It's been a while, and this post finds me back in El Paso. It's good to be back home, and while I was gone, I missed my awesome neighbors. The weather has been beautiful lately, with highs only around 90. We've even gotten a little rain. Since I've been back I've just been trying to get back into a routine.

I still miss Matt terribly. Some days are easy, and some days are harder than others. At times it seems like he is just out in the field and I expect to get a phone call telling me where and when to pick him up. I guess you could say he is out in the field, but this field is just halfway around the world from us. I keep expecting to hear his footsteps in the hallway in the evening. I can honestly say I miss washing his uniforms! Wade misses his daddy, too. We look at pictures of Daddy daily, and I talk to him about Matt all the time. It breaks my heart when he starts saying Dada, because nothing can make his daddy magically appear. One thing that does help are the DVDs Matt sent from Kuwait. The USO has an amazing program where the soldier can read a book to their child, then the book and a DVD of him reading the book is sent back home. We are lucky enough to have four DVDs. Whenever Wade watches them, he gets so excited to see Dada! I love having the DVDs as well, but I usually end up teary eyed when I watch them.

Wade is growing like a weed, and learning new things daily. His latest words are ball and star. He is obsessed with cars, and will wave at all passing cars. He loves the race car shopping cart when we go to the commissary. I think he looks forward to grocery shopping. He loves playing outside, and thankfully we have a nice grassy area where he can play. I can't believe my little boy is growing up so fast! In two days he will be thirteen months old. Unbelievable! I'll leave you with a few pictures of Mr. Wunnerful from today.

Today...

Today was a pretty good day. Finally, after almost a month, I got to Skype with my husband. I can't begin to tell you how good it was to see his face as we were talking. We've been able to talk quite often so far, but being able to Skype was just so much better. Wade was sleeping through most of it, to Matt's disappointment. Right as we were about to end our video chat, I heard Wade "talking" in the other room...so Matt just got to sit tight for a bit as I went to get Wade. It was so worth it! The huge smile on Wade's face brought tears to my eyes. He definitely knew that was Daddy. The smile didn't leave his face as Matt talked to him. Wade got so excited that he was jumping up and down in my lap and pointing at the screen and squealing. I loved it. Definitely a great way to end out chat! For a while afterwards, Wade would come and point at the computer and say Dada. Yes, he definitely knows that was his Daddy.

In other news, it looks like I am going to be the new FRG leader when I get back to Ft. Bliss. I never expected this to happen, but the opportunity arose, so I decided to take it. It will definitely give me something to do while Matt is deployed. I figure by the time he is back from deployment, I will have it down. Go, me! Until next time...

One year checkup!

Wade had his one year checkup and shots today. Wade didn't find the shots the slightest bit amusing. I'm pretty sure he could have done without them as a matter of fact. At least we are done with shots...for 3 months. I did find out that Matt and I do have a bog guy on our hands. To be precise, he weighs in at 27 pounds 14 ounces, and is 32 inches long. This puts him in the ninety fifth percentile. Yep...he's roughly the size of an eighteen month old. He's perfectly healthy and developing normally. That makes this mama happy. All I want is for my baby to be healthy and happy.

I got to talk to Matt today. I've actually gotten to talk to him a lot of days, so far. Now that may all change, and I have a feeling it will, but I will definitely take it while it lasts. He said it was a nice balmy 119 degrees in Iraq today. Seems like lovely weather to me. Not. I guess maybe I shouldn't complain when it's 100 here. He's doing good, and he also got his first package I sent him today, so I think he was pretty happy about that. I'm just happy to be able to send him something from home.

Wade and I are still hanging out in Boerne, and will be for about another week. We're just enjoying Nana and Papa. It also helps take my mind off the fact that my husband is halfway around the world. I still expect to hear his footsteps in the hallway in the evening, but I suppose in time I'll get used to him being gone. It's not something I want, but it's what we signed up for when he joined the Army.

There really isn't much more to report. Other than Wade's appointment this morning, it's been a pretty lazy day. Except for the time I've spent chasing Wade around the house, but that never ends.

The beginning...

I figure I might as well start a regular blog to go along with my cooking blog...just to keep everyone up to date on the happenings in our piece of the world. Maybe it's interesting, maybe it isn't, but it's our life and what makes our world go round.

The past year has seen some major changes in our lives. To bring you up to speed... On August 13, 2010 I gave birth to Wade Travis Matthew Summey. He's absolutely an amazing little boy, and I see both traits of his mommy and daddy in him. In October Matt graduated from AIT at Ft. Sam Houston and in November we moved from Boerne to Ft. Bliss in El Paso. Don't ever let the name fool you...it isn't exactly the most blissful place on earth, but it is home now. About a month ago Matt deployed, so now it's just Wade and I forging onward, and missing Daddy a lot.

We just celebrated Wade's first birthday, and my how the year has flown by. We had a small birthday party for him in Boerne with Nana and Papa, great grandmother, Nannie, Aunt Beth and Uncle Fred, Uncle David, Jackson and "Auntie" Gem. Big sister Madison had spent a few days with us, but had to go back to Midland to get ready for school. Wade loved his smash cake, and it lived up to it's name. It was smashed in under a minute!

The changes in Wade just blow me away. He's walking all over the place, and into everything. He is very definitely ALL boy. He "talks" nonstop, and he loves playing with his toy cars. The first thing he asks for when he wakes up in the morning is "ca ca", which is his way of saying car. He waves at every car he sees, and loves going for rides in his little blue car in the evening.

That's about it for now...I've got plenty more to say, but don't want to give it all away in my first post! I'll leave you with this until next time...