A little help from my friends?

Have just a few thoughts that I would love to get some opinions on :)

After many conversations with my mum, we are both at a loss as to when she should plan on coming to visit for Andrew's birth. She has set aside two weeks of vacation time to be with me (let's get real.. for me? More like for that grandchild of hers, but either way, yes I know I'm very very blessed), but we just don't know when she should buy her plane tickets for. I know you can't very well plan the birth of a child, but I'd love to know what some of you ladies have done! She would love to be here for the birth, but how do you do that besides just plain guessing? If she gets here too early, and he decides to arrive too late, then she misses a lot of time while he's here. Or have you found it better to just suck it up and plan for your family to be there afterwards? I guess our real issue here is that she wants to be here as soon as possible before/after birth but not have to buy a last minute plane ticket. Unless for some reason we have a scheduled birth (which doesn't seem likely at this point), I'm thinking we're going to have to make our best guess, but I wanted to see if you girls had any genius words of wisdom you had to share!

Second subject... After all of Trey's hard work.. it's finally here. He's working a real Army job and has real responsibilities. He seems happy with everything so far! But that's besides the point. He has some stuff coming up that he is required to go to after working hours and I'm not sure if I should be going to or not. For instance, this week, he has to be at a volunteer recognition thing. I'd love to go with him, but is it customary for the wife to go to things like this or is it set up for a certain amount of people that they have accounted for? I clearly have more learning to do!

Thank you so much for your input!

P.S.
I took the Gestational Diabetes test last week and passed! No three hour nasty test for me.. thank God! I also had my Rhogam shot since I have a negative blood type. They always assume the baby is positive and if that's the case, without this shot, if our blood mixed it could kill the baby :( How's that for starting the confidence of a first time mother? My blood is pretty much poisonous to my child! All should be good now and I'll have another one after the birth to protect any future children. I have my first Centering appointment this Thursday, so I'll let everyone know how that goes!

~28 Weeks~

Welcome to our third trimester!! I can't believe how fast time flies (I'm sure I'll be saying that for the rest of our life, watching Drew grow like a weed)!

Drew,

Your daddy and I are growing more and more excited by the day to meet you. You keep us smiling and laughing already from all of your rolling around and kicking in there. I've been enjoying this for quite some time now, but your daddy is really getting into it. He can feel you just about every time he puts his hand on my belly and he is loving it. We can even see you moving around in there just by looking at my belly.

According to What to Expect, you weigh about 2 1/2 pounds now and should be about 16 inches long, although when I went to the doctor on Friday she said you were measuring a little bigger (by about 2 weeks). Daddy may get his football player after all. You'll experience immense pressure from him to play college ball at Alabama, but trust me, I'll make sure you know that you can go and do wherever and whatever you want!

You'll be very confused as to what teams to be a fan of with this family. Just roll with it... with every one's favorites, and all the clothes you've gotten so far.. you can't really go wrong with whoever you chose. You're just not allowed to be an Ohio State or Colts fan. You'll have natural instincts to favor the Patriots I'm sure anyways! Don't you let that Norton side of the family to talk you into be Dallas fans...

Anywho.. I got off on quite the tangent...

How far along: 28 weeks! Beginning of the 3rd trimester!

Total weight gain: 15 1/2 pounds.. I've gained 7 lbs in the past 7 weeks. Not necessarily a pound a week.. I gained a lot last month. It seems to be evening out again, but I'm sure there is a lot more to come.. right? I'm okay with this. It happens. I'm eating lots of fruits and veggies, but I sure will have an ice cream if I'm wanting it bad enough!

Maternity clothes: This hasn't changed much since the last questionnaire I did. I'm in mostly all maternity clothes.. all maternity bottoms and dresses, but I can still wear some normal tops. Maternity everything is just more comfortable at this point though!

Stretch marks: Just a few and very faint. I'm okay with this too. I'm a mom.. it's okay not to flaunt my belly around in a bikini if I don't want to. Let's get real.. I shouldn't have been doing that for a while now.. probably ever ;)

Sleep: I actually feel like I've been sleeping better lately. Maybe I'm just getting used to the aches and pains, or I've just mastered the art of the body pillow. I do get up once during the night to pee though, never fails anymore.

Best moment this week: This has to be a mix between starting to feel you nonstop now and hearing your heartbeat again.. still up there at 158 bpm! I'm loving seeing Trey's face when he feels a big kick! Or it could have been this morning at church when a complete stranger simply said to me "you look very beautiful". That was nice because, 1. most people just say, "oh my, when are you due" and 2. sometimes I do feel beautiful pregnant and sometimes I just, well, DONT.

Movement: Oh yeah! The last time I did this was at 21 weeks and I could feel you, but not from the outside. 7 weeks later and we can feel you non-stop! It's the best feeling in the world :)

Food cravings: Ehhh... still not a lot. I think I'm just now starting to experience this just a little and it's been for ice cream. One day last week, I talked Trey into going to Coldstone at 4:00. I think even he enjoyed having ice cream before dinner a little bit. I wanted some again last night, but not enough to go out and get it. I refuse to keep it in my house! I'm still LOVING my fruits!!

