Preggo

Warning...to men, this a gripe blog about being pregnant.

I did not like being pregnant last time and I am sharing the same opinion this time around. I am not a joyful pregnant lady. I am a grouchy pregnant lady. I have short patience and a mouth that does not hold back what I am thinking. I throw up frequently and if not actually sick, then nauseous most of the day. At least this time around I can still breathe through my nose and I don't have sore boobs.

It drives me crazy when people tell me they enjoyed pregnancy. I do not! Today I was too sick to go to Disney with my family for our last day in Orlando. Hubby was brave to take L alone, but I did not like missing out. At one point I showered trying to get ready to meet up with them and ended up over the toilet bowl hurling up my semi-lunch I had eaten earlier. For today, I have found that if I lie very still I can curb the nausea just long enough to not throw up.

Tomorrow we head out to go back to SC. We get to see my brother who is coming for a visit. He was in Iraq for just under a year and we get to see him finally!!! Then on Tuesday we head to Atlanta next Tuesday. We catch a flight on Wednesday from Atlanta to Chicago, Chicago to Seattle. Then Thursday morning we fly from Seattle to Japan. Please praying as we travel with a one year old and pregnant mama! We need lots of prayers!

Baby Jay

We are pregnant! We have learned about our little bundle who is due at the end of March. Lexi is going to be a big sister and we are excited. I am hoping that this pregnancy goes better as far as less sickness and fewer to no complications.

Baby Jay is what we are calling the baby until we have a name. You see, I am a Kansas Jayhawk fan and the little Jayhawk is called Baby Jay. So in honor of the Jayhawks, Baby Jay it is.

I cannot think of a catchy title for our blog post. I suppose welcome _______ Daddy would work. We cannot say welcome home daddy because we have no home. For a month and 1/2 Lexi and I have been traveling all over.

We drove to NJ to pack up our things to be shipped at the end of June. Did I tell you that we did the 13 hour drive up here. On the Monday before the Tuesday of the move, I was wondering why the movers hadn't called for an estimated time of arrival. Well, when I got on the phone with the people in charge of the move, they said the had no move scheduled for us. I was NOT happy! I explained that I had drive 13 hours with a one year old to be here for this move and something needed to happen please. As soon as I got off the phone, I burst into tears and called Matthew hysterically crying. NOTHING about this move as gone well or smoothly! It has been one disastrous headache after another. So I lost it.

Within an hour, the moving people at Fort Dix fixed whatever they had messed up and we were scheduled for a move on Wednesday. For the move to work out in an hour is seriously an act of GOD! So though nothing has been smooth, God has worked out everything last minute and usually better than originally planned. By the move being scheduled for Wed., I got to go to Pitman C of C and see all the ladies at Bible class. I was so grateful for that day with those girls. I really loved that church and I wish I could pack them up and take them with us. Also, because of the mess up, I was able to spend Monday afternoon with one particular mom of two twin boys who means the world to me.

Do you ever have a friend who is constantly trying to make life better for you! This mom of twins is that kind of friend. Truly, I do not understand why I have her for I certainly do not deserve her. She and her husband were there for me every time M was away. They were there for us with the complications from our last pregnancy. When we have been traveling all over, they will make a more than one hour drive (with twins) to see us if we are anywhere near close. This family is amazing! I have no idea how to show them we love them so much, and I hope that I have been at least somewhat of a friend for her!!!

Ok, so anyway we made our way to KS next for a dear friend's wedding. Oh my, her husband to be looking at Annie as she walked up the aisle is an expression I will hold in my memory for a long time. She was glowing....literally lighting up the room as she entered with her veiled face shining. So the wedding was amazing and the visit was great.

We were then able to go to Vermont with M's Godmother/Aunt. She invited us to Smuggler's Notch. If you are trying to find a place that supports family and is a fabulous place for family vacation. They have ptatoe sack races, water balloon fights with parents, Good Time Charley who leads the old fashioned camp fire, and pools galore...pools for the tiny kids to slides for the big ones. What a great week. I was even treated for a massage at the spa for my birthday and oh man, oh man!

