soon, but not soon enough...

we've been holding our breath around here for the past month or so, waiting to hear when john's "cruise" will end. we heard rumors, which were then considered likely and then were considered 90% accurate, stating that the cruise would be lengthened considerably. by considerably, i mean two and a half months. it seems now that we're looking at the likelihood that john will instead be coming home sooner rather than later.

unfortunately, dear reader, i cannot divulge the actual dates...one does not want to compromise the security of the ship.

i'm delighted to know, though, that my better half will soon be back home to share in the joys of our happy little severely-deflated-in-value condominium.

we've all changed a bit while john's been gone, but of course none of us as much as not-so-little josiah. can you believe that when john left, josiah looked like this:

he hadn't been walking all that long (i know, he's a late bloomer), couldn't say that many words and was more baby than toddler, really.

today, josiah is a TALKER, he runs, jumps (almost), swims (with floaties) and can climb out of his crib. and he's almost two! just look at him:

luckily, we've been able to use Skype a couple of times and john recorded some DVDs last cruise of him reading children's stories, so josiah's been able to "see" his daddy a couple of times. i wonder what he'll think when he figures out that his daddy is an actual person and not just a face on the TV/computer.

however it happens, it will be wonderful to have john home. we can hardly wait.

ringing in the new year

ok, well, ringing in the second quarter of the new year...or the second half of the second quarter...i'm no good with fractions.

not that it matters. i've been gone so long that you're probably not even reading anymore.

what to tell!?!? john has been deployed for 4 months now, and we have no idea when it will end. at least it feels that way. actually we have two ideas of when it will end, but both are classified and i don't want to be the one to compromise operational security.

ella is nearing the end of her kindergarten year, still loving school and obsessed with playdates. every time i pick her up, she greets me with a nearly frantic request to have a playdate with brice, or a playdate with blaise, or a playdate with nick...notice a pattern?

she would say that her biggest news is her early birthday present:

not that you can really see them in this picture. what you can see, however, is how pleased she is to have them. they being earrings.

my big news is that i got to go to thailand to visit john...yay!

this made me very happy. i miss my man.

josiah is just happy to be alive. he's enjoying running and adding words to his vocabulary...'no thank you' and 'no like it' are two current favs. as is saying 'mama' over and over whilst plugging his nostrils with his fingers. and he likes to tell jokes. his favorite goes like this:

josiah: knock, knock

unsuspecting mark: who's there?

josiah ...joke over.

john is working hard at putting the multimillion dollar naval aviator training to good use.

and acting to increase international goodwill wherever he goes. like, say, hong kong for instance