The Home Stretch

What a busy month it's been and no doubt the craziness has kept building since then....
November finished out as a "winner" not only because of adorable baby things that made my day, like these.....

....but also thanks to my youngest niece/birthday twin (she turned 1, I turned 27), getting to go home to see family for Thanksgiving, and also having a baby shower while in CO!

John finally got to go to his first Centering appointment with me on November 22nd.
It's the third time he's been to a doctor's appointment with me this entire pregnancy, so it was really special for me to have him there and see what I've been doing when I go to these meetings.
John wasn't able to go to the appointment where the labor and delivery wing was toured, but at this meeting we toured the recovery wing so he was able to participate in that which was neat. We're going to go on a "make-up" labor and delivery wing tour later on before she comes though so he's caught up.

After our appointment we were off to CO!

Because John's job is so fickle when it comes to approved time off, especially leaving the state, we usually have to travel on different flights--on the same day--to the same destination--because of the tickets being bought at different times. People look at us like we're crazy when we explain how we travel, but hey, gotta do what you gotta do!
This was the first time my dad saw me "obviously" pregnant (one day shy of 31 weeks at that point) and boy, was his reaction great, "OMG, holy cow."
Yeah, I love you too dad. :)

Once John arrived we grabbed some late dinner and headed back down to the Springs. Good ole home.
Don't think I can ever get tired of waking up at my parents house and seeing this view from their driveway:

The next day John and I drove back up to Denver to pick up the future Uncle Drew from DIA. This was also the first time my little bro would see me obviously pregnant and I was so stoked!
As Drew walked out of the gate area out to where we were waiting and saw me it was just classic.
Lots of smiles and big hugs, then he kinda stared at the stomach a minute and said he had to look away cause it was weirding him out. LOL.
No worries, I'm not offended, it is pretty weird.
This is a first for so many of us, the whole concept and thought process is pretty far out there!

Thanksgiving Day was great because it consisted of true family blending! John's mom, brother, and our sister in law came over for the lunch, plus, my dearest, Kristen Cook, totally surprised me by not going home to KS for the holiday and sticking around the Springs. GG (we're starting to call her 3G now that she'll be a great grandma, but she doesn't get it....) came over as well, of course, and Darrell and Myrna flew in from OK for the holiday as well.
I was tasked with the Green Bean Casserole over at GG's house, so I hung out over at her house (about 10 houses down from my parents house!) for the morning doing my thing, while she and Myrna slaved over peeling hard boiled eggs.
My poor distraught grandmother was getting very disheartened about the eggs not peeling right, so Darrell went to the store to boil another dozen and start over. At that point John, Drew, and Kristen were over at GG's house too, and in order to get the deviled eggs done in time, we had to get creative.
Thanks to Darrell's iPad and youtube, we discovered an "art" of making the egg peeling process go a tad faster and a bit more conventional. I'm very proud to say my husband displayed some new true talents I didn't know he had....May I present the concept, and new Thanksgiving tradition, of "egg blowing":

Sigh.......we are so easily entertained, it's scary.
The weather Thanksgiving day was fantastic, and after we all ate, the majority of us went on a walk on the trail that runs behind GG and my parents house.
We spent Thanksgiving evening with John's family on the other end of town. His dad is currently stationed at Ft. Carson with his wife and two young daughters, so we had Thanksgiving dinner with them then ventured over to Mom and Dad Hyskell's house  (one of John's multiple sets of "parents") to see them, their family, as well as our dear friends (their son and his wife), Scott & Katie.
(I have to insert here that Scott, John and their other friend Casey all grew up on the same street since elementary school and still remain friends--better yet, they all married Katie's....keeping things simple I suppose??)
There, we got educated on cameras which was our Black Friday item we were on the hunt for.
Thanks to their coaching we ended up purchasing this bad boy:

...to which John pretty much hogged the rest of the trip. I got to play with it once when he forgot to take it with him somewhere, but that was really it. He'll probably be using it a tad bit more than me here in the beginning anyways, so maybe it worked out better that way. :)

That Saturday, the 26th was our Baby Shower hosted by my sis-in-law, Karen, Katie Hyskell, and my Mom, held at the Hyskell's house.
Drew had to fly out early that morning AND dad's high school football team he coaches had their quarter final game that day as well, so they missed out (ok, dad showed up at the end after their win and in time for his favorite part, pictures!).

We had an absolute fantastic time at the shower. Not only were we/Baby C blessed with many of the necessities plus some gift wise, but the fellowship of these long time family and friends were worth it alone.
We have such an amazing support system, even all the way in Colorado, and it was so refreshing to be reminded of that. When the ladies were planning this shower the only thing I really "requested" was that people's spouses and kids came too. We have so many mutual friends I didn't want John to be singled out by a bunch of ladies, LOL. It made for a full house, but it was awesome...I think the men had just as much fun as the women. :)

The next morning we realized how tiring showers can be....and we also realized we're going to have to get all this stuff home!! I supervised while John demonstrated his long abandoned packing skills from back in his mover days in college....we sorted, stuffed, wrapped, everything you can think of to get as much packed into the empty suitcases we brought, and we (he!) rocked it. We ended up "returning" only three items for store credit in which when we returned home I purchased them back....it couldn't have worked out any better...

That afternoon we met up with the Christian clan to get some family pictures. It's very rare for all of us to  have time off and be available at the same time, so this took a lot of careful plotting and planning, but thankfully we got it done thanks to Scott & Katie Hyskell, our "drug into it," photographers. :)

Connie Christian, Danny, Karen, Audrey, & Emery Christian,
Jerrod & Brittany Christian, and John & Katie Christian 2011.

Hung out with Danny, Karen, and their girls after pictures to get in some quality niece time which partially consisted of me trying to convince Emery she should walk for us. Sadly it didn't work, but it was worth a shot (about a week after we left we got a video text of her walking, little booger).
We then took the girls to the mall to see Santa which was awesome. Audrey was so good and just smiled away, but Emery hit a state of panic I have never seen before. It was awesome. This baby hardly ever isn't smiling, so this was definitely one of those precious moments to prove she's not an angel ALL the time. ;-)

Once we got back to NC it's been a whirlwind.

Doc appointments, night shifts, day shifts, random last minute work trips to Jersey (John that is!), birthing classes.....what else....??........
We finally hired a doula which I am SO stoked about. Her name is Dorris Ann and I knew I had to have her the first time I met her. Maybe she's just that good of a saleswoman, but shoot, it worked on me, so she's hired. :)
It took me a while to get John on board with this concept of using a doula without it coming across offensive to him or a waste of money--but once he met her and got to know her, it was a done deal.

