Third Trimester, Three bedroom home…there’s gotta be another 3 somewhere…
Sunday welcomed in the start of my thrid trimester. It is now that I really have to watch how much I eat because Zack will cram himself up to my tummy and make me feel miserable for hours after I eat. Fatigue has set in again and I feel like I have to have a nap just about every day. Granted, it is harder now with Bry at the FTX all week. It is crazy how just a couple of weeks ago I was crazed about cleaning everything and getting everything ready for the movers. Now I’m kinda meh about it and just ready to go. Zack is now measurig at 3 pounds and his head and femur measurments are at around 30 weeks…yikes! I feel that he is definately be bigger than his brother. The real shock that is getting me now is that I will have 9 weeks to find a new OB.
After many calls, things are starting to work out for us in Ft. Bliss. We now have a P.O. Box so that transition can go well. I swore to Bry on Monday that I would call housing in Bliss every day this week until we either got bumped up on the two bedroom wait list or got the three bedroom. Tuesday the lady I normally speak with on this issue was not there and I left a message with no result. Wednesday I called and she took care of it right there on the phone. We now have a three bedroom house waiting for us. For that I am very greatful since the 2 bedroom wait was over 4 months long. I was not looking forward to my baby being born and having his first month or two be in a hotel and not our house. Since we planned things well, all of our things, including the car, should be arriving no later than Halloween. I seriously cannot wait to have my things back. Not being able to bake is driving me nuts. John has gotten desperate for toys and is playing with his bath toys in the living room. Just two and a half weeks left to go!
*hugs*
~Jen
Less than one month left!
Right now we are sitting at 28 days left. The realization that we are indeed moving has hit full on. Thursday the movers came at 11 and finished by close to 7pm. Friday the temporary furnature got here. It was rather interesting bringing John home each of those days and seeing his reaction. He did quite well and I was impressed. Hunter actually took it the hardest. For two days, all he wanted to do was hide.
Despite the chaos of last week, we took time to have fun this weekend. We went to Tobolino’s to celebrate the neighbor boy’s first birthday and we enjoyed our annual Parish Picnic. It was Father Victor’s last Sunday with our Parish, he is going to Kuwait for a year. September is full of temporary priests coming in on only the weekends for us. We will not get to meet the new priest. We also found out that a dear friend of ours in the choir has cancer and we will not see her again before we leave since she is already back at Walter Reed getting Chemo and radiation treatments for the next 8 months. Tonight marks our going away dinner with the choir as well. It will be our last time at our favorite restaurant, Casa Europa. Our director wanted as many choir members to be able to attend as possible for our farewell, so that is why we are doing it just a few weeks early. Plus, we won’t need a ride this time either. I look forward to good food and great company.
This week we ship out our car in hopes of it getting to our new base before Zachary arrives. Let me tell you, moving while pregnant, makes the days to delivery tick by even faster. Right now I am at 27 weeks and it feels like the end is very, very near. It’s kind of scary in a way. I just hope we are close enough on the wait list to have a home when we get there. I don’t want to have a baby and live in a hotel!
Alright, the rest of the family is awake, time for me to get breakfast ready and start getting things ready for today. It’s going to be a busy one with shipping the car, WIC, getting gas, maybe going to the store one last time with the car, checking mail, choir practice, and a wonderful dinner!
*hugs*
~Jen
Clean freak!
Ok, now that the checklist is all done, (proud to say it) I am ready for our stuff to be gone so I can go nuts cleaning every little thing. Is it possible to nest this early? I have stuff organized and ready to go. I have the urge to buy more cleaning supplies. Stuff gets packed up tomorrow and I want to start putting my kitchen stuff on my dining table so there is no need for the packers to go in my kitchen. I want to hide our luggage and other things not getting packed yet in there.
The neighbors are coming over tonight for my chili. It stinks that people we’ve lived next to for so long are such great people and we didn’t realise it until more recently. The wife wants to combine her son’s first b-day with John’s second b-day next weekend so John will have something before we leave. I guess we will talk about it more over dinner tonight, but I’m kinda hesitant to do so. I do not want the first b-day kid to have to share his day with someone. We were just going to wait until we moved to do anything for John’s b-day. I did set aside a gift a good friend sent for him so he can actually open something on his b-day and take it with him since his b-day is 3 days after our unaccompanied baggage gets picked up. We still have not really decided what we want to get him. I was thinking either a swing set or a lil’ toddler table and chairs so he can sit in a chair his size and color, read, whatever. Eventually, both boys would end up using either thing we get John. I just want it to be something that will last for years to come. I guess it will all come down to how finances are since we have to buy new cell phones, new washer/dryer, and a van.
