I'm happy to say that April is over as it was our first taste of life with Kyle away. Kyle spent majority of the month April 6-29 at JRTC (joint readiness training center) at Fort Polk, Louisiana. It's a predeployment training that all brigades do in preparation of their upcoming deployments. Basically they are super busy down there doing everything and anything to simulate the situations they will face overseas. The training culminates with a 5-6 day force on force laser tag war where they are tested by opposition forces to see how well they do in a variety of circumstances. Overall Kyle found the training to be pretty valuable as a learning tool and he personally did very well. He was awarded the Fire Support Officer of the Battle award - recognizing that he was the best performing fire support officer in the entire brigade. It was a nice honor and recognition of how competent and skilled Kyle is in his specialty and that he is continuing to grow and develop as a successful officer. The month long training was good "practice" for what life will be like when Kyle deploys later this summer. Where he was he had NO cell reception so our contact was limited to when he found a place with a signal or when he could borrow someone's phone who actually had service. Greyson and I kept plenty busy while he was away, which you'll read about below, and overall the experience gave me more confidence in myself to hold down the fort while Kyle is deployed....granted then I'll have 2 kiddos, so it won't be quite the same, but still a good learning experience.
Before Kyle left for JRTC we were lucky enough to have my Mom and stepdad, Mike, come and visit over Easter weekend. Sadly Greyson was battling pink eye and ear infection during their visit so that limited our activities, but we still were so happy to have them around. They were able to celebrate Easter with us and watch G enjoy his egg hunt and eating far too much chocolate. We also got a chance to check out Ft. Carson, the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, and the Air Force Academy. Overall, a great visit and worked out so well that they were able to see Kyle before he left for training.
Greyson and I have a pretty busy schedule Monday through Friday with preschool twice a week, playdates, a playgroup on Ft. Carson, and Diaper Gym. Now I'm sure you're wondering what on Earth is Diaper Gym? It's a tumbling/gymnastics class for children under 3 and G loves it. He gets to walk on the beam, bounce on the trampoline, and do rolls. His favorite part of class is at the end when Ms. Cindy, his teacher that he loves, puts stamps on their hands on feets and they get a sucker for a doing a good job. Here's a video of him in action at Diaper Gym showing off his roll skills.
We also like to get outside as much as we can, especially when he have nice weather...which has been hit or miss this month with crazy weather ups and downs. On nice afternoons Greyson loves to visit the pond at a local park to feed the ducks and geese.
Greyson, like all 2 year old little boys, is full of plenty of energy and he's quite a quick runner. Check him out running a loop at the park after feeding the ducks. We're thinking toddler soccer next spring will be a great activity for him and all his energy.
We also did a variety of things around the house while Kyle was away to help Greyson cope with Daddy being gone - another preparation for the upcoming deployment. We made a calendar showing our daily activities in pictures and when Daddy would be home on it and he loves marking off each day and seeing what we're doing. We also had Kyle make a DVD of him reading some of G's favorite stories. His favorite activity was getting a "kiss" from Daddy each night after supper. I made a jar with pictures of him and Kyle on it and filled it with the number of Hershey kisses for the amount of days Kyle would be gone. Then each night he got to eat one to count down to Kyle's return. Check out how we did this in the video below....so cute!
We were also lucky enough to have even more visitors this month. My Dad was able to come out for a weekend to help keep us company while Kyle was away. We enjoyed going for hibachi, taking Greyson for Dairy Queen (keeping with family tradition), visiting the Dinosaur Museum, and feeding the giraffes at the zoo. Greyson had lots of fun playing with his Poppy and thinks he's very funny.
Shortly after my Dad's visit, Kyle's parents (Daryl and Joyce) arrived to visit and watch Greyson while I headed off to Vegas for our annual family girl's trip. Greyson had so much fun with his PopPop and JoJo going to Diaper Gym, going to playgroup, playing outside, and going shopping. I had a fun filled weekend in Vegas with my mom, sister, aunt and cousin seeing lots of shows, eating at fabulous restaurants, shopping, and doing LOTS of walking around the strip. I definitely could have used a vacation after my vacation to catch up on my sleep.
Enjoying a DELICIOUS brunch at Bouchon at The Venetian. Best pastries ever!
We even got to spend sometime with President Obama....ok, just kidding...we did have a great time at the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.
Big thank you to PopPop and JoJo for helping me out and coming out to watch G while I was away enjoying a bit of "me time". I was able to relax and have a great time knowing that he was in great care. We're excited that later this month they will be moving out here to their apartment for 6 months to be around to help us out when the baby is born and after Kyle deploys. They truly are lifesavers and we're so appreciative of all the help they give us. Greyson doesn't mind all the attention and spoiling either :)
Last, I guess I should update you on my pregnancy progression. As off tomorrow I'm 7 weeks from my due date...yikes! Sudddenly, it seems like this pregnancy has hit fast forward and we're in the final stretch. I'm scheduled for an ultrasound in a few weeks to check on the size of our baby girl and the midwife said if she's still measuring large they may schedule an induction at 39 weeks....meaning I could really be 6 weeks from delivery day. Kyle and I are working hard on all the final preparation of her room. We're pretty much set just need to finish a bit of decorating and getting a rocking chair. I must be in the nesting stage as I did about 5 loads of laundry of her stuff this weekend washing everything in Dreft so it's ready for her to wear when she arrives. I'm definitely feeling large these days and getting up and down is not so easy. I once again have one "cankle" (my left), but my midwife reassures me my blood pressure is great and it just must be how my vascular system copes with the weight gain. Especially, since I had the same swollen left ankle with Greyson....not a very good look. At my last check up she was already in position with head down and I feel like this little lady is sitting super low so if I'm supposed to "drop" later in this pregnancy I have no clue where she thinks she's dropping to. Sleeping is a bit of struggle with not being able to get comfortable and the joy of having to wake up to go to the bathroom. We'll keep you all posted as the pregnancy progresses with any updates and we can't wait to meet our little girl SOON!
Love to you all,
K, L, and G
P.S. Don't forget to check out the April 2010 photo link on the left.
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