Here and there and everywhere!

It hasn't been long since I've written my last post or so for me it doesn't seem like that long ago!  We are now settling into life here at Fort Campbell and we are loving it!  The town of Clarksville is a great place to live and we have found it very friendly.  When we first arrived and after we had rented in Florida we figured that it would be best that we rent again in Tennessee, but when we began looking at places to rent we figured out that we weren't going to be getting the most bang for our buck with renting.  That let us to the decision of buying our first home with a VA Loan.  Buying and renting both have a lot of pros and cons but with writing them all out buying seemed to be the best option for us, for our family.  We than began working with Jen a realtor who we LOVE and who is another EOD wife ;)  Long story short Michael's dad Randall actually worked with Jen's husband Jay years ago in Georgia!  Talk about a small world!  We looked at a few homes and made an offer fast forward three weeks and here I am sitting in our bed in our bedroom in our house that we are closing on tomorrow!!  Praise the Lord he is so good!  Let's just say though moving is no easy task!  It sucks!  Luckily we were able to get most everything unpacked since we moved in on Friday and we had the weekend to do it all.  I believe there are only five boxes left to go through and we had around 80...yeah I know craziness!!  I wouldn't call it crazy until you saw our garage though haha!

Please stay tuned and I will post pictures as we start to decorate :)

with love and signing our lives away,  

The Past, Present & Our Future;

Hello all!

Recently life has been happening, ya know the thing that happens when your busy making other plans?  Yeah, that thing! Here's a little bit of whats been going on!

MOMMY UPDATE:

In August I opened an Etsy store where I decided to sell onesies, cloth diapers,blankets, hair bows, tutus, and anything else you could possibly think!  I recently put it on vacation because of us moving (more on that later), but other than that it's been great!  I love making things for people and that is one of the main reasons I opened in the first place. I can't wait to open again once we move and I actually have the space to do stuff rather then our dining room table! Make sure you check out Hip Hooray's Boutique on Etsy, Facebook, and Instagram!

DADDY UPDATE:

Yesterday was a big day for our little family and especially my husband.  After almost 10 months of EOD school, Michael graduated!  I seriously am so proud of him and I keep saying that but honestly it couldn't be any truer!  I got to pin his EOD badge on in front of his classmates and it was such an honor.  I was the only wife pinning out of 25 graduating students and nervous didn't even describe how I felt.  In a few weeks he will begin his journey with the 788th in Fort Campbell, Kentucky!  Again, I'm so proud of you honey! I love you!

ELLISYN  MAE UPDATE:

At almost seven months, Elli Mae weighs 17 pounds and is 25 1/2 inches long.  She is sitting unassisted, rolling from back to front as well as front to back, and recently she just started Army crawling!  She is everywhere!  She has an amazing personality for someone so little, is always laughing and smiling and of course just like me she sticks out her tongue out when she's concentrating on something.  She is pretty stinking adorable and believe me she knows it! She loves dancing when I sing the itsy bitsy spider and is a ham when we facetime our families.  I can't wait to hear her say mama or dada!  We both love you Elli Mae!

LULU BELLE UPDATE:

Baby Roo Roo as we like to call her, is amazing.  Such a sweet little hotdog always loving, protective and cuddly.  She isn't rough with Elli, and even knows a few tricks!  When we go on walks in the afternoon and she gets tired and so I will say basket and sure enough she will hop in the basket under the stroller and ride until her heart is content.  She loves cheese, her toys and burying herself under the covers.  She is more than we could have ever dreamed of and we have been so blessed to have her in our lives.  

As for our whole family we are PCSing to Fort Campbell, Kentucky!  Which is right on the border of KY and TN.  The movers will be coming on Halloween and then we will be leaving Florida shortly after.  Michael will have HRAP which is hometown recruiting in Asheville and then we will be heading to our new home at the end of November.

We have met some amazing friends here and even though we have been planning our move for months, saying see you later isn't exactly going to be easy.  I know that tears will be shed and that hugs will be given, but thankfully we have phones to keep in touch and definitely will.