*hugs*
~Jen
To Do List for this weekend…for my sanity.
1. Measure and weigh cat carriers
2. Book kitty tickets
3. Get health certificate appointment booked for kitties
4. Bring luggage up and pack clothes, paperwork, and stuff I do not trust the movers with
5. Clean out the car
6. Donate stuff that didn’t sell at the yard sale to Thrift Shop
7. Get DVDs all in the travel cases and toss the plastic cases away
8. Put files, passports, moving paperwork, orders, etc in travel file cases
9. Comb through the house to find out what is getting packed next week, unaccompanied baggage, and hand carried.
10. Sort #9 so things not getting packed next week are hidden away.
11. Laundry
12. Dishes
13. Spot clean
14. Have neighbors over for chili while I still have my Crock Pot(s). 
*hugs*
~Jen
The chaos of moving
Never again do I want to prepare for a move towards the end of a fiscal year. After several phone calls to our new base (mind ya, 8 hour time difference), I discover that we cannot reserve our room for the Army Lodge for the day we get there yet. We have to wait until the third week of September! We fly out the following week!! It is because they are changing their prices. They can’t charge us the current rate for two days and then charge us the other 8 days at the new price. Sounds rather silly to me.
We had our yardsale last weekend and it went fairly well. There are a ton of books that need to just be donated to the Thrift shop. The PS2 stuff flew off the shelves as well as our clunky camcorder. I was happy to get rid of those and our pre-lit Christmas tree.
I had my glucose test the other day and it was an adventure. A friend of mine from Spangdalem came down with her kids to make sure I didn’t conk out after fasting for 15/16 hours (I last ate at 8:50pm the night before and didn’t get to eat again until 12:30pm). We nearly witnessed a lady give birth right there in the waiting room. The delivery rooms were full and only my doc was working back there. He was quite the busy fellow. Once one room cleared up, they finally let this poor woman through. About 15 minutes later she had the baby. I was able to help her get comfortable in the waiting room when her friend returned though. I thank God I took Prenatal Yoga with John and learned some things for all that.
We decided to sell our van that we just bought two months ago. It is not worth it to ship the second vehicle and drive across TX twice to get the cars at different times. It would cost as much as we paid for the van itself. Bry was against it until I did the math. Then his eyes goggled and he agreed to set it up for sale. It was a hasty buy. We had a guy the other day come and look at it and he got pissed when we said he could not buy it right then. The add said “or best offer” and I told him on the phone that there were at least 7 others waiting to look at the van and we wanted to hear their offers too. I might have been a hasty buyer, but I will not be a hasty seller. Already we have an offer $500 more than our asking price.
Sorry this is all out of order, but I am writing as it comes to mind. I also called housing for our new area to see where we are on the wait list for a 2 bedroom home. The lady who answered said that she was not quite sure because 2 bedrooms were getting mighty scarce there. Then she asked how far along I’d be by the time we get there and since I am in the third trimester and they want to free up the 2 bed room wait list, we got put on the 3 bedroom wait list! How awesome is that?! All I had to do was fax her my proof of pregnancy. My neighbors pulled through on that, I was on my way to the PX and said I had to fax something, she offered to let me use their fax machine. 
Made my day.
Today we have O Day at Brigade level. Mind you, it is supposed to rain all day. It has already started at 6am and they are all doing a 3 mile run in it. Since my hubby can’t run, he’s standing in it. Yay. 
I hope they have tents or something set up or a back up plan in case of rain. Also, we are being charged $4.25 to even go and eat at it. Strange, right?
Anyway, I need to get goin’, lil’ man is up and I need to get us ready to go.
*hugs*
~Jen
Dad’s Stuff
Debs contacted Dawn a few months back saying that she and I could have Dad’s old things, finally. Dawn went to pick them up last night. The hutch was found, but it’s in bad shape. I plan on scoopin’ that up and fixing it up. Dad had wanted me to have that for years, but it sat in a basement for 12 years. There is also a lizard from Mexico that one of our exchange students got my Dad. I figured since we may be moving to the good ol’ south west, I’ll take it and place it proudly on my new desk. There are tons of old books, some toys for my boys, a jacket from a prison my Dad worked at, and a cigar box.
Dad smoking cigars and his pipe were good memories. The smell of cherry tobacco still gets me to this day. That is why the cigar box filled with knick nacks is kinda important. The smell of it just brings warmth to me.
