Ava is a little over 7 months old. Where has the time gone??
It's been wonderful staying home with her. She and I are pals :) However, back to reality...ish. Marc's next deployment is looming and I am applying to a few different jobs. I will not do more than part time (she's still #1), but I have a desire to continue the work I love! We've lined up a sitter who is anxiously awaiting my schedule once I have a job or two, and we think Ava will transition just fine (or so we hope!).
February to July have flown by, but during those months, we...
traveled to NY to meet cousin Isabella...
Traveled to Tx...
Ava learned to eat from a spoon (messy!)...
we traveled to see our next niece, Khloe, a few days after she was born...
celebrated Ava's first Easter...
celebrated my first Mother's day (with her on the outside..hehe)...
The month of June has been somewhat uneventful. Marc is still gone, which I've had just about enough of. He is welcome to come home aaaaaaaaaaaaanytime now. Seriously.
I did take a wonderful trip to Dallas to see my girls. Ya know, those college friends that will be friends for life? Yeah, those. I got to see those :) And it was great! It had been probably a year and a half since I had seen 'em. One of them just got engaged, so we definitely went wedding dress shopping which is fabulous, or was fabulous until my ankles were swollen and I was exhausted. It was still a memorable event with such great friends. They also held a small impromptu baby shower for me over brunch one morning. So Baby C has officially been showered on for the first time.
In baby news, Baby C's doing great. He/She spent all day yesterday kicking me inside over and over and over and over and....you get the idea. ALL DAY. That is seriously uncomfortable, even painful at times. He/She has calmed down since then, and I'm feeling much better. We have an ultrasound scheduled for Friday...day after tomorrow...to measure Baby C, make sure he/she's growing like he/she should be, and to stop calling it a he/she by attempting to determine gender! This is the big ultrasound! I get to spend approx. 30 minutes looking at the baby in 4D (4 because it's 3D plus movement). I will leave there with recorded 4D video, pictures, and hopefully knowing gender! I CAN'T WAIT!
We had our 2nd wedding anniversary on June 28! He called first thing in the morning, before I had even sat up in bed. It was a 56 second phone call, but it was perfect. Celebrating these events is hard, so all I had asked for was acknowledgement of the day, and that's exactly what he did. My parents and Marc's mom called me, too. Both my mom and his mom said the same thing..."I'm not going to say 'Happy Anniversary' because without him it's not happy, but I wanted to say I hope today turns out to be a good day." Speaking of events, Marc had his first father's day :) We are planning to celebrate that holiday when he returns, too.
Marc flew over our house this evening!! He called around 3 to say he'd be the one flying over our city between 7 and 9pm. I took the dog for a walk around 7 and kept my eyes peeled...nothing :( But not even 15 minutes after we came home, I heard it flying over.
Now entering Rachel's mind - -
"I hear it!!!!!" "Where's the camera" **frantic running around the house** **run outside** "Ugh, the memory card isn't in it!" **run back inside to find the card in the computer** **run outside** "Ugh the batter is dead" **more frantic running trying to find my spare battery** **run outside** "Oh my, i'm in pajamas...what if they can see me?!?" **run in and change** **run outside**
I SAW HIM!!! It was so fun that I think i might have waved multiple times :) Even though i'm sure he was keeping his eyes on the instruments..right?!? He flew over for probably 30 minutes. yay!!
Disclaimer: He doesn't want me to reveal what he flies, so no pics...sorry :( (even though I think I took approximately 50..hehe)
Firstly, Marc has arrived, and he made a grand entrance. It was February 24th, I was expecting Marc in the late afternoon on the 25th, but knew he was driving all day on the 24th, to stay in OKC that night. I called him on my way home from work while he was driving also. We talked about my day and his drive. He mentioned that he had only a few more hours till he reached OKC for the night. He would be staying with a friend that lives there. I ate dinner and went to bed as normal. We always talked before we went to bed, so i called. He said he was with his friend, they were on the way home from the video store and he only had a few minutes to talk. I told him to tell his friend hi for me, and he did. We said our goodbyes and I turned out the light. Minutes later, I heard a knock at the door and the ringing of the doorbell. Being that I was in no shape to answer the door, and partially asleep, I ignored it, wondering to myself who in their right mind would go ringing someone's doorbell at 9:30pm. It rang again... Seriously, go away! Then my phone rang, it was Marc, and a lightbulb came on in my head. IT WAS HIM!! I ran to the door, and flung myself around his neck :) It was the best surprise ever. He had driven all day for 11 hours, faked talking to his friend, and given me the best gift.
Secondly, we became an aunt and uncle for the first time on March 6th to Isabella Rose, daughter of PJ and Jen. We first reported it here. She was over 8 lbs and beautiful, from what we've seen in the pictures. We are looking forward to meeting her very soon.
Thirdly, we are headed to New York again not this week, but next, March 21-29 during Clovis Schools' spring break. Last time we went, we had our second reception for the wedding. This time, we plan to enjoy family time.
Fourthly, Marc joined a temporary squadron when he arrived here in New Mexico. He will not be part of this squadron for long, since he will soon be sent to training in Florida and will join another squadron at that time. However, he has met a few people who will be with him in his permanent squadron after training. So far, they've really taken him under their wing and made him feel welcome. They even called me, asking me to join their wives club.
Lastly, Pippin is doing great. He's still shredding everything, but lately, if we pick up the shreds and show them to him, he heads straight for his crate for timeout. He loves the backyard here at our new place. The people who own the property recently put a gate up in the opening in the fence. Pip has a bell hanging from the back door and has learned to ring it when he needs to go out. He hasn't had an accident since he learned this trick. And now, he can ring the bell, go out, do his thing, and come back in, with just a little help with the door. We are really impressed and proud. He's getting groomed this weekend and is always so cute when he gets back from there. We'll post pictures of him, since he's a little grown up from the picture posted to the right :) He just recently turned 9 months on March 8th.
