It's Official

I have been waiting a while to write this post. For the last year and a half Mr. J has almost deployed and then got his orders canceled a couple of times. Most recently we thought he was going and then it got canceled and we thought he was going in July. Well, about a week and a half ago he got a tasking to leave today and.. it didn't get canceled. He was picked up at 7 am and is now really gone.

Mr. J's orders say he will be gone for 101 days, which means he will be back the end of July. Last night, he went to the commissary and bought a ton of candy. He brought it all home and helped each of the kids fill a container of a 110 pieces of candy. He told them they could have a piece every day and when it was all gone, he would be home. He even made one for me with my favorite Dove chocolates!

The last couple weeks have been full of great family time, eating out way too many times (since Mr. J will get to have chow hall food for a couple of months), purchasing a laptop and mp3 player, packing, a few tears and lots of Miss E cuddle time. Since she is so little, she will probably change the most over the next 4 months. We were so thankful the Mr. J got to be here for her birth and this first month of adjusting to 4 kids. His original leave date was the date she was due... so every day after that that he was here felt like a gift!

For those of you who know Mr. J, you know he is an excellent father, husband and friend. I told him that it made it harder for me to say good bye because of this reason....

UPDATE: So I started writing this post yesterday (Sunday) morning shortly after he left. Then the kids and I played dress up and took a walk to the playground. Then that afternoon, Deanna and Tom came over and made us a delicious dinner and hung out. It was so nice cause I had two adults to converse with and it made things feel more normal. That night I got to talk to Mr. J for a long time since he was in Baltimore for the night, waiting to leave. This morning, we practiced using Skype (computer camera phone) from his hotel lobby and it worked great. The kids loved getting to see him and talk to him. Especially Mr. T since he doesn't really talk on a normal phone. Our day went by well, the girls went to preschool. Today was tea party dress up day so, of course, they loved that. While they were there, Mr. T, Miss E and I worked out by going for a long walk around base and then we met Deanna at the base Starbucks cause she was on her lunch break (she works at the preschool/daycare center on base). This afternoon, the kids took great naps and we spent the early evening playing at the playground. Now we are having movie night. They have their jammies on and are eating popcorn in the living room and watching Swiss Family Robinson. Mr. J should be on a plane now traveling to his final destination. Please pray for his safety and for rest for him, he has trouble sleeping on planes. Also, pray for the kids and I, that these pesty colds would go away (especially in Miss E). Please email or leave me a comment if you would like Mr. J's address. As soon as he gets it, I will send it to you. I do have an email address that he will check regularly if you want that too.