Christmas :)

So, we didn't have a Christmas baby! Thank goodness, but I am ready for her to hurry up and make her appearance!! We had a pretty good Christmas here even though it definitely wasn't the same as being back home for Christmas! We are thankful that we got all the presents we asked for, except Emma of course! Here's a rundown of what each of us got.

Aaron:
-Shoes
-Pants
-Slippers
-Air Compressor & Accessories
-Sander
-Wedding band (hopefully he doesn't lose this one!)
-A book that's a field guide for new dads (which he already finished)

Me:
-Camera & Accessories
-Wii Fit Plus
-Sony eReader & a gift card for books!

So, we definitely got some good stuff! Now if Emma would just HURRY UP! We'll be complete! Here are a few pictures of the day! Enjoy the picture of the tree because it was down by 830am!

LOSING PATIENCE!

I know. I know. I shouldn't be losing patience yet, since I am still a week away from my due date, but I can't help but to wish it was over! This pregnancy business is more miserable than ever! I can't sleep. I have to pee not every hour, but every half hour. I get full after two bites of food. My back is in excruciating pain! My head hurts! The list could really keep going. I couldn't tell you if I've made any progress since last Thursday. I'm hoping to hear that good news tomorrow at my appointment. I can always hope that he says, oh we're going to just take you across the street and admit you now, right? In my dreams! What I can tell you is that I have been having some contractions, but they are very irregular. And Emma is now sitting so incredibly LOW! Sometimes I feel like I can't walk because of it! But I'm pretty sure her being lower is a good sign!

Doctor update

Went to the doctor this morning! And some progress is better than no progress I guess! According to the doctor, I am 2cm dilated and 50% effaced! Before anyone says, I know, I know, that I could be stuck at this point for weeks, but I'm staying positive!! Let's hope for some progress within the next week or so!!

Officially full term!

Yes, that's right! As of two days ago, I am officially full term. So this means it's safe for little Emma to come anytime she wants now! I'm thinking next Friday would be good! That's the day after the last day of school! Thankfully, I've gotten all of my assignments done early, just in case, but we hope she stays in until after finals week so that i can get my participation points for going to the final classes!

Everyone tells me that this is the point when they started to get anxious/nervous about having a baby soon. But I'm not nervous at all! I am SOOOO incredibly ready that it is kinda ridiculous! I think I am probably the person who hates pregnancy the most out of everyone you know!!!

Things I hate about pregnancy:
-NO SLEEP!!! (at least when Emma gets here, I'll have a reason for not sleeping!)
-Lack of oxygen!
-Terrible heartburn!
-Hard time putting on my socks/shoes!
-Weight gain (duh, I think everyone hates this part)
-Having the desire to do so much (i.e. cook, clean, etc.), but the energy to do so little!
-Going to restaurants and being asked if I can sit in a booth......(YES PEOPLE! Plenty of room!)

Things I like about pregnancy:
-Still wearing my AE jeans. :)
-Feeling Emma move, except when she's kickboxing my ribs of course.

Yeah, see the list of pros is MUCH smaller than the list of cons.

New topic! School-BLAH. Can I please go to back to Mississippi and go to school there?!?! The education system here does nothing but piss me off! And the people at the college are so rude and unhelpful! My transfer credits haven't even been "officially" evaluated yet, and they can't give a date in which they will be. Keep in mind these people have had my transcripts since AUGUST! Hopefully they get their acts together by next semester!!!!

Here is a funny picture for your liking:

Pictures

Cheese only lays by Sam if Sam is already on the bed, but if she's up there and Sam jumps up, she runs!

Our Christmas tree! 

Coco on the perch

Jack dreaming about chasing birds :)

Snickers, also dreaming about the outdoors

Cheetos being her normal lazy self

Sammy & Jack are best friends!

Dear Santa!

Dear Santa,
I've been really good this year, so PLEASE give me my baby a few days before Christmas? An early Christmas gift, perhaps? I'd really like a new pair of shoes too please. :) That's all.

