Just Because

Today was sort of an off day; we did not do much. I had to write two article reviews for my class, one in a memo format and the other in a paper format. Of course they were both due by tonight and I waited until today to do them! We did go to the post office and mail a package out to Tony. When we got back home I told Hannah how messy the living room was and she looked at me and said "Oh.My.Gosh.Mommy, it's messy." It was so funny I just laughed! I think she picked that phrase up from her daddy because I do not say that. Then, she was running around without a shirt on because she spilled water down the front of her and just because she has a perfect nose like belly button I drew a face on her belly! She was running around in her typical fashion and since I was busy most of the evening working on my papers, the hurricane Hannah roared through the living room again.
Alexander is just getting so big so fast...and I'm not just talking size wise either. He no longer stays in one spot on the floor because he scoots. However, he hates to be on his stomach so he scoots on his back. If I recall correctly this is how his sister started out. He is just so grabby, he will stare intently at something I have (like a glass) and as soon as it gets in his reach he is grabbing it! I have to be extra careful with what I'm holding now. He is also getting very vocal and is very loud. He just squeals away. Since Daddy has left he is getting pretty spoiled; when he wakes up at night I end up just leaving him in my bed. Oh well, we have seven months to break that habit.
I am so excited because Tony is settled in and has started working, which means e-mails. In the past two days I have gotten almost 50!!! Mind you that is back and forth chatting so most of them are only a couple of sentences, but I am so blessed to be able to stay connected with him. I talked to him on the phone last night as well. He is working the night shift right now, which is great for me because his hours are like 3pm-12am my time. Meaning I don't have to wait up to talk to him like I did last time.
Anyway, that is just a bunch of ramblings from today. My creative juices have not been flowing lately, so I apologize for the randomness of this post. I do have a picture to post of Hannah's belly face, but I will do that in the morning.

Top of the mornin' to ya!

One of the local beaches was having a festival to honor all the local Irishmen and women. So we went along with our friend Becky to have some fun. Hannah had the best time! Of course Becky spoiled her (and me) rotten. She bought her tickets to ride rides and me some coffee and food. The first thing she wanted to do was to ride the helicopter ride. I wasn't sure if parents were allowed so I just put her on the ride and left. She got upset and would not wave at us or even look at us the entire time. Instead she just sat there with her mad face on. We then attempted to go on a couple of the blow up things...of course she couldn't go in by herself. In both of them she freaked out and wanted to leave, but as soon as we got out she wanted back in, go figure. We finally went back and she rode the helicopter again. This time when I put her on the ride she said "Mommy watch." She waved and wore her proud face this time around. I think she realized that she could do it by herself. Alex was a trooper the entire time, just hanging out in the stroller. There was Celtic music (bagpipes) that Hannah really enjoyed, as well as lots of different craft booths. Of course what is a festival without food? Unfortunately, by this time it was getting crowded, Alex was getting fussy and we were all getting a little cold; so we just grabbed some food and left. No funnel cakes though:( I wish I would have thought to take the camera with me because I would have loved to get some pictures of Hannah riding those helicopters.

Update...

Just a quick update, so far we are doing pretty good in the Tater-tots household. We have an awesome ya*hoo group for the families that has been great! Haven't heard from hubby yet, but I got a message from the KV and she said the hot line had been updated today. So I called it and it said they were waiting for transport to their location. So, hopefully I will hear from him in the next couple of days. Tater seems to be adjusting well, she has been her usually joyful self. Yesterday when we were picking up her prescription she was prancing around in circles singing one of her praise songs. Very cute...until she started yelling them! Anyway, just wanted to put a quick update.

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Update on my update...I just talked to him!!! The connection was great and we got to talk for about 20 minutes! They are still waiting on transport so please pray for safe travels

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P.S. Are my comments working? I haven't gotten one in a long time, so give me a shout if you are out there....

Broken

Well, today was the day that we have been dreading...Daddy left for Iraq earlier today. It was a lot harder then I expected. I thought I had prepared myself mentally for it, but I was not prepared for the emotions that flooded me when I saw my husband say goodbye to our children. It was especially hard when Hannah was crying:(

We thought that she was prepared because she was so excited about going to Ohio, unfortunately I think that she was just focusing on that to "help" adjust. When Tony got dressed today and said he was getting ready for work, it was an instant meltdown. She did not want Daddy to leave. I think this made it even harder for Daddy.

Here are my two men, looking so identical:) Of course Alexander did not understand what was going on, so he was Mr. Personality. Smiling away at Daddy, which made me so sad. He loves playing with Daddy and all the sudden this person is going to go "missing" from his life. In seven months when Daddy returns, Alex won't even remember him.
I wish her hair wasn't blowing in her face for this picture, it is such a sweet shot.
Daddy with his two kids, notice the tears in the girls eyes! They are going to be so big when he returns...well Alex will be so much bigger, Hannah will just be older.

The highlight of the day was when Daddy took her over to the "big truck." It was the first smile of the day and it got better from there! Here she is driving!
She has already talked about him a couple times today; wanting to call him or show him a picture she drew. As you can tell it has been an emotional day. I do not remember it being this hard the last time!!! Thankfully, we will be going to Ohio soon and that will keep us busy for the deployment. If you haven't noticed there is a countdown at the bottom of the page. It is tentative because I don't know the exact date or time that he will be returning so I just have it set for October 15th at 5pm. Please keep us in your prayers as Daddy travels and we adjust!

Tub Time!

Changing

The boy is now five months, geesh he is getting so big. He has been discovering so much lately. About a week ago, he found his feet and now he loves grabbing them. He has also figured out how to really get his jumper to bounce. I think that is one of his favorite places to be, sitting in his jumper just a bouncing along. He has now rolled over I think three times without any assistance, but that is few and far between. Last night we gave him cereal for the first time. I was planning on waiting until he was six months, but I wanted Hubby to see it before left. Hubs laughed when I told him we were going to do it and said he didn't think he was ready. Well, boy was he wrong. Alexander opened his mouth right up and would practically eat the spoon he liked it so much. I guess he was ready!

I go to hio Mommy?!

I haven't posted about Badoo lately so here are a couple of little stories about what the girl has been up to:
Two Fridays ago I took her to get her hair cut. She was such a good girl, she sat there with no problem and admired her puppy dog cape. The problem came when she was all done. She. did. not. want. to. take. off. that. cape. She was so mad at the hairdresser. She would not even look at her.... Later that day we were talking and she said "Hannah, get a hair cut," and used her fingers as scissors across her bangs. It was so cute. Then she said "I wear puppies..." with a sad expression!
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We have been talking to her lately about Daddy leaving for Iraq soon. Trying to explain that he won't see her for a long time but he won't forget her etc. We also add that she will be moving to Ohio and will get to see her grandparents, aunts and uncles and play with all her cousins. I think she zones in on that point and forgets about Daddy leaving. The first thing she said to me this morning when I woke her up was "I go to hio Mommy?"
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We gave brother some cereal the other night, Hannah of course thought this was such a fun thing to do. She sat next to me as I fed him and watched. I asked her if she wanted to taste it and she exclaimed "NO! I TOO BIG!"