I opted to hire a doula mainly for insurance for me.
John absolutely loves his new job with the K9 unit at Bragg and you can tell it's something he's good at--therefore willing to put in more time than most deem necessary.
With that, comes the down side of him not always being available when I might need something--anything....really day or night...and that was really making me nervous the more we got into the groove with this new unit and the closer to January we were getting.
The Army has made me a horrible "what if" person, sometimes this is good, sometimes it's just downright awful and I feel so bad that I have that mentality with everything, but it's become natural instinct for me.
Feel bad for John, honestly!
In the end, he and I both know, regardless of whatever "what if" happens, we rarely have control over what variable takes over--and that was just killing me while being pregnant.
What if he's on night kennels and my water breaks?
What if he had to take a last minute trip out of state and I go into early/labor?
What are our back up plans in case he's not there to coach me like we've been working on??
We don't have family here, or even within a days driving distance....we have some fabulous friends, but you can only obligate them so much in a situation as intense as that!
I needed a back up plan, aka: insurance, for me that if and when something like that does happen I'm not alone having to figure it out, and he's not off somewhere freaking out that he's not here to help me.
Hence Dorris Ann. :)
Then there is the other side of things, most likely (fingers crossed?) none of those "what ifs" will happen, John and I will be able to labor "together" with him coaching me and helping me like we want, and luckily for both of us Dorris Ann will be there regardless to coach both of us.
As a doula, she'll not only help me labor at home as much as possible (preventing multiple trips the hospital until I am dilated enough) but also run interference with the hospital staff, on our behalf, once we are admitted, when it comes to our previously outlined preferences/wishes for our birthing experience there at the hospital. Once baby is born she sticks around to make sure our after birth wishes are respected/implemented and also stays behind to make sure the baby and I are nursing correctly, etc.

The whole concept is kind of a new one I've learned....at least to people my parents age and such. The best way I've learned to explain it is to describe her as my personal "birthing" trainer.
I had to assure my mom she wasn't being substituted by a "hired mom" in any of this grand baby process, if anything the doula helping me will hopefully help my mom, dad, and John's mom enjoy the whole experience with us better by not being obligated to me 24/7 or worry about my or the baby's care if they aren't with me the whole time. 
Hopefully once they meet her they'll realize all three of us are in good hands and they can not stress about any of it and just soak the whole experience in like we hope to.
I truly think it's going to work out great. I'm so excited to share this experience with our families I wish they could all be there when she's born...
It's just going to be so exciting, regardless of "how" she arrives. :)

As I mentioned before, we took Birthing Classes through Womack where I'll be delivering. The instructor, Tracy, was this fantastic "old" southern black lady (and proud of it, in case you would like to know!) that called all our baby's cornbreads (unless it is/was a big baby then it's called "cornbread and gravy") and taught us the good, the bad, and the ugly of pregnancy, delivery, medical interventions, relaxation & lamaze, as well as postpartum care and breastfeeding.
A lot of these things I had learned in my Centering meetings, but since John's been out of state or unavailable for 95% of my doctor's appointments, etc. we pegged this as his crash course into "daddyhood." We both learned a lot and it made me so much more calm and confident with John being my labor coach with Dorris Ann.
I also took a breastfeeding class (taught by the lactation consultant) on post which was so informative and helpful. I've been picking the brains of all you breastfeeding mommies and between you all and this class I feel like I at least know what kind of commitment I am in for!
We are so blessed with the resources the Army/Womack has to offer when it comes to having children. They may make our lives a living hell 75% of the time, no doubt, but when push comes to shove, knowing these resources are there to help make your family unit successful is just such a blessing to me.

About two weeks after our last Birthing Class I had my bi-weekly Centering meeting where the midwife confirmed our little girl had dropped and has currently "assumed the position."
What a scary/exciting moment!
According to the midwife, she's been head down for about two months now, but since the beginning of December I knew something was different with her...well perhaps more so with me, thanks to her??
Not sure which it is! Either way, they gave me a support belt which I've been totally rocking, attempting to bring sexy back, fo sho.
When they first fitted me for it I wasn't too sure about it, but after wearing it for a week now, I'm a firm believer! This thing is seriously dynamite.
It holds that little booger up enough where I don't have to waddle everywhere I go, and enough to relieve some of the back pressure her weight in my front was bringing me. Totally worth the odd looks I've gotten when my shirt doesn't cover it up all the way!! :)

Today, Christmas Day, is a month away from her designated due date.
I've always been skeptical of the phrase "due date" because in the end, does it really mean anything anyways?? She'll come when she wants to come!
Either way, it's a humbling/scary/exciting/exasperating thought.
We have been so blessed by the outpouring of love and support from our friends and family, literally world wide, that one would think it'd be hard to be scared and not excited.
BUT truth be told I'm scared to death.
I'm scared that what we are wanting for our birth plan might be me biting off more than I can chew.
I'm scared that I might try to be a hero and not be a good parent in being reasonable and responsible for her--not for me.
I'm scared that some of my very minor health issues might end up standing in the way of me laboring/delivering the way I want.
I'm scared I might fail at one of my goals and take it very personally--like already a failure.
I'm scared I won't be able to do it on my own, period.
It's so intimidating to think of being responsible for this little life we created.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we start our countdown of this last month (what if she's early?!!??! LOL) before she arrives.
In the end I know what will be, will be, and luckily another thing the Army has taught me a little too well is how to make lemonade out of lemons if things don't go your way.

Here's to my baby girl and the countdown to whenever she chooses to come. Be patient with your dad and I. We want so much for you that we're scared to breathe wrong when it comes to you already. We are so excited for you to come and so are your cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, great cousins (??), even your furry brothers and sister, as well as your parents friends that have claimed you as their own.

You are blessed little girl, in so many ways, just be nice to your mom please. :)

No Pain No Gain

Oh my goodness, I'm pregnant and starting to get so stinking excited!!

This transition from second trimester into third has had it's moments for sure, but the closer and closer I get to the end the more excited and incessantly overwhelmed  I get.....but in an amazing way. I am overwhelmed by the experience. It's so amazing how our bodies work 

Since my last post until here recently I began physical therapy with some specialists to help with my hip/back pain as well as how it was effecting my sleep, etc. Although I recognize that all pregnant women go through all these discomforts, all I was really looking for with this is guidance in stretches and techniques I could do to make mine more bearable, especially since gym time is becoming not only more difficult but time for it is running scarce these days. 

After about a month's worth of appointments and tips I left there feeling much stronger in my core and also with a good "at home" plan to keep things up....now the key is to continue doing them!

End of October John and I drove up to Raleigh for a maternity shoot and it was a blast. The photographer, http://jchristinaphotography.net/, is so talented, and I was really glad that after years of talking about a shoot, we finally got to work together. I love her style and her eye! I'll post our final picks of the shoot when I get them. One of the most fun parts of the shoot was actually before it took place--finding props!

At first I was really worried about this because I didn't want to be overly baby cliche but I still wanted something to represent her besides my belly. Although we ended up not choosing some of the prop pictures we opted for her first teddy (sent by Great Aunt Anna!), a sonogram, a snowflake, some newborn UGG style boots, and some dog tags. I was really happy with our options and can't wait to get the final pics!!

At our Centering Meeting on the 25th we met a doula that works exclusively with Womack. I was so excited for this session! I am really wanting to have a doula and although John and I haven't 100% decided on this investment yet, I'm pretty much sold just on concept. I like the fact that having her there gives John a break if he needs one, I also like the fact that she was really big on helping us achieve our birthing goals and working with us, even if it's one contraction at a time!

One concern I had, which came up when I told my mom about hiring a doula, was "what about me helping you?" I explained to my mom, that this was an experience for her too, and I don't want someone emotionally attached to me to be in that position. 

I am planning on having a medication free labor, and I know if my mom were there helping me/coaching me and I was changing my mind and wanting medicine, she would get it for me. I liked the fact the doula would if I really wanted it, but prefers to go about it in a different way, in order to help me keep my goal, and just go through it all one step at a time. 