Okay, On a serious note: I really would like for Emma to be here either a couple days before Christmas or a couple days after! Please, no Christmas baby! Had a doctor's appointment today! Doctor says I'm still measuring correctly according to the new date, so that's good! He also gave me a prescription for heart burn!! YAYYY! Because heartburn has been so bad lately that I've been up all night because I feel nauseous and that I could quite possible breathe fire out of my mouth! The only problem with the medicine is that it makes me nauseous! But he said that's perfectly normal and that I can continue to take my Zofran with it! Whooo! For whatever reason, he doesn't want to see me back for two weeks again? WTH. The healthcare system here sucks! I will be 38 weeks at my next appointment! Everyone else I know who has been pregnant has started going every week at 36 weeks and sometimes at 34! Whatever.....

In other news, our first Thanksgiving was halfway successful. I really wish we had eaten with our friends Ashleigh and Chris, but..... Anyway, the day after shopping was successful. Aaron and I left our house at 3am and were back home by 9am! And we got mostly everything we were going for! Yayy! Now there are presents wrapped under our tree! See below. Oh and I've decided we won't be decorating outside this year since we don't know when Emma will be here, and we really don't want to get stuck having to take down a bunch of lights outside after coming home from the hospital or with a newborn baby in the house. You get the picture! That's all for now!

Okay, this thing won't let me upload pictures right now! I will try again when I get home from class!

New Due Date!!!

So, I went to the doctor today, and guess what?!?! Apparently little Emma is growing like a weed! I am measuring 34 weeks 1 day, rather than 33 weeks! This means her new estimated due date is December 29th! How exciting is that! Pretty exciting if you ask me!!! She already weighs a whopping 5.3 pounds! And if she continues to grow as expected, she'll weigh at least 8 pounds when she's born! Oh my! Looks like she will be a big baby! Anyhow, another appointment in two weeks, and then I start to go every week!

Hanging in there!

It seems like the days are starting to drag slower now.... I'll be 33 weeks on Thursday, and I also have another doctor's appointment! Aaron gets to go with me to this one, which is super exciting because we should get to find out how much she weighs! Aaron says I'm not big enough for her to weigh as much as her projected weight is for this point in the pregnancy. My back says otherwise! So hopefully we will be able to find out how she's measuring out on Thursday. I have gotten so much stuff that I need lately, which is great. My wonderful daddy purchased our swing and rocker! We got the rocker already, but are still waiting on the swing! (Patience is not my best trait when it comes to things like this!) We still need a few things, which I plan on getting within the next two weeks so that we are fully prepared if Emma shows her face early! (Which, I won't mind by the way) I just need to get through with this semester first, so she can't come until after December 16th! I hope she's listening!

Anyhow, this past weekend we went to Lake Tahoe to see the snow, and it was beautiful! Dumbo me wore the wrong shoes and didn't get to play in the snow much, but here our a few pictures from our adventure. Aaron had a blast as you can tell:

I am about 32.5 weeks here! And Aaron says I'm not big! I WISH he could get a feel for what it's like carrying this baby around 24 hours a day!

Wake Up Californians!

Okay, so this isn't really an update, but rather a list of weird/random/dumb things that people here do!

-First, I have never seen so many "homeless" people in my life! I actually think the majority of them are really homeless too because it's the same people every single day and many of them have signs that say "Willing to work for food." Okay, I can respect that, but not the others who just want money and food. Especially the ones who have cars and want "gas" money because they're travelling and "stranded." Not my problem you went somewhere far enough away that you couldn't afford gas!
-Second, WAKE UP PEOPLE! When we moved here, we thought it would get cold. Well, apparently the daytime high never goes below like high 40s, low 50s here. THAT IS NOT COLD! People at school were whining because it's going to be in the 40s tonight! Boo hooo. :)
-Third, I can't tell you how many times Aaron and I are out, and we see something happen and just look at each other and shake our heads. These people are such a different breed!!!!!!
-Fourth, people bring their dogs everywhere here! It never fails- when I go to WalMart, I see a dog in there. I'm not talking about service dogs either. I'm talking about Yorkies and Chihuahuas riding around in the carts! This is actually really awesome to me, and I REALLY wanna start bringing Sammy, but my luck, I would be told I couldn't come in!
-Fifth, Omg- The way people drive here. First off, there is no point in stomping on the gas like we're at the drag strip when you're leaving a red light. It is such a waste of gas, especially if you're just going to another red light not far ahead! Besides that, people just drive like idiots here! They have NO cares in the world!

That's all for now!

