Catching up

OK so I am officially the worst blogger EVER!!! Yes it's been since February but hey we've been busy. To catch up I'll do a quick recap....

• We got orders for Alaska which we had been wanting for a while.
  
• In April we found out I was pregnant again.


• In May the movers came, packed everything up and shipped it to Fairbanks.


• In June we went home to VA to visit the families before heading north and then look 8 days to drive thought the ugliest parts of Canada before arriving in Fairbanks to never ending daylight...literally.


• In July we found out that instead of only being 3 months pregnant that I was actually 5 months and that we would be welcoming a new baby boy on Christmas Eve!

See we have been busy! So here we are in September and just days away from Isabella turning 1 year old. Where in the world has the time gone?!? She is looking more and more like her daddy every day. Her beautiful smile just melts my heart and I can't imagine our lives now without her. JR is so smitten with her and you can see the delight on his face when he walks in the door from a long day and she looks up and squeals with joy. Or when he comes in on the weekends and gets her so I can sleep a little longer and she drowsily says "Daddy" and reaches for him. He just eats it up. She has our hearts that's for sure.

To say the least, the next 8 or 9 months are going to be hectic. First, with this being our first winter in Alaska I'm sure we're in for a rude awakening, next the new baby being born, followed by saying goodbye to JR for a year long deployment and all that that entails and then the packing up and moving back to VA while he's gone. It exhausts me just thinking about it all. Thus is life I guess.

I will try to post more often and get some more pictures up. I don't kid myself into thinking that I'm a great writer, I know I'm not, but hopefully this all is at least readable and somewhat entertaining to follow. So with that I will end this post and clean up the toys that are everywhere......or maybe just have another mini Reese's cup.

All Smiles

I am absolutely loving being a mommy, Isabella is such a wonderful baby. Unless hungry or sleepy she is always smiling and laughing. Don't get me wrong I do have Calgon moments but they are few and far between. She almost has JR totally wrapped around her little finger. It's very cute to watch.

Maybe I'm bias but I'm pretty sure I have the cutest little girl in the world.

(I know my posts have been few and far between but hey, I have a 5 month old, I stay a little busy. But I will try and do better...hopefully.)

Merry Christmas

I could not have asked for anything more for Christmas this year.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Where'd the Time Go?

It is so hard to believe that Isabella is a month old today. Time has really flown by.

She's so beautiful and we really are so blessed.

Our New Little Angel

I know it's been forever since I last posted, and this is a little late, but here is our beautiful Isabella. My labor was very easy and there were no issues. We went to the hospital at 6am and she was born around 3pm. We both are doing great. I am still getting used to getting up several times in the night for feedings but it's really not so bad and very worth it.

Where Has The Time Gone?

So here it is, almost 2 am, and I can't sleep. Things have been this way for about a week now and it's making me nuts. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that at my doctor's appointment on Friday I was dilated almost 3cm and yet I still have not packed a bag to take with me when the big moment arrives.....which could be any time. And yet knowing this I still don't feel any urgency to do it. Nor have we put the car seat in the vehicle. So when I'm running around having major contractions grabbing this and that on my way out the door I'll have no one to blame but myself.

I've always been the procrastinator. I never pack for a trip before the night before or day of. I'm usually always late because in my mind I have plenty of time. Well time is quickly slipping away from me on this one and I still can't get into gear. I don't know if somehow in my head I'm thinking "oh technically I still have 18 days, there's plenty of time " or what.

I feel like my house is a disaster and I do not want my mammy coming with it looking like it does. The carpet has got to be shampooed and everything needs to be dusted. The stupid house in New York has a large family of bees living behind/in the chimney so that has to be taken care of and no one is going to rent a house when they come around the corner and hear the bees before they can see them. I AM STRESSED OUT!!!!

I think the best way for me to deal with all of this is to have a good cry and then take things one at a time. Do what I can do and to hell with the rest of it. So for now I think I'll let the tears flow, eat my raspberries, start on that hospital bag and monitor these crazy Braxton-Hicks contractions.

And try to enjoy these last days of just JR and I. I'm going to be somebodies mommy soon. How crazy is that!

The "Other Woman"

Living the military lifestyle is sometimes hard for many people. Deployments are terrible, the work schedules can be gruesome, and some of the posts are less than enticing. We've been pretty lucky in the hand we've been dealt. The one thing that does get to us sometimes is the moving every few years. Not because I don't like the change of scenery but because JR, for years, has desperately wanted to bring one of his horses with him. (He's had two at his parent's house in Virginia and just recently added another.) They are a huge source of relaxation for him.

With the deployment in New York it just wasn't possible to have a horse around...until now. So without further ado meet, the "other woman" in his life, Dancer. She is a beautiful horse and comes from racing bloodlines but JR would have to fill you in on that. He bought her less than a year ago and because we live so far away he hasn't gotten to work with her very much so she's a little nervous around strangers. She seems to have good temperament and is very curious.

