just when you think you've got it all figured out...

for months, i visualized exactly how our thanksgiving was going to go this year, from the sparkling clean kitchen floor to the ironed guest sheets to the perfect dinner conversations centered around my perfectly arranged table. a week before everyone was supposed to arrive, i made their welcome goody bags and the place cards for the thanksgiving dinner table, made sure all of the guest towels were fluffy, i swept, swiffered and cleaned all of our hardwood floors, reworked my menu and cooking plans for the gazillionth time and went running a few times. that week, i also made another trip to the grocery store, made dinner for a family at LH's office who had a new baby, and hosted some friends for dinner.

i guess i did a little too much, because i started spotting that weekend. this being the third time that i had experienced bleeding during this pregnancy, i honestly wasn't too worried. every other time, i've gone in and they've completely checked me out with plenty of ultrasounds and everything else you can think of, and the only thing they ever told me was that the baby was perfectly healthy, the placenta was just where it needed to be, and my cervix looked just like they wanted it to look. they really never had an explanation for the bleeding. however, since this spotting lasted a couple of days and our guests were due to arrive the next day, LH and i decided to call my doctor and let her check me out once again. same story this time with everything where it should be and the baby looking exactly like he/she should (although it's getting really hard not to find out the baby's gender with all of these opportunities to do just that), only this time, my doctor told me that she really wanted me to take it easy and be careful not to overdo it. this was definitely not something i wanted to hear right before i was about to entertain 7 extra people in my house over the next 5 days. LH assured me that he would help out and everything would go just great.

well, there were dirty dishes in the sink and dog hair on the floor when everyone arrived, but i learned that i had to live with it. LH delivered on his promise and was unbelievable all week long. rather than let me stand on my feet in the kitchen and cook for everyone, LH made me sit on a bar stool and direct everyone who was working in the kitchen. as difficult as it was for me to just sit there, i had a blast watching everyone work together. my mom, my MIL, LH, my brother, my brother-in-law and his girlfriend all helped in the kitchen at least once during the week. on tuesday night, i had planned to make a southern cornbread salad and fish tacos. LH, my MIL and my brother did all of the chopping, slicing and dicing for everything in that dinner and it was absolutely delish. my brother even did some research on the internet and taught us all the proper way to slice a mango for the mango salsa that tops the fish tacos (a recipe i think i need to share with everyone here). our thanksgiving dinner was prepared the exact same way, with everyone pitching in. my mom made her famous stuffing, my MIL made her famous homemade dinner rolls, my brother in law made the salad, and the list goes on and on. i could not have planned it any better if i had actually wanted all that help. i think everyone appreciated the meal so much more because they helped, too. it also helped me get used to accepting help for when the baby gets here. usually, i'm the kind of person that likes to do it all myself and let everyone else enjoy it, but after last week, i have learned that it's okay to ask for help and you don't have to feel guilty about accepting it. of course, i'm making sure i send out plenty of heartfelt thank you cards to everyone involved so they don't shy away from coming to visit again =)

my babies

bozeman has most definitely been my baby since we got him over two years ago. i don't think he's going to mind one bit sharing the attention with the new baby, though, because he absolutely loves having extra people in the house. i'll tell all about our exciting thanksgiving week later, but for now i thought i would just post a picture of me with my babies - bozeman and my baby bump =)

pregnant running

i'm still running while pregnant, albeit much slower and for much shorter distances. occasionally, a group of high school boys will drive by on their way to school and honk at me. it always makes me laugh because they usually honk while still coming up behind me and then i get to watch them look twice when they realize that 1) i'm at least 10 years older than they are and 2) i'm pregnant.

for the most part, i'm still able to wear all of my regular running shorts and pants. shirts, however, are a different story. you'll notice in this picture that i'm wearing two shirts. the bottom shirt is an extra large t-shirt that i bought on clearance at old navy. because it is an extra large, the neck and shoulders are way too big, but the length is perfect, so i just top it off with another shirt that actually fits on top, but not on bottom. with the two combined, i have the perfect running shirt =) i suppose i could just buy some maternity running clothes, but as much as i love this running skirt, i'm too cheap to shell out the money for it. besides, it's kind of fun to have the challenge of creating new outfits out of the old pre-pregnancy clothes.

there's a twenty pound bird in my freezer

i don't think i've mentioned yet that we are doing thanksgiving at our house this year. LH's family and my family are all coming into town, minus my sister-in-law and her gang who just have to far to go and too many kids to tote all the way out to us. some people might get freaked out by having so much family in their house at once, but i'm stoked. i've been planning the menus and table decorations and every little bit for months now.

yesterday, i went to the commissary to get everything but the produce for our thanksgiving week. i was officially THAT lady walking around with the shopping cart stuffed as full as it could possibly get. after every aisle, i would pull my cart over to the side and try to rearrange everything so it would fit in there better. i'm sure everyone was looking at me and thinking, "oh that poor girl. her husband must be at home watching her ten children while she does the grocery shopping." my pregnant belly and high heel shoes probably didn't help the situation at all, especially when i practically had to get a running start to get the cart moving.

as silly as it sounds, i had a lot of fun putting all of the groceries away. i love organizing things... any excuse to rearrange the refrigerator or pantry makes me happy. i even had to use the top shelf in pantry that i usually reserve just for extra foil, baggies and paper plates. if i have time and think about it later, i'll take a picture and post it on here. has anyone else done their thanksgiving shopping yet? are any of you entertaining this year?

mustard toast

people keep asking me if i've had any weird cravings during the pregnancy and i keep answering "no." however, LH heard me answering the question a few weeks ago when my mom asked, and he corrected me. apparently, i have a thing for mustard now. i made baked potatoes with our dinner one night and proceeded to cover mine with yellow mustard. it tasted way better than my usual sour cream topping and added a nice little kick. while eating lunch with a friend a week ago, i had tons of mustard with my french fries (i never liked ketchup anyway). and then to top it off, this week i made a super yummy lunch for myself: toast with grainy dijon mustard and a few slices of hard boiled egg on top. i thought it tasted absolutely delish and might even pass for a gourmet egg salad sandwich, but LH didn't quite agree.

