Christmas 2012

Hold crap has time been flying. Christmas has come and gone and we are sitting at new years eve. I feel like since Christmas has past I have so much to do with so little time and that is true but at the same time not. I do have time since Skyeler will be gone soon for the last little bit of training and I will have all sorts of time while he is gone. But lets face it... time just continues to go faster and faster.

But anyway Christmas for us was more relaxing than hectic. I really don't mind that. Skyeler and I slept in a bit and we opened up gifts from each other, waited for everyone to come over for breakfast, had breakfast, opened gifts from siblings/parents, went for a walk, and went over to grandma and grandpa Knights. It was an enjoyable day. I do feel bad that we are never able to visit more than one family on the holidays but it is nice to be able to actually spend time with whatever parent we are visiting.

I am mostly blessed and glad that I was able to spend the holiday with Skyeler. With our life so up in the air the past little bit I am so happy that he was with me.

Baby Shower(s)

This past week I have had 2 baby showers. One was in Bountiful and was hosted by Lindsay, Debbie, and Mollie. The other was in Blanding and hosted by Skyeler's mom Julie. I had fun at each and I am so glad that I got a lot of needs and not a bunch of clothes. Dad and Kandie for Christmas gave us our baby gift with our Christmas gift which was a crib. We got to go pick it out since our life situation is so crazy and Dad and Kandie wanted to make sure we got what we needed etc... The sisters all went in and got baby a travel system, so a car-seat/stroller. I am so glad someone with baby experience picked it out. I was quite surprised and excited over the gift. I am glad that I don't have to worry about buying it and picking a crappy one plus now I am comforted with the fact that even if baby does come early we can take her home and give her a place to sleep. I was getting a little stressed with not having a car-seat because that is a MUST in order to take baby home.

Some other gifts included a car-seat cover, clothes, fitted crib sheets, diapers, medicine, bouncer, rubber duckies, blankets etc.. ooh and I got this amazing homemade diaper bag for Christmas from Mollie. The crazy thing is that even with all of these things I still feel so unprepared. I want to organize and have everything ready but I can't do that yet. I think that is the most frustrating part... Nothing in this pregnancy has gone the way I thought it would when it comes to prepping.

I do have a few pics and I will eventually post those. I'm sure I will have TONS of time coming up, starting in the next few days. Overall I am happy with all that has been given to us in preparation for baby. I feel so loved and blessed and I am so glad that our little one is coming to a good home with many many people who will love her and already do. I guess that is just one of the biggest things you want for your children... for them to be loved and welcomed. I can't believe that I will get to meet her soon.

Week 31: Baby Bump Photo's

I know it has been a while since I have put up any baby bump pics. Well now that the whole family has seen me I decided that I would put up a few pics.

I still find it funny that people continue to tell me that I am so small but yet I feel so huge.

How far along? *31 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss? 14 pounds
Maternity clothes? Yes,
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep? This week it has been horrible. I am always getting up and I am finding it more difficult to get comfortable.
Best moment last week? Just know little on is alive and well.
Movement? Yes, and I love it
Food cravings? Fruit
Labor signs? No,
Belly button in/out? In,
What I miss: I miss not being kicked in the bladder and being able to breathe.
What I am looking forward to: I am looking forward to the baby shower!
Milestones: Still being able to breathe.

Week: 30

Holy crap, time has been flying very fast lately. I can't believe that we are already at week 30! This is kind of exciting but yet scary at the same time. I have lots to do and think about before this little one comes and I don't have a lot of time left.

How far along?  *30 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss?  14 pounds
Maternity clothes?  Yes,
Stretch marks?  Nope
Sleep? Has been a lot better now that Sky and I are sleeping on a Queen mattress and it isn't on the floor.
Best moment last week? Seeing people for the first time since being home and seeing everyone's excitement.
Movement?  Yes, and I love it
Food cravings?  Fruit 
Labor signs?   No,
Belly button in/out?  In,
What I miss:  I miss not being kicked in the bladder.
What I am looking forward to:  I am looking forward to the baby shower!
Milestones: I think hitting 30 weeks is quite a milestone plus still feeling good about how the pregnancy has gone so far.

