Friday, December 19, 2008

Hello,

It's Christmas time! Yay right? Actually I am very excited that it is Avery Layne's 1st Christmas! I am happy that we are going to spend it in our new home as a family. The shopping season was very short since we are on such a tight budget! Donny and I decided to focus on the kids only this year. We are not doing each other presents so that we can be sure that the kids get everything they could want! Luckily Avery Layne is easy to please it just has to crinkle! lol Actually we got her the next stage of learning toys and I think she will grow into them wonderfully! We got Trais something really cool too! I can't wait to see his face on Christmas morning!!! Unfortunately I have a feeling this may be our last year with him thinking Santa is real... We went to dinner with a friend and their son and he told Trais that he was not real and ever since then I have been trying to scramble to get him to make it through this year! lol Oh well I love the whole Santa thing, but it is a lot of work. We still have Avery so now maybe we can get Trais in on the whole thing with us!!!

Our 1st anniversary is coming up!!!! I can't believe it! We are even happier today then on that day and I know it will always be that way on every anniversary! Both of us can't believe that a relationship can be this perfect! I know it sounds silly but I want to spend every minute with him always! I miss him when he is gone at work for a shift and wake up automatically on those days at 6:30am knowing that he should be walking in the door soon! Like I said silly I know! lol

Obviously you all know that Trais will be here with us for Christmas this year (THANK GOD!) We were dreading that so much. I could never imagine not having him wake me up on Christmas morning! I know there is a possibility of this happening in another 2 years, but at least for now it is off my mind. I feel bad that he is not able to see all of his family in WA though, but fortunately he gets to be here with his immediate family!!! I think that is the most important. We got him some special jammies to sleep in on Christmas night (Iron Man!!!) and Avery Layne gets 'My 1st Christmas' jammies. They will be so cute.

I am signing off for the night once again with the promise that I will write more! lol Good night everyone and if I don't write before then please have a GREAT Christmas! Love ya all!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008






















Finally right....

Hello! It has been forever, but this time it was not my fault! Our internet has been down. It still sort of is... It will randomly cut out and be gone for 2 days or more. Thank Verizon for it. Oh well, they said they are working on it! Hopefully it will be resolved soon. I think unfortunately that our computer is on it's last leg also though... Keep your fingers crossed for us that it does not go down right before Christmas! We can't afford to replace it right now! Ahh!

Anyways, I will do a quick update before the internet goes away again! Everyone is doing very well. Miss Avery is getting bigger (sort of) well, she is getting older anyway... hahaha I think she is going to have really bad allergy's! I have been sucking out her nose non-stop. She hates it of course, but can't breath out of her nose otherwise, which is making it hard for her to eat! I think we are all going to be getting the wonderful Texas allergy's! We all have scratchy throats and runny nose starting. Wish us luck! lol

Trais is doing well! He is doing very well in school. He is a bright kid! We got his report card from school the other day and he is at or above on all subjects! He is a math wiz! I hope that keeps up throughout all of his school years. Donny signed up for a program called 'WATCH D.O.G.S' (Dads of great students) which is an awesome programs to bring the dads into the school to add some extra male role models! It's great for the kids to see dads being involved! Anyways, Donny has gone in and spent the whole day 2 so far and I think he signed up for about one a month from here on out! Trais loved it. Donny was able to see the interaction of the teachers and students and was able to get a better feel for the school expectations. Trais well exceeds them!!!

Donny and I are doing wonderfully also! I can't believe our one year anniversary is already right around the corner!!! I love his way more today then I did even yesterday! He is the best husband and father and partner in life I could have asked for!

Donny is about to credential and is almost completed with his 6 month probation!!! He (I should really say all of us!) can finally take a huge breath of relief very soon! He has been working hard and constantly feeling a bit stressed. But, it is almost over and now we can just get on with living our lives!

We both still love it here so far! It is mid November and was in the low 80's! Holy Cow!!! hahaha We were talking about going on a camping trip with some friends and had to stop ourselves to ponder that! It does get very cold in the mornings though! I still get to use my favorite sweaters and fleeces. That actually made me feel better. (Such a girl huh?) My Uncle Mike said that the last two Christmas' he BBQ'ed in shorts on the back porch and it was mid 70's. We'll see about that. But I sure wouldn't complain.