i've also been eating a good bit of cereal lately, although at odd hours of the day... and night. i think our baby goes through a growth spurt about every 3 or 4 weeks, because at those times, i tend to find myself waking up at 3 in the morning with a very rumbly tummy. one bowl of cereal usually won't do it, either... i have to eat two bowls and have a glass of water before my belly is satisfied. it's amazing how fast my tummy will feel full and then how fast it will drain and be hungry again within a 30 minute period. this week, we went out for a hibachi dinner with some good friends and i ate quite a bit of steak, veggies and fried rice. not thirty minutes after getting home, i was hungry again and hit the cabinet for some cereal.

my tummy is rumbling right now with all of this talk about food. i'll leave you with a recent belly shot. i'm not good at remembering to have LH take a picture when he is home, so i usually resort to my lovely mac's built in camera. you've probably noticed the wonderful green color that graces the walls of our office. right now, it is the last room on our list to be painted, so you'll just have to suffer through the agony like we do every day.

baby brain

i'm blaming my blogging absence on baby brain =) it's so hard to believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by and i have to say that LH and i are thoroughly enjoying every little bit. i feel like i have so much to learn, not just about baby, but things i want to teach baby one day, and i'm also trying to make it a point to spend extra time with LH before the baby comes. we have also been ridding the house of anything that we don't use or find necessary, because we know that we are about to be adding quite a bit of baby stuff.

as far as the actual pregnancy goes, i could never have dreamt that it would be this good. the only time i even felt remotely sick was when my body decided that it no longer like bananas, although i tried them the other day and they are okay again. i've needed more sleep than pre-pregnancy, but nothing crazy. i have the most amazing husband who i respect so much; he has taken the time from his busy schedule to go to every regular checkup with me thus far. he is going to be the best daddy ever. i'm convinced that the baby already looks like him, too. when i saw this picture printed from the ultrasound, it made me smile, because it looks just like LH's profile from one of his baby pictures. silly, i know, but i really can see the resemblance.

another "side effect" of this pregnancy has been that i've become a little bit more private with my life, other than with friends and family, of course. i guess because i'm not only "eating for two" but living for two, i feel very protective of this growing baby that constantly lets me know he/she is in there by kicking and rolling and bumping me. i love it. oh, and we decided not to find out whether we are having a girl or a boy. there are so few surprises in life now, and i think this is going to be such a cool surprise to wait for. plus, it will help me get through the labor when i have such a desire to know whether it is a boy or a girl!

anyhow, that's a little update on our lives right now. i'm still here, just enjoying being pregnant and trying to make the most of my time. unfortunately, that means i don't always take the time to sit down and blog much. just know that no news is good news =) feel free to email me if curiosity is getting the better of you. my email is visible to everyone in my profile.

retainers are sort of like paint brushes

in eighth grade, my family moved almost a thousand miles across the country for my dad's job. i wasn't exactly happy about being uprooted and torn away from the friends that i had grown up with and had planned on going to high school with, but i didn't have much of a choice. thankfully, there was a group of girls in the eighth grade who welcomed me into their group with open arms. they let me sit with them at lunch, invited me to sleep overs and even helped me sign up at the dance school where a few of them took classes. i was extremely grateful for their friendship, so when one of them accidentally threw her retainer away one day, i jumped at the chance to show my loyalty by helping her dig through giant lunchroom trash cans in search of her glittery, pink retainer.

even though the lunch ladies provided us with plastic gloves, digging through soggy pizza crusts and tater tots soaked in leftover chocolate milk was just about one of the most disgusting things that i had ever done in my life up to that point. i didn't care, though, because my friend and i were laughing and gagging together and that's what friends did. after going through about three trash cans, we finally found her retainer. she wrapped it up in a napkin and put it in her book bag where it would stay until she could completely sanitize it at home. if it had been me, i would have just begged my parents for a new one...

anyhow, this past saturday, a friend came over to our house and did the unthinkable. she picked up a paintbrush and a roller and finished painting one of our front rooms for us. i haven't been able to stand the smell of paint since becoming pregnant and the "red room" had become a sort of mental block for LH and i. for whatever reason, neither one of us had been able to take the 30-45 minutes needed to finish cutting-in above the doorway and rolling a second coat over what was already painted. our friend knew about this problem, and had offered numerous times to come over and help. i finally picked up the phone on saturday morning and sheepishly asked if she would come over and help us finish the room. not only did she say yes, but she came over within an hour and had a smile on her face! she told us that she loves to paint, but i honestly thought that she was all talk. well, she proved me wrong. while i worked on cleaning the kitchen and LH mowed the grass, she finished painting our red room and we yelled back and forth across the house to each other. it was great. now, our red room is put back together and LH has even said that it is his favorite room in the house. all we needed was the help of a good friend. thanks, N =)

God has totally blessed us with some amazing friends in the city that we live in right now. realizing that a friend would get sweaty and dirty just to help us out made me want to go out and help another friend somehow. so that's my challenge to you guys today: don't just be a friend to someone, show your friendship to them in a helpful way.

the best compliment ever and one fun bachelorette party

after a half dozen loads of laundry and one giant shopping trip to the commissary for some groceries, i am finally back to the blog. bozeman and i are so happy to be back with LH, but i think that bozeman is definitely missing the company of my parents and their dog... and their giant, fenced-in back yard.

during my time at my parents' house, my mom and i made a trip to visit my brother at school. i got to check out his teeny, tiny dorm room with the horrible fluorescent lighting, i saw his fraternity house and i even checked out the girls' bathrooms in his dorm. hey, i had to go really bad, and i couldn't resist seeing if they were clean or not. i had totally forgotten what it was like to go to the bathroom with dozens of flyers plastered on the walls around you. kind of distracting, if you ask me. although i did get kinda grossed out by the reminder to "flush it down whether it was yellow, red or brown." i guess college-aged girls still need reminders like that? i don't know...

while we were there, my mom and i took my brother out for dinner. at one point, our mom got up to use the "facilities" and i started telling my bro some of the weird things about being pregnant and how much my body was already changing even though i'm only 13 weeks. my mom caught the tale end of the conversation and said, "isn't it weird hearing your sister talk about stuff like that?" this was the highlight of my day: without even thinking twice, my brother said, "i've never thought that anything [LW] said was weird!" i told him it was because i brainwashed him when he was little and he had to throw in a smart remark about me throwing him off of the tractor when he was two. oops.

