Eli's 1/2 Birthday!!

    My sweet boy is really about to be 6 months (as of tomorrow at 2:56 p.m) Where has the time gone??? It seems like the first 6 months have flown by. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was big and pregnant just praying for Eli to make his appearance early? Just 6 months ago today I awoke feeling like I had caught the flu, little did I know I was in early labor and would be having my sweet boy just the very next day :) I thought it would be fun to compare Eli's appearance and likes/dislikes from when he was a newborn and now.

Newborn

Weight: 6 lbs 15.2 oz
Eye color: Blue
Hair color: Reddish brown
Favorite activity: Sleeping
Favorite food: Mama's milk

6 Months

Weight: 17 lbs-ish
Eye color: Blue
Hair color: Blonde with a reddish tint
Favorite activity: Jumping and playing in his exersaucer and rolling around in his crib. Also loves the nightly walks with daddy.
Favorite food: Squash, carrots, and peaches.. also likes apples.




   It is amazing how much he has changed, grown, and developed in such a short amount of time. It saddens me to think that he is on the downward slope to turning a year old :(  He is at a stage now where he doesn't sleep through the night anymore, he doesn't just lay around and sit still, and he is always babbling away and wanting to move around. I wouldn't have it any other way, I am learning that every stage is only for a short amount of time and is over before you know it. I think that is probably the most important thing I have learned in motherhood thus far: cherish every single moment with your child, even if they are in a difficult stage. We only have our children in our house for so long.. it is our job to bring them up the best we know how and to be there for them every step of the way.

  I wanted to somehow celebrate Eli's half birthday.. after thinking and thinking of what to do, I finally thought of a great idea! Anyone who knows me really well knows that I love to bake. I decided to bake Eli 'baby friendly' cupcakes for tomorrow. Obviously he will only gnaw on them and probably shred them to pieces, but I think he will enjoy them. I am going to make carrot and apple cupcakes.. no dairy and no sugar. Completely baby friendly :) You can guarantee there will be pictures of Eli enjoying his 1/2 birthday cupcakes in a future blog post.

  Now that everyone is caught up with Eli, I can catch everyone up with what is going on with Brenton and I. Brenton leaves for a month long training session in just under two weeks so we have been trying to spend as much family time together as possible. It has been amazing to have Brenton home every day for the past 2 months. We have been able to do so many things and see so many things as a family. Life is wonderful.   With that being said, we were recently faced with a challenge that God has put in front of us. I ended up having immediate surgery to remove my ovarian cyst and while in surgery the doctor found some other problems as well. He found endometriosis and a polyp in my uterus. We went to my post-op appointment yesterday and the doctor showed us the pictures of what all he found and what my insides now looked like.. all I have to say is WOW! We are so very blessed that Eli came into our lives, we now have our answer for our difficulty in getting pregnant and being able to sustain a healthy pregnancy. Unfortunately, the doctor left us with some tough decisions to make, decisions that a young family should never have to make, but we know that God puts challenges in our lives for a reason and we just have to look to Him and ask Him for his guidance on all of this. Regardless of what happens, we know we are very blessed with the miracle that has already came into our lives.

  We hope everyone is well and until next time.. take care and God bless!

On the Road Again and What Lies Ahead..

   If you haven't noticed lately, we are a traveling family! Eli has been to 11 different states now and is 5 months (5 months today, happy 5 month birthday little guy!) We aren't trying to do a contest or anything, we both love to travel and have family far away that we often go visit. I think a lot of people think just because you have a child, especially a baby, that all traveling and going out has to cease. That does not have to be the case. While its unfortunate that Eli will never have any memory of all the places he has been to thus far, we have pictures and Brenton and I have those memories. Thankfully, Eli is pretty laid back and traveling doesn't bother him at all, I think he actually enjoys it. Yeah.. I think he was born to be a military kid :)

