Deployment is OVER!

So about 8 days ago my husband came home after being gone for 4 1/2 months to Qatar. I anticipated the C130 to break on their way home so I would not be disappointed when they did not make their arrival time...but as the days got closer I hoped he would arrive on Saturday. Well the plane broke, then the plane bringing them the part broke, then another plane broke, and lastly...another plane broke. That is 4 planes - all broken! My little heart was crushed thinking he would not make it back in time to go to the beach for our family vacation. I finally got the call and was so upset that they would not be home until Monday which meant the trip would be canceled. Then a few hours later I got another call - Sunday at 2:30 PM. My heart flip flopped - we would get to go on our family vacation after all.

That morning we woke up and got ready. I made a sign for Bailey to color and cleaned the house to kill time and then finally it was time to leave. I can still see that plane coming through the sky and landing on the run way in front of me. I held Bailey's hand as we watched our "favorite boy" come back into our lives. We were just steps away from being a family again. We watch the men come out one-by-one and then there he was! My eyes watered as I told Bailey "LOOK! It's Daddy!". He finished shaking hands and we walked closer and Bailey took off running. My SIL did a great job capturing the moments that I hoped would happen. It was amazing!

I am very thankful that they came home safely. Thank you to all our friends and family who were there for me and Bailey during our months apart. I appreciate all the prayers for myself and Blake - who knows what those prayers did for us.

Blake in Pakistan

My sweet husband is deployed within a deployment, here is an article on his unit helping with the Pakistan flood. Makes me so proud of him :) September 15th he will be boarding a plane to head home...that's 21 days! It will take probably 3-5 days to get home on the C130. We are having his welcome home party on the 25th all friends and family are welcome to attend!

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123218861

Change In Schedule

Today is day 4 of Pre-K and my how our schedules have changed. What I thought would be the worst schedule imaginable along with battling school traffic has turned into a breeze! I was so worried about this new schedule and Bailey loving her new school but there wasn't anything I could do about it - I felt so hopeless so about 2 weeks ago I just surrendered to God saying "I can't be in control anymore and I will stop trying to control EVERYTHING - Lord just take my life and fix it." So Sunday my stomach was in knots because I knew my schedule would be awful and it would be like that for 6 weeks (until Blake came home). So Monday came around and the traffic was honestly - just normal. I got to her school with plenty of time and made it work just 5 minutes late (I thought it would be 15 minutes late every morning). AND then when I went to pick up Bailey the teacher said that she could stay until 3:15 PM to give my M-I-L time to get there after work on Wednesdays and Thursdays (I thought I would have to leave work and go get her and then meet my M-I-L and then go back to work and make up the time lost for the 15 minutes that morning and the 30 minutes that afternoon.). If I would have planned this out it would have been so screwed up but God knew a better for me and my family. Also, I have more time in the mornings to get ready or sleep a little bit more, I'm driving less everyday, and I get home earlier than I used to since Bailey is already at home when I get off work. God has truly blessed us. To some people a change in schedule may not sound big but to me that is what I cling to when Blake is gone. A schedule keeps my life in balance because I know what I am suppose to do daily and when you take that away I feel like I'm loosing it. Also on Fridays since I get off early to pick up Bailey we are going to do "Library Fridays". I just loved going to the library on base so I looked up a library close to our home or her school and there is one 5 minutes from her school in the downtown area. Also, Bailey just loves her new school and teacher, Miss Jessica - so I am so thankful for that. More fabulous news: I went to the Haematologist yesterday to go over my lovely genetic disorder (see from a few posts ago) and he was like "no biggie - just deal with it". It isn't a BIG deal like my thyroid doctor made me believe - when he told me he acted like I had 6 months to live and freaked me out completely, but it isn't a big deal and I just have to be aware of it and make sure I write it on my medical records. So this has been a fabulous week - my stress level went from 9 to 2 on a scale of 1-10.

Countdown...

42 days until he boards on a plane to come home...add a few more days to that and he will be here on Alabama soil. So in 6 weeks my life can get back to "normal". I think Bailey has grown 6 inches since he left - she is looking more like a little girl rather than a toddler. She talks so much especially in the car...it drives me nuts sometimes but she is so funny. So I was suppose to have all these house repairs done before he comes home and well....I think "I" did one thing: the blinds. Oh where has the time gone?

to do list this week:
get quotes on repairs
hire someone
get the job done
find money to pay for the job

Blogger Junkie

Since Blake's deployment I started looking for military wife blogs. There were a few I liked that posted other blogs that posted other blogs....and so on. So lately I have added about 10 new blogs I follow and I love them. I love the blogs about decorating cupcakes, cakes and cookies, throwing parties, tips on ANYTHING... However, as much as I love these blogs it makes me feel like I need to do more. I don't know if anyone else feels this way but you see great ideas and you want to do them but it gets overwhelming. I am a "list maker". I have a book filled with "to do's", "will do's", and "dreams". So when I look through these lists and see nothing checked off it's hard to take on other tasks.