the next morning, i headed out to my friend's bachelorette party. would you believe that we went white water rafting and then tubing? i was planning on playing it safe and skipping the white water part, but once i realized that it was a part of the river that i had been down three times before and that our guide was not only a fellow bridesmaid from the wedding, but had also been guiding the river for 11 years and was an EMT, my comfort level rose considerably. she convinced me to go with them by promising to keep me and the baby safe, and she delivered on her promise. we had SO much fun. the bachelorette had a special helmet complete with a veil and a tiny bride and groom on top with a sign that said, "kiss me while you still can". her paddle even had her name and "bachelorette" written on it. suffice it to say, she received plenty of attention the entire trip down the river. i can't even count how many times people took her picture!

once we finished rafting, we headed back to the cabin so i could stuff my face and then we loaded up the cars again to go tubing down the "lazy" river, complete with a floating cooler filled with alcoholic drinks for them and non-alcoholic drinks for me. i laughed so hard during most of that trip, because a few certain people, who will remain unnamed, kept getting stuck in trees and on rocks because they couldn't paddle well enough. back at the cabin, i fell asleep while playing some of the typical bachelorette party games. they were kind enough to wake me up when the bachelorette was opening the lingerie present that i bought for her and then to send me to bed.

we all left feeling like it was one of the most fun weekends that we had had in a really long time, and promised to get together next year to do it again. i'll just have to get LH to agree to watch the baby... =)

i have gas! lots of gas!

that is a line from cars and every time LH and i hear it, we crack up laughing. we are all big burpers in our house, and that includes bozeman. it is so funny, because bozeman has somehow learned to come to LH when he needs to burp. LH has this magical touch that somehow helps bozeman burp so much faster than if i try to help him. since we've been away from LH this week, bozeman has been a little bit lost. today, after my mom and i got back from eating some amazing thai food, i was sitting on the floor next to bozeman when i burped. not one second later, bozeman looked at me and burped, too. i guess hearing me burp triggers his burping mechanism... or else it was just a coincidence.

anyhow, LH obviously has the magic touch. there have been times that i will have this huge burp lurking beneath the surface that just doesn't want to escape, so LH will rub my back or something. no kidding, i burp just as easily as bozeman does. i don't know what it is. honestly, i think LH balances out my type-a personality and somehow my whole body just relaxes when i'm near him.

i'm hoping that LH's magical touch works on the baby, too. my plan is to feed the baby and then hand him/her over to LH every time so he can do the burping. think that will work out well? other than the whole LH having to go to work every day thing...

political opinion time

i think i've mentioned before that LH and i don't have cable in our house. on top of not wanting to deal with yet another bundling debacle, we would both get sucked into tv shows when other things could be getting done. we do watch a ton of movies, though, so maybe we don't save much time anyhow.

anyhow, since i've been at my parents' house this week, i have to admit that i have been glued to the tv. yesterday, i watched every little bit of commentary possible about sarah palin. she is my new hero. i have been so impressed with everything i hear and read about her and after watching her speech last night, i'm even more convinced that she should be the next VP. her personality is so strong and she is so incredibly tough, yet she is also very easy to like and relate to at the same time. her addition to the presidential ticket totally sold me on voting for mccain.

great news

we finally have a renter for our condo! he paid the deposit and rent and moved in all in one week. LH and i are so excited to finally have some of that stress off of our chests.

other news in our house: LH and i are spending about five days apart and it stinks! he had to travel for work last weekend and i decided to go along with him. but, rather than drive all the way back to our home afterwards, i ended up hanging out at my parents' house for the week because a good friend from college is having her bachelorette party this weekend. bozeman is loving my parents' back yard and i'm spending some quality time with friends that i haven't seen in awhile, but i am already missing LH so much. he said that it is quiet in the house without us around and i'm kinda worried about whether or not he is eating enough. i guess he did survive as a bachelor for many years before i came along, so he'll be okay...

would you believe that i'm having a baby shower already next weekend? neither do i. there are five of us in our young marrieds group at church who are pregnant right now, and in order to fit everyone in, we are having a group baby shower this month. crazy, huh? and on that note, i must leave you to go eat some more food. baby's gotta eat, you know.

unwelcome shower guests

my brother just started his freshman year of college at a very large university. it is totally different than the college experience that i had, but i bet one thing is similar: dorm showers. i came to college prepared with the shower shoes, a robe and little shower bucket to carry all of my soaps, shampoos and razor in, but i didn't come prepared for the hair in the shower. being a blonde, i guess i never had to confront the fact that i do lose hair in the shower and it might get on the walls or floor of the shower. my hair simply blended in or disappeared against our shower walls at home. in college, however, there were other people who used the showers besides me, and they weren't all blondes. i remember walking into the shower one of those first mornings and seeing long, dark hair on the walls of the shower. my gag reflexes kicked in as i quickly exited and searched for a safer shower. finding a hair-free shower eventually became a daily ritual for me, and i would try to wake up earlier than the other girls on my hall, just to get there right after our sweet cleaning lady left. i still can't seeing hair in a shower that isn't mine or LH's. something about it just really makes me gag.

something else i can't stand seeing in the shower is a spider. or any sort of bug, for that matter. when i was about 17, i was home alone and getting ready to shower when i noticed a really nasty, spiny looking bug in my shower. not one to let something like that survive and perhaps even escape the confines of the shower, i quickly found some bug spray with which to kill it. not only did it not kill it, that thing fought me and i thought it might climb out of the shower. i ran down to the garage and found a spray can of something that i wasn't really sure of, but it looked deadly enough to kill the monster lurking in my shower. back upstairs, i discovered that the mystery can did, in fact, deliver and kill the bug. it also spray painted the shower silver. oops!

just a few days ago, i discovered a better shower bug killer that washes away: my husband's shampoo =) i tell you what, this stuff really does the trick and kills the yuckiest of spiders:

so tell me, how do you kill the bugs in your shower?

having a baby the military way

as soon as we found out that we were pregnant, we went to the military hospital to switch my health care from "standard" to "prime." basically, this means that instead of paying a co-pay and choosing my own doctors, i decided to see military doctors and let the military pay for everything. LH and i decided that this was the best choice for us at this time because we have heard nothing but good reviews of the hospital and doctors here and also because hey, why not take advantage and use the resources that are provided for us? how often do you get to have a baby and come out with a hospital bill of $5.00 which was only charged because your hubby ate a meal with you?

