Life’s a Dance

Elizabeth and I move over near the doorway. And wait. And wait. And wait and wait. Two soldiers get off but no Jim. Wait, wait, wait. The LAST row gets off and there he is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had been teary for 15 minutes before seeing him but as soon as I caught a glimpse of him coming down the jetway, the tears really came.

After I was able to let go of him, we headed downstairs to get his bag and then make our way home. Papa John’s for dinner!

And when we got home, I got to see the second-best visual of the day…Elizabeth reached out her arms to her Dada!!! This child doesn’t do that to many people, let alone to a “new” person. I have no doubt that she knew exactly who he was.

August 3–What a bittersweet day. We lowered the mattress on E’s crib for the first time and she took her first steps. I was a very emotional mama. I had been telling E for two months that she had to wait until Jim was home to take her first steps. We were in Elizabeth’s room, Jim working on the bed and me on the computer, when we turned around to see her go!

We also installed a baby gate in her room to keep the rugrat in. When you stand at her bedroom door, to the immediate left is the staircase leading to a cement floor–we’re taking NO chances!! We had some problems figuring out where to install it. I wanted it in the doorway but the molding on the door frame isn’t wide enough. Her room has a tiny “hallway” that leads into the main part of the room so we installed it there instead.

As a side note, I LOVE the gate! It was one of the top-rated ones in a recent Consumer Report.It is easy to use and secure. Even though its location isn’t “technically” at the top of the stairs and we could have gotten away with a pressure-mounted gate, we opted to install one. Elizabeth has discovered joy in grabbing the bars and shaking it, like she’s trying to get out of jail. I’m really happy with the one we chose. I’d definitely recommend it.

August 9–One thing on Jim’s to-do list was take Elizabeth to the beach. We had talked about doing a two or three day trip but decided to just make a day of it instead. We were late getting started (Jim insisted we could use Elizabeth as our alarm which, of course, meant she slept in! LOL) but still made it out the door pretty early. The drive over was beautiful, bordering along the southern line of the Olympic National Forest.. We made it to Ocean Shores. We got there before lunch. We headed to one of the beaches. It was cool and gray but the beach was busy with cyclers, kite-fliers and those, like us, just walking around. We then headed to the Visitor’s Center to pick up some pamphlets and a map before heading back to the beach for our picnic lunch. We ate and Elizabeth played. There was a nature interpretive center that was recommended to us, so we decided to head there. It was a small but nice museum. It was very hands-on, so perfect for Miss E. Afterwards we headed to another beach for a walk. Elizabeth fell asleep in the back carrier, so we took an extra long walk!! We hit one more beach which turned out to be Elizabeth’s favorite. The sand was more coarse and not as wet…much easier to work her fingers into. The last beach was very rocky with bigger waves. While not quite the day we had wanted, thanks to the weather, it was an incredible day. Very peaceful and relaxing. Soon, VERY SOON, he’ll be home from Iraq.

Christy Wertz–I’m glad everything went so well. Very encouraging for me and Jessie. It’s nice to have someone on FTP going through a similar experience. I hope the rest of Jim’s time flies for you and E.

Cory–Adorable post Tricia…I loved the pics. Glad to hear you guys had a wonderful time together. I hope the weeks until he is home fly by. I can’t believe how big E is! Wow!

Lisanne–Oh my goodness, I totally LOVE that last picture of you and Elizabeth. So precious!!! She is adorable. I’m SO glad you guys had that wonderful time together. (((hugs))) I hope that E. feels better soon!