Halloween was a lot of fun. Trais' school did a Monster Mash on the Friday before Halloween and we I took both the kids to it. They had dancing, pumpkin painting and food. It was a lot of fun. Then that Sunday we went to a carnival that Donny was working at. Trais got to wear his costume (He was a ninja) and get some candy. For Halloween night my friend Nikki came over and we met up with the 2 neighbor boys and walked the neighborhood. Avery slept through most of it. He got way too much candy that of course I helped myself too, which my thighs were not happy about! It was very fun overall.

The reality of the holidays without our friends and families around is setting in. We are missing all of you in WA, and we are thoroughly enjoying the time we get to spend with all of our new friends!

I better sign off, but thanks for reading!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Day to Day!

Hello,
Well we are starting to back to normal now! Trais and Avery are on a regular schedule now and so is Donny. That is good news. Our company is gone for now and none of our families have plane tickets bought to come back yet... Thats sad for us, but I know they will miss us too much and want to come back as soon as possible... hahaha!

My birthday is coming up and I will be 25... AHHH I will be a quarter of a century old. Donny keeps giving me a hard time and this one is really hitting me. I suppose the number is just not a good one for me. I would rather be turning 26 or even 27... 25 just seems like a crucial number for some reason... I am this bad now just wait until I hit 30!!! I may spend that one in a closet hiding! hahah!

Good news about it though is that Trais has the day off of school and so we are going up the day before to Grandpa Al and Grandma Sharons house up by Fort Worth area! That should be fun! I have not gotten to see them in MANY years and they of course have never gotten to meet Avery and Donny... (They met Trais about 2 months ago when my parents were here... They took him for a trip up there!) Trais is really excited to go up there because he wants to see the horses again!

Oh other good news! Uncle Mike and Aunt Fuling bought us a swing for Avery and we just got it last night!!! She LOVES it! My arms are finally getting a break! Avery is colic at night so the doctor recomended the swing even and he was right! She calms right down!!! I will have to take a picture of her in it and post it soon! Very cute!

Avery got her shots on Wednesday... It was a sad day! She cried of course and that night she even ran her first fever! She did sleep a lot that night though and her legs were very sore. She would cry when I would touch the spot where she got the shot. I felt so bad that I couldn't really make it go away so I held her and cuddled with her a lot to make her feel better! Trais even gave her extra kisses to help her out also!

Donny is on his set schedule now! His training officer think he is doing great of course. He is set to clear his next phase of probation even! He did that in 1 1/2 weeks! He is on a role!

We are still up in the 90's during the day! It is incredible! The mornings are down near 65 ish and I am cold then, but as soon as the day starts going on we are getting up to 90ish! I love it! Donny and I are very interested to see how the winter months are here. Although we are into October and in the 90's, I do here that it gets very cold in the winter. When Donny came down in February though it was 74 out! Anyone who knows me knows how cold I always am so this is great so far!

I am going to jump in the shower and get going on the day now so check back with us later!

Sunday, September 28, 2008






Hello

We have been so busy! It has been a great coupe of weeks and a lot has happened since I last blogged. First and most important Donny graduated from Academy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This had to be the happiest thing that has happened for all of us. No more horrible Monday thru Friday from 6am to 6pm! He will now be in the field and will be working two 24 hour shifts a week. The best part is that it is the same set days every week so we can actually plan things! I am so happy to have him home more often. He would get home and have to study and then go to bed early and it was a long day... That was a long hard 13 weeks and it is such a relief that it is over. The best news of all is that Donny graduated top of his class! I knew he would do great without a doubt but top of his class is even better!

His graduation was great! April and Ken flew down for it and we all got to go watch the class graduate. Donny even gave a speech. His speech came out great and it was a nice surprise for all of us. I got to pin him up on stage and it was a very proud moment!
Italic
Ken and April just left today. They were here for about 12 days! It was a great visit and I hope they come back very soon. We did a lot of fun things and we got to visit and catch up! Grandpa Ken wanted to take Trais putt putt golfing and so we went and I will admit I talked all about how I was going to be in 1st place! hahaha! Well needless to say I came in last. Donny and I even made a bet on it so next weekend I will be weed wacking and mowing the lawn! ugh! I despise yard work! Hahaha! I am not a sore looser though so I will do it. Although, if I would have won Donny would of have to do all the laundry for a whole week! That would have been so nice and I think we need a re-match! We also went out to the lake a couple of times and swam around. We actually thought we saw snakes in the lake too, but a local let us know that they were turtles. I guess Lake Travis has an incredible turtle population. We all felt a little crazy for swimming out of the lake so fast hahaha! I would have sworn that it was a snake and never gone back in the water so thank goodness the local set us straight! Anyways it was a very fun visit. This was Ken's first time down and I realy hope he enjoyed it.

