i can finally floss!

Can you floss your teeth? Don't take it for granted!

I haven't been able to cram a piece of floss between my teeth for over 20 years, so today when I tried to floss my teeth and was able to do it easily, I was super excited. Scott and I have both been doing Invisalign for the past 8 months or so, and we have been very impressed. Scott used to have a gap between his front teeth he could have flossed with a piece of rope...it's totally closed now. And my teeth were all crowding forward and moving some teeth forward and some backwards. Both of us are really impressed with the results. If you've ever thought about it...DO IT! And if you live in Japan, I have an awesome orthodontist I can recommend to you. 

Scott is about 6 weeks from finishing and I am about 3 months from finishing. We'll post pictures when we have straight, pretty teeth. I just wanted to share the good news about flossing for now...

i love military ceremony!

Monday morning I went to a ceremony where Scott's class transitioned from basic phase to senior phase of their class. If you look back a few posts, you will see Scott in a super-fashionable black ascot with his uniform. Monday, he got a white one. Well, what does that mean exactly?

As far as the class, it means they are starting to apply their classroom learning. This means, for the next three weeks he will be in the field playing in the Georgia red clay - I am not excited to see his uniform when he comes home! It also means when he gets back from the field, he can come home in the evenings for dinner, spend the weekend at home and there is no more mass punishment. I know Scott is excited.

Back drill and ceremony though. Monday morning was beautiful, and watching the ceremony was great. Seeing the drill and formality on a field of green inspires a love of country and the Army I can't explain. Here are some pictures from the day...

Doesn't this just make you love America...

This is when their class flag got a streamer to indicate they are in senior phase.

(don't you want to poke my puffy face? keep reading for more on that.)

preggy update

This week a sad thing happened...I can't wear my wedding rings anymore. :( I was hoping I would be able to avoid the pregnancy puffiness, but alas, it finally caught up with me. I went to the doctor 2 weeks ago, and I was sure when I went yesterday I would weigh at least 5 pounds more with regular weight gain and all the water that is taking up residence in my face, hands and arms. But I hadn't gained anything. I was shocked, but he wasn't worried. Everything is normal, the little one is growing and I still feel great...just puffy. Whenever I look in the mirror I am tempted to poke at my cheeks and chin though.  

I also got to tour labor and delivery yesterday and it looks very nice. I am not sad at all that the military hospital was full and I will have to deliver at the posh civilian hospital. 

Oh yeah, I had my first, "are those contractions?" moment over the weekend too. They were irregular, and not very strong, but when I described them to the doctor, he confirmed my suspicion CJ was doing a test run at how to escape. I have a lot of Braxton-Hicks, but these were different. It doesn't mean he is ready to come...actually just the opposite, so no worries.

fun weekend

This weekend my dad came to visit.  It was fun to have someone in the house with me other than Connor. Also Scott usually has to go back to base to sleep every weekend, but he got to stay too. It was the first time he got to sleep in his own bed since he started class. He really appreciated it. :) We did a whole lot of nothing, but it was nice to do nothing together. 

We did go look at houses on Saturday, and that was eye opening. We figured out we could live in Alabama very affordably. We could get a brick house with 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, granite counters through the house, and new stainless appliances (I won't keep going with other things it had, but I could).  It was CRAZY! At first we were really excited, but then we realized that was WAY too much house. I mean really...what would we do with that much house? We may still live across the river in Alabama, but I don't think we will get the monster house.

Here's a few pictures from the weekend...

pregnancy makes my eyes bad...

Lately it has been difficult for me to see far away. I tried to deny it at first, but I have also noticed I am getting frown lines around my eyes because of all the squinting I am doing. Because I know life will be crazy once CJ gets here, I was trying to be proactive and I went to the eye doctor today. He told me my eyes might be changing because of pregnancy, but didn't sound totally convinced. Luckily for me, I asked the nurse at a class I am going to if she knew anything about it. She told me that during your third trimester because your fluids are so out of whack it can put extra pressure on your retinas and your surging hormones probably don't help either. I did some more research, and she was right. I am glad I asked because getting glasses was on my to-do list this weekend.

Now, I am not saying my eyes are fabulous, but at least maybe they aren't as bad as they seemed to be today.  And my eye doctor assured me that even without glasses, I am safe to drive CJ around town.  So no 4-eyes (yet)...

double trouble!

Connor has found a new best friend.  Scott's parents have a boxer named Chloe and the two of them are two peas in a pod. Chloe is much more active than Connor, but over the last few weeks, Connor started playing more, and Chloe started chilling out more (a little).  

While we/I visited my mom and Nanny in Tennessee Scott's parents graciously watched Connor. When she came home the first time, she was depressed because we took her away from her friend. She moped until I took her back. We are done traveling until after CJ comes, so Connor and I got home on Wednesday. So far she doesn't seem too depressed, but I may have to get my dog a dog to play with.  

While Connor was gone we also got a new sofa. She seems to have adjusted to it quite well...

33 weeks

I can hardly believe CJ is coming in 7 weeks. Suddenly it seems like I have SO much to do. You know me - I am super organized - so the fact that I don't have this thing organized, color coded and systematized is a little unnerving.  ;)  

Mostly CJ hangs out on my right side. And when I say the right side, I mean he barely crosses to the left side of my belly button. When he was smaller, this wasn't so strange, but now that he is getting bigger that side is getting a little crowded and finding a comfortable sitting position is getting harder and harder. This afternoon Scott was mashing (gently) on him trying to figure out what parts were what. He surmised he is about the size of his forearm and that his knees and feet were under my ribs and his hands were in the middle of my belly. When Scott would push on him he would kick and punch back. At least we know he won't be a sissy, and Scott loved getting to feel and see him moving.  

Enough rambling though...here is an updated picture.  I keep thinking I can't get any bigger, but I do....

And for those of you who have hated me though my easy pregnancy, I now have heart burn! You don't have to hate me anymore.  But honestly, it isn't that bad.  I only hope labor is as easy and being pregnant has been.  (I know that is a long shot, but a girl can hope right?)

home is where the army PCSes you to...

Well, after much anticipation, we have an answer!  Once Scott finishes his class in Arizona, we will be heading back to Ft. Benning in Georgia.  He will be part of the 3rd ID, ensuring a deployment in the future.  They have been very active up to this point; they were the division who originally secured Baghdad airport, were pivotal in ensuring a secure election and handover to the first democratically elected Iraqi government, and they were also the first to serve three deployment cycles in Iraq.  We were ready for a deployment though, and we both know Scott is a soldier and that means serving with honor no matter what is asked.  He hasn't done anything thus far to avoid a deployment; we have just been lucky.  We both know it is his turn, and we are OK with it.  It will be hard, but we know we can make it.

So our timeline is to be in Benning until the end of August with CJ coming in early June, off to Arizona until mid-December, and then back to Benning for three years.  I will go with Scott to Arizona so he can spend every possible moment with CJ.  We love visitors, so if you want to come, you are ALWAYS welcome.