Day 33

Today was a super busy, but very fun day. I went this morning and got my hair done (insert smiley face here) and then did a little shopping (insert BIG smiley face here). Afterwards I came home, settled the kids and was able to have a nice conversation with Lamont. He was also able to get online for awhile and I turned the webcam on for him to see the kids and I. I know that made him so happy.
So tonight was my big Sex and the City dinner date with 2 of my good friends. We got all dolled up, went to dinner at the cheesecake factory and then saw a 7:30 showing of the movie. It was FAB!!!! I loved it, it brought me back to the show that I soo loved and I was just happy with the whole thing. It was a great day and now i'm soo exhausted! So here are a few pics of us tonight!

Day 32

I just love this picture of the two of them!

Today was alot of fun. It's nice to be able to post a positive blog every once in awhile. So here it is! Summer vacation is almost here, no more homework, no more schedules...just me and the kids hanging out doing what we want to do! That makes me very happy! We went to playgroup today that was hosted by my good friend Isabel at her home. I've posted pictures before of her wonderful pool and backyard. Bella and I got to enjoy that again, with the wonderful food that accompanied it. I'll have pictures ready to post tomorrow, since today has been hectic enough that i wasn't able to upload them yet. Another great thing that happend was Lamont is back from the desert safely. Sure he's not too happy to have been in 138 degree weather with all of his gear, but he will soon reach his final destination and everyday that passes is a day closer!

I love you baby!

Day 31

just a few pictures of mayson and daddy...




There are times when you don't have any answers, all you can do is comfort. Today was one of those days for me. I picked Mayson and Aly up from school and they seemed like they were in a good mood, although a little naughty...but still smiling and happy. Then we got into the car and Mayson blurts out that they are having a daddy breakfast just like they did for the mommies...but that he didn't have a daddy to go with him. I'm telling you if you could only see the look on his face as he said it, it would tear even the most cold hearted person up. His eyes filled with tears and he started to cry, and there was nothing I could say at that moment to make it better. I just rubbed his leg and told him I understood, I understood his hurt and it was okay to miss daddy. I'm going to see if his teacher wouldn't mind if I came to that breakfast, the thought of him sitting there alone watching the other kids with their dads is too much for me to bear.

Day 30

One month down....11 more to go...lol. I'll take the small accomplishments right now. I haven't talked to Lamont today nor do I expect to for awhile. He will be training the rest of the week and then heading to his final destination in Afghanistan. I need to go out this week and finish shopping for his father's day and birthday gift! I made a vow to be better at sending packages this time around. Last year I was horrible, and felt even worse when he got home and told me how it felt to see people getting packages all the time and rarely getting any himself. So even if it's a letter, I will be sending him stuff all of the time to make this time go by faster!
I wanted to share the rest of the pictures from the barbeque yesterday. I can't tell you how much fun we all really had. The kids were literally in the pool or outside from the time it started until almost 9pm. They begged to go into it today since they are officially done with homework, but I was on rest mode today!

Day 29

Wow what a day we've had! When i decided to put together this very impromptu barbeque I knew it would be alot of work, but I also knew it would feel good to be around friends today and it really did. I was able to talk to Lamont this morning and although it was great to hear his voice, it broke my heart that he wasn't able to really enjoy the day. The day that is set aside for people like him, those who serve and have served for our country. Instead he packed his bags to get ready to go the Udari desert. It made it such a bittersweet day for me. I loved having all of our friends over, the food, the games and just being able to laugh...it was such a wonderful feeling. But I did miss Lamont so much, and i wanted so badly just to give him some sort of comfort today. All I could do was tell him how proud we are of him, and I will say it again to him now.

I love you so much Lamont and I am so proud of the sacrifice you make for our family and for our country. You will always be our hero!

btw...thanks Becky for taking alot of these pics!!

Day 28

I can't believe it's been almost a month since Lamont left. There are days of course that it feels like it's going by slow...but I really try to keep the kids and I busy and focused on the end result. Yesterday like I stated in my post, was my friend Julie's daughter's 2nd birthday and the kids and I had a lot of fun. They swam, I played cornhole, we ate...we had fun. I didn't take as many pictures as I would've liked, but that just shows how much I enjoyed myself. I have decided to host a barbeque tomorrow for Memorial Day, so today I will be "prepping day". I was on the fence about it, but I know if Lamont was home we would be doing the same thing. So with that said I better go shopping, clean up the house, and get it ready for tomorrow.

Day 27

I had a great day today. The kids and I went to my friend Julie's house for her daughter's birthday party. She had a pool party and barbeque and it was so nice to just hang out with everyone and enjoy eachother's company. I will share pictures of it tomorrow. I wanted to share a picture of Lamont and Bella taken a few weeks before he left. I just melt when I see it, and so I just had to share.

