Happy Birthday Will!!

Yesterday was Will/Daddy's birthday! We were so thrilled we were able to spend the day with him; last year he was literally across the world! We love low key birthdays or rather family style birthdays; we define a family style birthday as cooking your favorite dinner, eating cake, and presents. It is simple and perfect! Of course our kids will have parties, etc. but their actual birthday will be very similar (and of course some class cupcakes!). Harps and I worked on this sign...

She was very diligent coloring each square and adding stickers (although it is hard to tell in this picture).

I made one of Will's favorite dishes... Tamale Pie. Will's mom always made this for growing up so we had to continue the tradition. I also made Key Lime Cheesecake- the perfect combo of tangy and sweet.

I tried to get some pictures of H with the birthday daddy! I love this montage of pictures. She is so wiggly it is nearly impossible to get a good picture. Ha, she has places to be!

Happy Birthday Will! We adore/love you and we are so excited to see what the next year has in store for you!

xoxo,
allie

Brigade Ball 2013

So this Thursday we went to another military ball to celebrate the end of a deployment...The military loves to celebrate the end of deployments and hey, why not? I would say that is celebration worthy. For those of you who don't know military lingo (Ha, I barely know it!) the general "order" in a brigade (at least for us currently) is Brigade-->Battalion-->Company.  Earlier this month we went to a battalion ball... and just last week we went to brigade. The brigade is a much larger pool of people and consequently a much larger ball. Make sense? Probably not but anyway the event was held at the Marriott at KoOlina. We are SO lucky to have so many fabulous options for balls here in Hawaii... I am pretty sure Fort Rucker Alabama didn't have quite as many huge, fancy resorts readily available (even though we adore Fort Rucker for many other reasons). Anyway.. the Marriott was beautiful and the ballroom huge with plenty of room and a fabulously up-kept Hawaiian landscape.  Overall a wonderful experience (minus the 90.00 dollar price tag per a person.. yes we have to pay attend) but I am glad we went and had an opportunity to see all of our friends!

They recognized all of the volunteers from the past year. It was a very sweet gesture but I am never a fan of public recognition. I am much happier at my seat but it was very nice to see all of the hardworking volunteers get awards, etc!

Our ball season has come to an end for a while!

and don't worry, this little lady was happy at home with a babysitter.

Overall we had a great weekend, I'll post more on that later! Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend!!

xoxo,

allie

Will's Redeployment Ceremony

Here are some photos from two weeks ago when Will came home! It was on December 23rd at 2:30 am but I think the pictures paint a better scene of what the night was like... (at least for those who don't regularly attend redeployment ceremonies!) Anyway, I think we all look a bit tired but it was a great ceremony and loved that my co-frg leader was able to capture these moments.

Here are all of the buses coming in... After the soldiers arrive they have to go through more in-processing (aka turning in their weapons ,etc). This takes about an hour, so all of the families are patiently waiting behind the other side of the netting... nerve-wracking yet exciting.

Watching the buses come in.. with a very tired tot.

I loved this little helicopter outfit.. it was so fitting for the occasion! 

They have a big screen behind the scenes so all of the families can watch all of the soldiers come in! We saw Will... it was very exciting.. and I loved his smile! One of my favorite parts of redeployment ceremonies is watching the preschool and elementary school kids; they are so genuinely thrilled to see their dads (or moms!) and run at full speed towards them... seriously so adorable and heartwarming. Anyway, over the last couple of weeks and (so far) six ceremonies, I love watching those kids get SO excited when they see their dad on the jumbo screen. Adorable.

Marching in...

Daddy brought Harps an Elmo to try and ease the transition (the back story is she was a bit scared on
 R and R) but the redeployment ceremony was perfect. She knew right a who Dada was and has transitioned exceptionally well ever since.

We are so thrilled Daddy is back!

xoxo,

allie

He is home!

Will came in yesterday!!!!! We are SO happy to have two weeks with Daddy and celebrate H's birthday! His flight came in super late (well at least for the H women) but we were able to meet him at the gate! Super exciting. I will try and keep the blog updated with all of our R and R adventures!

This is us waiting, waiting, Harpy wanted her own Lei... and she brought her little Elmo to show Daddy... 

