I can't believe that it has been a year!

A year ago I was sitting in the hospital wanting to go home and start our new life with our newest addition. When I think about it now it just feels like he has always been here. On November 13, 2007 I felt as it might be the day but I wasn't going to say anything to anyone or say it out loud after I had been to the hospital a week prior on a false alarm. So that morning I went to the school where I was doing my practicum to talk to my teacher about my lesson plan that I would be presenting the next day. That afternoon I went about running errands as I usually did. Steve was flying that day but was coming home early to go with me to my final OB appointment. At 3:15 the contractions started. I had been having contractions for the last couple of days but these were finally coming at a regular rate. They were all ten minutes apartment. Steve went into cleaning mode and straighting because we had a feeling that we might not be coming home after the appointment. The contractions did NOT feel good. Steve keep track of the contractions has a stood cringing against the wall. We got in the car for my appointment at 4:15 after packing the car just in case! We decided to call the parents on our way and told them that we would call them after the appointment to let them know what was going on.

We went into our appointment and I told the doctor that the contractions we ten minutes apart and she told me the disappointing news that they were not going to send me to the hospital unless they were five minutes apart and that I should go home and "try" to get some rest. She then checked to see if I was dilated and told me that I was only 1 cm. I was ready to cry and looked at Steve with disappointment. I was so uncomfortable and ready to have this baby. But as soon as the doctor delivered the news to us she noticed that my water might have broke. She did a quick check and sure enough it had! She told us we had to go to the hospital and that she would call ahead and they would have a room ready when we arrived.

We left the doctors office to drive the 15 minutes to Sacred Heart and called everyone on the way. Steve's parents got in the car and started driving down. My parents on the other hand I had a problem get a hold of. I finally got a hold of my Dad who then got a hold of my Mom. She was going to teach a quilting class and could not get a flight out. Side note: I was suppose to be induced on the 19th and this was the 13th. Everyone was going to be coming in the weekend of the 17th and 18th so that they would all be here. So we made it to the hospital and my room was ready to go. Here we go!

I checked into the hospital at about 5:30 and I was feeling good, nervous, and excited about what was about to happen. They gave me an IV and patocin to help the labor along. Now that my water had broke I was at rest for infection and so was the baby. I labored through the pain but I was ready for my epidural when I was about 5 cm it was about 9:00. I was really ready about an hour earlier but my blood work had not come back so they were unable to give it to me yet. They offered me a little something to take the "edge off" through my IV and I took it. And just a note to myself for the future...I hated it. It made me feel like I had 26 margaritas. The room was spinning and since I was still experiencing the contractions it was too much to handle. But I was so surprised that the epidural didn't hurt as much as I thought that it would but I am sure that in comparison to what the contractions were like this was nothing. Now I was really ready and feeling great. Jackson keep trying to give us all a scare by letting his heart rate drop. They put me on oxygen and had me lay on my left side. After seeing Jackson and holding him and see that he already had a grip I think that he was gripping onto his umbilical and clenching onto it.

Steve had a small bench on the side of my room and we both tried to catch a nap and were successful most of the time unless the nurse came into to check the progress. By 1:00 am it was time to push after pushing for 2 hours Jackson finally made his debut at 3:06am, weighting in at 8 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long. We made our phone calls to the parents and my mom asked does he have any hair...no...and he still doesn't. :) The nurses also told us that he was a big baby for someone that was 5 days early. They later told me after checking him out and seeing how scaly he was (dry skin on hands and feet) that he was really probably 2 weeks past due. No wonder I was so miserable!

I am sure that most people don't really care about this but I wanted to remember it and I was afraid that I would start to forget it.

Jackson is ONE!!!

