Deployment #3 Underway

Day #3 of Deployment #3 here. I miss Jonathan like crazy right now. The first few days (weeks?) it's always a true emotional and spiritual battle for perspective. Shoot, without a baby it's a battle to even want to get up in the morning! This being my 3rd deployment, I know how to do it well, though. And we have known God's grace from weeks ago, when he let us off the hook for the 100 day deployment and took us back to the 70 we're used to. So I don't feel jolted into an emergency mode, where only just now am I crying out to Him. No, every single day for the past few weeks, Jonathan and I have had our quiet times together rather than apart, and we have been nourished and filled by the words of the Psalms. Our prayers have released some of the burden of our souls, even when we were just told to press on.

God has lavished such a grace by giving me Elyana Ruth. When I came home from dropping Jonathan off, usually going into that now-empty house, with all the memories of us and his stuff lying around, that's the very worst part. But this time, I carried her in and held her close. She receives my hugs and kisses, and she innocently coos and grins at me. It is a sweet balm to have her love and be able to spend mine on her. It's much more of a blessing than I ever imagined. Plus, it's impossible to read the Psalms about God hearing our requests, granting our hearts desires, and making us glad in His salvation, and not look straight at Elyana Ruth and think, "This is a testimony of this very thing."

My days consist of playing with Elyana and working. So I have decided to add in a special evening walk outside together, and meeting with others with deployed spouses and their little ones. We have one event every weekday next week. I don't usually make it so busy, but for a first week that's ok.

Elyana has had a really rough time since J left with keeping to any sort of schedule. I'm gently trying to ease her back into it. It's just sleep and eating have both been hard to get back into a rhythm of.

Now time for some pictures of our last few days together!

Here is our traditional, right-before-he-leaves family picture. Three of us this time!


Jonathan and me on our traditional last-Starbucks date...


Us three at Red Lobster, a new place for dinner, but the last time we ate out. We hadn't eaten here since I had morning sickness, but had a real seafood craving. We relived some great memories. And I successfully nursed Elyana at the table, so successfully that an older lady walked by and saw us with an empty carseat, and asked, "Where's the baby?" I laughed and pointed at my nursing cover. :) I was nervous about trying to be discreet, but I guess I was!


Jonathan wanted to feed Elyana one last time.


I don't know how we managed these smiles when our hearts were breaking.


Jonathan makes me a Build-a-Bear for every deployment. We made one in '04, two in '08, and now here's my fourth one. He made Elyana one too. She was awake and happy for it all, which we were thrilled at.


Here was the little pink/white super-soft bear, Cuddles, that Jonathan and Elyana chose.


This is our beautiful baby!

Life...

Well, so much going on here! Firstly, Elyana is back to being a little angel! I appreciate the comments, and just so you all know, both Jonathan and I really do know our daughter's cries and she really was just throwing a type of fit. I know she's young, but the thing is she almost never cries. Fusses? A little. But only for a reason. In fact, Jonathan's family had been here over 24 hours when they finally heard her actually cry (it was because she had the hiccups, which she dislikes). His mom made a comment that she was glad to hear her cry, just to know she would/could! :) We only put her down once all her needs (food, diaper, cuddling, warmth) were taken care of, and we knew she was crying about being held because as soon as Jonathan or I would get her, she'd stop instantly. We only did this 2-3 times anyway, and after my experience with the swaddling her, we made sure she had something to comfort her while she was fussing (using the 5 S's as a guide, as they fit Elyana to a "t"). Anyway, she's my little angel now. But we learned she loooooves white noise: hair dryer, shower, rain. It's adorable, and almost like a "switch" where as soon as she hears it, she perks up and looks all content! It makse my getting ready in the morning much easier!

The realy sad news? Jonathan left this morning! *tears up* These separationns are so very hard on us!!! Seriously, last night we decided to go out to dinner before he left, so we went Japanese for sushi (my first time in 9 months). And both of us were so upset about leaving each other, that we could not eat a thing and we felt really ill. We just packed it up and brought it home, and just spent the evening in one another's arms. We weren't much better this morning. And it's only 15 days apart!!! But we both agree we hope we always hate being separated so much. At least we'll have webcamming and phone calls! It made it hard on Jonathan too to say goodbye to his little girl as well...

