Baby Bump update- 36 weeks

33 weeks 4 days, the boy and the bump photo shoot with joiedevivrephotography.com

I really can't believe how quickly this is all going by! It is really hard to believe that this little guy is going to be here so very soon and really could be any day. So according to my baby prep checklist here is what I got left to do:

• Put Birth Plan in writing
• Pack bag for hospital
• Buy car seat, new monitor and get swing back from a friend who is borrowing it
• Make birth announcement so I can just drop in a pic and the details and print them off quickly, and pre-address all the envelops so they are ready to go too!
• Get all clothes put away and organized

For some reason none of this worries me at all. My plan for going into labor is to call my family who is about an hour away and we will go from there. This baby will come when he feels like it and I just feel like child birth is a natural processes and there is nothing I can do to plan for this we will just adapt and over come when we get to that point. I guess this is what happens when you have been a military girlfriend/fiance/wife for the past 7 years and you live alone with a unpredictable toddler. Everyday is different and there are challenges and rewards all day long, we just keep moving our feet and moving forward to the next turn in the road. We are all happy and healthy and have many blessings in our lives, somehow we will figure this out together.

Baby Bump update- 34 weeks

"Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. " (from babycenter.com) 

Well that is a sobering fact, especially since my 1st was only 18.5in when he was born and 7lbs 1 oz! I guess this baby is really coming, only 6 weeks to go? I keep procrastinating thinking if I don't prep for the baby then it won't come for a while. We all know this baby is coming whether i am ready or not. So things I should do that I keep putting off would be getting a car seat, stroller adapter for car seat, write a birth plan, buy the plane ticket for Daddy to come home, getting all the newborn clothes hung up, setting up the cloth diaper service, and packing a bag for the hospital. I am sure it will all get done, for some reason I am just not too worried about any of it, I just know it will all work out some how. I did get my maternity pics done last Friday and I am so excited about seeing them! I just need to get motivated to get on top of all this stuff. That is hard to do when all I want to do is enjoy my little man before we are going to need to share our time. Even as I write this is still fully sink in that in about 6 weeks this little guy is going to be in my arms and my lap is going to be on hot commodity! I am sure there will be an adjustment period for us all, but again I am positive it will all some how work out. Some how we will buy groceries, go to the park, and our other activities I just have no idea how any of that will happen. I guess we will just keeping moving our feet…

708 stars to go

3 weeks down, 101 to go. We are well and getting into our routine and everything is going well. I am a bit tired chasing a toddler around all day everyday with no break is hard work with 28 pounds of "baby" added to me. I have been researching recourses for helping toddlers deal with deployments. There is a huge void in this department. Most resources are for school age kids and babies. My husband will be visiting us over the next 2 years probably every six months or so, but for the most part it will just be the little feet and I. So my older son will be between the age of 19 months and 3 1/2 years old and our little guy will go from birth to 21 months with out Daddy really being around. So the issues with school age kids are toilet issues, and communication/ behavioral issues and babies are just recommended to hear and se pictures and your spouses voice on a regular basis. Ok that’s great but what do you do with a toddler who cannot communicate or use the potty yet? I don't think you can have an issue with something until they develop the skills to do those skills normally, well for my age range that is not the case. Yet my older one is way past the baby stage and knows something in his family dynamic has changed and needs a bit more then pictures and tape recordings. We skype on a regular basis but I am still unsure about this and if in the future we will have consequences later on down the road? I will just keep on doing what I know is right and lovin’ on my babies enough for the 2 of us and hope for the best?

Baby Bump update- 32 weeks

716 stars to go

Well two weeks down and we are getting into our groove. We are keeping very busy around here. Now that fall has begun we have lots of fun planed for this month. So over the next 25 days Scott and I have 2 football games, 2 baby bump appointments, 2 kid birthday parties, maternity pictures, a baby shower, Halloween, all on top of our normal Stroller Strides, MOPS and preschool activities. So now we have no more time for anyone getting sick around here anymore. We are talking to Dada pretty regular on Skype now and Scott and is pro at it. He sits on my lap and say "dada dada dada dada" while the phone rings it is quite cute and the Daddy doll and all the pictures of him up in the house are great too. I guess when he comes home to visit we will see if all our hard work pays off. Some times I wish there was a right way to do this. With all that is going on I have been taking more time to be silly with my little monsters!