Update

Well, it's been nearly two weeks since I update, so I guess it's time! Not much has been going on lately besides me becoming more tired and achy! But the end is near! 8 weeks or less, since my doctor won't let me go past my due date! Thank goodness! I have finally gone out and bought some diapers with money that family sent, so I officially have all the basics and am prepared if she were to come early! My wonderful Daddy was generous enough to purchase us a swing and a rocker, and I cannot wait for it to get here!!There are still some things that I need, but there is still some time! But at least we now have diapers in case the little one decides to show her face early! Anyhow, my schoolwork is not going to get itself done! So I will update again soon!

Lots to think about

Okay, first, today is officially the 30 week mark! :) 70 days/10 weeks or less to go! I go back to the doctor in a week, and I am very anxious about that! As y'all know, we had Bundles for Babies last night, which was pretty fun. We got some great resources, and I signed up for a Baby Signs class! It's next week, while Aaron is working nights, so that will be great for taking up my time on one of the nights he won't be here! The down side to the class was this one wife who was there. You know me, I can't handle certain kinds of people, and she was just on my nerves. She had a comment about EVERYTHING, and half the stuff she said did not make sense. Thank goodness she wasn't at our table because I am sure she could've picked up on the fact that she was really bothering me by the look on my face!

Anyhow, back to things to ponder. First, many people know that I have very strong beliefs about certain things in life, and one of them is children, particularly my children. I have ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wanted to be able to stay home with my children until they are two years old, for many reasons. I know I have talked about going crazy in this house all day, but it will be different once Emma gets here. Next thing I have been disgusted about is not being able to bring income into our family, even though we don't need it. I just feel that there is so much more we could do as a family if I supplemented our income in some way. So, since I really want to stay at home with Emma, I am thinking of getting affiliated with Family Child Care on base and taking in one or two infants in our house. First, it would only be part time care, as I will be in school still next semester, but there is only one half day of the week that I wouldn't be available. Starting in the Summer, I would want to do full-time care, which is 160/week per child! This would be plenty of supplementing for our income, and I would be doing something I enjoy, plus I would be able to stay home with precious Emma! I wouldn't want this to be permanent because I am eventually wanting as much of a career as I can get living the military lifestyle!

Another thing I am thinking about is making things and selling them. I have some talent for make cutesy things that I could sell for little girls and to families. I can make hair bows, tutus, customized onesies, dresses, wall paintings, names for children's rooms, bow holders, wreaths, etc. etc. I know several other military wives who make a decent profit selling these things. I know it would take a lot to get started, but I think it could work!

There is one more thing to think about. Aaron and I have been pondering the idea of becoming foster parents. I know, you probably think we are crazy, and we probably are. But both of us have this passion for children, and we feel like we could share our passion by doing something like this. Before you get all negative and judgemental, think about the fact that there are 80,000 kids without homes in California! That is HUGE, and we want to help. We would only take in one child, who is between the ages of 5-9. This would not burden us financially, since there is a monthly stipend that covers all the expenses for the child. Also, there is an elementary school IN our neighborhood, so I could take the stroller and the pup, and Emma, Sammy, and I could walk the kid to school every morning. :) This is not for certain yet, but we are really thinking about doing it, and would like the opinions of others, so if you  have an opinion, please share! Not be rude, but it will ultimately not influence our decision, but we do value the opinions of those we care about!

Okay, sorry to have written a book!

30 weeks!?!?!

Okay, so not quite, but in two days, I'll be 30 weeks pregnant! That sounds a little crazy to me! It means I'm 3/4 of the way done though! Yahoo! I remember when Aaron left for Basic, and he was going to be gone for 19 weeks. I though that was forever, but now I've already been pregnant 30 weeks and have 10 more to go! Now, THAT'S FOREVER! :) This pregnancy isn't getting any better either. I've been told by a lot of people that the last part is the worst, but I just don't see how that could be since I was so sick with HG to begin with! I've been having these awful pains in my sides and in my chest (which I told the doctor about, don't worry) that usually happen at night. I'm also still not sleeping even though the doctor recommended I be taking Unisom, which I am now, but it only helps me fall asleep, not actually stay asleep. Also, I have a persistent headache that just won't go away EVER! Oh, how I love being pregnant!