Then yesterday we were reunited with M!!!! We will not be separated for a while!! L was so excited to see her daddy and I am thrilled. We have a going away party today for a chance to say good bye to the friends we've made and the family here in Jersey. More about that later, I just want to have fun and not say good bye right now.

Just a little about the latest goings on. Have a wonderfully wonderful day!

A few other new things

L has added a few words to her vocab and I forgot to add a few last time so here we go...
"ga ga" for grandma Reynolds, tried to say Walmart, "dog", "uh oh", "whoa", has tried to say Mason and Megan (her 2 year old Uncle and 5 year old Aunt), and says "hot."

We just got back to Lawrence, KS from going to Annie Keesee's wedding in Wichita, KS. The wedding was beautiful and I have never seen Annie more gorgeous than when she was dressed for the wedding and would think of Jared. They are on their way to Jamaica for their honeymoon. I hope that they have the kind of marriage that way God intended marriage to be.

We have started our goodbyes as we are one month out from leaving for Japan. It is not fun saying goodbye to people not knowing how long it will be before we see them again. This part stinks about being a military family.

I am also tired of being away from my husband. Six months is long! Six months of being the only one 100% responsible for our daughter is a lot. We are grateful that we will be together again in just a week and half. I can't even imagine how Matthew has been away from his baby girl for 6 months, we are grateful that this time is done.

Please pray as we transition being back together again. Pray that it is smooth, that I am patient with Matthew figuring out how we work at home, and that Matthew is not left feeling excluded from our little system we have set up.

Itinerary:
A quick run down of out upcoming events.

Tomorrow we head to Kansas City, MO. We spend time with some MO family. On Wed. we head to SC. On Friday we fly to Newark, NJ. On Saturday we head to Vermont for a week. Then on Friday July 31 we are with Matthew again!!!! August 5 we ship our express shipment to Okinawa. Then on August 6 we head to SC. We rest for a day and and then drive to Disney on August 8 - 16. My brother who is home from Iraq flies to SC on August 16 and we get to see him for several days. Then around August 20 we fly for Japan. I am excited and sad. We are ready to have our own home again and ready to be with Matthew.

I am grateful for an easy baby who travels well and loves being around all the people we meet.

Have a wonderfully wonderful day!

Virtous Woman

Several weeks ago I was in Bible study with wonderful women from Pitman C of C in Pitman, NJ. We were discussing our obituaries and what we would like one of the sentences to be when people talk about us. Based on scripture and the hearts of these women, this is some of how I would like for people to remember me.

She was a virtuous woman. She raised her children to love the Lord. She was a woman who feared the Lord. She spoke with wisdom and faithful instruction was on her tongue. The hearts of her family trusted in her, so that they would knew they would not be harmed. She brought good to her family. Many women have done noble things, but she surpassed them all. She stretched out her hand to those in need. Her light burned brighter to those around her. She kept her family together in love and in God's wisdom. She lived her days in kindness towards others.

This is a tall order. I hope that God can teach these things to me without me having to learn through hard hard lessons. However, we seem to learn best when we go through hard things. I am a loooooooong way from where I hope to be as a woman of God at the end my life, but hopefully God will take me there.

Lexi is doing lots and as most parents know, kids pick up new and crazy things each day. My favorite is when I get to talking about something I am passionate about and she begins to imitate my hand motions and expressions. S
he imitates like no baby I have seen before. She tries to make almost every little sound and expression from the people around her. She loves people by the way. Her favorite activity is watching people. She watches them eat, walk, do what they do. Then she expects EVERYONE to wave at her and adore her. I think we may have a future princess on our hands. She also loves to prance around the house wearing a crown, bracelets, necklaces, a purse, and even some rings. One of her favorite hobbies is swimming.