While Ken was here he helped around the house a lot! Our guest bathroom needed some fix ups and now the shower doesn't spray all over and waste a ton of water and the toilet doesn't run all day long every day and we even put in a new sink and faucet! Yay! I am so happy with how it all turned out. Ken also got us all the rest of our blinds and put them all up and fixed the light switches so that we can turn on either the light or the fan without having to pull the chain! He did some other Mr.Fix it stuff also and it all makes our lives so much easier! Oh yeah and the best of all... Ken and Donny got up and went to a neighborhood garage sale yesterday and found the deal of the century!!! A tile saw!!! It is a really nice one and it is in awesome shape (I would guess it was only used once for a small project around the house). So, now all we have to do is get the tile and morter and grout and we are ready to begin our project! No more cement floors soon! We are planning to do the kitchen both bathrooms and the front entry and the laundry room! It is going to be a lot of work, but it is the last thing inside the house that needs to be done! It will look great!

Oh yeah and I finally painted the bottom half of Avery's room in purple! It looks so cute and as soon as we get the trim up on the border it will be the cutest little girls room ever! Trais's room is next and I hope to do it this week while he is gone at school. His room is harder since he has a lot more furniture that is all a lot heavier! We are doing the bottom half of his in a really nice blue!

The kids are both doing great! Avery is 2 months old now and she goes in to get a whole bunch of shots on wednesday! That will be a sad day, but it does mean that we can get her ears pierced! They wont let you get them pierced until they are 2 months and have had thier first set of shots!

Well Avery is waking up now so I will have to sign off, but keep posted! Oh and I will have to upload more pictures later also!

Love you all!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Sept. 10th, 2008




Hello Everyone,




Well it has been a very busy couple of weeks. Sorry I have taken so long to post again!




Anyways, Donny is back in a Monday thru Friday schedule and I hate it!!! I feel like we never see him! I can't wait for him to graduate from the academy on Sept. 19th. We will go back to being in the field then and will be on a 2 24's a week schedule!! He will work Monday and Wednesday until Oct. 1st. Then he will switch to a Wednesday and Friday schedule! I love the schedule that he has here so much better then when he was on a rotating schedule at Rural Metro... It is nice to be able to plan ahead and know what days he works! The nice thing is that they re-bid their days and stations every 6 months. That is nice so that if you get a bad schedule at least it is only for 6 months!!!


Trais is in school now and we made it through 2 1/2 weeks now! He has already gotten into a little trouble with his talking in class (too much like me!). He is just so anxious to make friends and meet everyone that it is getting him in trouble, but we are working on it! He will adjust and work it out on his own I am sure. His teacher and I talked about what a crazy busy summer it was for Trais so she will be working with him! He had a lot of BIG changes this summer as we all have so I am going to give him a bit of a break!


Avery is doing good as usual! She is now 6 weeks old... I can't believe it. I had to bring her into the doctors on Monday because she had a rash on her face and on the top of her head... It turns out that she has some baby acne (trying to expel all the extra estrogen out of her system from being inside the womb) and also she has some excema! The doctor gave me some cream to take care of it and I am already seeing some improvement. April tells me that the extra sensitive skin runs in their family so she may have these types of problems forever! Thank goodness it is just a cream to take care of it! I hope that is the worst of her problems! She goes in to get her first set of shots on her 2 month check. All her initial test came back from the lab and she is healthy as can be!


I am all healed up now!!! Although, I do have a whole strip on my stomach that the skin is completely numb. I feel absolutely nothing on the skin but I can feel everything right under it which is the area that still hurts a bit! It is the weirdest feeling and I can really explain it other then it is a painful numb feeling... lol... Does that make any sense? Donny seems to think that it will always and forever be numb! Avery is healthy and thats all that matters, but it is a weird feeling...