   This last trip we took to Virginia. We spent time with family, went to Williamsburg, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and the Outer Banks. This was Eli's first trip to the ocean.. well out of the womb that is. Back in September, I flew out to Virginia and went to the Outer Banks.. so technically I guess he has been there. We had a great time in Virginia! While we were there we took the time to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. It was a little early but we had family that was willing to watch Eli for us and figured we should take the chance while we had it. The plan was to go to the Outer Banks for 2 days.. well I lasted a day. We accomplished a lot in that one day we were down there though! We hung out at the beach for a few hours, went to a beach bar afterwards and had some drinks, went mini golfing, went out to eat at a really nice sea-food restaurant (the BEST seafood ever!) and then ordered dessert to-go and ate our dessert on the beach later that night. The next day we went to climb sand dunes and watch paragliders. It was amazing! I missed Eli soo much though! It was nice just being able to focus on Brenton and I and being able to relax, but this was the first time I had ever been away from him overnight. We had a great time together but I was so glad to get back to my sweet boy. I am really glad we did come back when we did because the night we got back there was a tornado that touched down just 20 minutes from my aunt's house.. if I would have been 2 hours away from Eli when this happened, I would have freaked!

  We finally arrived back home in Mississippi on Sunday night. It was a 15 hour drive, a looong 15 hour drive. It was nice to be back home and be reunited with our other 'babies'. The next morning Eli and I both had dr appts. I had an appt for a 2nd opinion regarding problems with my ovary and Eli had another appt to get a shot. We do vaccinate Eli, but have chosen to do so on a delayed schedule. It really works for us and Eli doesn't suffer any ill-effects from the shots at all since we have done it this way. It kind of sucks having to drive 45 minutes every few weeks and to go back and forth to get a shot but its worth it when they are spaced out enough it doesn't hurt him. He did very well with his shot, he cried for a few minutes but as soon as I picked him up he stopped and started smiling. He even decided to take off his bandaid later that evening and decide to chew on it.. I about died when I saw that.. so disgusting! As far as my appointment went, it went well. To make a long story short, the evening of Mother's Day I went to the ER for extreme LLQ pain. At first they scared us to death and told us they were sure I was having an ectopic pregnancy, after waiting for what seemed like forever we found out  thankfully that was not the case! They then told me they didn't know what exactly was wrong but sent me to a local OBGYN the next morning. I saw the OBGYN and he immediately recommended I have surgery to remove a large cyst. Apparently that was what was causing the pain. He proceeded to tell me he wanted to do 3 different surgeries and he may possibly have to take part of if not the whole ovary to remove it. Considering Brenton and I would love to have more children and our history of fertility issues I opted for a 2nd opinion, and I am so glad I did! The 2nd opinion was with my regular OBGYN. He did another scan and saw the cyst was still there and diagnosed it as probably being an endometrioma. Basically endometriosis on the ovary. He said I had an option of taking a more conservative approach if I wanted to. I could try 3 months of meds to see if it would go away. I get re-scanned in August and if its not gone by then, surgery it is. I am hoping that isn't the case since Brenton will be gone and we will be moving just a month later. But as we have learned in the past, things happen for a reason. You may not be able to explain or understand them now, but they are all a part of the plan God has for us!

 Eli ready for the beach!

 First time seeing the beach, eli is like whoa!!

 Celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary in the Outer Banks

SEEYA!

      If there is anything I dread more than anything in life, it is good-byes. I HATE good-byes. I have been this way since I was a small child and I don't think it will ever change. Well, as anyone knows being in the military, you have a lot of good-byes. You get to a base and you finally meet some great friends and then before you know it, they are off to PCS somewhere else. There are just two words for this: IT SUCKS. With this being said, I have come to learn some things in the 10 years I have been in the military life..

   Moving is just a part of this life and with every move you meet quite an array of people, and some of these people turn out to be, well actually really good friends. I am talking people whom you never thought you would ever become friends with. These are the people who when you first arrived to base you could never see yourself meeting up with again, let alone being friends with. It's really crazy how that works. I think God looks at our first encounters with these people and looks at our reactions and laughs as He knows that we will most certainly meet up again with these people and become really good friends. He brings people into our lives for a reason, at least thats what I believe.

