Home from our Colorado trip last night about 7pm or so. I think the flight was one of the toughest ever. Colin was in rare form. We made it through nonetheless and as we crossed the threshold to our house, I felt so elated. I love love love our house.
Lisa had picked us up from the airport and had a few essentials for us food-wise and a rotisserie chicken. She is a great neighbor and an even better friend.
Today was spent feeling sick and sicker. I loved the time I had with both kids but wish I was feeling less out of it. Being sick is rough and then add 2 kids to the mix and...ugh...but they were good for me and we had fun. We all played legos and read books. Colin and I chased each other around the house and played 'Ring around the Rosie'.
We go to get Dax tomorrow. I miss him a lot. Both Colin and I said it to each other a few times throughout the day.
We got to speak to both sets of Grandparents today which is always great. Colin and Emma are so lucky to have them. Oh and Daddy too...miss him like crazy!
Ok. well better call it a night. xoxo
Bring along:
- patience!
- About a diaper an hour (just to be safe)
- Wet wipes
- extra set of clothes
- an extra pacifier / pacifier holder (the ones you attach to the clothing so you don't lose it)
- a couple small toys (preferrably one new one)
- a travel magna-doodle
- snacks
- (2) juice boxes
- an umbrella stroller
- coloring book and crayons
- sweatshirts instead of coats as carry-ons
- *optional* portable dvd player
- backpacks for each walking traveller / no purses
I guess we miss Syracuse or perhaps this visit made me realize how important it is that when your deployed husband is home on leave...he needs to be alone with his family. This perspective hit me sometime yesterday. Before I came here, I kind of felt it but I chose to ignore it. So, the kids and I are going to venture home tomorrow afternoon. Sometimes you have to sacrifice what you want for what you know is right.
The kids are having a blast. Colin got to take a car ride (he has a Nissan sports car) with Uncle Dicky and that made him so happy. Emma continues on her efforts to try to crawl. Scooching never looked so glamorous.
Spoke to Chris and he is doing well. He is very busy though which hopefully will help the time go by much faster for him. We miss him quite a lot.
Miss Kaelynn is looking around every now and again. Last night I held her and just melted. Babies/Kids have this look they can give you and for a second you see their soul. This is very different from us adults. Kaelynn is adorable, no doubt.
Andrea is doing great and recovering well. She is sleep deprived but happy to have her husband and her new baby with her...it makes the pain so much more bearable. :)
Well, Colin is off with Uncle Dicky at the park/for a walk...there are some train cars that are abandoned nearby that Uncle Dicky wanted to show him.
The zip code for FOB Shank has changed from 09354 to 09364...
So his new address is:
Chris Egan
Task Force Spartan
A Co., 3rd BSTB
3/10 FOB SHANK
APO AE 09364
xoxo
There is so much to share. Colin, Emma and I made it. The decision to travel with an umbrella stroller was the best ever. Colin pushed Emma around most of the time and also carried his little backpack only leaving me to lug 3 coats (which we have not needed since leaving Chicago) and a backpack...not bad at all. Poor Colin had some kind of sickness because he pooped his pull-up (7) times in less than 5 hours. I felt so bad for his little bummers. I am grateful that United has awesome flight attendants. Emma did great. She did blow out one diaper on the flight but she was happy. Colin got the royal treatment since this nice woman that worked for the airline said she would take Colin to meet the pilot before everyone else got on the plane. He was in heaven.
Some highlights for Colin: Chicago airport (the long walk to concourse C was worth it), pushing Emma in the stroller and introducing her to everyone as "my sister, Emma", and looking at all of the houses as they got smaller and smaller.
So, we are staying in a really small town (but a great house) called Limon. This town is in the middle of nowhere but it is great for Colin because he can get dirty and be outside (did I mention it is seriously 70 degrees?) and play...reminds you of the old town on Little House on the Praire. People still keep their doors unlocked here.
Tomorrow we are venturing off to Denver to the zoo and to shop a little...love love love the weather.
Here are some pictures to share from the trip.
ps- Kaelynn looks a lot like her Daddy! Kind creepy but sweet at the same time. xoxo
So, it's been a week now at beautiful FOB Shank. This place isn't too bad. We're living in tents right now. It sounds worse than what it really is though. We have 6 of us living in a 16 man tent, so we have space and can kinda sprawl out. Once the 101st Airborne move out in a month or so, we should be moving into there old buildings. So, we just gotta stick it out for a bit. Life here isn't too hard. Of course, I'm a desk monkey now, so it's never really gonna be too hard. Shuffling papers and sipping coffee all day isn't really the hardest thing to do. It is a big switch from supa-bad combat engineer to, well, a desk monkey. But, I guess after 4 deployments of back breaking work and being out all the day I've earned this. I guess.
Time is kinda flying by. Been gone 3 weeks now. I've been trying to be productive with my off time. Through the Army you can sign up Rosetta Stone language classes, so I've started to learn Gaelic. Kinda wild, but the way how it's taught makes it really easy to pick up. Ok, enough shameless shilling for them.....moving on.
There are some days where it feels like I never left here. It's weird being back in a spot I was at last time and on FOB named after I guy I knew who was killed here. For those of you that don't know, SSG Michael Shank and CPL Jeffery Roberson were killed Nov 28, 2006. I won't get into details, but I will say it was a long night. Here's a link to check out real quick http://www.soldierwall.com/wall.php?action=showSquare&squareId=1195
Ok, so there's a quick update. To sum up what we covered; I drink too much coffee, living in tents isn't too bad, and yeppers, Afghanistan still kinda sucks. Oh, and stinks. Alright, laters everyone.
Chris
Gotta love this...Dicky and his little lady...priceless love. xoxo
Remember this, Chris??
Picture this: An over-confident mother (me) backing the golf cart (with a santa on the back) into the brand new trailer of the campsite next to my parent's. The hour or two following was not too good since Chris was totally stressed about the potential cost of fixing it...however, when the guy who owned the trailer found out...he said that someone had to break it in...lucky me.
Oh btw - Colin is so cute in that photo!
Three weeks down Chris! Yay!!
