Breakfast at Tiffany's

Well, at least Snack at Tiffany's...

My birthday/anniversary gift from Chase arrived today... in a tiny blue box wrapped with white ribbon. Any normal American girl's heart stops just at the thought of that perfectly wrapped little bit of blue Heaven, and I am no exception. Apparently, neither is Natalie. I have never seen her so excited over anything in her life! She immediately squealed with delight, threw her hands up in the air and laughed. She then grabbed the box out of my hands (no small feat... I don't easily let go of my Tiffany's. If she weren't my daughter there might have been a minor altercation.) and in her mouth it went... where all things loved by Natalie eventually end up. I immediately sent Chase a message to tell him about Natalie's reaction, it was too cute to wait until he got home from work. He wrote back... "I'm doomed". Oh yeah, she's my girl!

Naturals

Chase's first few days home have been wonderful! Natalie has taken to him so easily, it's been much better than anticipated. Nothing new to share, just wanted to post some pictures of the best looking father/daughter pair in the world! I love these two!

Pictures

The pictures in my "Reunited" post are in the wrong order! I accidentally posted them backwards. I'm too lazy at the moment to go back and fix it, so.... enjoy!

Reunited...

And it feels so good!

Of all the many days of my life, yesterday was second best. October 18, 2009 still holds out as the reigning champion, of course. It was a brutally long day. We were expected to be on Ft. Bragg no later than 5:45 a.m. in order to greet their 6:30 flight. That meant I had to get up at 3:15 to shower, get dressed and ready, take Andi out, and get Natalie ready. Funny that I thought I'd actually be able to sleep... I laid in bed like a child listening for Santa on Christmas Eve. I think I got 30 minutes.

All the family members met at Chase's work, in order to "convoy in our POV'S to Green Ramp" (like that Army lingo?), which is a whole other post. Let's just say it was the most poorly organized, stressful and rage inducing event I have ever participated in. I digress... We reached Green Ramp (Pope Air Force Base's flight line for all incoming and outgoing deployments, jumps, flight etc.) around 6:15. In no time the plane had landed. They opened the huge door and all the family gathered in the freezing cold to cheer for the airplane! The plane rolled by very slowly and the energy was incredible! After what seemed like an eternity they got off the plane and the crowd went wild again! Natalie wasn't so sure about all the cheering and was starting to get a little disgruntled. Not a good way to greet one's father. I tried to tell her that, but she was just not reasoning with me! The soldiers began marching in and slowly but surely they got closer and closer, the anticipation was killing me. Finally they reached the building, it didn't take long for me to find Chase in the crowd. He was in the middle of the large grouping of soldiers, it was like someone had put a spotlight on him just for me. Of course Chase busts my bubble and tells me he was standing next to a bunch of short guys. Whatever. Natalie and I waited for the speech to be over (and of course there was one... this IS the Army), and thankfully it lasted all of two minutes. Suddenly the soldiers were released and there was absolute chaos. I stood in the back waiting for Chase to find me (we had agreed on that earlier), I wasn't nervous and I wasn't hysterical (like many other women), when he hugged me and Natalie I simply felt whole.

Natalie and Chase are doing really well getting to know each other, and I'm enjoying watching Chase discover things about Natalie for the first time. His excitement is contagious. It's been a long and very difficult year, but thanks to the support of my friends, my family and God we've made it through to the other side in one piece. We're very lucky. For the first time in 365 days I fell asleep thanking God, not begging Him. And I slept peacefully... until 4:30, thank you Natalie. :)

Natalie's Nicknames

Natalbug
Battlebug
Natalbritches
Battlebritches
Bug
Beautissimus
Stinky
Stink Stinks

So much for "Tilly"! I was certain I'd have a beautiful little Natalie that I would affectionately call "Tilly". Nope. Instead I have beautifull little Natalie that I affectionately call Natalbug. Or Battlebritches, or Beautissimus, or Stinky.... Actually, I'm starting to think Natalie might think her name is "I love you". I certainly say it to her enough!

So the main purpose for this post is to hold you over for a few more days... stay tuned. There's going to be one heck of a happy blog coming soon! Wink wink!

I have morning sickness again!

No, I'm not pregnant. "How?" You ask, "could you possibly have morning sickness if you're not pregnant?" Simple. It's the time of year when I first found out I was expecting. For some reason I'm being haunted by the very real and very vivid memories of the intense morning sickness I felt just 12 months ago. The weather is similar and I think that's really impacting me. Recently I found a box of "Pregnancy Tea" that I drank like crazy when I wasn't well, and I instantly gagged. Suddenly I remembered how much I loathe the taste of saltines, and preggo pops, and lemon drops, and cheese toast, and ginger, and all the other various comfort foods that were my staples for the longest 16 weeks of my life last spring. I hope this memory goes away soon, otherwise I'm going to have to break out the ginger capsules all over again. Gag. Enjoy the picture of me on my (very nauseated) 26th birthday! I still can't even THINK about the restaurant we ate at that night. I am forever traumatized and for the life of me can't understand why so many women put themselves through this more than once. Unless you're Michelle Duggar or my friend Cyndy... who both seem to handle pregnancy like champs. Poor poor Cyndy. We were pregnant at the same time last year, and my nausea was so crippling she had to teach most of our classes at the studio while I laid in the fetal position at the front of the classroom. Thanks Cyndy!

Before and After

Last post today, promise.

In the past few months we've been a little busy. Go figure. Poor little Andi's hygiene has been ignored. Usually she goes to the groomer every 4-6 weeks, but it's been almost three months. It had gotten so bad you could literally smell Andi enter the room before you saw her. To quote Chase, "Andi smells like a bag of butt holes". Eloquent, that man of mine. While I have absolutely no idea what a "bag of butt holes" smells like (Chase, why do you?) I do know what rotten garbage smells like... my dog. So yesterday Mom scooped her up and took her to the groomer. Hallelujah.