Day 24!

I can't believe it's going on 4 weeks that you've been gone. I can't believe May is almost over. This is good though, I want it to go by fast, I do. But I don't want the boys to grow up so fast at the same time. Can't have it both ways, huh?

Anyways, today was pretty low key. A lot of playing, hanging out, laundry, dishes, puzzles, fishing, sandbox, etc. 

Snack time!

Rocking some cute baby legs today!

Sam was fishing too!

Right now I'm sitting in front of the window with the blinds and window wide open watching the boys play in their sandbox together. It's awesome. It's almost chilly outside though, 68 degrees and getting darker. They're quite happy though, and they both ate their dinner very well AND got to have some chocolate after. 

Chocolate!

Bath time is soon approaching but I thought I would take this time to share some pics from today. I hadn't taken many the last couple days. 

We love and miss you so much. Today Jackson told me that one of the fish from his fish game was broken but it's okay because when daddy gets back he will fix it. I told him, it's going to be a while before daddy gets home and he said, it will be soon. It makes me sad when he just doesn't understand how long it's really going to be :(

Oh goodness, I spoke too soon. Sam is covered in sand. His diaper is full of sand. Bath time!

Hopefully we'll get to Skype tonight, Jackson will love that. He needs it. And maybe even Sammy will get to see you too!

Missing you and love you so incredibly much!!!!!!!!!!! 

24 days down, 41 to go!

Day... I forget

So just going to make this short and sweet with some pictures because I know it's easier for you to see them here then downloading them in your email.

Sam seems to have the stomach bug :( Really icky diapers. Hopefully it passes soon.

My mom is here visiting and I've gotten some laundry done!

Today isn't as hot, no AC required. I like that. 

I missed your face this morning... but loved your video. Thanks :)

Hope you had a great day!

I figured it out, it's day 20 and it's almost over! 46.5 left! :) 

Waiting for breakfast

Cheese!

 

Somebody loves watermelon!

Day 17

Feeling better today

Smile!

Lunch...sort of

Dinner, shells mac n cheese wasn't good enough 

Day 16, getting back to the blog

You have been gone over 2 weeks. I have survived without you for 2 weeks. WE have survived without you for 2 weeks. I don't even know how that is possible. And as I suspected, it IS going by quite fast.

I stopped blogging there for a while because I wasn't sure if you were reading it and it's easier to just send emails throughout the day with pics and notes. But I know it's harder for you to catch up on 20 emails at the end of the day.

So I will try and stick to this blog for happenings with the boys and life (except for the personal topics, I will leave that for our phone conversations).

As I type this Jackson is passed out on the couch, he's been asleep for an hour after only being awake for around 4 hours. He has a stomach bug or something and so do I :( Luckily my version of it has allowed me to still catch up on chores and things while he slept.

Poor Guy

And little Sam. From terrible sleeper to most amazing sleeper ever in just two weeks! He napped today for 4 hours! I hope that doesn't mean he has the bug too, although I noticed his diaper was completely dry after his nap. Now that I think about it, that is concerning. And he did drink water today, but not nearly as much as usual. Right now he is in the high chair snacking. It's 4:30pm and getting close to dinner time. Jackson requested spaghetti, again. But I'm not sure that's the best thing for his tummy. I will be having Nutrisystem chicken pot pie and green beans. Trying to keep it bland for myself too. My stomach is actually hurting now. Like twisting, turning, knives kind of hurting :(

Snack/Lunch

Today is a hot one. It's about 78 in the house with no AC and I'm hoping
 we won't need it today. It's in the 80s outside. Not awful, but definitely warmer than it has been.

I got a lot done today because Jackson was laid up feeling yucky. Dishes, laundry, sweeping, mopping, diapers are soaking. I'm on day 5 of the cloth diaper flats and hand washing challenge! I'm proud that I've stuck with it! I'm excited to see how it affected our water bill. It's nice to know I have that skill if I ever need it. And it's kept me even busier than normal so that's always welcomed. It helps me not sit around thinking about how much I miss you all the time.

And since we're on that topic, I do. I miss you like crazy. I miss you so incredibly much. I miss you so much that I can't even put in to words how much I miss you. I miss everything about you, just like I knew I would. I miss your smart ass comments, your silly jokes, your wonderful laugh, how you are with the boys, your hugs... I could probably write an entire blog post about this, but I won't bore you ;) Just know I'm always thinking about you and I love you so much.

Hope you had a great day!

16 Days down, 49 to go!

Days 6, 7, 8... goodbye Skype

I am not taking the time to post pictures here today, I will tomorrow. I just wanted to write some things down. 

So days 6 and 7 you were gone we got to communicate often. Not a whole lot happened that you didn't know about. That was nice. I felt connected. 

But today was D day. Today you headed to Dillingham and I knew communication would be minimal. What was getting me through was knowing that at night, most nights hopefully, we could Skype and I could see your face. And the boys too of course. But that's not exactly the case is it?

