4 Years

4 years have simply flown by! One day he is toddling around our living room table and the next he is running about counting to 20 and singing his ABCs like it is nothing.

Johnny boy has gotten so big! He is just over 50 pounds and about 44 inches.  He is fitting snugly into size 5T pants and shirts, but size 12 shoes (he has fat feet like his Daddy.)  He is already into some 6s and I don't think it will be long until we have to replace all of his cloths again.

There is nothing he likes more then his "sqwishy" his stuffed animals.  He cuddles with them, sleeps in a bed over flowing with them, and makes them talk and play and imagines that they are always in some sort of trouble.  This year Daddy got him the elephant from the Disney store, just because he thought Johnny would like it.  Mommy got him the lion, Nala, they day we took Daddy to the airport.  We just love the way his face lights up when he gets a new sqwishy and how he carries them around loving on them.

Johnny also loves animals, the out doors, and adventures.  Mommy and Daddy got Johnny these adventure tools so he can better explore the world.  One of his favorite things to do is take nature walks, finding each animal and bug and wanting to know everything about it.  He loves to catch bugs and collect rocks, he could tell you things even I don't know! But his favorite thing to do on nature walks is to pick up trash! He finds it all and will not move on until every piece of trash is found, in fact he picks up trash were ever he is!

This octopus has special meaning this year.  Grandma Sharon and GG got it for him for his birthday from the Zoo we visiting while in Chicago.  He saw it and wanted it so much and it did not take but a few  minutes of for Grandma to give in to him! That is what Grandmas are for.

This is the picture of who he is best this year.  He is goofy! He is fun and he loves to be crazy.  He seems to have never ending energy and never stops moving, even while he sleeps.  He has a good heart and is always doing things for his sister and cousins.  He cares for those who are crying and just wants to help.  As a 4 year old he does not listen very well, sometimes seems to ignore directions he has been given, or even argues slightly sometimes.  

As of this post Daddy has been in Texas, preparing for his deployment, for 5 weeks.  5 weeks since Johnny has hugged his Daddy.  This has been hard on him and he acts out a little, pees his pants, is jealous of Mommy and Grams when another child is getting attention.  He has started to talk more in one word sentences ("drink drink" ) and crying out loud and hysterically when he is upset.  He is easy enough to calm down and time out and correction is effective enough to fix the problem.  But I can see in him a slight sadness, he misses his Daddy.  He has a pair of camoflouge shorts that he calls his "Daddy shorts" and puts them on every chance he gets! He also carries around his Daddy Doll all day long and sleeps with it every night.  

Johnny is growing fast and strong, I am proud, as always, to be his Momma!

Spring!! T-Ball and Playgrounds!

Johnny is finally signed up for his first real sport! T-BALL!!! And we are all excited! He got new shorts, shoes, balls, bats, helmet, bases and t-ball kit. We are all excited to get Johnny to play with his cousins and his new team!! Papa had gotten him this glove when he was born and he finally gets to use it!

Papa, wearing his "Coach" hoodie, which I got him when he was my birthing coach when Johnny was born. Today he was T-ball coach, getting Johnny started off on the right foot!

Start position and we learn that Johnny wants to swing left handed and throw right, pitch hitter?

Spring has hit and the kid miss Daddy. So keeping them busy means daily trips to the playground with his 20 feet from Grams and Pops house! Lily loves it all!

Johnny always surprises me and does more then I think he should be able to!

Head first! Sometimes it is just too hard to get her big butt under her to go down the right way.

Johnny always hunting for rocks :)

My little cupcake is just so beautiful! Happy and crazy!

Settling In

Life has changed. Friday we handed over the key to our house and mailbox key and stepped away from the house we called home for more then 3 years. It is all very strange. I did not like that house, ugly floors, florescent lights that kept going out, sink that kept backing up.... but Johnny had his first and second birthday parties in that house and Lily came home from the hospital to a pink room in that house and we had ALL of her first there. It was a home and I hope we can always remember it that way. Happy days and restful nights.

So now everything has started. We are settling very nicely into Grams and Pops house...our home and feeling like we have always lived here. Johnny has an awesome new bed and we are finding just the right place for everything, the tons of stuff we seem to "need." Every day my mom brings the kids down to me at 7 am (when she goes across the street to take care of my nieces) and I feel over whelmed with gratefulness at how easy they have made this for us. It was not one hour after we got the word that Shawn was being deployed that both of my parents told us this is were we need to be, it is.

Our First night in Grams and Pops house, our new home! Johnny was very excited to get to sleep in the same room with his sister!

Such a good sleeper usually. But she handled the move worst of all of us. She walked around and cried and pulled on Grams the most to be carried around. She kept waking up in the middle of the night and just wanted someone to sit with her. The last day she was in the APG house she walked to each room and cried in it as she realized that the house was emptying out. It broke my heart, but she knows Grams and Pops house so well that before 3 days passed she was sleeping soundly again. Though she doesn't like it when anyone leaves the house, it is like she knows what is coming.

