What is it about Grandmas and Hummas (Humma is the name Colin has for my mother in law)...always thinking about everyone but themselves? Were they always like that when they were our Moms? Most likely, I think so, but I/we were too busy thinking the world revolved around us to see it. Anyway, I am lucky to have amazing relationships with my mother and my mother-in-law. Very lucky.
The reason I bring this topic to front and center is not just because my mom just agreed to watch not one...not two...but all three grandkids (all under 3) for about 3 hours this afternoon while Andrea and I went shopping. We, of course bought everything for the kids and a little treat (ok a few) for Mom...that is when it hit me, I am becomming just like my mother...thinking of others first...I still struggle with the every now and then times...but I think in reality we need that, ya know? Anyway, I love them and the grandkids love them...you can clearly tell...
Also, here I leave you with 3 amazing little kiddos...3 kids that without, life would just be miserable...xoxox
Grandma is more than just my mom...
Word. Egan Ninjas Labels: Andrea, Colin, emma, grandparents, Kaelynn
Finally finished the Supergirl blanket...thanks Heidi!!! xoxo
Oh, and thanks to our model...Emma Elizabeth Egan.
Chris is a major snorer...if that is even a word. He had no clue how bad it was until one day Colin came in our room when he was asleep and heard him...he didn't know what to make of it and just looked at me, confused. We both just started laughing and I said "Daddy, roll over, you sound like a freight train is coming through"...ever since, that stuck with Colin. He says it everytime you ask him what it sounds like when Daddy snores. Little stinker.
Today I got lucky. My mom and my sister in law, Andrea...oh, and Miss Kaelynn came to visit. My mom and I went to pick up Colin from school together while Andrea hung out with the babies. Colin was so excited to see Grandma. He ran up to her and gave her a massive hug...So cute.
Grandma was kind enough to take some photos of me with the kids.
A quick update on Chris: he didn't tell me until today because he didn't want me to worry...but he had/has pneumonia in his left lung. The pnuemonia hasn't spread to anywhere else but he was bad enough that he needed chest x-rays etc...He said he is much better now. Poor thing.
Well, I better sign off...I will leave you with this...princess Kaelynn...
The past two days have been a lot better than the start of the week. My most favorite moment was picking up Colin from school yesterday. I went to his classroom to pick up his things while he played in the gym. I notice in his cubby that there are these proofs from photos taken...
If you double click you can make them larger.
I nearly bawled my eyes out. Instead, I just teared up and ran up and down the hall showing all of the teachers I know. I had never been so proud. He looked so adorable!
You better believe I am ordering those photos.
In other news: Emma is still working on crawling and just cracking me up...check this photo out...look at the toes, makes me laugh!
We have a leak coming from somewhere in the house...it is leaking into the walls of the living room, so I have a plumber coming tomorrow. I better go to sleep. xoxo
Here is a photo of Emma from today, drooling...as usual.
My poor little babes were sick sick sick for the past two/three days. I felt so badly for them both. Colin was much worse than Emma but vocal so he could at least tell me how he was feeling. Three treatments of anti-biotics later...50% better. :)
I have just written sentence after sentence and just keep deleting it. My mind is all over the place. Maybe I am going crazy...missing Chris, needing to get out after almost 3 days of sick kids, needing adult interaction, needing a giant hug...I am not sure...emotions are much different this deployment. Maybe I am just tired.
The bright side, my kids are supreme. After almost 3 days without anyone around, I still adore them inside and out. I only felt crazy a few times...we played puzzles, colored, watched a little tv, chased one another, read, sang songs, played songs, looked at photos, tickled one another, and played fetch with Dax. Emma is really working hard on crawling...if you don't believe me, check this out:
Oh, and let's not forget the bond they are forming...love it:
I am thankful for them and for all of you. xoxo
3,000 troops near Kabul mark start of surge: Increased attacks expected in two provinces as Taliban moves north
Word. Egan Ninjas Labels: deploymentChris sent this to me this morning. It was on msnbc's site. I wanted to keep the article for this blog and wasn't sure if the link would expire...so here you go!