I'm pretty sure the biggest reason JR bought Dancer was to breed her so Baby I. will be able to grow up with her own horse. He is adamant that our daughter will LOVE horses. Growing up I liked horses and when JR and I dated I would ride with him. After high school, and he joined the Army, I would occasionally go over and ride without him but it just wasn't the same and made me miss him so I stopped riding. Not to mention that I'm allergic to them and would have to nearly OD on benadryl to keep from reacting. So needless to say I don't ride much anymore. I know that if Baby I. is allergic to he will be devastated.

JR found a farm here in Oklahoma that he can board her at and had her shipped out a couple weeks ago. He's only able to go out and visit her on the weekends because work keeps him so busy but I really don't think he minds. He's just happy she's here, and if he's happy then so am I.

Everything Baby

So last week I flew home to visit my family before Baby I. arrives. I feel kind of bad living so far away because my Mammy misses out on being a part of this exciting milestone of my life. I know she would love to be around for the doctor's appts, going baby shopping together, and of course getting to see the metamorphosis that my tummy has gone through month by month. And though I know she understands that it just isn't possible for us to be nearby I still feel a little guilt for cheating her out of the experience. I realized that pictures and phone calls can't replace the joy I saw on her face when she felt Baby I. kick for the first time. But all of that aside I know she is bubbling with excitement and anticipation as the weeks wear away. Only 7 more to go and I can't wait!

My nana, myself, and my mammy.

Anyway, I've gotten sidetracked. While I was home we had a baby shower for Baby I. I had such a great time and got so many nice things. Usually when I go home the trip is so quick and I don't really get to see too many family and friends so it was good to get to see some that I haven't seen in forever.

Here are some pics from the festivities.

The gift table.

My mammy, myself, and my mother-in-law Pat.

( I know that Pat's eyes are closed but it's the only one of the three of us that I have.)

Me and my sister-in-law Sara.

My cousin Shannon, her son Reece, and me.

I want to thank everyone for coming and thank you so much for the wonderful gifts.

I was home for a week and, as much fun as I had at the shower, the week flew by because of coordinating all the details. So I wish it would have gone by a little slower. I wish that we could be closer. Maybe one day things won't be so crazy. But for now let the count down begin.

Walk this way....

Ugghhhhh!!! I caught myself waddling today and no matter how hard I concentrated on not doing it as soon as I took my mind off it I was doing it again. Oh well I guess it is about that time.

After many requests....

....my 7 months pregnant belly.

From the side,

and from the front.

Baby, What Baby?

http://www.newson6.com/Global/category.asp?C=121535&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3872427

So there has been this story on the news here in Oklahoma City about an OU student that got pregnant and didn't realize it until she gave birth. The Discovery Channel has picked the story up and is doing a piece on her. I'm not sure I can buy all that. Maybe it's true, maybe there are some women that are completely oblivious to the signs and symptoms of pregnancy but at some point I find it hard to believe that there wasn't an inkling.

I can understand not having morning sickness, cravings, mood swings or even gaining a little weight; I didn't have morning sickness, the only thing that I really "craved" was raspberries but anyone that knows me knows that that is normal, and as far as weight I lost 15 lbs and now at 6 months have only gained back one or two and I don't think I've been in a better mood in all my life.
What I can't understand is how a girl of 19, the age of the girl from OU, that is sexually active doesn't notice that she hasn't had menses in 9 months. The article doesn't state whether or not she had any spotting but a late visit from "aunt flo" is enough to send more mature females into a tizzy much less a 19 year old. Even if you give her a break on that one how do you ignore when the baby kicks and is doing cartwheels. Lately it's a favorite pastime of mine lying back on the couch and watching my belly jerk and jolt from one side to another and I can't imagine being able to ignore that and not notice.

Perhaps I am giving this "kid" too hard a time. If she honestly had no idea it's a shame that she missed out on all the wonderful aspects of pregnancy. Like I said before I don't believe I've been in a better mood in my whole life. Pregnancy seems to agree with me and I couldn't be happier.

Road Trip

JR and I have been crazy busy for the last two weeks which explains why I haven't blogged in awhile. We had to take an unexpected 23 hour road trip to northern New York to kick out our renters. Well I guess we really didn't have to kick them out since they left on their own after a month and a week of living there without telling us and decided to leave behind all their stuff for us to get rid of. So without going into all the messy details about false identities, tons of names, social security numbers, and credit card numbers just know that the police were involved and our house is now for sell and we will not be doing the landlord thing again.

After we finished everything that had to be done up there we decided to surprise our parents and drive down to VA since we were on that side of the country anyway. We only got to stay for four days but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and our parents were very excited to see us. So flash forward close to 50 hours driving and almost 4000 miles and we are finally back in Oklahoma. Keep your fingers crossed that the house sells and we can be done with it.

Mother's Day

So JR and I decided to spend Mother's Day at the zoo. Despite the 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms we ventured out anyway. We were surprised at how many people had the same idea. We did get sprinkled on but all in all it was a really nice day.

I hope that everyone has a very nice Mother's Day and to our own moms, we love you.

For starters

So I decided to start this blog, despite J's teasing, to help our families and friends keep up with us. Even though we sometimes think our life is boring I'm sure, with us expecting our first baby,that our parents at least will appreciate it. I can't promise how often I'll post but will try to make it at least once a week.
So please bear with me as I figure out the ins and outs of blogging. I welcome all ideas and suggestions.