catching up

well, it's been a while since i've written about the general goings on around here. while i've got some free time (waiting for jon to get off work and get on the computer so we can talk to him), i figured i'd do just that! :)

trevor's started to really love building things w/ his blocks - in fact if he builds something he's really proud of, he yells "no!" if you talk about knocking it down! strange, since most kids his age find that part to be the most fun. . . santa had good timing when he was gathering presents this year, since trevor's getting a set of megablocks! anyways, here's one he did all by himself--

after i took the picture, he tried to add another block to the top and it fell over; pretty good though, considering his age. . . anyways, b/c of this, jon took to helping trevor build REALLY tall towers out of blocks the last couple weeks before he deployed. this is one they did together--

we opened a couple of our christmas presents early this year, since jon won't be here for the holidays and have been putting those things to good use. . . my dad got us a wii, and even trevor likes to play w/ it--

he likes to help daddy stear his car right off the course in mario kart! :) i got another baby carrier, a mei tai, as a gift from jon. i got to design it myself, which i was really excited about. here's me wearing trevor on my back w/ it--

it's reversible too (the other side is a large black and white floral print - not super girly though, which is good considering we'll have 2 boys soon!), so that makes it that much more fun! i haven't used it much b/c the day after i got it, my back started to hurt like crazy, so i've been using the stroller more or just having trevor walk. once the baby comes though, i intend to make VERY good use of my new mei tai! :) (and for anyone who's wondering, it's a babyhawk)

we took trevor to see santa at the squadron's children's christmas party and were surprised to find that trevor was the ONLY kid there under the age of 3 who didn't scream his head off when he went near santa! he was a little worried at first, but once he saw me w/ the camera, he flashed a huge grin, so i got a really cute picture--

he didn't have QUITE the same reaction to the santa at the mall, but then again, that one didn't have combat boots - maybe that made all the difference! :)

a few days after the visit w/ santa, we had family pictures taken and they turned out REALLY well! here's the one of trevor from last month, as well as the family picture--

we all needed haircuts, so that came next - trevor wasn't as brave as the last 2 times, but in his defense, he'd gotten his flu shot just 2 days beforehand, so i can't say i blame him for being a little fussy. i didn't think to take the camera for that, since it was his 3rd haircut, but i was able to (kinda) get a picture of MY haircut. . . the last one i got (in may), the girl totally butchered my hair, so i got a complete overhaul on the style. i dunno how well you can see that in this picture, but oh well--

the last pictures i have are from the day jon deployed. he cried before he left, which made me cry (of course) and confused trevor. here are the pictures from his departure (it was a commercial flight, so we couldn't wait w/ him like last time)--

the 2nd picture is really distorted b/c the guy we asked to take the picture apparently didn't bother to get us out of the sun enough before snapping a picture. . . i did what i could to fix it, but it'll never be a GOOD picture. oh well, it's better than nothing, and you can at least tell who it is, so it could be worse.

since jon's been gone i've immersed myself in various projects. i'm finishing up the christmas shopping and trying to organize my house (not really cleaning so much as decluttering). . . the other night i started working on the rag quilt i'm making for nudger, and after christmas, i'm gonna get started on his room. we decided not to paint, but i wanna get some posters on the walls and get everything set up while i still can. trevor will be getting his big boy bed as a christmas present, so i'm hoping the transition will go smoothly for us when we get back from visiting my mom for the holidays. once i'm sure he's doing well w/ that, i'll set up the crib in nudger's room and get to work! :)

in all, things are good here. we miss jon immensely, but are trying not to think about it too much b/c that just makes it harder. i try to keep myself busy and set goals to keep myself positive, and we talk to him on the internet via webcam as much as we can. the timing is hard b/c of his shift, but we're making it work the best we can. trevor has been amazing so far w/ his daddy gone. i expected a week or 2 of tantrums galore and he hasn't really had many issues. he fussed alot the first night, whining for his daddy and not wanting to come near me, but after that, he seemed to "get" it and calmed down alot. he cries in his sleep most nights, but he doesn't wake up, which i take to mean that he just misses his daddy. during the day he's a happy boy. he knows we talk to daddy on the computer, so whenever i'm on, he asks me "dada?" about every 2 minutes. it's cute, and he gets SO excited when i finally tell him yes, it's time to talk to daddy. he doesn't talk for very long, but he's all smiles, giggling and babbling away, and when he's done he tells daddy "bye bye" and waves, then gets down off my lap and does his own thing. :) he's adjusted much better and MUCH more quickly than i ever could have dreamed; when jon deployed in january, it took a week or 2 before the fussiness stopped, so i was expecting the same thing again this time. i was happily surprised and am DEFINITELY not complaining! :)

gender ultrasound - FINALLY!

