A TDY husband = a trip to Maryland

When Bradley was six weeks old, Matt went TDY for four weeks (aka Temporary Duty, aka he went away for a short period of time). Since I was still on maternity leave and didn't want to spend all that time alone with the boys, we packed up and flew back East to spend two weeks with my family. It worked out kind of perfectly because Candice and Matt were flying home from Clovis, so we didn't have to travel alone (at least to get to Maryland) and a lot of my family got to meet Bradley earlier than they would have this way, which was cool. Here are some pictures from the visit (in no chronological order at all):

Gigi and Pop sharing their Rita's Italian Ice with Ethan and Jemma, lol

Candice and Rifat on the porch

Pop and Ethan playing with the Lincoln Logs

My grandmother meeting Bradley for the first time <3

My Dad with his brother and sister and their spouses

Both my boys on my lap (Bradley is hidden in the wrap)

Gigi helped Ethan build a fort on the porch

Sweet sleeping baby

Bradley hanging out on the porch

Ethan and Jemma

Ethan ate the first meal on Gigi and Pop's new porch

Alexa and Ethan

Alexa meeting Bradley

Becca's Baby Shower

Jemma, Kayla and Ethan in the sandbox

Aunt Lauren meeting Bradley

Uncle Mike meeting Bradley

Cousin snack time on the porch

Puzzle fun at Gigi and Pop's house

More sweet sleeping baby

More Lincoln Log fun

Snoozing on Aunt Candice

Pop and Bradley

Then on our return trip to New Mexico (which I was incredibly stressed about because I was flying alone with both boys), the coolest thing happened. I ended up knowing the man sitting next to me! He was an old co-worker of Matt's that I hadn't seen in probably five years, but he actually recognized me. He was super nice and when we landed he not only pushed Ethan in his stroller to baggage claim, he also helped me get all my luggage off the conveyor belt and proceeded to escort me to my car (pushing my 4 large pieces of luggage) and then loaded my car. It was the best thing that ever could have happened that day. Once to our car, we still had a 3.5 hour drive from Albuquerque to Clovis, but instead of making the drive right after our flight, I called a friend who lives in Albuquerque and at a minute's notice she took us in, fed us dinner, and let us crash at her house. Another huge blessing. It's pretty amazing how life takes care of you when you need it most. :)

Our second family

After my Bradley was born it wasn't just our relatives that stepped up to take care of us, a huge help to us was our Air Force family here. I truly can not say enough amazing things about the way our Air Force family took care of us after Bradley's birth.

Even before Bradley was born they were taking care of us. For example, when we got 8 inches of snow and I was 38 weeks pregnant and Matt was away for work, three men showed up outside my house, shoveled my sidewalk and entire driveway and drove away. Had I not been home and heard them, they never would've even knocked on the door to let me thank them. It was pretty amazing. And when we spent five hours in the middle of the night at the ER because Matt was having gallstones, our Air Force family was there that night to take care of us.

So it was nothing different after Bradley's birth. They were there for two weeks straight bringing us meals, love and support, and whatever else we needed. It was wonderful and something I will remember for the rest of my life. And something I can only hope to be able to payback to my Air Force family today and in the future.

I get by with a little help from my family

We were so very blessed to have a constant flow of family visiting us before and after Bradley was born. My mother (aka Gigi) was our first guest and arrived about five days before Bradley made his grand entrance. The extra time was great because she 1) helped do the final bit of organizing before the baby got here, and 2) kept me company while I tried to patiently wait for Bradley to decide he was ready to come out into the world. Then once my labor started, she stayed home with Ethan while Matt and I went to the hospital. Then she even relieved Matt and spent Bradley's first night with me in the hospital, which let Matt recharge, but meant I still had help. It all worked out perfectly. And of course, she was here with us for Bradley's first week at home, which was really the best part of all because adjusting to two kids is tough stuff!

After Gigi, our next visitor was Matt's dad (aka Grandpa). Now while Bradley might not exactly acknowledge or appreciate the guests, Ethan always loved having someone special here, especially his Grandpa. From playing with Ethan's Matchbox cars inside, to playing catch outside, Ethan loved having his Grandpa here to play with. The only thing is, I think Matt's Dad might've needed an extra vacation (or maybe just a really long nap) after how busy Ethan kept him. No matter what, though, Matt and I truly appreciated the extra set of hands to help entertain our ever-busy toddler.

After Grandpa, our next guest was Matt's mom (aka G-ma). I can't say enough wonderful things about having family here. Matt's Mom was such a huge help with everything from laundry, to grocery shopping, to making meals for us, to watching Bradley so I could get a much needed haircut. I mean, you name it and she helped us with it. And, as usual, Ethan kept G-ma ever busy with different games and activities. Having family around those first few weeks meant Ethan never really felt a loss of attention because of Bradley, which was important to us. We never wanted him to feel like he was any less important because he had a baby brother now.