saying no

I strongly believe the more you put into something the more you will get from it. I love being involved in many different activities and building friendships and community through those activities. Unfortunately with everything I have going on right now I got to know my limits because my number one priority has to be these kids. Saying no and not over extending your self is a key part of being a good parent in my opinion. Unfortunately in this military life we live staying busy during family separations is also important. So finding the balance in between is the trick. Now that I have lots of time to myself it is very hard for me not to become very involved in my different activities to have that adult interaction and time. Just being a member and not volunteering to take on more or be involved in every extra activity is very difficult for me to do. I feel like I am isolating or segregating myself by not being as involved as I could. I know that in about 2 months there will be a new little man in my life and my time will be split between the two kids. The month of December is going to even more hectic then normal between the Holidays a new baby and visitors. After all of that passes though it will just be the boys and I on our own and we will have to see what happens to our extra activities and how much I can keep going. I love having that community environment and family you get from being involved with different groups. Hopefully I can get a handle on this new chapter of our life and we can get things back up and running and back to our "normal" routine soon? Sometimes I wish I had a crystal ball. Till then I will just lay low and take care of my babies and myself.

attitude is everything

Instead of thinking of what you "have to" do for the day you should think what do you "get to" do today. The one thing I have learned from being with my Marine for the past 6 and half years is there are many ways to look at a situation and your attitude has everything to do with that. Every deployment and separation is hard and they are all different. Through the years of meeting other military girlfriends, fiancés, and wives you see many different attitudes about this life. When I was a new girlfriend and wife it was very clear to me that I choose this life and complaining about it was not an option. As I keep going down the road I realize it is not as easy as flipping a switch. Now with a child I have to hold it together and my attitude and outlook has everything to do with that. If I just fall apart or complain about anything to do with our life my son can read that from a mile away without me even saying a word. I remember when my son was an infant and would cry for no reason and I would just cuddle him and rock in the chair. I would clear my mind and just let go of everything from the day and just relax and quickly in time he would calm down right along with me. I think that lesson was a huge turning for me as a mom. So how do you change our attitude and outlook on the "stuff" in your life? It is a lot easier said then done. I think I was been raised with this outlook. My Mom was very sick while I was in high school and college and don't think other then very close friends and family really knew how bad everything was. I made a choice not to burden others with my problems and not to have a negative attitude about it all. We have all have had those friends in our lives that you now every time you talk to them you know they are going to have something to complain about. Just listening to someone with that negative attitude is tiring let alone, I could only imagine what it would be like, to live life with an attitude like that. I know if my husband ever caught wind that I was just sitting at home feeling bad for myself or complaining and having a negative attitude he would kick my butt and call me out on it. So tomorrow when you get up in the morning just choose to be happy. Focus and enjoy every little task you "get to" do and not what you "have to" do. If nothing else get on the floor and be silly with your babies they will show you what really matters!

and I thought we were getting better?

