Saturday, December 29, 2007

We'll Take a Cup of Kindness Yet...

As it's the end of the year, I feel like I should be reflective about this past twelve months. I should talk about all the changes that have occurred, from moving to England, to surviving yet another deployment, to the birth of our first child.

But I don't feel reflective. I haven't been spending this last week looking back, but looking forward. I'm excited for a potentially deployment free year (cross your fingers!) I'm so grateful that Tommy's found a good back office job. (Oh! Annoucement! Tommy got a back office job! He'll be working something called Personnel Security, which has to do with assisting people in getting Top Secret clearances and things like that. It's great because he'll be working a regular 8-4:30 Mon-Fri type of schedule. And it'll look great on his resume!)

I'm excited for my new job as Caleb's mom. I'm looking forward to hanging out with him and seeing him grow and change throughout the months. I can't wait till he reaches out to grab things and learns how to sit up and, most of all, begins to laugh! It amazes me already how much he's changed. He's not that skinny little helpless newborn anymore. He's a plump little pooper who spends his days squeaking and cooing and kicking his chunky little legs. He's already so much fun, and I can't wait till he's more interactive!

We're hoping to make a trip home (both SC and NE) this summer. We started saving while I was working at Keesler and already have quite a chunk set aside, but I can't beleive the prices of tickets! Plus, we have to think about the cost of boarding the dogs or paying someone to house/dog sit. As much as I want to go home and show off my COOLEST BABY EVER!, I hate the thought of all that money we've been (and will be) saving being spent at the click of a mouse. There's a part of me that wants to horde that money and make it into something much bigger than a trip home...like a down payment for a house when we move back to the states in three years. And yet, I so desperately want to go home and see everyone and share Caleb while he's still a baby. We'll see!

I'm excited that this upcoming year will be so drastically different than this year. I won't start off the year homeless. I have a family to enjoy. And hopefully we'll get to do some day trips around the country this year. I want to enjoy living in England and start to see some of the things I haven't had a chance to see yet, like Bath and Stonehenge and Brighton and Scotland and Ireland!

While I'm grateful for all the changes that occurred in 2007, I'm looking forward to a 2008 where I won't be pregnant and alone in a foreign country. I'm hoping I will become a better mom and wife this year. And I'm hoping to become a better Kelly all around. I want to write more and really invest in the creative side of myself that has been dormant for so long. I want to awaken the side of me that makes me feel most like myself.

So, good-bye, 2007! I'm glad you were here, but I'm glad you're leaving, too. Let's get on to a new year!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

our family

It's so wonderful having my husband back! Today is one week that he's been home. It's great to have the cleaner half of our partnership back so he can get me back on track! Also, I rarely have a chance to do the dishes (no complaints here!) because half the time he's grabbing my plate to wash it before I'm even done eating! (Seriously! Ask me first! ;)

But even more fun is seeing Tommy with Caleb. It was so cute the first few days when he was still a little scared to hold him. The first time he carried Caleb in his car seat, I couldn't help but laugh at the awkward way he was carrying it. It's been fun teaching him how to make a bottle, how to take the car seat out of the car, and how to sleep through Caleb's non-stop nocturnal grunting and squeaking.

I just love seeing them together! I love how silly Tommy is with him, and how much Caleb enjoys it. It's so wonderful to finally get to experience our family as a complete unit. I'm looking forward to our first Christmas with Caleb.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

It's December!

It's finally December! For the first time this year I can say, "My husband comes home THIS MONTH!" My countdown is on, and although I can't share dates because of security reasons, I can say that by the middle of this month, by husband *should* be home!

It's been a long deployment, no doubt. Doing pregnancy alone was challenging, but I was blessed with a pretty easy pregnancy. And thank GOD for my mom coming at the end to be here for Caleb's birth and to help me with the first couple of months!

This was, by far, the hardest deployment yet. We had only been here in England three months when Tommy left. I had barely started at my job and new almost no one. Our house was still so new to me that it didn't feel like home. And the time difference between here and the states made phone calls a little challenging. The first few months were probably some of the loneliest of my life.

But here we are, nearly at the end of the deployment! Zeus no longer waits and whines at the door every night, but I know he'll jump out of his skin to greet Tommy when he walks through the door the first time. And I can't WAIT to see my husband's face the first time he sees and holds his son. I've been waiting for that for MONTHS!

I'm just so glad it's finally almost over! Now if only I could keep my husband for a solid year or so, I'd be set.

In other news, Caleb slept in his crib in his own room all night for the first time last night! I was so proud of the little booger. He'll be 2 months old on Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to seeing how much this little turkey weighs by then. :) More than that, though, I'm really looking forward to being a family when Tommy gets home.