If we could just decide on a name....

Well.....still pluggin along. It has been a different deployment this time around. Different adjustments. I am 19 weeks and 2 days pregnant now...and its a BOY!!!! Yes, hubby was thrilled about that, of course. We are torn between James Henry and James Patrick...but I think we will know when we meet him.

My big ultrasound is tomorrow...the half way mark. My mom is going with me, so it will be fun for her. THere is not much else to report now, so i will update tomorrow after the doc visit.

Got a little butterbean!!!

Well, today I had my last ultrasound for awhile. I am moving to my regular OB, so they don't do as many ultrasounds as the fertility program. But thats ok. It just means I have made it far enough along to go to a normal doctor!!!
Seeing the little hearbeat and little arms and legs is so cool! I am glad the hubby was there for the first few ultrasounds, because he will miss most the rest. But, he will be home for delivery, and that is the most important part!
He leaves in about a week to mobilize, then a week or two after that to fly over. I feel so different this time. Its not the same sort of worry and nervousness. Don't get me wrong...I am a sad that he won't be here for most of the pregnancy. But this time around I feel better prepared to deal with everything. We will see how long that lasts!!!!

This will be a doozy of an update......

I'm not even sure if anyone reads this anymore....but I guess its a place for me to vent anyway.
So...many things have been happening. We did find a new house. It wasn't quite where I thought it would be, but it worked out for the best. Lots more room and in a great neighborhood. It's a good thing we have more room now....because WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!! WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!
I am just over 6 weeks now. We had a our first ultrasound and saw that little heart beating. I have another one in a few days.
And, of course, my hubby is deploying....AGAIN. I am not sure when. He will probably leave around the end of July.....maybe sooner. But, he should be home by February, so that's the most important thing.
I know its quick update.....but gotta take advantage of my Sunday and get away from this computer!!!

The new house is a bust...

Well, he hated the new house. I found it first....set up the inspection...he saw it for the first time today, and hated it. I am dissapointed beyond belief. Thought I could write about it, but nevermind. Maybe later.

Holy cow.....

I can't believe I haven't written anything in so long.....yes I can. Since he has been home, everything has been crazy. We had alot more adjusting to do than we thought we would. I'm sure most of it was me, well...let's say it was about even. It was a hard deployment for him.......meaning he lost some good people.
As soon as he was home we started trying to get pregnant again...but its not what you think. We have to go through a fertility treatment program, and its anything but intimate. Everything is planned and calculated, and way more stressful. I think we jumped into that too fast. Things were not working and I was getting frustrated, it was just too much too soon.
Anyway, now we are selling our house and moving closer to the city, which i LOVE!!!! Mainly because we live so far away from eveything and it really has gotten old....all the commuting and stuff. The other reason is because he has to leave.....AGAIN. We think its going to be around May. Well, in April he will go to Fort Bragg, then off to whereever for 6 months....HE JUST GOT BACK, or at least it feels like it. He has only been home since September.....oh well. We are supposed to close on our new house at the end of March, so it will be good to have a big project to occupy my time. I am excited and nervous all in one.....we will see how this one goes!

Ready to get back to our life?

"Ready to get back to our life?"
That's one of the first things Jeff said to me when he gave me a long awaited hug.
I drove down to Hattiesburg last Sunday night...a week ago today. He called earlier that day to let me know that he was in MS and said that if I was there he could see me because they were letting them go for the night, but they had to be back in the morning to process. (I was supposed to go down that Monday). Well, I promptly jumped in the car and drove the four hours to see him. Four hours was nothing compared to Afghanistan!! I got there at about 8:30pm. It was awesome....I was so excited, I barely remember the drive down. A few days later we went to Jackson, MS and stayed at a wonderful B&B. It was truly like a second honeymoon!
We got home Thursday afternoon...just in time to meet the little one as she got off the school bus. He soon discovered that she wasn't so little any more! She is in 7th grade now and growing like crazy!!! They hugged for a few minutes and that was the first time I almost really lost it!! She is so happy that her dad is home!! We all are!!
It has been a long year....I think we are still a little numb to everything. Maybe it will hit us later that he is really home...maybe this is it? Who knows...we are just taking one day at a time. I can already tell that we have grown in ways that people that have been married for 20 years have yet to achieve. Our two year anniversary is coming up in October....it seems longer, but in a good way.
I will update more later....I just wanted everyone to know that my baby is home and safe...watching college football and helping around the house...things he says "feels like heaven!"
I am really ready to get back to our life!

He's on American soil!!!

YIIIIPPPPEEEEE!!!!!!

I got the best wake up call at 6 o'clock this morning......Jeff is at Fort Bragg!!!! I hadn't spoken to him in a week a two days....and the first phone call I get I found out he is on American soil....what a great feeling! It makes me want to get in the car right now and drive up there, but I know i can't. He still has to fly to MS and process out. SO....I have taken the whole next week off of work. I am driving to MS tomorrow to be there right when they let him go. They may cut him loose Monday, at the latest Tuesday....either way I am going to already be there! We are planning to stay in Jackson for a few days. I have reservations set up....the last night at a really cool B&B that a Southern Living travel editor suggested I check out...its going to be so cool! I anticipate alot of hibernating! We will probably just stare at each other for awhile and be amazed that we are actually in each other's actual physical space!
I am a little nervous....not sure why. I know all the information about PTSD and the FRG has given us some great information about dealing with your soldier coming home from a combat zone. Because Jeff is a police officer, we sort of deal with a certain amount of stress on a day-to-day basis here at home. I know that war is a totally different environment, but I can't help but feel like we won't have too much adjusting to do. His attitude is one of a hardened cop and soldier, so I really don't anticipate alot of the expected problems that some soldiers might face. That's not too say that we aren't aware of the problems, I guess I just feel more comfortable than if he was a young soldier coming home from his first deployment to a job that is 180' different from the military. In a nutshell, he still has to wear a vest and carry a gun to work everday...if you know what I mean!
Anyway, I can't believe that I can actually say I will see him maybe tomorrow. At least by Tuesday! This has been a long year... I can't believe in September it will be a year. He is a week or two early, which is fine by me. This time last year we were getting ready for all this and now we are getting ready to be together again....its crazy!!! I know we have both learned so much and will continue to do so. I just can't wait to get my hands on him.

Less than two weeks!!!!!

Well.....I doubt anybody even reads this anymore....since i haven't posted anything in over a month. Life has just been crazy...as usual. The last thing I heard from Jeff was that he was two hours from getting on a plane to head to Bagram. That means that he has officially started his journey back home. He will possibly stay there a few days, then catch the first of, I am sure, a few flights to the States....HOLY MOLY....I can hardly believe it!!!
I have planned to meet him at his DEMOB location...whenever that is. I have learned to use words like whenever and phrases like "in a few days" more and more. You really have to be flexible with the military, because you never know!
I have almost finished my first week at a new job....working in the test kitchen for a major publishing company. Chances are you many of you have cookbooks that this company has published. It is an absolute dream job! Vacation days, sick days, paid holidays, PERSONAL DAYS!!! If you're in the restaurant industry you know that those sorts of benefits are very few and far between. I can't be happier with the choice I have made. It will be better for everybody. Better hours and have tried to imagine what its going to be like to see him and I don't even know what to think. I know I will be giggly and all smiles....that's for sure. Its hard to get too excited just yet because I still don't know exactly when he will be here...I just know that it will be less than two weeks.
If we can make it through this, we got everything else licked!!!!