4th of July

I've always wanted to make one of these Flag Cakes, and this past Sunday was the perfect opportunity! I think it came out rather nice!

Our Independence Day was pretty fun. We got up and went to church and then had a late lunch BBQ at our friends house. Just hung out and waited for the festivities to start on base...but of course it rained, and hailed for that matter...so we hung around at the BBQ longer and then come 9pm we decided to pack up and head to base for the fireworks...and it was still raining...so we did indeed watch fireworks from the car! They were very awesome though! Hope everyone had a great 4th!

This is who I am....

I was reading my friend Ashley's blog and saw her post about a new creative workshop she was doing. So I went to Divas and Dreams Blog to check it out. I too decided to join in on the fun! Each Thurs there is a new assignment both a photo and a written assignment. Anyone can join in, and you aren't obligated to participate every Thursday either!

This first assignment was to grab things around your house that show who you are. Take a picture and then explain why you chose these items.

Here is me:

Ok, and to explain a few things in written form:

My Bible: I have been raised by it, and live by it, and will teach it to my children.

My daughter & My husband(the yellow ribbon): They both are my life. I love them both dearly and couldn't imagine life without them. My husband serves this country we are blessed to call ours. I am a very proud Military Wife and a proud mommy.

My camera: I love photography. I always have a camera with me. I take so many pictures! Especially living overseas and traveling to all the places we get to visit, example: The Paris Picture behind it!

Summer begins..

Brynlee is getting so big! I know its gonna happen but it seems to go too fast already! Sooner than we know it, we'll be celebrating her first birthday! But right now, lets not think about that!


Now that its just Me, Nick and Brynlee...well and the dogs...I wanted to start to get some sort of schedule going. Granted I know its not always gonna be possible, but its a guide I guess I will say. Haha. She now sleeps roughly 10-12 hours. I am blessed. She goes to bed around 930-945...she is so good too, because she can be wide awake after eating and I go lay her down, give her her pacifier and she's good to go for the night. Then she wakes up around 8 or 9...give or take the day. Either way, I'm not complaining at all! We get up then she eats 6oz. She then goes till noon then after that eats 4oz every 3 hrs till bedtime and we do it all again.


I've been trying to get her to take her naps in her crib. Yes, she is still in our room. Lol. Only because she starts to move around and such around 6 and just needs her pacifier...and she does that a few times then gets fully back to sleep. Now since she isnt' actually waking up, why do I need to get up. Hehe. Reason for her still being in our room. If she was in her room, I'd have to get up to find her paci and who knows she might of woke herself up by the time I realize she needs it then we would get up. And I'm all about staying in bed till 8...I'm not a 6am-er!


Anyway, we've started napping in the crib. Her morning nap, she's got it down...come 945...she's ready, I really just put her in her crib and she's good for the most part. The other naps...not as easy. She likes to fight them. Even though I can hold her and she'll fall asleep with me rocking her...which a lot of times I have to do...but I can't hold her every nap! I got things to do! Slowly but surely we'll get there, I hope.


When my mom and sister were here, they played in an all night softball tourny with Nick. That was the first time Nick has really played softball and is now playing on his shops team. He loves it. Although he says he isn't very good, he surely isn't bad! They lost their game last night but they have 2 tomorrow. I've grown up at the fields, so I love being there. It feels so homey to me!


We don't have much planned as of now. The month of June was a relax and get back to normal month..after family left. Then July who knows. Lots of pool time and beach time! Brynlee loves laying on the beach, or so I think since she falls alseep! Oh and with that, she sleeps ten times better and more sound outside...crazy girl. guess it was all our on the go trips when she was so tiny. In August we are going to London for a couple days. I'm pretty excited for that since I was born in England but I do not remember any of it. I know, I wasn't born in London but still. Plus the base I was born at is no more...Then in Sept Brynlee and I plan on flying Space A to the states to spend 2 weeks in Arizona and 2 weeks in Arkansas then back to Italia.


Then its Thanksgiving and Christmas and then PCS time! Which, next month our list of available bases comes out, I'm very curious! Then in the fall we should get our assignment, which I am very excited about. I love moving and new things and decorating again! Although I am leary about this move, we've added...2 dogs and a baby, start praying now! lol. I will miss my awesome friends here though!! I think thats all I have for now!


Have a blessed week!

So big!

Here are some pics of Brynlee from the last couple of weeks. She's growing like a weed and doesn't listen when I tell her to slow down some!

Mommy and Brynlee
Mimi & Brynlee swinging at the park

I love her!

Smiles!

In Milano

Sunday Morning Smiles

I believe I have a beach bum!

Loves to be on the go!

Kisses for Mimi

She has a love for the water!

2 months already.

Well, I can't believe it...can you!? Brynlee is already 2 months old. She is doing great. We had her check up today and she weighs 10lbs exactly and is 23inches long. She is in the 20% for her weight and the 40% for her height, so she's great!

