Escape to Stillwater

We had a fabulous day and overnight in Stillwater - it was the perfect way to spend some extra time together without the stress of our well-meaning, but very "spirited" Ava.

We dropped Ava off at Vicki's in the morning and headed out to do some shopping - we drove up 35E to North Branch, stopped at a little dive first for some greasy pizza and then headed over to the outlet mall. We found plenty of good deals and it was nice to shop at a relaxing pace.

Then we made our way back to Stillwater just in time to check in at the Rivertown Inn.

It was breathtaking - the perfect place to unwind. We settled into our room, took a few pictures...



...and then headed downstairs for wine and cheese. We chatted with a really nice couple who was about our age and then we headed on over to a place called Stone's for dinner. Had some great pasta dishes and a fantastic dessert (butter pecan ice cream covered in coconut and hot fudge). Thought briefly about staying out later to listen to some live music, but let's face it, we're old and tired and we didn't.

In the morning we had an amazing 4 course breakfast - it was to die for. Checked out of our room and then bummed around the downtown area and finished up in front of the fireplace at Starbucks where we each did some reading. It really couldn't have been better. Came home to a napping Ava, so we napped as well. Thanks again to Julie and Jess who babysat - it was wonderful!

Yowza - here's a 29 week view of the ol' belly. I have a dr appt tomorrow - I would venture to say that I'm quite a bit larger this time around than I was with Ava.

Back to normal...

Scot made it home last Friday - Ava and I got to the Guard base just minutes before the plane flew overhead. I wish I could describe the excitement on Ava's face when she realized her daddy was finally coming home...I'd include a picture here if I had one. If only I had remembered to put the memory card back in the camera...oh well. My mind was obviously elsewhere. Anyway, it was a great moment. She waved her little flag with such gusto and couldn't stop smiling. Neither could I.

After a 20 minute trip over to Customs, their plane finally taxied over to us. Ava didn't shy away from Scot at all and gave him a huge hug.

While we were waiting, I overheard a conversation Ava was having with another little girl Sophia (whose daddy was the other pilot):
Ava: "My daddy is on the plane"
Sophia: "No, my daddy is on the plane"
Repeat.

I jumped in and assured Ava that both of their daddies were on the plane.

Anyway, it took about another hour for Scot to in-process and then we were finally on our way home. Together. I can't even describe what a relief it's been to have him home - I don't think I realized how tired I've really been. It is amazing to have help around the house and with Ava - I'm so thankful he's back!

Anyway, we've pretty much fallen back into our old routine. Scot has off for 2 weeks, which has been great. He has kept very busy crossing things off his honey-do list and catching up with family and friends.

I have Friday off and we're headed to the Rivertown Inn in Stillwater for the night. We're both looking forward to a relaxing day and evening out. Ava will stay home with Aunt Julie tomorrow night and then friends Jess & Keira on Saturday.

UGH

Well, I hope they saved a spot for me at the loony bin.

Scot is not going to be home today (I don't think). Their plane broke upon their arrival in Scotland and they've been struggling to get a working replacement part. I got an email from him early this morning saying that the plane IS fixed now and that they are leaving today. However, they are supposed to be stopping in Nova Scotia too before they come home. They only have one flight crew on the plane this time, so I'm guessing they can't stop, refuel, and be on their way again because they'd probably go over their maximum hours for the day. Suck.

Hopefully I'll hear from him later today and find out he'll be home tomorrow...

43 hours...but who's counting?

Almost there. Another day and I think I'd be in the loony bin.

Ava is having such a hard time - I really don't know how people do this for 12 or 18 months. It has really wreaked some havoc on our lives here, so much more than last time. Now Ava is old enough to know Daddy's gone and that she misses him, but is not old enough to understand why he's gone and for how long. Since the beginning of October, we started coloring each day on the calendar, but her interest in that didn't last very long. This morning I told her excitedly that we only had 2 days left and showed her 2 fingers. She started sobbing and said "No, it's five days!" Poor thing doesn't know that 2 is better than 5 in this case.

