This Easter Sunday marks the end of Elizabeth's 3rd week! I can't believe she's almost a month old! Sorry for the delay in posting. I had it in my mind that the next post was going to be our farewell to daddy but...drumroll.....he's still here! This is quite unexpected seeing that he was first told he would be leaving for Afghanistan anywhere from March 22-25. Well those dates came and went. Then he was told March 28th or 29th and those dates came and went. It is currently still up in the air but the thought occurred to us that maybe they won't send him at all. And while this might be a comforting thought to many (don't get me wrong, I would love for him to stay home) this thought would turn our current world upside down because (again, I hate to say it) it's not the PLAN! (maybe I should rename this blog: Things never go as planned-The story of our lives).
I mean the entire house is packed either in bins that I'm taking or tan backpacks that John's taking. Our mail has been forwarded. John's mustang has been taken off our insurance bill for the next 7 months seeing that it will be in our garage not being driven. Our cable will be shut off. I have power of attorney to take care of all unexpected emergencies (hopefully there won't be any). Our WIC has been transferred to MD. Many of my clothes were already sent home to MD with my mom, in addition to all of Elizabeth's clothes except the newborn ones (which she is about to out grow). There is a nursery that has been created in MD at my moms after much time, money, and effort. Not to mention all of the family members in MD that were really getting used to the idea of seeing Elizabeth on a weekly basis and for the in-laws liking the fact that they'd only be 4 hours away as opposed to 9. So you can imagine the amount of stress that these thoughts were creating. Good thing we didn't move out of our house. Our stuff would be in storage and we'd be living in a hotel right now and if he doesn't go, we'd have to take everything back out of storage and get back on the list for housing and wait our turn...with a newborn. It's a very difficult state to be living in--so many things are just in limbo. And emotionally, it definitely takes a toll because as much as every fiber of our being wants us all to be in the same place, safe from a war zone, my husband joined the Marines for this reason and for his whole life has dreamt of carrying out this duty for his country and for his family (so no one else will have to do it) so now that his name has been called, we want him to take this chance and live it (and live through it!) And it is especially hard for John now that his unit has already been over there for 3 weeks and these people are his friends, who he trained with, and who he has spent practically every day with since November preparing for this. He doesn't want to feel forgotten of or not needed anymore. He wants to serve over there, next to them as planned and promised :)
So we were told this morning that he is definitely going (so all of those doubts we can now push out of our heads which definitely takes a load off) they just haven't found a clear flight date. So how long will we be waiting? Who knows. But we realize we have been given this time as a gift and we are trying to make the most of it. John hasn't had to report into work since he is on standby so he has pretty much been on paternity leave for almost a month! Which has really been lucky for Elizabeth because so far she has always had 2 well rested parents with no jobs and therefore lots of patience to handle her :) How have we been spending our time might you ask? Well, seeing that everything has already been packed and there isn't much left at the house to be done and not much we can do OUTSIDE of the house since we have a newborn and most of the day revolves around her feeding schedule, we have been sleeping, watching ALOT of netflix and movies on demand, we've even played cards... surprisingly managing not to get tired of each other since we've both been home every day for the past month with nothing to do. John's parent's have been down twice to say goodbye. Both times leaving without it (well they still said goodbye but you know what I mean). They baby-sat for us (we didn't have to ask) so we were able to go out to some nice dinners just the two of us. John's been able to play some golf with his dad which he has continued to do by himself since his dad has left. I've been out of the house a couple times for groceries or to get my nails done. But for the most part, we have just been living out our limbo state at home amongst the bins, bags, and suitcases. We did get a little brave and take Elizabeth out on the golf course and walk with daddy while he played 9 holes. She did very good in the little backpack carrier I had attached to me. We also took her to church for Easter which we were pretty nervous about but she did great-just listened to the music and was very content until she fell asleep during the homily (happens to the best of us). Oh and her umbilical cord fell off so we were able to give her her first real bath! Until the next post, which will hopefully (not sure if that's the right word to use?) be soon and be our farewell to daddy, here are some pics!!
Easter dress #1
Easter dress #2
This was me just doing an impromptu photo shoot while she was alert...
Here I was trying to capture her red hair
After Easter Mass...she did so good!
Our walk out on the golf course..
She fell asleep right away. It was such a nice day out.
Her favorite position to fall asleep
One nursing session she just did this with her hands. How precious!
She loved her first real bath!!
