The things kids say

Got this message from my sister today - I thought you would like this:

This morning the kids and myself were in Payton Ann's room and Parker asked me where she got her rocking chair. I said it came from Aunt Alison, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Doug, Uncle Karl, cousins Ethan, Mason, and Grant. Parker said, "Uncle Doug wasn't at Payton's birthday party". I said, "I know. He is in Iraq". Parker said, "Yeah, he's a soldier. That's what I want to be when I grow up." Payton Ann said, "Uncle Doug has bad guys at his office".

Belated Posts.....

OK - so it has been two weeks since my last post. Needless to say between work, baby, house remodel, gymboree, etc. life has been a little crazy. Don't think I have been home before 10 in the past week - but was able to skate out of work early today. Not to say nothing has been going on so be sure to read below as there are a few new posts below that I am posting today but dating on the days I meant to post them - if that makes sense.

This past weekend was a full weekend at the Round Rock house. And I could not have done it without my wonderful brother-in-law Karl(aka second husband)& family. Karl has an extraordinary green thumb and with the help of him, my brother, his friends, my pops, and my sister (for loaning me her husband), we were able to get a good start on the landscaping on the casa. We planted 6 trees and prepped and planted the beds all around the house. It really is looking like it could almost possibly be ready to move in. I took pics but since Doug has the digital and I have the 35 mm, it may take another week until I get those developed. Will definitely post them as soon as I get them.

While at the house, I was able to get my weekly call from Doug yesterday - but did not get my weekly fix. He called earlier than usual and I was hopeful that it meant he was going to go to bed early (he is 9 hours ahead). He was in the middle of a sandstorm and so after about 3 sentences, we were cut off. Hopefully, I'll get to talk to him later this week. So I sent him a sappy email last night instead.

I shared a few stories with him from the week that I thought I would share on the blog. It never ceases to amaze me how even the little guys miss and think about Doug.

Apparently, my niece (age 3) and nephew (age 5) have noticed Doug's absence. We celebrated my brother's 25th birthday this past weekend and my sister came in town from Beaumont with her two. Earlier in the evening, Parker wanted to know when Uncle Doug was going to be back because "he is fun" and Payton wanted to know when Uncle Doug was going to get to the party.

Earlier in the week, a friend of mine at work, Erika, brought her little boy, Andrew (2 years old), up to the office. I missed it, but apparently he knelt down at one point with his hands clasped. When someone asked him what he was doing, Erika said that he was saying his prayers. Andrew was asked what he prayed for and although I might miss someone in the list, he said "mommy, all of the children in the world, and Doug Gardner."

Don't think I can sign off on any better note....

Probable Cause?

It appears as though we have much to learn from the Iraqi justice system. Here at home you have to have probable cause to even think about asking a suspect questions. Not so in Iraq. Doug, missing his days of federal prosecution, has had the pleasure of detaining "suspects" for questioning. It is very formal - the suspects are usually taken to the shower area with a guard - and then questioned at length about who and what they know. They still lie but hopefully they are able to get some useful info. The suspects are then released out of the front gate and find their own way home. A few are actually sent to a facility for detainment.

Aside from offering an interrogating room, the shower guards also really are there full time so that the unit can shower. Not surprisingly, they are the most well respected and well treated in the unit.

Message from Doug

All,
Sorry it's taken so long to send an e-mail out to everyone. I had a military account that I tried to send some mail out to some of you but it broke down. So if you sent me an e-mail to my military account and I didn't respond, I apologize. As you can imagine, the ability to communicate in the desert isn't the easiest process.
Life isn't the greatest here in Iraq but we've settled into our base and a fairly decent routine. I'm at a place called Hit (pronouced Heat) in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. I live in a FOB or forward operating base. So far the temperatures haven't been horrendously hot but they're getting there. The living conditions aren't too bad although there are definately better days than others. The Marines are still motivated and professional and looking out for one another.
Our missions mainly consist of keeping the roads clear for convoys although we do patrol the cities and look for weapons caches and insurgents and conducting civil affairs missions to support local clinics and construction projects.
Feel free to e-mail (dgls_gardner@yahoo.com) and feel free to pass on to others (yahoo wouldn't let me include everyone). I'll get to them eventually and will promise a more lengthy reply.

Take Care

Doug

Thank goodness - I have wonderful inlaws!

How much better does it get?

I was out of town all this weekend and despite the fact that I was going to be of no help whatsoever, my parents-in-law and brother and sister-in-law headed to town from Houston & Dallas just to work on the Round Rock house. Not sure how I got so lucky but I am ever so grateful! They were able to get quite a bit done. We are on the "painting the interior trim phase." My brother and sister-in-law were able to stay and extra day so I was at least able to catch them for a late lunch - during which Doug called so he was able to talk to his brother for a bit.

