If I could write a letter to me....

So I want to take you guys back to a day that has played though my head many of times the past few weeks...

2010.....2009.....2008.....2007.....2006.....2005 Ah! Here we are!

It's May 20, 2005 about 10 am. I am standing in the bus loading zone of Lowdnes High School after my change of command ceremony. It's HOT and all I want to do is get back in the AC and out of my uniform. After finishing up an interview with the Valdosta Daily Times and our Sr. Aerospace Science Instructor Col. Failor I figure I am pretty much free to go. Then this first lieutenant comes up to me, he introduces himself as the new so so at the detachment at VSU and he wanted to talk to me about weather I was planning on joining when I graduate in a year. I think man Col. Wes really set this guy up. See Brittany was a freshman at DET 172 and every time someone from there came to an awards banquet, military ball, softball game, etc they wanted to get the OTHER Falkenhausen girl to join to. I can't remember my exact words to him but I am sure it had something to do with never joining ANY branch of the service, but in true Katie form I added "I am gonna marry a pilot!" .....FAST FORWARD....... March 6, 2010 That LT (by now a Captain) stood up as a grooms man in my wedding....to a PILOT.

My point to this is that El Cappyton should have laughed in my face on my wedding day and told me CONGRATULATIONS Girl....you just joined the US Air Force!

Steve graduated pilot training on May 20th he left for SERE a week later. He returned this weekend for 32 hours and left again today for 6 week TDY for training. He will get back to Columbus on Aug 7th. We have to leave for Colorado on Aug 10th. Anyone picking up on anything here??? Someone has to make all the arrangements...any takers?? Yea I didn't think so!

The past few weeks I have learned that it can take up to two weeks for people to do their job and get someones orders done, but if you show up in their office and gently explain that if you do not have said orders done by 4 pm their Col and I will be in there office by 4:15 you can get them done in 15 mins. I now know the first paragraph of a Special Power of Attorney BY HEART! I memorized it while waiting in the TMO office for 2 hours to be seen. I can tell you even though they have a copy of your 5 different POA's you should always bring another copy f each with you because they never seem to be able to find them. I wonder who does have all the answers to my questions about moving because whenever I go up there I am told I am sorry the person who knows that isn't working today. I have learned that I don't know if I ever want to live on base housing again. I have so much crap to do to this house that it will look better the day I move out then it did the day I moved in. Tomorrow I have to get Steve's plane tickets for second half of the TDY he's on now because order issues I talked about before, go to housing and fill out paper work for us to get out of this GOD FORSAKEN house in 6 weeks, and go to TriCare to figure out how my doctors stuff is going to work out. OH yea in case you forgot I am 4 months pregnant.

I know I am not alone, but on nights like tonight I feel like it. I am running off roughly 4 hours of sleep. My entire body aches and I have acid reflux like you would not believe. I crawled into bed an hour ago and couldn't get to sleep. I just keep thinking this is a worse case PCS. My husband will be gone for pretty much the entire two months before, I am stuck with dealing with stuff on this end on a base that apparently can't get anything done right until it's done twice, and I am pregnant with our first child. If I can get though this move I can make it though anything the Air Force sends me right? So what would I have told 16 year old me on that May day back in 2005? Never say Never? You don't have to be sworn in to join the military? Or are you really sure you want to marry a pilot? Probably, but I would have added when your sitting at your computer at 11 pm completely exhausted wondering how am I get though these next 6 weeks remember why you are there...Because you fell in love with the most amazing man in the world and yes he happened to be a Pilot and you would walk though hell and back for him.

Second Trimester and Trucking along.....

So yesterday I officially entered into my second trimester!! However, I am still dealing with awful "morning sickness". I use that term lightly considering that mine usually hits about 5pm. I had my second OB appointment today and I was a little disappointed that I didn't have an ultrasound but tis life. I did however get to hear the lil ones heartbeat going strong at 166 rpm! The doctor said everything looks great which is a sigh of relief. We get to find out weather we are team blue or team pink on July 18th! Pending Baby Fett plays along. I cannot wait!

Steve is still in Washington at SERE. He will be graduating on Friday which I am sure cannot get here fast enough for him. Then he will be "free" for 5 days before he starts water survival training. He comes back home for a grand total of 24 hours before heading to Dallas TX for C-21 training. Needless to say the Air Force is doing it's job keeping him busy as a bee.

I am looking forward to Brittany coming to spend sometime with me this weekend. It's funny how prefect her timing is because pretty much all of my friends are going out of town this weekend so it will be nice to have someone around. Plus I want to spend as much time with her as I can because Colorado is a long way from LA! :-( Other then that life is pretty much the same old same old.

When does motherhood start?

So my sister and I had a conversation yesterday which made me think of a conversation I had with another friend about a year ago. At the time we were discussing when does a mother become a mother? My friend (who shall remain nameless) believes that you are not actually a mother until the day your child is born. To be honest I really didn't have an opinion on the subject as I was not a mother so I felt I could not possibly understand the full extent of a mother's love. However, things have changed.

If you ask me my answer is simple, I became a mother on April 10, 2011. This was the day that my life changed as I know it. I no longer worried about just Steve and myself my world suddenly revolved around a tiny lil human that I have yet to meet. My actions suddenly did not just effect me they effected my child. My friend's argument was that as a mother you had protect your child and help them grow up. She believed these were things you can not do for a child a in the womb. Well I have a whole perspective on said topic. I live everyday protecting and helping my 13 1/2 week old baby grow. He/She already means more to me then my own life. To me that is what being a mother really means.

I still do not claim to know the full extent of a mother's love, but I can only image what an amazing journey Steve and I are embarking on as parents.