Showing: Ha.. yes! My belly looks like a boulder. Here's some pics:

21 Weeks 28 Weeks

28 Week Frontal

Labor signs: Still none yet that I know of. I worry a little because I hear lots of girls have been feeling Braxton-Hicks by this point, but if I am, I have no clue! I'm guessing I'll know it when I feel it though..

Mood temperament: This seems to have evened out a little bit since last time too. Although, this El Paso heat does test my temper. I feel like when I'm out there in it, all patience goes out the door and I'm a bit testy. I don't really cry any more than usual.

Milestones: Welp, making it to the 3rd and final trimester is a big one, I would say!

Weekly wisdom:

Dear Self,

I know you love to be outside. I know you feel trapped when you stay indoors while the sun is shining. It may be okay to run an errand or two during the middle of the day if you really have to get out, but this El Paso sun is NO JOKE. Stay inside as much as you can. You get drained very easily when you're out in temps above 100 degrees and it's just not good for you. Take your walks at night and take Jennifer up on her offer to use her pool to swim some laps!

3 Years

Yesterday was Trey and I's 3 year wedding anniversary. We have actually been together for just about 8 years now.

We had a very quite day celebrating together. In true "us" fashion, we didn't get crazy with it. I wrote him a long letter, letting him know just how much I love him and re-promising our vows. I feel like we've come such a long way in just the past 3 years that I wanted to take the time on this special day to recommit to each other. To make sure he knows that no matter what we've been through and no matter what may come our way, that I still think the world of him. That I still love him to a million tiny pieces. That I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.

We never have celebrated with elaborate presents or outings, he does little things that speak so much louder to me. We slept in and after a lazy morning we went to Target where he bought me curtains for the living room and yet another fan because he can't stand to see how miserable I get in this heat. After that we mosied on over to Chick-fil-a to turn in our coupon for a free spicy chicken sandwich.. delish! They cheered loudly for us when we ordered and even got our picture taken with the cow ;)
For dinner we went to the Olive Garden where I enjoyed a simple bowl of linguine alla marinara and he got the grill plate. His looked at tasted marvelous! I know what I'm getting next time! Then we came home and flipped channels between SYTYCD, the final Alabama baseball game (where they sadly lost), and the first of the Celtics/Lakers games (where the Celtics thankfully won).

And that seriously wraps up our anniversary day. Not much to share and very simple and laid back... I wouldn't have it any other way!

June?!?

The 1st of June comes with a few different realizations for me.

1. Seriously?! It's really June already? The month of May flew by for me... I'm not really sure if I really even participated in May, or did it just skip from April to June for me?
2. Hubs and I keep talking about this human growing in me like it's a far off, pretend concept. As I was peeing for the 3rd time in a 1/2 hour today, it suddenly hit me that he will be here.. like soon. Like in possible 12ish weeks soon. Holy crap! I have a lot to do. WE have a lot to do!
3. My busy period is over.. for now. That is until the above mentioned child decides to enter into this world. Which means.. I should be back to my blogging away self. Everybody all together now - "yyaaaayyyyy!! Woohoooooo! Oh Em Geeee we've missed you" *all while jumping up and down and clapping*

Awww thanks guys... I've really missed you too. I seriously skimmed over the last 500 some odd blogs you've all written, so hopefully I have a free pass for a while if I've missed anything important. I'll catch up soon.

I just got back from a short little trip to Massachusetts for my long long time friend's wedding. Really.. it was a little emotional watching the girl I used to take baths with say "I do" to the best man out there for her. She was absolutely the most beautiful bride I've ever seen!

The bride at her rehearsal... so pretty!!

In her beautiful dress dancing with my cousin

When the bridal party was announced into the reception, we all came in to different songs and acts to play out. I'm pretty sure ours was the best. He's a huge hulk fan... I've never seen him wrestle a day in my life. He quickly showed me what to do and we were champs out there. Here I am in the shirt he made for me. If only I had it on video.. it was pretty classic.
It ended with us ripping those shirts off and throwing them out to the crowd. They loved it.

Now, I'm back in El Paso with my hubby and enjoying a few more days of free time before his 10 days are up and it's back to reality. We'll be doing a lot of relaxing and going a few different places we want to see here and there. Tomorrow will involve calling our landlord. I know that I still don't fully understand the whole Swamp Cooler concept, but seriously, somethings gotta be wrong. I know it's hot down here, but I'm pretty sure I'm living in cruel and unusual living conditions. I'm sweating from every orifice of my body and it's not pretty. Makes for a very cranky 27 week pregnant woman.

Tomorrow is also our 3 year anniversary!!

Where do I begin???