I guess after Debs settles in at her new place there will be more stuff. She packed room by room first before thinking about things and then she went through what was left and pulled aside things for Dawn and I. I am just so happy to be able to have more of my Dad. I know memories should be enough, but I look forward to snuggling in that old jacket and looking at the art that I made him when I was in school.
My sis should be sending the box soon so it is here before the movers come. I’m probably going to be an emotional mess going through all that stuff, but it’ll be worth it. Perhaps I can finally get that shadow box done that I have dreamed about making for years for the patches and pins from when Dad was in the Coast Guard and from when he worked in the prisons too.
*hugs*
~Jen
Moving stress
Alright, as most of you reading this know, Bry did not pass his language test to the Army’s standards. He was very close though. Mind you, native linguists have taken the same test and cannot get the best scores, they get the average scores from what we have heard. So it kinda makes you wonder why they keep messing with that test to make it harder when the natives can’t even score super well. He did try quite hard for the test and I honestly think he was just burned out. We just got back from leave and then he had 1.5 weeks of 8-9 hour days of nothing but Russian. It was like DLI all over again, only a shorter period of time. Because of the slightly below average score in one section of the test, Bry might have to reclass. Before it sounded like it was for sure he’d have to reclass. Now the unit is wanting to just have us move to EP and let them deal with it. Perhaps they will let him try again in 6 months again…which we thought was no longer an option. We still do not have a definate answer and I would love one this week because we have a meeting with transportation next week about when to pack up our stuff and ship it out. I have a huge urge to pack up stuff too. I need my ceramic stuff packed up and I think it’d be useful to pack up our books and such, just to have the guys in and out and then I know where my stuff is. Plus I can fib about my paint like I did last time. I am just so ready to be out of here. I want to get to wherever we are supposed to be so I can have this baby, be unpacked, and be done hopping around for another 3 years.
*hugs*
~Jen
Vacation and stuffs
Last week I got back from visiting my mother. For the most part the trip went well. John slept for a total of one hour on the 9 hour flight to get there and passed out at landing. How he can sleep with his head wobbling about worse than a cheap bobble head doll is beyond me. I let him nap an hour while we waited for our bags to come off the plane. He was not happy until we saw Gramma with the cheese crackers. That was an instant bond there.
Mom is skinnier than most of us would like. Granted, she has always been teeny tiney at 5’2 and being maybe 102 pounds when wet. She is down to 94 pounds and kind of puts Claista (sp?) Flockheart to shame with the skin and bones look. My mother eats, I witnessed it. She still eats like a bird though and she has the metabolism of a rabbit. Why can’t I have her genes?
Doc is good but ever the more frustrated at not being able to find a job. Possible employers want to talk to his previous boss (which would be himself) and then they have issues that he has not had more recent ER experience. On a good note, he and Bry got to go out golfing while we were there. Mom and I stayed in to watch Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
While there Mom and I really only had one tiff. It was about church, strangely enough about my old church and not my “new” one. Bry and I went to Catholic Mass on Saturday night and decided to go with Mom and Doc Sunday to my old church. Nice compromise, yeah? I thought so. Sunday morning I am all ready, John is all ready, Bry is halfway there while Mom and Doc are still getting ready. This is when Mom decides to throw the, “I don’t think you should go to church today” crap at me. I ask her why and she does not want people to ask questions as to why I am not taking communion on communion Sunday (mind you, my old church only took communion on the first Sunday of every month). I told her to stop hiding me away and let me go so I can see the people who wanted to see me and so I could see my grandparents one last time. I told her that I was not afraid of the questions and that I’d be more than happy to answer them. With that, I won the argument and all of us carted off to Community of Christ.
John got roudy right before the service started, cueing me into his need of a nap. I took him back to the nursery and got him down. I laid him down in his stroller and wheeled him out to our second row seat, blocking the isle behind me. G-ma and G-pa were sitting right behind us (it was that morning I found out that my G-pa is the only one in the entire congregation that does not know that I am Catholic. I knew he didn’t know, but I did not know that everyone there except him knew…kinda ticked me off). First off an announcement is made that the church has open communion and that as long as you were baptised in a church you can partake of it. Not so true for Catholics people. It was hard to focus on the word there since I kept debating just taking it anyway and confessing it later (if I had to) or ignoring it completely. First the bread was served and Bry waved it away. I looked away and my G-pa reached over and tried to push the stroller away. I had a firm hand on it because John was stirring quite a bit in his sleep. G-pa then seemed upset that they weren’t serving me (the first pew was empty and we were in the second. They could have served me if they wanted to, but they knew, so they didn’t). By the time the grape juice (yes, grape juice) came around G-pa was whispering frantically to my G-ma wondering why I wasn’t being served. It was then that I had a hormonal moment and started crying because this was not the way I wanted my G-pa to find out I was Catholic. I wanted to be allowed to tell him myself, not witness me not taking communion in the church I was raised in…heck, the church his parents were raised in as well as every generation after that.