If I know those medicines are available, I'm probably going to take them, so to me it's better to eliminate that issue altogether than letting it present itself when I'm really vulnerable and wanting it!

We'll see if it works out. Fingers crossed it'll work out not only financially for us, but also in a personality way too. We all need to click, John included, so I am hoping that when the three of us sit down and get the information and talk it all out, that a consensus will easily be reached, regardless of what it is. 

John left for Jersey, the first week of November, leaving me to fend the glucose test on my own...not that he could help me anyways! I had heard from other ladies in my Centering Group and at work about the best way to get the best "true" results, so I ate a good dinner the night before at about 5 pm and fasted the rest of the night. 

I went to the lab first thing in the AM, still fasting, as soon as the lab opened to get it over with. This orange delight was waiting for me and I can honestly say it really wasn't as bad as everyone had made it out to be.

Yes it was very sugary, and it wasn't the best thing ever, but it's 10 oz. of virtually hyped orange Fanta you have to drink in 5 minutes and then wait an hour to have your blood drawn. 

I downed the "Fanta" and got my instructions to continue to not eat, or really drink for that matter, not even gum or water, and if I feel sick to let them know. I had heard horror stories of women getting sick, so I was prepared as I could be in my eyes. I brought a book with me and plopped a spot in the corner of the waiting room and watched the clock count down my hour wait time.

About half way through my wait I remember looking up at someone walking in and my head was seriously swimming, lol. Little girl was a little bouncing bean and I personally thought it was hilarious. This is the closest thing to a sugar rush she's ever had, so it really entertained me for some really bizarre reason. 

Got my blood taken and ran to the nearest Starbucks and got my "treat" of oatmeal to take to work with me. I decided to "cheat" and order a Peppermint Mocha which was a horrible idea. Having already had that much sugar with no food, that mocha was the worst thing ever. All I could taste was the sugar and I wanted to gag. I made myself drink it though, can't toss a $4  coffee! It was also a bummer because I have had maybe two or three coffee drinks since I found out I was pregnant, and I was really bummed that one of my "cheats" didn't work out so well. It was seriously disgusting and that alone makes me sad!
I passed the test, first try, FYI, so no secondary prolonged 3 hour test for these girls!

John got back from Jersey by the end of the week and we continued to peck away at our version of couples nesting which consists of major de-cluttering throughout the house on both our parts. We are having to have major "come to Jesus" meetings with ourselves to make our house the way we want for when little girl comes. Oddly enough we've kind of enjoyed it, it's been these little goals and accomplishments that make us feel like we're "on schedule."

Other goals, however, have consisted of really fun achievements for the both of us such as this...

This last Centering Meeting I had on 11-8, consisted of a tour through the Mother Baby Unit at Womack. It was so exciting!! I have learned that I'm becoming one of "those" weird pregnant women that get ecstatic at sponging the knowledge of how the delivery bed works and what this button does...It's just so exciting to me and I can't wait for my experience. While we were sitting there in the delivery room listening to the anesthesiologist I couldn't help but get the tingles. My little girl is going to be born here!! 

MY little girl, how amazing is that!! All the nights of uncomfortable sleep thus far and all the tired for no reason fits I've had, I can't wait to have her and have a "reason" in my hands to continue to have no more sleep and tired for a reason.....I can't believe what a blessing it is and I am so thankful for this experience thus far and the responsibility to follow.  

Aaauugghh!! It's just too much sometimes. 

I seriously get teary eyed thinking about it, I just can't wait.

I have been reminded as of late how precious these little lives are and how not to take them for granted. All the times I'm awoken in the night from hard core jabs or having to get up again to go pee, I'll take it all, x100, for this experience and gift I'm being given. 

The holidays are coming up and we are traveling to Colorado for Thanksgiving. I am especially excited because my mom, sis in law, and my HS partner in crime are hosting a baby shower for us and I just can't wait. I can't wait to SEE everyone. Some of these people I haven't seen since we moved to NC so I am just so excited to see and share this experience with our home support homies. We're so blessed with amazing friends, family, and family friends...I'm reminded of this often when I get random, perfectly timed, emails or texts from them checking in on me/us. It, again, makes me feel incessantly overwhelmed by the support system John and I have, and I'm so excited to have this little girl in the middle of it. She'll never want for anything when it comes to the love and support of our friends and family, and to me, that's the best thing you can ever give a child. 

She's going to be so blessed and not even know it...I feel blessed just thinking about it. :)

"Baby" State of Mind

John graduated K9 school end of September and was finally on a plane coming home on the first.
FINALLY.
I picked him up from the airport Saturday night kind of nervous.
When he left I didn't look pregnant. The only obvious way he could be reminded I was even pregnant was by my lack of appetite and my lethargic demeanor.
How would he react to how much has changed these last three months? I knew he wouldn't react "badly" but I've just been so self conscious lately that I couldn't help but wonder.
He finally came out of the terminal and gave me a big hug, my belly in the way, and goes, "Aw! You are really pregnant. It looks like a cone!"
Sigh.....I'll take it. :)
We went out for sushi and then once home John had a good long play time with Hurley to catch up on lost father/son time. I don't think Hurley has any idea what he's in for now that John's finished K9 school, poor pup.

John's first day back to the 108th was a nerve wracking one because we didn't know what to expect. Where we staying here at Bragg? So many have been getting orders to move....Is he staying in the 108th or maybe move to the 42nd where he can actually be a K9 MP?? There was a chance he might not...so we had no idea what to expect.
By end of day, Monday, we got word John would be moving, literally across the street, to the 42nd K9 detachment, which means for now, we are staying here at Ft. Bragg.
Mixed emotions on this, considering he's been stationed here 5 years and never moved, but considering our circumstances, it'll do for sure.
He immediately started out processing and by end of week was officially "out" of the 108th MP CO.
John had been a member of this company since he joined the Army five years ago, so it was a bittersweet week for both of us. We both have lots of friends that are still in the 108th that I hope we keep in touch with, but it's also exciting for this new chapter to begin.

For Columbus Day weekend, John and I headed up to Raleigh/Cary/Durham with "Mission: Baby Registry" on the agenda. I managed to find a hotel that not only had both a Target and Babies R Us within a 1 mile radius, but also a Noodles &Company, which I never knew was there!
The closest Noodles I had researched I thought was in Charlotte, but since we found this one, I think that Cary is my new fave place!
Friday night we hit up Cheesecake Factory and gorged on Steak Diane, Crab Fonduta, and of course cheesecake to get us geared up for the next day.

D-Day...AKA, baby registry day, we started off at Target and scanned away until the gun battery died.
I went into this weekend with a planned list of what we "needed" and what we "might need" depending on multiple "what ifs" that have yet to be determined.
I was so glad John was involved. It made things a lot easier, even if he was scanning things not on my list...
He surprisingly has opinions on the most random things, you just never know what they are unless you ask, so I learned.
It was neat to see what categories things fell into for him-- the "I don't really care, pick what you want" to the polar opposite where he had a whole slew of opinions.
Who woulda known this man is picky about her bath towel colors?!
After Target (and Noodles & Co!!) we hit up Babies R Us.
I was already getting tired and cranky, but we went in to do our thing. We got the registry set up and went scanning away here and there. By the time we made it back to the stroller/car seat/pack 'n play area I was seriously delirious.
At one point I was so distraught at not seeing a single set of those items I liked, that I ended up sitting on the floor in the middle of the isle while John tried strollers out....I eventually moved into the stroller bay to sit and get out of people's way, but I sincerely didn't care anymore. She could sleep in a box for all I cared at that point!
I never realized how daunting baby registries are.
I'm not sure when the "this is fun!" feeling transitioned into the "please get me out of here" mode, but it definitely came and I was SO over it.
We drove back home to Fayetteville that night feeling a sense of accomplishment for sure. Out of everything on my lists of lists, we got 95% scanned somewhere!
So thankful for online editing, cause it definitely happened during this last week!

