Sorry!

I seem to have neglected this blog a little, and I apologize. We've been floating on through life, and until the last few days there was really nothing of import happening. But now we have news!

We found out a few days ago at the ultrasound that we're expecting a baby boy! And it seems almost overnight since then he's grown a huge amount. For the first time yesterday he was up knocking my ribs around, MUCH to my delight. *cringe* It's the beginning of the end, folks. Here's a couple pics that we got, including some 3d shots since I was kind enough to agree to let them practice on me with their new fancy machine.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91650&id=754444809&l=d5cdc25e2d

That same day I got news from Anthony that he should be home closer to mid-early sept, rather than mid-late october. This makes me soooooooooooo happy on so many levels. Precisely the kind of timing we were hoping for when we planned this kiddo, so I would have some help through the hardest stages at the end of pregnancy and Anthony would be here for the big arrival. (At least in the area, hehe) Everyone cross your fingers, pray, do some hoodoo or sacrifice a virgin goat in your backyard in the hopes that they don't change the plan on us too drastically. :)

So that's our good news. Time to send out another email and update the Fam.

Annoying!

Ugh, way to kick a girl when she's down. So I got the smog inspection (passed, duh) today for a mere $50. *gag* Found out I can register in the same office with the military and only pay $122. Plus no DMV hassle.

And then I discovered I somehow have no freaking clue where my current registration is. Magically not in my glove box, which is like, where these things are kept. And now searching around the house I'm finding I have an entire folder of important paperwork (or two) with like, birth certificates (including Rays', which took EIGHT MONTHS to get) and the Title for Anthony's car and the loan paperwork for mine and OMFG. I know it can't be far because I dug out Rays SSC the other day. But who knows if my registration is in there. And if it isn't, then I have to mail in a request to TXDOT for a new copy of expired registration just so I can switch it over here. Honestly, is it that hard to walk your ass outside and look at the plates and sticker? What else could be on there that's so important?

Just remembered that in the meantime I guess I can be driving Anthony's car instead. BLARGH. Having to lift my ever-growing ass in and out of those nigh ground-level bucket seats really excites me. But at least I'll be legal. Boo I say!

Off to go pout and apparently, write up a request to TXDOT for a new copy of expired registration. Most useless waste of $3 EVER.

Blargh!

Goddamnit. I have to get registration for my car. In the next, uh, two days. Fucking cali is about to double their registration fees. (I hate you california, so much) Since it's expired I can't renew it in Texas without going in person. UGH. And the stupid sticker has a dark blue back so it's nearly impossible to read from inside the car, hence it's expiration in march without my noticing. Not cool.

And of course this happens right when the roomie is gone for the week. So I get to drag cranky pants with me all over creation. I guess first on the list is the smog inspection. Oy Vey. It's a 3 yr old car, doesn't it pass automatically? Ugh.

Not much else going on here. We just fought and won a small war against ants. Yuck. And I've got a trip planned to see my folks at the end of the month. (And assorted other friends in that area!)

Went to see Star Trek last night, which the baby approved of. All she did was kick about the whole time. :) And no, the "she" is not official. I just hate saying "it" or "the baby" all the damn time. We'll know on the 21st of this month, hopefully!

Also got the initial down payment done with the midwife, and signed the contracts. If anyone would like to contribute to the "We're going to be fucking poor for the next 4-5 months" fund, please let me know. ;) We still owe $3k that needs to be paid by, like, september something. I have no clue what my due date really is anymore so calculating 36 weeks is difficult.

Speaking of, we apparently conceived about a week earlier than we thought. On the last ultrasound she measured almost exactly a week large. Then at my last (and very first) appointment with the midwife she felt my uterus and said it felt pretty big, that it's definitely not just a big baby but we're further than we thought.

The nice part? This puts my biologically "due", the 40 week mark, on Oct 5th. But she's leaving my due date as Oct 13. And they're already comfortable going to 43 weeks. So really, there's no rush whatsoever and I can go as long as it takes. I don't think I'll need anywhere near that long, but just the fact that no one will be putting a timer on me, or setting dates for inductions or repeat cesareans is what I needed more than anything this pregnancy. It's such a huge weight off my mind like you would not even believe.

