**Just a reminder - you can click on the pictures to make them bigger**
JANUARY
Walker and Jocelyn turned 14 months old the end of January and we dropped all of their bottles except their morning and night bottles. They did great on the cup and finally started eating actual food a little better. Most of the month was spent getting prepared to move to Texas. It was definitely a month of anxiety. We didn't know until the week of Nick's graduation if he would for sure get Leave to come home and help us move and we wouldn't get his paper Orders until the day of graduation. That meant we couldn't set up the movers and we couldn't get definite confirmation on the house we were assigned. On top of all that I was still kind of nervous about getting the OK from my OB to travel. Why I have no idea - just one of those worries I suppose. Oh - and most of the end of January was spent taking climbing babies off of the coffee table and keeping them out of the entertainment center. They were definitely getting into everything there towards the end and leaving a very pregnant mommy exhausted!! Here's some of my favorite January pictures:
The twins playing in a really cool tunnel my friend Traci gave us and Walker cuddling with mom and baby brother::
Walker and Jocelyn with their straw cups (which they do great with the straw but they sometimes tip up so then they don't get the bottom of the drink LOL), Walker's first haircut (absolutely adorable but boy there was a lot of crying...I have to suck it up and get him in again soon!), The haircut all done, and a cute pic of Jocelyn:
FEBRUARY
We were SO busy in February. We did a lot of packing and getting ready to move in case of all possible scenarios. You never know with the Army. ;-) Then we all got sick the first week of February. Seriously the worst cold and it lasted a month for me! It was awful! Feb 9th I went in for my final Omaha OB appointment and it was kind of bittersweet. On one hand I was so excited to finally be moving and getting settled in our own home before the baby was coming. On the other hand I LOVED my OB and would have loved to have her deliver Ryder. I did get one last ultrasound and our little man was just wonderful. As usual, measuring a week ahead. At 31 weeks, 1 day he weighed in at 5 lbs 2 oz if my memory is correct. The ultrasound tech showed me fat rolls on his back and chubby little cheeks. LOL I'm very excited to see just how chubby this new little monkey is!! He looked nice and healthy and my OB gave me the go ahead for our big move! Here's an ultrasound pic from that day (he's laying sideways and you can pretty much just see his face and shoulders/upper torso and arm. Turn your head to the right and you can see him face on.:
On February 10th, we headed out to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri to finally see my wonderful husband graduate Army OSUT (a combo of Basic and AIT). It was quite the drive and I'm proud to say I actually drove the whole way (my Dad, mother in law, and father in law came too but they drove in my Dad's car). We did great and even though it took a good 8 hours it went by pretty quickly and the kids did wonderful. They did great at the hotel and the next day we finally got to see Nick at Family Day. It was so good to see him and I was/am SO proud of him! We got to spend the day with him and it was so good to see him and the kids together. Then the next day was Graduation. It was a really good ceremony and it brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't be prouder of my husband! Here are a couple of pictures from my handsome husband on Graduation Day:
After Graduation, we all drove home together (SO happy to have my husband back by the way!!! Not looking forward to deployments AT ALL!). The next day we had an Open House to say goodbye to family and friends. We were supposed to leave the next day, however some really horrible wind in conjunction with a little snow put a halt on that plan. We stayed one more night and left early the morning of the 15th. It took longer than expected with the kiddos but we finally made it to Arlington, TX to stay at my Mom's house and visit my sister, Angelina. Angelina has 3 kids that I really haven't spent much time with and she hadn't met the twins yet so it was really special to be able to spend some time with her. One of her kiddos is a brand new baby girl so it was neat to see the twins reaction to her. Much to my happiness they did great. Walker (who I really worry about being jealous) was so sweet. He just wanted to hug her and kiss her even when I was holding her. Jocelyn was really good with her but was kind of into doing her own thing and enjoyed spending time with Ang's 2 older kids. We were intending on only being there 1-2 nights but our new van that we bought for reliability broke down on us! Go figure! Of course they had to special order a part that wouldn't be in until the 19th. That was the day we were supposed to sign on our house and I really didn't want to lose it. We ended up flying Nick down to El Paso on the 18th to sign on our house, get the keys, and go to the Lending Closet to get some temporary stuff till our household goods arrived. In the end it all worked out of course. Nick got back on an earlier flight on the 19th, he picked up the van, and off we went to El Paso. We finally got in here about 4am on the 20th and were able to pull right into our garage, explore our new house and get the twins pack and plays set up and all fall asleep for a few hours. What a trip! The rest of February was spent getting to know the area and teaching the twins some independence from Mom. They love exploring the new house and we've childproofed all main areas so they have the run of the house and it's much easier on me. The bathrooms, our bedroom, and Nate's bedroom have the doors shut and the kitchen has a gate up since we can't put child locks on the cabinets. It's all working out good though and I'm able to get a lot done now (even cooking meals!) and they play happily. Their bedroom is right in view of the kitchen so they play in there a lot while I'm cooking and I can watch them. It's working out really good and hopefully they'll continue to get more independent and all will go well when Ryder comes. Nate is doing great here. He's continued to be such a wonderful help with the twins and he's doing well in school and has met a few nice friends. Here's some pics from February (the first 2 are the car ride down to TX):
Jocelyn, Lisa, Nate holding Walker, Colton, Ella, Angelina holding Carly
The Front of Our House!!