So, I took both the kids to the sprinkler park and took Avery into the sprinklers a little. She didn't really like it, but it was hot out and I think she liked to be cooled down. She just didn't like having the sprinklers right on her. Trais of course had a ball and didn't want to leave.


We went out to the lake last weekend with some friends that work for Austin Travis County EMS. We BBQ'ed out there and had a good time. Trais swam better then he ever has before with a lot of caoxing from Dave and Forrest (two paramedics that work with Donny). I did intially have to throw him in the water (not literally but almost). After that he did better. I have a picture of Avery in the lake for the first time!

So, we got the news that Donny needs to be on stand by for hurricane relief. He has to be extra careful about keeping his pager on him and they so far have spent all morning stocking the extra rigs so that they are all ready to go. We are not sure if he would have to go down there in the midst of it or if he would have to stay here and work on rig here to relieve them to go down. (Needless to say that freaks me out a little and I would be really hoping for the second senario!!!)

Oh other good news that you may not know! Ken and April will be here in one week! They are coming down for Donny's graduation! They get to stay for 10-11 days! We are very excited to see them and happy that Ken will finally get to meet his grandaughter!

Well I better go, Avery is waking up from her nap! I hope to hear from all of you!!!

We love and miss you all!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Trais started school!!!

Hello,

Yesterday I was able to post pictures but didn't have time to write!

We are doing very well. Yesterday was Trais's first day of school!!! He came home very excited. He said that he likes his teacher and that he played with some new friends at recess. We took him out afterwards for Hawaiian shaved ice and talked about his whole day. He met his PE teachers and was excited that they would be doing art today. Donny and I were very happy to hear that the first day went well!!! I can't wait for him to meet some friends that he can have come over and play with him. I think him going back to school will help him a lot with his need to get energy out! He has been wired to the max with no way to release it. It was cute yesterday when I was walking him to the school he was asking if Donny was going to be home for the day... When I said yes he said 'Oh good'. I asked why and he said that he wanted to make sure that Avery and I still had a helper boy... I couldn't help but laugh, but then I realized that he was actually worried that we would need something and he wouldn't be here to help. It was very thoughtful!

Today is Donny's last day in the field until he graduates from the academy. On Monday he goes back into the classroom for 3 more weeks. We can't wait until he can be out in the field for good. Graduation is on Sept. 19th!!! He is doing very well in the field from what his Field Training Officer says. His scores are very high! We all knew that they would be, but it is nice to have the proof in the writing.

Avery is doing good! She is such a good baby. She is basically sleeping through the night now!!! She is a sweet baby and she loves to cuddle. We are all enjoying her so much!

I hope you are all having a good end to a good summer! We are almost done with our crazy summer and now that Trais is in school, Avery is here and doing well and I am mended, all we need is for Donny to graduate and then be on a set schedule and we will be set! Yay!

Chat with all of you soon!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Avery is 3 weeks old!!!

Hello everyone,

I know it has been awhile so I will try to catch up on whats been going on. First off everyone is doing very well. We are all adjusting to the newest addition to the house. Trais so far has been an awesome big brother! He loves to come and give her hugs and kisses. He likes it when I hold her up to his face so that he can snuggle her.

Avery is finally putting on the weight that she needs to be. We took her in to the doctors on Friday and she was 7lbs. 4oz. The doctor wants her to be putting on an ounce a day and she wasn't at first but is starting to catch up now! She is such a beautiful baby! I don't think I am biased this either! She really is gorgeous! We are all very happy with her. I can't believe that she is already 3 weeks old today!!! I forgot how fast this time goes by.

Trais starts school on Monday!!! We went on Friday to register him for school and got to walk around a little bit of the school. It is very nice. We get to go on Thursday for a meet and greet with the teachers. He is so excited to start making friends and to get back to having structure! The elementary school here starts at 7:45am... Early morning for all of us!!! We have to have him there around 7:30am and I guess the traffic in front of the school is horrible so they even open it up at 7:00am to help with the traffic flow in the parking lot.

Donny is half way through his 3 week of his training rides. He has one more full week of this and then has to go back to the classroom for a few more weeks before he graduates! We can't wait for him to be through this! Then he will on a set schedule for awhile. The re-bid every 6 months and his schedule could change a little each time though.

