December Daily | 18

Congratulations Jadie! And Josh and Erin too! We love you so, Little Dear One, and pray that God continues grow you into the amazing woman and child of God that we already know you are and will be.

I swear I meant to take more photos during the day, but with Ben not feeling well {we left him to sleep and recover at the hotel while we went to lunch at the Carroll's} and trying to soak up every possible minute snuggling a sweet little baby boy, well, my camera was only really out during the baptism!

December Daily | 17

This morning we loaded up the Sequoia and headed down to Abilene for a little weekend getaway - partly for fun, partly for work. Jadie, our friends Josh and Erin's little girl, accepted Jesus as her Savior and is getting baptized tomorrow! To celebrate and to have a little mini-Life Group reunion before the move, the Prysocks and Lyons drove in from Dallas and we all met up at the Carroll's house for an evening of fun and fellowship...

and to enjoy the cuteness of the Little Ones!

♥

Deployment Gifts | Month Six {and more}

Even though Ben came home last night, he still wasn't officially "ours" yet. This morning he had to go in to the base to in-process and because we only had one car with us in Abilene, it meant that the kids and I just stayed at the hotel for the morning. Noah had a mini-meltdown when Ben left. The whole time that Ben was deployed, we talked about how Daddy was at work. So when Daddy "went to work" this morning, I'm guessing he assumed that it was going to be for another six months instead of a few hours.

It's tough being almost four. And it's tough when Daddy has been so far away for so long.

To help pass the time, I let the kids open up their last set of deployment gifts. I've realized {six months too late} that I probably could have gotten away with just getting them one thing between the two of them. Because Ellie ALWAYS wants to play with whatever Noah has.

After lunch, naps, and an oil change in the Sequoia, we met our property manager over at our house. We got some not-so-great news this past week: our current renters moved out. {sigh} Without paying this month's rent or notifying the property management. Luckily, there was no real damage to the home {minus usual wear and tear and a few dings from moving in and out} and everything was, for the most part, left as it was. The property manager was in the process of getting things ready for the house to be shown again and re-leased.

Noah and Ellie were amazed when they saw their old rooms {which are now all a boring shade of cream} and joyfully plopped down in the middle of the living room as if it was the neatest thing in the world to be in their old house with no furniture.



We finished up at the house, did a quick stop at Target {oh, how Ben missed it!} and then ate dinner with some of our Life Group friends at Texas Roadhouse. Dinner was followed by baths for the kiddos back at the hotel and then some friend-time with the Carroll's at their home. All three kiddos were thrilled to get to play together and the four adults were just happy to have everyone under one roof for a couple of hours again.

Admittedly, I didn't take many photos today with Ben in them. Part of the reason? I didn't want to experience all of today behind a lens. And the rest of the reason? I was simply too happy to have him home to even remember to take a physical photo. I'm okay with that.

Home.

Today has been a long time coming. Since the moment we found out about this deployment, I've been looking most forward to this day.

Last night felt like Christmas Eve. Much like the night before he deployed, I could barely sleep. The kids and I finished packing this morning, loaded up the Sequoia, and headed towards Abilene. The first part of the drive was relatively uneventful. The kids slept and we made it to Wichita Falls just in time for lunch. And, just as we were getting into the car to start the second part of the drive, the rain started. And didn't stop until we were almost in Abilene! The. entire. drive. Noah asked if we were to Daddy yet. The boy was anxious to get to the airport to get his Daddy.

Finally, after checking into the hotel and eating dinner, the time arrived for us to go to the airport. Ben's flight was delayed from Dallas due to intense fog, but lucky for us, we had good friends and Air Force family at the airport to keep us company and entertained. My favorite moment, besides seeing him in person for the first time in six months, was while we were waiting for him to get off the plane and Noah turned to me with his hands raised to his face in anticipation and said, "I'm just so excited!"

As soon as Ben turned the corner and Noah saw him, he was off running to get his Daddy. Even Ellie, whom we were a little concerned might not want to give him a hug or a kiss, showered him with love.


We're oh-so-happy to have him home with us finally. And oh-so-grateful for friends and family who have loved on us, supported us, and been praying alongside us during this.

