Mother's Day Gifts for the Grandmas

Yes, I know I'm basically two entire months behind, but I am playing some SERIOUS catch-up. It seems like I go through spurts with this little blog of mine... I either take a few weeks off completely or post a ton of posts all at once. I'm trying to be more consistent, as usual, but life happens.

We actually told my family about Baby Cookie 2.0 on Easter! We had Annabelle wear a BIG SIS shirt that we made for her (and I somehow have exactly ZERO pictures of her wearing it that day because we told them, ate Easter dinner, and then quickly changed to head out to the Royals game... oops!), so I decided to make them a little something special and ship it to them for Mother's Day.

I found this idea on Etsy, but it was from a seller in another country, so the shipping was really expensive. I decided to try to make my own, and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I knew I wouldn't be able to top last year's mason jar photo frames, but those were FAR more work intensive... I love mine, but I can't say I'll ever make another.

Do you make DIY gifts for Mother's Day, or are you more of a traditional gift buyer / giver?

How I Told Dan About Baby Cookie 2.0

Remember, this second baby girl has been a HUGE surprise to us! She is very wanted and very loved... but... we were taken aback when we first found out about her! We thought Annabelle would be an only child. Instead, she gets to be a big sister!

I actually found out on a Thursday morning (right after a wine night with the girls... oops!) but had to keep it to myself until Friday evening since Dan had a big check ride on Friday during the day. I didn't want to distract him (because I knew it was going to be a huge bomb dropped!) so he could focus on passing that flying evaluation... so I told my best friend Michelle, and she helped me figure out what to do.

Since it's Baby COOKIE 2.0... we decided writing on one of those giant Walmart cookies was the way to go. In hindsight, I definitely should have had the bakery write this out for me... I was SO NERVOUS that my hand was shaking uncontrollably, hence the terrible handwriting. I actually have great penmanship, and I'm not new to using frosting. This just shows how anxious I was about telling Dan!

Luckily, he took the news in stride, AND we had a big chocolate chip cookie to devour while we talked it all out.

Looking back, I feel kind of silly about being so nervous to tell Dan... but like I said, we were both in a state of shock for those first few weeks!

And honestly... what kind of situation does a giant chocolate chip cookie NOT help with?!

Baby Cookie 2.0 is a GIRL!

Just like with Annabelle, we did all of the Old Wives' Tales to see what family and friends thought Baby Cookie 2.0 would be - this time, it was pretty split, despite all the clues leading to girl (see the chart below). I think many of the boy guesses were just people wanting our family to be even for some reason... but that's not how it works because Baby Cookie 2.0 is another GIRL! You can see Annabelle's gender reveal at this post!

We are a little shocked that we're going to be ONLY girl parents, but we are thrilled to see these two sisters together!

And yes, we do already have a full name chosen that we are in love with. Just like last time, though, we will not be sharing it until baby girl is born! (And thank goodness we didn't have to agree on a boy name because that may have NEVER happened! Ha!)

ENJJPT (Pilot Training) Graduation

A couple weeks after drop night (where Dan found out what jet he'll be flying for his career), Dan accomplished a huge dream! He graduated from Air Force Pilot Training and pinned on his shiny new wings! He is officially an Air Force pilot! I couldn't be more proud of him and all the hard work he has put in over the last many, many years to reach this goal.

His flight from class 17-06 (L Flight) is pictured below - he's right in the middle!

Dan also received an award at graduation that was a surprise to us all - the Officership Excellence Award from the Military Officers Association of America! He is a true leader and is always putting others before himself to help them when they need it. I am so proud of him for receiving this!