So, on to stressing about other things. ;)

Baby news!

Little more specific update here, on the babby!

We still don't know boy or girl, we MAY be finding out monday, it depends on the ultrasound tech we get and how willing they are to peek for us. Everyone hope and pray we get someone who's game!

Baby is growing and kicking good. We've seen her on one ultrasound so far a few weeks ago. I think I'm already keeping a better handle on my weight this time. With Ray I gained over 50lbs. Yes, 10lbs was baby but recall that outside of being pregnant it's basically impossible for me to gain weight regardless of diet and lack of exercise. (They prefer you gain 25-30 at worst) I was just plain RAVENOUS with him. I ate all day and most nights I had to get up for a piece of cheese or crackers. I tried to just moderate things, yes eat the junk but eat good stuff too. So I'd end up with fruit/cottage cheese for breakfast, a monster salad for lunch with tuna and olives and such, and then whatever for dinner. In between having my chocolate milk and soda (not more than one a day) and ramen and a big bowl of ice cream and on and on. Then the last month or two I was just so miserable that I said screw it, I'm going to be fat a few more months and enjoy it and indulged in the reeses and twizzlers and everything.

I've had a few people ponder whether I had mild GD or some form of insulin intolerance, and I suppose I may have, but the more I think back and really remember what I ate, the vast quantities, the quality of it...I just never eat like that. Don't get me wrong, I love food, I can pack it away, but it was ludicrous. And I know part of it really was just ravenous hunger, and add to it leading up to the pregnancy (which happened faster than we'd ever imagined) I was actually malnourished and a smoker. I lived on ramen, hot pockets and pasta. Played World of Warcraft over 40 hours a week. (Which I still don't regret, it beat the hell out of being a party girl/becoming an alcoholic and blowing all our money on that. And I've made some good, lasting friendships.)

So yeah, it was a massive diet change. This time I went into the pregnancy a bit healthier. More active, still eating tons better than I used to. I did smoke, but I cut back/quit easily in the process of becoming pregnant. Had my last one the morning I bought the pee stick and promptly tossed the rest. The morning sickness was not as bad this time (and it was pretty darn mild with Ray) and I'm not as crazy hungry. I'm fine with three solids and a small snack or two. My meals aren't huge, and while I do still indulge a little I'm aware of it. I'm watching it, and limiting myself. I really haven't gained, and what I have is more than likely due to muscle from climbing the stairs. (My first time living with stairs, ever. My ass went KAPOW in the first two weeks here. It's hot.) By this time with Ray I'd gained 8-10 lbs. I've gained about 3. A little boob, a little thigh/butt, and some belly. I popped out of my pants immediately, and I'm quickly retiring shirts. But half that is not tons of mass, it's just that everything is already stretched out. I have a cute little belly!

So yes, we're doing well! The new house is fabulous. Little bit of issue with the neighbors but we're trying to counteract the bad vibe with good. Give them the benefit of the doubt and send love over there. If nothing else, it sure can't hurt. Keeps us calmer, and good for our karma. ;)

Well then

It's been a little while since I've updated. Things are happening at a steady pace I suppose.

Switched midwife care for a few reasons. She had family obligations come up, and for us not having our insurance cover her was clearly going to be more of a problem than we bargained for. Yes, the navy gave us clearance to move early, but gave us no extra money for it. No gas money for the drive out, nothing to set up utilities or finish off old bills at the old place, and no way to cover first months rent since we arrived here too late for this months BAH to go straight to them. (Err, March's BAH) So yeah, it's been a little tight.

Anthony is doing well, they're working him hard. He got a promotion of sorts, he's work-center supervisor about eight months sooner than we thought he would be. He expressed some nerves about it but I know he'll do great. He's a good leader, a great teacher, and I think he's perfect for the job.

He may end up staying a month longer than we planned, almost assuredly missing the birth. Which sucks, but what can you do?

