Week 8...SO SICK!

Is it not over yet?!
I mean, why does it have to take sooo long to cook a baby? I want it now! lol

This week has been actively challenging. The sickness comes and goes but when it hits it lasts all day! I end up dry heaving, unable to keep anything down, and very weak by the time the day passes. It wasn't like that with the others. I was either sick really quick, or just nauseous. Never constantly vomiting all day! It's horrible.... but worth it in the end!

Along with the illness has been the fatigue and restlessness. I seem to remember these things not starting until into the 2nd trimester before... why oh why are they starting so soon this time?! Must be a boy! lol
We have been set on a boy's name for forever, since we keep having girls it seems we may never use it! The name for a girl though, comes and goes... maybe this time I will wait till the baby comes to make the final decision.

The girls and I are heading out for a surprise visit to see some people tomorrow. It's been awhile and they are very close to us so, since Jared will be at summer camp, we decided to make the little trip over. We had planned on going to see my folks, but it's so far away and with me being sick all the time... well, I don't think we'd make it!

Guess that about wraps it up.
As always, feel free to share any advice you may have for me or ideas/suggestions!
Hope everyone had a GREAT Father's Day!

Week 7...

I am so thankful that i LOVE my job!
I work roughly 30 hours a week... which is actually a good deal more than the other part-time employees who have been there a great deal longer than me! My boss understands I need the money and she really enjoys the atmosphere I help create at work... yay!
Unfortunately, there is a great chance that I will not be with the company much longer. It's not the craziness of the pregnancy, which I will get at later, but the unfortunate reality that it is nearly impossible to find constant, reliable, and cheap daycare! Don't get me wrong, we greatly appreciate our friends and family when they help out... but we don't want to continue to rely on them and make them feel like we are using them in any way...
That, and we are almost assuredly moving soon!
YAY!
But more on that when the time comes!!!!!!


As far as the pregnancy goes, I am 7 weeks and 3 days today and still haven't had the means or time to see a doctor, but hey, I am experienced at this sort of thing so I know the basics... lol
The morning sickness comes mostly late late in the evening, or if I miss a meal by more than just a hour or so.... and it no longer involves actual vomiting, just nausea that won't go away... the worst kind!
I can't eat chocolate! This, along with a few other differences in my previous pregnancies and in correlation to others I have spoken with is making me feel like the baby is quite possibly a boy! But, then again... it could just be wishful excitement! lol
I haven't had the horrible headaches or weakness that has accompanied my pregnancies in the past, though it is still early on... I am hoping that I can keep up the active part of my life (walking, working, cooking...lol, and yoga) throughout this pregnancy without the previously inevitable bed rest. While we know this is a high risk pregnancy, with preterm labor with both Ciara and Cadince in my past, we are praying that the Lord grants us a smooth ride this time...

FYI, I am actually keeping these blog updates regular because other bloggers have inspired me to keep a journal, and while I regularly would not have the motivation to be so punctual with my posts, I figured it would be a great keepsake for the baby one day... a week by week journal. That and I can eventually throw all the pain and sickness in the one day teenagers face with actual proof! hahahahaha! jk... maybe!
Thank you for all your prayers and enthusiasm!
We couldn't be more EXCITED!

Week 6!

Ok, so the more I think about it, 9 months of posts revolving around what is happening to the tiny fetus inside me could probably get old... but I am so excited I am doing it anyway!
For now at least! :)

Ok, into week 6!

Just found out my sister-in-law has bun in the oven too! She is due the same week as me! I am really excited and please put out prayers for her since they have a had some trouble in the past! This is great news!

The cravings are really starting to hit. I wasn't expecting that but after talking to some friends I am hearing/realizing that with each pregnancy the "symptoms" start to occur sooner and fade faster... generally speaking of course!
I am exhausted, but it's pretty much just the crazy work output I have going on. This week we had Vacation Bible School at our church and the girls and I are really involved in it! We made the cutest quilt in crafts with stars and crosses all over it and special verses the girls stamped on there! It's so pretty! I am very proud of them!

Jared and I are, while excited, faced with a few big decisions right now that will have a great affect on our lives and future... so please put out a prayer for us that we can get the inspiration we need to make the right ones!