Anyway, our lives haven't changed much around here. We have our Bundles for Babies class tomorrow, which I'm super excited about! Oh, and for Aaron's exercise that they do every six weeks, Iron Flag, he got switched to nights. So he'll be working from 11:45am to 11pm, which is STINKY! It means we won't have lunch or dinner together, and I'll be more than likely sleeping (or trying to) by the time he gets home every night! Oh well, it's only one week every six weeks, and this should be an easier shift as far as work load for him!

Emma Update :)

Had a doctor's appointment bright and early this morning. :) Well, it was another of those come in, check your weight and blood pressure, and that's about all appointments! BLAH. Well, weight gain is progressing nicely now, if you remember before I was not gaining enough weight. Well, now, since I lost the 13 pounds in the beginning, I have gained back about 20 pounds, which doctor says is great! It doesn't sound so great to think that I've gained a whopping 20 pounds, but since I lost so much weight, it's like I've really only gained 7! Now, THAT sounds much better. Anyways, my blood pressure was a bit higher than normal, only 130/82, but my normal blood pressure is about 110/65, so a pretty good jump from my normal. The doctor said that we will just keep an eye on it, and if it is high at my next visit on Nov. 4th, then I will probably have to undergo testing for preeclampsia. YIKES! Anywho, other than that, Emma seems to be growing perfectly, and everything is progressing along. I didn't find out the date for my ultrasound like I had hoped, but it should be the week after my next appointment. I'm thinking Nov. 11th ish. So, we'll see!

Ultrasound video

Okay, so this is my ultrasound video from 18 weeks. I know. A lot late, but this is for certain people who have asked to see it. I get another one in about 3 weeks, and I'll make sure to post it right after I get it, rather than 2 and a half months later. :)

Happy Columbus Day! :)

Good evening! Just wanted to give everyone a quick update about our lives! We've got a busy month coming up, so I'm not sure how much I'll be updating in the next few weeks, so here goes:

Tomorrow is the only day Aaron is working this week because today was Columbus day, and he's getting his wisdom teeth out on Wednesday! YIKES!! I am in for it. :) The AF gives him three days off for the process though, so that's nice. But it also means he'll be home, and I won't be able to vacuum and steam clean the carpets as much as I want. haha. It also means I'll miss school again to take him to his appointment and take care of him the day of the surgery, but it's the class that my instructor doesn't take role in. Also coming up, the 21st I have my next appointment, and then I start going every two weeks! Yippee. And my last ultrasound should be sometime the second week of November, which I am especially looking forward to, since I haven't seen baby Emma since 18 weeks! There is no doubt she is growing though because her kicks are starting to hurt, and of course, my belly is growing. Though Aaron says I haven't really been getting any bigger, but trust me, I feel plenty big! On the 27th of this month we have a class called "Bundles for Babies," which is an hour class on base where they talk about child rearing and give away free baby goodies. :) So that's exciting, and I can't wait to see what's in store for us there! Then, of course, there's Halloween! I think I'm probably more excited for it than a lot of kids because it gives me a good excuse to buy candy. :)

Anyhow, tons of homework to do, so I shall be responsible! I will try to continue to update regularly with our busy schedule this month!

Really?!?!

So as I am sitting here waiting for Aaron to come home from work, I am browsing blogs about the military on the internet, and I came across a very interesting one. This blog is asking the opinions of others on whether or not the military is paid enough/too much/etc. Well, most people took the side that military members are not paid enough for the tasks they have to do. And yes, I agree. I will say that the benefits are great, and the pay is decent, but if you sit back and really think that military members leave behind family members for 6 months+ at a time and risk their lives to defend this country and make $35,000 a year, while someone with no experience, no training, no education, etc. can make that sitting behind a desk in an office job, it really puts it into perspective. For instance, Aaron has orders to deploy next September. Well, this means he will miss his FIRST child's FIRST Halloween, FIRST Thanksgiving, FIRST Christmas, FIRST Birthday, FIRST Valentine's day, and our anniversary. HELLO! These people miss out on a lot and many times have to watch their children grow up through the few pictures that they can receive in mail. Anyhow, back to the point, most people did agree that they don't get paid enough, but there were quite a few people who said some things that really ticked me off.