Pops is pretty proud of himself
and piece of her furniture....

John had Columbus Day off, so while I was at work he drove to Fuquay-Varina to pick up the bedroom set for little girl we purchased.
We set it up this weekend and I LOVE it.
It works so well in her room and now with it in there I can go crazy with all the other details I've been pushing to the bottom of "to do" list not wanting to get too excited about just yet.
I'm going to personalize the furniture some, and we started out by going to go get some cute new knobs for the dresser to go with "her" rooms theme. Cause we all know babies really have an opinion about that.......

All these small but important pieces coming together gets me so excited. It makes all the back aches, getting up in the night every five minutes to pee, and my gut becoming a punching bag so worth it.

I just can't wait to see how it all turns out, may the fun begin!!

Sugar and Spice

Well it's been a LONG while since I last updated, and I'm sorry.
I have no good excuse!
John's been gone for over two months now, so no distraction there.
I was bogged down by overtime hours at work and house repairs for an appraisal, but as of recent, the OT has been cut down and the appraisal inspection is said and done.
Really it's just been making myself sit my butt down to do it.

SO, since last post I've swelled into a new stage of pregnancy that I LOVE.
Baby C has grown from an orange to the length of a banana and about 1 lb in weight.
I love my bump.
Never thought I'd say that, and I thank God daily I lost all that weight before I got pregnant, or I probably would not be saying that at all.
Nothing is more fun to me than going clothes shopping and finding something that accentuates the bump. I took away more than I thought working at Mimi Maternity in college, and am having perhaps too much fun buying more than necessary.

16 weeks thru 21 weeks. :)

Same day as my August Centering Meeting, I had my first experience of a consignment sale, and oh my--What an experience it was!
After work I met up with Steph and Katie, who are both on baby #2, at the expo center here in town to see what all the hype was about. Steph and Katie have braved these sales before but this was a whole new experience for me. I understood the concept, but just never experienced it from a baby theme perspective.
OMG, absolute pandemonium.
They allowed military wives "day before opening" access to the sale so we stood in line and eventually made our way into the warehouse and the madness began.

Since I still didn't know what I was having at the time, I took charge of Luke in his stroller and mulled around while Steph and Katie did their thing. I have never seen so many clothes in my life, lol. Because of my lack of research, I have no idea if there were good deals or not, but there seemed to be the way people were wheeling their carts around piled high of "stuff."
At one point I handed over the stroller and Luke and I went exploring (AKA: running!) some more and it was really interesting to see what people were getting rid of, what people were buying, etc. I ended up not buying anything, but gained in experience!

End of August proved to be eventful thanks to mother nature.
We/I experienced our first mini earthquake here in Fayetteville, and also stormed the rain and wind of Hurricane Irene.
There were mixed reviews of what the hurricane was going to mean to us here inland amongst everyone I talked too, but considering I had never even been near one in my entire life, I implored the expertise of my dad and Aunt Liz who have braved many in their years living in the Gulf Coast to be prepared just in case! I "survived" spending the day watching movies, being lazy with my fur balls, and scrapbooking. Thankfully all I found in damage was a shingle, and I'm not even sure it's from my house to be honest, so hooray.

Calm before the storm...."damage" from the storm.

Over Labor Day my fabulous mother and grandmother came to visit me! It was so great to see them and although I had seen them both in July, it felt like forever.
GG had never been to my "digs" here in Fayetteville, so it was really fun to show her around town and base. We made plans to hit the Outer Banks prior to their visit, but thanks to Irene, half the islands on the south end were still not accessible because of road washouts and some parts of the islands were ferry accessible only to it's residents, not tourists. We decided to still make the trip, not sure what to expect, but all the vendors I called said they were "definitely open" for the Labor Day weekend, so off we went!
We stayed the night in Elizabeth City, NC which is about an hour outside of Corolla, which was our first hit. So we hopped back into the car Sunday morning and drove to the NC/VA boarder of islands to Corolla where we did some shopping, eating, and jumped into our off-roading tour to go find the wild horses of the island.
History says the bloodline of these horses dates back to when the US was first being discovered, and it's believed that these horses are of Spanish decent and they run wild on the islands (in a designated preserve to protect them). The parts of Corolla we toured to find these horses has no roads, so everything is 4-wheel drive only and it was a blast. A lot of the roads were water damaged and in some cases still majorly flooded from the last weekends hurricane, but in the end that created opportunity for a more eventful ride!
It's not very often one can get your mom, your 85 year old g-ma, and your 5 month pregnant self to go off-roading looking for wild horses on a island. LOL. It was awesome.
After hours of searching, our awesome tour guide (about my bro's age, so 21-22ish) finally found us some wild ponies. It's so neat to see them in their environment. Many people live on this island and since it's on the horse preserve, the horses have free reign to walk around and eat wherever they please, including in people's yards in the middle of the road, wherever they really want. People just kinda drive around them. I guess they were here first technically!

After off-roading for about 4 hours we trekked as far south on the islands we were allowed to go to Kill Devil Hills/Kitty Hawk where we toured the Wrights Brother's Museum and where mom and I hiked up to the Wrights Bro's National Monument which is where their first recorded flights were tested. It had amazing views and was so neat to see.

After that we packed back into the car and drove back to Fayetteville, getting in pretty late.
We slept in the next morning and left GG to rest some more while mom and I went and did some shopping. Again, since we didn't know what Baby C was, there wasn't much actual shopping to be done, more of playing and teasing ourselves looking at baby stuff.
We later picked up GG and I took them both to Babies R Us which is an experience of itself!
Everyone swears the BRU here is horrible, but to those of us that have never stepped foot into one, we don't know the difference, so we had a blast pushing around strollers, looking at colors/themes, trying out gliders, etc. It was totally worth the trip, "bad" BRU or not...