Guess that's about it.
Oh, here is the baby during the 6 week period!

FUNKY! I know! lol Trust me... they get cuter! lol

News

So, since pretty much everybody has heard the news, posting it seems to be the next step...

We are expecting number 4!
Of course, with this I must add that Jared has dutifully prayed almost non-stop that we have conceived a little boy....ha! Right! We all know by now that this is very unlikely!
I want a healthy baby, regardless, and though a little boy would be wonderful, I am beginning to feel that one more girl will be easier... hand-me-downs, room-sharing, and potty-training all being considered of course! lol

We are incredibly excited, though this was quite a surprise. I am due January 27th (roughly) making me almost 6 weeks!

Here's too a healthy eventless pregnancy and another perfectly beautiful child! Please keep us in your prayers!


This is the baby at 5 1/2 weeks. I will try to keep visual updates as we go along as well! YAY!!!!!

New family photos

So we finally went and got some family photos done. I will post others later (once I get the disk) that my sister-in-;aw took of us outside and impromptu(ish), but for now here are the sitting still looking fake ones! I have to say these are probably my favorite bunch of family shots we have had taken so far!
Cecilia has never look so grown up! Cadince, of course, was a pain in the buttocks the entire time, but we eventually got some pictures with her looking somewhat less devilish then usual! lol




























That's about it for now. Need to get some sleep before work in the A.M.! Woo hoo!

Updates

Well....It has been awhile hasn't it.
Jared has been home since February 12th! It has been so perfect having him home...and it just keeps getting better all the time!
We moved...again! We are living in my folks house since they are out in Lost in the Woods, MO. It is really really nice to have our own space and be out of an apartment complex. No one just barges in talking about inspections, neighbors are not attached to my bedroom walls, and I don't have to park my van two buildings over if I try to park after nine o'clock at night. Plus, the jacuzzi is great! Having two acres for the kids to play on without having to constantly be right there with them worried about strange people(and we have Hermione (German Shepard) so the kids are happy) is wonderful. We have a few months to possibly a few years to make our home here and I really couldn't feel more comfortable.
Jared is job hunting, as am I, and it is proving very fruitless... with the recession going on there is so many people looking for jobs and so little job openings....it's just CRAZY hectic! We are praying things work out... Jared starts school tomorrow. The National Guard is paying him a monthly amount to help him through classes and paying for all his schooling. That is a real help, and some financial relief.
We have considered active duty army, and are still considering it... but Jared is going to try this college first thing out first and see if we can survive working and his schooling and drilling on the weekends... If we do go the active route, we want to try to negotiate for choice of duty station... and we really want to go to Germany! But, of course, there is no REALLY relying on the military! lol
Well, that's about it right now. If there is anything you need to know, or want to know that I haven't spilled here there is the possibility of CALLING someone everynow and then... (cough* ANDREA, cough*)
hehehehe

Foreign

It snowed the other day... and it is due to ice on Monday...
Where am I?????
It doesn't snow in Tennessee, not really anyway....

We are in Missouri right now. My Dad is having some minor health issues so I am here to help. Jacky moved here till Mom and Dad come home, but the girls and I are living here at least till Jared graduates. If I can find a decent job we will stay here till school is finished. Cecilia is in school here on base and I love the DOD schools... well at least this one! I am kinda melancholy like about taking her back to a regular public school after such a great school experience here!
I have all online classes so I am continuing school here, at the computer everynight after the little ones call it a night studying and typing my brains away.... assuming I had many to begin with! lol

It is so nice to be with family though. I didn't realize how down I was getting with no one around to talk to and no one to really hang out with!! Being husband-less wasn't the biggest issue, just being flat out bored doing the same cleaning-feeding-diaper changing-cooking-bathing routine everyday with no breaks for "ME" time (yes I know, how selfish of me!)... well it was relentless and depressing... It's nice to have company and extra hands ot divide the previously mentioned monotonous routine up with!
Can't wait for Jared to come home though... I am starting to miss my other child...

