Husband is home!

John has been home for about a week now, so as you can imagine, we've had such a crazy week. Some family & friends came in town for his arrival, and we made it really special.
He got in at around 12 midnight on Sunday. I dragged Lola out of bed around 10, and got her dressed in a cute little outfit I got. Could you just die? She was such a trooper.

We waited & waited for the busses to arrive. A band played music we all cheered. 

Finally the busses got there & everyone went nuts. 

  The troops all marched onto the field from behind the trees.

See him back there? He's the one holding the flag.

Then they marched up & got in to formation. The Col. said a few words, completing their mission. And then they released them. We couldn't find him for a few minutes, but finally, there he was.

And it felt so wonderful, to have my husband home.

His first look at Lola...

And a family picture...

I am so happy for this year long deployment to finally be over. My husband is such an amazing person, and I am so proud of him. 

I wont lie, I had some worries as to how the whole transition was going to work. I was unsure how he would feel, coming home to an almost 8 month old baby. But it all went so smooth. Lola knew her Daddy's voice from Skype and was so happy to see him in person. And John fell right into being a Daddy. The way he is with her just melts my heart. 

So here we are, 1 week later & life is just perfect. When you are forced to deal with such a tough situation, and you make it through, you really take nothing for granted anymore. John & I are so thankful to be able to enjoy even the smallest of things together. It is awesome to be able to share Lola with him. 

And we are just loving our little family of 3 :)

Relieved.

Saturday John will be home. Its been about a year since he's been gone and I cant believe its all coming to a close. So many people ask me, are you so excited for him to be home? And of course, I am. But excited just isnt the right word. Excited doesnt do the situation justice. Excited is best used to describe the feeling you have when you are looking forward to a vacation, or party, or something like that.  I think the best word to describe the way I feel is relieved. Relieved to know that I wont have to worry anymore. Relieved to not be doing this all on my own. Ill be so happy to have someone to share my Lola with. There are so many things that I took for granted when John was here. I surely will never make that mistake again. I so look forward to cooking dinners, going for walks, and watching our favorite shows on TV.  Cant wait for all that good stuff, and just to be a family. 

Lola is so looking forward to seeing her Daddy, this morning while skyping, she was just squealing and giggling away, saying DaDa. Cant wait to see how she reacts when she sees him in person. 

 And we are counting the days, hours, minutes till we can drive over to that field and pick up our missing 1/3.

And my girlie, she just keeps getting cuter.