Ruby Friday...

So my sweetie friend Stacy was a lifer. A Pregnancy Lifer, anyway, or so we thought until this past Thursday night. See, she was POSITIVE she was going to be pregnant FOREVAH with their third baby. Thursday night at 6:56 pm, our phone rang, and it was Stacy, "Yeah, well, we're going to go to the hospital" (read the non-excited tone in her voice--they'd been four times prior in pre-term labor). But there was definitely something different in her voice this time; maybe it was nervousness, maybe it was anticipation. Whatever it was, I knew that this would be THE night.

I should interject here that Stacy was graciously going to allow me in the delivery room with her and her husband due to the fact that I'd had two babies the using the surgical method (i.e. flat on your back, covered in a sheet, while people use instruments to remove said baby) and I'd never witnessed a "Push Em Out, Push Em Out, Waaaay Out" birth. Mike and I sat through the evening most likely watching football, although I can't really remember and no phone call. Then, behold...at 10:31, the phone rang. It was her hubby, "We're going to the fourth floor. Wanna come"?

I got dressed probably quicker than anyone has EVER and drove through the dark coastal Virginia night to the hospital only to wait in the waiting room with TWO screaming children until 11:30 pm because Pregnancy Lifer was getting her epidural. Now, WHO in their RIGHT MIND brings a ONE YEAR OLD to a maternity waiting room at darn-near-MIDNIGHT to witness the miracle of his screaming mother bring his sibling into this world? Holy smokes. Said child was EXHAUSTED. His aunt was CHASING him around the waiting room and three women whose water had just broken while he cackled into the Fox News Channel filled room. Anyway, I digress...

We thought Stacy would deliver relatively quickly because her other two had come shootin out of her like bullets out of Annie Oakley's gun. Not this stubborn baby. After 5 hours of no sleep, ice chips, vomit, poor hubby trying to sleep in a chair, iv's, internal monitors, Turbutalain, Pitocin, rapid heart beats, water breaking and taking guesses at what the baby's weight would be, at approximately 4:01 am, Stacey started pushing...

and at 4:09 am, a little face was staring at me while I watched her amazing mama push her the rest of the way into this world. It. Was. Spectacular.

Ruby Eileen weighed a healthy 8 lbs, 2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. And she was TICKED OFF. She was MOST unhappy to have to come out of her nice warm sauna and she made sure everyone knew it. Mike always joked that she would have to be born on a Tuesday so he could call her "Ruby Tuesday". Sorry honey. She was most definitely a Ruby Friday.

I walked out of the hospital at dawn to go home and promptly called her Daddy. I'm sure he thought I forgot something. Not really. I just wanted to tell him to be sure and tell Ruby that it snowed on the VERY early morning she was born. It never, hardly ever snows here. Just another miracle to add to the one God had given her mommy, daddy, and me by letting me witness her birth thirty minutes before.

99 Things...

So my girlfriend Nash, who is, without a doubt, the POO (meaning good!) has this listed on her blog; because it's been a bit of a stressful day (more on that tomorrow), I'm taking it easy tonight and simply keeping in the spirit of Nash's blog. Thanks, Sweets, for the award! Youdabest!

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Here is a fun game I found at Nash's blog -

Play along if you want -

Bold the things you’ve done and will admit to:

1. Started your own blog - duh!

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world - Disney World, a few times.

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis - don't kill them, it's against the law.

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped (never!)

12. Visited Paris --twice!

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child - no, but I am one!

16. Had food poisoning - yes, from homemade ice cream when I was 18. OH. My. LORD...

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train .

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - oh yeah.

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon (ha!)

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice--amazing! Thank you Marco!

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. Yes--Italy and Germany. Breathtaking!

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (who does?)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris--twice--once in July when it was SLEETING.

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching--does dolphin watching count?

63. Gotten flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma--can't--we lived overseas and now we're "tainted".

65. Gone sky diving (yeah right!)

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check -oh...so embarrassed...

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy Absolutely--I'm crazy sentimental!

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial--I think it's in a Virginian's birth certificate that one MUST. Many, many times. Love the Jefferson Memorial too!

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating --sort of--I used to help my dad skin his deer when I was little for the program he participated in called Hunters For The Hungry.

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life --my little girl's--twice.

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby (

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

We did it...

It's over. Completed. Done.

24 hours from right NOW I will be leaving to go pick up my best friend, my love, my sweet husband from the airport.

We did it.

Tomorrow, when I finally hug my husband again, it will mark nine months to the day that he left. Nine months. It has been a long road, one marked with tears and struggles, but just as many smiles and happy moments--only now, the happy moments will once again include Mike. I cannot convey in words how crazy proud of my family I am. Devyn and Aiden have endured the last nine months with patience, humor, sometimes (lots of) tears, and love. They have made this time THAT much easier for me and Mike and tomorrow they will get the best surprise of their little lives....

They don't know, yet, that their Daddy is coming home tomorrow. My reasoning for this is quite simple: if something happens, and Mike's flight is delayed by a day (or two), I don't want them to go through the devastation of knowing their Daddy could be home, but isn't. The surprise will come tomorrow morning, when they're dressed to for church and we just happen to drive by the exit to church...they'll notice, I'm sure, and only then will I reveal the news.

If you've read this blog since it's inception nine months ago, thank you. Thank you for the supportive messages and the prayers you've offered our way. My husband will be home safely, and if you prayed for him, you had a direct hand in that. I will continue to blog about our military life, and I do hope you'll come back, because this is in no way where our story ends. There will be more deployments, the next one beginning next September, but I'm not thinking about that now. Now,I'm thinking of the following things:

1. Finding the adorable handmade bow to match Devyn's dress she'll wear tomorrow.
2. Having dinner with my girls tonight at Abuelo's in celebration.
3. Watching my little boy's face as he realizes he's looking at his best buddy again tomorrow.
4. Holding onto Mike's arms and knowing he's really here.
5. Praising God for bringing us through.

24 hours, 12 minutes, and we will be a family again...