2 months down, 10 more to go...

Well, I am happy to report that month #2 seems to have gone faster than the first month! Too bad Nora and I were sick for most of it! We did have a few really fun visitors this month that helped keep us occupied. My sister Terry came and stayed with us last week, and Phil's cousin Malana (along with her family) stopped in to see us this weekend! Nora had a blast playing with her cousin.

June is going to be a busy month, with a long trip home to Clarkston for Kathy's wedding. Nora and I are planning lots of fun activities between now and then to keep us busy.

Recently we have discovered "Stroller Skating". Something I am hoping Nora warms up to in the next couple weeks, since I am a huge fan of roller skating. In the beginning of May, they re-opened the skating rink on Ft. Lewis. There are 2 hours every morning set aside for strollers and tots. Nora and I tried it once, and unfortunately I am a bit too fast for her :). We are taking her friend Orion and his mommy with us this week to try it again. Hopefully, with a buddy there she will enjoy it a little bit more!

We are also taking advantage of the play center, Rainbows and Raindrops, on post at least once a week. This is a building dedicated to "mom and me" style play similar to a children's museum on a smaller scale. They have art tables, a music/movement room, dress up clothes, play kitchens with food and dishes, and just about every other developmental toy for 0-5 that you could imagine. Nora loves the kitchen area and the baby doll section these days!

At home, I am beginning the difficult battle of convincing Nora to give up her pacifier (or plug, as we call it). Simultaneously we are starting to potty train...or at least I am encouraging her to start. We were doing wonderfully with potty training (staying dry most of the time) before Phil left, but the disappearance of Daddy caused a little regression in that area. She still isn't so sure giving up diapers is the way to go, even if it means she get to wear princess panties. Any moms out there with advice-send it my way!

Nora is still missing Daddy a lot, and every so often has a sad day and cries for him. But between our talks and books and videos, I think she is accepting the situation a little better. Keeping busy and making sure to have a pretty regular schedule seems to be helping both of us tremendously.

Phil Pics!

Phil is doing great. Very, very busy and very, very dusty, but loving his job and the work he is doing. It is really great for me to hear him so happy. If he has to be far away, then he at least should enjoy what he is doing, right? Their current mission is to expand the COP (combat outpost) into a FOB (forward operating base). Living conditions are more basic than most of us have camping. MRE's for food. Water bottles for showers. Tents and cots for sleeping.


Phil sitting down to have Chai and talk "business".



Phil and one of his Interpreters

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.