I am SO ready for this move to just be over!!  It has some extra complications since it is a brigade move and not a normal PCS move (and a few advantages) that are incredibly annoying.  Add to that, Jim is in air assault school for another week and he started over the weekend.  So no weekend downtime for me.  And every evening last week was spent getting ready for it, so little downtime for me then.  Late nights this week & lots of studying, so again, no downtime.  Plus he’s just being a plain ‘ol pain in my rear these last few days!! My mom is coming this weekend, which really excites me.  But I’m also stressing about it because that will be the last time I see her for a year-ish.  And the last time she’ll see E.   It is always tough for me to take her to the airport anyway but this time is going to be so, so tough.  Easter weekend we’ll spend getting ready for the first round of movers, that week we’ll spend getting ready for the second round, Jim’s parents come that weekend (HORRIBLY bad timing but they didn’t listen to us before they bought their tickets, so they’ll have to deal with us not being available the entire time) and the second round of movers come that Monday.  THEN we can rest though we’ll be resting on air mattresses with a couple books, a laptop and a portable DVD player because everything else will be gone.  LOL  Times like this I wonder WHY we’re doing this military thing!!  So, if you’re the prayerful-type, I’d appreciate any you can spare.  If not, keeping us in your thoughts would be appreciated. 

What a great weekend!  My mom flew in Thursday.  It was so nice to have her here.  Elizabeth was in HEAVEN!  She’d run from myself to my mom to Jim….she couldn’t get enough of all the lovin’ available to her.    Mom had hoped to do something touristy since this will likely be her last visit here.  But the weather was bad and there wasn’t much we could find to do that was inside (bad weather).  So we spent most of the weekend around the house.  That was for the best, anyway, I guess.  Elizabeth is getting to a point where she is less “portable” in many ways, so it can be hard to go do things.  Jim and I also went on our first date in 14 months!  Just a movie, so no real chance to connect.  But it WAS nice to do something just the two of us.  She left today and it was sad to see her go.  The length of visit, though, was good….long enough to spend plenty of quality time together but not long enough to make me want ot poke my eyes out.

I really DID want to try to keep better updated here. But my comment had really bad timing!! LOL Life has beena bit of a whirlwind with Jim coming home and such. But its slowing down now. Two other things that should help me keep better updated: we’re going wireless for the laptop (so I can update while E is napping since the computer is in her closet) and Jim is going to do the language garbleygoo that needs to be done so I can use Word Press.

Things are going pretty well here. Jim has sufficiently driven me to want to drink which means the hoenymoon period is over. LOL I do so love him and having him home. I’m just not sure why he thinks he always needs to be in MY bed, believes rice isn’t a dinner, that we should eat dinner before 9, why there should be food in the house, etc. I mean, really, I think he’s asking a bit much!!

Elizabeth is as crazy as ever. She and Jim are inseperable. She now signs for ‘nurse’, ‘eat’, ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘kitty’ and ‘dog’. Dada is still her favorite word. No inclination of a desire to say mama. And I’m not at all resentful. She did well at her 12-month well-baby. She’s still not up to 19 pounds, just a little thing. But what she doesn’t have in size, she makes up for in might!! She was diagnosed anemic, so we’re doing the iron drops and trying to add in lots of iron-rich foods. And seeing that she isn’t much into solid foods yet, that is tough.

My mom is coming for a visit this weekend. I’m really looking forward to having her here. Jim and I are going to go on a DATE! I don’t know what else we’ll do. Mostly she just wants to spend time with Elizabeth, so we’ll probably stay close to home.

Lisanne–I’m sorry that Jim is driving you crazy! LOL! Have fun with your mom’s visit. That will be wonderful! We always have dinner SO early ~ around 5 or 5:30. Out here, people have dinner SO late!!!

jen–It’s hard getting used to having them home again, and it’s harder for them to get used to being home! Glad you guys are doing ok and i’m so happy he’s home with you guys again!!! o:) i’d love to see more pics of Itty Bitty. Hard for me to imagine a 19 lb one year old! Mine were 19 at 4 mos! (ok, it seemed that way anyway, the little porkers!) LOL

Tricia–Lisanne–We have always been early dinner eaters too. But when Jim was gone, it was a rare night that I had a chance to make myself something before she was down. I was in that habit and now it is hard to be hungry so early.

Vicki–Glad you had fun with your mom. I hear you on the nerves thing… it’s easy to want to kick them, isn’t it?

At the last minute, we found out Jim was coming home for R&R. We had an INCREDIBLE time. Most of the two weeks was spent at home simply being a family. Jim repeatedly said he needed a vacation from his vacation-Elizabeth wore him out!! I think he returned to Iraq with a new sense of appreciation for my days!
It was tough to send him back (almost two weeks ago now) but we relished in the idea that he’ll be home for good in just a few more weeks! More pictures from R&R can be viewed here, here, here and here. (Click on the link to view each album. When the screen opens up, click on the first picture. This will switch the view to a slideshow view.) I took a few at the airport but I can’t find them on the computer right now. I’ll upload when/if I do. Some highlights: July 27–After Elizabeth and I went to PWOC, we headed home so I could do a couple quick things around the house. We got to the airport early and went to the American Airlines desk to retrieve a pass that would let us go to the gate. After we went through security, I realized that arrival info isn’t on any of the screens at the gates anymore. Oops! The terminal he was in (I had checked that much!) was the new one at Sea-Tac and had only two counters open. The AA one had a huge line and the other wasn’t AA. After going the length of the terminal and back, I went to the AA counter and waited. (His gate was next to where I was and was going to be 30 minutes late). So we settle down to wait. Probably the quickest AND the longest hour of my life! After the last walk we took, we sat down on a bench next to the windows to look for the plane. I got out my video camera to tape E and then I realized the plane was RIGHT in front of me!!! EEEK!!

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!