She can hold her head up very well...still some wobbles but she catches it. She smiles all the time. The huge gummy smile. She follows me around the room with her eyes, and responds to her name. She loves to sit at the table during dinner time instead of being in her swing. She LOVES for someone just to sit next to her and talk to her. You don't even have to be holding her. Her hair is growing in so good, and gettin a little lighter. She drinks 4oz every 3hours and sleeps from 9p-6a. Which I love. Most times she will eat at 6a and if I really want, she will go back to sleep till 9a. LOL. I'm kinda spoiled by my newborn!

She isn't that fond of her tummy time, she use to like it more than she does now, hopefully she'll like it soon so she can really get some strength in those tiny arms of hers. She got her shots today, oh I didn't realize how hard that was going to be for me! Thankfully my mom was here and she held her while I wiped my own tears. I know, it'll only get worse, especially when she knows she is going to get them and looks at me with her beautiful eyes! She has a fussy time from 6-8p and all you can do is cuddle her. All in all, she is a great baby.

Thats pretty much the update on Miss B. I love watching her grow, but yet want her to stay like this forever. My mom and sister leave this Wed so I will be updating more and putting up pictures. Have a great week!

Random Pics

Mommy & Brynlee
Mimi & Brynlee

Chillin in the tub, feet hanging over and all.

Right before the bath.

Baby Corn

Vineyard

Kylie in the Grapes

Us at the Mother Daughter Banquet

Sistas

Mom & Kylie

Rome~the Eternal City

Just a few pictures from our Rome trip. It was pretty awesome to see all these historical sites in person, we would definatly do this trip again!

St. Peter's Square

Trevi Fountain

The Arch of Constantine.

The Pantheon.

Dad & Kylie's Visit {pictures}

Most of these are pics from when Dad was here visiting(April23-May6). My sister Kylie got here on 27April and she doesn't leave till 9June. So she's still here, enjoying her niece!

Kyile and Dad in front of the Trevi Fountin in Rome.
Dad, me and Brynlee at Santissma Springs

Love it!

Right when Dad got to our house, he took a cat nap after his flights and Brynlee decided to join in on the fun. Lol.

Kylie, Dad, Me and Brynlee in Verona. The City of Love!

I love this. Eating at a cafe in Verona..I caught this pic!

Crazy Europeans.

Us in Venice

Me and My Tiny Baby Girl at Polcenigo Palace

Gorgeous Day.

Just Pictures...

For the few without Facebook, here are some pictures of our precious baby girl! She is growing so fast! I love this one above!

Loves her belly, most times, mouth wide open!

One Month Old.

Pretty Sunday Clothes.

Just because its been too long...

Wow, time does fly. It seems like just yesterday I was posting Brynlee's birthday story....and now here were are a month later already! Time goes so fast when you have kids. Even though I can't wait to watch her learn and grow up, I want her to stay tiny and all cuddles.


Brynlee is doing great. She is a great sleeper and rarely cries, but we all have our moments of unhappiness for no reason. Lol. She usually goes to bed between 9-10 and then wakes up around 3-4a and then gets up in the morning at like 7a. I am not complaining at all! Everyone who asks how much she gets up and I tell them, they are say I am lucky, lol. I say I am blessed! She is becoming more alert everyday and stays awake more often. She has started to smile, intentionally. I can't get her to do it all the time but I get so excited when she does.


My dad arrived in Italy on the 23rd and is here till the 6th. It has been great having him here. I can tell he is in awe just as much as we were the first time we met Brynlee. He loves being a grandpa and I can see some spoiling of her in the future. Haha. My sister got here on the 27th and is here till the second week of June. She loves being an Aunt and I can't wait to have her babysit so Nick and I can go on a date. Lol.


This past week has been a pretty busy one. Monday we went to Venice, Wednesday we went to Verona, and then late Friday night we left for Roma and spent all day Saturday there with a bus ride home late Saturday night onto Sunday morning. Brynlee has traveled more in her first month than some people have traveled in their lifetime! She is so good, just sleeps in the Moby wrap that my friend Margaret so graciously let me borrow. Its nice that she is so small still, because I would just stop and sit on some steps or something to change her diaper on my lap. Soon I know that won't be that easy, and even though she is a great traveler now, I know there will be some tough times traveling!


Yesterday was the first time Nick and I had been to Rome. We've been here over 2 years and still hadn't made the trip. We might go again the end of summer, because we were told they are opening the bottom level of the Colosseum for the very first time in July. Which would be pretty neat to wander through. Rome was very neat. I loved the Colosseum. When we turned the corner and saw it, it was like WOW we are really here. Hehe. The Trevi Fountain was very pretty and big, but there was SO many people there yesterday(Italian Holiday) as well as the Spanish steps, but they were so crowded you really couldn't 'see' the steps. Haha. Out of all our camera's, by the end of the day we had no batteries alive. I, mistakenly forgot to check the life of my camera battery so it died a lot sooner than I would have liked, and then my sister's died and then even my dads, which he had brought an extra battery died! So all we had left was our video camera which takes pics too, but we have never uploaded them to see how they look. But we went ahead and used it anyhow, better than not having a camera! Oh and the batteries didn't die right off the bat, we were pretty much done when the video camera died. So that was good! All in all, it was a great trip! Brynlee is gonna be mad that she can say she's been, but doesn't remember a thing!


