How To Make A Pregnant Girl Cry

So how do you make a pregnant mama cry?

Have her watch a commercial for the PBS series on the air craft carrier, USS Nimitz... It showed the ship getting underway for deployment, saying good-bye to families, receiving pictures and videos from home. One video included a wife showing their newborn baby to daddy.

This Navy wife will be saying see you soon to her husband in June... Just 5 short weeks before Connor is due.

So there we were at the theater getting ready to watch a movie when that commercial came on. And there I was with tears rolling down my face.

Papa

Last week we said good bye to my grandfather, Roy J. Connor, who was a wonderful, loving man. I always admired that he loved so unconditionally and never judged. I'll always remember seeing him walk in wearing his Irish golf hat with a smile on his face, listening to the stories, his love of history, the candy he kept in his car & the noisy toys he bought us as kids. He tought our parents, "to live your lives as best you can" which has been passed down to us. I only hope we all make him proud. He lived many lives in his 83 years. He saw his children grow and his children's children grow. He was even able to see 14 great grand children and know that #15 was on the way... He was also able to know there were 2 great-great grand children. He served his country for 30 years as a fighter pilot. He saw the world. There is so much more that our family will cherish about the man we knew as dad or Papa... He shared and gave all the love one could ask for.

He will live on through us, not only in the stories we tell, but also in the way we live our lives which will continue his legacy.

At the funeral mass my aunt read a poem, which he had asked her to read at one time and it was absolutely perfect.

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Days keep whizzing by

Last time I was here we had just found out the peanut was a boy. We already had names picked out, Connor James. In honor of my grandfather we had chosen the family surname since there was noone to carry it on (Connor) and also in honor of JR's dad (James). Luckily we were able to share this with my grandfather before he passed, which was special to both JR & me.

JR & I are still commuting back and forth. I have 2.5 weeks left at work before I take a temporary leave of absence to spend some time with him before he deploys. Knowing that this was the last time I had to drop him off at the airport today was the only comforting thing about saying, see you later... In two weeks it will be one way to VA, and the I'll be until he leaves. We certainly made the right decision by choosing the commuting. We knew he'd be leaving in June for 6 months. So to up root while pregnant and then be alone... It was hard, and there were many times I wanted to throw the towel in and just move down there with him. However, staying here allowed me to stay in a very good job, be with family, a doctor who knows my history deliver Connor, and also have family around after Connor arrives in July! For the record, I will never volunteer to do another seperated tour from my husband... My life has gone from being about the career to all about the family, which is really quite a wonderful feeling.

Things I love & I'm thankful for

I'm feeling very lovey & thankful this week. It was a sad week because we said goodbye to my grandfather, who was a very wonderful, loving man. I only hope we make him proud by living the values that he held and exemplified. I am very thankful to have known him for 30 years of my life. My pregnancy is also progressing quite nicely, 13 weeks to go!!! So on to the things that I love and I am so, so thankful of...

• My husband of course...
  
• And our the little baby boy, due to arrive in July
  
• When JR touches my belly and talks to Connor
  
• Seeing JR's face the first time he felt Connor move. I wanted to cry. Pregnancy hormones!!!
  
• Everything about my nephew, his smile, his laugh, his smell...
  
• When little Landon looks at my sister or Shawn. It's like he's thinking, you are my mom / dad and the world is good!
  
• Knowing I'll be with my husband very soon!
  
• My family - parents, siblings, inlaw parents & sibling...
  
• Conversations with friends I don't see often enough
  
• Times with friends that I see more often
  

Life is just so precious and goes by to quickly to not step back and make sure we appreciate it all...