Nursery Pics!

Waiting patiently for his sister 

The ottoman/chair will eventually have light pink slipcovers...Rocky will not

My sweet boy

Nursery Pics!

Sweet little Caroline's nursery is finally coming together, and we are all excited about it! Her chair and ottoman just arrived today, and we are now just waiting on the light pinks slipcovers that will go on them. They aren't supposed to arrive for another 4-6 weeks, so hopefully Caroline will make an appearance after the slipcovers do, not before :). 

I thought I'd share some photos of the nursery that I took today. As you can see, Rocky likes preparing for the arrival of his little sister just as much as I do. He's really calmed down and we are really having a great time together, now that he listens to us!

To help orient you all, crib is against the wall that is directly to the left of the door. The chair and ottoman are in the back left corner from the door, across the room from the crib. The drawers are in the back right corner, and the diaper changing table is on the wall directly to the right of the door (which is in a corner itself). I hope that helps, and hope you enjoy! 

Pics to follow in the next post...

Scary Time Game

I have always loved the game when I think that a certain event will happen in X number of days, and then think back that same amount of time to compare in my head how long that period of time will be. For example, my birthday is in two months. Two months ago was mid June, what was I doing then, and how long ago did that seem?

Well...here's one that TOTALLY freaked me out today. I saw on the little "pregnancy tracker" on my blog that I have 49 days until my due date. That's less than 50 - frightening! Anyway, that's in 7 weeks. And 7 weeks ago was July 2. That seems like yesterday! I just can't believe it. And I know time will fly for the next month, as Greg and I prepare for his deployment and tie up loose ends for the baby. I'm so excited, but definitely have this sense that my last days of complete and utter freedom are dwindling! On the other hand, having Rocky around definitely restricts us to a certain extent, and I still don't feel "tied down", so I think life with a baby depends a lot upon one's attitude toward having a little one around ALL THE TIME. But I guess I'll find out soon enough. 

Just thought I'd share - this last trimester is flying!

Quick Update

I haven't written in a week, but that's mostly because it's been somewhat uneventful. SoCal is still hot, hot, hot (in the 110s every day), and thankfully, our A/C is working wonderfully. 

Greg is winding down his work before he has leave, so we've been spending some time planning a trip we are going to take together. We haven't been on a real, more than a weekend vacation just for ourselves since our honeymoon, so we're really excited! Since I can't fly (or won't be able to in my last month), we are going to take a road trip up Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco. We plan on stopping in Santa Barbara and Monterey/Carmel, before landing in San Fran for a few days. We can't wait! The weather promises to be much cooler on the coast than it is here, and we are excited for a "babymoon"/predeployment vacation to spend some time together. 

Other than that, we are also spending time looking at cars. Since Rocky and his worldly possessions can barely fit into the back of either of our cars as is, we decided we'll need to move up a size to have enough room to travel with baby, Rocky, and, in the more distance future, potentially more kids. There's a specific car in Arizona (which has lower sales tax than CA, by 2%) that we're eyeing, but because it's in AZ we haven't had a chance to physically look at it or test drive it yet. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it's still at the dealer this weekend, which is when we are planning on going over to see it. Greg has been helping me out with negotiating the prices with the dealer (miserable, as always), so we'll see what we get. Hopefully all goes well and there's a happy ending to this! We really want to get the car before he goes, so that I'll be able to travel to Arizona to visit my parents in the new car over Christmas. 

Finally, the big news - I just found out today that I got in to ASU (that's Arizona State) business school! I'm so excited. Classes start in mid-January, so I have a few months with the baby to relax before I have to hunker down and hit the books again. I'm also excited to be a Sun Devil - one of the greatest things about UVA that I loved was the wonderful athletic program there - ASU (sorry to you Wahoos reading this, but it's true) puts UVA to shame! At least in the basketball/football department. As a student, even though I won't be full-time, I'll have access to student tickets, and all other student services, so I'm hoping over the next few years (Graduation is January 2012) we'll be able to make it to at least one game. 

Phew! So that's what's going on here. Rocky is still being as sweet as can be, and Greg and I are also working on finalizing the nursery/baby gear. There always seems to be something more to get - I'll take pics and post them as soon as we're done!

Greg and Rock

Friends for Life!

Pics from Blue Bell

Tessie and the boys playing wiffle ball 

Greg describing his ping pong tossing techniques to Ben 

Enjoying a relaxing weekend

Fun Weekend in Blue Bell

This weekend, Greg and I traveled back East to Blue Bell, where we spent the weekend with his family and friends. Since I won't be able to travel by plane after the first week in September, this weekend was the best time for us to come and say goodbye to everyone before he leaves. 

We had a blast. It was so much fun to see everyone, and to catch up. We took the redeye to Philly on Thursday night, and spent Friday sleeping/relaxing, and spending time with the family. Saturday the Gehrings had a beautiful BBQ for Greg, and many of his high school friends/parents and family members came. It was so great to see everyone, especially since we hadn't seen a lot of them since our wedding. My mom and dad also made it up, which was nice, since Greg hadn't seen them since New Years'. Sunday we relaxed a bit more, and geared up for our 6 AM flight back to California on Monday. Even though it was brutal to wake up at 3:45 to make the plane, it was nice to land before 11 AM California time, and have the whole afternoon to relax, play with Rocky (who was tuckered out from his weekend at the Grand Paw "pet resort"!), and get things in order back at home. 

