There is nothing else I can say here...this says it all. A message from my brother-in-law's wife Amy...my heart goes out to them as I'm sure yours will in a moment.
Here's a short email from Steve (below). He arrived in Columbus, Georgia on Sunday night only to find that his bags were lost. He went to some barracks (that he said look like they've never been cleaned) and wasn't able to wash up or change his clothes. He said, "Welcome back to the Army!"
Out of 230 or 250 Reservist who were called up, only about 79 showed up for role call (1/3). Steve said that they were VERY appreciative to those who showed up. It sounds like those who didn't report get a dishonorable discharge sent to them. Steve was able to get a cell phone before he left and calls at night when he's done for the day. He met 6 other officers who are in the same boat, so they're going through inprocessing together and eating together. Steve said two of them are pretty nice guys.
Steve will be at Fort Benning for about 2 weeks and then head to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for about 10 days before heading to Iraq.
As for the girls and I, we are taking one day at a time. We had a Bye, Bye Daddy Party the night before Steve left with cake, ice cream and Steve got the girls some presents. We also camped out in the living room (well, tried to anyway. Aurora would not stop jumping around and eventually asked to sleep in her own bed). I'll try to send some pictures today. I can't find my camera cord. I know it's here somewhere, but I swear my mind is going in a million directions right now. Steve and I told Aurora for two weeks that he was leaving for a long time to go help people, but her poor little mind just doesn't understand. Steve said good bye to her at about 4:00 in the morning before he left and she said, "Daddy, when I wake up we can play with my new toys." When she did wake up later, she was looking for daddy. It just breaks my heart. I'm trying to do some fun things with her as the days pass, things that bring up daddy and are something for Aurora to look forward to like: Crossing off each day on the calendar, I made a "Daddy Day Countdown" and filled up a jar with M&M's. Each day Aurora gets to eat one M&M so she can see how many days daddy will be gone. The first time we started this she of course said, "Mommy, mmmm these are yummy! I like M&M's. I want lots of M&M's." :-)
I recorded Steve reading some stories on video. The first day I played it Aurora thought daddy was reading on the webcam so she started talking to him and got upset when he didn't talk to her. Both girls were touching the television screen while he was reading and thought daddy was really there. Now I play two stories during dinner time.
I also made an "Aurora's Message in a Bottle." Each night she tells me one thing she wants to tell daddy. I write the message on a piece of paper and she places it in the bottle. When it fills up we will send all of the messages to Steve. The first time we did it I said, "Aurora, what do you want to tell daddy today? Do you want to tell him you love him or tell him something fun you did today?" She said in her pouty voice, "No, I want to tell daddy that I broke the door on my little blue house!" I couldn't help but laugh. Of all the things, she wanted that for her message.
When Steve was home he put Aurora down for the night and I took care of Cadi. Putting both girls to bed was definetly my biggest challenge. Aurora kept on waking Cadi up and coming out of her room (she was supposed to sit in bed and read books until mommy was finished). When I finally got Cadi down, I went to Aurora's room and we spoke in to a tape recorder that we will send Steve when it's filled up. Poor Aurora didn't like that. She said, Daddy, daddy, when are you coming home? Mommy, I can't hear daddy!" (putting her ear up to the speaker) I said, "Aurora, we can talk to daddy, but he can't hear us right now. He will listen to the tape when we send it to him in a letter." She Started crying for Steve and said, "I want to talk to daddy, I want to talk to daddy!" Then said, "I want to talk to Daddy on one phone and Jessica on another phone!" So, I called Jessica and she told Aurora that if she will go to bed for mommy later, she and the kids will come over to visit. I'm so greatful to have such good friends. Jessica, Aiden and Terralyn came over for about an hour and a half.
The bedtime routine was much easier last night. I had both girls in bed by 7:30!
I'll do my best to keep everyone updated. The girls keep me very busy. Aurora is ready for breakfast so I better go.
