Everything looks better sprinkled with a little sunlight…

Last month brought some amazing discoveries, as well as some difficult news. We found out {finally} that my son Kevin will be having a little brother! I have so many curiosities about this lovely little baby. Will he be a clone of Rocky the way Kevin is? Will he be shy or more outgoing? It’s been almost four years since Kevin was born, I can’t wait to have a tiny baby in my arms again. The anticipation of meeting him is often on my mind.

We also learned that my husband {probably, for sure} won’t be here when this little man makes his appearance in the world. He’ll miss it by about half a month. We’ve known this could be a possibility, but it was still hard to digest the actual announcement. I took some time to ponder this news and not so eloquently fall apart.
I wish I had the emotional capabilities of other military wives I’ve met & read about. Women who don’t flinch at the prospect of much more difficult scenarios, women who build empires as busy single moms, women who keep it all together & even thrive during deployments. I am envious of their strength.

I am {slowly} accepting the changes & preparing myself for what is ahead. The most valuable picture in my studio is from an ultrasound that I framed. At twelve weeks, this lovely baby held up his hand and showed us the tiniest five fingers I’ve ever seen before. I’ve been looking at his “high five” and feeling revived that he’s already melting my heart & inspiring courage. New life always brings joy.

I’ve begun a running list of everything that is going for me & what I can be thankful for:

• I live close to family & close friends. I will have support during my labor & assistance after Kevin’s brother gets here. This is huge & I realize it’s clearly an exception in the military world. I’m thankful.
• I have six months to lose this baby weight… I’m {almost} guaranteed to be smaller when he gets back.
• We can talk on Skype often. I still like sending some handwritten letters, but nothing beats seeing him on the screen {besides seeing him for real…}.
• As much as I hate the idea of Rocky missing summer, it’s easier to stay busy when we can leave the house and enjoy the weather.
• After I take some maternity leave, I have some gorgeous weddings lined up. I can look forward to capturing them & doing what I love.
• When I’m not working, I will be busy taking thousands and thousands of pictures of the boys. Rock will be thoroughly updated on our daily adventures.
• Rock will be at a stable location.
• Kevin will be a great big brother. He’s competent at following directions & helping me. When he chooses not to, bribing with peanut M&M’s works wonders.
• Rocky should be home sometime before Christmas. It will be amazing.
• Unnamed baby boy {who is really starting to need a name!} will be ready to roll, crawl, & start teething when he meets his Daddy. Rock can watch & applaud all the biggest milestones in person.
• When he returns, Rock will be on desert time for a while until he adjusts to our time zone. He’ll be up all night & want to go to bed early. He’ll have no problem hanging out with a teething baby while I blissfully catch up on some sleep.
• I’ll have plenty of time to rent all the chick flicks he doesn’t care for. {I must give the man credit, he did endure New Moon in its entirety at the theater}.
• Just like last time, we will learn a temporary normal. I’m thankful for the adjective “temporary.”
• Every lonely minute will be forgotten when we see him walk through the terminal. It will be pure euphoria when he meets his son, reunites with Kevin, and kisses me like it’s the first time. ♥

{The adorable brown envelope & its yummy contents is curtesy of Alli from Hooray Design…Â can’t wait until she restocks her Etsy shop!}