The major thing that ticked me off was the abundance of people who talked down about military spouses that stay at home. They were saying that if the military doesn't pay enough, then tell your lazy wife to get off her butt and get a job, basically. Okay, first, I do NOT stay at home by choice. The military up and moved us 2600 miles from home to a place that ranks #3 nationally for unemployment. I would LOVE to work somewhere, but unfortunately, there just are no jobs here, especially not for people who are expecting. And to defend other Stay at home military spouses, the few jobs that are available, don't pay jack! You can't have children and work in a minimum wage job. It's just not possible. All of your income would be going to childcare and gas to get to work, so what is the point of working anyway. So for those of you who think that me or any other military spouse is lazy, PLEASE know the facts first. You haven't been restationed across the country where there are no jobs, where childcare is absolutely outrageous, and therefore you DON'T know anything. :) That's all.

Exhausted, Hungry, and Hot all the time!

I've already ranted about my lack of sleep, and believe me, it isn't getting any better! I thought maybe having the whole bed to myself would help, so this past weekend, Aaron slept on the couch one night to see. Well, it didn't. The only thing it helped with was me not having to worry about waking him up while I'm tossing and turning so much. Other than that, I slept the same.
Next, I've been hungry like crazy. But the thing is, I feel like I haven't eaten in three days, and when I sit down to eat, I take a few bites and I'm stuffed! So then, I'm hungry again in an hour. Same old cycle over and over again.
Also, I've been burning up constantly. I can walk from the living room to the bedroom and be sweating. It's a little bit ridiculous. I've been setting the air temp. lower at night than normal because that's when I'm the most warm, but it hasn't really helped. I still wake up feeling like I'm in the desert numerous times throughout the night.

Better news, In two days, I start the third trimester! YAHOO! And, I'm already past 2/3 of the way through and almost 3/4! Whooo!

Is it January yet?!

The title says it all people! Pregnancy is boring boring boring! :) The good news is, I passed my glucose screening with flying colors! Yeah! No Gestational Diabetes here! And if you notice on my countdown to the left side of the page, there are no longer more than 100 days left! Yay again. We're in the double digits now, and in less than a week, I'll start my 3rd trimester! That certainly feels good to say. Also, I go back to the doctor in less than three weeks, and then I start going every two weeks. I think time will start moving faster then. Yahoo!

In other news, school is still blah.... It's actually starting to pick up some, and I have like eight different papers on my mind. Yikes! But it shall be okay! Things have been pretty relaxed around our house lately with not much going on. I've been visiting the Airman's Attic on base weekly, which for those of you who don't know is the equivalent of thrift store, but everything is FREE! Yes, free. I have been getting tons of adorable outfits for Emma there! We are already stocked up on a good supply of summer clothes from there since I am guessing that most of the gifts I will receive will be winter clothes! Oh, we rearranged our ENTIRE house pretty much this week. The guest room is totally different, but the living room is the biggest difference. I like it sooo much better now. But I need some new decor items to put in the empty spaces we have. That will come at a later date!

Yesterday, I tackled the feat of washing my own car and cleaning the inside out in the 102 degree weather. Yes, crazy, I know, but my car was filthy! Well, I feel like I did a pretty fabulous job, except well, my belly sticks out a little too far for me to reach all the areas on the top of the car! You can look and see little spots I couldn't reach! hahah. Oh well! Today, the weather is a little nicer. The high is only 93, yeah only, and so I figured it'd be a good day to spray down our house and patio out front! The spiders here build webs soo quickly that if you don't wash your house often, you will have numerous friends residing in webs all along the house. Anyway, our life isn't that exciting these days! That is all for now.

Frustration!

I am beyond frustrated right now! Why, you ask? Well, I am frustrated mostly because I can't work! I want a job very badly! I have worked since I was fifteen, and this is the longest I've been without a job since then. I know I should be thankful that while I am pregnant, I get to take more care of myself, etc. And I am, but I just hate that I can't "be productive" by bringing in income to our household. I should be thankful that we can afford to live in this nice house and pay all of our bills on time without me working. And again, I am. I just wish I could work at least part time right now! But, the Air Force sent us to the place that is ranked 3rd highest in the country for unemployment. It's something like 20% here!!! And, since there are so many people looking for jobs already, there definitely aren't any job openings for pregnant people! BLAH BLAH BLAH. 

