Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

That's what little BOYS are made of!

We went to the doctor this week for our checkup and to make sure the baby had all the organs and everything was fine. The ultrasound tech asked us if we wanted to know the sex of the baby and of course we said yes! We were so excited to finally see our baby again. We hadn't seen it since our 8 week check up and that seemed like forever!! So as we are in the room, the lady looks at the head and the brain the heart and then finally she said, "Are you ready?" ummm.... YES PLEASE! ok first I have to tell you that everybody has been asking me what I think I am having, and I guess this is a question that most pregnant women are asked. So Blake asked me this as we were on our way to the hospital and this is how I put it to him... I told him that if they tell us it is a boy then I honestly wont be surprised, but if they said that we are having a girl, I will be shocked. Because I haven't felt like this was a girl once. All along I have been calling it a him and saying that we are having a boy. Been looking at boy bedding, already had a boy name. I know it will be a boy! And sure enough... call it mother's intuition but I was right! We are having a BOY... Cale Mason Allen is his name and I cannot wait to meet him in May. soooo back to the ultrasound... she finally went below the belt and said well it is definitely male! haha Blake was pretty excited about that! :) So everything is looking good for Cale! He did not want to show us his face a lot but we got some pictures, and that little boy did not want to roll over so we could see his spine. So since he didn't roll over we are going back on Dec. 27th to try again! Which Blake and I are pretty excited because we get to see our little man again! It's hard to believe that we are half way done with the pregnancy, and that we already know the sex of the baby. Today we ordered his nursery furniture through AAFES, which is the px, we had to order it early because it could take up to 12 weeks to get here! Well that is about it for now, cant wait until February to come home and see all the family, and eat all the good food! (can you tell I'm pregnant and craving stuff I cant get here in Germany?) :)

Germany

Well I know I havent updated the blog in a few months, but moving to Germany has been a huge change! Before we left the states we found out that we are pregnant! I know CRAZY right!! Little one is due May 1st and next week we will find out the sex of the baby! I do promise to update the blog next week with the sex of the baby once all of our family has found out! So now I am 19 1/2 weeks. This past weekend I felt the baby move for the first time. Which is super exciting!! :) now onto Germany...

We got here in October and the weather was real nice, however we lived in the hotel on post for 3 weeks. We finally got our apartment and we had loaner furniture for another 3 weeks. We finally got our household goods 2 1/2 weeks ago and that has been great! We were so excited to finally sleep in our own bed! The first weekend in November we took a day trip to Paris. It is about a 4 hour car drive from our post. We had so much that day and cant wait to go back. Last week we got our car and we are extremely happy people now! We no longer have to wait for taxi's or walk in the cold. It has been snowing here for about 2 weeks and i feel like it hasnt stopped. Now I'm just waiting for Blake to get his German license because I hate driving in the snow and I would much rather Blake be driving!! Ok so I know this is completely random but it is an update of our lives. I will blog next week about the little one!!!

It's time for an update

I know I havent done the best job at keeping the blog updated. But since Blake has come home from Afghanistan we have been going 90 to nothing. Or at least thats what it feels like. So here is an update since the last blog on July 5th.

July 10th, Blake finally came home!! It was an amazing day that I will never forget! I remember sitting there in that gym just waiting! Watching the jumbo tron with the plane flying in, seeing Blake walk off the plane and then knowing that he was in the same room just behind a curtain. I said that I wasnt going to run to him because I wanted Jan to be able to get good pictures! But as soon as the speaker said "Dismissed" and I spotted Blake, I took off! It felt amazing to finally touch him and kiss him! It was honestly one of the greatest days ever!! Now that he was home it was like my world was back to normal! I wasnt waiting for a email, a call, an IM or a skype call! And that felt great, I didnt have to have my phone attached to my hip anymore! :)
We had a month off for vacation since he just came home from Afghan, so we went to Missouri and Alabama each for about a week and a half. It was great to be with Blake and see all of our family and friends and be able to spend some time with everyone. But even though we were off for a month, it seemed like it flew by and we were heading back to Washington. When we got back to WA we knew we had a lot to get done. It was August and we were leaving for Germany in October! Crazy? Yes I know! So since we have been back from leave, all we have been doing is getting stuff done for Germany. Finally everything is settled and we are now ready to make our travels.
We have 14 days until we leave Washington and head to Germany. The moving people will be here on Sept 29 to pick up our household goods and get everything on a truck. Then on Oct 1 we have another company coming to pick up our unacccompanied baggage, which is the stuff that they will fly over to Germany so we can get it hopefully less than a month. We then will fly out to Germany on Oct 7th. We land on Oct 8 over there and Blake cant offically report until the Oct 12th. So we will be staying in a hotel somewhere in Germany. Hopefully on post! But that is our life right now, crazy, hectic and rushing around. Once we get to Germany I will try to update the blog more often! I promise! Here are a few pictures that are from the last couple of months!

He is coming home

TODAY.. Blake is finally coming home today after 360 days of being gone. We got a phone call yesterday telling me that My Soldier will be home tomorrow (today) at 1:40pm. I have waited for this day to be here! Now that it is here I dont know what to do! I want time to fly but yet I want to cherish this moment that Blake and I are about to experience! This was hard year for us, but we made it through it and we have become stronger because of it. Blake lost some good friends over there that will never be forgotten and we pray for their families. Blake is a strong man and I am proud to call him my husband! Thank you to Blake and the rest of 5/2. You are greatly apppreciated for your sacrifice this year!! We have missed you and are so glad you are going to be home today! I will update soon with pictures of Blake's homecoming!

When are you coming home?

That is the question I ask Blake every time he calls, and he tells me every time "I don't know yet". I know I haven't updated the blog in 2 months but I have been busy. I left Alabama the last week of May and got to Washington. My mom drove with me and my brother flew up here and helped me get the apartment ready. When they left the whole apartment was together, except for some pictures that I need to hang in the two bedrooms. Well it has been 3 weeks and I have yet to hang the pictures. I'm sure that looks like laziness, but I don't know where I want them. I like to decorate and things like that, but I always need Blake's opinion and he usually does the actual hanging part! :) But anyways, I am back in Washington and ready for Blake to come home. We are hoping that he will be home before July 10th. But with the Army , you never know. As soon as I find anything out and I am allowed to share I will. Until then I will just keep asking!

Orlando Fun

This past weekend I went to Orlando with my best friend, Leigh. She had to go to a Lads to Leaders competition and hand out some awards. She asked me if I would go with her and I decided to tag along and boy am I glad that I did! We left Thursday night after I got off work and headed to Atlanta. I know your wondering why we went through Atlanta to get to Orlando... but we had to get our hair done first! Nathan, Leigh's boyfriend, is from Georgia and his cousin cuts and colors mine and Leigh's hair! She is pretty much amazing! So Friday morning we got our hair done and then headed to FL. We finally got to Orlando Friday night around 11 and that's where our weekend officially began! Leigh's work is paying for our hotel, so she has a company credit card. Well something was wrong with it and it was declined. OMG! after it was finally worked out we went up to our room and went to bed. Really excited about the next day we got up and got ready. Set up the Faulkner table in the lobby and then took off for our "errands" which means Disney World! We had so much fun at Disney World!! We got free tickets and we spent all day there! We left about 5:30 so we could go back to the hotel and Leigh could get ready to hand out her scholarships. After she did that we went back to Disney World for the fireworks and the parade. I am so glad that we went back. I hadn't seen the fireworks at Disney World since 8th grade... and that was a long time ago! I had the best time watching the parade and watching kids get so excited! We were finally ready to leave the land of magic when we hopped on the monorail and got on the cart that takes you to your parking lot. When we got to goofy we couldn't find our car! Someone had literally stole our car while we were in Disney World. Who does that? and it also sucked because it was Leigh's work car! OMG what were we going to do. We flagged sown security and told her about our dilemma. Poor lady this was her first week and she said she hadn't even finished her first night. She was on her way out. :( so she called in another guy and he asked us when we had came into the park and when we told him 9pm he told us that they were picking up from grumpy. OH SNAP! we thought it was goofy but it was actually grumpy. Needless to say when we went to grumpy we found our car. Nobody had stolen in we were just dumb!:) On Saturday we sat at the Faulkner table a good bit, and went to downtown Disney for lunch. We had to leave on Sunday which was sad! :( but we got up and left early that morning so I could try and be home to see my family before they all left. Leigh drove the whole time and I felt really bad, because I was either going to stay up with her as she drove or drove some so she could sleep. But I wasn't feeling good and so I went to sleep. She is such a good friend because I'm sure she was just as tired as I was. So now being Monday I am still so tired from this weekend. But I had a lot of fun and have some many memories from this trip! I just love Leigh Walker! She has been my ultimate best friend, and I couldn't have done this deployment without her!!

