Soldier on leave meets infant son for 1st time

CEDAR RAPIDS - Jeni Wilson of Marion has spent the past seven months waiting to see her husband again.

On Sunday afternoon, she stood nervously at The Eastern Iowa Airport, cradling her newborn son and surrounded by her three older children.

“I'm feeling a mix of so many different things. I'm nervous, excited and happy,” she said.

While her husband, Spc. Evan Wilson, was serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq, she gave birth to their fourth child, Jordan.

“I keep telling him, ‘You're going to meet your daddy soon,'” she said.

Evan Wilson said walking toward his family almost felt like a dream.

“I'm still in kind of a haze,” he said.

Jeni Wilson couldn't stop staring at her husband.

“I didn't even recognize him at first. He had changed so much from working out,” she said.

Brittany, 6, Jackson, 4, and Kaylee, 2, had also changed quite a bit since their father last saw them. And holding 2-month-old Jordan for the first time left Evan Wilson almost speechless.

“It's amazing. It's just incredible,” he said.

He'd watched the birth over a webcam, but he said that couldn't compare to feeling his son's heartbeat right beside him.

Even though being away has been tough, Wilson said, his wife's support has comforted him throughout the deployment.

“I have a strong wife. She's amazing at taking care of the kids and taking care of home,” he said.

The family expects the next two weeks of Evan Wilson's leave will fly by. They plan to spend time visiting family and friends, watching movies and just enjoying each other's company.

Wilson must then return to Iraq for another six months.