Thank you for the caring and thoughtful emails and phone calls.
Here's a short email from Steve (below). He arrived in Columbus, Georgia on Sunday night only to find that his bags were lost. He went to some barracks (that he said look like they've never been cleaned) and wasn't able to wash up or change his clothes. He said, "Welcome back to the Army!"
Out of 230 or 250 Reservist who were called up, only about 79 showed up for role call (1/3). Steve said that they were VERY appreciative to those who showed up. It sounds like those who didn't report get a dishonorable discharge sent to them. Steve was able to get a cell phone before he left and calls at night when he's done for the day. He met 6 other officers who are in the same boat, so they're going through inprocessing together and eating together. Steve said two of them are pretty nice guys.
Steve will be at Fort Benning for about 2 weeks and then head to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for about 10 days before heading to Iraq.
As for the girls and I, we are taking one day at a time. We had a Bye, Bye Daddy Party the night before Steve left with cake, ice cream and Steve got the girls some presents. We also camped out in the living room (well, tried to anyway. Aurora would not stop jumping around and eventually asked to sleep in her own bed). I'll try to send some pictures today. I can't find my camera cord. I know it's here somewhere, but I swear my mind is going in a million directions right now. Steve and I told Aurora for two weeks that he was leaving for a long time to go help people, but her poor little mind just doesn't understand. Steve said good bye to her at about 4:00 in the morning before he left and she said, "Daddy, when I wake up we can play with my new toys." When she did wake up later, she was looking for daddy. It just breaks my heart. I'm trying to do some fun things with her as the days pass, things that bring up daddy and are something for Aurora to look forward to like: Crossing off each day on the calendar, I made a "Daddy Day Countdown" and filled up a jar with M&M's. Each day Aurora gets to eat one M&M so she can see how many days daddy will be gone. The first time we started this she of course said, "Mommy, mmmm these are yummy! I like M&M's. I want lots of M&M's." :-)
I recorded Steve reading some stories on video. The first day I played it Aurora thought daddy was reading on the webcam so she started talking to him and got upset when he didn't talk to her. Both girls were touching the television screen while he was reading and thought daddy was really there. Now I play two stories during dinner time.
I also made an "Aurora's Message in a Bottle." Each night she tells me one thing she wants to tell daddy. I write the message on a piece of paper and she places it in the bottle. When it fills up we will send all of the messages to Steve. The first time we did it I said, "Aurora, what do you want to tell daddy today? Do you want to tell him you love him or tell him something fun you did today?" She said in her pouty voice, "No, I want to tell daddy that I broke the door on my little blue house!" I couldn't help but laugh. Of all the things, she wanted that for her message.
When Steve was home he put Aurora down for the night and I took care of Cadi. Putting both girls to bed was definetly my biggest challenge. Aurora kept on waking Cadi up and coming out of her room (she was supposed to sit in bed and read books until mommy was finished). When I finally got Cadi down, I went to Aurora's room and we spoke in to a tape recorder that we will send Steve when it's filled up. Poor Aurora didn't like that. She said, Daddy, daddy, when are you coming home? Mommy, I can't hear daddy!" (putting her ear up to the speaker) I said, "Aurora, we can talk to daddy, but he can't hear us right now. He will listen to the tape when we send it to him in a letter." She Started crying for Steve and said, "I want to talk to daddy, I want to talk to daddy!" Then said, "I want to talk to Daddy on one phone and Jessica on another phone!" So, I called Jessica and she told Aurora that if she will go to bed for mommy later, she and the kids will come over to visit. I'm so greatful to have such good friends. Jessica, Aiden and Terralyn came over for about an hour and a half.
The bedtime routine was much easier last night. I had both girls in bed by 7:30!
I'll do my best to keep everyone updated. The girls keep me very busy. Aurora is ready for breakfast so I better go.
Thank you for the caring and thoughtful emails and phone calls.
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