and her husband David before there and they have also visited us a couple of times in KC. We'll enjoy more birthday festivities there then I'm playing a golf tournament there tomorrow afternoon. We'll head back here to the DC area on Monday, in time to get settled in the hotel and not have to fight the huge crowds expected in the area for the inauguration. I'm out of school Monday and Tuesday for the holiday and inauguration so we plan to enjoy a relaxing few days. Since Daphne chose the chocolate maybe we can still salvage the hot cocoa mix.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mike
Springfield, VA

First week DC highlights

2009-01-13T21:34:00.020-06:00

Last weekend, we decided to venture out into the heart of DC. Thought it was best to see some sights before 4 million people diverge on this city next week. Shelly and I had each been to DC before but this was our first visit together. And I actually had never visited Arlington National Cemetery, an amazing experience in itself.

It will be interesting to compare this view of the Capitol with the one a week from today as this will be the site of the inauguration.

During our visit to the Library of Congress Shelly and I realized we may have to brush up on our history a bit before we start helping young Anderson with his homework. There, we saw the original book collection of Thomas Jefferson, the Gutenberg Bible from the 15th century, and some of the papers from George Washington's inauguration. This is the largest library in the world with more than 126 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves. It has nearly 19 million books. I tried to check out the book "Everybody Poops" but they didn't seem to have it.

Arlington National Cemetery, an amazing and solemn site.

John F. Kennedy's gravesite.

Anderson's first trip on the Metro.

This map on the wall shows the DC Metro system. Our hotel is just a couple of minutes from the southern end of the blue line making for an easy trip to all sights in DC.

Back at the hotel, Anderson had a good view of what happens to your hair when you wear a stocking cap all day.

And finally, this picture was taken tonight. Our hotel is in a great location within walking distance of several stores and restaurants. We already have a favorite Mexican restaurant and walked there tonight. Shelly bought this hat for him the other day. Cute huh? It has matching mittens too. If I wore it people would think I'm crazy but I suppose a baby can get away with it. And yes, he scratched his nose again so another nail filing was in order.

So those are the highlights of our first week here. Expect updates more often as we will head to Richmond this weekend and also plan to see the Wizards and Capitals play, Washington's pro basketball and pro hockey teams. Will probably avoid the inauguration area. Just will be too crazy down there.

Mike
Springfield, VA

Home sweet temporary home

2009-01-09T20:18:00.010-06:00

Well, we're all now in Virginia, just a few minutes outside of Washington, D.C. I'm attending a masters level military leadership course here until the end of April. And since there will be lots of free time we decided the entire family should come along. So we all loaded up on Monday and began our 1,120 mile road trip. Overall, we had a good drive. We stayed in Indianapolis the first night and just outside Pittsburgh the second night. Arrived here in the DC area early Wednesday afternoon.

We've known about this trip for a couple of months but I waited to disclose it on here until we got all the systems in place to safeguard our home while we're gone. I won't discuss all of them on here but besides a silent alarm I do have 10 midget ninjas patrolling inside and outside the house, I have motion activated Chinese throwing stars that come out of the walls upon activation, and if anyone touches my television it triggers an odorless poisonous potion causing the individual to go into convulsions. And Chuck Norris is on standby in our basement. So I think we'll be okay.

Anderson did great on the trip and is still growing fast. Here is a picture of him in the jacuzzi at our hotel in Indianapolis. Couldn't really tell which was causing the bubbles though, the jacuzzi jets or his toots.

After a nice bath, it was lights out.

I've noticed something interesting lately. Anderson loves having his diaper changed. The pictures below show in three separate occasions the expressions he typically makes when he knows his diaper will be changed. Not sure what's up with him smiling so much. I can tell you without a doubt if I were naked and exposed and lying on my back and a man 37 years older than me had both my ankles in one of his hands while he wiped a cool cloth on my undercarriage, I would not be smiling. No really, I wouldn't.

