Look back at 2014

This year was a pretty crazy and quickly passing year. Elise and I began the year in Oklahoma celebrating her first birthday. Josh began his in Afghanistan, where he spent the previous three months. Where he stayed for another 2.5 months. Celebrating Elise's firsts apart like that was pretty traumatic for us both. Even this years separation doesn't feel as awful.  But we made do, and did our best to put on happy faces for Elise and our families. 

Shortly after Elise's birthday in January, we moved to my in laws house for awhile in February before moving home to Abilene. We celebrated Valentine's Day there and got to spend time outdoors in Sulphur. 

 Once we moved home, we had a short amount of time to host guests visiting, get the house in order and get Elise over RSV before my husband came home. 

Then came the day we waited 6.5 months for....

Probably only a couple days in our history as a couple that could top or equal that moment. We had family come visit us after he came home and it was so nice to have them come to see us! The traveling from Abilene really wears on me after awhile! 

Throwing a little party for Josh's homecomings has become a bit of a tradition in our family! This years was a blast and I was so glad my entire family got to come down for it. 

Josh's parents couldn't make it for the party, but they came down for Easter weekend and we had such a great time with them. 

After the excitement died down a bit, we decided to go to Oklahoma and make a little vacation out of it. We even bought me a new car!!!! Great way to spend Mother's Day! 

 

All the girls in my family got together for wine and painting, so much fun! Hoping to make it a regular thing. 

Lunch with Big Nana! 

Me and my new LIFE CHANGING mommy mobile! 

Josh and I also were able to sneak away for our first night alone since Elise's birth. We curled up for 24 hours in the bed and breakfast where we spent our wedding night. Exactly 6 years later. I don't have pictures to post for it because we chose to make it something for us, between us, and not to share with the World Wide Web. But it was much needed and we love every second. But we sure were glad to get back to Elise the next day! 

Shortly after our trip home, we began to gear up for a trip to stay in Alabama for the summer. We loved it. Josh had way more time off than normal and we traveled to a new place every weekend we could. Florida twice and then Atlanta! It was a busy summer but we wouldn't trade that time together for the world. Looking back, if we hadn't gone together, we would've regretted it since Josh wound up deploying again in the fall. 

After our mini vacation in the south, we finally headed back home. Trying to grasp the fact we were about to be separated again for who knows how long. The details hadn't been revealed to us yet...

But life had one more surprise in store for us before we tackled another deployment....

After five months of trying, and about ready to give up, I became pregnant! We were so thrilled to have our family expand from three to four. 

At this point, we had gotten more details on Josh's deployment. We knew he would be gone four months and through another year of holidays and Elise's birthday. I know my husband wasn't thrilled. I was crushed. So angry and bitter. And hormonal. I still feel cheated with this deployment but there's no point in wasting energy being upset. We made the absolute best we could with the time we had left together. 

This was our last picture together. We spent the evening laying on a pallet on our floor eating pizza and watching a movie together. It was one of the best nights of my life. 

After Josh deployed, I did my best to keep a normal routine with Elise and for myself. Unfortunately, I became very sick from the pregnancy. It really hindered my ability to keep the status quo the way I wanted to. I just tried to do my best every day. It was just me and Elise in Texas until we went home for Thanksgiving and made our big announcement about our new family member! 

The day after I got home from Thanksgiving, I recieved a very important phone call. One that revealed a pretty important piece of our family's puzzle. Blood test results confirming we were having a girl!! We had been discussing names for awhile and soon as I heard she was a girl, I knew the name my husband and I had talked about was the one: Lena Rose McVay. 

Three weeks later, we came to Oklahoma again to end the year and celebrate Christmas with family

We started 2014 apart and ended it the same way. Never in a million years did I think it was even a possibility. But we are pushing through. And hoping the end of this deployment is coming very soon. 

We are instead looking ahead to 2015. The year we welcome sweet Lena into our family, and the year we say goodbye to our home in Abilene and Hello to a new home in Enid, Ok. We couldn't be more excited for the year ahead. We will FINALLY get our first Christmas together and Josh will be home to experience all the firsts he sadly missed with Elise. Despite all the bad cards we got dealt with the deployment, we are so thankful for the good ones we were dealt in health, receiving Lena, and our top choice in next assignments. 

We are ready for you, 2015!!!!