1 Week down 51 to go

Well Ian, Blake and I survived the first whole week of the deployment. So far so good. We have kept pretty busy and have stayed right on our routine/schedule. I had a down day on Friday - first day I actually had nothing to do. It was a great me day - boys took a nap -actually at the same time so I was able to do a super quick cleaning and then thought I should go down for a nap as well because this time NEVER happens. I curled up on the couch and caught up with my TV shows that I had tivoed! It was great. I even caught a quick pick me up nap. However, when the boys woke up they woke up crabby and it really hit me - its going to be just me for one whole year. I got a little choked up, then Ian started crying for Daddy - I tried to hold it together but in that single moment - I just couldn't bare to see my son so upset for his father - Ian and cried for Jeff together. A good boo-hoo-snot-out-the-nose-cry. It was my first good cry since the deployment. I think I have been in denial about the whole thing. At that moment I came to turns and accepted the big pink elephant that I have been brushing off the last few months. Blake wasn't sure what was going on... lol...he just played with his toys. We then made a nice picture for Jeff and put it in the mail. :) He will be getting lots of pictures!

Well on this very day Sept 27th it had been flurrying on and off all day - not enough for a dusting. Well I went over to a girlfriends house to gab and just have some grown-up talk. Well as I attempted to leave around midnight there was 2 inches of snow on the ground! The first snow of the winter! Can you believe that? It snowed last year on October 6th! Yikes. I think this is going to be a winter with a lot of snow. Go figure, when Jeff isn't hear the snow is going to hit the fan!!! I will post a picture tomorrow. Going to go to bed to wake up to more snow probably and take the boys out in it! It will be fun - Blake will be able to play in it this time around.

Deployment Day 2

Yesterday at 830 am I dropped off Jeff at the side of the road for him to drop off his baggage. With a hug and a kiss he was gone - until Feb/March. We are hoping to take R&R then and head off to Hawaii!!

Its so funny. As soon as Jeff sets foot outside the house for any type of training/deployment the house begins to make noises. The first night I kept hearing all these noises that I either #1 never heard before or #2 am just paranoid now that Jeff isn't here so Im on edge. Im thinking #2.

This pre-deployment time went so well. We were relaxed, got along super well (we are usually stressed and end up fighting). Jeff packed early - we spent great family time together. Played with the boys, whipped up some great recipes and had great time in the kitchen - and just plain old had fun. It was sad to see him go.

I am strong and have to be strong for the boys. However it does break my heart when Ian asks when is daddy coming home. This is usually the conversation:

Ian: "Where is Daddy?"

Me: "Do you remember we had to drop him off to catch his plane?"

Ian: "Oh yea, His work - take a plane to the dessert. It's hot there."

Me: "Yes it is hot. He has to work in the dessert and help the people that live there. He will be gone for a while, but will be home in a bit to visit."

Ian: "I want to go on a plane to visit Daddy in the dessert. I will work with him."

Me: "No, Ian. We can't go where Daddy is. Its OK to miss Daddy. We can draw him a picture and mail it to him."

Ian: "Yes, draw a picture. Mail it and get a sticker." (They give out stickers at the post office to the kids. Ian likes to go!

We will be making TONS of pictures for daddy!

The month of Sept went by so fast!

Not a good picture of Jeff - they are concentrating so hard putting together a lego plane

I know I haven't blogged in wow a whole month. This month went by so fast! With Jeff deploying and my Internet going on and off I haven't been online that much. This past month we just concentrated on having family time and tons of it since Jeff is deploying... well deployed right now.
We had tons of playing outside, since its fall and the cool weather lasts very quickly before it snows we took advantage of fleece weather before full on "winter coat" season! We built a fires and cooked smores and just enjoyed time together!

We also got our family picture done before Jeff left. You have to go check out the website. A guy that works at the hospital with me took them. They turned out fabulous! If you are local and would like his number or info - let me know. He is very reasonable!! :) Check us out! Harmon Family Pictures! (click it)

Enjoy some pictures of us!

Jeff and Ian starting up our fire pit.
My boys! Love them!
Brothers
Dad and Ian playing Frisbee!
Blake helping us out by mowing the yard

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Jeff and Ian on train at Pionner Park

Blake enjoying his train ride

So a few days after we returned from Vegas Jeffs Dad and wife (Phil and Mona) came out to visit. They hit up the kids in Seattle first and then made way up to AK. Although they were only here for three days we jam packed the days full of fun! We had Ians Birthday BBQ and they were able to meet all of our close friends, went to the Salmon Bake, Pipe Line, Park, rode a Train, tour of Fairbanks and then they were kind enough to babysit while I had my surgery and recovered at home. So they had plenty of grandkid time with Mom and Dad away at the hospital. The boys loved the visit and when they woke up the next day Ian asked where they went and wanted them to come back! Here are a few pictures from the visit!

