Monday, January 26, 2009

photo session & a new bed

We had our maternity photo session with Leslie yesterday, and it went great! We spent almost the entire time laughing, usually at one of Brandon's clever quips. Really, it's fun to do pretty much anything with Brandon. And Leslie is just wonderful, I'm already looking forward to working with her again for the newborn session, once Elora gets here. :) Now I'm just waiting for her to get our picture gallery set up, so that we can look at all the great (I know they will be great!!) pictures she took. I'm so excited!


After our photo session on RB, we headed back to Panzer to FINALLY pick up the new bed frame and head board that we ordered from AAFES. It's really rather ridiculous...we ordered them a good 6 months ago. They called us to let us know that the frame had come in sometime in September, but we decided to wait to pick it up until the headboard came in as well. We heard nothing from them (I even went in to check on it a time or two) until last week, when someone from customer service called to ask if we had received the headboard. Apparently they had lost it somewhere along the line, so she was going to look into it and get back to me the next day. Since she never called back, I went in on Friday to ask...again. It seems that not only had they tracked it down, but it was sitting in the back right next to my bed frame. It would have been nice, if someone had called to let us know. Anyway, we picked it up yesterday and got it put together. It was frustrating, because the headboard had obviously been thrown around a lot, despite a large label that read "HANDLE WITH CARE". The silly thing was bent at the top, so that one of the decorative balls leans over to the side. But it was such a nightmare just trying to get the thing that we decided that we could live with it. You don't really notice, anyway, unless you look for it. So, we finally have a bed frame and head board, where before we had none. It's kind of weird, getting used to having the bed up off the floor again. All in all, I'm happy with it, and Brandon is happy with it, and that's what matters. :)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

28 Week Update

I have nothing but good things to share... Elora moves around and kicks a lot, especially when I lay down to go to bed. It doesn't bother me in the least, though; she hasn't been keeping me up at night and I rather enjoy feeling her move around. Sometimes, I will just prop myself up with pillows and watch my belly move. She has also gotten large enough that I can often feel her when she is pressed against the outer wall of my stomach. It's something of a game for us to try to guess which bit of her we're feeling. Usually, it's only a general guess ("well, that's pretty sharp, it must be a knee or elbow" or, "hmm, that feels round. I guess it's her head...or her butt.") but it's still fun. I am up to 145 lbs, my waistline is just shy of 40", and the doctor tells me that everything is good. It's frustrating, though, that a lot of the maternity clothes that I acquired early on are now getting too small. But I do have others that fit me now, so it's ok. I'm just setting the smaller stuff aside for the next go-round.

Because she's getting bigger and running out of room in her current accommodations, it's getting harder for Brandon and I to tell what we're looking at during the sonograms. Some things are still clear. We saw her foot in such detail that I could count her little toes, and I can tell you with relative certainty that she has Brandon's nose. But for most of the things that the doctor pointed out to us, I at least had to take the good doctor's word for it. According to Elora's measurements (taken from the sonogram), we are still looking at a due date in the first week of April. And, notably, she's already got herself turned around so that her head is toward the floor, and the doctor tells us that it is unlikely that she will shift back around. (So, we don't need to worry about her trying to emerge bum-first.) We also did one of those stress test things today, which measures the baby's heart beat and my breathing over a span of about 15 min, and that was perfectly normal. It was cool, because not only did I get to lay there and listen to her heart beat for a good 15 minutes, but every time she moved it got picked up by the machine and made a sound like someone tapping a microphone. The closer the movement to the sensor, the louder the sound. I think that the sensor was cramping her space where it pressed into my belly, because she kept kicking right at it. I thought it was kind of funny, because she could have shifted away from it, but instead she kept trying to push the thing away. It was cute. :) Anyway, I'm not sure, but I think that they'll be doing that regularly now that I'm into my third trimester. Also, from here on out, I'll be going every 2 weeks for check ups, instead of every 4. You know what that means, right? More pictures!! ^_^

Speaking of which...In the picture that we got this time around, you can see yet another profile of her face. It isn't a very good one though...the way it's focused, it makes her look like a little Cyrano de Bergerac. But like I said, we can pretty much tell that she has Bran's nose. :) Anyway, her forehead is on the right and her chin is on the left.

In other news, Brandon will be headed back to the States at the beginning of February for a few weeks of training. He'll be gone for the whole month, which has us a bit bummed. It'll be the longest we've been apart since he left the ship, and he'll be missing Valentine's Day and my birthday. But, on the other hand, those events can be celebrated anytime, and I am grateful that he's going in February instead of in March or April. And Brandon is excited to be going, because he's been wanting to be sent for this training for years. Actually, I think the timing is pretty good...If it had fallen in March or April, I don't think his command would have made him go, and I would have insisted that he not volunteer. (If they make him miss something important, like the birth of our child, that's one thing, but if he has a choice, it's quite another thing entirely.) And, before her birth is better than after...this way, he won't have to miss out on spending time with her while she's tiny. So yes, I will miss him terribly, but I think it's worked out well all around.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Home Again, Home Again

Whew!! As awesome as it was to visit Florida Home, it's wonderful to get back to Germany home. I missed my bed, and my kitty, and having my husband all to myself, among many other things. I knew it would be, so the leaving was bitter-sweet. The flight was awful--no, I can't say that. Our return trip home went as smoothly as one could hope for: no delays, or lost luggage, or even changed gates. It was just really long, and really hard on my back. I must say that it was quite a shock, to find the temperature well below freezing. I've been monitoring the weather here for the last few days, and I'd been led to believe that I could expect weather in the lower 30's. But when we landed in Stuttgart, it was in the teens!! Big difference from temps in the 70's, in sunny Florida. Anyway, I'm glad to have it (the flight) over with and to be back home again. I was dumb and took a nap as soon as I got here, intending to sleep for only an hour or two, but four hours later I still didn't want to crawl out from under the nice warm covers, which were inherently better than any covers I've used over the past 2 weeks, because they are on my bed. But crawl out I did. I'm unpacked, and the laundry is started. Hopefully I'll still be able to sleep tonight.

I have no idea when we will be able to make it back again, but I am not too worried about it. With the baby coming in a little less than 3 months, our lives will be full to bursting with all the changes (and joys!) she will bring. And, we're expecting lots of visitors this summer, to welcome Elora to the family. So they will bring a bit of Florida Home with them. ^_^

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!!


It was so amazing to be back home for new year's. Brandon's mom always puts on the most amazing new year's eve party, and this year was no exception. It was awesome, because EVERYONE was here... Friends and family came in literally from all over the world to be here, and it's the first time in years that Bran's whole high school "gang" was all in the same place at the same time. My best friend was here from California too, and there were several representatives from "my" side of the family. It was just amazing to have everyone all in one place, celebrating together. Seriously, if I keep going, I'm going to start crying. It was just what I needed. I love Germany, but I've been homesick for all of these people and it felt so good to be here again. I will have this memory to treasure until the next time that we can all be home together again.

Ok...*sniffle*...I'm good now. Done being mushy.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, which I think is pretty obvious if you look at any of the pictures from last night. I took a ton of pictures! I can't believe no one yelled at me for constantly blinding them with my flash. ^_^