A rental car and 8 hours time...

Today we had to take my car in to get treated with a stain resistant product, and therefore had a rental car and about 8 hours to kill. The dealership is quite a ways away from our house, so instead of driving home and back again, we decided to spend the day in the Louisville area. The girls love to go to Bass Pro and see the humongous fish tank and all the animals around there (and Bear and I like the coffee shop in there too!), so that was our first stop. Allison didn't quite know what to think of some of the huge fish there, and when a scuba diver jumped in to clean the tank, she was a little frightened, but had fun waving and making faces nonetheless! I love this pic of my turkeys! We went to several other places throughout the day and had a great day overall. We stopped at a cookie factory and everyone picked out a cookie or two. Allison was completely covered in chocolate, and Caitlyn wasn't much better off, but for fear my camera having the same destiny, I didn't take pics of them there. Maybe next time!

My new ride

After much debate over the topic, Bear and I finally decided that we needed to dx the Durango for something that wouldn't cause us to go bankrupt trying to keep gas in it. Whether I will be going to school or just working until I can start school, I will have at least a 40-50 mile journey 5 days a week, and keeping the Durango would kill us! Don't get me wrong, it has been a great vehicle for all of our trips/vacations and the extra space was great, but for everyday life, it wasn't really practical. Bear gets out of the Army this October, so it was smarter for us to buy the car now while we don't pay tax on it! We tried out several cars and brought extra car seats along to see how everything will fit having 3 kiddos. We ended up getting a 2008 Honda Accord, and I love it! It is a little odd going from such a big rig to a little car (especially when most people do just the opposite as they have more children), but we think it was the right thing to do. Surprisingly the Accord even had a bigger back seat than the CR-V, not to mention a bigger gas tank, and it gets better gas mileage!

The dealership we got the car from was the best we have ever worked with, and this is our 10th car that we have bought together, so we have had plenty of not so good experiences to recognize a good one. We are excited even more now for our trip to Kansas to see how a long ride goes in the new car!

The girls can feel it now

I have been feeling movement from the baby since I was 16 weeks along, which of course is completely awesome and also reassuring at the same time. I have been trying to get the girls to feel it, but they wiggle around so much themselves and the baby's movements haven't been that strong until recently, so they have had a hard time feeling the little bumps. Finally this morning, when Caitlyn and Allison came into our bed when they woke up, the baby was being very active and reacting to being "played with" by poking back. Caitlyn's eyes got so big when she felt the baby move! She quickly pulled her hand back and got the biggest grin on her face, and put her hand right back on my belly to see if she could feel it again. Allison just looked a little confused about the whole thing, but was having fun nonetheless. Everyone came to my last appointment, and that was another neat experience for the girls to hear the heartbeat. We are already at the point when we need to start going to the doctor every 2 weeks...where did the time go? Maybe next time we'll do an ultrasound so the girls can see that too since my midwife said she would get us in for another one now that daddy's home! Sometime before we go to Kansas, I have to go in for that wonderful glucose tolerance test to see if I have gestational diabetes, and I am not looking forward to drinking that super sweet drink! Oh well, I suppose it's for a good reason. Here is the most recent belly shot at 27 weeks.

As far as names go, Bear and I agreed that we would like another Irish name but at least it should end in n like all of our names do. Caitlyn has been stuck on the name Shannon for a while, but we aren't going to use that since it's already used by an extended family member. So far, Bear and my favorite has been Lauryn/Lauren (still not sure how we will spell it), and Caitlyn has finally agreed that it's okay! We'll figure it out eventually.

Time to adjust

We knew there would be an adjustment period for everyone when Bear came home, and things are going wonderful! The girls missed their daddy terribly (me too of course) and are enjoying having daddy helping them with everything...shoes, hair, clothes, everything! Caitlyn took to her dad right away and was extremely excited to have daddy take her to school, like she was taking him for show-and-tell! And of course our house has once again become a wrestling ring thanks to their reunion, but I am grateful that Caitlyn has her daddy home to jump on again instead of me! Allison has always been a bit of a mama's girl, so I was a little concerned how she would adjust to daddy coming home. In the airport, she ran right up to him without a problem. The next couple days at home, she wasn't sure about having another person at home. She didn't want daddy to help much with getting her dressed, or going potty, or anything. She still wanted mommy, but for the most part, she is over that now, and occasionally even says she doesn't want mommy to do something, but that she wants daddy instead! And after seeing Caitlyn getting wrestled with, Allison even joined in some and the both of them are keeping daddy pretty busy. Bear has really been enjoying having conversations with Allison that he can actually understand. He and I are adjusting pretty well too. It has been so great having him home! He just jumped back into the swing of things like he was only gone for the weekend. I have been really spoiled with him making breakfast most mornings! But that has turned into time spent elsewhere as the laundry seems to have quadrupled, probably due to all of his military clothing needing washed as soon as he came home!