Let's just say up front that this post will be a tad bit scattered all over the place!

First things first ~ we ARE NOT homeless anymore! We found the cutest little house thanks to my before mentioned saving grace here, Jennifer. Long, semi-confusing story, but basically she had some inside information on this house that was just put back up for rent and we scooped it up before a For Rent sign could even be put out. It's perfect. I knew it when there was a baby boy's nursery already there and "God bless this home" was inscribed on the back "patio" concrete area. We love it!

The movers were not so perfect this time. First of all, when they got here with our stuff, they flat out told me (a 6 month pregnant lady) that they would not unpack our stuff. That it wasn't their policy. I know, I know, y'all have all told me otherwise, but I'm still new at this game. I believed them, thinking that maybe some companies really can't unpack. I all too often believe that people are nothing but good and the thought never crossed my mind that they could be just trying to get out of it. Trey was furious!
Also, they didn't use wardrobe boxes this time so all of his uniforms and suits are currently hanging trying to de-wrinkle themselves. One of my favorite frames broke. And his dumbbells and the plunger disappeared. Grrrrr... I know things could have been worse, but lets just say we won't be using them again!

I'm getting to know the area a little better now. I'm really going to love it once I know where everything is.... I can't wait to have people visit us here! I have to admit... I was having a very hard time with this move. I'm not sure what it was.. if the area overwhelmed me, it seems more real to me because I know it's more than just a few months, being yet another hour away from my family, not having that core group of friends we had in Oklahoma, or just plain pregnancy hormones... but I was really sad and upset for a while there. It's getting better, but there were tears every day. Just some MAJOR homesickness going on really. Like I said, it's not quite as bad now, but I'm not going to lie and say everything is perfect. I do like it here, but I'm having some good and bad days. I know that's normal, but I have more bad days than I'd like. I'm sure it'll just take some time!

That is us driving on I-10, the major highway around here. The picture doesn't do it justice, but that whole area you're looking at? Juarez, Mexico. That's how close we are. You can actually see the river and the gate, but like I said, crappy picture!

We still don't have Internet service, nor do we have a washer and dryer yet. Sooo, I'm over at Jenn's apartment washing close and catching up on the Internet world. Again, I don't know what I'd do without her!! We'll have Internet starting on the 28th and a washer and dryer and soon as hubs gets that DLA money!

I know I said I'd catch up on blogs last week... buuutt I just looked at my google reader and saw that there are 252 for me to "catch up" on. I quickly got on Facebook instead...

I found my way to the hospital and now know where to go for all of my appointments :) They are very friendly. The hospital is huge, but surprisingly easy to maneuver around in. Yesterday I was showed around to every place in there that I could possibly need to go to. They gave me a motion sickness prescription because..

in the midst of this all, I'm jumping on a plane to Massachusetts tomorrow for my dear friend's wedding!! The planes on my way home to SC and back made me excruciatingly ill, so hopefully these pills will help out quite a bit!

My mum has been bugging and bugging me to do a pregnancy post. I'm too scatter-brained to do a full one, but here is a little update:

I'm 26 weeks pregnant and Baby Drew is now measuring to be around a full 2 pounds!

I feel him moving around more and more and it never fails to put a smile on my face.. Trey's too. They kicks and punches are stronger. He will actually respond most of the time now if you press on my belly.. usually he'll push back. That is beyond cool. I can also feel him squirming around in there.

When I wake up in the morning, it's almost like I can feel where he's snuggled up in a little ball and it's always in the same place. I think it's the sweetest thing ever.

I talk to him more and more and it's beginning to feel a little less strange.

It's getting a little harder to move around freely. My belly is starting to get in the way and it's harder to get up out of certain positions. We take walks almost every night, and I am having to slow down a bit. I loose my breath quite often and I'm seeing my first sign of *gasp* tiny little stretch marks.

I'm up and down with whether or not I'm ready for him to be here. I'm petrified and ecstatic all at the same time. On one hand, I can't wait to see what he looks like.. to hold his tiny little body in my arms, to kiss him all over constantly, and to see what this does to Trey. On the other hand.. WOW!! I'm going to be a mum. We're going to bring him home from that hospital and it's going to be real. I'm going to be responsible for keeping him alive. What if I can't feed him right? How will I know if he's getting enough food? Am I going to be a nervous wreck while he's sleeping, checking on him every 5 minutes to make sure he's still breathing? How am I going to shop with him and what if he's hungry while I'm out?

I have selfish thoughts as well that I'm embarrassed to admit, but I like to keep it real. Am I going to miss it being just Trey and I? It's going to be a pain in the rear to pack up everything to go out anywhere.. nothing will be this easy anymore. We'll base every decision we make around him. I'm sure these thoughts go away and I'm sure it's very normal. I know when I see that little boy, it's going to change my life... for the better and none of this stuff will matter to me anymore!

26 week belly shot :)

I think that's enough information overload for now! I'll be back next week with regular posting again :) Happy Memorial Day everyone!!

