Gettled Settled

So far we have accomplished the following:

*bought rugs for the living room & boys' rooms

*unpacked ALL boxes

*bought Jonah's swing (it plugs into the wall, rather than going through 6 "D" batteries a week)

*put together Jonah's crib

*decided on a "theme" for Jack's new room (Trucks/cars/all things with wheels!)

*ordered new bedding for Jack's said room

*Washed all of Jonah's clothes to get them ready for him

*Been to both the comissary and Px more than once

*Enjoyed a local festival (Craig Morgan was there!)

*Started to hang wall decor

*Took Jack to the splash park

*Had two baby appointments at Blanchfield Army Hospital.

*Decided a second C-section is what's best for Jonah and I.

*Found out I'm severely anemic, upped my iron dosage, and started feeling much better and less exhausted.

*Jeff has started inprocessing.

*Jack has learned new words and phrases like "shoe", "sorry", "woo wee" (as in "woo wee, it's hot!" he picked that one up from me by accident), "huuuuhh ya!" (as in "huh ya, karate chop!"), and "nose"

*I scored a super cute maternity shirt for $6 from Old Navy last weekend that actually makes me feel cute being 8 months pregnant.

*Forgot how many bugs there were in the midwest in the summer, were reminded how many bugs there are in the midwest in the summer, bought bug zapper, bug spray, and a citronella candle immediately.

*I crafted something for our friends' baby boy (She's getting induced today, Congrats Amber and Mark!)

*I liked Trent's sign so much, I decided Jonah needed one too

It's starting to feel like home...



Insomnia

It's five in the morning and my sleep cycle is ALL messed up. Jack has been out since about 2300 and I'm still awake. Obviously the fact that my hubby wakes up for his day around midnight our time has something to do with it. I just can't bring myself to go to sleep when A) I'm not really tired and B) I could be talking to him instead of staring at the ceiling in the dark trying to fall asleep. I think my plan for tonight, er, this morning is to just stay up. I might as well. I'll hope that this will make me tired enough to fall asleep around 2100. I'm hoping to get Jack and I on a 2100-0500 sleep schedule because thats what daddy's is when he's working in the states. We will see how this works out.

The past couple days have been filled with reconnecting with friends I hadn't seen in a while. Mainly, Dustie. Dustie and I have been best friends for quite a long time. We kept in contact when we graduated high school but not as much as we should have and wanted to. It's so good to be around him again. I need trustworthy friends that would help me no matter what if I needed it, and friends that are good with Jack. He definitely fits that description. (And I think my mama is glad to see him again too).

Ashley is another friend that I have missed. Of course I was still seeing her every once in a while, but again like with Dustie, not as much as we wanted. Laura and John watched Jack on Saturday so Ashley and I could head to River Valley mall to get some Christmas shopping done. We had a blast and found tons of really good deals, and I can fully say (with the exception of Ashley and Erin) I'm done with Christmas shopping! Woo! Go me! Well I guess I still have to get Jack's walker but other than that, completely done! AND, everything is wrapped! I know, I'm on a Christmas roll. I'm expecting a recruiting call from the North Pole fairly soon actually.

It's deployment update time! Jeff is, as usual, doing very well. He has recieved most of the boxes that you all have sent out so far. And he would like to say thank you. He loves getting mail and boxes. As most of you are aware already Jeff got word that his platoon will be moving locations. This could be a good or bad thing communication wise. We are not sure yet of the amenities that this new FOB will/does have. Only time will tell I suppose.I have been spreading the word to stop all mail going to Jeff until further notice. Well new information says you are now allowed to send mail to his current address until Friday, December 11th. After the 11th, please hold off on sending anything else until further notice to insure that Jeff will recieve your letter/box. Please pass these instructions along. To end our deployment update I would like to let everyone know that this past week Jeff, along with another medic, was named "Hero of the Week" for his unit. He was recognized for his efforts in helping at the aid station a few locals showed up with severe injuries from an IED. Our soldier is doing his job very well over there and even his superiors are noticing. Congratualations Jeff! Here's a picture of Jeff working on a howitzer that he sent me a couple days ago.