We're staying in a nice hotel here, a 2-bedroom suite with a living room, full kitchen, and bathroom. And the free breakfast is always nice. So this allows us to make this our home for a while. We gambled by not bringing a crib or Pack n' Play for him in hopes we could buy a cheap one here. And Shelly really came through today. She found an almost new one on Craigslist here in this city for 50 bucks. We picked it up today and he's sleeping in it now in his room.

And yes, Daphne made the trip also. She's already staked out a couple of areas here in our suite she likes to hang out and sleep. One is on top of the couch so she can see out the window and the other is on the pillow on the bed as pictured below.

So things are going well and we should have some great pictures here in DC and other day trips we plan on taking from here. If the weather is good tomorrow we plan to go to Arlington National Cemetery, the Capitol Building, and the White House, just in case Obama needs any help with his inauguration speech.

More soon.

Mike
Springfield, VA

Holiday recap

2009-01-01T15:58:00.021-06:00

Hope everyone enjoyed ringing in 2009! Since I stayed up all night the previous night at Fort Riley it was a struggle for me to make it to midnight. But I did, just barely. We enjoyed a nice dinner by the fireplace at Trezo Mare then returned home and watched some of the New Years Eve shows and watched the ball drop on Times Square. And besides a brief wake up snack for Anderson around 5AM we all slept until 10AM! We usually get up before 7 each day of the week so that was a pleasant surprise. These two pictures were taken last night at dinner.

Below are some of the pictures taken during our week visiting each of our families. We had a great time and it was nice to spend about 4 days with each of them.

This was at Shelly's parents house by their beautiful Christmas tree on Christmas Eve before going to church.

Just me and the kids.

Anderson and cousin Zoe.

Many people say Anderson looks like Shelly's dad, Ronnie.

Ronnie had him laughing on Christmas day.

Doing what boys love to do after a big lunch.

At my mom and dad's house, Daphne got a new blanket with her name on it.

And Anderson got lots of nice toys and clothes.
Then they both decided they needed a nap after we all opened our presents.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays as much as we did. Happy New Year!

Mike
Kansas City, MO

In the meantime...

2008-12-31T04:31:00.006-06:00

Whew! After a 1,000 mile jaunt over a week to visit our families in western Kansas then northeast Oklahoma, we made it back to Kansas City Monday evening. Now I'm at Fort Riley for a night before driving back to KC on Wednesday. Just to explain, on every Army post in the world an officer is on duty all night to handle any issues that may come up for that installation. Well, here at beautiful Fort Riley that person is me tonight as it was my turn. An officer usually pulls this duty about once a year or so. But I'll be back home tomorrow continuing my vacation with Shelly and Anderson.

We took some great pictures while we were gone but I don't have any on this computer right now. So in the meantime, above are two pictures Shelly sent me that were taken today when she was visiting friends in KC.

More pictures and information about our Christmas when I get to KC tomorrow (and after I get some sleep as it's now 4:40 AM).

Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Ahhh...Christmas Vacation!

2008-12-21T22:21:00.011-06:00

We're now four days into a nice long Christmas vacation. Made it back from Fort Riley to KC Wednesday evening and the family and I have been trying to enjoy a few relaxing days before hitting the road again. Since we (or actually Shelly) finished most of our Christmas shopping Thanksgiving weekend, our plan was to stay home, watch movies, get caught up on Tivo, cook, and catch up on sleep. And we've been successful for the most part.

As a matter of fact, I didn't even get out of my pajamas until Thursday evening. And Shelly won't like me saying this, but our bed hasn't been made since last Wednesday. And if you know Shelly, you know our bed is made by 7:30 every single morning whether Daphne is out of it or not.

It's been a nice weekend. Shelly baked all kinds of sweets, we made a Thanksgiving type meal Thursday, we watched a few movies, had breakfast with several friends, and got Anderson's picture taken with Santa today. We head out tomorrow to visit Shelly's family for a few days then down to Oklahoma to see my family. Here are a few recent pictures:

He loves being in his little bath seat.