We made it?

Welp, we're here in El Paso.. do we want the positives or the negatives first? Negatives? Good idea... let's get that crap out of the way.

Not so Good
1. It's scary.
This is a big darn city! I don't know how to drive in this traffic anymore first of all! These people are crazy. And I'm not sure I'll ever figure out my way around.. so many loops! Second of all... we are ridiculously close to Juarez, Mexico. Can you even imagine how much I'd freak out if I accidentally got the the line to cross over there??? My palms sweat and heart palpitates every time I get into the car.
2. We're homeless.
There's an insane amount of people coming into this area apparently. We won't get on post housing for like a year. When we asked for help finding off post housing they basically told us good luck with that. The prices of homes are actually being gauged because they know there's such a high demand. Because of that we are either going to be completely settling for something we're not crazy about AT ALL (hello upstairs apartment.. again) or getting something a little out of our price range and living dangerously close to living in poverty level. What to do, what to do?
3. I'm EXTREMELY homesick right now.
Maybe due to the fact that we're now another hour behind home and that makes me feel very far away? Or maybe just because we feel so lost right now? Or could be hormones.. either way... I miss my mommy.

Plus sides.. shall we?
1. This place *for the most part* is BEA-U-TIFUL!!!
I have a sneaking suspicion that once we do actually find a place and I can get my little routine down pat, I'm going to l-o-v-e it. The Franklin mountains are a beautiful view to see from just about any point. The palm trees make me feel exotic. I love all the stucco buildings. Gorgeous.
2. Jennifer has been my saving grace.
God love her. Once we get settled I'm going to owe her my life. We've been her little pet project all week, and she's helped so much! It's been wonderful to have a familiar face here!
3. Pretty much anything we could possibly need is 10-15 minutes away.
If we do live in that decent apartment, hello Target, you'll be right down the street from me. Let's just ignore, for now, the fact that we won't be able to afford to take advantage of any of these lovely places.

That's all for now.
I'm way behind on blogs. Trust me, I'll have plenty of time to catch up and comment away while Trey is doing in-processing all next week. I'm not quite ready to put my big girl panties on and venture out by myself just yet.

Have a great weekend!

Busy Busy Busy

I tried to make this post much, much more interesting by uploading pics to give you mental images.. but blogger is not cooperating today.. sorry!

I feel like since I've last been on here that my life has been one big whirlwind of chaos. I didn't think I'd be doing a post until we actually got to our new home, but here I sit, waiting for the movers, with nothing to entertain me except interenet.. sooooo...

My vacation home was everything I expected it to be. I soaked up every.single.minute I could with my family. I was especially clingy to my mum, which we chalked up to me being on my way to becoming a mummy. We were able to spend so much quality time together, but for me, the whole time it was a little bittersweet. I tried to enjoy every moment and really, I did... but it got more and more hard towards the end. All I could think about was the fact that the next time I see my parents, I'm going to have a BABY. I'm going to be a parent myself. I was scared, honestly and feeling a little more than vulnerable. The weather was beautiful the entire week. I spent an endless amount of time on their beautiful and infamous deck. (seriously.. the only thing that could make it better would be a beach next to it with waves crashing lightly onto our feet). Got to see four of my little brother's baseball games, two or three of which he pitched in. Got pedi's and mani's with the girls. Had dinner one night with some great girlfriends of mine. And really.. just spent a lot of down time with the fam.

The shower... it was perfect! They put so much work into throwing this for us and I feel extremely lucky to have these people in our lives. I can't wait for Andrew to meet all of these people that love him so much already. One room in my parents house is fully covered with baby stuff ready to be shipped to us!

The only things I can complain about are:
1. small planes aren't fun for pregnant bellies. Holy cold sweat and queasiness. Just sayin..
2. I was extremely emotional the entire time. Like cried just about every day, emotional.
3. I now miss my family even more so..
4. It's hard to see everyone you want to see when you only have a limited amount of time with your family. I know my time with them is limited now, and honestly.. when I am home.. I can't be pried away from their presense. I may have upset some people, but hopefully they understand.

But we will see them soon when they fly out to El Paso to see baby Drew <3>




Sidenote: packers are here and same as last time.. kinda awkward

Remember those birds I've been complaining about for like the past month? The awful, squaking at all hours, severely annoying birds? I feel horrible now. I walked to my car yesterday and saw their babies dead on the sidewalk. The strong winds must of knocked them down and it was the saddest and slightly grossest thing I've seen in a while.

