The Big D

Well we are headed for Dallas Texas until Sunday! Brian has a big show in Grapevine. I don't know if I will have Internet access at all while I'm there. I know I won't have my computer because it isn't working, something about hard drive failure. Sounds expensive! So I will try to get on and update as much as possible if the hotel has Internet or if dad brings his computer, but there is a chance that it won't be until Monday. Dad and Angie are flying down from Colorado, Angie's family in Texas will be there plus Brian has lots of fans from Arkansas that are making the trip to see him. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

9 Weeks

I get e-mail updates every week on what is going on with the baby. Here is my 9 week update:

9 Weeks
How your baby's growing:
Your new resident is an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

Well, I still think that I am pretty lucky so far. I haven't thrown up any at all. I get a little nauseated here and there, but for the most part I'm still feeling good. My headaches are not coming around as much either, so I'm thankful! Yesterday was rough because of the long night before I guess. My main problem is eating. When I wake up I am not hungry. When I finally eat something it makes my feel worse, and nothing ever sounds good. It is so strange...I used to love broccoli and now it sounds and smells so gross (just an example). The only drinks that sound good and don't make me feel bad are water and tea. I guess that's a good thing. Anyway, this is the only weird thing I'm experiencing....oh and the blue fingers, which I still dont know what is wrong with my circulation. I still feel fatigued quite a bit, but that isn't a big deal really.

Here is another video of Brian (from the KSSN website). The sound still isn't great but it is a better quality video. I know it is a long link :)
http://www.kssn.com/cc-common/mediaplayer/player.html?redir=yes&mps=showdown.php&mid=http://a1802.v303106.c30310.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1802/30310/v0001/cchannel.download.akamai.com/30310/1014/richmedia/brian_mullen.wmv?CCOMRRMID=18540821&CPROG=RICHMEDIA&MARKET=LITTLEROCK-AR&NG_FORMAT=country&NG_ID=kssn95fm&OR_NEWSFORMAT=&OWNER=1014&SERVER_NAME=www.kssn.com&SITE_ID=1014&STATION_ID=KSSN-FM&TRACK=brian_mullen_video

Brian at the Rev Room

Last night Brian sang before a packed audience at Rumba Revolution(The Rev Room). He sounded better than ever! He was competing for the KSSN Colgate Country Showdown. He made the top 5 and was the only one in the top 5 that wasn't a full band. We were all so proud of him and he made lots of new fans and connections. Here is the video from it. It was taken from a friend of Brian's digital camera, therefore the quality isn't very good and the sound is off (you can't tell how amazing his vocals were on the video). I wanted to go ahead and post it because you will hear all the screaming fans and people already singing along with his song. He performed "Wish You Were Here", which is a song that he wrote. Hang in there through the screams and you can get a good idea of how last night went....(Make sure you go to the bottom of this page first and pause the music play list so you can hear the video). I am so proud of him.


I had very few pictures from the night, but we had fun! Here are some loyal fans...

Brandi, Brian and Me

Brian and Laura (one of mom's friends and a big fan of Brian's)

Ashley and Brian

Me and Jana


Jeremy and I bought a video camera before he left to go back to Iraq. You can tell I haven't owned one in awhile, considering I brought it along last night to tape Brian and didn't get a backup battery nor did I make sure the only battery was fully charged. I brought the video camera along to my first doctor's appointment to tape the heartbeat and didn't get the chance (there was a very fast and fluttering heartbeat, but everything went so fast and mom didn't get the chance to get my camera out of my purse, :( sorry again Jeremy my fault.) Apparently I left it on when I checked to make sure it was working properly in the waiting room....which leads me to why my battery was totally dead at The Rev Room last night. LESSON LEARNED I hope. Oh and I was "extra prepared" by going through my digital camera and deleting most of my pictures to make sure I had enough space to tape Brian on it as a backup. By the time I had deleted all of my pictures I had killed that battery too. Gah! So annoying.

