Christmas Pictures

I thought I would post a couple of pictures from our Christmas this past Saturday. I am waiting to get some pictures of the entire family from other people. I didn't think to get the camera out when everyone was still here. The top picture is Isaac's first Christmas gift. This is one of the few pictures with his gifts where he isn't screaming. He didn't mind laying in his bouncy seat while everyone else opened gifts, but he was not a fan of us tearing paper and cutting tape with him in our laps. After months of complaining that clothes don't fit (for obvious reasons), Emily got a lot of clothing.

The last couple of days have ben spent getting the house back in order. I've also rearranged the garage to make sure Emily can easily get to any tools she might need while I'm gone. Finally, I finished my packing yesterday. I have to pick up some personal hygene things and load them.

On a side note, I just saw my little brother in the crowd at the Today show. He and his wife took a trip to NYC for their Christmas gift this year.

After Thanksgiving Exhaustion

Its been a busy couple of weeks. Last week, my entire family was here for Thanksgiving. My Aunt and Uncle from Houston also came up for the day. In all, we had twenty people eating at the house. My oldest brother and his family arrived Tuesday. The next brother and his family arrived on Wednesday. Everyone else came in on Thanksgiving morning.

Emily and I crashed yesterday. We got home from lunch, fed Isaac, and both slept the rest of the afternoon. By Saturday night, everyone but my parents had gone home. Emily and I did our Christmas while they were here. We just didn't want to exchange gifts with just the two of us. Em surprised me with a handheld GPS. She had convinced me that she'd gotten something else. Em had another great gift she gave me. She had contacted a large number of my friends and family and mailed them a playing card. They wrote messages on the cards and sent them back. This gives me a thought or message from someone for each week of deployment (approximately). I flipped through to see who she had contacted, and I'm thankful for all who've participating. I am waiting to read them throughout the deployment.

This morning, I'm watching Isaac kick and play before he goes back down for a nap. I am going to the office for a couple of hours later today, but I still have a lot to do around the house to get ready to be gone.

APFT

OK, it was definately not my best score, but I finished another PT test. Considering how much PT I've missed due to classes over the last couple of weeks, I am not complaining.

I have not talked a lot about the next few weeks, but most people know that I will be deploying in December. This has made the week an interesting one. Most soldiers in my battalion are getting read to spend the next couple of weeks on leave. This has decreased my daily counseling appointments considerably. Most of them are looking forward to time with family or at least away from post. I don't know if counseling will pick back up after block leave is over.

Otherwise, life is good. Isaac is growing. He got a bath tonight and seems to enjoy the water. He's still sleeping through the night most nights. We're getting ready to host Thanksgiving, though we're unsure how we're going to seat everyone. Apparently, the dining room table we ordered will not be in by Thanksgiving. Em is less than happy about that one.

Christmas in November

Today, we decorated the house for Christmas. We put greenery with lights on the mantle, a Christmas village on top of the entertainment center (which Justin has been threatened to NOT invade with his little green army men!), set up a nativity scene, and decorated the tree. Everything looks beautiful. Keeping in the theme of Christmas, we are posting a shot of Isaac taken in a Santa hat during our family photo session this past Tuesday. Isaac did really well, even smiling for the camera! In this picture, we caught the beginnings of one of his wide, toothless grins. Justin is making me (Emily) mention that I am typing this blog, as he thinks most things I say are cheesy. Merry Early Christmas!

Veterans Day & Suicide Prevention

I know its been a while. I would offer excuses, but the truth is that my life just hasn't been that interesting over the last couple of weeks. I spent last week in a certification class to teach the ASIST suicide prevention class. This is one of the programs the army has adopted to combat the high suicide rate among soldiers. Eight hours each day studying suicide intervention and training is a bit tedious, but the program is a good one.

With Veteran's Day, I had a day off today. Em and I took Isaac for his first family portrait. Ironically, getting a two month old bathed, fed, bathed again, dressed, and in a good mood for the photographer turned out to be easier than getting my wife dressed and to the photographer. No, the pic is not from the photographer. I took it this week. I was too lazy to upload one of the professionally done pictures.

Other than that, the weekend was spent getting ready for Thanksgiving. Em & I are hosting my entire family. That'll mean 20 people having Thanksgiving here. The next week or so is going to be hectic enough that we wanted to get ahead where we could.

OK, that's the update on our lives. Tomorrow night is a hail and farewell event with my battalion. Thursday night is a predeployment briefing for families. Hopefully, Em and I will have something to post from these.