Until next time,

XOXO

Ellisyn Mae- Update

Having a baby is VERY time consuming and I just realized that I have forgotten to blog!  Elli Mae turned 3 months old on the 3rd and she has changed so much since just last week!  Michael and I have been working very hard to get her on a schedule and it seems to be working quite well!  She is so expressive and smiles all the time.  She loves her sister Lulu and has started to pet her or at least tries to by grabbing her fur when she comes around.  She loves tummy time and sitting her bumbo.  She always falls asleep when we are in the car just like her dad ;)
At her two month appointment she weighed 10lbs and 6oz and was almost 23 inches long!  That's a gain of 4 lbs and almost 4 inches in two months!  Crazy what mommy milk can do!!  I cannot believe she's so big already and in no time she will be sitting up, crawling, and walking!  I am not ready!
In June Elli and I flew to NC to see family and her Aunt Mackenzie graduate from high school!  It was great being able to spend time with them after not seeing my dad and sister since Feb, and my aunts even came from NY and DE to spend time with us!  I hadn't seen my Aunt Kimmy in five years and my Aunt Loddie in three!  I can't wait to see them again and for them to meet Michael!
One of the things we have decided to do is cloth diapering!  We started about 3 weeks ago and Elli seems to love much better than the disposables and we love saving money as well ;)  We especially love Charlie Banana diapers!  They have a one size adjustment system and she will be able to wear them until she is potty trained!  Then we can use them for our next child in a few years!  I also LOVE how cute they are on her booty and the patterns and colors!  It's safe to say I'm addicted now ;)
I can't wait to see how much she weighs at her 4 month appointment!  Until next time, here's a few pictures from the past three months!
Hope you enjoy!

 

   

         

with love and baby smiles,

A Letter of Love,

To My Sweet Ellisyn Mae,

283 days ago, I first found out about your existence.  

243 days ago, I saw your heart flicker and your arms and legs move on the ultrasound machine.  

200 days ago we found out you were a baby girl 

&

38 days ago you took your first breath and were laid on my chest.

Since that very first day, I prayed and thanked him for you and every day since I have done the same.

 I am more than blessed to be your mom

Tomorrow I will celebrate my very first Mothers Day and from this year on I will always get to because of you.  

You have changed my life since I first found out about you.

On that Wednesday as soon as I saw that blue plus sign pop up, I loved you.

When I saw your heart flicker and you dance on the screen, I loved you.  

From when I heard your heartbeat, when I felt that first kick,

when your dad and I decided on your name,

and from the night you were born I have never stopped loving you and I never will.

Everyone has told me a mothers love is unlike any other, and they are absolutely right.

  Every time I look at you I am reminded just how much I love you and just how truly blessed I am that you are my daughter. There will never be a moment in your life where I won't try my best to give you the world and although you deserve more than I could ever give you that doesn't mean I sure as hell won't try.

You have changed my life.  

Every time you flash me that gummy grin, when you lay your head on my chest, when you reach up and touch my face, when I rock you to sleep, when you nurse and when I think that I couldn't possibly love you anymore you prove me wrong. 

God gave me you because he knew that I needed you and I always will. 

No matter what, I will always protect you and keep you as safe as I possibly can.

Nothing will ever change the fact that you are my daughter and I am your mom.

Never forget that you are beautiful and that you have always been wanted and always will be.

I love you Ellisyn Mae Sons.

Thank you for changing my life and making me a Mom.  It will forever be the hardest thing I have done with the best reward: You.

All my love, 

Your Mom.

Meet Baby Sons!

The past few weeks have been so busy as you can imagine from the title of this post!  

Michael and I have been preoccupied getting to know our sweet little girl :)

Here is our birth story :)

WARNING: This story has real details of childbirth; readers beware.

