Towards the end of March, I found out that Nick would be coming home for his R&R a lot sooner than we had planned. We had hoped for May - June, then it looked more like late April -mid-May, and then it turned into a now or later (much later) kind of deal, so we went ahead and jumped on the now bandwagon.
The thing is, we didn't want to tell the girls in advance, but let it be a surprise for them. Typically they don't do so well with those kind of surprises, but with this situation, we decided to go for it and it would turn out how it turned out.
Nick was supposed to be getting in on Tuesday April 6. I had plans on Monday with a great friend, she wanted to treat me to a pedicure and lunch in preparation for Nick coming home. We went ahead and made those plans, then Sunday night, Nick posted on Facebook that he was in Germany. He was able to grab a quick internet connection to email me, telling me that he didn't get held up in Kuwait as long as expected, and he'd be flying into Atlanta Monday morning, and would be arriving at the airport in Savannah some time in the afternoon or evening.
The original plan was that the girls were going to spend the night at my friend's house on Tuesday, I'd pick Nick up, we'd have an evening together, and then we'd pick them up Wednesday morning. Plans stayed the same, just a day sooner. After my great time with my friend, I went back to her house to say goodbye to the girls, and headed to the airport.
I was way late getting there. Nick's flight was going land not too far after 2, and we planned to meet at the Starbuck's in the airport around 2:30 - 3:00. I got to the airport closer to 3:30, missed the entrance into the parking garage in my excitement (this seems to be a pattern for me, I did this times 3 when Nick came home from Korea) and finally when I made it into the parking garage, I figured I'd be faster on foot and just grabbed the first spot I saw.
This spot happened to be at the complete opposite corner and far away from where I needed to be. I hoofed it as quickly as I could, trying to catch my breath on the escalator. When I got to the top, there sat my honey, waiting patiently for me!
It was so exciting to see him and it was selfishly nice to have him all to myself for our little reunion. I really think this was the best way to do it, leaving the girls behind. It was really nice to be able to reconnect as a couple without 4 other people clambering for his attention. We both felt like we could spend some time being just husband and wife first, and it was really really nice to be able to do that.
We got home from the airport, reintroduced Nick to Fiona, and I showed him the changes I've made during my Operation: Home Repair phase. It felt so good having him home. It didn't strike me just how empty the house felt (it's ironic that it can even begin to feel that way with 4 kiddos running around constantly) until he was back in it.
We decided to go out to dinner that night, just the two of us, and it was so nice. I didn't even care too much when our waitress spilled my drink on me. I'm not sure there was anything at all that could burst my bubble at that time. After dinner, we went to Kroger to pick up some groceries and just had a leisurely time at home.
The next day we were excited (and Nick was a bit nervous) about picking up the girls. I was worried they'd be a bit mad at me for keeping the big secret #1 (more on secret #2 later) and especially concerned that Evy, who has been giving Grumpy a run for his money lately, would shy away from Nick and clam up. As soon as we pulled up into the driveway to get them, all of that flew out the window.
I could see that the girls saw someone was in the passenger seat, and I saw them trying to figure out who it was. When he stepped out of the car, they had shocked little faces and then all I heard were screams of "Daaaaaaaaaddy!" and little bodies come flying towards Nick.
Hannah made it first. Ironically, she had chosen a shirt to wear that day that had "Daddy is My Hero" on it. She came running and jumped into his arms. Next came Sophia who sort of attached herself onto his side. Then Jules and Evy ran up and any worries about Evelynn disappeared as she grabbed him for a big hug. Juliette's words were the best, "Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!"
There were some tears, but they were happy ones. Hannah was crying and smiling at the same time, telling me "This is the BEST surprise ever!" and Sophia was very overwhelmed with emotion and crying silently. I beamed with happiness inside and out, seeing my girls joy and contentedness with having everything "right" in our world again.
The first week went by sort of slowly. We did some shopping, did a lot of hanging out at the house doing not much of anything. We worked on the girls rooms, getting rid of Evy's toddler bed, assembling the bunk beds in the little girls room, and clearing a spot for Sophia's new loft bed when it comes in. We hung out with great friends, and just basked in togetherness.
Behind it all, Nick and I were planning big secret #2. We had decided to do a big vacation now rather than at the end of the deployment. The girls knew we were saving for a trip of some sort when the Iraq tour was over, but they had no idea that Nick and I made the plans to do it during R&R.
The week before Nick left Iraq, I had made reservations for Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort, one of the cabins. When he got home, we added the dining plan and made reservations for some sit down dinners. We also planned to visit some great friends in Tampa on our last night in Florida.
The kids were completely and utterly clueless. They had no idea what was in store for them. We had told them we were going to shopping down in Brunswick on Monday, and we made plans for another great friend to keep our puppy Fiona, you know, so she wouldn't be home alone all day. The real fun was about to begin.
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