i was given the opportunity to request a female doctor and much to my relief, actually ended up with one. she is probably around the same age as LH and me and just had her first baby last year. luckily, we really hit it off and i'm already looking forward to my next visit. seeing my doctor in uniform wasn't nearly as weird as i expected it to be, and i've been treated just as well by the nurses and staff as i was at civilian doctor's offices that i've been to in the past. the more i hear and see, the more i like it.

i've also decided to take advantage of some free one-on-one parenting classes that the military provides. at first, i was a little skeptical when a friend recommended it. i mean, i am an avid reader and have friends that are moms and all, so why do i need the military to help me raise my child? are they going to try and brainwash me? well, after my first visit by the representative today, i'm hooked. the lady that will be working with me is so laid back and showed me all of the books and materials that they provide for us, as well as the classes that are offered on base. i especially like the new dad's class that lets the dads wear pregnant bellies filled with water while they try to climb a flight of stairs and get in and out of a bed. they also get to practice holding newborn babies. oh, and women are not allowed in the class. anyhow, i'm totally taking advantage of the free resources that are available. for all the quirkiness involved in being "married to the military," there are so many privileges and benefits and i'm making it my goal to use them as much as possible.

you are what you eat

i meant to thank you all for your well wishes after i announced our pregnancy. it was exciting to see comments from new and anonymous readers; i love checking out new blogs and reading what you all have to say! i obviously have quite a few mommy readers out there, so please, tell me how on earth i am supposed to handle being so hungry during this pregnancy!

i've always been one of those "eat to live" type people and unfortunately, i'm notorious for forgetting to not only eat, but also to feed my adorable husband. pre-pregnancy, it would be about 7:00 at night before LH would turn to look at me with a somewhat bashful, "are we going to eat sometime soon?" then i would realize that not only had i not started making dinner, but i had not thawed any meat from the freezer or planned anything. those are the nights that we usually have pasta or grilled cheese sandwiches.

now that i'm pregant, however, LH is in heaven. there is no way that i'm missing any meals now, because this baby likes to eat! my problem seems to be that i just don't know what to eat. seriously, this whole problem of being hungry but not wanting anything in particular seems so weird to me. i'll be starving and just rummaging through the pantry and refrigerator trying to find something that is healthy and actually sounds good. yesterday, we had some yummy turkey burgers with toasted cheesy buns for lunch and then i was hungry 20 minutes later, so i had a nutri-grain bar. i also had some vanilla yogurt and some caramel ice cream as a snack after we went for a run at the local track. oh, and don't forget the chocolate chip pancakes that we had for dinner! i'm trying to drink tons of water with everything, just to make sure i'm not mistaking the hunger for thirst, but so far that hasn't seemed to be a problem. this is craziness, i tell you!

all this talking about food has my stomach growling again. please excuse me while i go stare into the depths of our refrigerator for the third time this morning.

mama always knows

i happen to be very picky and cheap when it comes to style. it's my mom's fault, really. she taught me that it is better to spend more for quality now because it will last much longer than clothing that might be cheaper in the short run. same idea as my expensive haircut theory - the cost per wear is much less. my mom also taught me that you don't have to pay full price for the more expensive, quality clothes and shoes. she is better than anyone i know when it comes to finding a bargain, and she passed on some of her skills to me.

it's because of that drive to find the perfect bargain and our lack of "fun money" (thanks to two house payments and one income), that i've been making do with these shoes.


in all honesty, i could get by with the shoes in these pictures just fine throughout my entire pregnancy. the only problems with the shoes in the first picture are that they all have heels over 3 inches high. i love heels, but i'm pretty sure that it won't be in my best interest to wear them 100% of the time while my body is changing shape and weight.

the second picture features the flat shoes in my wardrobe. the first is an adorable pair of jeweled flip flops that always bring plenty of compliments every time i wear them. they also have no support and are super slick on the bottom, which always leads to at least one episode of me looking like i've stepped on a banana peel every time i wear them. my running shoes are just that. i don't want to wear them down by wearing them when i'm not running or working out because they are more expensive to replace than a pair of flip flops and it's extremely rare to find a good sale on the exact style and size of running shoes that i need. the last pair of flip flops in this picture are cute, black, foamy tevas that i bought last summer. they look great with shorts and with sundresses. the only problem with these shoes is that i've worn them so much that they look ragged, and bozeman also happens to love them as much as i do. he carries them around the house in his mouth and the foamy material just can't stand up to his teeth, so i have the world's first pair of bozeman-personalized-tevas.

okay, so back to the whole purpose of this post. i've been looking for a supportive pair of flat shoes that are versatile, good quality and cheap. so far, no luck. until thursday of last week, that is. my mom called me on thursday morning and asked if i was busy. since scrubbing the inside of my crock pot does not really qualify as busy, i said no, and she asked if i could do something for her. she asked me to check out dillard's online shoe sale and pick out two pairs of shoes that i wanted. let me just say that my mom had no idea that i happened to be on the hunt for shoes or that i even needed them. even though i am 28 years old, my mom still has that mother's intuition. it probably didn't hurt that i had prayed and asked God for help.*

after over an hour of searching on the website and narrowing down my choices, i emailed my mom with the links to two pairs of shoes that i wanted. the first pair was just a replacement of my black tevas and they were on sale for $7.00. the second was a cute pair of merrell flip flops that totally had the supportive and non-slippery soles that i had been looking for. after seeing my selection, my mom called me and said that those two pairs didn't add up to much and asked if there was another pair that i might want. wow... not one to turn down an offer like that, i found another pair of merrell sandals that, while they had a funky looking fabric on them, were also supportive and perfect for walking the dog in the rain. so, not only did my mom place an order for three new pairs of shoes for me, but they also arrived on saturday! who doesn't love a surprise like that? here are my new shoes on my gigantic, size 11 feet:






*and yes, i do pray for much less selfish things, too. i'm just not against asking God to fulfill all of my needs. i love these verses that remind us not to worry about this sort of thing: "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

still waiting on that explanation i promised?

here is the picture of our new tractor. it doesn't look very new in this picture because it's all dusty, but believe me - it is new and it can mow really fast. LH is so good that he can actually mow our grass at 7mph. i need to get a video.


and are you the least bit curious about this picture that i shared with you earlier this week?