so i think it should be termed cruel and unusual punishment to make a pregnant woman wait this long (21 1/2 weeks) to have an ultrasound when she wants to know the baby's gender, but whatever. i guess i already knew military docs were sadists, right? so yeah, they made me wait till i was 21 1/2 weeks for this u/s even though their guidelines say they'll do it anytime between 18 and 22 weeks. nice of them, huh? oh well, what's done is done. . .

SO, we got to see our little one for quite a while, just relaxing in there - even had one foot propped on the opposite knee - just like trevor does all the time! must be comfortable in there! :) the baby is doing really well, everything looks great! however, this kid is BIG - measuring a week ahead of schedule, so either my due date is wrong (unlikely) or this one will be MASSIVE (likely, especially considering that trevor was 9 1/2 lbs.). . . also, i'm going back for another u/s in a month b/c my placenta is low, and they wanna make sure it moves up. they're confident that it will, as am i, but please keep us in your prayers for that anyways. if it doesn't move, i'll have to have a c-section, and i wanna avoid that if i can! like i said, they aren't worried, and neither am i, but let's all hope my placenta moves up a little higher to avoid that issue entirely. . .

and NOW the news you've been waiting for, the reason i'm sure you're reading this post: it's a. . .

BOY!

we were surprised, we (and everyone we've talked to) were sure it was a girl. but there was NO mistaking it on the u/s. the picture they printed of the boy parts wasn't the best view we got, but that's ok, you can still see it. . . we got 10 pictures total, so here they are, the "boy parts" one first. . .

my favorites are the ones where he's rubbing his eyes (#8 in the lineup) and where he's just relaxing w/ one foot propped on the other (#9). . . at one point he had his feet like that and his arms behind his head! they didn't get a picture of it, but it was so stinking cute!

we haven't come to an agreement on any names yet, but we're working on it. we've still got plenty of time, so i'm not too worried. it seems harder this time than it was w/ trevor, but i'm sure we'll have one chosen before he arrives. till then, we'll just keep referring to him as nudger. . . :)

don't know how i forgot to post this. . .

. . . but jon's deploying again. we found out last week on tuesday that's he's leaving on 12/15 for 4 months. it's short, and the timing is pretty good, but he's sad he's gonna miss christmas, and we're both nervous that he won't be back in time for the baby to be born. . . i'm due 4/19 and that's about when they'll be sending him home (we hope). HOWEVER, it's better than the alternative, which was that he'd deploy on 4/26. . . yeah, i'll take this over that option ANY day of the week! :) he may miss the birth, but he won't miss the first 4 months of this baby's life. we both agree that we like this better. oh yeah, and i have friends here on base who are willing to help out if needed, including giving me a ride to the hospital when the time comes. :)

anyways, he'll be pretty safe where he's going, so i have every confidence that he'll make it home in 1 piece. he'll be doing his actual job this time instead of baby-sitting tcn's, so he's happy about that at least; tcn duty is super boring, from what i understand. so yeah, he's happy he'll be getting to do a job that he knows and enjoys, even if he has to be away from us for so long. we're also glad it's only 4 months, many of our friends and family have MUCH longer deployments b/c of having chosen to join the army or marines. even those in the navy are gone longer most the time.

this way too, there's almost no chance of him deploying again before his contract ends in a year. that means the largest space of time possible for him to look at his options for when that happens. it'll give him a chance to job hunt, apply to grad school, take the officer exam, and apply for ots. PLUS the extra money he'll be earning from being overseas can help fund any trips he has to make for job interviews, as well as hold us over financially if it takes a month or 2 before we find something that works for us. so, like i said, it'll suck to have him gone and possibly miss this baby's birth, but it really is the best timing we could have hoped for. :)