U.S. Col. David Haight, right, and Afghan officials describe the deployment of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division in Logar and Wardak provinces.
LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Close to 3,000 American soldiers who recently arrived in Afghanistan to secure two violent provinces near Kabul have begun operations in the field and already are seeing combat, the unit's spokesman said Monday.
The new troops are the first wave of an expected surge of reinforcements this year. The process began to take shape under President George Bush but has been given impetus by President Barack Obama's call for an increased focus on Afghanistan.
U.S. commanders have been contemplating sending up to 30,000 more soldiers to bolster the 33,000 already here, but the new administration is expected to initially approve only a portion of that amount. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday the president would decide soon.
The new unit — the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division — moved into Logar and Wardak provinces last month, and the soldiers from Fort Drum, N.Y., are now stationed in combat outposts throughout the provinces.
Militants have attacked several patrols with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, including one ambush by 30 insurgents, said Lt. Col. Steve Osterhozer, the brigade spokesman.
Several roadside bombs also have exploded next to the unit's MRAPs — mine-resistance patrol vehicles — but caused no casualties, he said.
"In every case our vehicles returned with overwhelming fire," Ostehozer said. "We have not suffered anything more than a few bruises, while several insurgents have been killed."
Commanders are in the planning stages of larger scale operations expected to be launched in the coming weeks.
Taliban moving north
Militant activity has spiked in Logar and Wardak over the last year as the resurgent Taliban has spread north toward Kabul from its traditional southern power base. Residents say insurgents roam wide swaths of Wardak, a mountainous province whose capital is about 35 miles from Kabul.
The region has been covered in snow recently, but Col. David Haight, commander of the 3rd Brigade, said last week that he expects contact with insurgents to increase soon.
"The weather has made it so the enemy activity is somewhat decreased right now, and I expect it to increase in the next two to three months," Haight said at a news conference.
Haight said he believes the increase of militant activity in the two provinces is not ideologically based but stems from poor Afghans being enticed into fighting by their need for money. Quoting the governor of Logar, the colonel called it an "economic war."
Afghan officials "don't believe it's hardcore al-Qaida operatives that you're never going to convert anyway," Haight said. "They believe that it's the guys who say, 'Hey you want $100 to shoot an RPG at a Humvee when it goes by,' and the guy says, 'Yeah I'll do that, because I've got to feed my family.'"
Still, Haight said there are hardcore fighters in the region, some of them allied with Jalaludin Haqqani and his son Siraj, a fighting family with a long history in Afghanistan. The two militant leaders are believed to be in Pakistan.
Governor urges economic aid
Logar Gov. Atiqullah Ludin said at a news conference alongside Haight that U.S. troops will need to improve both security and the economic situation.
"There is a gap between the people and the government," Ludin said. "Assistance in Logar is very weak, and the life of the common man has not improved."
Ludin also urged that U.S. forces be careful and not act on bad intelligence to launch night raids on Afghans who turn out to be innocent.
Taliban militants pose with their weapons in Wardak province on Sept. 25.
It is a common complaint from Afghan leaders. President Hamid Karzai has long pleaded with U.S. forces not to kill innocent Afghans during military operations and says he hopes to see night raids curtailed.
Pointing to the value of such operations, the U.S. military said Monday that a raid in northwest Badghis province killed a feared militant leader named Ghulam Dastagir and eight other fighters.
Other raids, though, have killed innocent Afghans who were only defending their village against a nighttime incursion by forces they didn't know, officials say.
"We need to step back and look at those carefully, because the danger they carry is exponential," Ludin said.
Danger of more civilian casualties
Haight cautioned last week that civilian casualties could increase with the presence of his 2,700 soldiers.
"We understand the probability of increased civilian casualties is there because of increased U.S. forces," said the colonel, who has also commanded Special Operations task forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Our plan is to do no operations without ANA (Afghan army) and ANP (Afghan police), to help us be more precise."