This is the second time my parents-in-law have come up while I was out of town so I am not going to take it personally. I think my mother-in-law is just trying to see to it that I don't get on any more ladders....

Baby G Progression Belly Pictures

Ok - so I really did try to post a picture of Baby G from the 10K last weekend but despite my trying to get around copyright laws on the race photo website, it turns out I actually have to order a picture. So it may be a few days before I can post that picture. In the meantime, have posted progression pics of Baby G at weeks 15 and 24.


15 Week Belly Shot


24 Week Belly!

Comments From Iraq

Thanks for posting your comments and emails!! I talked to Doug on Saturday and all is well. He sincerely appreciates all of the emails sent to him and the comments on the blog. Although it seems so trivial to talk to him about my day (unless of course it is about nugget), he said that it is nice to hear about what is going on at home and work. I imagine with what his day to day is like, it would be nice to have some sense of normalcy. Then again, he did have lobster on Saturday for lunch and dinner. Go figure…. He is visiting another base (forgot the name) this week which is supposed to be the Ritz of bases there in Iraq. I think he is back in Hit later this week. He is able to check the blog now every other day or so and I have emailed him detailed instructions on how to log on and post his own entry – we’ll see….

House Progression

Since the last photos I posted, there actually has been quite a bit of work on the house, but you can't really appreciate how long most of it has taken until you spend 5 hours doing something that you thought was going to take 30 minutes. I did manage to pick out light fixtures from 4 different shops within 5 hours (with the assistance of my mom). If you know how many stores I usually go to in order to pick out something and how many times I go back to those stores over several months, you would be impressed. I have included a few photos of some of the fixtures.

The trim is also going up and looks amazing - unfortunately, I now have to paint it - blah. My in-laws kindly came down and helped paint some of it before it was hung. I decided that while I was ever so grateful that they spent their weekend spraying crown molding, but it was too much for the three of us to do. So up it went – ¾ of it unpainted. Then I was given a bid this week to paint all of it. Why didn't I paint it before it went up??

The cabinets are also in and they are being painted this week. Actually the painter has painted them but he is a bit messy with his overspray and now has to repaint all of the walls. Glad I hired that one out!

I have made an oath to myself to work on the house on the weekends until May and then I really need to start thinking about the poor baby who is going to be sleeping with the dogs unless I get a room ready. And after spending 8 hours on the house yesterday and coming home with swollen feet, the end of May can't come soon enough! Yes - swollen feet at 24 weeks!! Fortunately, they felt better today but July in Austin ain't gonna be fun.


Onto the landscaping


Fixtures going in...


That is one pretty kitchen - smelled like lard used for the tortillas


Kitchen coming along


Master Bedroom (this came before the picture below with the toilet sitting in mid room)


Master Bedroom with trim going up

How to Post Comments

Several of you have had some problems posting comments so I have made it a bit easier. Just click on the word "comment" below the post you would like to comment about and a pop-up box will appear. You don't have to login or anything. Just post your comment. This is a great way for Doug to read your comments....

Baby G set a personal record!

Yesterday Baby G participated and set a PR (personal record) in his (or her) first annual Capital of Texas 10K. He did the 3M Half Marathon and Motorala Half Marathon in January and February but something tells me that he was much more aware of his participation in this race. He definitely made his presence and weight known this time around.

Really - he did not do too badly. I of course did not set any records - but I guess I could say it was my best 10K pregnant. It was a beautiful day in Austin and about 15,000 runners came out to enjoy it. I had my picture taken per my husband's request for a pic. Depending on the results of the belly shot I will post it when the race photos come out....

Has it been a month?

Believe it or not, Doug has been in Iraq for over a month now. In some ways it has flown by and in others time has crept along. He has been gone for just over 3 months with 6 and 1/2 to go. A family that lives next to my sister just had their son come home and they had all of their welcome home banners out for him. Makes me a bit sad that we still have over 6 months to go but happy that he returned safely and excited about the day that Doug comes home.

He seems to be adjusting to life over there and fortunately or unfortunately so does his unit. Like all things in life, when you are spending 24 hours a day 7 days a week with the same people, I get the sense that there are male catfights to be had. And Doug thought that he was getting away from hormonal outbursts. I have been fortunate enough to talk to him about once a week and emails are sporadic. Update on his contact info:

You may want to email to both GardnerDW@1DIV7MARDM.1MARDIVDM.USMC.MIL
and dgls_gardner@yahoo.com

The military email has been off and on and internet is a bit more reliable these days.

The packages I sent took a little less than two weeks to get there. I asked him if there is anything else that he needs or that the unit might need. Generally, any healthy snack is Doug's preference. As for the unit, anything goes. Not sure if they have much of a library but I am sure that some good books along the lines of Clive Cussler or Tom Clancy would be appreciated.

I have attached the picture of Doug and the Iraqi general from his meeting a few weeks ago.

Doug and the General

Doug and the General