Slice of Life – 10/16/15

Good morning and Happy Friday! Today is day #1 of figuring out our temporary new normal around here because yesterday this happened…

I’ve struggled really hard on and off the last few weeks with anticipating the big goodbye moment between Hadley and Jamie (and of course between Jamie and me too), but we all did a bit better yesterday than expected. Hadley and I came home to both take a nap, but somehow she figured out that it was past her nap time anyway and decided to stay awake and play. I got all of my energy out by straightening up my house while waiting for this guy to get here!

My dad called me Monday night and asked if I wanted company this weekend. I immediately felt terrible that he was going to drive 12 hours each way just to spend two days with me, but my parents flipped it around on me by saying “You fast forward 20 years and tell me what you wouldn’t do for Hadley”. I love them. I originally said a couple months ago I didn’t want any visitors right away, but I’m so glad my parents know me better and that my Dad could come. Knowing he was on his way truly made yesterday so much better.

The love I felt yesterday (and really the last few weeks as we got closer to his send-off) was nearly overwhelming. I came home after dropping Jamie off to this on my back porch from my friend Meg. Cue big hysterics all over again!

The waterworks actually started a couple weeks ago though when this package showed up out of nowhere from my friend Jessica with the most encouraging card and all kinds of goodies for Hadley and me to get us through some tough days. Each of these girls included things that were so personal and specific to not only my interests, but my daughters, and gosh… they blew me away.

I’m honestly just so grateful for the texts and calls and voicemails and just the genuine outreach of support. They’ve meant just as much as materials things! I feel like if being a single mom for nine months is the biggest of my life problems, then I’m a very lucky girl. I still really appreciate the love though from my family, friends, and even strangers alike. Big hugs.

Now to soak up lots and lots of mommy and Hadley time the next few months before baby #2 gets here. I love this cutie so dang much!

Here’s a little bit more of what we’ve been up to the last few weeks (a.k.a. a load of pictures of Hadley and Jamie because DEPLOYMENT).

Jamie wants to start a tradition of taking Hadley out on a daddy/daughter dinner date around her birthday every year, so he started this year (just a month early). He wanted to go somewhere that sang to her with ice cream, so they went to Applebees. They both had the best time as evidenced by the five hundred precious pictures he sent me from beginning to end.

Jamie was able to bring her to school four school days in a row! I’m really glad he was able to meet her teachers and see her classroom.

This picture is so bad and makes us look like the messiest people, but please enjoy a real life pic of our early Thanksgiving dinner for two. 😉 I was inspired to do an early Thanksgiving for Jamie by a friend who did the same for her husband, and Jamie really loved it! We did big ‘ole turkey legs (Jamie’s request) instead of a massive turkey, and I threw in some potatoes, green beans, rolls, gravy, cranberry, and an apple pie. No fancy decor or serveware… just the two of us and a delicious early holiday meal. 🙂

I’m trying to continue jogging as long as I can into this pregnancy, but one of my recent solo runs is evidence that I’m starting to slow down quite a bit. I’m not going to focus too much on my time though but more that I’m actually getting out the door and putting one foot in front of the other. I definitely want to try and be a bit more healthy and active this time around than I was with Hadley.  If you have any tips for staying fit during pregnancy, I’d love to hear them in the comments!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that Hadley only eats to survive and usually has much better things to do than sit down to eat. Her PAT teacher suggested we try frozen Go-Gurt, and sure enough Hadley loves it! I’ve been telling her that they’re popsicles, and she’s totally buying it. The fact that she’s eating yogurt of any kind of a big deal! Whoop!

Here’s a few sweet pictures of my two loves from the last week. One good thing about the deployments is that they really make you appreciate what you have when you have it. Watching these two do life together is absolutely, positively my favorite thing to see. Hands down!

I’m going to end with an interior design question! This is Hadley’s bathroom, but it’s also one of two bathrooms that our guests use a lot. It’s the next room I want to tackle, but I have no clue what to do with it! My MIL in the very best interior designer I know, so she’s doing a bunch of brainstorming for me, but I’m open to any ideas that you may have off the top of your head!

Unfortunately that pinkish granite countertop isn’t going anywhere, but I want to focus on painting (and possibly stenciling) the walls, painting the mirror, painting the vanity, and doing any other great suggestions that come my way. PS – Jamie and Hadley did that scribbling all over the tub a few nights ago, and I don’t have the heart to erase it! Think it’ll stain my tub if I leave it up for nine months?! 😉

Thanks for sticking around for one of my lengthier slice of life posts. I hope you have a beautiful fall weekend with your loved ones!