would you believe that both pictures have the SAME explanation? in case you are still wondering, maybe this picture will help you out a bit:


that's right... we're pregnant! woohoo! LH was a little worried about letting me mow the grass for three sweaty hours while also trying to grow a baby, so he took over the duties. less than a week later, the in-laws let us know that they wanted to help us out and they bought a riding lawnmower for our anniversary/baby present. do i have the greatest in-laws, or what?

as far as the mac & cheese goes, it sounded really good when i bought it and when i ate it, but i haven't wanted it since then. same story for the salt & vinegar chips and the shockers candy. i have really had a great pregnancy so far, without any morning sickness, but i have had some definite food aversions and the food cravings come on so suddenly it is ridiculous. i've also discovered that if i'm hungry, i have about 15 minutes to eat something before i get so hungry that i can't think about anything but food. we had a bit of a scare two weeks ago and i had to stop exercising, but as of this week's doctor's appointment, i have permission to start working out and running again, so hopefully i can continue to feed the baby's hunger without also getting flabby. i know the weight gain will happen eventually, and i'm not worried about that, but i would like to keep my muscles in shape for labor & delivery and then the recovery that follows.

whew, there is so much to talk about now that i've let the cat out of the bag. oh, and since my due date is march 16th, the day before st. patrick's day, i think we can all agree that this baby should be nicknamed lucky baby.

weekend food and what i need

every saturday, with very few exceptions, i make buttermilk pancakes from scratch for LH. it's easy and is something that totally makes his day, so i'm more than happy to do it. when he was little, his friends actually used to call him "maples" because he liked maple syrup so much. i think they were on to something, because whenever LH eats pancakes and syrup, he smells like maple syrup for the entire day!


i think i've mentioned before that bozeman is quite a social butterfly. so much so, in fact, that he sometimes has problems eating when we aren't watching. saturday, LH and i were trying to get bozeman to eat his food while we were eating breakfast and it just wasn't happening. LH ended up putting bozeman's toy squirrel next to the food bowl and told bozeman that his squirrel was eating his food and he better get some before it was all gone. it turned out that bozeman doesn't mind sharing his food.


and this is what happens when it's 2:00pm and you haven't eaten lunch yet and then talk to a friend on the phone about the macaroni and cheese that she just ate. i had to run out to the store right away and buy not just one box, but three boxes of macaroni and cheese. i also threw in a bag of my favorite potato chips and my favorite candy for good measure.


and finally, i couldn't resist adding this part. amy and k did this on their blogs recently and i thought it was hilarious, so here we go. these are the top then things that "i need" according to google:
1. LW needs a kid (doesn't bozeman count?)
2. LW needs a bit of help to get up on the bed (maybe on our ginormous guest bed, but certainly not in our bed)
3. LW needs a housewife like me (i can't even count how many times i said this when i had a "real" full time job)
4. LW needs help with her baby, y'all (um...)
5. LW needs to come home (my mom must have put this one out there so i would come visit)
6. LW needs coffee show (some coffee does sound really good right now, especially with some milk in it)
7. LW needs facebook (i've already got it)
8. LW needs your help! (sure... anyone want to send some free money my way?)
9. LW needs kelly's backing (i don't have any friends named kelly, but i'll take her support, whoever she is)
10. LW needs a china destination (ooh! i'd really LOVE to go to china. anyone have some extra olympics tickets that they want to give me?)

if you try the google search on your own blog, link to it from my comments so everyone else can get a good laugh out of it =)

one of the many reasons i love my husband

lucky hubby: "why don't you stay here and get ready for bed while i take bozeman out for his last walk of the night?"

lucky wifey: "okay!" {pause, then groan} "ugh, i forgot that i still have to make the bed. i washed the sheets today."

lucky hubby: "that's okay, we can just sleep in sleeping bags. we don't need sheets!"




**note: i did actually end up making the bed while he walked the dog**

there's a perfectly good explanation for this

i'm not sure how to say this, but something new has taken up residence in our garage. it has replaced a certain toy about which i once bragged... and just like my title suggests, there is a good reason for the appearance of this riding lawn mower. if you happen to see my comment on the pioneer woman's home and garden page today, you'll know exactly what i'm talking about.

exactly two years ago today

well, i can't tell you exactly what i was doing two years ago today, but i can tell you where i was. LH and i were on our honeymoon in big sky, montana. we were totally enjoying every minute, too. on the 29th, when we celebrated our 2nd anniversary, i tried to close my eyes and imagine that i was back in montana, smelling the crisp, fresh air and listening to the rushing waters of the gallatin river just outside our room. i felt the breeze blowing through my hair as we road mountain bikes around ousel falls and then tasted the peanut butter and honey sandwich that we ate later from the hungry moose market & deli. i also thought about the delicious elk tenderloin and amazing fresh bread and butter that came along with it.

last night, i tried to get LH to be imaginative with me and imagine himself back in montana. unfortunately, when he closed his eyes he only smelled our neighbors' burning trash and all he felt were the bugs getting him in the thick, humid air as we walked bozeman. welcome to reality. i'm so thankful that we were able to totally spoil ourselves on our honeymoon two years ago and start our marriage off with so many wonderful experiences together. i know that we'll make it back to montana one day and that we might even have future trips better than our honeymoon, but those first memories together will always be extra special to me. that was the week that i practiced calling LH my husband and i tried to introduce myself by my married name without slipping up and using my maiden name. we were giddy in love and starry-eyed over each other, not much unlike how we still are... but already i understand what older couples mean when they say how they love each other so much more than the day they were married. it's true. i can't imagine what it will be like when we reach our 50th anniversary. well, i can imagine the wrinkles and sagging body parts, but that's beyond the point =)

scuba steve

bozeman is a camera hound. LH was trying on some old gear that we "found" while cleaning out one of the spare bedrooms and i thought it would be funny to take a few pictures. except bozeman thought i was taking pictures of him. i eventually got the dog out of the way to take these pictures to share with the world.




now you know that LH has a great sense of humor. and no, he isn't fat. those are roller hockey shorts that he is wearing. he asked if i thought that he should sell them on craiglist so we would have more room around here, but i actually said no, because he might need to use them one day when we have kids who want to play roller hockey with him. besides, if he got rid of those, he might have more leverage in trying to get me to get rid of all my old dance shoes and leotards and 30 pairs of tights. because i might need those one day, too, you never know. one day, i might miraculously be able to stand up in my point shoes again while wearing a teeny tiny leotard and tights that show off my ballerina figure. it's always good to have goals.

