Our first flyover...

Wednesday night Jordan had his last flight before he deploys and he chose to make a lot of kickball players happy and do a flyover for our team :)

We all met at the Gardner Airport (not to be confused w/New Century, because it was) and went out to the flight line and, wow! It was so amazing. This is the first time I had seen Jordan fly the Apache. It was Abigail's first time seeing Jordan fly, too (probably obvious).

One of our friends took a video and it's on facebook. My video isn't very good, but here it is!

Coming in...

Watching Daddy hover

Very cool family photo

Jordan flying in

So sexy!

Happy First Birthday Mason!!

Saturday morning Jordan and I headed to Jefferson City for the "Yellow Ribbon Ceremony". It is a "class" for deploying soldiers and their families before the soldier deploys. On our way we dropped Abigail off in Columbia with her aunt Rhiannon. Jordan and I continued on to Jeff City and Abby and Renie went to Mercer for Mason's first birthday.

Jordan and I sat through a looonng day of briefs, some helpful and some not-so-much while Abigail got to have fun with her grandparents, aunts and cousin. We got to Mason's birthday party right after he played in his cake. Abigail loved swinging at the park (where his party was) and we had a great evening with the family. We stayed Sunday until late afternoon (we were sooo tired of driving!) and then proceeded to drive home.

We made it to Blue Valley Parks and Rec just in time for the kickball game. Jordan played a couple of innings and Abigail and I watched. We had a great weekend (which seems to be the trend lately).

Messy, Messy Mason

She loved swinging!!

Mason and Uncle Jordan

Mischief Managed!

(Jordan and I saw the Harry Potter movie last Thursday!)

(Scroll down for the Colorado post ~ past the 9mo picture post)

Preview...

Sunday after we got back from our trip to CO (blog post to come, promise!) we had Abigail's 9 month pictures taken. Tonya Vernon of V Photography took them (she did Abby's 6 month, too) and did a fantastic job!! We had a couple of family pictures taken, also, since Jordan is leaving and those are great also. Go here to get a sneak peak.

We always try to time our long drives so that Abigail will nap. Well, Sunday she didn't want to nap and she didn't. I think she slept a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes, maybe. Needless to say she was getting fussy by the end of her photo shoot, but she did very well and already it's hard for me to decide which one's we'll order (one of each, please!).

A note on the diaper picture: it is a tradition on my dad's side of the family to have a picture taken at 9 months in a diaper. For those of you who are parents of kids under 5, you probably know it is nearly impossible to find a plain white diaper! Every diaper brand has some sort of design on it, so we pinned a cloth diaper over her disposable. Hopefully it doesn't look too bad ~ I know the picture she previewed is my favorite so far. BUT the one for the family thing is more portrait-like, so hopefully it looks good in that one, too!!

COLORADO

With Jordan leaving in just a few short days we decided to take a little vacation. We really hadn't decided exactly where we were going, but we set out late Tuesday night for Nebraska. Once we got there we decided that Estes Park was only 8ish hours from my mom and dad's so we made that our destination! Here is the brief story of our trip!


We set out Wednesday morning and stopped in Kearney, NE on the way. We bought a GPS (gave me a little peace of mind) and ate at Valentino's. I LOVE Val's and since it's a Nebraska thing, I never get to eat there.

The Gateway to the West (or something like that) in Kearney

That was just the beginning of a fantastic day! When we were nearly to Sidney I realized that a good friend (AnnMarie) lived in Fort Collins, or at least I thought she did, and before we bought the GPS I was looking at the map and Ft. Collins was very near Estes Park. SO ~ I texted her and as it turns out, she does live there! We stopped by her house (thank you GPS!) and went to dinner with her, and stayed at her place Wednesday night.


We woke up "bright and early" and went to breakfast, then white water rafting. AnnMarie went with us and, wow, we had fun!! After rafting we made the drive to Estes Park, and what a drive it was! Very windy, hilly roads and I was really glad Jordan was driving! We stayed at the historic Stanley Hotel that night in the Manor House. Our room was beautiful and the view was amazing. The Stanley Hotel has great history, in case you don't recognize it, it's the hotel that Stephen King based the Shining off of. It was used for the mini series, but not the movie and it's said to be one of the most haunted hotels in the US.

~~ Side story about how we came to stay at the Stanley... We called Thursday morning and the reservations desk told Jordan they were booked. So, we decided to "settle" on a Bed and Breakfast in Estes Park, instead. While we were rafting the reservations desk called my cell phone and said they had an opening. After rafting I called the Stanley back and they told me they had a King room available for $269, but they would reduce the rate to $249, or the Presidential suite, at just $949, or a couple of condos, at $450. I told the lady I would need to call and see about cancelling our other room. Jordan called the B&B and was told that there would be a $50 charge, and if they couldn't re-book the room they would charge us the entire cost of the room ($190). Jordan asked them to call us by 7 and let us know if they could re-book it, and told them our story (that he's deploying, etc). (in case you don't realize this, there is no cell phone reception in the middle of the mountains) At dinner the B&B called us back and said that we didn't need to worry about the room. Jordan isn't sure if they really re-booked it, or if they just felt bad for us. SO now we call the Stanley back and, of course, their reservations desk is closed and the man who answers the phone tells us that they are completely booked. lovely! We had been told that we need to walk through the hotel, no matter what, so we headed up there. (did I mention this is a long story?) Jordan stands in line at the reservations desk and tells them he has a "reservation for Jordan Clark". Well, apparently they lost our reservation (surprised? hehe) "let me see what I can do". After some checking (we had a King room) they gave us a condo for "the same price as the room we had reserved". It was beautiful! Hot tub outside (for just our condo!) a jetted tub and a steam shower, not to mention a washer and dryer. My shoes were soaked from our rafting trip, so I threw them in the dryer and we headed out to Rocky Mt. Natl. Park. It was beautiful and we enjoyed driving around a little bit (it was getting dark). We then parked down town and walked around. The downtown area is so pretty and there is a "babbling brook" (as my mom put it), which is really a raging brook, that runs through and all kinds of cute little shops. Okay, a lot of them were t-shirt or candy shops. We got ice cream and long sleeved T's, it gets cold in the mountains at night! Anyways, we headed back to our room about 11 and decided to call the front desk. We really wanted to stay in the main hotel, it has history and a story! and, we were really staying there because of what it was, the history and story, not just because it was beautiful and 100 years old! Well, they had a Manor Queen available. The Manor House was built the year the main "house" opened and is a miniature version of the main house. So, we moved rooms. When all was said and done we spent a lot less than we would have on the B&B and got a great experience out of it! (Okay, that was a long story, sorry!)

