There is not a week that goes by that I don't reflect back. It's especially helpful now that Facebook has that "On This Day" feature that places a randomly selected memory of yours to post on your wall as if to say "if you didn't feel old yet, look, this happened 4, 7, 9 years ago". Just the other day it popped up a picture I took while my folks and I were apartment hunting down in North Carolina. 5 months after that I was in North Carolina with a husband unloading a truck full of our belongings with family members into our townhouse. It took me months to get my bearings straight in that crazy town. I used my GPS to get to Walmart for the first 3 months. No joke. I kept thinking "time is going so slow, I feel like I'm going to be here forever".
Fast forward a year in military life later and I had my dream job, with dream colleagues. I knew shortcuts for getting to Walmart. I was 1/4 mile from a coffee shop and 5 minutes from Target. I felt special going to the base where my husband was. We had a good life and then before I knew it I was driving those same roads that confused me in the beginning thinking "I cannot believe I'm leaving this whole town next week/tomorrow/today". I am forever grateful for that year we spent in NC.
Then we move home and I spend the next year living alone while my husband was deployed for the 2nd time. THAT was a rough year. Patchy phone calls, care packages, trying to balance it and smile through the tears. I kept thinking "this deployment is lasting forever, I'm never going to be reunited with my husband, no one here has any idea what I'm going through!" Then poof that deployment was over and he was home. FOR GOOD. He was home and had a good job. That year I kept thinking "ok he'll be called away for another deployment soon." "Oh wait, no he won't, this is our new lives. He's home for good. Forever" Then in May we found out we were expecting our first child and that whole rest of the year we spent preparing ourselves and our finances for a baby. I embraced and loved every minute of being pregnant becuase I knew "this won't last forever".
And that quickly brings us here today. Life with a 7 month old. I have to remind myself that "this won't last forever" because honestly sometimes it does feel like it will never end. But then I look back on every other time I thought something would last forever and it was over in a flash. bang. poof. And another chapter begins. This chapter has been the hardest yet because I liked our lives before having a baby and it took me longer than I care to admit to get used to life after a baby. I still wish I could sleep past 7am. I still wish I could prepare dinner in peace. I still wish for a longer shower. I still wish for a lot of things but the fact of the matter is this life is also what I wish and prayed for those past 3 years. In NC, in OH alone, in OH married I hoped for one day to have my husband home with a baby in my arms just living a Hallmark type life. And we are. A beautiful yet sometimes flawed Hallmark-esque life. Like a Hallmark knock-off. Maybe more of a Norman Rockwell painting which sometimes comes out Picaso. What a ride it has been.
Anyway, here are some pictures of our sweet babe who is now crawling and trying to pull herself up on anything. Her favorite activities these days still include being outside, being in the jumper play set thing and exploring everything at crawling eye level.
For Christmas all we're getting her is a magazine subscription.
We recently had a play date with Audra's second cousin who is 3 months older than her. Audra stole Liam's toys. Liam stole them back. It was adorable.
In other recent events of eating, Audra has enjoyed a cracker. Besides gagging on the larger pieces she would not put it down for nothing.
And back in the beginning of Summer we tried out this swing and she was not ready for it at all. I just kept thinking "OK by the end of Summer she'll be ready for it" and here she is. She still leans a little but she loves it.
When you have toys but grass steals the show. Every time.
Stripes AND tie-dye. Be still my heart.
To wrap up this 100th post I'm so glad I started this blog 4 years ago. I love that I can look back and reflect back on my life at any given point. As can anyone reading this blog. Thank you all of you who follow along with me in this life. From those of you who I met in NC to those of you I've met after becoming a mommy and all of those who have been around a lot longer than this blog has. I look forward to many more posts about life with a baby and balancing life as a mom and life as a wife and life as myself. Join me if you wish!
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