So Proud...

My brother in law, David, returned Saturday from a year long deployment in Afghanistan.  Steven, James and I were there to see him get off the plane and welcome him home.  It brings you to tears to hear a year's worth of pent up of anticipation, joy, worry, love, and raw emotion come out in the shouts of the families as they see their soldier get off the plane, and as they shout out their name as they walk by.  To see them in formation, walking into the hanger for the ceremony brings so much pride.  We are so proud of David for his hard work, dedication to his country and fellow soldiers, and for making it through some tough years.  It also makes me so proud of my own husband and thankful for the country we live in and the people who are willing to sacrifice everything to protect it.  I feel blessed to just be part of it all. 

Welcome Home David!

It's been entertaining...

Eating has always been James' favorite part of the day, and lately he's been demanding utensils.  He's still not great at getting the food into his mouth, but he does a pretty good job of stabbing it with his fork.  It's a good thing we're back with Lacy...aka the Vacuum...because this new little skill creates quite a mess on the floor! 

Also, James has really enjoyed playing with Aunt Anna this week.  She and Scott came to stay at Mom and Dad's with James and I this week, and they brought their kitten, Sheldon.  Sheldon is a risk taker...he has tormented Lacy all week!  It's been quite comical.  He sneaks up on Lacy and whacks at her ears or tail...it's amazing Lacy puts up with it.  It's been entertaining!

Irreplaceable...

This is a really hard post to write.  These wonderful women and their amazing husbands have been our core group of friends at Ft. Campbell.  We have made so many memories together from vacations, to deployments, weekends, parties, pregnancy, kids, crafts, laughs, tears, game nights, festivals, shopping, food, wine, cookouts, conversations....you name it, we've done it together.  It's so hard to say goodbye to friends who have been by your side through everything...you all are irreplaceable!  Come visit us in Savannah, and we'll come visit you too! 

We went to the Melting Pot in Nashville for one last night on the town.  Steven and I have already PCS'd and Erin and Daniel are going to Ft. Rucker next week.

Me & Steven, Lisa & Eric, Mary & Kieth, Erin & Daniel

Not pictured but still very important: Regan & Josh, Holly & Mark

Spiritual Sisters

These ladies have been my spiritual sisters for the past three years.  We were all in the Military Wives Bible Study group at Gateway Christian Church at one point or another.  Not only did we share our faith, struggles, celebrations, and so many memories, but we have developed some true and lasting friendships.  I have learned so much from these amazing women and will truly miss them.  In the transient Army life, moving doesn't always mean "goodbye"...but hopefully "see you again soon!"

We said "See you later" at a fun Mexican feast last week, thanks again ladies!

Delilah, Amie, Jenae, Kim, Kelly, Vickie, Sarah, Kelly

New House!

We took a quick trip down to Savannah this Saturday-Tuesday to look for a new place to live.  We found an amazing home at an even better price!  It is AWESOME and has so much room, so please come visit us!  We're in Savannah city limits, 15 minutes from downtown, 35 minutes from the beach and 35 minutes from Ft. Stewart.  We couldn't be more excited! 
It's a new home and comes with so many nice features, plus the builder put in tons of money towards incentives and closing costs.  We'll be getting stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, sod in front and back yard, privacy fence, and all of our closing costs paid.  It's a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, open floor plan, plus an office, loft, laundry room, and so much storage space.  we are in L.O.V.E!  Tentative move in date of April 25th...

 

 Office/den downstairs

 powder room and laundry room....LAUNDRY ROOM!!  YAY!!

 Loft with overlook to entryway, master bedroom below.

 Master closet is HUGE.  bigger than James' current bedroom  :)

 Master Bath

 James' bedroom and huge closet

 Side of the house, cute little tree...we're going to have neighbors soon it appears. 

 Backyard, will have privacy fence and sod by the time we move in!

I got a kiss...

James got a clean bill of health on Tuesday.  We had a follow up with his pediatrician, she listened to his little chest and it was all clear!  Thank God!  He's back to his normal...eating, playing, smiling, talking, reading, running us like crazy.  We love it! 

His new thing this month has been animals.  He's noticing everything, dogs, birds, bunnies, the animals on his bedroom bumper and comforter...i can't wait to get him and Lacy back together!  Every time he hears a dog bark he runs to the window to "woof woof" back at them.  Tonight we sat by the window, listened to the birds and dogs, and felt the warm 75 degree breeze in our hair.   And I got a kiss....