Oh, and we found new midwives (thanks to Barb - the first - for the referral!) and I think things will work out nicely with them. I just switched over my insurance today and greatly look forward to starting my care for real! AT LAST!

Ray is doing fantastic, and growing by leaps and bounds in every way. He's a Spongebob FIEND. It's one of the words we hear most throughout the day. "Spob-bob" this and "Bobbitz/bobbick" that. (That last being Patrick, somehow.) He's actually got quite a list of words, I started compiling it just for fun and it really shocked me after a few days of building it!

no
stop it
grape (geep)
please
bite
Caca (the dog)
callia (the dog)
ok
spongebob
patrick (bobberz/bobbitz/bobbick)
go
eyes
nose
dad/dy
mom
fish
shoes
this
that
you're welcome
thank you
ball
yuck
sit
uhoh
pretty
baby
butt
starbuck
what are you doing?
juice
good one
(oh) wow
dog/doggy

He yells at the dog ALOT. Lol. He's turning into QUITE the bossy pants. But we suspect it's helping divert some of the frustrations of his age, and she takes it pretty well. Lol. Poor thing. Morning noon and night we hear "Caca, no! Caca, stop it! Go! Go!" and so on. And a few mornings back he heard a different dog barking outside and yelled "Doggy stop! Doggy no!". Impressive that he can even differentiate the barks!

Don't do Tmobile in California dudes. Save yourself the headache. I think I'm switching to Cricket in the morning and I'm quite excited. Looks like it's EXACTLY what I need and while they don't have much coverage nationwide yet they have it here and in Charleston (where my folks are) so that's all I'm really worried about. Can you beat unlimited talk/text/long distance for $45/month? I think not! I'll be distributing the new number as quickly as I can, please feel free to email me if you get missed or if you've never had it and would like to text/chat, hit me up! Addie is dbz_dee at hotmail dot com. I've had the same address since I was 14 so don't expect it to change real soon.

He lives!

Anthony made it to Bahrain safe and sound. Yay! A little sleepy but none the worse for wear. The crew was split between two different commercial flights (there's only 80 guys on their ship) and one went through London and the other through Frankfurt. Anthony was thankfully on the Germany one because alot of the London flight lost their luggage. Hopes and prayers that they recover it because a whole sea bag of uniforms is not cheap and some of these guys have families they're supporting as well. Not to mention personal items, laptops, and lord knows what else.

Still more ups and downs here. Got the deposit from the land-hag (yay), but it was very little and the summary of deducted items was beyond infuriating. I won't go into all the drama, but one of the things she charged for was the repair of a hole above the AC unit. Her grandaughter fixed the hole...with that expanding/hardening foam. That you can buy at Lowe's for a few bucks. 1. I could have freaking done THAT myself and 2. She took off FORTY DOLLARS for it. FORTY. FOR FOAM.

Took a few hours and a hot shower and plenty of tears to cool off. While I'd love to threaten her with the full brunt of Navy Legal at my back to reconsider the amount...we really need the money. Asap. And I refuse to get all behind on bills again. (Granted then and now it was not because we were living extravagantly or being foolish with the money, it's just feast or famine with the military.)

It's famine today but we're waiting for BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) to start up for this area, and we should be getting back pay on that for this past month. Plus we're waiting on Dis-Location Allowance (DLA) from the move. That's my midwife/catch up on bills/relax money.

Speaking of, I love my midwife! She rocks. :) Just had to add that. (She's over on my sidebar, the wonderful Navelgazing Midwife)

The up and the down.

Here I am showing off my new shirt with my boy. What better fashion accessory could I hope for?

(And hey, that's me in the background too, being held by MY mommy!)











10 Weeks and 4 days in this one. Popping out of pants left and right and losing a few shirts as well. Boobs are up to a C so the fact that the belly is out beyond the knockers says something! It's hard to believe I'm scarcely a week from the second trimester. This week, getting Tricare set up and lots of blood drawn and such if possible. Everyone pray the navy catches up our pay soon!









Anthony got a new hat to take overseas with him and keep the heat off. (And the sun off his poor balding head!)



Yum.