After the Rev Room we proceeded to Discovery. Norman (grandpa's brother)owns the club and gave the family a tour. Again, the worst night ever to NOT have my camera. The tour was almost over and we were going to have a seat when Brian started feeling really bad. He had a headache and was so pale and weak. Then his vision started to blur. It really scared him and us. Mom had to catch him once because he was falling back like he was going to pass out. After trying to feel better, we wound up at the Springhill Baptist ER last night. His blood pressure was very high when we got there. They did a brain scan, EKG, and blood work on him. They did the brain scan just to be safe, since he had a really bad concussion a little over a year ago when he flipped his car. Everything was fine and they said it was probably a migraine coming on. We were all so tired at this point. They released him later on and I think everyone was in bed barely before the sun came up. What a night! Today we are all still recovering. We slept hard and feel pretty rough today.

FROM IRAQ

HELLO EVERYONE!!! I hope everyone is doing well. I've been getting back into the swing of things since I've arrived back from my wonderful, yet short, trip home. This past week I've been at the JSS (Joint Security Station) in Sab Albour. The Commander (CPT Digati) took us on a 3 mile patrol through the town. It was good. We got to meet a lot of the locals. We walked around in the market. The Iraqi kids love when we come out...we give them candy. Below are some pictures from our trip into town. Just to clear up the confusion...the purpose of the patrol is to "win the hearts and minds of the local populous."

Leaving the JSS...



Iraqi Transportation


Alternate means of Transportation


Sun in my eyes


Iraqi Army hard at work


Me with the kids


Kids playing table hockey


Commander playing Ping Pong


Watch out for that bus!


Has anyone seen Shrek?


Busy streets of Sab Albour



My Platoon Sergeant standing in the middle of the busy street


Local selling block ice


Fruit Stand



The day after our patrol, one of the Sheiks (one of the local tribal leaders) decided to treat us to an authentic Iraqi dinner. So, he brought tons of food to the JSS. It was chicken and lamb over rice with dates in it...there was something else on top of the rice but it don't know what it was. I just decided to eat it and not ask questions...probably better that way. LOL!

Here's what the plate of food looked like


Waiting to eat the unfamiliar!


I'm digging in!!!


K.B. (one of our interpreters) showing me how to eat rice with my hands


Save some chicken for me

We really are going to be parents!!!

Zoomed in but kind of blurry.

(below)Head at the left, feet at the right. Already turning towards the camera :)

(below)He/she is upside down in this one, head at the bottom and feet at the top

There is a good chance that others will see this before the daddy even does since I haven't heard from him in awhile...grrrr :-/

So they estimated my due date at March 31st and then she measured the baby and the computer estimated my due date for April 1st. So...my calculations were right on and so is the baby's growth! I am so excited about everything.

Happy 50th Anniversary to the McNairs

Tonight was Jeremy's grandparents' (Mamaw and Papaw Louis they are called) 50th Anniversary!! We went to Shorty Smalls in West Little Rock to celebrate. Here is a family picture...some folks were hidden behind others I noticed :(

Another try....

Logan, the little gentleman at the head of the table

Here is the Happy couple while they were being sang to.

Chloe has a new favorite place to hang out here lately.
She has actually scared me a couple of times because I didn't expect a living animal to be with the stuffed ones.I took this picture the night of Debby's visitation. There was a rainbow overhead, it was really pretty but kind of hard to see in the picture.

Grandpa, Barney, and I went for a walk tonight and I am loving this weather. My doctor's appointment is Friday at 9:15 FINALLY!

This little gal is doing better already! She bounces back pretty easily.

Saturday was Brooke's baby shower at Cajun's wharf.It went really well and we had a great turnout. Her cake was pretty too!

Friday I kept Olivia and Emma for Lindsey while she visited her mom (Debby) at The Hospice center. I feel more confident now in my abilities to be alone with kids :). Things went really well. I even gave them a bath. Then we got ready for their Meemaw (Josh and Ashley's mom) to come and pick them up. I could tell Emma was getting tired so I picked her up and she was out! That's my favorite part about babies...when they snuggle with you. When she finally woke up we were both sweaty :). Olivia has been sick so she took a nap too after playing with my camera.

They were having fun.
Emma (napping) with me and Grimmy the dog.