aha!

i love "aha" moments in life. you know how suddenly a bunch of details add up to finally make sense and you get this aha feeling? the night LH and i got engaged, i had flown in to visit him directly from work. he was getting ready to deploy for the first time and i was there to say my goodbyes. we had dinner plans for that evening and i changed into what i thought was the perfect outfit however, after i came out of the bathroom, LH asked if i could wear something different. LH had never had any objections about any of my clothes, so i was kind of surprised, but i changed into a somewhat nicer shirt. later, after he proposed, it all made sense. he knew that we were about to get engaged and that i would want a nicer shirt for the pictures that we were going to send to everyone with the news. aha!

and then there were those two crazy years where i decided that God wanted me to stay single. whew! what on earth was that about? once i met LH and realized that he was going to be deploying a few times during our lifetime, those two years all made sense. during that time, i learned how to be more independent and lost all fear of showing up at places where i knew no one and just jumping in to new situations. that definitely prepared me to survive 6+ months without the love of my life by my side.

sometimes, i have aha moments from God, too, and i totally love them. so many seemingly insignificant details will all suddenly make sense and i'll realize that he was preparing me for that exact moment in time and i'll be so grateful. i have some distinct memories where i've been sitting on the floor or walking the dog or talking to LH and suddenly it all makes sense. most of the moments are just too private to share on a blog with the world. others i may work up the courage to share later. but you know, it all makes me wonder about where LH and i are in life right now. for all i know, we're paying for two homes with one income in this weird little town because God is preparing us to live in africa one day on a teeny tiny salary. okay, i don't really think that's it at all, but that's exactly the gist of what i mean. i could keep on guessing forever about our situation right now, or i could just make the best of it and know that the aha moment is out there somewhere. one day, it will all make sense and i'll know it all had a purpose.

it's time to talk about the barbies

i've procrastinated long enough. it's time to tell the barbie story. these were the original barbies:

i'm kind of in the center with the long-sleeved, white t-shirt. we eventually added more barbies to our group once we came back to the states, but these were the originals.

it all started on a missions trip to slovakia. we were running an english/sports camp for high school kids in the area and our dorm had two whole showers for 80+ girls. we also didn't have any hot water. having experienced similar living conditions on a trip to russia the year prior, i thought nothing of enduring a cold shower as long as the end result was that you were clean. i also didn't think twice about putting a little baby powder in my hair to soak up the oil if i didn't wash my hair every day. hey, blondes can do those sorts of tricks and get away with them. anyhow, coming down for breakfast one morning, M noticed that my hair looked pretty clean and teased me, asking if i was "missions barbie" or something. i let them all in on my hair secret, but the name stuck. i was missions barbie from there on out.

later that afternoon during craft time, M did something really embarrassing. i mean, so embarrassing that i won't risk telling her story on here unless she outs herself in the comments =) anyhow, after that little episode, we dubbed M as "cg barbie." i wish i could tell you what the cg stands for, because it is so funny. anyhow, she ended up with a more interesting name a few months later and it was "rv barbie." A was much taller and stronger than most of us, so we called her "xena barbie." K was teeny, tiny and she became "skipper."

it all sounds a little childish to be calling your friends barbie names, but we had all bonded during our trip and there seemed no better way to show it than to become the "barbies" and to later invite others to become barbies with us. here are some of the ways we bonded:

here, xena barbie and i are shaving our legs in the bathroom sink. we decided that it was better than shaving in the cold shower with goose bumps.


skipper barbie and i had just gone for a really long run through the city before this picture was taken. when we came back in to the cafe where everyone was hanging out, someone asked if we could help them out by washing dishes. we thought that they were just kidding around, so we agreed. we soon realized that they weren't kidding, and we just could not stop laughing at our situation. thus my red face...


and here are skipper, cg and xena barbies on an escalator back in the states. i think this was the time that we had just gone out for dinner at the cheesecake factory and then decided that we needed to go to lord & taylor to find and try on the most hideous evening gowns that we could possibly find. that was awesome. anyhow, here are the girls striking funny poses while i took the picture.


we also used to go running together quite a bit. i only wish someone had recorded us during those runs... we would make up the most insane songs to sing and keep ourselves going. now, the barbies live all over the world. we still share the barbie-bond, though, and if we ever run across each other it is like no time has passed at all. anyone else have any barbie friends or stories?

milestone

this past monday was bozeman's 2nd birthday. he must have known it somehow and decided to give us a gift before we could give him anything. guess what he did for LH and i? he lifted his leg to pee like a big dog! you may laugh, but this is a big deal in our house. bozeman has lifted his leg about four more times since then, but nothing in the past couple of days. i'm sure he's just building up the confidence to do it once more. my neighbors probably think i'm crazy when they see me clapping and praising my dog for peeing.

fundraising can be fun!

if you just read the title of this post and laughed sarcastically, then you probably went to school when you were a kid. or have a kid in school. or a neighbor kid who rings your doorbell once a week to sell yet another fundraising item. back in high school, i was actually our marching band's drum major. as the band nerd leader, i was supposed to set a good example for the rest of the group and do things like sell the most pies or pizzas or rolls of wrapping paper every time we did a fundraiser. which was pretty much every month. i hated it like i hate the squishiness of corn and peas when you bite down on them. i almost always sold the minimum amount and determined that i would just lead in other areas. like doing pushups and being the best musician.

anyhow, i digress. since becoming a military wifey, i've gotten involved in the spouse clubs at each base. usually, each spouse club has a group that they sponsor or donate money to every year. in order to get the money, we usually hold fun fundraisers like root beer float sales and silent auctions. much more painless than the kind they did back in school. and much better causes, if you ask me. i'd much rather work hard to raise money for military members in need or children of veterans killed in combat or for civilian employees on base who might need some financial support than for a band member to go to band camp or for the band to drive half way across the country to compete in some little competition. granted, those experiences are important when you are in school, but sometimes other needs in life take precedence.

today, the spouse club that i'm currently a part of held a lunch sale fundraiser on base. i don't think i'm stretching it a bit to say that we raised a couple thousand. one of the wives totally got on the ball and had businesses donating food and coupons and even take-out boxes for us to sell homemade lunches in. it was awesome to see how everyone came together to work for such a great cause. it also warmed my heart to see how so many members of our military were willing to give so much to help us. rather than set a price for lunch, we asked for donations only. once the guys and gals buying the lunches found out a little bit more about who we were raising money for, they gladly opened their wallets and gave much more than i could have ever imagined. we live in such a wonderful country where we are free to give and help others and i felt very blessed to be a part of an effort like today's lunch sale.

and speaking of high school... my ten year reunion is this summer and guess what? i'm totally not going. i just really have no desire to catch up on some people's lives and as hard as it is to believe if you read this blog, i really do like my privacy. did anyone else skip out on their reunion?

