The Colonial - a PGA event

Last weekend Peter and I headed down to Dallas/Ft Worth for a PGA event. Guess which one of us was super exited? Well yes, we both were. I have to admit that I do like going to golf events with Peter. The courses are so beautiful and I love watching him get so excited about things and explain them to me. The first person we saw was Jason Day, a classy golfer from Australia who was hitting a punch shot right next to us as we walked in. That was one of Peter's highlights for the day. He also had a brief conversation with David Toms at one hole, just congratulating him on his shot. It was a super hot day, just like the one we went to a year ago. So there were times that I sat in the shade drinking water while Peter walked around following some of his favorite payers or the leaders. I joined him and the crowd at the end and felt the intensity and the energy as the final couple played the last few holes. Cameras weren't allowed since it was the final day, so sorry that we don't have any pictures to post. But it was so fun to come across this event and just in time for Peter to be able to go to it before this next school starts.

the NAF sale

I'm not exactly sure what NAF stands for, but what it means is that the hotel on base had a big garage sale. It was a obviously a bigger deal than Peter and I thought it would be since people started lining up a half hour before the sale started, waiting to get in and get the good deals. Peter and I got there about 2 minutes before the doors opened and watched as the first people in line sprinted through the doors as soon as they were allowed. Was it worth it? Yes. Things were selling fast, within 20 minutes most items had a SOLD sticker on it and there was an buzzing energy about the place as people scurried around. I'm not sure what the early birds walked away with, but we couldn't be happier with what we bought. Lamps for our whole house, dresser and night stands, a buffet table, picture frames and a green-striped, brass studded reading chair, all for $39. So we have re-arranged the living room/dining room, set up the lamps and put in the dresser and night stands. The house looks so transformed and homey now and we will always have a piece of Sheppard AFB with us when we move.

Mother's Day

Wow,  there is a lot to catch up on since my last update from Panera Bread. That was the last time I had an internet connection until now.

I am now back home, writing this from our study. I am home! And so is Peter. He finished IFS much earlier than we originally thought and after doing paper work in Madison got back home last Friday. Yesterday was my first day home and it is so nice to be here together. And without further travels planned, and Peter's next class starting in a few weeks, and a baby coming in two months it feels like a new chapter is starting.

I was able to spend Mother's Day with my Mom and have breakfast and tea, just the two of us. Later that day we saw my brother and his family and enjoyed the warm sun while my nephew tried flying his kite. It was special to think of being a mom this mother's day and to share it with my mom and two of my sisters-in-law. That's right. There will be three Sailhamer babies born within 4 months of each other this year. How fun for the little cousins and future family vacations. We know that Jason and Betsy are having a little girl, but both Johnny and Kelly and Peter and I are waiting for the big surprise on the birth day.

I had to be home yesterday because we had an OB appointment that could not be pushed any later. They did a sonogram since I am a new patient and it was so fun to see our baby again. Everything looks great. He/she is measuring in the 47% (so average size baby!). Right now they weigh a little less than 4 lbs. We saw their little hands and feet, their kidneys and full stomach, and their little heart beating. The tech could even tell that our baby has hair. Their face has filled out a lot and is much rounder than it was when we had an ultrasound at 18.5 weeks. But, I forgot to drink something with caffeine and he/she was sleeping again and in the same position that they were the last time too - with their arm over their face! Now, I'm excited to see if that is how they like to sleep once they come out. :-D After our appointment we went to the hospital to visit a friend who just had her little girl that morning. She was beautiful and perfect. And the sense of being a mom was so real to have just seen my baby on an ultrasound and then to see a new little one and know that in a few more weeks that Peter and I would be there as well. What a fun Mother's day (and birthday present!) to me.

Peter's training update

I'm sitting at a Panera this warm, Spring morning, drinking chai and catching up on my email. I drove into town from my parents last night to skype with Peter. And it was so fun to have a long skype date with him and see his face. It felt like we were just sitting at the kitchen table talking about our day.

He's been doing really well and getting great marks on his flights. They fly every day, sometimes twice a day. A few of his flights have been canceled due to weather, but not too many. He was able to take off yesterday before a storm came over Pueblo and then had to fly longer, skirting and looking down on the storm, waiting to land. He said it was a lot of fun and that he was probably smiling from ear to ear during that flight. It was looking like he was going to finish early, sometime next week, even with some flight cancelations in there. But yesterday he was given a proficiency advance. So he will skip his next couple of flights and solo today as well as do a "pre check ride" right afterward. Tomorrow he will do his check ride (final exam) that includes ground and flight time and then done and leave on Friday! Awesome. I always knew he was advanced :-D. He will have to go to Madison, Wi to do paperwork called in/out processing with his unit and that will take a couple of days. But he will (if today and tomorrow go well) be back in Texas sometime next week, probably mid-late week and then I'll be back on Sunday night, May 8th. 

I can't wait to see him again. We have an appointment on the 9th with our new doctor and they want to do an ultrasound for their records. Now he'll get to be there for that, which I was hoping would be the case. 