On a very happy note, Scot left Afghanistan yesterday and flew as far as Romania. They flew to Scotland today, will go to Nova Scotia tomorrow, and then be back home around 3 pm on Thursday. Thank goodness.

One more week!

Yes, one more week until Scot is back home! It can't come soon enough. Even better, he leaves Afghanistan on Monday, so he has only one more day of flying to go before he gets packed up. Yahoo!

We had a great time in Wausau...well, up until Tuesday night when Ava threw up on Grandma Ola. About a half hour earlier, Ava had gotten extra clingy with me and insisted on sitting on my lap while I ate supper. She wouldn't eat anything and was burning up. In the 10 mintues it took me to run over to the store and back to get some Motrin, she had puked on my mom. The rest of the evening, Ava repeated in a very serious tone, "When you feel bad, you puke. Yes."

The bad thing was I still had to go back to work on Wednesday. My plan was to drive back in the morning, drop Ava off at daycare and head into work for the afternoon. I needed to physically be in the office because I had to pack up my cube - we're moving to a different building and had to be out by Wednesday at 5 pm so the movers could take over. I would have done it earlier, but didn't get a chance with our impromptu trip out east. So...I couldn't drop Ava off at daycare with a fever, which meant I had to take her to work with me. She actually seemed a lot better during the drive so I didn't think it'd be too bad. But it wasn't great - once we got there, I put on a DVD and she layed on the floor of my cube while I packed everything up. Poor thing...I was done after about 90 minutes so we promptly went back home and got her into bed. We didn't do much the rest of the day besides lay around and watch TV. I have to admit it was kind of a nice break for me...and she snapped out of it today, so thankfully it was just a 24 hour thing.

Otherwise, it was pretty relaxing to be back home. It was nice to have some extra hands. Going to work Mon and Tues involved rolling out of bed and walking 2 steps to the computer, while Ava happily played with Grandma and Grandpa. My cousins Lynn and Mark were visiting from Arizona, so it was great to spend time with them too. It all made the time go by faster, which is really the only thing I need right now.

Mommy's Girl


Having fun with cousin Gus


The whole fam (including stuffed Scot)


Goofy girl


26 weeks

26 weeks

Crap, that means there's only 14 weeks to go?! Eek. In many ways it seems like I've been pregnant forever...but of course, it also seems it's been flying by at warp speed. It doesn't help that I've been wishing the last 6 weeks would magically disappear and that we all (Scot, Ava, etc) could resume life on October 16th like that time never happened. Ah well...

And for those of you who pay attention to the times of my posts, you may be wondering what the hell I'm doing up at 4am? I'm wondering the same thing, actually...no, actually, there isn't a whole lot of mystery. My dear OCD cat Rocky spent about 20 minutes cleaning up his latest deposit in the litter box at 3am. Scratch, scratch, scratch. Dig, dig, dig. Cover, cover, cover. On and on. UGH.

Anyway, I had a doctor appointment on Thursday. Baby's heartbeat is still around 150. I've gained 15 pounds so far - not a bad place to be. Means I can gain a pound a week from here on out and still stay within 30 pounds. I will have another ultrasound next month to check my placenta - hopefully everything is OK with that. I also got out of a blood poke for hemoglobin again. My doctor said we could wait until next time, since I'll have to get tested for gestational diabetes then anyway. So, my next appointment will be Oct 27th.

Not much else to report...we're going to head to Wausau again tomorrow (no, I guess today) after music class. We'll stay until Wednesday, so that will be nice! Which means when we get back, we'll only have one week left until Scot gets home. Around the house, poor Ava will periodically slump her shoulders and announce "I'm sad." When I ask her about it, she'll say "I miss Daddy." The whole thing just really sucks.

Allrighty, off to see if I can catch a few more zzzzzs...