Update on new things Lexi is doing:

She has peed in the potty twice. She just pooped in the potty tonight.

She uses the following signs -- more, please, help, all done, ice cream, milk, water, cookie, food, apple, bath, and cracker. Some of these only mama can recognize, but she is doing well!

She speaks the following words -- mama, dada, water, shoes, toes, ball, bath, balloon, doll, toy, computer, up, down, duck

She can identify her nose, ears, head, tummy, toes, and almost eyes

She uses several 2 signs together

She will follow the following one-step commands -- come here, give me, dance, wiggle, swim, go there, get the ball, get the whatever you point at, touch "fill in body part", walk, jump, look for "fill in blank", shake your booty

We are so grateful she continues to develop at a healthy pace.

Other cute things she tries to do -- laughs when we laugh, tries to wiggle her eye brows, tries to wink, she tries to tickle, give zerberts, gives hugs and kisses,

When asked, she will usually says the sounds for the following animals/people -- dog, cow, cat, snake, daddy, war cry, duck, and a few more.

This girl has a STRONG will. She wants to do what she wants to do and no one should be telling her different. So we are learning to guide this personality trait without crushing it.

Other news -- we leave for Japan in about a month. We are currently in KS for one of my best friend's wedding. Congrats Annie! We then go to Vermont and Disney and the best news of all!!!! My brother has come home from Iraq! He is safe back on American soil. We are so grateful for his safe return. We get to visit him the week before we move to Japan (where one of my other brothers is stationed). We are grateful to God for keeping B safe and thank you for your prayers!!!

Have a wonderful day!

3000 lbs

So this past week we had to sort all of our belongings down to only 3000 lbs. Ok, so missionary friends who sort down to 2 suit cases per person, how? How do you sort all of your worldly goods to such small amounts? I am struggling with 3000 lbs! Part of my struggle has been dating back to a conversation M and I had when we were dating and talking about marriage. This is how the conversation went...

B - I love you and want to marry you. This Marine Corps thing can work for me. I do not like to travel (hahahaha because of all the traveling I do) but I would not mind living all over. The military moves our things, right?
M - Right
B - So, as long as I can come home to my things that make my home homey, it will be fine.
M - Nod

Can you tell M was not wordy back then either?

So now comes week before last. We are preparing for our 5th move in 6 years...that is a lot to begin with. Matthew calls to let me know that we can only take 3000 lbs of our allotted home goods because we are doing an overseas tour. That means none of my furniture id going. I cried and cried. This was not what I had signed up for. I thought our moves would look differently. Especially -- USMC -- if you are listening. Doesn't is cost just as much to store our things for 3 years as it would to ship our things? So I struggled...yes I am attached to my stuff. I look at my dining room set and think, wow, we bought that with my first pay check after we were married. Or I look at my brand new living room furniture and think, we took 2 years to find that and we finally have the living room that we wanted. You see, when we married, part of wanting to wait 5 years to have a baby was so that we could work on each room pay check at a time. We would be able to decide what we wanted and have nice things to live in.

We also feel that as a couple, we love to have people over. We love having Bible studies at our house, people for dinner, kids to play, etc. Part of our home being inviting is that we have a homey home. So now that is gone for the next 3 years. Overseas without any of my furniture that makes my home mine.

Then I struggle because Christians are constantly talking about this world being temporary and we can't take it when we go and that being attached to worldly things is wrong. So then I feel guilty about liking my home and the things in my home. Well, you know what, when you want to have a place for other Christians to gather, a comfortable home is better. God has blessed us with the ability to have a comfortable home that we like to welcome others with. Though during the last several years we have not as much because of recruiting, and M being gone for a total of 10 months since 2007, we haven't been able to have lots of events at our house. We have done what we could and I enjoy having a place where people can gather.