At the rafting place ~ I made one of the paddles move (oops!)

AnnMarie and I after :)


Our drive to Estes Park

Taking a picture of myself

Us in Estes Park ~ BEAUTIFUL

The Stanley

Jordan and I in Rocky Mt. Natl. Pk

This is my favorite picture from our trip!

Beautiful waterfall

The view from our hotel room

Friday morning we woke up and headed out to Rocky Mountain National Park again. We drove trail ridge road, which leads you UP! It was beautiful at the top and we took a hike to the highest point (I think anyways). It was so pretty. On our way to the top we saw three elk on the road. Some older ladies were trying to feed them bananas. Crazy, if you ask me, but whatever. We had a great drive and saw a ton of elk on the way down. After our drive we headed back to Nebraska. We stopped at Ole's Big Game Bar on our way home. It wasn't quite like I remembered it, but the food was pretty good and it was a fun experience. We got home late Friday night and by this time I was missing my baby bad!! We went into "her room" and held her, laid her back down and she was out again in seconds.

All in all we had a fantastic trip and I'm so grateful we were able to take this trip.

A pretty mountain flower

Us at the top!

BEAUTIFUL!!

I wish...

So I've been thinking about this lately and decided to finally blog about it. For those of you who don't already know Jordan is deploying to Afghanistan... he mobilizes August 3rd, so in two weeks. I have known for a long time that at some point this year he would likely be going somewhere. First it was Kuwait, then Iraq and now Afghanistan. He is going to be on an Agricultural development team helping teach the Afghan people how to sustain agriculture.

Onto the title of my post... a few years ago a "friend" stated that Jordan "just plays Army" and said that he isn't "really in the Military". At the time I took it in stride and just kept my mouth shut, and to be honest, I'd kinda forgotten about it until recently... Now all I can say or do is wish that she was right! I know that some people are a bit ignorant when it comes to the National Guard and don't understand the commitment that it seriously is, or the reality of the fact that those men and women are soldiers and can still be deployed. Or the fact that my husband, as a National Guard pilot, flies more hours every year than an active duty pilot (seriously).

What frustrates me the most about her statement is not that she, and other people, do not understand. It's that my daughter is going to miss out on having her father here for the next year, and more than that, that Jordan is going to miss out on the next year of her life. Yes, we will be in touch through email and Skype, but it isn't the same as him being here. Yes, he can read her a bed time story, but he won't be able to give her a good night kiss and tuck her into bed. Yes, he'll be able to tell her he loves her and hear her say it back, but he won't be able to catch her when she falls or feed her dinner. There are so many things that they're both going to miss out on over the next 13 1/2 months and no one but Abigail, Jordan and I will truly understand. Yes, there are military family support groups and I'm sooo lucky to have so many amazing friends (one of which has been there more than once!!) and my family is the greatest, but it won't be the same as having him here...

My baby girl is 9 months old...

I can't believe that Abigail is 9 months old already! The time has seriously flown by and looking back on these pictures it is really bitter sweet to me. She has changed so much and has grown into a beautiful, active, fun little girl, but she is no longer my sweet baby girl who will cuddle on the couch and take a nap on my chest.

We had her 9 month doctor's appointment this evening and she is growing!! Wow! She now weighs 20lbs 12.8 oz and is 28 3/4 in long! That puts her in the 80% for weight and 85% for height. The good news is that she's in a higher percentile for her length than she is for weight :) We get to start introducing cow's milk (whole milk, which makes Jordan very happy) and she is supposed to start eating more table food.

Here are the pictures... they start with the most recent and go back in time...

Abigail crawling up the stairs!

The bump on her head

Cutie pie!

Such a sweet smile!

Dada and Abigail

Holding her head up!

So tiny!

My newborn baby girl

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a fantastic weekend. It was filled with great food, friends and swimming :) Abigail went swimming in a "big" pool for the first time. One of my friends has a pool in her back yard, and they had people over for the fourth. We grilled out and Abigail went swimming! It was a lot of fun. She wasn't quite sure what to think at first, but she quickly adjusted and ended up splashing and really enjoying herself.

Daddy and Abby in the boat

Abigail and Mommy

Like mother, like daughter!
(thanks for the splash, dad)

Abigail and Amanda

So this picture is kinda random... I bought this hibiscus tree a month or two ago, for only $20 at Sams club. For a long time it had little blossoms, but no flowers. Then it started flowering, but only one at a time. Well, Friday morning I look outside and ~ BEAUTIFUL!!