The U.S. military and Afghan Defense Ministry announced last week that Afghan officers and soldiers would take on a greater role in military operations, including in specialized night raids, with the aim of decreasing civilian deaths.
The presence of U.S. troops in Wardak and Logar is the first time such a large contingent of American power has been so close to Kabul, fueling concerns that militants could be massing for a push at the capital. Haight dismissed those fears.
"Our provinces butt up against the southern boundary of Kabul and therefore there is the perception that Kabul could be surrounded," Haight said. "But the enemy cannot threaten Kabul. He's not big enough, he's not strong enough, he doesn't have the technology. He can conduct attacks but he can't completely disrupt the governance in Kabul."
Colin's class (he goes to pre-school 3 days/week) had a Valentine's Day party. Emma and I decided to go help out and be there for Colin's class. We had a great time there. I noticed the slight distraction we sorta were so we tried to leave and help out in other rooms while the teacher was teaching... the most adorable thing was the kids having races with red streamers tucked into their trousers. I wish I had a photo...it was hysterical. Colin kept losing because he was just so enamoured with the fact that there was a streamer flying behind him...he was laughing so hard.
Anyway, here are some photos of the party...enjoy. :)
p.s - Ignore the dates on the photos...it wasn't my camera, I just took them. :)
"I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight" - George Patton
Word. Egan Ninjas Labels: Chris, deployment, weeks completed
A little update from Master Egan NInja himself...
So, another week down. This one went by really quick. I headed out on Wednesday to another FOB with my CO to spend some time with one of our platoons. Of course, the day after we got there it snowed for two days straight, so all the training and missions we wanted to do with them didn't happen. We spent a total of 4 days there. We got back Sunday night after a stupidly cold Blackhawk flight. I get to sit in between the two door gunners; which is normally awesome. Yeah…in the summer…when it's above 20 degrees outside before you take off. I sat there for the 20 minute flight and froze. Good god it was cold. Both windows were blowing the cold air straight to my face. So, next time I fly a bird in the winter, I know where I'm not sitting. Don't get me wrong. I love flying, but that just straight out sucked. blah.
So, Valentines’ Day was this week. I sent Tammy some flowers and a letter for her to enjoy. Now, since she knows, I want to tell everyone else how awesome my wife is. Besides being an incredible mother to two of the coolest kids ever, she is gorgeous, funny, witty, unbelievably smart, talented beyond anything I could ever do, and hands down the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I love her more every day. Thank you baby, for letting me be your husband. I miss you every day, but I love you more. Just remember…I'm within a mile of home…always. I'll see you soon.
Chris
Daddy's things on his face hurt me when he kisses me...
Word. Egan Ninjas Labels: Chris, Colin, deployment, emmaThis was a very weird weekend. One of the toughest since Chris left. A lot of it had to do with the weather since it was so nice during the week and then bone-chilling all weekend. The kids were both not feeling well; Colin more so than Emma. When Colin isn't well...unfortunately, we all feel the wrath. I understand but it hits you without a warning label attached...so patience is the only medicine for me.
Thankfully, today was a lot better. They are both still sick but at least the mood was a little more snuggly and less cat scratch fever.
I even saw Colin playing with Emma a few times during the day...
The picture just does not do it justice because when Colin speaks to her, he is so gentle and kind. When she cries sometimes he will go up to her, rub her forehead and say "don't cry Emma, it's ok"...Emma is completely smitten with him so many times these words work...love them.
Chris is back at FOB Shank today and got to ride in a helicopter to get back...*jealous*. A few times since he has left I had to tease him that it seemed like he was having too much fun. I am happy for him though, after all, if you have to be away from your wife and kids and everything else that is close to your heart, at least he is getting to 'play' with his 'boys', ya know?
Two more weeks until we are off to San Diego. We are more than excited about this trip. We were so spoiled living there last winter...anyway, have a great week! xo
