HE'S HOME!

I have to keep reminding myself that he's home and he's not going anywhere.  I am already so clingy and obsessive over him but I have no shame. haha! Here are the events of the past few days:

Thursday, May 17th-  Eric's homecoming
I woke up ECSTATIC and to be honest, I didn't sleep a wink Wednesday night.  Got ready to go and at about 1pm, I met up with his parents and the rest of his family at his Unit building over in Southside.  After abut 25 minutes, 4 big nice buses pulled into the lot and everyone started clapping and woo-hoo-ing and getting emotional :)  I saw Eric in the window of the bus and he waved and my heart melted.  The boys started filing off the buses and after a minute I saw Eric pushing through the crowds to get to us. He was hard to miss seeing as how he has gained over 30 pounds of solid muscle and, without exaggeration, reminds you of a less green Hulk. yum... haha!! He swept me up into his arms and I'll admit I let a few tears fall.  I wasn't even feeling that emotional but I guess the finality of it all hit me as he held me and told me over and over again that he loved me and how he'd missed me.  After saying hi again to all of his family and feeling their warm embraces, he noticed my baby bump. haha I like to think that that's when it all hit him because I could just tell something changed as he approached me and hugged me again and knelt down to get face to face with my bump.  It was a really sweet moment and I'll never forget it.  We literally spent that day wrapped up in eachother.  He didn't let go of me in the grocery store, he held my hand and was constantly touching me throughout lunch... It was almost surreal.  To be home with him and begin to literally pick up RIGHT where we left off with eachother. He has been SO loving and doting and sweet to me... I feel so so special and I never have to question how much he loves me.  To just begin to share our lives together again and even get re-acquainted with some of the little details about eachother that we may have forgotten about.  It's just hard to even articulate the feeling there.  And it hasn't gone away since then.

We had a really fun first weekend back together as well.  Thursday night we went to a fancy dinner with my parents, Friday night Eric took me to a romantic dinner and then we saw a movie (my favorite part was him falling asleep on my shoulder during the movie... but hey! it was like 9pm and he's suffering a 14 hour jetlag! haha) and then Saturday morning I woke him up by making him a big breakfast.  I forgot what a sweet sleeper he is.  He gets all bundled up under the covers to where just his eyes poke out... waking up next to him again has been every bit as amazing feeling as I thought it would.  After breakfast, we relaxed a little and Eric got to talk to baby Cannen a bit!  He's been SO sweet with my baby bump.  I swear he treats my bump like it was the baby... which it kinda is... but you get what I mean. haha  He's already such a good daddy and talks to Cannen all the time.  Later, we did a little shopping for some things Eric needed and then Eric took me to the berry farm to go strawberry picking!  I've never been so it was so fun and doing it with him was obviously the best part.  We got lots of yummy berries and the best part was that we helped the economy a little bit by buying local produce! We spent the night snuggling and watched a movie... and again, we were in bed by 9. haha!  Sunday we went to church and EVERYONE... and I mean everyone... was SO welcoming to Eric.  He talked to so many people and so many people were hugging him and welcoming him home again.  It was awesome to watch.  He's truly been on so many peoples minds and in so many peoples prayers.  Then we just spent the rest of the day with my family and had a really nice day.

Monday was the worst because I had to go back to work and I mean, I just got my man back! I don't want to let him out of my sight yet! haha  I swear all weekend he wasn't further than arms length distance from me so going to work yesterday was just rough! I don't want to ever have to miss him again for one more moment. That's the worst.  Today we had an ultrasound for baby Cannen so Eric got to see our son for the first time.  He was SO cute and so loving throughout the whole appointment.  The ultrasound technician made us laugh because Cannen was, yet again, being lazy and stubborn and wouldnt let us get a good picture of him! He was just relaxing and, again, had both of his hands folded up by his head.  We laughed because she was like "come on little boy, get movin! wake up!" and when she looked over at Eric, he was laid back in the chair next to me, just relaxing, with both HIS hands up by head! Without even noticing! haha like father like son, huh?  I loved it so much.

But anyway, to sum everything up, the past 5 days since Eric has been home have been utter ecstasy.  Just bliss.  We're kind of falling in love with eachother all over again in a sense and getting back into certain routines is just so fun and special.  Having him there when I wake up is probably the best feeling I've felt yet... the boy literally doesn't roll over in his sleep without giving me a forehead kiss or telling me half-consciously that he loves me.  It's the sweetest most comfortable and safe feeling I've ever had.  I can honestly say that I am the happiest I have ever been these past few days and I know it will continue.  We always say how we want to be "newlyweds" forever, and I think we can pull it off! haha.

We went through QUITE a season of life there.  It was a long and crazy 8 months apart from eachother but the Lord took us, and molded us, and helped us adapt and delivered us through it with more hope and joy than we could have expected.  This blog has helped me immensely in getting my feelings articulated, and my family and friends have been DETRIMENTAL in helping me keep sane through the deployment and first half of pregnancy, and Eric has been more than supportive and loving through every step... but it is truly and purely only Jesus who took our marriage and took our hearts and got us through each high and low of the whole experience.  He is the reason Eric and I are able to pick up where we left off so easily and I think we are both much stronger and better people together and separately because of how God used this time to grow us individually and show us a whole other side of what it is to be married and be in love and bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ into our marriage.  He brought us through this with more grace than I thought either Eric or I had the capacity for and it's been truly incredible to see where we've both come out on the other side.  ALL thanks to God.  It's truly mindboggling.  He is SO real...

p.s. if you dont have facebook or haven't seen the pictures from Eric's homecoming on facebook, I'll be posting them on here later tonight so check back :)