Johnny's first night in his bright new bed! HE LOVES IT!!!

The most amazing parents and Grandparents ever took in 4 grandkids on Valentines day so that Mommies and Daddies could go out on the town. The kids loved the sleepover, cousins are like built in best friends and these kids always have play mates!

Ella was more excited then anyone else! She loves the new room designs and sharing the room with Johnny was her favorite!

Egg Nog Latte

About 2 weeks ago my dad brought me an egg nog latte from Starbucks, because my dad knew that that day I needed it. I will always remember and be grateful for the special coffee. A start to the support my parents always give us.

That day while helping my mom decorate their Christmas tree and waiting for Johnny to get out of school Shawn called me on my parents home phone. He had news that turned our entire world upside down.

The Army decided that a unit in Fort Bliss Texas needs Shawn more then the unit in Fort Stewart Georgia, or us. That unit in Texas is headed on a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan early next year. In one short morning our family went from planning trips to Disney world and the sunny beaches of Georgia to pure panic and anticipation of separation....again. This will be Shawn's third deployment, and at the end he will have spent 3 years of his life in the dessert. Although the first two deployments where not easy, Shawn and I are adults and able to understand that it won't last forever. This will be the first time he will have to be away from his kids. We know kids are strong and resilient and really too young to remember this when they grow up, but it doesn't make the thought any easier. Shawn will miss them and they will miss him. We have plans of recorded stories and video blog updates so that the kids can see him and hear him, and that is keeping me from falling apart.

We don't know a lot of details right now, we are still waiting for some official word to come it. It will happen fast in 2012 so after quickly deciding that me and the kids can't sit in Texas alone (33 hours away from any familiar face) while Shawn is gone and some longer talk about renting a house my parents street, both Grams and Pops offered us their own home. They have taken me in twice making separation and deployment easier, but this time there are three of us, and still my parents did not wait a second to offer us a place to live, support and daily help in the lives of a 3 year old and a 1 year old. They love those kids and they love us too!

We are finding "hidden blessings" in this dramatic turn of events. We have learned to appreciate each other again and living our daily lives as a family. Daddy holds his kids tighter and kisses them more often and I struggle to keep tears out of my eyes. Shawn will have the chance to do school on line and get in better shape down range then he can here. I have the same chance. With my parents to help with the kids and my brother and his family across the street (all who have more then given offers of support) I too can focus on school and maybe double up on classes and get done faster, as well as use the gym right down the street and finally ditch these 60 pounds of baby weight. Biggest of all we have a chance to save money and build a base for the rest our lives. A chance to make up for finical mistakes all young people make and really provide for our children.

I can't imagine how difficult this would be with out my parents gracious love. I feel so well taken care of! My warrior husband headed off to war to protect and provide for us. He has honor to continue his commitment to our country despite how much this will hurt him. My parents never have a second thought to take care of me and my children, no matter how hard it might be to have two young children ripping their house apart day and night. There are not words of thanks for these people I am so lucky to be blessed with as family.

2012 will be hard for the Branson family. We know it is scary, but the kids will not. This will be the fun year they lived with Grams and Pops. We are working very hard so that they never feel the stress of it. Daddy is going on an adventure to the dessert.

Lily Jean 18 Months

Time seems to be flying by! It has been far to long since I have done an update on our little Lily Bean. Her big personality has been emerging so much lately. She is strong and spirited, but still happy and sweet!

Really Cute Dennison Babies

Grams and Pops are amazing Grandparents. There is nothing more important to them then these 6 little children. They spend their days watching Samantha and or Lily, picking Jack up from school, helping me with anything, and their evenings are filled with special time with Ella, Wyatt, or Piper, planning holidays, hosting holidays, creating special moments and memories and now preparing to be foster parents! They have no "free" time, but I know they wouldn't have it any other way!

Hey Johnny hold on to your sister... and he does :)

Six little sweeties all in a row. Ella 7 years, Jack 3.5 years, Wyatt 2.9 years, Samantha 2.5 years, Lily 18 months, Piper 13 months.

Some times kids will be kids!

And some times they will be perfect! All those beautiful babies, cousins, sisters, brothers and all are friends!

Excited and Scared

We receievd official word this week that our family will be moving the Fort Stewart Georgia in February of 2012!! We are very excited for this new possibility of new adventures, but we are scared of leaving friends and family here in Maryland.

Although this blog as been pretty inactive in the past year it will become more active as we move away and loved ones left behind will want to stay involved and up to date. I won't have a choice but to update, so fingers crossed that I will :)

With the move and Christmas we are all pretty revved up and everyone is happy and healthy. Lily is using a lot of words, including "please please" when she wants something. Johnny is asking questions and figuring things out like the very intelligent little boy he is. We are all very happy and looking forward to the holiday season.