Halloween

I couldn't get any pictures to load up in this site so all our costume pictures are on the shutterfly site. Enjoy!

http://andpuppydogtails.shutterfly.com/

10 Months and 10 Miles

On Sunday Dashel turned ten months old and I ran ten miles. This was a huge accomplishment for me, not only because I had a baby ten months ago, but because up until about about 5 weeks ago I had never ran more than 2 miles. Ever. Having a group of ladies, also with babies, training for the half marathon is really the best motivation. The weather was cold and began to rain and we just did it anyway. Only three more weeks till the half marathon. Its going to be really fun and a once in a lifetime experience to run it in Italy.

Back to little Dashy Boo. He's still getting better at his walking. Its comparable to someone learning to ski. He can stand up, get going, but once he starts he goes too fast and doesn't know how to stop. He only feels comfortable walking to me because he knows I'll catch him. Once he gets the hang of stopping he'll be off. Other than that he's just being a crazy little baby. Playing with cars, tapping his foot to music, waving goodbye and giving the best hugs ever. He's just such a great little guy!


Why is the sun so bright?






Paccy smile



Stay tuned for pictures of the boys in their costumes!!

Seahawk Sunday

The Seahawks finally won an away game and I think it was due in part to Kirby and the boys wearing their Seahawk shirts. Maybe not, but they all looked really cute any way.








Thanks Uncle Jeff and Aunt Suzanne for the Seahawk T-shirts!

Dash 9 Months Old

Our little manimal turned 9 months old on Friday and in true Dashel fashion took a couple steps the day before. He's been walking along the walls and furniture and finally ventured a few steps into the room. He's also standing on his own a little. When I try to get him to walk to me he gets really excited and nervous and just run/falls into my arms. He's such a fun little guy and keeps us very entertained. He LOVES music. He literally throws his hand in the air and starts shakin' it every time he hears music. He likes to clap and wave and EAT. Oh how he loves to eat. This morning he ate berries and scrambled eggs and was dancing in his seat just from the excitement of tasty food. Last night we ate pesto and being the Italian born boy that he is, sucked the pesto off of every noodle we gave him. He's sleeping much better at night which makes every ones life easier, but mostly mine. He hates getting dressed and having his diaper changed and screams bloody murder at either happening. And shoes, you can just forget about it. He won't wear them, its like wrestling a baby alligator.

Eating his breakfast and dancing.

All clean!

At our favorite winery

In Verona

In San Gimignano



Oliver looking spiffy

Happenings

Well its officially official that we are moving to Ft Polk in December. We couldn't be happier about this. The best part is that we are getting out of our teeny house and moving back into our big house. The renters have been given notice and they will be out by November 30 at the latest. Its so crazy to think that exactly 4 years ago we moved into that house and now we are going back. We will miss many things about Italy, like actually being in Italy, drinking cappuccinos at outdoor cafes and drinking wine at lunch where no one thinks you are a lush. Its been a good run though and we aren't too sad to say goodbye. We get to be here through all the welcome home ceremonies and celebrations and get to say goodbye to all our friends. Its a good time to go.
I'm taking an Italian class. Kind of ironic since I've been here two years but its the first time I've ever really had Kirby around in any real capacity and I am able to go some where without the kids. Its very nice. I'm also training for a half-marathon in November. A few other ladies are training as well so that makes it a little less terrible. So far I am up to 6 miles, I am definitely progressing. My double jogging stroller is the best and it allows me to go whenever I want and just take the boys. There are a few good paths right outside our house so that makes it even easier.
Other than that we are just gearing up for Oliver's birthday, thanksgiving and our big move. We are really happy just being together as a family because its something we really haven't had thus far.

cheers

8 Months Old

July 24th

Dashel Edward turned 7 months old the day we left Germany. He had begun crawling and pulling up in earnest a few days into our stay and the Fisher House as lovely as it was, was not designed for a baby on the go. Though I put little stock in "baby proofing" I do try to avoid having large potted plants that are just the right size for pulling up (with lots of dirt inside to eat) in the vicinity of the baby. Once Kirby moved into the Fisher House with us, he was overwhelmed at the amount of activity and was very concerned that Dashel would fall and hurt himself. Compounded by the fact that Kirby could do nothing to help corral him, it was a stressful time.
Kirby started feeling a little better each day and luckily the unseasonal heat wave (and no air conditioning) that plagued us early on had passed and the weather was nice and not too hot. We were also able to visit the HUGE BX/PX (military store) on Ramstein Air Force Base, and once again feel that twinge of jealousy at how EVERYTHING is better on an Air Force Base. We drank German beer and ate some tasty schnitzel and tried to wrap our heads around our new normal.


We drove to Garmisch Germany and stayed two nights at The Edelweiss Lodge and Resort . We'd stayed there a couple times last year and it worked out nicely because it is halfway between Landstuhl and Vicenza.






The highlight of our stay was going on the horsey ride. Look at his sweet face reflected in the window.

This sunset was beautiful and looked like a painting I thought.

The horse and carriage.

