All I Want For Christmas is You

Christmas came early to the Carlson household.  Mikey and I got the one and only thing that we wanted for Christmas...Brian!  Brian returned from 6.5 months in Afghanistan early Saturday morning!

This whole deployment was just like a smack upside the head.  If you don't remember, he was given 13 days notice that he would be deploying because he had to replace some guys on an SFAT team who were lost and injured.  He returned from a week long drive from Alaska, went into work, and was given this information.  From there, it was a crazy scramble to get ready to go, he had long days trying to get his equipment, appointments, and classes that he needed to deploy.  I took him to post and followed him over to the airport to say goodbye and it was gut wrenching.  From there, I spent a few days packing up the house before my mom and Bill joined me in Oklahoma to help me make the trek home.  I case anyone missed this bit of information, I HATE Oklahoma.  There was not a snowball's chance in hell that I would stay here without Brian and I also wanted to have the support of family and friends.  I decided to move home for the duration of the deployment and it was one of the best decisions I've made.

As the time drew nearer for Brian's return I was still getting very little information from the FRG/Command...I still don't really know who was in charge of all this.  It was very frustrating trying to figure out when to come back.  The day before we left NC we were given a window of time that the guys would be returning...not a whole lot of time to plan.  Two days later I was given a date, time, and location which gave me 5 days to prepare for him.  5 days was just the right amount of time, I was able to get the house unpacked and pretty organized without being too rushed.  I was also able to take Mikey to the park to play so that he didn't get cabin fever.  The child doesn't do well if he's cooped up in the house all day.  I was able to work while he napped or after he went to bed, it worked out nicely.

The night before Brian's return I really didn't have a whole lot to do.  He was supposed to be arriving around 6 am and the ceremony was at 8, so I decided to get up at 4 so that I would have plenty of time to get ready before Mikey woke up.  There was no getting up at 4 because I really didn't sleep at all that night.  I was way too excited.

Brian sent me a text message when the landed in Alaska.  Its one of the greatest feelings ever to see a text message from him after nothing for so long.  He texted me again around 2 or 3 am when they reached Colorado and then finally the text came at 5:59 am that he landed in Lawton.  My heart didn't stop racing until I had him in my arms.  I left the house around 6:10 to go meet the mother of one of Brian's teammates.  She didn't know where she was going, so I told her she could follow me to the gym.  We arrived at Rinehart Fitness Center Gym at 6:50 and so the waiting began.  Mikey enjoyed running around the gym like a maniac, dancing to the music that was playing, running circles around random majors and colonels, tearing seat labels off of seat, and climbing the bleachers.  As it grew closer to 8, Mikey became very tired so I tried to get him to sit and watch Curious George on the iPad.  That lasted for a few minutes, then they made the announcement that the ceremony was about to being. During the ceremony I gave him food to keep him happy and he enjoyed clapping and dancing to the Army song and the National anthem.  There was one short speech then the guys were released.  I was in tears and nervous with anticipation when I made my way towards the only place that I could think to find Brian.  After about 15 seconds the soldiers from the brigade all came down to the floor and it was a mad house, I couldn't find Brian anywhere.  With my photographer in tow and my husband nowhere in sight, I started to get really annoyed.  Finally, I made the decision to go back up in the bleachers since my red hair is kind of a beacon.  I held up my sign with Brian's name on it and hoped that he would think to look up in the bleachers.  After a couple of minutes I looked to my right and there he was!  He had a huge grin on his face and we raced towards each other.  It was the sweetest hug and kiss, it felt good to finally have him in my arms.  Mikey wasn't too sure what to think at first, he was tired and fussy all ready and he did not understand why I was kissing all over Brian.  He didn't really want to be messed with, it was obvious that he recognized him, but wasn't really sure how to react.

We gathered our stuff and headed to the car where Mikey decided that he was mad at Brian.  He wouldn't look at him in the car whenever Brian turned around to make faces or talk to Mikey.  We put him to bed as soon as we got back to the house and after a good little nap he was in a much better mood.  We sat on the couch and Brian snuggled with Mikey as they watched curious George together.  They really got comfortable with each other later when we went to the playground.  Brian was shocked at how much of a big boy Mikey has grown into and how much fun he is to play with.  The played all over the play structure and went down the slides together.  They got some time in on the swings and Mikey chased Brian.  I melted my heart to see the two of them play together, I love watching Brian as a father and I love seeing Mikey look at Brian like he's his hero.  Its so wonderful and my heart is completely happy and full!

I brought a photographer with me to the ceremony and she is working on editing the photos, so I'l have to upload her pictures once I get them.  In the meantime, here are photos that I've taken from the 214th Fires Brigade's facebook page or ones that I took on my phone.

Pictures will have to be looked at on facbeook...since I just ran out of free space on my blog...LAME!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100284239928106.2349677.40508072&type=1&l=a72815a151