On Tuesday the 2nd, Michael had the day off due to the first Tuesday of every month being a training day.  On this Tuesday, his school had scheduled a captains cup for all the company's to compete in.  I was feeling large an in charge but good and went with him to see him compete.  I ended up walking at least two miles in the hot sun, so when I started having contractions that afternoon I thought it was because we had been out and about all day.  It wasn't until 6pm that evening that they started to get regular and were coming at about 6-7 minutes apart.  I also had a horrible headache that Tylenol couldn't shake so I decided to take a bath and try to relax.  I ended up falling asleep in the tub and Michael woke me up and helped me to bed.  I fell back asleep for about and hour and woke up due to my head pounding.  I took more Tylenol and tried to go back to sleep but nothing was working.  I ended up waking up Michael and telling him we needed to call L&D.  In the weeks before, my blood pressure had been high and a headache that wouldn't go away was something my midwife had warned me I needed to call about.  Michael called and spoke to a nurse who said that we should come in due to my history of high blood pressure, so Michael called his SGT and we headed to the hospital on base.  

We had everything packed in the car just in case but we really didn't think we were going to end up staying and having a baby.  When we got to the hospital they hooked me up to all the monitors and I waited for the Dr. to come in.  The Dr that came in was actually my midwife which ended up being awesome because at a military hospital it's very rare for you to get your Dr.!  She told us that my blood pressure was higher than she would like it to be and it looked like I had gestational hypertension so to be on the safe side they were going to go ahead and deliver me.  I looked over at Michael and saw his mouth hit the floor.  

I was 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant and was scared to death of what the day was about to bring.  

She told me she was going to check my cervix and see how far dilated I was and then to help speed the labour process up, she was going to insert a Foley bulb into my cervix to help me dilate then when I got to 3 or 4cm it would fall out on its own.  She checked me and I was 1cm so then she went to insert the bulb and then gush bam boom, my water broke!  That was at 7:45am on Wednesday morning!  She finished putting the bulb in and then they got me moved to a labor and delivery room and started the process into getting me admitted.  They took blood work, started a IV line and then pumped me with fluids.  During this time Michael went to go get our bags from the car and we both called our moms to let them know what was going on.  My mom left Asheville and headed home to get her bags so she could drive 9 hours to be present for the birth of her second granddaughter.  We then got settled into to what we knew would be a long night.

Around 2pm my midwife came in to see how I was progressing and sure enough I was 4 cm! At this time she could tell I was having contractions, but she couldn't tell how strong my contractions were so she inserted a internal monitor.  I had asked for IV pain medication because they were strong to me but it ended up making them a lot worse.  I couldn't find a comfortable position and was clutching on to the bed rails with all my might every contraction.  Three hours later they had a shift change and I was checked again and I was 5cm.  By this point, my contractions were right on top of each other.  I had to have oxygen because I couldn't catch my breath and my heart rate was making the alarms go off.  I couldn't handle the pain anymore and so I asked for an epidural.  An hour later my mom had made it, and I had the epidural and was feeling good! I was able to relax and let my body do what it was supposed to.  At 8:30pm I was checked and she asked if we were ready to have a baby because I only had a little lip of cervix left!  At 9 I started pushing and at 10:15 the nurse called the Dr's in the room for delivery.  

Two pushes later I found my purpose for living.

At 22:22 Military time,

Ellisyn Mae Sons took her first breath in this crazy world and was laid right on my chest.

I ended up pushing so fast the last two times that she basically flew out!  I had a second degree tear and so after the Dr delivered my placenta they sewed me up while the nurses were cleaning up Elli and taking all her stats. 

 She was 19 inches long and weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces.  

We ended up staying in the hospital until Sunday the 7th because Elli had a little bit of jaundice, so she had to be under the lights from 10am-6pm on Saturday.  Talk about heartbreaking!  As if I wasn't emotional enough because I had just had a baby, my little girl had to lay in a bed under blue lights all day!  Thankfully she just needed a little phototherapy and her levels didn't rebound so we were able to take her home the next day!

Lulu has been nothing but sweet to her!  She will lay on my lap when I am feeding Elli, she will jump over me in the mornings to see her and she will lay on her back beside her and kiss her head :)  It's the sweetest thing!

