2 Weeks Down

We are now two weeks into our 6 month adventure and I feel like we've done pretty well. Of course we miss Zach, but we are doing just fine. 

Truthfully, we've been pretty of busy.  We went to Sea World one day, had a play date or two,  got haircuts, went out for ice cream, swim lessons, had movie night, and a pj day.  We are definitely not just sitting around missing Daddy. 

But when we do miss him, we can go over to our wall that we decorated just for the deployment. We know what time it is where he is.  There is a map so the girls can see just where he is and where we are.  There are photos and we try to write down one thing a day to remember to tell him when we get the chance to talk to him.

Haley enjoys writing things to tell Daddy.  She was so excited that she grabbed a Sharpie and wrote "I *heart* you dad" on the dry erase board.  It was a really sweet thought, but we quickly had a chat about which marker was ok to write with.

Every night the girls get to have a kiss from Daddy.

And then we cross off another day that he has been gone.

The girls also got their Daddy Dolls about a week ago.  It has a picture of Zach in his uniform and a little message from him to each girl.  It has been a huge hit and they both enjoy being able to sleep with "Daddy" each night.

The girls take turns to say a little prayer before bedtime to ask God to keep watching over Daddy and keep him safe while he is on his deployment.

So our days have been busy and we always take time to think about him.  We have been able to talk to Zach on the phone a few times and Skype once.  The girls really enjoyed being able to see him. 

So, two weeks down and about 24ish more to go!

Saying Goodbye

The day finally came.  It was time to take Zach to the airport and say good-bye.  I couldn't even think the word "good-bye" without getting teary-eyed.  Boy was I going to be a mess.  And I had absolutely no idea how the girls would do. 

Before he left, Zach gave the girls a set of his dog tags that they could wear whenever they were missing him.

We eventually made it to the airport and were given gate passes so that we could watch him get on the plane.

We found his gate and then went on a little farther to an empty area. I had no idea how we were going to pass the time.  I didn't know if we were just going to sit and be sad together or what we were going to do.  But Zach and the girls just played.

They did exercises.

Pony rides.

And even a little dancing.

And there were some very sweet moments.

 

Finally, it was getting to be time.  Zach pulled the girls aside one by one and gave them a special good-bye.

Then one last hug.

And he was gone.

I pretty much cried off and on (mostly on).  A few people came up to us and thanked us for Zach's service.  It was a really tough morning.  Thank you to everyone who checked on us and sent thoughts and prayers our way.  Keep them coming, because you can never have too many positive thoughts.

Almost Time

Well, it's about that time.  It seems as though we've been talking about it for a while now and it is very quickly becoming a reality.  Zach is leaving.  And in a few days.

His leave date is coming a few weeks earlier than expected.  So as prepared as we were for him to go, we were totally unprepared for how everything unfolded.  We shouldn't have been, because it's the military.  Nothing is certain until their boots are on the ground. 

Zach's original assignment was cancelled early last week.  Then it became a waiting game.  Was he going to get another assignment?  Or was he going to stay put?  A few days later another assignment was in the works.  The next day it fell through.   Then it became a waiting game.  Was he going to get another assignment?  Or was he going to stay put?  Then early this week, another assignment came through.  He would be leaving as early as next Monday.  Wait, it could be later than that.  Oh wait, could be Sunday.  Nope, Saturday, definitely Saturday.  (See how nothing is certain?!)

So the past few days have been a bit of a blur.  He's been busy out processing at work and I've just been processing.  Let's be honest, I've really just been a bit of an emotional hot mess.  I'm perfectly fine one minute and the next I hear our song on the radio and tears just start pouring out.  Or someone does a very sweet gesture because of what Zach is doing and the tears just start pouring out.  But I really am prepared.  Promise. 

Truthfully, I think we are all ready for the deployment.  Sometimes it's difficult to explain to non-military people.  Obviously, we don't want him to go.  Of course we're going to miss him like crazy.  But on the other hand, we want him to go.  Deployments are part of the military life.  He gets to play GI Joe (sort of).  What guy doesn't want to do that?!  He's ready.  I'm ready.  The girls are ready, we think.

We've been talking to the girls about it a little more every night.  "Daddy's going on his big work trip, the deployment.  Remember?".  At this point, I think they are super excited to take him to the airport, because it's the airport and that's pretty cool.  I don't think they will quite get saying "good-bye", but then again, maybe they will. 

They have enjoyed playing with all of Daddy's new clothes.

