All together again

Jason is home!!!!  Our family was finally reunited on August 10th after a long 7 month deployment.  I’ll let Jason write about his end of the deployment and homecoming, but we can all agree it is the best feeling to be a whole again.  Communication on the ship involved mostly email with a handful of spotty phone calls.  I think the lack of contact made it that much more amazing to see Jason’s plane land and taxi towards us last Tuesday.  We made many signs to welcome him in, including a big one over the garage and little ones to hold when we saw him coming in.  On the big day, Jason and 5 of his fellow pilots flew in a formation over us and around before landing and “parking” all in a row.  When the last plane landed, we were given the go to run towards our guys!  I didn’t think this through with heels, but we made it very quickly to Jason as he was coming out of his plane.  Faye had no hesitation in running and hugging her daddy as fast as she could.  Gavin wasn’t sure what all of the fuss was about, but also seemed happy to hug his Daddy.

Faye's Running Hug

We always wonder how the kids will react to Daddy finally being home, and I think it went as well as we could have asked for.  Both kids have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with their Daddy and we seem to have quickly fallen back into our usual routines.  I can’t explain the pleasure I have in seeing Faye and Daddy enjoying breakfast together in the morning or the way Gavin runs to hug Jason when he gets home from work.  It already feels “normal” to have him back in our routine and our home.

Because our family likes to have more than one life-changing event at a time, we are moving in about 2 weeks, so soon after Jason’s return.  Since my last post, I have both found a home to rent in Pensacola and found renters to lease our home here in North Carolina.  While getting this house ready to sell and “staged” fulfilled all of my HGTV makeover fantasies, I found the process of trying to find buyers or renters both physically and emotionally exhausting.  I didn’t realize how taxing it was to live in a staged house until I started bringing all of our personal touches back into the house.  The kids’ playroom, which had always been in the eat-in area of the kitchen, was temporarily replaced with a proper kitchen table and chairs.  When we put the playroom back this week, I think I lit up almost as much as the kids!

So now we are starting the process of saying our final good bye’s and getting all of the logistics in order to move.  We are all really excited (well at least Jason and I) about our new rental house in Pensacola.  It is in East Hill, which is in walking distance to downtown and many restaurants and stores.  After living 15 miles from anything, we are excited to be able to walk to town.  A big bonus is that we will be less than a mile from at least one synagogue.  We are very excited about getting the kids involved in the Jewish community down there.  Another HUGE bonus is all of the friends we are reuniting with in Pensacola.  The Marine Corps is pretty small, but the aviation community is even smaller, and we are going to get to live near so many really great friends.

I’m sure it will be a while before we update again.  We are hoping to be in Pensacola some time next month, and we will update our addresses with all of you then.  Emails should stay the same, so if you don’t hear from us, you can always email!

If you haven’t heard already, Jason received orders to Pensacola, Florida this month.  We knew the orders were coming, but we were expecting to stay put for another year.  Of course the military always has it’s own plans, and we are so thrilled to be going back to one of our favorite locations thus far.  We are also very excited about Jason’s job change.  Going from combat-ready pilot to instructor pilot is a big change, and we are all looking forward to the benefits.  Mostly, we are looking forward to having a relaxed Jason who is around a whole lot more.  This should be a non-deployable tour, which is also a major bonus.

Besides the cool job and location, we are also looking forward to reuniting with so many friends from along the way in our aviation journey.  It seems like every week we are hearing of a new couple that is going back to Pensacola, and we are so excited to live near so many good friends.  Faye is also getting excited to reunite with some of her friends who recently moved from here or will be relocating shortly after us.  This has made the idea of moving much more exciting than scary for Faye who is already talking about the new friends she will meet.

Of course, we never do things the easy way.  This relocation will take place this fall, very shortly (if not before) Jason returns.  This means I will be renting out our current home and finding a new place in Pensacola to rent.  With so many friends who have relocated alone and this being my 5th military relocation, I am not too worried about getting through the process.  I also have lots of parents (mine and Jason’s) to help with the logistics and labor of getting my house ready for renters and caring for my children while we do it.  Finally, I’ll get to add another item to the list of things I can do without my hubby, like getting through a pregnancy and running a household.

