Well it's been awhile! Jay got home to us on April 15th, and things have been a whirlwind ever since. The next morning I had to work my first Saturday at the bank, so Jay and Hayden enjoyed some boy-time at the house and met me for lunch after work. Hayden was so excited to see Jay but was still not ready to relinquish his mom-ties, but boy was Oscar glad to see his dad!

This is a busy time at work so I haven't had much time at home to spend with Jay and Hayden but that's given them some time to each other. Hayden likes for his dad to take him to school and pick him up, and dad lets him do a lot more fun stuff than mom does; walking everywhere, eating messy stuff outside of the house, playing in the grass with Oscar. It's nice to have him home!

Next week he has surgery, and this few weeks that he's been here has flown by. Thanks to everyone for being so supportive and helpful! We have a long road ahead of us, but for now we're just grateful to be a family again.

Quick update

Life has accelerated to warp speed when we figured out that Jay would be coming home in April. His R&R is scheduled for September, but he has a leftover back injury from the last deployment that has been aggravated by the current deployment, and requires surgery. It's all very whirlwind and in true Army fashion, I actually found out that Jay was for sure coming home when I checked my email and had a message from our commander. That went out to everyone. Solid.

Anyway, Jay is en route to Germany as we speak, and will be seen at Landstuhl (Army hospital conveniently located near Ramstein AFB, home of the mall and Mac Grill)...scratch that, just received a phone call, he is currently at Landstuhl. Not sure when we will actually see him, but we're in the same country now! Eeep!

Look what the bunny brought Hayden!

Despite our never-ending traveling status, the bunny managed to find Hayden anyway! He's on a reading kick, so he really enjoyed his basket full of books. We did also enjoy some warm chocolate chip cookies this afternoon, and maybe next year the Easter bunny will drop off a few sweet treats for him!

Happy Easter...from the Netherlands!

For Easter weekend we headed up north to the Netherlands. I booked two rooms at the Holiday Inn Leiden for the four of us (Amber & kids, Evonne & Anessa, Mandie, Hayden and myself) for two nights. We planned to go to Amsterdam and also to visit the Keukenhof Gardens. We headed up Friday morning, and to our surprise were met with NO traffic. Thankfully, since our last trip was definitely soured by horrendous traffic.

We arrived at the hotel, checked in and were pleasantly surprised with our accomodations. Our rooms were spacious and comfy, breakfast buffet was included but best of all, this hotel totally catered to kids! There was a "jungle room" for the kids with a ball pit, video games, small playground, blocks, etc. The kids were in heaven! Whereas most of the time we spend with bored kids in a room, this time around they were begging to go play. We also had an indoor pool to enjoy, but Hayden was not really feeling that adventure. They had Easter activities for the kids, and another play room with more video games, a bounce house and ping pong tables. We love to travel but it's hard on the kids sometimes, so this was win-win for everyone!

Saturday morning turned out to be grey and cold so we bundled up and headed to Amsterdam. We wandered aimlessly for a bit but by the time we had a destination in mind, the rain started. And poured. The rain definitely put a damper on the day, and limited what we could see. I had been to Amsterdam before, in 2007, and had seen everything I wanted to see then but the others hadn't been yet. In the end, we split into two groups...one that wanted to get out of the rain and go back, and one that wanted to see a bit more before calling it a day. It worked out perfectly, and everyone was pretty happy with our adventure.

On Sunday I heard the rain at 6am so we all slept in a bit before getting up and at 'em. We ate breakfast, let the kids play and packed up the cars. The weather was grey and dreary but not raining (!) so we headed to Keukenhof to see the tulips. We spent a few hours wandering around amongst the gardens, and really enjoyed it. We saw the giant windmill, wooden shoes and tons and tons of flowers. With the cold winter and cold weekend, the tulips weren't all the way up yet but it was beautiful!

We headed back home around 3pm, after a diaper disaster with Hayden was handled. We stopped for food and gas (in MORE rain) and were making good progress. Hayden was having a little trouble with his teeth and general crankiness, which came to a head about 30 minutes before we got home. He was crying uncontrollably and chewing on his fingers and threw up everywhere. I took the first exit I could, cleaned him up and changed him and got back on the road. When we got home he slept through his diaper changed and slept until 8 this morning! We had a great time, but today there's no place like home!

