Day.258

The day Daddy came home. 

Mike wasn't scheduled to come in until late Thursday night.  So that night, i got the kids to bed like normal.  They wore their special shirts we made for Daddy, we celebrated our last night doing bedtime without our Daddy, and i told them that we would go get Daddy in the morning when they woke up. 

Daddy, get your Hugs and Kisses HERE!

 Dad = Hero

 Welcome Home Daddy. Your Princess missed you!

 ready for Daddy love and help reading our night night book!

 so excited!

His van pulled up at 1:15 am Friday morning.  I was there with a friend, ready to pick up our husbands and get the heck outta there.  As expected it was by far the least celebrated homecoming i'd ever been to, but it was so nice to see my husbands sweet face in person and get that first big hug after months of just looking at each over a computer.  

Finally Home

Friday morning and went and got the kids up and told them we had to hurry up and go get Daddy.  Mike had put his uniform on and went outside to surprise the kiddos.  It was a super sweet moment.  Nora was excited and clingy.  Holden was a hesitant and a little stunned.  Davis was a bit confused.  You could see him piecing it all together in his head...how the same daddy that was on his doll and on the computer was standing in front of him.  In true mom fashion, I may have cried a little ;)

oh how i love that smile

Seeing Daddy for the first time

Welcome Home Husband, Daddy and Our Hero

 and then of course we put him right to work making his famous pancakes!

 M&M pancakes.  How we celebrate around here!

 and then it was time to play! Holden went from being hesitant to not leaving Mike's side.  It was so sweet to hear all the sounds of fun, imaginative play coming from upstairs.  I may have cried a bit more downstairs while listening to them.  

 The weekend Daddy came home was also beautiful after a ton of rain we had been having so we were able to enjoy a lot of outdoor play as well.  Being on the trampoline with my whole family brought back memories of how we spent our last evening together before he left.  It was also a beautiful summer evening but i remember being so sad and hurt (PICS HERE).  On this day, so happy and peaceful, it felt we'd come full circle-- we made it through.

Month.Eight

I'm a little late on the monthly update but hopefully my love will be home tomorrow night, so i thought i'd sneak in an update before he gets back.

We finally made our way to the end.  This past month has been a breath of fresh air after the long and lonely winter we've had.  We've been outside, we've played a lot, and we've been happy.  With the end in sight, everything else just seemed more bearable. 

With a month left to go, we celebrated by going to Walmart to pick out our favorite candy and make countdown jars. The jars have been great.  The kids really seem to grasp that Daddy is coming home when the eggs (their candy of choice) is gone.  Thankfully the departure plan has stayed on track and i haven't had to adjust the number of eggs!  Holden would have totally noticed and been bothered by it :)

So yeah, if all goes as planned i'll be picking up my hubby tomorrow night, midnightish.  It won't be the big homecomings you have seen in past pictures...just a few soldiers coming home, being picked up at their office.  No matter how it happens though, the excitement is the same.  I can hardly wait to have my family back together.  Check back soon for pics!

Countdown Jars

Month.Seven

I'm writing right now from my swing, in the middle of the yard, on a sunny, 65 degree day, watching the twins play.  That makes everything pretty much okay.

As weird as NC weather can be, i'm thankful for this winter reprieve. My soul needed some fresh air and sunshine.

There's no need to elaborate, but the majority of this month could be tacked on to my month.six post.  It's been a rough few months.  But i keep watching the calendar and the time is ticking by--March is almost here and i'm feeling more like we're gonna make it. Well of course we are gonna make it...but i'd much appreciate my sanity still in tact when my love comes back home. I'm sure he'd appreciate that as well :)

The countdowns are officially starting.  Although we don't have a exact date, we have a time frame, and that's a good feeling.

We've been measuring time by holidays.  Daddy coming home has always been Eastertime.  Now Easter is the next holiday. I think the kids are beginning to understand that Daddy is on his way.

Mike told me this morning over skype, sharing his dinner/my breakfast, that he has 5 burgers left.  That means 5 more Saturdays (or so) on his base before the trip home begins.

This morning we bought tickets to Nickel Creek in Charleston for our Anniversary.  Exactly 2 months and 2 days from today.  I reserved a B&B at the Outer Banks for my 30th Birthday last week.  We haven't been somewhere together without kids since the before the twins were born.   The last birthday i've celebrated with mike was when i turned 26 and the twins were 6 months old.