I am doing great! I am healing more and more every day!!! So far I am able to do everything I need to... Although I vacumed the house the other day and then had to take a pain pill that night! I guess that was the only thing that I am not looking forward to trying again... I feel good other then that! I love having this time to get to know Avery and to hang out with Trais although I am happy for him to be going back to school to burn off his energy during the day!

Anyways, hope to hear from all of you soon!!!
We love you all!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Monday, August 11, 2008

Been awhile....





Wow... Being a mom of two is so weird! We have had a very busy 2 weeks since Avery was born. Also an emotional 2 weeks with all the family being here. My parents left yesterday and April left this afternoon. I think I can speak for Donny, Trais and I when I say that we were very sad to see them all leave. It was easy moving down since we knew that we would be seeing the family very soon.





Friday, August 1, 2008




























Avery's entry

She wouldn't be my little girl if she didn't come into the world with out scaring me half to death... my crash course in being the parent of an infant! Starting from the begining: Justine had been to see her OB every week since we arrived here. In the last three weeks, she hadn't dialated any further than 1cm so the Doc decided to induce her in order to avoid another 32hr. labor like she had with Trais. Understandable, and they were nice enough to schedule her admit to the hospital on Monday night after my Cadet Academy's Clinical Operating Guidlines exam which has been our main focus since day one (I got a 94% as a side note). So when I got home, we packed up the car and drove down to the hospital. We got Justine admitted to her room and they put her on the fetal heart monitor and they administered her a medication called Cervodine (an impregnated plastic tab inserted into the cervix to soften it) and had everything set to begin the induction at 7am the next morning. My mom took Trais and headed for home at about 9:30 and Justine and I settled in and talked for an hour or so about our future together, Trais, the baby and how she was scared about going into labor and the birth. It was one of our most intimate conversations, and it made me wonder how I ever lived a second without her. We watched a little family guy and the nurse came in and gave Jus two Ambien so she could sleep comfortably through the night. We finally fell asleep at little after midnight, Justine comfortable in her bed and me on the "Dad Couch". At 2:05am three L&D Nurses came crashing through the door of our room. I had barely had the chance to sit up to see what all the comotion was when I heard these words: "We need to get her in for an emergency c-section right now!" It was a nurse talking to someone on her department cell phone. Needless to say I was up and asking questions, the big one being: "WHY??" The answer I got was that the baby's heart rate had decelerated down to around 80 and had been there for approximately 6 minutes. They made a coutple preparations and had us in a sprint down the hall to the O.R. where awaiting there were probably 20 or more people from god knows what all departments prepping the room. I didn't have time to tell her what was happening or explain what they were going to do to her. All I had time to do was tell her everything was going to be fine and that I loved her as they pushed her through the door, I dunno if she could even hear me over the noise all of the hospital staff was making, and I'll never forget the terrified confused look on her face and in her eyes. Then they told me I couldn't come in and put me in the hallway.
The longest 10minutes of my life.
You can only imagine what was going in my mind. There in only one other time in my entire life that I've been scared in a hospital but this one takes the cake. I couldn't help but to think all the What Ifs: What if something happens to Justine? What if Somehting happens to the baby? What if I loose Trais? What aroused me from my terrified state in the wheel chair outside of that OR was Avery's cry, audible through two sets of double doors... definately Justine and mine's child. No question. Soon, two nurses from the nursery emerged and put my baby girl in my arms. She was the most beautiful little thing I've ever seen. First thought: "Thank god, she looks just like Justine!" (we think she got my blue eyes but they can change for up to 3 months we're told). We took her to the Nursery where they gave her her first bath and warmed her and gave her a quick exam. She was perfect in every way and about this time my mom and Norma-Jean showed up at the window looking into the Nursery and I held Avery up so they could see her, both burst into tears. Needless to say, this entire time I couldn't stop thinking about Justine and if she was okay. Our family does not work without her and all I wanted was to see her with my own eyes to make sure she was okay. After about an hour they finally brought her back into the room and she was, as my friend Eric would say, "A Hurtin' Unit". She was in enough pain to be on a Morphine PCA pump and very confused and scared to say the least. We got through the night and the next morning we had an awesome Nurse named Jess who was able to bring Justine back to the land of the living. Since, Justine and Avery have been doing better but we're not quite out of the woods yet. Justine is extremely sore and still having difficulty getting around. When they perform a crash c-section, they're a little less gentle then if everything was okay, Justine's soreness being the result. Avery has a little Jaundice which is resolving but she had a little trouble breast feeding at first as a result. So thats how things stand as of this point. Each day things get a little better and they're talking about discharging us tomorrow. So the other question is: Why did Avery's heart rate slow down in utero? Well, the answer we've been given is that either she had a bad reaction to the Cervodine or Avery was somehow occluding the blood flow to her umbillical cord, sort of like happens in a nucal cord. She has not had an issue since and of course we hope things stay that way. I'll to my best to keep everyone posted on whats going on until Justine is on her feet again. I know she'd love to hear from all of you so shoot her a call or write her a message in the next couple of days.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Big News!!!

