Hurry up and wait...

This is an all too common theme in the Army world. Gets kind of frustrating at times. But we will power on to the beat of that slow drum. I don't think I mentioned that when Joe arrived in Korea his unit had no clue he was coming. So needless to say they didn't have a command for him in any near future. The first word we got was about a month ago that Joe would take command in March of 09. Oh boy....that means he would be home a lil over a year after that. So maybe May-June of 2010.....uh that's almost 2 years of tour...uugh. Joe decided to look elsewhere but also considered doing his 12-18 month tour and then coming home without a command and letting the Army figure it out from there. Two years is just TOOO long. Then we got word of a command in Jan 09....ok still not fun but we can deal with that (home in Jan-Feb 2010). Now we have heard of one coming up next month, unfortunately with that one he still probably won't come home any sooner (mainly because it is a longer command). Then there was the issue of R&R (a leave that most are able to get with deployments). We had been told with such a long tour he would probably get nearly a month of leave...woohooo!!! But then bad news....they didn't want to let Joe come home around Christmas like we had hoped because of some field exercises going on at the time. They also said the leave could vary from 6 days (yea right!!!) to a couple of weeks. Everything has just been a whirlwind. Now Joe says it may even be May of 09 before the leave....which isn't terrible but I kinda had my lil "I get to see my hubby clock in ________ days" set for Christmas.
Oh well.....hurry up and wait. "You never know until orders are in your hand" is what Joe always tells me. And even then things can change. I'm just a little sad...hormonal...and feeling like I am carrying a sack of horse feed around my middle chasing after two kids. So this is getting to me. Just wish they could come up with a plan. But what can I do? Thus is the life of a soldier.....and his whiny, round, pregnant wife :)

Great news for Garretto Burrito!

This is not usually where I post about medical stuff but I was so excited I just want everyone to know :). Most everyone knows my kids have reflux. Joe is a severe case....combined with other GI issues. And Garrett was considered a moderate refluxer. He had an appt today and I was really hopeful because he has done so well lately. His doc (who is also Joe's GI) was just as impressed with him as I am :). He agreed that Garrett looks fantastic. He is actually above the 50% (has been 25% or below since birth) for weight and has even grown 2 inches just since May!! Then came the really good news. We are going to start tapering his reflux med!!!! We are adding a less potent one and he will be on both for a few days then I will decrease the heavy one over a couple weeks time. And hopefully around Christmas he will be off all meds!!!!!! I am more than excited about this. We have always been concerned since even talking about having more children after Joe and needless to say I was terrified when he was refluxing before we even left the hospital when he was born. Dr. M just looked at me today and said, "This is cake compared to Joe isn't it?" and I said "Heck yea!" Of course we love Joe to pieces but no one wants their child to have such health issues. If lil Katie is anywhere near where Garrett is I will be thrilled. So hopefully the next few weeks will be great for Garrett and his reflux road will officially be over :).

One more appt down...

I had another OB appt. Everything looks about the same as before. I gained a lil bit of weight so she was happy to see that. I'm measuring at 32 weeks and her heartbeat was about 144. Ultrasound looked good. She is still very low but at least there was a lil fluid between her and my cervix this time. I am still about 1cm dialated. She had her schedule for the 1st 2 weeks of October but not the 2nd 2. She said when she got it she would give me a call and we would schedule a date for an induction :):):). She would also be looking at who was on Labor and Delivery everday and if she sees me checked in she will come down and help :). I'm pretty happy even though I am pretty miserable too. By this time with the boys I was on bedrest and magnesium. ANYTHING is better than that stuff. I took a pic using the timer on my cam this afternoon.....so here is the Katie bump :)

I gave birth to a monkey!!!

A couple of weeks ago Garrett figured out how to climb onto the couch and the dining room chairs. I figured this was typical almost 16 month old behavior. Well after getting out of the shower the other day I found him on my bed!! I have no idea how he gets up there, and I have caught him up there twice since then. Obviously he is proud of his new found talent ;)

Baby Girl Diaper Cake

I love making these. And they make great gifts. This one is for a lady in my Sunday School class who is due about 10 days before me. Her shower is this weekend and several of us chipped in so I could make a big one :).

There are many ways to make these but I think mine turn out pretty cute and are fairly easy. Here's what I do:

Cut a piece of cardboard into a circle shape for your cake platter then cover with tin foil (some actually buy real cake platters but this is much cheaper and it still turns out cute)

Next roll size 1 and 2 diapers (I only use size one for the top layer) from open end to closed and hold with a small rubber band (lil girl pony tail holders work well). You can roll the diapers with the design panel facing out or in just depends on how colorful you want your cake to be.

Using a large rubber band arrange rolled diapers into circular layers. Then use packing tape to stick them to the platter and in between layers.

Place outfits, toys, bath items, etc. around the cake.

Use colorful ribbon to hide runner bands. Wired ribbon makes really pretty bows (especially for left handers like me).

And you are done!! You can spend as much or as little as you want on these depending on the diaper brand and how large you want to make it. This one has about 110 diapers and cost about $115, but I used Pampers and have three outfits and the blanket made it spendy. Like i said if 6 or so people put in 20 bucks it turns into a really nice gift for the mama :)

Woohooo I can see the light!

I had my 30 week appt today for the pregnancy. Everything looks good with our lil one. Her heartbeat was great and she moves ALL of the time :). A couple of downers are I have been having some major contractions for about 5 weeks now. And I found out at my last appt that the baby is very very low. We have tried several things to "lift" her a bit, but it doesn't look like that will happen now. As long as the contractions don't turn into real labor within the next 5 weeks we should be. At least my doc said she wasn't going to worry about it after 35 weeks. The other thing is my weight. I don't gain a whole lot with my pregnancies (15lbs with Joe and 23 with Garrett). With the boys I just wasn't hungry and with this one I have never been sicker in my life. The first 15 weeks were awful and I had about 10-12 after that that were ok, but now I am back on prescription meds to keep my tummy happy. I have been joking with Big Joe that he better be glad I was this sick with the last one and not the first...because he may only have one kid. All in all things look fine though. I'm trying to soak in all the kicks and good things about pregnancy so I can treasure them. I won't think about the car sickness, all day sickness, and awkwardness of it all ;).

Moving on up...

Well my boys have had some major changes :). Joe is officially in kindergarten!!!!!! His schedule is kind of weird for the first couple of weeks because of testing but he is doing well so far!! Of course his favorite thing is riding the bus (as much as my nerves hate it ;)). His teacher is very nice and has already noticed Joe's humor, his love for purple, and elephants. Evidently he is pretty good in math too :).

Garrett also had a move up. In preparation for the new baby I am moving Garrett into Joe's room. Last night was my second attempt at getting him to sleep in there and it worked! Took me a while and a few falls from him out of the bed but he fell asleep and stayed there til 5am. Then I went in there, laid down with him for a little bit, and he slept til nearly 8am :). I hate moving him so young. Joe was 2 yrs old before I put him in a toddler bed (one reason for waiting was because of his feeding tube) but Garrett seems so very young. I just don't want him thinking the new baby is kicking him out of his room. Poor guy...I just feel like he had to grow up fast.

Anyway...adjustments all over the place!! But they are such good boys...they always take things in stride with cute smiles.