happy birthday, darling

i am beyond blessed to share this life with my incredible husband. i'd say our life together right now is nothing short of chaotic, constantly busy, always moving - we often high five each other with responsibilities so we can each do our own thing and still keep the plates spinning in our home. many days we feel like ships passing in the night with little time to just be together. there are always things to take care of, tasks to complete, meals to cook, baths to give, adventures to seek, work to be done (walls to paint)....yet he remains patient with me and encourages my ambitions. he shoulders the role of father to three babes under four with joy and amazing confidence. he keeps things centered when things being to spiral out of control. he gives me strength and balance when i start to fall apart. and no matter how out of whack things sometimes seem, he helps me remember to laugh about them later.  we're so proud of the work he does when he is away from us and impressed by everything he accomplishes.  and what a blessing to us, he has the incredible ability to leave work at work and be fully present when he is home with us. i'm so thankful for the gift this man is to my life. i'm so blessed by the family we are building together.  and i'm still so in love with this most-handsome boy i met 12 years ago at the university of illinois.  happy birthday to you, wonderful reid. i love you and will always cherish every beautifully chaotic and often-ungraceful adventure we embark on together with our babes in tow. thank you for holding my hand in life's journey and walking the road together.

my loves

happy birthday to daddy!

enticing curtis with cake: hard to believe he'll be having his own first cake here in a few months!

welcome welcome daddy!

i'm much overdue in sharing this wonderful memory with you, but alas - the pace has quickened ever steadily with the return of our hero. i loaded our three beautiful babes into the van at midnight and drove perhaps too quickly with my heart surging with joy up to camp pendleton to greet our hero.  my very talented and dear friend joined us to capture the whole thing with her photography (all photos are credited to Catie of Vuefinder Photography). i also met my sweet military sister who was greeting her man alongside. betsy was so snuggly and sleepy in the van, but peter jumped right out of bed and was babbling over chit-chatting to me the whole drive up, and never stopped talking once we arrived and he had a new audience to entertain. curtis was just a gem and went along with the whole thing beautifully. double-stroller in tow, we walked up to the meeting area and rounded the corner to see a huge crowd of people, full of excitement and anticipation, waiting to meet their Marines. a text from reid tells me they are about 15 minutes away. betsy wants to jump in the bounce house across the way that i'm sure is there for the daytime crowds to occupy babes while they wait. peter is still chatting and people watching and pointing out the moon in the sky. curtis just takes it all in. my heart is pounding and i just want to run across base and find their bus and drag him off of it and kiss him. i can't wait another 15 minutes. then the energy in the crowd shifts, i can feel they must be getting close as i'm sure everyone is getting texts that they are almost there. i have no free hands to check my phone but feel it vibrate in my pocket and know that its him telling me the same.  then we hear a rumble in the distance. it brings the energy of the crowd even higher as that rumble grows, they're getting closer. its their awesome motorcycle brigade escort. my heart is jumping with joy but then i remember my sweet, sensitive to loud noise boy who is gripping my leg, face buried and sobbing. he is so terrified of the loud rumble that is now upon us.  i awkwardly pick him up and put him on the hip opposite of curtis and attempt to cover both of their (four) ears with my (two) hands and am reminded of how many ways i am divided when it comes to caregiving. poor betsy has her thumb in mouth, wide-eyed and i'm thankful for my friend who scoops her up and tells her what is happening. she is unphased and happy, but my two boys....oh those two boys are filled up with concern and trembling.  the motorcycles are past with a last good rev or two of their engines and here come the vans and buses. reid said he was in a van. is that his van? oh no there it goes...was that his van? i can't see him and now the buses are coming and coming and i am holding too many kids to even think about walking. i hope he sees our sign and comes to find us. the crowd is overwhelming and there are people jumping up and down and clapping and crying and yelling to their loved ones everywhere. and then the people just sort of parted and courtney says "that's them!" and here come between two buses the most handsome guys you've ever seen. even though they are all dressed exactly the same and its two in the morning, its effortless to find your man. that man you've been missing desperately for 7 months. that man you've been picturing in your mind's eye at bedtime and all the other special times you've been apart. that man you've been just aching to touch, to be held by. and now he's walking towards you.  its the most amazing sight as time moves in slow motion; he's really here! the big kids go to him immediately, betsy snuggling into her daddy's shoulder with barely a hello; he needed no introduction or welcome, just a giant hug from his sweet lady bug. peter is looking at him and touching his face and chatting to him "you're here daddy! i'm so happy! you are the best dad i ever had." he's hugging his babes and peeking between them at his littlest, the one he's never met or held or kissed or smelled. i steal a quick kiss, even though i'd like to just wrap my arms around him and join the snuggle - not sure he can hold all four of us in his mighty arms. i know i'll get my chance.  after a few minutes, betsy is ready to snuggle into the stroller and peter is content to stand by his side, holding his hand or his giant cargo pocket, watching the crowd shift and move as people start to gather up luggage and go their ways in the wee hours of the morning and reid finally takes curtis into his hands. a moment of perfection when father finally meets his babe. he held him up in front of him to really gaze into his face then immediately pulled him to his chest and kissed his head and my whole existence just surged with happiness and contentedness. all is well. we are whole again. he is home.

an update from our hero

 we are so proud of him and thankful for his continued safety as well as all the support from home he continues to receive. he got back in last night from another mission and was welcomed by FIVE care packages waiting for him on his cot. thank you everyone!