Living the military life kinda sucks right now. The next six months started early this morning. He's safe and sound back in Texas for now, waiting to leave with the rest of his crew. Thoughts and prayers for their safe journey please! And for some understanding for our little dude, when we got home alone he looked around the house calling "Daddy? Daddy?". Broke my heart. :(

Dreaming of you

Oh boy, the pregnancy dreams. Gotta love em.

Last week I dreamed I went into labor, it was all fairly painless, and I birthed the baby easily. Didn't even tear! It went so well I was all "get me pregnant again right now, that was SO easy!". It was the feeling you get when you happen across a crazy bargain, like "well as long as we're here and it's cheap let's GET FIVE OK". LOL.

Then last night I had another one. I gave birth to her super early, like 20 weeks. (For those that don't know the youngest baby to have survived, given todays medical advances, was born around 24 weeks) She was born in the caul (a ziploc baggie O_O) and well, being so young and tiny she wasn't cute. Miraculously, she was already pushing 3lbs and breathing easily on her own, no NICU stay required. She was small enough to fit in one hand and we just swaddled her up and took her home. Weird as it was (and in reality, uh terrifying and impossible) it started the "I don't wanna wake up" feeling because I wanted to keep her. Hate those dreams. Oh, that birth was a little more difficult, not terribly so but I was in "the zone" for a solid two hours.

So yeah. Today at Target I was all "DAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" over the girl clothes. They had a wittle pink newborn sleeper with crocodiles and giraffes and pink elephants. I was all HOLY SMOKES girl clothes without FLOWERS or BUTTERFLIES?! Zoo animals are not allowed for girl clothes GOSH. (I'm so going back for them.)

I'm proud to announce that I unpacked THREE large boxes in our bedroom tonight. The house is slowly coming together. (Well, really effing quickly compared to the last place we lived, lol.) The kitchen is all but done and if I could just convince Anthony to rearrange the living room we'd be set. I told him before the furniture even CAME I didn't want it set up this way but since I wasn't here for the movers he did it anyway. ARGH. It's such a nice big open space and I hate having the couch right in the midst of it. I hate having to walk all the way around the couch too. It just doesn't flow and doesn't jive with the big, open playroom feeling I was going for. Thankfully there's nothing too heavy in there so if need be Shanna and I can do it once he leaves.

Which is entirely too soon. :( We're going out to a BAR tomorrow night though, it should be fun. Lord knows what I'm going to do for 3-4 hours when I can't drink or smoke. Sigh. But hopefully it'll be fun. (Did I mention it's a two hour drive home afterwards? But he's been DYING to take me to it since he was out here last year.)

So anyways, that's us. We're having tons of fun. :)

On the fly

Inquiring minds want to know, where did Stassja go?! (Hurr hurr I made a rhyme!)

We have moved! We are safe and sound in our new home in San Diego, the drive was pretty and the move went pretty smooth. Probably our smoothest so far. (Once we get our pay working right, our only thing that's not gone 100% to plan)

Pregnancy is going good. Met my wonderful midwife and her apprentice and I think we're a great match! Looking forward to being officially in her care within a few weeks. (See above pay that needs to be worked out)

Nausea has lessened aside from a few short bouts a day, and I'm not overly tired, just a little. Having a little bit of clothing trouble because my maternity clothes are mostly summer wear and it's a little cooler here (especially where we live within the city) than I can handle in shorts or capris. And the pants I have are for when I'm HUGE, not good for now. So I'm kinda stuck with one to two pairs that fit and praying it heats up soon.

I will catch you guys up some more when I feel up to it, I'm staying busy around the house and around town and trying to get things settled in here. I don't want a ton of boxes lying around this time since I know we'll be here a while!

tonight ROCKS

Yes my pretties, tonight does ROCK. And I'm TOTALLY not high on paint fumes. I was also absolutely not painting doorways and covering baby pen marks on the walls or painting over the whole strip of cabinet that Ray pulled off to disguise it...at 11pm on a friday. Nooooooo, that was not me! I didn't think the paint smell was that bad but now I'm feeling kind of loopy and holy shit you should see how many typos I'm fixing here. (You'll never see one of those fun typo-ridden drunk type posts from me, the spelling nazi overcomes even alcohol and paint fumes and reigns supreme, stomping on the backspace as needed!)