Happy Birthday Ian
Grandma and Blake
The boys and the train!

Grandpa and Blake on Train

Vegas Part Two

Friday: We just took the day off and walked around the Mall and then went to the Hotel Pool. My boys in the water!

If the kids could have picked, they would have loved to stay in the pool the whole time. I am going to try to go to the Pool next summer because they loved it so much. That night we had a superb dinner. If you know the show Top Chef on Bravo channel. Its one of my favorite shows! Well its Tom Colicchios restaurant: craft steak.

The MENU!

The meal was just outrageous. We had a three coarse meal with 2 types of salads, mushrooms, shrimp, Kobe Tartar for appetizers. For the main dish we had 3 types of Kobe Beef: Fillet, skirt steak, and just reg Kobe Beef Steak. Oh my gosh the meat was to die for. I could eat like this every day! I need a personal chef. The veggies were to die for as well. The best mashed potatoes I have ever tasted as well as the corn. We also had saffron butter lobster. I know Im missing something but there was so much food to remember. For Dessert we had a cinnamon/sticky bun thing with caramel ice-cream. I mean if Jesus could send down a dessert this would be it! It was heavenly! Melted right in your mouth. Also for dessert was corn ice cream with blueberry tart, a chocolate cake that oozed warm melted chocolate when you cut into it, raspberry sorbet, coconut ice cream, peach ice cream and a cobbler. So very yummy. Tom also has a restaurant in NY and I will most certainly hunt it down! :)

Us at Dinner

Saturday: We packed, really can't remember what we did this day! Ha. But we did go to a Vegas show that night - it was a topless show called "Fantasy". It was quite interesting. Boobs everywhere! We gambled a little every night. But Saturday we hit it big. We more than doubled what we put in at the black jack table. I can tell you how people go broke. It is so much fun - and you keep saying, just one more hand! We played Friday night about 3 hours and only won $60. But on Saturday night we were on a role - it was late and we only played about 45 min and more than doubled what we put in - walked away with almost $500!
Last night in Vegas! We gambled at Paris casino! Love it there!

Sunday: The flight back was pretty good, no big problems that I can remember. We came back to cool 50's and enjoyed the temps right away. We were so glad to have gone on vacation, but so very glad to be home!

Fun on Labor Day!

Rocks in the Dryer is having fun today so I thought I'd jump in. In honor of Labor Day, it's about...well, labor. And not the kind you get a day off for, either.

How long were your labors?
Kid #1, 10 hours
Kid #2, 5 hours

How did you know you were in labor?
Kid #1, water breaking.
Kid #2, Contractions - went to hospital was about 5 cm dilated.

Where did you deliver?
A hospital!
Kid #1, Ft Stewart, GA
Kid #2, FMH, Fairbanks AK

Drugs?
Kid #1, Yes, Epidural which thought it would be nice and run out toward the end!
Kid #2, Would have been nice - but I labored to fast - all natural. IF I were to bring another child into this world I think I will go drug free.
C-section?
Nope, though Kid #1 almost was. He was assisted with vacuum and the Dr said one more push or we'll have to go to OR. Which I replied (something like this:)"I have to push and I AM getting this baby out - get ready!"

Who delivered?
Doctors - my 2nd was slow getting to the room - the Nurse almost delivered.

Las Vegas Trip part ONE

Things have calmed down in the Harmon Household so I will tell the story about our Family Vacation to Las Vegas. We went with another family - the Hurleys (Jeremiah, Dawn and their daughter Reagan, who is 15 months). Also, Julie, (shes 16) Dawn's sister flew in from NJ to stay with us and baby sit while all the adults went out. Dawn's parents were nice enough to let use one of their time shares. So we were able to stay in the Marriott. It was a 2 bedroom suite combined with a common area and full kitchen. Our room was great - it had a King Bed with a Queen bed pull out sofa. Also had a small fridge, microwave, sink and a big bathroom. Great for 2 families. Enough of space to have our alone time and then plenty of room for all the kids to play.

