9 months down!!

I am amazed how quickly the last 9 months have gone.I am also amazed how much our family has grown in the way of faith, love and well.. physically Sophia is a totally different little person. She was a baby when we came here and she is leaving a full fledged toddler.

When we came to Iowa a few days after Stephen deployed I was beat down, tired and heart broken. First deployment blues hit me hard. I didn't know how I would make it without him. As the days, weeks, months went by I found myself trusting god more, loving my husband more than ever and feeling like "I CAN DO THIS." Every new challenge brings anxiety and fear but out of every challenge comes growth. That is what life is all about. Growing into the best person, mother, daughter, wife I can be. I stumble and fall more times than I care to admit but I always get back up and keep going. I credit that to my sweet Sophia who loves and needs me so much. Her unconditional love makes me strive to be the best mom I can be. My husband who always has a "plan" and level headed look at everything. ( I think that's the soldier in him.) My mom who was crazy enough to let Soph, two dogs and I invade her home. Her support and love for Sophia was amazing.

When I heard Stephen was getting deployed my heart sank all I could think of was the bad things that could happen. I never stopped to think of all the good that could come out of this year. Amazingly, good has come to us. Our marriage is stronger than ever and the struggles we faced gave us a chance to see we can over come. My daughter was able to grow so close to her grandma. Technology allowed us to see Stephen everyday almost and we have saved enough money to take our dream honeymoon that we never had the chance to take.

It is so funny how god works. He gives us more than we ever think we can handle and then sure enough he holds our hand and we make it through just fine. Things are crazy in the military, things change, your family gets separated but I believe if you have faith in God and your husband you can make it through any challenge.

Okay this has turned into a novel when what I really wanted to do here was show you pictures of little Miss Sophia when we came to Iowa and now as we are leaving. The change is AMAZING. Makes me remember just how quickly life passes and how much we need to enjoy every minuet of it.

Her is our little munchkin when Stephen left, she was crawling and that was about it.. sometimes I miss those immobile days ;)



Here is our little toddler now-a-days, she comes complete with toddler attitude, divaness and a whole lot of love to give!!