March 18 - March 24, 2012

Sunday, March 18th Olivia & I went to church for the first time. Olivia got all dressed up in a pretty floral corduroy jumper from Mimi and ballet slippers. It was a lovely sunny day - a perfect spring morning. Olivia enjoyed listening to the choir rehearse and meeting all the wonderful members. What a good baby! She spent the whole service examining the shining gold printing on the cover of the hymnal. After the service she got to meet the rest of the church at coffee hour. It was a very special morning for us. Olivia spent the rest of the day at home and I went and visited Grandpa at the hospital for a while. In the evening, Aunty Kari read us some fun stories - including an Aunty-annotated version of The Three Bears. It was very funny.

Monday, March 19th Olivia & I get an early start. We grabbed a sandwich from the Mobil station and went to Kohl's to check out their selection of baby things. While we did not get anything for Olivia, we did find some things for a friend of a friend who is having a baby & has nothing. She is having a little boy, and while we have a few gender neutral things to pass along once, Olivia thought he would like some new clothes too. We were also on the hunt for red or blue tights for Sarah. No luck. Our next stop was the post office, to send some boxes up to Alaska, but as I was getting out of the car the phone fell in the parking lot and the face shattered. I was so distraught. So much of my world involves using the phone to stay connected to my Connecticut family, to Adam, to take photos of Olivia. I couldn't imagine being without it (or one). So I scrapped the post office and went right over to the AT&T store to get a new iPhone. Guess Adam isn't the only one getting a new phone for the redeployment! The clerk at the store was a dolt and offered me some sage advice - while I'm visibly distressed and Olivia is crying - "Well, next time try not to drop it on the front." I stared at her in silence. I couldn't decide where to begin my response to such a ridiculous comment. After that I changed Olivia's diaper in the parking lot & nursed her. We were going to meet Brigid at Starbucks but she had to delay, which was a good thing because both Olivia & I were having mini meltdowns. We went home and napped it off. We did get to see Brigid at Starbucks in the afternoon, which was very nice. Like all the visits, it seemed too short. But that's a reflection on the good company. It was very close to the time we had to pick up Mimi at school so we went right over to JPS. After school, Kari joined us for a late lunch/early dinner at Friendly's. We spent the rest of the evening at home.

 Tuesday, March 20th We spent the morning getting the rest of our things together, this is the latest I'd ever waited to pack for a trip! Then it was off to the airport to begin the long journey home. I checked more things on this return trip. I decided that I didn't need all the things I had brought as carry-ons 'in case' on the way to Connecticut. Even so, it was still a little unwieldy trying to manage Olivia, the diaper bag, the stroller, and the Boppy on the way to the security screening. In Fairbanks, Veronica had been able to walk right up to the screening with me - it's such a small airport. Here, I was going to have to manage the line alone...and what a line it was. Just as I had finally strapped everything to me and put Olivia in the stroller, the first line attendant sent me through the VIP line. Thank goodness for my military id! We zipped through the security area. Well, maybe not zipped, but it could have been a lot worse! We had gotten to the airport quicker than expected, so Olivia & I had a couple hours to wait at the gate. But that was okay, better early than rushing! Although the attendant who had checked us in had moved us to an empty row, the flight accepted so many standy-by passengers that it was completely jammed. I ended up sitting with a nice Canadian family. They were good company. Olivia was awake for the whole flight, but was pleasant and I kept her entertained. On the way off the plane everyone stopped at our row to say what a good baby she was. In Seattle, she realized how tired she was. I tried to get something to eat, but Olivia was so distraught/overtired that I was unable to eat it. She screamed so loudly that I felt sorry for the other passengers at our gate. I finally got her to sleep and she ended up sleeping for the whole flight. This one was completely full, too. It was so crowded that it was all I could do to keep from jumping out of my skin, but at least Olivia was sleeping. Veronica was waiting to get us at the airport. It was nice to be home, but boy were we tired! The house was lovely - quiet & clean. I'm so glad I did all that work before we left and so grateful for Ashley next door and Morgan who took care of the pets.

Wednesday, March 21st Olivia & I hit the ground running. We slept until our normal wake-up time, around 8:00 but then we had lots of chores to do! Lots of preparations! There were many packages waiting for us here, too. Presents from Sheryl, two big boxes of clothes from Robyn - we are so lucky to have such wonderful friends. Even though we slept for about eight hours, Olivia was still kind of cranky after our journey - I don't blame her one bit! - so we stayed close to home. We dropped off the baby things for the 'friend of a friend'. Then we met Jessica & Sarah at the Commissary. Since the cupboard was bare, we had a lot of groceries to buy! While the bagger helped me out to the car, Jessica & Sarah & Olivia went to get in line at Subway. We ate dinner in the food court and then went home.

Thursday, March 22nd Today was a day of cleaning and errands around town. We wanted everything to be perfect for Nana's arrival tomorrow night.

Olivia looking at the little birds who visit our bird-feeder.

Friday, March 23rd Another early start today. Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! Soaking beans for soup. Making sure that Bertram looks his best. We talked to Nana as she was on her way to the airport, it was very exciting! And then we got some disappointing news. Adam was scheduled to return within the next few days, but something happened and flights were delayed. It turned out that Adam would not be here at all for his mother's visit. I knew she would be very disappointed, too. I resolved that Olivia & I would try to make this a fantastic visit - full of fun Alaskan adventures. I also knew that a friend, Christina, was coming in to town on the same flight as Cathy. She was also expecting to meet her husband here. We chatted and I invited her to join us on our day trips, etc. Hopefully she will join us. I also contacted Adam's section sergeant, Komarek, and he said he would come over and regale Cathy with stories of Adam's war-time follies. Komarek also volunteered to come over and watch Olivia while I did some chores. That was very nice. At about 9pm, I woke Olivia up and we headed over to the airport. Nana's flight was on time and we were so glad to have her here, safe & sound. We took her home and put her right to bed.

Saturday, March 24th Once Nana was up, we had a little breakfast and talked to Adam on the phone. After we were all dressed, we took her on a tour of Fort Wainwright. Then we went on some errands around town, so she could see Fairbanks. We stopped at Wal-Mart, Blueberry Baby and Value Village. We had a nice lunch at Brewster's and spent the rest of the evening at home.