The Army has been a blessing in our lives in many ways, but it's taken a lot from us too--most important being time.  Good news is, our time is coming and i can feel it.  Looking ahead now, i see good moments and laughter and happy faces.

7 months down.  6 weeks (ish) to go.

Month.Six

I took some time off this month as you can tell.  It's January.  It's cold (sometimes).  Mostly it's winter--literally, of course, but also in my heart (sorry Avett, stole you're line). It's time to hibernate...hunker down...WAIT.  Winter can be so sweet in the good times -- warm and cozy, an opportunity to just "be" with those we love the most.  It can also be lonely. And truth be told, that's where I am.

Weird weather and sickness have had us stuck a lot. We've yet to really get back in a routine since Christmas. I could use some routine, some predictability, and definitely something to do to pass the time.  I don't think i've ever been so thankful for all the toys we have in the house--especially all the new ones from birthdays and Christmas.  We've spent SO much time in the house this month--those toys have been worth every penny as a distraction to keep my kids happy and busy.

My devotional/study i have periodically referred to over this deployment labels this time "the desert of enough" and "a mountain for one".  I go back and forth from feeling discouraged and overwhelmed with all of the responsibility on my shoulders to pulling back and disconnecting from life--just waiting it out.  Neither of these are especially fun stages...but for sure, they are a part of the ride.

The kids are struggling more this month than they have been.  Nora especially.  She misses her Daddy.  Anything that is new, she'll immediately tell me 'we have to show Daddy'.  Anything she makes, she tells me 'Daddy will like that'.  Any good food i make, she tells me 'Daddy will want some'.  Any fun that is to be had, she tells me Daddy will want to do it too.  It seems he's in her thoughts all the time.

It snowed today. I wanted it to be a fun day for us.  The reality was something else.  Nora was in complete tears after about 45 minutes wanting her Daddy to come home.  It started all in her own head this morning when i went upstairs to get them, and Nora told me she wanted Daddy to come home so he could play in the snow with her.  All i could think was, how does she even know that's what Daddy's do? We've never played in the snow before. But she knows. Then our friends come over to sled with us and their Daddy did just get home.  I assume what was fun the first few minutes playing with Uncle Jake, really just turned out to be a huge kick of reality to Nora that her Daddy wasn't here to play with her.  She was sobbing by the time we came in.

We're not supposed to wish our days away.  But i'm not gonna lie--i'm over it.

On a good note. There's plans in the making for coming home.  Tentative flight dates, replacements will be there soon to be trained.  Mike and I are planning trips and projects.  We even bought some concert tickets this week.  It's coming.  I just gotta keep holding on in the mean time.

I have a few pics of Mike/Afghan...he doesn't take many really, just a few for the kids every now and then around stuff he thinks they'll like.  He sends us plane pictures a lot because he knows they like them.

working hard--doing i don't know what ;)

 i don't know what this is either...but the kids think it's cool :)

 planes, dust, etc

NYE.2013

How i spent the last day of 2013....

with my 3 littles.  

The majority of this past year was just the 4 of us.  I guess it's fitting that we end it that way too. 

Lunch at Panera with all of our favorite foods :)

 Pig and the Blankets for dinner

 and cookies for dessert 

an unplanned ouchie dampened little D's night a bit

 he bounced back okay...except when i made him stop so i could ice his swelling eye every 20 minutes. 

Last Family Pic of 2013--before putting D to bed

 i let the twins stay up a while--we watched Brave for the first time and ate lots of yummy snacks.  they were so excited all night...and they don't even know what NYEve is!

 come on 2014!

 monster snack

 after the twins went to bed at a very late 10:30, i watched the #rockin'eve show and rang in the new year with my love over skype. 

It definitely wasn't the most exciting NYE i've ever had and it was probably the only one i've ever spent by myself when the clock hit 12, but honestly, that was okay.  I had a great day with my kiddos, had some sweet conversation with my husband, and the slow paced night was kind of perfect for a change.  For these things i'm so blessed.  Now we welcome 2014...looking forward to seeing my love face to face soon enough and having my family back together.