Abigail at 2 Months

Well, Abigail is now two months old. Things are busy but pretty much back to normal. I just figured I would share some pictures and a video of Madi and I trying to get Abigail to smile. Hope this finds you all well...

Update on 1 month old Abigail

Hello All...hope this post finds you well. I have made the final transition back to school and I am finishing up my second week. Things have been going pretty well...it is amazing how many changes small changes we make every year that I don't notice normally. The rest of the family is doing well and we are back in our routine pretty well. Abigail is doing well and is now 4 weeks old...she is doing well. She is doing the normal baby things that are tiring to Mom and Dad but show that she is developing and growing. Below are a few updated pictures....Enjoy!

Update from Home

Greetings all. Well, Abigail is now one week old and our family is settling in. It has been a busy week taking care of all the initial appointments and the normal activities of Madi and Andrew. Abigail has been pretty good, though she hasn't disappointed with multiple feedings during the night which is tiring - it is amazing how quickly you forget. Either that or it is that I was 8.5 younger last time :)

I am preparing to head back to school in a week or so. It has been nice to be home and be able to concentrate on getting tasks done, helping out with Abigail, and get back into the schedules of Madi and Andrew. It is time to get back to normal though.

Part of the more unpleasant but necessary part is to get all my doctoring done post deployment. I went to a new doctor, and by the time I left from my initial appointment, he said in a joking manner "man, you got alot of problems". I have been diagnosed with a dust induced asthma that has brought on a continual cough and some chest congestion. I am on medicine for it and the Dr says it should clear up over the next few months. I also had to go to an ENT for my ear that gave me trouble during the deployment. They orginally thought I had a ruptured ear drum due to a long bout with an ear infection over there. Turns out it is a layer of scarring from the infection that has no effect on my hearing, so that was good. I also had to go and have my big toe numbed and fixed. The new Dr is also looking at putting me on different age 40+ medicines for cholesterol and some other things based on the results of a blood test I had taken. All this has made me feel very old...then I return home to a new born - wild.

Here are some updated pictures of Abigail. A picture of her dressed, the traditional first bath picture and a picture with her siblings.




We have had many visitors and many people express their congratulations and express relief that I was able to make it home in time. So many people have been there for Rebekah and my family throughout my time away..it is truly humbling and a great feeling that so many people truly care about us here in our community. We are trying to keep up with all the phone calls and updates and look forward with connecting with everyone in the next few weeks and months as we get back to "normal".

Please keep the group of fine men and woman still in Afghanistan in your thoughts and prayers. My friend Maj Todd Graham has started a blog of his own if you are interested in following along:

http://toddsdeploymentadventures.blogspot.com/

Thanks again for following along and reaching out to me and my family. I look forward and am hopeful that I can maintain contact with you...so please keep in touch. Until next time...

Abigail Has Arrived !!

Abigail Hope Hirneisen was born at 0425 on 29 Jan 2010. She and Rebekah are doing great. After two weeks of contractions and doctors visits, we went in at 4 pm on the 28th to begin the process. The original plan was to begin induction, but Rebekah was already beginning. She moved through the labor fairly quickly after midnight and delivered without complications - praise God. She was 6lbs 13oz and 21 inches long and a beautiful baby. As you can tell from the story, we haven't slept so I will make an official post once I get some sleep. Here are some initial pictures....Enjoy.

Home

I am adjusting to being home. It has been surprisingly difficult. I just feel kind of out of it. When I came home, my wife had yellow ribbons placed up and down the road we live on and ordered a banner for our house...which was very thoughtful. Below is a picture of me and the kids by the sign.


I have begun to reintegrate in to restaurant food. I have eaten at McDonald's, Subway, Quizno's and ate left over Tommy's Pizza (a local Gettysburg pizza place). My stomach has felt a little strange but not too bad. My wife was picking on me because I drove really slow out of the lake where we live and took a while to get up to speed. That is what you get when you drive 20 Km/hr (16 mph) for so long. I also keep hitting the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal on the car. The strange thing is that I did the same thing in the cars in Kandahar when the steering wheel was on the other side...

While in Kandahar, I had four American flags flown on military air missions. The pilots stowed the flag in the cockpit during his mission. The pilot then would print up a certificate with the date, mission, pilot etc to accompany the flag. I took the flags to the frame shop and had them framed. I presented a framed flag to my daughter's 4/5 grade classroom teacher Mrs Donna Kluck who had the class follow the blog and was very supportive of my daughter Madi.



My wife has done a great job getting the kids in to a routine that I am working back in to. The great job that she did with everything while I was away is very evident. Rebekah has been very uncomfortable and has had many contractions that have subsided...so close but no labor yet. She is still working her business and working out this week in the hope that the baby will quickly arive now that I have made it home. I have been accompanying her to her gym this week which has been good. I will hopefully have a baby post next week.

As always, thanks for following along. I will keep you posted on the progress of the baby. Until next time...

Last Week - End of Week 26 HOME!!

This week was full of good-byes and well wishes. Though I long for being done and getting home to my family, I will leave some friendships and acquaintances behind..probably forever.

It was an eventful week with finishing up some last items, moving from our mod to accomodate the new folks, out processing with all the different organizations, and getting packed. I was hampered a bit by the move to our new compound in that I lost computer access for many days. By moving out of the mods, I also lost my computer access in my room...so if this blog is a little choppy, it is because I updated it as I had access in different places.