Yesterday morning I got the boy up and thought we were doing better. He slept in till 8 and was hungry. So I gave him some banana and applesauce and he was so happy with me. I thought from the day before i was just tired and we just needed one more day at home to heal. Well.... by 10 am I was so drained that I decided to put the boy down for an early nap. He protested for 15 minutes while I hunched myself over the toilet. By the time I was done loosing my breakfast he was down for a nap and so was I. That only lasted till noon and by the time a carried the boy down the stairs I had to run to the bathroom again my sweet boy followed me and hugged my back as I got sick. So that continued almost every 15-20 minutes and feeding him was horrible and forget about changing diapers. Just the smell of a wet diaper would set me off and then I had a half naked boy running around the house. So I called my parents and within minutes of them offering to come and pick up the boy I was all over it. When my Dad showed up to pick up the boy and the dog, we noticed that there was water leaking from somewhere in the garage. So I threw on a robe and walked next door to see if they had leaking too, our washers and water heaters both share the wall were the water was coming from. No leaking on there side but he called their handy man who dropped by on his way home from work. He said there was a small leak. By that time I felt so sick I couldn't even process what he was saying needed to be done. So I just asked him if I just turned the water if that would be OK till I decided what to do? The leak was so small I really didn't think anything about it. Then I went back to being one with the couch. At 4pm I called my OBGYN office to just check with them on what I should do. They said if could hold fluids down I would need to come in to labor and delivery to get an IV. I thought I was doing better when I got a glass of water down and got a nice little nap on the couch till I was awoken from my nap to go pray to the porcelain god for the eighth time in one day and there went all my water. I was so proud of myself for getting that water down. Well since I wasn't keeping liquids down I thought even though I didn't feel that bad should do the right thing and get re-hydrated. It would take my Mom was hung up at work and then it would take a hour to get down to me and driving myself would not have been smart. So I sent out some non-urgent messages to some friends to see if anyone was free to give me a ride. My wonderful friend came and picked me up and took me in to labor and delivery to get taken care of. Once I got all checked in and settled in the nurse started to try and get my IV in. Unfortunately since I was so dehydrated my little vein collapsed and she went straight through it. Well that made me a little light headed and next thing I know I am violently throwing-up and it is all over me the nurse and my poor friend was holding the bucket. It was so horrible. So after I scared that nurse off I got a new and more seasoned nurse and she got me all set up and then I could relax a little bit and just get my fluids. So finally my Mom was on her way and I had regained enough color in my skin that my friend was OK leaving me and heading home. My Mom got there and I I finished up my second bag of fluids. We got home and into bed around 2am. I slept in till 9 and have felt so much better except getting wooosie when I would stand for too long. Then that leaking pipe busted, so I just gave up turned off the water for the whole house and packed it up and headed up to stay at my parent’s house for the weekend. I guess time will only tell if we are really getting better, but I got a good feeling about it and

the plumber will be by on Monday to fix that problem. So hopefully next week will be a little bit better?

724 stars to go

Yesterday morning my car didn't start up in the morning. I quickly moved the stroller into the hubby's car and we headed out and went on with our day. Later on my Dad came over and we charged my battery and got my car working. Today my day started when I picked the boy up out of the crib and got puked on. It was just clear liquid that came up so I fed him a banana and gave him his milk. Within 15 minutes it was all coming up. So I call the pediatrician and got in at 9:45. The car seat was still in the hubby's car so we drove that to the dr. On our way the poor little guy threw up all over himself, car seat, and car. I only had a change of shirt for him with me so I stripped him out of his puke soaked clothes in the Dr. office parking lot and took him in nothing but a shirt and a diaper. I got the little guy checked out and we were told nothing but pedialyte for 12 hours. We went home and watched some toy story and had some pedialyte popsicles while I started to clean the car seat. Then with my restless unhappy kid we walked to the store for more pedialyte, since the car seat was being washed. When we got back from our walk he went down perfectly for a nap. During naptime I charged through car seat cleaning and puke laundry. I got the car seat clean and put back into my car (which I thought was fixed). Woke the boy up from his wonderful nap changed his diaper and put him into the car. Then the car decided not to start again, so I used the battery charger and jumped it and hoped for the best and headed to my 30-week prenatal check-up. The boy proceeds to puke all over this car now. So for the second time today I stripped him in a parking lot and changed his clothes, this time I was a bit more prepared. Thankfully my mid-wife let me do my check-up with my sick toddler painted onto me and then offered to get me a flu shot so I would pick-up what he has. We got back into the car for it not to start again. Called roadside to get a jump. So we just played in the car, it is a great jungle gym and roadside only took 20 minutes and we got back on the road. We were going to go to get the car looked at and then the boy started dry heaving again, so scratch that and we went home. Snuggled on the couch and more Toy Story. Then we got a quick video chat with Daddy and the off to bath time. If all else fails just put you kids in water, he hadn't been so happy all day long. Once I got him down, again my Dad came to my rescue to get the car under control and got it checked out and I got a new battery put in it and we should be good to go. I am washing the car seat for the second time today and scrubbing the yucky straps and soon to go to bed after that. I know for most people having a day like this while their other half was gone would have sent them of the deep end. Realistically if my husband was home he would have been at work all day and my day would have gone pretty much the same way. The only thing that would have changed is at the end of the day my great man would be sitting next to me right now, which would be great. This is not what I had planned on writing about today but then life happens. So 1 week down 103 to go and hopefully they are not as eventful as this week, but I am sure this will not be the last. Oh well hopefully tomorrow is a little bit better. We will see.

