Bittersweet...

Bittersweet is the only word that I think fully describes what R&R is. It was pure bliss to have Nathan home, safe & sound, with John & I. But, it's hard to fully enjoy at the same time because you know you're going to have to say goodbye all too soon; or as we say in the military world, "see you later." I would almost rather not have R&R... not because I don't want to see my husband, but because letting go this time was even harder than the initial "see you later" at the start of deployment.

We had a wonderful two weeks together. It was so awesome to be able to do things as a family of three. Even just the simple things like going on walks, grocery shopping & catching a bite to eat was so much more exciting. It was great to have help with John; especially in the middle of the night, fun to walk around town hand in hand with my husband. I felt complete again. It was a little glimpse of what being a family will really be like once we head back to Germany after this deployment is done. Out of our almost 18 months of marriage, we have spent a mere 8 months together. That's the way of the Army though.

Saturday evening we had family pictures taken, thanks to Sam!! It was incredibly kind to offer your services to us! We will be forever grateful that we had that opportunity & that we'll have those photos of that precious time together! [Check out Sam's photography website! She is AWESOME!!]

John "grew up" a lot in the two weeks that Nathan was here. He started rolling around everywhere, feeding himself [or trying too... not much food made it from the spoon to his mouth], had his first few Cheerios, took steps while holding onto our hands & graduated to a convertible car seat.

Car rides are SO much more enjoyable now that he's not screaming from being cramped in his infant carrier. After doing tons of research on convertible car seats I settled on the Britax Advocate 70 CS because it's ranked #1 in safety as well as having top marks for comfort & likability. It was very simple to install & has great safety features; especially superior all around side impact protection. It is a little bulky, but two people, full grown adults, can still sit comfortably on either side of the car seat in a Saturn Vue. This car seat retails for almost $400 but I happened to stumble across this super awesome website; www.babyviva.com & got the car seat for $258. I love a good bargain! My favorite thing about this car seat, aside from John's silence in the car, is the harness system. When pulling the harness strap tight it clicks when you've reached the appropriate tightness & level of the chest buckle. Nothing irritates me more than seeing a baby strapped into a car seat incorrectly so I really appreciate this feature! Basically it's awesome & I love it & so does John so I'm a happy mommy!

Pictures of the first time we put John in his new seat

These next pictures are on the way home from dropping Nathan off at the airport [had to test out the new camera, of course!] He was being such a ham until he fell asleep. I'm grateful he was able to provide me with some good laughs. It helped to bring my mood up. My son is awesome :-)

Friday we spent the day in Kansas City with some of Nathan's friends, Josh & Christine who he's been close to for 20 years & Nathan's brother & his new girlfriend. It was a really good time! We met at Dave & Buster's which is basically an adult Chuck E. Cheese. We had fun playing skiball, basketball, & other arcade games to get tickets to buy John & Holden [Josh & Christine's son] something.

Here are some pictures of our time together

Looking at all the lights on the arcade games! LOL

Uncle James with his nephews; John [6 months] & Holden [8 months]

Our little family- I LOVE MY BOYS!!

Saturday, we took a little trip back to Fort Riley to visit some good friends, Robert & Brittany. They have a little girl, Madi who just turned 9 months old & she is sooo adorable! Robert & Nathan were roomies on their deployment to Iraq in 2010-2011 so they are pretty close & always have a good time together. Anyway, we went to lunch at Cox's BBQ & then walked next door to have some dessert; frozen custard at Freddy's. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside on picnic benches & let the babies play together in the grass.

John & Madi playing together

John: "hmmm, Madi's foot looks just as good as mine!"