Monday, May 27, 2013

one month down

we are one month into the deployment.
that feels like an accomplishment in and of itself.
(i'm choosing not to think about how many more months we have to go.  one more down sounds a lot better.)

while reading through some old posts, i came across this "gem" from one of fly boy's previous deployments describing my different routine when fly boy is gone.  let's be honest, i don't think many of the habits i described are/were particularly heathy.

i giggled reading it, thinking about how different, yet similar  our life is two years later, but also dealing with a deployment.

-two years ago, i proudly left dirty laundry in the hamper just to have some of fly boy's clothes still waiting to be washed.  
-this time, i made sure to do all his laundry before he left, even folded it and put it away for him.  i did, however, leave his two flight suits in the laundry room hamper for several weeks before actually washing them and thus admitting to myself he wouldn't be coming home in the foreseeable future.

-two years ago i tried to replace fly boy with lucy.  she hated cuddling.
-today, i still let lucy sleep on our bed, but she still jumps down after five minutes of non-cuddling.  lucy refuses to let me use her to replace fly boy.

-two years ago i avoided wearing clothes that require ironing as fly boy is the better ironer in our family.
-today, i have gotten better at generally choosing clothes that require no ironing.  making fly boy's absence less obvious.

-two years ago i ate cookie dough ice cream for dinner.
-this time, i eat cookies for dinner.  (only after charley goes to bed, of course.)

-two years ago i frequently fell asleep on the couch while watching tv late at night.
-last night, i woke up at 1am and dragged myself to bed to get some "good sleep."  

to sum up:
two years, one move, one baby and another baby on the way, not much has changed when it comes to deployments.

come home soon fly boy.  you bring much needed structure to my life!  ;)


Sunday, May 26, 2013

we will use any excuse to get new family pictures

i'm calling it charley's one year portraits/predeployment/last family pictures with just the three (oops, sorry lucy) four of us.

whatever you want to name it, we had the privilege of our dear friend kelli campbell taking some family pictures before fly boy left for his deployment.

i'm in love.




the 17 week bump...







thanks kelli
you are the best!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

thankful thursday no.1

it's that time that every military wife dreads.
deployment time.

a time where it is easy to wallow in self-pity, and become completely self-involved.

in an effort to keep the focus off my own sorrows, i'm starting a new series: thankful thursdays. a time where i can reflect the many blessings in my life.

five things i am thankful for today...

no. 5  letter writing and emails.  fly boy and i get to take this time to revive the lost art of writing love letters to each other.  there is something about the anticipation of walkin to the mailbox everyday to see if there is a handwritten letter from my love that cannot be replaced with an inbox or text.  i love his letters.

no. 4 living two miles from my brother and sister-in-law.  being in two different branches of the military, it's got to be a 2% chance that we would not only be stationed at the same base, but at the same time.  huge huge blessing.

no. 3 lucy. those long nights when i can't seem to stop the tears from flowing, i always have a sweet golden retriever's head resting on my lap.  fly boy recently came across a study that concluded dogs are more empathetic to human emotion than other humans.  lucy is proof.  

no. 2 my sweet charlotte.  even in the middle of her first ear infection, she is the joy of my day.  she has never been a cuddly baby, but as she matures into a toddler, she seems to tolerate, even enjoy hugging me or snuggling on the couch.  i love it.

no. 1 wifi and facetime.  charley and i have been able to "see" fly boy almost everyday.  it has made the first few weeks of this deployment so much easier.  charley has loved eating lunch with her daddy.  she even signs for "more" dada after we hang up.  breaks.my.heart.  but at the same time, so good that she recognizes him and misses him.

our last family trip to the beach for a while.
miss you my fly boy!