Since we are moving to within a couple of hours of Shelly's parents it has made it much easier to visit them. This is from a recent trip Shelly took there from Fort Riley a couple of weeks ago.

He was a little tired after our Christmas card photo shoot. Just wanted a quick nap before getting undressed.

This was the feast we made on Thursday. I made the peas and the cranberry sauce and Shelly made everything else. Yummy!

And finally, before we left to see Santa Claus this afternoon.

Hope everyone enjoys the holidays! We'll post more pictures in a few days.

Mike
Kansas City, MO

Transition time

2008-12-11T22:12:00.008-06:00

Wow, can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since I've posted. In my defense, we've been in a great transition the past few weeks. I am now officially assigned to Fort Riley, KS (near Manhattan and Kansas State University). We still have the house in Kansas City and Shelly, Anderson, and Daphne are still there. I drive there on weekends and will take Christmas vacation beginning next week until after the first of the year. Then all of us will go to the Washington, DC area for the first 4 months of the year while I'm in school there.

Needless to say, we'll be ready to get settled here in Manhattan and start the next part of our lives. In the meantime, I'm sitting here in a ratty ole Days Inn waiting for Shelly and Anderson to get here this weekend for his doctor's appointment on Monday. Yes, it's time for his shots so I'm sure that will be a rough day for all of us.

Below are a few pictures taken 2 weeks ago while we were in Oklahoma for Thanksgiving.

He's a sharp dressed man already huh?

Mike
Junction City, KS

Daphne's nervous breakdown

2008-11-25T21:14:00.006-06:00

Since Anderson was born, Daphne has been on her best behavior...until this past Sunday afternoon. After going so long letting us know when she needs to go outside, being quiet while the baby is sleeping, and being so good around him, I guess she thought it's possible she is being replaced by Anderson. And she just couldn't take it anymore.

The picture below was the scene Sunday when we walked into in our kitchen after we returned home from lunch. You see, I made the mistake of using the trash strategy of taking the bag out but not tying it up, thinking there may be more garbage later to put in there before taking it to the garage. And after only being gone over an hour Daphne decided to dump it all in the floor. Also, notice how it was strewn into our dining room.

Trash contents included 24 dirty diapers, Halloween candy consisting of Hershey's kisses and candy corn, several filters of coffee grounds, 2 raw pieces of bacon, paper towels with grease from the bacon we cooked that morning, several banana peels, a dead plant, old ant traps, dryer lint, and used wet wipes. She ripped the paper towels to shreds then left all the tiny pieces off camera in the hall, along with several other items strewn down the hall.

I thought something was odd when Daphne didn't meet me at the door and instead, was sort of slinking around the corner. But hey, it was such a disaster Shelly and I just cracked up laughing. No telling how many candy corns and Hershey's kisses she ate.

Needless to say, now there are two members of our family under 12 pounds with interesting poops.

Mike
Fort Riley, KS

Birth Announcement

2008-11-22T16:49:00.001-06:00

Eat, play, sleep

2008-11-17T21:03:00.016-06:00

If you want to see something funny, you should give your dog a bowl of jello. Not the Bill Cosby Jello pudding but the real gel type stuff you had when you were a kid, the kind you had to let sit in the fridge to form. I'm not sure why, but we have a little 4-pack of cherry jello in our fridge. Well, there's three left now because in my hours of studying for a big exam tomorrow I decided I needed a snack so I decided to try it.

Anyway, Daphne came in and wanted a little taste. So I carved her out a big spoonful and plopped it into her dog bowl. Man, she just could not figure out how to eat it. She'd get it in her mouth then it would fall out. She would try again and almost get ready to swallow it before it would slip out. Guess it was too slippery. She gave up and acted like she didn't want it after all. But she'll be back.

So, since we live 5 hours away from our families my task is to provide pictures of Anderson. Here goes.

Shelly and I are trying the concept of eat-play-sleep-eat-play-sleep, and so forth. The picture below was during play time. I was going in to touch noses with him when he opened his mouth as wide as he could and engulfed my nose. Guess he mistook it for a bottle nipple. Not sure how I'm supposed to take that.

