Reading

I know I've already posted once today, but I just had to share this video. Brady loves to read! I bought him this book for Christmas and it's been his favorite ever since! Mom & Dad: Scroll down to my playlist and hit the pause button (the big one in the middle). That way you can hear Brady "reading" instead of the music.

A Few Pictures

If I didn't know better, I'd swear that toddlers were bi-polar. The following pictures were taken over a 3 minute span...

It went something like this...

"Yay! Daddy's coming home! I love to practice waving my flag!"

"I'm finished with the flag waving Mama! The camera looks like more fun, but you won't give it to me....GIVE IT TO ME!!"

"Oooooohh! Books! That looks like fun."

"I'm about to make an uh-oh Mama, so I'm making my uh-oh face ahead of time."

And there it is...A big mess made by a little boy!

Here are a few pics from the park last Sunday. I know...I post a lot of park pics. That's because we go to the park a lot! It burns off all of that pent up energy! And believe me he's got plenty!

Feeling the Funk

So...it's been a week since I've posted. That's because I haven't really felt like it and because we really haven't done much to talk about. We're just waiting...and waiting....

I've been in a funk the last few days. The first almost 5 weeks since we've been back in Germany have passed by so quickly, but about 4 days ago, this began to feel like the deployment that would never end! It probably didn't help that Buck has been delayed a few days. I know, it's been 14 months already, what's 3 extra days? I guess it's just that I thought our countdown had dwindled down to single digits and then we were suddenly back to double digits!

Everywhere you go on post there's 100 guys in uniform, with their babies and holding hands with their wives. It brings tears to my eyes nearly every time! I'm just so ready for that to be us! I miss Buck more now than I have this entire deployment! I just can't wait to see his face when he sees his little man!

Anyway, I'm feeling much better now and and I've decided to come out of my self-induced hibernation/pitty party. We're back into the single digits! Brady's been practicing waving his little flag for daddy. It's the cutest thing ever...I should probably get a picture of that, huh? I'll try to remember tomorrow and post one for ya'.

Wordless Wednesday

I'm stealing the Wordless Wednesday blog idea from my friend Monica...Just pictures and captions! Enjoy...

Brady with his new friend, Oatmeal Bear.

Buck's grandmother, Nana, knitted these little slippers. Aren't they adorable?!

Last week, when the weather was actually nice, we met Monica and her cuties at the playground just down the street. Brady was pooped by the time we left! The playground is his favorite place to go! :)

I think Brady's starting to get scared of Will. Will thinks he can pick Brady up and carry him everywhere! :) Will's 2! :)

Brady in the door of his favorite little "house".

A Mother's Love

" A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." ~Washington Irving

The love of a mother. Is there anything so true, so pure? I think not. I didn't completely understand this until the first time I held my baby boy. I wasn't alive until that moment in time. I existed, yes, but as a woman, not as a mother. And you haven't really lived until you've lived and loved as a mother. When I looked into that beautiful little face I realized what I was on this earth to do. I knew the reason I was born. Life came full circle.

I think that's why God gives us mothers; so that we can understand Christ's love for us. Though we can never know the fullness of His love, we better understand it through glimpses of a mother's love. Just as we are the image of our mothers, we were made to be the image of Christ. We are His. His child, His creation, His love. When we cry, He weeps with us. When we hurt, His heart breaks with us. When we laugh, He rejoices with us. He is with us every minute of every day. Time nor space can separate us from Him. He loved us so much that He gave His life for us. Is that not like the love of a mother? Would you not give your last breath so that your child might know the beauty of life?

I have never known true honor, true love, true fear, until I knew it through the eyes of a mother. It is my hope that one day when my children are grown, with little ones of their own, that I will still be the one they call, the place they run to. I hope that they draw strength from the lessons I've taught them. I hope that they draw patience and kindness from the legacy I've left them. I hope that they draw comfort from the love I've given them. I hope that they find peace in the assurance I've given them. I hope that they find laughter in the memories we've made. If they remember nothing else, I hope that they remember laughter. I hope that I can teach them to find the joy in everyday. I hope that I can teach them to live life fearlessly. I hope that I am their hero. I hope that I can prepare them for those times when the cold winds of life blow and that when I am no longer close enough to dry their tears, I'm the voice that gets them through...their reason to carry on.