That week Baby C officially met the "half way" mark at 20 weeks AKA: cantaloupe size. Friend from back in college says all these fruit comparisons is making her think of Baby C as a fruit salad and it's going to come out looking like the Chiquita Banana lady. :)
The awesome milestone with the 20 week mark is time to find out what Baby C is! On the 9th I took a sick day and spent half my day at Womack doing some tests then my 10 am appointment with radiology for "the" ultrasound.
I drank my billion ounces of water they told me to down, and went in ready to see my boy. I KNEW it was a boy. All dreams and thoughts and pictures I had in my head were with a little boy.
The tech I had was really sweet and after hopping up on the table and getting slathered in jelly we got down to business.
First the tech measured the head and was really thorough in explaining what was what....they measured each limb--shoulder to elbow, elbow to wrist...then hip bone to knee, knee to ankle. She zoomed in on the heart so close I could see the valves moving while passing blood in and out with each beat. It was SO fascinating.
I was amazed at how good Baby C was. It sat very still only occasionally moving it's arms around and crossing and uncrossing it's legs (shoulda been my first clue!) and at one point "watched" the pressure of the probe go back and forth above it's head.
So finally at the end, the tech goes, ok for a girl we are looking for three dots and for a boy we are looking for a little turtle.
So she probes along, I have no idea what she's looking at, but finally after some maneuvering the tech goes, "Well, from what I can see, those are three dots, so it looks like you are having a girl."
Wait......huh??
GIRL. I don't see any dots!.....Well shoot, I don't see a turtle either.
Dang.
The tech started printing out pictures and gave me a towel and pointed to the nearest bathroom.
I walked back into the appt room, the tech was gone at that point, and just stared at the string of pictures left on the table....a girl?? Holy cow. What am I going to do with a girl!?!?!?

I left the hospital, still in a bit of shock, and met up with Steph and Jenn at Olive Garden to pass time while anxiously waiting for John to call me on his lunch break to tell him our news. He finally called at the end of lunch and I told him we were having a little girl and he was ecstatic.
"I'm so excited I'm shaking!"
I was happy too, but still in process mode.....
I went home and started making calls to family members also anxiously awaiting our news.
I called my mom first and that's when I broke down and started crying.
I couldn't even get the word "girl" out before I was choking up and the tears flowed.
I told my mom I couldn't handle a little me the first time around and I didn't know what to do, and she replies, "Well, we had to do it."
Touche.
By the time I called my dad, brother, grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins, I started to get over the initial shock of it all and come to grips with the fact that I have a PERFECT baby girl growing inside me.
All 10 fingers all 10 toes...what's not to be happy about!?
I went out shopping later that day and throughout the weekend and my silver lining slowly faded away.
I HATE all the little girl stuff out there right now.
"Diva" this and "Princess" that and everything is drowning in glitter.
It was really disheartening and put me back down in the dumps.
I did manage to find one onsie I was ok with for John and her....It's pink, sigh, but it seems like anything non pink is not an option these days...
After John finished his work day and was able to call his family with our news, I finally posted our "gender" announcement on Facebook. Sorry baby girl, but everyone else thought you were going to be a boy too!

Later on in the week once the dust settled I was sitting in bed reading and I felt her moving around inside me. I instantly began to feel around my bump wanting to connect with "her," no longer an "it" anymore and it made my eyes tear up. How GREAT is this adventure going to be??? I was instantly reminded of something my mom told me when I was in the middle of my break down, "Katie sometimes God knows what's better for us than we do and I believe that babies are given to families that need them."
She was so right.
I need her. I need everything she is and everything she is going to teach me, and I can't WAIT.

This last weekend I finally went out on a venture to really get myself in a "Baby Girl" mindset. So far last week she's received more mail than John and I have including an awesome package from my cousin Ashleigh who I think I'm going to put on retainer to style this little girl for the rest of her life.
Can you say baby JEGGINGS?? How awesome is that!?!
So, in order to have our real true first mother daughter weekend we did what all moms and daughters do, we went shopping. :)
I drove out to the outlets about 40 minutes from Fay, and we stormed ALL the baby clothing stores (ok, I went to Yankee Candle for me) and I have to say she came out extremely well. A lot of the designer stores had their spring and summer baby clothes half off then an extra % off to move it out to make room for fall items, so I was ALL over it buying up in sizes for some awesome prices. After a milkshake and dinner at Steph's house I came home to admire our spoils and I think we did some awesome damage.

Luckily for us, her dad approved. :)
Poor guy, he has no idea what kind of trouble this little girl and I are going to be getting into together.

From 1st sliding into 2nd....

Well the first trimester is officially over and am now into number two. :)
As of this post I am 15 weeks, and according to the "fruit chart," today Baby C graduated from the lemon size to an orange. :)

John left on the 17th for the beginning of his three month school in San Antonio. The weekend he left we layed low and had a "us" weekend running last minute errands and going out to eat at a bunch of our favorite random places. The best part is John took me shopping. :) I had been having fits with sitting around at work with m pants unbuttoned. I just could do it anymore and would sometimes get a stomachache from them being to tight across the middle...so I graduated to the good ole maternity jeans. Having worked at Mimi Maternity in college I instantly ran to the "underbelly" style jean where the elastic band goes underneath everything...After trying a couple pairs on, I couldn't find any I liked or that fit right...To my horror I tried on the mid and full belly jean, where the panel goes all the way up my torso, and they fit GREAT. I always made fun of the ladies that bought these jeans at Mimi thinking to myself that I would never be caught dead wearing something like that....well karma sucks. Cause they are the best thing ever and I have no shame. I also bought a couple dresses at Forever 21...luckily the styles are pooch friendly, so I'm all over them.
We also went to Sears where I introduced John to pack 'n plays, strollers, and car seats. We found an Eddie Bauer "full set" of stuff for either a boy or a girl. I'm not sure they are "the ones" that we want to go with, but I teared up with excitement in the store looking at them, I'd say it's a good sign at least. :)

I started going back to the gym once John left to test this "don't go over 160 HPM" theory the nurses at Womack kept telling me at my appointments. I decided it was crap. I got on the treadmill to test this theory and couldn't do more than a fast walk on a slight incline to keep my heartreate under 160...I was so irritated and so defeated....succumbing to the thought of being a whale in the end.

The next day was my first Centering Meeting at Womack hospital.
Centering is a program the military has set up for pregnant women as an alternative pregnancy experience than your typical OBGYN/patient experience. your appointments are with midwives instead of doctors, which I really liked, and the nurses and midwives that you are assigned to will do your appointments for the entire pregnancy.
When enrolling in Centering they put you in a group that is made up of 8-12 other women that are due in your same pregnancy month and we meet with the midwife and nurse once a month for our monthly appointments. The first hour of the meeting everyone gets to meet with the midwife privately to go over your medical file and do whatever needs to be done at that stage of the pregnancy. The second hour of the meeting is as a whole group with the nurse, midwife, and all the other women and usually a "guest speaker" which could be anything from a lactation consultant to a duhla and you kinda just talk about whatever you want...whatever is on your mind at that stage of things.
I opted for this experience paritally cause John is gone and the support is nice, but also cause I like the midwife approach. By being in the group I know all of my doctor appointments all the way through January 2012 and Major White and Nurse Belenda will be there throughout the entire thing, and so far I really like them.

I have learned a lot about myself while being pregnant that I never would have thought about myself. There is a major baby boom going on across the Ft. Bragg, and the country it seems, and it's made me look at myself and my experience, look at others and their experiences, and see what my preferences and thoughts are.
So far I have learned that I am not a researcher. I don't care to get caught up in all the medical mumbo jumbo of every single stinking thing that is going on with my body or with the baby...if the midwife tells me something is concerning or whatever, then fine, we'll deal with it then, but if everything is good, then good, on with my life I go.