I have come to terms with this move not looking like I thought it would and we got to work. On Sat. M and I met up at the storage unit and sorted through all of our boxes, furniture and stuff. We stored away all big furniture. We stored away my books...I love to read and reread books, so this sucks...
We pulled out anything that would help make our home homey:
linens, decorations, wall hangings, Christmas stuff, decorative pillows, and all of L's items. Her dresser, crib, books and toys are going. I hope we have some how sorted our stuff down to 3000 lbs. If not we have to pay $4.00/pound if we go over our weight. YIKES!!! We shall see how this goes.

On a positive note, friends and family have helped me to think of the good things about not taking as much stuff:
* I had joked about going to the beach every day, but now since I may not like our home as much, I may really go to the beach every day
* L can throw up, poop on and spill things on the Gov' furniture and when I come back my furniture will still look brand new
* We are going to a a BEAUTIFUL island where there are tons of outdoors things to do
* We get to be on island with my brother who is stationed there
* We get to take several vacations not visiting family since we have been married 6 years on Sunday and have yet to Vaca w/o visiting family. We love our family of course, but it will be nice to get away just the 3 of us
* L gets to see a different culture, festivals, and experiences
* I might get to sub since the DOD schools really need subs. So I may get a taste of the classroom again
* God will be glorified for all the blessings we have!
* God is teaching me to live without my stuff and he didn't have to burn down my house for me to learn the lesson. He is teaching me the easy way to be more reliant on him
* The best of all...We will be with M on a more regular basis! Even though he will be deployed frequently, we will still see him more than we do now
* We are all healthy and able to go on this new adventure
* We get to think about what traditions we want to start with our daughter. Maybe we can have some cool traditions around moving and starting in new places. Any ideas??

So that has been where I have been, mentally, for the past couple of weeks. We are grateful to family and friends for supporting us through talks, letting us stay with you and just your overall love and prayers!

June so far

As you can tell by my posts, or lack there of, we have been busy. Of course, not having my own computer cuts out on posting time as well. Here are some key highlights for the last several weeks.

L now combines 2 signs "more bath" on her own! When she wants to go into the pool this is what she signs.

She will tell you what a cat says. She is saying "ba" for bath, "ba" for ball, "oooo ooo" for dog (that is her bark for dogs), "do" for doll, and she will say "mama" and lay her head on my chest. She says "ba" for binky and "aa" for yankee. She says "hello" and once held the phone to her ear and said "hello dada". Once in a while she imitates the syllable and tone for "I love you". She touches her toes, head and tummy, and just beginning to touch nose and ear. The following includes her list of signs she has mastered: more, milk, water, please, food, bath, down and beginning to sign cookie and trying to imitate several other signs. I LOVE baby signing!!!! It is so much better than her screaming at me and me not understanding what she wants. She only walks and is beginning to alternate feet while climbing stairs. She waves to everyone thinking they should all wave back and adore her. She picks any number of things and holds them to her ear and says "hello" as if talking into a phone.

The last couple of weeks have been crazy. I went up on the train for M's graduation for TBS and he and I drove down to SC for Memorial Day. We had a great 4 days and 5 nights together! Then on May 30, L and I flew to Bermuda for M's sister's (L's Godma)wedding. The week was wonderful! L got to meet one of her aunts she had not yet met. L swam in the ocean, went swimming in a pool, and we celebrated my 30th bday while there. M's family had a party for me and it was fun. Matthew flew in on June 5 for the wedding on June 6. L hardly let go of him all weekend. She is now at the point where she realizes that he is coming and going. So when he is here, she holds on tight so as not to loose him. L was the mini flower girl in the wedding and she laughed out loud when she realized that everyone was looking at her and stopped walking so she could take it all in. With some help from mama she did get down the aisle and enjoyed the wedding from the sidelines.

We are so excited for M's sister who just got married. She has chosen a fabulous man who will stand beside her on her journey to Heaven. They will be a happy couple with many many years of marriage ahead. We love you R and M!