I find that as a mother there are many times when I don't know quite what to do, when I think I can't carry on, and in those times I think of my mother, a beautiful, loving, caring woman with a big heart. I remember all of the things she has taught me...dedication, perseverance, loyalty, honesty, trustworthiness, the value of knowing Christ, how to face adversity with grace, how to laugh and to laugh often, how to be a friend, how to love, how to be a mother, how to be a hero...and I find the answer. And I rest secure, knowing that even if I can't, I'm never too far for her love to find me. That's the beauty of a mother's love. It transcends time, space and all understanding. It crosses all barriers, reaches out into the darkness and finds you wherever you are.

So, today I honor you, my mother, and those of you who have been and who are yet to be.

Happy Mother's Day!

JOY

My dictionary defines Joy this way: Intense and ecstatic or exultant happiness.

We all have moments in our lives when we experience great joy. Graduations, weddings, the birth of a child, buying a new home for the first time, landing that perfect job, getting that long over due promotion, but only a proud few know the joy that comes with being reunited after the emotional roller coaster of a deployment. Tonight, I am honored and proud that I can celebrate that joy with you.

Military familes are a different breed. We stand a little taller and a little prouder when we hear the national anthem, or see a yellow ribbon tied around a tree, or a flag waving in the breeze, or a welcome home sign hanging on a gate, even if it doesn't belong to us. At any given moment any one of those things can fill our eyes with tears. Because we know the sacrifice, we understand the price that comes along with them. We are a family in and of ourselves. We support each other, cry with each other, laugh with each other, and perhaps best of all celebrate and rejoice with each other.

Tonight all over this post there are wives, husbands and children experiencing this most wonderful emotion we call joy! Families are reunited, and perhaps, for the first time in long time, they will lay their heads on their pillows and feel that all is right in their world again.

Today, the first soldiers from our unit began arriving from a long 14 months away from all they love. We're all finally realizing that we've made it! We've survived! The light is burning bright at the end of the tunnel for us all. But for those families who are celebrating tonight, I cannot begin to explain just how much joy they are feeling, or how joyful I am for them.

I know that joy. Twice, I've been in their shoes, and pretty soon, I will be again. After all the letters, all the phone calls, all the care packages and trips to the post office, all of the prayers...your moment arrives. It is simply indescribable. Next to the birth of Brady, I don't think I've ever known such joy! Those few hours or minutes, waiting in those bleachers, or on the tarmac, or in the hangar to see that face you've missed for so long, are the longest of the whole deployment. You wait and watch as little ones run around holding their signs and waving their little flags. You see the new wife waiting to spend more than a few months with her husband. You see the proud mother and father waiting to greet their son. And then, the music starts and in they march. You feel as if you're going to burst...burst with overwhelming joy, overwhelming emotion, overwhelming thankfulness, overwhelming pride...your moment has arrived. God has seen you through! And then, in the crowd you see your loved ones face. That memory is burned in your mind forever. It's one you'll never forget, one you'll take to your grave. It's one of the things that get you through the second...and third deployment.

So tonight, I rejoice with those of you who's husband, father, hero, is home and with those of you who's moment is yet to come!

In Need of Testosterone

My poor little boy! Oh, how he needs a man in his life! You can tell that the presence of testosterone has been lacking in our house for quite a while! Every morning he sits and plays and watches me get dressed. He plays patiently as I put on make-up, fix my hair, pick out my jewelry and my bag... He loves to pilfer through all of my drawers and my closet. As you know, at this age they're little sponges and begin to imitate every thing they see. As evidenced in the pictures, he's seen my routine one too many times! Husband, you need to hurry home or we might have a cross-dressing situation on our hands in no time!