Besides this upheaval, we are keeping pretty busy during Jason’s deployment.  I am currently preparing to host a Passover Seder for 20 guests – including 10 children.  I am also entrenched in all that goes into getting one’s home ready for the Passover holiday.  I am also trying to keep up with my quest to run a 1/2 marathon for each of the 7 months Jason plans to be away.  For me, that last one seems the easiest and is thus a low priority.  I almost forgot it was this weekend and just tonight thought about the importance of getting enough carbs and sleep this week.

In February, I ran the Crystal Coast Half in Morehead City. It was a great run over the bridge that connects Morehead City and Atlantic Beach, down to Fort Macon, and back over the bridge. I ran with my friend Valerie Perez and her friend Alberta. I finished with my best time yet of 2 hours and 30 minutes.  A nice way to spend a morning.  This Saturday, I’ll be running the Cherry Point Half marathon on our base here in Havelock.  I know a few girls running it and I am excited to have a race so close to home.  I had planned to travel around to different races during the deployment, but am willing to put that on hold while I get my house in order.  If nothing else, I will run 13.1 miles (race or not) each month.

Jason seems to be doing well on the ship.  He has made some audio recordings for me and the children, which I cherish, and has called two times thus far.  We are also able to email pretty regularly throughout the week.  The mail has been a source of frustration for Jason, as some of it seemed to take forever to get there.  I guess not getting off of the ship makes a guy really anxious about getting mail.  Thankfully, after only about 45 days, he received my first package mailed out in February this week.  He seems thrilled to get any kind of mail.  If you are interested in writing him a letter or sending him something, please email me for his mailing address.

The unit Jason is with has a fun group of wives. We have a few surprises for the guys in the works as well as a monthly calendar that we all contribute to and which the guys hang up in their main meeting room. Each family contributes a day to the calendar and can personalize it for any special events.  So far I have sent him a square for our anniversary and for the anniversary of Sonia’s birthday, which is coming up on April 24th.

As for the children, Gavin has mastered walking and is on his way to running.  This is especially evident when he is running from me, his new favorite activity.  The funniest yet was yesterday when he didn’t want to take a bath.  While I was preparing the water, he ran naked out of the bathroom and down the hall.  I didn’t want to laugh, but it was pretty hard watching that tiny tushy running from me.  I don’t want to encourage this kind of behavior, but it is pretty darn cute right now.  I bought Gavin his first pair of shoes this month and he looks like such a big boy.  He has learned to give a high five, wave, and play catch. He loves to play, chase, throw, and kick balls of any size.  And he has no fear at the playground going down all of the slides and swinging high on the swings.  Best of all, he is very good at giving hugs.

Faye is my little companion.  She has so much to say and so many questions to ask about the world. My favorite is when she talks to me the way I talk to her. She will say “don’t worry sweety.” She also loves to care for her brother. I am still working on teaching her about being gentle. Some of her hugs are more like head locks.  Thankfully, Gavin is getting stronger and better able to take Faye’s “affection.”  Thankfully, the Faye seems to be used to the  deployment already.  We were really worried about how she would take it as she got older.  We talk about Jason often and what we will do with him when he comes  home.  I know Faye misses her daddy so much, and I am pretty sure she is going to glue herself to his side when he gets home, but for now, she is doing really well.

I know I don’t write on here as often as Jason would, but I am just a tad busy.  Hopefully things will calm down after Passover, or after I get this house ready to rent, or after I find a new home….but hopefully soon.

