What we've been up to

Barney and Chloe have been waking me up early every morning to go outside. He likes the cold and she just likes to run.I love my pups!


Grandpa and grandma walked over the other night and i swear these dogs are like their grandkids :)

Chloe still stays very close to Barney. Our heater hasn't been working, but the guy finally came and fixed it a couple of days ago. Just in time! The babies still cuddle though. Awww

I know, enough about the dogs! Tonight I went to Benton to get some VERY much needed larger....supportive articles of clothing. heehee. I was miserable. Anyway, afterwards I met Jana Autumn and Tori for supper at Chili's. It was for Autumn's birthday. As usual, we had lots of fun and laughs! We are going to start getting together more because we have way too much fun.

Clockwise from the blonde:) Jana, me, Autumn, Tori

I went to Petco with Jana after we ate and got Chloe a harness. It is too small though, so now I have to take it back. Grandpa and I have been walking in the evenings and he is teaching her how to walk like a good girl and not a crazy girl so she needs a harness. She keeps choking herself on her collar. Barney is very good though. Woops, talking about my dog again!

Well Friday is the big day! I am so excited...so are Jana, Ashley, Mom and Grandma (they are all going with me). Jeremy is way excited too! He called the ultrasound office and worked something out with them. They weren't going to tape anything for me and they wouldn't let me tape at all. No video cameras. We weren't too happy about that. The DVD machine is broken at the office I'm going to.This is a huge nice radiology office and they only have one recorder? They kept apologizing saying there is nothing we can do. Anyway, he wouldn't take no for an answer and finally he talked to someone helpful. They agreed to hook up to a VHS recorder and I'll transfer it to DVD when we get home. They put it in my chart so we will see when we get there. The radiology place is in Baptist, floor 11. My OB is on floor 5. I am so ready to know, and very glad that the time is so near. I will update as soon as I get home Friday. I have no instincts anymore on what I'm having. At first I was so sure it was a BOY, Jeremy was so sure GIRL. Then I started believing GIRL and Jeremy still said GIRL. Now....I have no idea. Jeremy says GIRL. My poll over there says 12 people think girl and 12 say boy, so obviously we are all just clueless! Time will tell! I wouldn't be surprised if his/her legs were crossed or something. That is our luck!

October was the fastest month of the deployment so far, surprisingly. Jeremy and I were talking today about how time is just flying! He did great on his test he had to take to get into OCS and now he is working on finishing up his admission packet. He is still packing things every day to be shipped back to Hawaii! Things are winding down out there and moving so fast. We just hope this keeps up. I really can't believe it has been almost 11 months. Also, the pregnancy is almost halfway over! I am 18 weeks now and can't believe how easy it has been. I feel so lucky and blessed.

Week 18: Getting on Your Nerves
This week your baby is hitting the height chart at five and a half inches long (remember, that's crown to rump) and weighs about five ounces (the weight of that boneless chicken breast you're making for dinner).
And now for the skill of the week (drum roll please…): The art of the yawn has been mastered by your baby (someone's sleepy!). In fact, you might catch a glimpse of that adorable yawn if you're getting an ultrasound this month. You'll also catch a glimpse of all the movement your baby's doing — twists, rolls, kicks, and punches. And would you believe your baby is finally big enough for you to start feeling those movements now (or anytime in the next few weeks). So get ready!
Something you won't see on the ultrasound, but you'll know is in working order, is your baby's nervous system, which is maturing rapidly at this time. Nerves, now covered with a substance called myelin (which speeds messages from nerve cell to nerve cell), are forming more complex connections. And those in the brain are further specializing into the ones that serve the senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. Talking about hearing, your baby's is growing more acute, making your little one more conscious of sounds that come from inside your body (which means you could both be listening to each other hiccup — a skill that your baby has by now).

And how's mom doing? POP! If you haven’t yet, you will soon be seeing the last of your inn-y belly button—until after you’ve pushed your little monkey out. If it’s getting difficult to breathe, you can thank your not-so-small belly for squishing your lungs—which will be more and more cramped for space as the pregnancy progresses. Not that this is surprising as everything else in your mid-section is getting properly squooshed as well. (What else is new?!!). Keep in mind that as you grow (and grow and grow) in size you produce more blood (for both of you), which lowers your blood pressure. So standing up quickly and/or occasional fast movements may cause slight dizziness or lightheadedness. This is totally normal, but means you shouldn’t be too quick to jump to your feet when your team scores a goal. It's better to just punch the air in excitement or clap gleefully. One more fun pregnancy symptom to add to the list: you are producing more melanin, which can cause dark patches of skin to occur on random parts of your body. Don’t worry—these dark spots will retreat soon after birth.