Oh Turkey Day!

Well friends and family my favorite holiday has come and gone yet another year. I have such fond memories of waking up early Thursday morning at my parents house to wonderful aromas drifting back from the kitchen my mother had no doubt been slaving in for several hours. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is always first on the agenda, then I would get dressed because so many family members and friends would be arriving soon. Grandma Austin, Betty to some, was always first to arrive toting her famous pumpkin pie...one for the family and always one for ME!

Once dressed, I would catch up with old G-Ma while I did my notorius duty of creating or dressing the pickled vegetable tray. It was a work of art that I had mastered right down to 10 black olive tipped fingers. They tasted better that way, right Jay.

Once the large extended family, including friends, had arrived the house was filled with laughter, "howdy do"s, hugs and kisses, and screaming and running kids. Oh and of course me tasting and nibbling everything in the kitchen that was on its way to completion. It was amazing how my mom was, and is, always able to hold up interesting conversation, probably more than one at a time, all the while orchestrating her Thanksgiving feast production. The lady could do it with her eyes closed.

After everyone had stuffed themselves to the point of exhaustion, it was time to rest our heads back for the Cowboys game. Oh and by the way...you wouldn't find mom resting right next to us...the dishes just weren't going to do themselves...don't think she had stopped the multiple conversations either.

Every year, Thanksgiving Day was a blessing in itself for me. When Jay entered my life, I began to notice more and more that I had to be thankful for. He brings that out in people. He called yesterday and he told me about his pumpkin pie experience as well. He emailed a great photo of him and his soldiers I thought I would share. I am so happy we could talk on this special, and my very favorite, holiday.

I also told him of my holiday...which included Angie, Nick, KoKo, Molly, Killer, and I. Angie and I cooked like dueling chefs Wendesday night and Thursday morning. We had a great meal, great desserts and great football. Oh and one other similarity to the many Thanksgivings past, our "Killer" Cowboys' fan needed a nap too.

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for in our lives. Jay and I are so happy to have all of you in our life. You bring us great love and support whenever we need it. We hope that we provide that blessing to you as well.

And so now on to the next festivity...I hear the faint sound of Jingle Bells in the air...oh wait that is the radio stations already playing the music.

One Week Down!

So we have made it one week! Congratulations to everyone; you all are doing great! I spoke to Jay several times over the last week and it looks like he has finally made it to his final destination. I made out, through some groggy, slightly half asleep converstation from Jay, that he has finally landed safely at Bogram. I guess the pilot was feeling the jet lag as well because Jay said he was sure they were headed for a tailspin a few times. He is now 9 1/2 hours ahead of me, 10 1/2 ahead of you guys.

I mailed my first care package this morning. I discoverd I could use the online "Click & Ship" on USPS.gov even with an APO address. So excited I could avoid those annoying lines at the post office. It was only about $12 to send the package, not bad. I am crossing my fingers it actually gets there. If anyone would like Jay's address, I will be happy to email it to you with the few rules we have to follow when sending items.

I hope everyone is well. I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for in life, and what a great time to focus on all of those wonderful blessings. Health, Happiness, Family, Friends, and Pumpkin Pie!

He's Off and Running

So 3:30pm Saturday finally arrived and we said our goodbyes for now. No tears were shed. We had prepared ourselves very well for that moment. Also, I think we were both ready for the process to get started. That is one big step out of the way, and now we are closer to his homecoming.

He has made it to Maine, Ireland, and some central Asian Nation ending with "stan" I am sure. He has been able to call twice now. Sunday morning and this morning. He is 11 hours ahead of me right now (12 hours to most of you). So he managed to actually get all the way on the other side of the world. Imagine the sites he will see. I will definitely try to send out or post as many appropriate pictures as I can.

As you can see, Jay does look a little out of it in this first photo, but chalk it up to 10 hours of jet lag. I am sure we will see some more interesting poses and views in the future, but we can be assured they will all be priceless. So far so good in "Stan Land".

We're having a PEANUT!

Sooooo.... Lauren Lea and I went to our ultrasound this afternoon and found out this so-called baby is actually shaped like a roasted peanut. Obviously honey-roasted. The little tyke had a crazy strobe light going off in the middle of its shell (the heartbeat come to find out). Then the doc played the heartbeat for us and Lauren Lea lost it. She started boohooing and what not. I might be exaggerating a little. We were obviously glowing though. We got a few printed versions of the pics (see attached photo). I personally showed our child's first "school pic" to everyone I passed in the hospital (including the entire staff of Starbucks). Please take the time to notice the kiddo is clearly going to look like me with a noggin that big. See ya'll soon! JBird

Jay's Exit Ceremony

This morning I attended Jay's Exit Ceremony which recognized the 202nd MI Battalion Delta Company among others in lieu of their upcoming deployment. The ceremony was held outside on Barton Field in which many fellow MI soldiers, distinguished guests, family members and friends attended to acknowledge our brave soldiers. The Signal Corp Band provided the music, the Battalion Commander provided the speech, and the perfectly aligned soldiers in formation saluting the American Flag provided the undeniable fact that this was really happening. Jay is deploying in a couple of days along with many other soldiers, brothers, husbands, fathers, and sons. It is something I never thought I would be a part of, but I am so proud to say that is my good-lookin', brave, caring and strong husband leading the way.

It was a short ceremony, but a powerful one. It brought reality to light.

Go forth, go strong Jay. We are behind you 100%. Hurry Home!

Welcome!

As you all know Jay and I have our own dramatic style to life. Keeping everyone on their toes is essential to living life to the fullest, and we hope we have kept up our end of the bargain.

As with other monumental choices in our life, we left it up to God and figured he would send the gift of a child to us when he felt we were ready. But Jay and I couldn't just get pregnant and blindly lead each other through 40 weeks of gestation, discovering the difference between my water breaking and Braxton Hicks contractions together. We some how slid a pregnancy in just weeks before Jay deploys to the other side of the world for a "convenient” nine months and created a much more thrilling route to birth. What would life be if we didn’t have stories like these to tell our children and grandchildren?

So I dedicate this blog to the countdown until we all hear the pitter patter of tiny foot steps echoing among the long strides of combat boots.