So it's just baby and me for a few days, until my lovely sister Karen and her girls come visit!!! They'll be here Sunday or Monday, and I cannot wait. Her girls are beside themselves with excitement to meet little "Elyana Ruth" as they always call her. The like to listen to her coo or fuss when Karen and I talk on speaker phone. :) We had SUCH a great time last year when they visited, so that's my bright spot to look forward to!

And on a happy note, my Bum Genius diapers arrived! They are washing as we speak, so I can start Elyana on them later. I tried them on at the smallest setting (they have 3 settings, hence the one-size-fits-all) and they fit her pretty well. And the great thing? No huge baby butt! They fit almost as small as a disposable, so Elyana will still look cute in all her little outfits! I had to wait for her to outgrow the newborn size diapers, since she really needs to be about 9lbs to fit BG's. They come in the cutest colors too! I only bought 1 pink one, though, sticking to the more neutral colors (greens, blues, yellows) so if we have a boy I can use them too, and get my full investment out of them.

I had more to say, but I need to go put those diapers in the dryer! And kiss on my little girl!

---Update--- Oh yeah, I've got my first breast infection. I was slow in putting all the pieces together that that's what was going on. Pretty painful. Taking all the usual remedies (nursing as frequently as possible, pumping until empty, warm compress, warm bath, aspirin for pain relief). Any other advice is appreciated! (And I gave it to myself... I waited too long to nurse last night, as I was really distraught about Jonathan leaving and so I let the baby sleep too long. Lesson learned!)

So, I know most my readers are not military, so a separation from your husband usually is confined to a few days at most. And maybe those days are spent getting "me" time or special time with your children. But as a miltiary wife, the second thing you do after your husband is deployed, is make a list of projects to tackle and accomplish over his absence. The first thing you do of course is try to pick yourself up of the couch where you've been sobbing for the last hour. Deployments don't get easier, and the initial pain of missing the man you love is so intense. But giving yourself something to work at greatly helps busy the mind and body not to dwell on the current circumstances.

I'm sure it depends on the length of deployment - Susi had 15 long, grueling months. And a 4 month old daughter. But guess what the first thing she did was? She moved!!! Talk about an accomplishment!

My projects have been much smaller. Last spring, they were making a lovely place out of the front flowerbed, re-vamping the office completely (including a lot of hanging/organizing and painting my desk), and organizing the garage. Plus lots of visiting around. Anyway, here's a tiny glimpse of what I did last time:

You can't see in this picture, but the front bed was so ugly. Planted 4 rose bushes, a gardenia bush, dusty miller (silver-colored), hostas, red flowers, mulched, put up black fencing. Took about a month for all the colors to come in & I never got a picture of that, but believe me it looked great! All that digging was a lot of work! (Before & After pics) Click to see the colors!

I can't find a "before" of the office, but believe me it was messy and uncoordinated! This is what my desk went from looking like. It's so much nicer with complimentary furniture!

So this time, my projects were to get the new office all set up (since the old office was now the baby's room). This was a bit tricky because it involved combining the hunting room with the office. Sure, there was space, but careful organization was needed to keep it from being crowded and frustrating. (Believe me, we have enough hunting stuff to dedicate an entire room to it! *grins*)

I also had the best project ever, to get the baby's room painted! I also ended up purchasing a fair amount of baby clothes/stuff while Jonathan was gone, so getting that set up was inevitable. My little projects have been: read birthing & new baby-related books, crochet Baby Girl a blanket, sew myself a nursing cover, make my own baby thank-you notes, and just in general organize the house more (I feel like I can always, always organize it more!). So, for your enjoyment, here are some pictures of my accomplishments. I did also travel & have guests too, went to Chicago for business, and made my sister-in-law's wedding cake. All I have left to do is cleaning until Jonathan returns!!!!