With the new baby due in just a few months now, we realized that we really needed to figure out how we are going to have all the sleeping arrangements. Allison has been doing so wonderful with her crib converted to a toddler bed. We really didn't want to have one of the big girls in the same room as the baby, so we decided to get Allison a twin bed now and move her and Caitlyn to the other bedroom we had been using as an excercise room. That triggered a huge domino effect of changes! We had to clean out and go through essentially every closet upstairs because the girls dressers are in their closet (it's pretty big, and they have more room to play that way). All in one day we moved the excercise stuff to our room, switched the girls room, cleaned/organized 4 closets, and assembled Allison's new bed. The girls love their new room! Allison has only fallen out a couple times, but sleeps so hard that she didn't even wake up...she slept the rest of the night on the floor. And now the new baby will have her own room and not disturb the big girls all night long...just mom and dad!

The first time Bear tried to rub my belly a little, he got his hand kicked off right away, which made both of us laugh pretty hard. It is so nice to have my family under the same roof again! We are eternally grateful for all of your prayers and love! Thank you and we love you all!!!

He's home!!!

Our winter storm finally let up enough for Bear to get on the plane and make it to Louisville as scheduled (early even!!!). We had decent conditions for driving up there, but the cars in the ditches along the way reminded me of our trip to Kansas over Christmas and those goofy Missouri folks parking in the medians and ditches. We made it safely and only about 50 minutes early! It's a good thing though because his flight landed nearly 20 minutes early! The girls were very anxious and had so much energy, they were chasing each other in circles until we saw his plane pull up to the terminal. They were so proud of the sign they made for daddy, and Caitlyn brought along a card she made as well. We propped the sign up against the stroller so no one had to hold the sign, and were able to just go and give hugs (or take pics!).


Caitlyn ran up to him the second she saw him and gave him the biggest hug possible. Allison waited to see that her sissy was okay, and then ran over with her arms wide open! He snatched up those girls right away! Caitlyn told him that our family with just three people doesn't work, so he has to stay home. The girls wouldn't leave his side for a second. The whole way home they had so much to say...Allison has always played her own little version of marco polo with Bear where she says daddy, and he says Allison. But now that her vocabulary is so much better, the ride home was filled with a constant "Know what daddy?" "I love you daddy" "I miss you daddy" and so on. When we finally made it home, the girls had so much to show him, and wouldn't get off his heels for a second. I literally had to kick them out of the bathroom so he could take a shower without an audience, and as soon as they heard the water turn off, they were upstairs. Soon after, everyone was in jammies and cuddled on the couch!
Finally, my family is back together! Hopefully that will be the last separation of our military experience. Thank you all of you for your awesome continuous outpour of loving support and prayers. For now, I am exhausted and have some cuddling to catch up on! Check out the video of the girls welcoming their daddy home under the menu on the side...too precious!

The weather won :(

It's just our luck that Bear arrived to Ft. Benning over the weekend and was not able to outprocess at all until Monday. And on Monday, he flew out from Columbus to Atlanta, expecting to fly to Louisville late that night. Yesterday, we got hit with a snow/freezing rain storm...thank goodness we had been in good contact with each other. Bear knew that I was planning on getting things ready to leave 2 1/2 hours early because of the weather threats. He called at around 2100 when I was just getting ready to buckle the girls in the truck and said that his flight had just been cancelled. The girls were pretty upset because they knew we were getting ready to go pick up daddy, but understood that it just wasn't safe for him to fly or for us to drive. Bear really doesn't like Georgia at this point in time...who could blame him? He worked out a new flight plan, which had him arriving in Louisville tonight, again around 2300. He didn't want to sit around at the hotel all day, so he went to the airport a little after 0700 this morning to check in and see if he could move up his flight. He is now scheduled to fly in a little before 2000, which is much better than his other flight. Our winter weather advisory only goes to noon today, and we are supposed to stay above freezing past the 8pm hour, so hopefully there will be no more cancellations for our family! We are getting rain right now, and it is near 40 degrees.

I had the feeling last night that I was fighting a losing battle. As I was scraping the ice off the truck windows, I would no sooner get one finished and start another, that the first window was full of ice again. The trees are covered in ice and drooping over...reminds me a little of Kansas! But we still have power, and no flights are being delayed/cancelled at the Louisville airport. To make the girls feel a little better, we had a sleepover downstairs last night and they got to watch movies til the fell asleep. It took a while since Allison had a good nap earlier. Bear and I were up late too because we were both hopped up on caffeine, expecting to have a late night of driving. Oh well.

Hopefully things will work out better today. We are all anxious for him to come home and I know he is tired of staying in hotels! We will keep praying for better weather and him to make it home today!!!

Now it's up to the weather...

Bear has officially cleared out of Ft. Benning, much to our relief with no statement of charges from CIF (central issue facility, where all the field gear is issued from). The way the unit down there wrote up his paperwork, he absolutely has to fly from Columbus, GA to Atlanta, GA. It's only a 20 minute flight, and caused him to miss the early flight to Louisville. He has to fly to Louisville because it's the closest to Ft. Knox. He is scheduled to arrive at the Louisville airport a little after 2300 (11 pm). But of course, now we are having a snowstorm. We are under a winter weather advisory until noon tomorrow. The weather guys have predicted that we will get anywhere from 3-6 inches of freezing rain/snow mix, and driving conditions are supposed to deteriorate rapidly as the evening goes on and temps drop below freezing. Hopefully his flight won't get cancelled and we can drive there and back safely!!! So all we can do now is pray and wait to see if his flights will go as planned!

