OUR JOURNEY IN GERMANY!: Forever and a DAY!

Christmas 2009

Brent on his first flight in a while January 7, 2009. If you look closely he's holding an Optimus Prime. He takes it everywhere and takes pictures of it so that Mason has something to follow and identify with while Daddy's in the "desert."

Well, hello blogging world! I guess I have finally decided it's been long enough since my last blog and have decided to enter the world again! I truly feel like I have been COMPLETELY out of the loop for some time now. As you can see, the last blog was back in October. After we got back from Paris, our lives hit the fast forward button and I think we're still in that mode, but starting to slow down a bit. We had family come in mid October all the way up until the 31st. WE enjoyed getting to show everyone around and let them experience a little of what the culture shock is like when you first arrive. After my mom and Brent's sister left, we had a little over a week before my dad arrived. After he arrived, we began "closing up shop" if you will to prepare for a year apart as a family. I began packing bags and mailing boxes of our "stuff" back to the states so we wouldn't have so much to bring back in suit cases, Brent made the finishing touches on his duffels to head further east with him, and collectively we tried to begin making sense of what it would be like apart from each other and Brent from our babies for another long year. Even as I blog about it now, it's still hard to talk about. The day came and went (thank goodness) and we were back in the states. The kids did exceptionally well on the plane overall and although their little bodies were on a completely different timetable when we made it over here, it wasn't too terrible for them. I must be getting old because my body was in a fog for almost a month, I guess. I was on the right schedule and all, but it just didn't feel right at times. I think if I had a day or two where I could have just slept and slept, it might have helped, but the truth is, anybody would struggle to get back on a good schedule. It was good and bad that VERY shortly after we got back here, Thanksgiving rolled right on in. I don't think I was completely there that day still :) I did thoroughly enjoy being back here and being able to have the traditional celebrations that we've always enjoyed, though. The week after thanksgiving, we all got a bit sick, but once we were well, Mason headed off to school. The night before we went, Mason was terribly worried, but had NO trouble adjusting at all once we made it there. It was as if I had dropped him off like that every day prior. I guess it shows just how resilient little guys are. It's a good thing since our whole life revolves around resliency being military and all.... Anyhow as quickly as Thanksgiving came and went, so did Christmas. It was a great day, but busy as usual. So here we are, the week after New Years. As Brent put it, the best part about the new year is that now we are actually IN the calendar year that he will return home!

Since Brent left (and since we've last blogged), Miss Sadie bug is a NEW girl! She can now sit up completely on her own, eats baby food two times a day, can say, "DaDa" and "MaMa", gives wet, slobbery kisses, waves bye bye, and even tries to handle a few puffs. The girl is HUGE. Well, she was only in the 50% in her weight when we went for her 6 month appointment, but in comparison with what Mason was, she seems like a giant. I am surprised I am even able to lug her around in her carseat out in public now. She weighs 17 pounds now and to give you an idea or comparison of how it was with Mason, at 13 months he weighed 18 pounds and at 7 months, she weighs 17 pounds! She is also a MAMA's GIRL! I have been told by MANY in my family that this is payback for how I was like when I was little. I seriously cannot turn the corner with out an ear piercing WAIL coming out of her! It's kind of neat sometimes, but others, I just want her to be content with someone else so I can breathe a second or two without a baby on my hip :) Anyhow, she is fairly well scheduled, completely weaned off of nursing, and loves to be in the bed by 7:30.

Sadie at 5 months old

Sadie at 6 months old

Sadie at 7 months old

My little man, Mason, is learning how to cope and get some "male" time while Daddy's away. He prays for Daddy every night (and also other various hilarious things like Santa, his elf, Willis, and even inanimate objects). He misses Daddy and isn't afraid to tell you that. He asks a million and one questions about ANYthing and EVERYthing. We have seriously covered subjects such as how Sadie came out of my tummy (no he REALLY wanted to know, but after several distractions we were able to steer away from that whole subject), to why we're in the women's bathroom, how boys stand up to pee, but girls do not, to why is this lady right here at this particular moment in time, and every other subject you can possibly think of. He is still seriously a sponge and just takes it all in. He has learned several new "Papaisms" from my Dad. If you know my Dad at all, you know that he makes up and say silly stuff to which Mason finds completely amusing and repeats it. Not all of it is that flattering for him to be saying! He is also the BEST big brother I could have ever imagined him to be. He does not like for anyone, including myself, to utter a negative word or tone towards his Sadie bug. I have been told that I'm not nice and to stop telling Sadie no many a times. If she cries after I say anything, he immediately goes to her and starts baby talking her and chastising me for "hurting her little feelings." Sadie was screaming one day and Mason's cousin, Payne, put his hands over his ears. Mason took some serious offense to this and told Payne to, "not be mad at my baby sister." It really is quite cute, but I'm afraid we're going to have some trouble in the near future when she is more mobile and wants his stuff. I really do think he might give her something that could in turn hurt her because he just wants to give her everything she thinks she needs!

Mason loves to go to Monkey Joe's

At Mason's new preschool, they had a Christmas program. Mason probably did not know all of the songs because he had only been going to school for a week and a half before they had the program. Instead of showing any kind of embarassment, he just decided to go silent altogether! This is what we saw for about 90% of the performance!