I am so excited to finally write about this marathon.  I first of all want to thank everyone who supported my run and Chai Lifeline in memory of my Sonia Chaya.  With your help, I surpassed my goal of $1,000 and am pleased to have reached $1,489!  This money goes towards a camp for children with special needs, some of whom spend all of their lives in hospitals or nursing care.  My Sonia never left her hospital, so I can understand how special this camp is for these kids.  If you are still interested in supporting this cause, visit www.chailifeline.org

As for the marathon, well, it was amazing.  Most of you know I first registered for the Marine Corps marathon in ‘06 before I got pregnant with Sonia.  I didn’t run it that year but trained for it again during Sonia’s life.  Running had become my therapy and my feel-good drug of choice.  Having that race in my sights got me through the bumpy road we faced during her life.  When Sonia died in September of 2007, I had to put my training and the Marine Corps marathon aside again.  In December of 2007, I ran the Vegas Half marathon in her memory.

Even before Gavin was born in January of this year, I knew I would be training for the 2009 Marine Corps Marathon.  I couldn’t imagine anything getting in my way of crossing that finish line once and for all.  So when I finally crossed that finish line after 3 years of dreaming about it, 4 months of dedicated training, so many tendinitis and pain issues, having to run “no matter what” including 18 miles on a treadmill, 2 hours of sleep the night before, and finally 26.2 patriotic miles in our capitol, it was one of the proudest moments of my life.

The experience could not have been more perfect (except maybe if I would have brought a sweater to the starting line).  My brother Ryan and my friend Caitlyn (who inspired me to run marathons in the first place) were by my side the entire race.  We laughed, cried (well maybe just me), sang, joked, and inspired one another through it all.  Many people ran for fallen service members, and that was emotional to see.  I also teared up as we passed the Arlington cemetery and I thought of our friend Brian Deforge who was buried there.  I think many people had a hard time reading my shirt, which had a photo of sweet Sonia and her birth and death date.  Although her early death is sad to see, it was with pride and joy that I wore that photo for all to see my sweet girl.

My friend Valerie told me about a technique she uses of praying for or thinking about people in her life along the way.  We used this many times throughout our race, telling each other about someone special and then all of us gathering our strength to run for that person.  I ran many miles for my sweet Sonia and her friends, both living and passed, who have struggled with birth defects and disease.   I thought about Kiersten Hickman-Perfetti who made me laugh and brought me joy at the Ronald McDonald House in Philly, despite the chemo and cancer that was giving her hell.  I also thought about my friend Lisa who is  fighting that awful battle with cancer and for the strength she has to use to live every single day.  I thought about Austin whose parents were told he couldn’t survive the brain tumor and condition of having half a heart he was born with.  He is 2 now and doing so well.  When we came to a tough moment in the race, the three of us would talk about these great lives and then run even harder just for them.

Although none of us were running for time, and stopped whenever one of us needed to walk or to hug our families, we made amazing time.  I kept a faster pace (ave. 12 min. mile or less) than I did during any of my training runs, and took 45 minutes off my first marathon time.  I struggled between miles 16-18 when we couldn’t find our families and it was just starting to get hard.  I was anxious because I didn’t get much sleep and I wasn’t able to eat anything with all of my butterflies.  Once I saw my family at mile 19, though, I was home free.  They gave me the boost I needed to run the last 7 miles with a big smile on my face and all the energy I needed.  Thank you mom and dad for taking such good care of my babies and supporting me in so many ways before and after the race!

The most surprising thing about the marathon was how fun it was!  There were school bands and regular bands playing music all along the way, tons of people who came out just to see us run the thing and cheer us on, many Marines encouraging us all along the way, the most beautiful sights of our national capital, and a mob of people to run with!  To top it off, I had the best running buddies by my side to share every moment.  It was phenomenal.

I cannot end without mentioning a special gift made and given to me by my husband.  It came a box labeled “Superhero Warehouse” with the funniest instructions I have ever seen.  The story is that Jason felt pretty bad about missing this race.  Being the Marine that he is, he was on a ship out in the Atlantic when I ran my race.  With this in mind, and wanting to show his support, my sweet man made me a “Super Mom” cape.  The home made instructions started with a warning: “This cape is only to be used by a Mom with extraordinary abilities.  Use by a woman without children or a standard mother may result in serious injury or dismemberment.”  This man is really amazing.  While I didn’t bring the cape with me on the race (for I planned to use my super running and not flying abilities), I made sure to show it off at the finish, when I really needed it!

