With WINGS as Eagles

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31

In case you haven't heard me shouting it from the rooftops, my awesome husband has graduated from Pilot Training, and is now the proud owner of a brand spankin' new set of super shiny "wings"!!!! I am literally busting with pride!! What a great few weeks it has been!!

I love the scripture above. I obviously like it because it of the reference to eagles; its connotation to not only flying, but to the actual aircraft that C will be piloting. And, perhaps even more than that, I love that it emphasizes "they that wait upon the Lord". And, let me tell you a little bit about waiting!!

I'm sure you've heard me say it before, but my husband has dreamed of becoming a pilot since he was a little boy. In fact, his dad recently found a picture of him wearing a shirt with an F-15 Eagle on the front of it when he was about 5 years old! Flying is his second love (close behind yours truly!). But despite how great he is at it, earning his "wings of silver" didn't come easily. He didn't attend the AF Academy, or go to a "flying school", or even finish out ROTC in college, so he was at the "bottom of the barrel" as far as Pilot Training candidates are concerned. And so, for the past 8 years (from the moment he took his AF qualifying test), he has been working as hard as physically possible to achieve his dream...and get those wings. And despite the seemingly huge obstacles that he had to conquer, he kept his eye on his goal, and on the Lord. We knew and trusted that He had a plan...and the waiting just made the end result even sweeter!!

And so, without further ado, I present to you my husband.

The Air Force PILOT!!!!

Getting the Commander's Award

My two loves!!

Our family
The whole gang at Graduation!!
Chris and I at the Graduation Banquet

Studs, I tell ya!!

Boo!

I just can't get over this picture from last year!! Miss E was so teeny :) I remember putting her into this little pumpkin outfit, and watching her just snuggle right down in it. She's a snuggler, in case you didn't know! And then, because we couldn't pass up another cute costume, we changed her into a little flower...equally as precious, if you ask me! Ha!

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of Halloween. I don't love the creepy ghosts & ghouls, or watching scary movies. I saw Paranormal Activity last year around this time and I STILL have trouble walking to Elli's room across the house in the middle of the night! Chris will never live it down for dragging me to see that one! Now, a cute pumpkin or a sweet flower...I'll take it! But I just can't get excited about vampires, witches or goblins. I know, I know...I'm a party pooper!

What about you guys? Any cute costume ideas for your little ones that aren't too scary? I love hearing about the fun homemade ones that all of you crafty mama's can whip up! One year, I was a Gumball Machine for Halloween...looking back, I think my mom was pretty clever for coming up with that one! In an attempt to save a little bit of money, E isn't even getting a costume this year. But before you start feeling too sorry for her, I will be making her a black and orange tutu to go with her super cute "Daddy's Little Pumpkin" shirt :) See, I'm not too mean! TeeHee!

What was your favorite costume as a kid? And what will your little one be dressing up as this year?! I wish there was a way for you to post pictures, b/c I'd sure love to see some cute little dressed up babies!!

Another Adventure!

As many of you know, C & I have been anxiously awaiting finding out which plane he'll be flying once Pilot Training is finally over. And with the plane assignment, we would find out our new base as well...double exciting!! Well, Friday FINALLY rolled around and we found out...

We're going back to North Carolina!! I'm a little leery of putting his jet on the blog (paranoid much?!), so I'll borrow the description that his barber used the other day and call it the "pointy-nosed fast one" :) I'm so proud of him. He worked hard this year, unbelievably hard...and it has paid off tenfold. We're thrilled with the plane, and the base, and we're absolutely giddy about the prospect of getting back into the community that we left.

I think I've mentioned this before, but I get antsy when we've been in a house for more than a year. The ideas start churning for me, and the furniture starts getting rearranged. So, though I know it will be hard work (especially with a baby), I'm actually really excited about moving. And I'm soooo happy to get to see some of our friends again!! Plus, we really loved NC the last time we lived there (about 3 years ago), and I know that we'll enjoy it just as much this time around.

So, we're off on another adventure. This time, as a family of 3!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ A Day Late :)

What a GORGEOUS Day!

I've been really trying to let Elli play outside more, especially now that the weather is so wonderful here. I feel like I kept her cooped up all summer b/c I absolutely hate the heat, and I'm trying to make up for it with a little bit of sunshine! I'm proud to say that I've taken her on a long walk for the past 7 days straight...and she loves it! She really likes riding in her wagon, especially when I run down the hills pulling her :) And if we see a dog along the way, well...that's just an added bonus! Today, we strolled around base w/ a friend and I tried to point out all the airplanes (again, she really hasn't seen very many since her Mother of the Year over here was afraid of melting this summer). And wouldn't you know it, when we got home and heard an airplane, she pointed at the sky! Her daddy would be so proud :)

Here are a few pics from today when we got home. She loves to chase this ball around while practicing her walking. I'm so proud of how well she's doing :)

Crazy 8

When I find something that I think is simply fabulous, I just can't help but share it with others...so if you've already heard my raving about Crazy 8, I apologize, I just can't contain myself :)

So...Crazy 8. No, not the card game...the children's store! Maybe I've been living under a rock for the past year, but where has this store been?! I remember getting an email from a sweet friend a few months ago about it, but I didn't really look at it...I'm kinda one of those "stick to what you know" girls. I scope out Gymboree, Baby Gap, & Old Navy sales and that's about it. But while I was back in Texas, I saw a Crazy 8 store in the mall and thought I'd just see what they had to offer. OH MY GOODNESS!! I absolutely LOVE their clothes :) It's the sister store of Gymboree, so all of their stuff is the same quality, same cuteness, but NOT the same high price! What's not to love?! AND, just like Gym Bucks, they have Crazy 8 Bucks (which I just used on the HUGE sale that they've been having and scored lots of stuff for next summer!).

I wish I could figure out how to post some pics of the cute Fall outfits that they have right now, but alas I am still terrible at stuff like that. Just know that they are absolutely adorable...especially the boy clothes! Go check them out, I think you'll fall in love :)

13 Months

Lots of things have changed in just one short month!! The biggest news is that Miss E is now a walker!! We joke that it took her so long to pick it up because she's smart enough to know that walking means you don't get carried as often :) She's still a little wobbly, but she has the cutest little giggle whenever she arrives at her destination without having fallen on her booty! So cute! This is a short video of some of her very first steps.

She is also now in her "big girl" carseat. I think she's pretty comfortable :)

She likes to "hide" in the entertainment center. She gets in there every day!

She loves to be outside, especially with her daddy :)

**Please excuse our parched lawn!!**

She still really, really, really likes dogs!

She doesn't just like to play with one toy at a time...she'd rather "trail" her toys, as you can see here :)

We're now down to 1 nap a day. Whew!! What a transition that was! With all of the other health issues that have been going on with her this past month, we thought her change in sleeping habits were just a symptom. Nope!! Once we switched to just one nap, she's back to sleeping 12 hrs/night with NO screaming fits at 1am :) Happy Elli = Happy Mommy!