When we got back to Sc, we had great grandma, great grandpa, an aunt and 2 cousins visiting. We were excited to see them! L loved all the craziness in the house but also was ready for peace and quiet. She would go lay in her crib for up to an hour, just to hang out by herself.

That is about it for our most recent activities. I am excited for the day when people ask me what we are up to and I say "oh, you know, same old same old"

We are trying to get ready for our big move to Japan, filling out medical screenings, shipping out household items (which I just found out we can only ship 3000 lbs, do you know how not a lot of stuff that is!!!). I am a little overwhelmed by what we have to do and by how not smoothly it is going. But, we just hammer one thing out at a time and know that we will eventually be in Japan with M and that will be so worth it! L and I are so excited to get to see daddy again and actually be living in the same place as him (at least the same place when he is not deployed)!!!

What are you up to lately?

Little time

So I get to take the train on Wednesday to see my hubby. The best part....BABY-FREE! That means I am traveling with no baby at all! My dad and step-mom are allowing me this trip by watching baby girl. Goodbye baby and hello Matthew!

Will write more about new things L is doing soon. Have a wonderfully wodnerful day! I am off to see the man who has made my dreams come true for almost 6 years!

BTW -- Bday count down, 13 days until it is my Birthday!!!

I feel sorry for me, but it is getting better

Being away from my husband for almost 4 months now and just over two months to go is taking its toll. The first 3 months I was so grateful to be off of recruiting duty that it was no problem being away from the man of my dreams. Now we are far enough away that I am just missing him and lonely without him. The past week 1/2 have gotten hard. I am not sure why the lonliness hit but its here. So, to try and get through this I am listing my blessings as I occassionally do when I need a kick in the butt to get over myself.

So it is time to count my blessings:

I am not the one away from my daughter. Matthew doesn't even get to see her that often and he doesn't complain at all!

Lexi is growing and developing as all parents hope a child would.

Inspite of me, Lexi is growing and developing well ;).

We have gotten to see Matthew 5 times, which is more than some families get to see their husbands/daddies.

We are in a good place with family.

The weather in SC is so WARM! I started working on my tan in April!

We soon get to move to Japan. While there, we get to see my brother Brandon on a regular basis.

My whole family is currently healthy.

Brain, one of my brothers will be coming home from Iraq soon!

We get to go to Disney this summer.

We get to see Matthew's sister get married and my friend Annie is getting married and we get to be there too!

At least we get to keep the spice in our marriage because we see each other so infrequently.

We are so blessed to be able to cover all bills and save some $$ right now!

Have a wonderfully wonderful day!

One Month Away

So one month from today is my birthday. i am not sure what I will be doing on the day. M's sister is getting married in Bermuda and we are flying there at the end of May. So maybe L and I will be on the beach!

Speaking of travleing, I would like to share my travel plans over the next four months because it is CRAZY!!! What am I thinking?!?!

May 19 -- Drive to Columbia, SC to catch a train at 4 am on May 20
May 20 - 21 in VA to celebrate M's graduation from TBS (The Basic SChool) I am so excited about doing this trip baby free!!!
May 21 -- Drive back to SC

M is with us for Memorial Day weekend

May 26-June 7 -- L and I catch a flight to Bermuda

July 8 - July 21 -- L and I fly to KC,MO to go to Annie's wedding!!!

July 23 -- Drive to VA

July 24 -- Drive to NJ

July 25 -- Drive to Vermont and spend a week there

July 31 -- Drive back to NJ

Augusta 3 -- Drive to SC

August 8 -- August 16 Driving to Disney to spend a week there

Sometime during the week of August 16 we are hoping will be our move to Japan.

We have a lot going on! At some point in there, I need to fit a trip in to NJ to be there when the movers come and pack up all our stuff. So this is our crazy life for the next couple of months. I am excited aobut moving to Japan, but sad about syaing goodbye to people for 3 years. However, I am trying to work a 4 day stop in Hawaii on our way to Japan, so that makes the move even better.

What are you summer plans?