March

As one would imagine, March flew by with the addition of Dominic to our family.  The month was actually pretty routine.  Here's a photo recap.

Marcus discovered Splash Parks

We spent some time at the beach

Marcus' swing in our backyard (he wants to swing every day)

He really loves the splash park

Why do kids do this? (No, he wasn't the only one)

The new pool just down the street from our house, our new favorite spot.

Another month of deployment done.  This one was celebrated at a spa night.

Dominic Michael Sturzinger

I guess you could say March started out with a bang!

Dominic Michael Sturzinger was born at 11:58 pm on March 1.  

He weighed 6 lbs. 15.5 oz and was 20 inches long.  

Marcus was super excited to meet his new little brother the next day.  He loves him so much!  He loves to give him hugs and kisses and is always the first to let me know when Dominic's upset. 

Our first family photo (minus Eric)

Dominic's first bath

A hug...

and a kiss

Marcus helping give Dominic his first real bath after his umbilical cord came off

My friend Bonnie-Jean got a new camera recently and wanted to take some newborn pictures, so she asked if she could come over and take some pics of Dominic.  Of Course!! Here is just a sampling, the rest are on Facebook.

I love this one because he crossed his own legs to cover up his privates.

These teddy bears are from the base Eric is at in Iraq and he's lying on Eric's uniform.

Again, those are just a sampling, the full collection is on Facebook.  We're also getting professional ones done this week for Easter.  I'll post those as soon as I get them.

January and February

January found us attending a halfway celebration for Eric's deployment.  Yippee!! 

The spouses from the unit got together to celebrate and take a few pictures.  

Marcus and I are in the top left half of the H.

At the end of the month, I attended Casino Night, which was put on by the Blue Star Card Program.  That night marked my 7th month of the deployment.  I had fun and won some spa socks at the end of the evening.

The next day, Marcus and I got to create a Valentine's Day card for Daddy.

In February, Gary Sinise brought The Lt. Dan Band to Hawaii.  I was able to put Marcus in daycare for the day and Chantal and I went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for lunch (Why not make it a Forrest Gump day?).  

We got to sit right up front and our friend Chantal even got to go on stage.  

During the Half Way Celebration in January, we took a special picture for the soldiers for Valentine's Day.

We're in the left inner corner of the heart.

At the end of the month I got some maternity pictures taken on the beach in Mokuleia.  (Good thing, because the baby came the next week.)

This is just a preview image from Facebook, but I love how sweet Marcus was being.

That night, thanks again to the Blue Star Card Program, I dropped Marcus off at childcare and went to see a play with my friends.  That night marked 8 months done with deployment.  What a great way to celebrate.

Chantal, Bonnie-Jean, her brother John, and me on the bus to the play.