Benjamin, Dear One, I couldn't be more proud of you. You accept every task placed before you with grace and a determination to see it through, no matter how difficult. I'm so very proud of the man, the husband, the daddy, and the officer that you are! You have set an amazing example for Noah and are everything that I hope Ellie will look for in her own future husband. I love you most and am ever so happy to have you back home with us. ♥

Saturday

{Just a small warning... it's a photo heavy post. And had there not been so much rain, there would have been more.}

We started the morning off trying to decide if the zoo was a bad idea due to the sprinkles that we were already recieving and the potential storm clouds we saw in the distance. But, after some coffee and "forcing" the Prysocks to drive 30 minutes out of the way to come to Starbucks, we figured we might as well go for it.

The kids {and adults} had a blast. As is evidenced by the millions of photos I took during the course of our time at the zoo.

{Jonah totally photo-bombed the pictures.}

{And, can I just interject here how much I love our friends? Because who else, but Dear Friends like ya'll, would tote a slightly cranky child around whom wasn't their own flesh and blood?!}

We left the zoo and headed to Chipolte for lunch. And, on our way home from the zoo, the rain started. And hasn't stopped since. We're grateful for the rain, but it ruined our plans for family photo shoots and dinner in Bricktown tonight. Instead, the Prysocks and I headed up to Hobby Lobby to take advantage of the perfect background {great thinking, Erin!} for a family photo for their Christmas cards:

We picked up pizzas on the way home and enjoyed a "Life Group" night in! Friends, I can't thank you enough for coming to visit. I miss you all, almost as much as I miss Ben! :D And I'm very much looking forward to seeing you all again - SOON! ♥

{And Mom and Daddy-man, as much as this makes me sound 15 years old again, thanks for letting me have my friends over! lol!}

Friends.

This afternoon, after Ellie and I picked Noah up from school, we were excited to get back home to have a visit from David, Stephanie, and Baby Jonah! Back in August when Erin and I went out to meet Jonah and visit his parents, we made plans for the Prysock's and the Carroll's to come up to OKC for a MUTEMATH concert and some friend time.

It was the first time the kids met each other. Ellie was in love. She liked sitting next to him. She liked kissing him. She especially liked showing him the picture of her Daddy on my phone.

But most of all, she just liked him. Can't say that I blame her - he's too cute!

The Prysock's left just before dinner so they could eat dinner with her family and get Jonah settled before we met up at the concert. But not long after they left, we had another set of visitors! Marlene and David were taking care of Addy this weekend, so they walked around for a little visit. Both of my kids just adore Addy!

After they left, Noah asked, "Who's coming over now, Mommy?"

♥

Baths and bedtime for the kids, and then I headed out the door to meet our friends for the MUTEMATH concert!

I was more than grateful to see my friends, listen to a new-to-me band, have some earplugs, and even enjoy part of the concert while outside in the cool air with Erin and Jadyn!

Heading Home

It was almost painful to leave this Little Man and his parents. He's just so snuggly!

But, after lunch, that's just what we had to do... we had our own kids and husbands {in person and on Skype} to get back to.

Stephanie, David, he's darling. And amazing. And I can't wait to see the big things that God is going to accomplish through him... and through you, as his parents. We love all three of you to pieces!


Also, you're lucky I didn't try to just bring him home.

And Erin, can't wait for more adventures in Maryland! ♥

Crazy Love

Erin and I stayed up late last night at the theatre watching Crazy, Stupid, Love. Highly recommend it - we laughed SO hard! And, with no children of our own with us, we slept in and it. was. awesome. We got over to David and Stephanie's just in time for lunch {Chipolte... again. It. was. awesome.} and spent the rest of the day snuggling with Jonah, talking, and just enjoying each other's company.

There might have been a ton of photos taken as well. ♥

Meeting Baby Jonah

I've been waiting for this day since November.

True story.

