Homecoming

Well. We survived. 6 months. Yesterday, we finished preparing for Daddy's arrival by hanging the banner on the front gate of the complex and cleaning the last minute things around the house. Daddy was due to arrive at 7:30pm, but called from Illinois in the morning to say they would be 4 hours early. Whew! Mommy and Will scrambled to shower, eat lunch and squeeze in a nap (for the kid) before heading to MCAS MIRAMAR to greet Daddy's plane. And we literally got to greet the plane. We got to stand in a fenced off area on the tarmac and watch the sky for the plane. Of everyone in the crowd, Will was the first to spot the plane in the clouds, shouting, "PLANE! SEE IT!" and pointing it out to the rest of the nervous and excited crowd.


The plane landed right in front of us, taxied around and, while everyone held their breath, the door slowly opened and about 80 "Daddys" got off. There was a lot of shouting, "DADDY!" from the crowd of kids.

We spotted our Daddy before he spotted us, and finally got our first hug since September. Will wasn't ready to let go and was eager to carry Daddy's bags home. Since then, he's been "teaching" Daddy how to use all his toys and helping him with various chores around the house that require tools.

Today we head to Kylie's doctor's appointment where Daddy will hear his first hearbeat. He got to feel plenty of kicks last night.

TOMORROW

Today's preschool class included an extra special craft project.

2 More Days

Will: Version 2.5

Today is Will's half birthday! He's been telling people he's "two half" for a few weeks now, but today makes it official. For the record, he's also acting like a two and a half year old, pushing his limits and his mommy and testing the rules left and right. He's not getting very far, though.

The other day we tried out Candy Land for the first time. Will's reactions: 1. Candy? Eat? Where Candy?!! 2. "Hello man! Walk on sidewalk? Eat candy?" 3. He decided picking up the cards and such was too slow for him. He flipped all the cards over and built his own sidewalk for the men to walk on.

After our morning grocery shopping trip, where we added "Daddy food" to our list for his anticipated arrival THIS WEEK, we headed over to the duck pond to get rid of some stale crackers from the snack cabinet. The ducks and seagulls and whatever those black birds are were very grateful for the mid-morning treat. A little too grateful. (Mommy is not a fan of birds)

*We dedicate the last picture in this post to Ashley. :)

To-Do List

we have a lot to do before Daddy comes home in 5 days! Good thing we made a list.

replace the battery in Daddy's car

wash and vacuum Daddy's car...so it looks like we babied it for 6 months

give Daddy's car a new paint job

get the boy a haircut (in a train!)

clean the whole apartment

put away the clothes Mommy hasn't put away since November

hang up the Welcome Home banner

remove all items from closet that are blocking Daddy's side

grocery shop for 3.89 people

figure out what pillows Daddy plans to use...there is at least one benefit to being pregnant during a deployment...pillows & bed= all for Mommy and baby

A Letter From Gram

Dear East Coast,

I'm sorry if I've been out of touch lately, but I'm very busy keeping the sun out of my eyes. I might not make it back if I get sunned in here in California. I hope you will carry on without me.

Love,

Gram

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Valentine's Day

Gram is visiting us for 4 days, beginning very early in the morning on Valentine's Day. Will was so excited to find Gram sleeping on the air mattress on Sunday morning. Since it's in the 80s here, we decided to spend our Valentine's Day morning playing at the beach. Once again, it's the same beach we went to when Ashley and Erin visited us, and the same one from our post-storm pictures. Every time we go to the beach it looks different. This time, the waves were as big as we've ever seen them and they washed right up to the curb, leaving very little room for digging...but plenty of room for frolicking getting soaking wet. One little boy may have been knocked down by the waves, but he was more upset about his clothes being wet than the actual experience of tumbling into shore. Two minutes later he was at it again.

Later on, Gram and Will made chocolate covered strawberries for Mommy and our neighbor, Terry (her birthday is today! Happy Birthday, Terry!). Yum yum.

Soccer Stars

Kylie's appointment on Friday went pretty much the same as all the others. Just ask Will.

As we were headed to the early morning appointment, we hit some traffic. Mommy said, "Traffic? I hope I don't miss the appointment." to herself. Will never misses anything. He started yelling (he's in a bossy stage), "Cars! Go fast! NEED MEASURE KYLIE! Traffic! Go away! Will MEASURE KYLIE!!!" Already a protective brother.

We made it to the doctor and waited around because somehow, my chart was misplaced. Weird. We were just there 10 days ago. At any rate, soon we saw the midwife, measured Kylie, found Kylie's heartbeat, asked our questions of the week. We had to report in our kick count results. It never takes Kylie longer than 4 minutes to kick or move 10 times in the evening. She's an all star.

So is this kid.

Will is in a Saturday sports class, but the first class was rained out, the 2nd class didn't go very smoothly, and the 3rd class was rained out. Will was feeling more himself today, for the 2nd class of soccer! (they do two weeks of each sport...baseball, soccer, football, and basketball)

It's pretty warm out this weekend, so Will chose his outfit for soccer accordingly. And then Mom made some minor adjustments.

Will was a total all star this time. He followed the coach's directions, ran in all the races, kicked the ball hard, and practiced his 'trap'. Given the heat and the running, Mom was wondering whose brilliant idea this parent and me sports class was...oh wait...it was Mom's. Thank goodness relief is on the way. We sure hope Daddy is bringing his Red Bull with him because this sports kid is hard to catch.

Cupid's Right Hand Man

Happy Valentine's Day!

Need a little help in the love department this year?

This heartbreaker's got you covered.

Afterall, Cupid is his homeboy.