Updates

Dear Family and Friends,
We have made it safely to NE, made a new home for ourselves and adjusting to Daddy being gone. I still can't believe what this month has held for us. I'm also confused as to what day it is and what month we're in b/c February has seems like it should be over and done with. It's been a very long month and yet these last 3 weeks have gone way to quick.
When we found out Rob was leaving it was going to be March 6th. Then we found out he needed to complete training before deploying. The training started Feb 23rd, we found this out a week ahead of time. So the packing continued at an increased speed. We had incredible help for loading and cleaning up the house. Thank you so much, you know who you are and we couldn't have finished up everything with out you.

Monday the 16th we said goodbye and went to our hotel. Tuesday Rob had to finish things up with "out processing" and we hit the road at 415pm. We spent that night in Wichita, KS and finished up our drive to NE on Wednesday. Praise God and the Angels for keeping us safe during our drive. Robbie drove the Uhaul, while the kids and I were in the van. Needless to say Rob and I were both very tired and I was blessed with very good passengers in my van. They made the trip with flying colors. Rob and I drove with out falling asleep!

Wednesday we unloaded all our things into the apartment the kids and I will be staying in. Thursday Rob came down with some type of bug. Thankfully it only lasted a day. Friday we were able to see his parents, his sister Emily and her family. It was so great to see them before Robbie left. It really meant a lot that they came to Lincoln to visit.
Saturday Rob had to fly back to TX so he could start his training. We drove to the airport and said our goodbyes. I cried a little but really tried to hold back since Grace was watching me. She didn't want Daddy to go. As we got in the car to leave, Grace asked again why Daddy had to go to Iraq, why couldn't we go on the plane with him? Then stated, "I want to go with Daddy."
We went and got ice cream to ease the pain, which really did put a smile on her face. :)
When we walked into out 'home' Grace said, "it's not as fun here with out Daddy." Then Anthony started saying "daddy plane" over and over. (Which he has said quite frequently since then.)

Sunday we got up and got ready for Church. We got in the car to go and Grace said, "I wish daddy was with us. He should be here, he should be with his family."

Monday, Grace was talking about Daddy all day. How much she misses him, how she is going to pray for him while he's in Iraq. I talked to her about how we can tell him we love him anytime and explained again why he had to go and when he'll be back, amongst many other things. That evening Robbie called around supper time. We were at my parents. Grace got on the phone with him and started crying, she could hardly speak. After we got off with him, if anyone mentioned his name, she would start tearing up. It's so amazing that she is grasping that this is different than any other time when Rob has had to travel for different short-term assignments. She knows this is going to be longer.

This morning, Tuesday, I woke up to her crying/yelling, "I love you daddy!!" I found her w/ her window shades up and yelling out her window. I asked her to come into my room, she laid w/ me crying and talking about Daddy. I told her that he had emailed me pictures and a video of where he's at right now and we got up to go see them. She loved the pictures. When we watched the video and Rob said I love you, she said "I love you" back to him in a choked up voice. We then put on a short video of him reading a book. It's great b/c he's holding Grace in the video. She loves it. It did make the day a little difficult b/c I couldn't get her to leave the computer. I had to really work at getting her to come w/ me to Rosary group at out church. It took me at least 30 mins. It was a struggle to get her to put her clothes on b/c she said she couldn't listen to daddy if she was putting her clothes on. Finally she was getting into the car w/ Anthony and I but with BIG tears b/c she couldn't find her Rosary to pray for daddy and had to settle for a different Rosary. She also firmly told me that she's not going to play at Rosary group but wants to sit on my lap so she can pray for Daddy.
When we got home around lunch time she immediately sat at the computer and listened to daddy read "brer rabbit and the tar baby" at least a dozen times before sitting w/ me to make "the countdown" (the 179 day calender I'm making to cross off the days till dad gets back...)
Thankfully, after Anthony's nap I convinced Grace it would be fun to go to the park. It was wonderful to see her smiling and having fun!!!
We went and ate with Grandma and Grampa for supper before coming back home. As we were talking tonight, Grace mentioned again how it's not fun here w/ out daddy and when saying goodnight and prayers, she started to get teary-eyed again. So, I tried to talk to her about how it's OK to miss daddy but how we can still have fun here while he's gone, how he wants us to have fun here while he's gone! I talked about all our friends and family here and how most importantly we're still together. We're still a family and daddy is with us in our hearts. I then mentioned as an example how we had fun eating w/ Grandma and Grampa tonight. Grace giggled and said, "I was pretending that Grampa was daddy."
Oh gosh, it just cracked me up. How sweet is that?!
She has just been amazing about all of this. It's hard b/c I know it's affecting her and I can see where she is understanding the situation and how it's still so confusing for her. It breaks both Robbie and I's hearts. At the same time, growth is going to come of this for all 4 of us. I have found the more I explain to her the better she's been able to handle things. The more I sit and just talk with her about it, the better she feels. This is definitely something we're all doing together as a family even through the separation.

This upcoming Saturday I get to go to Maryland to see Rob before he leaves for Iraq. We get to spend 5 days just the two of us. We haven't had that since Grace is born!! We're very excited to see each other and thankful for the time together before he goes, especially with the craziness of the last month! We're praying for graces during this time for us and for the kids. Dad leaving has been hard on Grace especially and Anthony wants me in his sight at all times!! So We're hoping that Grace will understand that I'm only going to be gone for a few days and won't go into panic mode. I know she'll take good care of Anthony too, she's a fantastic big sister! Plus Grandma and Grandpa are pretty fun to stay with. Gotta love treats and movies right?

One other little story. On the way up to NE Grace was talking about daddy going to "A-raq" and I said Grace it's "I-raq." She said, No mom, it's "a-raq," I-raq is where Granny and Papaw took us out to breakfast." I said, "Grace that was IHOP... daddy's going to Iraq." When I told Rob that story he laughed and laughed at what Grace was saying but also a lot at the fact that apparently I wasn't pronouncing Iraq correctly and that Grace was saying it the way he was teaching her to say it.

I know this is long and hopefully not too confusing or boring. I kind of just blobbed everything out of my brain (which is still desperately in need of catch up sleep!) I'm not the best writer but wanted to share what's been going on here. We're thankful to be around family and friends during this time. The support of all of our loved ones and even people who don't know us too well has been amazing and uplifting. Most of all I think we've been receiving many graces and gifts from God to help us along this path. I know all your prayers have been surrounding our Family. I also can't help but be thankful for the fact that I'm so in love with my family, my husband that the thought of being apart for 6 months is so painful, sad and mind-boggling! That sounds so weird but I've heard of stories that some couples don't care if they're separated or that it saved there marriage b/c of their time apart. I can't even imagine what that feels like and I'm thankful for that!! I have thought much more than once about how much I love being Robbie's wife and how I love being the mother of our children. All of this happening has just increased that by so much I can't even put a number on it! We are embracing this as a family and it's wonderful. FYI: If his deployment got cancelled at anytime I would take it in a heart beat!! But that's probably not going to happen, so we'll just continue on till we can all be together again.... 179 days and counting....

God's blessings to you all