While I think my body needs a bit of a break from this intense training, I already have my sights set on the Virginia Beach Shamrock half in March.  I will definitely run the Marine Corps marathon again and hopefully many other marathons over the coming years.  I am admitting it now, I have an addiction and I don’t think I can stop.  Thank you again for all of your support along the way!  All of those little words of encouragement and excitement from so many of you helped to make this race so sweet.

Some of you may know I have been training to run the Marine Corps Marathon this year on Sunday, October 25th in Washington D.C.  Running has been a passion of mine (and a much needed therapy) for a few years now, and I have had this USMC race in my sights for about that long.  Besides the personal benefits, I am running this race to honor and remember Sonia by raising money for and awareness of Chai Lifeline.

Chai Lifeline is an international organization that provides year-round emotional, social, and financial support to more than 3,000 children and their families every year. Chai Lifeline’s goal is to bring joy to children and hope to their families, enabling them to live full and happy lives despite the presence of illness.  A few years ago, we were one of those families.

On April 24, 2007, my beautiful Sonia Chaya was born with a condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. This meant only half of her heart developed properly in utero.  Although this condition is fatal without intervention, Sonia was given 4 1/2 beautiful months of life.  During this time, Chai Lifeline was an invaluable support system to me.  I was far from home, from Jason and Faye, and I spent most of every day in a small room with my sweet girl.  Volunteers from Chai Lifeline visited me many times during these weeks, providing a steady flow of kosher meals, emotional support, and good company.  I was able to give more time to my sweet girl because Chai Lifeline was there to help. (To learn more about Chai Lifeline, visit its website, www.chailifeline.org.)

Because I believe so strongly in Chai Lifeline’s work, I’ve decided to run the Marine Corps Marathon in order to raise money for this cause. My objective is to raise $2,000 with my brother Ryan by race day and I hope you will help me reach this goal. All donations are 100% tax-deductible.

If you are interested, you can contribute either by visiting my web page at the Team Lifeline site or by sending a check, made payable to Chai Lifeline, to me at 210 Drake Landing, New Bern, NC  28560. If your company has a matching gift program, your gift may be doubled or tripled. If you send the paperwork to me with your check, Chai Lifeline will complete the form and send it to your employer.

Thank you in advance for supporting me, and in doing so, helping children and families like mine cope with the diagnosis, treatment and aftermath of serious pediatric illness.

I thought I would write a little update on our crew, while I have 5 minutes of quiet time.  We have all adjusted well to Gavin’s arrival, especially big sister Faye.  Jason and I are very proud of how much she wants to help care for him, and how well (most of the time) she has accepted the changes in her routine and the sharing of mommy.  On more than one occasion I have come into Gavin’s room to find Faye singing to Gavin or trying to cuddle him when he wakes.  It has scared me on occasion to find she has filled his bed with stuffed animals or that she has “given” him stickers on his arm.  For the most part, though, she is enjoying her new brother.

One of Faye’s favorite helping activities is Gavin’s bath.  She soaps him up, with a little help, and then plays in his water to entertain him.  So far, Gavin is very amused by his big sister, and loves receiving her attention.

Faye is definitely very imaginative these days.  She likes to pretend to be a “wormy” and for us to be the mommy and daddy wormies, respectively.  It is very cute, and usually involves a (pretend) wormy nap in a small place.  Today that place was my laundry basket.  I find it funny that she loves to play “nap,” but hates actually taking naps.  Oh well.

As for the little guy, he is doing very well.  He is growing like a weed and is already in clothes for 3 month olds in his 7th week.  He sleeps most of the day, and for shorter intervals at night.  I think he is starting to have longer stretches of sleep, only not yet at night.  Such is life with a baby.  Life (and my sweet Sonia) have taught me all too well to realize and enjoy the blessings that come with children.  So far, I am doing my best to do just that, sleepless nights and all.