Another thing I've learned, is that I refuse to let pregnancy be an excuse for me to be treated differently and my life to be lived differently. I can do virutally everything I've done before minus some small changes and it's so relieving to be able to continue to live like that. I've learned that it really bugs me when peoples approach me being pregnant comes across as a dehabilitating thing or like a handicap...I don't like that kind of attention, I can still work, work out, hang out, and do everything I did before. It's my life, and my experience, so I don't expect anyone to be stuck to it with me that it doesn't concern.
An example of this was the other day a coworker held the door open for me, saying "Pregnant ladies first!" Now it was nice and all, but I told them later, that things are "same ole, same ole" and that until my belly exceeds my arm reach, they don't need to "worry" about it. I'm a big girl. Got my big girl panties on and can do virtually anything I did for myself before hand still on my own. Doesn't mean I won't walk through a door if it's held open for me, just don't like the comments that come along with it, lol. IDK if that makes sense, but that's my thought process so far....
Some people say play the card when you can! Well, so far I haven't needed to and don't intend to until I genuinely need it, so until then, I know my stomach is starting to pooch out some, but I promise I'm the same old me. :)

Another thing I learned, that is so far the best advice I've gotten and so far as seemed to be true for me, is to NOT make a "birth plan."
My sister-in-law, that delivers babies, gave me this advice when John and I were in Colorado for his brother's wedding, and so far, it seems to be the best mentality ever for me!
 I think living the Army life has helped me with this, cause I used to not be this way. I used to be a crazy obsessive compulsive planner and if there is anything the Army has taught me, it's that you can leave that at the door. You can't plan for anything, really, to go your way, no matter what, with no wiggle room for change.....So, the way I have interpereted that in my own pregnancy experience is that I have an "idea" of how I would "like" things to go, but if they can't, that's ok.
I would like to have a natural birth, but if for any reason that's not possible when it gets down to it, then fine, absolutely nothing I can do about it.
I would like to give birth without an epidural.
However I am not closed minded to it knowing that it's possible that plans could change in the moment!
I want to breast feed.
However keeping in mind that some babies just don't seem to want to or even the fact that sometimes women can't produce milk for their baby's the way they "should," this is out of my control...what could I possibly do about it?! So I'm open to pumping/bottle feeding and if need be, formula. It's not what I want but it's a battle that I'm ok with compromising on.
I think part of it, to me, is choosing your battles...of what little things you can control.
Cloth diapers or disposable? Sure.
Breast fed or formula? Hopefully.
Jarred baby food or self made? Perhaps!
Keep working, work part time, stay at home? Who knows....
These are perhaps the only things I've actually done any research on and really care too right now.

Another thing I have noticed is how much I like things to be mum and private concerning being pregnant. Doesn't make a ton of sense I'm sure, when it comes to me blogging about it, but for the most part, the true details of things we have decided or are working on, will generally be between us and whomever is around us and I have found I don't like my business being out for the world to see, hear, or read. Luckily for me, there are tons of people out there willing to share all their pregnancy business for everyone to see, hear, and read about, so that keeps me in the clear. I just don't consider any of the major details as anyone's business, and those that need to know our details, will know. I don't mind sharing a picture here and there or talking about details in person, depending ON the person, but for the most part, I like to keep the attention off myself and let those who need it, take it.

What I enjoy about this mindset the most is it eliminates the stress of all the "what if" stuff and allows me to just enjoy being pregnant and not be bogged down by what chemicals the baby is getting cause I just ate a handful of Skittles. John and I both have adopted this mindset and joke often that we sometimes forget I'm even pregnant because we don't let the pregnancy "rules" of do's and don'ts dictate our experience. I'm glad he has the same mindset as me. He's so supportive and really has let me take the reigns in the things I can for what works best for me and my circumstance, especially with him gone. It's the best partnership ever. :)

So off my soapbox....
While at my Centering meeting I asked Major White about the "160 rule." I'm thankful she debunked it, saying I could stick to my regular routine and do whatever I was doing before as long as I promised to listen to my body if it was telling me that my "normal" was too much.
This was such a relief to me!
I went back to the gym doing my cardio full force just minus the resistance to not make it has "hard," but still a workout. I have been tired, more so than usual, but not to the point where I am dizzy, sick or sore...just exercised. :) I haven't done any lifting like I was doing before hand, and am not sure that I will. I am open to it some, but I'm concerned about how lifting impacts my core considering that's usually what stabilizes you while lifting. Considering my core is being stretched out at the moment, it's not something I'm itching to dive back into...What I need to do (and my dearest, Laurie T. pregnant with lil Allie has inspired me!) is find a yoga or pilates class I can do that isn't as "hard" as weight training. We'll see what I can come up with...
The military is GREAT making these things available, and what's even better is that they are free, so that's my next pet project. :)

I have given into some of my fast food cravings I have been putting off for a while. Luckily for me they weren't as good as I imagined, so I think I have nipped a lot of that in bud. So far my favorites continue to be Subway, Chick Fil A, and anything as close to sushi as I can get. Other than that I have lived off fruit of any kind, and have started eating cereal again for a breakfast option using the milk as a higher calcium intake.

Weight wise, I've gained about 4 pounds total from LMP of April 20, 2011, give or take a few pounds to bloating or an occasional cheat day. This weight gain, I know is normal, but it's hard for me to be mentally ok with it. I choose to ignore it for the most part and just count it as 4 in my weight bank that hopefully will stay true to the allotted ending balance of the standard 25-35 lbs.

Next Centering meeting my "good" ultrasound will be ordered and we'll find out what Baby C is! I'm bummed John won't be here for it, but I've already come up with a cute way to "tell" him the gender, so I can't wait.....I have an instinct of sorts of what I think it is, and so far, 95% of people say the same...only three people have said differently.......We'll find out soon!
I've asked John if he has any thoughts or random moments of what he might think it is, and he says he legitimately doesn't know or have a "feeling" of what he thinks it might be....I don't know how that's possible, considering he says he thinks about it all the time, but in the end it makes me feel really happy, knowing he'll be happy with either one....priority is always a healthy baby, but I can't help but lean one way more than another. :)
We still only have a couple names on our name list. Unfortunately so many people are having babies right now, the list is sometimes being cut on it's own. We have NO girl names at all. We can't agree on girl names for anything. Boy names we have a few, some recently "taken," some not, but we're hanging onto them all as possibilities anyways. Once we know what it is, and once John gets home, I really look forward to figuring it out. We've continued to avoid the name talk while he's gone for now, just cause we can't 100% agree on a name for either gender, so right now the list is just a list, completely subject to change. :)
We still plan to keep whatever name we pick a secret until he/she is born. Mainly for potential judgement reasons and also just cause so many babies are being born and made right now I don't want to get potentially "stressed" about a "that's my name!" game....too petty, and takes the fun away for everyone involved.

Here are pics since the last post.........

12 weeks: size of a plum...

13 weeks: size of a peach...

14 weeks: size of a lemon
(IDK about peach to lemon, but whatever!)

15 weeks: size of a orange

15 weeks: size of a orange

So, We're Pregnant!

This has been a long past couple months, but this pregnancy story starts up exactly where my last post ends! On the plane back from my cousin's wedding/visiting my grandma I texted John I was late and we needed to talk when I got home.
We knew there was a chance I could be pregnant, so this wasn't necessarily a real shocker, but at the same time it's a surreal experience to think about in a realistic sense.

