still adjusting...

For those of you that didn't hear, about 2 weeks into the deployment, I noticed Nora was having a hard time. Recurrent unexplainable fevers, and some behavior issues. At first I chalked it up to teething, then sickness, then travel, and finally came to the conclusion it was probably stress related.



We have since made it through the fevers, but Nora is still having a hard time understanding why Phil isn't here. I suppose, she will go through a whole range of behaviors and emotions relating to the deployment all the way past when Phil gets home. I had hoped she was young enough for it to have less effect on her, and maybe it is crazy to think that being younger would be easier, nevertheless, she is, at times, really struggling.



Right now, bedtime is our main issue. She is terrified to be left alone in her room and has consequently moved into mine! While I do love waking up next to my sweet little girl, I would prefer to have my bed to myself, so it is an issue we are working on.



In addition to our bedtime battles, she is reacting much more to mention of or reminders of Dad. His clothing, bike, shoes, etc all trigger everything from shouting"daddy all gone" to complete screaming/crying meltdowns. We are working through it, but plan to maintain the least stressful daily schedule possible. My thought is if I can eliminate as much outside stress as possible, then dealing with the unavoidable stress of Dad being gone, might be easier.


It is hard to watch her go through all of this, but working to keep a regular schedule and low stress lifestyle for her is certainly helping me deal with Phil's absence. There is always a silver lining, right? Thankfully, some of the coping tools I put in place before Phil left seem to be helping. 2 of 5 deployment books (children's books) that I purchased have become favorites and she insists we read them over and over and over. Her Daddy blanket has worked it's way into our routine. We watch our Daddy video every night and that seems to be by far her favorite part of the whole day.

We are adjusting to life without Phil, and I anticipate that just as we start to feel normal without him, it will be time for R&R and we will have to start the whole process over again! Of course, the second time we should have to process figured out a little better :)

Nora Pictures!

Nora got a new PINK bike! and she is REALLY excited about!



My little movie star.



I turned my back for just a second...




Eating olives just like daddy!

One month + one week down

We are surviving! Though some days it feels like we are barely surviving. Our trip home took a toll on Nora and it has taken a while to get us back on track. Now, though we are both sick with a cough/cold we seem to be falling back into rhythm.

Phil is safely at his new location. He should be here for a while and is very excited about the mission they are undertaking. They will be building up the location quite a bit over the next few months. He is busy, but good.

It is hard to believe we have nearly 11 months left apart! Thankfully, Nora and I have friends and family close by to keep us busy and Phil is enjoying his job and co-workers!

Here is a pic of Phil, post sandstorm. Tan and dirty. From what he says everything is very dirty and sandy right now!

Clarkston rocks

Nora and I did it. On Friday we packed up the car and drove all the way to Clarkston by ourselves! She was absolutely an angel in the car and I am praying it wasn't a fluke-is it possible for us to get all the way home the same way? We did have one small hiccup, just before Pomeroy after braving the crazy curvy road she got carsick and threw up all over herself and her carseat. What fun it was to strip her down on the side of the road and clean up vomit!

I made it to Kath's shower for a bit, what a beautiful bride-to-be, and got to spend lots of time with family and friends-some of which I haven't seen since before I was even preg. with Nora!

Now, we are spending a little extra time with Grandma and Grandpa Reale (Ama and Papa to Nora) and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. How can anyone be anything but happy with this weather?

Phil is doing great. busy busy busy. They are getting ready to move again, so put a pause on any packages that will make more work for him. Once he is settled in is new location I will post a list of needs and wants from him. Letters and nonperishable food are best at the moment. Everthing SHOULD be forwarded to his new location. SHOULD being the important word in that sentence!

If you haven't lately, check Terry's site for pics of Nora. She took about a million this weekend :)

Yay! Email from Phil!

So far he is doing great and keeping extremely busy. He sounds very excited about the work they are getting ready to do! They are currently on a British FOB (forward operating base), here is a little of what he has to say about the food:

[It] is a british FOB, and has a british DFAC with this Dutch chef, no joke. We are only allowed to eat there once a week, otherwise it's just the crappy Army tent DFAC (rations cooked in mass in boilers). It's like a fine dining restaurant at the british place: everything is freshly made, bread and pastries and desserts baked daily. You are only allowed to take one meat item, and as many sides as you want. For dinner on Friday (our company's day), I had a lamb chop and potato gniocci (pasta) in this tomato basil sauce. It was ridiculously good.

He also gave me a mailing address, so if you like you can start sending packages, letters, etc.

Philip Ambrose

Headquarters/557 En Co/864 En Bn

APO AE 09355

Because they have many missions and will likely be on the move quite a bit, the best things to send right now are things that are consumable and won't need to be packed up and moved or are very easy to pack up and move.

• snacks
• baked goods*
• good coffee (already ground)
• tissues, wet wipes
• single use items
• things he can share with his soldiers

Please keep in mind the season and do not send things that could melt or be destroyed sitting in the hot sun. Letters and cards from home are especially heartening.

*for baked goods to make the journey successfully they must be packaged carefully. Cookies and other things that could crumble should be put in plastic or tin containers that seal. Putting a slice of bread in with the cookies is a good way to keep them soft. Keep in mind it will take 7-14 days for him to recieve anything and it will likely sit in the sun for a few of those days. I have hear vacuum sealers are fantastic for keeping baked goods fresh, though I have yet to try it.

As for Nora and I we are doing great and keeping busy. Next week we will travel home (to Clarkston) to attend Kathy's bridal shower! Thankfully we will be riding with Terry and Mike (and Allie), so Nora and I won't have to make the 7 hour journey alone.

one week down...

I just uploaded a the last of the pics from Phil's last days...

Goodbye calls

lovin potatohead's hat

365 days = 370 links (just in case)

Daddy and Nora

we survived the first week! we can survive the rest!

actually things are falling into a pretty good rhythm. nora is sleeping well. eating ok. and playing fantastically. i still haven't even pretended to do laundry or housework (other than what is required to keep us alive), but i am managing to get us out everyday and haven't really fallen apart yet! :) so all in all i think we are doing GREAT!

this morning i was able to talk to phil a bit. he is in wonderful spirits and keeping very very busy. he will be traveling a while more before settling into a place we can mail to, so hold off on care packages-an address is coming soon!

he made it

So he made it safely, but will be moving on to a new location soon. We won't know when or where until he gets there-how very "Army". So far Nora and I are hanging on, though I still have trouble believing we will be living an entire year without Phil. My positive outlook is starting to fade, so instead of whining, here are some pics of our week!