Welcome Home Jake!!

Saturday night Jake finally came home to us!! This has been an extrememly long deployment but we are finally a complete family again. It was a suprise to find his name on the flight manifest. I literally screamed and then cried. Then I couldn't talk. I was tongue-tied. What a wonderful suprise! His ceremony was around midnight. They gave him Sunday and Monday off before he had to return for his reintegration. Its not bad though, only a few hours each day. I feel so blessed and am truely grateful to have my wonderful husband home safe. Thank you all so much for your support and love to our family throughout this deployment. Now we are enjoying each day together.

Do Unto Others...

I just wanted to post a little something about the gratitude I have felt from all the donations I received for soldiers this past year. Months ago it was soccer balls for the Iraqi kids. I thought we might get 10 or so and we ended up with almost 40 soccer balls! It was awesome. We had donations from friends, family, church groups, friends of friends, family of friends, (you get the picture).

Now its almost time for all these wonderful soldiers to come home and the single soldiers will be coming back to Germany without loved ones to greet them. Not to mention having sheets on their beds, blankets, toothbrushes, etc. Just a room and a thanks for your service, see you in the morning. So....thats where we had some WONDERFUL donations and volunteers. I put out an email about a month ago to my email contacts and I have received 15 boxes of goodies for soldiers. Here are a few pictures of some of the fun stuff. My kids and I had a blast going through all the boxes and of course, my heart was so full that the water works followed. What can I say? When it comes to our soldiers and the patriotism and support by others, I am complete mush. So if any of those that donated items read this....Thank you on behalf of the 2 Stryker Cavalry Regiment single soldiers!!!

We received bed sheets, towels, snacks, toiletries, decorations, even beautiful homemade thank you cards. This was so great and the soldiers that have come in are already thanking us everytime they see us. Thank you again to everyone and WELCOME HOME STRYKERS!!!

Another trip to the hospital

Luckily we didn't have to stay the night...total shocker! I had packed a bag and everything. Its kinda the norm in Germany. They seem to admit you for everything, especially babies. I had the flu when I was pregnant and got sick at my doc appointment, so they admitted me into the hospital which ended up being worse because the other thing about hospitals here is you get the luxury of roommates so I was in with an old lady that kept getting sick ALL NIGHT LONG. Anyway, just explaining why its not so fun to stay in hospitals here....
So Kenlee had a cold for over a week but it was starting to get better. Then a couple days ago her breathing started sounding bad. So I tried to get her in to our oh so wonderful clinic here on post that can't handle the patient load. We couldn't get her in so we tried for the next day. The doctor saw her and said he thought I should take her in to the hospital. He was worried that she might have injested something the way she was sounding. Sound familiar? So I went home, made arrangements for the kids, packed bags, got to the hospital and they said they think she has croupe. I didn't know they still diagnose that one. So they gave her a supository which I thought was kinda cool because I guess thats how they sometimes give children medicine because it gets in the blood system faster and begins working sooner. Jake confirmed that one when he shared the ever fun information that I will now pass on to you...he said "ya Mel thats the fastest way to hydrate someone too. They take a bag of fluids, stick the hose in your butt and stomp on the bag and that will get you hydrated way faster than through an IV". Awww, its so nice having a husband who knows these raw details. Aren't you glad I shared?
So the medicine didn't help as much as hoped but they said I could have her stay in the hospital but it wasn't a must. So we came home and although she doesn't sound much better, she's now starting to cough more so I'm hoping thats a good sign. Maybe the guck is breaking up and she's now able to get it out. None of this slows her down though. Thats a good thing. Still has all her energy and is her sweet smiling, into everything self! Another bright side...the kids were already enjoying their sleepover arrangements (no school on friday) so they wanted to stay and therefore Kenlee and I had the night and now half the day to ourselves. I have actually been able to cross some things off of my TO DO BEFORE JAKE COMES HOME list.

Happy Birthday Kenlee!

Hard to believe my baby is already one! Kenlee is such a joy to our family. She looks like her brother, is sweet like her sister, but is silly all on her own. She gets giggly and excited and likes to bounce up and down. We have enjoyed every second of watching her grow this past year. Unfortunately her dad missed this precious time, but they will get to do a lot of making up for it when he comes home this month. Kenlee is a lucky girl to have a brother and sister that love her to pieces and will do just about anything for her. Rylee is a huge help to me, a little mother. And Keegan loves to make her laugh. He's a great entertainer. And then Lucy our dog is just sweet for letting Kenlee love on her with her fur in Kenlee's grip (I know poor Lucy).

We had a small party with friends and their kids for her birthday. Kenlee got some fun presents but I think her boquet of balloons was her favorite (go figure). On her actual birthday, Grandma Rita was able to watch Kenlee open her presents and eat her strawberry shortcake through webcam courtesy of Skype. Isn't technology amazing?? Kenlee loves....

laying on her dog Lucy

her binkie

taking baths

mandarin oranges

her dolly

playing with the water cooler knobs

exploring