a medevac - Reid was safely onboard as a (healthy) passenger

as reid said "this is what happens to stuff in the desert"

the love of my life on a cold morning out on a mission in his vehicle

returning to his rack from a couple weeks out on a mission

keeping morale high

my husband is doing his part to keep everyone's spirits up this week. he's apparently let the top of his hair grow quite long (in typical aviator fashion) but has taken a razor to the sides. remember, he generally is wearing either a battle helmet or cover of some type so its not often it is viewed in its full glory, but when it is....well, its quite stunning. love it, babe! xoxo

jane wayne day at 1st LAR

today i got to spend the day at work with my marine - what a blast! i got to climb inside and learn all about the capabilities of the different LAVs (light armored vehicles) from a younger guy we went to college with who is in reid's battalion who deployed with them last year as well - there are actually several U of I guys there.  it was fascinating to gain some perspective to their actual living conditions while they're "away"....these vehicles that appear pretty large when standing next to them shrink once you are inside, crawling into the open spaces meant for people to sit/sleep/stand watch/relax/etc. very little time during their "trip" is spent outside of the vehicles. i have to be honest, i can't imagine seeing these fully loaded with their full team of marines inside hard at work with all of their battle gear/helmets/etc on their backs. it felt crowded and awkward and tight for me to climb around in the empty vehicle with no one else in there with me and was definitely not wearing 60+ pounds of equipment and gear and armour on my body. i remember my ship feeling cramped after awhile underway, this gave a whole new impression of that term.
thank you to our marines who endure so much while fighting "the good fight". when we complain about our lives here at home, we often take for granted your daily lives out there in "the bad place".....its definitely hotter, dustier and dirtier and much much less comfortable for you 24 hours a day.  doing my best to keep perspective on how blessed we truly are and how much gratitude those who serve deserve.

chaplain niemeyer was the chaplain on my first ship...and he married us almost 6 years ago.....now he is the battalion chaplain for 1st LAR where reid works

one of the Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs), there are several configurations each with a separate job to do within the platoon. some are more heavily armed, some are for logistics purposes, some are for comms/control (that's the one reid rides in), some are for towing....pretty fascinating.

mine-roller on the front of an LAV

logistics LAV - definitely the most open compartment in the back for carrying gear/medevacs/supplies,....and the navy nerd in me was really excited to discover they are outfitted with halon for internal firefighting protection! (that was some of my firefighting gear in the engine rooms on my ship!)

sitting cozy in the back of an LAV - that is all the space there was...not a lot of room to stretch out to catch some zzzz's

in the driver's seat as "vehicle commander"

with my marine - this LAV has a big gun on top. its everyone's favorite. :)

emily in the driver's seat from above

reid and dustin, u of i boys - dustin is giving reid a tour of the turret

reid with a friend's 11 month old on his lap inside the LAV - she was the only one who fit comfortably into all the cramped spaces!

sarah and emily in our "battle gear" (we didn't have the heavy kevlar armor in them thank heavens) ready to ride an LAV

dustin and emily up top

a daddy is

someone who lights up your eyes.  and always has time to snuggle.  have loved watching betsy get to know her daddy in the months following his deployment. :)

waiting for daddy

this is the ONLY time my son sat still today. waiting for his daddy to come home. i love that it is the main event of his day (my day too, really). yesterday i knew we were arriving home from our walk just minutes before his arrival so we waited outside on the front step for him. today's walk was earlier but of course pete asked to wait there again. i had to explain to him it wasn't quite time. about half an hour later he told me he was going to wait for daddy and pulled the chair up on his own and sat there waiting.  sometimes he'd get bored and twist the chair facing away from the door or scoot it back far from the door and then shriek "help help help!"...i encouraged him to reposition the chair himself. after about 30 minutes of waiting and some funny yoga/dangling from the chair, it was time for dinner. daddy came home minutes later and pete ran to the door screaming "DADDY!!!!!!"
these are the moments that make up our magical days. it really is the happiest moment when he comes through the door!

beach day

what better way to spend a gorgeous spring morning as a family than at the gorgeous san diego beach!  the kids both had an amazing time running through the water. it was a cool, breezy morning so we all went fully clothed (not to mention pete was terrified of the water last trip). we decided to stop at dog beach (poor baxter wasn't along, i felt guilty alllll morning!) because there was street parking available and its a little more protected than torrey pines who was under pretty high tide at the time. betsy was determined and spent all morning, while holding onto my fingers, steering our path toward the water and she didn't stop at the edge. no, she took each little determined step, slowly and diligently, heading straight out to jump the waves. she knew what she wanted. no fear. she loved the squish of the saturated sand under her toes. she loved the chill of the water as it lapped up to her knees. she loved how i pulled her up out of the water at the last second when the little white caps rushed in, threatening to soak her little body. peter was apprehensive at first but once he saw betsy enjoying it so, he decided it might be alright. he quickly figured out the system, holding safely to daddy's hand, he had a ball....and that ball culminated in him diving into a little tidal pool and soaking himself head to toe. as daddy was working on removing the soaking wet outer layers, our little man finished the job by removing his underwear which he tossed nonchalantly on the sand and went speeding across the entire beach to our little "camp" to lie down on the towel. completely naked! streaker!!!