new baby Hank

Check out some good pictures and Hank Hawe's grand entry story HERE.

Check him out, Kent!

Sorry that it's sideways! This kid is an animal. Ignore the the tornado aftermath in the background. He played in his room while the sisters were here for dinner and his favorite game is pulling all of his toy containers off their shelves and taking out every single toy. I'm working on getting him to put them all back.

Here's the little rugrat- Hank (Henry Philip) Hawes. Sorry about the picture quality. It's from a text message that Metta sent. Originally it also included Laney but she vetoed the shot of herself so I had to crop it.

2.5 more days till I fly to Utah.
20 more days till I get to hug Kent again.
37 more days till I get to come back home to Toledo WITH my husband.

This weekend has been killer so far. It must be that I'm getting so close to leaving. The past two weeks have been surprisingly easier than I thought - but today I missed Kent too much. Let's just hope that things get a little better once I get to Utah on Tuesday.

2 good newses

Tonight - after an equally long and tiring pushing session as I had- Laney had her little rugrat boy. Hooray for baby boys. Who wants lame-o girls anyway?! He is seven pounds even and nineteen inches. No name as of yet. Zeb is so darn excited to have a half brother :)

In other exciting news- our AC has been fixed. I am in HEAVEN. We spent the morning at the neighbors, the afternoon at the church, and late afternoon in the pool in order to avoid our apartment. By early evening our AC was back in commission. I am okay now, totally happy, back to normal, and done being irritable. Thank heavens for our fast acting Ellen, Al, and Roxanne. I love living here at Heather Hills.

I'm for sure going to die. I cannot believe how unbearably hot it is. Really it's the humidity that does me in. Our AC is not working. I turned it on today and after four hours of being on, the temp in our apartment only dropped ONE stinking DEGREE. They are coming to check on it tomorrow. We may be dead by then. For sure Zeb inherited my heat intolerance- or at least Kent's sweatiness. This is a picture of Zeb's sweaty matted hair after just playing in the apartment (enlarge for a more detailed look). Poor little rugrat! we did go swimming today and it was a lot of fun. We had tons of people over (anybody is welcome to come!!) and the pool felt so good. We did have two toddlers jump in without flotation devices, however. I was very impressed with the parent reflexes.
Besides the temps Zeb is as fun as ever. He has been saying all sorts of words the past few days. Most of them are simply him mimicking somebody- but it's fun nonetheless. Some of the young women taught him to say "yes" and he won't stop saying it. He loves the "s" sound! He also said "I love you"- and is actually using "out" regularly and in context. He'll follow commands and when I tell him not to stick his fingers in the sockets or play with plugs he shakes his head at me! I'm so excited to be heading to Utah on Tuesday. We can't wait to see you all in a few short days!!!

It has been around 80% humidity the past few days and absolutely MISERABLE. I went running this morning and was COMPLETELY drenched by the time we finished. I'm looking forward to the dry Utah air next week! We decided to go swimming on Monday- and will be going again tomorrow since its going to be 90 degrees and super humid. Yikes.

There was an injured butterfly at the pool that all of the little boys loved to look at. Zeb wanted to eat it.
Zeb is finally really walking. He's been taking steps and walking when forced since his eleven month birthday- but today he has been running around like crazy! He's been going up and down the hallway and all over the front room. I didn't get any of his long walks on video but here's one of some of his steps. He's a little shaky here cause he had just woken up.

Kent is in heaven. He said yesterday was so much fun. They did the "assault course" and he loved every second. I can't believe they have to work so hard in their BDUs in the HEAT! You may have to enlarge some of the pictures to see Kent up close.

Kent is on the left.

He's the second visible head in this picture

I'm a little jealous that he's having so much fun! I'm glad that he has a few minutes to call every night. Apparently he calls during study time when you aren't supposed to be talking- but we usually only talk for a little bit. He has a little more time on the weekends. He FINALLY got the package that I sent him (I sent it last wednesday) and is now getting mail regularly. If you send him anything- make sure and include the words "PAPA Flight" after Cot class 08/04. Apparently there are a few Lt. Millers. He'll get the stuff you may have already sent but it make take a day or two longer.