We had a pizza and coke night with MJ (my cousin) and her family. Leon (her hubs), Natalie (their 2yr old) and Julian, their sweet little 1 month old. Humorously enough, they're driving out to California tomorrow to see her parents (my aunt and uncle) and we're driving out, to nearly the same area, next week! So yeah, we just chilled watching TV and let the babbies play. They were both very good together, despite being a little grabby with each others sippy cups.

Also fun? RIGHT when they drove up Ray was on the back of the love seat attacking the blinds. (And I kid not, he ATTACKS them) I start walking over to pull them up, saying that I didn't want him to break them when I hear "CRACK" and the whole bottom part busts in half. (You know, the cheap vinyl shades you see in every house) I know it won't be that much to fix them but it's just one more stupid thing. UGH. I'm sooooo tempted to tape them together and see if it'll slide. LOL. As it is one of the living room light fixtures has a busted bulb in it. I tried unscrewing the thing and the whole glass part just busted off. Thankfully it's covered so you can't even see it until you get up there and unscrew it. HAH. I feel kinda bad leaving it for the next tenant but honestly...it's all I can do not to burn this place to the ground. Stupid overpriced hell hole.

Tomorrow is outdoor day. We gotta get the dryer to the curb (or something, meant to stop by the city hall today and ask what we do with it but forgot. Damn) and Anthony has to mow the lawn. THAT should be buckets of lawls because his lazy ass has not mowed the back even ONCE since he got here. He bitches to the guys at work that it was all long (front and back) when he got here (although admittedly, at least I did mow half the back and it was obscene even then) and I have to point out that at least my excuse is that I was alone with a one year old and suddenly have a grass allergy! (Yes, I broke out into hives all over my neck and shoulders. It was fantastic) He's just laaaaaazy. Aaaaaand I have to sweep all the nasty ucky buggies and grass out of the garage. Stupid roaches go in there just to die. *shakes fist*

Ok, I think I'm about typed out. Later bitchez!

That crazy boob nazi

I hate the term boob nazi, btw. I'm of the opinion boobs should be FREED, although I'm not too keen on all the "sex sells" business. Because it's usually women being used as a slice of hotness to sell, rarely men.

Anywho, I didn't write this, but thought it was good! (I also think there's more to the nursing in public controversy and I'll try to find a link to the opinion I most agree with)

Society is so sexualized that they have forgotten what nature intended
our breasts for in the first place. They throw hissy fits over
breastfeeding in public and expect us to feed our babies in dirty,
stinky bathrooms. So I ask you to judge for yourself, which breasts are
truly offensive here? And I understand some of you won't think ANY of
them are offensive. But I am making a point by showing how ridiculous
it is that society looks upon scantily clad women in sexy ads as ok,
even GREAT, but providing important nourishment and nutrients to your
child in public by breastfeeding is offensive, distasteful, disgusting,
whatever. Give me your feedback. :)


Wait... well, this is a bad example. Let's try again...

Hmmm... just a minute. Surely i can find better ones than these...

Eh... still not racy enough. I'll check one more time.

That's better. LOOK AT THAT! I see about an inch of boob! Totally disgusting.

Ugh! Look at that indecency!! She must be from some third-world country to be exposed like that!!

Now that's just... There's no words to describe how inappropriate that is. Something needs to be done!!



Now
this takes the cake!! How dare they actually put such a disgusting
image on the cover of a magazine where teenage boys might see it. This
simply must be disposed of ASAP via a shredder, before teenage boys
learn what boobs are really for!!


This just makes me want to vomit!

...but why stop at breastfeeding women? There are boobs
everywhere. Beware! If you thought the above photos were offensive, you
WILL DEFINITELY be offended by the photos below.




Not this one though. This was in plain view on newsstands and in mailboxes in 19 countries worldwide!

Not this one either. This one actually won an award!