It was so great to be back in Blue Bell, where there are always fun memories made, and wonderful food :). Greg won't be back until late Spring/early Summer of 2010, but I will be coming back with our newest addition for Thanksgiving, and can't wait! Until then, I'll be enjoying my plane-free time for the next few months...

Greg's Roommate on the National News!

Last night, Greg stumbled upon this clip from the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, and saw his old roommate from TBS on it! His roommate is currently in Afghanistan with his unit from Camp Pendleton, and can be caught on camera using the term "hunky dory" around 1:40 into the clip. Regardless, it's pretty cool to see what they're doing over there - enjoy!

PS - It's pretty remarkable just how much this part of Afghanistan looks like 29 Palms - not much of a transition in that respect :)

Preggo Update

I realized this morning that I haven't given an update on how the pregnancy is going. It's still going, and going strong! I've added a "Pregnancy Ticker" that is set to end on my due date, so you can see roughly how many days I have left. 

I will be 31 weeks on Thursday, which is kind of scary! I can't believe I'm well into the third trimester, and only have two months left. Crazy. I'm definitely feeling myself slow down a bit, which is consistent with how most people say they feel. My lower back has started to ache regularly, it's hard to bend down and tie my shoes, and I get winded just walking up stairs (which thank goodness I don't really have to do out here in the California earthquake zone, where most buildings are one story)!

Caroline is definitely still moving a lot, and I can feel her elbows, knees, and sometimes even her head in there. Her favorite times to move are in the early morning and late at night. She's gotten so long that when she moves on one side of my stomach, I can clearly feel a corresponding movement on the other side. I also can tell that she's getting so big that there isn't as much room to move as there used to be. She's not doing flips all the way around as much, because it's getting a bit cramped!

Another interesting thing that's happening is that my appetite is decreasing. I've read that this is because the baby is pushing down on the stomach, so you have less room to store food. I'm still eating normally, I just get full fairly fast. It must be similar to having gastric bypass surgery :). I also am finding myself going to the bathroom all the time, even if I haven't been drinking water.

My next appointment is August 31, after which I'll probably start going on a weekly basis until the baby arrives. Greg and I are attending our first of four "childbirth classes" tonight, which should be interesting. I've heard they're similar to the painful unit of biology that everyone dreads (the one where you watch the birth video), but we'll see!

NY Times Article

This article was in the New York Times about three weeks ago, but I still think it's worth sharing. It was on the front page of the Sunday Travel section. The topic? Crabhouses of Maryland's Eastern Shore! The crabhouse this article talks the most about, Waterman's, is where I grew up frequenting with my family (and where I actually ate the night before this article came out). It's amazing! Just wanted to give you all a taste of my favorite meal....

Crabhouses of Maryland's Eastern Shore

Greg's Back!

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the overdue update. Not much has happened since I got back from Maryland, although I have to say, it's nice to be back in our own home. I never really realized what a creature of habit I'd become until I went home to my parents' house for three weeks, and was subject to living other people's routines, and not mine. I missed our yard, Rocky, and the quietness of our house. That's not to say I didn't miss the 115 degree heat - it has been SO hot here! I saw on the weather report that the high in Yucca is supposed to be in the low 90s this weekend, and I seriously thought to myself how cool that is...funny how standards change.

Since I've been back, I've been busy trying to get the house somewhat in order for the baby's arrival. I shipped back all of the wonderful gifts I received while I was at home, and have been unpacking them and trying to get the nursery in order. I also took a Child/Infant CPR class that I saw was being offered on base, so I feel somewhat prepared in that arena, although I hope and pray I never have to use those skills! Other than that, I've been busy finishing up the application for the ASU W.P. Carey MBA program, which starts in January. I had to write three essays, and I had completely forgotten just how painful admissions essays are! I finally completed them last Thursday, sent in my recs and transcript, and am now just waiting to hear. I hope I get in! If not, whatever happens happens. 

The biggest thing that's happened since I last wrote is that Greg is home! After over a month at Mojave Viper he came home last weekend, and it's been great to see him. I think he's also enjoyed being able to sleep in his own bed, eat real food, and hang out with me and Rocky. We are both getting so excited for the baby, so it's been fun to go shopping for clothes with him, decorate the nursery, and get other baby things! Even though he won't be here when she's born, it's great to have the time together to anticipate her arrival. He's also already given me permission to take a 7 month vacation when our second child is born, so we can call it even :). 

This weekend we are heading back East to Blue Bell, where we will be able to spend time with Greg's family and friends one last time before he deploys. I can't wait to eat some Pudge's cheesesteak (chicken cheesesteak with mushrooms, to be exact), and to see everyone! It will be my last flight before the baby is born, so even though it's a miserable redeye on Thursday night, at least I won't have to deal with a plane for a few months. At which point I'll have a crying infant on my lap :). 

So that's the update. Thanks to everyone for keeping in touch with me!