What we have been up to lately:

Dawson and Camden at the carnival

Camden eating his first bowl of cereal....he's had cereal of course...and a cup of milk, but I was finally brave enough to try this out! He loved it and of course ate it all up!

mommy and Camden playing at the Maybourn Childrens museum (he drink the water before I could stop him and we are pretty sure that led to the three day long yucky tummy!)

This is what we think of daddy's driving!!!

Daddy and Camden riding the asian horse!

Camden wasn't a fan of sitting on the oragantun!

Whitney, Nahaniel, Sarah, Camden, Mommy, and Dawson!

We've definently been enjoying all the time Nathaniel has had off from work, while his block leave doesn't officially start until this weekend, he has only been working for a few hours in the morning, which leaves the whole afternoon to have fun! Camden and I took Nathaniel to the zoo to show him all the fun we had there while he was in Iraq! We also enjoyed the Maybourn Childrens Museum in Waco, a week long visit from my mom, get together's with Nathaniels buddies from Iraq, swimming, the carnival, and a welcome home to our husbands BBQ at our friends house (that was delicious!)

We are now super excited to be flying up to Washington this weekend to spend the next couple of weeks with Nathaniel's family....WE CANT WAIT!!!

Some of the best things in life are:

Whitney and Camden checking on the cookies we made! They were super excited for them to be done so they could "eat them up"

I'm so glad when daddy comes home...

We are so excited to have Nathaniel/Daddy home! The night we went to pick him up was SO exciting, I could hardly believe that one whole year had passed AND while we missed him more then words can describe, Camden and I actually had quite a great year, I feel very blessed that our first delpoyment experience was so positive!

When the unit returned, they flew into the airport on post and turned in their guns, etc. while all the family member waited at the parade field. The estimated time for their arival at the parade field was 11:45 p.m.! It was very late at night, but you would never of guessed because everyone had SO much energy! So 11:45 comes and GOES, then midnight comes and GOES, and I am getting even more anxious and excited! Finally around 12:15 a.m. we spot the white buses pulling up to the field and everyone starts screaming and cheering! Camden also pointed at the buses and SCREAMED, "DABA DUBA DA" and was Super excited :) The soldiers then march off the bus in formation and are behind the buses and everyone SHOUTS, "MOVE THAT BUS", the buses then move and the soldiers start marching onto the field, at this point I couldn't contain my excitedment and I burst into tears and thought to myself: He made it home SAFE, all the emotions and fear I bottled up inside of me came out and I just felt such happiness it is indescribable. The soldiers are now standing in formation in front of us and their is a prayer said and a little speech and then the soldiers are released and EVERYONE runs onto the field. Camden and I are looking for Nathaniel and then I turn around and there he is coming up to us with the biggest smile on his face, I just run up to him and hugged him and cried and then hugged him and cried again, haha! Camden went straight to his daddy and has been his little side kick ever since!

I am so thankful for the wonderful friends I have here in Texas, they made this deployment a positive experience, and for those days that weren't so positive they gave me the sanity I needed to keep moving forward! I have no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father guided Nathaniel and I to this neighborhood! I am also so thankful for my family, for the encouragement they gave me and for the many times they let me come home and visit for an extended amount of time :) I'm very thankful for a wonderful little boy, he is now 18 months old and I still look at him and can't believe how blessed I am and how in love I am with him! But most of all I couldn't of done this deployment without a wonderful and loving husband! Nathaniel might of been halfway around the world but I never stopped feeling his love for me, he was so supportive of me.

This first deployment was a success....BUT I am still going to cross my fingers that we dont have to go through another deployment anytime soon, l.o.l :)

Today is the day!

It is almost time for Camden and I to head out to pick Nathaniel/Daddy up! I can't remember the last time I had these many butterflies in my stomache! It still seems so surreal to me that he is coming home!