6 months

Only 6 more months and my hubby comes home! Interestingly enough on Saturday (upcoming) I will be 6 months pregnant. Now, if only the deployment could speed up and the pregnancy slow down I would be one happy camper! I guess that's impossible, but I can keeping hoping! 

Highlight of the day

Today I was awoken by a Facetime call with my wonderful husband! I was so thrilled because I have not seen him in 2 weeks and I had not talked to him in about a week. Looking at it typed out 2 weeks I suppose is not that long, but it certainly felt like a lot longer. It is no fun to go from seeing someone every day to not seeing them for two weeks. I woke up both the girls so they could see their daddy and showed him my growing baby bump and it is great to hear the amazement and excitement in his voice. The girls love seeing him on the phone, but today Delilah really tried to figure out how to get him out of the phone. She sniffed the phone, licked it, and then eventually crawled up to it and snuggled against it. It was so sad and sweet at the same time. 

Yesterday was a full day of dentist, 3rd (and final) Hep. B shot - which I started prior to getting pregnant and just needed to finish, dropping off old/ not needed prescriptions at the drug drop off - I no longer look like a crazy pill popper, and I did some general cleaning around the house. On tap today I want to work on cleaning the garage, finish a fleece blanket, and vacuum/swiffer all the floors in the house. Due to the fall like weather I hope to also take each pup-dog on a little walk around the neighborhood. Tonight I need to go to bed early because tomorrow is the community wide yard sale, which I hope to acquire some baby stuff for our little nugget. So much to do today and so glad that Brian's phone call has given me motivation to get my tushy in gear! :D 

Oh yeah! I have to share that on Wednesday I single handedly put together two large baby items! Though I got frustrated at times I got them done and they were put together correctly! Here they are: 

Pack n' Play/ Bassinet with changing table and rocker bed 

Thank you - Aunt Ruth, Louise, Lauren, and Michelle

Swing and Rocker that Brian picked out and fell in love with

Thank you - Darla and Reg 

These are not the only gifts I have received thus far and I don't want anyone to think I am ungrateful. I don't want to forget anyone...

Thank you Baker family for the onsies I love them & I know the baby will as well and 

Thank you again Aunt Ruth, Louise, Lauren, and Michelle for Sophie the Giraffe! :D 

Love to you all! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! :) 

Update

Well, this past Thursday I had my last appointment with the high risk perinatologist. It went really well and yet again our baby was not cooperating with the ultrasound. It has be confirmed again and the Ultrasound tech said that she is 100% sure that our baby is a boy! I love getting the constant confirmation and reaffirming what my hunch was through this entire pregnancy. So, our baby boy has a textbook heart, my placenta has moved up (apparently it was low on the last ultrasound) but it is still sitting in the front of my uterus, the baby is still breech (I know he can still move and will move around, but I am concerned slightly because he has been breech in every single ultrasound), and he does not like to cooperate if I have anything in my bladder (ha ha ha). My next doctor's appointment will be on Halloween for my 6 month visit and then I am thinking the next actual OB appointment will not be until the beginning on December (it is supposed to be on Thanksgiving, but I don't think that will work). 

Baby's Most Recent Profile

Bella Bee in costume (Headless Horse Puppy)

Delilah in costume (White Rabbit) 

I am looking forward to my shower the weekend before Thanksgiving and of course going home for a visit. Tonight is also a Halloween party I have been looking forward to for awhile. I will post pictures of my awesome costume later. On the Brian front, he has arrived safely in Afghanistan and is starting to  get into the swing of things. I am just ready for this deployment to be over even though I know we still have a little over 6 months left to go still. Holy cow... that means that the baby will be here in 4 months! That is crazyness... I feel like I have so much to do and read about still. Ugh... any advice would be REALLY appreciated! :D

It's a BOY!

We found out this morning that our baby is officially a BOY! We are so thrilled and cannot wait to meet our little guy in February! 

For a Future Home

I thought it would be about time to write down some things that I have learned after living in two homes with my husband and two states. Some things that I have noticed that I want in my next home or forever home and things that I do NOT want ever again! This is just based on the physical home not so much on the area or anything (maybe that will be a later post). 

