The anxious, nervous, excited feelings that I felt last Friday morning while putting on my makeup and curling my hair were feelings all too familiar; I have felt them every single time I’ve prepared to see Jamie after a lengthy amount of time away from each other due to a deployment. They’re right up there with the giddy nerves I felt on my wedding day. You’ve (not so) patiently waited, envisioned, and prepared for this day for so long, and it feels surreal that it’s here; There’s no more waiting. These feelings never, ever get old.
We found out that I was pregnant last August around 4 a.m., and ever since that early-morning moment I wondered whether Jamie would be with me as we welcomed our baby. I wondered where I would deliver, who would be with me, and how we would each handle it if we were on different continents. Even last Thursday night (the night before he was scheduled to land in town), I was preparing myself that I could realistically feel a contraction at any moment and that I really would go through the delivery without Jamie. I laid in bed Thursday night at 11 p.m. tracking Jamie’s flight to Amsterdam while experiencing Braxton Hicks, praying that she would hold on a minimum of just 14 more hours.
He was scheduled to land at 1:50 p.m., and thankfully I had a full morning’s worth of items on a to-do list to keep my mind preoccupied as we waited to head to the airport.
Hadley and I got the airport around an hour early and quickly headed to the Delta counter to request passes to meet Jamie at the gate – something we hadn’t told him we were doing. By the time we got through security and got to the gate, we had exactly five minutes until his flight was scheduled to land. By this point, I was besides myself with all the feels.
I told Hadley constantly for several days that her daddy was about to come home to see her, and I think to a point she understood. Though Jamie and I both hoped that she would see him and run to him, we were also prepared for her to cling more to me until she warmed back up to him.
Seeing his plane round the corner and turn its nose into the jetway made me nearly lose my stomach. It might sound weird that I was so nervous to see my own husband, but it wasn’t a bad nervous. The excitement and relief was just overwhelming.
We quickly spotted each other as he walked off the jetway, and I immediately burst into tears when he hugged me. We’ve reunited for an R&R or homecoming ceremony four times before, and I have never shed tears like I did last week. Blame it on end-of-pregnancy hormones, but I could not have been a single ounce more happy or relieved in that moment.
He then squatted down to hug Hadley, and though she smiled at him and was interested, she stayed close to my leg. We quickly found a spot in an empty gate waiting area, and Jamie grabbed a gift for Hadley that he was prepared to give her in case she was a little nervous. It worked! She was excited about her gift and proceeded to grab his hand and say “Come on! Follow me!”. Just like that, they picked up right where they’d left off.
As soon as we got back to my parent’s house, I filmed our traditional video of Teddy seeing Jamie. Our little guy loves his daddy so (so so so) much, and he was the happiest little chug in all the land.
We snapped a family picture, went inside to eat lunch, and got ready to head out on our little family staycation.
I’ll be back in a couple days to share a little bit about our last full weekend as a family of three. 🙂
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Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo