Randy & Liz

Storytime.

2011-10-29T21:48:00.001-10:00

We had the most amazing time at the library this morning! Noah got to wear his "bones" for storytime and a little trick or treating. He's not a fan of putting on the costume, but once he's dressed he's fine with it. They read two books and had two crafts for the kids. We started one there, but decided to finish it at home along with the second one.

We didn't talk about trick or treating so he was a little confused as to what we were doing. He'd say thank you, but that was it. Some people he'd just say thank you to and then walk on by- it was pretty cute! When we got home he was so hyper. I let him eat the licorice, which is one of his favorite things, and the Hershey bar. He had a few pieces of "bug candy" that he wouldn't touch. Every time I asked him if he wanted a bite of bug he'd say, "Nope, not me!"

Please excuse my awesome photography skills down below in some of the images. I had a diaper bag and car seat (with a B inside!) on one arm and my camera in the other as I chased N around. I'll definitely take more on Monday! And I've uploaded everything and just hit post so if they seem really random, that's why! :)

Both children listening to the spooky story!

Waiting for the rain to stop!

Having the best time! :)

I was talking to Randy while these were uploading and he wanted to know why our son was in a phone booth. My only explanation is that he acts like his father!

Mommy teaching him how to stomp in the puddles!

Nothing better than some licorice in your undies! He was soaked by the time we got home.

Running laps like a wild man!

He looks so big and like such a boy. :(

The cutest little pumpkins!

2011-10-09T20:29:00.000-10:00

Nothing cuter than a boy in overalls! :)

2011-09-26T21:04:00.001-10:00

Here are a bunch of pictures from this afternoon! I didn't edit anything out so they are kind of random. Noah absolutely loves watering flowers! On second thought, maybe it's the picking of the old flowers and yelling 'dead head!' as we toss them and playing with the hose that he loves. Either way, we have so much fun doing it while Brooklyn naps each day!

"Helping, helping!"

Water his 'truffula trees'.

He seriously has the sweetest little hands!

"More water, please!"

"It's raining, it's raining!!!"

If there is water- this boy will find it!

He's trying to refill his can. :)

And these next few images are for my husband,
who has zero faith in my planting & keeping flowers alive abilities! :)

This one is massive. I actually planted 1/2 in another pot! (the first image)

Noah's hibiscus!

Love his little foot prints!

"Noah, lets just get one smile and then we'll go inside."

Definitely not his real smile, but the best that I was going to get.

Today was the first time he's ever been ready to go inside before me.
It was probably because I was trying to take his picture.

And our little princess is awake!

I took some of the children together, but they aren't uploading correctly. I'll try again tomorrow, because I'm off to bed. And it's before 9PM!! :)

he melts my heart.

2011-09-02T20:32:00.002-10:00

pretty in pink.

2011-08-30T20:34:00.000-10:00

Noah with his babies. We don't go anywhere without them.

Although chalk is fun, it does not taste good.

No, I wasn't eating chalk. Why do you ask?

Pretending to feed Brooklyn some baby milk that we received as a sample.

Noah tends to get busy when I sit down to nurse Brooklyn. The other day I could hear him in our room opening and closing the dresser drawers. He eventually came out with one of my shirts and carried it around all morning. I asked if he wanted to wear it and he replied, "Yes!" So here is our sweet boy in pink!

He wouldn't stand still for two seconds so I could get a picture.
It's almost as if he knew these images would come
back and haunt him some day :)

a hug from daddy...

2011-08-25T10:50:00.000-10:00

Operation Kid Comfort is an amazing group of volunteers! They make quilts for children who have a deployed parent out of the goodness of their hearts to help provide them with some comfort during the deployment. You submit 9 images of your child and spouse, and then they ask that you patiently wait for your quilt to be completed. I submitted our images right after Randy deployed and on Tuesday they called to say it was complete! I instantly had tears in my eyes, because I was so excited for Noah to have his very own daddy quilt. I've seen other quilts they've made for friends and they are just precious!

The lady went on and on about the images that I sent. She said they just loved how Noah's quilt turned out and that they had been using his as an example in various classes about quilting. She was also very proud that they had some Noah's Ark fabric that they were able to use.

I can't explain how much it means that these ladies are willing to do this for military children. I know a lot of people tell me that at least he's little and he won't remember. While that may be true, it's still affecting his sweet little life and doesn't make the day to day any easier right now. He still asks for his daddy all the time and misses him like crazy. He'll ask for daddy while we're out shopping on base and he sees other Marines in uniform, he still points out the window and shows me where daddy's car is parked. He also kisses the pictures we have of Randy hanging in our house everyday. So yes, he may not remember this time in his life, but right now he is totally missing his daddy and that's really all it takes to break our hearts.

My friend emailed the ladies to thank them for their time and effort. Here is her response, "It is said that those who sleep under a handmade quilt- sleep under a blanket of love. When you tuck him into bed tonight and wrap his quilt around him, tell him it is just like daddy's giving him a big hug! I just did this for Noah at nap time and he was honestly smiling from ear to ear! Although he isn't home, I'm certain he still feels his daddy's love each and everyday!

flashcards!

2011-08-22T18:06:00.000-10:00

I love his little "cheese!" that he sneaks in at the very, very beginning! :)

BIG news!

2011-08-19T09:19:00.000-10:00

Noah pooped on the potty yesterday! It was obviously a very exciting time in our house! :) A few months ago he would tell me that he had to go, but I didn't really react. I have more than enough on my plate right now so trying to tackle potty training was the last thing on my mind! Then last week he started telling me he had to go again, so I thought I should at least try since he is aware of what was happening.

I thought he had to go yesterday morning, but when I asked him he said no. Then a few minutes later I could tell he was going to I grabbed him and we ran to the bathroom. I ripped off his diaper (hoping it wasn't runny!) and put him on the toilet and he finished!

Please excuse his hand in the toilet as we are still learning proper bathroom etiquette ;)

pics!

2011-08-18T16:41:00.000-10:00

Here are a few random pictures from the past week. Please excuse the awesome quality as they are all taken with my phone! Someday we'll bust out the real camera again. :)

Hours of entertainment!
Thank you clients for ordering enlargements ;)

She always has her tongue out!

Our beautiful baby girl just starting to smile!

NAKED! This is what happens when you help Brooklyn first after bath time.

Watching Daddy!

He loves to brush his teeth. Like seriously loves it!

Pretty girl!

She is finally out of her newborn outfits.
I'm so excited for her to start wearing all her sweet little dresses!

Getting ready....

2011-08-05T20:25:00.000-10:00

for Mexico!!! :)

I'm still working on Brooklyn's birth story so here's a little something while you wait! :)

itty bitty baby smiles!

2011-08-05T20:18:00.000-10:00

She's just starting to smile!

excuses, excuses...

2011-07-28T16:34:00.000-10:00

The only excuse I have for not updating the blog are the two sweet babes up above ;) They keep me more than busy! But you are all in luck- Randy now has access to a computer for recreational use so I have to do a better job since he can access the blog. I'm not sure where blogging will fit into our schedule, but I'll find a way. Maybe instead of eating or sleeping? Oh wait, we don't do much of that these days either!

We have been so fortunate to have extra help since Brooklyn was born. My mom flew out the day she was born. My dad and Carla arrived while she was still in the NICU. After they left, Johna and her sweet family came and then my sister after that. I can't thank everyone enough for all their help. They truly came to our rescue when we really needed them! I'm certain I would not have survived the past two months without you guys. I really can't thank you enough!

We've been flying solo since Tuesday and so far so good. Yesterday both babes had their well baby check up appointments. I scheduled them back to back. I'm still not sure if that was a good idea or not :) Noah weighed 23.1 pounds and was 32". He is in the 25% for his weight. I don't remember for his height, but it was pretty comparable. Brooklyn weighed 8.8 pounds and was 21.3". With her adjusted age (35 weeks), she is in the 65% for her weight and 82% for her height. I'm so proud of her!

We kept today simple and it worked great. We read lots of books, played outside and watched Daddy read on the tv. Twice. I even managed a few loads of laundry, cleaned my bathroom and took an extra hot bubble bath! Huge success if you ask me! :)

My next post will be Brooklyn's birth story. I really want to start at the beginning of this journey. It's been unreal to be honest, but I wouldn't change a thing. I love these babes more than I ever thought possible and every day I love them more and more... it's truly amazing!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T11:53:00.000-10:00

Our sweet baby girl!

Here is our sweet little Brooklyn! She's already 5 weeks old and I have no idea where the past month has gone. I have so much that I want to update about and share, but we've been so busy! I really will try though~ promise! ;)

O-A-H!

2011-05-22T21:49:00.002-10:00

Listen closely at the very end of the video!

Last week Noah woke up from his nap with a temperature of 104.5 so we headed straight for the ER. He was so sad and pitiful while we were there. His ears/throat were clear so they sent us home without much explanation. The next morning we went to the clinic on base and they diagnosed him with Hand Foot & Mouth Disease. The doctor said is was going around base pretty bad and she could see the beginning of a sore in his mouth. Thankfully his case wasn't too bad and he only developed a few sores.

Noah sitting in the ER. Poor boy was so sad :(

We've been paci free since Daddy left, but unfortunately this is the only thermometer that we own.
Needless to say, he didn't mind take his temp every few hours :)

Sister at 35 weeks!

I've considered getting Noah his own little chair, but apparently I was taking too long in finding the right one.
He discovered that he can pull out a portion of the foot stool and plop right down. It's so funny cracks me up!

Noah & his new pillow!

I thought Noah would be super excited to open the box, but he was more worried about "picking up" instead. Daddy, I promise he does love his new pillow! He carried it around all night and would pretend to go "night-night" and give you kisses.

In case you are wondering about his Japanese prison t-shirt, no he's never been there before. Daddy brought it back from his last deployment while he was in Japan. It's complete with his own prison number and everything!

Sister's new taggie blanket! I ordered the pillow and taggie from the same company
who made Noah's Daddy Doll the last time Randy was deployed. It's so girly and soft~ I love it!

A better picture of the pillow since Noah was being a complete monkey
and wouldn't sit still long enough for a decent picture!

I have my 36 week appointment tomorrow! I'm so excited and I'm praying that I've made some sort of progress. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, but it's so hard not to at this point. I have contractions nearly all the time so I'm just hoping they are doing something, because no one should have to go through this much practice for nothing :)

2011-05-14T21:11:00.000-10:00

Noah & Daddy on Skype! This was one expensive phone call!!!

This summer Noah has decided that he likes to wear his sunglasses~ yay!

Noah doing a little remodeling in the kitchen while I'll look away for .2 seconds. Notice we don't have any cute little magnets on our fridge? I just realized it today so I'm hoping they didn't go out with last weeks trash.

The base library has a program called "United Through Reading" and I think it is amazing! Randy went in and read a few books to Noah on camera and they created a DVD for us. Now we have something to watch every night while I give him his milk and rock him to sleep. We used to lay him in bed and he's fall asleep on his own, but I love that he's been falling asleep to Daddy's voice the last few nights!

Just a random video from this week!

This week has been incredibly busy for us! Noah started swim lessons and they are every afternoon here on base. He loves it and he's definitely the only one in the class who makes shark sounds while he swims (doo-doot, doo-doot, doo-doot!). It's really funny!

Even though all the images were taken with my phone, I'm going to try to do better at posting images for Randy. Our daytime/nighttime is about as opposite as could be with the time change. I have no idea how often he'll be able to use a computer, but if he ever has down time during the day I want him to be able to look at new images of Noah and see what he's been up to.

As for that expensive phone call, well it was pretty darn expensive! Love if you are reading this before I have a chance to talk to you then surprise! Don't worry though, I was able to get the balance lowered....much lower! Anyway, what would you guess two Skype calls would cost from your husband who was in Ireland? Double our normal bill? No, it was more than double. Hint: factor in that we didn't have an international data plan at the time. Maybe a couple hundred dollars? Nope~ $1500 something!

I nearly fell off the couch and couldn't do anything but laugh when the AT&T lady called me. Are you serious? $1500 for two phone calls?! They had emailed me the day before asking that I call them due to "excessive international charges on our account". I "knew" that phone call was probably going to cost $75-$100, but it was going to be the last phone we had for awhile so we didn't mind. For every deployment we have always done this, but it has never been anywhere close to that amount! She was really nice and helped me lower our bill by adding on the international data plan (which I can turn back off next month). She told me the new amount, but I was just so thankful it wasn't $1500 anymore that I don't even remember what she said. I'm guessing our bill will be about double though. Live and learn right?!

We were SO happy to wake up to an email from him today! He is safely where he will remain for the next 6-7 months. They are busy taking over from the unit they are replacing so I'm guessing he is going to be pretty busy for awhile. He said they do have phones, but he wasn't sure when they'd be able to use them. I saw a good friend yesterday and her husband just got home about a week ago. She received 6 phone calls the entire time her husband was gone. I don't know where he was at exactly, but I pray Randy has better access to communication than that. If not, how are we ever going to name this baby girl?

I just want to thank everyone again for the phone calls and the prayers! I think the three of us are doing the best we can, but it's still just so heartbreaking at this point. Noah misses his Daddy so much and asks for him all the time :( Anyway, if you could keep the prayers coming that would be great!

(It's late and I'm headed to bed so I didn't proof anything that I wrote~ sorry for all the typos!)

Deployment #4. Afghanistan.

2011-05-07T21:37:00.000-10:00

As most of you know, Randy left last Saturday morning. I planned on writing a bunch about our last few days together in hopes of making myself feel better, but I'm not quite ready to share all those emotions yet. Truthfully, I'm not sure if I will ever be ready this time around. It's one thing to say goodbye to each other, but to watch him tell Noah goodbye for the next 7 months... I can't even begin to describe how difficult that was for our little family :(

Hanging out as much as we can that morning!


Snuggling with Daddy!

The four of us :)

Zero eye make up & the largest, darkest sunglasses you own are a must on deployment day! We are trying to cool off in the shade while our hubby's run around doing last minute stuff.


Saying goodbye after their final formation :(

Poor baby Noah knew something sad was going on. He snuggled right in!

Daddy having a little chat with sister. It was so sweet!

It was so hot that morning and everyone was miserable. By the time we said goodbye Noah was beyond down! I thought we'd wave at Daddy through the window, but Noah got so excited and started yelling, "Bus, bus, bus!"

Waving goodbye & blowing kisses!

A huge, huge, huge thank you to Carol & Lindsey for coming and taking pictures for us! We appreciate it so much and are so thankful to have these images. Yes, we know they aren't of the happiest of times but we wouldn't trade them for anything! You ladies are the best! *hugs!*

Noah's 1st hair cut!

2011-04-25T10:39:00.000-10:00

Daddy gets the credit for finding this cute salon that is just for little ones!

Patiently waiting his turn.


Hmmm, what's going on here?

No, lady. I have no idea what clippers are.


Poor baby Noah!

I promise I was trying to soothe him from behind the lens during all of this!

He was not a fan of the clippers! I'm thinking next time we'll ask for scissors only.


Lollipops make everything better!


We should have given him the lollipop sooner!


My sweet baby and his big boy hair cut. I'm not sure how I truly feel about it :(

Coloring Easter eggs!

2011-04-14T17:34:00.000-10:00

We had SO much fun coloring eggs with Noah! I'll post some images later, but wanted to share this video while I had a moment. In case you are wondering, his little hands are still a little green today :)

The Boughton's

2011-04-14T16:51:00.001-10:00

Our cute little fam! :)

29 weeks!

2011-04-10T13:34:00.001-10:00

We surprised Grandma & Laurie and scheduled a 3D u/s for Friday night. Randy really wanted to see her one more time before he deploys so we thought it'd be perfect timing with the two of them visiting. She definitely looks very similar to Noah! They have the same nose, lips and chin. Her face is a little more round and she definitely has some cheeks on her already! The u/s tech was a little surprised how full her face was already for being 29 weeks. She said overall her head or body aren't huge~ just her cheeks :)

Her chubby little cheek!

Daddy's pretty lips...

and mommy's little pig nose :)

Her left fist.

Chubby cheeks again!

A little bit of a grin!

Opening her mouth a little bit.

Pretty girl!

You can click HERE to see Noah's 3D u/s images and compare the two :)

Noah's 1st Easter egg hunt!

2011-04-09T19:26:00.000-10:00

Getting ready for his 1st Easter egg hunt!

One happy bunny!

Searching for eggs!

Filling up his basket!

Checking out his goodies!

Our sweet boy found three eggs!

They had an Easter egg hunt on base this morning and we had so much fun! Grandma Carla and Tia Laurie are visiting so I'll update with more details later, but I just wanted to share a few pictures right now. Noah was so cute and did so well! :)

sister's room

2011-04-02T17:07:00.000-10:00

We are just starting to work on sister's room. Her furniture was delivered before we left for Maui, but both of the dressers are chipped on the corners. I was willing to live with the first one, but when I saw the damage on the second one I changed my mind. They had to reorder them and it will be another 3 weeks until they are here. I'm bummed I can't fill them up with all her cute little clothes just yet!

If you see anything while you are out shopping that would match her room, please let me know! I have no idea how we are going to decorate the rest of it, but I'm anxious to get started. I think I want to go more with reds, but I'm open to anything. Hopefully with Grandma Carla & Tia Laurie on their way this week, we'll make some progress! :)

Her wild bedding!

Sweet little details in her (outrageously priced) crib skirt.

27 weeks

2011-04-01T17:17:00.000-10:00

Here are a few pics of my big belly at 27 weeks (last Friday)! There is also one of Noah, because I know that's the real reason everyone visits our blog :) We had an amazing vacation and I'll work on a post about Maui sometime this week once I have all the images downloaded and we get settled back into reality!

Camping at Bellows!

2011-03-23T18:15:00.000-10:00

We surprised Randy and made reservations at one of the cute little cabins at Bellows for a few days! Staying there was another thing on our Hawaii to do list since it is our favorite beach. It is so beautiful there! On Sunday morning we put all the supplies for S'mores and some bug spray in one of Noah's bags and had Randy open it. He was so surprised which made it all the more fun! :) Here are a few of the pictures we took....

Waiting on our huli-huli chicken!

The view from our cabin.

Our cute little cabin.


Noah & the big slide!


Making S'mores!

Finally taking a bite!


Surfer boy!


Playing putt-putt with an awesome view!


Learning from the best!

Are you sure I need my putter for this shot?

He loves helping me sweep and I think it shows a little in his form.

Hole in one!


Having some milk before we hit the beach!

Getting baby footprints is much harder than I imagined! :)

Moana Surfrider

2011-03-12T17:46:00.000-10:00

Daddy is home again and we couldn't be happier! His first weekend home we decided to stay in Waikiki at the Moana Surfrider. I LOVE this hotel! It's filled with character and is absolutely gorgeous. Plus, they have the neatest wooden rocking chairs out front that I've been dying to sit in for the past 2.5 years :) Staying at the Surfrider was something on our to do list before we move away from Hawaii so we thought it was the perfect time to do so. We had the most amazing weekend ever!

Wrestling on the bed with Daddy!

My super cute boys!

Palm trees + pool = the perfect combo!

This boy is a total fish!

Bite me!

We bought this hooded towel in Kauai when Noah was a newborn. He is sort of growing into it :)

Dinner sunset.


Duke.

The amazing porch of wooden rocking chairs!

Our cute little fam :)

I just love his little face!

1, 2, 3, jump!

One tired little boy with his favorite kitty!

We had lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.

The Moana Surfrider.

Beautiful!

23 weeks, 1 day

The famous Leonard's Bakery.

We surprised Daddy on the way home and stopped at Leonard's. They have the most amazing malasadas. It was Randy's first trip there and I'm confident we'll be making many more before we move!

Just a little hole in the wall.

We also took Daddy to Giovanni's shrimp truck for supper on the North Shore.

Noah's first smoothie.

He loved it! He drank so much of the smoothie that I went back and ordered a second one for the trip home.

Hmm, what should I order?

It took me forever to upload the pictures this time. I've always been able to upload multiple images at once, but this time I had to do them individually for some reason. Sorry that some of them are sideways- maybe I'll fix them later. I've spent more than enough time on them already just uploading them!

naming baby girl

2011-03-06T20:27:00.000-10:00

We need help so we've created a poll for our sweet, little princess!

http://www.babycenter.com/403_we-need-your-help_13187639_512.bc

What a military spouse knows...

2011-02-21T22:08:00.001-10:00

A friend posted this on Facebook so I thought I'd share it here. I honestly laughed and teared up a little, because some of the statements are so true! I've added a few comments of my own in orange :)

As many of you know, my husband came home from our third deployment not too long ago. During the deployment, a reporter asked me to share “What I Knew” about deployments and military life. This was my answer:
As I forced my hands to unfurl from his neck, feeling the familiar sting in my nose as tears pushed against my will, the words rattled and echoed in my brain. “Not again.”
I watched him walk away–that uniform, identifiable gait—and my heart bent and splintered as the reality of a third deployment began to shower over me.
I picked up the phone, dialing the numbers my numb fingers always meander toward, and sat in silence while she tried to ease my pain. “I can’t imagine…He will be home….I’m here.”
And then she said six words that shot through my ears, penetrated my brain, and stiffened my spine: “You know how to do this.”
She was right. I do know how to do this. I intimately know the all-too familiar lump in my throat. The year of being both father and mother, making the best of a situation. I know exactly how one year feels as I "X" each day off my calendar. And I know how to ensure that while our lives are on hold, we still live.

The truth is I know a lot:

The thought of being alone for a year doesn’t bother me. The fear of being alone for a lifetime—does. (Enough said.)

Flat rate boxes can hold twenty whoopee cushions, four kindergarten projects, and five perfume-scented letters.

Technology can be a double-edged sword—one side delivering his face; the other a brutal live-action feed of explosions and camouflaged body parts.

Murphy’s Law is a constant companion. The moment he walks out the door, anything that can break, collapse, bleed, or explode–will. (Seriously it's the ONLY time we have geckos or cockroaches in the house! Did you know the cockroaches over here are the size of the palm of your hand and can fly directly at you? Did you also know that it doesn't matter how often you clean, scrub, or spray for them- those nasty suckers still find their way into your home- and almost always right at bedtime! )

Five hours of uninterrupted sleep is a gift from the deployment gods.

Holidays are hard, but manageable.

Deployments come and go, but sand from his boots never leaves.

Nothing can replace a handwritten letter. Through those beautifully folded pages, he is holding my hand again.

When the National Anthem is played, I know goosebumps will rise on my arms, and a lump will fill my throat. (Since his first deployment, the National Anthem has never sounded the same. I pray I never forget that.)

The silence in communication following a war zone attack is agonizing.

Laughter is a powerful ally.

Each deployment offers two options: grow or regress. This is a choice.

Cereal is always a dinner option. (Absolutely and without shame!)

Videos of lost teeth, ballerina recitals, and preschool graduations can be emailed to Iraq nearly instantly.

Five powers of attorney and the intimate details of his will are needed to navigate a deployment. (I dread all this every single time, but unfortunately it's something we have to do.)

White out blizzards can actually bury a truck in five minutes.

Rosie the Riveter was right: We can do it. (Yes, we can!)

Children cling to hope and the promise of tomorrow.

Living in each moment together is possible when facing the fear that it could be your last.

Welcome home kisses are sweeter than the finest chocolate. (They are moments that you will never, ever forget!)

Anger will grip me and depression can hold me, but another military spouse will steady me. (These ladies are truly amazing! We share a bond that I can't begin to describe- it's incredible and I'm so thankful for them!)

A six-year-old child can feel the absence of her father so deeply that she can suffer from clinical depression.

A military spouse will often hold her/his tongue, silencing a story, for fear of sounding “unpatriotic.”

The sound of a bugle can make my heart swell with pride or collapse in sorrow.

Duct tape and a monkey wrench can fix nearly anything.

Despite the protesters and those who tell me I “knew” what I was getting into, I know there are countless American citizens who will go above and beyond to show they support us.

There are many things I know.
I know how to change the brakes on my truck (Me, too! I've done this 3 times now.), rappel from the side of a cliff, shoot a double-barreled shotgun (Does a can of Raid count?), balance a checkbook, earn my keep, and kiss a child enough to feel like two.
But there are still so many things I don’t know.

I don’t know how to start my heart again when I see a death notification car on my street.

When that knock echoes on the door of my neighbor, I don’t know how to forgive myself when I am relieved. (I can't even begin to tell you what's it's like to get an unexpected knock at the door while they are gone. It's the absolute scariest feeling in the world.)

I’m not willing to learn how to pretend he doesn’t exist, to keep him out of our life while it goes on without him, or to build a wall so high he has no way to scale it.

I don’t know how to stop his panic attacks, and I have no idea how to make my nightmares of rampant bombs and lifeless limbs disappear.

I don’t know how to adjust to his presence in my house when our floor rarely feels the weight of his boots.

I don’t know how to tell his small children that, yes, he leaves them all the time. But because he loves them so deeply, he is willing to die to keep them free.

I can’t understand those who would question my desire to stay with him, or how I can peacefully sleep beside a “killer.”

I am amazed and confounded that despite all he has seen, he still has the courage to laugh. (If you really, really think about it, it is amazing. He is so good and I'm so proud of him!)

I don’t know how to give up on my family.

But, most importantly:
I have no clue how to still my pounding heart when he finally walks through our door again, I don’t know how to pull my hands from his sand-stained neck and say goodbye, and I don’t know how to ever walk away from a man who stands while many choose to sit.

Our lives aren't the most ideal at times, but those special moments make it all so worth it. He's been gone for 6 or 7 weeks now and we've missed him so much! He was supposed to fly in this afternoon, but he flight got pushed back 12 hours and now he's arriving in the middle of the night. It's unfortunate, but it happens. So I'm off to bed now and when I wake up in the morning, my wonderful and amazing husband will be laying by my side. I can't think of a better way to wake up in the morning! :)

Tug-tug!

2011-02-19T20:59:00.002-10:00

Noah has a cute puzzle with different types of transportation as the different pieces. It has a car, boat, plane, train, ambulance, etc. We've been working on the names of them and what sound they make. He likes the boat, but I didn't really know what sound it made. Apparently tug-tug is a great choice! :) I LOVE his laugh at the very beginning!

21 weeks, 1 day

Baby girl is finally moving around and kicking like crazy! I went from not feeling her at all to seeing my belly move in a matter of days. She doesn't move often, but when she does she's wild!

Belly pic!

2011-02-09T14:34:00.000-10:00

I'm sad that I don't have weekly belly pics of sister, like I do with Noah. It was so much easier to photograph my belly with Randy around. Although Noah has his own camera and knows how to use it, I don't quite trust him to use mine just yet. Maybe someday! Here is a picture from my phone when my parents were visiting. I'm going to make an effort to take more even if they are only on my phone! Don't mind the mess of toys in the background either :)

17 weeks, 3 days

Baby sister!

2011-02-03T12:16:00.000-10:00

We think they have the same little nose! Can you tell which one is Noah and which one is sister? :)

This little girl is all legs!


Her sweet profile!


Still a girl!


Resting her arm on her forehead!

It's really hard to see, but this is her nose and lips. The arrow is at the very tip of her nose looking up at her nostrils.

I had my u/s on Jan 31, which was my parent's last day in Hawaii. It was so nice to have them there with me! She's obviously still a little girl and doing great. She is about 9 oz and 10 inches long and measured exact with her due date (June 24th). The tech said she is very long and skinny right now. She was pretty relaxed during the u/s which surprised me, because she is usually a wild woman and moving all over the place! She moved her mouth a few times during the u/s which is super sweet to see. She also did a huge stretch and arched her back. I swear their every little movement is the most precious thing in the world~ it's all so amazing once you really stop to think about it. My placenta is on the outside of my belly (near my belly button) so I haven't really felt her kick or move yet. At 15 weeks, I felt a few movements, but I haven't felt anything since then. The tech said it could be another 4-5 weeks until she is strong enough to kick at the placenta and have me feel it through the placenta. It's kind of a bummer that I have to wait a little longer, because feeling them move is one of my favorite things! With those super long legs maybe I'll get lucky and feel her before then! :)

Mr. January

2011-01-25T11:27:00.001-10:00

Happy 1st Birthday, Noah!!!

2011-01-22T22:44:00.001-10:00

Look at this huge cake! It's so big it didn't even fit on my special birthday chair!

My momma's ready for the next cake challenge!

Toot, toot, toot! Noah's new favorite word :)

Hours of baking and frosting down the drain in less than two seconds!

Uh oh!

I'm a Hawaiian warrior!

Guess what?

2011-01-21T12:25:00.000-10:00

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Randy and I scheduled an u/s for the morning that we were flying back to Iowa to celebrate Christmas with our families (mistake #1: awful day to pick for an u/s all the way downtown since we were so busy, but that's another post!). We knew it was pretty early to tell the gender, but we thought it was worth a shot if it meant surprising our families on Christmas morning!

We went to an u/s place down in Honolulu, where I also went when I was pregnant with Noah. They are so nice there and I'm sure they were a little surprised to see us again already :) We even got a discount for being a repeat customer! They had two girls look and they are both are thinking girl. I asked them if they were sure enough to surprise our families and they said yes so off we were to shop (which was mistake #2!) for a little something for the grandparents to open!

Here is what the grandparents had to open on Christmas morning!

We know it was early when we scheduled the u/s so we aren't buying ~~anything~~ too much until my big u/s on January 31 with our doctor. Either way- pink or blue- we are so blessed and couldn't be happier! :)

Mele Kalikimaka!

2010-12-20T21:12:00.000-10:00

Playing with his gift from Shannon & Han-na!

I can't believe they are finally letting me touch the presents!

Ahhh, I love my feet!


I love his little butt! :)

Daddy helping Noah put his first Christmas ornament on the tree!

9 months!

2010-11-01T21:41:00.000-10:00

He went for his well baby check up last week, and he's doing great! He weighed 18.5 pounds, and he's 27" long. He is in the 10% percentile for both his weight and height. I swear he is chubby though! :)

Right before we flew to Oklahoma, Noah got the horrible GI bug that my dad and I had. It was awful! Even after Noah felt better, he still wasn't eating. I think his little brain remembered that a few short weeks before that he'd eat and then he'd get sick. Our poor babe went on a 4 week food strike! He wouldn't eat anything that we offered him. The minute we'd put him in his little chair and he'd see the spoon coming at him, he'd freak out and cover his mouth. It was awful! Once we were back in Hawaii I finally got him to eat a little bit. The first two times I fed him though he got sick within about 10-15 minutes. I called the pedi again and we had him looked at just to make sure everything was okay. She said he looked good and to keep trying.

So back to his recent 9 month appointment, Dr. Koss took me into her office so we could write down all his stats. I wanted to make sure I had them all written down correctly for Randy and for his baby book. She brought up his growth curve and there was a HUGE dip (in red!) from our last appointment where he wasn't eating. I can't believe it, but he weighed about 14 pounds! I knew we had a rough time, but I had no idea he lost roughly 4 pounds! Looking at his curve from his 6 month to his 9 month, you'd never know what we went through though. Thankfully his curve is right back on track and he's been an eating machine for the past two weeks!

Noah has been pulling a lot of new tricks out of his sleeve, too! The day he turned 9 months, he began to crawl. For a few days he wouldn't leave the area rug, but that is no longer the case! I've found him standing in his crib. This feat makes him most proud! He makes all sorts of new, funny, boy sounds now. I whistle at him and say, "hubba, hubba!" all the time and he just loves it. Recently, I started to ask, "Where is Mommy's hubba, hubba?" and he just smiles. We were leaving the house the other day and I swear he said- hubba, hubba! :) He now goes forward in his Jeep walker, and his steering/turning skills are improving. He loves to drive up to my Glade nightlight plug-ins and take them out of the sockets for me. He can open the drawers on the entertainment center and loves to rock the foot stool part of our rocker. He sits on his knees and plays with his cars. He looks like such a little boy when he does this! He's starting to dance and I love it! I've been working with him and he's finally getting it. He received a Halloween card from cousin Clay that plays the Charlie Brown theme song. The minute he opened it he started to dance. He really only uses his right arm, but I know what he means :) I can see his top two teeth popping through. He's been eating real bites of bananas and pears. I made homemade pizza the other day and gave him a few bites of the plain dough. He doesn't necessarily love the taste, but he's always eager for another bite.

And the biggest of all~ HE'S SLEEPING ALL NIGHT!!!!! Praise the Lord! We had a really, really, really bad week or so. He was awake from about 1-4 every morning and sometimes even once before midnight. I tried everything to soothe him, but nothing really worked. Looking back, I wonder if his teeth were the problem? Anyway, I talked to the pedi about a stradegy to get this all night sleeping show on the road. I was given two options: let him cry or soothe less every few days until you aren't going in his room during the night anymore. Knowing Noah's personality, I knew soothing less would not work for him. If he woke up crying and I went and stood in his room without saying or doing anything I know he would only get more upset. I knew in my heart that that theory would never work for him. I also knew it'd kill me to have him cry it out especially without Randy for support. I figured since we were already up from 1-4 each morning that we might as well start now. It's not like we were getting any sleep anyway! Plus, I know as he gets older it's only going to get harder and harder.

The day we got home from his well baby appointment I put him down for his nap awake. He played for about 20 minutes, cried/whimpered for a few minutes and then he passed out. I thought for sure it was a fluke, but he's been doing it ever since! For every nap and every night at bedtime he has put himself to sleep. Sometimes it takes him awhile to fall alseep for his nap, but he never cries/whimpers for more than 2-3 minutes. Like today, he played for nearly 40 minutes and then all the sudden there was complete silence. I went and peeked in the crack of his door and there he was- sound asleep with his little hiney high up in the air! :) I'm so proud of him and continue to tell him every time he wakes up! So on average, I'm getting about 5 more hours of sleep than I was last week or two and it's wonderful!!! No more threatening Randy that he and Noah are sleeping in the guest room once he's home :)

Waimanalo Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-26T17:22:00.000-10:00

We took Noah to his first pumpkin patch on Saturday afternoon. I loved it! It was a little chilly and cloudy while we were there. It almost felt like fall! It was a cute little pumpkin patch, and much to my surprise it was real! I had heard they "imported" all the pumpkins, but I think everyone must have been talking about the other pumpkin patch on the other side of the island. I've heard so many complaints about the other pumpkin patch so I was super excited when I saw a poster for this place.

Noah loved the farmer! He went by on his tractor and Noah watched him until he was out of sight. Then when we were paying for our pumpkins the farmer was talking to Noah and entertaining him. He started blowing raspberries/bubbles at Noah and then Noah wouldn't stop blowing raspberries back at him!

We went with Annie, her mom, and two little sisters. They are so cute! They were running around and inspecting all of the pumpkins. Kelsey helped me pick out Noah's. I wanted one with a cute stem on it and she kept telling me all the ones I liked were dirty!

We had a great weekend, but we missed Daddy so much! When Noah & I go to do new things for the first time it's hard. It makes me miss Randy even more. I know it's hard on Randy, too. These are sweet little moments in Noah's life and I just wish Randy didn't have to miss them~ any of them. Obviously some days are harder than others for me, but I continue to remind myself how truly blessed we are! Daddy will be home very soon and for that I'm so thankful!

Cutest pumpkin in the patch!

Another awesome outfit made by my Tia Laurie!

What day is Halloween over?

Check out the view of this pumpkin patch!

My little green monster is officially done being a little green monster!

Getting a taste of Annie's shaved ice! She always gives me the good stuff :)

Fall Festival!

2010-10-24T08:42:00.000-10:00

On Friday night, we went to the fall festival on base. We had so much fun! My sister made the super cute spider outfit for Noah. Unfortunately the little spider's eyeballs didn't last the entire time! Noah loved watching all the other kids run around. I was surprised, but he was the only little green monster there!

Noah's first tattoo! Better be his only ;)

Sneek Peak!

2010-10-23T21:35:00.001-10:00

We've been doing this all weekend & loving every moment of it! :)

Little Green Monster!

2010-10-07T17:12:00.001-10:00

We're sooo lucky to have this little green monster living in our house! We just love him so much!

Together again!

2010-09-22T07:50:00.002-10:00

Noah & I made it safely to Oklahoma! It's awesome being together again. Now we're ready to be together in our home with our things! The lodge we are staying in isn't terrible, but it's definitely not 5 star either. We love seeing Daddy every day for lunch and having him to ourselves every evening so that makes it worth it!

We're flying back to Hawaii next week so I'll try to update once we get settled in. I only have about a million images to share from this summer ;) Thanks for all the love & support everyone gave during this deployment. It truly means a lot to our family!

Playing with Grandpa!

2010-06-27T17:43:00.002-10:00

Noah's 1st roadtrip!

2010-06-27T08:47:00.011-10:00

We're having an awesome time at Aunt Laurie's! Here are a few images of what we've done so far.

The car is packed and we're ready to roll! We're only one hour behind schedule! :)

Having a little bit of fun at Trails rest stop in Albert Lea. Daddy would be proud!

Entering Fort Snelling...

Noah was the youngest Recruit in the Infantry Drill for the little ones.

Sutter's Store where we bought some snacks and Root Beer!

Grandma & Grandpa seeing what it was like many years ago when Soldiers slept two per bed.

Reading his new book with Grandma in the hotel room.

I was such a good boy at Fort Snelling that Grandma & Grandpa bought me a book!

Noah's first trip to the swimming pool! Had he not pooped his pants on the way out of the door the first time we left the room maybe we would have made it before it closed because of the storms :)

Hubba hubba! :)

As requested!

2010-06-23T16:57:00.004-10:00

Here's a video from today of baby Noah playing with Daddy!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-22T11:38:00.002-10:00

Happy 1st Father's Day, Daddy!!! I miss you so much and can't wait for you to come home and snuggle with me again. You will not believe how much I have grown and how wild I am! :) Mommy and I are counting the days until you're home with us again. We are so proud of you and love you more than anything else! *hugs & kisses*

Love,
Noah

I tried posting on Father's Day, but for some unknown reason it wasn't working. Come to find out, Randy was actually surprising me with the post he did below. When Randy was in Japan last time I asked him to update the blog several times and he always said he never knew what to say or what to write. As you can imagine, I was shocked at his awesome post! Not only did he surprise me with a post, he also added pictures and a video!

Thanks, love! It was an awesome surprise! Noah and I have watched your video just a few times today :)

Minasan Konnichi Wa (hello everyone)

2010-06-20T17:58:00.013-10:00

Liz has asked me to update the blog before and I have always resisted, but I thought since I was here in Okinawa that I would share a little bit of what I have been doing. We got here to Okinawa in April and spent about a month and a half here on the island before we left to go north to the island of Hokkaido to the Yausubetsu Training Area. We got there and the weather was a total 180 from Okinawa. Oki is very hot and has the worst humidity I have ever felt; Hokkaido was cold, cloudy, and rainy and the sun starts to come up at around 3:30 A.M. which made it difficult to sleep past 4:30 (we were only 200 miles from Russia)

After we got to Hokkaido we started getting ready to go out into the training area to shoot. Now for those of you who don't know what I do, I'm a Field Artilleryman and shoot the M777A2 Howitzer. After spending a couple of days back at a base camp we went out into the training area and I had two of the most miserable days I have ever had out in the field. At first it was just a little chilly, but then it started raining and the wind started blowing and it got real bad real quick. It pretty much rained for the next two days and didn't let up. That night was even worse and some Marines from one of the other units went down with hypothermia. After two days of this we were told to go back to base camp and wait for the weather to pass. On our way out of the position my gun and truck got stuck in the mud and we had to dig it out but eventually we got out and made our way back to the camp.
The Marines are digging a ditch to get the giant pool of water away from the gun, because of the non-stop rain it was a useless effort but they didn't care because it kept them warm.

This was the muddy mess we were working in.

We spent the next two days at the base camp before we went back out to the field. This time the weather was a little nicer and we finally shot some bullets downrange.

Before we go any further let me give a quick run down of how artillery works, we have a 155mm howitzer (that's the circumference of the barrel which comes out to 6.1 inches) that shoots hundred pound projectiles and is towed by a 7-ton truck. The typical gun crew consists of 7-10 Marines and is run by a section chief (that's what I do).

High explosive rounds, these weigh about 98.5 Lbs each

White Phosphorous Rounds, these weigh just over a hundred pounds each

The back of the 7-ton that carries all the ammo

Me and my gun

My gun section

Three of our six guns

Video of us shooting in Yausubetsu

We were out in the field for 12 days and the weather ranged anywhere from beautiful to turn the truck on and get the heater running, but it was tolerable and we had a good time out there anyway.

The day after we got back from the field we went on a six mile hike with all our gear. It wasn't fast and the pack wasn't that heavy but we just weren't in the mood to go on this little nature walk. Myself and SSgt Hakim getting ready to hike

Us out for a six mile stroll

The next day we went to the town of Kushiro and spent the day there. It wasn't that fun or exciting because we went on a thursday afternoon adn nothing was open so that kind of sucked but you can't win them all.

A few days later we got on the plane and flew back to Okinawa. Since we have been back we have done a lot of maintenance on the gear because we found out not to long ago that our deployment has been cut short and we are going home 2 1/2 months early! So now we will be back in Hawaii on August 1st instead of mid October like we originally thought.

That's all I have for now, so sayo(o)nara (Good Bye) and doomo arigatoo gozaimasu dokusho (thank you for reading)

Giggles!

2010-05-16T08:39:00.003-10:00

Here is Mr. Boughton getting ready for bedtime! No matter how tired he is, he gets wild once we start getting him ready for bed. It's so cute! :) I have been trying everything under the sun to get him to laugh. It wasn't until last night when I jokingly told him, "NO!" that he chuckled more than once.

I emailed the video out to everyone, but the email was returned to me for more than 1/2 the people on my list. I'm guessing the file size was too large for most people's inbox. So anyway, I've uploaded here in case you didn't receive your email.

Beach Bum!

2010-04-26T19:36:00.004-10:00

I went to the beach today with my mommy, Grandma & Annie. Can you believe they made me wear this incredibly silly hat while we were there?!

I was such a good boy while we were there. I even took a nap in my little beach tent!

I have an awesome story about what my mommy did today, but I'll have to share it later. I have some milk that's calling my name! :)

Love,
Noah

3 months!

2010-04-22T09:15:00.006-10:00

I can't believe my sweet baby is 3 months old already! The time is going way too fast! He's full of smiles, but it's so hard for me to capture them when I'm by myself. The instant I go behind the camera he just stares at me. Little stinker! Hopefully we can continue the shoot once Grandma is here to help! :)

How lucky am I to wake up to this every morning! He sleeps in a pack 'n play in our room and I usually hear him cooing once he's awake. I grab him and bring him in bed with me for a little bit where we "talk" until he's ready for his morning chow. It's so sweet~ I love it!

Casting all island babies!

2010-04-20T11:29:00.006-10:00

Lost is looking for a newborn baby
for an upcoming episode.
Infant must be 6-9 pounds & be bald or blonde.

So what's this crazy, proud mama do? Submits a photo of her nearly 11 pound, brown haired , 2.5 month old! Hey it was worth a shot, right? :)

The casting director emailed me back right away asking when he was born, how much he weighed and for more photos. I was so excited! I went through our photos and tried to find ones where he looked tiny, lol! I emailed her back, fibbed about his weight a little and crossed my fingers! She emailed back and said he was super adorable, but a little too big for what she looking for. Darn! Oh well, she did say she'd keep his photos on file and let us know she could ever use him in the future!

We're at it again. Unfortunately.

2010-04-16T16:03:00.001-10:00

We said our goodbyes and then he was on his way. Or so we thought! I got a phone call and the GPS in the airplane wasn't working properly so they were unable to take off that night. I was feeding Noah so he got a ride home with a friend. I ordered a pizza, we all got into our pj's and we played UNO in our bed. We were in heaven! :)

Watching him pack is one of the hardest things for me. It's something he starts days prior to leaving so it's a constant reminder of what's coming up. Since they left their bags on the airplane everything was out of sight and out of mind. It was wonderful! We had the entire evening to hang out and relax. We LOVE to play games so we thought we'd squeeze in one more while we had the chance!

Here we are saying goodbye again the following day. Silly me thought it'd be easier the second time around, but it definitely was not.

We said our goodbyes and joked about his flight being canceled a second time. Never in a million years did I think it actually would. But it did!

Noah and I had been home for a few hours and I was on the phone with Carla when Randy beeped in. For a split second it scared me, because he should have been flying over the ocean not calling home! When I answered he was laughing and I could hear all the chaos in the background. The Marines got on the plane, but the were delayed in taking off. I guess it was getting warm on the plane so they let everyone get off so they could get some fresh air. While they were standing around in the hangar the flight attendant somehow set off the emergency landing slide! Needless to say that plane wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and I was incredibly thankful for that! :)

So here we are for the third and final time. Unfortunately.

Daddy, I'm sorry! Good thing Mommy kept an extra shirt in the car for you! :)

I didn't do it!

Huge, huge thanks to Annie and her sister for taking pictures each and everyday! I absolutely love them and can't thank you enough for being there for us. You girls are the best! :)

Baby Noah!

2010-02-27T18:11:00.002-10:00

Here's a picture of our sweet, sweet boy! We are madly in love with this little guy :) I can't begin to explain how hectic the past 5 weeks have been. I'm working on an update now so hopefully I'll have it finished soon so I can post it!

40 weeks!!

2010-01-20T16:46:00.006-10:00

Today we had our 40 week appointment. Everything went well and I had made a little more progress. I'm at a really good 5cm and 75% effaced. We had a ton of questions (and still do!) and ran through all the what if's of what do to from here.

Since my contractions are consistent and painful she said the next time I have them to come on in. Even if they aren't 3-5 minutes apart like they say they should be. Mine are usually 7 minutes apart and obviously that's enough for my body considering the progress I've made so far. Plus, we don't want to have him at home or on the H3 :)

The ideal plan would be for my contractions to pick up again on their own and after 30 minutes head into L&D so they can monitor me. Then while I'm having the contractions they'd like to break my water and hopefully that will be all that I need to stay in active labor on my own. We're just waiting around tonight to see if the contractions kick in on their own again. If not, they are going to call tomorrow morning and have me come in when they aren't too busy. At that time, they are going to check and see if I've made anymore progress from today. Then we have the option of them going ahead and breaking my water in hopes that will start the contractions. Dr. Coleman is very confident that once my water breaks things will get going and he'll be on his way!

Please keep us in your thoughts & prayers! While we know what's ahead there are still so many unknown factors to think about. I pray everything goes according to plan and all the decisions we make are the correct ones. We're so anxious to meet this sweet little guy and share him with all of you!

Love,
Randy, Liz and baby Noah :)

39 weeks!

2010-01-16T16:02:00.005-10:00

I finally have a few pictures of his room! I really, really, really wish we could paint but at this point it would be more trouble than it's worth. I'd like to find a larger rug and a few more decorative items for his dressers/walls, but I'm not in any rush to get those things before he arrives.

I had my 39 week appointment on Wednesday. I wasn't able to see Dr. Coleman, but it was a quick and easy visit so I didn't mind too much. I had progressed to 4cm dialated & was still 50% effaced. She told us you have to be 4cm in order to get admitted to L&D so the next time I was having consistent contractions to come on in. She recommended coming in when my contractions were 5-7 minutes apart for 2 hours or so. Silly us left there thinking he was practically on his way!

That night I woke up about midnight with some contractions. I timed them until about 2AM before I decided to wake up Randy. We came out to the living room and over the next hour they started to die down. Not knowing what was ahead we went back to bed about 3AM to rest while we had the chance. I think it was around 5AM when I woke up again with more contractions. This time we decided to call L&D just to see what their opinion was. The nurse said my contractions needed to be 3-4 minutes apart for 3 hours. Okay, that is completely different than what the doctor had just told me! I was a little frustrated, but at the same time I didn't think it was the "real deal" so we headed back to bed. I ended up calling into work that day. There is no way I would have made it after being up all night!

It's weird, but I don't have very many contractions during the daytime. But the second I lay down at night they start to kick in. They have gotten stronger every night since Wednesday, they are more painful and they are definitely taking my breath away. I just hope when it's time to go into L&D that it's obvious! Heck, before I was worried about my water breaking at work and now I'm kind of wishing it would happen. At least then I would 100% know that it's time to go :)

Below is a picture of my big ol' belly from this afternoon.

We're waiting as patiently as we can! Hopefully he'll decide to come sometime soon. Randy and I both have a 3 day weekend so we're just going to relax, hang out and wait on him. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday so we'll see if I make it to then or not! Thanks for checking on us and I can't wait to announce that he's finally here!!!! :)

38 weeks!

2010-01-07T13:08:00.002-10:00

It's so hard for me to believe that I'm 38 weeks pregnant! The past month has flown by and it's crazy to think our little man could decide to come any day now. We are as ready as we can be and have everything that we need! Plus, I'm sure a lot more :)

I had an appt yesterday and everything looks good. My belly measured at 36 weeks, I'm 2 cm dialated and 50% effaced. If you don't want to know all the girly details I'd skip the rest of this paragraph! :) During the exam she said she could feel his head, but he moved away from her when she did touch him. She said that typically means that he isn't engaged yet since he could back away from her. I was just glad to hear that he was head down, because I was starting to wonder if he was laying across my belly based on some of his movements.

I think our doctor was surprised I had progressed that much and this early as a first time mom. I know we were! Heck, I wanted her to lie and tell me I was 1 cm even if I wasn't, lol. I have been having a ton of BH contractions so I was hoping they were getting things moving. I've had two really long spells of them where they were 8-10 minutes apart for about 6 hours or so. She said one of these times they won't stop and we'll be on our way to the hospital! She doesn't think I'll make it to my due date (21st) and thought he'd be here sometime within the next two weeks!!

Maybe next time I post there will be some images of a sweet baby boy! :)

Mele Kalikimaka!

2009-12-27T19:26:00.004-10:00

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful day with their families. Even though we weren't in Iowa, Randy and I had a great day together. We sleep in a little bit, opened presents, baked a few side dishes and then headed to Annie & Eric's for a late lunch. I made sure Noah got plenty to eat and then we spent the evening playing games. Overall, it was a great day!

Randy and I made our final trip to Babies R Us before Noah arrives~ or so we hope! We still needed to pick up a few things so we did that yesterday and then spent today working in his room. If anyone was worried about him having clothes have no fear he has plenty! I thought we'd have to do a load or two of laundry~ man was I wrong!

I created a list of those who are still in the running for the baby pool that we did at my shower in Iowa. Sorry to those of you who guessed girl and are already out~ Lindsay, Sam, Jill, Renee, Han-na, Rachel, Shannon, Grandma Deb & Patsy! Maybe next time :)

This week is another short work week for Randy and I with the holiday. We did a lot of running and cleaning this weekend in hopes that we could relax and just hang out this coming weekend. The only thing we're doing this week is on Wednesday and we go on a tour of the Labor & Delivery Unit at the hospital. I'm not sure if that will calm some nervous or only make them worse. I'm guessing worse, lol :)

Again, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their families. We're so thankful for everything that we have and feel incredibly blessed to have all of you in our lives to share it with! Even though we were all the way in Hawaii we still felt plenty of love from Iowa!

new belly pics!

2009-12-12T13:24:00.015-10:00

Dec. 20th, 2009
(anyone know why my dates are wrong all of the sudden?!)

I know it's been forever, but I'm finally updating with some belly pics! The link below is from the USMC Ball in late November. We had such a great time! I've never seen so many women who are pregnant in one location in all my life, lol. It was pretty funny to see how many people are having Homecoming babies :)

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/Orderpage.aspx?pi=03OH00G4020072&po=72&pc=134

We also had a maternity session with my friend, Michelle. She was the one who took our Homecoming photos back in April. She wanted to try some new things so I happily volunteered us to do so. Randy was such a good sport and went along with everything we tried! Here are a few of my favorites from that day.

This is from last weekend when we went Hanauma Bay with Randy's mom and Susan. I can't snorkel anymore, but I was still able to walk around and see fish. The water was so clear! I was in water up to my chest and I could still see fish just by walking around! I'm incredibly jealous they got to swim with a turtle! I can float on my back and swim just fine, but for some reason I can't float on my tummy which makes snorkeling a little difficult at this point.

And just because I think this one is funny... :)

This weekend we finished our shopping, wrapped everything and shipped it all for a small fortune. Randy made some awesome chili for lunch and we plan to spend our evening baking, watching football and maybe a Christmas movie.

The little man and I are doing good. He's gotten so much stronger in the past week or so. I'm wanting to record my belly when he's really active, but I haven't had any luck yet. It's almost as if he knows I want to record it~ little stinker! He's wild and crazy when I'm at work, but never when I'm just sitting at home.

We have everything we need and I think we're officially ready for him! I have been having a ton of Braxton Hick contractions. I had 3-4 days were I had them non-stop around the clock. I don't think I'll have him anytime soon, but since Johna had Mason so early every little thing has me wondering now. I go back to the doctor on Jan 6 and I'll be 38 weeks at that time. She said she'd check to see if I've made any progress if I wanted her to. It's just crazy to think how close we are~ only one more month!

I'm next in line.

2009-11-29T17:10:00.008-10:00

I'm officially the next one in line to have a baby and I have less than 50 days to go! Randy's cousin, Johna, was due with their little boy on December 20th. On Tuesday morning, their little man decided to make an early appearence! Thankfully he's doing well and they're heading home tomorrow afternoon. Now that he's here that makes our little man the next one to arrive and me the next one to give birth! Yikes!!

Randy's mom and friend, Susan, are here visiting us for the next two weeks. This weekend we're heading to some museums, going on a dinner cruise, checking out the swap meet and spending an afternoon snorkeling. I'm excited, it should be fun!

I promise I'll share a belly picture soon! We've just been so busy that I haven't had time to upload anything that we've taken. Don't worry though, I have definitely been growing!!

Busy, busy, busy!

2009-11-18T11:25:00.015-10:00

We have been so busy lately that I don't even know where to begin! My parents got here on the 6th and we've been on the go ever since. That weekend we had our follow up 3D u/s appointment. The little guy behaved much better this time! Granted he wasn't as entertaining as the first time, but he was still fun to watch. We saw a few cute yawns (which are my absolute favorite) and several sweet expressions. He's still a fan of having both little hands right in front of his face. The tech had me push on his bum a little bit to see if we could get him to move his arms and he gave the most pathetic pouty face I've ever seen! I was curious to see if he had any hair, but she said he doesn't have much yet. She said he still has plenty of time to grow some so hopefully he does! I've been envisioning him as having all that dark hair that my siblings and I had so I guess we'll have to wait and see once he gets here!

You can click here to see his new images. Click on Ultrasound, click on clients at the top and the password is boughton. They are in the same gallery as the first set of images. He still looks like the same little baby, but he is definitely beefing up! :)

Our sweet little man!

Not loving the photo shoot anymore!

This was our first peek at his little toes so I love that he's reaching for them!

My parents, Randy and I then headed to the Big Island for about a week. We had a great time and I'm sure I could make a post of just eventful moments we had :) The weather wasn't exactly perfect, but we still had a great time!

Tomorrow night is the USMC Ball. I feel like we haven't been to a Ball in forever, because of deployments. I'm excited to get all dressed up and go out for the evening with my hubby. We both have Thursday and Friday off so I'm also excited to spend a long weekend together without much else planned.

Oh~ if I'm really good he said we can start to decorate for Christmas this weekend too! :) I didn't decorate at all last year since he was in Iraq so we're going to more than make up for that this year!

quick update!

2009-10-25T15:47:00.003-10:00

It was the last weekend for just me and the little man as Randy will be home Tuesday! After three months, I'm so ready for him to be home and stay home for awhile with us. He gets in about the time I get off work so I'll be rushing home that night for sure!

I went into super cleaning mode again this weekend. Randy and I will have this coming weekend together and then my parents will be here so I'm trying to get everything done ahead of time so we can spend our weekend relaxing. We might go to Babies R Us and get a few more things for the little man. I had a dream the other night that he came early and we didn't have anything for him. While I was in the hospital Randy had to leave to go buy a car seat, because they obviously wouldn't let us go home without one. So yeah, I'd like to get one of those sometime soon :)

Here's my belly this morning (27 weeks, 3 days). I know it's getting bigger, because I accidentally bumped it twice this weekend. Thankfully I didn't do it too hard, but I still felt bad! I'm still amazed at watching my belly and just love to feel him move! His movements feel different than before and they are getting a little stronger. It's just crazy to watch my belly move and do the wave as he wiggles around in there! I read the other day they are the most active in the 7 month so I'm anxious to see how much he changes in the next few weeks before he runs out of room in there.

The non-shingles infected view of my belly :)

Holy high cost of living!

2009-10-19T15:05:00.006-10:00

We've lived here for 1.5 years and I still can't figure how out how people afford to live here. I guess if you were born and raised here it wouldn't seem as outrageous as it does to this Iowan, but I just find it absolutely insane!

Heather came over on Saturday night. We planned to order Papa John's and watch some chick flicks for the evening. She's just like me so we decided on a large 1/2 cheese, 1/2 pepperoni with some breadsticks. I tell the lady what we'd like and she informs me it'd be about $3 cheaper to get the special with a 2L of pop so I tell her that's fine we'll take the pop too. They get to the house and our total was $36.28! Are you kidding me? For one pizza? Do they not have any idea how many homemade pizzas I could make with $36.28?! Needless to say, that is only the 2nd time I've ordered pizza in Hawaii and it very well could be the last.

Then on Sunday I went to the commissary to pick up a few things. When I got there they were unloading some pumpkins so I thought I'd get one for both Randy and I to carve. They were decent pumpkins, but they all seemed a little squatty (I'm fairly positive that isn't a word!) to me. They were nice and round, but I thought they'd be hard to carve since they didn't have much height to them. So there I am digging in a barrel that's up to my chest looking for the perfect pumpkin. I have no idea what the going price for a pumpkin is these days, but they seemed a little pricey so I decided to only get one and we'll just have to carve it together. I get up the register and the dang thing is just under $1.00 per pound. Our average sized, kinda squatty pumpking cost me $10.00! Then I talked to my mom later that night and she said they were complaining about the price of pumpkins in Iowa, because they were a little over $4.00 this year. $4.00- heck that's a great deal compared to what I paid! Plus, I know Iowa pumpkins and I know they aren't squatty like the one I have!

As for me, I'm doing much better this week. My back is still a little sensitive, but it doesn't have the painful surface sting/pain it had earlier so I'm not complaining. Randy should be home in about one week so hopefully the little man and I can behave until then!

Where do I even begin?!

2009-10-13T15:57:00.007-10:00

I was so excited for my three day weekend. I had a huge list of things I wanted to get taken care of and I wanted to spend Monday at the beach. Needless to say, my weekend did not go as planned... not even close!

When Randy was home last weekend I woke up in the night with terrible back pain. Initially, I thought it was a kidney stone. The next morning it didn't bother me, but I pushed fluids just to be safe. At one point, Randy put his hand on my lower back and it nearly brought me to my knees. It hurt so bad! Since my back only hurt to touch I knew it wasn't a kidney stone and so I assumed I got bit or stung by some strange Hawaiian bug.

Tuesday I noticed a small rash on my back near the "bug bite" and by Wednesday it had spread into several patches along my lower back. I went to the doctor just to make sure the little man would be okay. The doctor said your body can react very differently during pregnancy and he thought I was having an allergic reaction. He gave me something to put on it and said to call if it got any worse.

Saturday morning I called my mom to ask if I could still go to water aerobics. After describing how much my "bug bite" had changed she advised that I not go. She said it sounded like I had shingles. Truthfully I didn't even know what shingles were so I googled a picture of it (bad idea by the way!!). The instant I saw the first image I knew that was what I had on my back. It's one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen!

After 20 weeks you are supposed to call Labor & Delivery if it's after office hours and you have a question. It just so happened the doctor I saw earlier in the week was on call and at the hospital so he had me come in. He took one quick look and confirmed it was shingles. Lovely.

Sunday I ran a few errands with Heather. As the day went on I began to feel a little worse and overall just uncomfortable. My pants and shirt irritated the shingles so I went home and just hung out on the couch for the evening. I felt even worse as the night went on, but the doctor warned me it may get worse before it gets better so I didn't think too much of it. Plus, knowing that I'll be experiencing labor pains in 3 short months I was trying hard not to complain as I know that will be pain on a whole different level.

At 3:30AM I threw in the towel and called home. I knew there wasn't anything anyone could do for me, but being alone and in so much pain I just wanted to tell someone. We decided I should try to lay down one more time and get some sleep since I had been up all night and call L&D in the morning. I hung up the phone, got another glass of water and went to the bathroom before laying back down. I was completely shocked to see that I passed a kidney stone! In that very instant I felt sooooo much better! As many as I've had you'd think I would have figured out one was coming, but I didn't. All I can say is that I'm so thankful I passed it so quickly and on my own. I can't imagine trying to pass one of those suckers for days on end while you're pregnant and drug free. I'd do it if it meant the little guy would be okay, but that's something I don't even want to think about!

I'm doing much better today and actually feel better than I thought I would. I'm hoping the worst of the shingles is over, but the doctors couldn't say for sure if it was or not. They weren't too specific, but I do know it will be a few weeks before they clear up all the way.

I didn't take a belly picture this weekend so here's one from today (25 weeks, 5 days). I thought I'd leave my shirt on this week so everyone wouldn't have to see all the nastiness of the shingles. I'll have you know those are regular jeans that I'm wearing and they are buttoned! I'll also go ahead and admit those are the only regular jeans that I have left and I can only button them after wearing them all day when they are stretched out. But that still counts in my book! :)

We have a wild man our hands! :)

2009-10-04T09:48:00.005-10:00

We have had a sneak peek at our little man on 4 separate occasions. On all 4 of those occasions he has acted like a wild little man! And yesterday was no exception...

I felt him move a few times during the ultrasound, but on the screen he was moving constantly throughout the entire appointment. We watched him for an hour and I'm pretty sure he didn't sit still for more than 5 seconds straight. The woman couldn't get the pictures that she wanted so we're actually going back once Randy is home for her to try again. It was really entertaining to watch him, but I'm a little worried about his behavior :)

Even though he was wild he was still cute! We saw him yawn a few times and it was absolutely adorable! She also got a picture of him smiling. She said he had his face up against the side of my uterus so it was hard for her to get a good/clear picture. She had me rolling on my sides, poking at him, talking to him but we couldn't get him to move. He'd lay still for a split second and then all at once he'd jerk his little body and all his limbs would go flying. He'd also arch his back and throw his head back just like he was having a little tantrum.

The slideshow is pretty fast so you can turn it off if you'd like and click on the images one at a time. On some of the 3D images you can see part of the baby's face, but the other side of his face is blurred or completely missing- that's because he's up against my side and in 3D mode is can't focus on what is right against my side. I think that's the main reason she's having us come back, because she didn't get a picture of his entire face without a portion of it being blurred. That's okay though~ I'll take another sneak peek at him!

We also discussed his eye from our previous u/s. She said what we're seeing is the socket and what looks like his eye is actually the light reflecting off his iris. She said it's not something you see with every u/s, but it does happen. I saw it a few times again yesterday as well. She said it was too early for him to be opening his eyes and when they do they typically only open their eyes a tiny bit. Almost like a little squint.

Here's the link to view the images:

1. Go to www.HawaiiUltrasound.com

2. Click on "Ultrasound"

3. Click on the “Clients” tab along the top

4. Enter our password: boughton

5. Wait a few seconds for the pictures to load.

#15- Randy's lips? (I'm hoping!)
#23- he finally opened his little fingers for us!
#29/30- smiling

It was so nice to have Randy home even if it was only for 4 days. We did some shopping for our little man on Friday night and we're pretty sure we found the nursery furniture as well. Now we just need Daddy to come back so we can get started on everything!

Here's a belly pic from this morning (24 weeks, 3 days). Everyone asks if I have grown since Iowa and the answer to that would be yes. Yes, I have!

It's a sweet baby boy!

2009-10-02T12:26:00.005-10:00

Randy is finally home and we're having a baby boy!!! :) We had an amazing day and it was so much fun to find out together. I can't imagine not waiting for him to find out the gender. Living with the envelope wasn't as bad and what everyone imagined, but I'll be honest and say the last week was just plain annoying. People due 2 months after us were announcing what they were having and I was just ready for it to be our turn!

As soon as we found out we called Petal Pushers. They delivered flowers to our parents that said, "It's a boy!" I went to see Val while I was home for Labor Day and they were incredibly excited to be in on the surprise with us. We spent the rest of the afternoon making phone calls and sending texts so that we could share the news with everyone else.

Yesterday I had my 24 week appointment and everything looked good. I saw Dr. Coleman again and I was really glad Randy was able to meet her this time. She tried to find the little man's heartbeat, but all she was hearing was kicks at first. I hope this isn't any indication of his energy level or behavior once he arrives :) It came up that Randy wasn't at the 20 week u/s so she was incredibly sweet and brought the u/s machine in for us. It wasn't as high quality as the previous one, but any chance to get a glimpse of him we'll take. He was moving all around and once again hiding his little face from us.

