Japan...Say what?!?!

What a pathetic blogger I have become.  That will all have to change in a few months when we move to Japan.  Yup.  You read right.  Todd received his assignment for the next three years and sometime later this summer we will be moving to Misawa, Japan.  Crazy.  We are very excited although I am sure we will eventually become stressed and nervous. For right now we are letting it all sink in.  We wanted to live overseas so hopefully this will be a positive experience for us.   I hope Japan is ready for a new form of natural disasters...their names are Fisher, Cooper and Tucker.

Tucker celebrated his first birthday a couple weeks ago.  I feel bad because I have not been very good at documenting anything about Tucker's first year.

Tucker was the last to teeth out of the three and the last to walk.  His bottom front two teeth finally cut about 4-5 days ago.  We can barely feel a little sliver of teeth.  Considering he started chewing and drooling at about 3 months as if he were teething all we can say is "it is about time!"  As for walking, he started taking a step here and there about a month ago but really took off walking the last third of March.  One night when my parents were here visiting I stripped Tucker down to his birthday suit and he literally took off.  I guess he liked the feeling of freedom.  Now he walks about 80% of the time.

I had a hard time with him turning one.  Maybe it was because he still feels like such a baby to me, especially when he wasn't walking and had no teeth.

He started on whole milk on his birthday and really liked it.  He transitioned really well to a sippy cup since he had been used to a bottle.  Tucker is the first baby I didn't nurse for a whole year.  We started him on formula at about 9.5 months when he stopped nursing.  I worked with him for about 2 weeks before giving up realizing I was fighting a losing battle. 

Tucker still idolizes his big brothers and watches their every move.  He and Cooper like to rough house but sometimes Cooper gets a little too rough.  I wish Fisher and Cooper would get along but it seems like all they do is fight every second of the day they are together.

He has beautiful dark blue eyes that remind me a lot of Fisher's when he was little.  Tucker's are more puppy doggish than the other two.

Somehow all three of our boys were blessed with thick, long,  dark lashes.  Why was I not blessed with the same?

He has been a joy to our family.  He loves to be chased and kissed and is the only one of the boys that has liked to cuddle with me.  He will say mama and dada but doesn't directly refer to us that way.  He waves and claps and loves music and his big brother's toy cars.  He loves sticking his wooden carrot pieces in his mouth, or any toy for that matter.  More often than not, Tucker has something in his mouth.  He loves crackers, bread, nutri-grain bars and yogurt and still prefers baby food to solid fruits and veggies.  He loves his bottles and black beans.

He likes music, laughs at the loud blender that happens to make Cooper cry and thinks that vacuums are the best thing ever.  He loves when we chase after him and likes climbing up the stairs- especially trying to sneak up them when the gate is down.

He is a trooper in the stroller and loves playing outside.

Tucker has so much hair.  I think I gave him at least 5 haircuts his first year and finally last night I buzzed it (on a longer setting) so that it can all grow in evenly instead of looking like I hacked it with scissors.  When we let it grow longer he has some curls.

It is possible he has asthma.  We have thought the same thing with Cooper- especially when we still lived in Kentucky.  Colds are nightmares around our house as any sort of runny nose/cough eventually ends up in their lungs. We are now the proud owners of a nebulizer so that will be nice for us when they do get sick.

Cooper.  Cooper, Cooper, Cooper...what to say about him?... For those who have been following this blog for the last few years, you might recall me being completely overwhelmed with Fisher.  Now Cooper is my hand full.  He is a wild man.  My family used to call my little brother Monster Baby and Cooper is our Monster Toddler.  He reminds me a lot of the spider monkeys at the zoo.  He is a climbing machine-especially on people, is very stubborn and independent.  Everything is "ME DOT IT!"  If he doesn't like something, he will throw it at you.  He has recently taken up biting and hitting and name calling.  Stupid _________ is one of his favorites.  Stupid Mommy, Stupid face.  You fill in the blank.  Anything applies.  It is pronounced more like "Toopid".  At first it was funny.  Now it is infuriating.  

He has a really sweet side when he is not turned into his monster alter-ego.

He can be very cuddly when he is not on a war path.

He loves to help clean occasionally...when he is not raiding everything he is not supposed to touch such as mommy's waterproof mascara. 

Cooper loves to have books read to him, loves cars, trucks, planes, animals, SuperWhy, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and is also addicted to sugar.  

Fisher is our little artist.  He was featured in a local art exhibit for the local schools for one of his pieces.  We are very proud of what he creates.

He still loves kindergarten and cannot wait to start first grade.  He is really excited to  go to school in Japan.

The boys love going to the zoo.  We have also spent a ton of time playing outside this spring with the neighbors.  

Fisher has taken an interest in learning how to skateboard.  His friend across the street has been a good teacher.  Cooper loves cruising on his scooter.

One of the rare moments when these two aren't fighting.

I have those rare moments when all three boys are around each other and actually playing and getting along.  I am so grateful for those tender moments.

What a trip to the zoo or picking Fisher up from the zoo looks like.

So my parents were able to visit us while Todd had to go out of town for a dental conference.  I had not seen them since last summer- Tucker was still a baby blob lying on blankets so a visit was long overdue.  Thanks for coming out!  It was so much help and lots of fun.  Grandma was able to hear Fisher's new reading skills.

Since Todd was gone, Grandpa was able to spend a lot of time with the kids instead of golfing and playing cards.

Wrestling has always been a favorite past time in my family.  This is a very familiar scene to me having grown up with three brothers and no sisters.  I preferred to stay on the sidelines.

We went to the Winter Quarters Visitor Center for our church.  Fisher liked dressing up for a few minutes.

"I said smile.  Not make silly faces."  Yeah- good luck on that one, Dad. :)

G & G Lund with the boys by the temple.

Me and my three blue eyed boys.  My fourth blue eyed boy was attending a dental conference in Atlanta.

My dad only likes playing three games: Gin, hearts and cribbage.  We can now add Mario Kart to that list. :)  Todd came home Sunday night and got to see my parents before they left the next day.

I am in serious need of a cut and color.

We enjoyed General Conference this past weekend.  Omaha has had beautiful weather lately although today it was a little too warm for my taste.

Well, that is a little catch up on us.  I am sure things will become a little more hectic as we start to prepare for our big adventure to Japan.  Holy cow.  I still can't believe we will be moving there.  I have my rice cooker and Kindle so I am all set!  

Hopefully it will not be three months before I post again but I am not going to make any promises.