AIT: Advanced Individual Training

We made it to Fort Gordon :) We found an apartment in Augusta, Georgia and made the long haul up here, with none of our furniture but our bed, and hunter's crib. No table, no chairs, no couch.. just some borrowed pots and pans, clothes, hunter's sippy cups, silverware, some utensils, glasses, and toiletries. We didn't realize we had no shower curtain, no plates, no bowls, no colander, not a whole lot of anything.. But we managed to pick up what we needed and make do. We got to go visit Jeremy in the afternoons after formation, and have dinner with him in the chow hall =) Hunter was such a cutie and waved and said hey to all of the soldiers, who of course said hey little guy back. He is such an attention hound and rotten to boot! He got phased up and was able to ride in the car with us and was allowed to go off post with us. Then he put in his off post packet, and now he is allowed to live at home with us :) I went and picked up Chrissy and Matt from their mom's house, and now they are living with us again. He gets to live at home with us, and only has to report for the morning formations, and gets to spend all weekend with us, and he goes to class all week, but is home in time for supper :) It has been an adjustment, but we are glad that he is home with us and that we get to spend time with him. We should find out soon where we will PCS. We have made some new friends, who are guys who are in his company with him. They seem like really good people, and are fun to be around, and they love the kids, which is a big plus. We started going to the library and letting the kids pick out books, and bring them home. They always get excited when we tell them we are going that day. We also found a playground that is on base, that is really big. The kids love going there too. Hunter screams "play" every time we pass it :) They will play for hours until you tell them it's time to leave, then you hear the aww, can we stay?? lol They are enjoying being here with their daddy, and Hunter likes having someone to play with other than mommy =) lol

Graduation

It took us a while to straighten out how we were getting to Oklahoma for Jeremy's boot camp graduation, but we finally decided that we were driving. His mom, me, and Hunter all piled in our truck with all of our stuff on Tuesday morning, and set out for Jackson, Mississippi where we were staying the night. It was an interesting trip to say the least. We brought tons of snacks and food so our stopping at jiffy stores and fast food joints was to a minimum, and Hunter was hungry every 5 seconds. haha he ate everything from cheetos to gummy worms (which I am still trying to get unstuck from the floorboard) to raisins. We made a few potty stops, and diaper change stops (some off of exits that had nothing but the side of the road to pull off on and do a quick change in the truck). We made it to Jackson in good time, and after we lugged everything inside the hotel, we then realized we were hungry and didn't want pb&j's.. So I found a cracker barrel and picked up dinner. We took showers and hit the sack. The next morning we were out of there early, not as early as planned, but early enough. We made the haul to Oklahoma the long way, to avoid Dallas traffic, but we made good time. When we got to the gate at Fort Sill, I had to declare my firearm, which turned out to be a big ordeal, but funny when we look back on it. They had me pull over to the side and two guards came and asked me where it was, and to take it out. Slowly. lol I forgot to unload it before we got there, so then I had to step out, point it to the bushes, take the clip out and clear the barrel. Then I had to show them my concealed carry permit, and my military id. They started looking for the serial number on the pistol, which they couldn't find and I had to point out to them on the underside of the barrel. LOL The female officer said she didn't blame me for having it, being two women traveling by ourselves with Hunter. Then I had to back around the building to get back to the road, and the male officer said I've always heard people from Georgia are better drivers, now I believe them! =) haha Then we were off to find our Army lodging hotel, which is hard in the dark when they all look the same.. we finally found it after going into two different buildings, and got inside and got settled. It was like a small two bedroom apartment with a eat in kitchen, living room, and tv's. We stayed up and watched some tv, had sammies for dinner & went to sleep, knowing that we would get to see Jeremy in the morning! We woke up bright and early, got ready, and headed to Family Day to see Jeremy. We got there and went to the field first, which we weren't supposed to do, we were supposed to go inside the hall to listen to them give an overview of the day. We were then told to go back to the field, and we did early to get a good seat. That's when we saw him. He was standing in a formation to our right, about 10 feet from us. Hunter finally saw him and kept waving and saying Daddy, which made me start crying. It had been a long 9 weeks for all of us. They called us to the field to stand behind our soldiers, and they gave Hunter his daddy's new rank patch to put on, he did it perfect, with a little help from mommy :) We made it back to his barracks and waited some more for them to unload the trucks, and change into their class B's. Then they went into formation and said the soldier's creed and were released to us! Hunter was a little weary of going to him at first, but he soon warmed right back up to daddy. We went to lunch at a steak house, and came home and napped until it was time to take him back. His dad called and asked him to come by their hotel that there was something he needed to see before he went back to his barracks. We walked in and they had picked up Matt & Chrissy from their mom's house on the way here. He was surprised to see them, and glad they had come. I took him back to his barracks, and picked up the kids so they could spend the night with their Granny. We went to bed after I finished Jeremy's laundry, and got up early the next morning and took the kids back to his dad. We all got ready for graduation, and headed to the theatre. Graduation was neat, and very patriotic. I was very proud to see him chant the soldier's creed with his fellow soldiers. It gives me chills every time I hear it. He came to the stage, and I could tell he was nervous as he stepped to the microphone to state his rank, name, and hometown then he walked across the stage, shaking everyones hand. After graduation, we went back to the hotel, and got ready for lunch with Bruce, Tracy, John, and the kids. We went to another steakhouse and had lunch. It was pouring by the time we left. We made it back to the hotel and took another nap until it was time for dinner. We all went to a mexican restaurant that was really good. Hunter enjoyed the rice and made a huge mess. lol We had a good time, and took Jeremy back to the barracks for the last time. He would be flying out to Georgia the next morning, and it was hard knowing that you would have to be separated once again. We packed up and also headed out the next morning around 9 or so, and made the haul for home. Jeremy called and said that he got a pass that weekend if we could make it there in time. So we drove straight through from Oklahoma to Georgia, only stopping once to take a nap for about an hour. We made it to Augusta at 0700 on sunday, and he had to be picked up at 0800. So there was no time for sleep, only to check in, get our things to the room, and get lil man asleep so I could pick up daddy. I got lost once I got on base, but I finally found him, and brought him back to the hotel. We slept from 0900 to 1300 and then he had to go back, but I think the drive was worth getting to see him, and take a nap with him. =) We moved to Augusta on the 15th, and we have been here ever since. It was a crazy trip, but we had fun, and made memories along the way. We are so proud of our American Soldier :)