July 8th- 23th

The welcome home ceremony after a deployment is probably one of the coolest experiences you can have. Even just seeing soldiers being reunited with their loved ones on TV gives me a thrill as I think it does most people. I missed the last one when he came home from Afghanistan in '08 because we hadn't moved to Italy yet and it just didn't make sense to go and then come right back. I was there for the one in '05 after 13 months in Iraq. The excitement in the room (usually a gym) is overwhelming especially once they march in and stand there for a few minutes. You can actually lay eyes on your soldier. When they are finally released its a mob scene as everyone scrambles to find their loved one. That happy event was not to be for us, not this time anyway.
We got to Landstuhl around 2 in the morning after driving about 12 hours. I was exhausted and of course had a terrible headache. The hospital was basically deserted. I followed Spc Mix down a few halls until we found someone and asked him where Ward 10D was. When we got there Mike asked the nurses if I could see Kirby. They went to see if he was awake and then the nurse motioned for me to come down the hall. I had an increasing sense of dread the closer I got to the room. I just had no idea what Kirby would look like, how he would be, it was pretty scary. The room he was in was small, and there were two other guys in the room. Both Marines, both had been shot. Kirby was hooked up to a bunch of tubes. Not enough to warrant a lot of concern but an IV, a pain pump and a catheter. He was wearing a blousy hospital gown and his beard was coming in nicely from not shaving for a few days. He had dried blood on his wrists and his finger nails were dirty. He was high on morphine.

The following day was Kirby's surgery and the rest of the time was spent visiting him in the hospital, getting him to out-patient status, then breaking free entirely and heading home.

We didn't really take many pictures in the hospital but here are a few when we watched some world cup match. Kirby is pretty blind and the only glasses he had were the ones he was wearing when he got blown up, a pair of huge sunglasses.

July 5th-7th

As an army wife there are two contingencies that you make peace with while your husband is deployed, one is that he'll come home at the end of the deployment and life will go on, the other is that he won't come home at all. Getting hurt and having a life altering injury never even occurred to me.
Kirby called me at about 5 in the evening. My friend Emily, whose husband is also a company commander in the battalion, was over and we were watching the Twilight movies. Kirby was very heavily medicated and at first I almost thought it was a joke. I couldn't quite wrap my head around the words he was saying and when I finally understood I thought he was calling to say good-bye. He told me that he had gotten blown up by an IED and was hurt real bad, he said his back was broken. I didn't know what that meant, I didn't think you could come back from a broken back. He said he could wiggle his toes and that nothing had happened to his spinal cord. He said he would be in Landstuhl (the big army hospital hub in Germany) tomorrow and asked me to call his parents and let them know. It was a pretty short call but it was the worst moment of my life. The not knowing what exactly happened and what I could do was the worst part. The next couple days were a blur of phone calls and plans and emotions. I was talking on my cell phone and house phone almost non-stop. Finally on Wednesday, which seemed like an eternity but was only 48 hours later, we loaded the kids, my neighbor Nicole, myself and Spc. Mix(the soldier tasked with driving the car up and helping us get there) in the flex and drove the 12 hours to Landstuhl. I sat in the back seat wedged between the two car seats, holding the boys' hands and was finally able to relax a little knowing in a few hours I would see Kirby.

July 4th

July 4th was the last "normal" day we had. The deployment had just hit 7 months and things were buzzing along. The weather had been getting progressively warmer and going on post for the Fourth of July festivities was like hanging out in a sauna. Oliver loved riding the "not quite safe for kids" rides and took his driving very seriously. We drank a beer but had to skip the hot dogs because the Italians were bum rushing the stands. They aren't the waiting-in-line kind of people. As we sat at the picnic tables, sweating profusely, a huge storm cloud covered the sky, the wind started blowing like crazy and the temperature dropped at least ten degrees. If I were psychic, I would have thought it some sort of ominous sign. Instead I just gathered the boys and left.

Here's the boys in their red white and blue outfits.

6 Months Old

Dashel is half a year old! About two weeks ago he totally gained mobility and there has been no looking back. He low crawls like a champ, and wants to explore and eat everything. His favorites include wires, remotes, newspaper and toy cars. He cares nothing for baby approved toys. I had to rearrange the entire living room to hide the wires and we took all the little toys upstairs. He still finds trouble and is a baby on a mission. My whole day is spent facilitating his play and trying to keep him somewhat contained. I nearly had a heart attack yesterday when I went upstairs for a second and came back down to find him standing up holding on to the couch. I ran down as fast as I could while having visions of him letting go and cracking his head open. I have a feeling that isn't the last scare this little guy will give me. I'm not sure how he pulled himself up, but there's only more of that to come.
His bottom two teeth have pushed through and the top ones are dangerously close to making an appearance. He's a happy guy but not in a smiley way. He's just focused on what he wants to do and as long as he's moving or being held, or both, he's content. He does love to be tickled, especially by Oliver. He enjoys beating up on Oliver and wrestling with. They are fast becoming best buds.

Ready to attack

Momentarily distracted by the camera

Confused by the flash

a slight smile while Oliver tickles him

5 months and 2 and a 1/2 years

Dashel loves watching Oliver play and is more than ready to get in on the action. He's started scooting across the floor a little ways when there is something that he especially wants. Which is just about everything. He loves to grab and dive for anything he sees.

No more bouncy seats. He flips over and slides out. Its getting hard to get anything done when he's awake. And he doesn't sleep that often!

I thought about mailing the boys to Kirby and giving him a turn.

They're on their way!


I love dressing little boys!

Oliver loves to draw, he's filled up three big notebooks with his doodles since he turned two. I found this drawing yesterday and asked him what it was. He told me it was a butterfly.

My favorite part of the day