Merry Christmas!

This was our first Christmas "just the two of us" (or 5 if you count Rufus, Scout & Baby D).

Festive Scout

Jingle Bell Rufus

We decided not to go home to California because we'd pretty much lose at least 2 full days to traveling since we are on the opposite coast. It was really weird not going home for the holidays, but it just would've been too much! It was so awesome to be able to decorate, and put up a real tree and just relax. We literally stayed in our PJs all day on Christmas Day. And we were able to think about what we traditions we want to start/continue with our growing family!

On Christmas Eve, we got all gussied up and went to our church's candlelight service:

All dressed up

Then, we came back home and made a scrumptious Christmas Eve dinner while watching Christmas movies:

Nick cooking our Cornish game hens, asparagus and roasted potatoes

We also had some stuffing, crescent rolls, wine for Nick & sparkling cider for me. Mmm, it was so good! I was definitely impressed with our joint cooking ability. On Christmas morning, we slept in a bit, and then opened our stockings:

Our homemade stockings full of stuff!

Then we ate a big breakfast and opened this pile of presents for about an hour:

Our families were so incredibly generous, I was overwhelmed the entire time we were opening presents

I don't think this present was under the tree


A little excited about his new shirt

Baby D had 5 or 6 presents, which is absolutely crazy considering it is still in the womb! Although it definitely made it's presence known and kicked so hard on Christmas Day we were able to see it from the outside for about 5 minutes straight! I can't believe how spoiled this kid is already though:

Presents & onesies galore! And yes, that green toy is a TANK! Thanks Aunt HH & Uncle B!

All snuggled up with it's new stuffed animal & blankie

"Playing" with it's new rattle...it might need a few more months to practice

We also got some gorgeous SNOW that night! The last time I probably had a white Christmas was 20 years ago or so when I lived in Oregon.

So cold, but so excited!


SNOW!!!

Our cars covered in snow

Snowy house

None of it stuck, unfortunately, but it was still gorgeous while it lasted! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

Luke 2:10-12

21 Weeks & Happy Birthday

Today is both 21 weeks pregnant and Nick's birthday! I keep joking that he's on the downhill slide to 30 while I'm in my early 20s still, ha ha. Happy Birthday sweetie! We've had an awesome day so far with lots of presents, a movie (True Grit) and we're going out to dinner tonight at a Japanese restaurant. Yum! Our families were extremely generous and Nick got a ton of awesome gifts! I'm pretty proud of the fact that the baby and I conspired to get him a Nerf gun:

I think he's a little excited

Oh so cool

This is the first time we've spent his birthday just the two of us, which is pretty crazy considering we've been together for 7.5 years. But that's kind of what happens when your birthday is really close to Christmas and you're lucky enough to be home for it every year!

Week 21 of pregnancy has been treating me pretty well. My back is starting to hurt a little bit, but otherwise I've been good. The baby is now the size of a carrot & is weighing in at 16 ounces (woo, one pound!) and is about 8 inches long. It is obviously moving around a lot as I've been feeling some good kicks down low whereas it's primarily been on my right side previously. Some developmental highlights this week:

- Eyelashes, eyebrows and eyelids are fully formed
- Sense of touch is developing
- Sense of sight is starting to develop & the baby can perceive light

Here are this week's belly pictures:

21 weeks!

Somehow my belly looks a lot bigger in this picture than the previous one...it's getting bigger!

Breakdown

I may or may not have had a slight breakdown today with some tears. Darn pregnancy hormones! It has been a very long and busy week, and I feel like I've just been going non-stop (not really, but waaaay more so than usual!). And it all caught up to me a bit today. Thankfully, all of my Christmas shopping is done, and all of the presents are wrapped and shipped to our families.

Unfortunately, it took two trips to the post office to get the packages shipped because of extremely long lines at the post office (like 40 minutes) and the fact that I can't carry 5 boxes by myself (we sent some packages to some of Nick's deployed friends as well). And there was some slight frustration with the fact that I bought too big of flat rate boxes. But, the important thing is that they're sent. That was the part that was stressing me out the most, especially since everything was wrapped and ready to go.

We also had a couple of meetings this week about our next post. I think it's pretty much nailed down where we're going, and it was in our top 5, so we're pretty happy about that. We should hopefully be getting orders next week, but it might be January. We should be all set for Nick to get a bunch of schools after he graduates his current school too, woohoo! We were hoping for that so we don't have to move immediately after the baby is born. Unfortunately, our plan to get closer to the West Coast (we're both from California) didn't quite work out, as there weren't any slots west of El Paso, Texas. Oh well. Lame, but like I said, we're happy with where we're (hopefully) going.

