Walking, walking!!!

...and he's off! Our little Hunter J is walking all over the place. It's amazing to see! He had been taking a few steps here and there, but on Saturday we were at my grandma's house (Hunter's great-grandma, his Gigi) and he just discovered that he could walk quite a bit. It was so fun to see him toddling around and giggling like crazy. He's just getting so big so quickly!
He was also asked to be a ring bearer in his Uncle Jonathan's wedding, so he's very excited about that. We will have to perfect this walking stuff in time for the wedding in October, especially since his Daddy will be there and we have to show off for daddy. Only two and a half months until Ben is home to visit and we can't wait! We have a great time planned, starting with going to his brother's wedding (yay for Julie joining the Feicht family!), then on to Biltmore in Ashville, North Carolina, and finally to Gatlinburg where we have a FABULOUS cabin for a week. We are sooooooooooo excited to be able to spend time as a family and just be normal for a while! After Gatlinburg we will head back to Chicago because Ben has to fly out of here, but it should only be for a couple of days. We are leaving that part of his trip open for right now, just in case we think of something fun to do.
Anyway, it's getting late and I should be sleeping but I just wanted to share the great news that Hunter is walking!!! Yay!
Love, em

Grad School Here I come

Hey everyone. I know it's been a long time and I haven't posted anything exciting. Work here is really boring actually. It keeps me busy, but it just involves researching different questions (you'd be amazed what some people will ask) and trying to keep people working together. Let me tell you, some people are really stubborn and very hard to work with. Other than that nothing exciting here. Emily just posted my big news. Yes, I am going to try to start grad school over here. The Army pays for most of it and I get a Masters in homeland security. I am very excited about the possibility of teaching at West Point though. If I get selected (I've been told only about 18 CPTs a year get selected) then the Army will pay me to go to grad school full time for two years and get a Masters in military history. After that we would move to West Point to teach. I don't like West Point cadets (cadidiots), or the communist NY gun laws, but it is a great opportunity to get some great schooling and teaching experience - while at the same time not having to deploy every other year.

The nly other exciting piece of news I have is that I have switched rooms yet again. Hopefully this is the last time. The pictures in this post are of my new pimp pad. The roommate I just moved away from snored so loud that one night some folks thought we were being attacked! Okay, not really, but he was the loudest snoring guy I've ever heard. The walls of our connex room literally shook from his snoring. The new room is great though and I'm rooming with Scott, the guy I also work all day with. One of the good things is I won't have to get a new roomie every couple of months (yes, some branches of the military send their people for 4-6 months...air farce) while the Army sends me for 15. But, at least for now things are looking up as far as housing.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I am doing fine over here. I miss everyone and I can't believe HJ is already taking steps, but time is flying and pretty soon I will be back home.

Ben

His First Step!

Hi all!

Well...I just wanted to share some exciting news. Hunter took his first step! He hasn't been able to get more than one step at a time yet, but he is sure working hard on it. He uses his little walker thing to get all over the house so I'm sure it will be no time at all before he starts cruising around on his own. Of course, he took a step toward me because I had one of my Grandma's homemade peanut butter oatmeal bars and he wanted that...but hey! It was a step!

The other good news today is that Donna, my mom's friend who is battling cancer, found out that her tumor is actually shrinking so the chemo is working this time. Yay for that! She is fighting hard so it's very encouraging to everyone to finally get some good news.

Ben is doing well, he has started his master's degree online at American Military University (AMU). He is studying homeland security in hopes of maybe getting a second master's later in History and a job teaching at West Point. We are really hoping for that but it would be a few years down the road (after this deployment, career course in Missouri and a company command somewhere...) But, we are hoping and praying that it will work out because that would be an amazing opportunity for Ben.

Well...that is all the news from IL. Hunter and I have been passing the time although I have no idea what it is that we do all day! Thanks for sharing all of our exciting news with us.

Love, Em and Hunter J

Happy Father's Day!

Well, I had written some of this post quite a while ago, and wouldn't you know, I forgot to actually post it! So... Happy belated Father's Day to all you dads out there! You have such an important job, and an exciting one. Since Hunter can't spend the day with his Daddy, we spent it with mine. We went to the horse races in Arlington Heights where there was a petting zoo, pony rides, tractors... and of course, HORSES! It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.

Hunter and I are going to be travelling next week to visit his Grandparents in Ohio and we are looking forward to seeing all his Uncles and Aunts; it will be a full house and I'm sure that Hunter will love the chaos! He is getting closer and closer to walking, which I am so excited about, but dreading at the same time. I just can't believe how big he is getting. Since our last blog he has gotten three more teeth (for a total of 8) and is getting better and better at getting himself around the house. He uses his little bike to help him walk around and he's getting very good at it. Naturally, he takes quite a few tumbles, but I suppose that is just part of this learning process. I put a couple pictures up, the blue truck is a Toyota!!! Can you believe it? I just couldn't resist getting it for him. Now he has a truck just like Daddy's! Well... maybe like what his Daddy wishes his truck looked like.