I can't wait to get to El Paso! I'm ready for a change, even if I am a tad bit nervous and a little scared. It'll be nice to be able to "settle" in somewhere. I know it'll only be for a couple of years, but compared to this move where we knew it would only be a couple of months... I'd call it settling :)

A few random thoughts before my hiatus

My husband finally *is jussst about done* with training!! Yesterday he graduated from his FA BOLC 3 class and I could not be any more proud of him than I am. He has worked harder than I've ever seen him work at anything before. Long long days, starting at 5am and not ending until around 10pm. Constant studying and having very little free time. Test after test after test. Days out in the field. All while also taking great care of an ever growing pregnant wife. He really is my very own hero and I realize that more and more every day.
The ceremony yesterday was perfect. Only lasted an hour and had plenty to keep my self-diagnosed ADD self occupied. The speaker (a COL from Fort Hood, I believe) was entertaining and even got a few laughs out of everyone. All the graduates got up on stage and said their names and where they were headed instead of someone just calling their name and handing them a diploma. And that was pretty much it. They sang the Army song afterwards and it was on to picture time!


Here he is, in all his glory, excepting his diploma.

We are here for another 2ish weeks before we move on for his AOT training. Then it's on to the real Army - finally. He's a little nervous just because he has no clue what to expect, but I have so much faith in him. I think he's going to be wonderful at his job - whatever that may be.

Afterwards we went to dinner with 2 other couples that we have gotten to be incredibly close with. One of them left this morning for their new post, so it was a last night out together type of thing. I thought I had my emotions under control, but was quickly proven wrong when Trey and I got ready to leave. The waterworks were in full force. It's funny how quickly us Army families form a bond with one another. I guess we know that our time together is never indefinate so you don't waste any time in getting to know each other. All I know is that this couple filled so much of my heart in just a quick 3 months and they will be friends for life. It truly is more of a family than friendships. I know they will do great at their new post and I can't wait to hear about what the next few years brings their way!

I'm going to be on a blogging hiatus for a little while. The next month of my life is going to be CRAZY! I'm leaving tomorrow for a visit home for a little over a week. I'm so so excited to see everyone - especially my family. I'm going to soak up every moment I can with my parents and even some extended family flying in from Massachusetts. My mum, SIL, and MIL are throwing a shower for me on Sunday. I can't wait for that. It really overwhelms me to think about all the people will be there to celebrate Andrew's life. I highly doubt I'll make it through that afternoon without more tears!

We'll be moving three days after I get back from that trip. It'll be a two day drive. A week later, our household goods will arive to *hopefully* our new home. Less than a week from that day I'll be on another plane headed to Massachusetts for a very good friends wedding. Finally, 4 days later I'll be headed back to my husband to celebrate our three year anniversary!! I think around then I'll be ready for a break and exploring our new life in El Paso!

Precious

I've seen this email forwarded around quite a few times now, but it just gets me every time. Epecially now. We have one picture of Andrew where I know he's probably just sucking on that thumb, but I like to think he has his hands up praying. I imagine that to be God's hands holding him up by his behind and keeping him safe. I think it's such a sweet picture.

The email is a newborn's first conversation with God.

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow,

but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have
to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you.
And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the small child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand
when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words
you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will
teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach
you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach
you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth
could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave
now, please tell me my angel's name."

God said, You will simply call her, "Mom."

Waiting..

I'm patiently waiting for my husband to come home!

He's been in the field all week, but I swear it feels more like a month! They got back on post around noon and have been waiting to be released. Three hours later and I got nothing. Silly Army.

I'm so much looking forward to a quite night home together and a very low key weekend!

He cannot get his stankin behind home fast enough! Literally, he said the stench is pretty awful. I remember attempting to do his laundry after his week in the field during OCS. I just about passed out from that God awful smell. I didn't know such a smell was possible.

Now I can't wait to smell it again :) 

I'm bringing sexy back

Welp - I survived day one of hubs in the field. Kidding, I never doubted I could handle a week on my own. I do miss his crazy self, but I also don't mind a few days/nights of alone time. It's good for the soul says I.

Last night, however, was not one of those nights. GIRLS NIGHT. and it was the ultimate girls night let me tell you...  nail polish galore, hand and foot scrubs and creams, face masks and the N'Sync channel on Pandora to top it all off. I had more fun than I've had in a long time. It was great to be able to just let go and be silly girls for a night. No making dinner for the men, no watching them do homework in our peripheral vision. Just the 5 of us blasting the music and being complete girls. Much needed!

Some other things that have went on or will go on that I feel is worthy of your knowledge:

My sweet, amazing brother got a little confused when he was buying Andrew's shower gift and had it sent to our apartment instead of my mum's house. Imagine my thrill yesterday when the UPS man delivered our STROLLER!! (Jeep Liberty Sport jogger stroller) and Andrew's very first dump truck. I can't wait to see my son *that still sounds sweetly strange rolling of the tongue* crawling on the floor, rolling his truck around and making vrrooom vroomm sounds. I'll make sure he knows his Uncle Charlie gave that to him! I really wanted to open the stroller immediately and find something to push around, but I surpressed that urge...

Today I plan to pack away all of my winter clothes for the movers. I bought a plastic tub for them yesterday. That way when we get to El Paso, I can just store them away without even having to look at them.

