2,185 miles!

It seems like I agonized about this road trip for months. I've heard a lot of parents say that their children absolutely loved being in the carseat. Hank has never really enjoyed the carseat that much. I always blamed it on the fact that we had to drive so far to get anywhere out in California. I spent many car trips riding in the back seat with him. So I felt incredibly guilty every time I thought about him having to be in the carseat for over 2,000 miles. Thankfully, my mom was able to take time off from work and make the trip with us. Turns out, I worry too much. Hank was such a trooper. Of course, he got very tired of the carseat (What baby wouldn't?!), but he napped a lot, and we were able to make it to Indiana in 3 days including a stop at Fort Leonardwood in Missouri to visit some friends.

Hanging out in the hotel after a long day of driving.

One of many naps taken on the trip.

Aunt Becky met us for a pit-stop in Terre Haute - I think she wanted bragging rights as one of the first to meet Hank :)

So long, farewell....

My last blog entry took place on August 8th, and my mom flew out to California on August 9th. Hank and I picked her up at the airport in Ontario (California, not Canada) which is about 2 hours from Fort Irwin. We spent the next few days getting everything that we had left organized and packed into the truck and van. We actually still had a fair amount of stuff left because we weren't sure how quickly we would get a house at Fort Polk - and it's hard to travel light with a 3 month old! We said goodbye to Fort Irwin on August 12th and began the long trip to Indiana, where we would spend a few weeks visiting family.

This coyote sits by the security gate at the entrance to post. They say that if you don't kiss the coyote before you leave Fort Irwin, then you will get orders to come back to Fort Irwin at some point. Now I actually liked Fort Irwin, but I kissed the coyote because there are plenty of other places that I would rather go.

This is the rock pile. Every unit that comes to train at Fort Irwin can paint a rock here before they leave.

This is when I first got to Fort Irwin back in September 2009. We weren't even married yet!

A lot has changed since then :)

Fort Irwin is notoriously known as one of the worst places to get stationed at if you're in the Army. There is a shirt they sell at Fort Irwin that says something along the lines of "The best view of Fort Irwin is in my rearview mirror." This is what Fort Irwin looked like in my rearview mirror on the day we left. I was a little bummed because usually the sky is clear and you can see all the buildings on post better and the mountains/hills in the background. All in all I really enjoyed our time at Fort Irwin, but on to new adventures!

It's almost time to say goodbye to Fort Irwin...

I can't say that I was ever super excited about moving to Louisiana. To be honest, I feel like I've been constantly moving since I started undergrad at Hanover in 2002 - moving in and out of the dorms and sorority house, spending a summer in Louisville, moving down to Lexington for PT school where I lived in 2 different apartments during my 3 years there, moving out to the apartment in Barstow, and then moving on post after we got married. I loved our house at Fort Irwin - for Army housing, it was "the bomb." I loved my job even though I had to drive 40 miles there and back every day. And I had learned to like the desert - it's really easy to pick up the dog poop when it's sitting on rocks in the back yard :) But when I married Bill, I also married the Army so I knew that we would eventually have to move whether I was ready or not. My last day of work at the nursing home in Barstow was August 4th. Hank's last day at the Fort Irwin daycare was August 8th. This was also the day that the movers loaded up almost all of our belongings onto a huge moving truck. I can't really say why, but I had a hard time watching them carry all of our stuff out of the house. It didn't help that the moving truck driver described Hank's crib has "used" and "scratched" on the inventory sheet - you tell me how "used" a brand new crib can look after a newborn has slept in it for 2 months! But I survived the movers, and Bill and I picked Hank up from his last day of daycare together. Of course, I was teary-eyed while picking him up - I can't believe how emotional I was during all of this - it seems so silly now!!

Since we didn't have much left at the house, we decided to take a small hike in the desert and snap a few pictures.

This is part of our 40 mile drive on Fort Irwin Road taking us from Barstow to Fort Irwin. It looks like this for the entire 40 miles - absolutely nothing but desert!

Welcome to Fort Irwin!!

Such a big guy!!

Let's finish out July....

Here are some pictures that should finish off the month of July...

2 months!!

Hank had his 2 month well-baby appointment on July 22nd. He weighed in at 14 lb 5 oz (86th percentile) and 25.25 inches (97th percentile). He got shots that day and took them like a champ.

July 4th - on Fort Irwin time!

The 4th of July fell during Fort Irwin's summer block leave this year so they didn't do a post celebration on the 4th. Instead they made July 21st a training holiday and had fireworks and daytime activities on this day. This was a Thursday so I had to work, but Bill took Hank to check out the festivities. I'm pretty sure this was Bill's first whole day taking care of Hank by himself. Most of the activities were outside but Bill was able to take Hank indoors to enjoy the air conditioning. Around 2 or 3 in the afternoon I received a phone call from a panicky Bill who was convinced that he had gotten Hank sunburned and given him heat stroke. Of course Hank was fine when I returned home - he just get's extremely red when he's the least bit warm or upset. I had a lady ask me when Hank was about 6 weeks old and crying in the Target bathroom if he had a sunburn. I really don't have any pictures other than the few that Bill took during the day.

Tummy time at Starbucks!

Hanging out with the Minnosota Vikings cheerleaders at the PX

The Tennessee Titans cheerleaders were there too!! Daddy said Hank was quite a hit with the ladies.

I'm back!!

Wow!!! It has been about 3 months since my last post. Time has flown by and we have been so busy over the past few months that I didn't even have time to think about the blog. But I will gradually catch you up on our lives - just bear with me - it might take me about a month!!