Perhaps our biggest request on the blog (and from my wife) are pictures of all of the family.  As the resident photographer, I rarely show up in photos.  That’s fine with me (I know what I look like), but I can certainly understand the demand for more Jason images.  Well, Grandpa Jerry, who really taught me how to use a camera in the first place, came to town and the moons aligned for a family photo-shoot with all four of us.  Without further adieu…

Lots more are available for viewing and/or printing in the gallery.  Enjoy!

I have received your calls, emails, and letters of complaints regarding the lack of posts on the website.  I was a little disturbed with the violent demonstration in the front yard, but I fully understand the mass discontent.  Apparently, raising two kids with a mom who is trying to finish a masters and a dad who works 12-hour days, is harder than we thought it would be.

Well, I took some vacation for Passover and hopefully have made up for the blog hiatus with the mass of new photos in the gallery.  Speaking of Passover, we have had a full house for over a week now, with grandparents, uncles, cousins, and great grandparents coming from five different states to celebrate our freedom from slavery (or at least to taste Shannon’s brisket and pinch Gavin’s cheeks).  It’s been wonderful seeing everyone and the kids just loved all of the attention.

The grandparents Pilvinsky came by first and grandma hit the jackpot with a home-made Thomas the Train dress.  I have never seen Faye so excited in my life and we had no less than 10 comments on the dress when we went out for the day.  The rest of you might as well just start saving for a sports car for her 16th birthday because I doubt anything will top this dress until then.

My dad and the Edelson clan rolled in as the Pilvinskys headed out.  Sam was so good with Faye and Gavin and all the kids had a blast riding bikes, playing games, and exploring together.  The trip out to our secret beach was a highlight as always.

We had a great seder with the crew and several other local guests.  We even had a rabbi on loan from the Navy as a special guest.  Shannon had been stressing for a couple weeks now about getting the house ready and all of her cooking preparations, but she really did a stupendous job.  Each year the food gets better and better, and this year was the best yet.  Scrumptious brisket, homemade gefilte fish, matzoh kugel, matzoh ball soup, freshly grated horseradish (thanks to the rabbi), and the best Pesach brownies on earth.

It turns out the rabbi is an avid cyclist, so we went for a ride together on Emerald Isle on Sunday and then met the family at the beach for a nice Passover picnic.  It was a beautiful day and Faye got to try out the new kite grandpa Jerry brought for her.  The weather was perfect and Faye was having such a good time playing in the water, I just could not resist the shutter button on the camera.  There are tons of photos from the event for your enjoyment.  There is video from the weekend to follow, but I have to wait for my dad to send me the footage.

As fast as everyone arrived, they are all gone now.  It has been a whirlwind tour and while we miss the great company, we are doing so in a quiet and peaceful house once again.  We still hope for “next year in Jerusalem”, but in case that doesn’t happen, we look forward to next year at the Rubins’ again!

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.

I’m back home with the ones I love and the world is right again.

The trip back was a little painful, but was so worth it.  Beginning to end, I spent 34 hours traveling.  It was all fine and good until our flight from Atlanta to New Bern (the “easiest” leg of the trip) was turned around at the end of the runway due to fog at the destination.  You can imagine how frustrated we all were.  We got off the plane and waited around to hear if the flight would be canceled and we would have to spend the night, or if the pilots would try again.  Good news came about an hour later at 10pm.  Everyone boarded again and then waited for another hour while they defueled the aircraft.  I think the flight attendant was getting nervous that the 15 Marines aboard were going to take the plane for ourselves.

My biggest concern was with my poor family waiting patiently at home for me.  It was a stretch to keep Faye up for my scheduled time of 10pm.  Now she would surely be asleep when I got there after midnight.  I had this image of my homecoming from my first month on deployment.  No matter what the case, each iteration had Faye running across the airport and giving me a giant hug.  Waking her up the next morning would be anti-climactic and probably confusing for Faye.  Not to mention that Faye had been talking to everyone all day about how excited she was to pick up Daddy from the airport.