  As everyone knows pilot training is over and now that this is over, everyone is off to start their new adventures.. its PCS season.. the season of good-byes. We had to watch two really good friends move away today and another really good friend is moving away in just under a couple of months, and then we will be moving in a few months and will have to leave some great people who we met here.. locals I will call them :) While we have only been here 19 months, we have met some amazing people, these people we will never forget, we will cherish the memories and the experiences as we all went through them together.. that's a special bond right there.. not many people understand the military lifestyle and the pilot training world. While some look at it as a negative thing (and I myself, am guilty of this sometimes) I like to look at it as a blessing. If it weren't for our military lifestyle, our paths would have never crossed, we would have never met some of these amazing individuals. It's a small Air Force world, maybe our paths will cross again some day, but if not I know I have nothing to fear or grieve over.. because the friends you meet in the military are friends for life. As anyone in the military or at least in pilot training here at CAFB knows.. its never good-bye, its.. SEEYA!

Graduation, Road Tripping, and Mama's Day!

       So much has happened since our last post. It's been a while since any posts I know. In my defense, we have been very very busy. Graduation, road tripping, school, all while making sure our 4 1/2 month old has his needs met!

      Let me start off first with graduation. After a very long and difficult year of pilot training, Brenton received his wings on April 27! I am so proud of him! Pilot training isn't easy by itself, let alone dealing with a pregnant wife and having a baby in the middle of it all. Brenton started pilot training April of 2011 and right as he hit the flight line we found out we were expecting. I was pregnant the majority of pilot training, all except for the last 3 months.. and anyone who has or has had a baby knows those first three months are the hardest. With that being said, I would like to give another congrats to my amazing husband  for surviving pilot training, his pregnant wife, and his newborn son! What an accomplishment :)

Graduation banquet. First time out together without Eli

    The day after graduation we decided to make the long road trip back 'home' to MO. (With this road trip Eli has now been to 6 states! And more road trips are to come soon. He is a great traveler, a perfect military child) It was nice to see family and friends and of course do some much needed shopping while we were back :) While we were there we made the 3 1/2 hour trip to Omaha. Now if anyone remembers, we did this same exact thing before we moved to MS. Just four months before we moved to MS we made a trip to MS to see where we would be moving... I somehow don't recommend doing that. While I am sure we will eventually come to love Nebraska just as we have Mississippi, I am not jumping for joy at the fact that we are moving there. I love how I won't have to drive an hour or more for some shopping, but I am going to miss my trees and beautiful scenery. Right now I look out at my backyard and I see a beautiful forest (just ignore the graveyard) when we move to Nebraska our backyard will consist of a field of old cornstalk carcasses. Ok enough complaining.. if I can learn to love Mississippi, I can surely learn to love the state of Nebraska. I just hate leaving the memories we made down here, but I know we can make new memories in Nebraska!



    After our long road trip we were finally back home in MS and Mother's Day was approaching, my first  Mother's Day! Once again, my husband was amazing and didn't disappoint. I was awoken from a nice peaceful sleep with Eli tugging at me and Brenton wishing me a happy Mother's Day. Eli was holding my card and so excited! He could barely hold onto the card he was kicking and flailing his arms so hard. It was a beautiful card and inside were Eli's handprints.. such a creative husband I have :) Later I was given my gift, a beautiful charm bracelet with charms that represent my journey into motherhood thus far. The day went on with a picnic, trip to the park where Eli got to swing with mama and daddy on real swings, and a relaxing walk. My first Mother's Day was perfect (all except for the evening, which was a nightmare.. more to come on that in later posts) There is nothing I love more than being a mom. I remember hoping and praying that I would some day have a child, and here I am with a beautiful 4 1/2 month old. I have gone through so much to have this sweet boy and bring him into this world. There is truly nothing that compares to being a mother, and I have learned there is truly nothing that prepares you for motherhood until you enter into it yourself. Last night Brenton and I were watching TV when a commercial came on, Johnson and Johnson I think it was.. it shows a new mom caring for her newborn.. newborn looks up at her and a voice in the background says "mom, I think now is a good time to tell you. You're doing okay, mom" I was only 5 seconds into that commercial when tears started falling. I think all moms need to hear that once in a while.. "you're doing okay". While it is uncertain at this point, we are praying that it is God's will for us to have more children in the future. What ever happens it's all in His hands and we accept and understand that there is a reason for everything. While we have had a lot of struggles, we thank God for them and the blessings that have came from each one. For now we will continue to thank Him for all of the blessing and opportunities, and for the amazing miracle he has already given us.