MARCH
So far March has been a mix of super busy and finally feeling like we can relax. Our household goods arrived on Feb. 28th and Nick had to report in on March 1st. He was able to have a little time off but I got to do a good share of the unpacking. Really it's a woman's thing anyway right? LOL Of course juggling taking care of the twins and being huge put a little kink in the unpacking and while we got everything livable and boxes out of sight, we still have a bit to go through. I finally stopped unpacking and started preparing for Ryder's arrival. I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions like crazy (which the DR said is a good thing!) and a lot of pressure so I've been getting that super nesting feeling. All we have left to do is set up the car seat and stroller which we're doing this weekend. I finally got an appointment with an OB at the hospital here (William Beaumont). It was mostly to discuss the VBAC vs. Repeat C-Section. He went over all of the risks of both and to be honest the VBAC does sound scary if the worst happens (uterine rupture). My sister, Tracy, is coming down here April 3rd-17th to help me and we decided to plan on a VBAC for now and see how that goes. Once I get to or close to the 39th week (when Tracy is here) we may decide to do a c-section. The biggest reason on that is if I end up having to have a c-section while doing the trial of VBAC and I don't go into labor until right before she leaves - my recovery help is gone. SO that's the plan right now. It is up to me but my OB is very comfortable with that plan. I'll of course be monitored the whole time I'm laboring with the VBAC but we'll give it a shot if it happens in the next few weeks. Right now my little one is head down and in a great position for delivery. I have no idea if I'm dilated or not because they don't check that until you might actually be in labor. Ah well. Not like it matters a whole lot since you can stay at 3cm for a month. LOL I'm pretty huge. Here's a pic from last week (35 weeks 2 days):
Walker and Jocelyn are doing great. They'll be 16 months on the 26th of this month. I can't believe time is flying by so fast! They are officially off all bottles and the transition went smoother than I imagined. Now I'm just hoping they don't get mad when I use one of their Boppy's for nursing Ryder!! LOL They have little baby dolls and they thoroughly enjoy giving the babies their Paci's and drinks out of their cups so I'm a little worried about that aspect with Ryder but we'll deal with that when it comes. Hopefully they won't be sticking humongo Paci's in his mouth. LOL Next to go for them will be the Paci's but I'm honestly not in as big of a hurry with those with the new baby coming. I'll hold off a bit longer and just try to cut down their usage time. They're getting LOTS of teeth finally. Which is good and bad. LOL I cannot wait for teething to be over!!!! Walker now has 2 teeth on the bottom, 4 teeth on the top, and 1-2 more coming in on the top. Jocelyn has 3 teeth on the bottom, 2 teeth on the top, and 2 coming in on the top. Let's just say it's been interesting. LOL Nick keeps asking why they're so cranky and I'm like oh yeah - you were gone when they were teething last time. Welcome to my hell. LOL We live for Teething Tablets! ;-) They also LOVE going outside and playing. The weather is beautiful and the fenced yard helps me out! LOL Nick is enjoying his new career so far. He's in a unit that is brand new so they're not doing a whole lot right now but the good news is he isn't going anywhere for quite a while! That's wonderful news to me! Especially with 3 small babies at home!!!! Anyway - the kiddos are starting to have a melt down so I think my post has come to an end. ;-) Here are some final pics:
1 comment:
Great post!! Love to hear how you guys are doing!! Talk about CRAZY busy!! :)
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