The Gun Show

My dad requested some pictures of the guns that Brandon works with (he's an armorer, you know) so we went down there the day after Christmas to take some pictures of each other holding the various weapons. It was kind of fun, and definitely very impressive. Brandon could identify every weapon in the armory, and tell me what kind of ammo each takes, what kind of modifications had been made (or could be made), the history associated with each type... And that is just scratching the surface of what he knows. I'm so proud of him. ^_^ Anyway, Daddy should be pleased, cause we got lots of pictures. If you're interested in seeing them, you can check them out here. Bran helped me go through and label them all, so you can see what each one is. Now, I'll just need to have them printed when we get home.

Which will happen TOMORROW, by the way!! Our flight leaves around midday German time, and after a layover in Atlanta, we'll arrive in Orlando around 11pm Florida time. It's going to be a loooong day, but so worth it. I can't wait to get home!! Bran's parents are picking us up, but Daddy has said that he wants to meet us there too. Yay! I'm so excited, I can't wait to see everyone. Printing the pictures will have to wait until the next day, though...

New pics of my neice

I got some new pictures of my niece today, in the Christmas card from my sister. Apparently, she's been trying to get them to me for a few months now, but didn't have the right address. (Oops!) But I have them now, and they are super cute. ^_^ The quality isn't that great, because my scanner isn't that great, but it works.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

That's right! We are going to have an Elora Marie!! We were finally able to get a clear view this afternoon and the baby is definitely a female. It's so good to finally know! Now I can finally pick out a bedding set and nursery decor... The doctor assures us that Elora is perfectly healthy, and we are still looking at a due date in the first week of April (though now it's the 3rd instead of the 5th). I'm doing pretty good too, though I'm having quite a bit of lower back pain and a bit of stomach trouble, but both are pretty normal. The doctor suggested that I try getting more exercise; swimming, especially, could help my back a lot. For the other, he put me on a different kind of iron supplement. My belly has gotten a lot bigger in the past month (I'm up to 142 lbs!), but I guess that's to be expected. I'm not entirely pleased with the picture of me, but it shows what I wanted to show: my tummy. ^_^ The picture of Elora is another profile of the face: she's facing straight up, with the top of her head on the right and her arm on the left.

baby pics

In honor of lifewiththemorgans, here are the pics that I sent with the last baby update, sent November 25. Actually, I'll go ahead and post the update itself as well...



At 20 weeks, I've officially passed the halfway point! I've gone from about 130 lbs to 136.5 lbs and my waistline has grown from 32" to 37.5". (Check out the pic of me, my belly looks huge! But it isn't, not really, when you think about how much bigger it's going to get.) I've been feeling the baby move around for a few weeks now, and we've even been able to see the baby kick a few times!! That is harder to accomplish, though, because if we're not looking right at my belly at exactly the right time, we miss it. And of course, as soon as we look, he stops kicking. Ah well, I know that it will be happening more and more often, and it will become easier to see as he gets bigger and his movements get stronger. I'm wearing almost all maternity clothing now, though I do have a few regular things left that I can comfortably wear. As of my most recent check up (yesterday) the baby and I are both doing just fine. They did find that I'm anemic, so the doctor gave me an iron supplement to take along with my prenatals. The only disappointment of the day was that we still were not able to determine the gender. Brandon swears that he saw evidence that the baby is a boy, but the doctor didn't see anything and neither did I. So, we will continue to use "he" (in place of "it") until we find out one way or another. We actually got 4 different pictures from the sonogram this time around, but only one of them was any good. It's actually a profile picture of the baby's face, with the forehead on the left and chin on the right. It was a whole lot clearer when we got to see it on the screen, but unfortunately, the still pictures are never as good as the "video" we see in the office. Oh well. I've also included a picture with Bran and I together, because *someone* (wink, wink) suggested it, and I thought it was a good idea.

I know that we "announced" names some time ago, but we've decided that there are simply too many baby Aidens in the world already. It seems like everyone has an Aiden, or knows someone who has an Aiden. And since it's something that we both noticed, we thought it would be a good idea to choose something else. Neither of us wants our child to be one of several children in his class to have the same name. So, in place of Aiden, we decided that if we have a boy, his name will be Logan James.

And, finally, for those who have not yet heard, Brandon has been promoted!! His new rank is Petty Officer First Class, or in terms of pay grade, he's an E-6. (I'm not sure what the title equivalents are in the other branches, but for those of you familiar with one branch or another, the pay grade thing ought to be helpful.) We are super excited about it, and I for one am incredibly proud of him. Yay, Bannon!

Secret Santa

Since I wasn't able to go to the Christmas party lunch on Monday, I didn't get my Secret Santa gift until Wednesday. And since I ran out of the shop in such a hurry on Wednesday (amber road conditions, you know) I completely forgot to bring it home with me. But I stopped by to pick it up today, and so now I am finally getting to post about it! I was lucky enough that the lovely and talented Jenny drew my name, and this is what she made for me.

Hooray! I'm super excited...my first decorations for the nursery. ^_^ I was thinking of doing something like this myself, but Jenny is AWESOME and beat me to the punch. Thank you, thank you Jenny! I love it! The letters look really good on the yellow wallpaper too (it looks washed out in the photo, but it's actually a pretty pastel yellow). Now, I just have to decide where in the nursery I want to hang them. They can't stay on top of the armoire, they'll just keep getting knocked down...

Bah. Humbug.

This is an annual rant of mine. They already have the Christmas stuff out at the Panzer Mall...it's barely November, much less Thanksgiving!! Seriously, why do we need Christmas decorations the first week in November? As far as I 'm concerned, there are only 2 Christmas-related things we should be doing between now and Thanksgiving: squirreling away gifts (and cards) and making holiday travel plans.

Speaking of which, Bran and I just bought our plane tickets... We're going home!! Corinnea, I'll give you the dates when I see you tomorrow. ^_^ Anyway, once we're past Turkey Day, I promise to stop being a Grinch and get totally into the Holiday Spirit.

Baby News

I have some exciting news to share this time around, along with a new photo of the baby. The doctor was not able to determine the gender of the baby, but he did say it is probably a girl since he was not able to see anything to prove otherwise. On the other hand, there is still definitely a good chance that the baby is a boy, and he said not to start picking out blankets or curtains just yet. So what it boils down to, is that we still don't know. ^_^ We are going to try again to figure it out next time, and hopefully the baby will be more cooperative.

But that is not my exciting news. What IS exciting, is that I felt the baby move last night!! I was a little bit confused at first, because The Book (my nifty daily pregnancy journal) said that while some women do notice movement at this point, most do not begin to feel the baby move until the month 5 or 6. I'd been sitting on the bed reading, and it felt like someone had run their finger up the center of my belly, but from the inside. Like I said, I was confused at first, but then I realized that it felt completely different from other things, and that it must have been an elbow (or something) brushing against my belly as the baby moved. It was so fleeting I almost wonder if I imagined it, but I know I didn't. I called Brandon immediately to tell him (he was TDY but he's home now) even though I knew he was probably sleeping. It was just too cool not to tell him, and he (thankfully) agreed. I think it has happened once or twice since then, but not as...strong. (That's not the right word, but I think you know what I mean.) This is so cool!!