Anyhow, I know that I use this blog to rant and say a lot of negative things, but my life isn't all negative! Promise! I don't want anyone to think that. I am happy and healthy (thank goodness), and I have a lot to look forward to at this point in life. :) I will try and make my next post a little more positive!

Lalalala...

So I'm not sure if I'm the only one who's ever gotten bored with pregnancy, but I am SOOO bored with it. I'm just anxious and ready for January to be here. I am starting to get tired a lot easier now, and I am unable to sleep ever. I lay in bed and just toss and turn and toss and turn and over and over and over. It usually takes me about three hours to fall asleep, even if I've had an exhausting day. Then, I wake up so often that I don't ever get any real rest. I guess my body is just preparing me for the sleepless nights to come! But I would much rather have a baby to tend to while not being able to sleep than just lying with absolutely nothing to occupy me! I have a doctor's appointment in three days, and it's the big sugar test appointment! I am keeping my fingers crossed that I pass! I can't imagine, first, having to go back and take the three hour glucose test, and then if I failed that one, having to stay away from sugar! UGHHHH. That would NOT be fun. Anyhow, done ranting for the day. :) Sammy has a vet appointment on base so I am going to bath him all squeaky clean before we go!

Update

Sorry for the lack of posts here lately! You would think I was ultra busy, right? Well, I have been pretty busy lately actually. School is starting to pick up, and I've got papers and assignments out the wazooo to write/do! So that has been taking up a large portion of my time.We've also been rather busy on the weekends with tons of stuff going on.

We had Taylor's 2nd birthday party one weekend, which was a blast! She seemed to have a lot of fun. We went to San Francisco on Labor day, and we had a great time. We visited the Golden Gate Bridge, aimlessly drove around downtown looking for a restaurant that ended up not even being open! And then visited the beach. While visiting the beach, we saw some whales! Very fabulous and not an everyday opportunity!

In other exciting news, all of you know my laptop was stolen when Aaron was on leave back in June. Well, RIP my precious Macbook. :) That thing was literally like my baby. So Aaron promised to replace my computer, but of course it took us FOREVER to see eye-to-eye on what kind to get. Well, naturally I wanted another Macbook, and again, naturally, Aaron hates apple and thinks they are extremely over priced and overrated! Well, deciding that I am never going to convince Aaron into an Apple, I have settled for a Samsung that we ordered yesterday! Yahoo! Now if it can just ever get here! P.S. I will have another Macbook. :) Just wait until I am employed full-time again!

Baby news: I am coming up on 24 weeks and beginning to be more and more ready for Emma's arrival! I have almost finished decorating her room, and we have lots of things for her now! The wonderful Granny and Papaw sent us tons of outfits. I'm guessing around 25 or so! We also got several blankets, some shoes, sheets, hairbows, socks, and washcloths from them! It is so cool to open Emma's drawers and see them filled with things. :) Emma is also starting to move a lot more, and you can definitely see my belly moving around now, even though she always stops moving when I tell Aaron to come over and see! I go back to the doctor in a week and a half to have my sugar checked, and I am NOT looking forward to that! But I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Here are a few new pictures for everyone to see!

The Pacific Ocean. :) Cold, Rocky, and full of HUGE waves!

A picture that I actually enjoy of us. :) Almost 23 weeks here.

RANT!!

Oh my goodness! Okay, so trying to be responsible and go ahead and sort of have a plan for baby Emma before she is born, I was researching child care facilities in the area. Ridiculous is NOT the word! $980 a month for infant care is ummm, OUTRAGEOUS! That is only a little over $100 less than our rent for crying out loud! I don't understand how people think they can charge that! So now, I guess I will be looking for individuals rather than facilities... Ugh, hopefully they have some decent rates!

In other news, most of you know that I am the person who doesn't want to buy maternity clothes because I'm like ughh, I'll only wear this for this long, etc. Well, I'm all about finding bargains, and guess what?!?! I found a pair of maternity pants at Old Navy that were originally $34.50, and I got them for 76 cents! Yes, CENTS! Okay, that made my entire week. :)

School/Weekend/ETC.

