Fisher's First

Mr. Fisher,
Anyone who has spent time with you at all, would say you're such a good, sweet baby.  You are always happy and easy-going.  You love to snuggle! You constantly make your way on to my lap just to give me a quick squeeze and often rest your head on my shoulder.  You love playing with your big brother Jack.  You are eating and sleeping well, which explains the 24 pounds on your little body.  You love walking around, and trying to keep up with Jack.

We had fun celebrating your birthday last weekend, and you would not put your cupcake down until it was finished. 

Thanks, Emma for the great pictures!

 

A video for the grandmas and grandpas, and aunts and uncles who missed the party:

I can do hard things.

I've been putting this post off for months, and trying to decide how to go about it. So,  here goes:

Harrison will be leaving next month for a deployment to Afghanistan for nine months.
It turns out that sentence is difficult to both say, and type. No wonder I've been avoiding telling people.  There have been rumors about this deployment since we moved here nearly a year ago, but it was made official about 6 months ago.  I kept telling myself, "It's so far away, don't think about it now..." but now that he will be leaving in a matter of weeks, I'm doing my best to be realistic about it.

The Bad (and probably the most obvious)
Nine months is a long time apart.  A very, very long time.
Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be right now, and Harrison is in the Infantry branch of the Army, meaning it is he and his guys who will be on the ground, doing the majority of the fighting and missions in his area. I try not to dwell on that part.
I worry about my boys being away from their dad for so long.  Even if Skype is available, it's obviously not the same as Harrison being here to play and interact with them.
I worry about myself as a single parent.  I feel exhausted just thinking about it.

The Good
My family is two hours away, and Harrison's brother and his wife are 15 minutes away. I am thankful for these blessings everyday.
I have so much to keep me busy while Harrison is gone - the boys, church responsibilities, teaching within Jack's co-op preschool group, and being the Family Readiness Group Leader for Harrison's company (which is looking after the well-being of the 120+ Soldiers' families).
I have a support system here of friends whose husbands will also be deployed - we'll be in this together.
My church community is awesome.  There are so many  members who I know will look out for my little family.
His deployment is only 9 months.  I say that because some of these men have had deployments that have lasted as long as 18 months.


The Great
Harrison has trained for this for a long time.  He is honored to serve, and I am honored to be married to him. This is his profession. When many people hear he is deploying, their response is "I'm sorry..." He definitely is not sorry to be going.  Of course, he doesn't want to leave his family, but he has prepared for this, and is looking forward to fighting for our country.  I'm so proud of him and what he does.  He is so passionate about defending our freedoms, and protecting our blessed nation. We are honored to join the cause in which so many soldiers and families have sacrificed. Realizing that Harrison is not the first who has had to leave his home and serve, we are grateful for those who have gone before to keep this nation safe and free.  

So, it's time to put my big girl pants on.  I can do hard things.  And as Harrison's awesome Battalion Commander said to some of us wives recently, "You are not victims. You are some of the greatest people in the world.  Your husband is leaving and you're going to stay home and kick ... [butt] while he's gone."

I have good days and bad days as we prepare for the months ahead, but for now we're taking advantage of the time we have together.

If I can do it, you can do it.

I'm usually not the "tutorial type" of blogger, but I had to share this one with you. A little shout out to my friend, Pinterest for helping me.  Our guest bed is a bed we inherited from Harrison's grandmother when we got married and I've been wanting to upgrade the headboard.  It was a little time consuming, especially when it came to individually nailing in the trim, but I love the end results!

Original headboard - in great shape, I just wanted to modernize it a bit

I cut foam (I think one inch thick...) to fill in the inside of the already framed headboard and glued it to the wood

 Then I covered the entire headboard with quilting batting and used a staple gun to staple it in the back, then repeated the same step with fabric, making sure it was really tight.

 Then I individually nailed every single nailhead for the trim by hand.  It also comes as attached rows of nailheads that would have been faster, but in my opinion it didn't look quite as nice. For each nailhead, I first took a real nail and hammered it in a bit to "pave the way" for the nailhead trim and I found the trim went in much easier. It took about 250 nails, a rubber mallet, and two nights of Olympics watching, to finish the trim but I love it!

 

Ta-da!!

Dear Time,

Please slow down! I swear it was only yesterday, I became a mom for the first time to a sweet, little, blue-eyed boy. He was a little chunk who could sleep in my arms, and I knew exactly how to make him stop crying. For entertainment, Harrison and I would just watch him sleep and play, and we couldn't get enough of him.

Now, that baby will be four in a few months.  He makes us laugh everyday with his silly voices, funny jokes, and curiosity.  He loves anything to do with a ball, singing, dancing, and superheroes. As of late, he calls Harrison Captain America, I am Fantastic Four (which yes, I realize is four people), and it's only when he is Batman, that Fisher becomes Robin.

Where have the years gone? As much as I love the little boy Mr. Jack is becoming, I'm sad to know he is growing up!

Sincerely,
The Mother of a Preschooler

Smith Week Review

Smith week was spent at a gorgeous cabin near Stevens Pass, WA.

The view from the deck at the cabin!

We went to a cute little German town, Leavenworth

These two were the best of friends! Fisher (10 months) and Boston (13 months)

Walking around Leavenworth, WA

My nephew Jacob, and Dad Smith

We had a picnic at a park

The boys went fishing

 We sat around the campfire

Jack LOVED telling campfire stories

Kalee and Fisher

The whole gang in our sweet "Smith shirts" :)

Kalee, Mom Smith, Grandma Smith, Liz, and me

The grandsons! Fisher (10 months) Jacob (7) Jack (3 1/2) Boston (13 months)

 We played down by the river

It was so great to spend so much time with my Smith family who hasn't all been together (although we missed McKay!) since Christmas 2010! This was the first time Mom and Dad Smith have met Fisher since they are living so far away in the U.A.E. near Dubai. Thanks for a wonderful week! Hoping it won't be another year and a half until we're together again!

Poulson Week Recap

We were lucky enough to spend two weeks of August with our families!

The first week was spent with the Poulson clan in Eagle Crest, OR - outside of Bend.
The resort we stayed at had so much to do!
We spent the week playing tennis, swimming, hiking, white water rafting, playing games, and watching movies.

So much fun!

Harrison, Me, Lindsay, tour guide, James, Dad, Emma, JW

Jack with Lindsay (and my soon to be niece or nephew!) and JW

Emma, James, and Mom

  

Mom and Dad Smith, Kalee, and Boston had come into town a couple days before we got home, and were staying at our house so we all met up at a park halfway between my parents house in Vancouver, and our house in Lacey.  Harrison's parents and my parents were friends before we even met (in fact, that's how we met!) so we couldn't pass up a chance to get everyone together!

Mom Smith, Fisher, and Kalee

Dad Smith, Fisher, and Dad Poulson

My sweet little nephew, Boston

 

Fisher is 3 months younger than Boston, but that didn't make him shy!

 

My sweet grandmother

We had such a blast during "Poulson week"! We miss Linds and JW so much - since we only get to see them once or twice a year. Thanks mom and dad for the awesome week!