our unexpected trip to bethesda, maryland

on april 14th at 5 pm i got the worst call a wife wants to get when her husband is deployed to a war zone. fortunately, shane was well enough that he was able to call me himself to inform me of his injuries, so i knew when i heard his voice that it wasn't as bad as it could have been! but the news wasn't good.

that day he had been on a foot patrol when an IED (improvised explosive device or bomb, simply put) went off just meters away. thankfully, the men weren't right on top of it so no one lost their lives or limbs. but all the men involved had injuries. shane got a broken foot along with several shrapnel wounds.

i spent the next day mostly on the phone trying to gather information, get the story straight, and keep family and friends updated with what little info i knew. it took a few days to figure out just where he was going for surgery and whether or not i could go to be with him. but we figured it out and were able to drive up to maryland to see him on the 18th.

i didn't know the extent of his wounds, so i didn't even tell the boys where we were going or that daddy would be there, just in case he was in such a condition i wouldn't want the boys to see him that way. but it turns out the worst of his injuries were to his knees and foot, so the boys were able to see him and i think they understand on an age-appropriate level what happened.

^ seeing daddy for the first time in 3 months!
this was taken the 19th, amazingly just 5 days after he got hurt. thanks to the volcano in iceland, shane was sent straight to the states instead of to germany.

^ teagan's turn for a kiss!


^ the stress of the injuries and the trip were really rough on me and trayson, so i took this pic in the hotel bathroom, just in case i went into labor. i wanted one last pic of that huge belly of mine! =) this was 4/22 so i'm 38 weeks along.


^ the boys in the hotel room. they did really well under the circumstances, although i can't say that that's doing well under any other circumstances! haha!
my very dear and brave friend, emily, drove 6 hrs to our home in NC to accompany us on our trip and help with the boys. without her i couldn't have made it and i am FOREVER grateful to her and to God for giving me such a wonderful friend! =)

^ finally home! after nearly 2 weeks in maryland, shane was able to come home! =)
by then, emily had flown home to be with her family and my sister, beckie, had flown out to take her place as my assistant... but that's a whole other story... =)