2 months

Today marks two months into this deployment. Which means we should be halfway done, but we're not quite there. Where are we now?

Andrew has just moved to a new location, which he compared to a resort. Apparently anything is better than the desert from whence he came. He has been working out and appears to have bigger muscles and hotter arms than before. I'm looking forward to seeing those in two months.

I am working out every day and waking up at 6am to do so. (And do scripture study.) My new schedule has brought me much more peace with myself and I think I'll keep it up. Although my house isn't always as clean as it once was, dedicating time to developing myself spiritually and physically everyday is rewarding. And I really love being ready for the day and having alone time before the kids even wake up.

Eva continues to challenge me every day. She seems to have a personality like her dear father's, where she loves to tease and torment those closest to her until they scream and cry, and even then she doesn't let up. She just laughs in the face of the tormented (Bubba) until I lose my patience and send her to time out or slap her hand or yell at her, or try some other uneffective form of punishment. Nothing seems to get through to her...but I'll keep trying. At least I know where she gets that aggravating tendency. She has started drawing people (a circle with a line going up towards the ceiling) and tonight she drew a rainbow. It really looked like one, too! She memorizes the storyline of books after hearing them once or twice and will sit there and "read" it back to herself. She seems to have the gift my sister Sarah has for memorizing songs and things she hears. Aside from her moments of strife, she is a thrill to be around.

Leighton is walking, but not wholeheartedly. He's still undecided about whether or not walking is the quickest mode of transportation. Every day he gets better, but he still crawls most of the time. It continues to surprise me when I turn around and see him standing there. He is obsessed with his giraffe, D. Todd, and says, "Dah! Dah!" every morning while showing me his giraffe. He sucks on the limbs of his poor animals until they are soggy and gross - not sure how that habit started. Or how to break it, because it's disgusting. He loves fish and makes the cutest fish face and sound. He has started signing a few more words and still just stares at Eva all day long and copies everything she does. He hits himself when she hits him, and makes himself cry, but then keeps doing it. This behavior confuses me greatly - self-destruction already? I don't get it. But he has changed so much in the last 2 months - I can't wait for Andrew to come home and see his new little man.

Now that we are on the downhill slope of this, I am confident we can make it through. I am used to the single parent thing now and grocery shopping and bathtime no longer stress me out. Dinnertime...still haven't gotten that one down yet without wanting to lose my mind. But I have 2 more months (and then some) to figure it out.