The night before I had Elli, I only had a bowl of cereal for dinner and nothing for breakfast before we went to the hospital so I was starving and of course you can't have anything but clear liquids while you are in labour.  I went almost 40 hours without eating anything!  That was pure torture!  After she was born I finally got to indulge in a breakfast sandwich my mom brought from Dunkin Donuts the next morning!  Oh and you can bet it was the best meal I have ever had!  

I was so thankful that my mom was able to come! She was an amazing help while she was here and I didn't want her to leave!  I hadn't seen her in two months and it was great being able to have her there.

Labor and delivery was nothing like I could have imagined or planned for.  My whole pregnancy, I had this idea of what it was going to be like in my head and it was a complete 360 from that.  It was hard, painful, stressful, but had the best reward in the end.  Postpartum is also the hard thing I've ever had to go through.  Your body goes through hell during labor and then to top labor off, you get the opportunity for the next 3-6 weeks to continue to feel awful.  

You cry over everything, you're bleeding nonstop, your newborn has sucked on your boobs and made your nipples completely raw, and to top it off you have to stay drugged up on Motrin because you feel like absolute crap all day! 

Thankfully I am finally feeling back to normal!  I can sleep on my stomach again, pop my back and finally get out of bed in the mornings!  

I hope you enjoyed reading!  Sorry I haven't posted in awhile but I will be capturing her monthly birthdays and posting them so be sure to keep an eye out for those!

with love and baby kisses,

Now for TONS of pictures ;)

Enjoy!

<3

37 weeks; FULL TERM!

It really does feel like yesterday that Michael and I found out we were going to be parents and now we have 3 weeks or less until we meet our little girl!  If I was to go past my due date my doctor will ask me if I want to be induced, if I say yes they will schedule me for 41 weeks.  If I decline and let my body do what it is supposed to and still haven't had her by 42 weeks, they will then set a date for induction.  I really hope my body goes into labor by itself and I do not have to be induced!  I am terrified that if I have to be induced the plan that I have for a natural birth will not be possible. The last thing I want unless medically needed is a c-section and the statistics of having a c-section with a scheduled induction are scary high so come on baby E!  I have had a dream that she will be born on this Thursday and when I looked the date up, the night before is a full moon and the 28th was my great grandmothers birthday!  I guess we will see when she makes her appearance!  I also think an Easter baby would be very cool, especially since its 03/31/13 this year!  Only God knows when she will enter this big world, and that is perfectly okay with me :)Belly Shot:

Of course we have to include E's big sister!:

And the LuLu :) :

How far along? 37 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +33 lbs
Maternity clothes?  Yes and I have a feeling I will be wearing them for a while lol!
Stretch marks? None yet!
Sleep: With heartburn and insomnia I am barely getting any sleep at all :(
Best moment this week: It's only Monday but getting to full term is a pretty awesome moment! 
Have you told family and friends: Yes
Miss Anything? My sisters wedding reception was yesterday, my brother is home for almost 3 weeks before he goes back to Japan, and my aunt came down from New York :(  I'm missing everything!

Movement: Always, especially when Michael leaves for school in the morning...at 4am!
Food cravings: Surprisingly nothing at all!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Eh a few things here and there
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender: GIRL! -Sweet Baby E <3
Labor Signs:  Again I've have had some contractions and now I'm just waiting for my contractions to get stronger and closer together!  Hopefully soon!
Belly Button in or out? Just flat!
Wedding rings on or off? Off :(  
Happy or Moody most of the time: Both :/
Looking forward to: Miss. E coming into this world!  I can't wait to dress her in all her cute clothes ;)

Oh and the pedicure that will be happening this week ;)

If you read my blog, feel free to leave comments on when you think she will arrive and her stats!

Just for fun I will give you the stats on Michael and I!

E's due date: April 15th, 2013

Michael was due April 19th - born April 11th---------Kelsey was due October 4th- born October 6th

Michael weighed 6lbs 11oz-----Kelsey weighed 8lbs 13oz

I look forward to reading your predictions and seeing when she arrives!

until then,

Meet LuLu Belle!;

At 4lbs and 8 weeks old, Miss. LuLu Belle has already stolen our hearts!

