Half way there!!!!

Well I survived a week without Ben, although I hope that we don't have to be doing that too often. I really enjoyed being able to go and hang out with some new people while he was gone. So we have officially hit the halfway mark of my pregnancy. Our little boy has become much more active over the last couple of days. For some reason, he seemed to be active all day yesterday, even during the Steeler's game. Unfortunately Ben has not been able to enjoy these movements, he just looks at me kind of weird when I get a startled look on my face. It is just amazing to me to feel these movements. We spent part of the day registering at Babies R' Us. It was a little overwhelming how much stuff you need for something sooo small. Ben thoroughly enjoyed going through the store with a gun and scanning some random items. I am sure you will see what I mean when you look at our registry. Well, some of you were a little disappointed by the pictures that I posted last week, because you had already seen them. I hope that you enjoy these updated pictures. Here are official 20 week pictures. (These were taken today after we got back from shopping.) :)

Christmas and Baby Update

Well Christmas was very different for Ben and I this year. We didn't get to enjoy the normal family gatherings because we decided that we would be spending Christmas in Oklahoma this year. Fortunately, my Mom and Dad, sisters Tesha and Tessa, my brother-in-law Eugene, and nephew Austyn got to come and spend a week with us. Tesha's boyfriend Jacob arrived a few days after they did. They spent 26 hours in an RV to come see us. We enjoyed having everyone here. We really enjoyed Austyn, he is just such a little cutie. I made him a little hat and pair of mittens, but somehow we misplaced his mittens. I am sure we will find them, otherwise I will just have to make another pair. We had really nice weather while they were out here. In fact we got to go and sit on the back porch for a little while. Tesha decided to take Austyn to see our neighbor's horse, but Tessa wasn't too keen on the idea. She doesn't like horses. Anyway, since we stayed in our PJs most of the time, Tesha ended making a fashion statement when she put Ben's boots on. I am sure she will be so excited that I put this picture on here. It is always hard to say goodbye, especially when you don't know when you will see them again. I think the thing that Ben was most excited about was his BB gun that I got him for Christmas. Originally, I got it as a joke, but as Christmas got closer and closer, it seemed like he really wanted one. He has a squirrel that he is trying to get because it keeps eating all of the birdseed that we put out. Plus there are certain birds that he doesn't want to keep around. He gets this look on his face and you just know that he is on a mission. Eugene even got in on the action of trying to get the squirrel or birds. He was successful at getting a sparrow. So he got the first kill with the gun. Well I said this update was also about the baby. On Friday, we went for our sonogram and found out that I am having a BOY!!! The nurse asked us if we wanted to know and we said yes so she moved the wand down. The next thing we know she is telling us how proud he is. It was really neat to see him on that screen. At one point in time, he even waved to us. He seems like he is already ornery, because the nurse was trying to get a picture of his umbilical cord and just about the time she would get it in focus, he would hit it away. He also likes to hang out with his hand on his head like the picture shows. This next picture is of his face with his mouth open. The nurse said it looked like he was yelling at her, but I told her that he was probably yelling at us. The nurse said that he is about 11 ounces, but she didn't say how long. She also said that the one bone in his arm was 2.8 cm long. It is just hard to imagine something being that small. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how much I gained especially going through the holidays. Ben left for Jacksonville, FL today. He found out Friday that he had to go. I was none too excited to hear this news. He will be there until Friday. I meant to have him take some pictures of me before he left, so I could show you how big I am getting, but I forgot. I guess you could say typical pregnant woman. These pictures are from a few weeks ago that I took while Ben was at work, so I am a little bigger at this point in time. 15 weeks- Taken on December 10. Well I think that is about it as far as our updates. When Ben gets back from Florida, we will be going and registering at Babies R' Us. I will send you an official email when we actually get this done. We sure do miss everyone and look forward to when we can see you all again. Love You!!!

A long overdue update!

Many of you are probably wondering why it has been so long since I updated our blog. Well, that is because we had a secret. I figured if I didn't update this, then I wouldn't be tempted to spill the beans as far as our secret goes. Finally, we are ready to let the whole world know what our secret is. If you haven't already guessed it, Ben and I are expecting a baby. The baby is due to arrive the beginning part of June. We are sooo excited about our upcoming arrival. It was extremely hard not being able to share our exciting news, but I am done keeping it a secret. Ben went with me to the doctor on Thursday, so that we could hear the heartbeat together for the first time. Our baby decided that it was going to be a little contrary (must be Ben's kid), but finally the nurse and the doctor were able to find it. It was probably the neatest thing either one of us have ever heard. Ben didn't say anything at the time, but after the appointment he informed me that when they couldn't find it, he was a little concerned. The doctor says that all is well and that we have nothing to be concerned about. Ben has just been amazing over the last couple of weeks dealing with me. I never thought that he would be so caring and willing to help, but he has really went above and beyond my expectations. Some updates as to what else has been going on in our lives for the past two months. Well as many of you know, we spent all of September and part of October in Alabama. It was really nice to meet other Air Force wives and form friendships that definitely got us through our time in Alabama. The group that I hung out with just really seemed to click. We did many things together including shopping, watching chick flicks, cooking, and of course a lot of talking. I really miss them, but the internet is so wonderful and has been assisting in keeping up with each other. We also got to go back to PA for a few days when Ben's grandfather had passed away. It was a really sad reason to go in, but seeing all of our family was definitely worth it. Even though we haven't been gone long, it is amazing how quickly you forget what things look like in the different seasons. I can honestly tell you that PA is much prettier than OK in the fall. Many of our family in PA and friends in OH are already telling us that they got their first snow, however, it doesn't look that is in our forecast any time soon. I kind of think this is a disappointment since I love to play in the snow. I guess I will just have to look forward to ice storms. I think that when they finally get here, I probably will not be doing much outside those days. Finally, Ben has been cutting firewood so that once we get our chimney cleaned, we can heat the front part of the house with a fire. Well, shortly after we got back from Alabama, I went and helped him. He cut the firewood, while I stacked and put it in the truck. I told him that he is not allowed to be out cutting wood unless he has someone with him. So last weekend, he asked Rob to go along and assist, since I really shouldn't be doing that type of work. Well, this is what happens when two guys work together and know each other too well. Yes that is right, they start dressing like each other. I can tell you that neither one of them talked to the other, but this is how they were dressed, while working with one another.

