Big boy!

Hunter had his 15 month check up yesterday and the conclusion is that he is a BIG BOY! I guess I already knew that, but it was confirmed. He is 31.5 inches tall and 31 pounds!!! Sheesh, no wonder I'm exhausted at the end of the day. Actually, I was anxious to get to the doctor because Hunter has been having a problem sleeping and at least now I think I have an answer to why. For a few nights in a row Hunter had been waking up just screaming and crying and it seemed like the more I tried to console him, the worse it got. He was up for hours at a time just crying and kicking and I felt so helpless because nothing I did seemed to make it better. After talking to the doctor about it, he told me that Hunter is probably having night terrors, which are apparently quite common in toddlers his age. The strange part about night terrors is that although his eyes are open, he's actually sleeping so you are not supposed to pick him up or try to console him because he doesn't even know anything is going on, so I was making everything worse without knowing it. Luckily we have had two nights now without any problems so we are praying that it's all over now. I guess we will see.
On a much happier note, Hunter is very excited about having a new cousin (his first cousin, actually!) named Connor Ryan. We can't wait to go and see him in person, but he sure is adorable in pictures. Anyway, thanks for reading about my crazy life, I will try to get some more cute pictures up here whenever I get more downloaded. It's been wild around here with wedding showers for my sister and all kinds of stuff going on. It has also been fun though too, and the wedding planning is coming along nicely. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!
Love, em

Back in Afghanistan

I am back safely here in Afghanistan. The trip back was long, but uneventful. I was stuck in Atlanta for a good part of a day, but at least I didn't have to stay overnight. From there I flew to Kuwait had a layover in Ireland for about two hours before we headed out for Kuwait. In Kuwait it was kinda chilly and rainy. The desert is miserable in the winter time, all that blowing sand turns into a slimy muck when it rains. I got stuck there for two days which I suppose isn't bad, but I was glad to get out of there. From there we flew straight to Bagram on another uneventful flight. I got lucky and only spent a couple of hours in Bagram before I got down here to Kabul this morning. I didn't want to come back, but at least the trip is over. Traveling with the Army is never fun. I had two Masters classes start on Monday and they both look like they will be fun, but very challenging, which will be good. So long as I can stay busy time flies by. Now that my R&R leave is over I'm counting the days until I can be home again. Right now I'm just trying to get caught back up and figure out what to do for my new classes. It will keep me really busy. I will try to keep this updated better this half but we will see. It was great to see everyone while I was home and congrats to Jonathan and Julie on their wedding.
Ben

How cute is he???

So, I couldn't resist posting some pictures of Hunter in his monkey costume. He wore it to the zoo on the 30th and of course on Halloween again. He had a great time at the zoo and also visiting with some family while trick or treating. He ate a bit too much candy at my Uncle Mike's house and had a bit of a meltdown while we were visiting with G.G. (that's what Hunter calls his Great Grandma Plut), but overall it was a great time and he sure looked cute. Hope you enjoy!
-em

Has it really been that long?

Hunter and Daddy

Wearing Daddy's hat

The guys at the aquarium

Wow... I just realized that it has been a REALLY long time since I last posted on the blog here. I suppose that's not a bad thing, we have just been busy! Let's see...
Ben arrived back in IL on the evening of October 13 and Hunter and I picked him up from O'Hare airport. It was crazy at the airport and I thought we would never find each other, but it worked out and it was soooooooo amazing to finally see him again! Hunter was a bit shy at first but after a few days he was playing with his daddy like they had never been apart.
On the morning of the 16th we headed to Clarksville, TN as a stopping point on our way to Jonathan and Julie's wedding in Atlanta. It was a long trip, but it was enjoyable to be together as a family after so long. We had a great time visiting with the family in Atlanta and Hunter performed his duty as ring bearer quite well. I did have to help him and I hate to admit it, but he carried a tractor down as well, BUT he made it down the aisle and that is all that matters! :)
After a couple days in Atlanta we headed to Biltmore estate in Asheville, NC and spent the night there. It was beautiful and we really enjoyed it. We could have done a lot more there, but we were anxious to get to the amazing cabin we rented in Pigeon Forge, TN. We spent a week in the mountains of TN at an amazing cabin and just relaxed and enjoyed life! We visited an incredible aquarium, went on a monster truck ride, walked around the town of Gatlinburg, spent a day at Bass Pro and just had lots of fun!
After that we came back to IL since Ben had to fly back out of here and spent the last couple days here. We took Hunter to Brookfield Zoo and went trick or treating (well, just to a couple houses of friends and family.) Hunter was very happy to have his Daddy home even if it was just for a while. Ben headed back yesterday morning nice and early and he's in Kuwait right now waiting for a flight back to Afghanistan.
Now it will be back to things as usual for all of us. Ben starts his next couple classes for his Masters on Monday, hopefully he will be back in time to get his homework done this first week! He will have a lot to do for a couple of weeks as he gets back into a routine so I'm sure he won't have much time to post or email, but I will do my best to keep everyone updated on what he is doing. I suppose that is enough for now, I will try to get some adorable pictures posted soon.
Love, em