Sunday night after visiting at Lindsey's house we went to Golden Corral (my choice, I love their salad bar).

Wrapping up Summer

I think it is so strange that at the end of every season I am ready for the next. I know a lot of people are that way, but we really can sometimes take the changing seasons for granted. Last year we were in Hawaii at this time. When the football games started coming on TV it just didn't seem right. It wasn't football weather!! Where were the pretty leaves, flannel blankets, and hot chocolate? In October we were still in shorts and flip flops, in December...shorts, flip flops, and an umbrella. I loved Hawaii, but I am glad I get to be home this year to experience everything I know Autumn is. The other day I could feel the "back to school" feeling in the air. I'm just excited about summer ending I guess. Maybe it is because we are one season closer to bringing Jeremy home. In less than 7 months he will be here (along with a new and improved version of the 2 of us:)).We can now say that we are over halfway through the deployment!

I don't know that I ever posted about our decision to stay in the military, so here goes! We decided to stay in the military. There are lots of reasons that we made this decision:

+Jeremy is changing his MOS, which means he will be taking a non combative job.

+He goes before the board on August 28th for his promotion to Sergeant.

+While in Iraq, he is putting his packet in for Officer Candidate School, which means that sometime next year he will be an officer. His commander really thinks that he is officer material, so he is signing off on some stuff so that he can go ahead and apply. Once he is an officer, he will enjoy his job more(and it is a huge jump in his base pay and our housing).

+Medical benefits are the best...we wanted to have our kids while he is in the military (so far so good!)

+The opportunities to travel and live in different places.

+I can stay home with the kids until they start school, by then I'll have my Master's and will be able to do whatever (probably counsel or teach.) Actually I'm halfway through with the Master's now so I should be finished way before the kids start school....and the military is now assisting with spouse tuition!

+If and when Jeremy decides to get out of the army, he will have a much better chance of finding a good government job.

+He can retire at 45 if he stays in, 50 if he stays within the government.

+Lastly, it is what Jeremy wants to do. He wants to at least give another post and position a chance. I asked him if he had not married me, would he stay in? His answer was "Yes, But now it is about what you want too". Honestly, I love being an army wife. I love having the opportunity to put Jeremy and family first and not a job. The deployment has been really hard, but our relationship has only gotten stronger. We get to talk a lot, and when all you have is communication, you can really grow even closer. I feel like I am tough enough to handle being an army wife and he is tough enough to be a soldier, a hero to his family :). It is kind of neat to not have a 10 year plan. I like not knowing what is in store for us, where we are going, who we will meet. It is scary, but really....do things really work out the way we planned them anyway?

Now for the downside of things that TRUST ME, we hate...
-Moving away from family
++But, we will be stateside so we will be in driving distance from everyone, And once he is an officer, we can request places in Arkansas. We may not get it at first but we can try!
-Possibility of deploying again
++But, deployments are being shortened and we get a new president so things will be different.
-Jeremy will have to go to Officer Candidate School out of state for 3 months
++But, I will be able to stay put in Arkansas until he is finished. And OCS isn't as bad as it used to be. They have lots of freedom and privileges, especially since he is prior enlisted.

We spent a very long time talking all of these things over. The economy is so up and down, and jobs are pretty hard to find in Arkansas especially. He wants to use his degree in a church, with the youth or children wherever we wind up. That just can't be a primary job for him because it doesn't pay much typically. We don't want to leave, but we feel like at this time it is the best thing for our family's future. He signed for another 4 years from June (which technically only added 3 years to his time. He had a year left when he signed and the new contract overrules the old one). We should find out where our new post is in December. The military is so complicated though, because our orders will say one place but after OCS we will probably go to another. The first set of orders will be for Jeremy's position in supply (what he was planning on doing if he didn't go to OCS). So really, I guess the first orders don't matter. If things go the way we "think" they will, we will probably move to our new post around next November. Confused yet? Welcome to my world!

If you skipped over all of that I don't blame you!

