You know youre an army wife when.....

*your husbands work and dress clothes cost more then yours.
*You only write in pencil because EVERYTHING is subject to change.
*You need a translator to talk to your civilian friends, only because they have no idea what DFAS, AER, TDY, ACS, PCS, and ETS mean.
*You can remember where you kept the scotch tape in your old house, but unfortunately not this one.
*You mark time in duty stations, not in years.
*You refer to friends not only by there names but also by which state they live in.
*You know that a 2 month seperation is short, no matter what your civilian friends/family say.
*You accidently show your military I.D. at walmart.
*you know that any reference to "sand" or "box" refers to Iraq not your kids backyard toys.
*you dont have to think what time 21:30 is.
*You cant remember the last time you saw a doctor that wasn't wearing ACU's.
*You stand for the national anthem at the movie theatre.
*It only cost you $0 to $25 dollars to have a child.
*you have learned to sleep through the sound of tanks, planes, helicopters and artillery simulators.
*you can hate and love the military all in the same breath.

AND many many more. If you're a military wife what situations have you run into that makes complete sense to you, but maybe not to those who have never experienced military life???

My friend Haley added one today:
*When your child thinks the computer is called Daddy. (Because of webcam and that is how they get to talk!!!)

There isn't to much going on right now. Camden and I are keeping ourselves busy and enjoying time with friends (who are HUGE life savors...especially for my sanity, l.o.l). Things that have happened this past month (after Nathaniel deployed of course):

* I was on the committee to help plan the food/decorations/invitations for the relief society broadcast/buffet/and fireside our stake had last weekend.

* Camden is now getting teeth 3 and 4 and has been super cranky somedays and other days a perfect little angel.

* I was asked to be a key caller for our FRG so I attended a key caller class they held...it was interesting, I'm not really a phone person so we will see how it goes! :)

* I go walking every morning and night with my friends...which has been a huge blessing to me, I enjoy the adult time I get and hopefully I will lose more of the baby weight I gained when I was pregnant with Camden! killing two birds with one stone, excellent :)

* I bought plane tickets for Camden and I to go Nathaniels family's house for Thanksgiving and will spend three weeks there and then we will fly to SLC for three weeks with my family and spend Christmas with them, then we will drive back to the great state of TX with my sister and her family!

* Camden ABSOLUTELY LOVES seeing Nathaniel on webcam, it is very very cute!!!

* I attended a tastefully simple party and was reminded how much I love beer bread...YUM!

And that's about it...nothing really to exciting, haha, BUT we are doing good, missing Nathaniel like crazy, but are keeping ourselves very busy

Deployment

Time is a funny thing. Sometimes it seems to fly by and other times it drags by so slow I wonder if it is going backwards. We have known about Nathaniel's deployment since last year, a year to get nervous about it, a year to worry about it, a year to wonder about, well....everything. We knew the day would eventually come when he had to go...but it always felt like something that was in the future...looming, but not ever happening. Well the day of Nathaniel's deployment has now come and gone...and you know what...We are going to make it and it is going to be a good year. A friend of mine told me that this time is not only a time to survive but a time to thrive. It isn't a year to put our lives on hold, but a year to grow, a year to learn from. One year...that is all...the great thing about time is even though at times it might seem to drag it is always moving forward, the day is going to come when Nathaniel will be back here and we will all be together again.

Nathaniel in formation about to head out. (he is the one looking back)Last family picture before Nathaniel heads out. Camden was quite fascinated by Nathaniel's gun.Before the soldiers leave, you have about 5 hours of just waiting around and Camden was one tired boy so he had one last snuggle with his daddy. When I grow up I want to be just like my Daddy. Just waiting around.

Temple Trip.

The day before Nathaniel deployed we had the opportunity to go to the San Antonio temple. The day was perfect. We had a great time with just each other and couldn't of asked for a better last day together. Thank you Haley and Amanda for watching Camden for us that day!!!

When family comes to town....

The week before Nathaniel deployed we were super lucky to have my parents come and visit us. We did so many fun things...we visited the Austin botanical gardens, Had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner for Nathaniel since he will be deployed over Thanksgiving, went to seaworld on a GREAT day...hardly anyone there and the weather was amazing AND military families get in free once a year *SWEET*, we had dinner on the riverwalk in San Antonio, went hiking, visited the "bat" bridge in Austin...and SO much more, but like any great vacation it is over before you know it...hopefully mom and dad will come visit again..soon...hint hint :)

(The following pictures are in reverse order, oops)

Saying goodbye to mom and dad at the airport.
Grandma and Camden
Grandpa and Camden Daddy and Sleeping Camden at the bat bridge waiting for the bats to come outAmanda, Dawson and Coleman waiting for that bats. Family picture time. Walking around the Botanical Gardens. Grandma, Grandpa, and Whitney. Camden may not be smiling in this picture but he really did enjoy sitting on the grass...for the first time ever!!!!

WHAT...6 months already

I can not believe little man is already 6 months old...he is growing up SO fast. At his 6 month appt. he weighed in at a whopping 20.1 pounds and was 28 1/2 in. long!!! He is a big little guy :)
Right now he can:
*scoots backwards all over the house
*sits up by himself.
*feeds himself finger foods (mostly graham crackers, which he loves)
*doesn't like baby food, I think mostly because his daddy spoiled him with tastes of grown up food, so now I just puree my dinner and viola Camden is a very happy little boy!
*Is very very close to crawling, he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. He will then put one hand forward and scoot his knees forward but then he collapses!!!
*Does not like snuggling at all unless he is super tired and you are feeding him his bottle.
*LOVES bathtime.
*Still loves anybody who will pay attention to him and will let anybody hold him...but prefers his mommy slightly more *happiness*
*says Dadadadada and can roll his tongue and goes RRRRRRRRRRR
*everymorning when I get him out of his crib he will grab my shoulders and give me a huge hug.
*and last but not least...if you get your face to close to his mouth he will LICK you!!!!!

Sitting in his High Chair for the first time. (thanks mom and dad for buying it for him, it makes meal times so much easier!!!)
"helping" me make the bed.
Daddy letting Camden eat his corn on the cob..this could be why he hates baby food, l.o.l (also don't mind the finger he is giving everyone, what a naughtly little boy :)

Little getaway

Before Nathaniel deployed he was able to take two weeks of leave and my sister being the wonderful person she is took Camden for a couple of those days so Nathaniel and I could enjoy a few days together. We headed first to a water park we had heard was awesome, Schlitterbahn. We ended being a bit disappointed by the water park. But that's ok we had a great time together. We then headed down to San Antonio for the night. We stayed in a nice hotel right on the river walk..a great walkway with a ton of restaurants/shops. The couple of days flew by though and soon we were heading back home to our sweet little boy (although I'm not going to lie it was quite nice to get away with just my hubby :)

The riverwalk up by our hotel.
Starting the trip.