How I Met Your Father

I'm linking up with Becky at From Mrs. to Mama this morning because I thought the questions were cute and that you all would enjoy reading about my relationship with D.  If you'd like to participate and link up, you can find her blog, here.


1.   Tell us about how and when you met your love and what attracted you most to him.

D and I met twelve years ago when we were Juniors in high school.  We went to different high schools, both private.  His was an all-boys Catholic Military school, mine was a co-ed Catholic school.  Because we lived in the same general area and both went to Catholic schools, we actually had a lot of mutual friends.  In fact, I think its almost funny that it took us so long to meet, given the facts.

When he was in primary school, he had a few close friends, Mike*, John*, and Jim*, and they both ended up going to my high school.  Well, it just worked out that my three closest friends in high school ended up being Mike, John and Jim.  Right before our junior year of high school started, John found out his family was moving to California, so we had a big going away party for him.

It wasn't just our usual group of friends that attended, though.  This time, all his friends from growing up were there, and that included D.  We were at another girl's house and I remember thinking how cute he was.  It didn't take long before we were flirting with each other and eventually exchanged numbers at the end of the night.

He didn't wait long to call, which is always a plus.  We didn't really waste any time getting our relationship started.  Almost immediately we were jamming up the phone lines in our parent's houses, talking until all hours of the night.  We continued dating until around prom time senior year, when we mutually decided that it didn't make sense for either of us to be tied down going into the next stage of our lives.  D was enlisting in the Army and I was heading off to a Big Ten university.

2.   Tell us some of your favorite memories that you two had together.

There are so many memories from the last twelve years, that I don't even know where to begin.  I might have to say the random nights we spent parked at Dunkin' Donuts with our friends, or meeting his HUGE family and being completely overwhelmed at his grandfather's 80th birthday party.  It could be the family reunion on which he accompanied me where he was the only one with an actual plane ticket.  Or "sight-seeing" at the site of the Johnstown flood.  However, the day he graduated college, commissioned and proposed all within 2 hours ranks up there.  Or maybe its our wedding day.  It could be the night we reunited after 3 years, talking and drinking in his parent's basement.  Or maybe its the first kiss we shared after deciding that we were going to start dating again.  I also love all the memories of us from the adventures we had so far in our Army life.  Moving from GA to TX, to WA, to MO, to NC and exploring new terrain together.  Reuniting for R&R and after deployments are some of the happiest, while sending him back after R&R was one of the worst.  We've also found out we were expecting and going to have babies.  AJ's birthday was one of the most hazy, but wonderful days of my life.  Seeing him jump right into baby duty after my C-Section and knowing then and there that I chose the right person.  Watching the way he looks into our daughter's eyes.  Right after we got engaged we went on a cruise in the Carribbean, that was pretty awesome.  Holidays that we've spent at home with family, and those that we spent on the road, hotels or furniture-less in new homes.  We've been through a lot in the past twelve years and I'm so happy that we've been able to share it all with each other.

3. Tell us your favorite qualities about this man, what makes him "the one."

One of my favorite qualities of his is also one of the qualities that drives me the most insane at times.  I'm talking about his inability to ever give less than 150%.  This is a quality that is obviously very desirable for me, but when it means he's still at work at 8 pm on a Friday night, I can't lie and say that I haven't wished that he'd just leave the work for someone else to do.  Haha.  I do understand however, that almost everything in life is a double-edged sword, and I've come to take pride in his work-ethic.

4. Tell us what your "date nights" typically look like.

Hahahahahahahaha!  We so rarely have date nights that its funny to talk about what they "typically" look like.  But basically, they take one of two forms.  We either dress up and head out to an expensive restaurant where we order steak, seafood and alcohol to enjoy, or we go see a movie and get Jimmy John's on the way home.  I think both are important to a relationship.  We've never been the type of couple who needed to impress each other, so having those low-key dates are sometimes the most fun for us!

The Verdict Is In!

So as I stated earlier this week, I had a follow-up ultrasound on Tuesday to get a few more pictures of this little one, and to see if we could get a look at the "goods."  They wanted me to come 2 weeks after the initial ultrasound so when I made a reservation for AJ to go to hourly care the only time slot they had available was from 8:30-10:30 and my appointment was scheduled at 9:30.

I'm usually out of there with plenty of time to get back and pick her up, but for some reason, they were really far behind on Tuesday.  I finally got called back at 9:55 and was in the ultrasound room by 10:00.  I was worried that the tech would have trouble seeing the gender again and it would take longer and make me late getting AJ (which I was anyway and they charge $1/minute you're late...highway robbery, I tell you!).

Anyway, I don't want to keep you all in suspense any longer than I already have by rambling on and on...

We found out that Baby #2 is a....

