Charlie Will Have Some Strong Women In Her Life

About a month ago my parents came to visit us and rub the baby belly. It was AWESOME to have them for a day of fun, but my mom totally tried to guilt me into coming to her retirement ceremony. Normally a jaunt down to Pensacola is no big thing, but the ceremony was after the cutoff for when I was supposed to travel and especially since I'd have to go alone.

However, it's not everyday you get to witness your mom retire from teaching after THIRTY-FIVE years, so I went and surprised her anyways. Apparently my oldest sister thought the same thing, because she surprised us all when she showed up all the way from North Carolina too! There were 50+ retirees, but our mom had the loudest cheering section. I can honestly say, she earned every bit of recognition she got and then some.

She was the one in the red for reference.  I dropped the ball on getting a closeup in all the excitement, but here's a closeup for ya...

That would be my incredible Mother-In-LOVE that retired from the Air Force after twenty-two years, BEAT Breast Cancer, and has re-entered the workforce running the show of her own department in an Aviation manufacturing company.

You don't have to be as badass as these two to be a strong woman, but I'm most certainly happy that they will be in Charlie's life. Heck, I'm happy they are an inspiration in my life too. Congrats to both of our momma's making big impacts and kicking butt in their careers. This one's for you ;)

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

If you are on baby watch, we've made it another week without any indication that miss thang will make her appearance. Technically, my doctor was supposed to begin checking me for dilation two weeks ago, but a) I'm not ready for that process {they have to get all up in your cervix and that is just as uncomfortable as it sounds}, and b) he has seen no indication that I've been remotely close to starting this labor.

I'm happy to say we have crossed all the must haves off the list to bring her home, so if I can make it through this next week I have no doubt in my mind the rest will fall into place. However, I still haven't made it to that 'cleaning phase' that everyone talks about, so we will see how that goes. I told Will that worst case scenario, if I go into labor the first thing he needs to do is call someone to clean. I know we will have family in town and the last thing I want to worry about is them showing up to a messy house. I know most relatives would understand, but you don't know how much of a cleaning nazi my grandmother is. Oy vey.

One of the main reasons I wanted to at least make it this far was that our friend Jo's baby shower was this weekend, and I was kinda in charge of decor. I had it all ready for them in case I did go into labor, but luckily I was able to attend the event and stuff my face. The theme was Peter Cottontail, which I happen to think turned out beautifully with help from Hannah's bomb.com diaper cake, and in an unrelated note...Karie made me Jo a watermelon cake again!

It's funny, when Jo told me she was pregnant, I was super happy for her but thanked my lucky stars that we were still child free. Little did I know...I was not only pregnant, but three weeks ahead of her. Whoops. Well, at least we got to go through this together and now we are both in the home stretch. The gang is actually taking bets to see which of us will pop first since she's already having contractions, so I'm just gonna guess we go into labor together. Women 'cycle' together, so maybe we've synced up our pregnancies too. Man what a great story that would be if our betrothed children are also born together.

When You Witness Good Deeds First Hand

It's Friday, and I like keeping things light to kick off the weekend. Luckily, we've had some amazing stuff happen here in Enterprise lately, so that's easy. Now, you know how you see all these viral feel good stories and some of them almost seem to good to be true? I try to take them at face value and just appreciate the positive vibes, but lately I've gotten to witness these types of good deeds firsthand, and I feel very blessed.

Good Deed #1
A lady was having a yard sale to raise money for her son's youth group. Her son got sick in the middle, so she put everything on the curb and said Free or for donation for her child's Youth Group trip. When they returned from the ER, she found a pile of cash in place of the goods.

Good Deed #2
A woman with no connection to this soldier whatsoever, drove two hours down to Panama City and scoured the beach for a stranger's wedding ring. Not only did she find it, but the community helped her reunite the ring with the thankful husband.

Good Deed #3
When soldiers witness someone in need, they ALWAYS step up. I've seen it time and time again, and just recently we had a soldier that immediately took charge when he witnessed a terrible car accident. On top of that, he physically laid in gasoline with a family until they were rescued from the car and then disappeared without needing to be thanked. When the victim posted about it on our Fort Rucker Spouse Club site, everyone knew that he had to be found and 324 'shares' later, they were reunited in a matter of days.

And this is why I can't imagine being anywhere else during this pregnancy and for the beginning of Charlie's life. It is such a positive environment and unlike any other I've ever experienced. All of these scenarios happened in a matter of weeks, and this is how it always is here. We may not be able to stay here past the Fall, but at least I know we will always come back here since it's the "Home of Army Aviation". Alabama, I love you!

Anchor Habits

I was reading Holly's blog, and her post about Anchor Habits really stuck with me. Anchor habits are those habits that we develop that keep us steady and feeling secured, and as a creature of habit in general this totally made sense! I've never been one to have any 'vices', so I guess these are what keep me going. Plus. this was further proven when I looked back at a Day In The Life post that I did and I pretty much have the same anchors two years later.

Daily, it is an absolute must to start my day with coffee while blogging, I have to follow the exact same face wash routine, and I either workout or find some way to be active each day.

Financially, I balance our accounts at least once a month and adjusting our budget really makes me feel at peace. I've blogged about my budget obsession, so of course this is an anchor.

Marital-ly, isn't a word, but you know what I mean. Most of these could fall in the 'Daily' category, but their significance falls here. I text Will "Morning lover" every morning without fail, we have dinner together at the dinner table without distractions every night, we put away social media while we cuddle before bed, and I always go to bed with him. Even if I stay up to blog, watch tv, or get up after he goes to sleep to work on something I always try to be there as he goes to sleep. Add in date nights, and you have the anchors that really form our relationship.

Now I know things are going to change drastically here in the near future, but I will still love my coffee even if I have to drink it cold, budgeting will be even more important to me, and I hope with all my heart that we can maintain the habits that Will and I share after Charlie comes. It's strange to think about how much things are about to change, but I'm looking forward to creating new habits that include her. What are your Anchor Habits?