Jack is just over a week away from being 3 months old! I cannot believe my eyes sometimes when I look at him and see how much he's grown. He is now wearing Pampers #2 diapers for infants 12-18 pounds. Just little things like that make me realize how much time is flying. I need to enjoy and document every little moment. The precious moments I experience with him now will be replaced by others soon and I don't ever want to forget them. He is getting very strong, holding his head up to investigate his surroundings constantly. He still is a fan of his swing but usually only when he's sleepy. He loves the new mobile mommy got him as an early Christmas present. It runs on batteries so mommy doesn't have to keep re-winding it. It plays classical music, nature sounds, or a heart beat and has the traditional mobile hanging animals as well as a projector that provides circulating images on the mobile's underneath.

In closing, I'm offering big thanks to everyone that has been in contact with my mama and is donating a blanket to Jeff's unit. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such loving and caring support group. My prayer request for today is for all those military spouses going through the Christmas traditions alone right now. As civilians, most of my readers would never think something as small as putting out your snowman cookie tin would upset you. But the truth is holidays hurt for us and there's no way around it. My prayer is just that God will help you all to find peace this holiday season and love with friends and family. Love to all!

Washington visits Ohio

I know everyone is hating this weather we've been having, but I have to say I feel right at home. Welcome to Washington my fellow Ohioans! This gloomy, gray, wetness we've been experiencing is pretty dead on. I actually miss it sometimes, so it's been quite refreshing for me. Yes, I know, I'm an odd one. I'll admit it.

With the big announcement of my weight loss journey yesterday, the daily journal I usually write was mostly overshadowed. Yesterday was a fairly normal day. Jack and I hung out here at home. He was awake most the day and played with his baby gym. I really need to invest in a different model of that gym. The one he has just has one bar that extends over him, and because there's only one, it often gets knocked over by my son's curious arms. I would like to get him one that has to bars that criss cross overtop him. They bars are connected, therefore they are harder to knock over. We will see, maybe for Christmas. We talked to daddy all morning over Yahoo Messenger and webcam. Jack was very intrigued with the keyboard but he looked right at the camera for daddy for a while too. And of course Jeff loves being able to see him. I asked him once if it made it worse when he sees him. He replied with "It makes it harder, but I love to see him anyways." So, every chance I get, Jack sits right on my lap and gets to see his daddy. We love you daddy!

At 2pm Jack and I headed out to Southeastern to pick up Avery from school. The first conversation I had with her in the car went like this:
Avery: "There's Caleb! And there's Caleb's mommy!"
Me: "Oh yeah? Do you like Caleb?"
Avery: "No! He spits on me at circle time!"
Me: "He spits on you?"
Avery: "Yeah, when he says tooth..PASTE!"

Oh my, too be young again. She and Jack are the light of my life. I can't imagine what she'll be teaching Jack in a couple years. And add Justin as an instructor too.. Oh man Jeff and I are in trouble.

We continued from Southeastern to my mom's house so I could get some laundry done. Mom and Max got home about an hour later and did a quick change before heading out to a Symphany concert. The symphany played songs from Star Wars from what I understand, so that was right up Max and Mama's alley. I have not talked to either of them yet today but I'm sure they had a blast. Rick got home and I decided to meet Erin for dinner at my favorite restaurant, Bob Evans! Yum, yum! We ate our dinner, Jack ate his, and the three of us stopped by Wal-Mart before heading home. The rest of the night was pretty boring really, I got some homework done, and put away dishes, did my yoga, and Jack and I headed to bed. 

Nothing really on the schedule for today except our normal Thursday dinner at John and Laura's. I would like to wish Ashley good luck at her meeting today, and say thank you for everyone's great responses to my new lifestyle change and new blog. I will not be importing my weight-loss blog to facebook. So if you want to read it, you'll have to visit the site. The link can be found at the top of the right column on this blog. Love to all! And enjoy a glimpse of Washington :)