A Stroll Down Memory Lane...

Some of you may have my post about how I found out I was pregnant and how I told Kevin. If not, go check it out if you want.. I thought, I might as well take a stroll down memory lane and write about journey through my pregnancy with Leala. That post started it all.

So now, on to the next part of the journey. We knew that Kevin would have to go on deployment soon (July 5th, 2007), so we only had a month together after we found out that I was pregnant. We went ahead and bought some baby things, so that he could play a part in the shopping part of it all. I know, it could be considered bad luck to do such things, but you do what you can when the military is involved. Plus, we were overly excited about being pregnant.

I was so happy that I got pregnant when I did, b/c it seemed like perfect timing. He was home long enough at the beginning to be there when I found out, and even for when I started showing. Then we was back home from deployment by the time I was 33 weeks pregnant. Yes, he missed most of the appointments and yes, he missed hearing her heartbeat for the first time and the first ultrasound, but he did get to see the last ultrasound. I was even allowed to record her heartbeat and the first (internal) ultrasound too. So, I mailed that to him (which of course didn't get there until well over 3 weeks later), and I played the heartbeat over the phone for him too. :)

Yes, I said I started showing fairly early. I got big, fast... and stayed big.. haha.. There were two sacs at the beginning, but the second egg never developed. We didn't know all this before Kevin left for deployment, but everyone did say that it looked like twins. :)

So, here we were.. married for 2 years, been wanting a baby for a while, but couldn't because he was stationed in Japan and I was in Texas... and we just found out I'm pregnant... and in a month, he was leaving to go on deployment on the USS Enterprise (eventually near Iraq). Oh, and did I mention that none of my family lived around there. Everyone was back home in Texas.. and I hadn't made any friends yet either.. we had only been in South Carolina for 2 months before we found out I was pregnant.

I knew things would be hard, but I made the choice to get pregnant. We wanted a baby, and if I had to be alone while pregnant, then so be it. I would make it through, some how..

I thought I could do it. I didn't think I'd need anyone.. That I could make it through, until Kevin got back. I didn't need any new friends there. South Carolina wasn't my home. It was temporary. We were only staying there for a year and a few months. I didn't need any strings holding me there. Though I felt "prepared", little did I know how little I knew..

This was taken at 8 weeks and 5 days... I was showing already. :)

The bassinet, baby clothes, blankets, towels, etc that we bought before Kevin left. We got the carseat and stroller too. Oh, and yes, that's in the living room. We kept it in there, since that's where we spent most of our time, so we could see it more often. :)

Stay tuned for the continuation of my walk down memory lane... through my pregnancy with Leala.

A year ago today...

I can't believe how much things can change in a year. Change was a big one for us this year.

I (again) don't have much time to write tonight. I am working on a project of getting a lot of pictures developed, so I'm having to go through all of them, pick out the ones I want printed, and edit them... I'm doing this to all pictures from all the way back to when Leala was born.. maybe even further if I can edit them before the sale ends. :) But I thought I'd at least leave you with a picture from a year ago (in 5 days).

I was 37 weeks pregnant. Kevin was finally home from deployment (had been for a few weeks). I was so beyond ready to have our baby and looked that way too! I was happy, anxious, excited, scared, and anything else you can think of. My family wouldn't be able to be there for the birth (they lived back home in Texas and we were stationed in SC at the time), but they'd be coming to visit that week after Leala was born. I still had 3 more weeks to go, and didn't know how I could get any bigger... oh but I did...

Here's 2 pictures from a year ago. 37 weeks pregnant. 3 more to go.

Now What?

So yeah.. yesterday, while I was doing all my cleaning, I pulled a muscle in my back. It hurts to be on the computer, so I won't be writing a real post today. Hopefully it gets better tomorrow. It is feeling somewhat better than earlier today, so I'm hopeful. :)

Leala is a cutie!

Leala has been doing a lot of cute things lately since I have been MIA for a while.

