Mother-of-the-Year Award (and other ramblings going on in my head)

Last Thursday I earned my first ever Mother-of-the-Year Award! I knew it would happen eventually and I guess I am just grateful that it wasn't worse. Let me explain. Here at Fort Rucker we are getting into a nice Spear family routine. I wake up at 6:00, work out from 6:30 to 7:30, grab some breakfast at the main Army lodging office, then go back to our room in time for Carl to be at his class by 8:00. The Army was kind enough to give us a rental car while we are here, but we still have only one car. Many mornings we will leave Jane asleep in the room while I drive Carl to class (it takes less than 10 minutes round trip) so that I can have the car during the day in case I need it. Last Thursday after dropping Carl off I returned to the room but my key wouldn't unlock the door. It is one of those electronic card keys often used in hotels. The little lights would flash green, but the door would not open. I started panicking and said a little prayer that I could find someone to help me. To make a long story short, my neighbor came back from driving her kids to school and called the front desk for me (which, by the way, is about a mile down the road). A lady from the front desk came and tried her key, which also wouldn't work. She called the maintenance guy who had to use a funky tool to unlock the door from the inside. The whole process took about 30 minutes. The entire time I am imagining a screaming, scared baby on the other side of the door but when I finally entered the room again, Jane was fine. She was awake but groggy, probably awoken by the banging sounds the funky tool thing made. I still feel like a horrible mother and haven't left her alone since. Carl takes the car during the day and I just don't go anywhere. We'll see how long it takes for me to go crazy.

That is about as exciting as it gets in southeast Alabama. My days are simple but good. I am still trying to lose the last 10 pregnancy pounds so I work out almost every morning. I am doing an exercise program called "Boot Camp" through the physical fitness center here on post and it is a lot of fun. This morning we exercised on the shore of a lake, and last week we exercised in a barn at the Equestrian Center. I am a little discouraged about how long it is taking to lose the weight and "get my body back." I was under the impression that breastfeeding mothers are supposed to have an easier time losing the weight, but apparently I am an exception. Carl's class is going well. We are able to spend a lot of time together and I am very grateful for the opportunity I have to be here with him. I get a little homesick now and then and miss my friends and family back home immensely, but I'm doing well.

Sweet Home Alabama!

Many of you may remember my post about Carl's deployment schedule. Well, as part of Carl's pre-deployment training he is required to do a 3 1/2 month course at Fort Rucker, Alabama (the same place we lived while he completed flight school). We went back and forth about whether or not I was going to come with him this time around, but decided that with the upcoming deployment we want to be together as much as possible. After a VERY long day of traveling we made it here late Thursday night. Jane did surprisingly well on the flight and hopefully isn't too much worse for the wear.

I had mixed feelings about coming to Alabama again, but now that we are here and settled, I am SO glad we did. I admit, it was stressful trying to pack and get my house in Utah ready to close up for the winter with the baby, but with the help of my mom and some great friends we made it work. We are still getting into a new routine, but so far I am enjoying it immensely. Carl goes to class every morning at 8:00 and is done by 4:30. He doesn't have a commute. He doesn't have to fly in the evenings or go to drill on the weekends. He doesn't have scouts on Wednesday nights. So far, this feels like a mini vacation for me (we'll ask him how he feels about it in a few weeks). I am sure this is just the calm before the storm in my life this year, but I am going to enjoy it while I can.