WA update

This post is long overdue. I will make it short to summarize what we have been up to since our big move from VA. Washington state is awesome! We truly are having a blast here. We live in a beautiful city and we love the area. We are probably about 10 mins away from the capital of WA, Olympia, and there are so many fun things to do.

Lynn will be arriving shortly. She will be considered a full term baby soon so we are expecting her to come at any given point pretty much, but we are hoping she will bake until her due date when Abe gets to come home from his pre-deployment training (yes- Abe is deploying at the end of the year). We are excited to meet Lynn and are basically ready for her arrival.

It is nice to live on the west coast again. WA weather is not always the best (lots of rain), but when the sun shines this place is magestic. We have had the opportunity to have family over this week. Creela Belle and Justine (Abe's sister and step-mom) have joined us for a few days. It has been SO much fun!

During their visit we have had the opportunity to get to see some of WA— tour the capitol, get to see lots of Seattle, and had a girl's day of shopping. My mom will be coming in on May 22nd and will be staying with me through out June to keep me company, specially if I go into labor while Abe is gone.

Lynn's nursery is adorable— post and pictures to come, I promise. Her crib is in our room for now so the room will look a little empty, but it looks great nonethless. Most of it has been DIY projects, but I won't spoil the details of her nursery yet.

Here are some pictures of our adventures for the past month, mostly of CB and J's visit. Enjoy!

A week in Oklahoma!

Hello blogger world, we meet once again. I don't ever like to blog because, well, blogging about two cats on my bed and my lazy sick self about 23 out of 24 hours a day doesn't sound very exciting to anyone.

Yes, as you have read in my previous posts (or if you haven't, you may already know) that our lives changed a whole lot since October. Yep.. October, the month when we had our first anniversary, when Abe had to leave for the military, and when we found out we had our beautiful Lynn on the way. Let's fast forward.... 3 months later. Here I am. A very PROUD Army wife officially.

Attending BCT graduation was AMAZING, AMAZING! It was worth every penny I didn't have, ha ha. I had a very long trip to arrive to my final destination, Lawton, Oklahoma. Starting with a long drive to Charleston, WV, to being a nervous wreck before boarding a plane.. to a long layover in Chicago, a night at the Tulsa airport, 5 hours in a stinky greyhound bus and finally arriving to the cheap hotel I decided to stay at to save money, all to see and spend time with the most wonderful man on this earth. Yep, never say never! The things I do for my husband!

Family day was AWESOME! I got to meet Shawnee, the wife of one of Abe's battle buddies and we became traveling buddies in our Lawton stay. Lots of fun. I purchased the wonderful pictures of my husband in his ACU's, I was dying to get those! Needless to say, he looked handsome and made this woman feel extremely proud! After a short briefing upon our arrival on Thursday morning at Ft Sill, and witnessing soldiers move up in rank as well as other soldier's becoming American citizens- which was very emotional to me- we finally got to see the whole battery lined up outside, in their ASU's.

Delta Battery 1/40th FA. It was great to walk outside to this sight. They all looked wonderful!
Shawnee and I looking cute on family day :)
We saw a few skits to show what the soldier's had learned, pretty silly acting if you ask me but rather funny... and then we concluded and our soldier's were able to find their families. There he was!! My heart beating about 200 beats per second, walking towards me, my dream man to hug me once again after almost a month of last seeing him. You know when in movies they make kisses appear so magical? I can tell you when we kiss we put those to shame because they feel 100 times more special. It was very emotional to see my husband walking as he had almost completed the cycle of basic training that he had worked so hard to complete. He makes me so proud!
One of the few skits.

Together once again! Everytime we say hello again is always so special.



I cannot even begin to mention how proud of him I feel.

We got to tour around the area where they trained, UGLY! Abe always said he felt he was in The Lion King movie. I believe him. The grounds where the trained were brown, flat and ugly! I guess it really hits you when you have been living in VA for over 2 years now. We had a wonderful lunch at Olive Garden with Abe's battle buddies and their families, toured around the mall, and also spent some quality time together before he had to go back to formation.






Friday came along, yippe! The BIG day! Graduation Ceremony. I felt like my heart wouldn't fit in my chest anymore. My husband in a few minutes was officially to be considered an American Soldier. How cool is that?! I took lots and lots of pictures of him. He wasn't allowed to smile or move while sitting down- amazing how soldiers can keep such a straight face, well.. most of them ha ha.

Abe did a really good job at keep a straight face while sitting down before graduation. He looked so wonderful! I was so excited to be there for him on this final day of this long journey. He has done such a magnificent job. Before the ceremony got started I got up to take a few pictures of my love, it was an awesome experience. 

It's a....

With all the anticipation I had for this moment, we finally found out what we will be having. First and foremost, I had my anatomy scan on Friday the 20th, and it was beautiful to see a beautiful HEALTHY baby on the screen! I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for blessing us with this gift!

I have to admit, I was not expecting this baby to be a girl. Almost everyone I know, swore that I would be having a boy, and if you believe in old wives tales, they all said it would be a boy too!

Abe finally had the chance to call me on Tuesday the 24th as I was waiting in Chicago to board a plane to go see him graduate from BCT. The temptation to open the card where the ultrasound tech had written the sex of our baby was too much.. And surprise suprise.. It is.. A GIRL!

It is now official. We have a beautiful baby GIRL, Lynn, on the way! We are so happy. I personally wanted to start crying from how much joy filled my heart in less than one second. It is crazy to think that in a few months I will be a mom, but I love it. As each day goes by, I fall in love with our little bundle of joy more and more. It is so beautiful to feel her grow in me and move and let me know she is there.

Our sweet little baby, we love you so much already, and we are eagerly waiting for your arrival in June.