This might be my last post without a belly bump photo! I think by this weekend I will have seen my entire family and so I will feel better about not ruining the surprise of how big/little my belly is. I find it so funny how big I feel but everyone says that I am so small. I will take everyone else's advice since I really don't know what is big for 6-7 months.

Oh I also had my first appointment since coming back to Utah and it went well. This doctor is going to go by the Feb 24th due date and not March 1st due date. YAY, for some reason I am very happy and excited about that. I know that the due date really isn't a big deal but when you have a doc that makes you feel stupid about when your baby is due and is just rude about it you tend to want to ignore what they say.

A year is a very long time.

It is amazing to me how time can be so different for people. In the same 24 hours different people can feel like the day has gone by quickly or by very slowly. But yet time is the same every day and for everyone.
This past year has been quite long but yet so very short for me. I can't believe that we are done with basic training and AIT. Maryland is now something from my past and it isn't something that I am looking forward to anymore. Skyeler has also been in the military for over a year now and only 5 more to go with 2 years.
What has really been hard for me this past year is that I have now spent 1 year without a very special person in my life.... When you are younger you always think or feel like these special people will always be around and when they are not there anymore it is hard. Especially when they have played a big role in your life. I still have days when I want to call her up and tell her about what is happening especially with the little one coming... I feel like whenever I have a list of people I have to update on things that she is always near the top of my list of people to call. I want to tell her all about my adventures and how my life is completely different. I still have my days where I just sit and cry and ache with the loss. Certain songs will remind me of her and I cry and then have to listen to the song again and again. Oh how I miss my loved ones who have passed on. I think of them daily and I just hope that they think of me. Death really isn't something that is new to me considering how many people in my life who have passed on, but in all reality it doesn't matter how many people you know who have died with each new death is a new experience and new pain that you have to work through.
If I could talk to my grandma Kunzler and aunt Kathy I would ask them if they are proud of the person I have become... I am sure they are, but it is just hearing it from them. I know that when I was younger they wanted me to be a little more girly and less of a tom boy and I just hope that they are proud of my choices that I have made in my life. I also wish that my little girl could have met them. It breaks my heart that they had to die when they did because I feel like my little one will be missing out on a lot. They were such amazing examples to me and I hope that I can be that kind of example to others.

What a long year it has been and I know that I will miss my aunt every minute of every day until I get to see her and my other family members again. I look forward to that day. I want it to come ever so quickly. I hate missing people. But we are bound to the laws of time and have to live in our 24 hour periods. So until that day I will do my best to make them proud and to be an example to others like they were to me. I will continue to miss them and look forward to seeing them but most importantly I will continue to love them. For that will never end.

Issues with leaving Fort Meade.

So for quite a while we have been trying to find out what will be happening with Skyeler and him going to airborne. His Sergeants at Fort Meade would say one thing and then his unit in Utah would say another thing and it got us quite confused on what was going to be happening. At one point it was possible for him to graduate early so he could make it to the last cycle, but it didn't work out. Then his Sergeant in Utah said that he needed to make sure he had orders for airborne and all he has was a reservation for the first class in January. This is not what was wanted by the Utah sergeant.  
The week of Graduation there was a main water line breakage at the MILPO building where all the reserve/national guard soldiers were supposed to go as part of their out processing so they could be cut off from the "BIG army". So since they were unable to go and get those papers signed and they were just going to mail them to him Skyeler was never cut off from being paid. (This is important)
SO Sky was mostly able to get his out-processing done but there was still this question about airborne. Skyeler needed to talk to his platoon sergeant and guess what he was on leave from Thanksgiving and wasn't available and Skyeler has to go through chain of command and he can't talk to any other platoon sergeant about issues like that. Time is getting closer and closer to us leaving and we still didn't have any answers. Sky had tried to talk to people but didn’t have any luck.
Thursday morning we were scheduled to get out of our house and then go pick up my medical records from Walter Reed and then head out. Or so our plan was… We still didn’t have answers on what was going to be happening and Skyeler was still getting different stories. So before we left for Walter Reed and home we felt it was needed to go to the detachment and see if and talk to Sergeant A.G. (Skyelers platoon sergeant). Sergeant A.G. was there and we were able to get him to talk to Skyeler’s other Sergeant because of the different stories we were getting. Long story short Fort Meade didn’t want him because he was done with training and thought that it was the national guards responsibility to do that but the Sergeant in Utah said it was the Army’s responsibility because it was in his orders to begin with and that Sky would be no use to them until he is airborne trained. Plus it was mentioned that the National Guard didn’t have the funding to send him.  Well Sergeant A.G. told us that we could go ahead and go get my records and head out and that they would figure it out. So off we go to Bethesda to get my records and that is a 45 min -1 hr. trip from Fort Meade. So we get there and I got my records and by the time I got back to Skyeler he had a few phone calls saying basically we were NOT allowed to leave and that he would have to stay at the detachment… WHAT!!!! We are no longer in a house and my dad didn’t come out because we were planning on having Skyeler drive me out. So long story short we had to go back to Fort Meade to figure this entire thing out.  It was getting frustrating and we were very unsure on what was going to be happening. So as I was talking to dad about our frustration and postponement on leaving they were able to find that Skyeler had earned 25 days of PTO and that what was going to have happen is that Skyeler is still part of the army and the detachment (good thing he didn’t sign those papers and that the building flooded) so he will be getting paid until he finishes airborne, BUT he will be having to take those leave days to drive me home and get somewhat situated just for him to fly back to Fort Meade on the 12^th of Dec then fly home again for Christmas break, then fly back again to Fort Meade on Jan 4^th so he can be flown to Fort Benning for airborne. What a hassle and a headache. But that is what had to happen in order for Skyeler to be able to drive home with me since we were ALL READY to go. If not Sky would have had to stay at the detachment and I would have had to wait for Dad to fly out.
So we got a very late start on our trip home but I am glad that we didn’t have any other problems or issues for the rest of the trip. I am also glad that Skyeler will be getting paid for Dec and Jan even though we have 3 or so airline tickets to purchase.