We had some fun Christmas-y events too this week. On Sunday, we went and saw the Nutcracker, which was so fun. We've officially decided that any girls we have will be taking ballet. I did when I was little & loved it. I was actually in the Nutcracker when I was 5, although I can't seem to find a picture of it. I was a mouse and it was so much fun!

We also drove with the dogs through a park with Christmas lights and music set up. It was quite impressive! And the boys thoroughly enjoyed it:

Rufus thoroughly enjoying the lights

Finally, we donned our ugly sweaters and participated in a Christmas scavenger hunt with the youth group at our local church. We ran around Wal-mart and video taped high schoolers singing Christmas songs and asking strangers funny questions.

So, it was a pretty fun week, just really busy, at least way more than normal. Then you added all the normal chores and errands on top of it, and it just equaled exhaustion. Thankfully, Nick is done with school for the holidays, and we don't have much on the agenda, other than his birthday next week and Christmas itself (although I still have all that wrapping to do!). And then a ski trip (don't worry, I'm not skiing!) for a few days closer to New Years. As awesome as it would've been to be home for the holidays, I don't think I would have been able to handle all of the preparations and traveling! A nice, relaxing, low-key Christmas is sounding pretty sweet right about now! I'm just hoping my body cooperates with the sleeping in part. If not, there will be plenty of naps!

20 Weeks!

As of yesterday, I am 20 weeks/5 months and halfway through my pregnancy! It seems like it is just flying by now, I can't believe it! All I know is, our deployment sure didn't go this fast!

Still feeling pretty good. Kind of tired, but that might be a product of how busy we've been lately. My appetite has amped up a ton! I feel like I'm constantly eating, but that's good because this baby has lots of growing to do. It is now the size of a banana- about 7 inches long and 11 ounces. I'm starting to feel some really good kicks (it practices allll the time!) and am trying to see if they're visible on the outside. I don't know how I'm going to sleep once it starts getting stronger! Nick and I were highly amused the other night because it was curled up on my right side and my belly was definitely off-kilter. Some major developments this week:

- Lots of swallowing and digesting going on
- Taste buds developing
- From now on, baby will be measured from head to heel instead of "crown to rump"

Here is the belly picture from this week:

We were going to an ugly sweater party/youth group scavenger hunt, so I thought I'd rock my ugly sweater

I ended up buying some more maternity clothes with a friend yesterday too. It's amazing how much more pregnant I look in those than "pre-pregnancy" clothes. I'll have to sport some more for the next few belly pictures.

You Know...

You know you're pregnant when:

- You eat a second breakfast (according to Nick, I'm apparently a hobbit now)
- You cry at the last part of a USAA commercial during the Army/Navy game

Frankly, I probably should've cried at the Army/Navy game itself. It was pretty painful to watch yesterday. Yet again, we were thisclose. So aggravating! It didn't help that this was the 9th straight year that Navy won, or that the announcers weren't giving the Army team any credit, despite the fact that they're in their first bowl game since 1996. Annoying.

Enough of that. In good news, the Armor branch manager is coming on Monday to brief everyone on what's available and we get to put in our preferences for our next post on Tuesday! Woohoo! They're even going to try to get people on orders by the holidays. Absolutely crazy! I'm so excited to find out where we're going next. We have our preferences, of course, but frankly, I have no idea where we'll end up. I'm just so glad that I don't have to stress/worry about it because I know that God already has it planned.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."- Jeremiah 29:11

Ahhh, so exciting! I knew it would be soon, but not this soon! Well, we're off to see the Nutcracker! I'm sure I'll write a post about it soon, maybe even with a blast from the past picture from when I was little!

19 Weeks!

Yesterday marked 19 weeks of pregnancy. It really seems to be going by fast now, and I'm enjoying watching the belly getting bigger and bigger. I've been feeling pretty good- just kind of tired, although not nearly as much as 1st trimester. I'm having a little insomnia in the morning lately after Nick gets up for PT, which is probably contributing to the fatigue. Also, I've had a little bit of heartburn, but nothing a few Tums can't fix.

The baby is about 10 ounces and 6.5 inches long now- about the size of a small cantaloupe (I guess it is a melon, Gram!) or large heirloom tomato. Some development milestones this week:

- Sensory development in the brain
- Hair is starting to grow on the scalp!