 



Eli and mama at the playground for the first time!

Eli and daddy swinging

Seriously?!

Our New Adventure Awaits!

      We are happy to announce that Brenton received his #1 choice for his assignment.. RC135s to Offutt! He is very excited as am I. While I don't like that his assignment is very dangerous, I am thrilled he gets to do what he wants to do. I am also overjoyed at the fact that we will be around shopping once again! After living down here in MS I actually did get used to it, but I can't tell you how excited I am that we will be just minutes away from many shopping areas and actual grocery stores.. oh and a Target.. a Super Target! I am also very excited for Eli. We will be just minutes away from an amazing zoo and there are tons of childrens' activities and things to do around there.. one of which is a hands on children's museum.. can't wait until Eli gets old enough for that! I am so glad that assignment night is over and we can finally relax on the topic of where we may be going.. now we just need to get dates and start house hunting.

    Let's reverse a little bit and review how assignment night went.. as any UPT spouse knows, the weeks leading up to assignment night, not to mention the day of.. wears on a person's nerves. While Brenton had created his 'dream sheet' a week before, I still had made up my mind I was expecting nothing.. anything can happen. Many people were called up before Brenton.. one guy received C-5s to Dover (our #2) so I was like okay, well thats out. Then the next guy received RC 135s to Offutt (our # 1) and the guy after that received C 21s can't remember what base (our # 3) so I became very very nervous. I was thinking oh my.. where oh where are we ending up? This cannot be good. Please, please let it be in the US. While there can be more than one C 5, C 21, and RC 135 in a drop.. its not very common. I was on the edge of my seat at the point. As his name was finally called (which seemed like an eternity) I noticed his slide.. his slide read that he was from the "show me" state and that he was most likely to end up with more kids than the octomom and never deploy.. do I even need to comment on that? After he suffered through his roast, (which  I did not really find comical) the big map came up on the slide... and a line went straight to Nebraska.. I about peed my pants! Brenton was beyond thrilled and actually picked me up and swung me around..  I wasn't expecting that either.. The night went on to be a very good night and the weekend to be a very good weekend. We had some family in town visiting Eli for the first time and were able to hang out and relax with some really great friends! A memorable weekend for sure.

                              Brenton so excited that he decided to pick me up and swing me around..

                                    The Jones family will soon be moving to Omaha!

   It has recently been brought to my attention by several people that I have not started my career yet. My reaction to these comments: thats fine by me and I am proud of that decision. I became a mom at the relatively young age of 22 by choice and for many reasons I am not getting into. As of right now, I enjoy my job title: I am a mama, wife, and student. I am proud of who I have become.. its not easy being a military wife, let alone finishing a degree and raising a child. With that being said, I do not regret one thing. In fact, God willing.. Brenton and I do plan on having more children in the future. I do plan on working (as childbirth education is my passion) but I also plan on staying home whenever time allows to be with Eli. My goal for him is to have the childhood I did not have growing up.. I am going to try my hardest to make sure that happens.. he deserves it so much. I know this is the life I signed up for, I don't need reminders.. again, I made this decision. I know I will have a husband who will be deployed frequently risking his life, I know sometimes it will seem like I am a single parent.. I have prepared myself for these things. I am not asking for sympathy, thats the last thing I want. If anything, I just want to be acknowledged in a positive way. The last thing I need is to be criticized and looked down upon with what I am doing and who I have become. I am proud of the mother God has shaped me to be, the hardworking and persevering student, and the loving wife that supports my husband 100%. This will never change, and I thank God for this life every day. I have my fair share of struggles and know that more lie ahead.. but with each new struggle I am learning more and more of who I am and who I really want to become in life.