Tonight we're heading to Babies R Us when I get off work. The store just opened last week so I'm really excited to see what they have. I have not bought one single baby item so I'm ready to do some shopping! Saturday we're having a 3D ultrasound done out in town and then Randy leaves again on Sunday for the Big Island for a month. I was assuming we'd have all day Sunday together, but they booked the flights in alphabetical order so Randy is on the 2:30AM flight. Lovely, huh?!

I'll have Randy take some pictures of my belly before he leaves again and I'll post them on Sunday afternoon. It's definitely grown since Iowa! I'll also post some images from the u/s since they give us a cd with all the images they get :)

Let the countdown begin!

2009-09-28T12:33:00.003-10:00

My hubby will finally be home and I couldn't be more thankful! Of course we're anxious to find out the gender, but I'm also just excited to see him and spend time with him. Even though we use Skype I haven't let him see my belly for the past couple weeks. I figure if he's going to be shocked he might as well be really shocked :)

I'm absolutely in love with this belly and I can't wait to share it with him. Our little one is pretty active and the kicks are definitely getting stronger. Just this week I started to see my belly move. It's just amazing to me! I can't wait to see his face the first time he sees & feels our little one!

Some people have been asking me about leaving comments. Anyone should be able to leave one even if you don't have a google account. So please~ if you're reading leave a comment! :)

Under the post I write click on "comment". Type your message in the box and then click on "comment as" and select "name/URL". Enter your name and then hit "continue". Then hit "post comment" and you're done! It may or may not have you verify some random letters. If so, just type what you see and then it will post your comment. It's really pretty easy~ I promise!

We'll keep everyone posted just as soon as we know our little one's gender! I don't know if we'll send out a mass text, update the blog or call but we'll share the news just as soon as we can. Somedays I feel like it's a boy and then other days I think it's a girl so I'll guess we'll just have to wait a little bit longer to officially find out!

Check back soon~ the next update will be very exciting!! :)

Happy Birthday, love!

2009-09-17T14:20:00.003-10:00

Being in Japan you get two birthdays this year~ today & tomorrow :) Lucky guy! I hope you had a wonderful day and that they let you out of class early this afternoon! Have fun at your Mess Night tonight and I'll talk to you soon!

We love & miss you very much!!

Ultrasound update!

2009-09-14T13:17:00.007-10:00

As you all know, I had my ultrasound this morning. It was amazing! Heather went with me and we were oohing and ahhing and I'm sure I had the biggest grin on my face the whole time. The tech had her own monitor and then there was a 2nd monitor hanging from the ceiling that Heather and I were able to watch.

She said the baby looked perfectly healthy and from what she could see we don't have anything to worry about. The baby is right on track for my due date and she guessed the weight to be about 14 ounces. The heart rate was 156 which is right in the middle of the typical 150-160 range it has always been in. The head was resting on my bladder and the feet were at my belly button. I knew the baby was growing, but I guess I was shocked s/he was stretched out so far!

I was amazed at what we were able to see. Some things I could see clearly and others we had to ask her to point out again. The tech was really sweet and told us everything she was looking for and what she was measuring each time she took a measurement.

Our little one loved having his/her hands tucked right beside his/her face. The right hand was in a fist directly in front of the face almost the entire time. The tech had to work pretty hard to get the baby to move it's hand. We could see all the tiny knuckles, but she just wanted to make sure the baby could open and close it's fingers. She'd push a little harder on my tummy and the baby would just push right back at her~ just like a little boxer :) It was really cute! We only got a glimpse of the face from the front a few times, but she was able to get a pretty good view of the profile.

She wasn't sure she was going to be able to tell the gender for a good portion of the ultrasound. Our little one had it's legs held tightly together. She turned off our monitor whenever she was measuring the thigh or lower abdomen area just so we couldn't peek. She tried several times to see the gender and finally our little one cooperated!

Don't worry, I promise I won't peek in the envelope! I printed out a little "It's a boy!" and a little "It's a girl!" when I got home on Sunday night to take to the appointment. I gave both to our tech at the end of our appointment. The correct one was folded into the middle of several sheets of paper and tightly sealed. As if that wasn't enough, our tech layered on some tape for good measure :)

I'm still at work right now, but I'll add some pictures tonight when I get home. The quality isn't as clear as what we saw on the screen so I'll do the best I can. Trust me though, our little one is super cute already! :)

The tech wrote a little note for daddy! :)

The baby's profile. The dark spot in the chest is the baby's heart.

A cute little leg!

We might have a thumb sucker on our hands :)

The baby's eyes aren't supposed to be open yet so I'm not sure what to think of this one, lol. You can see the baby's right hand beside it's cheek and the left hand is blocking 1/2 of the face.

We have a few more pictures, but the are sealed tight in the envelope. We'll definitely be sharing those just as soon as we can!

We're 1/2 done!

2009-09-03T15:18:00.005-10:00

As of today I'm officially 20 weeks pregnant! I have no idea where the time has gone, but I can only imagine the next 20 will go by even more quickly. I started feeling the baby move this week and I absolutely love it! Our little one is about 10.5 ounces, 10 inches long and the size of a banana. Every week they compare the baby's size to a piece of fruit and I love that it was a banana this week. I refer to the baby as a lil' monkey all the time so I couldn't help but laugh this morning when I read that!

I'm packing my bags and headed for Iowa tomorrow! I couldn't be more excited! I can't wait to see our families and to be able to spend time together. Laurie, Ben & Sandy will be in town and so will the girls so I'm pretty pumped to be able to see everyone all in one trip!!

Here's my list of to do's so far:
*Charlee's 1st birthday party
*family dinner with everyone from Kansas (which includes S'mores at the cabin)
*lunch with the girls
*lunch at the studio
*meet our sweet little nephew for the very first time!
*compare bellies with Johna :)
*church
*Dixon family reunion
*eat at Carlos O'Kellys (This is just a given.)
*eat at Happy Joe's (This I just can't stop thinking about and I have no clue why. I haven't eaten there in years, lol!)

I feel like I haven't been home in forever, but I think that's just because Randy is gone again. I really wish he was going home too, but unfornately he can't. It's hard to imagine the next time we fly home that we'll have a little one with us! I cringe just imagining us making our way through the airport with all our stuff. I will definitely be paying even more attention to other parents this flight. I pray we'll be the relaxed type who doesn't bring 1/2 their house with them, but we'll see. I'm sure it will take a flight or two before we're able to figure all that out :)

I will see everyone very, very soon~ I can't wait!

I deserve an award.

2009-08-23T15:21:00.005-10:00

No really, I do! My life tends to be rather interesting as it is, but when my husband leaves it goes to a whole different level of interesting. Every.single.time.

Last weekend I was making myself lunch and talking on the phone to Shannon. It was a nice day so I thought I'd sit outside and enjoy my lunch. Gabbing away, I grabbed my plate, headed out back and shut the door behind me. Damn! At that very moment I remembered all our doors automatically lock every time you shut them. Yes, it's handy in when you arms are full but not so handy when you don't have any keys with you to get back in. Did I mention I spent the earlier part of the day retouching so I didn't bother getting dressed that morning. As in, I was barefoot in mismatched pj's and without a bra?! It was lovely!

Thankfully our bedroom window was still unlocked from the last two times we've managed to lock ourselves out of the house. I brought one of our patio chairs up to the window and climbed on through. I'm sure it was a site for everyone who drove by considering we live on a busy corner lot. I was so relieved though I didn't care. It sure beats having to knock on a neighbors door with the getup I had on!

I also removed two critters from our house on different days this week. I managed to do this without any screaming or any tears. This is a huge improvement for me! My dad and Randy will be so proud! I won't say how long it took me or how much hairspray was involved, but just know one didn't make it out alive and the other I assisted out with a broom. He just better not ever come back!

Friday night I went to the Time Traveler's Wife with the girls. Of course we all cried! Saturday Heather and I did some serious shopping. We went to Lowe's and did some damage in the gardening department. I planted all my flowers this morning so I will definitely be heading there again next weekend too! Right now I just have potted plants, but I have some big ideas that I can't wait to get started on.

I have a doctors appointment this Thursday. It will be the first time I meet with my midwife so I'm really excited! I think I felt the baby move once or twice, but I'm not for sure. I'm trying to be patient, but it's not easy for me! Here's a picture I took this morning. I'm 18 weeks, 3 days and I think I definitely popped this week. What do you think?

It's official...

2009-08-14T18:47:00.004-10:00

I have finally decided to join the world of blogging. As if I don't already have enough things on my plate I've decided to pile this on there too. I don't know if I'll post once a week, once a month or maybe this will be the only post I ever make. Who knows? We'll just have to wait and see!

As you know, we have a sweet little one on the way. Today I was asked by not one, but TWO people when I was due! I couldn't believe it. Up until last week I barely had a belly and then one morning this week it was just there... out of nowhere really.

The first person was a female I was photographing at work and I was so shocked I asked her if I mentioned I was pregnant earlier in the appointment. She just laughed and said no. She said she could just see my round little belly. Then after lunch I was photographing who I thought was a surgeon. He called earlier in the morning and said he had an unexpected case come up so I told him to just come by when he was done. Turns out he was an OB doc. He then asked if I was expecting a little one! He was incredibly nice and turns out he's from Quincy. He said his parents just went to our hometown a few weeks ago to visit some good friends. What a small, small world!!

I've never stopped to think how'd it feel to have someone you don't know notice you're pregnant. I'm sure the lady thought I was just crazy by my reaction. Like she was the one who informed me that I was pregnant and that I had no prior knowledge before meeting her! Anyway, it was very very exciting for me. It also makes everything a little more surreal!