Solo Day!!

Today was a big, big, BIG DAY! 

Jordan did his first Solo in the T-6 today!!!

For those unfamiliar with what that means, he was cleared by his instructor pilot (IP) to take control of the plane all by himself. For some million dollar aircraft, its kinda a big deal! Its the first big milestone in his flying career with the Air Force. 

Switching of the Badges 

The solo is a two-part flight. The first part he goes up with his IP (the same one who he did his first ride with) who basically checks him off and gives him the clear that he is trustworthy in the aircraft and ready to fly on his own. They land and come back to the parking areas. The IP hops out of the back of the airplane and Jordan gets himself all ready for the second portion of the flight - all by himself! 

As a flyer in the Air Force, you have to have wings. Since Jordan is in training, his IP carries the wings and he cannot fly a plane without wings (on their name badges).  His IP  has to trust Jordan enough to lets him borrow his wings for the flight. That must be a nerve wracking time for the IP's, but I'm sure Jordan gave them plenty of reason to trust him! 

Nap time! 

I was able to be out on the flight line and take pictures of the exchange of name badges & see Jordan just before he took off for the second portion of his flight, escorted by our neighbor & Jordan's classmate. We went back to their flight room and listened to him on the radio, while he flew around for about 40 minutes by himself. Evelyn decided she was a bit tired and wanted to lay down on the flight room floor! She was a trooper, this was all happening during her morning nap! 

As he landed, we headed back out to the flight line to see him taxi back to his parking spot. 

Evie & I were able to hop up to him in the plane and take pictures
(thanks to our escort Matt & our friend Kelly!). 

He was so excited and it was so great to see that big smile on his face.

Since getting back to Oklahoma after Christmas our family has dealt with Evelyn battling influenza, me a terrible sinus infection & Jordan an ear infection. He was unable to fly for 10 days because his ears were plugged and he was at risk to rupture his ear drums if he tried to fly. It was a very frustrating time for all of us, but mostly Jordan who saw most of his buddies solo before him while he had to sit and wait to get better. 

Today was refreshing in that things are on course and things can only go up from here! The weather is warm - mid 60's in January, and for the next 4 days or so. Jordan is back on track with his flying & we are getting closer and closer to meeting our new baby girl! 

We are so proud of you Jordan!!

(This post was written on Friday, January 16th, the day of the solo!) 

Coming our way, A Baby.....

We are so thrilled to welcome another GIRL!!! 

I have to say that I was totally shocked by this. Jordan wasn't so much.

I know each pregnancy is different, but things have literally been opposite of my pregnancy with Evelyn. And I would have put money on the fact we were going to have a boy. 

Buuuuuut I was so, so wrong! 

I am seriously so excited to have another daughter. I can't wait to meet her and kiss her sweet cheeks! 

Jordan knows he's in trouble with another girl coming his way. But he is so gentle and sweet with Evelyn and I can't wait to see him with this sweet girl! 

We didn't find out if we were expecting a boy or girl when we were pregnant with Evelyn and we absolutely loved being surprised! This time around, with being in a new state, new hospitals & doctors, family being halfway across the country, and the fact that we were surprised by this sweet girl in the first place, we decided we wanted to find out this time around. I was curious to know if I felt different and bonded differently while pregnant knowing versus not knowing. So we went for it, and I'm so excited to have a different perspective this time around! 

We officially found out we were having a little girl on New Years Eve, but we were truthfully a bit sneaky about finding out. A couple weeks before we headed home for Christmas, on 12.13.14, we went to a local company who specializes in prenatal ultrasounds. Sneaky, and so out of character, but we went for it. My sensibility kicked in. We had literally at least six bins of girl clothes & gear back in our storage unit in Michigan. It would have killed me to find out we were having a little girl with all that stuff back home, and no easy way to get it to Oklahoma. I thought it was a waste of time that we were finding out because I was so sure it was a boy, but man am I glad that we went for it and found out about our little girl! So now that we know we are having a little girl, its time to go through bins of clothes, figure out what we need for a newborn again and prepare ourselves for two girls under two! Yikes!

