A Disclaimer and a Zack Update

Before I even start, I want to warn my lovely readers (I think there's more than one of you) that all posts regarding Zack while he's away will be incredibly vague. This is for three main reasons:

1) I only know what he tells me, and I seriously doubt he'll have time to write long, detailed e-mails about his life.

2) The internet is public, and I don't want anyone to think that what I write as speaking for anyone other than me. It's really easy for the casual reader to assume that since I'm writing about a military situation, everyone must go through the same stuff. This is almost entirely untrue. I'm not writing about military life in general, just my life (and Zack's) which happens to be affected by the fact that he's a service member. Our situation is not universal, please don't take it that way.

3) The internet is public (in case you forgot). Anyone can read this, including people looking for the kind of information a detailed account might give for less than friendly reasons. I don't want to help them.

Call me paranoid if you like, but I really do worry about what I say, who sees it, and how they interpret what is meant to be just my flippant musings. SO. If you are one of the many friends or family reading this, and you want more information, contact me in a more private setting. I'll be happy to tell you whatever I can (which honestly might not be much anyway). For those with slightly less interest in all the nuts and bolts, these posts should suffice.

Zack e-mailed recently to tell me that he arrived in Afghanistan. The travel was long and jet lag is rough, but he's there now and getting down to business. He seems to be settling in nicely, and he's already too busy to write much, but I'd pestered the heck out of him before he left about getting me his address ASAP, and he wrote to send me that. If you want it, you know how to reach me. He has not yet told me what is and is not appropriate to send, so for now I'll be sticking to letters. It's probably too soon for care packages anyway, right?

I was relieved at how upbeat Zack sounded when he wrote. He seems to be excited about the work he'll be doing, and much more satisfied with his decision now that he's there, so all is well for him.

I'll write a post like this every so often with updates.

Lily's Birthday Party

Lily turned one this weekend! I can't believe how fast this year has gone.  Of course we threw her a big party.  For possibly the first time ever, she had all her aunts with her at the same time, as well as her grandparents, godparents, and their family.  It was the kind of day that really makes me miss Zack, now that he's away, so I was especially happy they could all be there!

The party was in the morning, and the grown ups watched Lily open her presents while the kids went outside and found their own entertainment.

Mark shows off the frogs.  Final count: 24 captured.

We had a light lunch, and then it was time for cupcakes.  Minjee decorated them for us.

Not pictured: Mommy just waiting to grab little hands that reach for the candle.

Lily did not disappoint when it came to cake smashing.  She did a very good job keeping everyone entertained.  It was wonderful to celebrate her big day.  

Please hold...

Sorry about the delay between posts.  Zack's orders have been changed... repeatedly... and in the chaos I've kind of neglected the blog.  It felt weird to post anything when I didn't really know what to expect.  Then once things were settled, I was too busy enjoying my last few weeks with my husband for the year to be bothered with writing.  But now I'm back!
Rather than try to catch you up on all the fun we've been having while Zack was home for the visit.  I'm posting this lovely picture of our girls on Easter and assuring you that in the future I'll get back into the blog habit.  Happy belated Easter! 

Potty Time

That's right, folks. We're finally turning our attention to that potty that Ela got when she turned two. We've actually done a little training before now, but never very seriously. No one ever told me that potty training is as much about training Mommy (and Daddy) as it is about training the child. Not only was Ela not motivated, her parents weren't especially motivate either. Plus there were tons of reasons not to mess with it. Between getting a new sister and moving, Ela's had plenty to adjust to in the last year. So the potty training took a back seat. But not any more. When Ela joins the three year old class at her preschool, she has to be trained. She loves preschool. I love preschool. This is suddenly important. So we started getting serious, just in case it took a really long time. I decided that Thursday was the best day of the week to start because we don't have to be anywhere between Thursday and Monday. This left us four days to get good at this whole potty thing. We've been talking up big girl underwear for practically a year now, so I just pulled out some and put them on her. Timing is, of course, a challenge, but so far we've been very successful! Each day we last a little longer without an accident. And yesterday, she even left the house without incident. As I type, it's been twenty-four hours since her last accident. I think she might even wear big girl pants to Church tomorrow. If that goes well, may be she can even wear them to preschool! The most annoying part of all this is the sitting around the house. It's only been two days, and I'm already dying to get out of here! I want to hit the gym, or go shopping (which I usually hate). Anything to just leave the living room. But Ela is terrified of public bathrooms, so we'll sit tight for a bit longer until she can be trusted for the occasional long stretch. My diaper bag will need repacking: only one size diapers, but spare bottoms for our big girl for awhile. I'm so proud of my big girl!