I'm going to be cutting up my first real, live pineapple today. I've always been too intimidated... I'm going for it today!

It's been really cool... I can feel Drew's body usually after I eat. He was a little further up last night and I could feel little body parts and feel them moving when I'd press on them. I'm assuming feet. I then insisted all the girls feel as well.

The other day, I found out how old my Wii thinks I am. I thought I was kicking ass the whole time. Not so says the Wii. It told me I was 46 years old. Isn't 40's the new 30's??

Also, 9 days before I'm home for a blissful 8 days!

21 Weeks

Here you go mum!

How far along? 21 weeks exactly today!
Total weight gain: As of my last doctors appointment (which was the 1st) I've gained a total of 8 lbs. I know it's not much for 21 weeks, but Drew is growing just fine.. even seems to be a little bigger than what he "should" be, so I'm not complaining a bit! I'm pretty sure it'll catch up with me.
Maternity clothes? Looking back at 16 weeks the only thing I was wearing was belly bands over my jeans. Those still do the trick when needed but I'm in maternity pants for the most part now and I LOVE them. I wear some maternity tops, but a lot of my own tops still fit me too.

Stretch marks? Still not yet!
Sleep: Ugghhh.. this has changed a lot since my 16 week questionairre too. It's very hard to stay comfortable now. I naturally sleep on my stomache or back. My tummy is clearly out of the question now and when I lay on my back, it's hard to breath. My back hurts a good bit so I toss and turn a lot. Trey surprised me last week with a body pillow and I'm loving that! Plus the damn birds don't help...
Best moment this week: Last Friday ~ learning that "it's" a he! This week ~ just feeling him move around a lot more has been wonderful! I can't desribe the feeling, but it never fails to put a smile on my face.

Movement? Why yes! I can feel him kicking or punching and flipping around, but nothing felt on the outside yet. I can't wait for that!
Food cravings? Still no real cravings I don't think. I guess by cravings, I'm waiting for this huge, gotta have it now feeling and I never really feel those. Some foods I'm enjoying though? Mashed potatos and grilled chicken. Sonic slushes. Ehh... I'm actually really sick of eating. I'm hungry more and more but nothing really ever sounds good to me. I need some ideas of things to eat.. healthy things.
Showing? Quite a bit. I've had just a few strangers ask me how far along I am, which is pretty cool. Here you go.. I'll let the pic speak for itself.

16 Weeks

                                                                                                          21 weeks

21 Weeks

Gender Prediction: We're having a sweet baby boy!! I'm so meant to be a little boy's mama :) I guess you can't tell much from the heart beat. It's been very high all along...he's just very active! And he's a typical boy.. has stuck his tongue out at me at both ultra sounds ;)

There's that tongue! Sooo cute!
Labor Signs? None of that yet!
Mood Temperament: Ohhh man.. I'm still on that roller coaster, but now it's a little more bumpy. I have very high highs and very low lows. There's not much of an in between.
Milestones: Finding out that we have an Andrew and not an Ava.
Weekly Wisdom:
Dear Self:
Don't be so hard on yourself when you are having your "sad" moments. Stop trying to figure it out...it's hormones. You're most relaxing moments are in the bathtub or sitting out in the sun - both spots with a good book. Do that when you're feeling down and stop worrying about that. Time is going by very fast so enjoy every moment possible.

Home

I've heard this song quite a few times now (especially with my husband being a tad bit in love with Miranda Lambert) but today, it really tugged at my heart. I was on the way on post about to go through the gates when the tears started... I just knew the guards were going to make me pull over or something.

I'm sure this song would strike a cord with anyone, but for me it brings back such vivid memories of the two homes I grew up in, but mostly the first one.

We grew up in a little town in Massachusetts. The summer before 3rd grade, my parents and I moved into the house I'd spend the next 5 years of my life. We lived in a duplex - us in one side and my aunt, uncle and cousins lived in the other. I have some of the best memories of my life living in that place.

Being able to just walk next door to see some of my favorite relatives to eat with them, watch tv, or probably just bother them at that age. I can still here my Uncle Ronnie's voice now, yelling at me to put my socks on! Having some of my best friends over to play. Swimming in the pool almost every day during the summer. My brother Charlie being born there. Me moving my room up into the attic because I was SO old enough to have my own space. My cousin Ronnie getting me in trouble for riding my bike around the corner of a busy street (I was supposed to walk it). But him also buying me a hampster when my mom said no and sneaking it in to me in a happy meal box. And then said hampster "disappearing" and no one ever did find it. Sledding down Bolton Street. My dad calling me home by whistling for me when I stayed out past the street lights coming on. My BEST FRIEND living 3 houses away. The HUGE clam bakes we'd have every 4th of July.

The cab pulling up to the front door when it was time to bring us to the airport for the move to SC. I was curled up by the couch on my aunts side of the house and they practically had to carry me out of there.

