9 months old, 6 months down & 2 months to R&R!!

Today marks an enormous milestone for our family as we close the book on the first six months of this deployment and we celebrate Emmy's nine month old status!!  I am both overjoyed and amazed that our countdown ticker has hit the halfway point, but admittedly overwhelmed at the thought of facing another six months.  Nick and I agree that setting short-term countdowns in the meantime is imperative, especially at a time like this.  So we are focusing our energy on counting down to mid-November when we reunite for two weeks of Rest and Recuperation!!  (If only I had a penny for each time I've dreamt of the moment we first lay eyes on him at the airport...)  After that point, we will truly be in the home stretch of the deployment; which seems a little less daunting when we look at it from that vantage point.

Each week Emmy seems to be coming more into her own.  She is still in perpetual motion, rolling everywhere she could possible want to go.  She has started pulling herself to her knees; and just today started rocking when on all fours.  She still boasts two teeth.  I am anticipating the next one any day now given the chewing, drool, fussing and her periodic interrupted sleep pattern.  She has become very fascinated by tracing things with her pointer finger and prefers "touch and feel" board books.  She takes her responsibility as our page-turner very seriously, which renders me awestruck no matter how many times she's done it.  She chatters on with her favorite sounds including: "aye," "dadada," "bababa,""lalala" and "vavava," not to forget the eardrum-rattling shrieks that she unleashes at all the least opportune times.  She might develop premature lines from the amount of smiling she does in a day, which is evidence of her happy, playful nature.  I have alternated the framed pictures in our home to my favorites of Emmy and Nick.  Throughout our day, we "converse" with Dada in passing.  Emmy has started grinning and "waving" at the pictures when we are near them.  The thought of Emmy demonstrating her obvious love for Dada in person leaves me misty-eyed.  (Not too much longer, not too much longer, not too much longer...)

Nick is in the throes of his Groundhog's day routine.  His days are filled working excessively long hours flying, completing administrative tasks and counseling his soldiers.  He's dealt with some serious personnel issues ranging from unsatisfactory workmanship, bad attitudes, poor physical fitness,  unprepared family care plans, infidelity, conflict associated with illegitimate children, marriages dissolving and suicide risks; and those are the cases he's mentioned to me.  Who knows how many high risk situations there are yet to be identified.  Only the army would be so intimately involved in it's employees' personal lives, but I understand that it's because there is so much at stake.  A soldier's mind clouded with stressors can ultimately lead to casualties.  So for now, Nick gets to wrestle with everyone's stressors.  I guess that makes him super human...I already knew that.

Working out and Skype calls home is how he fills his nearly non-existant wakeful downtime.  He actually took a "day off" a few weeks ago!  It was his first day with less than 10 hours of work since he arrived in theatre!  He slept in, had a lunch date with Emmy on the computer, took a long shower, drove his Commander's SUV (which is typically in use by someone else) to work, but not before stopping off at the "Green Beans Coffee Shop" for a sandwich and a mocha latte.  While at work, everyone was instructed not to bother him unless there was an emergency, which, thankfully there was not.  He stayed in his office for a few hours before calling it a day.  He was so tickled about his "off day," I can't remember the last time I heard him so "relaxed!"

Our Walk to Afghanistan challenge and Operation Pick-Me-Up have both far exceeded our wildest expectations!  Our families have collectively traveled 5,607.96 miles in our 10,644 mile trek to Afghanistan!!  There is no denying their desire to bridge the distance!!  How appropriate that we have just passed the halfway point!  As for Operation Pick-Me-Up, it has been made clear to us that our Lancers are greatly loved.  Family and friends have come out of the woodworks to support the cause!  It seems that everyone wants to offer support, they have just needed an outlet.  Every project thus far has become so much greater than Nick and I had originally planned!  Thank you for all of your support and your incredibly generous donations of wishlist items to help boost morale!  Our soldiers are amazed by your kindness and Nick and I are deeply moved by your selflessness.  Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

I, for one, have found great satisfaction in my ritual of marking an "X" of the calendar and kicking back with a York Peppermint Patty at each day's end.  It's hard to say how much sugar I have ingested over the last six months, but I do believe, I have earned every last bit of it.

9 months old!

On all fours (or fives, including her head).

Fascinated by her ability to wave...

Ravenous Reader:

Deeply intrigued by farm animals.

She was mocking the dogs here, one of her most favorite pastimes.