Today my little man is one year old. I can't not believe how fast a year can go by when some of the days seem to drag on. Steve took the day off from one and I took the day off from student teaching. We decided we wanted to spend the day as a family and do something that we had been talking about doing but could never find the time to do. We knew that if we said that we were going to do it for Jackson's birthday we would do it so today we drove through Destin to the small community of Seaside. Before we left we opened the gifts from our family. Aunt Courtney, Uncle Ian, and Kate sent him a very cute shirt, hat, and a little V-Tech laptop that plays music. He loves anything that plays music. Honey and Papa sent him a Little Peoples farm tracker that also plays some music and a lot of great Carters clothes. Which is great because he has grown so much and so quickly that he was in need of clothes. Grandma and Grandpa send him some cute Air Force socks, "Goodnight Moon", and Grandma also knitted him some wash cloths. Thank you to everyone!!
We enjoyed the drive down and Jackson slept most of the way down. It was really warm today and we enjoyed eating lunch at a little cafe just outside of Seaside. It is a beautiful drive and it was a gorgeous day. We were so glad that the rain held off so that we could enjoy a much needed day away as a family. We bought Jackson his very own lunch instead of bringing him baby food or sharing ours with him. He had grilled cheese and pasta salad and he ate more for lunch than I did. He has become quite the eater.

After lunch we were off to Seaside and when we got there it was so cute and we walked around the community and looked at all of the houses that all had names of their own. It reminded me a lot of Martha's Vineyard with the different colored houses and how quiet it is. When my family use to come to Destin for our vacations we would drive over to Seaside and we would always get some ice cream. That was my only request when we went over there and we did get some ice cream and Jackson even got to try some ice cream for the first time. We had a great time spending the day with Jackson and we are looking forward to his party tomorrow!

One year ago today!

A great friend of ours, Joellynn Jones, offered to take some maternity pictures of Steve and I and since Jackson came so quickly after the photo shoot I thought that I would post them now. I want to be able to remember this years from now. It was a Sunday morning and I remember running late because I felt bad that morning. (Could it have been that I was going to go into labor in less than 48 hours?) We had a great photo shoot and I had a great time during it all. I was a little uncomfortable because I was so big but I thought that the photos turned out well. I know that I wait so long because I was swollen that day but I will always remember how big I was and will remember why...because I had a big boy in there!

Pilot Wives

I have joined this new group at http://www.pilotwivesclub.com/ It was started by a girl that is stationed at the same base as we are. I love joining groups like these that I can connect with women that are going through the same situations that I am. Here is to making connections with moms and other women.

Well Friday we went Trick-or-Treating with Jackson for his first Halloween. I think that he had more fun playing with the flash light and dumping the candy out of his bucket than anything else. He is not walking yet but he has been trying. He walked up to one house with me...it was SO cute. On Thursday Steve and I saw him take his first steps. He would take three or four before he would lose his balance and give up. But tonight, he walked between Steve and I about eight feet. We were so excited for him and were cheering him on that he would get excited and lose his balance again. He is getting to be such a big boy!

What is a Military Wife?

What is a MILITARY Wife?

A Military wife can be tough to describe.

She is a southern belle,
a Northeastern Mets fan,
a California 3rd generation recycler,
a Pacific Islander.

She is short or tall
A tomboy
A fashion diva
A physician's assistant
A Republican
A Democrat

A Military Wife is a career gal
A home-schooler
A scrap-booker
An accomplished cellist
An auto mechanic

What IS a Military Wife?
WHAT is a Military Wife?
What is a MILITARY Wife?

They may look different and each is wonderfully unique
But this they have in common.

They have THIS IN COMMON!
Lots of moving---Moving Moving
Moving far from home
Moving two cars, three kids and one dog----all riding with HER of course
Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house
Moving curtains that won't fit
Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours
Moving away from friends moving toward 20 new friends
Moving her most important luggage; her trunkful of memories

Often waiting-Waiting, waiting,
waiting for housing;
waiting for orders;
waiting for deployment;
waiting for reunion;
waiting for phones calls;
waiting for the new curtains to arrive;
waiting for him to come home for dinner----AGAIN!

