He's Home

So I've been a little absent from this space of mine for the last few weeks but it's all been for a good reason...HE'S HOME!

Finally

It's a long story of how we came to be in this early homecoming but after a minor health scare Josh was redeployed stateside.  (I'm not going to go into any details about this but know he's doing well)

I don't think I've read a book since he's been home

Mara and I got the notice Friday, February 6th that Josh would be arriving late that day. I felt like a ball of nerves waiting for the clock to tick down.  We made a few signs for the house and chalked the driveway to kill the time.  Even Mara seemed to know something was in the air too as she refused her nap till just about the time we had to leave.

Daddy and Daughter

Over her nervousness

That day we were supposed to meet Josh in the ER.  It wasn't your typical deployment reunion but at that point we were just too excited to be all together again that honestly I didn't care.  Mara and I sat in the waiting room, along with most of the battalion command team, waiting for them to let us go back.  Josh's plane was delayed and then they had to medically clear him before we could go back.  I think we probably sat in the waiting room for close to an hour.  Thankfully Miss Mara kept my mind off the nerves as she ran circles around the hospital chairs.

Mara's shirt for the day

Finally the doctor came out and called us back.  I scooped Mara up along with the diaper bag and my purse and followed him back to Josh's room.  It was surreal when the doctor pulled back the curtain and Josh was sitting there on the hospital bed.  We had had a lot of time to prepare for his return but it still just didn't feel real.

One of our signs

We hugged.  We kissed.  Mara just took it all in.  She wasn't so sure initially but quickly warmed up to Daddy.  After a little bit of paperwork we got out of there and headed home.

Love him

I think the rest of the night we all were just in awe.  Awe of being in the same room again.  Awe of each other. I tried to just soak it all in.  No more deployment.  No more skype.  Our little family was together again!