Baby Bump update- 30 weeks

30 weeks already! Crap I need to get my act together for this poor kid! I feel like I have done nothing for this poor kid who will be here in just 10 short weeks. Now that we are into the 3rd trimester my engagement ring has been put away for now and we will see how long I will be able to keep wearing my wedding band. My husband got to see me grow for 6 more weeks then he got to with my first pregnancy, he was very amazed to watch the bump grow in those six weeks. Sleep is not happening as much as I would like, but I will take anything I can get. Being 30 weeks with a very clingy toddler (i am hoping it is a phase) who likes to be carried and to hug on me a lot of the time. Just getting comfortable with this bump is very difficult I am tossing and turning all night from side to side. It is amazing to me in the next 10 weeks he will more then double his weight. At 30 weeks the baby is about 3 pounds and my little boy was 7 pounds 1 ounce at 39 weeks. It is fun to be pregnant a second time and get to compare notes and to be a little wiser this time around. I am very glad that we are here if anything where to happen we have so much wonderful family and friends so close by, that I don't worry at all about being pregnant alone with a toddler. That coupled with the fact that we got to skype with Dada tonight I think I will sleep very well tonight. All you got to do is move your feet and you ass will follow and take it all one day at a time.

i need more hands

So now that I am doing this single mom thing I am forced to deal with the fact that I only have one pair of hands. I still have not figured out how to take out the trash. I would move all our trash to outside and then my husband would walk it down to the dumpster at the end of our building. I physically can do this but logistically I have yet to figure it out. The problem is I need 2 hands to take out the trash if I bring the little boy with me I need one of those hands to hold his hand? I think about doing it at naptime and I think that is the only logical solution to this problem. I just get paranoid leaving my baby (soon to babies) asleep in the house while I walk to the dumpster. Everything else I will just need to adjust to since I have been spoiled for the last 15 months. Things like going to the park, making dinner, making sure when we go upstairs or downstairs we have everything we need so we don't have to take more unnecessary trips up and down the stairs (since there will be nobody else in the house to grab what I forget). 

There are good parts to being the lone parent. For starters I never need to have a conversation about who is doing bath time or what the plan is for the day because everything for the most part is my call and my responsibility. With that said some how I have to get my glucose testing done Monday very bright and early on my own with a toddler. I am hoping while I have to stick around for an hour for the test they will let me walked around the building with the little guy and I will be very prepared with lots of snacks. I am sure once #2 gets here this lack of hands issue will be taken up to another level, but we will just cross that bridge when we get there. Unfortunately you cannot plan and prepare for everything, you just got to live it. Nobody else can really help you do that, you can get tips and help from family and friends along the way, but truly these family separations are just something you got to do on your own and find your own way to make it work.

731 days to go...

All 731 stars are up and I am ready to rip them all down! Well it is official the hubby is in route to his new "home" for the next 2 years. He started traveling yesterday evening and will not be to his final destination till tomorrow morning. We are hanging in there. I do my best not to cry or break down in front of the boy. The last 30 days have been such a blur of just doing everything fun and not thinking about how crappy and hard this is going to be on us all. Both last night and tonight after I got the boy out the bath he went to look for Dada to get his goodnight kisses, so he has his Daddy doll in his bed with him and keeps kissing on it. That is what kills me at night, but if he didn't look for Dada I think it would crush me more. I miss my husband and we know we are doing the right thing but that doesn't make it any easier. We love our kids so much and this is the life we have chosen, it will get better in time, it always does. For now I just got to keep breathing and get through this first week and get into our new schedule. Sigh.... time for some more ice cream.

18 months old

So my little man will be 18 months 3 days! I can remember giving birth to him like it was yesterday and now he will have a little brother in 4 short months. I have been thinking about getting him into the big boy bed for naps so in the next 4-6 months when the baby will need the crib he will just want to be in the big boy room. He is hitting and biting and I am reading "Happiest Toddler on the Block" so we will see what works and how we get to the other side of this. The biting is very deliberate and I think because he cannot communicate what he wants, he doesn't even try he just grabs my arm and sinks his teeth in like an ear of corn. On top of it all I think for sure there are more teeth coming in! Yesterday he was up and screaming at 4:30am and cried for 45 straight and didn't want anything I was trying to get him to settle down. So I gave him some medicine and did better the rest of the day and took a long nap. Today was more odd behavior for him. He didn't want to get out of the stroller after our Stroller Strides class this morning and play with his friends; he was just a grumpy face. By dinner tonight his bottom canine "holes" were fire engine red so i got my fingers crossed that those pop out tonight and in the morning I will get my sweet boy back. Thankfully when he is in pain he just wants to cuddle and watch a movie or we always got the water table and the weather is awesome so we will be just fine, I just hate to see my boy not being himself. Good night and hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Baby Bump update- 22 weeks