We're very excited to have a baby sister to add to the family and are furiously trying to decide on names that go well with AJ's name.  AJ, however is in a state of denial, I think, because when I told her that she is going to have a baby sister she told me that she is the big sister.  I agreed with her and said, yes, but the baby is a girl baby, to which she then replied that the baby is a boy baby.  Haha!

Oh well, she'll understand eventually, and someday they'll be arguing over clothes, make-up and who knows what else!

As far as how I'm feeling, I am very happy, but very, very surprised because I really thought that we were having a boy this time around.  I'm thrilled that we'll be able to reuse the clothing that we have saved from AJ, and also a little relieved because I know girls.  I know what to expect and how to handle things like diaper changes, etc.

After it was determined that this baby is a girl, the ultrasound tech was scanning and she casually asked me if we were going to try again after this one to get a boy.

My response?

Nope, two girls is enough for me!  ;)

Pink or Blue: Part Duex

If you've been following along for the past month or so, you know that I had my anatomy scan a few weeks ago and all looked great!  We were able to get a good look at the little guy (or girl) and it was wonderful to finally be able to see the baby.

You may also remember that the ultrasound tech was not able to get a good look at the "goods" in order to make an educated guess on the gender of our baby.  Well, tomorrow we go back for another try.  I'm really nervous, but also not.

D won't be with me this time, as he is currently TDY, but I'm excited to hopefully find out the gender.  However, if for whatever reason this baby is uncooperative again I'm not going to be all bent out of shape about it.  I mean, I have tons of girl stuff.  I have lots of friends with baby boys.  I will dress baby in green and yellow for the first day of his or her life until we can figure out what color is more appropriate.  ;)  I do want to know the gender, but it will be kind of exciting to find out on his or her birthday!

I am nervous (in a very excited way) about seeing this little guy (or girl) again, though!  It was almost strange last time.  I may have mentioned that this pregnancy really doesn't feel real to me yet.  It still hasn't really sunk in, despite the baby swing, bouncy seat and breast pump sitting in the bedroom upstairs.  A good friend of mine brought over a car-load of stuff for me to use with this baby.  I am so grateful that she is willing to give me all her stuff.

I mean, that stuff is expensive and to be honest, we got rid of a lot of it.  We couldn't see moving 2 times with an entire room full of baby stuff that we didn't know when we'd use again.  Last year when we thought we were moving for a third time I loaded up some of the bigger items and sold them at Once Upon a Child.  I figured we'd either need it again soon, and in that case we'd buy it right back from them or we wouldn't and I wouldn't have to worry about schlepping it around the country again.

Anyway, mother's intuition is saying boy this time around.  I don't really know why.  I can't explain it, but I am feeling boy.  I refer to the baby as a "him" all the time.  My pregnancy has been much different than when I was pregnant with AJ, but I also vaguely felt like she was a boy (though not as strongly as I feel this time).

I'll be back tomorrow (or Wednesday) after I've informed hubby and my family to let you know the outcome of the ultrasound!

What is your vote?  Are we having a boy or a girl?

Weekend Recap

We had a fun and busy weekend with my family.  It was a good thing they came to visit because I think we would have been really bored here alone with D gone!

Everyone arrived late Thursday night (technically very early Friday morning) and went straight to bed.  Friday morning AJ was up bright and early and I tried to corral her into my room until a decent hour so as to let everyone recover from their late nights traveling.

Unfortunately the Marine Corps and their artillery had other ideas and the booms started around 6:45!  That woke everyone up pretty quickly so we decided that lots of coffee was necessary.  We mostly just hung around all morning and decided to head to a neighboring town for a yummy lunch.  After lunch AJ, my mom and I headed back to the house for AJ's (my) nap and the others followed about an hour later.

Friday night we just decided to stay home and cook dinner on the grill.  We got AJ to bed and made a bonfire and just hung around and talked for a while.

Saturday we were going to go to the State Fair and decided that we didn't want to rush to get up there and back, so we chose to stay here.  We had breakfast of pumpkin french toast bake (I pinned it a few days ago, link is in a post last week) and then played in the yard for a while.  We grilled for lunch again and put AJ down for a nap.  While she slept we all watched football (the Ohio State game was crazy) and after her nap we took her to the playground.

At some point this weekend AbbyDog knocked over my kitchen garbage can trying to scavenge for food and she broke it.  It no longer opens when you step on the foot step part.

We came back home and sent my dad up to town to pick up the dinner that we ordered.  After dinner everyone but AJ, my mom and me went to the corn maze at the pumpkin patch.  They got home late and were talking about how awesome it was.