"take the wifey to work" day

this morning, i willingly woke up at 4am. bozeman and i went for our morning walk while it was barely light outside and i ate breakfast much sooner than normal. i even skipped shaving my legs in the shower so i wouldn't be late. for what, you ask? for work with LH! today was his department's spouse appreciation day and they gave us the chance to walk a few steps in our spouses' shoes. i even got to wear one of LH's uniforms. of course, it might have been better if i had gotten the memo from a few of the other spouses that they were going to wear cute high heeled shoes with the uniforms, but i decided not to let the lack of a stylish pair of shoes ruin my day.

after a quick little talk about safety and such, we spouses were given a short tour. we got to see the men and women that work with our hubbies every day and see the spaces where our hubbies spend many of their waking hours. i've seen that sort of thing before, so while i was impressed, it wasn't earth shattering. what was, however, was seeing my hubby in action. i actually got to go through some of his daily routines by his side and see how difficult some of his work really is. i even got to try a few things on my own! not only was i impressed with the level of skill needed, but i was also impressed with the manner in which LH conducted his business. it was like seeing my hubby through a new pair of eyes and i liked it very much. i've always had oodles of respect for LH, but today, it multiplied exponentially. LH is a big stud. i just thought you all should know that =)

of course, while i would have tried my darndest to keep up with the pace all day long, i didn't have the option. instead, i headed over to the gym on base and waited for LH to finish up for the day. while i ran on the treadmill, i had happy thoughts of LH running through my head. i not only feel like i understand the job a little bit better, but also my hubby and his coworkers. today's fun day raised my respect and patience levels and i hope that they will continue to do this sort of thing in the future and hopefully spread it around for other departments and to other bases.

everyone loves a picture post

we finally got LH's camera back from my parents and i downloaded the pictures from our tahoe vacation. enjoy!

this was my first trip ever to a cabela's store. i enjoyed the drive over there as much as the store itself. carson valley is a beautiful place and reno was nothing like i expected. as you can see in the pictures, you don't just shop in cabela's. i wish we had pictures of LH and me practicing in the toy shooting range =)




emerald bay is a beautiful place on lake tahoe with, surprise, emerald colored water. we took a boat ride out to it to get a closer look. there is an amazing castle on emerald bay that was built back in 1929. it definitely looks like it could have been built in the past decade.






after spending a couple of hours on the boat to emerald bay, LH, my FIL and i were ready for some fishing. we headed over to the gorgeous and very hidden echo lake. this is the same echo lake where i was uber-worried about mountain lions attacking me. the echo chalet is incredibly stocked. i would go so far as to call it a mini whole foods! i guess they have to keep it full of such yummy and organic foods because of all the desolation wilderness hikers and cabin owners that visit. oh, and please don't out me on my fashion faux-pas of wearing boots with shorts. sometimes you have to do that in the mountains.




we also fished at fallen leaf lake. here, a steller jay kept coming back to visit LH and me. probably because i fed him a peanut...



i wish i had more pictures to share, but i'm notorious for enjoying the moment and totally forgetting about pulling out the camera until it's too late. oh well! hope you enjoyed...

a special note from the lucky doggy

bozeman here. i'm taking the computer away from the lucky wifey because she has made me listen to abba one too many times today.

does my fur look soft in this picture? that's because i've conditioned it with pear juice, fresh from the tree. then i rolled in some grass clippings. all of this led to my mom brushing me a whole lot, which i really liked. a lot. she's a good brusher.

speaking of the wifey... she's coming down the hall right now. quick! how do i publish this thing??

the good, the bad and the thursday

if you've ever seen the movie game plan, you know that "stupid is a mean word." i agree. i also think that hate is a mean word. so rather than do the "love/hate" game that i like reading on other blogs, i've decided to create my own version. as you can see in the title, it is called "the good, the bad and the thursday." because thursdays aren't quite fridays they are kinda ugly. so there you have it. and here you have my good, bad and thursday list for the week:

good: nice, clean cut grass with straight lines

bad: women don't sweat, they glisten. however, if anyone happens to drive by while i'm mowing the grass, they'll realize what a lie that is... because i usually lose a couple pounds just from sweating while mowing the grass (don't worry, the pounds come back as soon as i rehydrate)

thursday: dirt and grass clippings stick to the sweat and create a nice, pasty mess that has to be sprayed off with the hose before entering my relatively clean house

good: realizing that you have a pear tree in your back yard that is producing mass quantities of pears. i'm pulling my paula dean cookbook off the shelf to find a good cobbler recipe

bad: LH doesn't eat pears

thursday: bozeman likes pears. he also likes to roll on top of them over and over again

good: we are dog sitting this weekend so bozeman won't be lonely

bad: my parents called to say that they are visiting with their dog as well (this isn't really bad, because i love it when they visit. it's just going to be a full house!)

thursday: i still haven't gone to the grocery store. maybe my parents will enjoy eating cereal three times a day?


anyone have any good, bad and thursdays of their own to share? happy early fourth of july!

a little stress will do you good

yesterday afternoon, i about lost it. i had just spent hours picking up tree branches and pine cones in our yard from a recent storm and then mowing said yard. i had also been communicating with the property management company that we hired to rent out our condo. the second set of renters that they had found for us had fallen through. on top of that, the air conditioning company that had been out to the condo to figure out why our year old HVAC was not working had determined that our problem was actually electrical and told us to call an electrician. that meant another $100 fee for someone to go out to our condo and tell us how much more we need to spend to fix a hopefully small problem. i also had yet to hear back from our condo association's manager about some questions i had for him.