So, I went to the doctors yesterday and I am no more dilated then last week... Still at a one. The contractions have even slowed a bit and I have not been having as many. Maybe that has to do with the anxiousness of knowing it is getting so close causing that! Who knows, maybe she is just going to be stubborn like me. But, good news the doctor decided that he will induce me. We will be checking into the hospital on Monday night at 7:00pm. They start by giving me something to soften the cervix and then later that night they will break my water. Then in the morning on Tuesday they will give me pitocin. It's a drug that gets the contractions started. I had to have it with Trais too since the contractions tried to stop half way though... So, we will be having her on Tuesday at some point! Hopefully early in the day not the end. My mother-in-law April flies in tomorrow night and then my parents fly in on Monday night, so it works out perfect to have her on Tuesday. Donny also has a huge test on Monday so at least he will be able to get through that before we go into the hospital... I can't wait! Trais is very excited for me to not be pregnant anymore! He has no idea what is really coming!!!

Well thats the biggest news that I have for you. Like I said before I am really slowing down. If fact it seems like it takes all that I have in me to make dinner or to go grocery shopping! Trais has been my amazing little helper boy! He comes and pats my shoulders and asks me if I need anything. He is such a sweet kid. These last few weeks have been great getting to spend so much time with him. Never in his life have I been able to spend this much time with him. I can tell you though he is probably very ready to go back to school and start making some 'real' friends.

Like I said earlier Donny has a big test coming up on Monday for Academy so he has been studying every night for hours. I think he is going to do great, but he of course is worried that he needs to study more! He gets to get out of the classroom the following week though (Not next week, but the week after that)! We got his new schedule for when he rides with his training officer and he will be working two 24 hour shifts! I am so happy that he will be home with me and the kids for 5 days a week!!!! It will only be that way for 4 weeks, but I couldn't be any happier about that!!!

Anyways, I am going to go lay back down for a nap now, so I will write later!
Love ya all!!!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

July 16th











Hello,

Well we had Trais's B-day!! We had a good time with him. We got up and had pancakes for breakfast! Then got ready and went down to the the lake for the day! We had a great time and he was so happy to get to have Donny be there. I guess I just dont play very well these days! We floated around and he got some squirt guns and a boogy board that he was very happy to use! We hung out there for awhile and then since Trais wanted to have pizza for dinner, we took him to Gatti Land. It is a place that is a lot like Chucky Cheese, but it is actually clean! They have big movie screens that play cartoons in the dining areas and they have a game room with all kinds of video games. Because it was his B-Day they gave him free tokens to play with even. He loved the place and asked if we could come back all the time. They are set up like a pizza and salad buffet type place and on Mondays moms get to eat free so I suppose we will be going back once I am on my salad only diet! hahaha!

I finally took a couple of pictures of me and the belly so here you go! I am of course not exactly happy to be having pictures taken at this stage. But, I realized that I didn't have any pictures of the belly!
Oh other good news! Donny passed his ACLS test! He did great on it! He has been studying for it like crazy so he was very stoked to have passed! Yay!!!