But in the end, we have only a few days (or a day and a half, really) to prepare.  Maybe we are as prepared as we will ever be.  We will be fine.  Lots of families go through deployments.  We can DO this! 

5 Birthdays

How quickly it all goes by.  It seems like yesterday Haley was my tiny little baby.  

Haley Turns 5

Haley had been excited about her 5th birthday for a while and hopefully it didn't disappoint.  We ended up celebrating for almost a full week!

We started off with a small celebration in Oklahoma with all her cousins.  Grandma made her an oreo cookie, which was super exciting!  She even got to open a few presents.  What a lucky little girl!

Then came her actual birthday.  She had to go to school that day, but we made sure to start the day off right.  She got to wear her birthday hat at breakfast and blow out a candle on her kolache. 

Then Emily and I got to take some lunch up to school and have lunch with the birthday girl in the cafeteria.  She was excited that she got taken out of class to come eat where all the big kids eat. 

After school, Haley got to open her presents.  She was so happy that she finally got a Rainbow Dash (she's really into My Little Pony).  She hugged it so tight and has slept with her pony every night since.  We had a nice dinner out and the she got to blow out more candles on her birthday cake. 

Then came birthday party day!  All the grandparents chipped in and got Haley a great swing set for the back yard.  We kept it a surprise until birthday party morning.  She was SO excited to have "a park" in the back yard.

Finally it was time for Haley's candy party (if you called it her birthday party, should would correct you to "candy party").  There were lots of yummy treats and candy galore.  We had about 10 kids show up, which was about perfect.  They were entertained with making their own candy necklaces, pin the stick on the lollipop, and snow cones.  It was a pretty fun afternoon.

After all was said and done, it was a pretty successful birthday week.  Haley enjoyed every day and now she will tell you that she is almost 6.  Oh boy...

The Talk

We finally had "the talk" with the girls. The "Daddy is going away for a little while" talk.

He's been bringing home some gear lately and the girls have been interested in some of it, so it just seemed like a natural time to bring it all up.

We all sat down and we talked about everything that he's been bringing home and explained that it was for a big work trip that Daddy is going on. That he was going to a place far away called Afghanistan. Daddy wasn't going to be home for a while, but we could talk to him on the phone and see him on the computer every so often. I pretty much choked back tears the whole time.

I pretty much choked back tears the whole time.

I wasn't sure how much the girls were actually understanding, but we were sitting on the couch later and Haley was next to Zach.  She looked up at him and said "Daddy, I am going to miss you." Tears started falling (that day and now as I recall it).

I know we will have to keep talking about it over the next few months, but the girls now know that Daddy is deploying to go help people.

This is certainly going to be the hardest time we've had as a family, but I am hoping the time flies by so that we don't have miss Daddy for so long.

1st Day of School

Somehow it happened.  Summer ended and it was time for school to start.  I do enjoy summer and being with the girls, but it is always nice when it's time to get back to a normal routine.

Haley's big day was first.  Pre-K.  How did that happen?  She was really excited.  I was too, but I was also a little sad that she was going to real school, all day long school. 

Emily and I got to walk her in on the first day. 

I shed a few tears this morning.  But she was ready, and ready for me to go and leave her to learn. 

We got into the car and Emily asked me "Are we leaving Haley?"  I told her yes, but that we would be back to pick her up in the afternoon.  And it was just going to be us two girls for a while.  She seemed a little sad, but we had a fun day the two of us, and boy was she happy to see her big sister when we picked her up!  Haley had a great first day and is so happy to go back each day.

A week later, it was Emily's first day for Mother's Day Out.  It went significantly better than last year!  She didn't even shed a tear.  What a big girl!

Now that school has started up again, it means Mommy gets two days a week (or 10 whole hours a week!) to lay around on the couch eating bon bons (or at least that's what Daddy thinks!).

Little Moving Helpers

Two weeks ago, we began our latest adventure.  Moving.  We didn't leave San Antonio, just a new rental house.  We were all very sad to leave our old house (it was pretty close to perfect), but it just didn't work out to stay. 

The girls (mainly Haley) were very excited to help.  They got to help take some of their things, load it into the car, and then move it into its new spot at the new house.

They even got to help clean the old house.

And this was how we said goodbye to the old house.  Because this is how you look and feel after four days of moving/cleaning.

Goodbye old house, Hello new house!  (More to come on that later!)