There are so many more memories I have of that place, but I would be here all day. And you would get bored.

What would I give to be able to walk into that house again and relive every single one of those moments. Unfortunately, I'm miles and miles away and no one in our family lives there anymore. Most of us do move away from our childhood home, I'm just glad to be able to have such vivid memories that I'll be able to carry with me.

You HAVE to listen to this, especially if you haven't heard it before. I promise you'll be able to relate and it will touch your heart!

Honesty

I knew I've been a bad blogger when my mum texts me to say she needs another pregnancy blog. Sorry mum!

Truth is.. I've just had NO motivation. I knew I was in a slump last week, but I thought I'd gotten over that. Turns out it just got worse.

I'm really not quite sure what's been wrong with me to be honest. Probably hormones. I've just been so down in the dumps.. especially the past couple days. I can't express why. I have no reasons. It's not so severe that I'm walking around crying.. I just feel like a major debbie downer. It's just a feeling I have in my chest. Like I have no desire to even smile. It's really not like me at all. Especially now. I have every reason in the world to be floating on cloud 9.
I do have my moments. Like when I look at my belly or feel him moving around. That never fails to make me smile. Or when my husband comes home with a body pillow completely out of the blue because he knows I'm not sleeping very well.. at all. Or when he sends me a text like the one I just got that said he couldn't wait to hang out with me tonight.

Mainly, I think it's a mixure of not sleeping much because I can't get comfortable, HORMONES, and the loud screeching birds I have outside of our window that you can hear squacking obnoxiously in any spot in our apartment. I can't explain how horrible it is. It never stops. It starts at 6:30 in the morning usually (5:00 this morning) and doesn't stop until it's dark. I'm being very literal when I say I'm afraid they are going to drive me insane. The only solice I get is when I get in the shower (can't hear them with the water running) or I have to leave our apartment. It's non stop. I can't wait to move away from this place. Hopefully there won't be any horrible birds nesting on top of our house in El Paso.

Stay tuned for another post today.. all about baby and me with less focus on the negatives. Your welcome mum.

Gender Reveal Party

We had our gender reveal party yesterday, and it was so much fun!

Some of our closest friends got together dressed to let us know their guess..

We had lots of delicious food and pretty decorations

We finally cut the cake to surprise *almost* everybody. I kind of stayed true to form and blew it for the first couple. I was showing them the US pics and said, "I'm just not sure what's going on with him in this one. Are those his arms...ohhhhh nooooo". Yeah, throw up of the mouth, as per usual.

We grilled out in the perfect spring weather and ate the best burgers ever!

The boys *and dogs* played some football

It was truly a perfect day.. and a long one. And finally, here was the most exciting moment.. I caught the cake cutting on video.. hopefully blogger will cooperate with me and let me upload it.

Yup.. just what I thought. I'm going back to the original posting page. I'm sick of no spell checker anyways.

Thank you SO SO much for all of your comments yesterday! We are on cloud 9 :)

Drumroll Please...

It's a.......













Ready??












Sure you want to know????










We are having a sweet, sweet, boy!!!!
Mmhmmm... most of you were wrong according to the polls. Mostly everyone in my life was telling me I was for sure, no doubt about it, having a girl - so you can imagine my *thrilled* surprise when she told us differently. I may have squealed and I definitely cried a little bit. Trey is beyond ecstatic.

I guess you can't really pay much attention to the high heart beat rule, that little heart was still going away at 152 bpm tonight. I've had two ultrasounds now and both technicians made comments about how active HE is... so HE gets worked up a little too easy just like HIS mama.. that's okay! HE was moving around in there like crazy! I know one thing's for sure... he's the cutest little boy I've ever seen <3

So bring on the dump trucks, legos, Army men and baseball bats and blue clothes... we are ready for it.

Andrew "Drew" Gates Norton, I can't wait to welcome you into this world and wrap my arms around you for the first time! We already love you more than words can express.

The Big Day

No, I'm not telling what the sex is in this post! We don't even know yet. I'll have a scheduled post up tomorrow early afternoon to spill the beans :)

I am just overwhelmed with excitement. Trey is home now.. go figure. The original appointment was set up for 4:15, but I pushed it back to make sure Trey could go. He hasn't been able to go to any appointments yet, so I really wanted to make sure he could go to this one. I can't wait to see his facial expression when he finally sees that precious baby moving around and hears the heartbeat. But, of course, he was released super early today (after he passed his last big exam!!) and we now have to sit around and wait for 6:15 to roll around. The suspense is KILLING me.

I've been lucky enough to have a couple girlfriends keeping me occupied through the morning, but now they've all carried on with their own lives and I'm just counting down the minutes.. trying not to watch the clock.. because a watched clock never ticks?

I can't believe in just a few short hours I'm hopefully going to know what we're having *please don't be modest today baby and show us all your goods*. I can finally stop calling it "it". We have names picked out (yes I'll share both names tomorrow) and I can start addressing "it" by an actual name. I can pick out lots of cute baby clothes!

