Major Anderson

Ed had his Major pin-on ceremony over the Christmas holidays as well. It was a small, short, casual affair, which is just what he wanted.

The girls got to perform the "pin-on" by taking off his captain rank.

So proud of our favorite man!

Not too much later Ed left on his first deployment in the C-130.

He hasn't been gone long, and won't be gone long, but this deployment has been different already.  For one thing, I've never been pregnant for a deployment before.  Thankfully, Ed should be back in plenty of time for the baby to be born, and I am not having any complications.  We are definitely counting our blessings there.  For another thing, the girls are a lot older now.  They understand things, and hear things, and worry about things that we haven't had to deal with before.  Instead of just telling them he was going to be at work or on a trip for a long time, Ed had to explain to them WHY he was going.  He tried to help them see the bigger picture.  They've been doing well with it, but have already shocked me a few times with their comments.  They've proven time and again that they're amazingly resilient.  Hopefully we'll figure out our "new normal" soon.

We sure love him.  Come back to us soon.