 In the mean time, we will be getting Evelyn into a toddler bed so we have a crib for baby girl. We won't be able to keep her in our room very long due to Jordan's busy work schedule and his need for sleep. We moved Evelyn into her crib around 6 weeks, so I figure we'll do about this same this time around depending on her sleep habits. Evelyn is starting to act interested in potty training too, so we may take that on before baby girl comes along. 

We are going to be busy, busy in the next few months leading up to her birth and then even more so once she's here. I'm excited to experience a different approach to pregnancy knowing that we have a girl and not left to wonder the whole time (which was still super fun!). I pray that everything continues to go smoothly with this sweet girl and that I continue to love being pregnant the second time around! 

Oh, and lets work on not being frank breech little girl, alright?! Its not as fun as it may seem right now, just wait until you're bigger, you won't appreciate the cramped space hanging out like that! 

Holidays at Home

What an eventful start to our New Year! We had a great visit home to Michigan until the last day or two, when Evelyn came down with the start of Influenza...

Our sick girl :(

We made our trip back home and then Jordan and I fell victim to viruses. Evelyn spent 5 days with a fever & we ended up in Urgent Care on New Years Day. I came down with a  terrible sinus infection that was teetering on an ear infection with terrible pain, and Jordan got an ear infection that grounded him. Literally. He couldn't fly for about 10 days. It was miserable. On top of that, Evelyn is getting her bottom eye teeth (they are almost in as I type this!) and I think she's having a major growth spurt. So even though she isn't sick anymore, our 12 hour a night sleeper is up for hours at a time, uncomfortable and crying. Whatever craziness is causing this awful sleeping pattern we are ready for it to be over! I know its just a phase and it will end soon, but the sleep thing has got to get better soon! And not to mention, it isn't super fun to see your kiddo uncomfortable and you can't do much about it. Either way, its just a phase, right?!

So back to the holidays. We had a great trip back home to Michigan. Evelyn did great in the car and we couldn't have asked for better weather, in December, driving across the country! We got to my parents house on Christmas Eve afternoon & had a great dinner with my grandparents. We went up to Jordan's parent's house in Grand Rapids on Christmas afternoon and the next 2 days were a total blur of family & fun. We went to Jordan's Pop & Grams Christmas afternoon, then spent the evening celebrating with his parents. We spent the night with his parents, and the next morning we celebrated with the extended Spaans side. That same day, we came back to my parents house and celebrated Christmas with them. Then we headed over to celebrate with the Shoemaker side of the family in the evening. Whew, even just typing that makes me tired all over again! We were able to see everybody (expect the Hamilton side who is in Florida for the winter, we did FaceTime with them though!) and even though it was quick, we made it happen!



















The weekend after Christmas we had a little bit of down time to relax before Evelyn got sick. We saw some friends, ate at places we missed dearly, and I got my hair done! We had plans on our last full day at home to see more friends and soak up the last bit of family time that we could, but Evelyn was up almost all night and we all needed a day to recover from that! Thankfully she slept enough the night before it was time to head back to Oklahoma! Our drive back to Oklahoma was fairly uneventful. We did the trip in one {long} day, but we all survived and slept in our own beds, which was an amazing feeling after a week of being away. It didn't seem like we were gone a week, but with the driving days and illness, it flew by!

Its so crazy that this was our first year being away from family during the holiday season. We were lucky enough to be able to get home and see everybody so it didn't really seem like we were actually away. It was great to see everybody, but was super exhausting. I'm hoping in the coming years as we add to our family and get settled back in Michigan, that it will be an easier routine for Christmas gatherings. Its a great time to see family and we wouldn't trade it for anything, but its easy to get caught up in the gift giving & miss the point of what Christmas is all about. My hope is that we can still see everybody and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, but just maybe not all in 2 days! We have large families that make the holidays so much better but also add more things to do during a busy time of year. I'm looking forward to the coming years as Evelyn & our future babies get to enjoy the magic of Christmas through their little, sparkling eyes.