Time Goes By

So slowly. I had a post I was working on last week, on Thursday, a week from Evan's departure. But I've had a hard time actually getting anything done on blogging. I've been feeling a bit down lately. I'm fine during the day, but nights are stressful and lonely. The kids and I are all missing Daddy and stressed out by the end of the day. I'm not sure why him being gone now is so much harder than when he was in GA- maybe because it's a different situation and dangerous, maybe because he's halfway around the world, I don't know.
Things aren't moving as quickly as we'd hoped on the adoption front. Our home study is certified, but we have an extra step because our home study agency isn't Hague, so our home study has to be sent to our adoption agency, who is Hague accredited. It seems like we lost a week trying to find out what needed to be done, which, in the scheme of things, a week is not that big of a deal, but right now it has me down.
The kids have been doing well. Aiden talks about going to kindergarten a lot. Sometimes he gets sad when he realizes he will be leaving his school friends behind, because none of them will be going to his new school. He has one little school friend he is particularly fond of and he says he is going to marry her when they are both adults. :) He's pretty cute. I'm a little worried about him going to kindergarten... He is so darn smart, way ahead of kindergarten intellectually, but socially he is a bit immature. My mom tells me my teacher wanted to hold me back in kindergarten for being immature. I think I turned out okay. Lol.
Elijah is doing great with his speech. He is a bit emotional lately, not sure if that is developmentally appropriate stuff he is going through or dealing with Daddy being gone or a combination of things or because the moon is waning (or waxing, I don't keep up on the moon phases). Yesterday he told me he wanted water without any prompting, which is huge. I almost cried. This morning on the way to school he was singing, "I love circle time," which I'm not sure where he learned it, but it was cute all the same! And when I picked him up from school, he came walking out with the other kids, holding onto one of the handles on the rope. Usually someone is herding him and trying to hold his hand because he wants nothing to do with leaving or walking in a line. I often have people tell me he doesn't seem autistic- which I credit to the combination of meds he takes. I couldn't find his syringe this weekend and he missed I think 3 doses of his Risperdal and boy, we are still feeling the repercussions. All day yesterday and today, he would scream if Aiden even looked at him. He shoved Kieran over backwards when he got too close to him. I felt so bad that he missed his meds, I will be asking for another syringe next time we get a refill. I never did find his current syringe, but I found an old one that is usable and I can just make out the lines on it. Whew.
Kieran is doing cute things that babies his age do as well as causing general mayhem while enjoying every minute of it. I'm such a sucker for those big baby blues and that dimpled smile, how could I ever be upset with him, even when he gets excited and punches me in the face? Lol! He is always on the go and if I'm holding him, he is usually bouncy and jumpy, swinging his fists happily, grabbing my hair and glasses, etc. He is starting to stand on his own, but if he realizes he isn't holding on to anything he immediately drops to his bottom. He will crawl to me and lift his hands, stand up holding onto my hands, then stand on his tippy toes and lift his hands to be picked up. It's the cutest thing and sometimes I can't help but hold my hand just out of his reach just to see him do it a second longer, then scoop him up and kiss his belly. He loves being kissed on his belly and under his chin. Of course I am happy to oblige. He is just the cutest and boy, I don't know what we ever did without him. I'm so glad that God foiled our vasectomy plans. ;)
Evan is doing okay. I don't really know what else to say, it seems we have been taking turns feeling down and trying to cheer each other up. Where he is now is pretty dismal. It's a lot like basic training- in a big room with a half million other guys, only their room is a huge tent. No private bathrooms or showers. The internet is slow and spotty. The base is overcrowded and the food at the DFAC isn't great. They were out of ketchup for over a week, which I'm sure caused Evan to go into withdrawal. I offered to send him some, but as he is living in a tent, he has no fridge. Eventually he will go to another place where he will be for the majority of the deployment, but he doesn't know if the facilities will be any better.
It really upsets me. I mean, these guys are risking their lives for OUR freedom, and our government can't even provide them with decent living conditions? It's not like we JUST set up in Afghanistan- why don't our guys have barracks with rooms and bathrooms? The posts he was at in Iraq were newer and they had barracks. Evan even had his own room for about half the time he was out there- and you don't really appreciate how much you value having a bit of privacy until you have NONE. Iraq wasn't a picnic by any means, but it was sure a lot more comfortable than Afghanistan has been so far. I could probably go on about that for awhile, so I'd better step down from my soap box. It makes me feel bad that I am so comfortable while our troops are not. And now I really will be quiet, it is past my bed time and Elijah has school in the morning!