Finally

Daniel has been promising a post from me so here it is. It has been a whirlwind almost four weeks since Emma arrived. It is already impossible to remember life without our new addition. Our family is so beautiful and precious. Aiden continues to impress me with his love and affection for his little sister. He came in from playing baseball to help give her a bath. Of course he then tried to dump water on her head but it was only because he thought that was how to rinse her hair.

I'm really proud of how Daniel and I have come together so well and have risen to the challenges of having two little ones. This was a huge accomplishment for us, it was scary at first, not having help here immediately but it has brought us to a whole new level of team work and confidence in parenting. I've had a couple of practice days with Daniel gone doing administrative things when I had the kids by myself and I even managed to get us to the park for playgroup on time! This next stage does seem daunting at times but these past few weeks have really shown me that I CAN do this, that WE can do this and do it well. I think one of the hardest things we have coming up will be Daniel finding the balance of work and family time but I know that as with all his professional challenges he will impress me with how he manages it all. Even though his days will be busy at least we'll still have him home every night.

To Grandma and Papa we miss you so much already. Your trip here was far to brief. This visit has confirmed in my mind that we can't get stationed in Florida quickly enough. It was heartbreaking to have Aiden, "just want to show them one thing!" this morning. As nice as Hawaii would be, it would be nicer to see family a couple of times a month as opposed to once a year, twice if we're lucky.

We'll continue to keep you updated on this adventure of a lifetime, raising our amazing family.

Love to all,

Joy