Finleys Birth Story!

The last few appointments I had been waiting for Dr. Rothwell to clap his hands together and say "Lets have a baby tomorrow" or "Are you ready to have this baby tomorrow?" On August 15, 2011, I had an appointment and sure enough, Dr. Rothwell said "We're having a baby tomorrow!" To which I replied, "NO WE ARE NOT!"

Our First is Four! Macie's Fourth Birthday!

Aunt Sarah sent a smile box card for Macie! Macie smiled the entire time she watched it, she loved seeing her self so little!
http://smilebox.com/playEmail/4d6a63314d4459324e4464384e6a49774d544d7a4d44633d0d0a&sb=1

"Alternate" for Another Deployment

Cody was an alternate for his squadrons deployment. They did not use him, whew! Until... everyone was settled in the desert, and someone was sent home. Cody replaced a member of the 40th. It was a very frustrating situation. The guy Cody was replacing needed to be home where he could heal his mind. My outlook on this deployment changed, when I realized we should be praying for this man vs. frustrated at him. We were so happy that Cody could stay for Valentines, and the annual Highland MOPS and POPS Dinner at the Jack and Ann Griggs Home. These are photos of the day we dropped Cody off at the Abilene Regional Air Port.

Baby Makes Five!

Cody returned from a deployment at the end of October. In December we found out that we were pregnant. What a perfect month to share baby news with family. After being late, on a whim, I decided to run to the clinic on Dyess AFB to take a blood test. The girls and I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond and near by stores, when the nurse called me back. I was a bit surprised my self, and had to take a few minutes to sit in a parking lot before feeling safe to drive. I called a friend, Valarie, and spent some time freaking out with her on the phone! Later that evening, Cody was still in his uniform cooking us some dinner (yes, he is always this awesome) when I filled him in. Cody was a little surprised and, I'm sure, was immediately thinking we would be blessed with three girls. I was also fairly certain, we would have another daughter. Exiting!

Day of Thanksgiving and Praise!!

We left Abilene around noon and headed for a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise in Cresson, TX with Family. Karyan & Dusty hosted.




My handsome chauffeur Mr. Cody. I love this boy!






The Mrs! Thats me, happily anticipating the turkey (Uhm, I mean the family visit) (c:






Miss Macie! She was happily watching Disney Pixar's Cars. She loves Tow-mater!!












My Charlie Charlie! She didn't want to entertain me (c:

We spent the late afternoon snacking on delicious treats! The turkeys button popped around 5 pm! We munched away after a sweet prayer!!






The girls has fun playing with their uncle Dusty and with their friends Sherry & Grace!






Cody, Charlie & Sheri






Meet Grace (c:






Cody & Carly enjoying some tube.

Wow! Baby it's cold outside (c:

-Have a fabulous Day of Thanksgiving and Praise! Love

Location:Mountain Air Trail,Weatherford Southeast,United States

Raising Children?

I am a MOPS mom... with MOPS, I've met some great people and have been given some awesome advice. A sweet MOPS mentor, Ann Griggs, hosted a MOPS and POPS dinner at her house last February. Cody and I had a great time with the mentors, other MOPS and POPS, and we also had fun listening to Tom and Sandra Millholland, authors of Prelude to Joy, Making your marriage a heavenly one! Other than Tom and Sandra's advice, some other advice really stuck with us. Ann G. and her husband Jack raised three girls and one son! While Jack & Ann's children were still at home they created and lived by "THE BOOK." Basically if the kids asked when they could start staying up until 10 PM, Jack and Ann would tell them to reference the book. All answers were in this book... when they would get a car, what happens with specific grades that one earns in school. With four children, if they didn't have "THE BOOK," would they be able to maintain continuity? I see lots of parents start out with strict rules for the first kiddo, then the next is given much more slack. Cody and I have decided that we don't want to have any "That's not fair that Charlie gets to do this, I had to do that when I was her age...". Jack and Ann said that some things had to change with the book, such as inflation for car, college, and wedding budget.

It's been February since the awesome MOPS and POPS dinner, however, the advice still lingers and every now and again I think about how I'm going to begin the writing process of this book.

What I know so far, is that our book will be modeled after the Air Force Instruction(AFI)... Randomly, post military, certain AFI's pop into my head. Such as AFI 36.2103.... I do not remember what that number is attached to... if its is Dress and Appearance, or if it is my old Personnel Reliability Program. I'll have to get Cody's opinion in this, however, I think that we'll name the book SFI for Seaman Family Instruction. I can see myself saying, "Girls if you'd like to know what age you need to be in order to be eligible go on a date, don't ask us, go reference SFI 36.2103." We'll see how far this gets!! Hopefully one day the girls will be in class telling their friends that since they are now 17, their curfew has been extended one hour per SFI 56.2203.

Are we crazy or what??