My worries were all for naught, because the airport announcing my flight arrival was just enough to wake her up in time to shake off her grogginess and greet me like I had dreamed about.  Faye and Shannon had worked on a special sign to welcome me home and Faye was extra excited to show it to me.  She ran at full blast right past the security gate with a giant smile on her face and gave me the best hug ever.  She didn’t want to let go either, which was fine with me because I didn’t want to let go either.  It was the best gift a father could receive.

Shannon waited patiently as Faye and I had our moment and then we did some family hugs and kisses.  Her belly was a lot bigger than it was when I had left, since she only has a little over a week until she’s due.  It was so great to be back with my girls.  I missed a lot of things over my deployment, but nothing even close to how much I missed my wife and daughter.  God bless the Army guys who do 12-18 month deployments.  I had a heck of a time being away from my loved ones for 6 months.  The Marine Corps certainly has its issues, but one thing they do right is reasonable deployment lengths.

Thanks to everyone who supported me while I was away, whether it was through care packages, letters, emails, pictures, or prayers.  I’ve always had a high opinion of my wife, but she has taken this “loving and supporting” stuff to a hoe’ nuvah’ leval.  I don’t think the average Joe really understands what a military spouse does for this country.  Shannon has been a rock through all of this and has run our household (pregnant and all) better than I ever could.  If I could write her up for a medal, I would.  Through all her work back home, she still managed to keep me happy and healthy halfway across the globe.  She’s a super-woman.  Period.

I could go on and on about how sweet, smart, and charming Faye is these days.  She has grown from a toddler into a little girl while I was gone and I’m just soaking it all up.  I don’t know what I did to deserve such an amazing kid, but I’m grateful to God for such a blessing.  It makes coming home all the more sweet.

Well if Jason is able to post from deployment, then I have no excuses.  Faye and I are doing well here on the home front.  Faye loves her preschool class and her ballet lessons with Miss Laura.  She is at an age of naming her dolls and her things, and lots of things are named “Miss Laura.”  Another major Faye favorite is Thomas the Train.  “Salty” (one the characters on the show) is another name she gives her things.  The Thomas show (saved thanks to our DVR) is now the only show she is interested in watching; even Sesame Street got the boot.

From this photo, you can see that Faye still loves to bake with me.  Here she is helping to cut cookies in the shape of Hebrew letters for her Sunday School group.  She already knows the three letters in “Shabbat,” which she can say by name.

The deployment still seems to be flying by, or at least time is flying, but it also seems like there is so much more to go.  It feels like forever since Jason was within these walls, and his voice just in the other room.  With the help of Skype, we are very lucky to see his face and hear his voice every once in a while.  I am happy to report that our paper chain now only goes around the door in our living room, and no longer fits all the way over to the window.  With any luck, Jason will be home before we tear off the last loop.

We have continued to pass the time by traveling, mostly to my parents’ house in Va Beach.  We were so happy to be able to spend the Jewish holidays among family and friends up there.  I also made a trip up this month for my 10 year high school reunion.  We lived in the same school district for all 13 years, so I graduated with some of my kindergarten classmates (in the photo are 2 of them).  I was a little worried about going to the reunion alone, but the event turned out to be a blast.  It was a little odd to be surrounded by faces from 10 years ago, but it was also a lot of fun.

While Faye is in school, I have my work cut out for me trying to complete yet another course in my degree program (Jewish Education), and having taken on 2 Bat Mitzvah students.  There is a lot of work to be done for both, so I am definitely busy.  With any luck, I will at least have my course work finished before Jason comes home.  I also hope to give some time to the Obama campaign here in my swing state of NC (vote early if you can!).  I am so excited and nervous for this election to be decided on already and for an intelligent, trustworthy, and honorable president to get into the White House again.