I have SEVERAL friends who are having babies this summer. Many of them are second-time Moms and it's fun watching and listening to them deal with some of the same issues that I dealt with when Ellie arrived... and mostly agreeing with me that going from 1 to 2 is a little more difficult that it was going from 0 to 1 {though, I'm convinced that #3 and on is a breeze}. A few of them are first-time Moms. And I'm loving watching them turn into "Mommies". Especially the ones for whom it has been a natural and easy process...

Stephanie {and David - dear friends of ours from our Life Group} had Jonah at the beginning of July and since they live in Ft. Worth, I haven't had a chance yet to see them or to meet Jonah officially. So today, Erin and I drove in from our respective cities and met up at their house to visit the new family of three.

It was all I could do to not smother the Little Guy with kisses.

I'm seriously in love.

And totally ready for Baby #3.

{STILL} Packing.

Mom, the kids, and I all loaded up in the Sequoia early this morning to head to Abilene to finish packing up the house and to clean it a little better than we did before we left a few weeks ago.

The drive was tough.

My normally good travel companions, Noah and Ellie, were not their usual selves. Crying, kicking, acting out, and all around stinkers.

Our first stop was the base clinic to get Ellie's vaccines caught up and official copies of their shot records. We arrived at the clinic 8 minutes after it closed for lunch. Awesome. So, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back over. Noah, once he found out that Ellie was going to get shots, insisted that he "needed shots for all his owies" too.

He didn't get one.

We then went to the house to load the car up while the kids napped... and we waited for our babysitter, Hayley, to come down so Mom and I could take the loads to the storage unit without having to worry about the kids being in the car. It was awesome. And Ben, we should have done that while you were here!

Oh, hey Benjamin... do you see your box of uniforms in there that contain your green boots?

After taking two loads, we let Hayley go, picked up the kids and make one more stop at the unit to look for Ben's green boots {in vain. Darn you, Air Force, for changing regs on us AFTER we've already packed all these things up!}, we went to dinner at Chili's.

It was a much needed break.

Baths were done by Nana, while I sought out help from our next-door neighbor, Bob, to remove the satellite. Bob and JoAnn, if you ever read this, you are better neighbors than we deserve - thank you!!

Once the kids were in bed {Noah in his room, Ellie in the closet in anticipation of us painting over the mural... which didn't happen}, Erin came over to help us finish up and spend some time with us. I stepped outside to take out some trash, the sky was such a crazy shade of green and then yellow that I grabbed them both {and then my camera!}... and we totally laughed at how the entire neighborhood was coming outside to see the crazy colors that this Texas sky was providing!

Mom, Erin, thank you! For packing and for being such a great support during this time! And Erin, don't forget the propane tank in the garage! ;)

A Packing Frenzy

We're all kind of in a packing frenzy around here. Thanks to the recent sickness reeking havoc on us and the kids, we're behind where we wanted to be packing wise: both for the deployment and for the move.

Today we were in a packing frenzy in hopes that a least parts of today and the next couple of days can be spent together, just having some fun and making memories.

And, thanks to some good friends, we were able to get some of the bigger living room furniture moved over to the unit. Our house now just seems so weird without the couch and apothecary cabinet in the living room. Thanks Josh and Joseph - we're grateful for your help!

Today: Sunday

Nana and Aunt BB left this morning after breakfast so that BB could get back to be ready to start state testing tomorrow with her kiddos {good luck dear third graders!}. But not before the kids could get some extra love and play time with him first.

Thanks for all the help while you were here and we can't wait to see you guys for the marathon! BB, you and Ben are going to do phenomenal! {And Jessie, you're going to kick tail on the half-marathon too!} Love you both! ♥

After naptime, Daddy and the kiddos read a few books in the "school room" {as Noah calls it} while I got ready for dinner.

They love storytime with Daddy. So do I.

There was several check-ins on the butterflies too.

And, after official Life Group time, Ellie woke up in her pack-n-play in our closet. We let her sleep in there so that the other kids can play in her room once Noah goes to bed as well. Usually we move her after everyone leaves, but since she woke up, we let her stay out for a few minutes before putting her in her own bed. Tonight, just before I took the video, Jadyn managed to get her to do her "evil laugh". I wanted to capture it, but she didn't really do it again. It's a cute little video of her and Jadyn, nonetheless.