Deployment Number Two

I have started and deleted this post too many times to count.  We'll see if it makes it to "publish" tonight.  Todd is deploying to Afghanistan again.  He starts training in California February 1.  He'll come back home the last week of February to help me and the kids move out to Utah.  We are going to live near my parents for the year Todd is gone.  Todd will have training in Texas in March and April, then fly over to Afghanistan the start of May.  He should be back March 2014. 

I have been surviving by trying not to think about it too much.  Now that it is January, it is staring me in the face.  Every day that ends brings his departure too much closer.  I hate the calendar. 

Suddenly I am not doing well anticipating this.  I don't know how I'm going to pull this year off with three kids and come out on top.  I have been absolutely failing at positive parenting with two kids for the past week and am hoping I'll do a better job as a sleep-deprived mother-of-three than I have been as an end-of-pregnancy mom with two.  The personal breakdowns have begun. 

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Aah. We're all together again. Todd's back safe from Afghanistan and playing like a madman with Hazel. We've been busy the last couple of weeks, with lots of traveling and apartment hunting. I just wanted to send out a quick note while I had a minute to let everyone know our family is happily, thankfully, reunited at last.

Big News

Todd sent me an email 12 hours ago saying he'd be flying out of Afghanistan sometime in the next 12 hours. Hooray! He'll be in transit for a while, but should be back in the States in a few days.

I am so relieved.

I'll see him Saturday night. We're rendezvousing for the weekend at his post-mobilization site. We found out he'd have a couple days leave and suddenly couldn't stand the thought of waiting five more days to see each other. (Hazel will see him in a week and a half, when he returns to California.) I'm ecstatic. There's no point in even trying to express myself in words.

My heart feels like it's going to blow up with happiness.

The only part that makes me sad is that Hazel is already doing this:

We had both really hoped Todd would be able to teach her how to walk. He's already missed so much. I didn't encourage it, didn't practice with her or anything, tried to hold her off, but it was no use. The kid is a mover. (Guess who that comes from?)

But hey, maybe she'll run into her daddy's aching arms, huh?

Afghan Update

Things are going well here. Here's a picture of me and my co-pilot Lemmons after my first mission, as well as a picture of one of my first patients. Missing my women back home pretty bad, but at least the Medevac mission we're doing over here is pretty important, at least for the guys we pick-up.

Afghanistan Update

Besides the snow putting a little damper on things, it's been going well. I haven't had a chance to get out and fly much, but will as soon as the weather clears. I live pretty well here, I guess that's relative. I am really lucky and have my own room with ac/heat, what more could I ask for. Bagram is a large base. I feel pretty safe, no incidents as of yet.

The flying I have done has been challenging and fun. The mountains out here are amazing. They go from 2,000' up to 15,000' in a matter of a few hundred meters. It is definetly the most challenging environment to fly in and I'm learning a lot. Thus far we've been in a transition stage, as the unit we are replacing heads home. I should be up flying real Medevac missions by next week. Thanks for all the gifts, packages and thoughts this holiday season.

Happy New Year!!!
-Todd