Return of the Jedi Mom!

It's been sooo long since my last post. Nevertheless, I am determined to get our loved ones back up to date with the growing DiParisi clan!
Well, the question now is "Where do I start?" So much has happened in the past two years since I've posted on this almost extinct blog.
Let me briefly recap the highlights:
To begin, we welcomed our third miracle, Sophia Noelle, into the world on December 24, 2008. Yes, Christmas Eve! She was our best gift that year!
The next milestone was Ryan's promotion to full Lieutenant in the spring of 2009. His mom, Kathryn, flew out for the ceremony and reception.
In July, we flew to New Jersey for a month long summer vacation. Mom and Dad Driscoll had us up to their timeshare in the Berkshires of Massachusetts for a delightful time together.
In October of that year, we moved off of Camp Pendleton into a four bedroom house in the conveniently located "Rancho Del Oro" neighborhood in Oceanside. I was especially happy to be closer to our parish, all of the stores, the YMCA and Hannah and Ben's preschool.
In December, once again, we flew to be with the family in New Jersey for Christmas and Sophia's one year birthday celebration.
In February 2010, we discovered that we were pregnant again!
In March, we nearly fell out of our seats when we were informed at the first ultrasound that we were pregnant with twins!
Also in March, Ryan left on his first deployment to Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, where he will be until October of this year.
Here we are in May already! Ryan has been away from the family for 6 weeks now. So far, we have been able to Skype several times and speak on the phone weekly. The available communication in the 21st century is incredible. Sometimes it feels like he has never left and is just calling from work like any other day.
Ryan's reports have all been very good! He is working 14 hour days, 7 days a week. He is enjoying what he is doing there in Medical Supply Logistics. He feels like he's making a big difference and seems fulfilled in his role. He says that the food is more than adequate. He even had prime rib and lobster for Easter! (Thank you for feeding my husband so well all of you loyal tax payers! He's definitely eating better than we are!)
He attends mass in the chapel under a tent. He's up early for runs with his company and works out at the gym.
Meanwhile, Hannah, Benjamin, Sophia and I are keeping busy with regular play dates, three days of preschool, Saturday swim lessons, our "Little Angels" church preschool group, enjoying family visitors and putting together packages to send to Daddy.
Dinner and bed times are probably when we most miss Ryan's presence. We are still trying our best to get used to it, but probably never will. No one ever said that deployments were easy.
So that's all for now. I will do my best to put up a monthly blog at the very least until the twins arrive.
Please keep our family in your prayers. We so appreciate and feel them each day as we experience this beautiful gift of life.