like a kid waiting for christmas
every time I look at the clock I get a little jolt in my stomach
one more hour closer to when tom will be home.
then things will finally be back to normal

minus my jeep of course :(

I don't know why
but the only reason I am still awake is I really want to see the new harris teeter ad in my inbox
I have some catch up grocery shopping to do
for Tom, coffee, cream, sugar..haha
I don't usually drink coffee with out tom, so the house has been scarce of it for 4 months
maybe get a few more sandwich things

I still don't know what to cook for Tom's first meal home
Jonas wants pizza and fried chicken
And I'm sure Tom will be ok with one of those, it's not chow hall food or fast food
Well, I guess domino's or KFC would be fast food ;)
Maybe we will go out

Jonas has all of next week off from school
Not sure what we will do
I don't want to push Tom with a ton of family stuff
I know he will be tired and we are going to disney in less with a month
But I know Jonas will want to do all sorts of stuff with him and Tom will do anything Jonas asks him to do, so we will just wait and see how things play out.

jumping ahead to halloween
I don't usually start this for about 2 more weeks, but since I'm going to be gone during my primary costume sewing week, I've started early.
Jonas wants to be a ghost. I can't come up with anything other than a sheet with hole cut into it. When I look online, all i can find are either just that, or really scary ones.
I'm sure I can come up with something though. Maybe a sewing some patches on the sheet or something. I also don't know if I want him to be a ghost. Growing up my brother and I where not allowed to be ghost, or witches or anything like that. Though I don't mind the idea of him being a cute little ghost, it just seems too plain. And this is vain of me, but I take pride in the costumes I make for him. I really don't want people to look and him and think I forgot it was halloween till 10 minutes before trick or treat.
Hayley is going to be a ladybug, so say Jonas. That's easy, though I'm having trouble finding a leotard for her. A tutu is simple enough to make, cutting will be tedious, but I'll get through it.

so little miss hayley is FINALLY caught up with all her shots
no thanks to the wonderful people at the hospital at ft bragg
unlike the air force, the army won't let you schedule appointments till 30 days out
when jonas would get down with his well baby appointments, the front desk scheduled the next appointment that very day as we checked out.
almost every morning since hayley was 5 months old i've called the appointment line at WOMAK to make her her appointment, only to have the main line tell me nothing is available, and for them to patch me through to pediactrics and only to have them not answer there phone.
so i would leave a message, just so they would ignore it.
at jonas 4 year old check up here in town, i found out that they now see infants.
so i drove myself to the base and had tricare change her PCM to jonas' doctor
when they asked why i was changing her doctor i explained to them about how for 4 months i was unable to get my daughter an appointment, how pediatrics never returns messages, and how the last time she was seen there i personally heard the ladies behind the desk say 'oh they'll stop calling eventually' about the never ceasing ringing of their appoiment line.
it is also a lot more convenient to have both my kids seen at the same place
but anyways
since i had picked up the paper work for her at jonas' appointment to fill out
it took me under a minute to make her appointment in town
hayley is 30 ins long and 21 lbs 6oz
she did ok with her shots
she didn't cry till it was over
she looked confused as it was happening
when it was done, she not only cried , but she signed 'done' or 'finished' over and over again
i thought it was funny
jonas cried more than she did about her shots
he didn't want them to hurt his sister
and when we were done
they made her 1 year appointment for us
in november!
more than 3o days out!
so thats nice, her appointment is made
and its on the calander
and thats one thing i'm actually good at remembering
odd note
the dr told me that when the kids had the flu a few weeks back
if i had taken them to the dr, they most would have tested positive for H1N1
she also told me that it was smart of me not to bring them in to the ER because if they didn't have it when they came in, they would have certainly left with it, and if they did, others would have gotten it.
she said you only need to go the dr for the flu, is if you have a high fever for your age group or if you are having breathing trouble other than just a stuffy nose
neither of them had terribly high fevers for their ages, but had hayley's gone up 1 more degree i would have taken her in
but i know what to do if my kids get fevers and get sick
the only problem i had was there are now no over the counter for cold meds for hayley
so she had to suffer with a horrible stuffy nose
all the suctioning and saline wash didn't do much for her
and now most meds for jonas say 'for over 6 yrs' on them
even though he's been taking most of them since he was like 2
like the triaminic strips, his doctor when he was 2 said to give him 1 strip of the symptom specific medicine.
now it says he 'can't' take them
his dr here says she finds it all ridiculous, and as long as i follow proper dosage, like i have, jonas can take most over the counter children's meds
so that was kind interesting
cuz i joked with jonas about him having 'piggy flu'
turns out, maybe he did have it!

not exactly sure on the date of tom's return
but its soon!
next week will be the last full week without him
everyone is getting antsy
i'm a little afraid that hayley will be scared of him
but i show her pictures of him and her together everyday
and when she sees the pictures she shrieks 'DADA!' super loud and super high pitched
but i'm still a little concerned that when he takes her from me she won't like it
my dad told me the first time he went TDY after i was born i was about hayley's age (when tom left) and when i first saw him i screamed
and he was only gone for 2 weeks
but we will see
and after daddy gets home
its only less than a month till disney!

jonas just came in with a thermometer under his arm and informed me that is said he weighs 100 pounds

tom will be home sooner than we know it
we are down to the last few weeks
and with jonas in school the days seem to fly by

speaking of jonas in school
so far he loves it
im so glad he does
it kind worried me that he was going to have a hard time with preschool
what with me not being the one to get him out of the car or take him into the classroom
but he as no problem with it at all
i talked him through it a few times asking him who gets him out of the car, and who walks him into the classroom. each time he said 'ms. connie'
though he did seem a little stunned when it actually happened

hayley is still doing good
she is trying to walk so i got her one of those push toys she can walk behind
its a pink little stroller and we put her cabbage patch doll in it
i used the last of her baby wipes this morning
so i made a bunch of baby washclothes we had into baby wipes that i can just throw in with her diapers in the evening wash.

jonas keeps asking 'is daddy home yet'
he knows that day is getting close
he misses tom
and he uses that as an excuse to try and get out of trouble
but i caught wise the first time he tried it

still working on getting an engine for the jeep
i miss my jeep
a lot
a whole lot
i have my mamaw's '95 buick century right now
i hate cars
i hate that my kids car seats don't fit in them right
i hate that i have to bend down to put my kids in them
i hate that the ones i've been driving have NO power behind them
i am grateful that i DO have a car to drive
that i can get jonas to school and run my errands
that if there is an emergancy, i do have transportation
but i really do hate driving a car and not an SUV specifically my jeep
i don't know if tom's waggy is drivable
well i know it drives
but i don't know yet if it will pass inspection
if it is i might get it inspected and try my hand at driving it
tom would be incredibly jealous
he hasn't even gotten a chance to drive it yet
plus im thinking that a V8 '88 grand wagoneer with an 8in lift
might just be more car than i can handle ;)
also i would change the bending down to get my kids in the car part to needing a step ladder to get my kids in the car
and that would be more of a hassle