Since he's eating every three hours right now we often have to wake him up to feed him, even though we hate to. Below are generally the looks we get right after he wakes from a deep sleep.

This is after he realizes he's about to enjoy a feast of milk.

During play time, at least one of us usually interacts with him to let his belly settle and to keep him awake for a bit. Daphne enjoys play time also. For this picture she had just climbed across the back of the chair and slid down next to Shelly so she wouldn't feel left out.

Then sometimes the dreaded hiccups come upon him. In this picture he puts his hand to his chest in an attempt to clear his throat and prevent hiccups from coming.

No luck, he's got to wait it out. This is in between hiccups.

He loves getting his hair washed...most of the time.

After all that, it's time to get swaddled back up and start the process all over again.

Mike
Kansas City, MO

First time out without him

2008-11-14T07:59:00.008-06:00

Last Sunday evening, Shelly and I ventured out on our own for the first time without Anderson with us. Many of you know my favorite band is the Eagles. And you may recall we flew out to Boston back in July to see them before we knew that were coming to Kansas City. Well, since Shelly's due date was November 7th and the Eagles were coming to town on the 9th I figured it would be impossible to go.

Lo and behold, the little fellow came a couple weeks early so it became a possibility. Our good friends John and Cari Beth were at the house last week when I was talking about it. Cari Beth volunteered to keep Anderson and said we should go. I figured it was a kind gesture but said we'd just stay home with him. But she kept asking through the week and even on Sunday afternoon. So we made the decision to go. I made a mad dash down to the Sprint Center to get tickets and they had just released some good ones. I bought two at face value on the floor 15 rows in front of the stage.

So it all worked out. And of course Shelly and Cari Beth were exchanging text messages and Blackberry pics throughout the evening. And it's not like we know more about keeping a baby than Cari Beth. She has a beautiful 15-month old daughter, Ava (pictured below from their hospital visit). Thank you Cari Beth! We owe ya.

The concert was awesome! Those guys just keep getting better. Shelly chose not to go with the leather pants but she looked really cute in her dress and suede boots.

She said this was her "push present" to me, like I need a present for my role. We're going to pick her present up tomorrow or maybe this afternoon. I'll post a picture of it, it's really cool.

Mike
Kansas City, MO

Good chili weather for the entire family

2008-11-10T20:23:00.010-06:00

Anderson and I had chili today. I had chili for lunch and he had what looked like chili in his diaper. So the picture above is cute and all and looks like he's smiling. But I've realized this is the look he has when he's crapping his drawers.

This is a 4-day weekend for me for Veteran's Day and we've all enjoyed our time so far. The picture below is me combing Anderson's hair before church yesterday morning. He likes it combed parted on the left and combed to the right.

One thing we've learned when preparing to go somewhere with a timeline is we need to add about 30 minutes to take into account unexpected pees, poops, pukes, and changes of clothes. We thought we had a good plan yesterday morning but in the end we were scrambling around the house in a rush to leave on time. The result was (and you may notice this in the picture) I committed a big fashion faux pas by wearing dress pants with no belt. So I figured I'd point that out before one of my sisters do. But hey, once I arrived at church and realized it I just untucked my shirt a little to cover it up. Worked like a charm.

We then went to lunch with our friends Larry and Kim Parr and also Terry Elmore. After some pizza we all headed back to the house where we were met by our friends Jeff Hoffman and Trey and Carrie Sebus. We all attempted a photo shoot by lying a black blanket in the floor while three of us took pictures. Anderson fought it for a while before just giving up and laying there. The look he has below pretty much sums it up. Looks like he's already mastered the evil eye.

I'll add this picture below to show how lanky he seems. Born just under 20 inches I'm not exactly sure how long he is now but some of the clothes that didn't fit two weeks ago now fit well. Check out those long skinny legs.

More later. I want to tell you about our first outing last night leaving Anderson with a babysitter, one of Shelly's good friends.

Mike
Kansas City, MO