Congrats to Sarah & Tuck Dalton as they became parents again today. Their baby boy, Ezra Owen was born today via c-section and both mommy and baby are doing wonderful! Ezra was 7lbs 11oz, and 21 inches!

So much closer!!!

Bear just called and has arrived safely on US soil!!! What a relief! He wasn't able to talk very long because he still had to go through customs, but since he's back in the states, he can call at any time on his cell phone and let us know how he is doing! I loved seeing his cell phone number pop up on our caller ID. Now he just has to wait to fly out to Ft. Benning. He is scheduled to fly out tomorrow morning, but I'm sure will try everything possible to fly out earlier. Thank you all for your prayers to get him closer to home safely. Just a little more to go and he will be back home with us...and then we can all sigh a great big sigh of relief!

Ecstatic,
Erin

Country #4, still not in the US

Bear called this morning a little before 0700 to report that he made it safely to Portugal! He said he thought it might have been Ireland when they were getting ready to land because of all the stone fences everywhere...he says it is just gorgeous there! He was even happier when he found an espresso stand to help him stay awake closer to our time zone's schedule. The best part of it all is that he should be on US soil this afternoon sometime!!! I look forward to seeing his cell phone number come up on the caller ID more than ever! We are hoping to have him home by Tuesday at the latest, which makes our countdown only 3 days and a wake up! (that's how we got used to doing countdowns in the military...the current day doesn't count, and the last day is just considered a wake up since that's the day the event occurs) This weekend I plan to make some meals and store them until he comes home so I won't have to spend too much time in the kitchen after we pick him up from the airport. Caitlyn is getting very excited and likes to help me track where daddy is on our world map (it's really a laminated place mat of the world, but works perfectly to draw/put stickers on)! Allison't excitement will come when she can run to and give her daddy the biggest hug ever. I know that Bear was worried that Allison would forget him, but we have lots of pictures of him around the house, and she can pick daddy out of every one of them, so I don't think that will be a problem. Have a great day!!!

Countries 2 & 3

Yes, I know it's late...what am I still doing awake?!?! Anywho, Bear just called! He is now in Italy, via Greece. He couldn't call from Greece because the only way to use their phones was to use a credit card...yeah, that wasn't about to work. But, he is doing great. He is taking commercial flights the whole way back, which means he gets to fly in civies! Each stop so far has left him grounded for at least 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours. His next stop should be Portugal, and who knows from there! He wanted me to let everyone know that he is doing very well and can't wait to get home! Well, I really need to get to bed now, but I will keep posting updates as I hear more from him.

Good night!

Bear has officially left!!!

I was very surprised and excited to hear from Bear at around 1100 today (1900 his time). He made a 2 1/2 hour flight to the island of Bahrain where he was expecting to be stopped over for a couple hours and head out somewhere else. He couldn't remember where they were going next, but assured me that he would try to call if he was able, regardless of the time. In Bahrain, they are in a separate military only area, so that is comforting as the last time he was there, some shootings occured out in the public areas just shortly after he left. He really sounded a bit relieved to have finally left and start his journey home, though very tired. I will try to keep this updated as I hear from him along the way. Pray for a safe return!!!

Love and thanks to you all,
Erin & munchkins

Zero day!!!

The day has finally come that Bear gets to come home (well at least start making his way here)! When I talked to him this morning he said that he didn't know when he would be able to call again. He is supposed to check in for the flight out at 1400 on the 7th, which would be 0600 here, and he doesn't want to call that early and get the girls woke up. I was very surprised when the phone rang around 1900 and it was him! He had gotten up at 0300 to get going for the day and thought he would call one last time while he knew he had the chance, how sweet?!?! He of course sounded very tired, but thought that getting up that early might help him get closer to our schedule. Plus, he will have opportunity to sleep on the plane back. He said that they will be stopping in 4 or 5 different countries en route to the States to include Italy and Spain. Hopefully he will be able to deplane at some point and give us a call and let us know where in the world he is (literally!). Otherwise, he is scheduled to arrive in Norfolk, Virginia late evening on the 8th, and will get into Ft. Benning the morning of the 9th. He said that he may be able to do some clearing on Sunday which would be awesome because then he could come home earlier, but will otherwise have to wait to clear on Monday. Now of course it seems that time has flown by, though through the journey, seemed to move in slow motion. Hopefully he will get to keep some of that cold-weather gear he was issued. He is a bit worried about acclimating to the temps here. I can't wait to see the girls run him over in the airport when they see him for the first time! I hope to have the camcorder going to catch the excitement, but I can't garantee how anything will turn out at this point. We are all just excited beyond words to have him coming back home! Please keep him in your prayers for a safe journey home! Love you all and we'll see some of you very soon!!!