On Saturday night, Jana and Andrew came over and spent some time with us. We went to eat dinner and when we came back, my poor little Chloe had been stung on the mouth by something. I don't know what got her, but something did! These are after we gave her Benadryl. Still pink and about halfway swollen :(


This week has gone by fast. On Monday I went to Hot Springs with a bunch of my friends for a bachelorette party. It was fun! I came home that night though. We all had nicknames on the backs of our shirts, mine said Mama to Be! I didn't get a picture of it.

I worked Tuesday and Wednesday. I really enjoy the extra cash and exercise, but I get so dizzy while I am working. It scares me because I will walk over to a table with drinks and it will sometimes look like the table moves or something. I just don't want to pass out...and although I have never passed out before...I surely feel like I am close to it here lately. Also, I cramp here and there when I get to walking a lot, and that is an uncomfortable and scary feeling. My appointment is next Thursday at 1:30 and I am still very anxious. I will be almost 9 weeks. The ultrasound is scheduled for the next week because the tech is on vacation (Is there not more than one tech? Apparently not...but there should be...or he should borrow one from one of the other 20 clinics in that building). I have heard great things about Dr. Taylor though, and I am confident that we picked a good one.

Tonight we went up to see a family member of ours, Debbie Camp. She as well as her close and extended family really needs your prayers. She has a brain tumor and was on the list for a liver transplant. It is a very hard time for everyone.

This weekend is Brooke's Shower at Cajun's Wharf at 5:00 on Saturday. She is so ready to have that baby!

So I guess it is time to start documenting my growing belly. I know all people are different, so I'm kind of worried that I'm going to be huge. I can already tell a difference(I know it isn't the actual baby it is everything else in there growing getting ready). So here I am at a little over 7 weeks..and I took this myself because no one was here.

When I changed my layout I accidentally deleted my survey! Woops! At least I remember what it said. The question was, what do you think we are having? My answers so far were 7 people said boy, 7 said girl, and 4 said twins. I think I might put it back up and everyone can re vote if they don't mind. Maybe people changed their minds or something anyway. Well I have been reading and it says that if I haven't been sick so far, chances are I won't be sick. I'm really hoping this is true! I haven't been sick at all. I've felt great this week. I'm still wanting to sleep a lot, but I have also been working quite a bit.

Jeremy is doing good out at Taji. He got internet in his room, so that is going to save us lots of money. We can talk on the web cam on Skype for free. We have to pay monthly for the internet but it is still worth it. This is random but I really miss Hawaii :(.

Chloe is doing just fine. The day after her surgery she was back to her normal self!

I have decided to find a new OB/GYN. The backup doctor for the doctor I was supposed to see (Dr. Ulmer was my doctor) is not a good one. He has a very bad record, and recently one huge mistake that I am not going to chance. I've decided that I'm definitely not going to deliver at Saline Memorial. I have narrowed it down to 2 doctors. Dr. Ken Taylor (at doctor's hospital...can see me on Aug 21st) and Dr. Cindy Hubach (at Baptist...can see me Aug 29th if there are no cancellations before then). Any recommendations? At the bottom of this post you can comment with suggestions or e-mail me at amandam_32@yahoo.com. I will either be 9 or 10 weeks when I finally get to see a doctor, but at least I'll get my first ultrasound then too! I can't wait. I would love to hear input from everyone. I am NEW to this!

Someone had a hard day :(

Well I felt like I was being a mean mom but it had to be done. Chloe got spayed today. She knew before we ever got to the vet's office that something was up. She was shaking and very scared. It was so hard to leave her there this morning. She is out of it now, I just gave her some more pain medicine, poor baby. She was trying to walk and crying the whole time. I'm hoping she feels better tomorrow, since I am working Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Brother is looking out for her.
Her pain medicine seems to be working though.
Last night Brandi, her son Tristen, Brooke, and I had dinner together at Ruby Tuesday. It was pretty good, we were long overdue for a visit. We used to see each other so much more, but since we are spread out across Arkansas now we don't see each other as much as we would like.
Then Brandi had the great idea for this picture. I am only 6 weeks and not showing (but feeling absolutely puffier than usual). Brooke is way ahead of me in her pregnancy, 30 weeks!! Due the 2nd week of October.