*Leala growls back when you growl at her.

*While we were at Chili's yesterday, a waiter walked by and Leala casually looked at him and gave him the most awful face she's ever made. He even jumped back and said "did you see that look she gave me?" It was hilarious. Our sweet little girl can be so vicious.

*Now she waves and says "hiiiii" to everyone over and over in a very high pitched voice.
Kevin then taught her to say "bowl" this morning. Every time he said it, she repeated it like a pro.

*The other day Kevin held Serenity (his niece) since she wasn't feeling well and Leala objected with "ah-ha, ah-ha" as if coughing to get his attention. It was too funny. The whole family was laughing about it.

*That reminds me, she also mimics people who are coughing by coughing back. The only person she hasn't done that to is Kevin. He thinks he's special.

*ANY time music comes on (or even if it's sudden sounds) she begins to dance. She'd wave her hands in the air and moves her little body around. The other day she was at the table, she placed her hands on the table and moved her body side to side. It was so cute.

*She likes to comb Kevin's hair (almost everyday for the past 3 days now) and kisses him. She's trying to be a mommy.

*We have a giggling baby doll and Leala hugs it like her own baby. It's so sweet. She gets the biggest smile on her face and tilts her head to the side when she hugs her. It lasts about 5 seconds and then she throws the doll, lol.

*She's getting really good at kissing. We almost just have to pucker up in front of her. And oh, she kissed her grandpa and said "ahhh" as if she finished drinking water.

*As a baby, she liked to hit Kevin in the face. It was fun and cute before but Kevin didn't want her getting use to it now that she's older, so he told her "no" when she was about to. She stopped with her hand up and lowered it, but lifted it up again. Kevin told her "no" again and so she put it down, leaned up and kissed him on the lips. He then pretended he was mad at her and she kissed his chin. Too cute.

*She sticks her hand down my shirt sometimes but she accidentally did it to Kevin and he looked at her with "that face" and she looked at him like "oh.. wrong person" and then kissed him. So funny.

It's good to feel alive again...

So, since we were finally feeling normal again (still somewhat sick, but not really), we ventured out today. Actually, today was the first time we have gotten out of our pajamas since New Year's Day. haha.. I did laundry yesterday and everything was pajamas.. Good times..

Anyway, I will get to my story, as this needs to be rather short, since we haven't relaxed all day. We ran several errands that were building up.

* First, we went to the bank to cash a check.

* Then we got gas.

* Then we went to Ross to see if we could find these certain socks for Leala. I've looked everywhere and can't find them.. so I thought I'd give it a shot.. Plus I wanted to look at their clothes for Leala and toys, just in case. (Her birthday is less than a month away, so I wanted to finish up the shopping). Oh, no luck on the socks here... but we did find some others that I hope will work. It was only a 3 pack though.

* We treated ourselves to lunch at Chili's after that. Ross and Marshall's are right next to eachother, and Chili's is the only close place around there.. We were hungry already, since we didn't get to leave as early as I wanted.. Oh well, we had a fun time. Leala was wonderful too.

* After that, we went to Marshall's to return a dress I had bought Leala when I didn't know what size she would need. It was her birthday dress, and I didn't know which one to get - the 18 month one or the 12 month one.. Hubby is always good at that, but he wasn't with me when I bought them. We looked around for some things and got Leala a back-up outfit for her birthday and got her one more outfit for a gift for her birthday.

* Then we went to Toys R Us to get the toy toys I needed to finish up Leala's birthday stuff. I couldn't find them at all. I know they didn't have the book.. It was out of stock.. I don't know about the purse thing.. Oh well.. because..

* After that, we went to Babies R Us to get a few things, and they had both toys there! I was so happy. :) And we got her the little white and pink bloomers I've been wanting to get her.