Where we trying?
Well, we weren't not trying.
We had decided when John came home from deployment we didn't want to try right away because he just got home and we wanted to have the chance to reconnect and just get to know each other again. After our Florida trip and finally getting back into the swing of things schedule and work wise, we decided we weren't going to not try, just see what happens, and let nature take it's course.
Well, needless to say three weeks later, I was pregnant.
I was only two weeks along when I took the pregnancy test.
When John picked me up from the airport he greeted me with pregnancy tests, lol.
I made him buy me Chipotle and take me home first.
I took the first test and it came up positive, but the 'cross' line was somewhat faint, so we didn't know what to think. I went and took a shower while John called Karen, our sister in law who is a nurse and helps deliver babies, and when I got out she confirmed to John that any cross line is a cross line, therefore pregnant.
John was immediately excited and just had this huge smile on his face.
I cried. For a while.
It took me about 48-72 hours to really get my head out of clouds and come back down to reality.
Once I came back down, I was surprisingly at peace and instantly was very excited.
We told our families a couple weeks later by sending collage frames that had our pregnancy announcement in it. Everyone had the reaction we thought and telling our story over and over and over to each of our family members just made me a billion times more excited about Baby C. :)

How are you feeling?
Ten times better now! In the beginning I was so sick. I never actually threw up but was nauseous with just about anything and everything. I'd make dinner and not even want to be in the same room as it. The only things I really survived on was lots of water and crackers for the most part. 

The bloating stage began a week or two before I left for wedding #2 in OKC in June. I was the Maid of Honor for this wedding, so I was really worried about feeling so sick and bloated would interfere...but I pulled it off ok, and yes my dress fit!
Once I got home from that wedding it was like someone flipped a switch, and overnight the bloating went away and I felt like I had my life and body back. Well, except now I had a pooch without the bloat. It was a little pooch, but it was there, and it definitely counts. :)
As of today, first day past the first trimester, I feel fantastic. I joke with John if it weren't for my growing tummy I would forget I was pregnant at all.

Have you had any weird cravings?
Y.E.S.
I am currently in love with all things spicy and salty which is horrible. It seems like everything I cut out of my diet is what I crave. Chips. Crackers. Red meat. If it's salty, give me seconds. I've really had to make a concious effort to keep this in check, especially since I haven't been able to work out the same way I used to. Drinking tons of water, eliminated all coffee again, back to lean meats and am also have cravings for lots of fruits. Living in good ole NC is perfect for that with plenty of fresh fruit options to keep me occupied. I finally able to get back to my lean meat habit which helps a lot. I have also added things back into my diet I had eliminated. I am drinking milk again--well, on cereal. I add salads or a veggie of some sort to every meal I make and treat it as my main course rather than the side. All I have to do is treat John's meals in the opposite respect, and we are usually good to go.
Luckily I'm not craving any of his guilty habits such as cookies or soda, so that's awesome.

Are you going to find out what you are having?
Yes we are, and yes you'll know. We find out in a month what we are having and are so excited. We both agree we have no preference on gender, but we cannot agree on names for anything. We have totally different vibes and thought processes for this, so for now we are holding off on the name lists until we know the gender. Now, we are planning to not tell the name of the baby until it's born, so that is something, as of now, we are not going to tell, but as far as the gender we cannot wait! We got to see a sneak peak of our little butterbean this week at my doc appointment. I was days short of twelve weeks and we knew we'd get to hear the heartbeat but were not sure we'd get a sonogram. Since John is leaving this weekend for the next three months, it was either we guilt them into making it happen, or he'd just have to see pics that I sent him. Luckily our midwife was really cool and had no problem showing us our  little alien.

Baby C at 11 weeks 5 days. :)

The little squirmer had the hiccups and either was extremely camera shy or has major morning attitude. The midwife let John man the picture button trying to capture a picture and this was the best we got. It just would not hold still for anything. John was so elated. Between the hearing the heartbeat and seeing this little thing squirming around I half expected him to start skipping around the room. I couldn't see much of the ultrasound cause John's face was all up in the screen looking at things and asking questions, but to me that was the best seat in the house. :)

We had our third and final wedding of the summer over the first weekend of July. I was really glad I actually looked pregnant as opposed to an overeater at this event! Luckily I wasn't actually in the wedding, so that took some of the pressure off!

As I said before, John is leaving for the next three months. He is going to K9 school in San Antonio, TX and gets back sometime in October. He will miss pretty much all of the second trimester, but thanks to Skype, he'll only miss some things. We're making the best of it. :)
He's been so supportive in my manic mood swings and my new narcoleptic sleep patterns, I couldn't ask for a better husband and future daddy of our baby.

Here's random progression shots so far...I've been really bad at remembering to take them. I'll get better once John leaves, he won't let me not send pictures to him of his baby growing!

5 weeks 2 days

6 weeks 2 days BLOAT GONE!

Bloat finally gone
for the most part!

10 weeks 5 days :)
(ignore my
unbuttoned pants !)

A Time to Live a Time to Die...

The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind.

Wedding season was kicked off this year in Dallas, TX where I met up with my fam for the wedding of my cousin Aaron and his fiance Kimberlee. I flew out, leaving John alone with the animals, hoping they'd all get along and no one would die or get locked in a closet.
Aunt Karla and Uncle Rick picked me up and I immediately helped Karla get some last minute things ready for Aaron and for the Rehearsal Dinner the next night. Mom, Dad, and GG arrived together a little while later, pulling mom along with Karla and I to get the Rehearsal Dinner venue set up for the next night.

Once in Texas, dad got a call from his sister, Liz, in Mississippi, that his mom, my grandma, had taken a turn for the worst and wasn't expected to make it through the weekend.
Her health had been on a downward spiral since my wedding in 2008.
While in CO for my wedding, she fell and broke her arm.
Once back in MS she had surgery on it, and didn't come out the same. She lost a lot of her memory and didn't recognize a lot of us anymore. She was put in an assisted living home in Pascagoula, MS where my aunt lived so she could keep an eye on her. As the years passed, she eventually became bed ridden and after this phone call, we were prepared for "the end" to be in sight.
Mom and Dad were, ironically enough, already planning on driving down to Pascagoula to see her anyways since they were within driving distance in Dallas. Once the news came down, Drew and I decided to go with them since this might be the last time we see her.

The Rehearsal Dinner went off great, and Karla did a fab job of organizing it. I was dubbed as her photographer/stand in, since she needed to enjoy the festivities instead of just taking pictures all night, so mom and I kinda took over on that front, and I'm glad we did. She and Rick got to relax and actually participate in it all instead of worrying about picture angles. :)

The next morning/the morning of the wedding-- mom, me, Ashleigh, Karla, and GG went to a local spa and got mani's and pedi's. GG had never gotten either before so this was almost as much of a treat for us than her! After that I went out to lunch with my dad, just the two of us. It was nice to catch up and we hit up, for old times sake, Pei Wei for their lettuce wraps and crab rangoons. AMAZING.
I went to the church early with Rick and Karla so I could take pictures for them while they did their meet and greet with their fellow Duncanites that traveled from OK for the wedding. It was awesome to see them with their friends and finally put some faces to names myself.
The wedding went off without a hitch, and I have to admit that it was the first time I had ever seen my cousin, Aaron, cry....besides when we were young and I would pick on him, that doesn't count.
The reception was at Kimerlee's parents house in Garland where they had set up a huge tent and catered dinner. We stayed all hours of the night meeting people and watching all the wedding festivities. It was so great to be a part of.