Life is WONDERFUL!

Here is the first face picture of our beautiful baby!

Life doesn't stop changing

In regards to my very boring blog, I now feel like it could use an extra something. Life seems like it never stops changing! Abe is now about to graduate from BCT (finally), our baby is now about 17 1/2 weeks! And we will be finding out the gender this upcoming friday. It seems like 2012 holds many changes in our lives! It will be an exciting year, full of new adventures.

My heart grows 3 sizes more everytime I think about our little one. We are eagerly waiting for this baby to come to us in June! I have been so greatly blessed to have this baby growing inside of me... We love this baby SO much already and couldn't be happier with our bundle of joy :)

OCTOBER 2011!

This has definitely been a bittersweet month! So many things happening in our lives but we are most definitely happy about the way things are going right now. So this month was our first anniversary, wohoo! Since Abe was leaving to the military a couple of days after the 21st, we decided to have a getaway a little earlier during the month so we wouldn't feel rushed! We took a trip down to Myrtle Beach and it was Oh so much fun! We were only there for a couple of days, but we had a blast; it was awesome getting out of Giles county for a weekend.

For pictures of that, go to my facebook!

Anyway, Abe did his final swearing into the military yesterday before being shipped to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Yeah I admit it has been hard getting used to not having him around, but it makes me happy that he is happy fulfilling this part of his life. I got to go up with my father-in-law to spend a few hours with him before leaving and saying my goodbyes for the next little while (little while is hoping that I will get to see him in December, not until March).

Here is Abe swearing in:

Here we are right before we had to leave (I know.. notice the nostalgic faces...)

I guess I am an army wife now. I am very proud of Abe and for his will to do so much for our wellbeing. I couldn't have been blessed with a better husband. He is awesome!

A weekend in North Carolina!

After having a great weekend, it is necessary to blog! WOW, we had such a great time. At the very last minute on friday, we decided to go to North Carolina to see my sister-in-law Rachel and her family; our niece's baby blessing was going to take place that Sunday. I am so glad we were able to go, 1-it was great being there for the blessing, 2- it was awesome seeing some of the family who we don't ever get to see, 3-we were able to enjoy amazing family time.

I seriously just had to take a picture with her, who wouldn't want one when she is so cute :)

Our niece, Ava Lynn, is so beautiful, and what a special experience it was to be there for her baby blessing. I also got to hold a small baby for the first time in my life.. (<--- see )(Yeah, weird, I know, I was never around babies). Tons of fun! It was great to get out of Giles with Abe for a few days, since life becomes a bit boring in this place :). Abe and I decided to stop at a mall in Raleigh on our way back home, in which we enjoyed an amazing sushi meal, and I went to forever 21 to shop around for like 5 minutes, but it still was super fun. Now the drive back home wasn't so great! Traffic was awful!

Our nephews, Landen and Carson I think are about one of the cutest and funniest boys I have ever seen, and our nieces, Noel and Taylor only get sweeter and more adorable by the minute.

It bites being so far away from family, but we surely enjoyed the one time we were able to get together with them.

Easter Sunday!

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years before. Because of their hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minneapolis and flew to Florida on Friday, and his wife was flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel, and unlike years ago, there was a computer in his room, and he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her e-mail address, and without noticing his error, sent the e-mail to the wrong address. Meanwhile... somewhere in Houston... a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a Minster who was called home to glory after suffering a heart attack.

The widdow decided to check her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends.

After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and then glanced up and saw the computer screnn which read:

To: My Loving Wife

Date: Friday, June 6, 2007

Subject: I have arrived!

My dearest love:

I know you are suprised to hear from me. They have computers here now, and you are allowed to send e-mails to your loved ones. I have just arrived and have been checked in..

I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow,and look forward to seeing you then. I hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

PS: It sure is hot down here!!!

haha, that is how Elder Nolan D. Archibald of the seventy started his talk today during stake conference. What a great spirit he had. I loved his talk and hearing about the atonement. He talked about the law of justice going hand in hand with the law of mercy and how the operate constantly. He also talked a lot about how blessings are the result of our obedience to the laws and commandments we are given and how crucial it is for our progression. He stated that there are two acts that come from the atonement: unconditional and conditional (to repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost and endure to the end). It was great hearing such an uplifting message on a beautiful day like today when we commemorate our Savior's life on this earth. It makes me feel so happy to know that our Redeemer willingly performed a sinless sacrifice for all mankind. I am so grateful that because of that reason, we have the opportunity to live with our Heavenly Father again if we become humble, submissive to Heavenly Father's will, and do all we can to hold on to the iron rod.

Our Stake President decided to talk to us about gratitude. He mentioned how most of the time we are too busy thinking of what blessings we will be requesting for next, and quickly forget to give thanks unto God for what he already has blessed us with. There is one question we all need to ask ourselves: What can I do to show my Heavenly Father I am grateful for the temple?— really, what can we do to thank Him for the great joy that temples are to us? Thanks to temples a huge purpose of our church is fulfilled: eternal families. Gratitude leads to humility, which leads to a sense of satisfaction regardless of our situation. Gratitude comes from a sense of being indebted to someone... we owe our Heavenly Father everything! His love is so big that he created us, and blesses us immensely everyday.

President Averett closed his talk by saying that we are changed for the better and grow in the attitude of gratitude. Always try to develop time and energy to show gratitude.

Besides the talks, after church we went over to Abe's grandma's house to have an easter get together with the rest of Abe's family. It was fun, and of course I was able to see my babies!! They seemed a bit confused at first when they saw us walking in but oh how we love them and they love us just as much.

I truly have had an amazing day. I am glad today is Easter and that the Savior is the reason to rejoice today... and everyday!!