Life With the Norman's: Our First Trip Without Daddy

It's always hard being away from Isaac. When we got married, I knew it would be a big reality in our marriage, considering his pending 7 (which turned into 8) month deployment. But since he's been home, we haven't really been apart except for duty nights, which were once every 5th night until recently, where it's changed to every 4th. With that said, I'm kind of used to being away from Isaac, but any time away from him is hard. He's my husband, my love, my sanity when Curtis is screaming or waking up every hour or 2. He is the best Daddy I know, helping out so much with Curtis. He loves spending every second with him that he can and is so involved. So when he's gone, or we're gone, it's hard. We miss him, both Curtis and I and I know he misses us. But I am thankful for a husband who is ok with me taking our 5 month old to NC to celebrate his Great Grandma's 89th birthday. Because as hard as it is to be away from each other, it was very important that Curtis and I be able to celebrate my Grandma. She is a very special lady and even though Curtis will likely not remember her, she loves him so very much and he brings the biggest smile to her face every time she sees him. With that being said, our trip may have been hard, but it was wonderful. Mom throws Grandma a special lunch every year with her sisters, some of her nieces and grandchildren/great grandchildren. We got to eat good food, laugh, talk, take sweet pictures, enjoy all the kids in the family and celebrate 89 wonderful years of my Grandma's life. What a blessed day it was!

Other big highlights of our trip to NC:

Curtis and Prudence finally got to meet! Let me tell you alittle about these 2's special relationship. About a month after I told one of my very best friend's, Brenna, that I was pregnant, she texted me to tell me she was pregnant too. There is nothing better than going through pregnancy with one of your best friends. Pregnancy is not for the faint of heart, so if you can have a best friend to help you through it, it goes much more smoothly. When we found out we were having a boy and then the Perez's found out they were having a girl, we were even more excited. Brenna and I have joked all along that they were going to grow up friends and eventually marry. We know this may not happen, but I kind of hope it does, cause I know Prudence will be raised similarly to Curtis and they will be friends anyway, so why not? Well, Prudence ended up coming early, almost 4 months early, which was a shock, but she's a fighter so it's turned out ok so far. So, the day Curtis was born, Pru had been hooked to some form of O2, I can't remember if it was CPAP or the vent, but anyway, she pulled herself off of it and started breathing on her own. We like to think that all she needed was her love to come in to this world :) Anyway, it was wonderful for them to finally meet. When we brought them close to each other, Curtis reached for Pru, and they both smiled and laughed. It was wonderful to see!

Highlight number 2, I got to get coffee with my friend Courtney from back home. It was a wonderful time to hang out, get to know her better and have my heart encouraged by someone who's "been there" with this whole stay at home mom thing.

And highlight number 3, Taylor's t-ball game. It was fun to have our whole family (minus my love) there to watch Taylor win. I think she is really enjoying the game, and with some practice and age, I really think she'll make a good softball player.

The whole time was wonderful and I loved getting to spend time with my family. I love that they live close enough to go see and I love that they can be apart of Curtis' life. But, I am glad to be home with my husband, currently sitting on the couch with me, playing with our sweet baby :)