Settling In

Over the last few weeks, we've gradually been settling into a routine that will be the norm for the next year. It was my intention to find us lots of activities and to start into them as quickly as possible so we'd be too busy to spend much time missing Zack. I think I've accomplished that. For my own sanity, I joined a Bible study, and I was delighted to discover that our new church has a bell choir, so I'm ringing again, which is nice. Then, in order to combat my tendency to eat when I'm sad and to reclaim my body from my girls, I joined a gym. I wanted to do this in DC, but here it's actually affordable, especially since childcare is included in the membership. So swimsuits should be slightly less scary this summer. Ela goes to preschool twice a week. I want to get her going on either a piano lesson or dance class too, and we started doing story time at the library, but they took March off, so we'll have to get back next month. Lily doesn't have any activities of her own yet, but she's learning to like story time at the library and is getting used to the childcare center at the gym. The new house is starting to feel like home. Ela still calls it her "new house". I haven't found any part of it I really don't like yet, which is a very good sign. It took some work, but we got the car into the garage, and that was super exciting for me. Both girls have napped in their car seats in there while I've been inside getting things done. And not hauling groceries through the rain is a really nice perk. I've also fallen in love with our patio out back. Ela loves being out there, and I can be anywhere downstairs and watch her as she plays in her sandbox or gathers pine straw or draws with sidewalk chalk. Ela also loves that she can let Dory in and out. I have to be careful to lock the door when I go upstairs or she'll just let herself out one of these days. Of course the bedroom wars started up again when we moved, but Lily is almost sleeping through the night again. Ela seems to like her new room, but still tries to sneak in with me in the night. She had a really bad dream the other night, and now she knows the magic words to get into my bed. I need to get her a new bed to replace her current one, since it broke in the move and is currently propped up on books. In the mean time, I'm not encouraging her to sleep with me, but I'm not declaring a full out war yet, since it'll just get worse when the new bed comes. Zack, for those of you who are curious, is still in country for a little while for training. He seems to be enjoying learning about a new branch of the military. It certainly keeps him busy! I might get to see him one more time before he goes abroad. I'm at least confident that we have everything under control here. Time to start looking for adventures!

Ela is Three

That's right, people!  Ela turned three this week.  We celebrated with a trip to the zoo, which was lovely. I also gave her a little interview that I hope to make a yearly tradition. She was playing with a lot of her toys as she talked to me, so her focus was not entirely there, but I think that makes it all the more entertaining.  Here are the questions and her responses:

What is your name?  My name is Ela.
How old are you?  I am three.
What's your favorite animal?  My favorite animal is the cow.
Who is your best friend?  My best friend is the cow.  The cow is my friend.
What's your favorite thing to do? It's the firemens!
What's your favorite color? Blue
What's your favorite food? Chicken
What's your favorite book? My favorite book is the Kookaburra! (I see a Kookaburra!)
What makes you happy? A bear makes me happy.
What's the best part of your birthday?  Cupcakes after dinner!
What do you want to be when you grow up? (at this point she was playing with a firetruck, and had lost all interest in talking to me) The fire's got your finger.

Ela's Birthday Party

We threw Ela a birthday party last weekend so that her daddy could be there for it.  He left for his big adventure on Sunday, so on Saturday, we got the family together for a low key celebration.   Our intention was to hold it at a park near our house, which would have worked great on Thursday or Friday when it was in the 70's.  Saturday dawned windy and cold, though, so we went over for a little while to let Ela play...

...and then we went back to our house for lunch, cupcakes, and presents.  The cupcakes were decorated by Minjee, who did a super job as usual!

Ela had a great time hanging out with all her grandparents, her aunt Minjee, her great-grandma, and cousin Daniel. We were glad we could put something together for her so that Zack could be a part of it.   This weekend if the weather is more cooperative, we might head out to the zoo on her actual birthday.  I can't believe she's almost three already!  Where did the last three years go?