After church we were all supposed to go out to chinese for lunch. All of a sudden, G-pa was too tired to go. I honestly think he just didn’t want to ask me about my new faith. He wanted to avoid conflict and I can respect that. As long as we can all still love each other, I am good.
I think it was Friday that we went to see G-ma and G-pa (before the church incident) for lunch. It was hard seeing G-ma and her mind slipping away. She made Chicken Ala King, but fogot how to make the gravy for it. It was just chicken and broth over egg noodles. Later I found and old picture and could swear it was one of my uncles as a boy. I showed it to her and at first she thought the same thing, later saying it was G-pa as a boy. Several times in the few hours we were there, she pulled out that same photo and kept asking us if we knew who that was. Right before we left, we measured John on the wall where all us kids have been measured, right by the fridge. She marked his spot and looked puzzled, “I forgot his name”. I played it cool and told her his name again. She even needed computer help and Bry helped her out there. Apparenlty it was prompting her for a password and she knew what it had to be. Bry figured out that there really was no password, changed it to what she wanted it to be before making a great judgement call to not have her have a password for her computer at all. I thanked him profusely for that.
Saturday afternoon we went to a cool kind of zoo called Hollywild (Google it). Instead of retired “acting” animals from commercials or movies getting put down, this zoo takes them in. It is a non-profit organization and wow…I loved it. First we took a safari ride in a bus with the windows cut out. We were given huge Jewish crackers to feed the Emus, Deer, Scottish Long Horn Cattle, Llamas, etc. The Rhino from the Zicom commercial resides there. It was amazing to be able to feed them that close and be able to pet them too! John loved it to pieces. I thought he would be afraid of the Scottish Long Horn named Tex, but he loved him all the more when he slobbered all over his hand. Seriously, that guys tongue can wrap around your wrist and cover you in goo. It was great! At the opening of the zoo there is a little area where you can pet/feed goats, chickens, sheep, and zebras! I loved up on that zebra! Mom made a chimp, lioness, and a parrot go nuts while we were there. I will have to post pics and video sometime.
In the end, John slept 6 hours on the flight home while we got none. He seems to still be adjusting, sleeping 11-13 hours a night and still taking 2 hour naps. He was amazingly good despite him cutting his 2 year molars!
*hugs*
~Jen
What have I gotten myself into?
If I have been scarce around here again (I know I have), it is because I started my temp job at the chapel. Our Parish Coordinator is out of town for a while and I am filling in. I am learning very quickly that things there are crazier than they ever seemed before. Most of the time, by the end of the day it all gets resolved anyway. It just keeps me super busy all the time. My AKO is constantly being checked so I don’t fall behind on certain things. Quite a bit of it seems to be learn as I go despite two different “training” sessions. The most recent issue is a parishoner emailing everyone to come to Mass for fellowship afterwards for Father’s Day. Then she calls me asking if there really is. I have no clue! So now if there isn’t, I get to find some people to bake cakes, set up, serve, and tear down.
While doing all this I proposed an idea to the FRG that apparently only had one response. I wanted to send care packages out once a month to our handful of guys and gals that get deployed. I am supposed to meet with our FRG leader for lunch next week. Haha! I have no idea when that will be. Between working and packing for the trip to see my mom, I have no idea when I will have time.
The CDC on WAAF really ticked me off yesterday. Every Wednesday I have a staff meeting to go to so I have John in hourly care there. Instead of him going to the hourly side of the toddler room, he went to the other side. Bry picked him up and John was soaking wet…his diaper practically falling off of him and his pants wet with urine. Not to mention the snack they offered was broccoli…what the hell? He didn’t eat it and most of the other toddlers didn’t either. Well, turns out the caregivers claimed to have changed him at 2:30. Mind you, Bry picked John up at 3:45. He has NEVER ever had a diaper that soaking wet, not to mention it going through his pants. The director was upset as well, but I dunno…I am still ticked about it. That is neglegence…that is abuse. My son was not cared for. By the way, his diaper bag was found across the room from the other kids’ things, on top of a play area. He had nothing at the diaper changing area. Usually they set up a spare cubby there to put his diaper things in. There wasn’t even a care sheet filled out for him.
Ok, enough. I need to get my momma z’s. Then it’s off to the chapel to print off bullitens and fold them so I don’t have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow.
*hugs*
~Jen