Home Sweet Home

We made it home from the hospital this evening.  We took James to the ER Sunday morning with extremely labored breathing.  He wasn't eating, drinking, playing or anything, just lethargic and having a really hard time getting air.  We were counting his breathing, it should be 30-ish breaths a minute, 60 is considered an emergency situation, and James was averaging 70-74!  yikes.  needless to say, he needed some oxygen and professional care. 
They took another set of chest xrays on Sunday and they looked worse than the ones taken Thurs.  They admitted him and proceeded to give him breathing treatments, antibiotics, and steroids...not to mention some invasive respiratory therapy.  They had to go down his nose into his lungs with this syringe thing and suck out the stuff clogging him up....twice...while he was awake and screaming.  we were all in tears, i hope to never have to see him go through that again.  That being said, it definitely helped! 
The biggest problem we were having was maintaining his blood oxygen levels while he was sleeping.  He'd drop down between 86-90 and no pediatrician was comfortable with that.  They gave him oxygen during the last two nights, and about 4:00am today (Tues.) he turned the corner.  They took him off oxygen then, and he woke up a few hours later ready to play, read, eat, and get off of that hospital bed! He was like a brand new kid.  He kept his oxygen up all day, even during his nap, so they sent us home!  yay! 
This RSV is no joke, poor little kiddos can't cough or blow their noses hard enough to get that junk out, so it can turn into bronchiolitis or pneumonia quickly.  Thankfully he's a tough guy and handled being a patient very well, all the nurses loved him!
Thanks for all of your prayers, phone calls, emails, and support. I also apologize if you didn't find out about it until reading this.  the internet at the hospital was not very good, and honestly there really wasn't much time to write a post while dealing with everything.  ahhh...but we're home sweet home now, and I'm off to bed. 

goodnight. 

Sick Boy

Our little guy is sick.  This virus has hit him hard with fever, labored breathing, coughing and sneezing.  It is not fun.  He doesn't want to play, read or eat....and we know he's really sick when he's not hungry!  The only thing he wants to do is snuggle up with his green pillow and his daddy.  We were at the doctor Thursday, Friday and go back again on Monday, and know we're getting good care.  We LOVE his pediatrician, thank goodness.  This bronchiolitis has been an ongoing issue with James, but this is the first time a fever has come with it.  hopefully we're turning the corner and maybe today will be the last "bad" day he has.  poor little guy. 

Smiling...

We got an offer on our house last night, and after just one counter offer, they accepted and will sign the contract today at 11:00am.  It was awesome.  I really have not stressed too much about selling until last week when Steven got his orders, and reality hit that it was only a month until he'd be starting his new job.  Besides keeping the house clean, there is really nothing to do besides pray pray pray.  We did lots of that :)

some of you know, but it's been really hard for Steven to swallow leaving Ft. Campbell.  This was his first and favorite duty station, where he fell in love with the Army, and where he dreamed of staying for most of his career.  It's been hard for him to see any silver lining (besides the beach) about going to Ft. Stewart....
......until last night.......
when the buyers gave us a full price offer!  They only asked us to purchase a 1 year home warranty, which is pretty standard, and they wanted us to pay 4% of their closing costs.  We countered back with an offer to pay only 3% of their closing costs and they accepted the offer!!  Also, our realtor offered to pay for the home warranty too...so really, we got the best possible deal we could imagine.  it has been amazing.  Steven said last night that he finally had a sense of peace about moving, and that maybe Stewart is what God has planned for us....thank you to eveyone for the prayers, we have felt them working! 

All you USAA folks...we highly recommend the Mover's Advantage Program they offer.  We've had exceptional service and follow up from them.  They worked diligently on making sure we had enough realtors to interview, and that the one we chose was doing their job to our standards.  It was great, and we'll definitely use them again.  Also, our realtor was Janet Head with Coldwell Banker, and I'd highly recommend her to any of you moving to the Clarksville area.  She tells it like it is, works hard, kept in great contact, always got follow-up on the showings, and made sure our home was listed on every "for sale" website possible.  In the end, she was the one who brought the buyer into our home (which realtors usually don't like to do because it puts them in a bad situation working for both the seller and buyer), and it SO FAR has worked out smoothly.  I'm trying not to get too excited...the home won't close until the end of March, so nothing is finalized until signatures.  Plus, we still have to get the inspection and appraisal done which could bring problems. 

Until then, I'm going to smile, have my coffee, and maybe not even make my bed today  :)