Okay, so most everyone knows that I started school last week. Well, HOLY COW. First off, I miss Southern Miss. Seriously, because the school here is soooo incredibly old that one day the air works and one day, it doesn't. Yeah, my class this morning was 86 degrees inside! I guess I should be thankful that it wasn't like 96 degrees in there, but it was still hot! Oh, and textbooks, yeah, they're ridiculous! Just to rent a textbook for the semester costs $85 a piece?! Each of my classes requires two textbooks. DUMB. Anyhow, on a good note, all of my classes seem very easy thus far, so I am very pleased with that!

Weekend: Well, weekend was enjoyable. Friday, Aaron and I relaxed at home for dinner and went out and had ice cream at this really awesome local place! Saturday, we had lunch at a restaurant called The Happy Viking, which has FABULOUS chicken tenders. :) And then we had dinner at our friends Chris and Ashleigh's house. The food was amazing, and we had a great time. Sunday, we tried out the contemporary chapel on base, and it was pretty much what we expected. The Chaplain's message was very enjoyable, and we plan on going back to see what the usual service is like since this Chaplain was just filling in for the time. Afterwards, we went to lunch at Chili's with friends and then went "exploring" on base with Chris, Ashleigh, and their daughter, Taylor. I have to say Beale AFB is probably one of the few AFBases that you can go "exploring" on. The base has an incredible amount of land, especially compared to most other bases. So we went down all the dirt roads and trails sight-seeing. We also visited the POW Campsite from WWII, which was pretty cool. So Beale isn't tooo terribly bad. I mean it could be a lot worse! The base is very spread out (from one gate to housing is something like 15 miles!!), and there really isn't much to the base itself, but the scenery is nice. Wildlife is abundant, and the place should be a whole lot prettier once we actually start getting some rain in these parts! Which should be a little over a month from now!

Weekend

Good morning Monday! Today was my first day of school, and guess what! I arrive to find out that my class is not meeting until Wednesday. So that was a FABULOUS start to my day! But, I did have a WONDERFUL weekend this past weekend.

On Friday night, after Aaron had to work an hour late, blah, we went over to our new friends', Lauren and Preston, house and had dinner. The food was great, and there were several couples there, so it was nice to be able to meet some other people who we didn't already know!

On Saturday, we ventured over to Nevada for the day with another couple that we've become good friends with and their daughter, who is precious! We took the long way there so that we could go through Lake Tahoe, and it was BEAUTIFUL! I can't say I've every seen a lake that has such clear water, and the mountains on the other side of the lake still have snow on the top of them! After Lake Tahoe, we went to Carson City to visit a couple of stores and have lunch. The place we had for lunch was ehhh, okay, but not great. Of course, it was a BBQ, and I don't like BBQ, so I'm pretty biased. Anyway, we then headed over to Reno to Cabella's for the boys, which was pretty boring for Ashleigh and I, but we got our fun at the mall later! I bought a maternity swimsuit because I have been dying to get in the water for a while now! And I also bought little Emma her first outfit! We didn't get back to base until nearly 10 Saturday night, but it was a FABULOUS day overall!

Here is a picture from Lake Tahoe: (This is also my first picture "pregnant picture" besides a couple when I wasn't really showing yet. So consider yourself lucky!)

Happy Birthday to me!

That's right! It's my birthday! Don't worry though. I'm not doing anything special. I had to go down and drop off my car this morning because it's leaking oil! What the heck? I mean my car is a 2009! I think I have the worst luck with cars ever. EVER! But the nice thing about it was the dealership has a free shuttle service for vehicles that come in and are still under warranty. So, I didn't have to spend my entire birthday sitting in the waiting area. Instead I'm home with the animals, and we're not doing anything today. :) Sorry, Aaron. No wifely duties on the birthday! Maybe I can get a nice birthday dinner out of him tonight when he gets off because I really don't want to cook today!

What I do want to do though is wait around for the Fed Ex guy who is supposed to be paying me a visit! I can't wait to see what Daddy dearest has up his sleeve! I got my birthday present from Aaron early since he would be working today, and guess what?! He surprised me with a new ring that I've been eyeballing for quite some time! Yay, sometimes he can be so thoughtful. :) It stinks that he has to work late today though! It's only an hour, but still. I just hate not knowing everyday what time he will be home the next day or the next because it's always subject to change. These are the times that I wish he had your everyday 9-5 job, but I truly thank God for the Air Force and that my husband actually has a job. I know so many people who don't have jobs that even have freaking college degrees! It's crazy out there! So it is certainly nice that we have the stability that we have, and healthcare! Thank God for that as well because I know how expensive having a baby can be!