Our vacation started off very rocky. We were supposed to catch the famous 1 am flight out of Fairbanks. However due to some a volcano erupting in the Aleutian Islands and caused all flights to be canceled in and out of the state of AK. I found this out at 7pm. So rather than waiting 50 min on the phone I went down to the airport to fix the mess. Well they had us all re booked on a flights which was nice of them - the only problem was we were all on different flights. Blake and I, then Ian and Jeff. It was a big deal to try to get us all on the same flight due to all the canceled flights. Long story short we got re booked and it took about 13 hours to get to Las Vegas. The boys did ok on the flights. Nothing to terribly horrible. It was good that Jeff was there to help!

We fly in at night and you think that Ian had never seen lights before. Jeff told him we were flying into the city and he was glued to the airplane window saying "wow the city". It was so very cute. Also, he was glued to the cab window with eyes as big as silver dollars loving all the lights. Blake was passed out and couldn't enjoy all the excitement of the lights of the Strip. After getting all settled in I think we all passed out shortly after midnight.

Monday: The husbands went to the grocery store to get supplies for breakfast and dinner while the ladies got the kids together. That day we just explored the strip. Walking around was hot. It was about 110 out and thank god that they had misters with cool air to cool off us and the kids. We just checked out the casinos. We kept it simple that day to adjust to everything.

Jeff cooling the boys off

Tuesday: We went into NY NY and ate an Irish pub that was taken from Ireland.

Eating Lunch. Blake is sleeping

Ian and Jeff doing the "Daddy Face"
I had some Apple Cider which was to die for. Ian and Blake enjoyed Coney Island which was on the third floor of that hotel. The hotel was set up like downtown NY with bakeries and pizza places. Very disappointed though at every bakery I looked for a Black and White cookie and found none. Anyways.Ian loved playing whack a mole and he even won a prize. (only him and me played) the lady was nice enough to give us two prizes - one for each of the boys. Ian would have loved to stay there and play tons more games if he were given the chance.

Playing Whack A Mole

That night we went and saw the Cirque de Sole - KA. It was fantastic. You weren't allowed to take pictures during the show. But there was tons of acrobatics and people flying through the air and this vertical wall that they would climb and free fall from. A very amazing show.

Us going to see KA



Wednesday: Ian's birthday! My baby turned three! We went all the way down to Circus Circus. This was at the older part of the strip. The original part of the strip. You could tell that the casino was older. It just wasn't as nice as the other ones that we walked through. The whole reason we went there was for Ians birthday and we could go to the circus under the big top. The boys loved it. There were tons of kids running around making it hard to maneuver thru the crowds with a double side by side stroller, but we managed. Ian, Blake and I rode the Merry Go Round which everyone loved.Merry Go Round Time

Then Ian rode his first roller coaster. All by himself. I explained to him that he would have to go on by himself b/c mommy was to big and couldn't' go with him. He couldn't get rid of me faster. He said "Ok mommy I can do it, bye!". I was so nervous. I asked the lady if he started crying could she stop the ride and she reassure me that she would. Well we didn't have to stop the ride, I had to practically peal Ian from the ride. He had so much fun. I am glad he did. I was a wreck. Number one a three year old riding a pretty fast ride barely buckled in and two - this was the first big boy thing he did and it made me feel that he didn't need mommy anymore. Jeff was super proud of him while a tear came to my eye to watch my little baby growing up! This was enough excitement for the day! Naptime and Pool time came later. Then it was girls night out and guys nights out. Dawn and I along with Jeremiahs Sisters who came in from St Louis to visit met us at a Male Review "Thunder from Down Under" while the guys went to their own show. The girls and I had such a great time! :)
Girls Night Out
Thursday: This was a fun day. However, we thought we lost the camera on. Long story short - our double stroller has a secret pocket somewhere that likes to hide cameras until you take out the stroller after the cab ride to the airport and put your kids back in that you find it. So the rest of the trip we didn't have our camera. I had brought the good one - but still learning how to use it and really didn't take too many pictures with it. We went to the Wax Museum and The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. The boys slept through almost all of the wax museum which was good for us b/c Jeff and I really wanted to check it out. Then we got lunch and walked over the the Shark Reef. The boys absolutely loved that. They enjoyed the sharks and fish and the huge glass so much. There was one time that Blake was standing in front of the of the glass and a shark came right up on him and he was amazed. His eyes were huge, and Im pretty sure he said OH. It was so very cute. :) Thursday night we saw Wayne Brady. He was just freakin' hilarious. He was at the Venetian Hotel. Which just fabulous too!

VEGAS PART TWO COMING IN A FEW DAYS