Uncle Ryan's Graduation

Jacob had a lot of 'firsts' the past week. His first vacation (which involved a 14 hour car ride), his first hockey game, his first military experience and the list goes on.

Last week my brother, Ryan, graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. It was truly an amazing experience and one that we will remember for a long time. Jacob was excited to see uncle Ryan as you can see from the pictures below.

We spent 5 days in San Antonio and saw a lot of the town and military base (a first for all of us). But most importantly, we got to spend a lot of time with Ryan. He is currently stationed at Lackland for another 8-10 weeks for additional training. After that he's hoping to go overseas. We are very proud of him!! See below for lots of pictures from our trip!!

Our first glimpse of Ryan. The first family activity is the airman run. Ryan is the one in the front with glasses. You do not get to see your airman before or after this event.. literally they just run past you.

Second family activity is the coin ceremony. This is where the airmen receive their coin and technically graduate. It's hard to see but this is actually Ryan receiving his coin.

The funny thing about both pictures above is we had no idea where Ryan was. It was total luck that I happened to take both pictures at the perfect time. After going back and looking through the pictures we were able to pick him out (after about 20 times of looking at the pictures).

After the coin ceremony, we finally got to see Uncle Ryan. Here is Jacob seeing him for the first time in 9 weeks. Before Ryan left, Jacob and him were real buddies and spent a lot of time together.

My mom, Jacob's Nonna and Ryan.

The following day was the official graduation parade ceremony. It was freezing outside. Here's Jacob waiting in the car for it to begin.

Uncle Ryan in his bunk. Look how tight that bed is made... you really could bounce a quarter on it! (His is the lower bed)

Uncle Ryan and Jacob with planes.
All of us at dinner.. Me, Ryan, Nonna, Matt, Grandpa & Grandma Bayerl.

Jacob at the same table in his high chair.. it was a little lower than the rest of the table. Poor guy!

All of us at dinner again. Me, Jacob, Nonna, Uncle Jeff, Matt, Ryan and Grandpa Bayerl. This is at the pizza parlor on base.

Uncle Ryan and Jacob

Me and Ryan

Jacob at his first hockey game. This didn't last long but he was out!! The minor league hockey team offered special discount to the graduates and their family. Plus, if Ryan went to the game he got to stay off base later in the evening and spend more time with family and friends. Not sure any of us really watched the game.

Having fun with Uncle Ryan

Bye Bye Uncle Ryan.. See you at Christmas!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Hi everyone! I can not believe that Jacob will be 8 months old in 4 days. It seems very unreal! Jacob is busy, busy, busy... he is everywhere!! I honestly don't know if there is anywhere he can't get once he has his mind set he wants to get there (as I type this he is trying to get into the kitchen through a wall).

He is also really close to crawling but right now does more of a shuffle . Looks nothing like the Beffa shuffle Dad does when he dances!! Jake pretty much rolls everywhere he wants to get to right now. He can also sit himself up now (he has to really want something bad to do this though). He can also pull himself up on his play table... and as we learned last night, he can also pull himself up in his crib. He also loves to walk if you hold his hands. I am afraid that once he figures out how to walk on his own we are in big trouble.

Matt and I have been working a lot so we haven't had the opportunity to do too much the past few weeks/weekends. However, we did make it to the park and some pictures from that trip and a few others are below.

Our next big event will be driving 16 hours to San Antonio at the end of the month to see Uncle Ryan's graduation from the US Air Force. We have heard from him several times and write letters back and forth a few times each week (of course we include lots of pictures of Jake). We are getting really excited to see Uncle Ryan in less than 3 weeks... not so excited for the very long car ride with an 8 month old!

Hope everyone is doing well.. here are some recent pictures.

Happy Playing on the floor! Such a ham he stops whatever he's doing when he sees the camera and smiles :)

Showing off!!
Showing off some more! He's always busy doing something!

After he pulled himself up .. not a great quality picture (I hear a new camera calling my name)!

This is how he sleeps at night.. butt as far up in the air as possible.

Nonna gave him Daddy's toy... the remote! He wasn't letting go of it for anything!

At the park... swinging with Dad.

At first he wasn't sure about the swing but really started to like it by the end.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Things are getting a little crazier here. Matt and I are both busy at work and we have finally decided to pull the trigger and try to move. We will be listing our house in a few weeks (after the very long list of to-do's are done) so if you know of anyone interested in a great house in north O'Fallon send them my way.

Jacob has finally mastered the art of rolling over. He goes and goes until he gets where he wants to go. We are still waiting for teeth though.

We are also loving his sleep schedule right now. He goes to sleep around 8pm and is sleeping until 7am or later. He is also getting better about naps during the day (it's only taken 7 months).

Jacob also lost his reign of the youngest Beffa grandchild this month. He has a new baby cousin (#13 on the Beffa side), Lydia Sophia. We are so excited for Todd and Katie!

Hope everyone is doing well.. here's some recent pics

Jacob with Nonna and Uncle Ryan. Ryan left in early August for Basic Training in the Air Force and we are counting the days until October when we are all going to San Antonio for his graduation!

Jacob chillin' at Pi, getting ready to have fabulous pizza!

Jacob with Daddy at his first Rascals game... he wasn't too interested in the game.

Favorite game in the bath - wash rags on the head!!

Such a big boy!!