Anticipation

   So Robert is officially out of Afghanistan! He isn't home yet, but he is on his way. He has a few more stops before he makes it to us in a few days. The anticipation is enough to drive anyone nuts!

   It's been almost nine months since I saw my husband's face in person. Nine months since he saw his daughters and hugged their little bodies. Kassidy was 3 when he left. Not potty trained. Now she is 4. She is potty trained. She is in school. She can spell her name, recite all kinds of nursery rhymes and count to over 20! Arrington was just 14 months when he left. She had just learned to walk. She only said a handful of words. She is now 22 months. She can hold a semi conversation. She can run. She can put on her shoes by herself. She can play. And best of all she can say "I love you!" They are both SO excited. They talk every day about Daddy coming home soon. We have been counting down for a while but Kassidy is getting a grasp of numbers now so she knows it's VERY close. I love the excitement they show. They love their Daddy so much.

   I have changed more in the past 9 months than I have in the past 9 years! I have taken control of my depression and anxiety. I have learned to be a positive person. I have grown as a person, a mother, and as his wife. We have grown as a couple. We have made a lot of tough decisions recently. The most important one was deciding, as a family, that this is no longer a life that is in our best interest. Yes, it's a pay check, the benefits are nice and there are a lot of "pros", but to us, they will never outweigh the "cons".  We can't get back the 3 years total he has been gone (out of the past 6!). We can't take back the 3 out of 4 birthdays of Kassidy's he missed. Numerous holidays spent wondering what he was doing and if he was ok. It's our time to be a family. We need to move closer to the older girls so we don't miss so much of their lives, too.

   So, the anticipation is a huge whirlwind of everything. Excitement that he is coming home. Excitement of watching the girls see their Daddy for the first time in what I'm sure feels like a lifetime to them. And excitement to begin the end of military life. It has been a blessing. But I think it's time for our little family to move on to bigger and better things. And we want to do it TOGETHER.