Bazaar weekend

Last weekend was the annual Spouses Club spring bazaar. Since I'm actually a member of the Spouses Club this year, I got to help with the bazaar instead of just shopping! I worked a little on Thursday before going to work, and volunteering gets you early shopping before the doors open on Friday! Friday morning I showed up and bought two cases of wine and four kinds of cheese...all before 10am! Seemed like a pretty good way to start my day. There's a wine vendor that Jay loves so I picked up a case of his favorite, and they had the gluwein we love so much in red AND white, how could I choose between them? I didn't, I split a case between them. Jackpot. Jay also really loves this South African hot sauce the cheese guy always has so I picked up a few bottles of that for him as well.

I worked Friday and then stopped back by the bazaar. They needed a few extra hands so I hung out for a bit, thanks to my full-time daycare I had two extra hours to help out! Hayden and I came home to hang out for the evening, and relaxed for the most part.  Saturday morning I took him to CDC for Super Saturday and was able to volunteer for four more hours at the bazaar. Some of those ladies worked all day, every day from Thursday to Sunday so being able to help them was nice.

I picked up a few gifts, and one more piece of Polish pottery (like I needed another one, right?) from Andy's, one of our favorite stores that was closed when we went. I have some egg plates, yes, but I had to have this one. Did I mention I love the bazaar? It was quite a successful endeavor, for both the shoppers and the Spouses Club!

Spring is in the air

Today was one of those great days you kind of want to last a lot longer. Until you realize that 6am is coming quickly and with a vengeance. Thursdays are late days at the bank, where we have extended hours until 6pm for people to do banking after normal hours, but we also get to come in late! Which means I "slept in" until 8am. Last night I had some girls over for dinner and a movie and Hayden was just a handful so we needed some sleep. I got to shower at a nice, leisurely pace and wasn't rushing Oscar to do what he needed to so I didn't have to choose between straightening my hair or eating. I even finished ironing before Hayden woke up. And then the tantrum started.

Hayden threw himself into a full-on tantrum about five minutes after waking up. I think it started when I dared to change his wet diaper. When he gets out of the crib, he doesn't care to be immediately laid back down for a diaper change, but today he was really angry about it. It went downhill from there, and pretty soon I had a screaming, red-faced, floor-pounding toddler on my hands. He didn't want to eat, drink, be held, be put down, be consoled or left alone. What's a mom to do? Well after all that...nothing. I waited. A few minutes later, he was my little boy again.

Just as I pulled up to daycare, our travel agency called me to confirm that our trip was finally booked! We are going to the Netherlands for Easter weekend. We are going to see the tulips at Keukenhof Gardens and exploring Amsterdam. Yesterday I found out we "made the cut" for the Spouses' Retreat in Garmisch at the end of next month, so April is shaping up pretty well. I also had TWO emails from Jay today, which kind of makes it a million-dollar day.

After work I picked up some groceries, picked up Hayden and headed home. Hayden talked the entire way home, looking out the window and pointing at various things he saw. When I walked in the door, Oscar was so excited to see me and I just knew the three of us needed a good long walk. The weather has been beautiful so we took advantage of it and headed to the field. Hayden had a blast throwing rocks for Oscar (well, dropping them) and Oscar had a blast running free for a bit. I hope the weather keeps up, it has really lifted our spirits lately.

Once I got home with my tired boys, we assumed our night routine of playing, eating, bath time, medicine for ear infection (which is no longer an act of Congress), teeth brushing, stories and bed time. We're gearing up for another busy weekend, but at least we're staying in the country.

Back to Poland

Now that I'm a working woman, the only time we can go to Poland is on the weekends. Most of the shops aren't open on Sundays, so a few weeks ago we planned a trip for this past Saturday. We arranged an all-day babysitter, figured out who was going and who was driving and made our lists.

We woke up at 430 Saturday morning to get everything ready and get Hayden to Amber's for the baby sitter. He was not too pleased with being left with someone at 6am, but he's a trooper. We made quick work of the drive, and were delighted to find that many of the stores had later hours than earlier anticipated. We shopped and shopped, and again I got to shop for other people! We brought some new people along with us, who are already hooked. We also found a new shop and LOVE it! Such a fun day, despite the long drive and early wake-up.

My collection is nearly complete, and one or two more trips should do it! I love all my pieces. I finally got the canisters I wanted, scored an impossible-to-find muffin pan, an egg plate that matches my gravy boat and some great serving dishes. I also found most of the stuff I was looking for for other people. We left around 4, stopped to get food and added another passenger to my car from the other car, and were picking up our kids from the baby sitter at 9. Hayden ate TWO whole pieces of pizza at the bowling alley and did some great napping. Fun!

Today we're taking it easy and cleaning and making homemade vegetable soup and relaxing. Weekends are the best!