the stress of it all finally hit me when i was trying to finish up some laundry. the tears started flowing and i just sat down on the floor in my laundry room. i told God that he had to take over because i just couldn't handle this. was this really how life was supposed to be? paying for two houses with one salary? why can't i even get a real job here? are we even living where we are supposed to be living? did we come to the wrong city? ugh. then, after all the questions that i threw up to God, i told him that i wished he could just scoop me up in his arms and tell me everything is going to be okay. wouldn't you know it, bozeman walked right around the corner not thirty seconds after i said that? he just stood right in front of me and kissed my face and stayed there for a good five minutes or so. dogs really are man's (and woman's) best friend. i took that as God telling me that everything was going to be okay. maybe not easy, but okay.

so this morning, i took charge and started calling electricians to get advice. one company won my business because they advised that i call the power company and have them come out to the condo first since they are free of charge and the problem might be theirs anyhow. i called and they went out to look at the line and meter at our condo. it turns out that the problem is not theirs, but they were able to tell me that our problem is right on the other side of the meter, that it is frozen and should be an easy fix. i hope. i also got in touch with a lady at our condo association's office who was able to answer all of my questions and i was able check that off my list. whew. i had forgotten how much i love working under pressure. back at my favorite job, where i worked before i got married, i was constantly under pressure and did my best work with a deadline and stressed boss breathing down my neck. so today, when i was handling all of these issues over the phone, i slipped right back into my work-mode and took charge. it felt really good and yesterday's break down was just a memory.

in celebration of the turn of events (even if they aren't all resolved yet), bozeman and i just danced around our office for like fifteen minutes straight. bozeman absolutely loves dancing. and singing. probably because LH and i do a lot of both. bozeman and i just danced to quite a selection: all i want to do by sugarland, if i were a rich man from the fiddler on the roof, weapon of choice by fatboy slim (which included an imitation of christopher walken's dancing) and cinderella by steven curtis chapman. if you have little girls, download that last song and you'll cry.

do all dreams have hidden meanings?

when we were on vacation over at lake tahoe earlier this month, we went fishing at a nearby lake called echo lake. the lake is absolutely gorgeous and also has quite a bit of snow around it as it sits at 7400 feet. i almost considered putting up a tent and claiming a little patch of ground as my very own. and then i considered the possibilities of not having a blow dryer for my hair and i willingly followed LH back to his parents' condo where all things luxury awaited me.

anyhow, the pacific crest trail and desolation wilderness are right there at the lake and LH was kind enough to remind me that it truly is wilderness out there. earlier, my FIL had mentioned that i shouldn't go running alone outside since mountain lions have been known to attack and kill runners. i certainly didn't argue with that. so while we were hiking and fishing around echo lake, all i could think about was the numerous mountain lions that were stalking me. when i found the perfect fishing spot under a fallen tree, i thought about how the trunk of the tree was the perfect spot for a mountain lion to perch and watch me before he or she pounced. shiver. suddenly, it all made sense why nearly every pair of hikers we had seen on the pacific crest trail had a dog or two with them. they were the bait to distract the mountain lions from attacking the humans!

i obviously survived the trip without any mountain lion attacks or sightings, but i was constantly looking over my shoulder. once we were back home, i had a dream about those silly felines. in my dream, LH and i were working at a ranch where we ran a camp for kids. we took the kids horseback riding, fishing, etc. the ranch was in mountain lion country, but we were able to keep a safe distance from them because someone from our ranch had tracked down all of the mountain lions, tranquilized them, and put bright greenish, yellow reflective vests on every single one of them. problem solved.

i kind of doubt that this dream has any hidden meaning other than:
*the fact that i don't want to be eaten by a mountain lion
*i wish there was a way to spot mountain lions way before they even got close enough to stalk or pounce
*i like kids
*i don't want kids to get eaten by mountain lions
*i spend too much on the pioneer woman's website
*i have a very active imagination

what do you think? anyone ever actually had a mountain lion encounter?

p.s. i love the advice in one of the articles i linked you to: convince the mountain lion that you are not prey and that you may be a danger to the lion. riiiiiiight. and you can do that by providing them with a convincing argument that they'd be better off chasing down a wild deer?

haird to believe

i'll admit to being a hair snob. i willingly pay ridiculous amounts to have someone shampoo, condition, cut and blow dry my hair. maybe it comes from a bad experience in 4th grade when my mom accidentally chopped my bangs and i had to live with 1" bangs until they grew, but I think the most reasonable explanation for my desire to spend so much on a hairdo is probably best summed up this way: a hair style is something you wear every day. if you wore the same shirt or dress or pants every single day, you'd choose something that made a good impression, right? and even though the initial sticker price might be a little shocking, the cost-per-day would be relatively low. correct? so the same goes for a hair style. it may seem ridiculous, especially if you are like me and wear your hair pulled back in some way 75% of the time (i attribute that problem to my ridiculously low forehead), but when you look at it on a cost-per-day basis, it really isn't that expensive at all. that may or not make sense to you, but it has always made me feel better when i check out at the salon register.

that being said, last week, i made a completely uncharacteristic move and went to a little, hole-in-the-wall hair salon that is very close to our house. i'm not sure what came over me. i totally ignored the wonderful advice and obviously wonderful haircut of a close friend who found a great salon in the area and thought, hmm, i think i should check out this local hair place. so last week, i shelled out a whole $20 for a shampoo, condition, cut and blow dry, and i think i'm still kind of reeling from the shock of it all. what was i thinking? at least i have long hair and you can't really mess that up too bad.

when the stylist started making the first cuts before determining where my hair is parted, i just told myself that she would fix it before making the important cuts. but when she started cutting into a chunk of hair without actually making sure the hair was all straightened and evenly held between her fingers, i got nervous. it was at that point that i decided to just not even worry about it. sometimes people are more important than the hair snob that lurks inside. maybe i was supposed to sit in this stylists chair and talk with her that day. maybe God helped me momentarily forget my desire to have a good hair cut so i would turn the wheel into the little parking lot and go visit this lady. who knows? so rather than get uptight, i just started talking to her. i'm not even sure if anything worthwhile was said, but she sure had fun talking back to me, and by they time she had finished blow drying my hair with her fingers and no brush, i was satisfied and had convinced myself that going in there for a haircut was exactly what i was supposed to have done that day.

however, by the time my ends need another trim i will take mrs. d's advice and go to her salon.