The next morning, bright and early, Drew and I hopped in the car with Mom and Dad for the trek to Mississippi. We arrived Sunday evening, as did my Aunt Anna, who flew in from CA. She and dad met up with Liz and went to see their mom in the home while Drew, Mom, and I stayed at the hotel to catch up on things. The next morning, we went and saw her, and my heart broke.
I knew Mimi wouldn't want us to see her like this. It hurt me so much to see her in so much pain. She'd lost a lot of weight and was only awake for a couple minutes a day. So we spent our days in and out of the home sitting by her bed waiting for those few minutes she was awake to tell her hi and that we were all here for her.

Eggplant Lamberto & Marguerite Special

In between watch rotations with Mimi, Drew and I were able to hang out with our aunts some. I hadn't seen Anna since my wedding in 2008 and I can't even remember the last time I saw Liz. Now that our family restaurant is gone (sold it out after Katrina hit) we went to the infamous local restaurant, Scranton's, where they actually cook some of our famous Marguerite's dishes my aunt sold them once the restaurant sold.




While there we also went to the local Pascagoula Library. Apparently a couple years ago they did a full display about Mimi and her Ms. America days which included this painted portrait of her that they still had of her.

Portrait at local Library

Although Mimi didn't pass away while we were all physically there, we went ahead and made plans so that if and when it did happen, things were taken care of for the most part. I was really glad Drew and I could be there for dad, even though we didn't actually "help" much. I think it was a good distraction that we were all actually there, and having a true good time.

I flew out on Wednesday, back to Raleigh, and as of then, she was still alive. My parents and Drew went back to OKC/CO to pick up GG and fly home at the end of that week and as of then she was still alive.
Mimi passed away May 29th, so mom and dad flew back to attend the funeral. Drew and I didn't go, me partially cause of the worked I had already missed at that point, and I had two more out of state weddings planned that I was having to take time off work for.
I was glad I got to see her alive and not dead. I know she would have thrown a fit if she "knew" we saw her the way she was at her home, but I'm glad I was there regardless. I made sure to do my make up and hair everyday we went to see her because I know she'd do the same for us if she could.

Some of my fondest memories of her is when she would come visit and would bring me make up bags full of her department store make up and perfume samples such as Clinique, Estee Lauder, etc. They would be stuff that she wouldn't use, and I'd be crazy young enough to try it. I remember, being from
Colorado, not understanding why she always wrapped a napkin around her water glass (water condensation, lol). I remember when I got some of her Ms. America stuff and just how proud I felt.
The Ms. America Organization posted online a sweet note about Mimi:

Now that it all is said and done...the funeral done and everyone back "home," I'm glad she's no longer in pain. I'm definitely going to miss my partner diva in crime, but as a co-worker put it, "I am sure she'll have them lined up in heaven, looking their best!"

I know I've been on a blogging rampage as of late, but it seems like since John got home, things of interesting nature just keep happening and are worth talking/venting about.

My most recent victory is a continuation of my work out regime.

The past couple weeks have been really busy for Jeanette, my work out/lifting partner, and I.
Her husband is headed out this month on a deployment, and although it's not his first deployment, it's hers, so they've been taking time together to get prepared. Even more so cause she's preggers (along with everyone else in the world it seems!) with their first baby which limits what kind of lifting she can do with me anymore anyways.
I've been distracted as well getting used to my new routine with John home and also with the Jax escapades, so we have been on a slight hiatus from our usual workout routine until things kinda calm down again.
If there ever is such a time.....

So in order to not let myself slide and get comfortable, I decided I was going to pick up my walking routine again which is this 1.7 mile trek through a couple neighborhoods by my house. The weather, minus a tornado here or there, has been awesome and I needed to take advantage of it.
So I started off, plugged in to the iPod, and started walking down my street ready to get my walk on...as I rounded the corner off my street and onto a long stretch or road I had an epiphany.
"Why don't you try running and see how far you can get...?"

For a couple seconds I had mental battle with myself, thinking, "Heck yeah, I'll just run as far as I can and no biggie if I don't get far, something is better than nothing."
But then, "What if I don't make it far? That would really suck, I've been busting my butt this last year and if I fail, that would really be a buzz kill right now."
Then there was, "Man, remember those shin splints you got last time you tried to run? Those were killer, there's no way I can 'run through it' again."

So here I am, having quite a conundrum, and decide to just throw caution to the wind and give it a shot.
So here I go.
I start to run and, hmmm...this feels pretty good.
I flip through a couple songs until I find one that has a good beat for me to run in pace too.
Man, where did all these hills come from!? I don't remember this when walking....
I get to our turn around spot and realize, I ran the whole way.....
Whoa.

Well shoot, if I can run here, I can run back, right?
So off I go.
I stop once at this hill of doom, that of course I didn't really pay attention to going down, but now I'm looking up, um....not so much.
It's not steep, it's just lloonngg, and for this being my first time in a long time...baby steps...
I get past the hill and break out into a run again and turn the corner onto my street, running up to the driveway where John is there tinkering with his motorcycle, about to go for a ride...
I stop on the driveway with my hands above my head, my lungs on fire, and probably as red as my hair.
He looks at me, kinda puzzled, and goes, "Did you just run?"
LOL.
I got the hugest smile on my face ever, and was like, "Yeah. Yeah I did, and it was awesome. I finally freakin' did it."

"A" to "B" is one way, then back to "A" for my 1.7 mi.

I felt like I just won the gold medal at the Olympics.
Also felt like I had just ran a marathon...not that I would know, but that's what I imagine it feels like!
I was so pumped I wanted to go again, but I didn't.
Baby steps.

I ran one more time that week before having a long Easter weekend off with the hubs.
Last week I ran it three times and walked it once with Steph and little Lucas.

I have been so excited, it's such an accomplishment.
I did my Saturday morning weigh in on the 30th of April, and am down to about 124 give or take.

That's almost exactly a 40 lbs. weight loss since November of 2009....I'm pretty stoked about that.

John warned me that if I was going to continue to do this for my cardio, that it could potentially become harder which will make me have to be more persistent and push myself harder. Especially on that hill of doom I still have yet to conquer.

So far he's right.
I ran it last night and thought it would never end. I didn't quit, but my songs weren't working for me and I had a hard time pushing myself. My legs were tired, my brain wasn't there, it seemed more humid than normal......it was rough, but I didn't quit....probably just took longer. :)
Really the only positive thing I kept telling myself, is that, well, since it's hot, not matter whether I'm running or walking, I'm burning something, so just keep trucking...

I haven't timed myself yet. Not sure I am going to just yet either.
I'm focusing on the running itself, not the time right now.
Again, baby steps.

I have technically reached my weight loss goal, and as long as I don't really gain any significant weight, I'm probably not going to check the scale as much anymore. As long as I keep my healthy diet and my workout routine, I think I'll finally be ok.

My new goal is to be healthy. A lot of people have their own definitions of that, and I think I'm still learning what mine is, but all I know is that this journey has been tough as nails, but so worth it, so I can't wait to see what other challenges will arise...
This journey, in my eyes, isn't over, it'll continue, and I'll continue to try to find something to push myself harder, regardless of what the scale says and what challenges come my way. I'm never going to go back to "that place" ever again.