I went to the doctors yesterday to have a check up on the baby! He did a cervical check and I am dialated to a one... Not exactly as good as I was hoping, but I suppose it is something. I am not looking forward to another 32 hour labor so I was really hoping to dialating a little at a time. I have been having contractions here and there. They even came sort of regularly for about an hour or so, but then went away. I wish that I could just go into labor and already be half the way done!!! Wishful thinking I know. I did end up having them do a stress test on her though. The night before and then a day before that it seemed that her movements had slowed down a lot and it was more or less very sudden. I know she is running out of room and that her movements should be slowing down a little, but at the same time it should not have been so sudden. I mentioned it to the doc and he said that we better do a stress test on her. So, we did it and of course it was right after lunch and she moved around like crazy. I felt sort of stupid but the doc said that if I ever was worried about it to call or come in right away and that the sudden drop in movement should not be happening... In fact he said that I should feel 8-10 movements an hour. I don't know that was even feeling that much when she had lots of room, but I suppose.
Anyways, I am getting very excited about all the family that is going to be coming down soon! It will be nice to have some people to talk to and hang out with and some help too! Trais I think will be the most happy since he is ready for a distraction. As I have said before I must not be very fun right now since I am so tired all the time. I am trying to stay active and take him out to do things but they are getting few and far between. He needs to see some family and have some other activities!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Trais's B-Day present











Trais got his B-day present a day early since that was the only day that we could get Donny some help putting it together! One of the other cadets in his academy came over really early this morning to help set it up. Trais was very excited and he keeps asking Donny to go jump on it more!

Friday, July 11, 2008

So Trais and I packed a lunch yesterday and got in the car with the idea that we would find a beach... We drove down 1431 (a main road that leads in the general direction of Lake Travis) and just started looking for signs saying this way to the lake... We ended up having to do a little off roading and a couple U-turns, but we finally ended up finding a beach with a big playground and people were swimming!!! Trais was just looking at me like I was his normal crazy mom... hahaha So we ate our lunches since by the time we finally found it we were starving! Then we went down to the lake to check out the water... Being from WA I of course expected the water to be freezing even though it was 96 degrees outside. Of course I was very pleasantly surprised to put my feet in the water and it was nice and warm. Almost like bathwater, but not quite so it was refreshing! Trais still doesn't know how to swim (even after two summers worth of swimming lessons) so he wanted me to get in the water with him. Since it was only other moms and their kids down there I decided to go for it. I don't have a maternity bathing suit or even a one piece so I put on my two piece and put a pair of shorts over the top and we went in! I had to force him in the water a little since he has never really been in lake water like that... He ended up having fun, but he was so scared to go far into the water... I need to get him in some lessons fast and I need to make him stick with it and learn it. He has a head block about it since he is so old now. I was swimming with no problems at like 2 1/2 years old, but that it is the difference between where you grow up maybe. I should have introduced him to the water more while he was younger! Oh well! He will catch on!

So, I had about 4 good contractions last night... Nothing too regular to mean anything, but they were strong enough to wake me up out of a dead sleep! Hopefully they will help to get things opening up! I am so afraid of having another 32 hour labor!!! That was horrible. I would be very happy if I could have just a couple contractions every night until it is actually time and then have that go fast!!! Usually your second one comes faster then the first they say, so hopefully we can at least cut like 25+ hours off my first labor! I really dont think that is too much to ask for... Do you? hahah! My stomach feels oddly sore this morning though! I almost feel like a over worked out on the abs.

Today is the mark of the 3rd week of academy! Yeah only 10 more to go! I feel so bad for him. He is up so early every morning and then gets home late and has to study for a few hours every night! I am happy that it is Friday so that he can relax a little. He is taking it all in good stride and appears to actually be enjoying himself some, but I know he is very tired and his brain is on max out!

Trais is lucking out and getting his present on tomorrow morning since that is when Donny could track down some help putting it together. One of the other cadets from work is going to come over and help him out! Those things are hard to put together and I am of course no help! But the day he could come is Saturday so we'll take what we can get! He still has no idea yet and I can't wait to see how excited he is! The trampoline is from Donny and I and Grandma April and Ken! He knows he is getting something big from all of us together, he just doesn't know what it is yet. He says that he wants pizza for his B-Day dinner, so Donny and I are going to look for a pizza place that is fun around here to take him to! We will be having a party for him, just not until the grandparents are here visiting!

