Baby Shower Perfection

I know I wasn't supposed to do anything for my shower and my friends didn't even want me to be in the house while they were setting up, but I don't think anyone is surprised that I had my hands in every single bit of it. It wasn't that I didn't trust them, it's just that I know they all work, have school, and well...they have known me a year or less, so I would feel guilty letting them take on all the responsibility. I was super thankful they wanted to, but helping allowed me to work with them on the best shower EVER {IMO} without having to feel guilt.

The food might have been my favorite part next to the color scheme, hand rolled silverware, hand painted muffin skewers, poof chandelier, chair covers, etc., etc., ...but seriously, it was all adorable and NO ONE can resist Bacon-Stuffed Cinnamon Rolls.

Yes, we Pinterest-ed the shizz out of this decor, and it makes me oh-so-thankful for that blessing of a site. I can't believe I worked as a party planner, had a wedding, and simply made it through life before there was Pinterest. But that's not even what this is all about. Sure, I'm a wee bit obsessed with how everything turned out, but sharing this special day of celebrating our precious babe with some of the most amazing friends I've EVER had took my breath away. The fact that I haven't known a single one of them for more than a year, and yet we have formed a bond to support each other in this way is pretty mind blowing.

In case I haven't mentioned it, all of this is happening so flippin' quick. We've known CQB is on her way for a little over two months and now she will be here in less than three...I know that no one ever feels like they have enough time to plan, but yeesh. I'm so thankful we have so many family and friends helping us in every way possible, and CQB is most definitely going to be spoiled. Spoiled with love, that is, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Choose Your Own Adventure

I've always wanted to participate in Steph's linkup for the simple fact that I used to LOVE Choose Your Own Adventure books. Does anyone remember those?

March's theme was relationships, and I can't explain how appropriate this was for me. With this whole...transition going on, relationships with family and friends are forefront in my mind right now. Most significantly, I'm finding this pregnancy has brought me closer to family and friends {especially the ones with kids} while taking our marriage to a whole 'notha level, but that doesn't mean I want to get so wrapped up that I lose other relationships.
o far, everything has been a positive shift that I never expected,

My main goals have been and still are:
Make sure that not everything revolves around conversations of CQB. It's so easy to let every conversation {and blog post} involve her, but I know that could end up allowing us to miss other important subjects in each other's lives, as well as put distance between us and our non-parent friends. It's easier said than done, especially when everyone else brings her up too, but I still think it's necessary. Luckily, we still have flight school, upcoming parties, travels planned, music festivals, and impending moves to discuss.

Continue to foster the relationships that have strengthened because we got pregnant. It is absolutely amazing how you automatically feel a stronger bond with family and friends just from getting knocked up. My childhood best friend and I now text daily, it has brought out a new side of my baby sister I've never seen, my grandmother that didn't speak to me after we eloped has already showered us with gifts and well wishes, and even just other mom's that are complete strangers will take the time out of their lives to give me their advice and wisdom. When they say there is a 'mom club', they are serious, and somehow we all gravitate towards each other. Don't ask me how, but sweet baby jeeeeeeesus I'm thankful.

 Will and I need to maintain an 'adult' relationship. In every sense of the term 'adult', I hope to maintain the mental and physical aspects of our relationship and always remember that we were 'we' before we were 'three'. Other than talking about her a lot, not too much has changed, but I really want to create the bucket list I talked about to make sure we are still making memories to share between just the two of us. I also feel like he's been doing so much for me during this pregnancy, and I want to step up my game and take care of him before she comes. I know it will be more difficult to juggle it all then, so I need to do everything I can now.

                        NO EXCUSES.                     

April's theme is finances. This is obviously important for us right now because, hello, we have a baby on the way. A baby on top of me being a stay at home wife the last year, buying a house, and an impending move. The mortgage is covered by our renters, but our savings did take QUITE a hit when we decided to put down 20% on a house before knowing le baby was on the way. As such, my current goals are:

Create a Baby Fund.
Build a House Emergency Fund on top of our regular savings.
Track every penny spent on CQB, and try to stick to the plan of buying the majority of the things we need after the second shower.
Sell everything that's not nailed down in this house.