So we are 22 weeks already! It is crazy how fast this all just fly's by while you are chasing a toddler around. We do not have an official date yet when my husband is leaving but we have a tentative date and we only have about 7 weeks to go as a family under one roof! So we are just soaking up every moment and counting down till the next chapter.

This week is World Breastfeeding Week and I came across this article CDC Calls Out Hospitals For Not Supporting Breastfeeding

I breastfed my son for 13 months and I feel that my success was do the great nurses at my hospital putting that baby on me every moment and having great women in my life to support me no matter what. My opinion on the subject is this I totally agree they should support the mothers decision on how to feed their baby, unfortunately many women who want to breastfeed never get or can afford to get the support to do so and are forced into bottle feeding. I wish it was as easy as a personal choice for all and support either way was available if needed. Unfortunately the story I hear from my friends that wanted to breastfeed and can't it usually goes like this. A lactation consultant never met with them while at the hospital and since nobody showed them how to breastfeed the baby is given formula in the hospital, making it more difficult. Then when home milk never comes in and when help is looked for it is already too late and when they decide to commit to formula, and then they are made to feel like a failure. None of this is acceptable in my book, mothers should be supported and surrounded by love in the beginning stages of motherhood. I truly believe i was successful because the hospital did what this article suggests, the baby stayed in my room , and the nurses had no problem waking me up during those first days to feed him every opportunity I had, and that I had a great support system. Whatever your choice mothers need to be supported and given the resources to do what is right for them. I loved my time as a breastfeeding Mama and can't wait till December to have another nursling at my side constantly, it was such a wonderful blessing and magical time in my son's life!!

Baby Bump update- 20 weeks

Well we are half way done! It is amazing how fast time goes the second time around and while chasing a ever changing toddler. We found out for sure we will be having another little BOY!! Everything is going just perfectly uneventful and just growing and feeling more little bumps every day. I can't wait till the stores start carrying all the Christmas outfits so i can start picking out the boys matching Christmas outfits! So exciting and scary to know I will be raising two little men, the on my own part is the scary part. Somehow it will all work it self out I just wish I could fast forward to the other side of this family separation. After going through 3 deployments I know my husband I will make it work somehow I just wish I knew how that all works out.

We are just enjoying every moment...

So we have orders but we are still waiting on the official dates. We know my dear husband will be moving to Oki for a two year unaccompanied tour. This separation was our decision but that doesn't make it any easier. He will be leaving sometime in September and we are hoping he will be able to come home for 3-4 weeks in December for the new baby. We have been talking about this next step for so long and I know with my experience with going through 3 deployments now you can't plan for this stuff. You just got to jump in so I am ready to jump so we can move past this and move forward. I don't know how I am going to raise to kids on my own for 2 years. All I do know is if I keep moving my feet my ass will follow! I just hope we made the right decision and the little feet follow and they later understand that we are going through this as a couple and parents all for them. We will just have to see how it all plays out and how we handle this next stage.

Baby Bump update- 19 weeks

Everything is going just perfectly. I am starting to really look pregnant now so it is getting fun. I had a an appointment last week and I had Scott with me and my mid-wife let be the big helper with the doppler. So he would push the button on and off and I would say either "uh-oh you turned the baby off!" or "can you turn the baby back on?" and he was so proud of himself and my midwife and her nurse were so excited to see for the first time since he was ity-bity. It is amazing how fast this all goes. She said everything is great and my weight was perfect which is always good news, weight in pregnancy seems to be this odd balancing game for me. Sometimes i am too low sometimes too high and I just don't like talking about my weight every time i come in since it is really not a good way of measuring proper nutrition since everyone gains weight differently but that doesn't reveal anything about their diet and true fitness and the real health of mom and baby. I can't weight till next time to share this whole experiences with my little man! I love being a mom and growing babies!

Summer is here!