It's going to be great to just know and I'm in disbelief that it's April... I'm just about half way through with this pregnancy. Where has the time gone?

Moving Adventures Part II

I can't believe we'll be heading out of here in 33 days!! It feels like just yesterday I started out on this adventure - my first big move away from my family, away from the east coast, away from everything I knew, and on towards my new life with my soldier. And now, here we are, about to take another step forward, finally entering in to the REAL ARMY and finally being done with training.

I tend to make things more difficult then they need to be. It's just the way I am. I blow things out of proportion and put more stress on myself then I need to. I'm determined not to do that to myself this time. After stressing out last weekend with a million thoughts running through my head, I took the time Monday morning to write out feelings, thoughts, concerns, and listed things that need to be done. I feel MUCH MUCH better and have all week. I've been taking care of little things here and there and we are now on the right path.

I got a lot of my housing questions answered on Monday by just making a little phone call. Imagine that. I don't know why I get so worked up from just the thought of picking up the phone. That's what they are there for! And if I don't do it.. it will never get done! So, I called housing and found out that there is a 9 month to 1 year waiting list. (better than the flat 1 year they told me the first time.) I'm still a little confused and not sure about what you are supposed to do while you are waiting for housing. Is there someone that sets you up with temp. housing on post? Are we supposed to find some place to rent in the mean time off post by ourselves? If so, how do you go about finding someone that will be very flexible with leasing options?

I went to the Transportation Dept. on Tuesday and set up our move and got an advance on our partial DITY. They will be here to pack up and move out on the 11th and we'll start our trip on the same day. I found out that the Army WILL move us from temporary housing to on post, which was a big deciding factor for me.

If you can't tell... we are strongly leaning towards (as in just about 100% planning on) living on post. I know there are pros and cons to each option, but for this move, we just feel like it's the best option for us. Really, the BAH for this town isn't very much compared to the cost of the renting I've seen so far. It seems like between rent and utilities it will add up to be more than our BAH. With us being a single income family for now and having a baby on the way... that just isn't an option. Plus, I'm really kind of excited to have that experience. I wanted to try it out at least once to see if I'd like it.

That's about all for now. I'm turning in our vacany form to the apartment office today. I know in turn they will give me a cleaning list and how much it will cost if we don't do each thing... grrrr... not looking forward to that! Then I'm going out to buy decorations for our Gender Reveal Party for Saturday!! I don't remember if I've told y'all about that, but I'll do a full post on it after the weekend :)

Tomorrow's our big day!! One more day to vote. I am so very excited to find out if we are having a boy or girl, I can hardly stand it!

A True Fan

I actually had a semi-important post to do today (and I still may) but this deserves a two-day post! When I heard this this morning it immediately trumped my "What in the world to do about housing, please help me before I go insane, post)

If you've stuck around my blog for a longer amount of time, you already know that I'm sports fanatic. You know that I'm a very dedicated Boston everything lover... especially my Patriots and Redsox. So you can assume I was glued to the tube on Sunday night for Opening night against the Skankees Yankees. Great game, btw.

When I did fail to see was this gem. It's definitely worth the next minute and 36 seconds of your life. You won't regret it, especially around the 1:16 minute marker. It doesn't matter who you're a fan of.. you can appreciate this!

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend - I know we did. If you were without your loved ones, please know that I was thinking about you! It has to be so very hard to spend holidays especially without your spouse, sibling, or parent... I hope you at least got to chat with them and you found comfort through friends or a great church service.

The weather was beautiful here in Oklahoma! It seriously could not have been any more perfect.

We picked my brother up from Sheppard AFB so he didn't have to spend Easter alone.
Sunday we went to a beautiful Easter morning service at the church we have been attending here. I think Easter service is my favorite one of the year. It's such a nice reminder of what our Lord did for us and what that really means. That we are forgiven and loved PERFECTLY. The God loves us SO incredibly much, that he had his only son crucified just to bring US closer to him. Could you imagine doing the same... it's overwhelming really and makes me want to be such a better Christian.

After church we went to a friends house for a huge potluck Easter lunch/early dinner. It was delicious!! Who knew our little group of friends were so talanted?? We had a cheese ball, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (courtesy of me), deviled eggs, potato salad, coleslaw, buns, death by chocolate, rice crispy treats, ice cream sandwhich cake, red velvet cake balls... Ohh my gosh!! Everyone left hurting!

I can't even explain how much it means to me to have this group of friends here. It's so important when you are away from your family. In a sense, we've made our own little family away from home. We're all in the same postition and it takes the sting out of missing your loved ones back home, especially on such important days. These people mean the world to me:                     
                                                                                                    

                            

P.S.

My mum's package hasn't arrived yet, but I did want to reassure everyone that she did put a few Easter goodies in there for me :)