Eli's First Easter/Upcoming Events

     We hope everyone had a great Easter, we sure did! Easter is a very important holiday to Brenton and I, and while we do enjoy giving one another candy to celebrate, we also know the real reason behind Easter and feel very strongly in teaching our children the real reason we celebrate. To do this, we of course went to church (Eli is in a stage right now where he loves church, he loves the singing and tries to sing along. Its cute, I am just enjoying it while it lasts!) Another way we do this is by Resurrection Eggs. For anyone that doesn't know what these are: Resurrection Eggs are plastic eggs that hold some object with a scripture that helps tell the Easter story) I decided to make the Resurrection Eggs for Eli this year even though I know he had no idea what I was talking about or trying to convey to him. I thought it would be a great idea to make them for his first Easter, and then make it a tradition to get them out every Easter afterwards. As he gets a little older I think he will start to catch on, not only will it make a great family tradition, but a nice family keepsake for years down the road.

    Other ways we celebrated yesterday included coming home after church and having a yummy brunch (Thank you pinterest for the idea, and thank you to my lovely crock pot!) Afterwards we spent the rest of the day with friends and ended the evening with giving Eli his Easter basket. Inside there was: said Resurrection Eggs, a 'grow with me sippy' and a stuffed bunny. Not a whole lot, but does a 3 month old really need a lot of items in his Easter basket? I don't think so. While Eli could care less about the eggs (although he did sit still and look at me when I was explaining them to him ) he was quite interested in his stuffed bunny. In fact, he was so interested in it that he threw a fit when I took it away from him to look at his sippy cup..  after a bit he calmed down and became interested in said sippy cup.. success!

   Overall, we had a wonderful day and made great memories :)  It's hard to believe that next Easter we will have a 15 month old running around and talking.. scary but exciting thought! Below you can find Eli discovering the contents of his Easter basket..

                                                                Our first Easter as a family!

                                                           Loved the bunny!

                                                               Okay mama, I guess the sippy is kinda cool..

                                                                    Give me back my bunny!


       As mentioned several times previously.. we will soon be finding out where we will be moving to and what plane Brenton will be flying!! FOUR more days! Can't wait to make that blog post :) So many things are happening.. could be a lot of exciting news to come in upcoming posts.. stay tuned!  Until next time.. take care and God bless!

What A Journey it Has Been!

     Oh what a journey it has been! Is pilot training really almost over? Do we really have an almost 3 month old?? Crazy! It is hard to believe in just two short weeks we will find out what plane Brenton will be flying for his career and where we may be heading to next!

    That last part really makes me feel uneasy. I know for the longest time all I ever did was complain about living in MS and how I hated it. (In fact, I think about every single post in this blog has a complaint about the state somewhere.) But let me tell you, MS is really where I started LIVING life. We learned a lot about ourselves as well as one another. Never ever did I think I would be saying that, but its true. It has been a rollercoaster in the short year and a half we have lived here. We lost a baby, we overcame infertility, we welcomed out first baby into our lives, made lifelong friends along the way that have helped us in our greatest times of need and we have helped them, and now we are about to finish what is probably one of life's greatest accomplishments: pilot training.

    It makes me very sad this journey is coming to an end and I really don't want to leave the world of UPT (although Brenton probably strongly disagrees with me) but I know where ever we end up next will be just as good as our beginning journey in good ole MS. I may not understand at first just what our purpose may be in the next location, but I know God will show me in time just what that purpose is, just as he showed me his purpose for the journey we have had down here.

   We have made some amazing memories down here and I will cherish those forever. Now I can't wait to move on and see what memories we make in our next journey!

  April 13 is the day we find out the plane and location. We will be sure to let everyone know.

  Quick Update on Eli!
  
     First off, I can't believe he will be 3 months old next weekend! He is doing so well and growing and learning more and more each day. His favorite activity would have to be going on walks and doing anything outside. He experienced his first sunburn a few days ago from being outside.. for only 30 minutes! It wasn't too awfully bad, he now has some tan lines around his eyes from his sunglasses to start the summer off :)  He also likes to lay in my lap and kick Occie. This really isn't anything unusual as when he was still in the womb Occie would be laying beside me and Eli would kick him.. not much has changed! I recently bought him an infant pool floatie for the summer, I cannot wait until I take him swimming, I think he is going to love it!

  That is all to report for now, until next time.. take care and God bless!