A little exploring

Believe it or not there are huge hills here in Kansas, I was amazed when we first got here!  I really had imagined us living in the middle of a flat, dry wheat field, which is not the case at all.  Outside the main gate at Ft. Riley there is a huge automic gun of some sort (You can tell I really understand all of this Army stuff...), up on a hill overlooking the freeway and Ft. Riley.  One afternoon we hiked/walked (remember that 6 1/2 months pregnant thing?) up to the top, and there were some great views.

 Looking across the freeway at Ft. Riley

This is the "hill" we hiked.  See those tiny people and the gun at the top?  It was actually quite large once we reached the top.



Kansas City Vacation

We wanted to do something special for our 1st Anniversary, and when the Army gave us a 4 day weekend, we decided that was the perfect opportunity for a little getaway to Kansas City.  It was a relaxing weekend filled with a lot of shopping (yes, I have the best husband in the world), eating, driving around, and touring.  Our families favorite kind of vacation!  Some of the highlights were: touring the Harley Davidson factory, visiting Hallmark headquarters, chasing the google car, seeing many different fountains around Kansas City, and eating at Grinders Pizza (a Dinners, Drive-ins, & Dives recommendation that did not fail!).   

 No pictures were allowed inside the Harley Davidson factory, but it was indeed very cool.  Shane enjoyed seeing the power train operations up close, as he'd studied so much about that at school.  The tour walked us through the ground floor of the plant, where we saw machines making every part of a motorcycle. 

 Nerd alert!  As we were driving Shane spotted the "google car" and so of course we had to chase it for a while to get close enough for a good picture.  I can't tell you how many times I virtually walk down streets on google images, so we were both over the top excited to see a google camera car in person!  There may or may not have been some smiling & waving going on.  Although, rest assured we did not look like this.

 While Hallmark headquarters didn't have a factory, we enjoyed walking through the history of Hallmark museum, and watching gift bows being made from machines in a matter of seconds.  It was neat to see Hallmark products, cards, and movies from a long time ago, and from different countries around the world.

Pretty botanical gardens we walked around.

28 Weeks!

Week 28:

How much weight gained: 3lbs total weight gain!!!  We are out of the red, and growing fast!
Latest food craving: No real cravings, but my sweet husband did make a McDonalds french fry run for me this week J

Anything making you queasy or sick: Scrambled eggs, public bathrooms, and movie theater popcorn.

Mostly happy or moody: Happy, but getting a little more anxious.
Wedding rings on or off: On
Worst Thing about being pregnant this week: Glucose and blood testing L  

Best Thing about being pregnant this week:  Officially in the third trimester!

Update from within:  These two weeks came and went so fast, I can barely keep up with time anymore!  Lets see if I can remember what all is going on around here.  I am now the size of a head of cabbage (mom thinks that’s gross!), I am growing so much these days, which I try to let mom know quite often that I’m running out of room.  My favorite move is some sort of twist, flip, kick, head-but action all in one.  A sweet friend gave me a cool car seat, which was a huge blessing, and now I ready to ride in it!  I’ve also been given so many clothes by friends and family, I think we maybe set until I turn 10 years old!  God is so good at providing for our family.  Dad even picked out some new clothes for me on our recent trip to Kansas City, my favorite shirt says “BOY GENIUS”, it’s as if my parents already know me!  Mom kept her (nasty!) glucose drink down for an hour, and managed to give what seemed like 10 vials of blood without flinching, thanks mom!  Other than that my parents are just attempting to get more projects and things done around the house and get ready for my arrival. 

One Year Anniversary

We celebrated our 1st Anniversary last week! What a wonderful, crazy, adventure-full year of growth for both of us. Here's a little summary: We've lived in 3 different places, traveled across 20 different states, faced separation for 3 months, learned to love the south, taken many spur-of-the-moment trips across the United States, learned to decorate our own house, graduated IBOLC, Airborne, and Bradley Leader Courses, found a small church we called home, made countless new friends, learned to cook for a small Army, faced sickness and brokenness, hosted many family and friends in our new home, learned about car maintenance, and the biggest news of all-fell in love with our new addition, Matthew, who is due in September. Writing all of that out makes it apparent that the Lord has blessed us abundantly, given us more strength than ever imaginable, and taught us a tremendous amount during this first year of marriage together. Though we live a crazy life, its our life; we wouldn't trade our struggles, blessings, growth, flexibility, adventure, or love for each other for anything else in the world.

26 Weeks!

Week 26:

How much weight gained: 1lb gained, finally reached my pre-pregnancy weight!!!
Latest food craving: I always want fruit, but Shane bought me marshmallows too!!!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Random unexpected things, nothing specific. 

Mostly happy or moody: Mostly happy
Wedding rings on or off:  Still on, though really big
Worst Thing about being pregnant this week: Back aches galore, and missing the energy I used to have.
Best Thing about being pregnant this week: Got to see our handsome little man again at another ultrasound!

Update from within:  I’m still a boy!  Mom and dad got to see me moving all around at our latest ultrasound.  They saw pictures of my tiny feet, and handsome little face.  They think I have dad’s nose and mouth, but only I know for sure.  Mom and dad also found a good changing table for my room that matches the crib pretty well, now we just have to figure out how to arrange the room.  Mom likes to read in my room and picture me asleep in the crib.  I think both my parents are pretty excited about my upcoming arrival, judging by how much they talk about me.  Dad even prays for me at the dinner table every night, I love them both!  Life around here seems about as normal as it can be for now, although mom would like to think her weekly vomiting isn’t normal, it really has started to be.  Mom tries to think of every little baby item I will need and is slowly accumulating things for me, while dad works hard on his bradley’s and being a platoon leader.  In other news my parents did decide on a first name for me, but are waiting to announce it until I have a middle name.  Such suspense! 

Weekend life

We have been staying busy lately, but enjoying the weather, and our new house and town.

 Roasting Marshmallows on the grill!

 Before my birthday date!
Shane bought me an icee (my birthday request!), took me out to dinner, and to see What To Expect in theaters.  We also found our stroller and a few other baby items at the post-wide yard sales that morning.  All in all a wonderful birthday! 

He's becoming quite the grill pro, and our food is always delicious!

24 weeks!

Week 24:

How much weight gained: 2lbs gained, still at negative 1lb overall
Latest food craving: Loving ice cream these days!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Scrambled eggs, bell peppers, and peanut butter again (sigh…)
Mostly happy or moody: Happy!
Wedding rings on or off:  Both rings on
Worst Thing about being pregnant this week: Back aches galore, not sleeping well, and throwing up again L
Best Thing about being pregnant this week: A random stranger asked when I was due!  First person to recognize I was pregnant!
Update from within:  I am growing like crazy these days.  Mom thinks she is enormous, though I think this is only the beginning.  Although even dad noticed mom is finally growing more of a baby belly.  Dad got his 10 days off for moving finally, and so we enjoyed a lot of family time.  We even spent some time in Texas with our families, it was so much fun!  The 10+ hour car ride wasn’t even as bad as we thought it might be, I’m already a pro at road trips! We did a lot of celebrating the past two weeks as it was Mothers Day, and my sweet mom’s 24^th birthday.  In this family that means a lot of yummy food, I can’t wait to partake in all the eating!  How appropriate I am 24 weeks on mom’s 24^th birthday!  I gave mom a sweet card for Mother’s day telling her how lucky I am to have her as my mom, I know it isn’t easy on her, but I love her very much.  Dad went back to working a normal schedule again, so for mom and I it’s lots of cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, back aches, and propping our feet up.  What a wonderful life I have!