Up in the Air

Well at this moment I am up in the air flying to Washington. I love how technology has come so far. Who would have ever thought that we would be able to connect to the Internet on an airplane? Its crazy but I love it! Anyways I talked to Blake this morning and he is doing good, he said that it is starting to get hot over there again, he said it was 100 the other day and I about had a stroke! :) I get into Washington tonight at 6:15 which is 8:15 Alabama and Missouri time. Tomorrow my friend Tami and I are going to the Honda store to pick up a dirt bike for Blake. He is such a kid but what can I say I love him! He is really excited about getting this bike. He found it online and asked me to look at it and I finally broke down and said okay. Which is crazy for me, but I feel bad because he hasn't had a life for the past year. lol! And I'm looking for apartments! YAY! I cant believe that it is already March and the middle of march at that. Soon it will be April and I will be taking trips to Orlando with Leigh, which I am super excited about. If only I can figure out some way for Faulkner to pay for us to go to Disney! That would be the life! and then the next weekend after that I am headed to New York for family member's wedding. I think it is my mom's cousin. I'm not real sure but I was like,'heck yes I'll go! Its freakin New York!" I got some really cute shoes for the wedding and I'm pretty excited about wearing them! Ok so I know I totally got off subject from having the Internet on a plane! So I'm gonna go!!

We are ready

Blake has been gone for 8 months now, we only have 4 months left to go and we are beyond ready for him to be home! I think he is getting really tired of being over there. Knowing that he only have a couple of months left makes it harder I believe. It like being in school and you have summer fever. I think that is what he is going through! But soon enough he will be home and I am so excited. So the lastest update is I'm going to Washington next week to find an apartment. I have moving back in May and I am kinda excited. I know it will suck to leave my family and my friends but I'm ready to be back in my own home, my own bed, and have a somewhat normal life. I'm ready for Blake to be home so we can finally be a family again! We are ready for Germany too. So many people think that it will be so hard, but I really do believe that it will be a lot of fun! Blake and I are truly excited and thankful for this oppurtunity! More to come about Germany when I figure out some stuff from Fort Lewis!

2010

I know it's already March and I haven't updated the blog since December. So I thought it would be a good thing to tell you what has happened in 2010 already! Well first of all its 2010 and that means that Blake is coming home this year! Which is so exciting by the way! For New Years I went to Missouri and had fun staying with Jan and LaMar. Got to see that side of the family! It was a little bittersweet though. I love Jan and LaMar and I have a great time with them but since Blake was in Afghanistan it was different. If Blake would have been in Washington it would have been easier. It sounds weird but him being in another country it was just harder! January 16th came and it was a great day! Blake came home from Afghanistan for R&R. I remember seeing his plane and being so nervous! And then I finally saw him and hugged and kissed him! It was one of the greatest feelings to finally be back in his arms! For a second time stood still. We went to Missouri the first week and had a blast. We got to see all of his family and we got to be at church for 2 Sundays. I know everybody was so excited to see him, I didn't want to leave his side. I felt as if I wasn't right beside him that I would miss something. I felt like a little schoolgirl, I remember just looking at him and smiling! I just love him so much! We then went to Alabama for the second week. He was excited to see the WBC and hang out with them! Hope and Matt had just had their baby boy and they got to introduce a new member into their club! Oh those boys... Time flew by and 14 days were here and gone. He left on February 1st. My friend told me that it was easier to say goodbye to second time because we had already done it once, and this is the second half of the deployment. So when that Monday morning came... it was not any easier. I felt sick to my stomach, the same feeling I had July 10, 2009. And i cried just as hard! it wasn't any easier and I don't know how she did it. But I saw him get on that plane and waved goodbye, praying that the Lord would keep my husband safe for the next 6 months!

It is now March and I have been busy busy busy for the last 3 weeks. Faulkner puts on Jamboree every year. This is where the brother and sister social clubs put on a 10minute musical. Zeta (which was Blake's club) and Tri-Alpha (which was my club) asked me and my friend Michelle to help this year since last year's show was absolutely HORRIBLE!! So we did and we were beyond busy. We had to make up lyrics, chants, dances, props, costumes. Anything we could do to help we did. That ended last night and I am glad that it is over.

I hope these next couple of months fly by! In 2 weeks I will be going to Washington to find an apartment and put a deposit down. Because I will be moving back to WA the last week of May. There is some talk that Blake could be coming home in June so that's the reason behind me moving back so early. I plan on moving into the apartment so that way when Blake comes home he doesn't have to deal with all that. Unless there is something too heavy for my mom and I to move in... then Blake will have to do it! :) Well I will try to keep up blogging better. Leigh is starting to blog a lot more and I get on here to read hers, and then I feel real bad for mine
being so lame! So I got a new background and now here is my new post!