I want:
- A large kitchen with space to work and lots of cabinets
- Granit/cement countertops (really anything but Laminate) 
- Linoleum in the bathrooms
- Wood/Laminate in the kitchen/dining room
- A large master bedroom
- At least 2.5 bathrooms with one being downstairs (if in a two story home)
- At least 3 total bedrooms
- An office space
- An attached garage that can be doubled as a workout room/ man cave
- A laundry room with mud sink and room to store cleaning supplies
- Storage area for my tubs for holidays
- A more open floor plan on the first floor area
- Fans in all bedrooms, living room, siting area, etc. 
- Large pantry
- Coat closet somewhat close to the front door
- Entry area where people can take off shoes
- Electric/Gas Fireplace
- Wood shop area in the garage
- A shed as long as it is built correctly & maintained
- A covered porch (heck... a porch in general!)
- A nice cement/stone pad in the back yard
- A fence on ALL sides of the backyard (One my dogs can't jump over!)
- Laundry Upstairs would be AMAZING!

I do NOT want:
- Carpeted floors (they are SOOOO nasty) 
- Carpet on stairs (SOOO hard to clean!)
- White baseboards (they are always dirty & you can ALWAYS see it!)
- Random cabinets in the kitchen that you really can't use (what is the point)
- Kitchen countertops that easily stain (sick of pulling out the AJAX every week)
- Laminate kitchen countertops (they stain & are always dirty)
- One large faux wood blinds on large windows (They are so heavy, they bow, they are not supposed to be on large windows!!)
- POPCORN Ceilings!! NEVER EVER EVER again! (they are ugly & capture dust)
- 10 million doors to go outside (I don't need them & don't like them!)
- French doors going outside that stick or are hard to close (they are a pain in the but!)
- A kitchen pantry in a separate room from the kitchen (I want easy access) 
- Wood burning fireplace (so dirty!)
- Tile floors (They chip, the grout is dirty)
- Formal sitting room (They are just silly!)
- Brick ledge/sitting area around the fireplace (sharp corners, dirty, just no)

I don't really care about:
- Formal dining rooms
- Sitting Areas

So, here is my list thus far. I hope to add and adjust this list as time goes on and homes enter & exit our lives... Any opinions? Anything you would add? 

Half way done!

Well, yesterday I officially hit the half way mark of my pregnancy (wish it was the deployment, but that will end soon after baby too!). I am 20 weeks/ 5 months. We officially find out the gender of our little nugget on Wednesday and I am planning a somewhat cute reveal to post on Facebook. The pregnancy has been going fairly well so far (I suppose)... I guess I'm not sure how things are supposed to be going, but everything seems normal. I hate not having coffee, sushi, and rare meat. Ugh... what I would give for some hackepeter and a glass of red wine. YUMMY! At this point I would really just love some German food that is one of my biggest cravings right now. Maybe this will be one of my first few meals when I go home again after having baby. 

I have been able to talk to Brian fairly often while he is in the United Kingdom which has been really nice. I am not looking forward to the time while he is traveling from the UK to Afghanistan, because I have no idea where he will be, how long, or anything. I really miss the free and open communication of having your spouse in the same country as you. (I'm not even asking for the same town, state, or time zone... just same country!)

As for the government shutdown... well we are still shutdown and it has been a week. I had no idea (as I am sure many didn't) that this would still be going on a week later. What effects have we seen? Well, we are still getting paid (supposedly...), the commissary closed (it will be reopening Tuesday according to our base Facebook), and I cannot send any mail to Brian (not so much can I not send it, but the fact is it will not be delivered to him -- as far as I have been told). All in all not too bad... I mean we are getting paid, the commissary is coming back, and Brian isn't in Afghanistan yet to get any mail anyways. Trying to be as positive as I can be still! 

I cannot wait to make a visit to Chicago in November... in the words of Violet Beauregarde in the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, "MAKE TIME GO FASTER!"