After not having a summer last year now that I am incubating a little person we are having a record hot one this year. I have been very tempted to ask my husband to sleep in another room, but we have been managing. We have made lots of trips to the pool and beach this last couple of weeks and my little boy has zero fear of the water, which makes everything more interesting. We don't have dates yet but we do have orders and my husband will be leaving in September some time for 2 years unaccompanied tour. So we are just leaving it up and trying to enjoy this summer as much as we can. Once we get dates I will start my mental count down till then. In the mean time I will just keep organizing as much as I can and prepping for this big change so I stay ahead of the eight ball. I got my in-laws coming in a couple of weeks so I just need to stay on top of keeping this house running well and staying clean and organized. I feel good and things are just seeming to fall into place so hopefully we can keep that up.

Summer outside cooking

I love cooking for my family! I wanted to share some of what I have been feeding my boys this week.

Tuesday: Balsamic marinaded steak and corn
I just bought some new gourmet Herb de Provance infused olive oil and Juniper Berry balsamic vinegar from Baker and Olive in Encinitas, CA. So I took my new treasures and marinated some steaks for 24 hours and simply just grilled them over a high flame. While the steak cooked on one side of the grill the corn in the husks did there thing. I know it all sounds very easy, but if you do it right you can keep it simple.


Wenesday: BBQ drumbsticks and potatoes
Another dinner on the grill ( it is too hot to cook inside rght now) I dusted the drumsticks with bbq seasoning and sliced the potatoes into wedges. Warmed up the grill. Put the potato wedges in a foil packet with some Italian dressing. The potato packet goes in the center of the grill for the whole cook time. The drumsticks get lined up around the packet and rotated a quarter turn every five minutes for a total cook time of 20 minutes. I serve the potatoes with ketchup and my husband and 17 month old devoured this! 


Thursday: Mini Farfalle with Cherry tomatoes, Broccoli and Romano Cheese off the Barilla Piccolini box! This is one of new favorite places to get quick dinners latley. They are quick, use ingredents I usally have and these resipes are delishious and the boy loves eating pasta with a fork and just shovels all those yummy veggis away.

And the little man has learned the "N" word...

So my little man has learned to say NO. He is almost 17 months old and is now very helpful and following directions very well. Just as I was getting used to this new wonderful stage we just crossed into we woke up the next morning in another new stage. So last week we woke up and we got dressed and once I got ready to go we went down stairs to get some food and get the boy changed for the day. After I got him his milk I told him we were going to change he diaper. He hears this and says NO very clearly for the first time and then takes off running away from me shaking his head. So I calmly repeated my self and scooped him up and he proceeded to sink his razor sharp teeth into me, within in five minutes the bite had turned into a bruise that lasted about 4 days. With more skills he is learning and wanting to do he is getting more frustrated while learning new skills. Sharing is also something that is going to be an interesting skill for him to learn. Lots of patience will be needed on my part as we keep learning how to communicate and help my toddler grow through this phase. I also just keep thinking about things I can do to make this transition to being a big brother as smooth as possible. Well I will keep thinking and praying on this but like everything in parenting I am finding out you just got to jump and figure it out as you go, because there is no planning any of this you just got to live and learn as you go.

Baby Bump update- 16 weeks

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going so far! I guess when you don't figure out you are pregnant till 7 weeks along your perspective is a bit different. When I was pregnant with Scott we were actively trying to make a baby so we knew at 4 weeks and it wasn't that shocking. I love growing another baby I think the second time around is better just because I get to enjoy it all a bit more and appreciate everything more. At 16 weeks I can already feel this kid bouncing around in there, it wasn't for 7 more weeks with my first baby. Also I constantly worried about things outside of my control with #1 now I am bit more lade back and just going with the flow a bit more. I am still in that awkward stage where a lot of my weight and proportions have redistributed and my shape is a bit frumpy now but I don't quite look pregnant yet, which is a bit frustrating. This pregnancy like my last one has been pretty un-eventful and feels great for the most part. I had a no chicken in the house for a couple weeks, the raw chicken grossed me out and when we would go out cooked chicken didn’t taste right. The good news is as soon as I passed the 14-week mark that was over and my appetite came back with a vengeance. I really hate how obsessed dr.’s are with those little numbers on the scale. For nine months they tell you are too high/low every 4 weeks and then you have this beautiful baby and every time you come in it is the same story about weight/growth till you child is about a year old. It is just frustrating that so much is measured off a number that really is not an accurate measure of nutrition or health. It is just one of those annoying parts of this whole process I could deal without. Other then all that growing baby number 2 is going just swimmingly and I am enjoying the processes so far.