1 Tb canola oil

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-sized strips

2 tsp curry powder

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

3 c frozen cut green beans

1 14 oz can lite coconut milk, divided

3/4 c peanut butter

2 Tb soy sauce

1/4 c snipped fresh cilantro

3 c hot cooked jasmine rice or Thai noodles

More COT

Here are some of the pictures that Kent has sent! He isn't allowed to take his camera anywhere but there is a "photo officer" who takes pictures of the stuff they do. Kent gets pictures from her everyday and tries to send them to me. The first picture is them lining up at 4:30 for PT stuff. They have to line up and then march out onto the field. He's the one cheesing it. The second pic is of them in their classroom learning really important stuff (like what to do when taken captive and how your silverware and cups are supposed to sit on your lunch tray). His roommate is sitting next to him. Today they have to pass off the Air Force Theme Song. It has to be completely memorized. You can hear MoTab singing it here. I never realized that the "Wild Blue Yonder" song was the Air Force's.














And here is the e-mail he sent me on Sunday about church!

"This morning I tried to contact a member of the church to give me a ride but I ran out of time and had to detail over to breakfast. I determined I would miss church and just listen to conference and try to make Sunday meaningful. As I returned to breakfast they announced in my dorm (literally as we walked in from breakfast) that if any LDS wanted to go to church to meet at the front office. There were some of the BOT (basic officer training) guys who were planning on going and had extra room in vehicles!! I was lucky enough to be put in the BOT dorms instead of the COT dorms. I had to throw on my uniform (quite the task) and ran to my FOIC to sign out. I got to go to church today!! It was a really cool experience. There were 5 BOT guys and 14 COT members (only one girl) who ended up going. Fast and testimony meeting was really cool because each member who bore their testimonies spoke about how grateful they were to live in a free country and to have the freedom to worship. (I can imagine all of us walking in and filling up the back few pews set the tone to the meeting). It is amazing how just putting on that uniform represents SO much to so many people. Members were thanking me for my service to our country and I haven't done a thing. There was a retired General who became very emotional in welcoming us and thanking us for what we are doing. It is exciting to be a part of something bigger that teaches me to be a better person and a more capable leader. I continually feel like I'm in the MTC. I think the things I'm learning here have significant connections to the gospel.

There was a little boy (1yr2mos) who reminded me of Zeb. Bald and dark brown eyes. He was so happy and was playing peek-a-boo with me in the hall after sacrament meeting just giggling like Zebby. It made me really miss you. His Grandma was holding him and she asked me if I had kids. I told her Zeb's birthday was today. She sympathized with me but told me she felt worse for my wife than she did for me. How true - I wish I could be home with you today. I hope he was good today at church".

We know the greatest people here in Toledo! Thank you Ellen and Jill for letting Zeb in on the party! We had a big barbecue yesterday after church to celebrate Zeb, Ashley, and Shelby's birthdays. Zeb got his own cookie cake and some fun new toys! thank you aunties in utah for the new toys as well. Zeb is not going to need toys for the rest of his life- and I'm serious!

I kinda let Zeb go crazy yesterday cause it was his birthday. He ate cheetos, cookies, pickles, and hot dogs for lunch and dinner. Enlarge the bottom picture to see the contentment in and on his face :) This is one of his favorite new toys.

Happy Birthday to Zeb- the greatest kid in the world. Hooray that we made it through the year and that Zeb is as cute as he is. Check out Zeb's entry into this world in this post and this one (be warned that there are pictures of my placenta). I still can't figure out how after two and a half hours of pushing he didn't have a conehead. He was perfect looking those first few hours- but then got all wrinkled up and zitty for a few months.










Obviously he's absolutely adorable now!

Zeb decided to wear his jet fighter tie and wave an American flag today in honor of his dad! Lame-o that he isn't here to celebrate with us!!! We'll just have to party without him.

Zeb has already been spoiled with presents from family and I know he's got more waiting in Utah! Thank you gma pat and gpa brent for all of the cool toys this week! and his aunties M, Kristy, and Michelle for the package that came yesterday! we haven't opened it yet :)

The neighbors are throwing him a huge bbq party (well, it's a family bday party for them but they've included Z in the festivities) so we'll be headed out to celebrate in an hour. I'll post pictures of that later!