So I had to work today and we had a rushing-around-running-late kind of morning. I was up late Skyping with you the night before. It was like our last hoorah before we wouldn't get to as much. I was okay with that. Work was fine, Sam and Jack had fun. I had ordered some photo prints from Walmart to put together the boy's little daddy photo albums so I needed to pick those up after work. When we finally left it was so close to lunch time, I thought, well let's get lunch. I didn't want to do fast food and I knew Denny's was right there. I thought, okay, I can handle a little lunch date alone with both boys. BOY WAS I WRONG. There were claw toy machines in there that Jackson was checking out but when our table was ready he did not want to leave. So I had to take a screaming toddler to our table and block him in the booth while he threw a major fit. I was so embarrassed and frustrated. Then I checked my email and it went downhill after that.

I learned that you couldn't Skype or download videos or even stream Netflix where you're at. What is the point of wifi if you can't do any of the great things wifi has to offer?! Anyways, it was all too much and took everything in me not to start bawling right then and there. I was so upset. Then Jackson needed to go potty, and I had to take Sam too making it all the more difficult,  then our food came and he needed to poop, once again, pain in the butt. Figures. I quickly realized this was the worst idea I'd had in a long time. Jackson insisted on getting a salad and grapes. He ate the grapes. Sam wouldn't eat the chicken nuggets and ate some grapes. I scarfed my chicken sandwich as fast as I could and our table was a disaster. It was a bad experience, and I don't plan on taking them out alone again any time soon. That made me miss you, A LOT.

Then after lunch we still had to go in the store, God help me. It was hectic but not too terrible. 

Finally we got home and both boys were passed out. I put Sammy in bed no problem, he was fine. Jackson freaked out and then never took a nap, lovely.  

Then I spent my afternoon researching mobile hotspots, prepaid GCI phone plans and other ways we could stay in touch. I think it might be possible after all. But I'm not really sure. 

I will admit, today was a bad day. It was a hard day. A day I wish I could've heard your voice. I just keep praying you can borrow somebody's phone and call. I keep my phone attached to my hip and check my email constantly. 

It's like I'm grieving our communication we had the past week. I knew it would be less, I did. I just thought we would have Skype.

I better get going. Dinner is here. I had Encanto Grill deliver. They are my lifesaver. Spaghetti and ravioli for dinner tonight. 

I hope your first day went well and I look forward to hearing all about it one way or another. I will try and blog daily on the boys with pictures so you don't miss anything. 

We love and miss you!!!!!

8 days down, 57 to go!

Day 3 & 4 Crazy busy!

The 3rd and 4th day you've been gone we have been busy. But also we were able to communicate a lot, so I don't have a whole lot to write to you about. Mostly some pictures and some cute things Jackson said.

Kisses for daddy

Day 3:

I only had one thing to do today, go to the store for a few things and get gas. The morning didn't turn out how I had planned and we ended up going out after nap time in the late afternoon. But you already know about all that! In fact, I pretty much filled you in on everything about today, but one thing. I noticed when I was writing down the few things I needed to get from the store, for a split second I wanted to text you and ask you if there was anything you needed while I was there :( that made me sad. 

The good news is that I'm crying a lot less about missing you, usually it's about being alone with both kids and chaos. Our sweet little boy has been acting out an awful lot this week. I don't know if I can attribute that to you leaving and all the changes in routines, but that might be it. 

Lunch

As always, I miss you so incredibly much! I know that our communication is going to be a lot less once you actually start working, so I am grateful for being able to text you and talk to you throughout the day. I know that won't be the case after Monday. 

LOVE YOU! 3 days down, 62 to go!





Day 4: 

Today we had big plans! We were going to the zoo and to our friend, Cheyenne's birthday party. As you know, the morning was a struggle and we got a much later start than planned. As with the day before I got to talk with you and text with you often so you pretty much know all about how today went. And you know that I about lost my mind! I decided that tomorrow we will stay home and try and recover. Jackson has been trying my patience. Sam has been struggling with sleep (but our new plan is working). So I do see hope for some kind of normalcy in the future.

A couple things I wanted to remember to tell you about today:
Jackson told me at breakfast, "Mom, if you sit on a chair with a spider on it, don't sit on it." LOL. He always cracks me up with what can only be called his, Jacksonisms. You know what I mean by that, I'm sure. 

Also, when we finally got on the road to the zoo I turned on the VBS CD that the boys love. That first song, you know the one, started playing and as soon as Sam heard the music he said, "HOOH" and he and Jackson were taking turns going, "HOOH". It was so adorable and it made me laugh out loud and smile and the struggles of the morning didn't seem so bad. 

The last thing of the day was at dinner time. You know I cooked, finally, and that was nice. And at dinner Jackson said to me, "Mom, I wish you could make dinner for daddy." I wish that too. He has no idea how much I miss our family dinners. I sat in your seat last night and we had a pretty nice time, but you were definitely missed. 

Ready to go!

Ready to go!

Yesterday I was so busy and I was so exhausted I didn't have time to cry about missing you. But I always miss you. I love you so much. And here's some more pictures I don't think I had already sent you...

Sam was pointing and saying, "oooh! Ooooh!

Black bear!

Snack/lunch

Not a fan of swinging!

Playground

 

Dinner!

Not eating dinner

4 down, 61 to go!