This morning they all had to get up and leave early to make the drive/flight home.  AJ and I got dressed and headed to Target to look for a new garbage can and grabbed lunch on the way home.  I got a garbage can but its smaller than the one we have so I think I'm going to return it and keep looking.  The only issue I'm having is that I don't want to spend $100 on a garbage can.  The one I have now (the broken one) was about $80 and lasted about 2 years.  The new one I'm going to return is much smaller, but was only $50.  I think I'm going to try and get the same one I have at Walmart this week sometime.

I know y'all are super intrigued by my kitchen garbage can dilemma, so I'll leave it at that today!

Tomorrow AJ and I are driving an hour north for an opthamology appointment for her, so that means another day of fun lies ahead!

If You Don't Hear From Me....

You can assume that I'm buried somewhere underneath the mounds of things that I have to do this next week!  I know I wrote a whole post about it just yesterday, but I've got guests coming to town this weekend.  Six of them, to be exact.  And my husband is gone.  And my two year old is not handling change well these days.

As you can imagine, we're going to have quite the busy weekend around these parts!  Options include pumpkin carving, NC state fair, movie night in the park, another trip to the pumpkin patch, the Volksmarch Festival, and lots of playing at the house.  Oh, and I've got FRG responsibilities, and doctor's appointments for AJ, and an ultrasound for me, and a battalion Halloween party to get through in the next week!

Seriously.  I feel like its going to be Christmas before I can even take a breath, and at that point it might just be too late to stop and breathe, as we'll need to start gearing up to welcome this new little one to our lives a mere three months after that!  Ack!

Next year also brings with it lots of training and a deployment, so I'm definitely looking forward to certain parts (the baby) more than others (the deployment).  Make it slow down!  Life is moving too fast!

I think this is the time of year that I start to figuratively try and slam on the brakes.  I start to realize that another year has all but passed me by and I'm just not ready for it to be 2013 yet.

Is anyone else beginning to have little mini-panic attacks about the amount of "stuff" you still have to cram into the last 2 months of 2012?  I have plans, people, and they include listening to obscene amounts of Christmas music, drinking peppermint in my half-caf coffee every morning, and enjoying the twinkle of those little lights reflecting in my daughter's eyes.  I need to slow down to a reasonable speed these next few months, or I might just miss it this year!

Figures....

In true Army fashion, our plans for the month of October have changed no less than 27 times.  Okay, just a few times, but they were big changes!  My family hasn't been here to visit in a while, so they're all making the trip out this weekend to see us.  We're talking, my parents, my siblings and their fiancés, everyone!

Originally D was supposed to be here and it wasn't going to be an issue at all.  Then in late September he found out that he was chosen to go to TDY for the month of October to support another unit while they did some training.  I was bummed that he wouldn't be here when my family came to town, but at least I would have a little distraction from the month alone with a 2 year old with their visit.

Without divulging too many details, the TDY for the month was scratched last minute.  Things were looking up!

A week ago D came home and told me that he in fact does have to go TDY this month, to do something else, and that the only, and I repeat, ONLY time he can go begins this weekend.  While my entire family is here.  So, D is heading out tomorrow morning, I am holding his company's first FRG meeting tomorrow evening and then late tomorrow night my family arrives.  Should make for a long, yet interesting day.

We've got some tentative plans for this weekend, but I think most of them are going to depend on how motivated we're all feeling to get out and do stuff!  I have a feeling that everyone will be more than happy to hang around and chat as well, so we're likely to do a lot of that as well.  I'm very excited to see my family, but I am sad that hubby won't be here, too.

Recent Pins: Baking Edition

I have a lot of events coming up in the next few weeks and I've volunteered to bake treats for several of these events, which has led me straight to Pinterest to find some new recipes to try out!  I have a few tried and true recipes that I know I can always fall back on, like PW's Monster Cookies, but I am kind of in the mood to try something different!

Here are a few of the recipes I've pinned for the next few weeks.  I haven't decided which of the cookies I'm going to make, so if you have votes, let me know!

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Lemon Cookies

Snickerdoodles

 My family is coming into town to visit this weekend and I'm thinking about whipping up this French Toast bake for breakfast one morning while they are in town.  I think it sounds heavenly, what do you think?

Pumpkin French Toast Bake

And D is a big eggplant fan, so when I turned on the Food Network today during nap time and Giada was making this recipe, I knew it had to go on my list of things to make sometime soon!

Eggplant and Pesto Pasta

 And finally, D's battalion is having a Halloween Trunk or Treat event next week and we're planning to have a "Cake Walk" at the event.  I volunteered to bake a cake, and this is the recipe I found.  I think it looks super cool, and it is basically a red velvet cake, but using black food coloring instead of red, so its super spooky!

Black Velvet Halloween Cake

So there you have it, folks!  I've obviously been drooling over sweets lately, which could be disastrous to my already ever expanding waistline!  Hopefully I can concentrate my efforts on baking and not eating all these goodies!  What have you been pinning lately?