I am on the second week of "One Month to Live" devotional/book and it says to not spend time on areas of your life that are in the "dark" or unimportant to you...like the things you don't tell people about or things that are not healthy I guess. It made me think of things that are in the "dark" and my biggest "dark" place was all the television I watched that became such a time stealer. It has been over a MONTH since I had the cable taken out of my house and I have to admit that first week was hard. I missed relaxing on the couch watching my shows and watching the news while getting ready in the morning and before bed. Now I don't miss it that much. I have found better things to do with my time like signing Bailey up for the summer reading program at the library on base so in our "down time" we read her library books or work on "school" stuff like writing letters and numbers. We don't have time everyday to do this but at least 3 afternoons a week we sit down and work on "school". It has been so nice to not worry about cleaning off my DVR. Also, I have had more time for cleaning the house and events to attend. So now instead of this "dark" place a.k.a. watching 10 shows a week I have this "light" place filled with books, interacting with my child, and more time for meaningful things.



At the end of week one in "One Month to Live" it asks you to make out a dream page with everything you have ever wanted to do. Looking at it every night makes me want to make them a reality and take one of the dreams off that list and put it on the "to do" list for that week. It may be small steps and take some time but it will be worth while in the end.



I've said it before that it makes it easier to do these things because I am able to spend more time on my interests verses caring about what Blake wants to do. I also have more time for Bailey and myself because I don't have to spend time with him, make big dinners, or clean as much (less dishes, less dirty clothes, less dirt traffic, less clutter...). I bought this book months ago but never had time to do it so it is perfect for these months he is away. It encourages me to do new things and be a better person. Some days can take 3 days to complete and then some nights I get in too late to work on it so it will probably take me 2-3 months to complete it.

Getting the house ready

My chore for the summer given to me by the husband: Get the house ready to sell. We did a lot to it since we moved here 3 years ago- new tile floors in the kitchen and bathrooms and wood floors in the common areas, new oven, painted everything...almost twice, and a few other things like new fans, light fixtures, and new hardware. It's amazing how much we have done and how much more there feels left to do. We need new blinds for the back half of the house, paint work done on cabinets and trim, and the outside needs some loving as well. So yesterday I had my house cleaned - like SPRING CLEANING. All the baseboards, fans, and lovely corners in the window seals. Ahh! It feels good. So now I am ready to start on the projects...mainly calling and getting prices and coordinating being there. Good thing we have a great friend who has a business that can help A LOT. Also, this mean little Bailey's room color has to change because you can't sell a pink room with black stripes...although I would love it if I walked into a house with that. This also means it will not look like a toddler room anymore- sniff, sniff! I love her room - it's my favorite room in the house because it expresses my creativity. One of these days we will get a house where we will stay for 10+ years and I can go crazy. I love turquoise and brown...but I also change my mind A LOT. Maybe it's best to just accessorize in those colors.

11 days down...109 more to go

Busy Dance Week! I was never in dance or an activity at the age of 3. I had a much older sister and brother who were active in things as well as living in Germany at the time (military family). I don't think I cared that my parents didn't put me in classes, but when we moved back to the states I did get into gymnastics and swimming around the age of 8 to 12 years old...then I decided to be a fat kid and watch TV (another reason I got rid of cable this summer). My parents didn't push me to do things so I quit and ate ice cream. Wow...lets get back to the original story...So this was my first time EVER going to a dance recital much less helping with one and being a mom at the same time. We went to the dance rehearsal on Monday and I had the kid who was scared and crying - she did calm down but had to use her tu-tu to wipe the snot dripping from her nose...hysterical.

I couldn't stop laughing and neither could the parents. She did okay but when it came to the second dance she stood there with her bottom lip poked out. So last night we show up early to make sure we are not late (like the night before...oops I wrote the wrong time down). I asked the teacher, "So do we need to all come back here and change their clothes or are certain moms doing that?" the teacher replied, "Oh great! Here you go - this is what you need to do....." FABULOUS! So now I have to run back and forth during the recital and be invisible because I knew Bailey would cry the whole time if she saw me. Well another mom stayed behind stage the entire time so I was able to go back and forth being unnoticed most of the time. Bailey did FABULOUS! I was so proud of her, she didn't cry and did both dances to the best of her ability. She even got a cute little trophy at the end.

As we were leaving and saying our goodbyes to family and friends she was emotional (very tired and hungry) that she cried, "I want my daddy!" and earlier when we were getting ready she said, "I want daddy to see me in my dance dress." Ugg...it was one of those moments where you don't know what to do or say besides "I want daddy to be here too baby." It has been hard on her having him gone again but this time she notices it a lot more that he isn't here. We haven't been able to skype in a few days since his flying schedule has been unpredictable and the time zone change makes it difficult as well. So 11 days down...109 more to go.