We made it... to Texas and back that is

Peapod and I had a fantastic trip to San Antonio Texas to see the Giant who is now the Giant Airman! He made it through 8.5 weeks of hell and graduated with honors. He was awarded Honor Graduate while finishing in the top five percent of 700 airmen. Even bronchitis and a temperature of 102.5 that landed him in the ER his final week didn't slow him down.

I'm going to break our trip into a few different posts so it doesn't drag on. Here are our first days of the trip.

At 11pm the night before baby and I flew out, I got a collect call from him letting me know he had been admitted (and later discharged) from the base hospital with a fever and what we thought was the flu and strep turned out to be severe bronchitis. I knew he had been sick most of the time he'd been there with something or other as germs flew through the flight, but things had gotten much worse by our last phone call Sunday prior. Fast forward to this night of the phone call, 8 hours before I was boarding a plane to head his way... After being discharged by the hospital, he was put into the sick dorm 319th. After our 11pm phone call, I didn't hear from him again until right before his Thursday coin ceremony. Yeah, that was 2 days of being a mile away from him on base and not knowing how he was, where he was, or what was going on. Fun. But thankfully, after 48 hours of antibiotics, he was feeling well enough to return to his 321st flight and graduate along with the rest of them. I, in the mean time, had been staying in a temporary housing hotel on base. Baby and I took Tuesday and Wednesday to explore the base. Thursday, even though very cold and windy, was the most special day. It was the first day we were able to see him at the Honor Grad and Coin Ceremony. I wasn't able to get many pictures or video during the ceremony because I had to keep the baby bundled away from the wind.

But after the whole ceremony, we were told to "go find your airman." So, that's what we did. He wasn't allowed to move until I found him and touched him to "release" him. Finding him was the best feeling in the world. From that moment on, I don't think we let go of each other all weekend while we were together. I hardly recognized him to find him, my Giant is a skinny Giant now. Getting sick just prior didn't help him in this area. For the first time since middle school, he weighs under 200 pounds. Seriously. For you who don't know him personally, this is shocking. He was almost 300 pounds when we met in 2007. In November 2009 when decided to apply for the Air Force he weighed around 290. He had to drop 70 pounds to join. He did this by March. Maintained 225 until September. Was 213 the day he left for basic on November 23rd. And now weighs under 200.

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And, side note, all my worrying prior to the trip about Cheyanne flying was a waste of time. I could not have a better baby! She is a fabulous flier. Not a single cry the entire day. She smiled so much that even the flight attendant picked her up and carried her around during the long flight. Although she didn't go far- Mommy didn't want her too close to all those germy people.

My good girl! She flew with Mommy all by herself and was perfect the entire way. Thank you God!