I'm back ... and so is he!

I can hardly believe it's been a month since I last posted, but then again life has been a little out-of-the-ordinary the past several weeks. Carlton arrived home on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so needless to say it was a truly thankful day for us! In the week leading up to his arrival, Julia got an ear infection, busted her lip and I got a really bad cold, but we were all well by the time he got home. His flight was scheduled to arrive at 1:30 p.m., so we took Julia to Little Gym that morning, had lunch and then headed to the airport. I actually felt butterflies in my stomach ... you know the kind you feel when you're just falling in love? It was fun to experience that again and Carlton and I later talked about how you can't recreate that feeling unless you're apart for an extended period of time. I think we're both okay with no butterflies in the stomach for a good while!

As we were getting out our homemade signs and I was telling the girls where to watch for Daddy, a man asked if I was waiting on someone in the military. In no time, a handful of volunteers were there with flags and a banner to add to our little welcome party. And a lady standing nearby offered to take a picture of me and the girls.

Sarah ran into Carlton's arms the minute she saw him and tears immediately came to my eyes, knowing that he was really home, for good, right there with us. It was finally real. Julia was all smiles and excited to see him but didn't want to get too close to him until we got back to our house.

The last week and a half have gone as smoothly as can be expected. We're all readjusting to our roles in the family, and I'm relishing in the fact that I have my partner back! I have a whole new appreciation for single parents.

I have lots of pictures to share so I'm going to break them up into a few different posts. Thanks for checking back ... I'll try to post again before the first of the year!