She loves playing, sleeping, being held like a baby, cuddling, and most of all her daddy :)

Stay tuned for more pictures of new sweet addition and her sister once she arrives ;)

with love and puppy breath,

 

35 weeks;5 to go!

This past Friday we have been in Florida for a whole month!  It's hard to believe that it has gone this fast!  This weekend it is supposed to get up to almost 80 degrees!  So excited!!  This weather is definitely not making me feel like this is the "sunshine state"!  I am now looking back on the time baby E has been in my belly and I can't believe soon she will be in my arms!  Come on April!

The latest belly shot:

How far along? 35 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 30 lbs 
Maternity clothes? When we go out, but normally I'm in whatever looks comfortable aka my pj's ;)
Stretch marks? Not on my belly!
Sleep: This dang sciatic nerve is driving me crazy!
Best moment this week: It's only Tuesday but I have a feeling Friday will be a pretty good day!  We will save that for next post though ;)
Have you told family and friends: Yes
Miss Anything? My family, friends, and doggies :(

Movement: Always, especially when Michael leaves for school in the morning...at 4am!
Food cravings: Biscuits and gravy
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really anything, thank goodness!
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender: GIRL! -Sweet Baby E <3
Labor Signs:  I have had some minor contractions
Belly Button in or out? Just flat!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: A little of both
Looking forward to: Birthing class and Miss E making her appearance!

Until next week!

XOXO

32 weeks;8 or less to go!

Pretty soon Michael and I will be able to say that we are having a baby next month!  That is just CRAZY!!  We are still gathering the last few stuff we need for her which isn't a lot!  Her room is done but unfortunately we forgot the metal part to the crib that holds the mattress in my garage in NC, so we haven't been able to finish putting her crib together :(  She will be co sleeping in the play yard that is right beside our bed for the first few weeks and my parents will bring it down when they come and visit us so it's not a big deal, I just wish we could have it all done!  We also need to hang up some pictures in her room as well as her name.  

Nesting has kicked in and although we have washed her newborn clothes, I'm sure I will be washing them again.  Let's hope one time is enough lol!

I had my first appointment at the Ob-gyn clinic and got to meet my new doctor!  She was great and very friendly!  I also got enrolled in classes to take while Michael is in school :)  I am very excited! Only a few more weeks and we will get to see who she looks like! :)

The Belly:

How far along? 32 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +25 lbs 
Maternity clothes? Yes
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep: Tossing and turning throughout the night is so painful :(
Best moment this week: Our one year anniversary is tomorrow! :)
Have you told family and friends: Yes
Miss Anything? My family, friends, and doggies :(

Movement: She is a big wiggle worm!
Food cravings: Doughnuts!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really anything, thank goodness!
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender: GIRL! -Sweet Baby E <3
Labor Signs:  braxton hicks contractions :/
Belly Button in or out? Just flat!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: A little of both
Looking forward to: Birthing class and the weather warming up here in Florida!

until next time

<3

Life Lately;

We have been in Florida for 10 days today!  

It has definitely been different but we are getting used to living with each other and learning how to work as a team.  Michael has only been in class one day so far and tomorrow he will start for good.  This means he will get up in the morning around 3:45-4:00 and not get home until after 7...the joys of MOS school :)  We did find out however that the first Tuesday of every month is a training day and therefore he will only have to go to first formation and then he is home with me for the rest of the day!  This will be especially great when E is here since Michael will still be in school full time and the majority of the time we will spend together will be on the weekends.  

While we have been getting settled in the weather has been nothing but bipolar!  We have had rain, sun, and crazy wind, but it is finally starting to get warm and I know once it starts it is not going to stop!  I'm excited to be able to wear shorts and dresses especially since I am getting bigger and I know once it gets warm I will be burning up all the time!  

Today I have reached the 8 month mark and have hopefully less than 8 weeks until our sweet baby girl will be here!  

I will post our 32 week update and picture later! 

Until then,