*Then we made our last stop at Kohl's to see if they had the socks.. nope.. (they're called humpty dumpty socks.. or Carter bubble socks). So we got this other kind (since I've been searching for weeks, even though I saw tons of this size when I bought her last size). Hopefully they will work out.

*Then we finally came home.. 5 hours after we left.. Oh and don't forget there were a few stops to feed Leala in the car, before or after shopping.. and once at Chili's. She was such a trooper though. She did so great today.

Tomorrow I will have to write about some of the funny things she is doing now and did today.. too funny and cute! Oh and Kevin did great too! He was with me the whole entire time, and kept a smile on his face too!! I don't really think the smile was genuine 70% of the time, but oh well. haha. :)

Doing better...

This is the closest to normal we have been in several days... I still have a runny/stuffy nose, but I am feeling much better. I did end up throwing up my dinner, but I don't think that was related to my illness, since it was the first and only time vomiting through all this.

Kevin is doing better. His fever went down last night. This morning it was 99.1 and then by noon, it was down to 97.9. I am so happy that his fever finally broke and that he is feeling somewhat normal. His cough still sounds bad, but he doesn't cough much. He still has drainage, but like everything else, it's not as bad as it was.

Leala is still teething. Last night she refused to sleep in her bed. Every time we put her down, she woke up and wanted us again.. So about 1 AM, I gave up and put her in bed with us. I needed my sleep. The last few nights, she has done well and slept the entire night. I know getting that sleep was the only reason why I was getting better through all this. I hope that she does well tonight.

I am so thankful and lucky that Leala didn't get sick this time. I'm not sure how I could have handled it.. I know I would have somehow, but I'm glad I didn't have to.

I hope to start blogging like normal again soon.. hopefully tomorrow. I might be doing some recapping of things that happened last year and maybe even years before that.. If you have any special requests, let me know. Until then, have a great day/night.

Thank you again for all your concern while we've been sick.

Doing a little better..

Kevin's fever finally broke this evening. Well, it's still a low-grade fever, but at least it's not 102.something.. Last time we checked it was 99.2 I think. He says he is feeling much better, though he's still sick of course. Leala is doing pretty good. Still teething, but doing good. I am alright... Honestly, I don't even know how I am.. haha. I haven't even been given the chance to see how I feel. Mommies aren't allowed to be sick, so I haven't been.. lol.. Ok, seriously, I have my moments of course, but I think I am feeling better too.

Things will hopefully be getting back to normal soon. I have a long list of things I want to do soon, including finishing up my resolution list... yes, I'm making one.. And it's long already.. Some things are goals, some are improvements, some are just reminders... but the list is stuff that I need fresh in my mind, so I can achieve them. I'm sure I'll be writing about it here at some point.

For now, I'm going to brush my teeth and get to bed. Thank you again everyone for all the kind words and support.

Thank you everyone!

It is so great to sign on each day to see all the lovely comments from all of you. You are all such sweet women. I couldn't ask for better bloggy friends. Thank you for all your concern, thoughts, prayers, and good wishes.

Kevin and I are still sick.. I'm not sure if we are better or worse.. There's moments where we feel better and moments where we feel worse, so who knows. Leala is doing well. Still teething, but she's a trooper.

Thank you again for all your wonderful comments. You guys really do bring a smile to my face. :)

Yes, again.. a short post..

So, Kevin and I are sick... and Leala is still teething.. I have been feeling gradually worse throughout the day, as has Kevin. And of course I can't take much medicine for it, since I'm breastfeeding Leala.

Anyway, again this is the end of my post for today. I am such an awful blogger friend.. I will catch up on as many blogs as I can while Kevin takes a quick shower. The rest will have to wait..

MIA

So, today has been a long day. Leala is whiny and clingy. We spent most of the day at my parents' house. I feel like I might be trying to get sick now.. And Leala won't go to bed.. So, this is the end of post again.. I'm sorry I have been somewhat MIA, but I know you understand. Hopefully I'll get caught up tomorrow.