Josh's Homecoming

My husband has finally returned. I can't even begin to express the jubilation I am feeling. All of the stress, the loneliness, the fear, the empty seat at the dinner table, the phone calls that cut off unexpectedly, the holidays/birthdays spent without him, the terrible quality of Skype (when we could Skype), and the days counted down, have lead to Josh's homecoming.

I knew a few weeks in advance when Josh was coming home, but for his safety, I didn't want to share the exact date.You understand, right?! Right. I knew he wasn't going to be back at the squadron (where I was set to pick him up) until at the earliest 7pm. My day went be agonizingly slow. Cole and I went and checked the mail, shopped at the BX, did last minute cleaning, laundry, painted a picture, took pictures, and made a sign for Josh. At that point it was only 2pm. AHHH! I did not know what else I could do, I was getting stir crazy and finally I got a text from Josh saying they just landed! At least now I have contact with Josh, his plane landed safely, and he would be on his way to the squadron shortly. We still had about an hour to kill, but it went so much faster because I was able to text Josh.

When I finally got the thumbs up to start heading to the base it was about 7:30pm. This is Cole's bedtime, and he was clearly very sleepy. I did everything I could to keep him up, I knew he'd want to see his Daddy as much as his Daddy wanted to see him. As we were pulling into the squadron, Cole fell asleep. Josh was already there, I leaped out and ran to him. I finally got to see his face, and hug and kiss him. We were finally together again!

 Josh's welcome home basket of goodies!

 This was the closest I could get Nessa to sit by Cole.

 Cole's reaction to being woken by his Daddy.

This picture is priceless to me. Cole looks so confused, like "Mama, what is happening?!"

Once Cole figured out what was going on, he was so happy to be in his Daddy's arms.

 This is my absolute favorite picture of Cole and Josh. Ever.

 The sign says:
It's been a long 6 months without a doubt,

we are so excited and can't wait to shout:

"We missed you greatly now get over here SrA Trout!"

Less than 2 weeks!

I can't contain my excitement, guy! In less than 2 weeks, my husband will be home. It has been a very long six months, and I know these last days will be the longest, but my son will finally be reunited with his daddy, and I with my husband. Let's get-to-gettin'!

A proud wife moment

Congrats to my husband and many of our Air Force friends who sewed on Senior Airman yesterday!

4 years ago...

Josh asked me to be his wife and the rest is history!

Happy Anniversary Josh!

It's been 3 wonderful, adventurous, hectic, amazing years, and I've loved every minute of it! You're a top notch husband and great father and I can't wait to see what else is in store for us. 3 down, 101 or so more to go! I love you with all of my heart, and I always will.

One of those (good) days...

Do you ever have those days when you sit back and realize how truly blessed you are? Josh and I were making supper last night (pancakes and sausage if you're interested) and my back started to hurt a bit; I was leaning up against the counter trying to take the pressure off my back when Josh came over and started rubbing it to make it feel better. If that wasn't thoughtful enough, he started making jokes to make me laugh and suddenly stopped and said humor is what's going to get me through the labor. I never thought about it, but he's absolutely right.

When he said that, it made me love him even more because he gets it. He knows me better than anyone else, so it's really no surprise that he'd figure out how to help me cope with pain I've never experienced before. He knows just what to say to put me at ease. There is nothing more I could ask for in my birthing coach, my best friend, my life partner, my husband.

I love you Josh.

33 weeks and the Easter Beagle came Charlie Brown!

Wow! What a full week it's has been. Josh's birthday, a doctor's appointment, a Cecilia visit, some adventurin' with Steph and more nursery progress. Not to mention, it's EASTER.

This year Josh didn't want a cake for his birthday, he just wanted me to make him some brownies. I made his favorite: chocolate brownies with white chocolate chips inside (you must try it!), just don't run out of milk like we did. Still, they came out better than I could've dreamed.

At our 32 week checkup on Tuesday, Major Pam (she's our midwife, Maj. is her rank and since we're in centering we go by first names; hence Major Pam, just thought I'd clear that up) taught us how to feel for the baby's head. Totally cool. We also toured L&D, Josh even volunteered to be a "mommy-to-be" and Major Pam showed all the initial things they do when we first get there using Josh. Did I take pictures? You betcha!

Cecilia came for another visit. I always feel more prepared for the labor when Cecilia comes. I won't speak for Josh, but I learn more from Cecilia than I do from centering, it might be because I know I can ask or talk about anything and she always has a comforting way of answering. She gets me.

Stephanie and I traveled back to our favorite German store, this time Josh joined us. I don't know that Josh had as much fun as we did, but I know he'll want to return soon enough! We got some new place mats for our table, I'll post pictures soon.

As for our nursery, we found a used dresser online that matches our crib beautifully and it was a bargain. Can't beat that! All of our wall decor is either in or finished, just needs to be hung up! We also purchased our stroller and car seat (thanks mom and dad!), so really all that's left to do is wait for some fabric to come in so I can make a bed skirt and some curtains and we're finished!

April is going to be a busy month for us; this weekend is Easter, and every weekend until May we have a baby shower. I'm feeling blessed, just one shower was exciting to me, but 3? Thank you friends and family for making this possible for Josh and I especially since we're overseas, this is way more than I ever could've dreamed of.

I have always been obsessed with Easter, I love the colors, the festivities, dressing up special, watching "It's the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown," Easter supper, oh and the whole thing where this guy named Jesus rose from the dead, I don't know if you heard about it, but it was a pretty big deal. I can't wait to share this with Etcha next year!

Josh and I want to wish everyone a

Happy Birthday Josh!

 

Okay, so maybe this was taken last year on Josh's birthday, but I just love everything about this photo (thanks again Leighann!), I always smile when I see it. This was one of my favorite days because from beginning to end, it was just plain fun. 

Flash forward one year, and we may not be spending the day at the beach, but we will be spending it together. If you're a military spouse, you know how precious it is to be able to say that, especially if the job they have has a high deployment rate. I'm so grateful to have this time with my husband, I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

Happy 25th birthday Josh, you're the best and I hope this day is as wonderful as you are! If only you could just have the day off for your birthday, that would be pretty awesome. I love you!

~Lindsey & Etcha

P.S. I hope you like your birthday brownies!