10 days with daddy

I'm sitting here at my dining room table, Elora is in her high chair (she just devoured 3 oz. of pureed carrots), Colton is struggling to eat his tiny grilled cheese sandwhich for lunch, and Maximus is watching Xmen in the living room (he doesn't take as long to finish his meals as Colton does).  I'm enjoying some coffee (I've started adding a packet of hot coco mix - delicious!) and I realized it had been a couple weeks since I posted a new blog!  So here's what's been going on...

Two Fridays ago I woke up to a VERY messy house - laundry (clean) all over the living room floor, the kitchen a mess and myself - I had a fever and chills and aches and just had the worst night of sleeping EVER.  I was staying drugged up on tylenol to keep the fever down so I could function.  I got the kids breakfast and turned on my laptop to check my email - see if I had anything from Nic.  Surprisingly, I did!  (The time flies faster for Nic if we don't talk or email evey day - it drags by for me, but I'm willing to make the adjustment so it's easier on him)  Anyway, I was shocked to read that he was scheduled to fly out that very morning to come home because of his illness!!  I had to read it twice!  And then of course (thanks to my Martha personality) I panicked and scrambled to clean the house as best I could and make myself presentable!!

So after only 2.5 weeks apart, Nic came back.  It was kind of funny since we were both running fevers and didn't feel well!!  I picked him up in the afternoon and we had to head over to the hospital for him to get his IV of anitibiotics (which he was supposed to get for 2 weeks).  Long story short, they didn't know anything about him and didn't give him any meds even though he had papers stating his case and need for antibiotics.  (Nic had a resistant strain of salmonella poisoning, that got into his blood - he ran a fever for a litle over a week I think... he lost 10 lbs - to give you an idea of how he was feeling)  It was pretty frustrating for him to have to explain to 12 different people why he was there... in the end, after a couple days and phone calls he got the perscriptions he needed and he's now medically cleared to leave again soon.  (Oh joy!)  He's still hasn't regained his endurance - he tires easily - but he's on his way back to 100%

So he ended up being home for 10 days!  It was crazy.  Most of that time, he was SIQ (sick in quarters) and then there was a couple days off they gave everyone who went on that exercise.  It was awesome.  Part of me feels guilty to be enjoying him home and having a normal life while so many of my friends, both here and in the States are without their husbands.  I'm definitely counting my blessings - and my husband is right there at the top!

Sometimes I'm so thankful Nic didn't get the MOS he so wanted - if he did, he would be gone right now to Afghanistan.  That's a 6-7 month deployment + the months he would probably need for training before he left.  Weeks without my love are hard enough.  I can't imagine THAT long!

Anyway, yesterday was Nic's first day back at work.  We had lunch with him, which helped the boys - they really didn't want him going back.  I'm not sure how it's going to sit with them when he leaves next week.  They're pretty resilient though :)

Elora isn't crawling like Colton was at this age, but she's mobile in her own "pre-crawling" way.  She rolls and scoots and she likes to dig her face into the ground, raising her rear up.  I imagine she'll be crawling by the time Nic returns next month!

Yesterday Colton, Elora and I went to a photo shoot for MCCS (Marine Corps Community Services).  They needed photos for advirtising so I answered the call... I'll keep ya'll posted on if their photos end up on websites or magazines over here :)  Kind of fun!

Well, I think it's time to turn the TV off and read with the boys and do some "projects" (as Maximus calls them)....  I'll try to be more diligent with my blogging  in the future :)