I almost forgot... We named the puppy finally! Her name is Hurley! It fits her... Her and I are finally starting to get this potty training thing down... She has been going outside much more often then inside! Thank god! I think the first couple of days I was ready to leave her outside!!! I have never potty trained a dog so it was a challenge for me more then her probably! I just needed to know how to do it... I finally broke down and asked Donny to teach me how to do it! He laughed at me, but oh well! His advice is so far working! Little Hurley will hopefully be fully potty trained soon! We just need to get her a doggy door now so that she can get out when she wants!

Well since it is now 6:30am I am going to atempt to fall back to sleep. My sleep comes in random spurts. I take it when I can I guess!

Have a good day, Love ya!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

July 8th

Hey everyone,

1st things 1st! We got a new puppy. She is very cute! It is a weiner dog... She is about 3 months old. I thought she was a little more potty trained then she is and I am not all that happy about the accidents that she has had, but I suppose that it the fun of a puppy. I hope she picks up on it soon!!! Trais is getting to see that dogs are a lot of work! I have been trying to make him take her outside and take responsibility of her since he was the one who really wanted her. He asked for her for his B-day! He has actually been doing very well with it.

I went to the doctors yesterday and everything is fine. She is head down and ready to go. I am feeling really exhausted all the time and I can't get comfortable at all now. I am totally feeling like I am in the last few weeks! They suck! She is starting to get slower moving too since she is getting so big. I just hope she doesn't get too big!!! Trais was 8 lbs. I would be much happier if she was more like 6lbs! Wishful thinking I am sure.

Donny's academy is going well. I tried to get him to write about it, but he is too busy. He goes in very early and runs up to 3+ miles a day and then has lots of class time. He says that he is really enjoying it actually. He comes home and then has to get ready for the next day and then go to bed. He has to study a few hours every night also. It was nice for him to have 3 days off last weekend! I think he is sort of getting anxious to get back in the field though.

Well I am off to clean the bathroom! Yeah! Maybe it will put me into labor if I scrub hard enough lol!!!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

July 5th!




Hello,




Happy 4th to everyone. I hope you all got to see some good fireworks! We got a lot done around the house yesterday!!!! We now have an almost working 2nd bathroom! It has a toilet and light fixture and all the basics! It needs a good deep cleaning now and some door knobs and we will be good to go. Of course the floor is still just the concrete. For any of you that are just tuning in to the goings on of the house... We came in and the house was filthy beyond filth. These people have never cleaned there house ever! They smoked in the house and never left. The carpets were boyond discusting and the toilets were so bad that we actually had to pressure wash them outside. All the flooring had to come up and everything had to be painted right away. It took us using 27 gallons of primer (the best kind you can find on the market) all over the walls and ceilings and then we were even able to paint it. The day we pulled into the driveway Donny and his friend Ryan had to tear out the carpets. (We were hoping to just give them a good shampooing, but that was not an option once we saw them.) All of the linoleum had to be ripped out also, but we could only afford to do so much right now, so we had all new carpet layed and got it all painted, but just tore out the linoleum and sanded it down in the kitchen and bathrooms and front entry. We are just going to leave it as concrete for now until I am not pregnant and can put down some nice tile! Needless to say Donny had to do a LOT of work in a very short time and now that the house is getting to be almost done I think he thinks that it was well worth it. The house and neighborhood so far are great. I think that all the neighbors are thouroghly enjoying having some better neighbors here. They said that the people that lived here were just very anti-social. There is a 6 year old little boy who lives next door to us which will be great once he and Trais can get a chance to play. So far that hasn't happened but I am sure that soon it will.

Anyways, that got long about the house, but I just wanted to fill everyone in on that. I suppose it is a very good thing that we got the house so far under market value for the neightborhood! We knew that it was not going to be in perfect shape, we were just hoping to spread the work out over time. All in all, it was unlivable when we got here! Luckily we had some friends that let us stay with them for a little while to get things put together.

We took Trais last night for the first time to a Japanese Steak House. The kind of course where they cook right in front of you. The chef was great and Trais thought it was very cool. They did the fires and all that. They even went around the table and had us try to catch a piece of shrimp in our mouths! He gave Trais many chances but somehow he couldn't do it, but it was fun to watch him. I took a couple of pictures, so check those out.
Anyways, I hope everyone has a great 4 day weekend, I am going to go get ready for the fun filled day! It is supposed to be around 98 degrees today so I suppose it will be a lot of being inside the Air Conditioning!!!
Love ya all!