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.