Oh, and i guess this ones fine too, since everyone knows you can't sell jeans without someone being topless.

or beer, for that matter!

or sunglasses...

or movie tickets...

or CDs...

...you
know what? Maybe I'm crazy, but i think that someone mixed up some
photos here. The first batch are offensive, but the second batch are
just fine and dandy???

people who live in glass bras:


shouldn't throw stones:








Which message is healthier?

Breastfeeding which is medically approved to give HUMANS the best start in life. . . or


Images that promote STD's, unattainable beauty standards, sexual promiscuity, plastic surgery, and just plain TRUE indecency?

Which would you rather your daughter live up to?

Ifyou think women have the right to breastfeed their children no matter
where they are, please re-post this. The least you can do is help some
children get the best nutrition they can get. Breastfed babies have
lower instances of obesity, asthma, allergies, certain childhood
diseases, learning disabilities, and other health problems. For each
woman who feels like she shouldn't be breastfeeding right where she is,
there is an innocent baby who is losing out. Don't be responsible for
any child's health problems. support breastfed babies and their right
to eat in public like the rest of us.

Holy crap man

I knew I'd get belly faster this time but holy crap. I'm breaking out the maternity clothes over here! And filling them! (6 weeks today) Sorry the pic is so blurry, our camera is on the fritz and I need to call tech support and probably take it into a repair shop. :( And that won't be happening till we move, obviously!

Speaking of, we had the inspector dude over this morning (very nice guy, Ray immediately wanted to be held by him) and he checked out all the stuff they're going to have to pack.

I should mention here for documentation purposes that Anthony has taught Ray to pat my butt when I get out of the shower. (I usually spend a few minutes in the buff cooling off from the hot shower so I don't sweat up my clothes) So he's been happily chasing me around trying to get at my rear, and the other day took it a step further when I felt *pat..pat......spreaaaad*. I leapt about three feet sideways while Anthony nearly peed himself laughing. BOYS. GOSH.

I think the hunger is about to set in and damn if it doesn't hit like a freight train. Time to get the food going so when it hits I'm ready.

:O

Am I the only one that finds this photo (it's big) to be beautiful, breath-taking, but somehow depressing? Like wow, I've never had that "I feel so insignificant looking at the stars" feeling until I saw this photo. I felt utterly lost.

Are my hormones just wacked or does this photo do that to any of you?

Woo!

Holy shit in a bucket, after wasting a half hour straight furiously clicking for a damn V day egg, I DID manage to get one of the other new ones off the abandoned page. Sorry if it was your trade, this is my first egg that's anything close to a rare (thank you, shitty internet) and it's MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE. Lol.


<-- GOGO GIRL!

And some crap eggs to round out the collection with common shit I'm missing. (Not that I'm not missing every rare anyway. YES. BAWWWWWWWW.)
<--squee!

Well then

Welcome to my lap. Population: 2. Or is it 1.5? (Aside from stomach woes being numerous none have been very strong. Everything gives me heartburn and gas, and if I'm not full then I'm hungry and queasy. The hunger hits like a freaking mack truck too.)

This was the morning of weird dreams. Anthony got up with Ray and surprisingly the little monster did not run into my room every few minutes to awaken me gently. Namely, by doing his signature atomic elbows off the headboard onto any exposed part of my body. Anyways, dozing. I had a bit of sleep paralyzation, and for once it wasn't frigging terrifying. I dreamed I was laying right there in bed, light was the same and everything, same position (as I was awake) with a hand on my belly, and I was feeling the baby move a ton. Extra weird because my belly was flat but this was the movement of a bigger baby, and I even wondered if maybe I was farther along than I thought. Anthony was running around playing with Ray (and he really was in the waking world) and I kept trying to call him so he could come feel the baby. But of course I couldn't make any noise. After a few minutes I finally realized my throat was just too dry and I woke up and had a sip of water. I knew right off it had been a dream. It was all very surreal.

I'm having a strong Katamari urge. *sigh* It saddens me that after 2 ps2 games they dumped us and went for xbox and psp. Ssssaaaaaaaaaadfaces. Oh the betrayal, it cuts me deep. :(((