BIG Announcement

I have a very BIG, very exciting announcement for you all. I know, I know...you're thinking "Oh my gosh, Mr. Battle Rattle is coming home (early)" since our President was just on television last night talking about the draw down. This is not our big exciting announcement......Mr. Battle Rattle and I are expecting our next little Battle Rattle baby!!!


Baby #2

 I guess this is becoming our new deployment tradition! My poor husband missed all but the last 5 weeks of my first pregnancy and this time he should be home just a few weeks before I'm due. We can add a pregnancy countdown and OB/GYN appointments to my list of things keeping me busy over this deployment! Surprise!!!

Filling the Calendar

For those of you on your first deployment you'll quickly learn that the more scribbled on days in your calendar the faster the deployment will fly by. With our first deployment I filled my days working and hanging out with friends as much as possible. Our second deployment I filled with the task of growing a baby, OB/GYN appointments and of course Young Life. (If you have a middle school or high schooler and haven't heard of YL, look them up ASAP, it's amazing!) Now with this deployment I'm filling my time with our toddler, building my business more and redecorating our house.

  I like to split up our deployments into smaller chunks. For me it makes it seem like the time goes by quicker. For instance, I'm currently counting down to the 4th of July. There are only 11 days to go!!! Then I'll count down to Halloween...and so on and so forth until I have nothing major left between me and our homecoming. Makes it so much better and lets me look forward to something each month...and sometimes each week!



Baby Battle Rattle at the pumpkin patch last year.



 Another thing we're doing is we joined a farm co-op. It's fantastic! We've been out to the farm twice so far this season. The first time was to check things out and pet the animals. Then we went out for the Strawberry Festival. It was such a fantastic day! We got out there in the morning and it was crowded. We headed over to the animals first since my daughter loves them. Then we made our way through the rope maze and the toddler playground. We ate an amazing lunch there (cheeseburgers made from cows on the farm!). If you've never had FRESH beef, it's a must try!!! Then we made our way out to the field to pick some strawberries.



Baby Battle Rattle & I at the toddler playground on the farm.

 It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel at the start. Once you find the things you love to stay busy with the time will go by faster. I hope you are all keeping busy and seeing your countdown shrink quickly as well! 

Luckett's and the End of the World

 It has been a very hectic few weeks in our house! Getting my husband ready for deployment, saying a very tear full goodbye at the very public National Airport, my daughter getting molars in, a trip to visit my parents in Charleston, SC and a drive out to Luckett's for their spring fair. Wheeew, I'm tired just typing it all out. I suppose I should start at the beginning, but since that's what you'd expect lets mix it up and start from the end!

Luckett's is an amazing antique store. It's a mix of classic antiques with a new twist on antiques. It's antiques meets cottage chic meets french country meets awesomeness! They have things your grandmother, mother, sister and daughter would love. My friend Runs (yes, I'm going to use her nickname) and I set out for the annual Luckett's Fair yesterday. We figured that if the world was ending we might as well have one last great adventure on Earth and get some sun while we were at it. In my determination to redecorate the house I thought this would be a fantastic event to find some new treasures for our home. I had the great privilege to meet Marian...you know, Miss Mustard Seed. Her booth was amazing and if you've seen her blog those gorgeous pictures she posts of her creations don't do her work HALF the justice it deserves. She had some stunningly beautiful things. I was so lucky to snag a few of them! I could go on for a very long time about Luckett's and Miss Mustard Seed, but I'll save you and you can check them out for yourselves.

Before Luckett's we were in the good 'ol South visiting Grandma and Grandpa. My little bug had a wonderful time down there. She got to go swimming and run amuck on Grandma and Grandpa's land while I got to spend the day/night in downtown Charleston with an old friend having some girl time. My baby girl has been getting more and more teeth and she is turning into the "puppy" that chews on everything! I don't mind until she decides that my fingers look like good teething rings...OUCH!

The most unfun of all was deployment day. It was a little unconventional from our past send offs as he left in civilian clothes from a regular airport. We were running on time and had planned on the little bug and I going to the gate with my husband to spend a little more time with him and say our goodbyes there. Thanks to traffic...and my husband thinking he knew better than I did (as all married men do) we were late and had to drop him at the curb. Which I was not prepared for. I was trying my best to blink away the tears and pretend they weren't there, which worked until we were tugging his bags and gear out of the car. He got our little girl out of the car to give her a hug and a kiss, at which point I lost it because she started to cry. We stood there on the curb of the airport in a family group hug, tears streaming down my face. At which point I see a couple of people unloading their bags from cars behind us get out their camera and start to take pictures of us. Who does that!?! They didn't know us and they were taking pictures like we were on display at the American History Museum. Note to those of you out there reading this: It's not appropriate to snap shots of strangers, it's stalker-ish. The first day of deployment is always the hardest. You'll get into your routine and then before you know it you'll be getting ready to go to the airport to welcome them home again.

(I'd post our goodbye pictures, but I don't know the strangers who took them...I'm sure they've posted them to Facebook though.)