6 Months

Bud has been gone for 6 months. That means 6 months worth of meals, bed times, diapers, dog walks, doctors appts, illnesses, lawn mows, garbage days and cleaning that I have done by myself. (Except of course for when I was home over the holidays, and while my parents were here.) I'm tired.

6 months ago, Claire wasn't even 1. She was starting to really master walking, but was still a little unsteady at times. She wasn't really saying much. She was taking two naps a day. She was pretty quiet, extremely well behaved (pretty much) all the time, and just overall very easy going. She had just a few teeth, and barely enough hair to put in tiny little big tails.

Now, Claire is almost 1.5 years old (say WHAT?!?!). She is walking, running, trying to jump, climbing on furniture, trying to climb in and out of the bath tub and has completely mastered her slide. She has a decent voccabulary that is growing almost daily; her favorite words are mama, papa, ada (daddy), lacey, please, thank you, all done, uh huh and fish. She knows where her nose, teeth and hair are. She fights taking one nap most days. She is LOUD, opinionated, extremely sassy, and so incredibly funny. She has 10 teeth, and enough hair to just pull right back in a pony tail.

Bud has no idea what he is coming home to. We were able to video chat for a while today, which was WONDERFUL. Claire was being her normal self, and threw a fit at one point. He laughed hysterically. Except for the minute long videos I send him multiple times a week, this was really the first time he has seen this new side of our little girl.

I can not wait to watch his reaction to her as he soaks her in. She is a completely different kid than when he left. She is SO much like him it is unbelievable to me. She hasn't spent anytime with him in 6 months, yet multiple times a day, I can't help but giggle because she does things, says things, give me looks that are EXACTLY her daddy. We are in for quite the adventure with this little lady. :)

The countdowwn is on. I have been a complete space case the past few days, because all I can seem to think about is how close I am to having him home. SO close to waking up and seeing his face, to listening for his motorcycle at the end of the day, to laughing til my cheeks hurt, to NOT taking out the garbage anymore. :) SO CLOSE to having my favorite people in the world in one house, being a complete family again. I'm so excited.