They call her "military dependent", but she knows better
She can balance a checkbook
Handle the yard work
Fix a noisy toilet.
She is intimately familiar with drywall, anchors, and toggle bolts.
She can file the taxes,
sell a house,
buy a car,
or set up a move, ----all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.
Reinvents her career with every PCS;
locates a house in the desert,
The arctic,
or the deep south and learns to call them all "home".
She MAKES them all home.
She is fiercely IN-dependent.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty
They leap into decorating,
leadership,
volunteering,
career alternatives,
churches
and friendships.

They don't have 15 years to get to know people.
Their roots are short but flexible.
They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other.
They connect over coffee,
rely on the spouse-network
and accept offers of friendship and favors
and record addresses in pencil.

Military Wives have a common bond.
The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands
his commitment Is unique.

He doesn't have a job,he has a "mission"
he can't just Decide to quit
he's on-call for his country 24/7
but for you,he's The most Unreliable guy in town!

His language is foreign
TDY
PCS
OPR
ACC
BDU
And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.
She is the long-distance link to keep them informed
the glue that holds them together.

Military Wife has her moments----
She wants to wring his neck,
dye his uniform pink,
and refuse to move to Siberia.

But she pulls herself together.
Give her a few days,
a travel brochure,
a long hot bath,
a pledge to the flag,
and a wedding picture.

And she goes.
She packs.
She moves.
She follows.

Why?
What for?
How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind.

But actually it is because she has lost her heart.
It was stolen from her by a man
Who puts duty first
Who longs to deploy
Who salutes the flag
And whose boots in the doorway remind her
That as long as he is her Military husband,
She will remain his Military wife.

I post this for all of the Military wives out there. We are a special breed of women that need to stick together because we are the only ones who understand what we all go through. To all of the special ladies in my life....my mom, who I learned so much from, Courtney, Kat, Becky, Olga, and Estee.

We have had a great life so far here in Florida because Steve has not had to deploy. We are close to the end of our time here and we will be going back to the real world of the Air Force full of deployments and TDY's. Although I am very excited about leaving here and taking the next step in our adventure I do not look forward to all of the time without Steve. I feel bad for all of the Dad's out there that are doing their job but having to miss out on their kiddos life. So for those of you out there ask those wives out there that are trying to do everything while their husband is away if you could help them with something. Most of the time we won't ask for help but we certainly need it.

Pointing

I have vowed to myself to keep this up not for myself or for Steve but for Jackson. I want to be able to remember things that he has done through out his life. And I wanted to write down today that when I picked him up at daycare he pointed at a picture of a circle on the wall. At first I thought that it was a fluke but he did it again about 5 minutes later. He is growing up so quickly and I am so proud of that little finger pointing at that picture. I am sure that I will not be thinking that it will be so cute when it is pointed back at me in a couple of years.

Still Here!!

I don't know if anyone read this blog other than my friend Estee (who lives about 2 miles from me and is basically involved a lot in our everyday lives) but I thought that I would post again for Jackson's sake.

Jackson is growing up SO quickly!!! He is chatting all day long. He loves to make noise and is exploring his voice. He is working on getting to the independent walking. He is still cruising around EVERYTHING and we will walk behind his push behind toy. His personality is changing by the day. Everyday that I go to get him out of his bed he seems so much bigger and so much older. He loves to dance and his type of dancing is rocking on his booty. He also is getting so go at "Big Boy". Which is where we say "Big Boy" and he tries to hold his hands up over his head. Oh the tricks that you can teach babies. He laughs all of the time and is makes me laugh and I love the joy that he has brought into our lives.

I am still doing my student teaching in the third grade class and I have learned so much from my experience. This entire process is also a very humbling experience. If you ever think that a teachers job is "easy" I ask you to try it out for a day. You are always "on". There is no time to yourself and no personal space. The only time that I get to myself is the 30 minutes that I get to eat my lunch. It is great but I am so tired at the end of the day. I am excited about graduating on December 13th and heading to Disney World on the 14th with the Fitzpatrick's. It is going to be a great time.

We are still awaiting our orders to find out where we are going to after we leave Florida. I am ready to move onto our next adventure. So if the assignment guy for the KC-135's is reading this could you please let me know where we are moving so that I can start the excitement of looking for a house and possibly a job. :)