The End Is In Sight

Ben will be home HERE with us in approximately 19 days. This is SOOO strange and wonderful! I have been going back over old pictures to try to "remember" a little and cut through some of the strangeness that is reintegration. This time around, we have a little experience in the ups and downs of this phenomenon. We also have a lot more to deal with, though. Lila Grace will also be arriving in about...3-4 weeks. So, new baby, new Daddy, and a myriad of upheaving events soon to follow.

Here's how the next few months are looking for us:

May 21-ish: Ben arrives

May 22: Violet's first dance recital...a massive 3-hour event, lasting way past her bedtime.

May 25: Grace's due date

June 5-ish: Ben's departure

June 8: Big family Birthday Party, introduce Grace to family

Starting in June, find a house for us to rent in Olympia, WA, sign lease over the phone (??)

July 1-15: Begin dissembling borrowed home, returning items to family members, packing trailer for storage at Mom's.

July 20-ish: Pack up van, drive across the country with the help of my sister, Polly

August 1st-ish: Arrive in Washington at new home, unpack POD into new home

August 15: Ben arrives home from Iraq at Ft. Lewis

September 1-ish: Ben's 30 days of leave begins. We fly Space-A to Washington D.C. area, hitch a ride to Richmond where we pick up our.....drum roll.......new Nissan X-Terra.

September 1-30-ish: We commence a massive round-the-country trip with our trailer of goods attached to our new vehicle....from Virginia to Florida (to see my sister), and back North-Westward to Washington to settle in our Olympia home by the end of the month.

We then look forward to somewhere between 2 and 8 months remaining at Fort Lewis before the Army packs us up and sends us to another post. Specifically, past December, 2010, we don't really know where we'll be or what we'll be doing.

Our life in a nutshell. Crazy, huh? At the moment, though, it's hard to think much past my husband's return and the birth of my second daughter. I bought a tiny carseat and 2 tiny pacifiers yesterday, then dreamt about giving birth all night long. :)