Happy Birthday Big Boy!

It is hard to believe that my first born turns two years old today. I cannot believe how much he has grown and changed in two short years. These past two years have been filled with excitement and more love than I could have imagined. Some days are challenging, but each day with him has been a gift. Ryan has brought so much joy to our lives. I hope my little boy enjoys the celebration of his birthday and knows how much we love him.

Happy Birthday Ryan! Love, Mommy, Daddy, and Sean

(I'll try to post some pictures of Ryan's Birthday later.)

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day at my house. It was Pat's first Thanksgiving being at home as a Daddy. He missed Ryan's first Thanksgiving while he was in Afghanistan, but this year he got to celebrate with both boys. The food turned out delicious. We had turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, sweet potato casserole, and apple cobbler. I was really happy with how all the cooking came out. We had Pat's friend Drew over because he wasn't able to be with his own family that day. It was a very nice day, and it gave me an excuse to use my china. I've probably only used our china once or twice before, so I'm glad that I had another occasion to use it.

Today is what people refer to as back Friday in terms of shopping. It's supposed to be a great day to find a deal. I found it to be a big disappointment and rather annoying. Pat went out to Toys R Us for the midnight opening. However, he found three different parking lots full from the already waiting shoppers. Police were arresting individuals for being too rowdy, and they were not opening the doors until the crowd was under control. Needless to say, Pat didn't wait and came home. He went back out at 7 am to see if there was anything left, which there wasn't. He was able to pick up one gift for Ryan that we wanted at Target though. A little later we decided to venture out to Walmart as a family to pick up a few Christmas gifts. The Walmart that is closest to our house was so disorganized that we were unable to find anything on sale even if they did have it in stock. I was completely disappointed that we couldn't find the few items we were looking for and felt rather irritated at Walmart's disorganization. In an effort to stop my complaining, Pat drove us to the other Walmart. It was so much better organized that we found our items right away. Pat even scored an extra Christmas gift--a 42" TV!!!! It wasn't a planned purchase, but it was a good deal and Pat deserves it.

In the late afternoon we went to the PX. We got another Christmas gift for Ryan. We also picked up a gift for me for Christmas. I know it seems weird that I already know what it is, but it seems that Pat and I are always out together so surprising me can be hard. I'll wait until Christmas to share what he got me though.

Overall, the end result of the day was a success, but black Friday wasn't everything it was hyped up to be. I could definitely do without the annoyance next year.

Coffee

Last night I attended my first unit coffee here at Ft. Campbell. It obviously took me a while to get involved, but I'm very glad I did. It was nice to feel like part of a group. I met some of the wives from this unit right after having Sean. Many people showed kindness bringing us gifts and meals after his arrival. I also met several of these women at the Hail and Farewell I attended when Sean was about 2 weeks old. Last night they again proved to be a group of extremely kind and generous women.

At the coffee, unknown to me, the women had brought in gifts Sean. They presented me with a bag of gifts. It was so generous, especially considering I had not met over half the women there. I'm hoping I'll be able to attend the next coffee and manage a way to thank them all for their kindness.