Speaking of: On to some baby news. I am 18 weeks 5 days today, and as excited as I am about January and the gift of life, I just want to say that I don't know how people can truly enjoy being pregnant. I mean maybe my pregnancy just sucks because I am unlucky and have like every symptom in the book, or maybe I just suck at dealing with things. I am a big baby, according to Aaron of course. Because I would never incriminate myself in that way. :) hahah. No really, I am. I don't do well with pain or emotions. Ahhh, poor Aaron. Because I have been an emotional wreck throughout most of this pregnancy thus far! My feelings get hurt about the tiniest thing, and he's like again really?!?! I know it must be getting old by now! I know he must be tired of catering to my food needs as well because even though I don't really get cravings, I have tons of food no no's! The condition, Hyperemesis Gravidarum, that I have is seeming to not bother me as much these days, though that could just be because they gave me a higher dose of the nausea medication! Who knows! Anywho, on to something exciting! I finished my baby registry at Wal Mart, which was a HUGE hassle, but that's a whole nother story. Also, I felt little Emma move for the first time on Sunday night! It was soooo weird. You know the feeling you get when someone taps you? Well, it was like that only I felt it on the inside of my belly of course! It went something like this: tap, tap, tap! Then it was over, and I've been trying to be patient for more taps, but patience is not my strong point people!

Well, I shall enjoy my birthday now. Everyone have a great day!

Furniture!!!

Okay, so our furniture was supposed to be here today, and it is!!! You're probably wondering why the heck I'm not unpacking it right? Instead of sitting here on this computer.... Well, here's the thing, unpacking boxes is not the easiest thing for a pregnant girl!! I unpacked like three boxes all at once, and I was exhausted, so I've decided to unpack a box and rest a few minutes then do another one.

Half of this stuff I can't even move though because it's soooo heavy, so I'll be waiting on Aaron for all of that! He should be home in an hour or two, and hopefully we'll be able to knock a good bit of this unpacking business out of the way! It's too bad the movers don't unpack everything for you as well. That would just be toooo convenient!

Ohhh California!

Okay, so I've promised several friends and family members back home that I would start a blog to keep them updated with everything in our lives since we're several states away!

First, today I had my official 18 week ultrasound, and it IS for sure a girl! We finally decided on a name, she will be Emma Ranae' Bellinger! Thank goodness that's over with because deciding on a name was MUCH harder than I though it could be. Now it's to the fun part: shopping for our little one! Well, that's the fun part for me, Aaron probably doesn't think so! :)

Anyway, we've been in California for a month now, and I have to say this is MUCH different than Mississippi. Major culture shock for sure! The area we live in is kinda yuck, but we live in a very nice neighborhood, and we're soooo close to Sacramento. Aaron and I have already visited the Sac Zoo and Old Sac, which were both verrry nice! I thought I should share with everyone the things I've learned about Cali so far:
-It's so much hotter here than I thought! I mean we're pretty far North in the US, but don't let that fool you because it's 100 degrees every day!
-It DOES NOT rain here in summer. Like ZERO precipitation. NOT A JOKE. The sun shines every day. And you think, oh that's nice! No, it's really not. I miss the rain!
-The population of bugs here is OUTRAGEOUS! Especially spiders. You wouldn't believe the different types of bugs that here though and the abundance of them! I thought Mississippi was bad!
-The people here are RUDE! Southern hospitality is a concept I truly miss! People will literally shove you out of their way, rather than say excuse me.
-The fast food restaurants here......TERRIBLE! I miss Chik Fil A, McAlisters, Arbys, Raising Cane's, Zaxby's, just to name a few. Oh and there are NO Waffle House restaurants here. No joke. There is seriously one on every street corner back home!

Those are just a few of the things I've learned thus far about this place. I will add more in the future! I think I'll like this place a lot more once we have furniture to put in our lovely home! That has been nothing but a hassle for us trying to get that stuff here, but it SHOULD be here tomorrow. We hope! I get sooo bored staying home by myself all day while Aaron works. I've tried finding a job, but the job market here SUCKS. And people who are hiring don't wanna hire a pregnant girl! But, I did enroll in school today, so that should keep me pretty busy! Yay!