Ramblings of a Deployed-Spouse

Well y'all. Miles and I have been hoofing it without the Aviator for the last 2.3 months. :-) But who's counting?
Initially, my feelings about going through a deployment with a wee-one by myself were fear, anxiety, worry, fear... But now that we're on the downhill side of it, I can truthfully say that I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Having a newborn has kept me so busy that there were times (sorry honey) that I would crawl into bed and then realize in a panic that I wasn't signed in on Skype.  I had almost forgotten! How could I forget?!  Well- I was exhausted. What can I say?
The amount of support and love on this base is truly unbelievable.  I don't know about others but I can honestly say that if I've ever needed anything, it's been there.  Even getting my lawn mowed has just happened miraculously.  I love the lawn-mowing fairy or pilot that is taking care of us.  It's such a huge blessing to not have to worry about that right now.  Plus, it's hotter than heck out there.  :-)
I realized something last night.  I was looking for our blender.  I never use our blender. In fact, before my love left, he put it away, off of the counter, out of my way.  Well I decided to make chocolate malts.  But where was the blender? I thought I looked in all of the obvious places but truth-be-told, I had no idea where it was.  Of course, I thought about asking the Smoothie-King husband of mine.  But then I found it.  Just like that.  I hadn't looked hard enough.  And who knows when he would've been able to tell me that it was in the high-cabinet above the fridge? So what I realized was that without him home, I actually am missing half of my brain.  He is my better half after all, so with him away, I'm literally missing half of me.  He helps me remember that it's time to do laundry. He helps me remember that it's time to go grocery shopping. He helps me remember that I need to put the laundry into the dryer.  Seriously.  He helps me remember everything!  :-)
Being away from my man for this long has done a funny thing to me.  I have much more in depth conversations with our son because I'm sure that he is helping me cope with his Daddy being gone.  I still sleep on 'my side' of the bed.  His pillows are stacked neatly on 'his side' of the bed.  His closet doors are still open... I suppose I could close them but then it wouldn't be even because mine are still always going to be open... (Does anyone ACTUALLY open and close their closet doors all day long??)
I know that Miles enjoys my stories because he has taken a very active role in replying to and joining in on them.

Sleep.  Sleep when your hubby is gone is strange too.  I find that I need much more time to wind down at night, sometimes even at 0200 I'm still awake wondering if it's crazy to start another episode of BBCs Top Gear (Thanks LAURA!!! (:  ). I also talk to God a lot more.  I pray more now than I have ever prayed in my life.  I know that He is giving me the strength to be a good Mommy day in and day out.  I know that He is giving me the strength to support my hubby and what he's doing.  I know that He is giving me comfort when I miss the closeness of family.  He has kept us safe and taken care of.  I am so thankful for my God.  He is so awesome.  I love being His daughter. His Grace is all-consuming and for some reason, being away from my best friend and husband, has reminded me of all of this.

I am thankful that this deployment is not as long as it could be.  I have a completely different respect and adoration of my Army, Navy, Marine-sisters.  I know that the Air Force is pretty laid back for the most part and especially on this side of the realm.

I will be so glad to have my man back home with us, safely.

How do you cope with deployments? Your favorite part? Your least favorite part?

Handsome Baby Boy!

Miles Charles Copeland was born on March 29, 2011 after 26+ hours of labor.  He is an absolute joy and we are thrilled to finally have him in our arms!  I look forward to sharing my birth story but that will have to wait! Here are a couple of pictures of our new little man.

No Hurry

Today completes my 37th week of pregnancy.  The Aviator has been TDY for all of February and this first part of March so I'm excited to say that he is finally on his way home.  Spending the last 6 weeks as a sort of 'single-lady' has been fun only because of the amazing friends I have here.  I've had a lot of time to think about how I feel about being pregnant, becoming a mom, having children, birth, breastfeeding, etc.  I can honestly say I truly enjoy being pregnant.  Once I got through the sick feeling during the first 17 weeks, it was quickly smooth sailing.  I know it's a blessing to have such an easy go at something that for some women is quite a trial, so I continually thank God for that.  I've made it a point to ignore my Estimated Due Date as a whole. This baby will come whenever it is good and ready to.  Everyone says that you'll reach a point of desperate discomfort but I'm already 3 weeks out from 'the big day' and I can't say I'm desperate yet.  