My Man and I- Our story

On Wednesday December 22 2004 my roommate and I went to our normal bar for happy hour and line dancing. We had a friend in town from NY so us girls were having some fun and enjoying ourselves. The one of us knocked one our purses off the bar and it landed standing up right, square on this tall Marines foot. He just stood there saying "maam your purse" there was no way he was going to touch a ladies purse. Then he just kept coming around so I finally cornered him and asked him if he was going to buy me a beer or not? We met up a couple more times and within a month I could expect to have him up from base almost every weekend.

Went spent most of 2005 together then we got the news he was deploying again. He was assigned to a 14-month deployment and since we had only been together for a year we decided to try and stay together through the deployment. He went home to CO for 2 weeks in the summer of 2006 and I was there. Then in the fall he called my Dad from Iraq and asked for my hand and then ordered a ring and sent it to his folks. So I started planning a wedding he got back in January of 2007 and we were married in July of 2007 and went to Disney world for our Honeymoon.

Shortly after being married we got the news of another deployment so I got a friend for this one. In October I got my bulldog and in November my new husband was gone again. That year I spent my first Thanksgiving with his family on my own in WI, not many people spend holidays with their in-laws without their spouse, but I will learn later this would be something I would get used to (good thing I love my in-laws). He got back in the summer of 2008 and we went straight back to Disney World for trip number 2, I had created a monster, who would have thought my big tough Marine would convert to a Disney nut too!! Then I finally got him home for a while which was fun but defiantly a big change and a lot of adjusting to get used to.

Then we started house shopping and never thought it was going to be a 9-month process from the first house we saw till we closed escrow on our place here in Carlsbad in August 2009. In that time I was laid off from my job and was just doing little temp jobs and we had gotten pregnant and were expecting our fist child. Once we got the house we found out another deployment was in our future, he had been home for a year and half. He left again in November of 2009 and I was 23 weeks pregnant. We got lucky enough that he got to come home for the birth of our son for 4 weeks before he had to go back out. He got back in June of 2010 to come home to a 5 month old and now I was a full time stay at home wife and mom. So again we all needed to adjust to our new chapter in our life all together, so went to Disney World for family trip #3 and the first one for the boy.

He has been home for over a year now. About 8 weeks ago I found out that very unexpectedly we were pregnant with baby number 2, we were planning on waiting till September to start trying for #2. Well God had a different plan for us and so did the Marine Corps again. A week after finding out we were expecting we got word that we had to PCS within the next 6 months. So we were given 72 hours to make the tough decision between 3 bad options. We mad the hard choice to do the 2-year unaccompanied tour in Japan, so the kids and I will stay here in CA and my husband will go to Japan for 2 years. We made that choice 7 weeks ago and have yet to receive our orders to confirm this is what is actually going to happen. So now we wait to see what the future holds for our little family only time will tell how this one pans out. I hope you enjoy our journey.

A breif history of how I got here....

Hi! I am Lisa a twenty-nine year old Marine wife and stay at home mom. I was born and raised in Orange County California. I am the oldest of three girls and my sisters are my closest friends (we got a lot of history there). I went to Chapman university in Orange and graduated with a BS in accounting. After graduating my roommate and I loved country music and more importantly we loved to go line dancing. That is how I met my husband over six years ago. I am a Disney nut and the only one of my sisters who has never worked for the mouse. I never thought that six years ago my journey so far would have looked like this. I have been through three deployments with my husband totaling two years and four months over the last five and a half years. In that time frame I have also gotten married, got a puppy, a house had a son and I am currently expecting baby number two in December. I hope you enjoy my journey through this very unpredictable life as a Marine wife. I love making my husband and my son happy everyday. I love spoiling these boys everyday it makes me so happy just to get the little kisses and hugs. My husband has a saying "move your feet and you ass will follow" this is the motto that keeps my head up when going through the hard times of this job. As we see another separation of our little family in the future I hope you enjoy reading about my journey of being a wife and mother with a husband who can't always be around like most people take for granted.