Welcome to April

Just a quick update. Brad is doing well. They're just busy. Communication isn't the greatest, but it could be a lot worse. We email regularly. Phones aren't that reliable, but we've talked at least once a week. Hopefully the phones will get better.

We've been good here. I've tried to start some regular activities to get us out of the house. Trying to keep busy but not too busy, since being at our house is in itself busy these days.

Clara and I dyed Easter eggs last Saturday. It was the first year she could really do it, and she loved it. Easter was one of my favorite holidays growing up, and dying Easter eggs is something that I have really fond memories of doing, so I was excited to share that with her.

Clara with her finished eggs in the background   

Very serious about the task at hand   

She loves it!

Sam is doing well. We had a bit of a scare over the weekend. He developed a fever on Saturday night. It had gone down by morning, but we were advised to go in and get him checked out anyway since he's so young. These things always happen when Dr. Daddy is gone, but luckily we have some other doctors as friends that are always helpful (thanks, Dr. Johnson!). They didn't find anything, and think he had a virus. Clara was a little under the weather last week, so that was probably it. He's doing a lot better now. And he's changed so much in the last few weeks. He's smiling a lot and he loves to look at his toys on his swing in his bouncy chair. Here are some pics. 

Happy Sam  

"Ooooh"  

Love this sweet boy  

Love these kiddos

The Deployment Begins

Our soldier

Well, the day that I had dreaded has come and gone. Brad left last Thursday. It was supposed to be Sunday, but they told him on Wednesday morning that his flight had been moved up. It was upsetting to have the day moved up like that, since we thought we had a few more days. But we made the best of it. Clara and I made Brad a nice dinner and we got him a birthday cake, since he isn't going to be here for it.

The day that he left was very difficult. Brad had to be on post around noon. We could have stayed a couple of hours more until they boarded buses to go to the plane but the kids wouldn't tolerate the waiting and I think Brad kind of wanted to get the goodbyes over with. So we stayed there for a little while and then said our byes.

Here we are at the armory.

I held it together for most of the day until Brad texted around 10 that night to say that they had boarded the plane and were about to take off. We can hear the planes from our house, so when I heard a plane about ten minutes later, I lost it. It hit me that he had really left.

Other than that, we are doing ok. I definitely have my low moments, but they pass relatively quickly. Mostly because I have two very demanding, very cute, distractions.



Clara is doing well. She misses her Daddy and asks about him often, but she is easily distracted. She also has no concept of time, which I'm glad for because she doesn't get sad that it's going to be awhile before he comes back. She is also having a ball this week because my Mom is here helping. She loves having someone here that can take part in her elaborate make-believe games with her imaginary friends, Baby and Bogie.

Brad has been able to call a few times and he's doing well. He will be in training a few more days and then he will be traveling to the base where he will be stationed. He called this morning and said that there was a big sandstorm. Very different from North Carolina!

I just received his mailing address, so if you would like to send him something, let me know and I will forward it to you.

Thanks for the thoughts, prayers, and kind texts and emails that people have left for us. I haven't gotten a chance to respond to all of them, but know that they are appreciated and have meant a lot.

We'll keep you posted!

2012 in the Boothby House

Well, it's proving to be an eventful year in the Boothby household. First of all, on February 7, we welcomed our sweet Sam. He's the cutest. We are totally in love.



Clara has done pretty well so far, but she's definitely had some challenges. Her tough times come when I can't do something for her right away like I used to. And I think it's still sometimes hard for her to see me loving another kid. She's become very whiny. I think that's her way of coping. But I've been trying to really make an effort to encourage her when she does something good, as well as making sure to remember to give her special hugs and kisses. Hopefully that will get her through this transition.

Here she is wearing her favorite outfit, her Cinderella dress. Thanks, JJ!

Sam has been fairly easy so far (besides of course waking up at night). The challenging part has been figuring out how to manage two kids with two very different schedules.

The other big event for this year isn't joyful. Brad will be deploying in a little under two weeks. I am dreading it. I don't want to wish the time that he's gone away, because I know our kids will only be this age once. But on the other hand, I really hope this time passes quickly. I'm stressed out about him being over there. As for myself, I've been contemplating the logistics of handling two kids by myself. It's totally manageable with Brad here because each of us takes care of a kid. But now I have to figure out how to do everything alone. Things like how to get them both to bed, how to get dinner ready, how to travel with them this summer, etc. But I take comfort that other military wives have done it multiple times for longer than we have to. It gives me encouragement that I can get through this. I've met some very strong ladies here, and they give me a lot of strength just by seeing what they have managed.

One positive to come out of this experience so far is to realize what good friends and family we have. I have received really sweet messages. It is amazing to know how many great people we have in our lives.

So I know that I am terrible about keeping up this blog, but I'm going to try really hard to update it during this year, even if it's just a short sentence or two at times. I will try to post as I hear updates from Brad as well as letting y'all know how we are doing in stateside. And please let me know if you are interested, we would love visitors to North Carolina! Hope to talk you soon!