Thats really all that I have for now. While my sister is here we'll be going here and there and maybe a couple longer trips. Then my mom gets here on the 18th of May and I am super excited about that! Hope everyone has a blessed week this week!

Brynlee's Birth Story

Here’s the play by play!


It all started Wednesday night…. March 31st...


Nick and I were just getting ready for bed {1030p}. I crawled into bed and Nick said something and it made me laugh….and I suddenly stopped and looked at Nick and said…”Uh I think my water just broke” He goes, “Really? Are you sure?!" So I get out of bed and was like, “um yes, I believe so”. So I went and checked and while doing so my mom ironically calls. So Nick is talking to her, telling her what had just happened.


So we got things together to go to the hospital. I called them {here we have to call them and let them know we’re coming to base} to let them know we are coming. I wasn’t panicked but I felt rushed. Even though I wasn’t having any contractions worth counting. I was very nervous in the car on the way there, shivering, not because I was cold, because I was nervous. Its what I do.


Got all checked in and waited for the doctor as she was in surgery. When we got the OK, saying it was indeed my water that had broken. They didn’t’ want to check my cervix since my water had broke {prone to infection} and I wasn’t having regular or painful ones at that. When the doc was done and came in she wanted to check me just to see where we were. 3-4cm and 80% at around midnight. She told me that she’d like to start Pitosin. I have been praying my whole pregnancy that I wouldn’t have to have Pit. So when she said that, I wasn’t thrilled. She knew I was leery but said since my water was broken she wanted baby out in 12 hours and no more than 24 of course. She talked me into Pit but started it at the lowest dosage of 1. After about 45 mins to an hour they upped it and then 30 mins later or so upped it again, we were at a dosage of 3. (She told me that was nothing, some people have to go up to 40!)


The lights were off, Nick was going in and out of sleep, I was trying but it wasn’t happening. The contractions were getting stronger and more frequent and as much as I didn’t want to get one, I pushed the call button and asked for an epidural! Lucky for us, the anesthesiologist decided to stay after surgery in case I wanted her services. ( They aren’t there at night, she was only there because they had a surgery. So she was either going to go home or sleep there if I might need her. She made the decision to stay, which now, I am VERY thankful for because she lived 20 mins away and would not have made it in time!)


Got the epidural, it didn’t work. Only thing I felt going numb was my lips and tongue. Haha! So she was messing with the meds and nothing seemed to work. By that point I was in loads of pain, actually I would say more pressure then pain. Not sure if that’s how it goes for everyone but that’s how it was for me. I felt like I needed to push, so the doc decided to check me again, and I was 7-8cm already. Big jump! They decided to do another epidural, she just added a spinal block to it so it was more instant but didn’t last as long. Sitting still for that second one was pretty hard! My contractions were very close at that time so we didn’t have time in-between them to get the whole epidural in. Fun times sitting still through a couple contractions!


Once that was in and going, it only took about 15 minutes and I could feel it in my legs. Sooner than I know it, I’m numb. I could still feel my legs, but couldn’t if that makes sense! Haha. I was then complete and ready to push. We barely got the epidural in and working before I was 10cm!


We had a little scare, they couldn’t get her heart beat and when they did it was a lot lower than it should have been. The doctor was really calm and that helped me not freak out as well. I just kept looking at her and back to Nick and so on. She put the internal heart monitor on her head but still couldn’t’ get a great beat….then she looked at me and said “ we have to get this baby out” I was waiting for her to say c-section, but she didn’t thank goodness, just the vacuum. She didn’t have to use it to get her out, just to get her in the right spot. Once she got her there, it was pushing time. I pushed for about 27 minutes.


Then finally we got to meet our gorgeous baby girl! They put her on my tummy right away and I was in awe. Nick cut the cord. She was crying before she was totally out, which I thought was kind of cool. Then of course they cleaned her up and we got to hold our baby.


There was a point, before the epidural that worked, I said “ I don’t want anymore kids!” But after it was all over and she was in my arms. I took it back. I would do it again, for sure. I love being a mommy. I love the way she just stares at me when she is awake, which right now is rare. It breaks my heart when she cries and I can’t figure out why. I love coming around the corner and seeing Nick cuddling her and kissing her. I know there will be hard days, but I already can tell that it will be totally worth it. I’ve only had her for 4 whole days and I couldn’t imagine not having her with us. I can’t wait till my family gets to meet her. She is such a little doll. I just sit and stare at her and rub her cheeks that are the softest skin I’ve ever touched. Making me wish mine was that soft. I want to show her off to everyone, friend and stranger, because I am so blessed that God lent her to us to take care of for Him. Now that I have tears after typing this last paragraph, I think its time to get off here. Thank you for all who prayed for me, as most know how nervous I was to go through childbirth. Continued prayers would be very much welcomed as we start our journey of parenthood.