Made it back to Utah!!

I am back in Utah.... It is such a great feeling to be in your familiar territory and the place that you call home. I love seeing the Rocky Mountains and all the beautiful views in southern Utah.

We left St. Louis Sunday morning and made our way to Denver Colorado. That is such a long drive and it was a struggle to keep going when you have nothing to look at and it is dark. The only cool thing was when we passed (I am assuming) all the windmills and they all have a red light up at the top so we had HUGE fields full of red lights blinking on and off. It was crazy looking. We made it to Denver just after midnight and it was enjoyable to be able to spend some time with my friend.  Monday morning we left for Blanding so we could visit Skyeler's mom and surprise her by just showing up at the door. It didn't work quite as expected but the surprise was still there and of course it is always nice to visit. It is only a short trip but we still have to go to Richfield to visit Skyeler's dad and find a certain coat that I am hoping that will fit around my belly. I have been using Skyeler's jacket and lets face it.... it isn't winter worthy. After we visit Richfield we are heading back to Bountiful so we can start on the job hunt and get our room situated.

I just hope that we can get all of this traveling and visiting done plus getting Sky a jump start on finding a job before he has to head back to Maryland. That is right he has to go back... I will explain the story in my next post.

On our way home!

Currently I am in St. Louis, MO staying with mine and Skyeler's friends. It has been a fun trip home after we got over our stress and issues before we left Fort Meade. But all is well and I will probably have another post explaining the issues, but for now I will just say that we left Thursday afternoon and made it to Richmond, Indiana and stayed in a motel is it was dark and our excitement was wearing off and plus we had been driving quite a while and my leg was cramping. Friday we made it through Indiana and Illinois and stopped in St. Louis. I really do enjoy St. Louis. Especially since they have the City Museum and completely different looking parks. The weather has been perfect for us and I feel quite blessed.
While we have been here we went to the City Museum and Skyeler LOVED it. It was so much fun to see his reactions to the whole thing and to just encourage being like a kid and play! It was a lot of fun to watch our friends scare people in the caves and see their reactions... Then it was also fun to see peoples looks of "WHAT THE CRAP" when they see a 6-7 month pregnant lady go down a 10 story slide. That was fun, but it was quite the workout trying to go up all those stairs. Even though I didn't do everything everyone else did I did have a lot of fun. I will have to say that crawling through tunnels and other things was a wee bit hard at times but worth it.
But the trip has been fun and now we head to Denver and we have another time zone to go through. Soon I will be in Mountain standard time along with the majority of the family. I like traveling east to west better than vice versa. There is just something about an hour of your life being taken away that I don't like. :)