Nursing Cover, Baby Blanket, Thank You Notes

For what it's worth, I'm craving this fabulous concoction Susi and I made: a Black Forest Kirsch-laced Torte. We made it one of my last few days there, and even managed it for breakfast once (goes incredible with some Cutter's Point coffee laced with real cream). Can anyone tell we have decadent taste????

Jonathan's ALMOST HOME!!!!!

As I write this, I am sitting in a Starbucks inside a Kroger in Atlanta.... waiting for Jonathan's flight to come in. I had to drop off Mary at 6:40am, and his plane isn't scheduled to come in until 5pm, but he's trying to fly standby for a 1:00pm flight. I'm killing time at a place nearby the airport. I don't know Atlanta at all and I don't want to get lost, especially in a bad section of town. There is a Borders, Target, and Bed, Bath & Beyond at this location, so I'll probably browse those over the next few hours.

I miss Mary. She was a HUGE blessing! She painted and worked and painted and worked for hours and hours and never was the 1st to stop. Most nights we stayed up until 11ish working, although we made time in the day for trips to Starbucks, the mall, and various other fun spots. Last night (Friday) we stayed up until 2:11am and our alarms went off at 4:00am. Agh! On the 1 hour 20 minute drive to the airport, Mary was doing a good job talking to me so I'd be alert, but she kept saying gibberish because she would get into a twilight-sleep phase! Anyway, when I download pictures I'll post them, but she and I got the kithcen painted a Velvety Merlot and the master bath painted a Morning Breeze. I love them both!!! But I can't tell you how many man-hours went into all that. Mary is also amazing at checking off boxes to ensure to movers bring everything.

This was the worst move I've done. Lots of broken/smashed/damage to our stuff. Nothing irreplacable, but it's odd it would happen this way. Just like the Stang made it fine to San Antonio, but got real damaged coming back to NC. Anyway, bunches of paperwork to file.

So for now, I sign off with a breathlessly expectant Denise who will get to see her husband after 17 days not seeing him at all!!!!!!! I can't wait to run into his arms!!!!

Who My Husband Is!

Well, my Sweetheart is out in the woods somewhere in Washington state. I won't be able to talk to him until late Thursday night. I can't wait! I can't believe he's only been gone 6 days! It's amazing how slow time goes. I have had a wonderful time here with my family and visiting his! I'm so grateful we're not in a house yet so I can have an excuse to be here the whole time!! They've been wonderful.

I would like to make another post about my dear Jonathan, who I've had the pleasure of knowing for 9 years this Valentine's Day, and being his Love for 6 years this June. Wow!

Jonathan is a wonderful brother and brother-in-law. He has found place of kinship with my brothers, after some rough times where they weren't sure they even liked him! His sense of humor is wonderful to me, and yet it's unique. My brother Carter once told me, "Jonathan can find the one area you're sensitive about, and yet he'll pick at it!" Of course, as they grew to know one another, they learned each other's quirks and learned how to joek and be serious, to work and play, and to be brothers. I can honestly say they couldn't be happier with his being in the family.

This was my brothers, Kiernan, Taige, and Jonathan all wrestling in Williamsburg! I think it was good natured, but the guys still seemed very serious about it. Wrestling was rather new to my brothers, but they caught on quick.


This was at my cousins's wedding in '06. My cousin Tricia was singing during the rehearsal and they boys all wanted to communicate to her how her singing made them feel. She loves to joke right back with them, and loves that they treat her like the brothers she never had!!!!

Jonathan was around when Noah was still small. :)

My husband loves the outdoors. I don't know anyone who loves it more than he does. He can spend hours outside bird watching, and he's excellent at identifying them too. He's a conservationist at heart, never wanting even a small animal to be left hurt. Just last week in the mountains, he rescued a stunned cardinal from his grandparents collie dogs. He has taken baby turkeys out of the tractors way. Yes, he's an avid hunter, because of the challenge, but a huge part of his hunting is learning an animals ways, tracking it, and the sport of it. So here's him with the biggest buck he's shot and found thus far.