A Bachelorette Party

I recently managed to escape mommy duties and help celebrate a wonderful friend's upcoming wedding.

We spent the weekend in Fredericksburg (a super cute little town out in the Texas hill country), which is well known in Texas for wineries.  We rented a cute little house for everyone to stay in.  Our first evening was spent with general Bachelorette debauchery/hilarity, delicious pizza, and lots of wine.

Saturday the real party began.  We got the Bachelorette all dressed up and ready to go.  The icing on the cake was a one of a kind wine cork tiara.  It was beyond fabulous!

The day consisted of being chauffeured around in a limo (with an amazing driver!) to five different wineries in a matter of about six hours.  Quite a bit of wine (and water) was consumed and purchased.  There was one bonus stop to a convenient store that doubled as a tasting place for moonshine.  Why not we told ourselves?! 

It was such a wonderful weekend spent celebrating a very special lady and reconnecting with old friends.  And I cannot wait until the big day!

A Sneak Peak

We recently had a sneak peak into what life will be like during Zach's deployment. Zach was gone for about three weeks for a training course, leaving the girls and I to learn the ropes of life without him. Three weeks is the longest that we've been without him, so there was definitely a learning curve.

It is amazing how quickly the days can go by when you are busy. Like all the time busy. We occupied ourselves with play dates, swim lessons, a trip to the Children's Museum, lunches and movies with friends, a day trip to see family, finding a new rental house, celebrating a birthday, and all the miscellaneous day to day things. There were a few days where we didn't leave the house. We cozied up on the couch, watched movies all day, and had pancakes for dinner (because, why not??) Not that our time without Zach was all sunshine and daisies, because it wasn't.

There were still tantrums and meltdowns. There were still bedtime battles. Just because Daddy isn't here doesn't mean those go away. The trickiest part for me was learning to cook for just myself and the girls (I equate it to meals for one and a half). When Zach is home, we have plenty of leftovers and he takes them to work. I don't particularly care for leftovers, so we needed to come up with some much smaller meals. Needless to say, we had lots of hot dogs and chicken nuggets until I could get it figured out. Some recipes I can cut in half and it works just fine. Others, I don't think we'll be eating while he is gone. But I'm fairly certain I'll be looking around for some fresh ideas.

All in all, our time while Zach was gone went just fine. The girls were able to talk to him on the phone and we Skyped (which was much better because they could see him). But three weeks is a drop in the bucket to five months. I foresee that time being a bit more challenging. I have lots of ideas on how to help the time go by and make it easier on the girls, but the reality is that Daddy will still be gone.

I am so very thankful for our friends and family who kept us busy and helped the days go by a little quicker. And I am more thankful that Daddy finally came home :)

Emily's 3rd Birthday Extravaganza

I can't believe that our little baby girl just turned THREE! How is it possible?? Since it was such a big occasion, we decided to celebrate for as many days as we possibly could. Well, that wasn't really the plan, but it's what ended up happening.

Party #1- Sea World
We invited all of our friends to come join us for a day of fun at Sea World. Lots of playing in the splash park, carousel rides, ice cream, and even a show. The birthday girl got to wear her fabulous tiara so the whole world knew it was (almost) her special day.

The birthday princess had such an awesome time that she passed out before we even left the parking lot. The sign of a great party.

Party #2- Our House
After a full day of Sea World fun, we had our family celebration.  She got to choose her birthday dinner of chicken nuggets and french fries.  Emily opened her presents from mommy, daddy, and Haley.  There was lots of pink and Minnie Mouse.  We topped off the evening with some delish cupcakes. 

Party #3- Oklahoma City Family
After a full day of driving to Grandma and Grandpa's house, we invited Emily's cousins, Aunts, and Uncles to come celebrate the birthday girl.  We had a small Minnie Mouse party full of cake (don't mind the melted frosting, it was a long drive) and laughter.  The birthday girl had so much fun partying with her cousins.

Party #4- Schouten Family Float Trip
With three parties behind us, it was time for the actual birthday!  Emily woke up (in a chalet in the Arkansas mountains) surrounded by pink balloons.  She spent the day throwing rocks in the river with her cousins and wearing her tiara (of course).  At the end of the day, she got to blow out her three candles on a cake made by Grandma.  Afterwards she told me that she made a big wish (maybe for more parties next year).

We had a wonderful time celebrating our big girl's big day.  Thank you to everyone who was able to be a part of it.  We are so thankful that Emily is surrounded by so many people who love her.