I love this picture... We were watching the plane land! 

and reunited!

xoxo,
allie

Father's Day 2012

Happy first Father's Day to our sweet Will/Daddy! This year we were miles apart but still celebrated in our own way! We were also lucky enough to celebrate with Pops and Papa. When Harper was born, Will and I decided Mother's Day/Father's Day was the perfect excuse to do a "Family Activity" instead of the typical gift exchange; with us moving around so often in the military, both "holidays" give us a family day to go to the local zoo, a kid's splash park, botanical gardens... etc etc. Obviously this year was unique with Will in Afghanistan, but Harps and I decided to send a photo album. One of my wonderful friends in Hawaii was sweet enough to share her photography skills with us and take some adorable pictures of Harps! I love these photos! I can't believe H is already nine months old... shocking how quickly time flies. We love you Daddy... can't wait tell next year when we can spend Father's Day with you! H and I spent the day at the Zoo in Connecticut with the family... more to come on that later.

Also, in honor of Father's Day, almost everyone thinks H and Will are twins; Will adores being "twins". What do you think?

H... (although not the best photo, I tried to get a similar angle!)

and...

Will is a bit older in this photo (with more hair!).

H...

Happy Father's Day Will!

xoxo,
allie

Will in the Stan

I have a wonderful weekend post coming your way but I found this on Will's company Facebook page. We are so lucky to have people snapping photos over there to get a glimpse in their lives! I told Will he looked really tan; he assured me it was either the lighting or dust. Anyway, here he is in his office! More to come later...

xoxo,
allie

Happy Birthday Will!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!! Today is Will's birthday and we "celebrated" all day long by doing Daddy stuff. Although he is in Afghanistan, I thought it was important to remind H of this special day. So we sang "Happy Birthday" allllll day long and ate all of his favorite foods. Obviously not quite the same as having him here, but we are so happy he is safe and another year wiser. We sent him a care package with some cakes baked into mason jars (an army wife tip for fresh baked goods I learned!) but we can't wait tell next year to celebrate with him in person! Happy birthday to our sweet Will. We love you and are beyond proud of you!

Singing to Daddy (singing has never been my thing.. fyi!)

H munching on some Avocado... a favorite for both Daddy/H. 

and I just had to include one of my favorite photos. Sweetest newborn H and Will. 

Love love this photo. 

xoxo,

allie

A Day in the Life-Afghanistan Style

Well I gave you a tour of our home here in Hawaii... so here is a little glimpse of Will's world. He was kind enough to send some pictures of his office; I am always initially struck with how gray everything is. I know I have said that before, but Will's world seems to lack color... Camo and a gray landscape. Since Will is a Platoon Leader for the maintenance company, he share his office with his Platoon Sargent and the rest of computers are for other people who need access to the internet etc. When he is not flying or sleeping, he is in this office/checking out the air crafts! Fun... :) I definitely struggle envisioning his daily life (as I am sure most of you do)  but these pictures definitely help.

Today I had the Spouse's Club Luncheon... my first of many, hopefully. The theme this month was Hawaii and we made Leis; surprisingly this style of leis is actually very easy to make. Mine was the perfect size for H and she looked beautiful with it on. Hawaiian baby! 

xoxo,
allie

A Day in the Life of Will

I asked Will to send me some pictures of his daily life; it is such an odd feeling having your husband half way across the world. We are living such different lives right now... my days are filled with diapers, playgroups, and baby talk while his days are filled with Chinooks (ha and many other things!). Thankfully, with email/facebook/Skype, we do get to chat here and there! Will is very very busy but I think he is really getting into his groove. He is currently a platoon leader in the Delta company which focuses on repairing the Chinooks and Blackhawks; when he is not working with his guys at Delta, he is out flying. Although deployments are not ideal, both of us are happy he is getting to the opportunity to experience this and I am confident in the long run it will only strengthen our marriage.

and a day in the life...

Will is stationed at Kandahar Army Airfield in Afghanistan. So far the weather is manageable.. but I am sure it will get hot enough soon! He eats most of his meals at a cafeteria style eating... he says not great food, not terrible and they only drink bottled water. They have to fly almost everything in... so that is quite a logistical project. His days are really busy with work and they work everyday. Phew, no weekends would be tough!

Here are some pics of his living quarters.

Fancy right? We are very proud of him and miss him everyday!

and of course a quick picture of Miss H on her way to the doctor for her shots! This is pretty much
how we do everything! The Baby Bijorn!

xoxo,
allie