Well, hope that everyone had a great Father's Day and a good July 4 coming up as well!

-Em and Hunter

Hi There!

Well... at last we are done with the house! Everything went well as far as I was told, and we closed on the house on May 23. It's a relief to have that finished, although I do miss knowing that we have a place of our own. Oh well, such is life!

Things are busy here as usual. Hunter is always on the go, and usually tumbling all around. He has discovered that he can climb the stairs and open cabinets. He even stood up by himself last night and a couple times today. Not for long, of course, but it's a start! He had his 9 month check up on May 21 and he was 24 lbs, 11 oz! What a monster! He is 28.5 inches tall. I can't believe how quick he is growing up.
We are starting to get excited about Ben being home in October, though it still sounds like a long time from now. Time has been passing quickly though, I can't believe that it is already the end of May.
I guess that is all that I have to report for now. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are so thankful for all of your support!

-Em and Hunter

Updates...

Afghan National Police truck
Me, dressed all silly
Me, dressed sorta silly
the entrance to Chicken Street - rather disappointing!

Hey ya'll! I know it's been a long time since I posted, but things are really pretty boring over here. I just attend meetings and pass along information. I have had the opportunity to take a few more pictures, but it's nothing exciting. I will try to upload them after I write this blog. Who knows, maybe it will even work for me this time.
Like I said before, things here are really busy. I've been working with all kinds of folks trying to figure out how to best teach the local people how to run a government without all the bad guys. We are really working on trying to teach the police how to be police. For so long this country has been without a real police force that even simple things are sometimes very difficult. For example, the literacy rate is well below 50%. It is very hard to teach someone how to be a cop and write a report if he can't read.
We have also been working within our unit trying to figure out our "mid tour" leave. Down where I'm at we are so small that we can only have one person gone at a time; and we have to work all of that around critical mission issues and personal schedules. It has been crazy and I wasn't really sure when to come home. I have two weddings and a new nephew/niece being born, along with all of the holidays I'll be missing. I was so torn I just kinda let the Army decide. It worked out that with everything going on that it looks 99% sure that I will be home the last half of October. I say 99% because it is the Army and they have a bad habit of making things difficult and inconvenient for individuals. So Jonathan, it looks like I'll make it to that wedding. Andrew, when that little girl......or maybe it'll be a boy (just not as good looking as Hunter, of course) arrives give her a hug and I wish I could be there. Clara and Chad, I'm sorry things didn't work out. I wish I could be there with you, but I just want to wish you two the best of luck. I know you will be happy.
Well, I suppose this is getting long enough for now. I will try to post a few pictures and hopefully my "amish" internet will work tonight.
-Ben

Hello Again!

Hi everyone! Sorry it has been a while, I guess I just have lost track of time. Things have been going well for Hunter and I. He has lots of new teeth coming in (two on top and one or two on the bottom) so we had a few grumpy days there, but we are over that now (thank goodness!) He is also crawling ALL over the place and pulling himself up on anything and everything. We have had a few bumps and scrapes and I know that there are lots more coming. I can't believe that Hunter is 9 months old today! He sure is growing up quickly.
Let's see... my sister had surgery on her ankle about a week ago, so Hunter and I have been helping to keep her company and I have been working at the shop for her while she is on crutches. That is helping pass the time, but I'm sure that she would say otherwise. It's been nice to get out of the house and work at the bridal shop for a while. Hunter has had a couple babysitters and so far things have gone great. Hopefully we can keep that up.
Can you believe that it's been two months since Ben has left? Time has been passing pretty quick, but I hate to think that we still have 13 months to go before he is back home for good. Oh well, that's Army life! I have been sending lots of pictures so that he can see our little Hunter as he grows.
We are all set to close on our house on May 26 and the buyers have already moved in. They are temporarily occupying the house before the closing, which actually works out perfect for everyone. They pay us a little bit in rent which helps with the mortgage, and they have a place to stay and don't have to move multiple times. Hopefully everything will go smoothly with the closing. So far everything has gone great. All of our inspections went well and everything should be ready to go. I have already signed and had all of the papers notarized, so now we are just waiting for the actual closing. I will be very relieved to have that done!
Well, Hunter is getting restless so I should finish this post. Hope everyone is doing great, we love to hear from all of you!
Love, Em and Hunter