I'm doing well. The baby is growing and kicking and having the hiccups regularly. :-D I can't believe that he/she will be here so soon! In 7.5 weeks I will be considered full term. Full term = 37-42 weeks, so they could come over a period of 5 weeks, what will the birthday be? And I wonder if they (he/she) still looks like their dad. Can't wait to see their face again too!

Hope you are all well. Looking forward to seeing the Bostonians tomorrow!

2 years!

Yesterday Peter and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. It has been a wonderful two years, the best years of my life. He called in the morning before his day got started to say happy anniversary and surprised me with 2 red roses that were delivered to the door. Why do I just love getting flowers from him? We ended the day with a long date, a sykpe date in the McDonald's parking lot (my parents don't have the internet). It was a happy day, one that I was constantly thankful for my husband.

We did celebrate our anniversary about a month ago, right before Peter left for IFS. We slept in, made a special breakfast of pancakes and sausage and packed a picnic lunch. That afternoon we hiked around, ate our lunch and exchanged our "cotton" presents, since cotton is the 2 year anniversary theme. For dinner we went to a place called Meers, which Bon Appetite Magazine has ranked as the #3 best burger in the US. It was great, very reminiscent of the cowboy days. It didn't look at all like a modern-day, popular restaurant.

AZ time with my Bro and Heidi

I just got back to an internet connection to catch up on last weekend. I spent few days in Arizona with my brother and a friend from college, Heidi. Amazingly too, Wichita Falls, TX (my new home), was quite a bit hotter than Phoenix, AZ was...it was only 88-92 degrees while I was visiting there and over 100 in Texas. I am sure not living in Wisconsin anymore. 

I met Andrew's roommate, saw where he worked, and ran some errands with him - just normal life. He took me to a favorite restaurant of his, In and Out Burger, and a Red Wings playoff game. We wore Wings shirts and represented Michigan along with half the people there. Our seats were near the Phoenix goal, so we had plenty of action and checks to watch. It was fun. 

Heidi and I took some long walks and talked about our big life changes, my baby and her up-coming wedding and marriage to Sean. It was so good to have that time. They "had" to go up to Sedona one afternoon and I tagged along. We had a picnic looking at the red rock formations and walked around the town. 

And then I flew to Michigan on Tuesday morning and, after several delays and detours because of storms in the mid-west, arrived Wednesday morning. But I got to know the man next to me well and hear all about his family and work. I think he was a little nervous about flying the way he kept chatting at 3 in the morning. 

one crazy day

I'm sitting in a shaded outdoor patio of a Starbucks in downtown Tempe, AZ. The temperature is perfect and there is a light breeze. There are a lot of people around me slowly enjoying a Saturday morning coffee while marathon walkers quietly go past. I've had several "congrats" and offers to buy me a coffee as strangers notice my growing stomach. It is a beautiful and calm morning. And it makes everything that happened yesterday seem so unreal.

Yesterday was the day that I left Wichita Falls, TX to go see family for the next 3 weeks while Peter is finishing up the first training school. My friend, Josie, picked me up to take me to my first OB appointment in TX. It was very long and thorough, 2 hours to be exact. But it was great. I even found out what position the baby was in and heard their little hiccups as the nurse checked for the heart beat. Afterward we went back to my house, loaded my luggage in the car, picked up another friend and headed for the airport and shopping in Dallas - a good 2.5 hours away.

After making a couple wrong turns in the construction traffic and finding out there were 2 airports in Dallas and that we were heading for the wrong one, Josie got a call that her neighborhood had been evacuated due to wildfires. The fence in her back yard didn't exist anymore and the news was calling Wichita Falls a disaster area. Thirty minutes later another call said that the training area on the base had been evacuated as well. And then, as I was getting out at the correct airport with little time to spare, another call saying that base housing was now being evacuated. I debated if I should just cancel the trip and go home with my friends to face this disaster, not knowing what I could do or where people were being evacuated to. Josie told me to just go and leaving would also meet the goal of evacuating. It was with a very strange, surreal feeling that I stood in line to check in.

After going through security though, I received another call that my dear, old Gran had fallen down the basement steps and was still in x-rays after being rushed to the hospital. My mom was very upset as she waited on the results and fearing what could-be. There was nothing for me to do at that point but to fly to Phoenix and hear an update there. But before boarding I got another call that base housing was clear and no longer was under evacuation, our homes were "safe" from the fires.

In Phoenix, my brother picked me up from the airport. The news was that my Gran had a few broken ribs, some staples and stitches on her head and face, and bruises and scratches. It will be a long recovery, but she will be okay. Praise the Lord. I will be in Michigan in a few days to see her too. I was able to call and talk to Peter after that and tell him all the un-expected craziness that had happened. It was good to talk, but it seemed so unreal. And unreal to have felt so calm through it all. The Lord's peace is supernatural and transcends understanding. And He is so GOOD.