As part of the final week, a some of us were fortunate to receive a Navy Commendation Medal. Due to the fact that we belonged to the Naval Construction Regiment when we arrived, we were eligible to receive a Navy award in lieu of an Air Force Award. I preferred the Navy award because it was a unique opportunty to receive an award from another service because, most of the time, you deploy and work within your own service. CAPT Schmader was kind enough to take time and come down to our new compound to give the awards. I worked with CAPT Schmader as part of the KAF planning board and on many of my presentations to the Generals from USFOR-A right after he arrived. I did not work as closely with him as I did the previous Commodore because we broke away the last few months to form our own squadron and no longer worked directly for the Navy. He is a very good engineer, great troop leader, and has that keen insight and wisdom that most O-6's possess when it comes to making decisions. My interactions with him were mostly positive and I am glad I had the opportunity to work with him. Below are some pictures of the award presentation.





The final 72 hours of my tour was wild. My replacement arrived and I began to finalize my travel plans. My intended flight on the 17th was cancelled and the next one was 5 days later. Through the hard work of many people, calling in many favors, and some answered prayer...I am on my way home on Friday Jan 15th ..I am writing this from Turkey now. It has been a very stressful last 72 hours, filled with very little sleep, constant changes and anxiety. I got put on the flight out of Afghanistan with a few hours to spare and found out I made the flight home at the last minute. There was a group of 4 of us who were rushed through the system to make the flight. Most people spend 3 days in Manas, the first stop where you turn in your stuff and catch your flight home...our group spent less than 3 hours. We were still uncertain that we would make the flight up to the last minute. Barring any long delays, I will be home Friday night. The travel time is 24 hours from Manas and one of the worst parts of the deployment experience for me...but the way home is alot easier to put up with than the way in. Looking forward to seeing my family in a few hours.

I will update the blog next week with the status of the baby and my adjustment home.. stay tuned.

End of week 25

Well, this is my last full week. I was able to say, "This will be my last meeting" a few times at the end of the week - that made things seem closer. Replacements should show up this weekend - that will make things seem real as well. Next week's blog - may be delayed - but will hopefully be from a different location...

I have started to read some books near the end of my tour. I was sent The Associate by John Grisham and that has started a run of John Grisham books. I am on my fifth one. They are easy and quick to read and serve as a nice way to wind down at night because they don't require alot of thought. Where did I get the books? - you might ask. The number of books here is incredible. Most people bring books and then leave them here. Every compound has their own library and there is an MWR (acronym for morale, welfare and recreation) with hundreds of books. If you are a reader, you certainly have your pick.

As part of the good-bye tour, I wanted to recognize two more people. Just like the previous engineers at COMKAF, I was fortunate to work closely with two very fine British officers in the CJ4 office. Andy Gow is the current real estate officer and has the very challenging job of not only balancing the land allocation for my (the US) requirements, but all the NATO requirements as well throughout the upcoming surge. He is a superb officer, but what makes him a star is his personality. He is always available to me and customers and is able to handle the stress with a sense of humor...that makes him fun to be around. Andy spent some time in the US on a previous assignment and says he wouldn't mind returning. It was a pleasure to meet and work with him. LtCol Phil Crick is the current base engineer. He is a very good facilitator. He is able to command a large room, clarify topics, assign tasks and do so in a non-condescending way and with a sense of humor. Like his predecessor, LtCol Green, he is a professional and exactly what this base needs during the next surge. I appreciate his sense of humor and his endless ribbing - I rarely leave a meeting with him without at least one good laugh. Both of these men have been a great support to me during my time here and I will miss working with them. Below is a picture of Andy Gow (Standing), LtCol Phil Crick (seated) and me in Andy's office.


We also moved locations this week. We moved from the "cans", where I sat for 5 and three quarters months, to the Prime Beef Compound. We moved into tents called Alaskan Shelters. They are actually pretty nice for tents. They have a concrete floor and offer a nice space. They have an ECU (acronym for environmental control unit) that effectively heats and cools the tent through a plenum that runs through the tent. The plenum has velcro flaps that you can open and close in each area so that there is a little bit of individual temperature control. The good thing is that the entire squadron is together and the space is free of the offgassing and poor air that we endured during the hot months here - it made me physically ill. The down side is that it is further from where I live and just outside of walking distance - you can do it, but it is a hike. This will limit some flexibility. My current walk to and from work goes through the boardwalk which was a nice walk, and this one will not. Lt Germany will miss the view - we were the only second floor around and our view was down a main thoroughfare. We will also be tougher to find by our customers. Due to the poor air, we would prop the door open when we were in there - it was kind of an "open for business" sign. All in all not a bad thing - it did allow me to clean up and organize my stuff as part of the move. Below are some pictures of my space - I will probably leave it bare for the few days I am in it..

Our last picture at the can:


Outside the new tent:


Inside the new tent:


My new desk:


Due to the fact that our office is now further from things, our squadron has ordered some Rhino's. They are similar to Gators but smaller. I had some issues getting my computer to work, so I asked one of our Sgt's to train me on the Rhino so I could drive it to do some errands. It puts a twist on getting around. Here is my attempt as a tough looking face, comes across a little goofy again, but I thought I would share.


As always, thanks for following along. A few more things to do and tickets to punch to get home...but it will be up to the military air system soon..pray for good luck. I will still be using my us.army.mil account for e-mail through my travels and then at home. I will not be on my afghan.swa.army.mil...obviously. So, keep in touch...

Until next time....