My heart is at ease with a lot of the issues I was afraid of while delivering on a military base.  I have a bit of a hard time with the fact that whoever is on-call is going to be the lucky doc catching our baby.  After doulaing once here, I see that because it's such a small facility, I really can labor however I want to.  I have really let go of my worries because even if I carve a birth plan out in stone, I really only have control of a few things. 

Example #1- Unless medically indicated/necessary, I will not be induced after my due date.  

Example #2- Barring an insanely long labor or high blood pressure, I will attempt a drug-free birth.  I am approaching this 'attempt' attitude in the same way a person approaches a marathon.  I'm preparing for this.  I'm not just going to show up on race-day, with a brand new pair of shoes but otherwise unprepared for the hard work ahead of me.  

Regarding example #2.  Why in the world do other women feel the need to argue with me about this?  Why do you care if I want to have a natural birth? I don't care that you wanted an epidural. That's your business.  Please don't approach me with questions about wanting a natural birth and then proceed to scold and lecture me about how difficult it is to do.  I get it. And if I don't, let me figure it out on my own. Thanks!! :0D

Anyway- those few things are my pathetic way of 'controlling' things or just letting my body do what God created it to do.  I would like to avoid complications that are avoidable, by avoiding those unnecessary interventions.   

Bottom line:

To our sweet unborn child,

Son or Daughter.  Your Daddy and I love you so much!  We want you to be healthy and ready to come out so please get into position and we'll be ready and waiting for you with loving arms.  

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

Do you have ANY idea how much babies poop?!

Hey y'all.  I have a hard time believing that January is coming to a close.  Time is flying by so quickly!  We've lived in Japan for over 6 months and it really does feel like home to us.  We always say "home is where the doggies are waiting for us".  And most likely, wherever we go from here in the next 3 years, those doggies will be sitting at Yokota waiting for their family to come home.  :-)

A lot of changes are headed our way in the next 2 months!  Well I suppose one BIG change will cause a lot of little changes?  With baby Copeland due at the end of March, I can already say that the mixed emotions of preparing to become a Mommy to a little person that will grow into a big person with a family of their own, is quite a roller coaster ride.  I guess I just need to get this off of my chest and out in the open.

I am fully aware of the fact that I am a first time mom.  I know that I don't have all of the experiences of a woman who has already had one kid or even has 3.  I don't know if I'm the only pregnant woman that feels this way but I can't help but notice that when other folks hear that we're doing something different, like cloth diapering, or whatever, I always here this "Ooh.. Are you sure you want to do that?  Do you know how much a baby poops when it's first born?"

Hold on a second... NEWS FLASH!  WHAT?! Babies poop!? Please tell me you're joking.  I did not sign up for this mess... Where can I get off of this crazy train?? Oh.. I can't get off here? Or the next stop?? :-)

I've learned an important lesson while living in Yokota.  The first one is that not everyone is excited about childbirth in the way that I am... I acknowledge that.  The second one is that because of the first lesson, I keep my mouth shut now.  If you want to know something, ask.  I don't ever want to come off like a know-it-all.  Because I am not.  I am still just a woman that has as much to learn about life and mothering as the next one.

AND about this Babywise thing... I realize that there is a degree of flexibility that makes it work for some people.  However, Gary Ezzo, as a person, needs to get his facts straight.  And maybe, if you're interested, you can equip yourself with some background info on this man.  You might be surprised by what you find out.

http://www.ezzo.info/ 

So, enough about that.  Just needed a little rant... :-)