Some of His Sacrifices for YOUR Freedom

 Many people over the last 5 months have said to me, "I know it has to be hard.", "He is going to miss so much!", "How do you do it?", "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes." The truth is, it IS hard. It is harder than I even imagined it would be. He IS missing so much, already. And I wouldn't want you to be in my shoes. It's not fun.  But with every great struggle, comes even greater rewards. Already, our marriage is stronger, our love- greater. The biggest part of the equation of marriage is communication. This deployment, that is the only option- communicate. We are talking more now about every little detail, trying not to miss anything. Jordan & I have always been terrific communicators, but now it's not only things we need to talk about... it's our everyday occurrences. We go into detail about what we ate, what we did that day, movies watched, new words, temper tantrums.... Deployment Communication is a whole new level of "talking". For that, I am again ... grateful. 

Part of the deployment is ALWAYS HAVING MY PHONE. And, it's always on LOUD. Movie theater, doctor's office, bedtime ... ALWAYS. Every time the phone rings, I hold my breath, hoping it's Jordan. When it is, it doesn't matter what I am doing... he always takes precedence. Getting Layne to talk on the phone, not so easy. He was just getting into Skyping when Jordan was no longer able too. He will again be able too, but we will see how Mr. Layne does with it. 

LEAVE

As of right now, Jordan is getting to come home on leave. We could not be more excited. Many people feel the need to comment on the subject. With that being said, until you have went without your significant other or father for  6 months, please don't assume that it would just "make it harder" for him to come home on leave. We are uber thrilled, harder or not.

Layne has grown up so much since Jordan left in March. Looking at the pictures below of just a handful of memories he missed, breaks my heart.  But, I am thankful. He is fighting for not only Layne & I's freedom, but yours too. He is OUR HERO.

(Layne's 1st Easter Bunny Experience)

First ice cream cone

Falling in Love With the Penguins

First Cowboy Hat

Watching Uncle Richie Race

First Time Meeting the Easter Bunny

First Juice Box

Learning to Sleep In His Own Bed

Being Silly With Mommy

Hanging Out With Mama

Starting to CLIMB

Figuring Out The Doors

Play Time With New Family Members

Although it is hard, we do have more communication then there used to be. For that, we are thankful. Deployments really show you what you take for granted on daily basis. Not that anyone means to take the people the love for granted, but at times... we all do it. 

Until We Are Together... We are thankful for this...........

The USO provided the deployed Soldiers with books and equipment to record themselves reading to their children. They then mailed the DVD and book to us. Layne was so excited to see his daddy on TV. It was so hard to watch the DVD after a couple of months of not seeing each other. I was so overjoyed that Layne could have this to cherish, until Daddy Comes HOME! 

God Bless Our Troops & Please Keep Them Safe