Well, that is it for now... got WAY TOO MUCH homework to get done
Thought I should update nevertheless...
night

Fort Leonardwood/Lost-In-The-Woods Missouri

Well, we got into Missouri and drove into Mom and Dad's driveway about 6am on Tuesday morning! We left Clarksville at midnight to drive through the night so the kids would sleep the whole way... so obviously the first adventurous thing we did when we got there was crash for hours upon hours on the blow up mattress downstairs... which regardless of its air-head type manner could not have been more comfortable!
The next few days we stayed home for the most part visiting until the day after Christmas when we went out and about seeing the sights of Fort Leonardwood! Now don't worry, no children were harmed during the taking of these photos no matter how much it looks like they are about to get ran over by these monstrous military tactical vehicles!














Now how many kids get to ride on the side of a tank like this? hahaha! There were signs everywhere forbidding the climbing on of the stationary vehicles for show only.... but we just had to get this picture!


It was wonderful seeing Mom and Dad, and one thing wondering around this heavily populated training base did was bring back to reality how much effort goes into preparing our soldiers to risk their lives for this country so we can remain safe at home. It just made me feel so blessed to know that so many dedicated and honorable people have my life, and that of my children, in their best interest....even though they don't know me personally.I am so proud and appreciative of them... and of my Dad who has always taught us to take pride in our country and never feel ashamed of who we are... As the new year approaches I think about all that we, as a country have been through this year alone and I pray that we can come out just as united and strong through this next year. I support our troops, and I pray for them everyday and I just want to say thank you to them all. Wherever they are, deployed or finally home with their loved ones... it may be another year ahead of us filled with more deployments and less time at home, but you are appreciated and loved.
Till they all come home...

Family Time and the End of 2008

So we had a FANTASTIC Christmas and vacation in Missouri!
The girls really made out considering the limited financial budget that "Santa" had this year! lol Cecilia got the coolest rollerskates from her Aunt Jacky with Hannah Montana on them... needless to say she was super thrilled and the Lord blessed us with weather fair enough to do some outdoor learning sessions!
Ciara and Cadince just had a blast tearing as much of the wrapping paper up as possible to discover their many baby dolls and Dora the Explorer activities/toys!
It was so nice to have Jared home. For those who don't know the whole story, a friend of Jared's gave me the ultimate Christmas gift, he paid for Jared's round-trip ticket to come home for the holidays! He leaves out on the 2nd of January so he gets to be here for Christmas and New Years!





We haven't really gotten around to getting decent family shots done so Mom and Dad did us the favor of taking some nice Christmas photos of us! Wow! I never realized how slimming gray is! lol I look ten pounds lighter! hehehehe



Apparently Jared felt that he did not get enough for Christmas so I was instructed to wrap myself up... Well we didn't have enough wrapping paper for such a feat so I ended up looking like this! lol














Another year has come and passed... seems like we just got here... Well, I have one more post before 2008 is over... just to show the really cool things we did at Fort Leonardwood!!! Then, it's off to 2009... God Bless us all as we enter into another year with our savior and out families... who we wouldn't be anything without!

Soon

Three days!
Jared comes home in three days. It is only for a week and a half but he will be home!
He flies in at around nine in the evening Saturday (20th) and leaves at six o'clock in the evening on the 2nd! We are heading out to Mom and Dad's on the 23rd for Christmas and we are sooooo excited for the road trip and to see them. We won't be heading back until the 28th or 29th, depending on what is going on and the weather. Spending Christmas with family is well worth the six to seven hour drive through the rain and hail there and back! Of course, doing so with three crabby kids will be an adventure all in itself. Andrea, I honestly don't know how you do it driving here every year! But Dad made a special trip out to see Jared graduate and there is nothing that's going to stop us from doing the same (the special trip part anyway!)

The girls are very very excited. They have already planned out all the cool pictures they want to make for Daddy and what to put on the banners! They are quite adorable!
As for me, I am stressed as usual. Such excitement also bring extra responsibilities for me so I am trying to catch up on everything and budget for the trip the best I can... Santa is going to Grammy and Pappy's this year and trying to figure out how to tote all those wrapped gifts from "santa" is proving to be a task!

Well, I hope everyone's holiday is safe and fun... we will do out best to see everyone we can while Jared is in town, but we are really going to want as much us time as possible. He comes home for good in FEBRUARY so there can be plenty of visiting then! lol

Merry Christmas everyone and have a great New Year. God Bless you all!