Back to Baghdad

I finally arrived in Baghdad, Iraq on the Victory Base Compound on 31 January after spending four days in Qatar waiting for a flight from Qatar. It was weird returning to the same location that I had previously been less than two short years ago. However, times are a changin'. Things in Iraq have drastically calmed down. Attacks against the base are almost non-existent compared to my last trip, the amount of work is much less as units begin to transition out, and the number of U.S. forces will be drastically cut by the end of August. There will be more than 50,000 that leave while I'm here.

However, some things never change. Iraq is dirty and the palaces are quite amazing...sometimes it is hard to believe that we just rolled in here 7 years ago, took over and called it our own. Here is a quick snapshot of me sitting in one of Saddam Hussein's thrones that he was given as a gift.



And one last one to try and give you a little perspective of what things look like outside of this massive base. The Ugandan's actually have the tedious job of providing security for our base...wait, let me get this straight. The Ugandan's are protecting us? Yep, and I convinced them to allow me up in the Guard Tower for a picture opportunity outside of their little peak box. You can see that just beyond the walls is what this area of Baghdad looks like.

10 Weeks

We are officially 10 weeks pregnant this week. According to babycenter.com, T-Rex is the size of a kumquat this week. My pants have been getting tighter and tighter, and finally last Thursday, I had to get my first maternity items. I now have 2 pairs of pants, relaxing pants, and a dress to get started with my new size. Last week was the first week I started feeling better and have been eating pretty much anything I can.

In case anyone wanted to know where T-Rex came from, it was from Jurassic Park. When Jason and I went to the doctor's for the ultrasound, the baby was moving it's little stubby arms. The first thing that came to my mind was this:



Ever since then, we have been referring to the baby as T-Rex. Too bad Jason had no idea what I was talking about when I kept saying, "We have a T-Rex!" over and over again. So I sounded like such a dork in front of the ultrasound tech...and Jason figured out he married a geek.

This also marks one week down for the deployment. Yey! The week went by fast but some days seem to drag. Hopefully things will continue to move long quickly.

-Emily

T-Rex is on the way

Back last November when we found out that I'd be deploying for six months to Iraq from January - July 2010, Emily and I knew that we would have a decision to make. The Air Force has helped define our relationship, marriage and where we live; so why not let it dictate when we have a baby. On January 31st, Emily will be 10 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately, I will miss the majority of it but I will be lucky enough to return for the delivery.

Just prior to the deployment I was able to attend her first Doctor visit, along with the first ultrasound at 8 weeks and 5 days. This is our little T-Rex.


While at the appointment we were able to listen to the heart and watch it beat, see its little head bobbing up and down, and the little T-Rex arms moving all around. It was by far the best gift I could have ever asked for prior to my deployment.

-Jason