Here is this week's belly picture:

Getting some use out of some cute maternity clothes in front of the Christmas tree

AND, we had our ultrasound today! The little bugger was curled up in a ball most of the time (not surprising), but we got some good pictures anyway. And actually I think it being curled up worked to our advantage in not seeing too much! I can't believe how big it is already! Oh, and it is measuring a few days bigger than we originally thought, so (fingers crossed), it might be here a little earlier than May 4th. Here are the pictures:

A little bit of the profile

Curled up like a ball and showing off it's spine

The baby in action! It loves to move!


Open mouth

A couple legs

Leg & foot (so that's what's been kicking me!)

Legs again

Arm and hand

The other arm & hand & a little bit of the face

My absolute favorite- the feet! So cute and teeny!

Done!

Ha, so I realized I put a picture on my last post & forgot to comment on it. I finally finished my stocking last night! Here it is:

The finished product

It took me much less time than Nick's and I was actually surprised I got it done so quick, although I've been working on it a lot. It is already hanging on it's stocking holder ready for Christmas morning! Yay!

I also bought one for our little one, but I don't think I'll be starting it until the new year, since it doesn't have to be done until next Christmas.

A Year Ago

A year ago today, I was here:

Freezing cold on the field at Fort Hood

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of these:



And the moment I had been dreaming about for 12 months:

Words just can't express how wonderful that day was. I still tear up thinking about the emotions of that day (but maybe that's the pregnancy hormones, ha ha). It was absolute torture waiting for him to come home on the absolute last flight, but I couldn't have asked for a better 2 1/2 year anniversary! It was all so worth it at that moment.

I absolutely can't believe it has already been a year since Nick got home. The year he was deployed definitely didn't go by this fast, ha ha! It has been so amazing having him home! I know we are so fortunate that he's not set to deploy again anytime soon since he's at school right now and not in a unit. We have been so blessed that he's been here to watch my belly grow and experience the wonders (and not so fun moments) of pregnancy with me.

I love you Nick. And Happy 3 1/2 year Anniversary!

18 Weeks

I am officially 18 weeks pregnant today, woohoo! I can't believe we're almost to the halfway mark-in 2 weeks we'll be there! If you weren't aware, pregnancy is actually more like 10 months (40 weeks), not 9. Crazy!

Anyway, the baby is now the size of a mango! It's about 6 inches long from crown to rump and weighs about a 1/2 pound. I got to hear it's heartbeat again today & it's holding steady at about 150. Some big developments this week:
- The arms and legs are in proportion
- Cartilage is turning into bone
- Ears are in their final position
- A protective substance called vernix is covering the skin so it won't get all wrinkly from the amniotic fluid

I'm doing great too. I had my first "centering pregnancy" group today and we'll meet monthly. I got to meet a few ladies who are also due in May and learn about nutrition! Next week is our big ultrasound, which I'm SO excited for! I'm pretty sure this is the last one we get, but we'll get lots of pretty pictures because they check and measure everything. I'm still hoping and praying we don't see too much, but we're going to make it very clear we don't want to know the gender.

Here are the belly pictures:

18 weeks! My sweatshirt is definitely not normally that short, ha ha

I didn't realize Nick was snapping this picture, but I thought it was kind of cute

House Pictures!

So, I realized I never put up pictures of the interior of our new house! My parent's visit really motivated us to put the "finishing touches" on the house, which pretty much meant just hang up all the stuff on the walls that we never hung up and making it look all pretty. So, here are the pictures, enjoy!

First, there's the office:

Nick's "awesome" wall in the office


My desk- with my 2 little frames above it & Nick's diploma

Nick's desk

The guest room:

The dog's room- yes, they have their own room, and yes, all it has in it is a crate, some boxes and the Lovesac (aka glorified dog bed)

The hallway:

Lots of pictures on the wall

The bathroom:

Our one, teeny tiny bathroom (there is a shower tub as well, but there wasn't enough room to take a picture)

Our room:

Our bed

The rest of the bedroom

The kitchen:

Our cute little kitchen

The other side of the kitchen- with our washer & dryer, which is actually quite convenient

Finally, the living room/dining room:

The dining room table with some fall decorations (I just put Christmas ones on the other day)


The living room

Our awesome leather chair & some more great stuff on the walls

We also have quite a lot of closet space, which is pretty nice, especially considering we don't have a garage. It's nothing super special (I could do without the linoleum floors), but it will definitely do until we move again. And there are definite perks to living on post- like the fact that Nick comes home for lunch and after PT almost every day. So the good definitely outweighs the bad.