Leavin' the Deep South.

This move might literally drive me over the edge before we even leave Louisiana.

Inevitably, car issues popped up. For a moment there it looked like we were going to have to throw a few GRAND at the problem, which would have seriously derailed all financial progress we've made towards savings. Not to mention the few thousand it is taking to move across the country voluntarily. The Air Force would either move us up to Michigan or from Michigan to Alaska, but not both. No brainer! Thankfully we got that all taken care of and Daddy, the knight in shining armor, was able to solve the issue by doing a full tune up himself. So we saved hundreds on that also. Yay for having a super capable and manly husband who is awesome with his hands!

Now we are about less than 72 hours from officially leaving the dirty south and I am a giant ball of emotions. Happy that we can get the move over with which means we can get the year apart-business going so we can have J back and get to Alaska! Sad that we are leaving friends who have become family in every sense of the word. We have been so blessed to find a few other couples who we've connected with and who love our son just as much as his biological aunts and uncles do. I'm just treating these goodbyes as the "see you laters" we all come to know and dread with the military life. Why does it seem like we are always saying good bye? To family in our home state. To each other. To friends. To houses. On and on. Such is the life.

Back to my crazy pregnancy hormone induced ball of emotion. I'm nervous that we are making a mistake by leaving 2 weeks ahead of J. We don't really have an option because I HAVE to be in Michigan for my 28 week appointment to meet the new baby doctor. J HAS to stay here for all of the testing, training, outprocessing jazz I mentioned before. I just keep focusing on the fact that we will have a few weeks of uninterrupted QT before he heads for the pacific. And I need to remind myself that, we made these decisions before the real stress of moving and leaving our base set in so we need to have confidence in the decisions we made while we were calm and rational. And by we I mean I. Because, as always, Joe is 100% steady and 100% calm. He is ever my rock. I am so blessed to have him to help fill in the cracks when I start to bend and break under pressure. And he does it with such grace. No frustration or moments of patience loss. Total opposite of me. I know I must wear him completely thin with my worrying, what-ifs, anxiety, etc. But he doesn't let it show. God bless that sexy man of mine!

The house has to be done tonight, and it mostly is. But there are stragglers in every room, of course. This is how boxes of random junk get tossed together. I dream of the day that we do a full TMO move. Next summer, it will be bliss!

We've left IJC's room for last, as he has been struggling with the move. Even though he LOVES being in Michigan when we visit family, he is just not looking forward to moving. And I don't blame him with all of the changes he has going on in the next few months. Daddy going away, new baby sister on the way shortly after...not easy for the little man of the house! But tonight we finally have to get his room boxed up and in the garage with everything else. Monday this will ALL be over and we will be unpacking and awaiting Daddy's arrival in the Mitten!

C'mon, Monday!

Keeping the crazy to a minimum.

With the big move up north just days away, I'm still surprised that I am actually holding it together. I've had one meltdown and that wasn't over J's upcoming year long short tour. It was over switching insurance regions mid pregnancy. It seemed like this huge hill that I couldn't possibly climb after talking to our current region and the region we're about to switch to. After hours of googling and phone calls, I realized the answer was simple. It will cost us a bit out of pocket over the next year but it is worth the price of not having to deal with non-military PCM, authorizations, etc. Once I settled down and realized that it is just another task on the list of inevitable moving chaos and not the huge uphill battle I was making it out to be...the day went along much smoother. Or maybe it was the giant cry I had in the bathroom.

J has to stay at our current base for about 2 weeks longer than the kiddo and I, due to some training, PT test and other pre-Korea things. I would certainly be staying here if I didn't have a new OB to see 1,000 miles away. We, obviously, want to soak up all of the extra time that we can before he heads off. Good news is, he is taking a few weeks off before he heads out so we will have plenty of uninterupted time to have some summer fun! We are definitely planning on doing some camping and heading to Lake Michigan for day trips to the beach. The boys will no doubt spend a few days a week fishing on the pond at the farm.

In other news, I have already started looking at new ways to introduce even cleaner eating habits into our daily lives. And fitness plans that will help me meet my goals of losing the pregnancy lbs. I've only gained 9 lbs thus far. Which, compared to the 20 something I had already gained by 26 weeks with Isaac...makes me feel like a goddess. Even if I do feel larger than I did at this point with him. I've been scouring clean eating/lifestyle blogs. Some of them make it look so easy and everything looks so tasty! I know it isn't easy to get into a routine but I ALSO know that once you hit your stride in that routine, staying fit and clean FEELS amazing. I just need to remember that when it's -20 degrees in Michigan this year and the house is packed with Holiday goodies. Hopefully I'll have managed to get into enough of a routine (without being derailed by college football saturdays, apple cider mills, etc) that it won't be 'no 'thang. I'll have mid tour to be looking forward to and I'm going to want to be smokin' hot for my man!

I realize this post has no photos but I mostly just needed to write out what is going on so that I can continue to tell myself things are going fine, the move will soon be overwith, the year will be on a roll and the kids and I have so much to look forward to even if Daddy can't be with us. I refuse to dwell in the self pity that can so easily take hold when you're dealt some not so awesome cards in the military lifestyle. But the bottom line is families can choose to let the year get the best of them while they lock themselves in the house and refuse to get out and live their lives (That are going on whether you actively participate in it or not. Time is passing.) or they can embrace all of the possibilities that an entire year holds! All of the growing you can do, learning, exploring your area, exploring yourself, finding new ways to communicate with your spouse and creative ways to keep things romantic and exciting, having the opportunity to share precious one on one time with your children if you have them...the list goes on and on. It doesn't have to be a pity party for one for a year, 6 months, 4 months...whatever boat you're in. It is a choice. A simple one, really. And why would anyone choose to break down and lay in bed waiting for their live to return to "normal". There is no normal, here. Having a spouse who sometimes has to come in and out of your family's daily life is simply the reality of life in the military. Best to find a way to make it work for you instead of against you! Now, I will just come and re-read this whenever I start to feel sorry for myself.

9 days and counting! Time to get crackin' on some packin'!


I didnt mean to be that cheezy. :)

Can it be?

Has it seriously been 3ish weeks since I last posted? Has it seriously been that long that we've known about the big move to Alaska? Holy.Shit. Moving on.

Things are going swimmingly in our (extremely hot) neck of the woods. The house is coming along nicely. I went through each room and decluttered, hauled out things I've been holding onto for years but KNOW I'll never wear, use, make, etc. We packed up things we won't be needing here for the next 3 weeks. Cleaned out the garage and got it organized. So all that will be left is load up the weekend before our final-out inspection and then hit the road to The Mitten!

It hit 100 here today so, as I near the 3rd trimester, I want to sing Hallelujah and all of the praises I know that we are heading north before I get much bigger! Phew!

What else? We survived the first buzz cut of the summer, courtesy of Daddy.

I love Instagram. Seriously. So easy and fun!

We've had lots of morning park time, afternoon pool time and some fishing in the evenings when it isn't too hot. Which means little man is all tuckered out and (mostly) behaving famously as he has plenty of outlets for the gobs of energy he is hoarding and refuses to share.

IJC and Stella are bonding quite nicely and she generally enjoys his presence. Now that she weighs more than him and can lick him nearly to death when he starts to push her buttons.

Goal for the week: POST atleast twice more. I will not let this blog flounder as the others that have come before it!