Day 26

Lamont is now in Kuwait in 115 degree weather! We got to talk today which was great, unfortunately I was at the store and he couldn't hear me very well....but we did get to talk....and that is all that matters. He was also able to go online for a bit and visit my myspace page and here. He did make a request, and that was for me to post a picture of me smiling....so here you go baby. I was happy and thinking about you when I took this. Thinking about our wonderful weekend together and about our future, a future that will include you retired from the Navy and our family never having to endure separation like this. So here is your smile sweetie....all for you, all because of you.

Day 25

Well today is the day that Lamont left for Afghanistan. He boarded his plane at 4am and headed to Bangor Maine where he was greeted by a wonderful group of people who call themselves the Maine Troop Greeters. They greet the soldiers as they arrive and take pictures of them. I think that is a wonderful moral booster and makes the families back home feel great knowing someone was there to make them feel good! I snagged a couple of pictures they took of Lamont and wanted to share them here. My baby looks so tired, of course that has alot to do with him only getting a half an hour of sleep last night. But that's okay because it's a 15 hour flight to Kabul so i'm sure he'll make up for it!

Baby when you finally get to read this I hope you know how incredibly proud we are of you. You are our hero and couldn't ask for a better husband and daddy. We love you!

Day 24

Well Lamont is leaving in the morning for Afghanistan and my emotions are all over the place. I had planned this photoshoot of myself to make a calendar for him and as I was looking through the pictures I realized that I just look pitiful. There was something lost in my eyes and some of the pictures were really hard to look at. I almost wanted to delete them, but then I realized that they depict my exact emotions right now. I've been playing the game of smiling through the pain, because I know how hard it is to be around people who are always sad. I really don't want to feel this way, I am trying really hard to just focus on the positive but inside I am hurting. I miss him so much every single day, and the security I felt while he was training here in the states is now gone. There was one picture out of the set that was paticularly hard to look at, but i'm choosing to share it because it shows you what is inside of me right now. You won't see this face to face, but it is something I captured that I really wasn't trying to.

Day 23

So today I did absolutely NOTHING! I needed a day to just veg after all the driving this weekend. Did I mention it was SOOO worth it??? I was so happy to be able to have a nice conversation with Lamont tonight, unfortunately part of it was hard to hear. He was informed that he will have to start taking malaria pills because he will be going to an area where there is a high occurrence of it. I am very happy that they are taking precautions, unfortunately the side effects of this pill is very unpleasant. I mean think about being told you are going to be living in uncomfortable conditions and doing things you don't really want to do, and on top of that you will have to take a pill that might cause you to have nausea, vomiting, dizziness, insomnia, and nightmares. I know the alternative is worse, I just pray that he will be one of the few to not have the side effects of this pill. The same pill he will have to take the entire time he's there. So I am adding that to my list of prayers right now. I knew in the beginning that I would definitely be praying for his physical safety, I now know that I will definitely have alot more to be praying for.

So now that I'm done venting a little (sorry I really try not to do that all too often, but I see that i still tend to...lol) I wanted to share pictures from our anniversary party this year. This was our 13th anniversary and after not being able to celebrate for almost 3 years (due to baby being born and the Navy) I was beyond excited to not only have a party, but to be able to surprise Lamont!

This is all for you baby!! I hope these bring you the same happiness they bring me!

Day 22

We are back home now and although we have heavy hearts tonight we are so grateful for the time we got to spend with him. It felt so good to feel complete again and it has given me renewed strength to be able to get through this and wait for our family to be back together again.

I love you so much Lamont and I will be patiently awaiting your return!

Day 21

Another wonderful day with Lamont. I can't tell you how good it feels to just have family time and just focus on us. We were able to get up and have a nice breakfast together, then we got ready and took the kids to go see the new Narnia movie which was excellent! After the movies we went to one of Lamont's favorite Mexican fast food chains, Moe's Southwest Grill. We had some fun with pictures and then headed back to our hotel where we all went swimming and took more pictures. At times I felt like the paparazzi following my family around, but i just wanted to capture every single moment. I want to freeze this weekend in my mind and in my heart so that on those days when I miss him soo much, I can look back at these and just remember what we have. Remember that my family will be back together again one day and we will feel whole again.

Day 20

this is what happens when you only weigh 27 lbs and don't realize you need to sit in the middle of the beach chair to prevent this!







me and Lamont's friend Shirley (his last name..lol)

Wow what a day we have had!! Lamont was up by 5:30 to go to work and the kids and I slept in till 8, then headed over and had breakfast...thank goodness for the hotel's continental breakfast which was great! We then got our suits on and were at the pool by 11, where they enjoyed playing in the cold water and i enjoyed laying in the sun! We got a wonderful surprise when Lamont got back to the hotel at 12:30, enough time to have lunch with us. We all rested for awhile and then headed over to where he is living right now. We got to meet some of his buddies he'll be going to Afghanistan with and the kids and I got to try on his very heavy gear. We then went to dinner and now are back at the hotel having movie night. So here are the pictures from our day today....tomorrow we are taking the kids to see Narnia and then take them swimming again. We will try to enjoy the last day we will have with him for a long time because I know it's going to be hard to say goodbye again.