He is a good friend to his Christian brothers, Air Force brothers, and blood brothers. He gladly takes adventures with them. He never minds getting dirty and working long hours to help, most times offering himself and me before anyone even thinks of asking us. He has a servants heart and never seems to think twice about serving others before self.

I love his sense of fun! For example, whenever we wash the cars together, he can't help but squirt me with the hose, whether or not I'm dressed or in a bathing suit! The first time he did that, I was so shocked at him (and it was so freezing water) that he says I got a look of pure hurt and betrayal on my face. He turned into a sad puppy dog... And yet, he loves to tease!!! Jennifer had to learn how to take his teasing and give it right back!


He loves, loves, loves children! He is usually one of the first to go get a baby and hold it. He doesn't even ask, he just does it naturally. He has a way with infants especially. Of the many times we've kept friends' kids for a date night, a few hours, or a few days, he has never ever ever said no. In fact, I know his heart so well, I do not even have to tell our friends "let me ask Jonathan", I know we want to serve our friends with children. He truly lives out Psalm 129!

He gets into mischief.... And gets others into it with him... And when the trouble comes, he always, always has a humorous word to offer! It's hard to stay upset at him! Don't even ask about this picture!

He has a very sweet spot in his heart for his precious little sister, Emily. She is the apple of the whole family's eye, but his tender affections towards her when he was a teen always gave a hint to the girls and the girls' mothers that he had a sweet and gentle heart inside that rough boyish exterior!

This is just a small piece of who Jonathan is to others..... He's so much more, but I don't even have time for that!!!! Later!

My Soldier!

Ok, I'm missing my husband a lot!! I can't even begin to convey the ache I feel for being without him. It's hard thinking of 16 more days like this! Yet I know as it gets closer to his coming home date, I'll just be breathlessly counting down the days until he arrives! Already thinking of that day I get to pick him up in Atlanta gives me butterflies in my stomach!!! Anyway, because I really miss him, and because he's away at land survial school for the Air Force's navigator training, I figured I'd post some pictures of him in uniform! My favorite is his olive drab flight suit, which I only have one picture of him in, and he's lieing down. Doesn't do him justice not showing the whole uniform, yet he's still so hot!!! My 2nd favorite is the BDU's, actually. Too bad he doesn't wear them much. Anyway, here's a little collection of a few picture of my Air Force Soldier!!!!

J & Katrina - On an evening he had to go out for an Exercise

Wilson, Boyd, Wade, Ollis - still Cadets, for a few more days.


The guys doing Color Guard for NASCAR. Here's Ricky Rudd, driver of the Air Force car.


I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely,without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.


Jonathan resting in his flight suit. Me looking crazy. Yes, those are 2nd LT bars!

And just for sweet memory.... from our Scotland Honeymoon!!! (P.S. We're tentatively planning a trip to Greece via Germany this year!!!!!! I love our adventures!)

Quick Update

Sorry no updates lately. Since we moved out of our home in TX on Dec 15th we're flown to NC, spent a few hurried weeks there, flew back to TX, closed things out there, drove to GA, found a house (looked at 20 something), drove to Charlotte, stayed a few days, drove up near Asheville in the mountains to visit Jonathan's grandparents, drove back to our families' homes, and I'm about to stay here for 2 1/2 weeks while Jonathan's in Washington state for survival school. Now that it's 2 days away I'm having some feelings of real anxiety and sadness. I hate being apart even for a night. The longest we've been away since his 29 day field training (our 3rd month of marriage back in July '04) was 7 days this past November when I was in Oxford. I'm going to miss him so badly! But just so I won't cry here, I won't say any more. Except that the next few weeks will be the times to get together with you NC girls!
Pictures of the house later. Stories and such. I haven't been on the computer much at all lately, sorry for no comments anywhere. I have been trying to read all the updates.
Give me a call or email for anyone wo wants to set up a definite date from Jan 17-28.