Gotta love a man in uniform! :)

In case you have been in a state of disbelief that Casey joined the army, I now have proof:

Doesn't he look great?? They apparently had a good amount of personal time today, so he got to call for 32 minutes (yes, every minute counts!) and I asked him to send a picture from his phone. They have been doing a lot of paperwork, getting shots (immunizations, tetanus, etc.), being issued their uniform.... they've been busy. :) He is doing well and says he is enjoying it so far. He said he has already sent a letter, but won't have an address until they "cross the tracks" to Basic Combat Training (BCT) next week. As of right now, they are scheduled to cross on Wednesday. I'm not sure when I'll hear from him again, so I'll be checking the mail box every 5 minutes between now and his next call. :)

Moment to remember

I do not want to forget this, so suffer through with me while I jot this memory down...

We made a video of Casey reading books with Abby before he left so she could watch it while he is gone. Yesterday, Abby and I watched the video for the first time, and we looked through each book as Daddy read it. As we were reading her Bible, she started grabbing at my hand and saying, "Pay? Pay?" over and over again. I couldn't figure out what in the world she was doing, and then I saw her do it to Casey on the video, too. I finally figured out that she was trying to hold my hand and was saying, "Pray?" How sweet is that?! Sometimes when we read her Bible stories at night, we say a prayer when we are done. I guess that is an automatic association for her now, and I love that! So we did stop and pray to thank God for our family and ask that He keep Daddy safe. I didn't cry then, but I'm tearing up a little now as I type it out...

I am very, very proud of my husband and what he is doing for his family and country. I got to talk with him for about 3 minutes tonight--just long enough to hear that he is ok, things are going well, he will write me a letter soon with more details, and all of his hair is gone. :) I think it will be sometime next week before I get his address, but I'll be sure to email it to friends and family when I get it. Thanks to all for the continued prayers and words of encouragement!

And so it begins

Casey is now at the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) hotel and will leave for Oklahoma (hopefully!) tomorrow. He might be able to keep his cell phone with him for the next couple of days while he goes through reception, but then we'll just have to take it a day at a time. I did cry a little when we dropped him off, but I'm doing pretty well so far. Then again... it's only been 3 hours. :) I'm not too worried.

Is it Christmas yet??

In other news, this is what I found when I got off the phone yesterday:

Isn't she lovely?? Yes, she thought so, too. :)

Lord's Prayer for the Military Wife

We are one week from Casey's departure to Basic Training. Several of the guys from church took him camping this past Friday night, and they gave him the "Soldier's Bible" to take with him. It has a lot of neat stuff in addition to the Scriptures for soldiers to read when they are studying the Bible. I found this in the back, and I love it.

Lord’s Prayer for the Military Wife (Author Unknown)

Lord, grant me the greatness of heart to see

The difference in duty and his love for me.

Give me the understanding to know

That when duty calls he must go.

Give me a task to do each day

To fill the time when he is away,

And Lord, when duty is in the field,

Please protect him and be his shield.

Army Strong by the grace of God

Happy Halloween!

Abby has been sick most of this week so we didn't go to Harding's Trunk-or-Treat tonight, but we did get some pictures of her in her costume. We did manage to get out of the house for a while this morning to visit the petting zoo at Harding. She was great while we were out (for the first time all week!), but I think she was pretty worn out after a full morning. Here are a few pictures from today. I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

Petting the pony with Nana

Cuddling with a bunny and Aunt Tara

Pony ride with Daddy!

Mommy and the Fairy Princess

Monthly review

We've been a little busy this past month. Sorry. :) Here is what you should know:

• I am doing entirely too much this semester. Grad school is ridiculous, and I'm not really sure when I will graduate with this degree. It will happen.... one of these days.
• Casey leaves for Basic in 4 weeks--we are within the 30 day countdown. There is way too much that we need to do before he goes!
• There are still a few boxes that need to be unpacked, but this apartment is becoming "home." Whenever I get frustrated that we don't have a yard for Abby to run around in, I remind myself that this also means there is not a yard that I have to mow. Frequent trips to the park: check.
• I sold several sets of coasters at an event in Memphis this past weekend. Not quite as many as we had hoped, but it was definitely worth the trip. I would not be sad if I never made another coaster in my life.
• I don't know the exact number, but Abby has about 50 words now. This number will be obsolete as soon as you read it because she seems to say a new word (or 5) every day! Current obsessions include Mickey Mouse and (heaven help us) Elmo. She loves to play outside and to swing. She is definitely a girly girl, though. Anything that you can put things into is a purse, and if it fits on the wrist, it's a bracelet. She is getting much more coordinated with a fork and spoon, and she can name the letter 'A'. Every day is a new adventure.... for both of us. :)

I would like to get some decent family pictures made before Casey leaves. In the meantime, we'll all just have to settle for this:

Movin' and Groovin'

We are in the apartment, the house is SOLD, and I am exhausted! I really do plan on putting updated pictures up... just as soon as I can find the camera. :) It was down to the wire, but we did manage to get everything out of the house before closing today. We are so blessed to have the friends and church family here who are always eager to help out. We couldn't have done this without them! A ton of our stuff is now sitting in a storage unit, and there are piles all over the apartment just waiting to be sorted. I have a feeling we will be making more trips to deposit "junk" in the storage unit before this is all said and done. The goal is to have it all sorted and settled before Casey leaves in November!

I don't have a single recent picture to share, but I do have this quick video of Abby and her friend, Claira, dancing to the "Hot Dog" song on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Heaven help us--we have discovered cable TV.