Getting Prepared (Aug 23rd)

So, here I am at home creating my first blogspot blog. This one will hopefully be kept up throughout the coming year while I am home with Maylisa (who still has yet to arrive) and Chris is in Korea.
We have been asked by several people how we have prepared for this time so I think this post will be mainly about that.
So far, we have been so distracted by thinking about the baby, I feel like it may all "hit home" when labor and delivery are done and there isn't anything else to plan for. We have a great group of friends within a great group of friends at our church. This "home group" has been especially helpful and supportive. The church family as a whole has been so attentive to every change in Chris' orders and airforce life that we feel like we have a solid safety net for the upcoming year.
We have prepared as much as possible for future "just in case" type things. We have apt.s to make will and get powers of attorney all set up. I am well practiced in all of our financial dealings.
We borrowed a video camera to make short episodes of what we call "the Daddy Show" for Maylisa to grow up watching her dad. Chris just does daily things like walking Norman or making sandwiches and talks to her about what he is doing and why. They are very cute and I am sure I will enjoy watching them just as much as we hope she will.
Chris also got a really cool laptop so that we could ensure daily communication without a time limit. Chris will be working 12 hour day 6 days a week with Sundays off. They provide a sort of communication center for spouses to have web-cam conference calls to home but they are limited as far as time and there are a lot of spouses standing in line for that. The laptop will also serve him well when he decides to separate from the military and start applying for jobs in the communications field.
WE are planning to email each other with a day in the life sort of thing about once a month so that when he comes home, we are both knowledgeable about what we have spent the last year doing on a daily basis. Our hope is that this will make us more aware and sensitive to the huge change it will be to live together again. No surprises and less expectations hopefully, will make for an easier transition. For Chris to become an instant father to a fifteen month old girl and for me to get used to having a husband around every day again. The transition will be so different for both of us and harder for Chris in many ways....
And last but not least, we have just found out where we will be sent after Chris returns. We will be sent to Aviano, Italy. So, I am hoping that we can get a language program and try to learn Italian together over the web cam while he is in Korea. That way, we will be doing something together while he is away. This may or may not happen depending on how overwhelmed Chris is with the schedule in Korea. But it is a fun idea for now. :)
So, that is how we are planning to prepare for the next year. There are so many variables and things that we know we have not even thought about, but we have great family and friends all over the US who are so faithful to love and listen. and pray. hard. So, we are excited and anxious to see what this year will bring, what God will do to teach and change.