Our last visitors to Clovis were my sister and her boyfriend (aka Aunt Candice and Uncle Matt). They came over my sister's Spring Break and were here to celebrate Easter with us, which meant so much to me. The holidays can be hard sometimes being so far away from family, so having family here with us is just awesome. And now that Ethan is starting to really love hunting for eggs, I'm starting to love Easter all over again, the way I did when I was little and got to run around looking for eggs at my grandparent's house. Plus, having Matt here meant the Matts got to do fun man stuff (aka beer, golf, and guns), which they loved.

My boys

The morning of Monday, February 23rd, we brought Ethan to the hospital to meet his new baby brother. Ethan had gotten very used to the idea of a baby in my belly, but we weren't really sure how he would handle everything once the baby came out of my belly.

Then the moment came, Ethan walked into the hospital room. He looked at Bradley and said, "That's my baby brother? That's my Bradley?" And so a nickname was coined, one that I treasure and continue to use when referring to my second son, "my Bradley."

Ethan's next reaction was one I wouldn't have expected. He looked at Matt and me and said, "He's not talking?" I think maybe Ethan was expecting another toddler-sized walking/talking kid to come strolling out of my belly, and when he was presented with tiny little Bradley who couldn't walk, talk or play he was a bit confused. But once we assured him it was okay that Bradley couldn't talk now, and eventually he would talk, Ethan seemed very accepting. And while he didn't want to hold him at first, he instantly wanted to help take care of him.

Once home from the hospital Ethan was excited to share all his toys with his new brother and even helped feed him one of his first bottles. The love and excitement Ethan showed, and continues to show, for Bradley truly fills my heart with joy.

Now, weeks later, Ethan continues to be an amazing big brother. He is so gentle and kind with Bradley. He continues to share his toys, he loves taking baths together, he tries to comfort Bradley when he is crying and he gives him kisses every night before he goes to bed.

And while I know it's impossible to tell the future, I have a feeling this is all just the beginning of one amazing, lifelong friendship for my boys.

My Bradley

Has it really been three whole months since my last post? With everything going on, I've lost track of time. And while sometimes it seems like time is flying, like my baby boy is already 11 weeks old (!), other times it feels like the whole world has completely slowed down.

I truly have so much to fill you in on, I think I'm going to just take it one event at a time and try to catch-up. We'll see how this all works out.

So let's start with the beginning. What made my whole world get rearranged and turned upside down. The birth of my second baby boy, my Bradley.

My original due date, as you might remember, was February 22nd; however, thanks to my 11 week ultrasound where my little man was measuring a little bigger, they bumped my due date to February 16th. Silly doctors, though. Clearly February 22nd was right from the get-go, as that was the day my Bradley made his grand entrance.

It all started at 1230am on February 22nd, when I had my first contraction. Fortunately, I was able to fall back asleep until 130am, when I had my second contraction. The next contraction came at 215am, then 245am, then 255am, then 305am. With my contractions now 10 minutes apart I decided it was time to wake up Matt and fill him in. Then from 3am until about 6am my contractions continued at about 10 minutes apart, with me falling back to sleep in between them. By 7am my contractions were about 7 minutes apart so we started to make our way to the hospital.

That was the fun part. The part where I couldn't walk from the pain, the part where I was crying on the bathroom floor, the part where I was screaming in agony and already begging for an epidural (the same epidural I had convinced myself I would not have this time around, mind you). That was the part where my amazing husband carried me, both physically and emotionally. The part where he literally held me up. The part where he convinced me I was strong enough.

By 730am we arrived to the hospital. The timeline starts to really blur for me at this point, but once I made it to the delivery room and was examined, I was 9 cm dilated. Shortly after being examined, my water broke and a few pushes later, at 845am, my Bradley was here. He weighed 8 lbs and was 21 inches long and he was perfect. I had done it, I had given birth without any pain medication. It was physically the hardest thing I had ever done in my life, but it was so completely worth every painful minute.

78 degrees in February? Yes, please!

It was gorgeous this past weekend. Like, seriously, gorgeous. I never saw 80 degrees, but I saw 79 degrees and in February, I will totally take that and be happy! So to appreciate all the warmth, we went to the zoo, played outside, washed my car and went to the golf range so Matt could hit some balls. Pretty much any excuse to stay outside was good enough for us! :)

Ethan's first time at the golf range :)

Lemurs, tigers and bears... oh my!

We went to the Hillcrest Park Zoo for the first time this past weekend. Having just come from Albuquerque, which has an awesome zoo, we tried to keep our expectations in check realizing this zoo wasn't going to be as awesome, but we were actually pleasantly surprised. They didn't have polar bears, elephants or lions, but they did have a tiger, a pair of brown bears and some very active monkeys. It took us somewhere between an hour and a half and two hours to wander through the whole thing, which was perfect for Ethan. By the end he was done, but he had fun while we were there. It was also pretty cheap costing only $7 for all three of us. So yay for finding something new and different to do in Clovis and yay for it actually being fun to do!

Our little butterfly, lol :)

Donkeys - heehaw!

We were seriously worried about this guy at first, but then we saw his ears moving, so we figured he was okay...

Lemurs!

38 weeks and 5 days with the monkeys

Crazy monkeys

Sooner the tiger

A bald eagle! America!