Picture Update

I think that I got most of the boxes unpacked. At least as many as I plan to do at this time. Our house is finally starting to feel like a home. Here are some pictures of the inside of our house.This is our living room. I really love having these bookshelves in there. I told Ben that he couldn't put the Taz cup on the mantle, but he said that until I get something for in that spot, it would stay up there. Dining Room Laundry Room/ Breakfast Nook, 2nd Living- These are all the different names that the previous owners used for this room. This is our bedroom. When we choose the color it didn't seem to be dark enough, so I went one shade darker. We are still not sure if we like the color, but it will do for now. This room is going to be my craft room for now. It will also serve as a guest bedroom. I assembled the twin bed myself while Ben was at work one day. I also pulled this desk from the other bedroom. Needless to say, I was a little sore the next day. This is our third bedroom and it will be used as our office. This is is the bedroom that has its own key and entrance to a back porch. Ben and I are in Montgomery, Alabama for six weeks. The nice thing about Maxwell AFB is that because this base is considered a schooling base and so many people are coming through here, they offer some spousal support for the wives. The one wife has actually taken to the time to organize activities for us. It is has been really nice to have something to do besides sitting in a hotel room. Besides the many mosquitos, our trip down here has been a lot of fun. Yesterday we went to downtown and got to learn a little bit about the history of Montgomery. We went to the Capitol. This is the Martin Luther King, Jr Church. The famous bus boycott was organized here in December 1955. This is right along the street where he did his famous march. The following pictures are from the first white house of the Confederacy where Jefferson Davis lived. This was the presidents bedroom. These article of clothing were for the Jefferson children. These coffee cups were given to Jefferson Davis by the sultan of Turkey.

July/ August Update

We spent three weeks in Dayton during the month of July. Ben had to go through some training for his job. I spent most of the days in my hotel room or walking back and forth to the computer lab. On my many walks to the computer lab, I often got to watch a mommy duck and her babies, actually there were two different sets of ducks. I have decided that the younger ducks of the two groups were much cuter. While we were in Dayton, we were able to go and spend a weekend with Will, Valerie, and Graham. It was amazing how much Graham grew in a little over a month. We also got to spend a day with Mom, Dad, Tesha, Tessa, Eugene, and Austyn at Cabela's in Wheeling, WV. Austyn really seemed to enjoy the African exhibit and also the aquarium. Makayla and Kevin were also able to join us for a day in Wheeling. While Ben and I were traveling to Dayton, Makayla called and told me that she was engaged. They will be getting married in September '09. Although our stay in Wheeling wasn't all that great. It was still nice to be able to see everybody for at least a little while. Before we left Dayton, Ben and I decided to go to the Air Force Museum which is part of Wright Patterson AFB. I thought that it was going to be a really long visit going through the museum, but Ben surprised me when he wasn't interested in reading every single caption. I really liked the "pretty planes". However, Ben was much more into the planes that he is familiar with including the ones that he is required to work with. We closed on our house on Monday. We have put in some really long hours trying to get our house ready to move in. We have spent the past week cleaning and unpacking A LOT of boxes. The previous owners had a dog and so we have had to scrub the carpets. Today is the fourth day that the hall carpet has been cleaned. It had some pretty bad stains and also smells really bad. Tonight we are staying at Rob and Amy's so that the carpet will have a chance to dry without us tracking all over it. We spent our first night in our house last night. Our stuff from PA arrived today and unfortunately some of our stuff was damaged. We will have to file a claim to try to get compensation for these damages. Even though we have unpacked a lot of the boxes, we still have some more to do. It is really starting to look and feel like a home. Our new address is 6408 SE 57th St Oklahoma City, OK 73135. Ben and I have kept our same cell numbers. Look forward to hearing from everyone.

Homeless in Oklahoma

We made it to Oklahoma and we have been here for about three weeks. Rob and Amy have been so kind to put up the "homeless" couple (that would be us). We have gone house hunting numerous days. It has been very interesting looking at some of these prospective houses. We have figured out that pictures are so deceiving. The houses that you could see yourself living in have been complete disappointments once you actually go and see them. Ben has only been to work two days so far, but he has to go to work starting tomorrow. Just wanted to let you know that we are still alive and missing everyone. I will let you know when we actually purchase a house.

Snow, snow, and more snow

Well it has been snowing since yesterday around 9 am. I just had to go out and play in it today. So far we have about a foot of snow and it is not supposed to stop until sometime tomorrow. They have already canceled church and the plows don't plan to touch anything but the main streets until at least tomorrow. So for now we are kind of snowed in. Here are a few pictures of us having some fun in the snow (making snow angels, shoveling, etc.). There was so much snow in the back of Ben's truck that I was able to lay down and kind of make a snow angel.