If any of you have tips on relationships during pregnancy or finances, you know where to comment. I am so thankful for every bit of advice y'all have given me, and I WANT MORE! ;)

I Think I'm Hungover

I'm not sure if it's safe to use the term hungover, but that's how I feel after this past weekend. I had an absolute blast, but I was SO exhausted on Sunday. I managed to get a run in, and even so that's only because I was motivated to work off the bacon stuffed cinnamon rolls and cupcakes I ate. Other than that, I accomplished a big fat nothing, and Will had to make dinner and make me eat because cooking just wasn't going to happen since I had zero appetite after stuffing my face. Eh...the perfect baby shower was all worth it. More on the baby shower later.

Tomorrow is our second specialist appointment, which I want to go well, and still I'm sad that could mean it would be our last ultrasound. {Insert sad face} Obviously, healthy baby trumps all, but I just love seeing her, and pregnancy is like a long distance relationship- you just pine until the next time you see them. I feel bad that Will has class and can't come, but hopefully I can get video of it too. Half the fun is seeing his face watching her and hearing her heartbeat. Swoon. Okay, it's bed time. Will just rolled over in his sleep and said "I love you, my queen." It's time to snuggle up and catch up on that sleep I need.

Military 'Entitlement'

Yay! I found something non-baby related that inspired me! I started this blog to remind myself that 'Perception Is Everything' no matter what we go through during our military life, and this is the perfect example of just how important that is. This post may be geared towards the military, but I think you may find that it can translate based on the entitled society that seems to be taking over these days. Unfortunately, entitlement is a problem much larger than this particular article, but that's a topic for a different day.

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Someone posted this article on Facebook knowing that it would incite a wildfire among military families, but it did the opposite for me and I think I'm the only one that agrees with it. As the title states, I do think that {some} military families need to reevaluate their sense of entitlement, and this Carl fella made some good points. As I discuss these points, remember that none of you lovely bloggers fall into the entitled category. You are all the most amazing military spouses that I have come across, and I think you can agree that there is a difference between appreciating community support and demanding it.

Point #1: Civilians don't 'owe' service members anything. Sure, a 'Thank you for your service' goes a long way with the soldiers, but Will would never even expect that and half the time we forget to ask for the discounts available to us. He receives a paycheck and some pretty okay benefits, and that covers what we are 'owed' by this country. On top of that, I don't know many jobs that foot the bill for things like career training and flight school. The flight school alone would cost us beaucoup bucks out of our own pockets if he trained in the civilian world, and he's also had countless other training and schools in the last five years. That adds up to a lot of extra compensation the way I see it, and for that we are thankful.

Point # 2: 'Toughest job in the Army/Navy/Air Force/Marine' stickers aren't cool. I would NEVER think that my military...er...situation is harder than Will deploying, training, or going through flight school, so the thought of displaying one of those stickers makes me cringe. Plus, as Carl stated: Are there sacrifices involved in a military lifestyle? "Yes. But especially when that military family chooses to re-up for another tour, they are like the hunter going after the bear the second time. They have voluntarily chosen that life with full knowledge of what they are getting into and decided that the pros outweigh the cons." I hadn't ever thought of it that way, but it's funny how many families you see that have re-enlisted, and yet still have the same complaints. The only reason I can think that people would do that is if they are the type to complain about any situation they are in.

Point #3: Military families complaining about not making ends meet are causing their own financial hardship. It's public knowledge that the soldiers receive a decent wage when you include BAH, BAS, Benefits, etc., and that wage even goes up during deployments. You can't put a price on being separated and the soldiers being in harm's way, but the military isn't the only career field that has a dangerous environment. Barring that, if a family, any family, can't live off one salary then I suggest the spouse goes and gets a job. I managed to find jobs each time we moved, worked until we could save up enough money to have a decent savings and investment money, and we also learned to live within our means. WE control our financial situation instead of complaining about what the military pays or demanding support from others. "The hard, unpleasant truth is that many of the problems some military families have are at least somewhat self-induced- by having kids too young."

I think the main point that is lost in the article while he brings up such hot button issues, is that we shouldn't be looking to civilians or communities for our 'entitlements'. The government signs up soldiers at such a young age that they need to be mentoring and preparing these soldiers for the deployments and hardships to come. Getting married and starting a family right before you deploy is romantic in the movies, but in real life love {and/or lust} is not enough to carry a family through without proper strategy.

I'm a firm believer that it's not what you say, but how you say it. Should this Carl character have had a better, more compassionate approach to this topic? Of course. But he wanted a reaction and he got it. With my opinions, I hope to show that if you want more, go out and get it. If you don't have enough 'support', go out and find it. There are jobs out there, and there is more support within the military community than any other community I've ever seen. Be grateful for what you have, and if it's not enough...what are you going to do about it?