Jason on his last deployment and me the day I surprised him on the pier when he came home

Pictures

This post is dedicated to Christin Craig who inspired me with her great blog to finally post some updated pictures of Emma. Don't have many pictures of Jason and myself since most my pictures come from my cellphone.Emma couldn't be happier eating her french toast with syrup and crazy crazy hair. Who wouldn't be happy having crazy hair if you could honestly run around like that and no one would care

Road trip back to Washington after being in Arizona

A night in Jason's shoes

For some reason, I was super tired or had a headache, and I fell asleep on Jason's side of the bed. This is not the first time I have done this but generally when Jason comes to bed he'll move me over. And another thing you should know is that I have always asked Jason to sleep closest to the door in case of intruders he can quickly grab his sword and mount his steed to get to them with out me being in the way.

So, this night that I fell asleep on his side he decided not to disturb me and he went to bed on my side of the bed. That night I experienced something very weird and even days later I still think of it. I kept waking up that night having thoughts such as, "So, this is what it feels like to be the head of the house." and "I don't want to be in charge anymore, this is too stressful."

I don't know why I felt so much like I had to take Jason's roll that night, but I woke up feeling like I had really spent a night in his shoes. I'm so thankful that Jason is always willing to put himself on the line for his family. He takes my burdens and carries them for me, he locks the house up at night knowing I won't remember to do it, he takes over Emma's care with out me having to ask as soon as he comes in the door at the end of the day knowing that I will need the break even though he's worked all day, and he puts up with all my quirks no matter how quirky. I could never handle all this if I was him, and I'm thankful for a good head of the house that God has provided for me.

Sometimes I try to think where I would be if we had never met and its hard to even imagine. I have such a lovely life with a loving husband and a beautiful, funny daughter. I have thought of what my life would be with out them and I don't like it. Times can be tough from time to time and sometimes I really do feel like giving up. But, I would be miserable with out my family and therefore I must press on. (Said in an English accent as to mimic mad world for those of you who can appreciate that)

The little Peanut

Three months in Arizona really did Emma good. I knew my family would be a good thing for her. She was just the most obedient little girl while we were there and she is a real pleasure even now that we are back in Washington. Jason and I are so excited with the stage she is in right now. She can do so much on her own, she loves to learn new things, and is gleaning off of everything that Jason, myself, or the cats do. (Not to mention how she used to mimic Shelby, the dog, even in AZ drinking out of her bowl and running around the yard just like her) Yesterday, Emma was rolling around on the carpet and then laid in the fetal position on the corner of the rug. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was playing. I think she was mimicking Mowgli as he had been rolling around on the rug all day and both cats like to sit on the rug with their paws curled underneath them. It was just too funny. Emma is doing so well at going to bed too. Sometimes she'll even ask us if she can go to bed. It's so nice that we don't have the stress of bed time anymore. Now, we tell her it's time for bed, read to her or spend a little time with her and then lay her down. She says goodnight and there is no fuss. It's so nice. She is potty training now and while she likes to sit on the potty (which I could not say a month ago) she has not actually gone in the potty yet. Emma is saying or doing something new every day. She grows up so quickly because she's so smart. I look forward to every day with her to see what new things she will learn.

New house with the family together

Emma, to my knowledge, ended up handling my departure just fine. Although, I did ask my mom not to tell me how she reacted because I knew it would just make me sad. But, while in the end I see Emma did really miss me, she took our separation like a champ. I had gone up to WA to set up our new rental house and surprise Jason on the pier for his home coming. His 9 month deployment was not easy on us. It was the longest we had been apart thus far and we definitely had our burdens to bare this deployment. But he was very happy to have someone to greet him on the pier as that was not our original plan. We spent a couple days alone in our new rental house getting to know each other again and then flew down to Arizona to meet back up with Emma and drive the car back to WA. (I don't know if I ever said I had gone to Arizona to stay with my family while Jason was gone) The trip back was interesting to say the least. We arrived in Albuquerque as our first stop. The next morning we visited my Grandma and Uncle and family in Taos, New Mexico. It was the first time they had seen/met Emma and Jason so it was a much needed visit although short. We ate dinner at Dion's Pizza for dinner that night and either bad food or a convenient bug left Emma throwing up at 4 o clock in the morning and Jason and I not feeling 100% either. Since we were up taking care of a sick baby we decided to hit the road. The hotel clerk ended up being asleep when we went to check out and boy was he a deep sleeper. We knocked on the desk, cleared our throats, yelled "hey!", threw mints at him, yelled "fire, earthquake, and sand storm" all to no avail. Jason called the hotel phone and even shook him and still nothing. Finally, Jason basically had to knock him out of his chair to get him to wake up. We got a discount on our room for our silence. lol Once we were on the road, we couldn't get to Nampa fast enough. Emma was throwing up about every hour. We had to keep stopping at gas stations asking for bags and we had to keep them handy to catch the puke as we traveled. Of course, by the time we reached Kim's, Emma was surprisingly feeling well enough to play with her cousins. This was also the first time Jason had met Shane and the kids. We had a very nice dinner, breakfast, and visiting time with Kim's family before we made the final stretch back to WA. Emma got sick again on the ride back to WA and by the time we were home Jason and I were sick too. It never felt better to be in Oak Harbor and trust me, I won't be saying that again. That's not to say our trip wasn't fun. Family trip time is always fun even if we are sick.

Jason and I have since been unpacking boxes, organizing the house, and receiving new furniture. We enjoyed a special treat of our friends, the Craigs, coming over last night to see the house, eat pizza, make cookies, and play games.

I miss the Navy and it hurts my heart to be in this military community, but I am enjoying every minute of being home with Emma and I look forward to what future daily routines I can start with her.

Jason is back, cats are back, Emma and I are back. We're all but all together again. Just waiting on the rabbit and chinchilla.

19 March 11

Two nights ago I was two days away from leaving Emma for 10 days. She woke up with a fever that night and I let her get in bed with me. As we snuggled there I started to cry. My usual 'don't care-have no emotion' attitude was briefly set aside as I considered what 10 days with out my tiny tike would be. My biggest fear was that she would wake up the morning I left and not be able to find me. She wouldn't understand why I wasn't coming home. I have to hang on to the promise of seeing her again and it will be a nice surprise for her when she does see me again. I can already see the excited precious look she gets. So innocent and free of worldly traumas. Just happy to see her mommy. Traveling alone is what needed to be done but I hope not to have to leave Emma for so long very often.